A/N: This is a 4-part story that I wrote in less than a week. I'll be posting a new chapter every other day until it's all posted. I don't remember where the idea came from, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I think if you've liked any of my past Spam stories, you should like this one. Warnings include: sexual reference (no actual sex scenes, though), teenage alcohol use, some cussing, and violence.
Part 1 is in Spencer's point of view. Heather is my own original character, so if for some reason you'd ever want to use her, ask me first. If you read, please review and let me know what you think!

But It Wasn't Just Jealousy
Part 1

I've never really been the jealous type. I'm not sure why, but I'm just not that sensitive about that sort of thing. Like, if I had a girlfriend, and she cheated on me, yeah, I'd be upset, and we'd break up, but I'd get over it pretty quickly. I guess I just never cared much. Or maybe I never found a girl I really cared that much about…

When Sam and I realized we liked each other (subsequent to our first sudden kiss), it was awkward at first. What were we supposed to do? She was so much younger than me, and I was her best friend's big brother. Likewise, she was my little sister's best friend. How would we explain to anyone if we started dating?

But she insisted that I wasn't like any other guy she'd ever met, and she liked me more than she ever realized. She told me I was her only hope. She said that, besides Carly, I was what kept her hanging onto that last string of sanity. I believed her, because, you know what? I felt the same way. I felt like I could connect with Sam like I couldn't connect with anyone else, and I always had so much fun just being around her. She made me feel so good about myself, which was something I'd never gotten from any of my past girlfriends. We seemed to understand each other so well and have so much fun together; we complemented each other, I guess you could say. So I was willing to take the chance and jump into this with her.

Because, I thought, She's worth it all.

We waited until she was 18, because she was afraid of getting me in trouble. She'd seen her dad go to prison, and of course, her mom had gone to jail plenty of times, and she didn't want to see that happen to me, too. It was understandable. We were practically dating for like, six months before her birthday, but we didn't make it official or let anyone else know until after her birthday. We did, however, fall in love fast.

I'd wanted to get Sam something to represent our relationship for the longest time. So, for her birthday, I spent what was left of the money I'd earned from the last sculpture I made on a real silver necklace. It had a small outline of a heart hanging from it: half of the heart was plain silver, but the other half was made up of five real diamonds. I was pretty proud of it when I gave it to her, and she seemed very happy with it. She wore it all the time, and I never saw her take it off. It reminded me of her – half regular, imperfect silver, and half diamonds, shining in beauty and perfection. I thought it fit her perfectly.

Sam and Carly were almost done with their junior year (Sam had been held back a year in kindergarten or first grade or something, before she met Carly, so she was a year older than everyone else in her class). Carly, Sam, and Freddie had retired iCarly after their freshman year. It was too stressful on them to have the webshow and school and homework to worry about, not to mention the jobs Carly and Freddie were planning on getting as soon as they turned 16. But they were still really good kids, and when Carly wanted to start going out to parties and whatnot, I let her. It wasn't like I hadn't been a teenager just about 10 years before, so I related a little more to the kids. I set reasonable rules, and they followed them. I hadn't had to ground Carly more than twice since she started high school! Which, if I say so myself, is pretty darn good.

Of course, wherever Carly goes, Sam is sure to follow. So, whenever she went out to these parties, Sam went, too. (Freddie's mom absolutely forbade him to attend a teenage party that she couldn't chauffeur him to, so he usually stayed home on weekend nights, or came to hang with me at the loft.) I got a little more worried about her, because I considered her mine now, and I knew how teenage boys could be, especially on alcohol. Carly didn't like to drink, so I knew she was keeping a good eye on Sam. However, Sam will do what she wants, when she wants, and she won't let anything or anyone stop her, not even Carly. Plus, she liked to drink at most of these parties. So, about every other weekend, I found myself sitting at home, watching TV or working on a sculpture, with nothing but Sam and Carly on my mind. I was constantly wondering what Sam was doing, and whether Carly was keeping her safe, and vise versa.

On this particular Friday night, I was hard at work on a sculpture that had to be finished by Monday, which I was supposed to be paid $50,000 for. Sam was lounging on the couch, snacking on whatever food we had left and watching TV, while Carly was upstairs showering and getting ready to go out to another party she'd been invited to.

"I'm almost ready, I'll be down in a minute!" Carly called from the top of the stairs.

I looked over at Sam with my hot glue gun in hand to see her setting the empty chip bag on the coffee table and standing up to stretch.

"When do you think you guys will be back?" I asked, glancing at a clock to see it was a little past seven.

Sam shrugged. "Not sure. Before three, probably, but I dunno. I'll call you if you want."

She walked up to me and gave me a kiss on the lips, and I nodded. "Okay, sounds good. If you need a ride or something, call me. And Carly better not come back without you."

She rolled her eyes, smiling. I always teased her like this before she went out, even though I really was worried about her. "Yes, Dad, don't worry."

I chuckled. "You probably shouldn't call me that. It's pretty creepy."

She laughed, then wrapped her arms around me in a hug. I hugged her back, holding my hot glue gun away from her. She'd grown a few inches over the past couple of years, so she wasn't quite as short as she used to be, but I still nearly towered over her.

I still got butterflies in my stomach when I held her in my arms, though. I swear, every time.

When she let go, she looked up at me, and I leaned down and kissed her again.

"Are you staying the night again?" I asked her.

She nodded, giving me a 'duh' look. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. I was just wondering…"

She smiled again and gave me another hug, this time muttering, "I love you."

I hugged her back, smiling. "I love you, too."

Just then, we heard Carly coming down the stairs, so we let go of each other and turned to look. She was wearing casual jeans and a hoodie over her T-shirt, and her hair was perfectly straightened and fell over her shoulders. She'd started wearing makeup like, right after middle school, and I still wasn't really used to it. It was just weird to see my baby sister growing up so fast.

"Ready, Sam?" she asked, picking up her purse from the kitchen counter and joining us where we stood.

Sam nodded. "Yep. Let's go!"

She had been holding onto my free hand, and now she squeezed it before letting it slip out of hers as she walked away to the door.

"You two be careful," I reminded Carly. "Drive the speed limit, use your signals – do you have your license on you?"

Carly rolled her eyes with a smile. "Yes, Spencer. And we'll be back before…?"

I shrugged. "Before three, please. And if you're not here by then, I'll be calling your cell phone like a madman."

She giggled. "Okay. We'll see you later then."

I nodded and watched her join Sam at the door, who held it open for her before walking out of it herself.

"See you later, girls. Safety first!" I called out jokingly, reminding them. I heard them laugh and I smiled to myself.

Before Sam closed the door behind her, she stuck her head back in and called to me with a smile, "Bye, Spence!"

I smiled back to her, then watched the door shut. As soon as I heard their voices fade down the hall, I leaned back down to my sculpture and got to work on it again, gluing my fingers together numerous times. I'm not the most coordinated artist, but hey, whatever.

I was walking around my sculpture to the pile of supplies I had on the floor, about to pick something else up, when I heard a knock on the door. I stood up straight and looked towards it, then looked at the clock: 8:35. I hadn't even realized I'd been working for that long.

I looked down at my hands, which were very sticky at this point and a little paint splattered, so I grabbed up a hand towel from the kitchen and wiped them as I headed for the door. When I opened it, towel still in hand, I found a very attractive brunette woman staring back at me with big, round, green eyes, her face glowing with full, deep red, glossy lips curved into a smile.

"Hi," she greeted.

I stared for a moment, my mind going blank. I forced myself back to reality, and quickly stammered, "H-hi. Can I help you…?"

She held out her hand, which I saw had perfectly manicured nails painted red. I took it in mine and gently shook it in greeting. "I'm Heather. I just moved into the apartment next door – " she pointed with her other hand toward the door a few feet down, which had been an empty apartment for about a year, until now. " – and I know it's kind of late, but almost all of my food is still being stored at my mom's, so I was wondering if I could borrow some milk?"

I raised my eyebrows, the warmth of her hand in mine giving my arm goose bumps. "Oh, I'm Spencer… Um, sure, no problem. Why don't you come in?"

We let go of each other's hands and I moved aside, waiting for her to step inside of the apartment, her black heels clicking on the wood floor, before I shut the door. I couldn't help it – I was very much checking her out. She was about Sam's height, and wore a pair of tight jeans, which accentuated her perfect curves, and casual, black heels - which meant she was actually probably a little bit shorter than Sam - with a tight white shirt underneath the fitted black jacket, the sleeves of which stopped halfway down her forearms. Her silky, straight, brown hair fell over her shoulders just right, and her green eyes, outlined in dark eyeliner and light, pink eyeshadow, were looking around the loft, inspecting it. Her long, black lashes fluttered over her eyes every time she blinked. The white shirt she had on was low-cut, and I couldn't help but glance at the bit of cleavage that was showing above her half-zipped jacket.

After checking her out, I realized I looked like crap at the time. I was wearing an old, stained shirt to sculpt in, and some very worn jeans, and my house slippers… I was in my "nobody's coming over, I'm not going out anywhere, therefore there is no reason to put on something clean" outfit. This made me feel much more awkward than usual.

She looked back over at me, still smiling. "You have a very interesting place here, Spencer."

My name was like silk coming out of her mouth.

I smiled back as well as I could. "Thanks. It's not much, but I like it, and my little sister seems to be okay with it… So how much milk do you need?"

I started walking towards the kitchen, tossing the hand towel back onto the counter.

"Um, just a cup or so. I just wanted some cereal," she answered before casually changing the subject. "So, you have a little sister?"

I nodded as I opened the fridge, reaching in and pulling the milk jug out, then setting it on the counter and closing the fridge door again. I turned around, twisting the lid off. "Yeah. She's seventeen. I've been her legal guardian since she was thirteen… Our dad's in the Navy and won't be back home for a while, so I volunteered to take care of her."

I looked over to see Heather raising her sculpted and arched eyebrows in interest. "Oh? Well that's so sweet of you. What a good big brother… How many years older than her are you?"

"Twelve," I answered, retrieving a measuring cup from the cupboard and setting it on the counter, then carefully pouring the milk into it. "She's about to finish her junior year of high school… She grew up so fast."

"Yeah, they tend to do that," she said. "And what about your mother? Why didn't she take her?"

I frowned a bit, then shrugged, finishing pouring the milk in and twisting the lid back onto the jug. "She uh… hasn't been around for a while now."

Heather's eyes widened, and her voice got quieter. "Oh… I'm sorry I asked. I'm being so nosey…"

I shook my head, smiling at her reassuringly before I put the milk back into the fridge. "No, it's okay. It's better than standing here talking about the weather or something. So, what made you move here? Did you and your boyfriend move in or something?"

She shook her head quickly. "No, no, no. I'm very single now… I just wanted my own little place, and this apartment seemed nice. The building seems really cozy, and besides the rude doorman downstairs, I've found everyone to be really nice so far."

I chuckled. "Oh, yeah, that's Lewbert. Don't worry about him. He's rude and obnoxious and gross… No one cares for him much. My sister actually used to mess with him all the time. One time, she actually blew that huge wart right off his face!"

I laughed at the memory, and Heather laughed. "Oh, wow. I'd love to see that!"

I nodded, then brought the cup of milk over and handed it to her. "Yeah, it was pretty funny… Anyway, here's your milk. If you need anything else – "

"Actually," she interrupted, taking the milk from me. "I'm pretty bored and lonely over there all by myself… I haven't gotten my cable or internet turned on yet, or even my water… Would you mind if I hung out with you? If you're busy, I understand. I don't want to invite myself over or anything…"

I shook my head. "No, no, that'd be fine. I was just working on my sculpture," I gestured towards the sculpture sitting on the floor behind me. "But you can hang out here and watch TV or use our computer or something. If you need to shower or something, that'd be fine, too. I'm alone for most of the night, so it wouldn't really bother me."

She smiled, pleased. "Alright, cool. Well, I'm gonna go eat my bowl of cereal, and then I'll be back over. Is that okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, sounds good. I'll be here!"

She giggled, looking up at me with seductive green eyes. "Okay, see ya soon."

I waved as she turned around and left the loft, cup of milk in hand. When the door shut, I let out a deep breath of relief.

"Wow…" I muttered to myself.

When I gained back my composure, I ran to the kitchen sink and washed my hands, drying them quickly. I then ran to my bedroom and grabbed a clean shirt and a clean pair of jeans and threw them on, spraying on some body spray. I ditched my house slippers, but didn't bother putting on shoes, so I just left my socks on. I ran my hands through my hair, making sure it wasn't greasy or spiking up, and smoothed it down more, then inhaled deeply. I wasn't sure what I was doing… All I knew was that I didn't want this girl to think I was some gross slob.

That's it, I thought to myself, walking back out into the living room. I just want to impress her so she doesn't think everyone in Bushwell is a bunch of slobs and spazzes. First impressions are everything, after all. She's my new neighbor, so it matters.

I was trying to convince myself that that was the reason more than anything. I had been thinking about Sam the whole time, knowing I really cared about her and loved her and didn't even want any other girl… but I couldn't help myself - Heather was just so… hot!

Just as I was tossing the pillows around on the couch, trying to make it look better, there was another knock on the door.

"Come in!" I called, standing up straight and facing the door, watching it open slowly.

The voluptuous brunette's black heels clicked as she took a few steps inside, then her body emerged from behind the door. She looked at me curiously, then grinned, shutting the door. "Hey!"

"How was the cereal?" I asked.

"Pretty delicious," she stated, putting a hand on her flat stomach and patting it with a smile. "Are you sure I'm not bothering you?"

My eyebrows scrunched together. "No, not at all! Seriously, I have to have this sculpture done by Monday, and I'm already like, eighty percent done. So it's no problem."

"Alright then," she said, pleased. She glanced at the couch. "Mind if I have a seat?"

I gestured towards the open seating. "Of course, make yourself at home! Heh, my apartment seems to be everyone's second home, so you might as well join in."

She giggled, carefully sitting down on the couch, barely even startling the cushions with her light weight. She sat up straight, her legs kept close together and her hands resting on her lap. She looked up at me and smiled. "You wanna watch a movie or something?"

I glanced at the TV, which Sam had left on a marathon of Extreme Housewives, then nodded. "Sure. What do you like?"

She shrugged, making a cute carefree face. "Just about everything… My favorites are horrors… Something scary."

"Alright," I said, then leaned down and opened the cabinet below the TV and started rummaging around the collection of DVD's. When I finally found a horror, Kansas Axe Massacre, I took it out of the case and put it in the DVD player, then played the movie before joining Heather on the couch. I put my feet up on the coffee table as the horror movie began, looking over at her.

"You should turn the lights off," she said quietly. "It'll make it better."

"That sounds like a good idea," I agreed, and got up to shut off the lights in the loft. When everything went dark around me, except for the glow of the TV that lit the couch and Heather, I went back and sat down, putting my feet up again.

"I love it like this," she added, sounding anxious. "It makes it so much scarier."

I nodded in agreement.

The beginning of the movie wasn't that scary, but as it went on, just about every other scene was making Heather jump. I'll admit, I had to restrain from jumping myself; I hadn't watched that movie in a while, and the darkness around me made every loud sound way more startling. But just past halfway into the movie, I noticed Heather scooting closer and closer to me, until the half of a cushion that separated us before was no more than a very small section of a cushion. I watched her from the corner of my eye, not really paying attention to the bloody scenes anymore. Her eyes seemed to be intently glued on the TV screen, but every now and then, I could've sworn I saw them glance over in my direction.

Once I had gotten back into the movie, I tried to ignore the awkward closeness of her body. But when the murderer jumped out from behind a hanging piece of meat in a factory, Heather jumped, and her hands suddenly reached over and grasped onto my arm. She leaned in to me, still holding onto my arm tightly. I froze, startled at this.

Was she coming onto me?

I sat there, still frozen, and tried not to react to her movements and advancements. But it was about impossible. I wasn't even paying attention to the TV anymore, because my mind was stuck on the incredibly attractive brunette currently clutching onto my arm.

It took me about 10 minutes of contemplating, but when I finally mustered up the courage, I turned my head to ask her if she wanted some popcorn or chips or a Peppy Cola. However, before I could even get a word out of my open mouth, her full, red lips were suddenly on mine.

I made a sound of objection from the back of my throat and quickly pushed her away, immediately thinking of Sam. I scooted to the other end of the couch and stared at Heather in shock, my mouth still partly open. She stared back with a questioning, disappointed look on her face, like a child who'd just gotten in trouble for stealing a cookie before dinner.

"Um… what…"

Before I could form a whole sentence, she started explaining in an anxious, hurried voice. "I'm sorry, Spencer… I-I didn't know you didn't like me. I just… I've been so lonely lately, and you're so cute and funny, and just…"

I stared at her with the same wide, shocked eyes. What in the crap was she getting at?

"It's not like I don't like you, it's just… I have a girlfriend, see, and… I don't think this would be very right," I muttered, adding an awkward and nervous chuckle at the end, but secretly not wanting to push away the possibility of her.

She parted her lips, her eyes growing wider and sadder. If I didn't know any better, I would have said she was giving me the puppy dog eyes to try and persuade me to see things her way. "Oh…"

I averted my eyes for a moment before bringing them back to her. "Yeah…"

We both sat still and silent for some time, not even noticing the movie that was still playing on the TV, its light effects flickering off of our faces. I didn't know what to do next… tell her to leave? Tell her I accepted her apology? Offer her popcorn?

While I was contemplating the options inside my head, she was slowly moving closer across the couch. When she reached me, she sat up on her knees, making herself taller than me, and without warning, took the sides of my face in her manicured hands and leaned down to put her mouth on mine once more. This time, however, my hormones couldn't resist her full lips, and I kissed back, taking in the taste of her cherry lip gloss. Even though I knew I could overtake her, it was like her hands had complete control of me, and I couldn't fight them off. I was ashamed of myself afterwards, but at the moment, I was turned on.

Who did this girl think she was? And why couldn't I push her away when she began positioning me on the couch, straddling my hips and stripping away clothing items, one-by-one?

What part of girlfriend did she not understand? For that matter… what part of girlfriend did I not understand…?

As things usually do with me, the whole situation got out of hand, and before my conscience could even begin to kick in, this curvy woman was having her way with me… and I was going along with it all the way.

to be continued…