Kindred Spirits
By PD31
Disclaimer: I still don't own iCarly, Victorious, any of the episodes or any of the characters.
Rating: T
Pairing: Jedi (Freddie/Jade)
Summary: Set in the universes of my "iAm Done" and "I've Missed You" stories. A huge thank you to One Horse Shay for helping me attempt to integrate the timelines of the two shows; for the purpose of this story the events of both the Full Moon Jam in "I've Missed You" and the iHalfoween party that spawned "iAm Done" took place on May 4th, one week before this story begins.
AN: Hello everyone and Happy New Year. Please enjoy this story. I would also like to thank everyone who reviewed the semi-prequel (I've Missed You over in the Victorious section) so "Guest", Happyjade25, "BadeCabbie167", Prentiss-be-mine, One Horse Shay, anlmoon, "someone", "Angeline" and "Jeremy Shane" – thank you all.
Benson Residence,
Apartment 8-D, Bushwell Plaza, Seattle, WA
Friday May 11th, 2012
A still-angry Freddie Benson woke early on Friday morning; he was still angry whenever he thought about Carly, Sam and the others over their indifference during the "Halfoween" party they had thrown. He checked his clock and groaned; 5 a.m. His mother must have just returned from a shift at the hospital and that was what had woken him up. He closed his eyes again, thinking that he needed some more sleep before heading to school.
"Why though?" Part of his brain flared up. "So you can have another day of the two girls chasing you round and round Ridgeway trying to brow-beat you into hanging with them again?"
It had been a difficult week for him; at first he had tried ignoring the girls after confronting them on the Monday about their behaviour during the party. By the middle of the week their (Carly's, anyway) apologies had turned into arguments and complaints about how he "can't stay mad at them forever". Watch me, the brown-haired teen thought grimly as he rolled over in bed and smiled, any time he thought about life without the girls, without iCarly, without Gibby, Spencer and his entire "old life" in Seattle he felt better; the time he had spent looking at new clubs and new interests away from them all had made him feel liberated. He thought about the coming weekend; his hours were still to be confirmed at the Pear Store, having just been interviewed and hired during the week, so he wouldn't have any work there to do just yet. Were the girls still expecting him to do iCarly with them tonight? Surely not, but if they are then they are in for an unpleasant surprise he thought. His mother was on nights all weekend so he wouldn't see much of her.
"I'm on top with my studies, nobody will care if I blow off a day."
He smiled and thought back a few months to when he made a surprise trip down to see Tori Vega and the others at Hollywood Arts and attended her play. He winced slightly at the memory of her sister Trina swinging around the place after having a problem with her harness, but the elder Vega hadn't been seriously hurt and everything had turned out ok in the end.
"Why not have another long weekend in LA with some people who actually like me?"
His own spontaneity surprised him but the idea was growing on him by the second so he leapt out of bed and logged onto his laptop. A 6 a.m. flight, then another at 6:40 if he missed the first. The boy dressed quickly and threw some changes of clothes and overnight things into a small bag, along with his phone and laptop before scribbling a quick note for his mother and heading down to his car; he was on the road just after 5:10 and, with the I-5 still fairly light, arrived at the airport a little after 5:30. He was able to buy a ticket for the 6 a.m. flight and made the gate with a few minutes to spare.
The flight was on time and he and the other passengers disembarked shortly after 8:30. Not needing to collect any checked baggage he was able to quickly leave the airport and get a shuttle bus to downtown LA (he realised there was no point heading straight to Hollywood Arts as school would have started by the time he got there). The boy realised he had no accommodation booked and, having turned up on spec he couldn't really expect any of the gang to suddenly take him in so he spent the bus ride checking out hotel prices for the weekend. He held off on booking though, just in case he did get a generous offer from one of his friends.
West Residence,
Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA
Jade had woken early this morning as well. She sighed at another Los Angeles morning; the bright sun did little to enhance her mood as she reflected on the events of the last week. The Full Moon Jam and the spectacular way she had rejected her ex-boyfriend's attempts at reconciliation had been fun at the time, and she had enjoyed her date the following night (albeit the guy seemed a little nervous around her for most of the evening). She had enjoyed singing at Karaoke Dokie and her date had been impressed anew by her voice. He seemed to have had a decent enough time but hadn't asked about a second date. Not at all, neither on the night nor when she'd seen him around school during the week.
It had been a quiet, almost lonely week for the gothic girl. That something was wrong became painfully apparent early on Monday morning when Beck, still limping slightly, arrived with André and Robbie. The three boys walked past her and their usual table in the Asphalt Café and chose a different one. The Vega sisters joined them (she wasn't too unhappy about that) but then so did Cat, having first asked why Jade was sat on her own.
"I was sat here, they showed up and sat there. Then Vega and her sister arrived and joined them."
"Oh, ok," Cat answered before walking to the others and sitting with them. The thought that even Cat wasn't going to sit with her was a bit of an annoyance. Sinjin and Burf tried to join her but she advised them not to and they fled shortly afterwards. She thought Sinjin may have peed – again; it was the one thing all week that made her genuinely smile.
The pattern repeated at lunch and throughout the next three days; she sat alone while the others were together at another table. As cool as she tried to appear on the outside, it was starting to get to her that they had all taken his side so readily.
So when lunchtime came around and she bought her burrito from the Grub Truck, it was with the anticipation of another silent lunch hour that she sat alone, out of the way of and a couple of tables along from her "friends".
After a couple of hours in downtown LA browsing a few stores (particularly the Pear Store) Freddie caught a cab to Hollywood Arts. He wasn't at all surprised to have received a slew of missed calls and text messages from Carly during his flight down. His mother called, rather unhappy with him, mid-morning; it was the one call he did take and she was upset that he was missing school. His attempts to placate her with his reasoning were only partially successful but he declined her demand that he "come home right now", instead saying he'd be back Sunday – or maybe Monday… or later. The threat of a prolonged stay drew a steadying breath from the Benson matriarch and a far more civil request to be home on the Sunday.
"I'll think about it," he said with a smirk before ringing off. He was sorely tempted to switch the device back off as he declined a couple more calls from the brunette web star (who, consequently, now realised that his phone was on) but had one message to send first; he texted Tori, she was the one he'd had most contact with since meeting the group the previous year after all, and casually mentioned in it that he was in LA and would be at Hollywood Arts over lunch.
He arrived at the Performing Arts school and paid the driver. He had timed the trip well as the outdoor café was beginning to fill with hungry students. Realising that he fell into that category, and still yet to switch his phone back on to see if there was a reply from the younger, more talented Vega sister (he turned it off in annoyance after declining Carly's fifth call in a two minute period) he, against his better judgement, bought something from the Grub Truck, eyeing the ravioli with deep misgivings as he received it, before turning to scan the area for some friendly faces.
It didn't take him long to spot the knot of students he had first met at Kenan's house, sat together talking – none were looking in his direction so he assumed they had yet to spy him. His eyes, though, were drawn to a different table; to a pretty girl sat on her own with her back to them (and therefore she would have been just about facing him if she wasn't so interested in her own meal).
"No!" she snapped, without looking up as he sat down next to her, so his own back was to the group as well. He ignored her and continued to look at her; just the faintest hint of sadness could be seen under the impassive mask she wore so well. She raised her head in annoyance that someone dared to challenge her and he smiled at the death glare that so reminded him of another girl's before recognition kicked in and her expression morphed in an instant into one of surprise and – almost – happiness. She even spared him a ghost of a smile.
"Freddie Benson! What are you doing here?" The dark brunette didn't even attempt to hide her shock and she swept her hair, including her dark blue and green extensions, away from her face, realising as she did that she was in danger of indulging in the "flirtatious hair flipping" she accused her rival of doing so often. I am not flirting with him, she instantly corrected herself sternly, my hair was just in my face.
"Long weekend to visit some friends," he smiled. He dropped it a moment later and his tone turned serious. "Why are you sat on your own?"
"Well, Beck and I broke up…" she began. He nodded, though with a hint of confusion.
"I thought that was a few weeks ago, and that you were still friends and hanging together," he interrupted, something that earned him a fresh glare of annoyance from the mean girl. She smiled internally though, happy to have the opportunity to reclaim complete control over her features and the situation.
"We did, to both," she explained, "until last weekend; it was the 'Full Moon Jam' here and I was singing. Beck liked what he'd heard and out of the blue, after chasing after Tori and a litany of other bimbos," she saw Freddie frown a little at her grouping her classmate in with the others like that, "he decided he wanted me back. I asked him if he wanted me back when he was chasing Tori, trying to kiss her, talking me down to her, calling me a freak to one of his friends or receiving endless text messages from some girl."
"What did he say to that?" Freddie pressed.
"Nothing, I stormed off the stage after that and asked the backstage guys if any of them wanted to take me out somewhere. They seemed a bit nervous but one eventually said he would and we went out the next night; it was ok but he hasn't asked about a second date."
"So you've been abandoned by them because you rejected him?" Freddie glanced over at the other group, still talking among themselves. None met his eyes; he still doubted that they had even realised yet that he was there.
"Uh no, they ostracised me because he tried to kiss me and when I turned him down I uh… kneed him in the groin," she clarified. The tech producer was unable to tell whether it was shame or pride that he could detect a trace of in her otherwise even tone; he suspected the latter.
He whistled softly. "And you wonder why the guys are nervous about going out with you."
"I never said I was wondering," she countered with a light smirk, "just that they were. So anyway, come on, tell me about you. I don't see Carly or Sam, where are they?"
"Seattle I imagine," he shrugged; she noticed a momentary flare of anger in his eyes when she named the pair. She expected him to elaborate but he returned to his lunch.
"You can't just give me that," she demanded, giving him her best stare again. "What happened? Why are you here and they're up there?"
He sighed again. "We threw a party last week. Some guys were in one of our local hang-out places, the 'Groovy Smoothie' and they were going to a costume party. The girls decided they wanted to throw one but didn't want to wait for Halloween, so – as it's six months away – we had a 'Halfoween' party instead."
The girl nodded. "I remember you mentioning it on i… the show," she corrected seeing the look in his eyes and assuming he didn't want the brunette web hostess's name being mentioned again. He smiled at her and continued,
"Yeah so we had the party and… an uninvited guest showed up and started messing with us. The girls thought they'd caught him and gave out a slamming into some gift pool we'd rigged up. What the idiots didn't realise was that he and his goons had forced me into the costume first. After the fact not one of them cared or wanted to know if I was ok; they even apologised to him for something that had gone on a while earlier, can you believe that? So I finally realised that I don't have one decent friend I can count upon in that group and I've told them all that I'm done with them."
"I know that feeling," she commented darkly.
"Oh my God, FREDDIE!" He turned his head at Tori's greeting as the half-Latina dashed to appear by his side; she had finally realised that someone was sat with Jade and recognised her friend from behind. "I got your text but I didn't realise you were here already, did you get mine? How are you?" she babbled, pulling him up and into a hug, much to his dark brunette neighbour's annoyance.
"I'm good Tori, how are you?" he asked her with a huge smile. At the other table he could see from the corner of his eyes that the others were looking over in surprise as recognition and realisation hit them.
"We'll make some extra space on our table," she announced before heading back; neither teenager left behind was sure if the invite was for one or two.
"Go on," Jade encouraged dismissively as he sat again, "your friends want you to sit with them," she continued bitterly.
The boy looked at her for a moment; he was isolated from his former friends by choice, she by force and he sympathised with the feeling of loneliness that even she failed to hide. "I want to sit here with you," he countered confidently.
"Why? You're not obligated to stay with me; I don't need a babysitter Freddie."
"Do you want me to go?" he challenged her, holding her gaze and surprising her with his refusal to be cowed or intimidated by her.
"I don't want you to miss out on spending time with your friends." She tried and failed to keep the bitterness out of her voice.
"That's not what I asked," he pointed out. "And I'm with a friend," he finished, as their eyes met – really met, both teenagers felt a strange sense of kinship that neither had experienced before. The Seattleite was stunned and almost overwhelmed by the desire, the sudden need to kiss her but the spell was broken as quickly as it began by Cat bouncing to the table, Tori hot on her heels and with her sandwich in hand.
"Hi," the ebullient redhead called out, pouncing on him and giving him a welcoming hug, one that he was happy to return.
"Hey Cat, how are you?" he asked the giggly girl with a laugh of his own.
"Come on, come sit with us," Tori urged, glancing from the former iCarly to his lunchmate.
"I'm not exactly welcome in your little group these days am I? Not after how I turned Beck down," she was amused when Tori's face fell as she had to concede the point.
The younger Vega sister cast a hesitant eye back at the others before making her way around the table to sit opposite the pair; Cat slid in between her and Freddie, much to the kindred pair's surprise.
Freddie chanced a glance over his shoulder to see the reaction of the rest of the group; André was staring at them in more than a little confusion but he quickly focussed on a more surprising sight – Trina was sat in Beck's lap with her right arm around him and her body blocked the long haired actor's face from his line of sight.
"Beck and your sister?" he asked Tori in surprise. She peered around him to take in the sight before groaning and resting her forehead on the table as she uttered the word "Trina" in unconcealed frustration. Jade smirked at her reaction.
The Hollywood Arts bell rang and the three students rose. "We have Sikowitz now," Tori noted. "See you after?"
Freddie nodded and stood up too. "I'll see you girls later," he promised.
He watched Tori and Cat leave the table but was surprised that Jade remained stood by his side.
"You don't have class?" he asked her.
"Shouldn't you be in class?" she shot lightly back at him.
"You gonna rat me out?" he laughed.
"No, I'm gonna blow off class too. C'mon," she grabbed his wrist and led him to the car park, ignoring the surprised stares of her former friendship group as they watched the two go.
"Where are we going?" he asked as they arrived at her car.
"For coffee," she answered simply.
Groundwork Coffee
1501 North Cahuenga Boulevard, Hollywood, CA
Freddie brought two steaming mugs of coffee to the table he and Jade were sharing. He smiled over the rim of his mug as he saw her begin to suck down her beverage, amused at the way she closed her eyes and sat with a dreamy expression as she savoured the bitter-sweet liquid.
"You love your coffee," he observed playfully.
"Oh yeah."
"Jade, why were you so eager to blow off class to be with me?" he asked her curiously. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it's great to hang with you but it's not like we know each other that well."
"If you didn't want to be with me you should have said something," she snarled irritably.
"I never said that," he defended, "just that I'm surprised you wanted to go."
"I dunno," she muttered as she pondered the scenario, "I guess I just…" she sighed as she deliberated how much to disclose. Finally she decided that she could, and would, tell him everything. "Even the mean girl gets sick of being on her own after a while. This last week has been difficult since all my 'friends' sided with Beck over me so to have someone who actually wanted to hang with me and wasn't a loser," she shook her head at the thought of Sinjin and Burf, "it's nice," she admitted quietly.
"I had the opposite problem," he sighed. "Ever since I told Carly where to shove it she's been trying to corner me at every opportunity and demand another chance. I think she's already had plenty," he told his cup sadly before taking another sip.
"You live right across the hall from her though, don't you? It can't be easy to keep avoiding her."
"That's what she's counting on," he complained. "She expects to wear me down eventually, that all will be forgiven and everything will go back to normal. She can forget that," he snorted out.
"You'll really stay mad at her forever?"
"I'm going to try."
"So one of us has lost our former friends and the other can't get rid of them?" She laughed at the situation they found themselves in.
"That sums it up," he began laughing along with her. "You could get yours back though," he noted, "whatever the reason, Tori and Cat were happy to sit with you today."
"They won't do that on Monday though, they were sitting with you not me." A thought struck the gothic girl. "Do you need me to take you back to school? I guess you and Tori have plans for tonight?"
"No," he admitted, "I kinda just came down here and figured I'd meet you all and we'd make plans on the spot. I have nothing to do tonight – apart from find a hotel."
"I can find you a bed," she offered.
"Oh I wasn't…" he began before she cut him off.
"We've plenty of room," she insisted. "I'll text my mom so she knows but she'll be fine with it. We can hit a couple of places tonight and have some fun… unless you'd rather go with the others – I don't wanna keep you from spending time with them."
"What did you have in mind?"
"Maybe dinner and some karaoke?"
"Karaoke with you guys was fun last time."
"How about you invite the others then, they may be more receptive than if it comes from me, and we'll head to Karaoke Dokie for around 8?"
He nodded eagerly and mass-texted the others to gauge their interest.
AN: Thank you for reading; I hope the next chapter, featuring how they spend their evening – and who else shows up, will be up soon. It depends on how quickly I get some of my other work (particularly iSwitch Schools in the Victorious section) finished. PD.