Aw, man! Seriously long time, no see. I'm so so sorry for the lack of updates! School just got so mafan and everything….I have midterms coming up…the guy I like is being super confusing…I have so many excuses but for now I'll just say I'M SO, SO SORRY! Thanks for the reviews, there were so many and they made me super happy. There's not enough room to reply to each of you personally, but here's a shout-out to: Lollipop Stealer, ForTheWin04, (anonymous- and no I'm not Indonesian XD but the guy I like lived in Indonesia for a long time…), babagee, my-secret-candy, LIstenAndBelieve, Kizzylovesyou, Vi Periwinkle, iluvjennettemc, unknownicarlyfan, BetterThanGold, Mistress of the Strange, PurpleMadness742, Complicated-Love, deviocity, Romance and Musicals, chocolate fish, KuroiHanabixseddie, mirage888, girlygirl0147, g, ccQTccQT, seddieMasXD, Mari13ssa, coketree20, Krazykandyman, PartyPooper845, SeddieJathanFan, Kpfan72491, SeddieLove4Ever, icarlyfreak, zanessaforever207, Lovin' Seddie, Wainwright and Ascended Ancient.
Wow, somewhere in there I hit 200, which is amazing! I only have one request- my dream for this story is to get the review count the same with the chapter count or higher. So my 230th reviewer will get a prize of his/her choice! So, review?
Chapter 23: iSam's Mom Part 2
Freddie glanced up at her nervously. "About what?"
"This isn't gonna work," She blurted. "It didn't really work too well before, us being just friends, and it's probably not going to work now…dork."
"So, what?" His eyes glazed over as he stared at her. "What, we're just going to stop being friends?"
Sighing, she stared into his eyes. "No-"
But she was cut off by Ms. Benson, who grabbed Freddie's arm tightly. "What is that blonde headed demon doing here? Corrupting my poor Freddie-bear?"
"No, Mom," Freddie groaned. "We were trying to have a civil conversation."
"But there's no time for civil conversation!" Ms. Benson yelled. "We're going to the Shay's now."
"Mom!" Freddie yelped, but he was dragged away.
"You're in danger!" Ms. Benson scolded. "That Shadow Hammer person could bust into our apartment at any moment…"
Scowling, Sam picked up one of Freddie's dorky stuffed animals and punched it a few times for good measure. Stupid nub and his stupid nubby mother, won't even let me get in a conversation with the dork. I can't go another day without getting back together with him! Well, whatever. Sam Puckett doesn't show weakness. He's going to be the one to break first, not me.
Content with her new 'plan', Sam marched over to the Benson's food and began scavenging for anything good.
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Meanwhile, Freddie was being dragged into the Shay apartment.
"Um, can I help you?" Spencer mumbled.
"Hi!" Ms. Benson greeted rapidly, shutting the door behind her.
"What's going on?" asked a concerned Carly, glancing down at his suitcases.
"Did you see the news today?" Freddie replied.
Carly giggled a little. "Who watches the news?"
Sighing, Freddie continued, "The Shadow Hammer piece was on."
"There's a dangerous criminal out there who probably wants to hurt my Freddie with his hammer!" Ms. Benson's eyes were huge as she stared at Spencer and Carly. Freddie resisted the urge to laugh at the amused looks on both Shay siblings' faces.
"Oh, cause you got him on video?" Spencer motioned to Freddie.
"Yeah, and now he knows my name and my address," Freddie complained. Suddenly, a picture made its way into his head. Sam. Wow, that was random…but what had she wanted? Shaking his head, he attempted to make the picture disappear.
With a glance at Carly, he suddenly realized her dark brown eyes were concentrated on his chest. "Why does your chest look all thick?'
He glanced down at his chest, on which his mother had placed a bulletproof vest. The boy decided that if he couldn't impress Sam (she wasn't the type to ever be impressed), he might as well impress Carly. "Um…I've been working out. Yeah, push-ups…" Flexing a muscle, he smirked at her.
Unimpressed, Carly came up and unbuttoned his shirt in one swift motion. I wish it was Sam, Freddie thought, then realized how obsessed and really perverted he sounded.
Carly's mind was just as 'dirty'. "That's…quite the sports bra."
"It's Kevlar, dumbo," Ms. Benson informed her.
Spencer was snickering and trying to hide it. "You're wearing a bulletproof vest?"
"I'm in danger," Freddie explained. In more ways than one, his mind added, and he quickly shut it out.
"Which is why we have to stay here for a while!" Ms. Benson exclaimed.
Spencer and Carly seemed shocked, not to mention totally unexcited.
"I really don't think that's a good idea," Carly protested. Freddie sighed, knowing it was because of his mother, but also knowing that if she liked him she would have agreed immediately. He supposed that was a good thing- he wasn't too sure of the idea, anyway. Living in an apartment with a girl he used to like a few days after he'd broken up with her best friend- and she didn't even know they'd gone out- not a good idea.
"In fact, it's a bad one," Spencer continued.
"We already have Sam here," Carly mentioned, and Freddie's eyeballs went huge. Oh, yeah, Sam's here too. Definitely not a good idea.
Spencer grabbed Ms. Benson's shoulder. "Please don't stay in our home." Yes, Freddie echoed. Please don't. Though I could make it a good thing- I really do need to talk to Sam.
"I have to protect Freddie," His mother informed Spencer.
Carly and Spencer began to make excuses, so Ms. Benson interrupted once again. "Freddie, unpack the suitcases. I'll start boiling the silverware."
Reluctantly, Freddie grabbed the suitcases and hauled them up the stairs. At the top, he almost ran into a certain blonde.
"Sam…" He muttered.
"Hey, Fredward," She greeted in her friendliest tone. "How's it going?"
"Not good," Freddie sighed. "Sam, we need to talk."
"About what?" Sam replied innocently, cleverly stalling.
He glared at her. "You know exactly what I want to talk to you about."
"No, I don't," Sam told him, then growled, "I don't have time for this, Frednub. Carly's dragging me off to the mental doctor- says I obviously have some sort of problems with my mother that 'need to be resolved.' We can work this out later."
"No, we can't, Sam," Freddie responded. "How come you're always so scared to get in a serious conversation?"
"I'm not," Sam informed him. Her usually bright eyes darkened as she stared at him. "Like you're gonna stop me from leaving." And with that, she jerked herself out of his grip and dashed down the stairs.
Freddie sighed, wondering when he'd ever be able to talk to her.
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Sam Puckett was standing in a shrink's office.
She'd always imagined it would happen eventually, but not this way, and not because of problems with her own mother. Carly had just fled the room, so now she was alone with some fat bald guy and her mother.
Terrific.
The shrink spoke. "You two are lucky to have a friend who cares about you so much."
I know, Sam thought. And I used to have a boyfriend that cared about me too- until we screwed up our relationship.
Her mother got closer to the man. "You married?"
"Excuse me?" The shrink responded, clearly not used to this sort of advancement from his patients.
"I don't see a ring," Pam Puckett told him. "You got a woman or what?"
Sam wasn't surprised. "Pardon my mommy's desperation."
"Pardon my daughter's personality," Pam shot back, unfazed. Sam was a little- it hadn't been her personality that had caused the break-up, had it? Stop thinking about that, she scolded herself.
They both stuck their tongues out at each other as the shrink watched in horror.
"So why don't we all have a seat?" he offered.
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One hour later, they ended up on the floor, trying to rip each other's heads off.
Her mother had triggered it with her comment. "Your horrible character must be the reason that Freddie kid broke up with you. He was quite the catch, too- you don't deserve him."
"That tears it!" Sam spat, and then she threw herself at her mother with the intention to harm.
The shrink guy just stared at them. "This isn't what I meant by express your feelings."
He then proceeded to pry Pam off of her daughter. "You two are making the opposite of progress!"
"Hey, those pants fit you real good," Ms. Puckett commented, obviously still trying to make a move.
"Stop it," The shrink commanded. "Now, I'd like to try something new."
"You gonna join a gym?" Sam wondered, hoping he would.
The shrink sighed. "No, Sam, you two need to spend some time in the Therapy Box."
"What's that, like a tanning thing?" Ms. Puckett inquired.
"No, Pam, it's a new kind of therapy that's a bit unorthodox," The therapist told her, obviously fed up with the pair of them.
Sam scratched her head, then replied, "Eh, that's cool, we're not Jewish." Isn't Freddie part Jewish or something? She remembered. Aw, man, Sam, snap out of it!
The therapist put his glasses back on. "Please, follow me." He led them to a room, opened the door and let them walk in. Then he closed the door behind them.
"Why are you shutting the door?" An unhappy Pam Puckett yelled.
The intercom beeped. "The point of the therapy box is to put you two in a small space together with no distractions. You'll be forced to communicate and work things out."
Oh, chiz, Sam thought. Can this get any worse?
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Can this get any worse? Freddie thought as his mom shoved mushrooms down his throat.
"Why can't I eat pizza like them?" Freddie complained.
He glanced over to the couch, barely listening. However, he tuned in as soon as he heard his ex-girlfriend's name. "Why hasn't Sam texted me?"
"She's still at the therapist?" Spencer asked, confused.
"I'm gonna go there and see what's up," Carly told him.
Wishing he could go with her, but knowing his mom would never allow him, Freddie leaned back and groaned. Oh, man, my life sucks.
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Back at the therapy box, Sam and her mom were in a screaming fight.
"You never listen to me!" Sam accused her.
"Try saying something in-ter-es-ting," Her mom drug out the word in the way that meant you're stupid.
"All you care about is yourself," Sam informed her mother.
"Why can't you be more like Melanie?" Her mother's words were like daggers, cutting into her skin. Flashbacks filled her mind. Melanie going on a date with Freddie…Melanie beating me in everything…Sam gritted her teeth together.
"Quit comparing me to Melanie!" She commanded.
The argument went on and on like that…until Carly entered. She was locked in too, so Sam and her mom began to accuse Carly of locking them in here.
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Freddie's life was horrible.
His mom was terrorizing him- cutting his food for him, talking to him in baby voices- and to make matters worse, Spencer was seeing it all. And to make matters even worse, neither Carly nor Sam was there to rescue him or even cheer him up a little bit.
The only semi-good part was that Spencer couldn't make fun of him, or the bodyguard would slam him into the floor. However, Spencer didn't quite see things the same way as Freddie. In other words, he didn't see this as a benefit.
"All right," Spencer said as he got up off the floor, dusting himself off. "Mr. Smoke, Freddie, Ms. Benson. Since you're so worried that the Shadow Hammer is coming here to get ya, I'm gonna take care of this for you guys right now." He grabbed his screwdriver and marched out of the door. "Watch this." With the screwdriver, he pried their door sign- 8-D- off of the place beside the door, then walked down the hallway.
Gunsmoke, the bodyguard, glanced up at Freddie's glass of lemonade. "No real man drinks lemonade."
"I like lemonade," Freddie replied, offended.
The war veteran glanced Freddie up and down, then nodded. "Uh-huh."
Spencer returned then, a door number sign in his hands. "8-H. Observe." He waved it in their faces, then screwed it onto the place beside their apartment. "Now, if the Shadow Hammer comes by here- which he won't- he'll be looking for Apartment 8-D, which is now down there. So you're safe."
Freddie's face lit up. "That's brilliant."
"Thanks," Spencer replied, then began to push them out of the apartment and into their own. "Toodley-doo! Let's go!"
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One hour later, Sam was still trapped with Carly and her mother, who was currently applying lipstick.
"What difference does it make if you're wearing lipstick in here?" A usually patient Carly shrieked.
"Welcome to the insanity that is my mother," Sam commented, leaning against the wall.
"Hey, Sam," Her mother put in. "Remember when you were seven and I told you that Fluffles ran away?"
"Yeah," Sam remembered.
"I sold him," Her mom told her nonchalantly.
"You sold my bunny?" Sam replied, horrified.
"To foreigners," Her mom made it even worse.
"Yeah, you wanna know why that rich doctor stopped calling you?" Sam hissed back, not one to be taken down like that.
Her mom's head snapped up. "Steven?"
"I told him you got hit by a bus," Sam snarled.
Her mom's jaw dropped. Angry, Carly cut in. "Okay, we've all done things that we're not proud of, like selling a child's pet or ruining the chances of a mother finding true love. But if we just try to look at the positive side of this-"
Raising her eyebrows, Sam interrupted. "You know she's never even said one nice thing to me about iCarly?"
"Come on, I'm sure that's not true," Carly sighed. Sam knew the opposite- her mom didn't care about anything she did. And Fredward wondered where she got it from. The avoidance, the apathetic nature- that was all her mother.
"What's iCarly?" Pam Puckett inquired. Frustrated, Carly slapped her forehead.
"I'm out of here," Sam began to bang on the doors. "This isn't working! Open up!"
"You can't leave the therapy box until you and your mother make nice," The therapist told her over the intercom. All of them groaned.
"They're never gonna make nice," Carly whined. "They're both horrible in their own ways!" She turned to Sam. "No offense, you know that you're my best friend and I love you but let's face it, you're a nightmare."
Sam felt something sting under her skin. Even her best friend thought she was a nightmare... it wasn't a good feeling, either. No wonder Freddie hated her now. No wonder everyone hated her.
"True," Her mother cut in.
"Well, you're no better!" Carly spun around. "You're supposed to be the adult here and you're acting-" Suddenly, Carly stopped talking. She started to make weird noises.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked, concerned.
"I'm freaking out!" Carly exclaimed.
"Why?" Sam wondered.
"You remember what happened in that tiny space simulator?" Carly reminded her, still going crazy. "I can't handle being trapped in tiny spaces like this!"
Watching her, a horrified Sam grabbed her mom. "She's having a freak attack! What do we do?"
"I don't know!" Pam exclaimed.
"What do you do?" Carly yelled. "Make up so we can get out of this nut box! Just admit that you're both a mess but that you love each other and you want it to be better!"
"Why should I-" Sam began but she was cut off once again by Carly's nyeh-ing.
"Carly, Carly, Carly, relax," Sam tried to comfort her, but nothing seemed to be working. Finally, she decided. "Watch me, Carly, watch me." The blonde stood up and turned to her mother. "I love you…Mother."
"Oh, what, you think I don't love you?" Her mother smiled just a little bit.
"You never say it," Sam shrugged.
"Well, it's not easy to say I love you to a daughter who thinks I'm, you know, scummy," Ms. Puckett told her.
Sam's face twisted a little bit. "I don't think you're scummy…all the time."
"Really?" Ms. Puckett wondered.
"Yeah, really," Sam sighed.
Ms. Puckett grinned. "You know, I guess I could have had a worse kid."
Sam's face lit up. "You mean that?"
"I do, and I'm sorry I haven't been as understanding as I could have been," Pam apologized. "You know, like when you get arrested and stuff."
"Well, I could probably try a little harder not to get arrested," Sam joked. Her face then turned serious. "I don't like fighting with you."
"Why don't we get you a new bunny?" Her mother offered.
Grinning, Sam replied, "Why don't I call that doctor? You know, tell him you're not really dead." She paused for a second. "Can I come home?"
"Aw, hug me, you little turd," Ms. Puckett stretched her arms out, laughing, and Sam ran into them.
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"Hey, Sam," Freddie grabbed her shoulder. "Look, I'm glad you made up with your mother and everything but we need to talk."
"I know, I know," Sam turned around to face him. "Making up with my mom made me realize…well, you know, I need to make up with you, too." Sighing, she tilted her face up to be level with his and gazed into his eyes. "We're not going to work as friends, dork, you know that." She paused for a second. He looked hurt, so she continued. "We won't ever work as friends because, you know, I'll always be wanting… more from you."
His face relaxed as he took in what she was trying to convey to him. "So, you're saying that you want to, um, get back together?"
"Maybe," Sam shrugged. Biting her lip, she asked, "Is that what you want?"
"Are you kidding?" Freddie asked."That's what I've been wanting ever since we, you know, broke up." He spread his arms out and she ran into them willingly. "I'm sorry, Sam. This whole thing has been my fault. I was so stupid, I shouldn't have ever said anything. Can you forgive me?"
"Of course, dork," Sam grinned at him as she pulled back a little bit. Freeing one hand, she flicked him in the forehead. "There's your punishment for being so stupid. And this," She leaned in and touched her lips to his. "This is your reward for being smart enough to realize that you want me back."
Freddie laughed. "Nice."
"But maybe we should take it slow," Sam allotted. "You know, see how things go. And then if we're sure…"
"We'll pick things up from where they left off," Freddie nodded, hoping Sam wouldn't notice the hint of hurt that was in his eyes. "Sure, why not?"
"Good." Sam nodded. With one last hug, she whispered in his ear. "Good night, Benson. I've got to get home."
"You're going home?" Freddie inquired, dumbstruck- she usually stayed at Carly's.
"Yeah, I am," Sam beamed at him. "Bye."
"Bye," He whispered.
So, yeah, they're back together but taking it slow. I figured it might be a good mix.
Sorry for the wait again, I'll try to be faster with the updates!
Review! Story ideas are appreciated, well, anything is! THANKS FOR REVIEWING IN ADVANCE, next chap I'll reply to all reviews.