You guys are seriously the BEST reviewers in the world! Thank you so much for sticking with this story and faithfully leaving reviews. Most of the time, my stories will get the most reviews after the first chapter then pan out for awhile, but you guys...Wow. You really know how to make a girl feel giddy. You review count hasn't gone down at all since I started this story. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read and/or review!

As for the slow update...I hope you can understand as fellow writers how hard it is for me to write a new chapter. I get an idea in my head, but after I start writing it, it doesn't come out the way I want it to, so I have to keep changing it until it turns out in a way I like and I HOPE you guys enjoy reading. Soooo...Sorry it's taken me a week to update. Please forgive me! Please?

Anyway, the episodes included in this chapter are as follows: iHate Sam's Boyfriend, iWin a Date, iGo to Japan, and, for Sam's flashback, iMake Sam Girlier.

HUGE shout-outs go to:

Swarley180 for giving me ideas to use later on in the story.

randomisking for suggesting a clip from iWin a Date.

Kiganchee for giving me a whole list of episodes to use after reading the first chapter.

(If your name isn't on the list, please don't feel offened. I LOVE all my reviewers!)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, although the real owner of iCarly did post a new video yesterday of the cast at their first run-through for the new season. Raise your hand if you watched the video!

IMiss You

2:59 AM

It was official: Melanie Puckett had lost her mind.

"That's it!" she exclaimed, forcing their front door open in the most un-lady like manner Sam had ever witnessed her twin use. "I just got home a few hours ago for a week long visit, I was exhausted before I left school because my exams just finished and I stayed up late every night for two weeks so I could study, you made me go to some insane buffet that I'm not even sure was legally allowed to serve food, and now, it's nearly three o'clock in the morning! I'm going to bed!"

Sam watched in awe as her sister marched toward the staircase, slipping out of her heels along the way so she could climb them faster. She had never seen Melanie so angry before. As the good sister, usually Melanie was able to keep her frustrations in check, even when she knew Sam was only doing or saying something in order to annoy her. Apparently, her temper short-circuited the later she stayed up.

Shrugging, Sam grabbed the suitcase that still waited for her in the kitchen. The only reason she hadn't ran away was because she wanted one last meal. Fried Chicken Haven took care of her hunger issues. Now that Melanie was finally heading to bed, she had the perfect opportunity to leave.

"Goodnight, Mel!" Sam cried even though the other blonde was already out of sight, probably making herself comfortable in the guest room she slept in whenever she came home. "I hope you enjoy being an only child!"

The door was right in front of her. All Sam had to do was reach out with the hand not grasping a suitcase, turn the knob, and walk into her new life-

-Which would be a lot easier if someone wasn't grabbing her shoulder, turning her to face the living room.

"Okay," Melanie said firmly, "This is the last time I'm going to say it: You are not running away. You're in love with Freddie. Freddie's in love with you. Either go back to the stupid lock-in so you can talk things over with him or go to sleep and call him tomorrow. At this point, I don't really care what you do, Samantha, as long as you don't leave this house to live with hobos!"

"This is the last time I'm going to say this!" Sam retorted, putting a hand on each of Melanie's cheeks and bringing their faces within inches of each other. "Fredward Benson does not love me!"

Pushing Sam's hands off her cheeks, Melanie kept one of them, locking their fingers. Sam allowed Melanie to drag her to the couch, but not without slumping, groaning, and tossing her head back in irritation. She knew exactly what was coming before they sat down and Melanie pulled her cell phone out for the second time that evening.

"Exhibit A," she said, holding the screen up where Sam could see. "Jonah, your boyfriend, getting wedgie-bounced because Freddie was jealous so you decided to break up with him."

"That's not why I wedgie-bounced him!" Sam protested. "He tried to kiss Carly behind my back!"

Melanie clicked on another video. "Exhibit B: Shirtless Gibby dancing on a table while you, Freddie, and Carly watch. Obviously, the four of you are on a double date."

"Obviously, you need to have your head examined. I was out with a guy named Rubin, Carly was with Gibby, and Freddie was with some girl who had a huge crush on him. Can you believe he didn't ask her out the second he found out she liked him? I mean, come on. How many chances has that dork had to actually date someone?"

"Exhibit C: Your trip to Japan. Have you ever watched the clip where iCarly won that award? Freddie hugged Carly first but his hug with you lasted ten times as long! And, you even let him poke your stomach."

"So? You've never let a guy poke your stomach before?"

"We're not talking about me. We're talking about you! You never let people touch you like that without breaking one of their limbs unless you're really close to them, like you are with Carly and me. Admit it, Sam! By the time you guys traveled to Japan, you'd started to see Freddie as a real friend and not just a punching bag."

Chewing her lip, Sam tried to think of another excuse. Why had her mouth suddenly gone dry? She was the queen when it came to lying (maybe not teaching her technique to others since Spencer cracked the first time he tried after she gave him lessons, but she was pretty good at it herself). She shouldn't have to come up with a lie anyway.

She wasn't in love with Freddie while she was dating Jonah, even after the nub agreed with Carly not to tell her about the failed kiss, which almost hinted that Freddie was trying to protect Sam from getting hurt. Why did he care if Jonah cheated on her? Surely it was more of an, 'I'm-agreeing-with-Carly-because-I-love-her' than 'I-don't-want-Sam-getting-hurt-because-I-have-secret-feelings-for-her.'

She wasn't in love when Gibby played iWin a Date on iCarly and Freddie stated for the millionth time he was in love with Carly, leaving Sam with a hurt expression as she kept her eyes on the bowl of cold chili she stole from the Shay's fridge. The pang she felt in her chest wasn't because she felt jealous of her best friend and the attention she got from Freddork - she'd just eaten too much food that day and was feeling a tiny bit gassy.

She definitely was not in love when she, Carly, and Freddie went to Japan. Hadn't she spent most of that trip fighting with Freddie about the stupid video camera he brought with him, who had the worst underwear, and…didn't she even push him out of a plane? One little hug didn't prove Freddie forgave her for all the mean things she'd done to him over the years. Besides, who said Melanie got to decide how Sam felt? Maybe she let Freddie poke her because she was tired (hadn't the three of them spent an entire day stranded in the middle of nowhere, trying to find their way back to civilization?). Or perhaps she happened to be in a very good mood after winning the award and didn't feel like knocking Fredward out.

No matter which way she looked at it, Sam knew one thing for sure: Melanie had no proof Freddie ever fell in love with anyone other than Carly.

"You're going to deny all of it, aren't you?" Melanie's voice was soft as her eyes locked on Sam's face. "I'm not trying to be mean, Samantha. I'm not forcing you to watch these clips to remind you of whatever happened tonight between you and Freddie. I just don't want you to miss out on something that could make you really, really happy."

Exiting the iCarly website, Melanie rose to her feet. Sam wanted her to leave. She wanted Melanie to go upstairs again and not come down until it was too late to stop Sam from following through with her original plan. If she didn't run away soon, Carly would come looking for her. As soon as the lock-in was over and students were allowed to leave Ridgeway, Sam knew her best friend would want to talk.

How could Sam talk to Carly about what happened? What was she supposed to say? 'You know how we promised there wouldn't be any more secrets between us? Yeah, well, I lied. I fell in love with Freddie and didn't tell you. But don't worry about it, Carls. He still loves you too much to pay any attention to me.'

"I guess that's my cue," Melanie broke into Sam's thoughts, her feet trudging toward the stairs. "Your mind is already made up and you're not listening to a word I'm saying. It's pointless for me to keep searching through old clips if you're going to argue with everything I say. I guess this is goodbye."

She stopped before stepping up on the first stair, took a deep breath, and then, before Sam knew what was going on, two arms wrapped around her. Melanie was hugging her - hugging her so tight that Sam could barely get enough air in her lungs to continue breathing.

"What the chiz?" she demanded, pushing her sister away while climbing to her feet.

"I'm sorry!" Melanie apologized. "It's just…You said you're running away, right? This is the last time I'm ever going to see you!"

"It's not like you saw me much anyway," Sam said. "You only come home a few times a year."

"That doesn't mean I don't miss you."

That doesn't mean I don't miss you. Sam stood, frozen, giving the words a chance to sink in. Had she ever heard them before? The Puckett family wasn't emotional - the only time Pam told Sam she loved her was when they were trapped in that stupid therapy box - and Sam would be the first to admit that she didn't spend her days and nights worrying about how Melanie was doing. She always thought Melanie shared the same courtesy, forgetting about Sam while she was gone. For years, she even led herself to believe that she was the reason Melanie didn't visit more often, that Melanie hated coming home because she had to deal with all of Sam's shenanigans. She never imagined Melanie would actually miss her.

Giving Sam a final smile, Melanie turned her back on her twin, sprinting up the stairs like she needed to get away before it was too late. Sam watched her go, unsure what to do next. It was the moment she'd been waiting for, her chance to run away while no one was round to stop her-

-Instead, she flopped back down on the couch, threw her legs on the coffee table as though it were a footstool, and did the one thing she'd found herself doing too much lately:

She started thinking about Freddie.

Carly was supposed help Sam get ready for a date with Pete. They had everything planned: Sam would come over right after school ended, they would head up to Carly's room to choose an outfit, and then, while Carly helped straighten Sam's hair, she would squeeze in a lesson about how to act more girly. It was the pattern the girls followed every day and would continue following as long as Sam wanted to keep Pete's interest.

One of the many perks about dating Pete was that Sam saw less and less of Fredweird. He distanced himself from his two best friends - apparently he found it boring to sit around talking about clothes and hair and whether or not Sam should be allowed to take food from the trash. Instead of seeing him every afternoon at Carly's loft, Sam only saw the tech producer on days when they held iCarly rehearsals. She had Pete, the guy of her dreams. She only had to see Freddie a few times a week.

Life was great.

On one of the afternoons when Carly and Sam planned on going through with their daily Pete schedule, Carly got called to the principal's office. Sam, who was almost asleep when she heard the words, "Please report to the principal's office immediately,", started to stand up-

-Only to have her mouth drop when Carly gently pushed her down again.

"They said your name instead of mine?" she asked. "What did you do, kiddo?"

Carly shrugged in response, leaving the classroom and a bewildered Sam behind. Needless to say, Sam couldn't concentrate on her math for the rest of the lesson (not that she was paying attention before anyway). Her mind was whirling, trying to remember anything she'd done recently that Carly might be taking the blame for.

By the time the bell sounded, signaling the end of math, Sam sprang from her desk. She pushed students aside in the crowded hallway, her eyes searching for Carly. She jumped when she felt someone tap her shoulder.

"Hey," Freddie greeted. He was lucky Sam was too worried about her best friend to punish him for sneaking up on her. "Where's Carly?"

"That's the million dollar question," Sam responded, grabbing Freddie's arm (not because she wanted to hurt him. Students were rushing past them, trying to make it to their next class before the bell rang. If Sam and Freddie were going to stick together, they had to be connected somehow and no way was Sam going to parade through the halls holding Freddie's hand!). "Come on, I think I see her!"

By the time Freddie and Sam made it out of the throng, the locker Carly stood in front of was nearly empty. She held her backpack in her hands, which she was stuffing full of books.

"Are they ending school early?" Sam asked eagerly.

"No, they're not ending school early. Not for you, anyway." There was a sad expression on Carly's face. "Spencer set something else on fire. Turns out that he actually burned himself this time. He's in the hospital."

"Oh, no!" and "Is he okay?" and "Don't worry, Carly, we'll go with you!" came from Freddie and Sam as they each headed toward their own lockers. Carly whistled loudly, bringing her best friends to a stand-still.

"I would love the support, guys, but Spencer's my brother. They're only excusing me for the afternoon, not you."

"So?" Sam demanded. "I'll leave anyway. It's not like I've never skipped school before."

"She won't skip," Freddie promised, rolling his eyes. "There's only a couple classes left, so why don't Sam and I meet you at the hospital as soon-,"

"No!" Carly's shout was firm enough to cause Freddie and Sam to exchange glances. "I mean, please don't come to the hospital. I really think Spencer's going to be fine and I'd hate for you to miss out on your date for nothing, Sam."

"How do you expect me to go on the date without you around to help? I don't know anything about acting girly!"

Carly's chocolate eyes landed on Freddie.

"No," he said firmly. "Don't even think about it, Carly!"

"It won't be that bad!" Carly protested. "I'll swing by my loft, pick out an outfit for Sam to wear, and then I'll give it to your mom. All you have to do is bring it to Sam and then give her a few pointers about how to act around Pete."

"Aw, be serious!" Sam jumped in, finally understanding what Carly and Freddie were talking about. "Don't let Freddie coach me! Pete will dump me tonight if I take advice from that nub!"

What other option did she have? Carly was busy taking care of Spencer and Sam had no chance of getting another date from Pete without someone helping her. So, when five o'clock rolled around later that evening, Sam wasn't surprised to hear a knock on her front door.

She also wasn't surprised when Frothy, her rabid cat, jumped outside the moment the door opened. Unfortunately for Freddie, Frothy didn't like strangers.

Sam could very easily have separated her cat from Freddie's ankles. Frothy wouldn't listen to many people, but he and Sam had an understanding with each other when it came to training. Frothy was more afraid of Sam than she was of him - after all, she did bite his ear pretty hard the one time he scratched her.

Freddie, who wasn't expecting an attack from Frothy, yelped in pain when the cat dug his teeth into the teen's leg. The clothes in his arms went flying; Sam ducked just before a shoe tried impaling her. She would have called Frothy off, but watching Freddie withering on the ground, one tiny cat holding him captive, was too funny. She laughed until her stomach hurt, clutching her sides to stay standing.

"Thanks for the help!" Freddie said sarcastically when Sam finally picked Frothy up, holding the struggling animal in her arms while it hissed at the nerd. "I don't need this, you know! I could be at home right now, working on my homework or doing something worthwhile!"

"Pick up the clothes on your way inside," Sam instructed, blowing off Freddie's warning. "Gosh, you're such a klutz!"

Freddie had never been in the Puckett's house before. He hung out with Sam every day, but it was always either at Carly's loft, the Groovy Smoothie, or, on the rare occasions Sam got super mad at him about something and needed to carry or drag him to Carly's, his own living room. He never had a reason to visit Sam in her natural habitat.

Everything looked exactly as Freddie pictured it: messy, out of place, and unlivable.

"So," Sam said, appearing out of nowhere (hadn't she disappeared around a corner a few seconds ago? Where was the Freddie-eating cat?). "Here's how tonight's going to work: I'm going to change into the outfit Carly chose for me, you're going to tell me I look great, and then-,"

"Why do you have so many meatballs?"

Glancing over her shoulder, Sam smirked at the huge bowl sitting on her counter. "Carly said guys don't like girls who eat more than they do. To keep myself from getting too hungry, I eat before Pete and I go out."

"There's no possible way you could eat that many meatballs at once," Freddie protested.

Forgetting about Carly's outfit and the fact that Pete would be arriving soon, Sam grabbed the meatballs. She dangled them in Freddie's face, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"That sounded like a challenge, Benson."

"Maybe that's because it was a challenge, Puckett."

That was all the encouragement Sam needed. With Freddie watching, she began devouring her meatballs one by one-

-Until half an hour later, after Freddie admitted Sam could eat the meatballs in one sitting but he didn't want her to finish them. Instead, he reached for an item lying on the floor -which just so happened to be a golf club - and suggested they do something else with the remaining balls of meat.

Thus, Meat Golf was born.

"YES!" Sam cried, throwing her golf club into the air at the end of her and Freddie's sixth round. "Mama wins again! How does it feel to lose five times in a row?"

"I still beat you once," Freddie reminded her.

"Only the first game, and that's because you kept changing the rules every five minutes! If you would have played fair instead of trying to make sure you won-,"

"Oh, so now I cheated?"

"How else to you explain your win when you lost the next five times?"

"I don't know. It can't be because I actually played better than you or anything!"

"Look, Freddifer, if you're accusing me of being a worse player than you-,"

They were forced to stop shouting when Sam's cell phone went off, signaling she was getting a text. She read it, groaned loudly, and pushed Freddie out of her way as she ran to the spot they'd left Carly's clothes.

"You nub!" she called over her shoulder, heading for the staircase Freddie hadn't noticed before. "You made me forget about Pete! Now I'm going to have to rush if I want to be ready before he gets here!"

"Hey, don't blame me that you have to give yourself a total make-over whenever you see the guy," Freddie protested. "If Pete really liked you, he'd like all of you, not just the girl you pretend to be around him."

Sam's only response was, "Nyahh!" A door slammed seconds later and Freddie guessed she was in her room, finally changing clothes. Maybe a good guest would have waited patiently for the owner of the house to return, but curiosity got the best of Freddie. He found himself wandering around the Puckett's, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds to make sure Sam wasn't back. If she caught him snooping around her house…he didn't even want to think about what pain she would put him through if she found out.

Not that he found much to look at anyway. The house was so messy, Freddie could barely find a path to walk along. However, he did spot a shelf showcasing many, many photos…

Most of them were of Sam. A few contained people Freddie assumed were various family members. Most of them were recent pictures - taken either at the beginning of the school year or shortly after - but some of them had a younger blonde haired girl. Freddie smirked at a lot of the photos, recognizing the smile on his friend's face. He knew that smile well, maybe better than anyone else: Sam wasn't thinking about the normal things girls thought about when smiling. Oh, no. She had to be thinking about something else, like people fighting with each other, or, in any picture taken within the past few years, torturing Freddie. It was amazing how sweet she could appear in a picture compared to how aggressive she truly was.

The only thing Freddie didn't like was that in some of the photos, Sam modeled dresses. It wasn't so much that he minded seeing her dressed up. Yes, he was in love with Carly, but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate the fact that Sam had a nice body, too. No, what really bothered him was that the dresses just didn't look…right…on Sam. In Freddie's opinion, she looked better in jeans and t-shirts than skirts. Jeans just made her look more real, more like the girl he knew and not the faker she pretended to be for guys like Pete.

At the time, Freddie had no idea the girl wearing dresses wasn't Sam at all but the twin sister he would someday date.

"Hey, Fredward!"

Freddie jumped, running away from the photos as fast as he could. Luckily, he made it back to the room Sam had left him in just as the person in question finished her descant off the stairs. She had no idea he ever moved.

"So?" she asked when Freddie didn't say a word. "How do I look?"

Carly ended up choosing a purple dress. Sam spun around, trying to give Freddie the full effect. He frowned when she faced him again.

"I miss the old Sam," he muttered softly.

"Excuse me?"

Shaking his head, Freddie pasted a smile on his lips. "You look great. I'm sure Pete's going to love it."

Even as Freddie left (with Sam pushing him through the door, saying he better be off her front lawn before Pete arrived), he couldn't stop his hands from curling into fists. He didn't like Pete. Pete was changing Sam - his Sam - into some girl he didn't recognize. Would he ever get his friend back?

He knew he wouldn't be happy until Sam turned back into the girl who ate meatballs on dares and played Meat Golf and beat up anyone who got in her way. Until then, she wasn't really Sam to him.

She was Samantha, the girl who needed to learn how to have fun.

Light snores flowed from the guest bedroom. Sam pushed the door open gently, tiptoed inside, and knelt beside the bed. In the dark, she could just make out Melanie's face. She'd fallen asleep quickly and Sam hated to wake her up. She looked so peaceful and, if what she said earlier about her sleeping pattern over the past few weeks was true, she could use the rest.

At the same time, Sam needed a sister. Her issues with Freddie were far from solved; there was no way she could figure out what to do on her own. She needed Melanie's help and she needed it before morning broke and Carly decided she and Sam needed to have a chat. Carly wasn't the one Sam wanted to talk to. Freddie was too close to both of them to talk about him romantically.

"Melanie," Sam whispered.

The sleeping Puckett moaned, swatted blindly at the air, and rolled over so Sam could see nothing but her back.

"Melanie," Sam repeated, poking her between the shoulder blades. "Are you awake?"

Another groan, but this time, Melanie turned her head. Her drowsy blue eyes landed on what probably looked like a huge black lump.

"Samantha?" she inquired slowly. "I thought you were leaving?"

"Come with me," Sam ordered, trying to grab her sister's hand. "I need to show you something."

"Can't it wait until the morning?"

Unsure what else to do, Sam did the only thing she could think of: she picked Melanie up and threw her over her shoulder, blanket and all.

The Puckett sisters left their house for the second time, only now, Sam didn't wait for a bus. Her feet knew exactly which way to go. She'd walked the same path many times before, whenever Pam was too busy to drive her or she snuck out of the house when she was supposedly grounded. She had a feeling the trail would be ingrained in her brain for the rest of her life.

Sam and Melanie were on their way to Bushwell Plaza.

If anyone's worried about Sam acting out of character at the end by saying she needs a sister, please forgive me. I wasn't trying to write her out of character - it's not like she actually admitted to Melanie that she needed her. And she's not going to get all lovey-dovey now, either. She's beginning to realize that as much as she wants to run away from her problems, Melanie might be able to help her think of a better solution. Really she just wants to hear her sister out before handing her life over to the hobos. She still isn't convinced Freddie loves her or anything like that.

So, what did you guys think? I'm not sure how much I liked the flashback. I just really wanted to include Freddie's first time at the Puckett's house since he states in iTwins that he's been there before. What did you think? Was it a really stupid idea?

Review and let me know what you'd like to see me improve on in the next chapter? *The next chapter will include iReunite with Missy, if that helps anyone!*