AN-So this is another Sam&Cat/iCarly crossover. This one includes Carly this time. I was actually really excited when I got this request, because as much as I want a huge Seddie reunion on the show, I'm also sort of curious as to if they'll bring back Miranda for a few episodes. I mean, not that I'm not a fan of Sam and Cat's friendship (I really am, I think they balance each other out nicely), it's just in my mind, there's no way Sam could replace Carly as her best friend, and I don't think Dan would want that either.
….
Mud
"What? No way, seriously?" Sam said, smiling widely as she talked on her Pearphone.
"Um, Sam?" Cat said, walking into their apartment from the back door, accompanied by a small boy who was covered in mud. "Why was Dublin out back playing in a pool of mud?"
"When?" Sam said into her phone, ignoring her roommate. "Whoa, this weekend! Holy chiz, that's so great!"
"I just don't think his mom would like it if she picked him up and he was covered in mud," Cat continued, grabbing a sponge from the sink to begin cleaning the child off. "Parents usually don't like muddy kids. My mom and dad never liked it when my brother played in the mud, because he'd always build himself a mud village and never want to come into the house because he was too busy ruling over his empire."
"Hold on…both of you?" Sam exclaimed. "Dude, this is amazing!"
"Did I lose my voice?" Cat asked Dublin, confused. "Am I just hearing my Head Voice right now? Oh no! I don't like my Head Voice that much, it's mean to me sometimes!" She clutched her head.
"Hang on, my roommate's losing it," Sam said, rolling her eyes. She covered her phone's speaker with her hand and looked over at Cat. "Hey! Stop freaking out, will you?"
"You can hear me!" Cat cried happily, throwing her arms around Sam. "Oh thank goodness, I was getting really scared."
"Yeah…I'm pretty scared now too," Sam frowned, pulling Cat off her. "Wash the kid off, will you? I had him entertained perfectly outside making some mud pies. He's your responsibility now."
"Kay kay," Cat said brightly, taking Dublin's hand. "Come on, Dublin, I'll go hose you off."
"Anyway," Sam said, returning to her phone call as Cat went out back. "I can't believe you and Freddie are coming out to L.A. finally, Carly! I get to see my best friend and boyfriend again! My apartment's kind of small, though. You can share my bed if you want, and we can kick Freddie out to the couch, or I think I saw some camping beds out in our storage unit the other day I can lug in here and-"
Just then she heard a scream from the back porch, and then a thud, and a second later, Cat hopped back into the apartment, covered in mud and hopelessly tangled in the gardening hose.
"I made a mistake," she said weakly.
"Oh…I've got to go," Sam said, holding back a laugh. "I'll talk to you later, Carls." She quickly hung up her phone and tossed it onto the couch. "Okay, what happened here?"
"I don't know," Cat said as Sam began to untangle to hose from around her. "It's all a blur."
"Yeah, I'm sure you have plenty of blur memories in that tiny little head of yours," Sam nodded. "Oh, guess what?"
"Does it have anything to do with pineapples or the number forty six?" Cat asked.
"What? No!"
"Okay good, because last night, I had this dream where-"
"Hey, I thought we agreed you keep your weird dreams to yourself!" Sam cut her off. "I still can't look at ice cube trays the same way."
"Me neither," Cat shuddered. "So what were you going to tell me?"
"Oh, right," Sam nodded. "My best friend and boyfriend are coming here to visit! Carly and Freddie!"
"Oh, from iCarly!" Cat said excitedly. "I can finally meet them?"
"Yeah!" Sam said. "Carly flew back to America last night for her granddad's birthday party, and she has the next two weeks off from her fancy Italian school, and Freddie's psycho mom is meeting with some state person this weekend to try and get him to pass a law banning dogs in Seattle because they attract ticks…"
"Your boyfriend's mom sounds really weird," Cat laughed. She looked over at the clock in the kitchen. "Oh, it's almost six! We need to pick up the pizza for dinner in ten minutes. I'll ride my bike over there now."
She headed towards the front door.
"Hey Cat?" Sam called after her.
"Yeah?"
"You're still covered in mud."
"Huh? Oh man! I forgot."
…
"Now see, Henry, this is a picture of a dump truck," Cat said, showing a flashcard to the four-year old boy they were babysitting.
"Which is what your mother looks like," Sam added.
"Sam!" Cat whispered.
"What, you know this kid's mom's a nut," Sam said, rolling her eyes.
"Yes, but she's scary," Cat said. "And last time we babysat for her, she yelled at us that we didn't stimulate Henry's mind enough."
"So you're teaching him about trucks that dump garbage into a large pile?"
"No, I'm teaching him about all trucks!" Cat said happily, flipping over the next flashcard. "This is a fire truck!"
"Which is what your mom sounds like," Sam grinned at the boy.
"Sam," Cat whined. "I don't want to get yelled at again!"
"Fine, I'll stop," Sam conceded. "But for the record, you wouldn't last ten seconds in juvie."
"Is that a night club?" Cat asked.
"Um…no," Sam frowned. "It's prison for kids, sort of. It's like-"
Just then the doorbell rang, cutting her off.
"Ding dong," Cat said, picking up a new flashcard.
"Oh, yes!" Sam said, jumping up and running towards the door. "That's them!" She opened the door, but instead of seeing Carly and Freddie, she instead was met with Dice. "Oh, it's you," she frowned as the boy entered.
"You know, some people might take that as an insult," Dice said.
"Good," Sam said. "So why are you here? I thought you were Carly and Freddie."
"Because I thought you ladies might like to see what I have here in my bag," Dice said, patting his backpack.
"Is it Bibble?" Cat exclaimed, throwing her flashcards to the ground as she ran over to Dice and grabbed his shirt. "Please tell me it's Bibble!"
"Um, no," Dice said, quickly backing away from Cat. He pulled out a game case from his bag. "It's Rap Attack II!"
"Whoa, no way!" Sam said, taking the game. "I thought this didn't come out for another three months."
"I know a guy," Dice told her.
"Me too!" Cat said. "His name is Antonio, and he sells mustard packets across from my school, and-"
"Ignore her, she had a hose mishap the other day," Sam told Dice.
"Again?" Dice sighed, shaking his head.
"Hoses are tricky," Cat defended.
Just then the doorbell rang again.
"Ding-" Cat began.
"No!" Sam said firmly as she raced back to the door. She slammed it open, revealing none other than Freddie Benson and Carly Shay.
"Oh my God! You're here!" Sam said happily, throwing her arms around Freddie's neck, giving him a kiss.
"Hey, baby," Freddie smiled, putting his arms around her. "I've missed you so much. These past few month have really been-"
"Carly!" Sam exclaimed, quickly pushing Freddie aside as she hugged her best friend.
"Sure," Freddie sighed, trying to regain his balance.
"Sam!" Carly cried, returning Sam's embrace. "I can't believe I'm here! We haven't seen each other in like, four months!"
"I know, it's crazy!" Sam nodded. "So how's Italy? How's living with your dad? How are the guys? Are they as hot as everyone says they are?"
"Um, hi!" Freddie said.
"Oh come here, you nub," Sam laughed, grabbing her boyfriend's hand and giving him another quick kiss. "You know I missed you too."
"I think this calls for a group hug!" Carly smiled, holding out her arms.
"That's right, Shay," Sam said, rolling her eyes as the three teens huddled together. "Use that while I'm in a good enough mood."
"Wow, iCarly reunited," Dice said, pulling out his phone and snapping some pictures. "I got to be able to make some serious dough off of these pics."
"Um, Sam?" Carly frowned as the three of them pulled apart, looking over at Dice and Cat. "You want to introduce us to your friends there?"
"Oh, yeah," Sam said. "Carls, Fredhead, this is Dice, the spunky kid who lives in this building."
"Spunky?" Dice repeated. "I guess that's new."
"And this," Sam said, putting her arm around Cat's shoulder. "Is my roommate Cat."
"Hi!" Cat said brightly. "Wow, it's so weird seeing you guys not in my computer screen."
"Nice to meet you," Carly smiled.
"And, um, who's that?" Freddie asked, looking over at Henry, who was sitting quietly on the couch.
"Oh, that's just Henry, we're babysitting him," Sam explained.
"I'm teaching him about trucks!" Cat said proudly.
"Wow, that-that's great," Freddie nodded.
Just then a tall woman stomped into the apartment through the still-open front door.
"Henry!" she barked. "Come on, we're tardy!"
"Eep!" Cat squeaked, jumping behind Sam.
"And was your mind stimulated today?" Henry's mom asked the boy as he ran over to her.
"I learned about trucks!" Henry said happily. "I like trucks, mommy!"
"Liking trucks will not get you into an Ivy League school, Henry!" his mother snapped.
"Lay off the kid, will you?" Sam frowned. "He's four."
"I will not lay off, I will lay on!" Henry's mother said firmly. "Properly educated children become properly educated adults, who don't make stupid decisions…like adopting uncanny hair colors!"
She grabbed her son's hand and marched him out of the apartment.
"Well she seemed pleasant," Carly commented.
"Eh, that was her on a good day, honestly," Sam sighed. She turned to Cat. "See? Now aren't you glad we did that thing to her?"
Cat giggled. "Yeah, I don't feel that icky anymore. Especially since she insulted your hair color."
"Um, what-what exactly did you do to her?" Carly frowned.
"We just…never mind," Sam laughed. "It's probably best you don't know much about it. For legal purposes…"
"Good to see my girlfriend hasn't lost her edge," Freddie chuckled, leaning down to give Sam another kiss.
"Okay, gross!" Dice said. "I haven't reached puberty yet, you know. That's still disgusting to me!"
"Then close your eyes," Sam told him. She turned back to Freddie. "And I have to do those sort of things every once in awhile. That one over there is always on my case about behaving."
"Well if you do anything too bad, you'll get kicked out and we won't be best friend roommates anymore," Cat pointed out.
Freddie saw Carly's eyes widen for a moment next to him, but she quickly regained her demeanor. "So," Carly said, clapping her hands together. "I'm assuming it's almost time for Sam's seventh meal of the day…any chance of us going out to one of those cool Hollywood restaurants that are always swimming with celebrities? My dad gave me some extra spending money for this trip, so it's my treat!"
"Wow, that's almost enough to make me forgive the guy for snatching you up and taking you to Italy," Sam said. "Hey, you know where we should go? Botts restaurant!"
"Botts?" Freddie repeated.
"Oh yeah, I love that place!" Cat nodded. "It's so cool, they have robots serve you your food!"
"Okay, that sounds really amazing," Carly grinned. "I'm down for that."
"Hey, robot servers…" Freddie said, taking Sam's hand. "That was sort of the idea behind that Fredbott bit I did on iCarly that one time."
"Oh yeah, Unfunny Robot!" Dice nodded. "I saw that!"
"That wasn't his name!" Freddie exclaimed.
"It's okay, baby," Sam said, patting his shoulder.
…
"Man, am I full!" Carly said as the four teens arrived back at Sam and Cat's apartment. "Those robots really know how to cook a chicken."
"I think one of them was flirting with you, Carls," Sam chuckled.
"Well how flattering," Carly smiled.
"I just wish the robots would give me my ketchup," Cat said sadly.
"I offered you some of my purse ketchup," Sam reminded her.
"I thought you only carried purse barbecue sauce," Freddie pointed out.
"Yeah, but there are just a lot of times out here when you really need to soak something in ketchup," Sam said, flopping down on the couch between Carly and Sam. "Oh, by the way, when I'm out showing you guys L.A. tomorrow, remind me to stop and pick up some more mustard…I think I'm running low."
"Yes, we wouldn't want your portable condiments station to be incomplete," Carly said, rolling her eyes playfully at her best friend.
"You guys should go see the Hollywood sign," Cat said.
"Oh yeah, I've always wanted to see that," Freddie nodded.
"You're not going to come with us?" Carly asked Cat.
"No, I have to babysit for some little girls," Cat replied. "They're really sweet though, so I'll have fun still…unless they chase me again. I don't like to be chased."
"Oh yeah, they're chasers alright," Sam said. "Just feed them a lot of junk food and that will weigh them down. Thanks again for watching them by yourself, by the way."
"What are roomies for?" Cat giggled, hugging her.
"Yeah…that didn't really call for a hug," Sam sighed. "And don't you remember our two-hug-a-week policy? You've already got your hugs until next Monday!"
"You have a two-hug-a-week policy?" Freddie smirked. "So I guess that means we're done then."
"Nah, that only applies to Cat," Sam smiled, getting her feet and wrapping her arms around him. "You get extra."
"Aw, well yay," Freddie laughed.
"Oh, and Carls? You should check out the big mall they have here too," Sam said. "Four stories, over one thousand stores, and they have a huge Build-A-Bra. We should go there after we do some sight seeing…I need a strapless bra for tomorrow night."
"You know I'm a sucker for big malls," Carly smiled.
"What's tomorrow night?" Cat asked.
"Freddie and me are going on our first date in four months," Sam replied.
"Yup, I spent hours looking up the best date spots in L.A. online on our way down here, and I found the perfect place," Freddie said proudly.
"You mean I found the perfect place," Carly corrected him, swatting his shoulder playfully. She turned to Sam. "Your boyfriend wanted to take you to this restaurant called Galaxy Fortress."
"Oh man, that's the restaurant that's supposed to be all sci-fi themed, right?" Sam cringed.
"It looked really cool, though," Freddie defended.
Sam turned to her best friend. "You are a life saver."
…
"I can't believe we were actually three feet away from Monty Dublio!" Freddie said, still star struck, as him, Sam and Carly walked through the mall the next day.
"Who is he again?" Carly asked, amused.
"The actor who stared in The Great Train Getaway!" Freddie exclaimed. "You haven't seen that movie?"
"No, is it any good?"
"Nope," Sam said. "No explosions fight scenes or monkeys. Just a bunch of dudes running after a train."
"Well it's better than some lame zombie movie," Freddie said, rolling his eyes.
"Hey! Zombies rule!" Sam snapped.
"See, now this is just like old times," Carly sighed happily. "Oh Sam, look! Build-A-Bra!"
"Nice, they have a sale on those titanium hooks," Sam said.
"Oh…cool," Freddie said.
Sam and Carly turned to him.
"You don't want to go in, do you?" Sam asked knowingly.
"Hey don't worry about me," Freddie said quickly. "You girls go have fun."
"Well there's a comic book store over there," Sam said, pointing to a shop a few feet away from them. "Why don't you look in there while Carls and I shop?"
"You wouldn't mind?" Freddie asked.
"Nah," Sam smiled. "Besides, we have all night tonight to spend time together on our date."
"Awesome," Freddie said, breathing a sigh of relief. He bent down and gave Sam a quick peck on the lips. "Later!"
"He's such a happy little nerd," Carly commented, chuckling.
"I know," Sam said, shaking her head.
"So," Carly said as the two stepped into the shop. "Is living in L.A. always this fun? I mean, we must've seen at least half-a-dozen celebrities today."
"Eh, you get used to it after awhile," Sam shrugged as they rummaged through a sale bin. "But you never told me about how it is in Italy! Is it fun spending time with your dad? Is the pizza really good? Oh man, I bet it is."
"Yeah, the pizza's great," Carly grinned. "And I love spending time with my dad too."
"What about school?" Sam asked. "Is it just as boring in Europe?"
"It's actually really cool," Carly told her. "But, you know, I'm still the new girl there. I've met a few people, but sometimes I kind of miss Ridgeway. But what about you and online school? Please tell me you're not letting that go. You need to stay on top your assignments, even if you're not required to actually be at a school, and-"
"Relax, I'm on top of it," Sam assured her. "Cat freaks out if she finds out I'm falling behind, and she nags me until I do my work."
"Oh," Carly said, clearly surprised. "Well, um, good. I just, you know, wanted to make sure. Because back at Ridgeway, I'd nag you all the time and you still wouldn't do your work. But I'm glad you're doing well now."
"Thanks," Sam smiled. "So what else do you do in Italy? You join any gondola racing teams or anything?"
"No," Carly said. "I don't think that's a real thing…But I did join my school's young leader's program, which happens to be headed by a particularly gorgeous boy."
"Good stuff, Shay," Sam nodded approvingly.
"Well how about you?" Carly said. "Babysitting? That's, um, new."
"Right?" Sam agreed. "But I dunno, I guess it's not that bad. It's sort of fun sometimes, actually. Plus Cat does half the work, so it's not all me."
"I just never thought you'd willingly take care of young children all the time," Carly chuckled. "I mean, no offense, but you-you're not exactly-"
"-The most nurturing person?" Sam finished for her.
"Well…yeah," Carly nodded.
"I know," Sam replied. "But I don't think that I'm actually scaring any these kids. They seem to like me, it's sort of weird sometimes. I swear, I think Cat's rubbing off on me and making me nicer to children."
"Huh, interesting," Carly muttered under her breath. "I'm glad to see that someone who you've know for a whole four months has already made such an improvement on your behavior. I've only been trying for almost ten years to get you to be a little nicer to people."
"Huh?" Sam frowned.
"Nothing," Carly said quickly. "So you excited for your date tonight? Freddie is, that's for sure. You should've heard him on our way up here."
"Um, duh I'm excited," Sam said. "You know how much I've missed Freddie? It sucks only being able to talk to your boyfriend on the phone or over a web cam."
"Well at least you've missed him," Carly mumbled.
"What was that?"
"Just saying how cute these pink straps would look with those purple cups over there," Carly lied. "Hey, so if you want a good strapless bra, maybe we should look over there. What color dress are you wearing?"
"Red," Sam replied. "So I should get a darkish one, right?"
"Right," Carly nodded. "And you could get some of those cool glow-in-the-dark clasps, and-"
Just then Sam's phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her pocket and checked her text messages.
"Oh, it's Cat," Sam said.
"Is everything okay?" Carly asked.
"Yeah, she just wanted me to get her a new pink bra," Sam replied. "Because we sort of ruined hers…lime Jell-O incident."
"Lime Jell-O?"
"Yeah," Sam said, laughing to herself. "We made this bet…man, it was so worth it, though."
"I bet," Carly said, plastering a smile onto her face.
…
"Whoa!" Freddie said later that evening as Sam stepped out into the living room, donning a dark red dress and black heels. "Sam, I-I-Oh, just come here."
He stepped over to his girlfriend and kissed her deeply.
"You like?" Sam grinned when they pulled apart.
"Absolutely," Freddie nodded.
"Yeah, that dress looks great on you," Carly commented.
"I picked it out!" Cat said proudly.
"We spent six hours at the mall the other day looking for this," Sam said. "So you better appreciate it, baby."
"Oh I do," Freddie said, still gawking at her.
"It's the same color as my hair," Cat giggled.
"Yes it is," Carly nodded, trying not to dwell on the fact that Sam complained whenever they would shop for dresses for more than thirty minutes back in Seattle.
"So what are you going to do while me and Freddie are out?" Sam asked Carly.
"I dunno," Carly shrugged. "Maybe I'll bake a cake or something."
"Hey, you should hang out with Cat," Sam suggested.
"Oh yeah!" Cat replied. "We can raise the roof off this place!"
"Oh…yay!" Carly said lamely.
"We'll have so much fun!" Cat said happily, throwing her arms around Carly. "We'll watch movies and play freeze dance, and pop popcorn."
"Just a warning, she cheats at freeze dance," Sam told Carly, patting her shoulder.
"No I don't!" Cat exclaimed.
"Sam, we should probably get going if we're going to make our reservations," Freddie said, looking at his watch.
"Oh, right," Sam nodded. "Well, see you!"
"Bye!" Carly and Cat said as the couple hurried out the door.
"So what movie do you want to watch?" Cat asked Carly. "We have a ton of choices, except not Ralph's Rambunctious Rainbow, because Sam fed that one to a dog named Ralph. She said it was ironic…"
"Um, anything you want is fine," Carly said politely.
"Kay kay!" Cat said. "It will be a surprise!"
"Great," Carly replied, sitting down on the couch.
She had to admit that she liked Cat. She seemed sweet and nice and all, but Carly couldn't help feeling a certain…resentment towards the redhead. Seeing her and Sam together…it was almost like watching her and Sam, back when they were living in Seattle and were seemingly inseparable. She had always thought to her and Sam's friendship was everlasting; that no one would ever be able to replace the other in their lives. But the more Carly thought about it, the more it seemed evident that Cat was becoming just as important to Sam as she was…if not more.
….
"-And then when I was thirteen, my Nona bought me a bike," Cat told Carly as the girls sat on the couch, watching their third movie of the night. "But I never got to use it, because it was stolen by some Kindergarten thugs. But then she bought me another bike when I turned sixteen, and this one-"
"We're back!" Sam announced as her and Freddie walked through the door.
"Hey," Carly smiled. "How was your date?"
"Well Sam spilled hot sauce down our waiter's shirt, but other than that, it was perfect," Freddie replied.
"He brought me chicken instead of steak!" Sam exclaimed.
"But you shouldn't have poured hot sauce down his shirt," Cat told her just as Carly had opened her mouth to scold her. "That's sort of mean."
"Whatever," Sam said, kicking off her shoes. "So did you and Carly have a good time?"
"Yeah! I was tell her my life story!" Cat nodded. "I was up to the part about my bikes."
"Thrilling," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, it's almost two in the morning, I'm beat. I think I'm going to-"
Just then Cat's phone dinged.
"Bee-boop!" Cat said, pulling her phone out of her pocket as Carly and Freddie gave her strange looks. "Oh no!"
"What?" Sam frowned.
"Dice got his foot stuck in some new shoe he bought from his guy," Cat said. "They were supposed to make him bounce really high, but they just wound up trapping his foot. He needs help getting it off."
"Ugh, fine," Sam moaned. "Let's go help him." She turned to Carly and Freddie. "We'll be back in a sec, okay?"
"Yup," Freddie said as the two teens ran off. He sat down next to Carly. "Man, I don't know how I'm going to be able to go back home tomorrow. I don't think I can go another four months not being with Sam. When we were on our date tonight, it was the best feeling in the entire world; it was just what I needed."
"Well, I'm glad you guys enjoyed yourself," Carly sighed.
"You okay?" Freddie frowned.
"I guess," Carly mumbled.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"It's just…I thought coming here, the three of us being together again…it would be just like old times," Carly explained.
"It is, though," Freddie pointed out.
"No, it's just like old times for you and Sam," Carly said. "She didn't replace you."
"Hold on," Freddie said, wrinkling his brow. "You think Sam replaced you? With Cat?"
"Come on, you can tell they're already best friends," Carly said miserably. "They live together, they started their own business together…this chick even managed to make Sam keep up with her online school and improve her behavior towards children."
"Carly, that's ridiculous," Freddie told her. "You're Sam's best friend. Her and Cat are really close, sure, but that doesn't mean she likes Cat more. You're Sam and Carly, no two friends are closer than you guys."
"I thought so too," Carly said. "But now…"
"So why don't you talk to Sam?" Freddie suggested. "Tell her how you're feeling."
"No, I don't want to make her feel bad or anything," Carly said.
"Carly, I'm dating Sam," Freddie reminded her. "If I can persuade her to talk about her feelings from time to time, I can definitely get you to."
Carly gave a small chuckle. "Maybe," she said.
…
The next morning, Carly woke up fairly early. She looked over at Sam, who was fast asleep next to her, and at Cat, who was curled up in her own bed across the room. She didn't think she could go back to sleep, so she quietly stepped out the bed and headed out of the bedroom into the kitchen, where she could see Freddie sleeping on the sofa. She took a banana from the fruit bowl and then headed out to the back patio, sitting down on one of the chairs out there.
She ate her banana, deep in thought, as she watched the sun begin to rise. She didn't even notice the back door open again, or Sam stepping out to join her.
"Why are you up so early?" Sam yawned, snapping Carly back to reality.
"Oh," Carly said. "I couldn't sleep…why are you up early? Has Cat talked you into doing early morning yoga like I always wanted to do, but couldn't because you wouldn't come with me?"
"Um, no, Cat screams in her sleep sometimes," Sam frowned.
"Oh," Carly mumbled.
"Hey," Sam said, sitting down next to Carly. "What's wrong? Do-Do you not like Cat or something?"
"Huh? Of course I do," Carly said quickly. "Why wouldn't I? She seems nice."
"Yeah, but it just seems that you haven't really been your usual Carly self around her," Sam shrugged.
"Sorry," Carly sighed.
"You know," Sam said. "We might've been apart for four months, but I can still tell when something's bugging you."
"It's stupid," Carly said.
"Can't be any more stupid than my banjo music obsession that you got me through sophomore year," Sam pointed out. "So spill."
"Alright," Carly conceded. "I just…I feel replaced, okay!"
Sam blinked. "Replaced?"
"I know I can't really complain," Carly sighed. "I mean, if I hadn't jetted of to Italy, you would've never come down to L.A. and we'd still be up in Seattle doing iCarly with you practically living on my couch. But I just-You're my best friend, Sam, but now you have Cat, and-and you still have Freddie, and you have this great apartment with an awesome babysitting service, and-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sam cut her off. "Back up there, Carls. You think I replaced you with Cat?"
"Sure seems like it," Carly mumbled.
"Carly," Sam said softly. "I-I could never replace you. You're my best friend; you're practically my sister."
"But if you and Cat are already this close after only four months…it's only a matter of time before you'll be saying that about her and not me," Carly whispered.
Sam shook her head. "There's no way. Look, Cat's great. She's fun, she's cool, she's a great roommate and friend, but she's not you, Carls. She doesn't like staying up late watching reruns of ninety's shows, she's about fifty times more girly than you, she's horrible with sarcasm, and her favorite letter, get ready for this, is Q."
"Q?" Carly repeated, a small smile forming on her face.
"She thinks its pointless little tail is cute," Sam cringed.
"Oh God," Carly said.
"Uh-huh," Sam nodded. "And, also, Cat's always busy with her school stuff too. She goes to some performing arts place where she has a bunch of friends who she hangs out with on the weekends and after school when we don't have plans. I mean, Cat and I are really, really good friends, and I'm glad I found her here, but Sam and Cat? They'll never be any match for Sam and Carly."
"You mean that?" Carly smiled.
"You want me to ankle swear on it?" Sam grinned.
"Okay, that's it, you're getting a hug," Carly laughed, throwing her arms around the blonde.
"Ow! Ow! Kind of losing feeling in my sides," Sam winced.
"Sorry," Carly said, releasing her best friend.
"I think Italy's made you stronger, kid," Sam commented, massaging her side.
"Maybe," Carly chuckled.
"Oh, and by the way," Sam said, rummaging in her pocket. "You didn't think you'd get to leave L.A. without spending some quality time with your best friend, did you? Here they are!" She pulled out two tickets.
"What are these?" Carly asked.
"Well, you know how America Sings is filmed here in L.A.?" Sam said.
"Yeah…"
"Well Dice managed to get me two tickets for a complete tour of the studio, plus a chance to meet all the judges and last year's winner-"
"Corbin Okeechobee?" Carly gasped.
"Uh-huh!"
"Oh my God!" Carly squealed. "We can get his autograph and touch his hair!"
"I know, so let's move!" Sam laughed.
…
"-And we got restraining orders, but I'm totally okay with that," Carly said several hours later as she lugged her bags by the front door.
"I still don't see the appeal of that show," Freddie said, rolling his eyes.
"Well, you lack culture," Sam said, leaning up to kiss him. She wrapped his arms around his neck. "Do you really need to leave now? Can't you guys stay for another few hours?"
"I wish," Freddie sighed. "But my mom's going to be home tonight, and I need to make sure I'm back before her. She thinks I spent the weekend ironing my pants."
"Yeah, and my flight back to Italy is leaving tomorrow morning from Seattle," Carly said.
"Oh," Sam sighed. "Well, I'm glad you guys came down, still. Even if it was just for the weekend. I promised my mom I'd come home around Christmas time…she can't smash a television on her own. You're coming back for Christmas, right Carls?"
"I wouldn't miss Spencer's magnetic tree for anything," Carly grinned.
"Good, so at least we'll see each other again a few months," Freddie said.
"I know," Sam said, giving him another kiss. "But I'll still miss you guys."
"I'll miss you too, baby. So, so much," Freddie said.
"Hey, I'll make sure to send you postcards," Carly said. "You know, so we can keep our hatred of certain alphabet letters alive."
Sam laughed, hugging her best friend. "Take care of yourself, Carls."
"You too," Carly said. "Stay blonde."
"Stay brune," Sam grinned.
"I love you, Sam" Freddie said, planting one last kiss on his girlfriend's lips. "And I'll start my countdown to Christmas now." He turned to Cat. "Nice meeting you. Thanks for letting us stay."
"You're welcome," Cat replied.
"Yeah," Carly said earnestly. "You were a great host. And hey, if you're ever in Florence…give me a call."
"Oh! We could eat gelato!" Cat said excitedly. "It was my brother's favorite, but now he's not allowed to have it anymore because he-"
"So say hey to Spencer and Gib for me," Sam cut her off.
"Will do," Carly laughed.
