A/N: I originally wrote this over the Christmas holiday, but I kept working on revising it until now. In my other stories I've written about Freddie following Sam to L.A., but what if he stayed in Seattle and another gorgeous blonde (who still likes him) suddenly gets thrown into the mix. Will he end up falling for said blonde or will she only help him to realize how badly he wants to be with her sister.
I know this might not be a popular pairing because, lets face it, Seddie rules. I just wanted to try something different. This won't be a long drawn out story, just 6 or 7 chapters, depending on how well everyone likes it. Please, no hate on the subject matter, it's just a story and if you read it till the end, I think you'll like where it goes.
By the way: I don't own iCarly or any of these characters.
Prologue: It's been almost two years since Sam left Seattle. Freddie had only heard from her a couple of times. The first time, she needed help tracking some d-bag that was bad mouthing her business online. Then her roommate called and made up some bs story about her getting hit by an SUV. He dropped everything and went to L.A. that time. If she was hurt, he NEEDED to be there for her. Turned out Sam wasn't really hurt, but he ended up in the emergency room before he knew what hit him.
Sure, the blonde and him hung out a little after he got out of the hospital. He even thought that maybe they had a chance at being a couple again, but he had to get back to Seattle for college and with another Christmas rolling around and still no indication that she was thinking of coming home, Freddie has all but given up hope. He tried to date other girls since she left. He even left Gibby set him up a couple of times, because, for some unknown reason, Gibby has a way with the ladies, but it just never felt right to date anyone else.
A few months ago, Freddie began his sophomore year at Seattle U. When he was younger, he always thought he'd go to a more prestigious school, but deep down inside, he didn't really want to leave Seattle. There was always some little voice telling him that Sam would return and they could be together again.
Carly had called Freddie and told him she was worried about her brother and asked him to be a friend to Spencer, especially over the holidays. So over Thanksgiving break, Freddie began to spend more time with Spencer. The elder Shay sibling was miserable after getting dumped by the woman he had been dating for nearly two years. Since the breakup, he had immersed himself in his work and rarely left the apartment, growing facial hair and eating nothing but junk food and drinking strong coffee to keep himself going.
After the two men began hanging out, Spencer seemed to begin to pull out of his funk. He shaved almost every day and quit living on chips, pizza and coffee. Freddie invited him to spend Christmas with him and Marissa. Spencer politely (and wisely) declined, citing a trip to Yakima to visit his ailing grandfather. The guys played video games and watched sci-fi movies together several times a week. They even video chatted with Carly a couple of times. As a benefit of spending time with Spencer, Freddie was able to get his mind off how much he missed a certain blonde that he kept wishing would come home for the holidays but now hardly ever even called him.
Freddie knew he was going to be bored out of his mind over Christmas break, especially when Spencer went to Yakima. For a short while he even contemplated going to L.A. to visit Sam, but she was never one to like surprises and he knew that if he went, his mother would have a fit because he wouldn't be home to spend Christmas with her, including her tofurkey, bean sprout and yam casserole that wasn't fit to feed to a dead dog.
Today was yet another day that Freddie had been dreading. Marissa insisted that she and Freddie attend a mother-son gift wrapping class together down at the community center and he knew that he would be the oldest son there for sure, probably by at least ten or twelve years. Despite him being in college, Marissa still thought of him as nine years old. Sure he loved his mom, but she could be kind of hard on the nerves without even trying.
Melanie Puckett was valedictorian of her class at the boarding school she attended on the east coast. She, too, was in her sophomore year of college. She had been to visit her sister in L.A. twice, but hadn't been back to Seattle for several years. It's not like she was close with her mother anyway. Melanie was always Daddy's girl, which is why he used his political connections to get her into the boarding school. She wanted to spend Christmas break with her dad in Virginia like she usually did, but his new wife has made it clear that they were spending the week with her family in Florida, without Melanie.
Not wanting to spend another holiday in the dorms alone like she did over Thanksgiving while her dad was on his honeymoon, Melanie decided to make a trip to Seattle. She had taken a part time job at the student book store on campus and had enough money saved to pay for her ticket and even buy her mother a nice Christmas present. Hopefully, Pam would be sober enough to realize she was even there.
Melanie's flight arrived in Seattle and, despite calling Pam two days earlier and telling her exactly when she was due to arrive, she ended up sitting in the airport waiting for a ride. After three hours, she decided to give up on her mother. Not knowing who else to turn to, she called Spencer Shay's apartment.
"Yellow." The artist answered the phone, cheery as ever.
"Hi is this Spencer?" Melanie asked in her signature polite and chipper tone.
"Yep."
"This is Melanie. Melanie Puckett, Sam's sister."
"Oh, hey Melanie. Gosh, I haven't seen you in, what, three or four years? How's it going, kiddo?"
"Good. Well, not at the moment. Listen, I hate to be a pest, but I didn't know who else to call and anyway, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?"
"Sure, Melanie. What do you need?"
"Well, I could use a ride. I just got into Sea-Tac and I told my mom when I was getting in, but I guess she forgot about me. I've been sitting here for three hours and every time I call her, the phone goes right to voice mail, like she has it turned off or the battery's dead or something."
"No problemo, Melanie. I can be there in about 20 minutes."
"I'm sitting outside American Air baggage claim."
"OK, sit tight, I'll see you in a few."
After picking Melanie up, Spencer drove her to Pam Puckett's house to find no one home. The door was locked and all the window blinds were pulled tight. Melanie, lacking Sam's lock-picking expertise, couldn't get in. She returned to Spencer's car, not to get her suitcase, but to regret even buying the ticket to Seattle in the first place.
"I'm sorry Spencer. I don't know what to do. I don't have money for a hotel room and she's clearly not home, even her crappy old Honda is gone."
"Don't sweat it, Mel. You can crash at my place if you want, I have plenty of space. You can stay in Carly's old room if you want."
"Thanks, Spencer. Sam always said you were like a big brother to her. I guess I owe you one."
Spencer and Melanie made their way through the lobby at Bushwell to Lewbert's complaints of them messing up his floor. When he raised his head from the book he was reading and got a good look at Melanie, he returned to his office and cowered like he was in fear for his life. Mel shrugged it off and continued toward the elevator. In the Shay apartment, Melanie took her bag upstairs while Spencer headed into the kitchen in an attempt to find something for his guest to eat for dinner.
Freddie, who had just returned from his mother-son bonding time, decided to pay Spencer a visit while Marissa was on the phone with his aunt telling her what a great time she felt they had together. Freddie rang the bell and waited patiently.
"C'mon in Freddo." Spencer greeted when he opened the door.
"Thanks, Spence. Man, I'm glad that's over." Freddie sighed, plopping down on the couch and turning on the TV.
"So how was the class?"
Freddie simply sent the older man a look that said 'drop it'. "So what are you up to?" He asked.
"Trying to find something for dinner. I have company." Spencer said as he headed back to the kitchen.
"Oh, uh, sorry dude. I didn't realize you had a date." Freddie got up and turned toward the door. "I'll head out and let you . . ."
"No. You don't have to go. I mean, it's not a girl. Well, it's a girl, but she's not a date."
Freddie stood to walk toward the kitchen for further explanation, clearly confused at Spencer's statement. He got even more confused when he glanced toward the stairs and saw a familiar figure coming down the steps.
"Sam! Oh my gosh, what are you doing here." Freddie exclaimed, running over to the blonde beauty.
"Hey, Freddie!" Melanie said when she reached the bottom of the steps, offering him a hug.
"That's not Sam. That's Melanie." Spencer explained, grabbing a handful of take out menus from a drawer under his island. "You guys up for a pizza or would you rather have Chinese? Sorry, but I don't have much in the house."
"Again!" Freddie said with disgust in his voice and pushed the girl back from him. "First off, Sam you already admitted you made up your twin sister years ago. We haven't seen each other in forever and you're pulling this chiz. And I can't believe you, Spence. I thought we were buds, now you're helping her try to make a fool out of me. Again."
"Freddie, I'm real." Melanie said taking his hands in hers. "Don't you remember our dance and our kiss at the club?"
Poor Freddie, he didn't know what to do. On one hand he was mad at Sam for trying to pull this chiz on him when he hadn't seen her in so long and yet he had missed her so much he sort of didn't care. 'Maybe the poor girl's bi-polar or something, she's acting really odd, too' he thought to himself. He glared into her eyes and something was different alright, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.
"Why don't you just show him your i.d.?" Spencer asked from the kitchen, with uncharacteristic wisdom.
Melanie, who was still carrying her purse, reached into it and took out her student i.d. "Here Freddie, see it says 'Melanie Ann Puckett'."
"Sam, I know you well enough to know that you could get a fake i.d. with one phone call. Heck, I've seen you do it."
Tired of arguing, Mel came up with an idea of her own. "Tell you what, Freddie. Take out your phone and call Sam, right now. Talk to her and prove to yourself that I'm not her."
Freddie pulled his pear phone out of his pocker and unlocked it. He scrolled down to Sam's number, which was contact number 2, his mom was number 1. He hit dial and waited. After several rings, Sam's phone went to voice mail. "Well, I guess that doesn't prove much." He scoffed and started back toward the sofa.
"I'm calling the pizza place, you guys good with a meat lover's pizza?"
"Um, could we skip the sausage, please?" Melanie asked.
Freddie definitely knew something was wrong with this picture. First off, Sam doesn't make a habit out of saying 'please' and she'd sooner eat cardboard than have pizza without sausage. "What did you say?" He inquired with a the raise of an eyebrow, looking at the girl like she had just sprouted another arm from her forehead.
"I mean, it's OK if you guys want it, but I'd rather skip the sausage because of the fat. I guess it doesn't matter, I can just pick it off my slice."
"Your slice?" Freddie asked. "As in, just one? You always put away a whole pizza by yourself. And then steal everyone else's breadsticks."
"Well, Maybe Sam can eat like a lumberjack, but I can't. That's the biggest difference in us, she has the metabolism of a racehorse. I gain a pound if I even look at a tiny little cupcake."
Freddie was about to open his mouth when his phone rang, Sam's name and number appeared on the screen. "Now how did you manage that?" He asked, glancing up at Melanie. "Hello?"
So it looks like Freddie is about to have the revelation of his life. See what happens next time when he makes a new friend.