I'm slowly starting to realize that I need to stop writing multi-chapter stories simultaneously...it never seems to work out for me...but anyways, some of you still seemed interested in seeing this little whatchamacallit make it to the end. So, I'm going to try to finish it over the course of June. Then I'll try to finish some of my other works and maybe even start something totally fresh. :) Thanks for clicking and I hope you enjoy!

"Sam, how did you get out of working tonight? I know the stepmonster was trying to keep you in her dungeon, again." Carter sat in the passenger seat of Sam's mustang, and she was tightly gripping the steering wheel to the point where her knuckles looked scary white.

She swallowed uneasily as her eyes flickered over to her best friend. She sighed heavily, before stopping in front of a red light. "Carter, I'm not so sure that Fiona was kidding this time," she told him.

Carter's expression morphed into a look of utter confusion. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"I mean that Sam Montgomery is homeless, Carter."

She numbly watched the light turn green and steadily rolled past the light. She couldn't look at Carter now, couldn't see his fury and sadness. She already wanted to crawl under a rock and die. Or cry. Or both. She would be the first to admit that Fiona was a terrible mother, maybe even a terrible person. But she never would have thought that Fiona could go this far.

Carter took a long time to respond. Quietly, he asked her, "She threw you out?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

Sam laughed humorlessly. "Why not? She's got everything, Carter. She's got the diner. She's got the house. She's got two stupid bitches for kids and - and she never wanted me in the first place. Gold-digger is not a strong enough word. She's some other kind of evil, Carter."

He glanced down at her Cinderella outfit, took a look at his own Zorro appearance, and knew that there was no way they'd be stepping into that dance. "She threw you out, because you told her you weren't working tonight. Because of the dance," he told her.

She didn't respond.

"Sam, please don't lie to me. Did she throw you out, because of the dance?"

A slight nod gave him two shots of guilt to the pit of his stomach. He was certain if he saw Fiona any time soon, all he'd want is to hurt her in the way that she hurt Sam. It just wasn't fair. After everything Sam had been through in life, it just wasn't fair.

"Make a right up here," he told her.

She quickly turned to see a determined look on Carter's face that she'd only seen a few times in her life. "Carter...?"

"Just - just make the right, Sam."

She did as he asked. "But the dance is - "

"I know where the dance is, Sam. That's not where we're going."

The authoritative tone in his voice made her feel something different. She couldn't pinpoint what it was, but it made her feel less tense and more relieved about the final words Fiona had said just a few hours earlier...

"What the hell are you wearing?" Fiona asked as she creaked open Sam's door. She was going to snoop around for anything that would get Sam into trouble, again, but what she saw diminished all previous malicious intent.

Sam turned around in shock. "Fiona!" She was half-glammed up in her Cinderella costume, her hair half curled and her make-up undone.

Fiona took into account the beautiful white dress and the sparkly silver heels and her mouth went sour. "Did you really think I would let you go to the dance tonight, Sam? Haven't you realized by now that you don't belong in places like that? You are an ugly, self-obsessed child. You're childish, Sam. See, this is why I took pity on your father - "

Sam's eyes were full of anger at the mention of her dad. "Don't you dare talk about my father. Don't you dare!"

"The truth is that he loved me more than you, Sam. And really the best thing that ever happened to him was his death. Think about it. He finally got away from you."

She was full of rage as she screamed, "No! My dad loved me and my mother more than he could ever love anyone as evil as you. You are evil, Fiona. And I hope to God that you rot in hell."

Fiona frowned. "You're not going to the dance, Sam." She reverted away from the father chit-chat, afraid that Sam might slug her.

"Yes," she said confidently, "I am." She turned back to her mirror and picked up the curler to continue fixing her hair.

"If you go to that dance, then you can no longer live here. Or work at the diner." Fiona smiled triumphantly, knowing that she had Sam pinned against the corner with no chance of escaping.

Sam looked into the mirror and saw her reflection. Tears had started to fall and Fiona, standing in the background decked out in bitch and barbie pink, looked none the happier. She set the curler down and hastily smeared the tears away. "Nope. Kick me out, fire me, say whatever you want about me. I don't care. I'm through with you, Fiona. And someday, when you're all alone and your children couldn't care less about you, you're going to think about me. And you're going to realize that you treated me like shit. And I hope that the pain you feel is agonizing."

She was met with an icy glare. "Get your shit out of my house within 72 hours or I'll have myself a little bonfire later."

Sam made no response as Fiona marched out of her territory. And when she did, her legs buckled and she collapsed to the floor. It was hard to breathe and even harder to understand what had just happened. The house she had grown up in all her life...it had just been stolen from her completely.

"Carter? Sam?" Mrs. Farrell stood in front of the two teenagers utterly confused. "Why aren't you at the dance?"

Carter smiled grimly. "It's sort of a long story."

His mother rolled her eyes and opened the door wider. "Well, aren't they always with you."

Sam and Carter laughed as they followed the older woman inside. They made their way to the kitchen where Mrs. Farrell had just brought out a warm, apple pie. Sam nearly crumbled at the smell, because Mrs. Farrell knew that it was Sam's favorite.

"So, what's this long story, hmm?"

When the two finally finished explaining to Mrs. Farrell what had happened, the mother looked like she was ready to kill. She was downright murderous. "Oh, if I could just see that woman right now..."

"Mrs. Farrell, really, it's okay."

Her eyes snapped up to meet Sam's. "No, Sam. It is not okay. That is not okay by any means. Your father," she told her softly, "was a good, honest man. And he loved you more than anything in the world. He wanted to do right by you, Sam. He would be ashamed of the life you've had to leave because of that - that bitch." Both Sam and Carter were surprised by the choice word, as Mrs. Farrell never cursed.

Sam nodded as Mrs. Farrell passed her a piece of pie. She took a small, albeit heavenly, bite before she pushed the plate away. "I don't know what to do now," she admitted to them. She had been independent for so long and so sure of herself, but now she didn't know what to do at all.

Carter's mom took her hand from across the kitchen table and smiled earnestly. "Oh, Sam. You don't have to worry. We have a spare room upstairs. We'll get your stuff tomorrow and - "

Sam and Carter couldn't believe what they were hearing. Sam had tears forming again as she leaned in to hug her. "Thank you," she mumbled into her ear. "This means so much to me."

Carter watched the exchange going on between them and wasn't amused. All he wanted to do now was shoot himself. He had singlehandedly saved the princess from the dragonlady. But it wasn't his princess to save and now he would have to watch miserably as Austin picked up Sam or as Austin came over to watch a dvd with Sam.

He positioned his hand into the shape of a gun and fired at his head, before letting it fall back against his chair. Just shoot me, he pleaded with the universe.

Sam turned to Carter and smiled gleefully. "Isn't this great?" she asked him.

He faked a smile and nodded to meet her enthusiasm. "Uh huh."

Reviews are appreciated, of course. They fuel the fire. Ha. As it is summertime for this here overachiever (right...), I can finally update on a normal basis. So, if anyone is interested, I'll probably have another chapter up by next week. Thanks for stopping by and for reading this note!