A/N: As much as I know people aren't fond of author's notes in stories (mostly because they don't often provide anything important) before you guys go on ahead and read the story, I wanna say that this story takes place about seven years after the end of the series.
iCome Back
A taxi rolls through the familiar streets of Seattle on one cold morning, smoothly cruising through the roads as they drive by the buildings, all big and small. Many things have certainly changed since her departure four years ago (whether it was for the better or for worse, that was up for debate) not just the look of the surroundings but also the entire vibe of the city.
The old businesses she had used to visit often was still standing, but with a new, updated design to the building. She could tell it was the same place, but it looked far from what it was like four years ago. Well, except for Galini's Pie Shop, which looked pretty much the same aside from a new design for the sign up front.
Every block that the taxi had passed by felt strangely foreign to her, but yet at the same time she felt a warm feeling of familiarity coming over her. She had made many memories, both good and bad, in all of those establishments.
As cheesy as she had thought it was, seeing all these places she used to go to made her feel right back at home, like it was an old friend warmly welcoming her back with open arms. Now if only the person she had left behind seven years ago would feel the same.
The taxi turns slowly to the left as the vehicle comes to a halt in front of a tall building with a tarp hanging over the front, saying it was under new management and that it had been recently been renovated. She gives the driver his fare and steps off the taxi, grabbing her bag and stepping up to the entrance.
Despite what the tarp said, Bushwell Plaza still looked exactly the same as it did the past four years since she left. Sure, there was a fresh coat of paint, new carpets and wallpapers, but Sam could tell that nothing much has changed here, unlike the rest of the city.
She breathes a sigh of relief as she steps through the doors and heads off to the elevator, glancing slightly at the front desk, expecting to find a doorman with a rather large wart on his face. And unsurprisingly Lewbert the doorman was there, looking mean and annoying as always. The doorman simply waves her off as she goes, not really caring where she'll go.
The elevator doors open in front of her with a soft ding, letting her step inside. Sam presses the button for the eighth floor and watches the numbers on the screen changing, until it eventually stops at the eighth floor.
The elevator stops with a gentle ding, and the doors slide open, its hinges creaking slightly. Sam steps off the elevator and slowly makes her way down the hallway, tracing a invisible line on the wall to her right with her hand, feeling the dry, crumbly wallpaper beneath her finger.
She turns around the corner and stops as she finds two very familiar doors facing each other, looking like nothing much has changed other than the fact that there were now door numbers on the door. Sam turns to her left and faces the door, looking over at the door number.
She lets a grin come over her face as she read the door number, "8=D" and shakes her head as the memories slowly started to come back. Whenever she had the chance, Sam always kept messing with the person that lived behind this door. While she did overstep her boundaries at times, Sam did make up for it by apologizing to most of her pranks and insults she had lobbed at him throughout the years.
After a few seconds of silence, Sam wonders if she should knock on the door and see if he was awake, or if he was in there. But after a few short seconds, Sam decided against it and turns around to face the door behind her. She presses the doorbell and waits as she heard the heavy, almost sluggish sounding footsteps coming from inside the room, and stood back as she watched the door swing inwards.
Spencer rubbed his eyes sleepily as he yawned, squinting his eyes as he tried to see who was in front of him. In the years that passed, it was obvious that Spencer had aged. At the moment, Spencer was rocking a bit of a soul patch and long hair that reached down to his neck. The combination of it seemed to suit him well. All he needed was a fine moustache and he'd look like your everyday artist.
It takes a while for Spencer to recognize the person that was stood in front of him, and when he did a bright smile appears on his face. His smile was just so infectious that it ended up making Sam smile as well.
"Mornin', Spencer. You look nice," Sam greeted him, raising her hand to give him a high five, which Spencer responds.
"Heh, thanks," he replied, doing a quick laugh-snort as he high fives her in return, acting like he's seen Sam almost everyday for the past four years, when in fact he didn't. The two of them stand idly for a couple of seconds, with Spencer looking at her with a blank face while Sam stared back. There was an obvious air of awkwardness as they stared at each other, most likely because it was evident that Spencer was still booting up.
"You . . . gonna invite me in?" Sam asked with a smirk, and the question seemed to wake Spencer up. He shakes himself physically and laughs a bit, moving out of the doorway to let Sam in.
"Oof. Of course, come on in," Spencer said with a goofy smile, closing the door behind her as she stepped inside. "I haven't made breakfast yet, so I hope coffee and some left over bacon is cool."
"Bacon's involved. I ain't gonna complain," Sam replied coolly, laughing slightly as she sets her bag down on the couch and follows Spencer into the kitchen. She sits herself down at the table and gratefully took the cup of coffee she was offered.
"So, you're back. You plan on crashing here for a bit or . . .?" Spencer asked as he took a sip of his coffee. Sam simply shrugged her shoulders as she poured cream and sugar into her cup.
"I'm . . . not sure, man. I just felt like . . . coming back to see what's up, you know?" she replied, looking at him with an unsure expression on her face. Spencer nodded at her.
"Well, I'm just glad to see you back here, kid. Even if you probably won't be for long," Spencer said, smiling slightly at her before turning around to grab the plate of bacon from the microwave. "Always nice to see my little sister's friends coming in for a visit. I like what you did with your hair, by the way."
Sam smiles brightly at that as she goes to reach for a slice of bacon with her hand. While she did love her natural color, Sam felt like she needed to reinvent herself and change the way she looked. Obviously she didn't keep to that promise as she ended up reverting to her old style, the only thing she kept was her reddish brown hair.
"I've missed seeing you guys around here, especially you and, you know," Spencer said, gesturing at the front door with his head. Sam said nothing to that mostly because she was eating, but partly because she didn't want to bring it up. "After you left to go someplace else, things around here got boring. Where'd you go, anyway?"
"Everywhere," Sam replied simply, as she knew there was too much to say. In the seven years she had been gone, lots of things happened. From her living in an apartment with a friend she had made while she was gone, to doing a babysitting gig, there was just too much to explain at this time.
"I thought the same. Is my motorcycle still working?" Spencer asked with a smile, which Sam answered with a smile of her own.
"It is, but it's not with me," Sam said casually as she took a sip of coffee. "It's in good hands, though." she quickly added when Sam saw the look on Spencer's space, which quickly went away.
"Well, at least you didn't sell it. That would have been a bummer," Spencer replied, chuckling a bit as a relieved look appears on his face.
This time it was Sam's turn to ask him some questions. "What about you, Spence? What have you been doing since then?"
"Sculpting and making stuff. I'm doing a bit of pottery, too," Spencer answered her with a proud nod of his head. "See, there's this close friend of mine that's teaching me occasionally." he added, as a small smile grew on his face. Before Sam got to ask him who was this close friend of his, he quickly followed it up by mentioning that he also made a giant pot for Thanksgiving a couple months back.
"Whoa, for reals?" Sam asked, feeling both surprised and impressed at this news. Spencer once again nodded at her proudly, and then got up and jogged over to his room.
"Yep! Got paid a load of cash for it, too," he said as he came back, showing Sam the photo of the giant pot, and he definitely wasn't lying when he said it was gigantic.
"Holy chiz that's big!" Sam said in surprise, grabbing the picture to take a closer look at his incredible creation. Spencer looked even more proud, especially considering that it took a lot to impress someone like Sam.
"Took me two weeks to make it, plus three days to paint it. Making the frame for it was tricky but, of course, there's nothing Spencer Shay can't do," Spencer replied with a bit of a snooty French laugh, which made Sam laugh in return.
"Well, I'm definitely proud of you, Spence. This is big. Literally," Sam said with a smile, raising her hand to give Spencer a good ol' thumbs up.
"Thanks, Sam. I've already gotten a request to make something for Christmas, too! And I'm really psyched for it," Spencer replied, fist pumping in the air before sipping his coffee.
Their conversation lasts for a good few more minutes, which mostly consisted of the two reminiscing about the good old days, when all of them were younger and did a lot of crazy things, both within the iCarly studio and outside of it. And all that reminiscing got Sam thinking.
"Hey, is the old set upstairs still there?" Sam asked, pointing upwards with her right hand. She almost forgotten what it looked like, or that it even existed. Good thing there was a photo of the six of them stuck on the refridgerator door.
"Yep. It's got a couple of Carly's old stuff in boxes, but I left it just as it is when she left," Spencer replied, looking over at Sam with a somber smile.
"Well, can I go upstairs and have a look around?" she asked, and Spencer simply shakes his head and chuckles.
"You don't have to ask me for permission, dude. Of course, you can," he replied, standing up to his feet as he finished his cup of coffee.
With Spencer's permission, Sam excuses herself immediately and heads on up to the second floor, tracing an invisible line on the handrails. She reaches the glassdoor to the studio and reaches for the doorknob, twisting it and pushing the door open.
Spencer was right. It did look exactly like it did when Carly left. She could still see the mug she used while they were rehearsing for the last episode of iCarly, exactly in the same place she left it. Or maybe Spencer just forgot about it and left it there. She sighs and moves over to sit in one of the bean bags, and surprisingly it wasn't dusty.
She looked around her and eventually her eyes set on the shiny aluminum plated award they won from the iWeb Awards years ago. She's still amazed that they still won that night despite some shenanigans.
She looks on a little to her right and spotted the original logo iCarly logo, not the colorful one that Spencer made, the one that they printed on some parchment paper and had it framed. Honestly, she was surprised it was there because Sam remembered that she accidentally shot it with a potato gun when she was trying to shoot Freddie with it. Maybe Spencer fixed it?
After a few short minutes of reminiscing Sam eventually comes back down to the first floor, calling for Spencer and saying she'll be taking a nap in Carly's old room. She heads off there within a bothering to wait for his answer, taking off her jacket and getting into the sheets.
Right before she closes her eyes before going to sleep, Sam happens to glance at a photo of a younger version of herself, Carly and Freddie. She smiles sweetly as she remembered that it was take while they were setting up for the first episode of iCarly. With that thought in mind, Sam closes her eyes and takes a nap.
A couple of hours later she wakes up to the delicious smell of soup, which got her up relatively quick. It's good food, Sam's not going to lie there and not take a look. She lets out a yawn as she got up from the bed and out into the living room, stretching her arms to the side.
"Hey Spencer, whatcha cooking?" she asked, stepping into the kitchen as she rubbed her eyes sleepily. Spencer turns his head around and looked mildly surprised when he saw Sam there.
"Oh hey, Sam. I'm surprised you're still here," Spencer replied, looking sheepish as he looked at her.
"Why'd you say that?" she asked, looking rather confused at this. He did see her go up the stairs a while ago, why'd he think that she wasn't here anymore?
"I left to buy groceries earlier when you went upstairs, thought you left when I got back," he answered, taking a small sip of soup to taste. He then turns over to her with the ladle in hand. "Mind tasting this for me?"
Sam certainly wasn't going to turn that down, the soup smelled pretty good. "Needs a dab more of pepper to give it a bit of a kick," she said, after taking a quick taste of what Spencer was cooking. "Anything else you need help with?"
"Uhhh, you could help me set up the table," he suggested with a smile, gesturing with his free hand at the table as he glances at her, before turning his attention back to his cooking.
Sam simply answered with a nod, moving around to start setting the table up. As she was in the middle of wiping the table clean, Spencer momentarily stopped what he was doing at the kitchen and came over to the table, placing three plates and table mats.
Sam didn't bother asking or telling Spencer that he brought one plate too much, cause she thought it probably was a small mistake. Before she was done setting the table up, Sam heard a creaking noise from outside the front door, followed by someone knocking three times on the front door.
Before Sam could then around and go to see who it was, Spencer immediately yelled, "It's open!" to whoever it was that knocked on the door.
It might have been the close friend Spencer talked about earlier, coming to eat some lunch with them, so Sam didn't pay much attention to it. She did find, however, that the person's footsteps on the wooden floor sounded pretty familiar. As she thought about this, Sam's eyes widened as she started to think of who this person was.
She heard the footsteps stop in the living room, as if the person realized who was the girl in the kitchen. Sam's heart started to beat a little faster as the silence grew, because she had an idea of who was standing not far behind her right now.
"Sam?"