Snow.

An iCarly Fanfic.

xxx

Prologue.

"Sam," Carly Shay said to her best friend, pushing her a little with her foot. "Sam, wake up." The blonde girl opened her eyes a little, mumbling. Carly kept her eyes on the window. "Look," she told Sam, pointing outside.

Sam Puckett stood up from the couch, rubbing the last of the sleep from her eyes, and sauntered over to the window Carly was pointing to. All over the ground was snow. White, cold, icy snow. Carly joined Sam at the window. "Snow," Sam exhaled, a smile brightening her face. Carly nodded enthusiastically. "I'll go get Spencer!" She pulled herself from the window and ran off to her older brother's room.

Sam stayed, gazing at the frozen landscape in front of her. She watched snowflakes falling, falling, falling to the ground, swirling, bumping into each other before landing. It didn't snow much in Seattle, and she knew that almost everyone in the city was already playing in it or watching it, like she was doing now. "Come look, Spencer!" Sam heard Carly yell at her guardian. Sam smiled. Spencer was a grown man of twenty six, but he often reminded her of a twelve year old; he was very energetic and creative. Good thing he was an artist--nothing confined him from using his energy and creativity.

Carly pulled Spencer out of his bed and he landed on the floor with a thud. "Come, look! It's snowing, Spence!" she exclaimed.

Spencer Shay bolted up. "Snow!" he yelled, running over to the living room window by Sam. Carly ran after him and stood at the window with her brother and best friend. "You know what this means," Spencer said, his breath fogging up the chilled glass. "Snow Day!"

Sam and Carly cheered. They loved Spencer's Snow Days. The last one they had was three years ago when they were eleven; they spent all day in the snow, making snowmen, having snowball fights, and trying to make snow angels. There was always enough snow on the ground to last a day or two--sometimes even three--for the city of Seattle to break free of the gloomy chains that rain always had them in. If the Snow Day fell on a school day, Spencer would excuse Carly, Sam would skip, and the boy across the hall, Freddie Benson, would manage to get his spastic mother to excuse him.

Today, however, was a Saturday; no school. Carly ran out the door to get Freddie for their Snow Day, and Sam and Spencer ran to go put on warm, protective clothes. Sam searched through Carly's closet, finding a big down jacket, flannel shirt, and Snug boots. She had slept over the day before, unexpected snow, so she didn't bring anything warm. She pulled on the boots as was looking for a beanie and gloves when Carly came in. She smiled at Sam.

"This is my favorite time," she told Sam while she grabbed some clothes from her closet and throwing a hat and Sam from her dresser drawer. "I love getting all dressed up in warm clothes."

Sam nodded. "I can't wait to pelt some people in the head with snowballs," she said, pretending to throw one to emphasize her point.

Carly laughed and rolled her eyes. "Can you not put rocks in them this time?" she asked her friend, recalling the last Snow Day they had.

Sam shrugged. "I didn't mean to hit Fredward in the face. Just his shoulder."

Carly yanked on a pair of mittens and tossed some gloves at Sam. "You ready?"

"Let's do this, Carls."

xxx

Downstairs, Spencer was in his closet trying to find his right boot. He, like his little sister, loved the snow. It reminded him of when he was a kid. He could remember having snowball fights with his dad, skillfully dodging the ones thrown at him, laughing. Carly was inside, helping their mom make some hot chocolate to bring to the Shay "men" before joining them in the snow. That was before his parents divorced and his mother moved to California, leaving his father to raise the two of them. It went smoothly, but he was a Navy officer; when Spence turned eighteen, he became Carly's legal guardian and Mr. Shay was able to take care of his duties.

A knock on the door awoke Spencer from his daydream. "Hey, Spencer," Freddie said, "Carly and Sam are ready. You done yet?"

"Not just yet, Freddo," he told the boy in the doorway. "I can't find my other shoe."

Freddie came in and kneeled beside Spencer to help look for the boot. "Which one?" he asked.

Spencer held up his left shoe. "This one, the brown one."

Freddie nodded and sifted through the pile of shoes on Spencer's floor. Black high tops, dress shoes barely worn, paint splattered slip-ons. But no brown snow boot. "This is hopeless," Spencer stated. He didn't have very many shoes, but he had a habit of using his own things to make his sculptures.

Something in the corner caught Freddie's eye. "Spence," he said, still looking at the object. "I found it."

Spencer jumped up. "Where?" Freddie pointed to the window sill. Spencer had used his boot to make an artistic flower pot; he had filled the whole thing with soil and stuck in a few seeds. Spencer frowned. "Man," he whined. He quickly shoved his feet into his slip-ons and grabbed his keys, dialing his cell phone.

"Who are you calling?" Freddie asked him.

"My buddy Socko. I can pick up some boots from him." And with that, Freddie left Spencer's room, smiling at his eccentric friend.

xxx

Sam had just nailed Freddie in the back of the head with a snowball when Spencer's car pulled into the parking lot of Bushwell Plaza. He had ordered the kids to go outside without him; he'd join them when he got the boots. Freddie rubbed the back of his head where the icy snowball had made contact, glaring at Sam. She shrugged. "Hey, at least it didn't have a rock in it," she pointed out.

Spencer stepped out of his car, quickly pulling on his gloves and jacket and joined the three fourteen year olds already having a snowball fight. Sam was beaming Carly and Freddie; they didn't stand a chance against her. He jumped in to help Freddie, turning the battle boys against girls. The girls made a better team than the boys did; Carly was a pro at packing snowballs just right, and Sam had the aim and the arm. Like a machine, Carly made a snowball, handed it to Sam, and Sam chucked it. Spencer and Freddie hastily packed the snow and threw it at the wrong angles, hitting trees.

They all laughed when one hit a guy walking by on the street on accident and blamed one another for it.

"Spencer!" Carly yelled.

"Sam!" Freddie exclaimed.

"Carly!" Sam accused.

"Freddie!" Spencer hollered.

The guy just gave them the finger and walked away, shaking his head and muttering something about "irresponsible kids" and "goddamn snow days."

Spencer walked around mocking him, pretending to hold a cigarette like the man was. "I hate children. I hate snow. Hit me again and I'll sue you," he mimicked. He was himself again. "Yeah, well sir, I went to law school," he said. Spencer was being both himself and the man, imitating a fake conversation that never happened. It was things like this from Spencer that made Snow Days the highlights of Sam's, Carly's, and Freddie's young lives. Once winter rolled around, they were constantly checking the weather for an update, to see if maybe there would be snow this year.

The three of them rolled around in the snow, roaring with laughter at Spencer.

xxx

The sun was setting when they decided to head inside for hot chocolate and movies. Spencer cranked up the heater, warming the cold tip of his nose. Freddie went back to his apartment to shower and change and Sam headed to Carly's bathroom to do the same. Carly hung around with Spencer downstairs, waiting for her bathroom to free up. She helped him heat up some leftovers from the night before--chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese--and search for a good movie on TV. Freddie came in from his apartment, dressed in a T-shirt and plaid pajama pants fifteen minutes later. It was a tradition of Snow Day; only wear snow clothes outside and PJs inside.

Sam came downstairs, her hair wet, also wearing pajamas. She made a beeline for the meal, and Carly went upstairs since her bathroom was free. Spencer also headed to his bathroom to take a quick shower. Sam pulled out some plates from the kitchen cabinet, handing one to Freddie. She piled her plate with food and went back to the window to watch the snow. Freddie noticed this, so he left his empty plate on the counter and went over to Sam.

"It's beautiful," Freddie said, staring out the glass. The streetlights turned on, casting a gentle yellow glow on the snow.

Sam nodded. "It looks so soft," she told him, getting lost again in the swirling snowflakes falling to the ground. "Like I could just lie down and fall asleep."

Freddie smiled at Sam. She was still gazing out the window, and he could tell she was daydreaming. Sam pressed her hand on the pane and sighed, the glass fogging up around her hand's warmth. Freddie watched her; this was a new side of his "frenemy," the sweet, gentle girl he had only seen once, maybe twice. Sam pulled her stare from the window and turned to look at Freddie standing next to her. She put her cold hand against his cheek and looked him in the eyes. They stood like that for a few seconds, until Sam pulled away and sat on the couch with her food.

Freddie still stood by the window, watching the back of Sam's head, smiling his famous half grin.

xxx

"Oh, I so knew that was going to happen!" Sam cried out as the last scene of their movie faded into the credits. All four of them--Sam, Freddie, Spencer, and Carly--were all crammed in together on the small couch to stay warm while they watched movies. "They always die in the end," she said. She looked at her friends. Freddie was rolling his eyes at her, Carly was half asleep, and Spencer was already looking for a new movie in the DVD bin.

Spencer nodded. "But every time I watch it, I always think the car salesmen will decide to take back the radioactive dynamite." He pulled out another movie. "How about something snooty and romantic?"

Sam scoffed, Freddie shrugged, and Carly mumbled something. Spencer popped the disc into the player and wiggled himself back onto the middle of the couch between Carly and Freddie. He pressed play on the remote and the movie began.

xxx

About halfway through My Dear Steven, Freddie's eyes were starting to close. He could hear Carly softly snoring and Spencer yawning. He and Sam were the only ones somewhat awake; the movie was a lullaby in itself. All the two main characters--Steven and Emily--did was cry and complain about one another. Freddie stretched and rubbed his eyes to stay awake. For some reason, he wanted to finish the movie.

Sam shivered; Spencer had shut the heater off, since they were all squashed together in one room. Freddie pulled his blanket onto her lap, sharing. She snuggled up against it, instantly feeling warmer. She thought about the snow, how beautiful it was, how clean it was. She smiled to herself, remembering her and Freddie's "moment." Freddie sighed and could feel the sleep plaguing his eyelids. Sam looked over at him.

"Sleepy already, Benson?" she said. "Someone's up past his strict 8:30 bedtime."

Freddie poked her arm. "Can it, Puckett. My mom bumped up my bedtime," he informed her.

"To what? 9?" Now Sam rolled her eyes.

Freddie frowned. "Maybe..."

Sam chuckled softly. "You'll always be stuck under your psychotic mother's thumb. She's a mess." Freddie blinked. He had no argument.

Emily started crying again on the TV. "He said he loved me!" she exclaimed to her friend. Sam shook her head. "If I ever get like that, punch me in the mouth. If I punch you back harder, I'll be okay," she whispered to Freddie, suddenly aware that they were the only ones awake. "Okay," he promised. He turned around and squinted to see out the big window. Freddie poked Sam again. She was lying back, eyes closed, falling asleep, when his poke awoke her. "What?" she whined.

"Watch the snow fall," he told her. He now knew that she was hypnotized by snowflakes. She sat up and squinted, like Freddie, to see. Sure enough, there were pure white flakes falling past the window. Her eyes were instantly glued and her head tilted slightly, the corners of her mouth turning up unconsciously. Sam would've gotten up and went to the window, but that would have meant leaving the warmth of the couch.

She sighed. "I used to be like that," she said after a moment, and again Freddie knew she was daydreaming. "Pure and clean." Sam smiled and turned around to face the movie.

xxx

Just as the final credits were rolling on the screen, Sam could feel a sudden heaviness on her eyelids. She blinked a few times, but to no avail. Slowly, slowly, she was drifting off.

Sam's head landed on Freddie's shoulder softly. At first he thought it was her fist, so he turned quickly, ready to retaliate. Instead, he saw the soft pale skin on her forehead, her curly blonde hair cascading over his shoulder. He had no idea if she was going to wake up and sock him for doing this, but he couldn't help it. She hypnotized him just like the snow did to Sam.

Freddie wrapped his arms around Sam's sleeping form and pulled her close to him. He couldn't wait until the next Snow Day.

A/N: Yayy snow. (:
Prologue, clearly, as stated at the very beginning; so there's more to come.
Reviews?