Hi everyone! long time, no update! life has been kind of crazy, and iapologize (hehe) for neglecting this story. But stories have always been my escape and when they didnt feel as much as an escape as they did, i realized i had been neglecting my mental health and needed to take a long vacation from what i loved and get myself back. So without further ado, here is a handful of chapters i had been working on! Thank you for your understanding and patience!

Enjoy! ~Elle

Ruthie set the table for dinner, helping her aunt in the kitchen while her cousin set off to who knew where for the night. He often ate alone, as awkward and antisocial as he was, it made sense. He always seemed to be a sleuth, trying to butt himself into situations in which he had no business being in. He didn't even know she was pregnant as far as she knew, as uptight as her aunt could be, she could be pretty cool at times and promised not to tell him until Ruthie was ready. Maybe she wasn't so bad, or maybe she was embarrassed of Ruthie.

"Did everything go okay today? I'm sorry I couldn't make it-"

"You didn't want to be seen with the trashy teenage niece who you pitied and took in only for her to fall pregnant under your roof?" Ruthie quickly replied over her stunned aunt.

"Ruthie, I'm only trying to protect you." Her aunt insisted.

"Well, it's not as uncommon as you think; If you did your research, you'd know that people are starting to have children younger and younger."

"So you planned this, is that what you're implying, missy?" Her aunt challenged.

"No, but there are lots of teens choosing to keep their babies now with the support of their families. And I'd wish you'd let me spread my wings a bit and show you that I can take responsibility. I may not have the brains that you two do, but I can be a wonderful mom."

"Honey, I've told you how difficult it was for me. I'm trying to save you the pain."

"Yes, having a genius for a son must be so hard." Ruthie retorts sarcastically.

"If you're feeling so smart, then you must have it all planned out? You can be out by next week I suppose?" Her aunt chastened and Ruthie went quiet.

She wasn't ungrateful, she really wasn't. Ruthie was stubborn and hard headed and once she had her mind made up she would go for it. No looking back. She had learned that from a young age because growing up, nothing was promised. Not the shirt on her back or the food on her table. The only thing she could count on was her mother not coming through for her and her sister. She could count on having to find something out of the almost bare cupboards.

She could recall eating heated ketchup and water for dinner and pretending it was soup. She had always wondered why her aunt hadn't been her mom all along. It could have saved them trouble. But she quickly realized she would have to be careful what she wished for because her sister and mom died in an accident a short six months earlier.

She hadn't received the same private school education her cousin had, she hadn't been born with everything, and she thanked her lucky stars and God that she was nothing like him. Her aunt was tolerable, her cousin was not. She was reminiscing on how lucky she had been to have met Carly that day. Someone who though had the support of her family, nonetheless was in the same cruddy situation, maybe equally as scared. She longed for that connection, for support, and she thought she had finally found it.

"C'mon young man, dinner is ready!" Her aunt shouted out the swinging kitchen door and rolled her eyes.

"Stop treating me like a child!" He bellowed, and she sighed in defeat.

Her cousin hadn't come out since he got home from his competition, boasting proudly through the front door and parading across the living room and into his den. Ruthie always wondered why he went there, was it a quiet study or an evil lair? She laughed to herself, Don't be ridiculous. He's book smart, not street smart. She scolded herself.

"I met a friend today." Ruthie started conversationally and her aunt raised an eyebrow.

"At your school?" Her aunt began to stuff her mouth.

"No, at the doctors' office."

"C'mon Ruth, you can't just befriend strangers. Especially when most of them are married women with well established careers."

"That's not a fair assumption; You don't know what people are going through. For all I know, they could be closer to my age and scared as I am." Ruthie fought back.

"Does your friend have a job? Is she married?" Her aunt interrogated her, longing to be right.

Ruthie spun the spaghetti noodles around her fork, slurping them loudly to her aunt's dismay and making orange sauce splatter on her chin. Her aunt passed her a napkin and waited for her to clean up before finishing her story. Just then her cousin walked in, grabbing the napkins from the table and tucking it into his sweater vest.

"No, but her name is Carly and she has a webshow; Is it alright if I use the computer after dinner?"

"The computer is only for homework." Her aunt reminded her and Ruthie groaned.

"How did you meet this, Carly?" Her cousin suddenly was intrigued, sliding into the chair closest to Ruthie.

"It's a "friend" she met at her doctor's appointment. Eat your food, it's gonna get cold." Her aunt jumped in, redirecting him and the conversation.

Ruthie ate her dinner in silence, feeling slightly nauseated but was unsure if it had been the conversation or the fact that she was pregnant. She was discontent with her aunt's conversation with her son, and excused herself to go upstairs because she wasn't feeling well.

As she placed her plate in the sink and rinsed it, then made her way out of the kitchen through the swinging door, she felt curiosity creep up inside her. So when it grew dark and she was sure that everyone was asleep, she tiptoed downstairs and crept towards the door in the wall.

He was absolutely sure to have locked it, he hated his privacy being invaded, though he was a nosy little scoundrel himself. But she had been one step ahead and stole the key out of his silly little picture frame that opened from the back, the one he showed and bragged to about everyone when they came over. It was just his extra large head, she didn't understand how someone with that big of a brain was still so dense and self absorbed.

Once she was in, she let go of the breath she hadn't even realized she was holding in. It was a small room with monitors and keyboards and she nearly tripped over the hedgehog residing by the armchair with wheels. She gasped inaudibly to herself, and then froze when she saw the screen.

"Does this face look familiar, Ruthie?" She heard a smug voice with an accent similar to hers behind her and swore she could feel his breath.

"What are you doing up so late, Nevel?" She was surprised.

"I could have you arrested for breaking and entering." He hissed and she rolled her eyes.

"I live here; Your mom, my aunt is literally in the process of becoming my legal guardian." She spat back, sass dripping from her lips.

"Besides, it looks like I could have you arrested for stalking."

He surveyed her expression, looking for any sign of weakness even though her voice held defiance. She was strong willed and sassy, he knew that. He wasn't sure where a sweet girl like her could get it from. He always imagined orphans as sad and delirious, and knew just where to push her buttons. All he had to do was call her "Orphan Annie." and her eyes would hold anger.

"It seems that we have the same friend." He smirks, and Ruthie grows confused.

"Friends don't have three different monitors with their friends on them. I would call this an obsessive, one way friendship. An imaginary friend." Ruthie replied, only feeding his suspicions.

"How do you know, Carly Shay?" He interrogated her.

"Aunt Jeanie told you, from the doctor's office." Ruthie replied to him matter of factly, but still careful not to give herself away.

She didn't know what he was up to, but she didn't care. She carefully mapped her words, she didn't need to give herself away and give him even more blackmail. But what she couldn't understand was the third monitor, with the site on it that had his name in the search bar, along with a web page dedicated to hating Carly.

What was his problem? Besides being dumb enough to not close out his searches, that was. Could Nevel knowing Carly be her way out of here for good? Certainly if they were mortal enemies Carly would be willing to help her.

"For what? You're as healthy as a clam." He pressed on, grinding her nerves.

"Just an annual check up." She replied flatly.

"Uh-huh. And I see they're giving out babies with every exam too, huh Ruthie?"

Ruthie gasped, wondering how and where he had gotten such information, until she saw that he had been holding something the entire time; Her ultrasound. How had he gotten that? She could have sworn she had stuffed it somewhere where he would never find it. It must have fallen out of her bag and under the seat.

"Next time, make sure you take all your trash out of mom's car, not just yourself." He hands it back to her, and she feels her skin burn. How could she have been so careless?

"Why were you in her car?" Ruthie challenged.

"It doesn't matter, but it does matter why Carly was there."

"Girls get gyno check ups all the time, starting at as early as thirteen." She quickly informs him.

Here she was, protecting herself and another girl she barely knew, but he apparently cared lots about. She wasn't sure if it was dirty laundry he was looking to air out or some kind of beef, or if it was just an obsession, but he wasn't getting the information he was looking for. Not from her.

"I'm willing to make a deal with you Ruthie, since you seem so adamant about protecting your friend."

She figured that Nevel already knew things from the creepily expensive research he always did, she didn't know how much he knew and how he obtained anything. But he was always willing to bargain (or blackmail more like) for more.

"And what the heck could that be?" She felt her voice break a little but still sounded challenging.

How could her little voice sound so small but fierce and feisty?

"I won't post about your little friend-"

"Post what? That we were getting check ups?" She spat, still denying anything and everything she could.

"That you're in your own pregnancy pact." He replied and she raised a brow.

"You don't have proof."

"The ultrasound says otherwise. As for your friend though, it's just another juicy rumor for my blog, source: Ruthie Papperman."

"Either way, you're gonna post about it." She felt defeated.

"I'll make you a deal. I won't post about it if-"

"Ifff-" She mocked him.

"If you put the baby up for adoption." He finalizes and she grows confused.

"Why do you care?" She demanded to know.

"A baby only changes things; A family dynamic, the amount of sleep one gets. A whole living arrangement. And chances are we'd have to give up the good room upstairs to the baby. The one I was planning on relocating my lair to. And besides, people pay good money for babies. Money which could be used towards my college and my technology."

Now she felt stuck. She didn't want to ruin this girl's career and life, even though she barely knew her. She knew how distasteful people could be towards teen moms and could only imagine people behind their keyboards being so cruel with their hidden identities.

Why was her cousin so out to ruin Carly? But she really didn't want to give this baby away, this was her motivation, her chance at getting out and having the life she began to dream of as soon as the test line showed up.

Would he plan on ruining Carly no matter what he chose? Was this the perfect coincidence, her mentioning Carly at the office and him finding the ultrasound the same day which linked the two situations together and implied they were both expecting?

Did she just accidentally give Nevel blackmail for someone she met only a few hours ago? How did Nevel see relevance in ruining Carly Shay?

Or was this about getting the lair and money he always wanted? What was his plan? This was a catch twenty-two for her, and a win-win situation for him. She felt defeated by this, and only wished for a second that she could go back in time. To beg the social services to place her anywhere but with her aunt and big brained evil cousin.

"You have yourself a deal; But you need to put in the work and use your tech skills to help research adoption agencies and the logistics."

She traipses over and gingerly holds out a clammy hand, willing to shake on it and take a leap of faith. Both of them had their own loopholes and ideas that they only suspected of each other, but Ruthie felt like as smart as her cousin was, she could get one step ahead. She wanted to protect this new friendship but also not get into the middle of whatever beef he had with Carly or avoid whatever Nevel was conjuring up for her.

"I'll contact my lawyers in the morning. There's no need to shake, just sign the papers." He informed her.

Dang it. She thought to herself.

Could Nevel knowing Carly have been her way out of here for good? Certainly if they were mortal enemies Carly would be willing to help her. But now she didn't want to ruin her life too. And to think she almost had made a friend after this difficult adjustment.

Dang it! She thought a little more angrily this time.

-XXX-

"C'mon Carls, you're gonna be fine. Freddie and I will be by your side the entire day."

Sam tugged at Carly's arm, begging her to walk through the front doors of their school before the first bell rang. Carly had been an anxious mess, crying about how everyone at school would look at her differently, even though she hadn't told anyone yet. She just felt like somehow they knew, or if they didn't yet, they would. Rumors flew fast, and her senior year and iCarly would be over in the blink of an eye.

The two weeks that Spencer had allowed for her to adjust to the news had flown, and now she was back, regretting leaving all the homework Freddie had brought over, untouched.

When her teachers said time would fly by quickly and she'd regret saying she wouldn't miss the early days, they were right. Her freshman teachers knew just how fast the four years flew, and now suddenly it all felt over even though it had barely begun. Maybe a start in Italy for her adult years wouldn't be so bad. That was, if she didn't have a whole human being and a boyfriend attached at her hip.

"Don't you have one of your disguises? Like a wig? I'd bet you do at your house! Let's go there." Carly suggests a little too enthusiastically, and Sam and Freddie exchange looks.

Carly wasn't one to want to skip school, she knew it was important to make good grades in order for her to get into a college she wanted, but now she was just going to settle for any job she could. Suddenly schooling didn't matter as much of what grades she got as much as she just could get her classes out of the way. Of course doing well was ideal, but Carly wanted to graduate as quickly and early as possible. She wanted a normal senior year and would still attend school and graduate with her classmates, even at the expense of the embarrassment she felt for being the only one in her school that got knocked up.

"Ms. Shay?" She hears a voice and footsteps coming towards her in the hall.

The hallway was empty, nearly seconds after the first bell. She wondered who knew that inevitably she would be dragging her feet through the entrance. It was the school secretary, Principal Franklin in tow.

"So maybe the disguises weren't that insane of an idea." Freddie mumbles and Sam nods, turning to leave when the voice stops her.

"Carly, if it's alright with your bodyguards," He begins, referring to them sarcastically, "I'd like to see you in my office."

She scrunched her face, feeling her soul leave her body and had that "near miss" feeling, like she almost got away with leaving. She almost avoided this moment completely and yet here she was, getting called into the office. The best plot twist was that this time, it wasn't for something Sam did, but Freddie. Rather, she and Freddie did.

Carly follows him back to his office, anxious even though she had a hunch she knew what this was about. It was only a matter of time before everyone knew, and it would make sense that he would know because she needed him to arrange her classes so that she could take them and get them all out of the way. She needed an accommodating schedule to her new life of appointments and potential embarrassment.

"Principal Franklin-" She began as she sat in the arm chair, dragging it closer to his desk.

"I received an email from your brother recently about your situation." He pauses, unsure how to address it.

"Yes sir."

"He also called me this morning to see to it that you got to school alright because he was afraid you might try to leave." Principal Franklin also reveals.

"Sam and Freddie have my back, sir. They wouldn't let me even look at the front door and Sam carried me over her shoulder to the entrance so that I would get out of the car."

Sam and Freddie were great friends. Freddie was going to be an excellent father if she so chose to keep the baby. But she wasn't sure yet, even though Freddie had already promised and did everything to show that he'd be there, as well as Sam. Even Ruthie, who had become her little texting buddy over the last week, had checked in on her. They checked in on each other.

"Well, I think that this is a very difficult thing to go through, and it's even harder considering you're in high school and that is already a hard time for young individuals. But you are at the top of your class, and I'd hate to see you fall behind."

"I'm doing everything I can to maintain a good grade average and somewhat normal senior year."

"I mean, most seniors, yet alone high schoolers don't have an internationally popular webshow." He smiles informatively, trying to make this easy for her.

"It's been pretty great, but I promise, that's not gonna get in the way. Sam, Freddie and I are all in agreement that the final season of it is probably here."

"That's such a shame; My daughters and I love iCarly."

Carly smiles weakly, feeling like an even bigger disappointment now than she had before. She knew she had loyal fans, but what about the parents? Her viewer demographic reached all ages, some in which the parents watched with the kids. The parents wouldn't let her be a role model for them. Sam already was the bad role model, and they still let them watch, but sent nasty emails weekly.

"Thank you, but we agreed it might be best to focus on the future. We're gonna do the best we can to still film it while we can, but this unexpected bump in the road is gonna make it hard to keep going."

"I understand. Which is why I can imagine you may have a little more free time?" He implies personably and Carly raises an eyebrow suspiciously.

"I mean I'm going to be pretty busy with school and figuring out what we're going to do. I don't know if I can honestly take more on." She apologizes, curious to where this was going.

"Well, we have a new student starting here at Ridgeway who is in a similar situation as you, and I thought you two would be a good match. You know, if you're willing to meet her."

"Of course." Carly agreed politely.

She watched Principal Franklin slide his chair across the slick mat he had on the floor to glide across, paging his secretary to bring her in. It seemed like he had this planned for a while already, or maybe it was all just a coincidence. Either way, she heard footsteps and hushed voices gather behind her, and when she turned around she was met with a familiar face.

"Oh my gosh." The transatlantic voice spoke first, surprise heavy on her lips.

"Ruthie?" Carly stands to greet her.

"You know each other?" Principal Franklin redundantly asks.

"We met- well it doesn't matter because it seems that we are together again." Ruthie smiles before taking a seat next to Carly.

Carly couldn't believe that Ruthie was the student that Principal Franklin had been speaking about. It all seemed too weird to be true, like what were the odds of Ruthie coming here? Did she get pulled or kicked out of her private school? Ruthie had mentioned she was beginning to struggle, but Carly never would have guessed she'd be removed so quickly, unless they already knew of her situation.

"What brings you to Ridgeway?" Carly almost couldn't speak.

"My aunt figured public school would be less daunting than a small private school. Rumors spread so fast at smaller schools and the girls are less than kind. I still have another year to go since I'm only a junior, so I'm starting here."

"What about when the baby is born? Does your school not offer virtual schooling for private school?" Carly begged to know.

"Oh um- well initially I wanted to stay in the private school, but my aunt said with the rumors I couldn't go back even after the baby is born. At least here I can pick up in person classes after my leave is up."

"We have a great program for students who want to balance online school and still have a normal public schooling experience, if that's what you're hoping for Carly. Ruthie here, wants to continue going schooling online after the baby is born and pick up a few in person classes too."

"But who's gonna watch your baby? I mean, I think it's great Ruthie, that you wanna come here and enjoy a normal experience, but how are you gonna do that with a baby at your hip? Isn't that why you wanted to do virtual in the first place?"

Carly knew she sounded nosy, and pushy. But she couldn't understand how Ruthie was gonna make it work. She didn't even know how it was gonna work out for her, if she was gonna miss schooling or if she'd have to start all over, or if she was gonna switch to online classes. She was leaning towards virtual learning even though she still very much wanted to live out the high school experience.

"It seems that you two already do know a lot. I think with each other's support in and out of school, this could be the beginning of a wonderful friendship." Principal Franklin smiles.

The bell rings, signaling that fifty short minutes had already passed and Carly couldn't believe it. She couldn't wrap her head around it. She wanted to do online classes after the baby was born, so she could be a mom and finish school. All of a sudden she wanted to be in school.

How was she going to realistically make that work when she had a baby? Was she going to split her time between in person and virtual? And why Ridgeway of all places? Of course they had a great program, she could see why her aunt was impressed enough, but at the end of the day, no matter where they went, they could endure bullying.

And it was in a few seconds after that, when nobody spoke that Principal Franklin decided to send them on their way to class.

"Well Carly, I think you should get to class." He announces and she stands to leave, hearing something on her way out that suddenly made everything click.

But she couldn't react because she felt like she was being watched. By Ruthie, by Principal Franklin, and even the secretary at her desk.

"Ms. Papperman, I believe you and I have matters to discuss as far as classes we offer."

Carly hears him inform Ruthie and suddenly her mind begins to flood with fear. The accent, the smart cousin, it all began to click and she wondered, who actually was Ruthie Papperman, and was Nevel the guns behind this? And what did he want with the iCarly gang this time? Was he going to cancel them once and for all?