A Better Life
Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly
-HOW FAR WILL YOU GO TO SAVE SOMEONE YOU LOVE-
"She's late," Carly said with narrow eyes as she paced the floor and drank some of her water. "Why is she late? She's never late!"
"Relax," Freddie said calmly. "Just relax. Sam will be here." Freddie shook his head slowly and typed on the computer, iCarly was about to start and Sam was obviously nowhere to be found. Freddie had to admit that he was worried, in fact he remembered just the other day that she had a strange mark on her neck and she refused to tell him what it was.
"I'm losing it, we can't start without her!" Freddie sighed and picked up his camera, they'd have to start if Sam didn't show up, he was sure Carly could handle it on her own.
"We have to start, she's not here yet and iCarly can't run late." Carly sighed and straightened herself; she would have to handle it. Freddie counted down and started the camera.
"Hi, I'm Carly! I don't know where Sam is right now but I'm sure she'll show up soon, so never fear." Freddie looked in the camera and then over at the laptop, he had to admit that iCarly wasn't shining so brightly today, he wished Sam was there. Suddenly Freddie's cell phone went off; he groaned and pressed a button that allowed him to set the camera on the floor and focus on Carly as he checked it. He opened and saw a text message from Sam.
"Why is she texting me? Maybe it's because iCarly has started, I can't check it right n-" Sam sent another text and Freddie raised his eyebrow. "Okay, I'll have to check them." Freddie clicked the first text and read it.
Freddie, please meet me at the smoothie place, please. I can't stand it anymore. Don't tell Carly…
"Can't it wait? Why can't she do iCarly?" Freddie had a bad feeling in his gut and he pressed the second text.
Hurry! Tell Carly to just do iCarly on her own and get Spencer to do the camera work, this is urgent, I'll explain when you get here.
"Uh…Carly, something's come up," Freddie said as he looked up. Carly raised her eyebrow and Freddie texted Spencer; soon Spencer came rushing up the stairs.
"What do you need?" Spencer asked quickly.
"You need to do the tech stuff," Freddie responded. Spencer raised his eyebrow and Carly looked at him with a shrug.
"Is it Sam?" Carly asked. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know but she wants to talk to me. I don't think she wants to tell you at the moment, so I'm going to go meet her, she says for you to continue iCarly."
"Oh…okay…" Carly sighed as Freddie ran down the stairs. He didn't know why he was running or what was wrong with Sam, but he knew he had to get to her fast, there was just that feeling. Freddie hurried out the door and his mom saw him running down the hall.
"Where are you going?" Mrs. Benson called out.
"I need to meet Sam, something's up!" Mrs. Benson raised her eyebrow and walked back into the apartment room. Soon Freddie arrived at the smoothie place; he walked inside but didn't see Sam anywhere. His cell phone beeped again so he checked it, he had one new text from Sam.
Come around back.
"Why?" Freddie shrugged and walked around the smoothie store, when he arrived in the back, he found Sam curled up with her arms around her legs and her face buried in them. "Sam?" Freddie knelt beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "What's up, Sam?" She lifted her head and Freddie's jaw dropped in shock, her face was beat up considerably. She had a black eye, a split lip as well as bruises and cuts all over her face. "What the hell…"
"I can't take it anymore Freddie, I don't know what to do," Sam said with tears in her eyes. "I can't continue this anymore, I need help or I'm going to die."
"Sam, what has been going on?" Freddie wrapped his arms around her and she winced slightly, he raised his eyebrow and stood up. "Stand up, Sam." She slowly obliged and he twirled his finger around, motioning for her to turn around, she did. Freddie lifted the back of her shirt up and stared in horror at her back, she had scars and cuts all over. "Who the hell did this to you?" Freddie felt the rage shooting up inside of him and Sam looked to the ground.
"My mother…"
"Your mother is doing this to you?" Sam turned around and nodded; Freddie sighed and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "We need to get you out of this situation. I won't allow your mother to hurt you again, I'll get you out, I promise."
"What would you do?"
"I…my father, he's the chief of police around here, he can definitely do something for you. Maybe he could even offer you a safe home away from her; I'd just have to talk to him."
"Y-You would do that? Why?" Freddie hated to see Sam look so broken like this; she was normally strong and sweet at the same time. He never knew about her home life, she must have been abused for years and neither he nor Carly knew it. "I probably should have called Carly, but she was too busy with iCarly."
"How did you know I'd come for you?" Freddie asked with a smirk. "I thought you didn't like me enough to trust that." Freddie winced and readied himself for an attack, but no attack came.
"I just thought you might come."
"Of course I'd come for you, Sam. Now tell me, how long has this been going on with your mother?" Sam sniffed and shook her head, she didn't want to say that it had been going on since her father died and that was ten years ago, when she was only six. "Sam, please…tell me." Sam looked up into Freddie's eyes, they were full of concern and another emotion that she hadn't seen in anyone's eyes for a long time, at least anyone other than Freddie. The way his eyes gazed into hers hypnotized her; she didn't feel like lying to him.
"It was since Dad died, I was covering it up."
"Your dad's death…that was…" Freddie knew her dad died when she was six, to think that her mother had been beating up on her this long, it was harsh. "Maybe my mom will-"
"No!" Freddie raised his eyebrow and Sam's body shook.
"What?"
"Your mom, she hates me too."
"Okay, you don't know that, she wouldn't do anything to you now would she?"
"She does all the time." Sam's tears fell once more and she buried her head into Freddie's chest.
"My mom hurts her all the time? What the hell does my mother do to her?" Freddie rubbed his hand on Sam's back, he hated seeing the woman he loved in this amount of pain. "I promise you, I'll help you out of this." Freddie's phone beeped and he checked it, it was a text from Carly.
Freddie, hurry up, we need some help. Tell Sam she should come too, it's getting hectic over here!
"Go ahead," Sam said quietly. "It's from Carly, isn't it? You love her so go to her."
"What?" Freddie closed the cell phone and looked at Sam with a raised eyebrow. "You think I love her? You honestly think I love her?"
"You say you do all the time, you don't care about me."
"Never say that, it's not true, I don't love Carly." Sam raised her eyebrow and looked up. "I never have truly loved her, she's just a dream and that's all. She's only a dream girl; I would fall in love with a real girl. Sam, I don't love Carly, I don't love the dream girl, I love the real girl."
"Who is that?" Freddie smirked and brushed some of Sam's hair back. The way he ran his hand through her hair, the way he smirked, the way he held her and even the way he looked at her made her blush. She couldn't get enough of him, she loved him but her mindset and the abuse from her mom prevented her from telling him and prevented her from possibly seeing the love he held for her. No matter how much his eyes told her that his love was for her and no other, she wasn't able to see it.
"I promise you, Sam, I am going to help you. No, I will not leave you behind now, even though it looks like Carly could use some help as well. I think your dilemma is more important." Sam sniffed and Freddie wiped a tear from her eye. He didn't care how beaten she was, she was still beautiful to him. "What is beauty really? Beauty is on the inside, I fell in love with Sam because of that. I will need to explain it to my father probably."
"We should still go help her, but look at me, I can't do it now. This is the first time my mom's beaten me this badly."
"I see…" Sam looked down toward the ground, her mother seemed to get worse with her brutal attacks. Freddie looked around and found what appeared to be a sheet lying on the ground. His eyes ran over it to look for any dirt or grime, it seemed pretty clean. Freddie didn't want people staring at Sam and making her uncomfortable, so he grabbed the sheet and it blew in the wind as he swung it over Sam and landed on top of her head. "Take this, it will stop people from staring at you, we need to get you to Carly's apartment."
"No, your mom will be looking, I'm sure of it." Freddie rubbed his chin, he did tell his mom something seemed up with Sam, so she was right, they couldn't go there. Freddie frowned when he realized his father was out of town for the week.
"Jake…"
"What?"
"We'll get you to Jake's house."
"Why him, don't you hate the guy?"
"Jake is my best friend, Sam." Sam blinked and raised her eyebrow, Freddie smirked as she clutched the sides of the sheet and brought it around. The sheet covered her like a cloak and went all the way down to her feet; she looked like an old cult member. "Jake has been my best friend since after that damned nose kiss incident."
"Why?" Freddie chuckled and placed his hand on Sam's lower back as they slowly walked around the corner.
"I had to explain to him some important things and we reached a new understanding." Freddie pretty much told Jake that the nose kiss was a mistake and he was stupid and tried to make Sam jealous, he pushed only so Sam would get jealous and respond. She didn't respond and Carly sadly gave in and kissed his nose like that, he had to explain to Jake that his voice wasn't that great. Jake understood this and thanked him for telling the truth, Freddie gave him the real recording and Jake's family still loved it.
"So is his house nearby?"
"Yes, but Valerie's closer if you want to go there."
"I'd rather not…" Sam's eyes narrowed and Freddie chuckled in response. He wasn't going to take Sam there, but if it came down to it, he would do it. While walking, Freddie pulled out his cell phone and started to send a text to Carly.
"Do you want Carly to know what's up?"
"Is your mom watching the hallway? She usually does…that way she and my mom know if I'm at Carly's or not. If Carly goes running out like you did, I think she'd be suspicious." Freddie nodded; Carly would definitely run out of there like hell if he told her Sam was being abused.
"What do you think I should tell her?"
"I don't know…you really don't love Carly?" Freddie smirked and looked straight ahead.
"I'm sure of it. I love another, one who is greater than Carly in every way possible."
"That girl must be lucky."
"She doesn't know it yet."
"You mean you haven't told her! You should, before she slips away." Freddie agreed with this, but now wasn't the time to do it, right now he needed to get Sam some help and fast. They walked the streets until finding Jakes house, Freddie knocked and Jake soon came to the door.
"Hey dude, who's this?" Jake asked while looking at Sam, she had her head down. "I was watching iCarly and Carly is in need of some serious help!"
"Uh, how bad is it?" Freddie gave a nervous chuckle and Jake sighed.
"She seems to be trying to carry Sam's part on her shoulders; she's having trouble making up the stunts on her own and whatnot. Not only that, Spencer's having a little trouble with the tech stuff I think."
"Then I'll start texting Freddie, but I'm not leaving Sam behind." Jake raised his eyebrow and Sam lifted her head up, his eyes widened and he quickly motioned for the two to come in.
"My god, what happened?"
"Don't worry about it, Jake. We just need to get her inside."
"Sam, you should rest on our couch." Jake closed the door and Freddie led her to the couch, Freddie looked at Jake and sighed.
"Do you have anything that she might be able to cover up with? Her clothes look a little torn and I think she probably would like some cover for her bruises."
"Yeah, I can definitely do that." Jake looked over at Sam and frowned. "Hey, do you want a jacket? My sister also has some makeup if you'd like that."
"Yes, please," Sam said quietly. She took the sheet off of her and Freddie sat down next to her. Sam looked over and saw Jake's mom on the phone, she had seen them walk in so she decided to call Freddie's mom.
"Yes Melinda, Freddie is at Jake's house. I don't know if you needed to know that or not." Freddie overheard and his eyes grew wide.
"Damn it!" Freddie exclaimed. "No, hang up the phone; don't tell my mother where I am!" Jake's mom raised her eyebrow and looked over as Jake walked in the room with a jacket and his sister's makeup.
"Your mother should know where you're at though."
"In this case, she doesn't need to know!" Freddie groaned and took the jacket from Jake, he placed it around Sam and Jake's sister walked into the room.
"Sam, what happened to you!" Jake's sister exclaimed.
"She needs some makeup," Freddie said quietly. "She also needs a place to stay and this isn't it." The sister nodded and began to put some makeup on Sam's face to cover her bruises and wounds. When finished, Sam stood up and looked at Freddie who was staring out a window.
"What's wrong, Freddie?"
"Jake, I need you to do something for me." Jake raised his eyebrow and shrugged.
"Okay man, anything you want, what do you need?" Jake asked.
"Take Sam out through the back and to Valerie's house." Freddie turned around and placed his hands on Sam's shoulders. "I know you don't like her, but you're going to have to trust her. She's turned around and no longer is trying to do any wrong to iCarly."
"You're still friends with Valerie?" Sam asked in a quiet voice.
"Yes, she came to me and apologized, she wanted to know if you'd be her friend and forgive her for what she did. I didn't know if you would and I told her not to expect to talk to you anytime soon, but right now my Mom's car just drove up and she's the only one I can think of to send you to."
"I'll trust your word on it." Freddie nodded and watched closely as Jake walked Sam out the back door, he then walked out the front and called out his mom's name to make sure her attention was on him.
"Hey Mom, what's going on?"
"I came to check up on you, you should be home," Melinda Benson said quietly. "Now come on, let's get you home." Melinda grabbed Freddie's wrist and pulled him to the car, she opened the door and shoved him in the car.
"Sorry for not telling you where I was."
"Don't worry about it, I almost thought you were with that whore, what's her name…" Freddie raised his eyebrow as Melinda started up the car, he was not fond of how his mother was talking.
"Her name is Sam and don't call her that again, do I make myself clear, mother?" Melinda rolled her eyes and started to drive off.
"I keep telling you, she's a bad influence. Do you happen to know where she is by the way?"
"No." Freddie crossed his arms and his mouth formed a straight line, there was no way in hell he was telling his mom where Sam was going. He didn't feel to comfortable with the possibility of throwing Sam into danger again.
"Okay, but if you do, I want you telling me where she is located."
"Why is it important?"
"It just is."
"Maybe you want to beat her up," Freddie said in a low voice. Melinda raised her eyebrow and looked over, she didn't hear much of what Freddie had said, and she didn't like it.
"I want to know because I'm actually taking you over to her home."
"Why?"
"Well, Lamia invited us over for dinner."
"Lamia? You mean Sam's mother invited us over there for dinner? Why?"
"I don't know…I think it was out of the kindness of her own soul." Freddie chuckled at that, kindness of her own soul was as laughable as a scuba diver thinking a cell phone will work under water.
"Well while we're going over to Mrs. Puckett's home, I think I should mention my career goals, we haven't had a good talk in a while."
"Okay, shoot."
"I'd like to be a police officer, like Dad." Melinda narrowed her eyes and scoffed.
"What possessed you to have that idea?"
"I saw on television what people do to others in criminal ways. I've seen so many cases where people abuse others or murder someone or even rape a person, it's evil and I would like to join my father in doing something about all of that."
"Gee, what a great goal to have, to be just like your father." Freddie raised his eyebrow and saw nothing wrong with that idea. "Freddie, I'm going to have to make you stop seeing your father."
"What?"
"You're no longer permitted to see him, he's not a good influence on you and I just realized that."
"You can't do that!"
"Oh can't I? Freddie Benson, I am your mother! It is up to me to decide if your father is a bad influence or not and I think he's a bad influence on you!" Freddie narrowed his eyes and scowled, he saw what his mother was doing there, that made it slightly difficult for him. He didn't care though, he would have to get to his father somehow. He looked at his cell phone and saw yet another text from Carly, then it dawned on him, he could get his father to come home from his trip early and help. His father watched iCarly religiously and had an email alert for whenever a new iCarly was shown.
"Okay, I guess it is up to you to decide that, is it also up to you to control my life, mother?" Melinda scoffed and parked the car in Mrs. Puckett's driveway.
"Yes actually, it is." Lamia Puckett stepped out of the house as Freddie and Melinda got out of the car. "Lamia, how are you today?" Lamia shrugged and walked over to Freddie, she grabbed his shirt and slammed him against the car.
"Where is my daughter? Where's the bitch at!" Freddie stared into Lamia's angry eyes, he didn't see the point of her rage, and he wasn't about to tell her where to find Sam.
"So you want to know where she is?" Freddie asked with a raised eyebrow and a calm face. He glanced over at his mother who stood with her arms crossed. "Doesn't she care about her own son?"
"You better tell us," Melinda stated.
"Hah, I didn't think so." Freddie remained stoic and shrugged his shoulders. Lamia growled and slammed Freddie's head into the car several times. Freddie remembered that before he left, he had a hidden camera on him for something they were going to do with iCarly. He put his hand in his pocket and pressed a button, it should bring some attention to his father and some others.
"Where is the bitch!" Lamia exclaimed as she continued slamming Freddie's head into the car.
"How should I know?" Freddie asked. Lamia roared once more and threw Freddie on the ground, he knew that the camera was only picking up the voices, it was a very small camera that was actually in his pocket at the moment.
"You should tell us," Melinda said with a sigh. She rubbed her forehead and shook her head slowly. "As you can see, Lamia's growing very worried about her daughter's wellbeing."
"And you're not worried about your son?" Freddie pushed himself up and laughed lightly.
"What the hell is so funny?" Lamia asked as she kicked Freddie back to the ground, by now he had blood dripping down his face, but he wasn't worried. Lamia grabbed his hair and pulled him up. "Where the hell is my daughter?"
"I'm not exactly planning on telling you what I don't know."
"You lying bastard, I need to know! She has to be here by dinnertime and she's not!"
"Hmm, is this your phone?" Melinda asked as she took Freddie's cell and opened it up. Freddie's eyes widened as Melinda went through the text messages. "You've talked to Sam I see, so she's called you for help about something?"
"It was a homework problem that needed urgent assistance," Freddie said quickly.
"Liar, you think we can't tell! You had better let us know…"
"Why are you doing this? What do you want with Sam anyway? What purpose do you have for her cruelty to you?"
"It's her damn fault that Dale died," Lamia said while shaking Freddie. "Everything that goes wrong is her fault!"
"You consider it's not your fault?" Freddie smirked and pushed Lamia off of him, he then dusted himself off. "I'm sure if you stopped for a moment, you would see who or what is really at fault. However, for someone's death, nobody is truly at fault."
"You pathetic, arrogant bastard…"
"Now you're beating me up, why?"
"You won't tell us where Samantha is," Melinda stated with narrow eyes. "If you would just tell us, we would stop hitting you."
"I'd rather die than to tell you anything."
"Then die, asshole!" Lamia shouted as she punched Freddie in the face. "See what I care!"
"You could just try running," Melinda said with a sigh. Freddie crossed his arms and chuckled, running away just wasn't his style.
"I won't run away, mother dearest," Freddie said with narrow eyes. "Though I will shock you, you can't keep me away from Dad. In fact, you can't keep me away from anyone, I'm smarter than you are."
"Okay, and how are you smarter?"
"I just recorded everything that just happened, and I'm getting Sam away from her mother before anything else happens to her. I won't let you hurt the one I love any longer."
"Y-You recorded this?"
"Yep, I sure did and hey, I feel pretty damn proud of myself right about now."
"So where is she being held anyway?"
"It doesn't matter how you ask, I will still not tell you. I'm going to end her pain once and for all. I'll go about that by getting Dad to take you to prison if I must." Melinda groaned and glanced over at Lamia.
"Okay Lamia, we'll have to find Sam later. Freddie you're coming with me, when we get home I have some fish to fry." Melinda grabbed Freddie and dragged him to the car, she was ticked off, she hadn't hoped for this. Eventually they drove to Freddie's home, Freddie followed his mother all the way to the apartment and stopped when they saw Freddie's dad standing in front of the door. "Henry?"
"Melinda, what the hell have you allowed to happen to my son?" Henry asked with narrow eyes.
"When did you get here?"
"I wasn't that far away from here, when iCarly switched over, I rushed over here immediately."
"Your son…he only had a fall."
"Don't give me that, I'm taking Freddie with me right now." Henry walked past Melinda and stepped behind Freddie. "Come on, Son, we're going to my house." Freddie smirked and crossed his arms.
"I would be glad to," Freddie said while turning around. He felt his mom's hand clench his shoulder very tightly.
"You're going nowhere," Melinda said with a scowl. "You are staying right here with me."
"I thought this might happen," Henry said quietly. "Come on out, men." Melinda raised her eyebrows as a few police officers stepped around the corner and exited Carly's apartment. They took Melinda and cuffed her hands together.
"Henry, what are you doing!"
"I'm arresting you, what does it look like?" Henry's eyes were filled with anger and he pointed down the hall. "Take her away from here." The cops nodded as Henry sighed and looked at Freddie. "Son, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but only if Sam is okay."
"Where is she right now?"
"Sam is with Valerie…"
"So she's safe?"
"Yes." Henry smiled and patted Freddie's shoulder.
"You did alright son, it might have been longer if you didn't have that hidden camera. We should probably pick up Sam now."
"Dad, if you arrest Mrs. Puckett, what will happen to Sam?"
"She'll be sent away to someone else…" Henry frowned and Freddie clenched his fists.
"I want her to stay here, Dad."
"Freddie…you know I can't just…"
"Don't give me that, you can control who goes where and I'm telling you that I want Sam to stay here. I know there's someone who'd be willing to take her in and she won't have to leave. I love her, Dad, and I will do anything to make sure she's safe."
"I realize how you feel about her, but she has no family here. We all know that." Freddie growled as Carly and Spencer walked out of their apartment.
"Freddie, are you okay!" Carly exclaimed as she ran over to Freddie and placed her hand on his shoulder. He turned away from her and she let out a sigh.
"Maybe I can pull some strings and give Spencer custody of her."
"I can't do that," Spencer said quietly. "I can't feed another mouth, I am not wealthy enough." Freddie looked at Henry while Henry rubbed his chin.
"I suppose I would not have a heartburn with taking her in," Henry said quietly. Freddie raised his eyebrow and Henry smirked. "I only live a few blocks from her and I can easily let her stay with me."
"You would seriously consider doing that?"
"Yes. I believe you really love her, from what you have told me in the past and down to your actions today, however unorthodox they may be, they all seem to say that you really love her enough to want her to stay."
"Truthfully dad, I would love nothing more than for her to stay here, her place is here. I can keep her safe and out of harm's way."
"Then let's go get Sam, take her mother in, use that video as evidence and I'll go through the legal processes."
"Just as long as it doesn't make her my sister…"
"Don't worry, I'll deal with that. All I have to do is say that I'm her guardian, it doesn't make her related to you in any way."
"Freddie, do us all a favor," Carly stated while crossing her arms and staring at Freddie with narrow eyes. "Don't get yourself beat up like this again." Freddie chuckled and patted Carly on the back, there was no need for her to worry there.
-NEW SCENE-
"You're actually nicer than I thought," Sam said quietly as she sat in a chair talking to Valerie.
"Thank you," Valerie responded while smiling at Sam. "I'm so sorry for what your mother did to you." Sam shrugged her shoulders and the doorbell rang, Valerie got up and walked over to the door to answer it, Freddie and Henry walked in once the door opened.
"Sam, you're safe," Freddie said with a smile. Sam's eyes widened and she looked over at Freddie, she stared in shock at the wounds that he had on him.
"What happened to you, Freddie!" Sam exclaimed. Sam hurried over to Freddie and he caught her in his arms.
"Well let's see here, my dad arrested your mother and he's offering to take you in under his wing so that you don't have to leave."
"That's great!" Sam smiled softly as Freddie hugged her close, she was worried that she may have to leave the state and she couldn't stand being away from everyone, definitely not Freddie. "But why are you so wounded?"
"I had to stand up to your mother and my mother."
"Why!"
"They wanted to know where you were."
"Y-You should have just told them. I can't believe you would do such a stupid thing like this."
"I guess…people will do crazy things for love."
"I mean come on, why would….what!" Sam's eyes widened and Freddie smirked. "Did you just say…"
"People will do crazy things for love. Don't you see? I love you Sam, I always have. That is why I will always protect you and why I will make sure that nobody lays a finger on you that I don't know about.
"You mean that you don't really love Carly?
"No, I love you, I always have and I always have. That's even the reason I have had my father take you in, if you'll accept."
"Freddie, I just want to say that I love you too." Sam wrapped her arms around Freddie's neck and sighed contently, she felt safe now when she was in Freddie's arms. "If being with your father will keep me close to you, then I'd love to do it. I was always so afraid though, that you really didn't like me."
"I could never dislike you Sam, you're the real thing. I love everything about you." Freddie gently kissed Sam's forehead and let her rest her head on his chest. He held her close and rested his chin on her head. "I love you, Sam."
"I love you too, Freddie."
"Hey, we should probably go now," Henry said quietly. "Not to ruin a good time or anything, but we need to get Lamia into the office and then I'll have to get you to gather your things, Sam…" Freddie released Sam and kept one arm around her waist as they looked to Henry.
"Okay, and thank you again Mr. Benson," Sam said with a smile. "You don't know just how much this means to me."
"I'm glad to help you out, now come on." Sam smiled as she walked with Freddie and Mr. Benson out to the car, she knew she never had to worry again, nobody would ever hurt her again and Freddie would keep her safe. As they got into the car, Sam rested her head on Freddie's shoulder and closed her eyes. She was prepared for a better life.
I hope you enjoyed this, it could be a little choppy at some parts but I think it's fine. Drop a review!