Disclaimer: iCarly is on a very long list of things I don't own.

A/N: Champagnescene's new chapter provided some much needed inspiration. Just don't tell her I said that. This only took like a year and some change but better late th- eh, here it is.

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Epilogue - The Morning After

Monday, September 17th.

In Seattle, the air was clean and fresh; laced with a floral scent usually birthed after a storm. The skies were blue, and bright, and stretched out across their usual never ending expanse. Every street was flooded, the tops of cars barely visible through the murky waters. Freddie stood out on his fire escape, leaning against the cool metal railing, eyes drifting over the outline of the city.

He hadn't been able to get out of his head all morning, just kept replaying everything that had happened over the last two days again and again but really, could you blame him? He had kissed Sam Puckett multiple times and (lived to tell about it) actually wanted to. Actually still wanted to. That was grounds to be committed in his books. Locked up in a nice padded cell where he couldn't hurt himself or others. He'd play checkers with the other crazies in the afternoon and take all his pills with apple juice. There'd be no time to think about kissing Sam in therapy with the amount of mom issues he'd have to work through. It'd work out perfectly.

Freddie was so caught up in his mental institute fantasy that he didn't notice a familiar blonde stepping out onto the fire escape until it was too late and she gripped his shoulders suddenly, and very harshly.

He jumped out of his skin, turning around to glare at the girl. "Sam! Jesus Christ!"

"I'll take 'people who should be worshipped without question' for five hundred." Sam tossed back, coming to rest against the railing next to him, her gaze in the distance.

"What have I told you about sneaking up on me?"

Sam continued to stare out. "Don't remember."

"Sam." He prompted.

"You told me not to, Benson." She intoned.

"Exactly."

The blonde finally turned her attention back to Freddie, brow arched. "And what did I tell you about thinking you could tell me what to do?"

"You said that kind of thinking would be detrimental to my health." He answered with a thick sigh.

"And?"

Freddie grimaced but answered anyway. "And that I could suck it."

"Oh the memories." She said fondly, a smirk shifting the corners of her mouth upwards while she turned back to the city. "Good times."

He took this moment to watch her intently. She was wearing that one tank top that was tight in all the right places (he had never noticed this before- or maybe he had and had repressed it down into the dark basement of his brain) and a pair of ripped jeans. Her curls were even more untamed than usual, probably from the humidity or whatever. She looked well rested which seemed accurate. He himself hadn't gotten much sleep last night, plagued by fantas- nightmares.

"School won't be open until the streets un-flood." He said randomly in attempts to get his thought process back on track and away from dangerous territory. Freddie looked at her expectantly for a few seconds but when she made no effort to respond to him, all he could do was shrug and follow her focus out into Seattle.

The lull lasted two or three minutes.

"We can give it a try." Her voice hit the air around them steady and assured.

"Huh?" Freddie responded eloquently, brows furrowed and attention back on the blonde.

"Get on the same page, dork, we can give it a try. You and me."

"You and I." He corrected her on instinct, without thinking, and paid for it when she delivered a strong jab to his bicep. Freddie rubbed vigorously at his arm. "Ow!"

She continued on.

"So yeah, the first rule is you can no longer walk beside me in public, you gotta be at least two feet behind me at all time." She paused for a moment, looking introspective. "If you can't maintain that distance, we'll get you a leash with the appropriate length measurement."

"Sam, come on."

"You ever call me your girlfriend and I'll break your face." She ignored him, never missing a beat. "Calling me your master however is acceptable."

"I'm not calling you master." He declared with conviction but she carried on as if he hadn't said a word.

"You'll have to do all my homework, but that's nothing new. And you'll also ha-"

It was at this point that he finally interrupted her and true to the formula the two had begun to use during the storm, it was with a kiss. His hands found the sides of her face, gently ghosting over her cheeks as he kissed her full on the lips. Slowly her hands came to rest on top of his, returning his affection with an understated force, deepening the kiss and then abruptly pulling away but only inches.

"Wow, it's kinda hot when you take charge, Benson." Sam said breathless, words rasp around the edges.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She confirmed, running the pad of her thumb along the back of one of his hands before quickly grabbing all of his fingers and pulling them backwards. "Ever cut me off like that again though and I'll make sure you'll regret it."

"Let go! Sam, you're gonna break my fingers!" Freddie cried out as Sam started towards the window, all the while not relinquishing her iron tight grip on his fingers.

"Come on, Spencer is making lunch and I wanna make sure he isn't trying to hold out on me again. I found three packages of deli meat hidden in the freezer last week. He actually thought he could get away with that. Can you believe that chiz?"

"You definitely just broke my fingers!"