Chapter 21:

I'll Never Leave You Alone.

(Freddie's POV)

Even though it was the weekend, I woke up early the next morning, without even needing the help of my alarm. I opened my eyes and smiled as I recalled fleeting memories of the night before, as well as a dream I'd had about Princess Puckett. I yawned and rolled over, picking up my phone. As I clicked the unlock key, I kind of expected to find a call or text from Sam, but the screen was completely blank. No notifications. Oh well. I scrolled through my message threads until I found her name and shot her a quick good morning text, reminded her of our plans to grab a smoothie later, then curled back up in my bed and tried to force myself back into the dream that had starred my princess.

When I awoke again two hours later, at around eleven o'clock, I grabbed my phone eagerly and clicked it to see if she'd replied. She hadn't. Hmm. That was kind of strange. Even before our relationship had progressed to this level, even back when she had still completely hated me, she never took more than ten minutes to respond to a message. That was just part of her nature, with her phone permanently in her hand as if it were physically attached to her. Still, I brushed it off, not thinking too much of it. She probably had a good excuse for not answering me. Her phone was probably dead or something, plus I was sure that I would see her later. So, I pushed my concern to the back of my mind, and spent the rest of the morning playing my Galaxy Wars video game and working on a few technical things for iCarly.

Around three, I decided to call her and remind her again of our plans to get smoothies. We were supposed to meet up at four, and I wanted to make sure that still worked for her and that she didn't need to be picked up or anything. I scrolled through my contacts and clicked her name, cradling the phone between my ear and shoulder as I typed a quick update for the website's HTML code.

Her phone didn't even ring, though. Not even once. It went directly to voicemail: "Hi, this is Sam Puckett, leave a message if it's important. Try not to make it important." Beep.

I hung up without leaving a message. This was strange. It occurred to me that I had never actually heard her voicemail prompt before, because she had never missed a call. Ever. Answering her phone was one of the few things that she could be counted on to do consistently.

Although I hated to admit it, I was starting to worry.

I finished what I was typing on the website and saved my edits before slamming my laptop shut, grabbing my keys and dashing across the hall to Carly's apartment. I knocked several times, and when I wasn't immediately let in, I knocked again, harder, with more urgency. Finally, after what had seemed like an eternity, the door swung open to reveal an irritated Carly, still dressed in her pajamas. I brushed past her into the apartment and she shut the door behind me.

"You know, Freddie, I can't just morph downstairs, you have to give me a second to get down here before you start beating the door down-"

"Forget that! This is important. Have you heard from Sam today?"

She looked at me quizzically and folded her arms across her chest. "No, I haven't. Why?"

"Because I haven't heard from her since last night, and we were supposed to have plans today, and I just called her and she didn't pick up." I started pacing the floor by the couch, tossing my keys from hand to hand. "This is weird, don't you think? This isn't like her."

Carly cocked her head at me, reading me carefully. "Since when do you and Sam have plans together? I thought you hated each other! In fact, I know you hate each other. Why the sudden change? Since when do we have secrets from each other? Does this have something to do with you almost biting my head off last night?"

"Look, Carls, I said I was sorry about that, all right? It's just- last night, after the show, some things went down. Things I'm not entirely sure I can tell you about, or if I even understand myself. I just know that it's not like Sam to go completely AWOL without telling anyone where she is. Especially you." I sighed. "I don't know what to do."

Carly was still eyeing me suspiciously, but I could tell from the look on her face that she knew I had a point. "Okay, well, why don't we go by her house and see if she's there? That's a start. And if she's not, then we can start looking other places."

I nodded. "Okay. That sounds good."

"Just wait here for a minute while I go change clothes and get my keys. I'll be right back." She started to head up the stairs, then turned back to me. "Freddie?"

"Yeah?"

She gave me what I assumed was supposed to be a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. We'll find her."

Ten minutes later, we were in my car, speeding through the streets of Seattle toward Sam's house. I was gripping the steering wheel so hard, my knuckles were turning white. Carly kept stealing nervous glances at me, like she wanted to say something, but I kept my gaze steady on the road in front of me. I can't explain what it was, but I just knew in my gut that something was wrong, and that I had to get to Sam as soon as possible.

As we roared up in front of her shabby little house, I could tell something was different. Fresh ruts in the gravel driveway told me that someone else had recently been here, but whoever they were, they were gone now. As Carly and I trudged up to the steps of the house, I saw it: sitting in front of the trash cans were a cardboard case full of empty beer bottles, and an empty carton of cigarettes.

Sam's mother didn't smoke or drink, and I knew that Sam most definitely didn't.

That only left one person.

That had to mean that-

Oh my God. No.

I could feel my body starting to quake with panic. I knew that I couldn't let Carly in the house with me. I had no idea what awaited me in there, and that was no situation to just allow your best friend to walk right into. I turned to her, fighting to keep my voice calm. "You know what, Carls? Maybe it'd be best if you waited here, you know, kept a lookout. Just in case Mrs. Puckett comes home?"

She shot me a confused look, and for a moment I thought she was going to insist on staying with me, but, thankfully, she decided not to press the issue. "Um, okay, Freddie, whatever you say." She gave a nod, turned around and started back down the driveway. "I'll call you if I see anything, I guess."

"Yeah, just keep watch and let me know!" I called toward her retreating back. I turned back toward the house. I just stood there, all panicky, staring at the peeling paint on the door, trying to figure out what to do. My adrenaline was pumping, and I had this uncomfortable swooping feeling in the pit of my stomach that just wouldn't let up.

Finally, after several uncomfortable, uncertain minutes, I had to admit that I had to go inside. God only knew what kinds of things had happened to Sam after I had dropped her off the night before. She could be bleeding, lying on the floor unconscious. She could be hurt. Badly.

She could be in all kinds of trouble and completely powerless to save herself.

I drew a deep breath and started up the concrete steps.

I was going to do whatever it took to rescue my princess, come hell or high water, regardless of any sleeping dragons that might be holding her in their keep.

Author's Note: The title of this chapter comes from a lyric from the song "Mine" by Taylor Swift.

I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews are welcome and appreciated! :)