Author's Note: Hey, everyone! This is a Creddie two-shot especially written for the creddiefans April/June 'Stay My Baby' Creddie fic challenge (shoo, what a mouthful!). And now, without further ado...

Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or the various characters depicted in the TV show itself.

Carly lay sprawled out on her bed while staring up at her ceiling, trying her hardest to forget what she'd overheard. But the words kept ringing relentlessly in her ears like a persistent warning bell:

All she'd wanted to do was retrieve her English textbook from her locker so that she could study for Mr. Devlin's pop quiz tomorrow. She was in a hurry because she was taking the bus home today instead of Spencer coming to pick her up because he was meeting a client downtown. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop on Freddie and Gibby's conversation, especially when they were talking about girls…

Carly jumped off her bed and began pacing her floor, her head a mess of thoughts:

"So, Freddie. Are you bringing a date to the dance this Friday?" Gibby inquired curiously while opening up his locker.

"Maybe," Freddie replied mysteriously.

"Alright, knock it off already, Freddie. I can't take the suspense anymore." Gibby retorted abruptly.

"I don't know what you mean." Freddie returned coyly.

"Come on, man. The only thing you've had time for these past few weeks is rehearsing iCarly; other than that, I've barely seen you around. You have a new girlfriend, don't you?" Gibby prodded impatiently.

"Something like that," Freddie answered evenly, looking Gibby directly in the eye…

Carly finally exited her bedroom and headed towards the kitchen. She opened up the refrigerator and got out a jar of freshly made ice tea and a glass from the kitchen cupboard. Sure, she had noticed Freddie's lack of presence in her apartment the past few weeks, save to rehearse for iCarly. But she hadn't known that he'd actually been busy making time with other people, much less other girls. She sipped steadily on her glass of ice tea as more of a distraction than actually being thirsty:

"No way! Dude, when did this happen?!" Gibby asked eagerly.

"A couple of weeks ago. Her name's Stacy and I met her at the hospital while still doing some rehab on my hand that got flattened by that taco truck. She broke her leg during a ballet recital and we got to talking in the waiting area. She's really cool, Gibby: smart, funny, pretty." Freddie explained dreamily.

"Sweet! Do Sam and Carly know about her?" Gibby asked wonderingly.

"No, and I'd like to keep it that way, at least till the dance is over. Carly especially can't know about this, Gibby. Not just yet," Freddie replied sternly…

"Well, it's a little too late for that, Freddie." Carly retorted miserably, surprised by the lone tear that escaped her eye.

She wiped it away hastily while pondering on why the sudden revelation of a new girl in Freddie's life hurt her more than it should have. Perhaps it was because she and Freddie had been somewhat of an item ever since he had jumped in front of a taco truck and saved her life a few weeks ago. And the only reason that they had stopped dating was because Freddie wanted to make sure that Carly's feelings for him were real and not because he'd done something heroic. So they made a deal: they would wait to start things up again, till after Freddie had removed the cast from his leg and then take things from there.

But it had been weeks since that conversation and Carly had begun to think that Freddie had changed his mind; she knew that she certainly hadn't changed her mind about wanting to be with Freddie. It had just taken her a while to make doubly sure that she wasn't still feeling guilty about Freddie winding up in a hospital because of her. Ironically, she had decided today of all days to take Freddie aside after iCarly rehearsal and have an honest conversation with him about how to best define their current relationship. But that had been before Freddie had dropped the biggest bomb on her, and he didn't even know it yet.

"Dude, this sounds serious." Gibby remarked truthfully.

"I think it may just be, Gibby. I've never felt this way about a girl before. So I decided to get her a present." Freddie declared earnestly.

"You got her a present?! Freddie, it's only been a couple of weeks!" Gibby exclaimed in horror.

"I know, but it's just something small. I thought if Stacy and I went to the dance together, I could give it to her then during the last song of the night." Freddie responded quickly.

"What did you get her?" Gibby demanded eagerly.

"A necklace. It set me back a little on my allowance, but it was totally worth it."

"If it was that expensive, you'd better make sure you don't lose it before the dance."

"Don't worry, it's in a safe place. I hid it in my underwear drawer." Freddie informed Gibby casually.

"You hid a present for a girl in your underwear drawer?!" Gibby hissed in alarm.

"Relax, Gibby. It's one of the few places that even my Mom won't look in when she's snooping around my bedroom checking for ticks." Freddie replied assuredly…

Carly hadn't even realised that she'd gotten to her feet. She knew that what she was about to do was completely insane. But she had to see that necklace up close; she had to know for certain that Freddie had really moved on. Knowing that Freddie would probably be home, Carly thought up a quick cover story for dropping by unexpectedly. She sucked in her breath and knocked on Freddie's front door three times in quick succession.

"Carly? What are you doing here?" Freddie asked in amazement upon opening the door.

"Hey, Freddie. You busy?" Carly asked brightly, feigning cheerfulness.

"I'm never too busy for you. What's up?" Freddie asked curiously.

"I was wondering if we could study for that pop quiz for Mr. Devlin's class." Carly responded quickly.

"Yeah, sure. But why did you come all the way over here? We could've just studied together in the iCarly studio after rehearsals." Freddie pointed out in confusion.

"Oh, I just, uh, really like your bedroom. It's so cool in there with all the Galaxy Wars memorabilia and stuff." Carly offered lamely.

Freddie seemed to swallow her blatant lie because he began smiling broadly.

"Cool. Well, my textbook is already in my bedroom; we can get started right away." Freddie stated enthusiastically.

"Actually, I'm feeling kinda thirsty. Do you think you could get me something to drink first before we get started?" Carly asked hastily.

"Uh sure, be right back."

"Do you have any cucumber cups? I'm feeling kinda peckish." Carly added before Freddie could leave.

"Ooh, and some Fat Cakes too if you have any!"

Freddie sighed slowly and shook his head before going into the kitchen, leaving Carly to dash into his bedroom. She closed the door gently and made her way over to Freddie's underwear drawer. Carly braced herself for what she was about to do: looking for Freddie's new girlfriend's present by sifting through his underwear. Gagging slightly, Carly dove straight in.

Unbeknown to Carly, Sam stood just outside both hers and Freddie's apartment in Bushwell Plaza. She had called Carly's cellphone and home number incessantly and no one had answered. Then she had tried the nub's cellphone and he too wasn't answering. She had an idea for what they could do for their next iCarly episode and wanted to share it with them. After deciphering that Carly wasn't home when no one answered the front door, Sam began banging loudly on Freddie's front door.

"Alright, I'm coming already!" Freddie snapped irritably.

"Samantha, of course it's you banging on my door. You have all the grace of a bull in a china shop." he greeted dryly.

"Whatever. Have you seen Carly?" Sam asked nonchalantly.

"She's in my bedroom."

"Must be a dream come true for you, Dorkward."

"She asked me if we could study together for Mr. Devlin's pop quiz tomorrow. I was just getting her some snacks." Freddie snapped impatiently.

"Cool, I need to study for that pop quiz too. Don't be stingy with the Fat Cakes, Fredweird." Sam remarked casually, slapping Freddie hard on the back as she waltzed into his bedroom.

Carly was beginning to lose patience now. She was almost near the bottom of the drawer and still no necklace. She didn't know exactly how many pieces of Freddie's underwear she had inadvertently touched, despite her best attempts to avoid his small briefs and tighty-whiteys.

"Carly, what are you doing?!" Sam exclaimed in horror when she saw Carly with a pair of Freddie's underwear in her hands.

"Sam, oh my God! W-w-w-what are you doing here?!" Carly shrieked in alarm.

"Carly, what the hell are you doing with Tech Nerd's underwear?!" Sam spluttered in shock.

"Sam, it's not what you think!" Carly protested weakly.

"Oh God, my eyes! Give me a fork so that I can poke them out!" Sam lamented in a scandalised tone.

"Sam, cut it out. You have to keep a lookout for Freddie-"

"Sam? Carly? Is everything okay in there?" Freddie asked in concern, his voice sounding alarmingly near by.

"Crap!" Carly squeaked in horror as she began shoving Freddie's underwear back into his drawer.

"Everything's fine, Freddie! Just peachy!" she called out in an attempt to sound natural.

"Carly, what the hell is going on?!" Sam hissed in disbelief.

"No time to explain. Just help me put his underwear back!" Carly hissed back in horror.

"Are you crazy?! I'd rather kiss Reuben than touch Freddie's underwear!" Sam spluttered indignantly.

"Just do it!"

Sam decided not to argue with Carly when she looked so irate. Trying her best not to puke on the spot, Sam began shoving in as much of Freddie's underwear into his drawer.

"Guys?" Freddie called out in confusion as his hand moved towards the door handle.

"Carly, underwear!" Sam pointed out in an undertone.

"What?" Carly hissed back.

"There's freaking underwear in your hands!" Sam retorted hysterically.

Carly glanced down at her hand holding a pair of Freddie's tighty-whiteys. Then she and Sam began playing a comical game of 'hot potato' where neither one was eager to be caught with the underwear in their hands.

"Are you okay?" Freddie asked quizzically just as Sam shoved the underwear back into Carly's arms.

Without even planning to, Carly tossed the underwear behind her. To her intense horror, she and Sam whipped around and realised that she had just thrown Freddie's underwear out of his bedroom window down the fire escape.

"Oh crap!" Sam exclaimed in alarm.

At that particular moment, Spencer was on his way back to Bushwell Plaza from the ATM. He happened to be passing just under Freddie's bedroom window in the alley because it was a quicker route which helped him avoid Lewbert and his disgusting mole. He felt something soft land on top of his head, blinding him momentarily.

"What the?" Spencer asked quizzically as he pulled the object away from his face.

"Underwear?" he asked wonderingly and glanced up at the sky.

"Underwear from the heavens. This is so frickin' awesome!" Spencer rejoiced as he raced up to his apartment with the tighty-whiteys in hand.

"No!" Carly exclaimed in horror just as Freddie entered his bedroom.

"What's going on? What's wrong?" Freddie asked worriedly while glancing between Sam and Carly.

"Oh nothing, I uh, was just telling Sam how there's not a speck of dust anywhere in your room. No there isn't!" Carly exclaimed cheerfully, hoping that Freddie would buy it.

"Uh, okay. Why don't we get started with studying?" Freddie asked slowly.

"Actually, let's skip studying and start iCarly rehearsals a little early today." Carly suggested.

"But I thought-"

"Actually, that sounds like a great idea. I was coming over to tell both of you that I have a great idea for next week's episode anyway." Sam added convincingly.

"Great, let's go now!" Carly suggested brightly.

"Uh, sure." Freddie agreed uncertainly as he followed the two of them out of his bedroom.

Freddie locked the front door behind him while Carly unlocked her front door. The three of them stepped into the Shays' living room and found Spencer doing a silly dance while wearing a very interesting head dress.

"Spencer, you're back already!" Carly called out cheerfully.

"I sure am. You guys notice anything different about me?" Spencer asked suavely.

"Hey, what's that on your head?" Freddie asked quizzically.

"Underwear." Spencer announced proudly.

"Dude, why are you wearing underwear on your head?" Sam demanded suspiciously.

"It fell on my head outside, as if from heaven." Spencer replied dreamily.

Something registered with both Carly and Sam as they both glanced furtively at each other with looks of horror etched on their faces.

"It's a sign." Spencer went on in a determined tone.

"It-it is? For what?" Carly asked while running a nervous hand through her hair.

"That I should switch from boxers back to tighty-whiteys." Spencer answered deftly.

"So why are you wearing it on your head?" Freddie demanded in revulsion.

"It's warm." Spencer offered with an awkward shrug of his shoulders.

"Spencer, I'm begging you to take the underwear off your head and step away from it real slow-like." Carly teased.

"Yeah, what she said." Sam added casually.

"Come, on. We're gonna start rehearsals for iCarly now, Spencer." Carly stated casually while beckoning to Sam and Freddie to follow her upstairs.

"I'll be there in a sec. I just wanna get something to drink first." Freddie answered quickly.

Carly shrugged in response and both her and Sam jogged up the stairs. After pouring himself some juice, Freddie strolled back towards Spencer, who had finally taken the underwear off his head.

"Gee, I'd love to know how this underwear got so soft. It smells like Liquid Tide. What do you think, Freddie?" Spencer asked curiously and shoved the underwear right in Freddie's face.

Before Freddie could protest, he did a double take when he read the label stitched onto the side of the fabric.

"Spencer, this is my underwear!" Freddie protested loudly.

"Say what?" Spencer asked blankly.

"Look, my mom sewed my name, home address and social security number onto the side. Where did you get this?" Freddie inquired pointedly.

"I told you, it fell from the sky right onto my head when I was walking through the alley back into Bushwell Plaza." Spencer informed him patiently.

With an impatient sigh, Freddie snatched the underwear back from Spencer and headed towards the front door.

"Please tell Carly and Sam that I'll be right back. I'm going to put this back in my room." Freddie informed Spencer wearily.

"Wow, I guess it wasn't a sign after all." Spencer murmured in disappointment after Freddie had closed the door.

Freddie entered his own apartment and opted for putting his underwear into the laundry basket in the corner of his bedroom just to be safe. Freddie groaned when he saw more underwear wedged between drawers. After finally getting the top drawer open, Freddie folded the underwear neatly and placed it back inside. That's when Freddie noticed something shining inside the drawer itself. He brought the object close to his eye and realised that it was a charm from a bracelet shaped like a horse shoe. Freddie glanced out of the window towards the alley beneath the fire escape and back at the horse shoe charm, which he felt sure belonged to a charm bracelet that Carly usually wore on her right hand.

How did it get in his underwear drawer?

Author's Note: Now that Freddie knows the truth about his underwear (well, sort of), what will he do now? Stay tuned for the next chapter...