A/N:

Welcome readers to the second story in the Right as Rain Series: Summer of Love. This story is being re-posted so if you've read it before...thanks for coming back. And if this is your first time - we hope you like it!

The Right as Rain Series will be 4 stories long. The third installment in the series is called 'Until the World Ends' and will premier on this site on Friday 10/5.

October 6th is a big day in the iCarly fandom...the premier of the final season of iCarly. The day before will prove to be a big day for the iCarly fan fiction fandom. On that day, many of your favorite Seddie authors have accepted the challenge to post new stories or new chapters to existing stories. It's a MASS posting...tons of Seddie fun! Get excited!

If you'd like to take part in the challenge just drop me a PM and I'll add you to the list of participants. On October 5th DwynArthur and I will post chapter one of our new story 'Until the World Ends' and include all participating authors and story titles there for you to see.

Disclaimer: The characters in this story (most of them) aren't ours. We don't own iCarly, buttersocks or any famous webshows...

XXOO - TheWrtrInMe & DwynArthur

Chapter 1: Until Then...

Pandemonium. That was the only way to describe it.

The halls of Ridgeway High School were echoing with the ecstatic cries of several hundred students, celebrating their release to three months of freedom as the final bell of the year rang out. The floors were littered with the contents of their lockers as they rushed to clean them, anxious to exit the school doors and begin their summer.

All around, groups of kids huddled together, swapping gossip, making plans, and reminiscing over the school year's highlights. And two people in particular were the most cause for conversation.

Sam Puckett and Freddie Benson.

They'd all watched with thinly veiled amusement for three years as Sam and Freddie took every opportunity to torment each other. Then with open suspicion as things between the two of them began to change. But no one had been prepared for what they'd witnessed at prom last month. Sam Puckett – in a dress no less, had taken the stage and wowed them all with her rendition of Adele's 'Make You Feel My Love'. It was impressive, to put it lightly, but the fact that she'd actually dedicated it to Freddie and then kissed him – right on the lips! Right in front of everyone! Well that elevated the incident to historic levels. Yep, that was one prom no one was going to forget, or stop talking about, anytime soon.

Since then the students had watched, most with disbelief, some with curiosity and a few with outright jealousy, as Sam and Freddie became a real, live couple – complete with public displays of affection. Rip-off Rodney had organized a school wide bet on how long it would last. Most had put their money on days, a few were a bit more optimistic and put the expiration date at weeks. But no one had expected it to last this long; over a month and, from the looks of it, not likely to end anytime soon.

Sam had never been happier to be rid of a place. This school year had been exhausting, full of the kind of drama that, she hoped, only happened in high school. She'd begun the year a single girl with a wicked appetite, a penchant for violence, a beautiful best friend who she loved like a sister and a nerdy nemesis who she barely tolerated. She still had the appetite, the violent streak and the best friend, but now she was decidedly un-single and she and her nerdy nemesis spent much more time kissing than fighting. In short, Samantha Puckett was in love, with Freddie Benson no less – a fact that no one in this academic prison could seem to quit talking about.

Just as she had feared when she and Freddie were taking their first tentative steps toward being together, the students at Ridgeway had taken their new status as a couple as an invitation to make their private lives very public property. It was partly her fault, since she had publicly declared her love for the nub at the most important high school social event of the year. And she had, in a jealous rage, attempted to claw the face off of the most popular (and gossip worthy) girl in the school. And she was the co-star of a pretty popular web show, which in itself left her open to public opinion and scrutiny. But she had hoped that after a few weeks the public interest would die down. Oh how wrong she had been.

Even now, standing at her locker attempting, half-heartedly, to clean it out while Freddie (who had, of course, already finished cleaning his) stood by fiddling with his pearPhone, she could hear people making comments as they walked past.

"Aww! You guys are so totally cute together!"

She didn't even bother to turn around and see who the compliment had come from. She rolled her eyes and tossed an empty FatCake wrapper over her shoulder – hoping it hit whoever was talking squarely in the face.

"Sam…"

She glanced over at Freddie and tried to turn her face into a mask of innocence.

"What?"

"You did that on purpose."

Sam turned in time to see a girl, whose face she didn't recognize, glaring at her, one hand covering her eye as her friends, who were also glaring, helped her walk away.

"Mhyeh…she was bugging me!"

Freddie laughed and walked over to where Sam stood, hands on her hips in defiance. Say what you wanted about Sam Puckett, but life with her was never dull.

"What… you don't think we're like 'so totally cute together'?" Freddie laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Freddie" she warned, attempting in vain to pull away as he leaned in toward her lips, "people are going to think we're putting on a show."

"Let 'em watch" he said, pulling her back to him. She smiled against his lips. She wasn't the only one who had changed. Fredward Benson, he of the overprotective mother, tick baths and unfailing good manners, had developed a bit of a bad ass streak lately. Here they were, making out in plain sight, in direct violation of the school handbook, and she was the one trying to stop.

She'd never get used to this. The way it felt to have his arms around her. The way his lips felt against hers. The way he could reduce her to fits of seriously embarrassing girlishness. The way being with him, close to him like this, made her feel…things; things that were wonderful and terrifying all at once. It was like being on a roller coaster that never ended. His body was pressed flush against hers as she leaned against her locker. His right arm looped around her waist, and she was grateful for the support; after a kiss like this, her knees were more than a little weak.

The sounds of laughter and conversation around them brought her, reluctantly, back to reality. This slightly confusing tug-of-war was getting irritating. She was really trying, for Freddie's sake, not to be so weird about being together in front of these Ridgeway weirdos, but she couldn't help it. Sure, most people were pretty supportive, they oo'ed and ahh'ed and told her how lucky she was to be with Freddie who had admittedly turned into something of a hottie in the last year. But some of the comments were flat out rude. She'd heard that Rip-Off Rodney was even taking bets on how long they'd make it. At that revelation she'd immediately wished she hadn't let Freddie talk her into throwing away the butter sock. But Freddie hated the butter sock. And as good as things were between them right now, she didn't want to push her luck by beating the snot out of someone right in front of him. He preferred Mama's softer side…a side he was enjoying a bit too much at the moment.

Freddie's lips moved from hers and began to trace light kisses up her neck to the spot behind her ear. The spot he knew made her weak, and generally agreeable to extending the kissing indefinitely – no matter who was watching.

"Seriously you guys…are you ever going to give it a rest?"

Freddie groaned and Sam laughed, turning her head toward the interruption – their best friend Carly who was standing at her own locker with her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face that said she was more amused than annoyed.

"Sorry Carls." Sam said, pushing Freddie off of her and attempting, in vain, to remove his hand from her waist.

"Speak for yourself!" Freddie said, standing upright and smiling at Sam wickedly, "I'm not sorry."

"Freddie" Sam laughed, as Carly rolled her eyes and began to clean out her locker. "Be nice."

Freddie took a step toward Sam, leaning in to whisper in her ear.

"That's what I was trying to do…before we were…interrupted." he said, glancing over at Carly.

"Alright you two! Enough already!" Carly warned, opening her locker.

This was definitely going to take some getting used to. She was happy for her friends and she had to admit that it was nice that all her time with them wasn't spent trying to get Sam to stop inflicting physical pain on Freddie. But this new era in their friendship was providing its own issues. Like watching them make out….constantly. She'd expected some degree of public "lovey-doveyness" on their part, especially after Sam had taken such a big step at prom. But that was almost a month ago and she figured that the flame would have died down by now - at least a little.

"So did you tell her?" Freddie said, looking down at Sam.

"Tell me what?" Carly asked, immediately suspicious.

"Freddie, it's no big deal."

"What's no big deal?" Carly asked

"Baby, it's a really big deal!"

"Will somebody tell me what the heck is or isn't such a big deal!"

Freddie laughed, looking over at Carly, his arms still wrapped around Sam's waist.

"Fine then, I'll tell her." he said, getting no argument from Sam. He looked over at Carly and from the smile on his face Carly knew that even if Sam was less than impressed with whatever news he was about to share – it meant a lot to him. "Sam…our Sam…" he said, drawing out the tension as Sam shook her head, laughing at him, "Got an 'A' on her history term paper!"

Carly's eyes went wide in shock.

"What!" She screamed reaching over to grab Sam's shoulder. "Oh my God Sam! That's fantastic! That's amazing! That's…"

"A miracle?" Sam cracked. "I only got it because Freddie helped."

"No," Freddie said, looking down at her, "She got it because my baby is a secret genius."

"Good answer nub, now what are you going to give your genius girlfriend to reward her for all her hard work?"

"How about this…" Freddie said, leaning down to kiss her.

'There they go' Carly thought, 'attached at the face and completely forgetting that I'm here.' Still, she was amazed at Freddie's news. She couldn't remember a time Sam had gotten an 'A', well except that time they spent a semester playing dodgeball in gym. Sam was very talented at hitting moving targets. Carly supposed this was just another of the changes she'd have to attribute to Sam and Freddie's new relationship and find a way to get used to.

"How long do you think the honeymoon is gonna last?"

Carly turned to see their chronically awkward friend Gibby leaning on the locker beside her.

"Why don't you ask Rip-off Rodney. I hear there's some pretty good odds on the 27th of June." Sam said, turning back to her locker in frustration.

"Hey! That's the day I put in for! Sweet!" Gibby cried, raising his fist in delusional triumph.

"Gibby!" Carly shook her head at him. She knew how upset Sam was at the entire school's inability to believe that she and Freddie could really last. Admittedly, she'd had her own doubts at first, but watching them over the past few weeks, and witnessing the changes in both of them, made her think that they were both just stubborn enough to make it work.

Sam was glaring at Gibby, who was oblivious as usual, as Freddie gently rubbed her arm.

"Doesn't matter what they say baby" Freddie said – sending death rays of his own at Gibby, "I'm not going anywhere." he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her cheek, bringing a blush to her cheeks.

Sometimes she swore she had hit the boyfriend jackpot. She turned and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning up to whisper something in his ear that Carly and Gibby couldn't hear. And from the looks of it they didn't want to as Freddie's eyes grew wide and he began to sport a blush of his own to rival the one he'd just caused in Sam.

"Oh brother" Carly breathed, "Hey" she called to Sam and Freddie, reaching out to poke Sam in the shoulder, "Suck Face Twins…you've got an audience!"

Sam and Freddie pulled apart, Sam looking genuinely embarrassed and Freddie looking way too pleased with himself.

"So Gibby" Carly said, rolling her eyes at Sam and Freddie as she turned to him, "You got any big summer plans?"

"Heck yeah! Spencer said he's got some big project he's going to let me help him with. It's gonna be like Camp Spencer, but without the home repairs!"

"What big project?" Carly asked, peeking at Gibby from around her locker door.

"Aw crap! He said it was surprise and I wasn't supposed to tell you until he did. But let's just say that I think you and I are going to be spending a lot more time together." He raised his eyebrows in what was probably supposed to be seduction but ended up looking like he was having a face spasm. 'Great, a summer with Gibby hanging around the apartment.' She was going to kill Spencer!

Normally she wouldn't have worried about it. Gibby would hang out with Spencer and it wouldn't matter because she'd be spending her days hanging out with Sam. But now that Sam and Freddie were all coupled up she had a feeling that she wouldn't be seeing as much of her best friend as she was used to; a fact that gave her a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach that she'd been trying to ignore.

Last month she'd been making plans in her head for all the things they could do – her, Sam, Freddie… and Brad. But that was before Brad's father had gotten stationed in Virginia and he'd told her that his family was moving. Now she was forced to face a summer void of two constants in her life: Sam, and male companionship, unless you counted Gibby – which she definitely didn't.

She looked over at Gibby who was grinning at her in characteristic cluelessness. Gibby was a sweet guy, always optimistic, helpful and loyal to his friends. But as a love interest he was absolutely not a prospect. At least he was wearing a shirt now – almost all the time. That would make his being around the house at least a little less awkward. God, this summer was going to suck!

Sam and Freddie were barely containing their laughter at the idea of poor Carly spending her summer in an apartment full of Gibby.

"All right," Freddie said, placing a final kiss on Sam's nose, "I gotta go…"

"Take a cold shower." Carly quipped.

"Very funny Shay," he said, "I'll meet you at Carly's?" he said to Sam.

Sam nodded and smiled as Freddie walked off toward the A/V equipment room.

"Hey Freddie, I'll come help you" Gibby called, running after Freddie.

Carly looked over to her best friend. It was so good to see her like this: happy. Honestly, she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen Sam this happy; not even when she'd gotten her first shipment from the Bacons of the World Club. And the fact that this new happiness was because of Freddie Benson made it even more amazing.

"Why are you standing there grinning like a loon, Shay?" Sam said, throwing a handful of papers over her shoulder, not even trying to hit the garbage can.

"Oh nothing, just happy for you that's all."

"Don't get all mushy on me."

"You didn't seem to have a problem with mushiness a few minutes ago"

"That was…different." Sam said, blushing and turning back to her locker, which was still almost as messy as when she'd first started cleaning it. Messy was really not a good word; Sam's locker should probably have biohazard stickers stuck to it.

"What is that smell?" Carly wrinkled her nose as Sam pulled out a plastic bag from inside her locker, holding it carefully away from her, between two fingers. Whatever it was must be pretty bad if it was grossing even Sam out.

"You remember that ham sandwich I was eating at the lock-in?" she wrinkled her nose as she inspected the bag, "I think this might be it." She leaned toward Carly's locker, holding the offending object out to her.

"Eww, Sam! Gross! How do you lose a sandwich in your locker for three weeks?"

Sam shrugged her shoulders, threw the sandwich on the ground on top of the rest of the junk she'd discarded from her locker and went back to cleaning.

"So are you coming back to my house after we're done?" Carly asked, shutting her locker as she tossed the remains of her junior year at Ridgeway into her bag.

"Well, can Spencer swing by my house before we go to yours so I can grab some clothes? I need to change."

Yet another thing that had changed. In the pre-Sam and Freddie days Sam had usually managed to look nice, but she'd never really been bothered to put much effort into her wardrobe; some shorts, a penny tee and her high tops and she was ready to go. Now she seemed to be putting real thought into what she wore. In the last few weeks she'd noticed that Sam's clothes had gotten …cuter, and clingier and…almost girly. Subtle changes to anyone on the outside looking in probably, but Carly knew Sam better than anyone. Yep, things had changed and for now it looked like they'd changed for the better. She only hoped that they stayed that way.

"Alright, let's blow this popsicle stand!" Sam said, slamming her locker door.

"Sam, your locker is still full of…Lord even knows what. Aren't you going to clean it?"

"I'm sure they're paying someone minimum wage to make sure the lockers are cleaned out. And they aren't paying me anything so…"

"You're just gonna leave it for someone else to clean up…"

"Carlotta... you know me so well!" she wrapped her arm around Carly's shoulders as she headed out the front doors.

They sat on the front steps, waiting for Spencer; who was late, as usual.

"So, have you heard from Brad?"

Carly blushed. Just hearing that boy's name made her all squirmy. The week after prom, he'd found out that his father was being relocated to Virginia. Her dad was in the military, so she understood. She was lucky to have lived with Spencer and not spent her life moving from base to base. They'd tried to spend a lot of time together, knowing that soon he'd be gone but every date felt like marking off one more time until he'd be out of her life. Last weekend finally moved with his family to the other side of the country. Now he was officially a resident of Virginia and their interaction was limited to phone calls and video chats.

"Yeah. We video chatted last night." She smiled.

"So when are you going to see him again? Is he coming out here this summer?"

"I don't think so Sam. He said he's helping his mom set up the new house and it's really expensive to fly out here. I like him…a lot. But it sucks because he's not here anymore so I really wish I didn't like him. It seems like a waste of time. Plus…have you noticed that he kind of snorts when he laughs?"

"So he's a snorty dude who lives far away. Someone once told me that it's never a bad idea to love someone."

"Who said anything about love?" She'd never said she loved Brad. Although she felt like she was in serious danger of falling for this boy; and falling hard. A supremely bad decision, considering the situation.

"You know what I mean Carls. Take it from someone who knows, if you're as into this guy as it looks like you are, you're not going to be able to stop it from happening." She rubbed Carly's shoulder, "but it does suck that he had to leave. Freddie's pretty bummed about it too."

"I don't know Sam. I like Brad, don't get me wrong, but I just don't know if a long distance relationship is smart… or if it will even work. We talked about it last night, we both think that it's probably best to just make a clean break."

"So you're giving up?"

"No, it's not giving up…it's just being realistic. I don't want him to be in Virginia and feel pressured to keep up a relationship with a girl he hardly knows who lives a million miles away. And I don't think I want to feel that pressure either. It'll be senior year. Senior year is supposed to be about fun and you can't have much fun if you're pining away because you miss your long distance boyfriend. And really, we just started going out. It's not the same as you and Freddie. You guys are together, like really together. If he had to leave, you guys could make it work."

Sam sighed and looked as if she was considering it. If this thing with Brad was ending, she was pretty sure Carly already had a plan B. Not to mention, part of her wondered exactly how it would work if Carly wasn't with someone. Since she'd been with Brad all four of them had spent time together. Carly was happy with Brad, Sam was happy with Freddie, and no one was left out. If Brad and Carly broke that was the end of their neat little foursome. And then what would happen?

"Okay then Carls…what new guy are you going to set your sights on?"

"No one." Carly said, as Sam started laughing, "What? I'm serious Sam! This whole thing with Brad has gotten me thinking. I've spent the last three years always having a guy I'm dating…or trying to date. Maybe it's time to take a break. A boy break." She looked over to Sam, trying to gauge her reaction. Sam's head was down, her long hair shielding her face.

"Sam? Did you hear me?" Carly waited for Sam to answer, and frowned as Sam's shoulders began to shake and a light laugh snuck from beneath her curls, until she was laughing so loud she had to raise her head and wipe tears from her eyes. "What is so funny!"

"You? Taking a 'boy break'?" Sam sputtered between laughs, "that's like me, taking a ham break!"

"What? I can do it!" Carly said, pursing her lips. Okay, maybe she'd never really done it before. And maybe she was a little boy crazy…okay, a lot boy crazy. But that was no reason to laugh at her!

Sam looked at her friend, who looked genuinely offended and tried hard to stop her laughing – reaching out to pat Carly's shoulder.

"No offense Carls but you have about as much chance of giving up on boys as I do at giving up on meat." She started to laugh again but thought better of it as she looked at Carly's narrowed eyes. "Okay, sorry. But seriously … what's the point?"

Sam was genuinely curious. Carly being boy crazy was something she'd just come to accept. She was the girliest girl Sam knew and boys generally tripped over themselves trying to be with her, so it made sense that anyone with that much opportunity would be more than happy to take advantage of it. And Sam didn't really see anything wrong with that. Carly wasn't like some of the girls in their school. Carly had liked a lot of guys, and lots of guys liked Carly but it wasn't like she was, walking around screwing every guy who paid her any attention. Carly was classy, and most of the guys she'd been with had treated her well. Other than Steven, none of them had given Sam cause to beat them.

"I don't know Sam. It's just that when Brad told me he was moving I was upset but part of me was just…okay with it. And I started thinking about all the reasons I was okay with it…like all the things about Brad I didn't like. And after a while I realized – every single guy I've dated I get so crazy about them in the beginning; thinking about how perfect they are, and how perfect we are together, but after a while I start finding reasons that we won't work. No matter how much I like them in the beginning the list of things I don't like eventually makes me lose interest. They don't call when they say they will"

"Or they call too much" Sam said

"They don't talk"

"They talk too much"

"They don't want to kiss me"

"ALL they want to do is kiss you"

"They don't recycle"

"They collect tiny plush toys"

"They cheat with random girls from California" they said in unison.

"So you see my point?" Carly asked.

"Honestly Carls? No, I mean you've dated some losers – everyone has dated some losers, that's not a reason to give up on the whole species." Sam laughed.

"I'm not 'giving up' Sam! I'm taking a break. Okay, here's what it is. The way I see it, there's never been a guy that I haven't been able to find a reason to break it off with. Some of the reasons were understandable. Steven was a lying cheating douchebag. But sometimes there wasn't really a good reason. It's like I date these guys and make up some fairytale in my head where we run off into the sunset and live happily ever after. And then when it doesn't live up to that fairytale I break it off." She paused, "I've seen the way you and Freddie look at each other. I've seen the way you both have changed and how you've managed to get past so many problems just to be together. And I just think, that's the kind of relationship I want. A real one. Where I understand that the other person isn't perfect – and they understand I'm not perfect either, but we love each other anyway. I want what you have."

Sam shook her head. She understood where Carly was coming from. And she'd had more than one girl in the last month walk up to her and say the same thing; they wanted what she and Freddie had. But she wondered if they would all feel that way if they knew how hard she and Freddie had fought to have what they had. Being with him was wonderful, but it hadn't been all sunshine and roses getting to this point. People thought they had a perfect, sweet love story. But if there was anything Sam had learned since being with Freddie it was that no relationship was perfect. You just had to make sure that at the end of the day you could look at the person you were with and believe they were worth whatever load of crap you had to plow through to make it work.

"There are never guarantees Carly. Ever. I mean, I guess I get what you're doing and why you're doing it but even after your little testosterone hiatus it won't change the fact that you can't really guarantee it will work with anyone. So you just have to enjoy what you have for as long as you have it."

"Wow Sam, that was surprisingly…wise" Carly laughed, "When did you go all 'zen' on me?"

"Shut it Shay!" Sam warned, "All I'm saying is that all this drama lately has made me realize that some things are just outside of your control. Like this thing with Brad…he's moving across the country – totally out of your control."

"I hate not being in control. But you're partly right. No matter who I'm with, being apart is something I might have to deal with anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we start senior year soon, and after that college and who knows where we'll all end up."

They sat in silence, each thinking separate thoughts about Carly's comment. Sam looked down at her hands, picking at her nails. It wasn't that she'd never thought about it, all of them being separated. But it was definitely a thought she tried to keep at bay whenever it did come up. Senior year. College. Everyone leaving. All of them were terrifying thoughts and Sam's general rule on terrifying thoughts was that it was best to try not to think them. But who was she kidding, no matter how she avoided the thought, the facts were still there. They were hurtling toward adulthood like a speeding train with no brakes and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

Freddie was a genius, something that alternately frustrated her and made her overflow with pride. He could get into college anywhere he wanted, probably with a scholarship. And while she knew his mother was campaigning tirelessly for him to consider staying in Washington, a fact that made her just a little bit fond of Crazy, there was no guarantee he'd actually stay. He might leave, and that thought scared her in a way she couldn't even verbalize.

It was a done deal at this point. The nub held her heart. She loved him, more than she'd admit out loud and the longer she was with him the stronger it got until, at this point, the idea of a regular daily life without him in it was almost inconceivable. And while she wanted the best for him, she selfishly hoped for, and to some extent counted on, him to stick around. It was bad enough to think that she'd very likely be forced to say goodbye to Carly, who she knew had her heart set on some fancy schmancy school out east, but saying goodbye to Freddie was something she wasn't prepared for; she didn't think she ever would be.

"Well, that's all the more reason for us to make this summer epic. You never know what's going to happen, so we might as well make some kick ass memories in the meantime." She looked over at Carly and smiled, hoping she looked more confident than she felt.

"Oh boy, you saying epic scares me."

"Why Carly, whatever do you mean!" Sam stared at Carly open mouthed with mock offense.

"Sam! Epic for you usually involves the breaking of laws…or limbs! The last time you did something epic you wound up in juvie and a diplomat wound up with hot beans in very sensitive places!" Carly laughed. Say what you would, but there was never a dull moment with Sam.

The girls stood as Spencer pulled up to the curb and, unnecessarily, honked his horn. Sam hooked her arm into Carly's and pulled her toward the car.

"Just wait Carls…this summer really is going to be epic. And I promise, no broken limbs… or laws. Well, no big laws anyway!"

And she was determined to keep her word. She didn't know how, but she was going to make this summer so amazing that no matter what came after it they'd always be able to look back at it as the very best of their times together.

Review? Yeah...you know you want to.