It's taken me awhile to get this last bit out. Sorry! This alternate ending (ALTERNATE ENDING 3) received 0 % of the vote in the poll, and was only included as a joke. BUT, with some awesome advice from Serene Girl, I decided it might make a nice ending. Enjoy! (As usual, the alternate ending picks up where chapter ten leaves off).

DISCLAIMER: I do not own iCarly or its characters. I do own Liz Davidson.

This was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do in his entire life. Waiting in the lobby was simply agony, and not just because Lewbert was yelling at him for pacing back and forth. Finally, Freddie grew tired of the constant shrieking, however, and stepped outside into the cold drizzle.

Soon enough he saw the big yellow bus trundling up the damp street. It stopped in front of Bushwell Plaza and Liz was the first person off. "Liz," Freddie called, stepping forward.

Liz was surprised to see him. "Oh…Freddie?" she said inquisitively. "I thought you were sick today. That's what Gibby said. He told all of your teachers that you have the flu."

"Good guy, Gibby," Freddie commented. He saw Carly and Sam getting off of the bus behind Liz. They both looked at Freddie with Liz and exchanged a "knowing" glance with each other. Before they went inside, however, Freddie called out to them. "Carly, Sam." He waved them over.

The girls exchanged another glance, this one more of a "what-the-hell-is-he-doing" glance, but still walked over hesitantly. "What's up, nub?" Sam asked in a hostile tone, folding her arms over her chest.

This was it. A deep breath and… "I need to talk to you. To all of you."

Sam pulled a giant Tootsie Pop out of her pocket, unwrapped it, and stuck it in her mouth. "We get that," she sneered around the lollipop. "Just get to the part where you ask Liz to go out with you."

Another deep breath was needed. "I'm sorry," Freddie whispered. He turned to Carly. "Carly…I've loved you since I first saw you. You've been my best friend for years. I used to fall asleep hoping that someday you'd love me back, and I would swear that if you ever did, that I would never let you go." Freddie shook his head. "But I don't really believe that you love me. I think you're just missing me loving you. I don't want to deal with that kind of rejection again."

Carly opened her mouth to say something, but Freddie just turned to Sam. "Sam, we hated each other in middle school. We're friends now…or frenemies as some call it. We had our first kiss together, and the chemistry between us is amazing. But we have nothing in common otherwise. A relationship can't be built on kissing. It needs something stronger than that. Something that we don't have right now."

The sucker in Sam's mouth twisted angrily as she gritted her teeth. Freddie then turned to Liz. "Liz…" he began, inhaling deeply. "I like you. A lot. But we just haven't known each other for that long. We've gotten to be friends over the past five days—but that's not long enough, in my opinion, for a real, true relationship to get started. I know I kissed you and I'm sorry—it was wrong of me to do that. I just think that we should stay friends for right now."

Freddie looked at all three girls, who wore similar expressions of confusion. "Wait," Carly finally murmured, breaking the silence. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Freddie sighed again. "I don't think I should date any of you," he told them finally. "I just want to be friends, but just say the word and I'll get out of your lives as fast as possible."

All of the girls exchanged another look as Freddie turned and walked into Bushwell Plaza, his heart breaking.

The Groovy Smoothie

Sam stabbed her straw through the lid of the smoothie. "How? How does that nub break up with all three of us?" She shook her head and sucked in a gulp of watermelon-papaya smoothie.

Carly shook her head too. "I don't understand it," she commented. "I thought for sure he was going to pick you, Liz." Carly glanced at the girl sitting to her left, playing absent-mindedly with a straw wrapper. Liz looked up and sighed.

"I guess I thought he would too," she admitted, stirring her strawberry-kiwi smoothie. "But…what Freddie said makes sense. I have only known him for a few days. Maybe he was right to stop things with me."

Carly nodded. "Yeah…and maybe Freddie and Spencer are right…maybe I don't really love Freddie, but the idea of Freddie. I mean, on paper, Freddie is the perfect boyfriend. Smart, athletic, kind, caring…"

"An awesome kisser," Sam piped up. She looked down at the table, slightly embarrassed at having admitted that. After a moment, Carly and Liz both spoke up with their agreement. "I guess Freddie was right about him and me too," Sam grumbled. "That's hard to admit. But I think that we'd end up being one of those 'let's make out all the time' couples. And even I want something more than that."

Carly, Sam, and Liz all sighed at the same time and set to drinking smoothies. After a few minutes of silent contemplation, Carly spoke again.

"Do you think he really meant it?" she asked the other two. "That he'd just stay away from us?"

Sam looked thoughtful. "Honestly…yeah. I do. He's an 'honorable' kind of guy. He probably thinks we all hate him."

Carly looked from Sam to Liz. "Well…do we?" she asked them. "I don't."

Liz shook her head. "I don't either. I think he did the right thing."

They both waited for Sam's answer. "What?" Sam asked. "I always hate Freddie. I just hate him in a…loving way." Carly rolled her eyes.

"Well, what are we going to do to show Freddie we don't hate him?" Liz asked. Carly smiled.

"I have an idea."

That Night

Freddie slowly went up the stairs to the iCarly studio, wondering why he was there. All he knew was that at 8:30 at night, he had received a "mysterious" phone call (with Carly's phone number—she would really make a horrible spy) telling him that he should come to the iCarly studio ASAP. Of course he obeyed, had found the front door opened, and now here he was, hesitating on the last step, but finally going up.

He opened the door to the studio. It was dark. "Hello?" he called, feeling for the light switch. "Carly?" Finding the switch, he flipped the light on.

The room was covered in streamers and balloons. Carly, Sam, and Liz were all standing, grinning (yes, even Sam). Freddie felt a smile come to his face, albeit a hesitant one. "What is this?" he asked.

"It's a surprise friend party!" Carly exclaimed, throwing her arms out beside her, gesturing to the room.

"It's our way of letting you know that we still want to be friends with you," Liz explained, smiling. "You can't get rid of us that easily."

Freddie's smile got larger. "Really?" he asked.

"What, do you think we're lying?" Sam grumbled, but with a smile. "Now come on! Let's party!" She held up her blue remote and pressed a button.

RAAAAAAAAAAANDOM DANCING!

With laughs all around, the four friends randomly danced.

The end! I hope you guys have enjoyed this story because I enjoyed writing it! Sequel is being currently planned, so stay ever vigilant!