Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly.

A/N: I wrote this while shivering my way through a particularly cold and harsh winter, wishing the whole time that I had my own Carly or Sam to snuggle up with ;-)

Warning: Contains depictions of consensual f/f sex.

Carly Shay paused in front of the door to her apartment, and stamped her feet to shake the last of the snow off her boots. It was the first week back at school after the Christmas break, and the weather had been bitterly cold all day, with Seattle currently in the middle of a very frosty winter. Carly was looking forward to getting back home to her nice, warm, inviting apartment.

"Come on dude! Hurry up already! I wanna get warm and get somethin' to eat," grumbled her best friend Sam, as she stood alongside her in the hallway, rubbing her frozen hands together rapidly to try and restore feeling in them.

Carly fumbled with the keys a couple times through her woollen gloves, before turning the lock and pushing the door open. With sighs of relief and a final shiver, the two girls entered the welcoming abode.

Only to find that it was even colder inside the apartment than it had been out in the hall.

Carly and Sam dropped their schoolbags near the front door, and looked around in confusion, trying to figure out what had happened to the nice, warm, inviting apartment they had been expecting.

At that moment, Spencer came bustling out of his room, dressed in a parka, scarf, fur hat, and woollen gloves, and carrying an overnight bag slung over one shoulder. "Hey Carly! Hey Sam! How was school?"

"Cold!" said Carly. "And speaking of which, why is it so cold in here?!"

"Heat's not working. Must have gone out this morning." Spencer seemed rather nonchalant about the whole thing.

"And you only just noticed this now?! It's freezing in here!"

"I was teaching my art class today! I only got home like, fifteen minutes ago."

"So, it's getting fixed, right?" Carly asked in a somewhat loud voice, unhappy that she would have to wait until her nice, warm, inviting apartment became nice and warm and inviting again.

"Yeeaahh... About that... I only just made the call, and because it's already late, no one can come out today. The earliest they can fix it is tomorrow morning."

"TOMORROW MORNING! But, what are we gonna do 'til then?! it's s'posed to be really, really cold tonight!"

"I knooww!" said Spencer dramatically. "I checked the forecast, and they said it's s'posed to snow and everything! It's probably gonna get pretty chilly in here... 'Kay, bye!" He hefted his bag on his shoulder, and walked towards the front door.

"Wait!" called Carly. "Where are you going?"

"I'm heading over to Socko's. Gonna stay the night there. His heat still works. 'Kay, bye!" Spencer made another attempt at a quick escape.

"Wait!" Carly called again, before he could get out the door. "What about me?!"

"Someone has to stay here to let the repairman in. He's arriving at seven tomorrow, and you know what Seattle traffic is like - I'll never make it back here in time. There are spare blankets in the closet, and plenty of food in the fridge. Now, I wanna get going before it gets too dark. Youtwokidshavefunbye." And with that, he was out the door and dashing off down the corridor to the elevator, leaving Carly to stand flabbergasted in the doorway.

"WHAT?! So I'm the one who has to stay here and freeze to death!" But Spencer was already long gone.

Carly slammed the door shut and turned to Sam, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Now what?!"

"Relax, kid," said Sam. "We'll figure something out."

"Well, can we go to your place?"

Sam snorted. "Heat hasn't worked in my place for over a year now. Mom either forgets to call someone to get it fixed, or calls someone and then forgets to be home to let them in. Or passes out drunk before she can let them in. If I bitch about it, she just tells me to drink some vodka to stay warm. That's what she always does. That's probably also why she's always passing out. Why don't we just barge into the Nub's apartment and stay over there? You'll still be able to let the repairman in tomorrow."

Carly smiled and smacked herself lightly on the forehead. "Of course! I should have thought of that." A second later, her face fell. "Wait, no! Mrs Benson banned us from her apartment last month, remember, because we couldn't prove that we'd had all our shots and a recent tick-bath. Apparently we pose a 'risk of infection.'"

"Damn, that woman irks me!" grumbled Sam.

"She's very irksome," agreed Carly. "So what do we do?"

"Okay," began Sam. "I've had plenty of experience trying to stay warm in winter with no heating, so just leave it up to Mama. I'll stay the night, so we can share body heat in your bed. We'll grab every spare blanket in the place, including the ones off Spencer's bed, since he won't be here, and put them on yours. Once we get under the covers, we'll be so warm we won't even notice that this place has become like the North Pole." This last comment elicited a small smile from the brunette. "And until bedtime, we'll just snuggle up together on the couch beneath a blanket and watch some TV."

"Okay," said Carly, no longer as irked as she had been a moment ago. "Sounds good."

"Now," said Sam, "let's start by getting some hot food happening. Things always go better on a stomach full of hot food."

"What are you doing, kid?!" asked Sam, now ready for bed, as soon as she got back to Carly's room from the bathroom.

"Dressing to stay warm!" Carly was struggling into a heavy jacket, trying to fit it over the thick sweater that she already wore on top of her pyjamas. The process was being complicated by the gloves, scarf and beanie that she also had on.

Sam laughed. "Carls, that massive pile of blankets is what's gonna keep us warm." The blonde pointed to the bed, which was piled high with all the blankets they were able to find, including the ones off Spencer's bed, and topped with Carly's comforter as well as Spencer's. "As well as each other's body heat. And if we wear too many clothes, the blankets'll just take longer to warm up, and we won't even be able to feel each other's body heat. We'll end up being cold all night long. Trust me, less is better." She pointed to her own outfit of borrowed pyjama bottoms and loose tee-shirt.

Carly frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Oh, what, you think I'm just making this up so I can get you to take your clothes off and hop into bed with me?" Sam smirked and playfully arched an eyebrow.

Carly paused a second as if she was considering it, before chuckling and shaking her head. "No, of course not." She began taking off all the extra layers until she was down to just her pyjamas again, and the beanie, which she had forgotten about. She shivered and hugged her arms around herself - the temperature inside the apartment had plummeted in the last few hours as darkness had settled over Seattle, and heavy snow was now falling outside the windows.

Sam pulled the window drapes tightly closed, shutting out the cold night, then turned back to the bed, chuckling at the sight of Carly in her PJ's and beanie. "Yeah, I agree - you should leave the beanie on, fashion gods be damned."

Carly reached a hand up to touch the beanie, realising she had left it on by accident. "I meant to do that!" She tried to act nonchalant. "'Cos the blankets won't cover my head."

"I think you should leave it on because I find it totally cute." Sam winked at her, then hopped into bed.

Carly stuck her tongue out and pulled the beanie further down over her ears.

"Come on Shay, you getting in, or what? I s'pose you want me to warm this bed up all by myself, now?"

Carly climbed into bed beside Sam. "You know, you keep misbehaving, and I might just kick you out and make you sleep on the couch."

"You won't kick me out." Sam sounded cocky and sure of herself. "'Cause you're way too nice."

"Oh really?" Carly scoffed. "Care to wager a good night's sleep on that, Puckett?"

"And..." Sam continued, "'cause you know I'll fight you for custody of the blankets. And I'll be taking my half of the body-heat with me. So it'll end up being a very messy divorce..."

"Ookaay. You're right..." Carly conceded. "I guess I won't be kicking you out." Carly reached over and turned out the light, then snuggled further into the blankets. Sam moved closer to her, and wrapped an arm about her, spooning against her back.

Despite the cold in the room, it wasn't long before Carly began to warm up. Cocooned in her nest of blankets, and wrapped in Sam's warm and protective embrace, she soon drifted off to sleep.

Carly gently slipped from the land of sleep to the land of wakefulness. She'd been having a dream about hobos trying to steal her blankets, but then Sam had stopped them and kept her safe and warm. Carly smiled and opened her eyes. It was still dark in her bedroom, and her clock-radio was behind her, so she couldn't immediately see what time it was. She contemplated turning over to have a look, but that would mean moving, and she was just too warm and comfortable right now to do that.

Part of the reason she was so warm and comfortable at the moment was that she was lying half on top of Sam, with an arm round her waist and one leg thrown over both Sam's thighs. Carly's head was nestled in the crook of the other girl's neck, pillowed on soft golden tresses. She was surrounded by the scent of Sam's shampoo. Sam had both her arms wrapped loosely around Carly's waist. And with the thick pile of blankets pulled up to her neck, Carly felt warm and comfortable, despite the fact that the temperature in the room would probably be close to freezing by now.

Carly closed her eyes and prepared to let herself drift back to sleep, but then snapped them open again in mild surprise as something suddenly registered with her. During the night, Sam's tee-shirt had ridden up a little, exposing a strip of stomach - the same strip of stomach that Carly's arm now rested across. Sam had been right - compared to the heat Carly could feel emanating from Sam's clothed legs, the warmth coming from Sam's exposed tummy was noticeably greater against Carly's skin.

She was right! Less clothing is better when trying to stay warm in bed. Carly blushed when, about a second later, her brain followed that thought to its logical conclusion. If we were both totally naked, we'd be even warmer! Carly wondered why she'd thought that, and then wondered why thinking that thought made her stomach flutter and her pulse speed up a little. If Carly had believed Sam earlier, would she have agreed to get totally naked tonight if Sam had asked her to? Would Sam have agreed to it if Carly had suggested it? Had Sam been not-quite-joking when she had said she just wanted an excuse to get Carly naked in bed with her? Had Sam been... flirting with her? Of course not! She's just being Sam! Joking around like always...

Maybe flirting just a little? For some reason it now became vitally important to Carly to figure out if Sam had been flirting, or just joking.

And even more importantly, Carly suddenly wanted to know what it would feel like to be naked in bed with Sam.

Awkward, of course! Snuggling up to your best friend in bed while you were both sans clothes was not something that was done on a regular basis! Carly shook her head and closed her eyes again, willing her stupid teenage-hormone-saturated brain to shut off and let her get back to sleep. These sorts of ridiculous thoughts weren't doing her any good at all! She so needed to find herself a boyfriend to snuggle up to instead of using her BFF as proxy! But even as she thought it, Carly found herself unable to imagine how she could ever feel as safe and warm and comfortable in anyone else's arms as she did in Sam's. Damn her and her protectiveness, and considerateness, and understanding, and loyalty, and soft curves and smooth white skin and sparkling blue mischief-filled eyes... She's ruined me for anyone else's hugs!

Carly sighed softly into the darkness. But why shouldn't she want to snuggle with Sam? She loved the blonde - she hesitated to use the word more, but certainly more intensely - than anyone else she knew. Indeed, it scared her sometimes just how intense her affection for her friend was. And there were plenty of guys - and more than a few girls, probably - who would love to be in Carly's position right now. Because, once you got past the rough edges, Sam was a wonderful person. And more than a little hot...

Carly sighed again. Yeah... she was woman enough to admit it: although Sam didn't really do much to try and impress others, her natural beauty and ample self-confidence gave her an easy sexiness that was hard not to notice.

How would it feel to be snuggled up naked with Sam? Nice? Exciting? Thrilling? Risky? Risky because of where it could lead to... Her brain had completed the thought before she even realised.

Carly wondered: would she ever 'go there' with Sam? Provided Sam was willing, of course. (Sam had tried to get Carly naked in bed with her earlier...) What would it be like? Would it be amazing, or would it suck? At seventeen, Carly had no sexual experience to talk of, despite many of her peers at school having at least some. Carly sometimes wondered if she should have experience - sure, she'd been on dates with guys, even kissed some of them, and she knew that most of them would have been happy to do more, if Carly had let them. But it had just never felt right for some reason. So now she found herself, a horny hormonal mess, laying in bed next to her best (female) friend, snuggling for warmth whilst contemplating what it would be like to have sex with her.

Damn! I really do need to find myself a boyfriend... Or... why not a girlfriend who's also my best friend...?

Would it really be that strange, she wondered, or just a natural progression of what they already had? They already were so much to each other, why not that as well? They could spend their days in each other's company, being as affectionate as they wanted with each other, going places and doing things as an 'official' couple. And then, at night, when they were alone together... well, they wouldn't need to come up with excuses to snuggle up naked together in bed.

As Carly's imagination ran away from her with thoughts of all the interesting and wonderful things that she and Sam could do whilst naked together in bed, her body began to respond of its own accord. Her breathing and heartbeat sped up, and she suddenly felt even warmer than she had been. Without her even realising it, the hand that had been resting on Sam's stomach began absently rubbing back and forth, acting out her subconscious desire to caress and feel the other girl's skin. A part of Carly's mind registered the softness of Sam's skin, the toned abs that could just be felt, the indentation of her bellybutton, whilst another part of her mind imagined what it would be liked to be pressed up against that skin. To run her fingers gently over it. To place small kisses on every inch of it…

"You know, I'm pretty sure there's a law against molesting people in their sleep…" With a gasp, Carly froze, wide-eyed and scarcely daring to breathe, as Sam's sleepy voice invaded the dark silence of the room.

Ohmigodohmigodimsobusted! Carly drew her hand away, her heart pounding and her mouth way too dry to speak an explanation, even if her brain could think of one.

"Relax, kid." Sam caught Carly's hand before she completely withdrew it, and gently placed it back on her tummy. "I didn't say you had to stop. Just that I wanted to be awake to fully participate in any hanky panky."

Carly's frantic heartbeat began to slow as she registered that Sam wasn't angry with her for all-but-groping her in her sleep, then sped up again as her brain caught up with the fact that the blonde had just admitted to wanting to engage in 'hanky panky' with her. Carly opened her mouth to say something, but all that came out was a little squeak, as Sam began trailing her fingers lightly up Carly's arm.

"You know, fair's fair, Carls. You should let me rub your tummy now." Sam put her words into practice, her fingers reaching Carly's side, then slipping under her shirt to rub to and fro along the soft skin of her abdomen from ribs to hipbone, thumb occasionally darting down to trace her navel. Carly sighed at the delicious sensations - somewhere between a tingle and a tickle - that Sam's deft fingers produced with her gentle caresses.

The brunette's mind was still in meltdown, struggling to process the ramifications of what was happening, but her body reacted on autopilot, recognising what it had subconsciously wanted for so long. Carly pressed herself closer to Sam, shifting more of her weight on top of the other girl. She instinctively began grinding her crotch slowly against Sam's leg. She buried her face in the crook of Sam's neck, and started kissing the skin there. Working by feel, Carly placed tiny kisses in a row along the blonde's throat, jaw and chin, finally finding her way to Sam's full lips, which immediately melded to hers in a passionate and hungry kiss.

"Carly…" It came out as little more than a breathless gasp, full of want, when Sam finally broke the kiss for much-needed air. It was all the invitation Carly needed to act upon her thoughts and fantasies of a few minutes earlier. Carly's hand dipped beneath the waistband of Sam's pyjama bottoms and into her underwear. Her fingers slid between Sam's folds, finding her wet and ready. Sam let out a soft moan, cut short as Carly captured her lips once again in another long, demanding kiss. Carly's fingers stroked up and down Sam's heated sex, slowly and gently at first, but then faster and more firmly as Sam began to buck her hips against Carly's hand in time with her movements. Distracted as she was by the incredibly sexy noises coming out of Sam's mouth whenever she took a break from kissing her, Carly was only vaguely aware of Sam's hands on her hips and ass, pulling her in tighter against her, urging the brunette to speed up her thrusts against her leg.

Carly could feel Sam's body beginning to tense beneath her, and focussed her attention on the swollen bundle of nerves beneath her fingertips. Sam's own fingers found their way down the front of Carly's pants, giving the brunette the direct pressure against her aching centre that she needed. Moments later, Sam climaxed with a loud cry, her body trembling in release. Frantically grinding and thrusting against Sam's fingers, Carly's own release came soon after.

Slumped bonelessly on top of Sam, Carly tried to regain her breath, as her heartbeat gradually slowed to its normal rate. Sharing one last lingering kiss, the two girls separated, Carly rolling to one side before snuggling in close against Sam again, resting her head on her shoulder. She felt relaxed, sated and drowsy, and not the least bit cold after their recent… exertions. Before sleep could claim her, she struggled back to the brink of consciousness long enough to ask, "Sam… should we talk about what just happened?"

"We can talk about it tomorrow, Cupcake," Sam said with a yawn. "All you need to know right now, is that you're warm, safe, and loved."

"'Kay… tomorrow then…" Carly mumbled as she drifted back to sleep.

Carly groaned and rolled onto her back, having woken up because she was uncomfortably hot. She threw off the heavy, confining blankets and covers, kicking them down to her feet, and reached up to tear the beanie off her head and throw it to the floor. Pushing her sweaty bangs up off her face, she opened her eyes to find the bedroom suffused with dim shadowy light. Looking at her clock, she sat bolt upright when she saw that it was 8:50. Holy crap! School's already started! Why didn't my alarm go off?

Just at that moment, the bedroom door opened, and in walked Sam, carrying a tray piled high with bacon, eggs, pancakes and toast, along with jam, syrup, coffee and orange juice.

"Sam! Why didn't you wake me? We're late for school!"

"Relax, Carls. School's been canceled. It's on the website and all over the news. It's a total white-out outside! Blizzard blew in about an hour ago. Snow in the street's three-feet high at least! Have a look and see for yourself."

Carly got up and went over to the windows, drawing back the drapes to look outside. She was met by the sight of a thick curtain of snow falling past the window, swirling and eddying about in the blustering wind. The city was covered in a dull grey twilight, and Carly could barely see across to the roofline of the building opposite. Of the street far below, she could see nothing at all.

"Nobody's going anywhere for the rest of today. I turned the alarm off so you could enjoy a sleep-in," continued Sam. "Repairman got here right on seven, before it got too bad. He just had time to fix the heat, then found out that the rest of his jobs for the day had been cancelled, so he went straight home again. No sign of Spencer. I imagine he'll just stay at Socko's until the worst of it is over. Which means… you and I have a day to ourselves, stuck indoors. So I made my girl breakfast-in-bed." Sam placed the tray at the foot of Carly's bed.

Carly returned to her bed and sat down, the delicious aromas of the food making her aware of how hungry she was. Seeing the tray stacked high with way more food than she'd ever eat herself, Carly smiled. "You mean, you made breakfast for yourself, and then brought it up here to share as an afterthought?"

Sam tried to look offended, then gave up. "Yeah… you know me too well Shay." She reached for the tray, only to have Carly pick it up and carry it out of reach and over to the coffee table. Sam made a disappointed noise.

"I also know what a messy eater you are, and since I don't want to be finding toast crumbs and bacon bits in my bed, I think we should eat over here." Sam joined Carly on the couch, and the two girls got stuck into their hearty breakfast.

After some minutes of silent eating, Carly daintily placed her plate on the table and half-turned so she was looking at Sam. Hands nervously fidgeting in her lap, she said, "Sam… about last night…" Sam paused midway in trying to see how many pancakes she could fit in her mouth at once, and reluctantly put her plate down as well, hesitantly turning to meet Carly's gaze.

"Yeah Carls?" she mumbled round a mouthful of food.

"Did we… really do… what I think we did last night?"

"That depends…" Sam finally managed to swallow her mouthful of pancakes. "Do you want us to have done what you think we did? Or would you rather it just be a dream? We can treat it that way, if you want…" Sam trailed off.

Carly arched an eyebrow. "A dream that we both had? The same dream? At the same time?"

"An incredibly hot dream that we both had… at the same time. It could happen, I guess…" Sam didn't sound so sure of her proposal anymore. "What I'm saying is, if it's too awkward, we can just forget about it and pretend it never happened."

Carly tried to figure out how she felt about Sam's idea. It was awkward - friends (even those trying to stay warm in a blizzard with the heat out) didn't normally do… what she and Sam had done. At least, she didn't think so. Could they just go on with their lives, pretending it had never happened? Is that even what I want? Carly had enjoyed last night - the snuggling, the… things it had led to (she still couldn't bring herself to say it). And she had enjoyed the afterglow - the feeling of being 'warm, safe, and loved,' as Sam had put it. It now seemed really important to know if Sam felt the same way.

"Did you enjoy last night?" Carly asked abruptly.

Sam smiled. "Yeah. I definitely did. Mama loves to engage in snuggling and hanky panky with her girl." Sam's smile turned into a lecherous grin. "And judging by the noises you were making, you enjoyed it too." Carly blushed and looked down.

"Is that what I am? Your girl?" the brunette asked shyly.

"Do you want to be my girl?" Sam asked quietly.

Carly looked up again. "Did you mean it when you said that… you loved me?"

"Yeah. I meant it, Cupcake. I love you."

Carly smiled. "Then I definitely want to be your girl. I love you too, Sam." Carly leaned in to the blonde, and kissed her slowly and lovingly on the lips, tasting the lingering remnants of pancakes and syrup. "So, still no sign of Spencer?" she asked when they broke apart.

"None at all," confirmed Sam.

"And school's really been cancelled because of the blizzard?"

"Yep."

"So I guess we are stuck inside all day?"

"All day. However shall we pass the time?" asked Sam suggestively, leaning in for another kiss.

"Looks like you have a few ideas," said Carly when they separated again.

"Yeah. Starts out something like this…" Sam moved Carly's hair to one side, and began kissing her neck, eliciting sighs of appreciation from the other girl. She stopped suddenly, and playfully asked, "But Carls, now that the heat's back on, aren't you hot in those thick pyjamas?"

Carly was indeed feeling rather hot at the moment (though it may not have been entirely because of the pyjamas). "Yeah. It is a little warmish…" She broke off with a gasp when Sam started kissing the other side of her neck.

"So you should probably take them off."

"Yeah…" That seemed like a really good idea, but before Carly could get around to it, Sam was laying her back on the couch and kissing her again until she was quite breathless.

"Let me help you, Cupcake." Sam's fingers began working at the buttons on the front of Carly's pyjama top.

Carly thought that was also one of the best ideas she had ever heard, but was too breathless to say any more than: "You too…"

But Sam got the idea, and before much longer the blonde had removed both their clothes, and was laying her naked body along Carly's, gently pressing her into the couch cushions. Skin slid against skin, and tongues and hands explored and caressed. And Carly found out just how nice, exciting, and thrilling (and not at all awkward), it was to lay naked with Sam.

Oblivious to everything apart from each other, neither Carly nor Sam heard the phone ringing downstairs in the living room. A few seconds later, the answering machine picked up, and Spencer's voice informed the caller that they had reached the Shay's and should leave a message. After the beep, it was the very same voice that called out loudly: "Carly?! Carly! Why aren't you answering your cell? Are you at home? I know school got cancelled, so you can't have gone anywhere." There was a pause, and the sound of teeth chattering was clearly audible over the line. Spencer continued: "The heat at Socko's went out, along with the power, and now his door is blocked by snow. It's dark, it's f-freezing, and we can't get out! We've been calling repairmen and emergency services all morning, but no one can come out in the b-blizzard. Our ph-phone's are j-just about out of charge. It's all up to you. C-Carly, please! You have to call someone! Call the national guard! Call anybody! Just let someone knooww! Carly! You're our last hope! Send help, as s-soon as you can. Oh God! I can't feel my feet! S-so c-cold… So very, very cold…"