DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ICARLY

CARLY'S POV

"I hate him! I hate him!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as I entered our apartment. I slammed the door behind me as hard as I could to make a statement before flopping myself on the couch, and throwing my bag full of school things on the floor.

I didn't even notice that Spencer was inside our apartment, working on some random sculpture. I could tell he was startled by my behavior and I braced myself for the incoming questions he was gonna throw at me.

"What happened?" he asked softly, wiping the paint off his hands.

I pretended not to hear his question and just grabbed the remote control resting on top of the coffee table. I started pushing some random buttons furiously that it almost hurt my thumb.

"Carly?" he repeated.

"Ryan's a jerk! That's my problem! He's a jerk!" I emphasized.

I heard my brother sigh. "Let me guess..." he paused, "Ryan dumped you."

What? He thought he dumped me? Great! The last thing I needed was someone telling me that I've been dumped again. "He didn't dump me!"

"Then, you're still together?"

"No!"

Spencer shook his head. "That's not confusing at all."

"You don't have any idea, do you?" I asked him.

"Nope." He admitted.

"I dumped him!"

"Oh." I watched Spencer drop the towel on the table and sit right beside me. "Okay. Tell me what happened."

"I caught him kissing Rona!" I whined. "I caught them kissing with my own two eyes and when I confronted him, he still has the nerve to deny it! Jerk!"

"Carls…" he took a deep breath. "You see…"

I waited patiently for something helpful my brother had to say. Spencer was absolutely the best when it comes to giving advices but this one thing wasn't his specialty. He was never any good in giving me lectures about love. Almost all the time, he would just keep quiet and listen to me because he himself wasn't blessed in this one aspect of life. Sometimes, I even thought that maybe we were cursed.

"You know little sister... Boys are... Boys." I stared blankly at him.

"That doesn't make any sense." I commented.

"You know I'm not good at this. But Carly... I don't know what you like about those boys you date. I mean, there are a lot of better guys for you out there. You know, someone who will always be there for you, someone who will never hurt you, someone like..."

"Like?"

"Ahhhh! Hide me!"

Spencer didn't have the chance to continue what he was saying when someone barge in through the door. Such wrong timing. Spencer was actually saying something that made sense. We both turned our heads to see who it was.

"Freddie?"

"What's wrong Freddo?" Spencer asked. We both looked at Freddie as he locked our door quickly with his trembling hands.

Freddie put his index finger on his lips, a gesture telling us to keep quiet. Spencer literally zipped his lips and I kept my mouth shut as we waited for something we all expected.

Mrs. Benson knocked violently on the door as she called all our names. "Spencer? Carly? Are you home? Is Freddie there? We're gonna be late!"

Spencer was about to answer her when Freddie glared at him. A few more knocks and shouts, and we eventually heard her footsteps away from the apartment. Freddie took a deep breath and sat between me and Spencer.

"Late for what?" I asked him.

"My mom signed us up for mother-and-son ballet class." He said glumly.

Spencer and I laughed.

"Yeah. If you think that's funny, then it's nothing compared to what she wants me to wear."

"What does she want you to wear?" Spencer asked him and I waited for his answer too.

"Leotards!" he answered sharply.

"Leotards?" I tried my best not to laugh.

"Pink!"

Hearing that, Spencer and I laughed so hard that I almost forgot everything I was feeling before Freddie came in.

"Say Freddo… Are you doing something now?" Spencer stood up and asked him.

Freddie shook his head. "No. Why?"

"I need you to keep Carly company. I gotta run some errands."

"What errands?" I asked. I knew there were no errands. Spencer was just using them as an excuse to run away and save himself from hearing my never-ending love life dilemmas. I couldn't blame him. I've been having the same problem with boys over and over again.

"Oh. Just some errands. You know… The one which you need to do... Bye!" And then he was out.

I suddenly remembered why I was feeling so low. I shifted my position, grabbed the remote again, and focused myself on the program I wasn't even watching. Freddie was still sitting beside me and knowing him, it wouldn't take so much time for him to notice my mood.

"Are you okay Carls? You look..." Just as I thought.

"Mad? Angry? Frustrated?"

"Pouty."

I rolled my eyes and refused to meet his gaze. The next thing I knew, he had already stolen the remote from me and the television was now off.

"Hey!" I turned to him.

"What's the problem?" he asked seriously, concern evident in his chocolate brown eyes.

I sighed. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"In five, four, three, two..." he muttered.

"I caught Ryan kissing Rona!" I shouted. I was clearly annoyed that I had to repeat everything again but still, it wasn't Freddie's fault.

"So you had a fight?" he asked.

"No. We're over."

"Really?" I saw Freddie's eyes light up. It wasn't the reaction I was expecting from him. By the way he said it, it sounded more like he was ecstatic about Ryan and I's break-up.

"Why are you happy? You're not supposed to be happy!" I punched him lightly on his shoulder.

"I'm not…" he paused, suddenly thinking, "Okay... I'm kind of happy."

I saw him smile, or smirk? But whatever it was, his reaction pissed me off.

"Why you…" I raised my hand and was about to punch him again when he suddenly got hold of both my wrists. I struggled to free myself but he had gotten so strong. Two years ago, I could easily pin him down and now, I couldn't even get him on the ground.

"I was kidding Carly! I was just trying to make you laugh." He told me.

I gave him a sharp look as my muscles began to relax. "That wasn't funny."

"I know. But you see, Ryan is a jerk." He stated, letting go of my hand.

"I already know that! Thank you very much!" I said with pure sarcasm.

"Okay…" he paused. "What I'm trying to say is that you don't deserve a Rona-kissing-jerk. He's just one of those stupid boys who would come into your life and make you feel special but in the end, you'll always end up getting hurt."

I grimaced. I opened my mouth to respond but nothing came out. Freddie was right. I hated the fact that he was absolutely right.

"Come on. Smile?" he requested, looking straight into my eyes.

Freddie never used his puppy dog face on me before but I found it cute.

"Please? For me?"

I stared at him, already on the verge of smiling. When my eyes met his, we suddenly broke into laughter together.

"You stole my line Freddie!" I accused him playfully.

"Hey! At least it worked."

Freddie always knew how to make me laugh whenever I was feeling so low. Sometimes, we would just end up in a staring contest. It's as if we both have this secret language that when we look into each others' eyes, we knew exactly what the other one was talking about. Sometimes, words need not be spoken to know what we wanted to tell each other.

"Come on. Let's grab some smoothies. It's on me." he smiled at me as he stood up and offered his hand.

I put my hands on his as I smiled back. I didn't realize that I was already feeling so much better and it was all because of him.

A/N:

What do you guys think? This will be a multi-chapter story.

I'm still working on Chapter 8 of Dissipated Light. I wish I could update it soon. Oh, and I've already finished a Valentine one-shot. I'm gonna post it soon. ^_^

-purpleheart10