Hey all! As always, thank you to those who reviewed (or even just read)! Also, I don't own iCarly, but you already knew that, so…
Oh! And I'm not having Sam meet Cat the way it's displayed on the show (Sam & Cat) and I'm disregarding the Killer Tuna Jump Episode, because though I appreciate Dan for making it clear that seddie is endgame, for this story, I don't want Sam and Freddie to meet eachother again in quite that way.
…And Sam and Freddie might have some minor romances on their way back to each other...don't shoot! I promise it's eventual seddie!
Chapter Three
Sam snuggled closer into her seat on the bus and looked out the window. She'd had a hell of a day. First, she had to threaten the bus driver to delay departure by thirty minutes to say goodbye to Spencer and pick up the very small amount of possessions she considered necessary. Her mom hadn't been home so she'd just left her a note:
Hey mom,
Hope you've had fun on your bowling/nose job retreat. I paid the gas and electric bills and left to go travel the country or whatever. Don't forget to feed Frothy (bacon's in the fridge).
Sam
P.S. Melanie says to quit calling her boarding school when you're drunk, your come on's make the office receptionist uncomfortable.
Then she'd had to fight the bus driver again to let her bring her motorcycle onto the bus (it was apparently against bus regulation). She'd won, obviously, and was currently patting her motorcycle affectionately. Despite it being fairly new to her, it was her most prized possession, and she had very few items that she even considered to be close in value to it. With her, Sam had brought only a pillow from Carly's room, a small backpack of clothes, and a small baggy of pictures and other sentimental crap that she'd never admit to having. She'd also brought a packet of ham, but that had been devoured very early on in the bus ride. Inside the baggy were snapshots of Spencer, Carly, Freddie, and her over the years. Many were caught candidly, like Spencer setting the TV on fire, Spencer setting his iguana on fire, Spencer setting the refrigerator on fire (Spencer set a lot of things on fire), and caused her to laugh and shake her head in memory. Sam sighed and ran her finger over a charm bracelet Freddie had bought her while they were dating. That and a best friends necklace Carly had bought her for her tenth birthday were the only form of jewelry she owned. Well, now they were some on the only things she owned, period, seeing as she left most of her possessions at home.
'Okay Sam, you need to get your shit together.' she reminded herself, 'You can't just keep reliving the stupid past. Carly's in Italy and Freddie's made it clear that he's into Carly again. Ugh, I need to clear my mind. Maybe if i can just rest my head….'
"Hey there pretty lady, care to let me buy you a drink at the next stop?" asked a tall, toned, and admittedly attractive guy.
Sam shook her head and looked around the bus, coming out of a sleep-induced fuzz. "Dude I wouldn't even let you buy a me a drink if I was dying of dehydration and you were the only person in the world with water," yawned Sam.
"Ouch, kitty's got claws," the guy laughed, "I'm Keith, and you are?"
Sam eyed the guy up and down, "Sam. What's it to you?"
Keith chuckled and said, "Well Ms. Sam-"
"Sam, just Sam," she interjected.
"Sam," he corrected himself. "Well you're just a little fireball aren't you?" he said, a twinkle in his eyes." As I was saying, you were moaning about fat shakes in your sleep, so I thought I'd buy you one, but if you're SO repulsed by me…"
"Well," Sam contemplated, weighing the value of a fat shake against the very real possibility that the guy in front of her was an ax murderer. It wasn't a hard decision. "You don't seem so horrible, and mama is thirsty. Throw in a burger and fries from Inside Out Burger and you've got yourself a deal, " Sam reasoned.
"Right, well, it's a date then," he smiled.
She raised an eyebrow. "You're a random guy that I met on a bus ride to California and I'm allowing you to buy me food."
"I'm buying a cute girl a meal. Still a date."
Sam blushed, "Yeah, I guess it is."
Meanwhile, in Seattle…
"I can't believe the guy actually bought your head replica. Who knew your cabeza would be in such high demand?" Freddie laughed, walking into the Shay's apartment.
"Hey, I can't help it if the the people want the Gibby." Gibby said defensively, setting his side-packer down on the couch (the phone case salesmen had convinced him he needed one too).
"Right," Freddie said, scanning for Spencer, "Where do you think Spencer is?"
"I don't know, mourning Carly's leaving? It's not everyday your daughter leaves the country, you know."
"For the last time Gib, Spencer is Carly's brother!" Freddie said, exasperated.
"Oh yeah-"
"Hey guys!" Spencer said, towel-clad and in bunny slippers. "Did you just get in?"
"Yeah," Freddie replied, "Are you wearing Carly's old bunny slippers?"
"Yeah, I just wanted to wear a part of her while she's gone. I mean, with Sam gone too, I just feel like-"
Freddie furrowed his brows, "Wait, Sam's gone?"
"Oh. Uh, yeah. But I wasn't supposed to tell you. Oops." Spencer said nervously.
"What do you mean she's gone?!" Freddie asked, his voice rising steadily.
Spencer walked into the kitchen and grabbed a can of wahoo punch from the fridge, taking his time to open it. "Look, she just wanted a change of scenery. In her words, she wanted to 'explore the world, or whatever'. Oh ew, this Wahoo Punch is expired!" Spencer gagged.
"And you just let her go?!" Freddie exclaimed, exasperated. 'What kind of world do I live in where my best friend and ex girlfriend can just up and move and I have to find out from a man who spends most of his days in a towel, drinking expired Wahoo Punch?'
"She told me you'd react like this," Spencer nodded understandingly. "Here," Spencer handed Freddie two tennis balls.
"What am I supposed to do with these?" Freddie rolled his eyes.
"In her words: 'tell Frederly to grow a pair, will ya? He's still got his mommy and homemade prune pops. All's good.'" Spencer read off of a post it.
Freddie laughed. Only Sam could drop a bomb like this on him and still manage to make him smile. He set the tennis balls on the table and sat down. "Well, now what?" he sighed. Leave it to Sam to leave just when he was coming into terms with his, er, feelings for her.
Spencer shrugged, "No clue, but I've got to go get ready. I've got a hot date with Socko's cousin in thirty minutes."
"Which one?" Gibby chimed in.
"The dancer," Spencer winked.
"Sashay?" asked Gibby.
"Yup," Spencer nodded and headed to his room. "Lock the door when you guys leave, alright?"
Freddie laughed, "But we never do that."
"I'm trying to be more responsible!" Spencer yelled out from his room.
Chuckling, Freddie yelled back, "Fine, bye Spence!"
"Bye!"
Kind of a filler chapter, I know. More juicy stuff to come (Or not...depending on how much ya'll review...just kidding, or am I?).
