iHave a secret

Sam may seem a bit OOC in this story, but she is older and more mature, plus as she proved in the Killer Tuna episode, she really does have strong feelings for Freddie. This story is rated T because of minor references to Sam and Freddie's grown up relationship, but there are no Lemons or swearing. Lemons will be 'on the side' in a separate story, but it won't effect this story line at all.

Freddie and Sam are keeping a big secret from Carly, but Carly has been keeping a secret of her own. Our story opens as Carly is about to finish her junior year of college in Italy and her dad has just been offered a promotion and a transfer stateside. When she reunites with her friends, will she be shocked at what they have been up to, and what about her secret? Will she be able to tell them and how will they react? I started writing this before the tuna jump episode of Sam & Cat, but I tried to put in references to keep it canon with the storyline.

Chapter 1

Carly was busy studying for finals and hadn't noticed how distant Col. Shay had been the past week. She misses her friends and her social life is almost nonexistent but she loves being in Italy with her dad and never realized how much she missed being around him all those years. The novelty of her "celebrity" status wore off long ago and though she's a bright student, she's far from the center of attention she was in Ridgeway. No matter what, no matter how good her grades, she still has to bust her butt just to feel like she's keeping her head above water. Even though the studies are hard and she's miserable in Europe, she wouldn't trade the past 3 1/2 years with her dad for anything.

To top it all off she's still carrying a torch for Freddie. No one, not even her best friend knows this, but ever since that kiss the day she left nearly all those years ago, she's been secretly pining away for him. Sure she's dated and she's even had serious feelings for a guy or two but when it all boils down, she compares them all to Freddie and no one ever measures up. Every time they video chat she yearns to tell him her true feelings, but how could she bring herself to say it over the internet? Besides, Sam is always there. She talks to Sam without Freddie, but for some reason it seems Sam is always at Freddie's apartment.

She knows the two are dating again, they have been for a while. First, Freddie told her about his visit to L.A. and how Sam saved him from those man eating fish. Then after Freddie transferred to Caltech, they started hanging out and finally rekindled their relationship, but Carly keeps thinking it's not permanent. All she has to do is wait for them to break up, profess her untold love, and he'll be at her beckon call again. Just like the lost puppy routine from junior high. Maybe when she visits over the summer she can find a way to get back with him. Not that she would ever do anything to break Sam and Freddie up, Sam's her best friend after all. But lets face it, if they are still together in two months it will be a small miracle. Jeez, it's a small miracle they've been together for a year without killing each other to begin with.

"Hey, Sweetheart, don't you think it's about time to take a break and grab some dinner with your old man?" The colonel nearly made her jump off her chair, she was so engrossed in her studies. Well, studying and thinking about how she was going to get Freddie back.

"Dad, I didn't hear you come in."

"I'm sorry it's so late, Carly, I've been dealing with staffing issues all day. Look, I know it's getting late, but I really need to unwind and there's something I need to talk to you about." He's been avoiding talking to Carly since last Thursday. That's the day he got the call from Gen. Landry. Landry was the colonel's friend and mentor. He was currently the base commander at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

"Oh, Dad, you're not dating again are you? Seriously, the last one was just too . . . much." Carly wanted her dad to be happy, but he sure had a knack for picking the oddest women. It puzzled her how a man as well put together as her father could take up with women that made Sam's mom look almost normal. The one that took the cake even had an all too familiar fondness for ill-fitting bikinis and poorly designed, home made tattoos.

"No, Dear, I'm not seeing anyone, I've been too busy with work to even think about dating lately. Listen, I don't want to talk about it right now, let me get changed and we can talk when we get to Luigi's"

"Luigi's, huh? This must be something big, we only go to Luigi's for birthdays and when I graduated from high school." Little did she know her dad was about to be promoted and was offered a position back in the states. The colonel's friend, Gen. Landry had accepted a position in Washington and wants to recommend Col. Shay as his replacement at Edwards. The colonel headed into his room to slip out of his uniform and into civilian attire while Carly shut off her computer and straightened up the table.

"We'd better get going, Carly, I made us reservations for 9:00 and it's over half and hour drive to Luigi's" It was already 8:35 when they hastily made their way to the colonel's car. The cool Italian spring made her miss home all the more. Sure, Seattle was damp and rainy this time of year, but it was her home and lately she's been missing home more and more, though she'd never tell her dad how homesick she really was and who she was homesick for. It would surely break his heart if he found out she was just staying for his sake.

All the way to the restaurant, Carly tried to read her dad with no luck. He had the perfect poker face. Was it something good or bad? He wouldn't tell her or even give her a hint. Surely it wasn't something bad. Luigi's is their celebration place after all, but she still couldn't help but worry. Spencer is OK, she had 2 emails from him yesterday and he even texted her after his date last night to let her know he thought this girl was the one.

Oh my gosh! Granddad! She hadn't called him back last weekend when he called and she was getting her hair done. This is terrible, if something happened to him, she'd never forgive herself for not calling him back. No, it couldn't be something wrong with Granddad or they'd be on their way to the airport, not dinner. What could be so important? Little did she know this was the news she'd been waiting four years for, the news that they were going back to the United States for good.

"Carly, we're here." Col. Shay said after shutting off the car and taking off his seatbelt. Carly was still in her trance, trying to figure out what was going on "Carly!, Are we going to go in to dinner or are we just going to sit here and hope Luigi starts offering curb service?" As much as he'd been avoiding talking to her about this, he could wait no longer. Landry needed to know his decision tomorrow and if Carly didn't want to leave Italy then he was going nowhere, either.

"Oh, sorry Dad, I was just . . . daydreaming" Carly still wasn't able to read her dad. Even though he was in civilian clothes and off base, his demeanor was staunch and quiet. Little did she know he was deep in his thoughts, too and very nervous about the talk he was about to have with his daughter. How could he ask her to leave before finishing college? How could he ask her to just pick up and go again.

As they took their seats and began to look at the menus, she wandered how long he was going to keep her in suspense. Once they placed their orders she couldn't take it any more.

"Dad, we're here, we've ordered our meals and I'm about to go crazy. What do you need to tell me? Spill it!"

"Oh, Carly, you never did have any patience, did you? Seriously, Dear, you're 21 and you don't have any more patience than you did when you were 12." If only he knew how long she's been waiting for the opportunity to talk to Freddie about her true feelings for him, he'd think she had the patience of a saint.

"What do you mean, it's been almost two hours, how long do you think you can keep me in suspense? Is it something bad? I just know it's something bad, but why would you bring us all they way off base, clear out here to break bad news?"

"Carly, relax, it's not bad news. In fact, I think it's sort of good news." He hoped it was good news to her, too. But what if she doesn't want to go back to the U.S.? What if she's seeing someone and doesn't want to leave. No, she's not been that serious about boys lately, has she? The colonel was more nervous than he had been in years.

"Is Spencer going to propose to this Sonja girl? He told me she thought she was the one, but he says that about every other girl he dates. I hope he's thought this through. Oh my gosh, I'll bet she's pregnant. Oh, Spencer, what were you thinking?" Carly rambled on and on and was getting off track.

"Carly, It's not about Spencer, it's about me." The colonel interrupted. "Well actually, us." He clarified. "This is going to effect both of us. "

"Oh-Kaaay" Now Carly was really curious. Is he in some kind of trouble? Not her dad, he's the most responsible person she knows. Well, him and Freddie. Maybe he's retiring. No, he keeps talking about staying in the military until he's 60 and then retiring to Florida."

"Do you remember Jim Landry, General Landry?" the colonel asked as he sipped his drink.

"Sure, he was here over Christmas the year before last. Isn't he the guy you always said was your mentor in the military?" She remembers how she barely saw her dad that week, the two men were so busy seeing all the historic tourist spots and hanging out like the old friends they are when they weren't in the office going over Air Force business.

"The very one."

"Is he still at Edwards?" Jim had given Carly a tour of the space shuttle hanger at Edwards one time.

"Yes, well, for now, anyway. He was just promoted to the Pentagon to work with the Joint Chiefs, he'll be a three star general in a couple of weeks."

"That's so cool, Dad. I always liked him, he's my favorite one of your military buddies. But why are we celebrating his promotion?"

"He called me last week and asked me something important. I told him before I gave him an answer, I'd have to talk to you first."

"Me? What do I have to do with it? Oh wait, is his son looking for a girlfriend? His son's a Marine, right? No offense Dad, but I'm not interested in military guys." Carly began to get off track again.

"No, Dear, I'm not trying to fix you up with a date. Jim asked me if I'd be interested in his recommending me to replace him at Edwards, along with a healthy promotion to Brigadier General."

"Dad, That's terrific! I'm so proud of you. You've worked so hard, given up so much for the Air Force, you deserve this. But what's this have to do with me?"

"I don't want to leave you behind, Carly. Of course, I'll have to move back stateside to take the position and soon. Actually, before the end of the month, and if I do, you won't have anyone here in Italy."

"I don't want to stay in Italy without you, Dad. I mean I love being here with you, but, honestly, I hate it here. I don't have any friends and I struggle in school. I can transfer my credits to a university in California like Berkley or maybe even UCLA. You remember my friend, Freddie, he transferred to Caltech after his freshman year. And Sam's in LA at culinary school. And Los Angeles is like a two hour flight from Seattle, so Spencer can visit and we can visit him. Oh, Dad, this will be so great. I can't wait, when do we leave?"

"Easy now, girl. You still have finals, and my transfer still has to be approved by the pentagon, so let's not get too far ahead of ourselves."

"Ahead of ourselves? We're so far behind, we'll never be ready to leave by the end of the month." Finals will be over by then and she'll still have a few days to pack. She wasn't planning on seeing her friends until July, but May would be even better. Then she'll have all summer to make arrangements to transfer into school and to talk to Freddie. Freddie! This is going to be so great. A month from now, she'll be back in the U.S., and she'll be able to have that talk with him, tell him he's the only guy she's ever had any true feelings about, he and Sam will surely have broken up by then. Carly was drifting away again just thinking about all this was so overwhelming.

"Carly, don't you want to eat?" She was so excited she hadn't even noticed the waiter sitting the plates down in from of them and topping off their wine. Carly ate so fast it would put Sam to shame. All the way home, she kept thinking of all she had to get done. Most of all, she couldn't wait to tell her friends, since this was their regular chat night. Because of the time difference, they would be in class right now or working, she'd have to wait until about 2 am before they got home. That shouldn't be a problem, she was way too excited to sleep anyway.