No more little Sam and Cat in this chapter! I promise you. There might be the tiniest bit of darkness in this chapter... Ah, fuck it. There WILL be darkness in this chapter. No point in even trying hide it or lie. I hope you guys enjoy it, though!

...

10 years later...

It was late, around nine at night. Here she was, standing beside the motorcycle her best friend's brother had given her.

"Mom, we need to talk." she had said.

Sam sighed and brushed her fingers over the leather seat.

"What is it, now?" Pam Puckett said, taking the cigarette she was smoking from her mouth.

She closed her eyes.

She took a deep breath and shuffled her feet. She couldn't be afraid. She needed to say this. She straightened her posture and curled her hands into fists. She stared her mother in the eyes. "I'm leaving."

Her breath caught due to what her memories were bringing, but she kept her eyes closed. These thoughts, these memories, would be her parting goodbye.

"The hell you are." her mother said. She put out her cigarette in the tray and snapped her fingers. "Why don't you be a good girl and get me a beer, huh?"

Sam didn't move. She held her ground. "No."

Her mother sat up in the chair she was reclined in. "What did you just say?"

"I said no, mom." Sam said. "You can get the beer yourself. I'm leaving."

Her mother stood up slowly and walked up to Sam, staring her down. Sam stared back. Her mother raised her hand and brought it down upon Sam's face. Sam backed away, glaring at her mother as she blinked away hot tears.

"You have no where to go." her mother sneered. "You think someone will want you? Think again, sweet cheeks. This is as good as it gets for us Pucketts."

"You didn't say that to Melanie." Sam said.

"Melanie is more of a daughter than you will ever be."

That did it. The words stung at Sam's being and she felt herself crumbling. "You're wrong!" she said with a sudden power in her voice. "I will make it somewhere, I will prove you wrong. And you will have to sit there and accept it."

Leaving her mother speechless, Sam turned on her heels and headed out the door. As she opened it, she looked over her shoulder. "So, I repeat, get the beer your damn self." And she slammed the door behind her.

Sam opened her eyes. Here she stood, a block away from her former home. If her mom was right about anything, it was about having no place to be. Where was she gonna go from there? She hadn't really planned a place to go to, she'd expected herself to chicken out by that point. Though she refused. She needed to prove her mother wrong. Hell, she'd made it this far. She could make it further.

"Might as well just go where the highway takes me." she murmured to herself. "That's the best bet right now."

Sam got on the bike, put on her helmet, gave one last look behind her up the street, and drove off in search of the highway.

...

She didn't really know how long she'd been driving for, but it had been for a long time. She drove through the night and the sun had come up not too long ago. She was starving; she could feel her stomach gnawing at her insides. She looked up at the signs, reading to see if there we any nearby towns or rest stops she could go to before she started driving again. One specific name caught her attention.

Hollywood, Los Angeles? she thought. I guess I could rest here a while.

At the next exit, she drove off the highway. Her stomach growled for the fortieth time and she groaned.

Goddamn it, I'm starving. I have almost a hundred on me, I guess I could spend a few on a vendor...

Sam didn't have to drive far. A few blocks away from where she had gotten off was a food truck. A guy with dreads stood on the inside. Sam pulled over to the side and got off. She caught the guy's attention and he called to her.

"Huh?" she said.

"Aren't you that girl from iCarly?" he said. "Puckett, right? Sam Puckett?"

"Are you a cop?" Sam asked.

"No..." the guy said.

"Then, yeah. I'm Sam." Sam said.

"What brings you here from Seattle?"

"Are you gonna take my order or not?" Sam said, growing impatient. Her stomach was roaring.

The guy rolled his eyes and stood up from the window. "Sure. What do you want?"

"A hot dog, bag of lays, and a blue dog soda." Sam said.

"That'll be five bucks." the man said.

Sam took the money from her back pocket and counted out five dollars. She handed the money to him.

"Where'd you get all of that from?" the guy asked as he turned to prepare her order.

"That's for me to know and for you to keep your nosy ass out of." Sam said to him as she put the rest of her money away.

The guy raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. Chill out."

A few minutes passed and the guy reappeared in the window. He handed Sam her food, which she took gratefully. She could already feel her mouth flooding the craving of food.

"Anything else you need?" the guy asked.

Sam thought for a minute, then looked at him. "Actually, yeah. Just a question I need answered."

"What?"

"Are there any duck ponds nearby?"

...

She sat on the bus, taking her way home and twirling her brunette-dyed-red locks between her fingers. She stared down at her lap with her headphones in, listening to Mariah Carey's song Emotions. She closed her eyes as she mouthed along with the lyrics. Cat sat alone in her seat, though she didn't mind. She often preferred to sit alone, since that's how it had always been for her. She was on her way to her grandmother's, or, her Nona's, house which she now called home. It's been her home for the past five years.

Cat felt someone tap her on her head and she took out her headphones, turning around to see who it was.

"Hey, Kit-Kat." her best friend, Jade West, said.

"Hey, Jade." Cat said.

"What's the matter with ya, huh?" Jade said.

Cat shrugged and looked down. "I don't know, it's just that kind of day."

Jade nodded thoughtfully. "Well, me and Tori are heading out to Karaoke-Dokie tonight." she said. "Wanna come along?"

"Thanks for the invite, but I think I'll just stay home tonight. Maybe next time."

The bus stopped and Cat stood up. "See you tomorrow, Jade."

"Laters." Jade said, sitting back in her seat.

Cat got off the bus and it drove off, causing dirt to fly up in the air. Cat sighed and made her way to the front door of her Nona's flat and used her keys to get in.

"Nona, I'm home!" she called.

"Oh, Cat, dear!" Nona said from the kitchen. "You're home!"

Cat walked up to her and kissed her on the forehead. "How was your day?"

"Fine, fine." Nona answered. "But I need you to do me a favor, if you don't mind."

"Of course not." Cat said as she put her backpack on the couch. "What is it?"

"Now, I know you just got home but I need you to go to the store." Nona handed her a slip of paper. "I need to go meet with Gladys. It's just a few things, so you should be fine. Just take my card."

"Sure thing, Nona." Cat said.

"Thank you." Nona gave her a smile. "If you cut through the park with the duck pond in it, that should cut your walk in half."

"Okay." Cat said. She grabbed her Nona's purse and took out the card, then grabbed her keys from her backpack. "I'll be back soon."

"Be safe, dear." her Nona said as she shut the door.

Cat set on her way.

...

Sam pulled up beside the park and looked down at the paper in her hand which held directions written in her handwriting. "This must be the place." she said to herself. She got off of her bike after shutting it off and sighed,, looking at the street road that led deeper into the park. "He said it should be down there..." Sam stuffed the paper back into her pocket and crossed the grass to the road.

About fifteen minutes had passed before she finally reached the pond. She took in the sight, unable to keep herself from comparing it to Seattle. The setting automatically calmed her and she ran a hand through her hair. She knelt down and inspected the gravel for a good sized rock. She imagined her eight year old self there in her spot, doing the exact same thing. She sighed and picked up two rocks. She tossed one in her right hand as she scanned the pond for the water fowl. They were a bit out of reach when she found them, but she could still aim in their direction. She geared her arm back and-

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Wha-!" Sam exclaimed, whirling around on her heels.

Behind her stood a girl with bright red hair, a petite figure, and grocery bags in hand. She was in a kinda short pink skirt and a white tank that didn't show off too much cleavage. She stared at Sam intently, unfazed that she had frightened her. Sam gaped at her, the rocks balled up in her hands. "What are you talking about?" Sam said, taking a defensive stance. "Who are you?!"

The girl put one of the bags down and pointed at a tree across the way. "They've got cameras wired to the trees."

Sam faced away from her and squinted at a distant tree. She could barely make out a blinking red light. Well that's stupid. she thought.

"It's Cat, by the way." the girl said. Sam looked back at her. "Cat Valentine."

Sam stared at her skeptically, raising an eyebrow in question. "Sam Puckett."

"Nice to meet you, Sam." Cat said. She tilted her head to the side, studying Sam. "You don't look like your from Los Angeles."

"I'm not." Sam said a little harshly, facing the water. She raised her hand again, not caring if the camera saw her, when Cat spoke again.

"Where are you from?" she asked.

"Not around here." Sam said.

"So, where?"

Sam groaned and dropped the rocks. "Why do you care, huh? You don't even know me."

Cat shrugged, though Sam didn't see her. "I don't know, just trying to be friendly."

"Well, you ain't gotta be friendly to me." Sam said. "Don't act like you care about some person you just randomly met."

Cat was silent and Sam looked behind her to see if she was still there. She was, still watch Sam.

"What are you staring at?" she demanded. Cat shrugged again. Sam rolled her eyes. "Why don't you run along? I'm sure you have other people to aggravate the hell out of."

Cat's expression fell and she picked up the bags she had put down. She turned away from Sam, who had crossed her arms and watched as Cat started to walk away. Something tugged at her, as if it was telling her to go after her. Sam steeled herself, but the nagging feeling didn't disappear. She dropped her hands and groaned. "Dammit..."

She jogged up beside Cat and stopped in front of her.

"What are you doing?" Cat asked.

"Look, I'm sorry for being so rough on you okay?" Sam said. "I didn't mean it, honest. Why don't you let me make up for it?"

"How?" Cat said.

Sam observed the bags in Cat's hands. "I can give you a ride. My motorcycle is just up the road. Won't be very comfortable, but it's better than nothing."

Cat thought for a few minutes. How could she trust this girl? She just hurt her feelings, and now she's trying to be nice. But there was something keeping her from refusing the girl's offer. "Sure, thanks."

Sam gave a hint of a smile and held her hands out. Cat stared at them blankly.

"Well, I'm not gonna let you carry them." Sam said. "C'mon, hand 'em over."

Cat slowly handed the bags over and Sam lifted them without a hint of struggle.

"Alright, c'mon." Sam said. She turned around and lead Cat up in the direction of her bike.

...

And that's that. There was only a hint of darkness in the beginning, it will get worse as time goes on. But, I hope you enjoyed this installment and stick around! Til next time!

Thanks for reading!