Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or any other characters on it.

Even if it only lasted a second, Freddie's eyes stayed open the whole time. What if it's a trick? What if she's just distracting me so it's easier to fling me into the freeway? He kept a close watch on her. And, in turn, she kept her eyes open for the few seconds and kept a watch on him. She looked strangely...smug.

When they broke apart, it was Sam who did so, which didn't come as a surprise to Freddie. He hadn't expected the moment to go on, and he had been hoping it would and his untimely death would come faster. But, deep down, he had a feeling Sam wasn't trying to trick him. He thought that maybe- just maybe- she liked him too. He couldn't imagine her putting her lips on his for any other reason.

"Don't just stand there like a limp fish, say something!" Sam demanded after a few silent moments, and Freddie dodged a kick in the shin with a bit of a smug look. It was his turn to be smug, wasn't it? Nervousness leaked out of her voice, and the fidgety way she kicked at him was possibly the only reason he was able to dodge it. He didn't even know how a fish could be anything but limp, but he didn't protest.

"I don't know what to say," his words came out slowly. What was he supposed to say? "That was great, that was amazing, you're great, you're amazing, and despite your violent tendencies I still like you?" No. He could not say any of that. He already seemed stupid enough chasing her down and getting punched and then just standing there like he was now- he didn't need to add to that list.

For a fraction of a second, Sam looked extremely upset. Her face fell from the nervous smile, her eyes seemed to die out, and she shot a deep breath out through her nostrils. But then, it was gone- hidden away behind the typical Sam Puckett 'tough girl' look she liked to keep on her face constantly. Her face froze in the same expression it always took on when she was talking to him. Only now did the expression make sense. Only now did Freddie understand she was trying to hide how she felt from him. Only now did he realize she never put on that look when she was with Carly. When she was with Carly, she was happy and angry and sad and confused- but not with him.

"Whatever," was the only thing she spit out. The way she said it though was worse than when she broke up with him and worse than before and worse than any of the other times combined. It was like she was speaking to a murder/rapist/kidnapper/pedophile. It was more painful than any other words he had remembered her saying, and she had said a lot of terrible things to him before.

"Sam, I didn't mean it like that," he said, but then she was pushing through the crowd again. She wasn't running though. It was like she wanted him to catch up to her- she was only walking at a fast pace, pushing past people carelessly now as Freddie excused himself and her and kept up as best as possible. Of course, keeping up with Sam is next to impossible. He was basically stalking her through the crowd, but she was heading to a familiar place. She was heading to Carly's, he was guessing.

So he did the only thing he could think of at the moment- the most idiotic thing, probably.

He jumped into the street, stopping traffic as he ran down it. "Thank god it isn't the highway," he mumbled to himself, frustrated that there were no bike lanes. The cars sped to a stop, and the cars swerved, and Freddie had to leap out of the way occasionally- but he had seen Sam, oblivious to all of this, running almost to the apartment door, and this was the only way to put his plan into action.

"Get out of the street!" someone shouted at him, and he leapt onto the sidewalk just as Sam spun around to see just who was in the street, her face that of panic when she realized it was him. Freddie almost stopped in his tracks at the first sign of concern he had seen on her face for him in possibly...ever. But the thought of the sad look he had seen for a second pushed him forward as he jumped past her to block the door.

"Move out of the way, idiot. Why don't you go back in the street and get run down?" she gave a half hearted smirk as if this was truly her greatest comeback, but the dead tone she said it in made it fall flat.

Freddie just shrugged though as he headed back. "If you say so, Sam," he said, turning and walking away.

A hand on his arm stopped him.

"You know I don't actually want you to get hit by a car, so get back here," she hissed in his ear, surprisingly close, as she dragged him inside and past the screaming Lewbert, into the small landing after the first fleet of stairs.

When Freddie gave her a questioning look, she just shrugged. "I don't want Carly to..." she drifted off, then shook her head. "Well, there is nothing to see, but I don't want her to bug me anymore. So, you chased me down and tried to get yourself killed- smart boy, knowing there is no way in hell I'd talk to you otherwise. I'm guessing you want to say something?" There was the tiniest catch of hope on the word something, but the look on her face was the typical look. He hadn't broken through- he had just freaked her out enough to make her listen to him.

But he would take that.

"Sam, I mean...I really didn't know what to say. I don't want you to...laugh at me when I tell you how much I...like you," he spit out nervously, and that was when he broke through.

It was almost humorous to see the constant fleeting emotions. There was anger, when she first tried not to let him see what she was really thinking. Then it disappeared, replaced with excitement, then confusion, curiosity, happiness, more anger, and more happiness- and then she just grinned at him, her eyes smug.

"Well why didn't you just say that, Fredloser? You should know by now I'm gonna laugh at you no matter what you say- but affectionately so." she laughed, punching him in the shoulder as he stumbled back and winced a small bit. She held her hand out to him afterwards, and when he went to take it she pulled it out and sneered at him, "Too slow, Joe!" and then she let him slip his arm around her waist as they went straight to Carly's apartment.

When they walked in together, Carly paused, and Freddie closed his eyes in anticipation. He was waiting for her, "Are you crazy? Sam, you hate him!" He was waiting for her gasp, her laughter, and her "Am I being punked?" But it never came...and he finally opened his eyes to see that she seemed to be sharing an inside joke with Sam with her eyes, just grinning at the two of them together.

"I got you more ham," Carly said nervously, as if Sam had been truly angry at her before she left. Sam just grinned and burst out of Freddie's arms, straight to the ham. He rolled his eyes, muttering, "All you ever want to do is eat," which just got him a well aimed slap. Of course, her eyes never left the ham as she devoured it with the other hand, and he was glad he could glare at her without her seeing.

There were only a few slices, so it is needless to say that Sam finished it off in only a few silent minutes. It was like she was tasting something Carly had made that their careers depended on, not their friendship.

When Sam finished, she beamed up at her friend and said, "That's the best ham I've had in a long time," and each of their faces softened up as they shared a brief hug. Of course, Sam ruined it by pulling a crumpled and slightly ripped fifty dollar bill out of her back pocket and exclaiming, "Now let's go spend this bad boy at Groovy Smoothies- we'll be able to spend hours there," she grinned.

Freddie grinned at the way Carly didn't even question why they would want to spend hours there. She just picked up her coat, wallet, and cell phone, and stood by and waited for her friend.

"I thought you were going to have my mom announce I'd won fifty bucks?" he asked curiously, and the way Sam looked at him for a moment surprised him. Her eyes were soft as she smiled gently at him, but then she smirked- as she laced her fingers through his.

"I was only gonna do that after I got back. I knew today was like...balancing on the tip of the iceberg, you could say. It would either go one way or the other," she beamed, and Freddie rolled his eyes at her, but tightened his grip on her hand as Carly beamed at her best friends.

"Allow me to quote Casablanca," Carly cheered, and Sam rolled her eyes, but nodded. "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," Carly said, putting on a thick accent when she said the words, which got them all laughing hysterically as they walked out of the door, and down the stairs, and out towards Groovy Smoothies. Sam and Freddie held hands the whole way, and Sam and Carly spoke easier than they had in the past few weeks.

And it seemed to Freddie like he was holding a little bit of perfect in his laced fingers.

Author's Note: Whoa, it's finished. It seems like I've been writing this story forever! Now I've got to get on a few requests and on I Want You to Know, but don't expect anything for the weekend. I hope you've all enjoyed reading this story, and I've definitely enjoyed reading your really kind reviews. Thanks for sticking with the story, guys! :D