Carly Shay was a prisoner of war. Although her father had apologized profusely for smacking her, he refused to relent on the cell phone. She was effectively cut off from her old life. Worse, her father kept her on a strict leash. She was only allowed out of the house to go to school, and he waited for her to get home, knowing exactly how long it took to get from the school to her house. For four months, I barely see him, but now he can come home early every day, Carly thought bitterly. If her dad thought she stopped somewhere along the way, Carly knew she would feel his wrath. Her father couldn't confiscate her laptop, though, she needed it for school. She had emailed Sam several times in the last three days, but the blonde had not responded. Sam was never big on reading emails, though, and Carly suspected that she just hadn't gotten to it yet.

As she walked to her locker to get her books for third period on this miserable Monday morning, she heard a familiar, cheerful voice come up beside her. "Hey Carly, how's it hanging?" It was her only real friend in Italy, a kindred spirit with whom she had shared her deepest secret.

"Hi Cody," she replied sullenly.

The tall, blond boy grimaced slightly. "You look like chiz. Trouble with the wife?" he joked.

Carly put her finger to her lips, "Shhh. I'm in enough trouble already."

Now Cody was concerned, "Why, what happened?"

"Dad caught me on the phone with Sam," Carly explained.

"When you say caught," Cody asked, "you mean…"

"Caught," she replied. "I'll spare you the gory details and just say he knows."

Cody sucked in a deep breath, he knew this couldn't be good. "And I take it he didn't react well?"

"That's putting it mildly," she replied. "I'm allowed to go to school. Other than that, I'm a prisoner at home. Hell, he'd probably freak if he found out I was talking to you here."

"Your dad doesn't want you talking to me at all," he reminded her. "My nasty homosexual genes might just turn you gay. Oops, too late."

A ghost of a smile danced across Carly's lips as she punched him in the shoulder. "This is serious," she admonished.

"I know it is. I got you to smile, though," he replied just as the bell rang. "Get to class, I'll talk to you later."

A few hours later…

Carly and Cody walked from their lockers to the exit of the school. Cody felt for Carly. His grandmother had a similar reaction with his mother came out, and as a result, Cody only knew one set of his grandparents. The cards and gifts his parents sent to them every year were returned unopened. He could only imagine what Carly was going through, since she had no way out.

As they walked out into the fresh air, Cody turned to Carly and sighed, "I'd walk you home, but we both know how well that would work out."

"You got that right," she agreed. She was distracted by a rider on a motorcycle across the street. The young, female rider had blonde hair spilling out from under her helmet. It almost looked like... "Sam?" she mumbled.

Cody turned and followed her gaze, just as the rider dismounted and took off her helmet. He turned back to Carly and could immediately see the truth in her eyes. "Addio amico mio, ci mancherai. Promise me you'll write once in a while?" he smiled.

Carly was so distracted seeing Sam, who was now motioning for Carly to come over, that she didn't immediately register what Cody was saying. "Cody, it's…" Then it kicked in, "Cody, I'm going to miss you, too. You've been a good friend. I'll call you when I get back to Seattle." She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, then she crossed the street to Sam.

"Rival for my affections, Cupcake?" Sam asked, referring to the peck on the cheek. Sam was smiling, though, so Carly knew she wasn't mad.

"Hardly, that's Cody. I told you about him," the brunette answered. "The more important question is: How did you get here?"

Sam pretended to pout, "You're not happy to see me?"

In front of the school, in front of hundreds of students whose opinions didn't matter much to her anyway, Carly kissed Sam's pout away. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you. It's just… You have this amazing way of knowing when I need you, then you're there. It's never been across continents before, though."

Sam giggled, "I heard your dad yelling at you before you hung up, then you're phone was turned off. I explained the whole situation to Spencer, and he knew how homophobic your dad is. He heard the same kind of comments from your dad over the years." They both glanced over at Cody, who waved back, a smile on his face and a wink from his eye. "I knew you were in trouble, so Spencer bought me a plane ticket here as soon as possible."

"Sam, take me back home," Carly pleaded.

The blonde produced two airline tickets. "The plane leaves in two hours. Let's stop and grab your stuff." The two girls climbed on the motorcycle, Carly's arms wrapped tightly around Sam, and they sped off.

Carly smiled contentedly as the motorcycle weaved its way through the gridlike streets of Air Force housing. Eventually, they arrived at the small ranch style cottage that Carly had been calling home for the last 6 months. Carly reluctantly let go of Sam and started to walk up the sidewalk. She knew her dad would be waiting inside. If Sam came in with her, things were going to get real fighty, real fast. She held out her arm to stop her girlfriend. "It's okay Sam, I have to do this myself."

Sam groaned, "Aaah. Okay, if you have to. But I'll be watching through the window. If he so much as lifts his hand toward you, he'll be tasting cold butter from a smelly gym sock."

Carly smiled knowing that Sam had been, and always would be her protector. Her dad had already done more than raise his hand, but telling Sam that was out of the question. Homophobic or not, he was still her father, and deep down she still loved him. She was sure that with time, and more importantly distance, he'd come around. He was angry and confused now, but the very real prospect of losing his daughter, maybe both of his children, would eventually sink it. Carly was sure that once he realized that, he would come to accept her for who she was. If he didn't, well, at least she still had Spencer, Freddie, Gibby, T-Bo, Principal Franklin, and especially Sam. What other family did she need? She took a deep breath and walked into the house, storming right past her waiting father and into her bedroom. She reached under her bed and pulled out the suitcase she'd brought to Italy. She started packing her most favorite clothes.

Unbeknownst to Steven, a blonde ninja was sneaking around the side of the house to watch through Carly's window. As the Colonel followed his daughter into her bedroom, a butter filled sock emerged from a leather motorcycle jacket.

Steven was not at all pleased with his daughter's attitude as he walked into her room. "How did you get home so fast? Did someone give you…" he trailed off as he realized what she was doing. "And just where do you think you're going?" he demanded.

"I'm going back to Seattle," Carly answered, still calm.

"And how do you think you're going to get there?" the Colonel countered.

Knowing that Sam was watching was filling Carly with the confidence to stand up to her dad. She was feeling snippy. "I don't know, Dad, maybe I'll just hitchhike," she replied. "It's really none of your concern anymore."

"The hell it's not! I'm your father!" Steven bellowed.

Carly looked him straight in the eye, "Not until you accept the fact that I love Sam and I intend to spend the rest of my life with her. Until then, no, you're not."

Steven grabbed the handle of her suitcase and flung it off the bed. Outside, Sam's grip on the buttersock tightened considerably. Steven was livid now, "I didn't raise you to be such an ungrateful..."

"YOU DIDN'T RAISE ME AT ALL!" Carly interrupted, still looking him dead in the eyes. "Spencer did, and I'm going home to him, and to my friends, and to iCarly, and - most of all - to Sam! Ciao, papà!" With that, she pushed past him and ran out the door. She had nothing with her but the clothes on her back, but that didn't matter, she had Sam.

The tears were flowing freely as she reached the sidewalk, where Sam met her. "Get me the hell out of here," she sobbed.

Steven reached the door just in time to see a motorcycle speed off, his only daughter seated behind a familiar blonde rider who was right now flipping him the bird.

Author's note: Cody's line in Italian means "Goodbye my friend, you will be missed." Carly's should be self-explanatory.