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"-And then I realized if I double knot the laces, my shoes don't come off and everything's just fine!" Gibby said as him and Freddie walked through the halls of Ridgeway after school one day. "Neat, huh?"

"Oh yeah…real neat," Freddie nodded, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, wanna come over to my place and help me go through my fan mail?" Gibby asked.

"Your fan mail?" Freddie frowned. "You get fan mail from iCarly viewers?"

"Oh no, it's just stuff I write to myself," Gibby explained. "And sometimes my mom throws in a few letters too. Boy, I tell you, there's nothing quite like laying back and reading you kind words about yourself."

"Um, I-I'm actually really busy," Freddie said. "I have a lot of homework. Maybe we can hang out tomorrow?"

"Oh, sure," Gibby nodded. "I can save the fan mail till then. Hey, this gives me time today to finally take the bubble bath I deserve! I have this new stuff that's supposed to prevent you from getting wrinkly in the water."

"Er, that's great Gib," Freddie said. "Well…later."

"Later," Gibby said, heading out of the school.

Freddie shook his head, continuing down the hall. As he went on his way, though, he slowed his steps as he passed by the set of lockers he used to stop at every day before and after school.

He smiled as he thought back to the days when Carly and Sam would've been there, Carly loading her book into her backpack as she reapplied her lip-gloss, and Sam grilling a steak with one of her locker appliances.

And then he would've come along and greeted them both and the three would begin talking about Spencer's latest antics or what iCarly bits to do on their next show.

But now Carly and Sam were both gone; Carly had flown across the globe to Italy with her father and Sam, well…he didn't know where she was.

And frankly, that was the hardest thing. As much as he missed Carly, at least he knew where she was. At least he had gotten to say goodbye. It was an abrupt and sudden goodbye, but it was a goodbye, nonetheless.

With Sam all he had gotten was a text that said 'I left' after a whole week of him calling, emailing and going crazy trying to find her.

As he continued to stare at the lockers, he quickly realized how pathetic Sam would find him right now.

"What? Are you that big of a nub that you can't even walk past a set of lockers without crying like the whimp you are?" she'd scoff. "So me and Carly are gone? Big deal! Man up and move on with your life!"

Freddie couldn't help but smile as he started towards the parking lot where his mom was waiting for him. Yup, that's exactly what Sam would say…if she was here.

Which she wasn't.

….

"-And tomorrow we'll spend the entire evening looking at new drape patterns!" Marissa said happily as Freddie picked at the glazed eggplant loaf on his plate. "Won't that be fun, Freddie?"

Freddie forced himself to nod as he remembered a time his Friday nights weren't spent with his mother redecorating the apartment.

"Freddie, dear, why aren't you eating you eggplant loaf?" Marissa asked.

Because it makes me want to gag, Freddie thought bitterly.

"I'm just not that hungry," Freddie said. "In fact, I think I'm going to go lie down and-"

"You're sick?" Marissa gasped. "Oh my gosh, I'll go get the rectal thermometer!"

"No, mom!" Freddie exclaimed. "I'm fine, really. I just had a long day at school, that's all. I promise, I'll eat the rest of this, er, delicious looking dinner in a little while."

He pushed his chair back and headed into his room.

"I'll be in to rub you stomach in a minute!"

"Mom!" Freddie groaned, slamming his door shut.

He flopped down on his bed and pulled out his cellphone. Like he had done on so many other nights, Freddie scrolled through his contacts, pulled up Sam's name, and pressed the phone to his ear, wondering if this time would finally be the time she answered.

But of course it wasn't.

Freddie wished that the one night she did call, he could've managed to get more out of her about where she was and if she was okay. But she had kept the phone call short and businesslike and Freddie hadn't even got a chance to tell her how much he missed her.

He could still remember every word of that minute and twenty-four second phone call…

He had been so excited when he saw her name flash on his screen that he had barely managed a cohesive greeting when he picked up…

…..

"H-Hello? Sam? What-What are you-Where are you?" he said.

"Hey, you know that website Snorch?" Sam asked nonchalantly, as if she hadn't disappeared from Seattle without a trace three months earlier.

"I-What?" Freddie frowned, surprised at such a random inquiry. "Sam, where are you?"

"In front of a computer trying to figure some tech chiz out, but I'm not as nerdy as you, so I figured I'd give you a call," Sam said simply. "So you know Snorch?"

"But-what-"

"You know it or not?"

"I-Yes," Freddie said, still confused. "It's a babysitting review site, right?"

"Right," Sam said. "Anyway, would it be possible for you to trace where the comments on that site are coming from?"

"Well sure," Freddie replied. "You would just need to look up the IP addresses of those comments and from there you can pretty much determine the exact location of the computer they're coming from. But Sam, why do you need to-"

"And you can look IP addresses and junk?" she interrupted.

"Um, yeah, it's real easy," Freddie said. "But Sam where are you-"

"Can I email you the link to a thread of comments and have you text me where they're coming from then?" Sam asked.

"I-Yeah," Freddie replied. "But Sam, wait! Where are you? Are you okay-"

"Cool, thanks Freddison, gotta go," Sam said quickly. "Later, nub!"

"Sam wait!" Freddie said loudly. "Where the heck are-"

But the line had already gone dead.

….

Freddie wished more than anything that he'd have been able to keep her on the line for just a few more seconds. He had so many questions for her…

Where was she? Was she safe? And most importantly…why did she leave?

He knew Carly's departure had to have a lot to do with it. Those girls were like sisters, and though he knew Sam wouldn't want to stand in the way of Carly's happiness, she still had to be broken hearted when Carly announced she was leaving that night.

But was Carly really the only thing worth sticking around Seattle to her? What about Spencer and Gibby and him?

Did they mean nothing to her?

Freddie sighed, pulling up his pictures on his phone, scrolling to the last one he had ever taken with her. It was about a week before her and Carly had left, and the two of them were sitting at the Groovy Smoothie, combining their drinks to try and come up with a new flavor. And then T-Bo had come over and was extremely offended that the two of them had the nerve to try and upset his 'perfect smoothie recipes'.

Freddie continued to stare at the picture, wondering if they'd ever again get a chance to sip smoothies together or hang out or have him throw brutal insults his way.

He slowly sat up and poked his head out the door. He saw his mother had left the living room, probably to go into her own room to organize her disinfectant collection. So he decided to take advantage of her momentary absence and he rushed out of his room and hurried over across the hall and let himself into Spencer's apartment.

Spencer was standing in the middle of the living room, working on a sculpture that looked like a dog riding a unicycle.

"Hey, Spence," Freddie said.

"Oh, hey Freddie," Spencer replied pleasantly.

Since Carly left, Freddie noticed a definite change in Spencer. Sure, he was still the friendly artist across the hall, but he seemed to be missing a tiny bit of his childish spark.

"What are you making?" Freddie asked, sitting down on the couch.

"Oh, some vet wants this for his waiting room," Spencer explained. "I'm sort of supposed to have it done by tomorrow. I guess I should've started working on it sooner but, well, no one was here to make me."

Freddie nodded. "Well, you need any help?"

"You wanna paint the stand for me?" Spencer asked, handing Freddie a can of red paint.

"Sure," Freddie agreed. He kneeled down and began to work.

"So," Spencer said. "What have you been up to today? I saw your mom come home with drape patterns. She asked me to come help her pick some out for your living room, but I faked chest pains and ran in here.
"Smart," Freddie chuckled. "She spent the last hour trying to get me to do that too. Maybe I should've taken Gibby up on his offer to read his fan mail."
"Gibby gets fan mail?"
"From himself,"

"Ah," Spencer nodded. He was silent for a moment. "So, any word from Sam yet?"

"No," Freddie sighed. "Not that I'm surprised at this point. What about you?"

"Well when Carly called earlier today while you were at school, I did ask about her," Spencer said. "And you were right…Carly does know where she is."

"So did she tell you?" Freddie asked anxiously.

"No, she-she said she promised Sam she wouldn't," Spencer said. "But she said Sam is safe and everything's okay and she's doing well."

"Sam really said she doesn't want us to know where she is?" Freddie frowned. "Why?"

"I don't know, probably because she knows we'd go find her and try and bring her back here," Spencer shrugged.

"Oh, right," Freddie mumbled.

Spencer stopped working on the sculpture. "You miss her a lot, don't you?"

"It's just…she just left," Freddie said weakly. "She just ran away. I never even got to say…I never got the chance to tell her I…I don't even know if I'll ever get to see her again."

Spencer sat down on the couch. "Hey, I know how you feel…I miss Carly more than I ever thought. And, well, even though I did get to say goodbye to her and I know I'll see her again at some point, it still feels so weird not having her here painting her nails at the kitchen table or laughing at me for something."

"I still can't believe they're both gone," Freddie said, shaking his head. "I mean it's been awhile now, you'd think we'd have gotten used to it."

"Yeah, well…maybe we will eventually," Spencer shrugged. He looked at his watch. "Aw man! I only have eight more hours to get this thing done before the vet's receptionist comes to pick it up! I've got to get better with deadlines. But there's been Boy Meets World marathons on every night this week! How am I supposed to get any work done when I'm busy being taught wisdom by Mr. Feeny?"

"Well if you want, I guess I can take over Carly's role of nagging you," Freddie grinned.

"Would you really?" Spencer asked.

"Sure, why not, it's not like I have anything better to do," Freddie shrugged. He looked over by the kitchen counter and saw a large box sitting on the floor. "Hey, what's that? Sculpture supplies?"

"Oh, no it's just some stuff Carly wants me to send to her," Spencer said. "Oh, wait, I meant to give you something…"

He stepped over the box and rummaged through it until he pulled out a giant fork.

Sam's giant fork.

"I found it while I was getting all this stuff for Carly," Spencer explained, handing Freddie the fork. "I guess Sam left it here. I figured you could have it. You can give it back to her someday."

"But Spencer, who knows if I'll ever see her again," Freddie said, staring down at the fork in his hand.

"I have a feeling you'll find a way," Spencer smiled.

…..

The next day, Freddie walked down the hall towards his apartment after school. Sam was still on his mind, as she so often was these days.

I hope Spencer's right, he thought to himself as he turned the corner in front of his door. I hope I see her again…I don't think I can handle a life without Sam Puckett.

And then, suddenly, his phone began to ring.

Figuring it was his mom demanding where he was, Freddie slowly pulled out his Pearphone and nearly dropped it when he got a look at the screen.

"Whoa…" he said softly. "Sam!"

AN-That ending part is the bit we saw in Killer Tuna Jump, so we all know what happens after :) I got a request to just show how Spencer and Freddie were handling the girls' departures and I loved the idea because everybody knows that Carly's off in Italy and Sam is with Cat in L.A., but we never really got to find out how Spencer and Freddie and Gibby were during all that. I thought it was cool to think about how they felt after two important people in their lives both left in just one night.