Flee [flee] verb

1. To run away, as from trouble or danger

As soon as I found her on her favorite bench at Benaroya Park I silently thanked every romantic comedy cliché that lead me to her. If I've learned anything from the dozens of movies that the girls have dragged me to throughout the years, it's that you can always find a runaway in the one place dearest to him or her. In the event that she weren't here I would have headed to the old iCarly studio.

Nevertheless, Carly is here, perched on a bench that has been swallowed by satin and lace, feeding a small group of ducks bits of a hot dog bun. Surrounded in white, she looked like a wingless angel and she has never looked more beautiful, nor more lost.

I casually approached her as to not scare away her feathered friends, but she spotted me and almost instantly lost interest in them.

"Can I sit?" I asked out of courtesy. The last thing I wanted to do was crowd her if she wished to be alone.

In lieu of answering me, she gathered in her dress to make more room on the bench for me. This caused her dress to billow around her midsection. Now she looked more like a fancy cotton ball.

I sat and loosened my tie, not seeing an immediate need for formality.

"You know, Carls, it's customary for the bride to stick around at least until the end of the ceremony," I teased, hoping to lighten the mood. "You know, after the 'I do' part."

I was rewarded with a very brief twitch of the corner of her mouth before she resumed her sullen demeanor. "Does everyone hate me?" she asked in a small voice.

"Nobody that matters," I assured her, choosing to leave out the part where her ex-groom's trashy mother went on a very loud Carly-bashing tirade. I left right after calling her a name that would make my mother faint, then left Sam and Gibby to defend Carly's honor.

Carly accepted my answer and we sat in silence for a few minutes, staring at the duck pond before us. Without warning, I felt her soft hand intertwine with mine. I looked at her, but she kept her focus on the pond before her.

"I could feel the mistake I was about to make with each step towards the alter," she explained. "It felt heavier and heavier and by the time I was halfway there, my feet felt like cement blocks. I couldn't move up until the moment I turned around and ran."

I gently squeezed her hand. So many of us warned her about marrying Rob and I can't lie, I'm happy that she came to her senses, even if it was in the most public, mortifying way possible.

She tilted her head, resting it on my shoulder, and I let my thumb graze her knuckles back and forth. "You did the right thing."

She nuzzled her head a little closer.

"He was standing there with the priest and…I know that there's better. Much, much better."

I enclosed her hand in both of mine and decided to leave it at that. I would love for her to elaborate. I would love for her to tell me that it was me - seeing my face - that ushered in this epiphany of hers. And yes, that crazy, rom-com infected portion of my brain would love to carry her back to the church and have the priest marry us right there, in front of everyone.

Instead, we sat there in peace and watched the ducks.

Flea [flee] noun

1. Any of various small, wingless, bloodsucking insects of the order Siphonaptera that have legs adapted for jumping and are parasitic on warm-blooded animals.

There was a sudden urgent banging at Freddie's door.

"Just a second!" he shouted as he finished typing the conclusion to the third paragraph of his thesis, sure that he would forget it had he not done so. Once finished he jogged the short distance from his desk to his door. Though he was ecstatic to open it and find Carly there, the sadness in her eyes immediately stripped him of his joy and filled him with mild panic.

"I just overheard the worst break-up in the history of ever, courtesy of my roommate and her now ex-boyfriend," Carly informed him frantically, slinking past him while removing her scarf.

Freddie exhaled in relief that the news wasn't worse. "In the history of ever? You don't hear how dramatic that sounds?"

"You weren't there, babe, it was bad," she insisted, removing her jacket while taking a seat on his bed. "Tanner came over and didn't even care that I was there! He just stormed in and was all 'Chloe, we're done,' and starts saying all this awful stuff, like how she's way too clingy and 'sucking the life's blood' out of him and that they needed to end it before - God, what was it that he said? - something about them waking up in ten years in a dead relationship -"

"Daaaamn," Freddie said with a whistle, taking a seat behind his girlfriend and letting her settle in between his legs. She leaned back against his chest and seemed to visibly calm down once he wrapped her arms around her stomach.

"Right?!" she replied. "I mean, she loved him, and he's basically calling her a parasite…in front of me, no less! And he kept saying 'guys our age should be free to enjoy the full college experience,' whatever that means. The whole thing was a nightmare."

"Is she okay?"

"No, she's been caged in the study room for two hours on the phone with her best friend."

"…Are you okay?" Freddie asked while his lips were pressed to her temple. "You seem shaken."

Carly settled further back into his chest. "Freddie, am I too clingy?"

Suddenly, he understood the source of her worries. "Ahhhh."

"All the stuff Tanner complained about is stuff I do with you," Carly explained. "I call you all the time, I spend every night with you, any and all free time is spent with you, Freddie."

"I know, it's awesome," Freddie countered with a chuckle. Carly turned around with an expression of shock, which only made him laugh a little louder. "Oh, come on, I've been chasing you since we were twelve, of course I'd want to spend as much time with you as possible."

He was happy to finally see a hint of a smile on Carly's face. "So I'm not sucking your life's blood-"

Freddie interrupted her with a firm kiss on her lips. "No," he replied resolutely, followed by another kiss. "He's a moron and you're not some flea or tick, you're the love of my life, you weirdo."

Carly's tiny grin exploded into a face-splitting smile just before Freddie pounced, landing on top of her and peppering her face with kisses. She was instantly reduced to a mass of snorts and giggles.

"Freddie, stop!" she cried. "You're gonna make me fall off the bed!"

"No worries," he assured her as he scooped his arms under her body, "just cling to me."

A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed these (long) drabbles. I've been sitting on the idea of Carly being a runaway bride for a while and was eager to get it in writing. The second half wrote itself after reminiscing about an old roommate of mine who would literally break-up with her boyfriend once a month. I tried imagining how Carly would feel in an environment like that.

I hope everyone is doing well! Please review, if you'd like! If you'd rather not, that's not a problem! I appreciate you reading, nonetheless. Hope all is well with you, friends!

Hollaatchyagirl,

Phunky