A Place To Call Home

by PD31

Sequel to iSwitch Schools. After completing their freshman year the gang are back at Hollywood Arts for the new school year. New friends will arrive and new challenges will confront them. Pairings include established Bade (Beck/Jade), now established Caddie (Cat/Freddie). Friendships include Cade, Jedi and Seddie.

21. Chapter 21: iParty With Freddie

AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the latest part of this tale; I hope you are all well and enjoying your weekend. I would like to start, as always, by thanking everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter.

Challenge King – thank you and I really hope that you will enjoy reading this chapter.

Fanfic-Reader-88 – me, sneaking in a little bit of Teddie? Yeah, guilty as charged. As for what Jade said, I'm not sure; it was mentioned on The Slap in some Thanksgiving dos and don'ts; her exact words weren't published though.

Darck Ben – thanks. As for the cross-over; it's on the to-do list so hopefully I can get around to it eventually.

Agent M – thanks and what we talked about – it's going to be an on-going part of the subplot for a little while.

I believe One Horse Shay will be updating his excellent We Love Each Other soon, so be sure to check that out once he does.

---

Chapter 21: iParty With Freddie and the Gang

Benson residence, Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CA

Wednesday, 1st September 2010.

"So you two are catching a movie soon?" Freddie asked as he eyed the couple sat on his couch.

"Yeah, do you two want to join us?" Steven asked generously; he had only just returned from Seattle that morning and was obviously eager to spend time with his girlfriend, Tori, but both suggested that they would be happy enough for Cat and Freddie to turn it into a double-date.

"I can't," he replied regretfully, "I have to head to work in a few minutes. Cat and I might do something when I get off; maybe some 'baby golf'," the girl's eyes lit up at the term, Tori's rolled a little even though she found it cute that he used the red velvet-haired girl's term for one of her favourite pastimes, "or try and catch a late movie or something but I won't be able to go along with you this afternoon."

"Well come on then Carson," Tori stood up and pulled the boy to his feet, "we need to get going if we're going to be there in time for the showing."

"Ok Vega," he grinned back at her, "let's get going." They headed out, waving at their friends as they left.

"So Steven's last name is Carson; you learn something new every day," the brown-haired teen observed.

"I'm confused; why does it matter what his last name is?" Cat asked.

"I just think it's quite a coincidence, don't you? Carly and Tori are both dating a guy named Steven who spends a month in Seattle and then one in Los Angeles and both boys come and go on the first of the month."

"So you think…" the red-head began.

"That they're one and the same guy? I have my suspicions," the tech genius admitted, "but I don't have any proof. If I could find out from Carly that her Steven's last name is Carson as well then I'd be a little closer to some hard evidence that he's playing them both."

"How are you going to get it?"

"Talk to Carly and Spencer," he replied simply.

"When?" his girlfriend asked curiously.

"Well, if you've no plans for when I get off from work then I could come over to yours and we could talk to her from there? I could always call Spencer at some point; we've been chatting regularly ever since I went up to see them after she got knocked down early on this year."

"Oh, ok. That sounds good. I have no plans, apart from wanting to make out some more," she added with a grin.

"I'd best come over then so you don't find someone else," he grinned wickedly.

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN? I'd never do that!" she sounded genuinely hurt at the suggestion; he placated her with a quick kiss.

"I know, Cat, I was kidding. I know you wouldn't cheat on me."

"Oh, well that's ok then," she grinned, pulling him in for another tender kiss.

"As fun as this is… I do need to get to work. Do you want me to drive you home on the way?"

"Yes please."

Freddie dropped his girl off at her home and continued the short drive to the Pear Store; as he drove he reflected on the events of the summer. He had spent an enjoyable week up in Seattle and had seen the Shay siblings, hanging with Carly in a completely relaxed environment; oh so different, he noted, to the way it had always been when he had been crushing on her as a younger boy. For some strange reason he felt that he could detect some disappointment within her that he wasn't trying to flirt with her or express his undying love but he shrugged it off and put it down to her missing her Steven while he was in LA.

His time spent alone with Spencer had been different but more productive; the two continued to talk about the ramifications of his relationship with Lindsey and he felt that it was helping him to continue to work through the pain and resentment of what had happened between them. Not thinking that it was an issue, he hadn't mentioned to the older sibling his (non-)reaction to Sam's beat down on Lindsey or his similar apathy to Dale Squires' humiliation on live television; it was something that continued to concern Jade (she and Cat had talked about it on occasion when they hung together alone).

Cat herself had spent the first couple of weeks of the summer up in Idaho; her brother was continuing to respond to the treatment he was receiving but the night he had been allowed to spend with his family in their hotel had illustrated that he was nowhere near rehabilitated or ready for more permanent life in the outside world. The Valentines had been relieved that no damage was done to the hotel but the boy waking up screaming and still clearly disturbed demonstrated that more work was needed in the hospital; they felt that it might take another eighteen months or so before the treatment was fully effective – and even then they couldn't guarantee long-term success. It was a worrying time for the Valentine parents; they did their best to keep their worries from their daughter.

In spite of her bravado Jade had really missed Beck while he and his family had been on holiday without her; she had enjoyed a little time away with her mother but it did bother her that she seemed to have burned her bridges so conclusively already with much of her boyfriend's family. Not for the first time, while sitting at home missing her man, she wondered whether her actions the previous October had been worth it (though a large part of her still felt that they had been, she reflected with an unapologetic grin). She and Freddie had both enjoyed the time that they had hung together while their significant others were both away; Jade had used the opportunity to ask Freddie about his apathy towards Squires but he had dismissed her concerns with a shrug, simply opining that the guy deserved what he got for his actions.

"Did he ever actually apologise to us?" Freddie asked her. "Did he change the credits on the video on Splash Face? How about his appearance on the show that's been put on that site? Do you think anybody watches him give us credit? His beating by Kendra has gone viral but nobody cares about him giving us any credit. So no, I don't feel sorry for him at all."

Jade was forced to concede these points to him. Not wanting a fight with one of the few people she really cared about and who accepted her unconditionally, she held her tongue for the most part, though she still had her concerns about her friend's state of mind. She did try to probe him on how he felt about Lindsey these days; Freddie may not have wanted to talk about it but Jade claimed that she was acting in her capacity as Cat's best friend; she wanted to be sure that he was comfortable being in a relationship after what had happened in the past. He assured her that was so she dropped it – for the time being.

The former Seattle native's main regret from the summer was that he had been unable to arrange a time to hang with Sam; she had been stuck in Las Vegas with her mother and the Puckett matriarch's 'latest loser' as the blonde dubbed the guy. She expressed hope that she may be able to get down the following weekend; Freddie suggested that she just sneak out, Sam countered with concern that the new couple were talking about moving on and she might wind up homeless. Despite her grudging acceptance that Freddie was growing up, he feared that Marissa would draw the line at Sam moving in with them permanently.

He had an additional reason for wanting his friend to show the following weekend; André had given him some great news at the gym the previous night.

"You know how my uncle's a Real Estate agent?"

"Yeah," Freddie began slowly as he ended his set and the dreadlocked teen locked the weights, allowing him to get up from the machine and them to switch places.

"Well he sold a house yesterday – to Kenan Thompson."

"No way," Freddie smiled. "Did you get to meet him?" He knew that the songsmith had been working a few hours with his uncle over the summer in addition to his weekend shifts at Yotally Togurt.

"I did – and get this; he says I can use his house to have a small party next weekend!"

"That's beyond awesome; a back-to-school party," Freddie observed.

"Uh huh," the other teen smiled. "So spread the word, but not too much. He said a small party."

Freddie grinned malevolently as the cogs turned in his mind on his drive to work; if he could prove that Steven was a lousy, cheating, two-timing skunkbag, what better way of snaring him than having Tori and Carly confront him at the party… maybe Sam and her trusty butter sock could pay a visit too.

But to do that, he'd first need to make sure that the girls' boyfriends were one and the same person; he hoped to move a step closer to that tonight.

Valentine residence

"Sweetie, Freddie's here," Mrs Valentine called as she admitted the teenager to her family's home.

"Hi-iii," she raced downstairs and leapt eagerly into his arms; fortunately he was able to brace himself and catch the feather-light teen comfortably as she wrapped herself around him.

"I guess you've missed me over the last three hours," he joked before they kissed softly. The Valentine parents shared a contented look at the couple's affection before the boy set his girlfriend down and she took his hand, leading him up to her room.

"Do you think it's time to start telling her to leave the door open?" Mr Valentine asked cautiously.

"Only if you want to have 'the talk' with her," his wife replied.

"Freddie seems responsible; they're good," he conceded hastily.

In the cupcake lover's room the teen had set her pear top on her bed and the two were sat next to one another on it, looking at it. Freddie felt rather uncomfortable sat on a girl's bed, even in such innocent circumstances as these, as his mind kept wandering to that night some sixteen months ago; he did his best to keep his discomfort from the lovely girl leaning against his left hand side.

"Hey Carls, what are you up to?" he asked as the Seattleite dark brunette answered, smiling at them.

"Oh hi Freddie, hey Cat," she greeted them warmly, "not too much. Just seeing what Carly Carson looks like in different fonts."

"Steven's last name is 'Carson'?" Freddie asked in mild horror; his worst fears seemed to be confirmed. Cat was sure that she'd heard that name before somewhere but she couldn't quite place it.

"Yes, how can you not know that? I love him!" the web hostess argued a little shortly.

The three continued to chat a little, catching up on what was going on (though in truth there wasn't too much to report given that both schools were still on summer break and Carly and Freddie had seen one another fairly recently).

"And now, the coup de grace," Freddie commented with a hint of satisfaction after they terminated the chat; he pulled out his pear phone and scrolled through his contacts.

"What do you mean?" his girl asked curiously.

"I'm going to call Spencer for a quick word," he explained.

"Ok, what about?"

He shushed her as the lanky artist answered. "Freddo! What's up?" he greeted him amiably.

"Spence, do you have any photographs of Steven and Carly together?" the teenager asked.

"Uh, he seems to be really camera shy around her for some reason but I did manage to get one of them."

"Can you send me it please?"

"I guess; what's this about?"

"I'll explain once I see it," he promised. Spencer, confused, flicked through his phone while the boy held the line; he sent over a picture of his sister and her boyfriend together and Freddie received it, switching his phone to speaker while he viewed it.

"I thought so," he commented.

"That's Tori's boyfriend!" Cat exclaimed. "What's he doing with Carly?"

"WHAT?" Spencer was shocked.

"Spence… I've suspected for a while now that he was playing them both," Freddie began calmly, "and here's the proof."

"I'm going to rip him apart…" the tall, goofy man-child began uncharacteristically furious.

"Wait," Freddie urged, "I don't have any pictures of him with Tori, he's been as cautious here as he's clearly been up there, so I'm not sure Carly would believe you or me given her infatuation with him but," he set his plan in motion, "we're throwing a party next weekend and Steven's going to be there with Tori; maybe you two could show up as well?" he suggested.

"I can't; I have an art exhibition in Vancouver…" the sculptor began; Freddie offered his congratulations that the man's work was going so well. "I'll put Carls on the phone though; here she is," he made his voice as normal as possible.

"What's the matter? Who's that?" the LA-based teenagers heard the girl's perplexed tone.

"It's Freddie," her brother explained.

"Oh hey, you forget something?" she asked.

"Kind of," the tech producer began. "Carls, we're having a party down here next weekend and I was wondering if you fancied a weekend in LA. I'll talk to mom and see if we can put you up or something."

"That sounds like fun; we're not back at school until the middle of the month, private school and all that," she sounded as nonchalant as she could, "yeah, I'll fly down on the Friday night?"

"That works, I can pick you up after work; I will see you at LAX in just over a week then," Freddie confirmed, grinning at Cat as he anticipated the plan coming to fruition.

Vega residence

Saturday, 4th September 2010.

Freddie sighed deeply as he pulled his car up at his friend's home, having travelled here straight from a busy day at work. He was glad that he had been busy as he knew that otherwise the issue would have distracted him all day and affected his performance at his job. The teen knew what he had to do but he was extremely reluctant to do it, given how happy his friend had been since she started dating Steven. There was no point putting it off, though, especially as he was due to meet Cat soon; he got out of the Corolla and rang the doorbell.

"It's open!" he heard the singer's voice from inside and cautiously opened the door. Thankfully the only two people present were the Vega sisters; they were playing their tennis game again.

"Hey Freddie," Trina greeted him with a flirtatious smile, setting the controller down. "I want a drink," she told her little sister.

"Then get one," Tori suggested hotly; Trina sighed theatrically and headed for the kitchen. "Oh and pour one each for us while you're there please?" the younger girl called with a grin, drawing a scowl from the family diva.

"Steven's not around?" Freddie asked casually.

"No, I'm seeing him a little later though," the girl smiled excitedly and the knot in the boy's stomach seemed to tighten.

"I've got some bad news," he began quietly; Trina hurried over to see what the hushed tone was all about.

"About?" Tori prompted.

"It's about Steven," he continued. "You know how I'm friends with Carly Shay, right?"

"Yeah," the girls replied in unison.

"Well I got a little suspicious. I mean, the two of you are dating a guy named Steven who moves between Seattle and Los Angeles on the same day and, I found out on Wednesday, both have a last name of 'Carson'."

Trina's face crumpled in horror at the implication; Tori, in full denial, began to babble.

"No, no, that's just coincidence. My Steven would never cheat on me; you're putting two and two together and getting seven Freddie."

"I'm sorry Tori," he placed a hand on her shoulder, "I wish my maths was wrong, but it's not." He pulled the pear phone from his jeans pocket and brought up the picture of Carly and Steven together; Tori's knees gave way as she looked at it. "Her brother Spencer sent me this; it was the final bit of proof that I needed."

"How long have you known?" Trina demanded.

"I've been suspicious for a few months but without any hard evidence."

"And you never said anything?" the older sister's tone was heated.

"Trina, look at her. Five seconds ago she was refusing to believe what I was saying," he explained quietly and reasonably. "If I'd approached her with no proof she wouldn't have believed me, she'd have told Steven and he'd have charmed her into thinking I was a liar for whatever reason I had and I'd have lost the chance to get any proof."

"So now what?" Tori asked in a surprisingly firm voice; much as she was loathe to admit it there was – and a part of her still didn't want to accept what was staring her in the face about her boyfriend – there was too much evidence backing up Freddie's argument for her to have any real, lingering doubts.

"I know it's a huge ask," he sat down next to the half-Latina and slipped a consoling arm around her, "but can you pretend that it's business as usual for the next week? Until André's party? You don't need to see him every day; blow him off, say you're busy, make plans with us and the others or Trina or your parents. Just don't give anything away until the party; Carly's coming down for it and I think we can arrange a little surprise for him."

"Does she know?" Trina asked in a disgusted tone.

"No, you know how reluctant he's been to be photographed with you – and now we know why," Freddie addressed his classmate, "so I've no proof to show her and I doubt she'd believe me any more than you wanted to – particularly with our history, even if I am with Cat now."

Tori nodded. "I'll play along and then next week we'll rip him a new one."

"That's the plan," Freddie grinned.

Los Angeles International Airport, 1 World Way, Los Angeles

Friday, 10th September 2010.

Freddie smiled as he and Cat sat just beyond the luggage carousels, waiting for the inbound flight from Seattle to land and its passengers to disembark. As he cuddled the red-head he reflected on the previous week and how, much to his surprise, his plan had gone off without a hitch so far. Sam had arrived the previous day; because Carly would be staying at the Bensons and the blonde ex-Seattleite really wasn't sure that she wanted to see her former best friend too much after all this time, she was staying with the Valentines for the few days that she would be here.

Freddie was a little surprised that Sam had agreed to the plan at all; her sympathies with Carly were certainly limited after everything that had happened between the two girls. However the prospect of seeing Freddie and the others (especially he and Cat together and happy), the promise of a killer party and, of course, the chance to wield her trusty butter sock, had encouraged her to show up.

Tori had played along as the still-doting girlfriend whenever Steven was around; the only thing that may have piqued the boy's curiosity (and even then not gone far enough for outright suspicion) was her increased willingness to blow him off; he was used to them spending as much time as possible together, given his limited presence in the city.

Steven had actually gone so far as to call Freddie about it earlier in the week.

"Hey Freddie," he had begun, "I was just wondering if something was up with Tori."

"Uh, not that I know of, why do you ask?" he replied casually.

"Well it's just that she hasn't wanted to hang too much these last couple of days is all." The cheater kept his tone equally relaxed.

"Maybe she's just a little busy. Did she say what she was doing? Any school stuff she needed to do over the break or maybe she's hanging with some of our other friends?"

"No, she was a little vague actually, which is why I was wondering if you knew anything."

"Can't help you then dude, sorry." He dismissed the request without elaborating, wanting to make sure that he didn't give anything away that would lead to Steven getting an inkling about what was wrong; inspiration hit him though. "You'll be at the party with her on Saturday though, right?"

"Yeah, and I can't wait," the other boy's tone brightened instantaneously. "It should be one to remember."

It sure will be, Freddie thought with a grin.

"What are you thinking?" Cat asked curiously as she saw her boy smiling while staring into the distance.

"Oh it's a few things," he answered. "Sam's here, which is great, we're going to make Steven pay tomorrow night for what he's done, Carly's coming down and it is nice to see her but most importantly," he looked deep into her brown eyes, "I'm here with you – and I'm very happy about that," he closed the gap between them and kissed her tenderly. She grinned into his affection and turned so that she could wrap her arms around him and deepen the kiss. Freddie stole another from the tip of her nose as they pulled apart for air before cupping her cheek and gently stroking it with his thumb while they smiled at one another.

"Hey!" their mutual trance was broken by a bright, exuberant call; the teenage couple turned to see the short, pale Seattle girl stood a few feet away, a smile fixed on her face and leaning against a comically large suitcase.

"Carly!" Freddie called happily; Cat wriggled off his lap and the two stood up, making their way over to her. The boy pulled his long-time best friend into an eager hug; the two girls chose not to hug, instead contenting themselves with a smile and a few words of greeting, while Cat kept her right arm possessively around her boyfriend. It was a gesture that was not lost on the brunette.

"That's a lot of stuff for a weekend," she observed as Freddie struggled with the newcomer's case.

"Hey, he said there was a party but didn't go into any more detail; I realised I needed quite a few outfits to cover every eventuality."

Freddie rolled his eyes but continued to heave her belongings in the direction of his car while Cat gabbled to their guest.

Benson residence

"So, what's the plan for tomorrow?" Carly asked as the trio walked through the door. "Wow, this is a nice place," she admired; although she had seen some of the house in the background of their video chats it was her first visit to Los Angeles and her friend's new home. As she realised this she felt a pang of regret that she hadn't paid him a visit at all over the previous two years since his departure from Seattle.

"Thank you Carly," Marissa's voice carried over from the kitchen where she was stood holding a glass of water. "It's nice to see you," she managed to sound genuine, "Freddie will show you to the guest room."

The two teenage girls followed Freddie, still wielding Carly's bag, up the stairs and down the corridor to the room next door to his own; it was sparsely decorated and had just a single bed but Carly was appreciative of the houseroom and smiled as she looked around.

"It's not much," Freddie conceded, "we don't have too many guests. I think Sam's pretty much the only other person who has ever stayed here."

"Oh, she's visited has she?" Carly asked casually, remembering the blonde as she had been at Ridgeway; despite Freddie's stories she struggled to believe that the girl had changed that much.

"Yeah, mom was a little concerned about the idea of her staying with us at first but she's better about it now; since she never trashed the place… or stole anything," he added with a grin. "She probably would have eaten anything that didn't move but she's not a fan of my mom's cooking," he concluded with a laugh.

Cat giggled and was about to say something when Freddie gave her a subtle, if slightly sharp, nudge to the ribs with his elbow; she gasped but held her tongue as she remembered his words from earlier.

"We'll leave you to settle in; it looks like you've plenty to unpack," he teased, taking his girlfriend's hand and leading her out of the room; Carly looked after them with a slightly sad and uncomfortable expression on her face as she brushed a couple of stray strands of hair to the side of her face. "Oh, the bathroom is next door if you want to freshen up after your flight," he called as an afterthought.

"Sorry Cat," he apologised in a low voice, "but I was worried that you were about to mention that Sam's staying with you right now. I didn't know how Carly would react to knowing that she was here until I'm ready to tell her everything."

"That's ok; I was about to say that she liked my mom's cooking and that my parents can't believe how big her appetite is."

"Few people can; she eats for twelve and never gains a pound," Freddie shook his head, "I don't know how she does it – especially when, by her own admission, she's one of the laziest people on the planet."

"Maybe it's magic," Cat giggled.

"Could be," he smiled back at her; they joined his mother in the living room and sat next to one another on the couch.

"Did you ever say what was happening tomorrow?" Carly asked a little while later as she joined them, having taken an atypically short shower and changed into a simple white top and dark blue jeans.

"Well I'll be working during the day, I have to keep my girl in treats," he smiled at Cat and she laughed sweetly and hugged his arm; Carly worked hard to keep her expression neutral, "you can come along for a bit, kill a little time in the store and maybe meet some of our friends there mid-morning and they can show you around a bit of LA?" he suggested.

"I guess," she was disappointed that she wouldn't actually be spending that much time with Freddie, "will you be there Cat?"

"Not tomorrow, I've got something else to do during the day," she kept it as vague as she could so as not to mention that she and Sam would be spending the day together. Carly nodded again; she was less disappointed about not spending time with Cat as she still felt a little awkward at the prospect of being alone with her, both because she was Freddie's girlfriend and after having helped to engineer their break-up the previous year.

"Right, so what time's the party?"

"Well I get off work by five so I'll get home and we'll probably aim to be at Cat's for six-thirty so that we get there for seven."

"Sounds good," Carly nodded.

"Do you want to do anything tonight or are you tired from the flight?" Cat asked her.

"I'm fine if you guys have plans that I can be part of," she told them eagerly.

"We could head to the mall," Cat suggested to her boy.

"You just want some more cupcakes," he teased her gently.

"Cupcakes?" Carly's attention was garnered.

"Yeah, there's this store where they make really great red-velvet cupcakes. Freddie bought me sixteen for my last birthday," she simpered.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Carly shot to her feet. "I just need to get some money," she called after them as she raced upstairs.

"Girls and their cupcakes," Freddie smiled at his mother; the Head Nurse shook her head in resignation.

Pear Store, 189 The Grove Drive, West Hollywood

Saturday, 11th September 2010.

"You sure you'll be ok here?" Freddie asked as he and his friend walked into the store; Carly looked a little tired (she blamed the sugar rush and crash from the cupcakes she and Cat had demolished the previous night) but nodded blearily before adding,

"I'll be fine," she stifled a yawn behind her hand, "the others will be here soon, we'll have a fun day out and maybe I'll catch a couple of hours of sleep before we go tonight."

"Ok, and if you get bored waiting for them I'll be over there," he gestured to the brilliance bar. "I'll see you this afternoon," he finished quietly and set off across the store. Carly watched him go with a sad smile on her face; she brushed her hair away from her face and feigned interest in some of the products on display around her.

The arrival of a knot of teenagers garnered the girl's attention; she was expecting them and recognised a couple of them from photographs that Freddie had shown her, especially the imposing-looking dark haired girl with vibrant green extensions among her locks. Jade, she thought nervously as she cast her mind back to Freddie's warning. She's Cat's best friend and so she might be a little bit brusque with you because of everything that went on last year. I would tell you that her bark is worse than her bite, but I think her bite is even worse from what I've seen her use on other people.

The girl felt, however, that there was nothing to be gained from playing dumb, especially as one of the boys, a curly-haired guy holding a puppet, clearly seemed to recognise her. Of course, she reasoned, anyone who watches iCarly will know who I am – especially if they're friends with Freddie. She took a couple of steps towards the group before being frozen by the stare from the gothic girl; she wiped her suddenly sweaty palms on her jeans and took another tentative step forwards.

"Hi, you must be Jade?"

"Carly Shay," the pale girl commented, folding her arms over her chest and looking the girl up and down.

"Be nice," Beck whispered behind her.

"Why, after she screwed up Cat and Freddie before?" his girl snapped back.

"Oh boy, we're getting right into this," the Seattleite sighed.

"No, we're not," Beck insisted with a tone of finality, "we're going to have a nice day showing Freddie's friend around Los Angeles before we enjoy the party tonight."

"I'm definitely looking forward to part of it," Jade smirked.

"So are we making a move or what?" André asked.

"Oh hey guys," Freddie had slipped away from the Brilliance Bar to greet them. "So what do you have planned?"

"Well…" Robbie began

---

The first sight for Carly to enjoy was the walk of fame. Jade found the local Jet Brew, complaining that it was far too clichéd and something that only tourists do (leaving off Canadians from her ire given present company included her boyfriend). After Carly had admired enough stars they joined the gothic girl in the café and ordered some drinks.

"Wow, that is better than anything I get back home," Carly observed.

"Seriously?" Jade was shocked. "You live in Seattle and you can't get a decent cup of coffee?"

"The stuff Spencer, my brother, gets me isn't anything like as good as this. When I'm out with friends we usually get smoothies from a place near where I live," the equally pale brunette explained.

The other girl nodded curtly and returned her attention to the fresh cup that Beck had set in front of her; she took a deep draft and mentally nodded her agreement of the girl's opinion; it was a really good cup of coffee.

"So where next?" Carly asked curiously as they left the café.

"Well I thought we could do the movie star homes tour," Robbie suggested.

"It gives us a taste of how we'll be living in a few years," Jade smirked as the brunette nodded.

"After that," Beck added, "there's a couple of museums – Tussaud's with the waxworks and the Hollywood museum – we could take in them and then we're going to be pretty much out of time since we all need to get ready for the party tonight."

"I know Cat is busy, she said so last night, but I thought that other girl, the one who joined your class recently, might have been here. What was her name… Tori?" the Seattleite wrinkled her brow in thought.

"Yeah, she's hanging with her boyfriend today; you'll see them at the party," Jade's voice carried a little too much relish; Carly gave her a confused look so the darker-haired girl dropped it before she aroused any suspicion in their guest.

Benson residence

"Are you ok Carls?" Freddie asked, knocking on the guest room door; he stuck his head round it to see the girl sat on the bed cradling something.

"Oh I'm fine," she assured him, slipping the item under the neck of her shirt, "it's just…" she continued as he eyed her with concern, "that necklace came from my dad and today of all days I just find myself thinking about him being overseas with the military."

Freddie nodded sympathetically; he couldn't imagine what it was like for Carly to have her father overseas for so long. Though she does know, pretty much, where he is, he thought ruefully; he had absolutely no idea what had happened to his own father. Marissa never talked about him and they never heard from the man.

"How was your day with the others?"

"It was good thanks," she went into detail about some of the things they had seen and done. "Are we ready to go?" she asked; he eyed her attire, thinking that she looked resplendent in a dark blue dress; it exposed a little of her midriff and she wore a black sash around her waist. He wore dark blue jeans and a deep maroon polo shirt with thin blue hoops over a grey T-shirt.

"I think so," he checked his watch, "it's just after six so we'll head for Cat's in a few minutes but before we do…" he added as she stood and made for the door.

"What is it?"

"There's going to be a couple of… surprise guests tonight, Carls," he began.

"Oh, anyone famous?"

"Not famous exactly; Kenan, whose house it is, is in New York, but… people you know."

In answer to her confused look he continued, "Sam is going to be there; I invited her…" she gasped a little but he pressed on, "and, and I'm sorry Carly," he lowered his tone wearily as she gave him a confused look, "Steven's here – he's dating a friend of mine too."

"Steven?"

"Your boyfriend; he's been playing you and my friend Tori." He caught the girl as her knees weakened and guided her to a sitting position on the guest bed, taking a seat by her side and supporting her.

"You… you're wrong; he can't be, why would you say that to me?" she argued angrily.

"I'm sorry Carls, but it's the truth," he countered morosely, "Spencer sent me a picture of you two together – it's the same guy."

"How long have you known?" she asked, resigned to what he was telling her by the tone he was using; thinking rationally, he looked so happy with Cat so why would he sabotage her? It's not like anything could happen between them anymore with him in LA and her in Seattle. The thought struck her like a punch in the gut; his love for me is gone forever. A small tear began to form in her right eye and she sniffled sadly.

"For certain? Just over a week when I heard what his last name was and Spencer sent me the picture of the two of you. Before then, it was a big coincidence that your boyfriends moved between the two cities on the same day but obviously I needed evidence before I could say or do anything." Carly dissolved into tears at these words; he hated himself for making the girl cry but he knew that she had to find out about it all. He pulled her into a hug and let her sob herself to some semblance of calm.

"So now what?" she asked weakly as she lifted her head off his chest and looked at him.

"I think a little revenge and payback is in order," he took a tissue from the night stand and gently wiped her eyes, taking care not to damage her make-up (except to wipe up some of the mascara that had run in her tears). "Tori knows, I told her as soon as I was certain – it's one of the reasons for inviting you down here – that and I thought you'd enjoy the party and I wanted to hang with you a little again," she gave a watery smile at this. "She's been playing along since then for the last few days and keeping Steven in the dark."

"So what's the plan?"

"Show up, confront him, let Sam cut loose with the butter sock," he shrugged.

"Maybe we could be a little more subtle," the brunette mused with a surprising grin as her devious side kicked in with the initial shock subsiding.

"Oh?"

"You're bringing your handheld camera?" He confirmed with a nod. "How about an impromptu episode of iCarly…" she thought out loud; they continued to bounce ideas around en route to Cat's house.

Valentine residence

The two girls were ready and waiting when Freddie and Carly arrived; the living room was full of nervous energy; it was an unusual experience for Sam, but then it was the first time she'd see her former best friend after an absence of nearly two years.

The blonde wore a simple yet reasonably elegant black, floor-length dress. She had 'liberated' it from her mother's wardrobe and washed it thoroughly after arriving at Cat's house; she didn't want to dwell on the garment's history but figured she needed something smart for the party and didn't think she'd be able to borrow anything from any of Freddie's friends (or talk any of them into buying her something – Freddie would have in an instant, of course, but he was working a lot or busy with Cat) so she got the least trampy thing of her mother's that would fit her and brought it along. His girlfriend, meanwhile, wore a powder blue spaghetti-strap top with a pretty grey top with black and blue patterns over it along with a pair of her darker Daisy Dukes.

"You love showing off your legs," the blonde commented with an amused grin as she eyed the redhead's attire. Cat giggled and observed that Freddie liked them too, a factoid that Sam tucked away in the back of her mind, knowing – of course – that bit more about the boy's romantic history than his girlfriend did.

On the other side of the front door, Carly was equally tense; she had only had a few moments to get used to the idea that she would be seeing Sam – and they had been taken up by her thoughts about discovering that Steven was cheating on her. The brunette fidgeted nervously as Freddie rang the doorbell.

"Just relax," he whispered with a reassuring smile; she returned it weakly as her nerves failed to dissipate.

"Hi!" Cat answered the door and flung herself on her boy; he swept her off her feet and pulled her into a hug. Carly looked cautiously around the couple at the other girl stood in the doorway; to an extent she was relieved that Sam looked as apprehensive as she felt.

"Hey," she greeted her inadequately.

"Carly," Sam replied sullenly as resentment began to well up within her again.

"It's uh…" the brunette trailed off, "How have you been?" she asked.

"Since you stopped visiting me in juvie?" the blonde teen snarled, "Since my best friend abandoned me and left me to rot in that place, day after day with no visitors at all? I wasn't expecting mom to show, Melanie has her own life at that snotty boarding school but I kept thinking… Carly will be here, she won't abandon me. How wrong can you be?" she finished with a snort of disgust; Carly lowered her eyes to the floor with guilt. Shame crept onto her face as well as she reflected on her behaviour.

"I…" she began, the Vegas-based girl looked expectantly at her; Freddie and Cat remained stood in the doorway, just behind the brunette, watching nervously as the two former best friends confronted one another, "I don't know what to say," she admitted, "I had my own life to lead when I switched schools – and you got left behind. I regret that but it's not my fault that you got sent to juvie," her voice firmed as she attempted to rebut some of the other girl's complaints, "I visited but then my life took over and… and you did become less important to me," she conceded quietly; Sam's face fell a little at the confirmation of what she'd long suspected. "I could have made more effort but I didn't; I chose my new life over my old one," she finished with a shrug then, seeing Sam stunned somewhat into silence by what she'd said, she added, "it is good to see you again Sam."

The mischievous blonde nodded and responded, in a gruff voice, "you're looking well yourself Carly, and I guess it's true," she looked past the girl to the other brown-haired teenager, "when chizz happens you really do find out who your true friends are." She picked up her purse, which did contain the butter sock, and walked out of the house, past the other three teens and waited by Freddie's car.

The teenage couple looked sympathetically at the Seattle-based girl.

"I deserved that," she conceded, "let's go."

Cat pulled the front door shut and locked it; the trio joined the blonde by Freddie's Corolla. Unfortunately for the reacquainted pair, Cat, as usual, sat in the front seat alongside her boyfriend leaving a very awkward silence in the back seat of the car, broken only when one or other of the girls replied to a question from their former tech producer.

Kenan Thompson's residence, Hollywood, Los Angeles

Freddie parked outside the front of the TV star's new mansion; he allowed the girls to lead the way inside, thankful that the frosty atmosphere would dissipate a little as they mingled and, for Carly and Sam he suspected, avoided one another as much as possible over the coming hours. Cat slipped her hand into his and gave him a supportive smile and a squeeze, correctly reading the look of concern on her boyfriend's face about how the reunion of his former two best friends had gone; he looked at her and gave her a grateful smile in return as they entered the house.

"André!" he called as they spotted their friend just inside the front door.

"Freddie! Cat!" he called back at them, "how are you guys doing?"

"You know Sam," he gestured to the blonde, "and that's Carly," he casually introduced the brunette web star.

"It really is her," the songsmith remarked, "I've seen the show," he added idly; it was a comment that further annoyed the blonde.

"Alright, we need to hide you two for a little bit," Freddie told his guests in a low voice, "at least until Tori gets here and we put the plan into action. I've got my camera, Sam's got the butter sock…"

"It's right here," the blonde smiled proudly, drew the item from her purse and began to twirl it around.

"We put the butter in the freezer all afternoon to make it extra hard," Cat added.

"I thought we…" Carly began, looking at the boy.

"Oh right, we're still using the butter-sock but fill her in on the modifications to the plan."

---

"I'm going to be hiding out with her?" Sam sounded disgusted at the thought.

"It'll give you two time to talk a little more," Freddie told her amiably as they entered one of the spacious bedrooms upstairs. "Got your phone Sam?" The blonde nodded and held the device up in confirmation. "Great, I'll call you when it's time to set things in motion."

"Thanks for being a part of this," Carly began awkwardly as the couple left the girls alone.

"You think I'm doing this for you?" she spat out in disgust. "I'm doing this because Freddie, my real friend, asked me to and because Tori's a nice girl and doesn't deserve what's happened to her."

"You think that I do?" the brunette asked in defeat.

Sam paused for a moment, deliberating her answer. "Let's just say I have a lot less sympathy for you," she settled upon.

"I can understand that," Carly looked away from her and took a seat on the room's plush bed; neither girl looked at the other.

Ground Floor, Main Party Area

"Whoa. Check this place out," Tori had just arrived, Steven in tow; Robbie (and, of course Rex) had arrived at the same time.

"This is sick," her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend commented.

"Yeah," the ventriloquist added.

"Yo, Dré," the DJ, who was setting up, called to the songsmith as he spotted him in the hallway.

"Yo, what's up?" he replied.

"You ain't telling me Kenan's house was sweatin' diamonds," the DJ was surprised by the grandeur of the place.

"I know, right?" the boy agreed. "Oh, Mustang, this is Tori, Steven," he struggled but succeeded in keeping his voice neutral, "and Robbie."

"Yo," Steven greeted him.

"Hello," Tori smiled.

"What's going on?" Robbie added.

"I believe someone forgot to introduce someone," Rex added pointedly.

"And that's Rex," André amended.

"Downtown," Mustang nodded.

"Back around," the puppet returned.

"Oh, Mustang's going to be spinning tracks tonight," the musician explained.

"Stricka... stricka... Straight up," the DJ confirmed.

"Stricka... stricka... Straight up," Tori echoed; the others all looked at her. "I wanted to do it too," she protested.

"I'm going to go back over there," Mustang made for his decks.

"Oh, let's go pick a place," Tori suggested to the cheater.

"A place for what?" he asked in confusion.

"Oh, y'know," she explained casually, "somewhere... quiet, away from the main party where we can have some alone-time." She smiled at him. "Just you and me."

Steven chuckled. "Oh, I like the sound of that."

"Mm, it's going to be good," Tori told him.

"Mm-hmm," he agreed. "Oh hey guys," he greeted Freddie and Cat as they arrived at the bottom of the stairs, hand-in-hand. He and Tori walked past them and set off to find their special 'quiet place'.

Beck, leading Jade by the hand, also joined the gathering; the couple paused to appreciate the magnitude of the residence.

"Wow, this is some place huh?" his girlfriend commented before smiling as she spotted Freddie and Cat. "Hey," she called, "you two been checking the whole place out already?" she asked teasingly.

"Something like that, we've hidden Carly and Sam in a room upstairs until it's time to confront Steven," Freddie explained in a low voice.

Jade nodded at the answer. "So isn't there supposed to be a hot tub here?" she asked.

"I believe so," André commented, "maybe it's out the back."

"I will go and look for it later," Beck volunteered.

"We should have brought our costumes," Cat complained, suddenly feeling that Jade's plan to enjoy the hot tub was a very good one.

"I think I'm going to be too busy with Operation Payback to enjoy it," Freddie noted regretfully.

"Yes, what's planned for Operation Payback?" the Canadian actor asked curiously as he paused before beginning his quest.

"A lot of pain, suffering and humiliation," Freddie grinned; he seemed to relish what was in store for the cheating boyfriend. He wasn't the only one; ever since learning the whole story earlier in the week (when plans were made for them to hang with Carly for the day) both Beck and André had been furious and eager for revenge. They were looking forward to the events of the evening. "There has been a minor change in the plan though," he added, "we're going to get his reaction live on iCarly for the internet and the world to see. Of course I need to stop the camera before we set Sam on him, otherwise she'll be back in jail soon."

The two nodded their understanding.

"Oh, ok play it cool," Freddie had spotted Tori and Steven, hand-in-hand, returning from their own hunt; he eyed Trina struggling to keep an angry scowl off her face as she spotted her sister and Steven together.

"Freddie, so did your friend make it?" Tori enquired.

"Yeah, she's upstairs exploring. Actually," he put on a fake-thoughtful expression, "I'd best head on up there and make sure she's ok; I wouldn't want her lapsing into old ways and damaging stuff."

"You think she'd do that?" Steven spoke up; after all he had never encountered the blonde.

"Yeah, you don't know Sam," Freddie laughed.

"I'm sure I'll get the chance to meet her during this party," the taller teen grinned back.

Freddie bit his tongue and nodded as he steered himself and Cat away from them and headed for the staircase. "And the lesson from that is to always be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it," he told his girlfriend who giggled as she understood his meaning.

The young couple reached the upstairs bedrooms; Freddie was concerned about just how quiet it seemed in there. Wild thoughts, ranging from Sam having gagged Carly and bound her to the bed to the blonde outright strangling her former friend, raced through their former tech producer's mind as he opened the door, surprised to find the room empty. His concern was just starting to grow when in the back of his mind it occurred to him that something wasn't quite right.

"I thought we left them in the room across the hall," Cat pointed out; her boyfriend smiled and shook his head, feeling a little foolish at his mistake. He muttered 'too many rooms in this house' as he allowed the read-haired girl to lead him to the room in which they had left their two guests; it was no louder than the empty room as Carly sat awkwardly on the bed while Sam stood by the walk-in closet, arms folded across her chest and her back to the brunette.

"Ok," the boy announced hastily; both girls turned to face him, "Tori is here, complete with skunkbag," it drew a watery smile from Carly and a frown from Sam, "so here we go. Tori's going to drag him away to a quiet part of the house in a few minutes; a little 'alone time' away from the chaos of the main event," he grinned, thinking that doing likewise with Cat at some point sounded like a good idea, "once she does she's going to let me know, then we can all come along and confront him. Sam, have you still got the butter sock?"

"Mama's all set," she assured him.

"Ok, just a few more minutes then you can start to enjoy the party," he assured the girls as he and Cat departed and made their way back downstairs; they saw Tori and Steven still talking to Beck. Freddie scanned the room and saw André talking to Mustang the DJ as the music began to pump from the speakers; he strongly suspected that the musician had vacated the area before he lost his composure and slugged the other boy.

The brown-eyed boy led his girlfriend over to the DJ station and hailed his friend. "Nearly show time," he grinned before musing, "it's a shame that we don't have a giant screen that I could wirelessly hook my camera up to so we get live feed of him getting found out. Ah well, we'll have to settle for showing people the footage later."

"I think they're going," Cat tugged at her boyfriend's hand and pointed to Tori leading Steven away from the main hall.

"Ok, can you let Jade know? I'm sure she won't want to miss this. I'll meet you at the bottom of the stairs." Cat nodded and sped away as he pulled out his phone and called Sam.

Freddie and the four girls met at the agreed point; Jade looked excited at what was about to transpire. She wouldn't miss this show for anything.

"Ok," Freddie led the quartet into a room just off the hall; he scanned his phone for the text Tori had just sent revealing their exact location, "they are in the next-door room so I will start my camera, you two can give an introduction, just like old times," he smiled at the former co-hosts, neither of whom looked too comfortable at the thought, "then we'll head there; I'll talk as if I was doing a filmed tour of the place and then… we nail the bastard."

The girls nodded and Freddie switched on his little handheld camera.

"In five, four, three, two…" he pointed at the double-act and pressed record, thinking on just how much he missed doing so for them.

"Hello people of earth and welcome to a special episode of iCarly," the brunette began. "I'm Carly and back by very popular demand," she continued placatingly before gesturing to the blonde.

"I'm Sam, back out of juvie, better than ever and ready to have some fun," she grinned.

"Now, we will be having a lot of fun tonight because we're here in Los Angeles at the house of Kenan Thompson," Carly explained, "and we have some very special guests for this show; say hi to the people Freddie."

The boy turned the camera on himself. "Yes, Sam's not the only 'original' who's back; I'm here too and so are," he turned to film the two Angelenos, "my girlfriend Cat Valentine," the redhead giggled.

"Hi," she waved to the camera.

"And my best friend Jade West."

"Hello," the red and blue-streak haired girl greeted the internet show's audience; she smiled more than she really wanted to, figuring that she should put on a happy front as it was a great opportunity to get some name recognition with future fans.

"Anyway," Carly called and Freddie trained the camera on her and Sam again, "we're here to meet someone else that I know quite well; my soon-to-be-ex- boyfriend Steven."

Freddie turned the camera back on himself. "Steven's also dating one of our friends down here, Tori. BRB," and he stopped the recording.

"Ok, let's go," he opened the door and the group quietly left; he motioned to André and Beck, hovering nearby and they joined the group as he raised his voice, and the camera, switching it to record again as he spoke up while opening the door, "and just off the main hall we have this room where – " before trailing off at the sight of Tori sat on Steven's knee; she leapt from his lap and turned angrily to face the cheater, thankful that she could finally drop the act. Freddie recovered himself and continued, "where we can often find the cheating boyfriend at work."

"Cheating? What do you mean? I would never cheat on Tori!" he insisted angrily.

"Really?" Carly snapped as she pushed past Freddie to confront him; fury blazed in her eyes as horror swept over Steven's features.

"Carly, I… this isn't…"

"Ah save it Steven," Sam barged roughly past her co-star.

"Steven," Freddie smiled, "this is my friend Sam, who you were so keen to meet." The caught-out cheater's horror increased at the furious look on the blonde's face. Freddie turned the camera to himself again and explained, "Steven had two girlfriends at the same time; one in Seattle,"

Carly placed her hand on Freddie's left shoulder and leaned into the shot, grinning goofily, "me!"

"And one in Los Angeles,"

Tori copied her fellow brunette's actions on the boy's right shoulder and added, "me!"

"But now," Freddie set up…

"You are so dumped skunkbag," the two brunettes yelled in unison before high-fiving and turning their back on the dejected – and somewhat terrified – boy. Freddie discretely switched off the camera, allowed Cat, Jade, Beck and André to enter the room before closing the door and leaning casually against it.

"Now come on," Steven pleaded, "there's all of you and only one of me."

"You'd deserve that for what you did to the girls," Freddie whispered coldly, "but I think Sam on her own should be more than enough."

The blonde drew the butter sock from her purse and took a step towards the boy; a swing of sock sent him painfully to the floor; he lifted his head and looked at her, deciding the best course of action was to retreat crab-like… until he found himself in the corner of the room. Steven swallowed nervously as the girl towered over him, brandishing her weapon and she swung again, and again, and again.

---

"I think he's learned his lesson," Freddie commented amiably; he held Steven's feet while Sam supported the boy's shoulders as together they carried him outside of the house.

"Yep, we'll just drop him here," and she literally dropped him onto the grass just off the paved area; he landed with s satisfying thud, "and let him sleep it off."

Freddie grinned as he set the cheater's feet down and then followed his friend back inside.

Main Hallway

The party wasn't going quite as well for André; far from the small, quiet party he had planned for himself and his friends, a lot more people had shown up and were merrily dancing as Mustang supplied the music (currently The Joke Is On You was playing).

"Hey, hey," he tried to attract the attention of some recent crashers. "Oh, there's already too many people in here," he complained before spotting the reason for some of the uninviteds' presence. "Hey," he waded onto the dance floor and dragged Robbie and Rex away.

"What?" the bespectacled teen asked.

"We were making time with those Northridge girls, man," his puppet complained.

"See what your tweet did?" the dreadlocked teen complained angrily; 'Rex' had tweeted about the party, adding a large amount of (from André's perspective) unwanted publicity for the event. "Kenan told me I could have a small party, and there's got to be at least a hundred people here already."

"Rex tweeted it," Robbie defended himself.

"Yeah, that's right," the wild-haired puppet confirmed. "If Robbie had tweeted it, nobody would be here 'cause he only has, like, 13 followers."

"14," the boy corrected hotly.

"13, I unfollowed you," Rex explained.

"Rex," he complained.

"Hey, André," Sinjin interrupted the squabbling.

"What, Sinjin?" he demanded.

"There's a guy here who crashed the party," the dirty-blond informed him.

"Ninety per cent of the people here crashed this party," the songsmith pointed out shortly.

"Yeah, but this guy's wearing a panda bear suit, and he's running around with a tennis racquet swatting people on the butt," the technically minded teen explained.

"Man, I don't have time for jokes," André dismissed his story.

"But I'm..." the boy began.

"Go," he was dismissed.

"... Whoosh," and Sinjin departed.

"What am I supposed to say to Kenan if he finds out about all these people here?" the host lamented.

"Kenan's in New York, so why don't you relax the yap?" Rex pointed out.

"Everything's fine," Robbie agreed.

"You need to chill out," the puppet told him as the panda-suited man crept up behind the musician and swatted him with a tennis racquet.

The boy spun around and spotted the giant bear. "Hey, somebody grab that panda. Hey!" he ran after him.

Rex laughed. "Andre got whacked by a panda."

The songsmith gave chase through the house; having lost sight of the bear he did see a familiar face a couple of rooms away.

"Cat, Cat."

"Hi, André. This is an awesome party." Jade, stood next to her best friend, nodded her agreement.

"Yeah. Listen, have you seen a panda bear about this tall with a tennis racquet? He's dangerous."

Cat looked over his shoulder and replied, "Yeah, he's right behind you." André was struck again by the intruder; he spun around and raced after the bear.

"Hey, stop that panda. Hey."

Freddie, accompanied by Sam, returned from depositing Steven's unconscious body outside; he kissed Cat's cheek as they reached the girl's side, "Did I miss anything?"

"André's chasing after some guy in a panda suit who swatted his butt with a tennis racquet," the redhead explained.

She, Sam and Freddie exchanged looks.

"I'm being serious," the girl insisted.

"She really is," Jade confirmed with a smirk.

Freddie sighed. "Feel up to butter-socking someone else tonight?" he asked the blonde; she shrugged.

"So long as I get the chance to party, sure; let me just make sure the butter doesn't go soft," and she disappeared in the direction of the kitchen, hoping that she might just find a snack there too.

Beck also rejoined the gathering at this point; Jade stepped around her friends to approach her man.

"Did you find one?" she asked him.

"Yeah. Right out back, and it's huge," he confirmed.

"What are you guys talking about?" Tori asked as she arrived, drink in hand.

"A Jacuzzi," Beck explained.

"Oh, you brought a swimsuit?"

"Uh-huh," the mean girl confirmed.

"Jade loves Jacuzzis," her boyfriend added.

"Sometimes I pretend I've been captured by witches and they're using me to make human soup," the girl explained.

"I'm sure you'd be delicious," Tori commented weakly.

"Yeah, I doubt it," she shrugged.

"I would've brought a swimsuit if I had known," Tori grumbled; Cat nodded her agreement of that sentiment.

"C'mon," Jade nudged her boyfriend. "Let's go change and hit the Jacuzzi so I can pretend to be soup."

"Okay."

Back on the dance floor in front of Mustang's kit Freddie and Cat were dancing exuberantly together while Ginger Fox's Number One played. Carly stood on the side-lines with sad look on her face as she watched them; Sam walked over to her, hands full of taquitos and dip.

"So why are you so upset?" the blonde asked between mouthfuls. "Because of Steven or because Fredward is happy with another girl?"

Sam waited expectantly for an answer; when none was forthcoming she glowered at the web star, correctly surmising that it was actually a bit of both.

"so you're finally into him, way too late?" she challenged the brunette.

"No," Carly argued, "it's just..." she sighed, "I guess I miss the time when he only had eyes for me, y'know?"

"So you don't want him but don't want him happy with someone else?" Sam snapped angrily. "Do you have any idea how selfish and self-centred that is? And towards my best friend?"

"How is he your best friend?" the brunette asked curiously; the last time she'd been in a room with the pair of them, back in Seattle a couple of years ago, they couldn't stand one another.

"He was the only one there for me when I was in juvie," she answered quietly. "Everybody else abandoned me, but not him. I'll always be grateful to him for that."

"I shouldn't have done that," Carly replied meekly. "I should have made more of an effort."

"You made your choice," Sam shrugged, "just like you did when you kept turning him down. Now he's incredibly happy."

"Do you really think she's right for him?" the Seattle native pressed. To answer Sam's raised eyebrow she elaborated, "she just seems a little… immature for Freddie's tastes."

The blonde shrugged again. "He really likes her and she makes him happy; as his friend I can't ask for anything else." Then she turned to the other girl and put on her sternest, most threatening expression. "You screwed things up for them once before Carly Shay; if you dare come between them again you will regret it for the rest of your life, however short that may be."

"I won't," she surrendered.

"Hey!" Tori called as Freddie and his girlfriend took a breather from their dancing; the half-Latina took them to one side. "Do you see Steven still out there?" and she gestured to the place where they had left the cheater.

"Uhh…" Freddie looked through one of the windows. "No, though I see a giant panda bear with a tennis racquet," he commented in surprise.

"Oh that must be the one who was chasing André earlier," Cat observed, causing the brown-haired pair to exchange looks and shrugs.

"Sam will deal with him later," he repeated before looking over to where the two girls had been; Sam was now dancing enthusiastically with a random male partygoer; Carly, meanwhile, was still stood alone on side-lines wearing a dejected expression.

"I'll talk to her," Cat had followed Freddie's gaze and spotted the brunette alone; he gave her a surprised look. "I think we need to talk about stuff after... y'know, last year."

"Ok," the boy smiled as his girl made her way across the room. "Want to dance?" he asked Tori; she eagerly agreed and they found a patch of floor close to Sam and her newfound partner.

Carly seemed as surprised as Freddie when the doey-eyed red-head made her way over to her.

"Hi Carly," she called over the pounding music.

"Cat, hey," the other girl smiled uncomfortably.

"Can we talk?" Without waiting for a reply Cat took the brunette's arm and led her to the room where they had ambushed Steven. Sam broke away from her dance briefly and spoke to Freddie.

"Do you think I should keep an eye on them?"

"No," he called back, "they have stuff to resolve; leave them to it."

The blonde nodded and went back to her dance.

---

Carly took a seat on the plush couch in the room Cat had led her to; Freddie's girlfriend sat opposite her on the red love seat.

"You wanted to talk?" Carly began dully.

"I thought we should," Cat replied. "I know you apologised but I really want to know why you were so mean to me and said what you did about Freddie to me."

Carly sighed heavily; unlike Sam she knew the redhead wouldn't accept anything other than a full explanation of her actions. She clasped her hands together and rested them on her knees before beginning, "To understand that, you need to understand our… history." She told the girl the same things that she'd said to Sam; how Freddie had had a crush on her ever since he was eleven, how she hadn't returned it but it made her feel special, how she started to become possessive of his love and threatened by any other girl who it looked like could take it away from her.

"It's not good, it's not nice and it doesn't make me nice," she conceded, "but that's the way it was. I loved being loved – and you threatened that. It wasn't until you two broke up and I realised just how badly I'd hurt him that I fully appreciated what my actions had done. When he came to Seattle the Christmas before last and not only did he not visit me, he took steps to avoid seeing me and wouldn't even let my brother tell me that they came across one another… well that was a huge slap in the face for me and really made me think about my actions. I'm sorry," she repeated, earnestly and genuinely, "I seem to be having to say that a lot tonight," she laughed mirthlessly, "I wish I could change it but I can't. At least you two figured it out in the end."

"We did, and I should never have let you upset me as much as I did; I should have fought harder for him – then maybe we'd have stayed together the whole time and Lindsey wouldn't have happened and upset him so much."

"What did she do?" Carly interrupted, curiously; she knew little about that relationship.

"I don't know for sure; he doesn't like to talk about it but she really hurt him for a long time when she broke up with him."

Carly nodded sympathetically; she wondered if the best friend tag worked both ways and she could try to ferret the information out of Sam, now that her curiosity had been piqued. For now, though, she turned her attention back to the girl sitting across from her.

"Can we at least try to be friends?" she asked hopefully, figuring it would make things with Freddie easier if she and his girlfriend were at least civil.

Cat gave her her winning smile. "Sure," she said happily and moved across to hug the girl; Carly was taken by surprise by the generous gesture but happily reciprocated.

---

André, still pursuing the panda bear, returned to the main dance floor; he came across Tori and Freddie just extricating themselves from the throng. The pair were laughing together having enjoyed their dance.

"Hey, did anyone see a large panda bear with a tennis racquet run in here?" he called.

"Hey, dude," Tori greeted him.

"What?" he asked distractedly. "Oh, hey," he returned her greeting before spotting two kids throwing a lamp back and forth from the other side of the room. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Put the lamp down. Have some respect for Kenan Thompson's lamp," he demanded. "Alright." Unfortunately the boy's guard was down and the panda snuck up and swatted him again. "You guys put the lamp down. I'll handle the panda," he told the boys and raced after the giant bear.

"So," Sam put a forearm on Freddie's shoulder, "that's the panda you want me to butter-sock?"

"Yeah, if he gets close enough?"

"No problem, I'll get the sock back in a few minutes," the blonde grinned menacingly before returning to her dance partner as another song struck up.

The two cupcake lovers had emerged from their talk.

"Hi Freddie!" Cat called as she approached him and Tori.

"Cat! Carls," he nodded at the brunette. "Want another dance?" he asked the red velvet-haired girl; she accepted happily.

"'kay 'kay," she agreed and allowed him to take her hand, leading her onto the floor.

"You're not dancing?" Tori asked curiously as her fellow brunette retreated to the side of the room.

"I uh…" she shrugged.

"Aw come on, you can't let that jerk ruin things for you," of course referring to their mutual ex-boyfriend. "There's plenty of guys here, you're a celebrity, it should be easy to get a few dances if nothing else. Sam seems to be having fun," she gestured to the blonde.

"I guess," Carly shrugged and followed Tori into the sea of teens on the floor; soon they were both dancing merrily.

Unfortunately for the revellers, a mini disaster was about to strike in the curly-haired shape of Robbie; the ventriloquist was talking to Mustang about the music being played.

"Do you have any retro music? Like the Spice Girls? Whatever happened to baby Spice?"

"Look," the DJ replied, "you seem like a nice kid, but you make me sick."

"Awww. You see that? You irritate everybody," Rex taunted his handler.

"Why do you always have to..." the boy began in an annoyed voice before knocking his drink onto the DJ's decks, abruptly stopping the music. "I'm sorry," he apologised, horrified at what he'd done.

"If I could've come here by myself, I would've," the puppet lamented.

Angry teens, their dancing and fun interrupted, began to heckle the bespectacled boy. "Just calm down," he urged them.

"Shut up, Samberg!" one of them shouted, confusing him with the comedic writer and rapper.

"Yeah," another echoed.

"Alright, alright, chill out; don't bust a vessel," Mustang sought to restore order. "I'm going to call my boys, have 'em bring me some backup. 'Til then, who wants to take the mic and throw some rhymes freestyle?"

"It's a great idea," Robbie agreed, wanting first turn. "Here... Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," he struggled as people began to mob the stage.

The back yard

Beck and Jade were relaxing in Kenan's Jacuzzi; the Canadian actor stroked his girlfriend's hair tenderly as she rested her back against the side of the tub and closed her eyes. She sighed contentedly, having exhausted her fantasies of being turned into soup (for the time being anyway) and she was just enjoying some alone-time with her boyfriend in relative privacy, given the goings-on just a few yards away from them.

"When I get famous I'm going to have one of these in every room of my house," she told him with a smile.

"Sounds good to me," he agreed with a smile, shuffling closer to her and resting his free hand on her thigh; she leaned back and enjoyed the contact adding another pleasant sensation to what she was feeling. The dark brunette tilted her head to the side and found her boyfriend's lips; the couple kissed happily and increasingly passionately as they reclined in the warm waters of the tub.

Main Hallway

Robbie's attempts to rap had not been well received; Rex, however, was now the reigning champion. His latest challenger, an African-American teen, was just about to come to the end of his freestyle.

"Your flow was just bad, so I'm going to help you,

so look, here's your homework,

go read my rhyme book."

"Yeah, yeah, props to the challenger," Mustang called as the audience cheered, "now, it's to you, Rex."

"Pump the beat," the puppet ordered.

"Kiddies, kiddies, pay attention,

MC Rex is rapping so class is in session.

You better take notes if you wanna survive,

'cause you couldn't earn a dime with them weak, old rhymes.

I'll battle anybody, name your time or place.

I'll be running circles 'round you like a relay race.

I'm so nice on this mic when I take control,

I'll flip your hat backwards like a California roll."

The audience "ohhed" at the put-down as puppet and handler smiled smugly.

"You just got pwned, puppet style," Rex told him.

Bedroom, Second Floor

A number of partygoers stood watching some of their contemporaries use a surfing game on one of the pear box machines; the current contestant, a teen of Chinese descent with slightly long, black hair, was about to reach the end of his turn.

"Wipeout," the machine declared as he stumbled on the surfboard/controller.

"Hey, I would've had 10,000 but there's something wrong with the board springs," he complained.

"Right, board springs," the others echoed sarcastically.

"My turn," Sinjin declared, stepping up to the board.

"Come on, Sinjin," the watching group called.

"Set it to expert," the dirty-blond demanded.

"C'mon," they cheered him on again, impressed by his self-confidence.

Main Entrance

André was desperately trying to get rid of some of the crashers as more and more continued to arrive. "No more people," he insisted, trying to chivvy them out of the building. "Hey, hey. Hey, now. There's already too many people in here. Now, Kenan said I could have a small party, all right? Now, I want you out of here. I definitely want you out of here."

One more 'guest' arrived through the door, Kenan Thompson himself entered house behind the songsmith's back.

"I want you out of here," the musician insisted, "and I want... oh," he realised who he was addressing; the owner of the house who was smiling broadly.

"C'mon, man, let me stay," Kenan pleaded lightly. "Have a giraffe," he offered the plush animal to the teenager.

"You bought me a giraffe?" André was surprised. "'kay, well, yo, listen, it's kind of crazy in here…" he tried to explain.

"André, André, why are you buggin'?" the celebrity asked.

"'Cause you said I could have a small party," the other explained.

"Well, yeah, but not this small. I mean, where is everybody?"

"But there's, like, 200 people here," the dreadlocked teen argued.

"Okay, look. A small party means, like, 400 to 500 people, man," Kenan explained before his attention was captured by some of the others. "Look at those girls; those have got to be Northridge girls." He waved at them. "Hey, how ya' doing? Oh, you can tell by just how they... "

"So you're not mad?" André was surprised.

"No, I'm not mad. Kiss your giraffe, would you? Man, doesn't that feel better?"

"Feels good. Feel better already, hey?"

"That's right," the conversation was curtailed when the panda crept up behind Kenan and swatted him on the butt. "The panda? You let the panda in my house?" he accused.

"No. I've been trying to get rid of the... you know the panda?"

"Man, that freak panda bear has been showing up around me for three years now," Kenan complained. "My house, my health club, my trip to Acapulco. It's why I bought this new house. Hey, who gave the panda my new address?"

The teens in the area shrugged. "No, I don't know," was the general mutter.

"Nobody knows nothing," he shook his head ruefully. "Okay. You know what? I want somebody to catch that panda and wrestle him to the ground and call the police or animal control or something." The panda returned and swatted him again. "Ouch. He did it again. Oh, I'm going to slam that panda. C'mon. Where's my baseball bat?"

He and André gave chase; the first people they encountered were Sam, Carly, Cat and Freddie.

"Where's the panda?" the newcomers asked in stereo.

"No way," Sam laughed as she recognised the older man.

"Kenan Thompson!" Freddie cried.

"You're Kenan!" Cat echoed.

"Oh my God," Carly gasped.

"Yes, he's famous. Where'd the panda go?" André interrupted.

"We don't know, but he's going to regret it if he gets too close to Sam," Freddie replied; the blonde grinned wickedly and felt her purse, once more containing the butter sock.

"Did you change the butter?" Cat asked curiously.

"I just stuck it in the freezer for a little while after we gave Steven his beat-down," she explained.

"Oh, man. How does that funky panda keep escaping my grasp?" Kenan interrupted, shaking his head in annoyance; he and André sped off to continue their pursuit.

Bedroom, Second Floor

Sinjin was struggling on the expert level of the game.

"Hang on, Sinjin. Here comes the big wave," one of the onlookers cautioned.

"I'm going to do it," he exclaimed. "Huh?" he felt an unexpected jolt on the board before being thrown off the controller and ejected through the open window. "Jacuzzzzzzzzzzi!" he cried, landing in it in front of Beck and a rather startled Jade.

"Sinjin?" she asked as the now sodden boy surfaced.

"Hey?" he asked in embarrassment as he looked around at the couple; seeing Jade in a bathing suit the boy seemed to think it was a good idea to take a seat opposite them.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Jade shrieked; he literally leapt out of the hot tub and run, dripping, back inside the house.

Second Floor

While Kenan and André pursued the panda it made the unfortunate decision to run by the group of four teens stood chatting in the corridor. Sam stuck a high-heeled-shoed leg out and tripped it up and sending the bear sprawling.

"You've been annoying a lot of people today," she drawled in an amused voice; the person in the suit looked at the terrifying little blonde and tried to retreat, much as Steven had done earlier. The bear's success was as limited as the cheater's was as the blonde pulled the butter sock from her purse and swung on him.

"Hey, you got him?" Kenan cried as the blonde looked up. "Great work."

At his behest the teens retrieved some cords from a nearby bedroom and tied the guy up; Kenan called the cops and they awaited their arrival to book the interloper for trespassing (Sam made a mental note to make herself scarce when the police actually arrived).

"Thanks guys," the owner smiled as they took a step back from the scene and smiled at them. "Now why don't you guys enjoy the rest of the party."

Main Hall

"I'll say that makes Rex the number one baddest freestyler at this party," Mustang cried as yet another would-be rapper was despatched.

"Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait, wait," Sam interrupted. "Chuck me a stick," she demanded.

"What's your name?" the DJ asked curiously.

"Sam Puckett," she answered confidently.

"And you're calling out Rex?"

"Mm-hmm," she stepped towards the odd couple and taunted, "Mama going to take a puppet down."

The crowd exchanged looks at her cockiness. "Whoa, Whaaaaaat up?" they whispered.

"He doesn't like to be called a puppet," Robbie explained; Freddie palmed his forehead and shook his head.

"Nah, nah, nah. It's cool, it's cool," Rex insisted. "But let's see if you can beat this puppet, Puckett," and the rap battle began.

"Yeah, I'm hot but I ain't taking this back,

'cause everybody knows that chicks can't rap!

I'm so cool I make thermometers drop,

but with my lyrics so hot I make thermometers pop!

'Cause, me, I always get things poppin',

and you should stick to shopping!

I've had them better but they all came and went;

face it Sam, you're the opening actand I'm the main event."

"Your turn, Laverne," he finished with as much of a smirk as a puppet could muster.

"Back up, Shirley," she shot back at Robbie.

"Alright, puck, puck, Puckett up," Mustang called.

"Yeah," she began.

"Oh, how cute; a little rappin' puppet (psyche).

You're more like a rejected muppet.

But I'm so infamous cops can find my name in a log,

but not you, homey; Rex is a name of a dog.

Move over, hippies you expect my respect?

Want me to think you the bomb?

When you get all your clothes at tweenpants dot com!

Yeah, yeah, well too bad, little Rex,

all I can say is, 'sorry, curl,'

'cause your freestyling ain't nothing

compared to this girl.

They all heard you rapping and they was like mehhh,

and then I showed up and everybody's like..."

Sam held her microphone out to the floor; as one the crowd responded, with Cat and Freddie the loudest, "Yeah!"

"So face it, Rex," Sam continued, "you couldn't even rap,

if I stapled his lips and took his hand out your back."

The girl received huge cheers as she finished, getting right in the face of her rival.

"I'm somewhat offended, but I admit, mamma's got rhyme," Robbie and Rex bowed to their opponent, conceding defeat. She handed the stick back to Mustang and joined Freddie and Cat on the dance floor.

"That was so awesome Sam!" the redhead cried.

"Great job," Freddie agreed, giving the girl a quick, one-armed hug.

"Alright," Mustang called, "we got the new decks installed, let's get back to the party!"

The revellers cheered wildly and the music continued for a few hours before things began to die down; the DJ checked his watch and realised that time was just about up.

"Ok," he announced, "one last song for all of you couples out there," and a slow tune struck up.

Beck and Jade made their way to the middle of the floor; Freddie and Cat were together not too far away while a number of the singles, of both sexes, stood around a little awkwardly on the side-lines.

"I can be fragile, I can break in two," the song began, "But I know I'll be Swept up by you. And if I get frightened you'll always be a place of quiet to calm me."

Cat moved a little closer to Freddie; he pulled her gently against him and she rested her head against him as the music continued,

"And if you feel my love just let it show, and if you want my heart just let me know; 'cause you are meant for me."

Hearing this and seeing the couple was too much for Carly; she ran off, in the direction of the room in which they'd caught Steven, with tears in her eyes. Sam, who had been watching them dance with a broad smile on her face, looked over to the fleeing brunette and headed after her.

---

AN: Thanks for reading; I really hope you liked it. Please feel free to let me know what you thought, good or bad, and I hope to see you sometime soon with the next chapter. PD.