A/N: Okay, so this is probably my longest chapter so far. Please read it, I think this is one of my favorites too. There's a lot of Seddie in it, and it focuses on their friendship too. It's written using Freddie's POV by the way, enjoy!

Chapter Summary: Instead of going to a concert, Sam and Freddie stayed at the Shay's apartment to take care of a sick Carly. Witness a bunch of banters, a sort-of jealousy, insults, admiration for Sam's unbelievable cooking talent, and Freddie's reflections to their relationship so far. P.S. Carly thinks they could make a good mother and father. :P

Disclaimer: I don not own iCarly and its characters. it all belong to the amazing iCarly genius, Dan Schneider!

Age 17

****

"I can't believe I'm going to spend my Valentines' day with you again," she said as she flipped through the channels of the TV, her feet dangling on the edge of the couch, I rolled my eyes as I opened the desktop computer on the wooden table.

"Ditto," I groaned as I typed 'samlovesham' on the computer to access our website. iCarly's been running for like three years, and it keeps on getting better. It has been nominated for several times as the best website and whatsits, and it's already acknowledged numerous times on TV and other mediums.

"I wonder what they look like in person," Sam said out of the blue to me, "You know, the coolest band on earth…"

As a celebration for Valentines' day, we decided to see our favorite band live tonight. We were stoked to go there and meet them. We've already bought our tickets online, and we're only waiting for Carly to come down her room.

Speaking of Carly, we're not together anymore. Remember when I asked her last year? We only dated for a month and then we started to get sick of each other. We called it quits and decided that we're better off as friends, nothing more. As time passed by, she's more like a sister to me, and she said that I'm like his geek brother or something. And after I got over my C.C.O. (Crazy Carly Obsession, which is coined by Sam), I started to date other girls, and all of them are unsuccessful. Maybe I'm just a picky boy, but Sam always says that I'm just born to die alone.

Sam, well… don't let me start with her. All I can say is that she never changed. She's still the bully that I know, only a little bit taller, but still that pushy girl that gives me a daily dose of wedgies and swirlies at school, motivates me with all the insults that she can come up with, and all the nasty stuff. But I'm going to tell you something; beneath that entire evil attitude, Sam is really a kind and caring person. Remember when I got into an accident by saving Carly? That was one of the weirdest things that happened to me. Well, I was bed-ridden for a week or two and sometimes when mom can't stay at home for work, Sam is the one who watches over me overnight! I sometimes wonder why she can tolerate me for a whole day, in my apartment (which she totally loathes). Maybe it was the ham on our fridge, maybe it was my Xbox, but at least she did care.

"What's taking her so long?" Sam whined as she threw the remote on someplace out of boredom.

"Good point," I said as I glanced on Carly's door. Clearly, almost an hour has past ever since we came here to fetch her, "Why don't you check her?"

"Saaaaaam," Carly whined from her room. Sam and I shared looks of confusion before she stood up to go into Carly's room. A little later, I followed when I heard Sam shouting.

"…and I told you not to chew ice!"

"I am not *cough* chewing ice," Carly said feebly as she tried to put on her jacket, "My throat is just tired…from…all…those…*cough*"

"Whatever," Sam said as she crossed her arms, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, let's go…"

Carly walked towards the door, looking tipsy. I gulped as I watched her spin around and collapsed. Good thing I caught her. Lifting weights during the morning helps, you know.

"Yeah, you're okay," Sam said sarcastically as I laid Carly on her bed and covered her with her blanket. She tried to stand up again but Sam looked at her threateningly, "Don't ever think about that, miss."

"How about the *cough* concert?"

"It's okay," I said, "I will just find a way to return the tickets."

"But---"

"Carly," I said seriously.

"Why don't you and Sam go? *coughcough* I mean, you' really want to see the concert, right?"

"We can't just let you die alone!" Sam said, a little louder than usual. Carly's eyes widened, "Seriously, we're fine. We'll just look after you since Spencer's at work."

By the way, Spencer's in California, helping Harry Joyner create a giant sculpture for a theme park. He's been on demand ever since his sculptures were seen on TV. And there were times that he can't come home and has to stay near the site, which means more sleep-overs for Sam, and occasionally, for me.

"Thanks a lot guys," Carly said, a smile spreading across her face. Sam beamed back at her. This is one of the rare times where Sam displays her motherly instincts, which I found very amusing.

Since mom is on duty, we have to take care of Carly ourselves. Sam went outside to buy a medicine for her, while I was asked to stay and clean the living room. A few minutes later, Sam went back with a small bag of groceries in her hand, a smile was evident on her face.

"What's that?" I asked, putting away the vacuum cleaner and pointing the plastic bag on her hand.

"Some meat and veggies for Carly's soup," she said brightly as she made her way to the kitchen table and fishing the medicine on the pocket of her jacket, "Guess who I ran into the pharmacy a while ago?"

"Uhm, Ms. Briggs?"

"Whatever," she said in disbelief, "It's Nate Brown!"

"Nate Brown, the quarterback?"

"Ahuh," she said triumphantly to me, I raised my eyebrows.

"What about him?"

"He asked me if I was free tomorrow afternoon," she said smugly to me, and then she flopped on the couch and read the medicine's instruction.

"What are you trying to tell me?" I asked, a little annoyed; I hate that guy by the way. It's his arrogant personality or maybe the fact that he was even born. You know, he once dated my date! So I hate him, because he stole my almost girlfriend. I swear, if I could just get a little taller than him, I will rip his head off and throw it on the Pacific ocean. No, nevermind, it will just pollute the earth.

"He's asking me out, noob."

It took some time for everything to sink in for me. I was shocked, I mean, they don't even talk in school, he never expressed his interest in her. And now they're freakin' dating? Seriously? Then I looked at Sam, who was obviously amused with my expression.

"But…"

"But what?"

"You sure you really want to date him? I mean, he's got a bad reputation," I said, feeling a little concerned and uncertain for her. She snorted aloud as though she hear a very bad and unfunny pun.

"I have a bad reputation," Sam said clearly to me, "Besides; I haven't had a boyfriend since Pete. Just be happy for me, okay?"

"But, he's changing girls like boxers. Dude, he's just playing; he's a jerk."

"Well, you're a bigger one!"

"That's my line!"

"Whatever loser," she said, standing up to check Carly, "Just help me make some soup for our patient."

"Okay," I mumbled grimly as I followed her. As I entered her girly room, I saw Sam taking Carly's temperature. It took some time for Carly to notice me standing on the door way.

"Why are you shouting a while ago?" She asked weakly, Sam rolled her eyes.

"He's being a big jerk!"

"Jerk?" I asked indignantly, "Well, Sam is just dating a player."

"Uhm… Nate Brown?"

"See?!" I said to Sam shrilly, "Even Carly thinks that guy is a douche!"

"Psssh," Sam hissed, "This is Sam, dude. I can take care of myself so knock it off."

"But---"

"Oh please, you guys make me more ill," Carly moaned weakly, "And Freddie, stop complaining before I suspect you for having a secret crush on Sam."

HUH?!

"WHAT THE HECK, GROSS!" Sam and I both shouted in unison. Carly rolled her eyes and squirmed with discomfort.

"Ugh, stop shouting!"

So, now I am cooking with Sam. As usual, we suddenly forgot that a while ago, we almost tore each other's heads because of her stupid boyfriend. Mind you, I still hate him and I will always hate him. I don't have to list all the things that I can't stand about him, do I? It's probably longer than Sam's list of the things she wants to do to me (Bullying of course, your dirty mind!).

Anyways, I do not know that Sam is a good cook. I mean, if you are just here you could smell the appetizing aroma of the chicken soup. Seriously, it smells delicious. I just want to taste it, hoping that it's way better than my mom's veggie pizza. Yeah, it irks me.

"Salt," she said to me, her eyes are still fixed on the boiling liquid in the pan. I handed her the little salt container, and when she grabbed it we sort of… held hands. I shuddered but I don't know why. Sam shot me a dirty look and slapped my hand away from the salt container.

"So…" I started, "How's the soup?"

"Fine," she said absently as she sprinkled a little salt, and then reached the ladle to stir the liquid, "Give me the bowls."

"Oh…okay."

Sam and I were sitting on the beanbags at Carly's bedroom, eating a slice of bread and devouring the soup. The soup was indeed delicious, and I officially call this my favorite soup. Well, if you will compare this chicken noodle soup with my mum's hideous eggplant chowder, what will you choose? But something bothers me, how did Sam learn to cook? I mean, she only eats, right?

So I asked.

"Sam, how did you learn to cook this?" I asked, taking another spoonful of soup into my mouth, "Pweh!"

I forgot that it's still hot, so I burned my tongue. Being the nice girl –note the sarcasm-, Sam laughed at me, and I heard Carly giggled too; very mature, girls.

"Yeah," Carly agreed, "It tastes great!"

"Maybe you hired a cook when I'm not looking?" I said slyly to her, and then I drank cold water to soothe my taster. Well, that's a sort of payback for laughing at me. Nothing's funny when you burn your tongue. Well, for Sam there is.

"Are you questioning my ability to cook?" She asked crossly, "Look at yourself; you can't even fry an egg to save your life."

"Is it my fault my mom won't let fry anything because I might fry myself instead?!"

"Haha," Carly said as she took a bite from her bread. Sam snorted aloud and said,

"I would definitely pay to see you fry yourself."

"Ugh," I groaned, "Just answer my question."

"Fine," she said, her laugh fading away, "I'm the type person who hangs out a lot in the kitchen, right? So I get to see my mom cooking her specialty every time that I already memorized it; happy now?"

"Okay," I said smiling, "It's amazing by the way, probably the best soup I've ever tasted."

She suddenly choked on her own soup. I was caught in panic when I saw her struggling. I rushed to her side and slapped her hard on the back, making her spit a large chunk of carrot. She was panting, and I offered her my glass of water.

"Thanks dork," she said breathlessly after drinking down my water, "You mean it?"

"Of course," I said frankly, "right Carly?"

"Yes," she said brightly, poring over us, "It's really great. Can you cook this for us again?"

"Sure," she said smiling genuinely at us, a smile that I haven't seen for a very long time, "thanks a lot guys."

"No prob, we're just telling the truth," Carly said eating the last bits of her pastry.

It was almost eleven and we decided to sleep over Carly's house to accompany and take care of her. We were sitting on the beanbags our heads resting on Carly's bedside. Good thing there is a television on her room, and there we resorted into watching reruns of Girly cow. I was sitting just beside Sam, who was, yet again, nibbling bacon. I'm always amazed of the fact that she never gains weight with all the meat she's consuming; she has a one heck of a metabolism.

"Have you taken your medicine, Carls?" she abruptly asked.

"Yes, mother," Carly said giggling as she covered herself with her pink and lilac blanket. Sam snorted as she took the last bacon into her mouth.

"Have you checked your recent temp?" I asked, suddenly remembering her last temperature being on 40 degrees Celsius a while ago.

"It's already 38.6, father," and she giggled softly again, Sam gagged.

"Don't call me mother ever again Carly!" Sam said threateningly as she flipped through the channels when the credits of Girly Cow started to roll.

Come to think of it, since the time we decided to take care of her, we are kinda acting like parents with a sick child, and Sam being the thoughtful mother who's good in cooking…

Nope, why am I thinking this anyway? That's a really stupid idea. Sam and I are married? You think I'll survive living with her? If you locked me with her in the same room, you'll think I will come out alive? Impossible.

Well, I can. You've probably remembered my rambling a while ago. You know, that Sam isn't always that abrasive girl who likes to torment me because she loves it. To be honest, ever since she took care of me, ever since we kissed, I'm seeing her in a different light. Uhm, not the 'light' that you're thinking right now. You see, we have this hate-at-first-sight thing going on, and I always saw her as my enemy and not as her friend. But as the years go by, I'm starting to discover Sam's soft side, and she's really a very cool person; she's my friend, or to be exact, one of my best friends (the other one being Carly).

I looked at her; she was staring at the television, completely ignoring my presence. But her eyes were blinking; I bet she is already sleepy. I craned my neck to check if Carly's still awake, but she already fell asleep, and there's a tiny smile that was painted on her face. I'm really thankful that for all these years, we three are still friends, and our friendship is getting stronger, so is iCarly.

I was startled when something heavy fell on my right shoulder. I looked sideways to see Sam's head resting on my shoulder; she is asleep. I can definitely smell the calm scent of cedarwood and lemongrass on her hair. This particular prospect gave me a déjà vu. Now I remember, when we were thirteen, we were sitting on the couch that time. I was doing something on my laptop that time when Sam rested her head on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off.

This time, I will not shrug her off. I reached for the remote and turned the TV off. Afterwards, I wrapped the blanket, which was laying on my side, around her. Smiling, I drifted off to sleep, my head was slightly leaning onto hers, thinking about our broken promise.

Maybe there's something between me and Sam that changed during the course of time, and I am sure that it's a good thing.

A/N: So... do you like it or hate it? Please review to inspire the uninspired. It takes a lot of imagination and a bucket of inspiration (not to mention a plate of bacon), to write my story. So please, review, I'm begging you! :P And I'll promise you great chapters like this. :)

And did you get the "hey that's my line" thing? ;)

Spoiler: Next chap consists a Valentine Dance, Sam's revenge, and the biggest Pretend that Carly could ever think of. ;)