Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly, and am not making any profitable venture by the use of the following characters.
Authors Note: This is my first iCarly fanfiction, however not my first venture in writing. Please if you wish to review, give me advice and tips about what I can improve upon, and if you do so wish what I did well with.
The Long Return Home
By: Polyisobutene
The city of Seattle flashed by the dirtied windows of the taxi; tall buildings, neon lights, and pedestrians became simple blurs. The sole passenger of the yellow vehicle leaned forward, the worn leather of the seats groaning loudly.
"Never thought I would see the day I end up back here," the blonde sighed, pressing her forehead against the glass of the window.
The cabbie cast a glance at the young woman sitting in the back. "So, you been here before?" he asked, his voice hoarse from years of tobacco use.
"Yeah, grew up here, actually," the blonde said with a small smile, "Spent many a good year raising all kinds of chaos on these streets."
"Oh, yeah?" the middle aged man laughed, deep lines wrinkling his forehead, "so what brings you back here?"
"Unfinished business," the woman answered airily.
The cabbie turned his eyes back to the road and the sound of tires rolling over pavement prevailed again.
"Well here you are, Bushwell Plaza!" the cabbie said, slapping the car into park, and getting out.
The blonde woman pushed her door open and stepped onto the curb, her curious gaze looking for all the changes the last four years had made on the plaza. With a heave the cabbie pulled the worn brown luggage bag out of the trunk and placed it on the curb. Patting his chest briefly he crawled back into his cab.
"Hey, wait!" the woman cried, darting towards the window. "I haven't paid yet."
The man smiled gently, pushing up his ball cap back exposing warm brown eyes. "Since when has Samantha Puckett ever rejected something free?" he asked, reaching up and patting Sam's hands that rested on his window seal.
The Sam's head jerked in surprise, before a sad smile slide over it. "So you still know me, huh? Thought the whole town would have forgotten me by now."
"How can I forget a face like yours, you whipped up more trouble as a girl than anyone else I can recall," he laughed. "When you left, things got boring. Hard not to notice you gone."
"Yeah, I guess so," Sam said, straightening up. "Thanks for the lift, then."
"Don't mention it," he smiled, the small yellow taxi pulling away.
Leaning down with a sigh Sam picked up the battered luggage and limped into the lobby. Her smiled at the similar decorations fell when she spotted the attendant. In place of Lewburt sat a refreshed young woman with a fake smile plastered onto her face. Sam limped up to the counter, leaning against the polished desk.
"Sam Puckett, my friend was supposed to call down and tell you that I was coming," Sam said smoothly.
"Oh, yes!" Cathy, or so the small name badge said, exclaimed. "Miss Shay said that you would know the way up?"
"Right-o," Sam said, starting to limp towards the elevator.
"Would you like some help with that?" Cathy asked, walking around the desk to the blond.
Sam turned around, a glare affixed on her delicate features. Cathy smiled nervously and slowly stepped back behind her little desk. With a huff Sam continued on her way on the familiar path to Carly Shay's apartment.
Leaning against the rail in the elevator Sam reached down and rubbed her left knee. The tender joint was hot and swollen to the touch, and the pain shot straight up her leg into her chest. With a grunt she pushed herself forward and exited the small box, wandering down the familiar hall.
Although four years older, wiser, and stronger the wooden door before Sam felt like solid oak gates, looming over the blond like an ominous beast. Pale knuckles brushed against the door, creating a hallowed echo on the wood. Sam shifted onto her right leg, eyes staring vaguely at the walls of the hallway. Had they always been so white?
A chain could be heard moving, and the brass knob turned. Sam sucked in a breath, her blue eyes darting towards the entrance to the place she used to consider her second home. There in the door stood a woman, about Sam's age, with long ringlets of chocolate curls and bright, full features. Eyes scanning from the ground up, Sam could not help but the notice the trendy, yet professional way the woman before her dressed in a black skirt and smooth red top. Sam mentally reprimand herself for dressing in only a pair of ratty cargo pants and blue tee shirt.
"Long time no see, Carly," Sam spoke up first, putting on a small half smile.
To Carly however, time was frozen. After the trio had graduated high school, Sam had surprised everyone and left to become a pilot in the Air Force. It had been a little over four years since Carly had seen Samantha in the flesh, and part of her, a silly voice in her head, wondered fearfully if it was but a ghost standing on the side of the door frame.
"Hey, Carls, anyone in there?" Sam asked, waving a hand in front of the taller girls face.
Without warning or sign, Carly leapt forward and grabbed Sam into a tight hug. "Sam!" she cried jubilantly with a laugh.
The sudden weight caught Sam off guard, her left leg giving way underneath her sending both women to the floor with a startled cry. Carly pushed herself up onto her elbows, her hair falling down around Sam's face.
"Long time no see, stranger."
"Yeah…" Sam agreed, her eyes flickering between two pools of chocolate brown.
Carly licked her lips unconsciously and sat back, helping the blond stand up.
"Let's get you settled than," Carly smiled, mentioning Sam into the apartment she once knew so well.
The first thing that Sam noticed was that the apartment had not changed a lot. Odd sculptures littered the living area, and the same couch was perched before the t.v. as it was before she had left for the Academy. Carly grabbed Sam's bag and hauled it over to the corner where Spencer's room used to be.
"This is going to be your room, is that okay?" Carly asked, setting the bag down before the door. "I thought it would be easier for you if you didn't have to go up and down the stairs all the time, or use the elevator."
Sam limped over to the room, peering in. It was blandly decorated with a bed with blue sheets, a desk, and a small closet built into the wall.
"So Spencer finally made the move to New York, huh?" Sam asked, stepping in and leaning against the metal desk.
"Yeah, he left two years after we graduated," Carly said, leaning against the opened door.
"I see…" Sam mumbled, turning to look out the small window across from the closet.
Never before had the two been more prefect strangers. As Carly glanced over Sam, gone was the charismatic freedom that once set her friend apart, replaced by something more refined, matured. To Sam, the whole world was queasy, a deep unease settling in the pit of her stomach. She chewed the inside of her cheek, torn between the body of teenager hell bent on going to jail and the disciplined ace she had become. It was a like sick game of limbo, like reentering a past life that seemed so far gone.
"I made you dinner," Carly broke the silence.
"Does it include ham?" Sam asked, limping back out to the kitchen area.
"Ham, bacon and pork chops, all of your favorites. I even got you fat cakes for dessert," Carly giggled, following the blond out.
"By God! I must have died and gone to heaven!" Sam cried, spotting the table overflowing with food. "Have I ever told you how awesomely amazing you are, Carls?"
Dinner was a noisy affair, and not because of chatter. Even the military could not beat out the beast that was a Puckett stomach, as Sam attacked her food with unusually characteristic vigor. The blond quickly excused herself after the meal, feeling the fatigue of a whole days travel, and sprawled out onto the sofa, falling fast asleep.
Carly sat down besides Sam after locking up the apartment and changing. She spread a blanket over the two of them as she did when they were teenagers. The lights in the dark streets of Seattle cast their dim glow into the apartment. The brunette scooted closer to her friend, resting against the blondes side.
"I missed you, Sam" she whispered, losing quickly to sleep.
As Carly passed away from the conscious world Sam smiled and whispered in reply, "I missed you too, Carls."