Tears

Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly

A/N: This is dedicated to Colorsofthesky101's story "iTurn a Corner." This story was inspired by it, so to speak.

-FREDDIE'S MISTAKE-

As soon as he texted her, as soon as he put his phone down, and as soon as he heard Carly's door slam shut and a scream echoing through the hall, he knew he had done wrong. He knew he had crossed the line, big time, and he knew he was going to pay for it. He had just played a cruel prank on Sam, saying that the senior, Gary, had wanted to meet her in the mall.

He hadn't thought about the consequences when he did it, he hadn't even thought about how she would feel. All he thought about was the pink shorts and the laptop, but those were things he could get over. She would figure out the text was from him, and then she would come running to him, and who knows what she was going to do. All he knew was she was going to cry. Not only that, but he knew he would deserve to see every tear she shed, and experience the pain and guilt.

Pink shorts, screwed up laptop, anyone could get over the damages done with that. However, he crossed the line of every prank ever played; he was toying with Sam's heart. It was careless, and from someone who truly cared deeply for her. Why hadn't he remembered? Every guy Sam knew seemed to like Carly. Even Jonah, who dated Sam, attempted to cheat on her with Carly. He'd known her for years, and he knew just how fragile her heart was. So why hadn't he thought of that? Why hadn't he even thought to play a different prank on her?

A stink bomb in her locker might have sufficed, or even a book with a water squirting device hidden inside. He always swore that he would never hurt her, not intentionally, and now he was doing just that. Okay, scratch that, he must have been hurting her several times. What could he do? He liked her, hell, he could have gone so far as to say he loved her. He just wanted her to notice him, and now Carly seemed to even be getting the wrong idea. He hoped, prayed that Carly wouldn't be falling for him. He would have to stop pretending to like her, since he knew it made him look like an ass.

Freddie started to grab his jacket, thinking of all the guys that shunned Sam. Then he thought of all the guys that shunned her for Carly. He winced and stopped when he heard a knock on the door, it had only been a mere minute after Sam was heard rushing out of Carly's apartment with joy. He answered it, but was still lost in his own thoughts. He saw it was Carly, so as if by a force of habit, he put on his usual "Carly mode" demeanor.

Carly was talking about how Sam did all that stuff to him, so he told her that he knew she had. He smirked for the reason of hoping not to betray his inner thoughts, and definitely not to Carly. She asked him how he knew and he told her about the bicycle, keeping on that confident and triumphant look, still not wanting to betray his guilt. He then admitted to sending Sam the text, and Carly laughed. She laughed at what would cause her best friend so much pain, it was appalling. To think that Carly would laugh at something so serious, and with no care for the fact that Sam would be broken.

Freddie felt himself starting to grow angry, but he didn't want to appear angry at the moment, so he attempted to force a laugh. As fake as the laugh was, it seemed Carly thought it was real. She left for her apartment and Freddie took one more glance, making a frustrated and angry noise before walking back into his apartment. Soon he remembered what he had to do and grabbed his jacket, in truth, he had no clue what he was going to do.

He wanted Sam, that's all. He didn't want to dash her hopes, he didn't want to cause her any pain. He didn't want to be like Jonah, Shane, Jake, or all of those other guys out there. No, would hate himself to be categorized in those categories. Those three men, and several others were jerks. He was fortunate that he had his driver's license and the girls did not, that way he would get to the mall well before Sam did. He hurried as fast as he could, it was as though he was on an impossible mission, and it probably was.

Some guy back in grade school, he was the first person that made Sam cry. Freddie was there, he was the one to see her first tear. The boy dumped her, and said he wasn't interested in her, so she broke down and cried, right in the middle of recess. Freddie stopped what he was doing, he couldn't continue playing baseball with his friends when seeing her cry. After all, why would he want to see his new friend cry? So he had gone to her, he had gone to comfort her. It worked, he rid her of her tears that day. Freddie clenched his teeth as he quickly entered his car and jammed the keys in.

Zeke, Sam had never met him. Yet it was one of the first few instances where Freddie started to feel that insane pang of jealousy. Sure, there had been many times when Sam would have crushes in between that first guy and Zeke, but none of them seemed to be strong enough for Freddie to grow jealous of. However, they did make him pretend to like Carly, hoping she would notice him. Yet, that put him in the same boat as the other jerks that made her cry.

He hated her tears, he hated seeing them drip down her cheeks. That was why he always rushed to her side, hoping to dry her tears with whatever he could. The mall wasn't far, and Freddie could reach it in a matter of minutes, whereas Sam would take some time getting there. Freddie's face grew hard as he jammed the gas pedal down and sped toward the mall, his mind set on accomplishing one thing, one mission. This was his final mission, it was the mission that would be the greatest.

Jake, another guy that Sam crushed on, even though it was slight. Carly had crushed on him more, and Jake liked Carly. It wasn't the first time a guy liked Carly over Sam, and it wouldn't be the last. Freddie saw Sam's tears yet again, but two different times. She cried after Carly kissed Freddie's nose, he hadn't intended for it to get that far. Freddie pretended not to know the reason behind her tears that time, he didn't want to feel guilty for being the reason she cried. Of course, she did cry because Jake didn't like her in return.

It was just another heartbreak, and another moment that Sam seemed at her worst. It was one of the greatest crying moment of her life, the point where she seemed at her worst. It was then that she confessed to Freddie that the guys seemed to like Carly more than her, but it was just a theory to her. She hadn't really given much thought to that, and Freddie had once more dried her tears. Once more, he couldn't bear to see her tears, and once more, he did all he could to make her happy again.

Freddie narrowed his eyes as he came close to the mall. Jonah, truly one of the bigger asses in Sam's life, he had tried to cheat on her with Carly. Thankfully, Carly didn't do a thing with Jonah, or else all hell would have broken loose. That was truly the time that Sam cried most, but it was also the time when Sam wanted to strengthen that barrier she had. It was then that it was hardest for Freddie to dry those tears, but he had thankfully rushed to her side in time to dry them up. Every time, he treated it like her life was going to end, so he was always doing the best he could. Of course, it wasn't like he didn't notice what was in her eyes every time.

Hope, hope that Freddie's care was on a deeper level, that was the glimmer in her eyes. Whenever he came to her side, whenever he told her it would be all right, her eyes brightened with hope that Freddie cared. She would always dry her tears with that hope, but yet, her eyes still had that hint of sadness. He knew why. It was because of his pretending with Carly.

Shane, just another bastard that Sam didn't need in her life, that's what he was. He appeared to like Sam, but it wasn't the case. Shane liked Carly more, and he admitted to that. He told Freddie that he liked Carly more, in fact, he even said that Sam seemed desperate to him. Freddie chewed him out after that, but the problem was, Sam heard what he said. Sam heard all that Shane said, calling her desperate. That was what marked Shane as a cruel, vile, bloodthirsty demon in Freddie's book. That's why Shane was no longer Freddie's friend.

Sam cried again after that, her tears were ever fluent. It was then that he raced to her side and quickly dried them, as hard as it honestly was. He couldn't have her being brokenhearted, it was just not possible. He loved to see her smile, he loved to see her bright, shining eyes. She meant the world to him, and when she cried, it broke him. Her tears were enough to pierce right through him, causing him to come close to tears himself. He never cried, he made it a point not to cry.

When his most beloved Uncle left, swearing never to return, he didn't cry. When his grandparents cut the family off, he didn't cry. He didn't even cry when his father was killed in the line of duty. It was hard as hell, but he couldn't possibly bring himself to cry. He wanted to remain strong. It was because of Sam that he remained as strong as he was, it was because of her that he swore never to cry. He feared that if he cried, then he wouldn't be able to dry her tears anymore, because he would be far too wet to dry them.

Freddie came even closer to the mall, his thoughts running wild. The ultimate bastard, he knew full well who that was. This one was worse than Jonah, that was for sure. It was himself. Freddie had known full well what Sam's thoughts were on him, he knew she liked him. Yet, years of pretending to like Carly had become habitual, and he found it difficult to stop. Therefore, she shed her tears once more, causing Freddie so much guilt and turmoil. It was he who caused her to cry harder than any. He loved her, but he couldn't break from pretending to love Carly. Now, even Carly was appearing to fall for him.

It was clear that she was, he could see it in her eyes just prior to his leaving. She was apparently being wooed by his conniving side, and by something that he hated as well. It was something that was sure to bring tears to Sam's eyes, making her believe some senior actually wanted to date her. No, it was he who wanted to date Sam, not that Gary person. That's what he was going to do, he was going to tell Sam that he wanted her.

He knew she would probably be angry that he could do such a thing, and he deserved it. He deserved it for years of making the tears escape her beautiful blue eyes. He couldn't let her shed another, he couldn't allow the blue to leave her eyes. He had to put an end to her tears, and he would do that by giving her what she always wanted, his love. Freddie slammed his foot on the brake and parked next to the entrance of the mall, he figured Sam would probably be there within a minute or two, so he would wait for her.

He exited his car and walked toward the front doors of the mall, he'd greet her at the doors. It would be there that he'd lift her up and kiss away her tears, drying them from her heart. He would mend her heart, and make sure that it cried no longer. This was it, this was the moment of truth. He walked up the steps and leaned against a wall, looking down the street and watching for Sam. Then he saw it, in the distance was the golden flash of her hair. She was running toward the mall at breakneck speed.

Freddie smiled and watched as she ran, watching her beauty and joy. He knew the second she saw him, she was going to wonder what it was he was doing there. He didn't care, he would tell her exactly why he was there, he was there because he loved her. Then it happened, Gary walked out of the mall. His arm was wrapped around another girl's waist, and he was kissing her as they walked. Freddie's mouth dropped as Gary walked down the street. He looked over and saw that Sam had stopped, she was staring at Gary with pain in her eyes.

Freddie groaned and bent his head down, he knew what was coming, more tears. She was going to cry again, but this time Freddie would stop them. He was going to dry them forever, by telling her exactly how he felt. He pushed himself from the wall and started walking, stopping only when he saw Sam take off in a run, not seeing him. His eyes widened as she ran into the street, trying to get onto the other side. He felt cruel wind and the hissing sound of a car speeding past him, and all of time stopped.

Time was frozen everywhere. Gary and his girlfriend were not moving, they only stood gazing in each other's eyes. The vagrant near the mall remained slouched over in a dumpster, trying to find useful items for whatever he needed them for. Passing pedestrians stared on with fear, but frozen in time as well. Even Sam, with her beautiful, golden hair seemed to be frozen in time. Her eyes were wide with fear as she stared at the speeding vehicle. Freddie could hear nothing. The roar of the engine had ceased, the screams of the people ended, and even the beating of his heart seemed to slow.

Suddenly, all sound and movement returned, a thud breaking the silence. The car screeched forward, but did not stop, and in the middle of the street lay a mass of gold and red. "SAM!" Freddie screamed out. His heart quickened as he ran to Sam's side, fearing that he was too late. He knelt down and saw that she was still alive, her breathing was labored, and her body was in extreme pain. He looked around and shouted at the surrounding people. "What the hell are you doing? Get help! Someone call a goddamn ambulance!"

"F-Freddie, why are you here?" Sam asked in a pained and weak voice. Freddie looked to her and gazed into her beautiful, but painful blue eyes. He placed his hand on the back of her head and felt a strange fluid oozing onto him. His eyes grew large and he stared at his hand, seeing the red liquid covering him. "God Freddie, I'm in so much pain." Freddie felt a pang shoot through his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and ignoring the blood that was getting into his clothes.

"Don't say anything more, please Sam," Freddie said in a quiet voice. "You're going to be okay! I'm here."

"Freddie, how come you're always here when I start to cry?"

"Because…I…" Freddie's body shook slightly and Sam coughed once. She knew he was there to dry her tears like he always did, but she had a feeling that this time, tears were going to come regardless. "I'm sorry, Sam. Goddamn it, I've been such a bastard to you lately…I'm so sorry."

"No Freddie, don't say that." Sam looked up at him and moaned lightly, her body in agonizing pain. "I'm glad to have you here right now, I don't feel as much pain as I think I would…because you're by my side."

"It's where I should be, Sam. I need you by my side too. Sam, I love you. I'm so sorry that I made you cry!"

"What?" Sam's body shook with pain as she let out a soft moan. "You mean…you actually do like me?" Freddie gave her a nod and she sighed. He was sure he was too late now, he wouldn't be able to save her. He couldn't dry her tears. He hadn't made it in time.

"Damn it…I'm too late to dry your tears, aren't I?"

"No, because I love you too…I won't cry, now. You've made me happier than I've ever been…thank you, Freddie." Freddie's eyes widened as Sam's eyes closed, he froze in shock and felt her body grow limp.

"Sam? Sam? Sam! Come on, Sam, this isn't funny! I know I'm an asshole, but don't do this!" Sam moaned weakly, and Freddie felt her slowly turn her head.

"Freddie…don't call yourself that."

"Sam, I'm sorry. It was-"

"You sent the text, I know." Freddie's mouth quivered slightly and Sam moaned again. Her breathing started to grow shallower and her pulse became slower. "I don't care, though. You're here, and that's all that matters. Just remember that I…" Sam stopped there, and Freddie felt a rush of fear shoot through his body. His eyes became wide with fear as he quickly felt for Sam's pulse, but there was none. Her body was now completely limp. He could hear the sirens in the distance, coming for him, but they were far too late. His body began to shake uncontrollably, pain and sorrow overtaking him. She hadn't cried, she shed no tears, at least by her standards, Freddie made it.

"SAAAAAAAAAAAM!" Freddie's cry echoed through the streets, and not a word was spoken. Even the droning sound of the siren seemed too silent to be heard. The birds had ceased their chirping, and once more, all of time seemed to stop. He gently laid her body back on the ground, shaking violently as he gazed at her lifeless body. He cursed himself for being too late. He hated himself for what had happened. It was there, that for the first time in his life, Freddie Benson could have filled an entire river with his tears.

Yes, this time it is Freddie that feels bad. It is hard to write this, but I managed to get this story through. If you didn't get to, read Colors's story, it's great!