iMoved On
By PD31
Summary: Follow-up to iHave to Move On, looking at some of the changes that have taken place in the characters' lives over the last few months.
Pairing: Trina/Freddie (Frina)
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: I still don't own iCarly, Victorious, any of the episodes or any of the characters. I do still live in hope that one day series 3 of Victorious will be released on DVD.
Apartment 8-C, Bushwell Plaza
Seattle, WA
December 2011.
Carly Shay sat back on her couch and looked around her deserted apartment; the brunette reached forward and picked up her coffee mug from the table before reclining again. She took a sip of the hot, bitter liquid and swallowed before letting out a weary sigh. She reflected on the events of the past five months and just how dramatically her life, and the lives of her best friends, had changed – and the dominoes that had fallen to reach this point. The first had been meeting Steven Carson at the Groovy Smoothie way back in the spring. She let out a rueful, mirthless laugh at the time she'd wasted on the cheater; experience attenuated his bad points and glossed over the good times they'd had to the point that she could scarcely recall them having any. Of course, thinking of Carson brought one smile to her face as she recalled the road trip to LA where she caught him in the act, cheating on her with Tori Vega. The smile quickly dropped as she then thought about her 'rival's sister, Trina and how close she and Freddie Benson got very, very quickly. An all too familiar pang of regret overcame her as she asked herself once more why she'd never given her former tech producer a real shot all the times that he'd declared his undying love for her. The feeling intensified as the next memory came to her mind; Trina hammering on Freddie's door and her seeing the older girl embrace him as he wept over the murder of his mother. Carly hung her head for a moment, cradling her mug as she thought about the Benson matriarch. She would later find it strange that the majority of the memories she drew on at that time were positive ones – the exception still brought a smile to her face as she was forced to laugh at Marissa chasing her out of the apartment, swatting at her with Freddie's underwear after catching them lip-locked on his bed as he recovered from the accident in which he'd saved her life. Carly shook her head to try and clear her mind of the memory, and the regret; she'd spent far too long playing what if over the last few months, wondering if Freddie would still be in Seattle, with her, probably living with her (and her brother Spencer) if only they had given themselves a real chance and maybe had still been a couple when the tragedy had struck early in the summer (some days she even tortured herself with the butterfly effect and wondered if somehow their continued relationship could have prevented Marissa's death). She took another sip of her coffee to help swallow down the regrets and the 'what might have beens'.
Carly threw a quick glance to her left, part of her still half-expecting to see a blonde sprawled out on the couch, though it had been a few months since that had last happened. Sam Puckett had been her best friend for almost a decade but her reaction to Mrs Benson's death had stung the brunette and led to her calling their entire friendship into question. The distance had rapidly increased between the two until, not long before school started again in the autumn, she had snapped harshly at the blonde who had stormed out of her home. Usually when they had argued Carly had been the one to make the first move, texting an apology or an invite to hang; this time she had simply stewed in her ire and waited for Sam to approach her. Instead Sam had found herself in trouble which, unfortunately for her, had coincided with Carly receiving an invite from Freddie to spend a few days with him and the Vegas in Los Angeles. Carly had readily accepted and it wasn't until she (and Spencer) had landed at LAX that she'd received word from Sam that she needed bailing out. To her surprise, weighing up whether to go back or to have a nice week with her friend took almost no time at all and Sam was left to languish until her mother managed to scrape the money together to rescue her. Other than a couple of cutting remarks either way at school (before the blonde's latest suspension) they hadn't spoken since.
The petite brunette thought back on that week with fondness, seeing the light and life returning to Freddie's eyes as he started to allow himself to be happy again as he came to terms with the loss of his mother and integrated himself into his new family. She wasn't surprised to learn that he and Trina were now officially a couple (and both looked rather happy with the arrangement) though again it brought a pang of regret to her as she speculated on what might have been (in a quiet moment she learnt that Tori shared those feelings and the two brunettes were able to joke privately that they'd been in a similar situation before).
Carly set her cup down and picked up her cell phone; she glanced at the clock and, realising that it would be at least an hour before she expected her brother back from the date she'd sent him on, thumbed through her contacts and placed the call to the voice she wanted to hear.
Vega residence, Hollywood Hills
Los Angeles, CA
Trina took a seat next to her boyfriend and eyed him sadly as she read the look on his face. While she was doing what she could for him, she knew that there were still days and moments in particular when his mood sank as the loss of his mother hit him again. They were getting fewer and farther between as time slowly repaired the wound but some days were still worse than others, especially when he had time alone to just sit and remember. The diva was thankful that he had fitted so well into life in LA and at Hollywood Arts, spending so much time with her and Tori's friends, taking up his old interest in fencing and throwing himself into school and clubs – though a part of Trina felt that he was burying the pain with activity rather than actually working through it, which he did (slowly) on evenings like this. She leaned over, planted a soft kiss on his cheek and took his hand, squeezing it gently.
"I'm here if you want to talk or… or shout or whatever," she reminded him.
"I know," he managed a watery smile, "thank you."
Freddie looked to the smiling brunette, feeling moved at the kindness in her eyes. Again he found himself wondering what he would do – what he would have done – without her. He, too, began to silently reminisce on the events of the summer; Trina had dropped everything that fateful night and raced to his side, helping him through the shock and initial trauma as best as she could. When the memories of his life and his mother threatened to overwhelm him she found a solution – transplanting him to LA to make a fresh start and helping integrate him into his new life and new friendship groups. When he'd thrown himself into working every hour he could at the Pear Store so that he could pay some rent to the Vegas, Trina had done her best to mediate; she understood that it was a point of pride and principle for him if nothing else but had surprised him by siding with her adoptive parents to insist he pay a lower sum than he wanted to.
"You're going to need it for college," she'd reminded him and then proceeded to shoot down his protests about not wanting to be a burden or a charity case, insisting that it was only because they respected him and his need for independence that they were willing to take anything. "You'll probably get most of it back in the form of really nice Christmas and birthday presents from them," she added slyly; he furrowed his brow but she had continued to just grin at him.
It had, of course, been a major upheaval and most of the physical move had passed in something of an emotional daze for him while he reeled over the sudden loss of his mother. It wasn't until around a week after the move itself that things finally began to sink in. He looked around the Vegas' impressive home, recalled the concern in not only Trina's eyes but Tori's, their parents' and even their friends' and suddenly crumbled. He would later feel relieved that Trina had been the only person around at the time, holding him gently as he sobbed against her for what felt like hours.
They'd talked afterwards, mostly about the happier times, trying to bring the good memories of his childhood to the fore. He couldn't help but smile at the jealous look on Trina's face when he mentioned the heated make-out sessions with Carly after his accident and they laughed together at his mother's reaction to walking in on the two teens. It was the moment when he realised just how much he was missing Carly (though he didn't regret anything else about the move) and the two had spoken for the first time since he left.
She had definitely been pleased to hear from him and happy to hear that he was settling in (she explained that she hadn't called him herself as she wanted to give him a chance to settle into his new life) and the old friends soon fell into a routine of speaking a couple of times a week (on a good day this allowed him to gently tease Trina over any mild jealousy she showed about it – often she played along and pouted a little more, especially as her relationship with Freddie evolved, in the hopes of getting a couple of placating kisses from him).
By the time school had started, Freddie felt as if his life was just about back on an even keel. He'd been able to use iCarly in lieu of a formal audition to get himself admitted to Hollywood Arts along with the others (Trina's and Jade's forces of personality combined had certainly helped 'convince' the staff that it was the correct course of action for them) and was enjoying his classes immensely. He was, of course, a long way behind the others in terms of performing experience but had excelled at the directing and technical aspects (so much so that he was able to skip entire classes and take some additional acting classes instead). The previous week had seen him finally land his first lead role in a production and it had been a bitter-sweet opening night. While he was delighted to see Trina and the Vega parents in the audience looking on proudly and supporting him (and Tori, who also had a role in the play) he couldn't help but miss his mother once again and wish that she was there. As if reading his mind Trina touched her heart, as she always did to him when, during their talks, she'd reminded him that Marissa would always be there with him. He'd blinked away a few tears at the gesture and allowed a warmth to fill him instead as he smiled back at her.
Today, though, things had been a little tougher for him. He wasn't sure why but he was just missing his mother more than normal today. He couldn't even really put it into words but at least his rock was there to help him cope with it, as she always had been and, he knew from her words and her actions, she always would be.
Freddie leaned over and kissed his girlfriend tenderly; she returned the kiss enthusiastically before groaning in annoyance as they were disturbed by his ringtone. He gave her an apologetic grin as he reached over to pick the device up from the table. "Carly," he told her; she nodded and shuffled across the couch a little to give him a little more space.
"Hey, how are you?" he greeted his old friend, smiling as he heard her voice.
AN: Ok, so this was me trying to cure a bit of writer's block. I'm still working on When Something Better Comes Along and also on the start of the next part of my Freddie/Cat story and I hope to have something for both of them soon. As for this, there may be another tale or two from the universe in form of one-shots rather than an overriding plot arc. We'll see.
As always, thank you for reading. PD