Hi dandy reader o' mine. :) Are we excited for another chapter? Hopefully, I guess.

So, the votes are in. It seems Sam will be singing the karaoke. Oh man, I am going to have some FUN writing this. ;) You'll see.

I want to say to all the American (Like me, obviously) readers, which I believe is most of you, that I hope you had a very happy Thanksgiving. And for those of you who do not celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you had a happy day in general. :D I have to post this chapter quickly because in about 3 hours I will be waking up to go Black Friday shopping. I know, I'm insane. :P

On with Chapter 4!

Disclaimer: In honor of Thanksgiving, I want to say that I am so thankful for the show iCarly and the incredible creator, Dan Schneider (Who is not me!), for never failing to bring a smile to my face. I know you all agree.

iNeed to Get a Clue

Chapter 4

Carly's POV:

Later Sam and I find ourselves backstage at the karaoke bar from the flier, getting ready to go on stage.

When I say karaoke bar, I mean bar. I'm pretty sure we should have to be over 21 years old to even be here, but they didn't try to card us and we're not about to bring it up. It's not like we plan on drinking anyway. Definitely not. I'm a bit of a goody toe shoes, I guess you can say, when it comes to that sort of thing, Sam has an absolute disdain for alcohol after seeing its effects on several members of her family, Freddie is smart enough to know the effects of underage drinking plus it helps that he has a psychotic mother who would quarantine him for life if she ever found him drinking, and Gibby, oh my god, could you imagine a drunken Gibby? I will devote my life to making sure I never have to witness that.

"Carly, what are you wearing?" Sam asks me incredulously as she walks in the door of the dressing room I am currently putting makeup on in.

I glance down at my outfit. I'm wearing a light blue blouse that I tucked into a pretty yellow flowered skirt, with blue flats the same color as the shirt.

"What do you mean? I thought I looked cute." I ask with a frown, toying with the fabric of my skirt.

"You look incredibly cute, in a 'let's have a picnic in the park' sort of way." Sam tells me, amusement evident in her voice. "Just hear me out for a second, Carly." She says as she walks across the room to sit on the makeup counter in front of me.

"…Okay." I say unsurely, staring at her and waiting for her to continue.

"It's all the tips we can get, right?" Sam begins.

"Yeah…"

"So, we should put on a show. Give them a good time if we want more money. Let's amp up the sex appeal." Sam says with a smirk.

My eyes widen slightly and I stammer, "I-I don't know, Sam."

"Come on, Carls. Let's just have a little fun." Sam replies.

She jumps down from the counter and walks across the room towards the cases of clothes. She digs through it for a minute before holding up a shirt, wiggling her eyebrows.

I bite my lip as I look at her. It could be a lot of fun. And that shirt is really cute, but it would show most of my stomach and that's just so suggestive. God, this is so not me! Carly and sex appeal don't really fit well together in my mind. Carly and nice. Carly and sweet. Carly and cute. That makes more sense!

"Carly!" Sam shouts exasperated as she takes in my conflicted expression, a smile is still sprawled out on her face though, "Loosen up a little. What could it hurt?"

What could it hurt? My mind stumbles over possible outcomes of this situation. I absentmindedly chew on my bottom lip as I think. I can't seem to come up with an outcome horrible enough to give me cause not to go through with this. I guess Sam wins again.

"Okay, okay. Sexy it is. Hand it over." I tell her with a big grin, holding out my hand for the shirt.

Sam laughs and tosses the shirt to me before turning around to dig through the bag for more clothes. I giggle and stand up from my chair to join her.

Freddie's POV:

I watch the large crowd of people laughing, dancing, and drinking their beers as I sit on a bar stool next to Gibby facing the stage. I'd say the majority of people here must be around college age. There's probably a university near here or something. I inspect people's shirts for anyone wearing a college logo that would give me a clue as to what university it is that could be around here but Gibby's words interrupt my search.

"Who was the last person to go on stage?" Gibby asks me before taking a drink of his soda.

"Uh, the guy who sang Piano Man. I think his name was like Cody or Kevin or something." I tell him, leaning back with my elbows on the bar.

"Kevin Mitchell?" Gibby asks, looking over the list of people singing tonight that was stapled on a wooden column to the side of the bar area.

"Yeah, let's go with that." I say flippantly, eyes still scanning curiously over the crowd of young men and women.

"Okay, the girls should be up next then." Gibby replies and I can hear the nervousness in his voice.

I'm nervous for the girls too. All in all it seems to be a good audience; they have been pretty generous toward the other acts that have performed. No acts have been booed off the stage at least, and the good acts seem to be raking in a lot of cash. I hope the Carly and Sam can pull this off; there's not really a plan B.

The DJ's loud voice suddenly booms through the speakers, "Alright, everybody. We got a couple of newcomers up next here. A Miss Carly Shay and a Miss Sam Puckett. So let's show them some love. You know the drill: if they're any good, don't be shy to put some money in the jug, if they suck, don't be shy to let them know. Now, let's do this!"

Gibby and I cheer with the rest of the crowd. I pick up my soda, but end up choking on it when the girls walk out onto stage. There is a bunch of cat call from guys all around the stage and I hear Gibby mutter, "Holy shit."

The girls look fucking fantastic. Carly has on a black crop top that reveals a good portion of her stomach with the words 'Rock Hard' printed across the front in broken white letters. She also has on white skinny jeans that are shredded in a few places along the legs and on her feet she is wearing black heels. Her hair is in massive waves surrounding her face that looks similar to a dark version of a lion's mane and her makeup is sleek and black in a way that keeps her face looking natural. Sam, on the other hand, is wearing a black lace tank top that you can see through to her tiny plain black tank top underneath. She has paired that with a frayed, light denim skirt that barely makes it past the round of her ass. The sexiest part of the outfit are the boots she is wearing: tight, shiny, black boots that hug the delicious curve of her calf all the way up to her knee and lift her a good 5 inches off the ground, looking death-defyingly high. Sam's hair, uncharacteristically, is pulled back into a curly ponytail and her makeup is darker than Carly's, smoked out and dynamic, making her blue eyes seem almost electric even from the far distance between the stage and bar area that separates she and I.

Sam takes her place at the one of the microphones towards the back of the stage while Carly awkwardly makes her way to the lead microphone. I can tell Carly is incredibly uncomfortable. Her mouth is set in a frown as she glances around the room with frantic eyes.

Her eyes, in their desperation, settle on me and she exchanges wild, pleading glances with me. I return with a small smile and weak thumbs up, knowing that if the situation was reversed and I was up on stage, I would be freaking out about a million times worse than she; let's just say, there's a reason why I much preferred to be behind the camera during iCarly episodes.

The conversation of the audience seems to be focused on guys admiring the girls, but I do hear a few words exchanged about how young the girls look. I bite my lip and pray that no one pays too much attention to that fact.

The DJ starts the music but the first beat of the song barely drops before Carly desperately calls out, "Stop! Stop the music!"

"Ah no." I breath out, watching as Carly runs to the back of the stage to consult with Sam, whose eyes are wide and desperately confused.

There is a grumble of confused murmurs from the crowd surrounding the stage, all wondering why this insane girl refuses to sing.

As Carly and Sam talk, Sam's microphone is still on right next to them and I can make out a quiet version of their conversation coming through the speaker. It is hard to hear unless I strain my ears.

"What's wrong, kid?" Sam asks as Carly runs up to her.

"I can't do this, Sam!" Carly cries out, her voice sounds strangled and I wonder if she is crying; her back is to the audience so I can't tell.

'No. Please pull it together, Carly.' I think to myself.

"What do you mean you can't do this?" Sam exclaims, trying to hide her impatient agitation and fake some form of sympathy.

"This. In these clothes. In front of these people. I'm used to Broadway and cheerful Broadway at that. Please, I can't do this. Please, don't make me. Please, Sam, Please." Carly begs. Carly collapses into Sam's arms and it is very obvious she is badly shaken up by stage fright. Sam rubs Carly's back soothingly, but grimaces.

The murmurs of the audience grow as they take notice of the emotionally distressed girl on stage.

"Pull yourself together, Carls. We're in public for chizz sake." Sam hastily grumbles to the hectic mess of a girl clutching on to her. Carly lets out a loud choked up shrieking sound of embarrassment, and Sam sighs, pulling her arms tighter around Carly comfortingly. "Carls, we need you to do this. It's important." Sam tells her.

Very suddenly, Carly jumps away from Sam's grasp to hold Sam out at arm's length. She shakes Sam gently for emphasize as she speaks. "You should do it!" Carly blurts out as if it is the most amazing idea ever.

"No, no, no, no! Definitely not!" Sam returns quickly, lifting her arms to push Carly's grip off her shoulders.

"Oh, come on, Sam! You're an amazing singer!" Carly argues, defiantly placing her manicured fingers on her hips.

'Sam can sing?' I ask in my head, leaning forward with increased interest to see how this plays out.

Unfortunately, Sam grabs Carly's arm pulling her further back on the stage and further away from the microphone to the point where I can't make out any more of their conversation. All I can tell is that they seem to be having a pretty heated argument. I exchange a quick glance with Gibby as we both wonder what is going on. Finally after about a minute of frantic hand waving and exasperated eye rolls on both parts, Sam's face softens into a look of defeat and she turns on her heels to march to the front of the stage.

Carly smiles and calls, "Thank you." to Sam. She takes Sam's previous position at the backup singer microphone, while wiping the mascara streaks off her cheeks with her wrists.

Sam reaches up to adjust the lead microphone down to her level and a loud electric screech rings through the speakers causing everybody to jump and cover their ears.

"Shit. Sorry." Sam mutters, fixing the microphone the best she can.

"Alright. Well it seems we have a bit of a change in the plans here." The DJ announces through the speakers.

"Yeah, yeah. Just start the track." Sam tells him carelessly. Her eyes widen suddenly though as if she just realized something. She turns to look at Carly and asks, "Wait. I don't even know what song you picked. What song?"

The music starts and the title page of the song shows up on the screen, answering Sam's question before Carly does.

Toxic
By Britney Spears

Sam whips around to face Carly directly and screeches, "Are you fucking kidding me right now, Carly?"

"You said to pick a sexy song! That's the first one that I thought of!" Carly defends but then cowards back at Sam's harsh glare. "Sam, the lyrics are already starting! You have to sing!" She yells at her, gesturing back towards the monitor.

Sam scoffs as she turns to watch the highlighted lyrics on the screen in front of her fly by. "Yeah, right. There is no way in hell I'm singing that." She retorts. Her attention turns to the DJ booth situated just to the left of the stage. She calls out to the DJ, "Put on something else. I don't care what; anything but this."

"Alright, honey buns. Let's see what I got." The DJ says before he starts pressing a multitude of buttons on the controls in front of him.

I see Sam fake gag at his nickname for her but then she looks bored as she waits for him to choose a song.

The DJ finally chuckles and says, "How about this... ?" He presses one last button and the title appears on the screen.

I'm Too Sexy
By Right Said Fred

Gibby chuckles next to me and a group of drunken idiots in the back of the room engage in a riot of cheers and hollers.

"Haha. Funny." Sam snipes unenthusiastically. "Next." She demands while casting a glare at the DJ.

"Alright, okay. Um… Let's see what else I got." The DJ pauses for a few second while his eyes scan over the screen. "Oh, hey. Come on, seriously, I know plenty of us would love this."

The words scatter on the screen.

Do You Want To Touch Me?
By Joan Jett

The majority of the bar, both men and women, applaud the DJ's choice of song this time, but Sam narrows her eyes and shakes her head.

"Aw, come on, Sammy. Loosen up a little." Carly teases into the microphone.

Sam jerks around and glares at her. "Shut it, Carlotta!"

When Sam turns back around, her eyes are shut in contemplation. She lets out a ragged breath, but grasps the microphone stand firmly.

"Fine. I'll sing the song." Sam relents. "Dumb bunch of perverts." She grumbles but it was clearly audible to the entire room, I assume she did that on purpose.

The music begins to flow through the speakers and the excited audience starts to clap to the distinct beat immediately.

"Well, if I'm going to do this, might as well do it right." Sam says while pulling the hair tie out of her hair and shaking out her soft yet wild blond curls behind her. A smirk grows on her face at the cheers, mainly male, that erupt from the audience.

Sam takes a deep breath before she starts singing. Her eyes not even following the lyrics on the screen, showing she already knows this song pretty well.

"We've been here too long,
Tryin' to get along,
Pretendin' that you're oh so shy.
I'm a natural ma'am,
Doin' all I can,
My temperature is runnin' high.

Cry at night ,
No one in sight,
And we got so much to share.
Talking's fine,
If you got the time,
But I ain't got the time to spare.
Yeah!

Do you wanna touch? Yeah!
Do you wanna touch? Yeah!
Do you wanna touch me there?
Where?
Do you wanna touch? Yeah!
Do you wanna touch? Yeah!
Do you wanna touch me there?
Where? There! Yeah!"

Sam's singing is backed up by the audience, who enthusiastically shout the "Yeah"s during the chorus of the song and now are bellowing out with Sam and Carly:

"Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah"

Sam dances around the stage, carefree, and may I add extremely sexily. She moves her whole body when she dances and she tends to run her hands all over her curves several times, making my head spin while watching her. I can't seem to look away though. She's addicting.

As the next verse begins, Sam hops off the stage and moves through the audience while she sings.

"Every girl and boy,
Needs a little joy,
All you do is sit and stare.
Beggin' on my knees,
Baby, won't you please,
Run your fingers through my hair."

Somehow Sam ends up in front of me and she smirks at me while she sings. She even does as she says in the song and runs her fingers through her hair, pushing her palms through her golden locks while shaking them erratically.

I'm not sure what my expression is, but I am pretty sure that I am frozen, wide eyed, gaping at her stupidly. Sam reaches out a hand to push my wide open mouth shut and winks at me amusedly.

She then uses my shoulder as balance to push herself up onto the bar stool next to me and then up to stand on top of the bar, quickly turning it into her new stage.

"My, my, my,
Whiskey and rye,
Don't it make you feel so fine?
Right or wrong,
Don't it turn you on?
Can't you see we're wastin' time?
Yeah!

Do you wanna touch? Yeah!
Do you wanna touch? Yeah!
Do you wanna touch me there?
Where?
Do you wanna touch? Yeah!
Do you wanna touch? Yeah!
Do you wanna touch me there?
Where? There! Yeah!"

As the audience bursts out into, "Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah" again, Sam hops off the bar and makes her way back to the stage. Once up on the stage, she throws and arm over Carly's shoulder and both girls join in singing with the rest of the audience. Even Gibby, next me, is clapping, singing, and dancing. I shake my head and laugh. This place has turned into a nut house; might as well join them.

I cup my hands over my mouth and sing loudly, "Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah".

Somehow Sam seems to distinguish my singing from the rest because she quickly looks in my direction and locks eyes with me. Her blue eyes sparkle as she laughs, I assume mocking my terrible singing, and she winks at me for the second time tonight.

"Do you? Do you?"

Sam calls out dramatically as the song ends. The crowd, Gibby, and I are all sent into a fit of cheers, applause, and whistles. Carly turns to Sam and wraps her up in a bone-crushing hug. Sam laughs and shakes Carly while Carly starts to bounce up and down. When the girls finally split apart, they quickly bow and wave to the audience, before disappearing backstage.

About ten minutes later, Gibby and I are sitting at the counter counting the money that was collected in the jug while the girls sang. We rubber band the money into stacks of bills adding up to one hundred. The girls walk out to meet us by the bar, still dressed in the outfits they wore on stage.

"You guys were great!" Gibby exclaims as they approach, quickly gathering the both of them up into a giant bear hug.

Carly smiles and smoothes her shirt back down, saying, "Sam was great! I mean I knew you were good. But god, Sam, that was fantastic."

I grab Carly and give her a hug.

"Oh, shut up." Sam responds to Carly with a faint smile and huge blush.

"It's true. You were amazing." I tell her with a large, genuine smile.

I pull Sam into a hug and she accepts, hugging me back.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Sam breezes past the topic and pulls out of the hug. She runs a hand through her hair and looks towards the counter; she asks, "How much did we make?"

"Well," I say, taking my seat on the bar stool again, "We're not done counting yet. But… enough." I sigh happily, nodding my head.

"How much is enough?" Carly asks eagerly, her dark eyes alive with excitement.

"Enough to pay to get the car fixed, and plenty, plus some, for the rest of the trip." I grin at them.

"That's great!" Carly cheers.

Sam exclaims, "Yes! We can stay in a hotel that actually has air conditioning!"

Everyone laughs, exchanging high fives and smiles.

"Alright." I say while beginning to count out another stack, "Well, I guess we should just finish counting this money, then we can head out." I tell them.

"What? No!" Sam cries.

"We wanted to stay and dance for a while." Carly complains in a high pitch, childlike voice.

"Guys, I'm pretty sure we are underage to be here in the first place. We should leave before anyone figures that out." I reason, not taking attention away from the money.

"Aw, come on, Freddie. Please!" I hear Carly pout from behind me.

"Yeah, Freddie. Don't be such a downer." Sam giggles, shaking my arm.

"Yeah, Freddie." Gibby adds tauntingly, his bottom lip poking out dramatically.

I groan and let my head drop into my hand for a second.

"Alright. Fine, I'm outnumbered. You girls, go dance. Gibby, you can stay here and help me finish the counting." I tell them, turning around to shot a quick grin at the now excited girls.

Gibby grumbles to himself in protest but plops down on the stool next to me anyway while the girls run off towards the floor.

Gibby and I continue counting out piles of one hundred and rubber banding them together. The stacks of banded piles is growing and growing; the girls really did an amazing job. I can't help but smile as I replay the girls act in my head, especially the part where Sam was right in front of me, singing, dancing, running her fingers through her mass of blonde.

As the money in the jug starts to run out, I hear a voice next to me.

"Is she with you?"

"Huh?" I ask, turning to face the guy now sitting next to me at the bar.

He isn't much taller than myself but is probably a few years older. His hair is short and messy, looking like he just rolled out of bed, and it is a ruddy brown color, similar to the bottle of the beer in his hand.

"Blondie. Is she your girl?" The guy asks me again.

I follow his gaze out to the dance floor where Sam and Carly are laughing and dancing to the music. Or really, it looks like Sam is trying to teach Carly how to dance seductively which seems to be having a hilarious outcome.

I want to say yes to the guy's question. I'm not really sure why, but I want nothing more than to tell him that yes, she is my girl. I guess I can reason that it is because I really don't like the vibe the guy is giving off and saying yes will keep him away from Sam. Or… it could be something else. I'm not sure. Either way, I can't say yes. It wouldn't be right to lie and it definitely wouldn't be fair to Sam.

"No." I tell him simply, shaking my head.

"Alright." The guy says taking a swing of his beer before setting it on the counter. He turns around to get the attention of his buddies and, with a sly smile, says, "Watch this."

I, along with the guy's buddies who cheer him on a bit, watch as the guy goes over to Sam and Carly, pushing his way between them to dance with Sam. Sam smiles and welcomes dancing with him. The buddies let out a stream of hoots and hollers. I feel myself growing slightly angry at the scene before me and roll my eyes, going back to counting the rest of the money. I try to block out the parade of cat calls and whistles being unleashed by the buddies over the next minute or so.

"Uh, hey, Freddie? I think you should see this." Gibby says, nudging my arm slightly.

"What?" I ask, looking over at him; he wasn't looking at me though.

I trace his eyes back over to the dance floor where Sam is dancing with that douche bag. It doesn't really look like they are dancing though and it sure doesn't look like the picture that the cheering of his buddies paints. Sam seems to be yelling at the guy and trying to shove him away, but he just keeps grabbing her tighter and trying to grind against her.

I quickly stand up from my seat and head straight over to them, not really sure what I plan on doing, but too full of sudden anger to stay in my seat.

"Aw, baby, don't be like that. Relax. Loosen up." I hear the guy saying to her.

"Get off me, jerk!" Sam spits at him, trying to wiggle free from his arms.

My blood is boiling but I try to stay calm as I tap the guy on the shoulder. He turns to face me, still with an arm tight around Sam's waist, and looks annoyed that I am disturbing him.

"Hey, I don't think she wants to dance." I tell him.

"Really? Cause I think she does. Why don't you mind your own business?" The guy barks at me.

He returns his attention to Sam who just makes a disgusted face and tries to pry his arm off her.

I tap on his shoulder again, a little less calmly.

"Come on. She told you to leave her alone." I say.

"And I told you to mind your own fucking business!" The guy exclaims, letting go of Sam and getting right in my face.

I feel my fingers curl instinctively into fists, but before I can do anything he turns back to Sam again only to have her fist make contact with the dead center of his face, issuing a sickening smashing sound. The guy falls hard to the floor, clutching his nose, and hisses in pain, releasing a spew of curse words. I can already see blood seeping out through his fingers as he curls into a ball on the floor; Sam probably broke his nose.

"Asshole." Sam mutters, kicking the fallen douche bag in the gut making him let out an 'oof' sound.

As I gape at the guy now on the floor, I see out of my peripheral vision the guy's buddies get up from the seats and start to make their way over, looking pissed.

"Shit. Sam, uh, we should probably leave. Now." I tell her before grabbing hold of her wrist and dragging her towards the door, wanting to prevent this situation from getting any worse and ignoring the stares of everyone in the bar. "Carly, Gibby, let's go!" I call over my shoulder.

Carly hops over the guy still rolling around on the ground and trails closely behind Sam and I. Gibby gathers up all the money from the counter in his arms before fleeing the building with us.

We pull up to a hotel a little while away from the karaoke bar after an awkwardly quiet ride in the car. Carly and Gibby don't ask what happened or how the guy ended up on the ground with a broken nose, and Sam and I sure aren't talking about it. But it's quite obvious that everyone in the car is thinking about it. We just move on though as the hotel comes into view.

"Oh my god. We're going to stay here?" Carly asks, gawking at the massive building in front of us.

It is admittedly gorgeous. The outside is white and stone, with pillars carved out and balconies perched in neat rows along the walls with shiny golden rails around the edges.

"Yeah. Are you guys okay with this? I mean, we can definitely afford it now." I question them as I pull into the packed parking lot at the front of the building.

"Are we okay with it? This is fantastic!" Sam exclaims, peering out the window with her hand pressed against the glass.

I pull up to the curb at the front of the hotel and turn in my seat to look at Carly.

"Hey, Carls, why don't you go get us a room while we see if there is any parking around back?" I tell her.

With a smile and the uttering of a peppy, "Sure thing." Carly pops out of the car and basically skips towards the grand building.

"She's excited." Sam murmurs with a grin as I pull away from the curb and turn around to head to the back parking lot.

"I think we all are. I mean this place looks awesome." Gibby replies, smiling.

I find a place to park, just as Sam's phone starts to ring.

"Hey Carls. That was fast. We just parked." Sam says when she answers.

I pop the trunk using the button inside the car and motion for everyone to get out.

"Oh, I see. Yeah, tell the lady that's fine. We'll stick one of the guys on the couch." Sam says into the phone.

Gibby and I both turn around to give an 'Excuse me?' look.

"What about a couch now?" Gibby asks, but Sam just waves him off with her hand, silencing him.

"Yep. I just asked them. They're totally cool with it. Quite the troopers." Sam tells Carly, while smirking at us. "Uhuh. Awesome! You got the keys? Okay, well we're right around back. Come help us bring in the bags." Sam says into the phone as I lift up the trunk. "No, I do not know what lot number we are in! Carls, it's not that complicated. Just come around the corner and I will wave to you!" Sam yells annoyed.

Gibby rolls his eyes at the girl's conversation and starts to help me pull the suitcases from the trunk and lay them on the ground.

"Hey, yeah, I see you too. What a miracle. I thought we lost you forever there." Sam mutters caustically before hanging up.

I look towards the building to see Carly jogging towards us the best she can in her heels.

"You guys will not believe this place! The lobby is like the Taj Mahal!" Carly exclaims as she approaches. "We got a suite! It's got a living area and two bedrooms. Oh, and a balcony." She tells us, smiling excitedly.

"Wow. That's so cool!" Gibby calls happily.

"Mhm! I know! The lady at the front desk said that one room has a king bed, the other has a queen bed, and it has a pull out couch in the living area." Carly describes, "I was thinking Sam and I would take the king bedroom, and one of you boys can have the queen bedroom and the other can take the pull out. Sam said you're cool with it?"

"Oh, yeah. I'll take the bedroom. It's about time Gibby gets some privacy on this trip." Gibby declares, lifting the handle on his wheeled suitcase and pulling it towards the building indignantly before I can even get a word in edgewise.

I furrow my eyebrows as Gibby's retreating form disappears around the side of the building.

"Hey! Gibby! No!" I yell but he's already gone.

"Looks like Gibby stuck you out on the couch, nub. Are you guys having relationship problems?" Sam teases and laughs.

"Haha, Puckett. Whatever. I'm fine with taking the couch." I say and reach down to pull the last suitcase from the trunk.

"Oh, shoot! Gibby, wait up!" Carly exclaims suddenly, grabbing her bags off the ground and struggling with them as she chases after Gibby, "I have the key to the room! You can't go anywhere without the key!"

I laugh and shake my head as Carly disappears around the corner as well. I pull the trunk closed and reach down to pick up my bag, but Sam's voice stops me.

"Um, hey nub?" Sam asks quietly from behind me.

I turn to face her and take in her serious expression. Her eyebrows are pushed together slightly and her lips are pursed. She twiddles her fingers behind her back as she rocks on her feet.

"What wrong, Sam?" I ask with confusion and concern, turning to face her completely, leaving my bag lying where it is.

"Nothing's wrong. Just… I wanted to say thank you. You know, for back at the bar. With that guy." Sam murmurs, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh, well…" I stick my thumbs in my pockets as I speak, "I wasn't exactly much help. I mean, you're the one who took care of the guy when you broke his face with your fist." I chuckle slightly.

Sam doesn't laugh though; instead she looks up with wide eyes and seems kind of shocked.

"What do you mean you weren't much help? You were huge help!" Sam exclaims, "And, anyway, I couldn't get free from the guy until you distracted him and he let go, then BOOM. Out like a light." Sam smirks.

"Ah, I see. I'm a very useful distraction monkey then." I mutter sarcastically, frowning.

"Freddie! Why are you being so difficult?" Sam complains. She takes a step forward, shrinking the gap between us and rests a hand lightly on my arm, "What's important is that you stuck up for me. Although I don't always need the help, I do really appreciate it a lot." She rises up on her toes because even with the deathly high boots on she isn't quite as tall as me, and she kisses my cheek softly. "Thank you." She mumbles lightly again, a small smile gracing her lips.

Sam takes a step away from me, leaving me in a daze from having her so close and the feeling of her lips on my cheek.

"Y-you're, um, welcome." I stammer idiotically.

Sam raises her eyebrows and laughs quietly before bending down to heave her bag over her shoulder. She then makes her way towards the hotel without another word; just the click of her heels against the asphalt fading as she walks away.

As soon as she disappears around the corner, I let out a long dramatic breath. I lean my back against the side of the car and drag a hand down my face.

What just happened? I turned into a blubbering idiot, that's what just happened. Simply being near me and an innocent kiss on the cheek? That's all it takes from her to completely shut down my ability to think, let alone speak? Ah, man. I've got it bad. I've got it bad for a beautiful, blonde headed demon named Sam Puckett.

Phew, pretty long one, but AH! That was kind of a lot of fun to write! :D Haha. I hope you guys liked it. Yes?

I have been listening to that song nonstop since I chose it to be the song Sam sings a few days ago. Joan Jett is just great. :)

Anyways, tell me what you thought. Sam's song? That douche bag who got a little too friendly with Sam? The Sam and Freddie moment at the end there? Let me hear the thoughts that went through your head as you read it all, please. You can do that in a REVIEW. ;)

Thank you, thank you! Love, LizzieLove Inc.