Thank you very much to everyone who reviewed, favourited, or followed. I very much appreciate that.

This scene is an abbreviated version of a plot line I posted on the Sam&Cat wikia a few weeks before #TKTJ was broadcast. I tried very hard to make the starting bit as over-the-top-sappy as I possibly could.

I don't own iCarly, Victorious, or Sam & Cat.

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Act I, Scene A – August, Senior Year: iThink You're Swell

"I think you're swell. I think you're swell…"

Sam Puckett groaned as she awoke to Robbie Shapiro's voice singing his corn-balled profession of love of her roommate Cat Valentine. Sam pulled her pillow over her ears to try and muffle the song.

Meanwhile, Cat sprang from her bed, glided silently to the bedroom window and threw it open with a flourish. She sighed happily and then put her head on her elbows while Robbie's singing filled her ears along with the sounds of the morning.

Robbie's singing also penetrated Sam's consciousness. She changed positions a couple of times in a vain attempt to get some more sleep before she finally had had enough. She angrily whipped the pillow off her head and yelled an animalistic cry.

Cat responded to the cry with, "Isn't it just wonderful, Sam, to be greeted in the beautiful morning by your boyfriend's singing a love song he wrote for you?"

Sam's reply was to give a primal scream and run up to the window, jump on the sill, yell, "STOP!" at Robbie, and then jump out at him.

Robbie backed away quickly as Sam leapt out the window and landed where he had been standing. Sam stood up as tall as she could, such as it is, and glared at him. "What are you doing waking me up this early? We have two families coming this morning!"

Robbie looked at her, perplexed. "What do you mean wake you? I only woke up Cat!"

Sam shook her head in angry disbelief. "I sleep in that room too, you know."

Robbie nodded. "I know. Cat told me."

Sam screeched in disbelief. Cat ran from the window as Robbie backed away from Sam towards the apartment's door. "Cat told you? What made you think that you could wake Cat without awakening me?"

"And us," a weary male voice bellowed from down the alley.

"Thank you!" Sam yelled back. Cat seized this moment to run from the window.

"That includes you to, girly."

"Not today, chizz-voice."

Cat darted out from the apartment door and interceded between Sam and Robbie. "Sam, he said he wanted to do something romantic for me. I think it's sweet."

A middle-aged woman opened a window across the alcove. "It was sweet, dearies."

Further down the alleyway from the woman's condominium, a college age male opened his front door. "No, it's sickening."

"Thanks," Sam yelled.

"No problem," the male yelled back as he shut his door.

"Yes, it is," the original male voice bellowed.

Two young girls opened a door even further down. "Cat and Robbie, sitting in a tree…" They were followed by their mother, who was encouraging them to get going to school.

Robbie turned Cat around. "How do they know about this?"

A middle-aged husband and wife opened their doors as they headed to work. "It's not like we're deaf here," the wife chimed in.

The college-age male spoke up. "I'm with the other guy – please be quite! I've got such a headache-"

The husband retorted, "Then get to sleep at a normal hour, kid."

"Don't call me kid, old man!"

"Enough!" Sam yelled at the top of her lungs. Everyone obeyed. Sam then turned to Robbie and Cat. She turned them both towards the door. "Take this inside, you two."

"Need any help, Sam?" came a familiar voice from behind them.

Sam turned sharply around to see Carly Shay and Melanie Puckett smiling at her. Robbie and Cat used the distraction to run inside Sam and Cat's apartment as the other doors and windows closed around them.

Sam jumped forward as the three girls engulfed each other in a tight group hug. "Carls! Mel!" Sam yelled joyously.

The original weary-voiced male interrupted their celebration with, "Put a lid on it!"

"We're taking it inside," Sam replied as the three women broke their hug.

"TMI!" the middle-aged husband shouted.

Carly, Melanie, and Sam giggled as quietly as they could for a few moments. Finally, Sam regarded her two guests happily. "Come on in, you two – as you can see, the neighbours get a bit upset if we have too much noise too early in the morning." Sam then looked down and noticed four large suitcases at their feet. "What are those for?"

Carly and Melanie smiled. Carly replied, "I decided to go to USC rather than not be with my best friend, and Melanie here decided that she needed you to dispose with the nerdy boys whom she can't escape from at Cal Tech."

Melanie laughed. "I need to sharpen my butter-socking skills before I get there."

"Ah," Sam replied. "Well, lets get these things inside." Sam grabbed the two middle suitcases; Carly and Melanie followed with one on each of their sides.

The three women chatted animatedly as Sam led Carly and Melanie into her and Cat's apartment – followed by a trail of invectives from annoyed people in the complex who could not handle the squealing. Sam noticed Robbie humming serenely to himself as he made a breakfast that looked adequate for the five of them, so she led Melanie and Carly to her bedroom.

Sam waited for Carly and Melanie to enter the bedroom before she resolutely shut the door. She turned to face Carly and Melanie and walked back into the room. "When did you get here, Carls?"

"I just got in on the red-eye," Carly replied excitedly. "Florence to Rome to New York to LA to Seattle."

"And Mel?"

Melanie nodded at her sister. "We planned this surprise for you. I came in from San Diego to pick her up and get here."

Sam then had a puzzled look on her face. "Wait, Carls. Where's your Dad?"

"Oh," Carly began. "He went directly to Seattle. He's getting the apartment ready while Spencer's out."

"Spence is displaying an exhibit in San Francisco," Melanie added. "Mom went with him."

Sam nodded. "Ah." She then turned to Carly. "So what's the plan? Spencer and Mom can't live at your Dad's place now, can they?"

Carly shook her head and groaned slightly. "Nope. They have been saving up to get their own place." Then she shrugged. "I guess they have a bit of a nest egg."

Melanie chuckled. "Whodathunkit? Mom in a stable marriage, saving her money…" She trailed off and looked at Sam. "Sam running an honest business babysitting kids!" She broke into a mischievous smile. "Yup – the world is upside-down all right!"

Melanie and Carly looked at each other and snickered as Sam grunted indignantly. Sam finally regained her equanimity after Melanie and Carly settled down. "So when are you going back to Seattle, Carls?"

Carly broke into a wide smile. "We, the three of us, Sam, are going to Seattle tomorrow night."

Sam looked at Carly querulously before looking at Melanie, who also smiled and nodded. "For how long? We have a business going here and the taxes, fees, and stuff have made things a bit tight."

"Only a few days," Carly assured her

Melanie chimed in with, "I know that you have a few free-ish days coming up. Considering that you handle all the daytime stuff while Cat does her extra-curricular school activities, you could let her have a few light days all by herself."

Sam frowned. "Are we talking about Cat my roommate and business partner, or someone else named 'Cat' who is responsible enough for me to leave in charge of the business for a few days?"

Carly chuckled lightly and then shook her head. "She's not really as bad as you make her out to be, is she?"

"Yes, she is," Melanie whispered.

Sam glanced at the wall that also bordered the living room and then gestured to Carly. "Around here, I am the organized, responsible half of the baby-sitting tandem. I keep her out of trouble."

Melanie whistled as Carly edged back slightly. Carly raised an eyebrow. "Wow. You mean you've been in comparatively less trouble all by yourself?"

Sam nodded and then paused. "Yeah, but I have learnt a lot from Jade."

Melanie wrinkled her brow. "You mean Cat's friend?" Sam nodded. "How?"

Sam flashed a broad smile. "She helped me channel my misanthropy and aggression into more satisfying but legal pursuits."

"Sounds dangerous," Melanie replied.

Sam's grinned mischievously. "Yes, we are."

"Great," Carly slowly replied. "Just great, Sam."

Sam shrugged. "I get out my frustrations without endangering many other people."

Melanie's face relaxed while Carly's remained tense. Melanie finally said, "I can see that. Nice job, Sam," she stated flatly.

Carly was still dubious. "Yeah, I guess."

Sam reached out to hug Carly. "Come on, Carls. Parents have to entrust their kids to us. If we had issues, I couldn't make money, now could I?"

Carly nodded her head firmly and then broke into a smile. "Yup – there's the motivation I expected from you!" The three women chuckled.

Sam unclenched and then walked past Melanie and Carly. "We have a group of kids that come in kind of early, so as soon as Cat gets out, I need to get washed up before they get here." She grabbed a robe and a towel from a chair.

"We'll wait here," Carly replied as Sam went to her drawers.

Sam opened her drawers and pulled a change of clothes from them. "Nah – guard the front make sure my roommate and her boyfriend doesn't do something stupid like not helping me with the morning crowd before she goes to school." She darted from the bedroom to get cleaned up quickly.

Carly turned to Melanie. "Exactly how smart is Cat?"

Melanie grabbed Carly by the arm. "Yeah, Sam's got a point here." They heard the shower stop and then turned to Sam. "You told me she has some odd modesty thing with girls that's only slightly more intense than it is for boys?

Sam nodded. "Cat is variously neurotic, caring, naïve, helpful, clueless, thoughtful, and a bull in a china shop." Carly and Melanie gulped. "Think back to me when we first met you, Carly. Can you imagine me as the steady, sane, responsible one of us?"

Carly and Melanie shuddered as Cat exited the bathroom and shooed them out of the bedroom. Sam darted into the bathroom while Carly and Melanie went into the living room. Robbie was making omelets for everyone. They decided to sit on the couch and wait for Sam. They looked at Cat and Robbie, compared their apparent level of maturity to Sam's, looked at each other, and then face-palmed.