Yo what's up fanfictioneers and fanfictionistas. It been a while, I know, but I hope that you guys can enjoy this fic that I have posted for your viewing pleasure. I will tell you guys about other upcoming works at the end of the chapter but for now I will let you guys enjoy the fic.

I give you the first chapter of the Bright Lights Saga, "I Won't Say It." Written to the tune of 'Bright Lights' by Matchbox 20.

Please read, enjoy, and review. Thank You

I Won't Say It

"So…" Sam stands and looks out of a window in the airport. "I guess this is it." She had just heard her flight number called.

"I guess this really is goodbye, huh?" Carly drops her head trying to hide her eyes. She swore to herself that she wouldn't let Sam see her cry. It doesn't matter though. She was expected to cry.

In fact, it was all expected. The long silent hours helping her pack; the long restless, sleepless nights worrying for her safety; the long awkward ride to the airport; she expected all of it. Carly's tears were no exception. In fact, they were the thing that she could depend on the most. Not that she wanted to depend on such a thing. But it was nice to have something in her life that remained constant.

And so, when Carly's head dropped, Sam didn't need to look at her best friend to know that her tears were streaming. "No…" She wipes a stray tear from her own eye, "It's not goodbye Carls." She walks over to Carly and gives her a hug, "I could never leave you guys forever." At these words Carly, shakily, returns Sam's hug.

She picks up her head after fixing her face. "I, certainly, hope not."

All was going according to the script… if there was such a thing. Of course, there were some minor rewrites. Spencer couldn't be there to see her off. There was a huge exhibit and he had to be there. His art wasn't the featured exhibit but it was allowed to be showcased and Sam couldn't take that away from him. There was also Freddie. He said his goodbyes the night before. He wasn't there.

Still, in this time full of expected outcomes, there was one thing that she couldn't expect, "He's really not gonna show up… is he?" She had waited as long as she could. But they are announcing the last call for her plane. In her world, which was full of expected ends and predetermined outcomes, he had become one of the few things that she couldn't predict. Indeed, the only thing that she could predict was that he would be unpredictable. Carly looked at her apologetically, "Well, you know those planes. They don't wait…" A somber look crosses her face, "and neither can I." With those words she picked up her carry-on and headed to the gate. She disappeared through the terminal and just like that, she was headed towards the bright lights. She was headed to a brand new world, where she knew no one. She was off to her new life as another alien on Broadway.

Back at the Bushwell apartments, Freddie sat on the bed in his room. He looked at the clock on his phone. Her plane was leaving right about now. He wanted to say goodbye to her properly. But the way that the whole thing went down… He couldn't bring himself to see her again.

-A Week After Graduation-

Carly was throwing a graduation party. She had it a week after graduation in order to allow the party to double as an iCarly send off. They figured that now was as good a time as any to stop the show since they were moving on to a different point in their lives.

The emotion of the whole moment had reached the point where Freddie had to get away from it for a while. Sam had always accused him of being a sap and giving in to sappy moments and he had always denied it. But that was more for the sake of argument and not being considered a wimp. He knew he was a sap and he was mindful to keep it hidden. This time, however, it overwhelmed him and he had to clear his head. He headed to the one place where he was certain he could do just that.

This was their last summer together. Carly was going to be a journalist. She liked acting, but she loved writing. She even collected magazine articles. She never told anyone, Freddie found them when she once left some of them in the studio. As always, Carly had a plan. She would go to USC to major in English… whatever that means… then, off to graduate school at The UC Berkley School of Journalism, hopefully. She had a plan. And if Carly Shay had a plan, then there was a really good chance that it would come to fruition. So, even if he didn't know exactly what type of journalism Carly would be doing, He knew she would be perfectly fine.

Spencer, however, was a different story. Because Carly was moving, and he didn't want to stay alone, Spencer was going to travel across America. Something about being a wandering artist. Freddie's figured that: Spencer would get as far east as Spokane, run out of money, starve, and double back to stay with his grandfather in Yakima.

Freddie himself was going to major in broadcasting at Central Washington University. He was already the technical producer on a Web show, might as well get a degree and make it official. Getting paid for it wouldn't hurt, either. However, he couldn't just, totally, abandon his mother. So he figured that this school worked out perfectly because it was close to Seattle, being only 110 miles away. Although he was close enough to his mom for her to continue to get on his nerves, he didn't regret it. The only person he wasn't sure of was Sam. She had kept her intentions a secret thus far. Freddie couldn't, for the life of him, figure it out. Nor could he figure out why she wanted to hide it.

"Hey." A familiar voice breaks through his veil of silence. Although, its tone is very different.

He turns to see the face of his tormentor of, what seemed like, his entire life. "Hey." He responds before motioning at her to join him.

"So…" she begins, "there's a big party for us goin' on. Why are you out here?"

"Just… thinkin', that's all."

"Can you believe it? It's all over. No more Briggs; No more Howard; No more Ted; No more Ridgeway… It's all just a memory now." Freddie just nods his head willing the tears that are threatening to fall to stay in his eye sockets, at least until he's alone.

"I know what you mean. It seems like it was just yesterday when I was walking through those doors only to find Ms. Briggs yelling at everyone through her bullhorn, telling everyone to get to class." He chuckles a bit and Sam looks over at him, "You know the first thing I ever heard her say?" He looks to Sam who just looks at him expecting an answer, "it was: 'Sam Puckett, to the Principal's office.'" Sam laughs at Freddie's awful impression of the psychotic teacher.

"Yeah…" Sam commented nostalgically, "They sure said that a lot."

"Yeah… I hear Principal Franklin's having it put on a banner and hung on the wall behind his desk." Freddie gave a few chuckles that evolved into a soft laughter. Sam joined in.

"Shut-up."Their laughter died down and she turned her gaze over the railing of the fire escape. "If you could change any of it… would you?"

Freddie looked over at Sam. Her gaze remained focused on whatever she focused on that was out on the horizon. "No. There were some good times and many bad times… but I wouldn't change it. Maybe one or two things… but I have no regrets."

The silence that followed was indescribable. You couldn't quite tell what it was. The silence wasn't awkward, but it wasn't completely comfortable. It wasn't serene but it wasn't deafening, it was just a silence that, if anything, was uncertain.

Sam decided to break the silence, "It's crazy about Spencer right?"

Freddie just nodded, "Yeah, I suspect he won't make it farther than Spokane."

"Are you serious?"She shoots a look at Freddie, "He won't make it outta Yakima."

Freddie chuckled lightly, "I really need him to make it out of Yakima. Central Washington is too close, and I already have to put up with my crazy mom." That silence returned, although, it was more uncomfortable than the last. "So what about you?"

Sam tensed but hoped that he didn't see her, "What do you mean?"

"Well we know what Carly's doing, we know what I'm doing, we even know what Spencer's doing." He looks over at Sam, "But we don't know what you're doing."

The silence that follows is deafening. It pounds on Freddie's ears and he can't hear anything. The longer it takes for her answer, the louder the silence gets.

Finally, Sam sighs, and her answer follows, "I'm going to New York."

Freddie preferred the silence, "What do you mean New York!"

Sam turned and faced Freddie, "First of all, lower your voice. Secondly, I mean, I'm gonna try my hand at Broadway."

"What gave you the idea to go to New York?"

"Well everyone's starting their new chapter in their lives. Everyone seems to be moving on so I'm goin to move on too."

"But why couldn't you do that on this side of the country?"

"Because, dork, Broadway is in New York." She shakes her head, "I swear, how you got a scholarship to any college is beyond me."

"You know what I mean, Puckett." Freddie's glare trained itself on Sam, "I know you love acting but why not just continue to act over here or even go down to California? Why do you have to go clear across the country?"

"Like I said before, everyone's goin for a new start. I don't have a reputation in New York. I could be anybody I wanna be."

"Why would you want to be anybody else?" Freddie's gaze shifted to the horizon beyond the fire escape. "I've always liked you the way you are."

"Always?" Sam's tone portrayed her disbelief.

"Ok well, maybe not always, but you grew on me. Kinda like a fungus." Freddie smile was erased by a tiny fist connecting with his shoulder. "OWW!"

"Let 'that' grow on you, nub."

Freddie continued to rub his shoulder, "So what did Carly say when you told her?" His only answer was a sheepish look from Sam, "You did tell her… Right?" She suddenly became very interested in the steps behind Freddie's head. "Sam! I don't believe you didn't tell her."

"Calm down, dingus. It's not like I won't tell her. I just want to know what to expect."

Freddie was suddenly upset. "Oh. So what I think doesn't matter to you huh?" Sam opened her mouth to interject but Freddie continued, "I know I'm not your favorite person but…"

"Chill out Benson…"

"You know what? Screw it." Freddie got up and walked back into the building, "Good luck in New York."

-Back in Freddie's Room-

And with those words, he disappeared.

He wasn't with her when she told Carly.

Carly did, indeed, cry. It certainly was expected. Her best friend was going to New York. The 'Brave New World' and she would brave it on her own. And, even worse, it would be harder to talk to her. She had to worry about her schedule; she had to worry about Sam's schedule, which would be more erratic with her weird schedule of audition times and other actress-y things; and to top it all off, she would have to worry about the three hour difference in times. And she doubted that Sam would be willing to do math every time she wanted to make a phone call. Carly really felt like she was losing a part of herself.

He wasn't with her when she packed up.

Carly had cried the better part of the night before she had gone to Sam's house to help her pack. It turned out to be hard for the both of them. They spent the better part of that day crying as well. While Carly packed up Sam's supply of beef jerky, being the only person that Sam would trust with such a task, Sam went up to give her room a once over; mainly looking for fat cakes that may have been left in her room. Her eyes landed on three picture frames that sat atop her dresser.

The one on the far right was a shot of all three of them. It was taken during their senior prom. Carly had a date and summarily forced Sam and Freddie to go together. Carly's date bailed on her at the last minute. The trio decided to go as just that… a trio. Spencer took the opportunity to ambush them with pictures. Sam guessed that he must've taken at least 20 pictures. Only three came out good. They each took a different picture. She places the picture in her carry on. There was no way she was letting the airline lose this picture.

The one on the far left was of her and Carly. She can't really remember when this one was taken. It was a screenshot of iCarly. It looked to be from about a year ago. Maybe two years. Sam studied the picture. She looked in the background of the picture and saw a giant pair of pants and a mechanical bull. This must've been after they had gotten rid of Principals Howard and Briggs. She smiled at the memory and the thought of a massive anarchy. She placed this one in her bag as well.

Then, there was the one in the middle. There was no big story behind the taking of this picture. It was Freddie; against a neutral background; looking like an idiot; with his hand on his chin; sporting his, self proclaimed, 'natural pose'. She kept this picture because whenever she had a bad day at school, or whenever she was pissed with her mom and/or sister, whenever she felt she needed a laugh, she would look at that picture, and Freddie's idiotic pose; idiotic shirt; and idiotic expression, would instantly wipe away a bad day. She definitely had to take this one. With the uncertain world of acting; she would need a good laugh every now and again.

She headed back to the kitchen to find Carly sitting and waiting. They headed to Carly's apartment. They would spend her last night in Seattle in the studio that she has called home for the past four years.

She spent that night at Carly's. He wasn't there for her final night. But, whatever. She didn't need him anyway. She never did.

She didn't care about how he felt. She never would. The ringing of his phone brought him out of his thoughts.

Thank God. He thought as he answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Shut up!" came the irritated response.

"Carly? But you called…"

"Shut up!"

"Carly, what's going…"

"How dare you not be there for Sam?"

Freddie rubbed his temple, "I already said my goodbyes."

"Yeah. She told me about your goodbye."

-The night before the flight-

Freddie gets up after hearing a knock on his door. Forsaking his peep-hole, he opens the door.

He's faced with Sam and he has a strange feeling. "Hey." Like he was seeing a face from his past.

"Hey." She replies. There's a long awkward silence that follows. Sam sighs in frustration, "Alright… I'm tired of all this 'awkward' between us. I would think that you would've, at least, tried to see me at least once on my final week in Seattle." Freddie still hated those words.

"I didn't think you cared." Freddie gauged her reaction. She looked hurt. This was certainly a rarity. "Look Sam. I'm sorry but it's hard for me to just watch you go."

"Hard?"

"Yeah, I mean…" Freddie ran a hand through his hair, "You're still my friend and it'd be hard to watch board a plane and leave. Especially when it's all the way across the country."

"What are you saying Freddie?"

Freddie knows what he's saying but he can't do that to Sam. She deserves her dream, just like he deserves his dream and Carly deserves hers. It's not right to have to force her to choose.

"It's nothing… Good luck in New York." Freddie offered a smirk, although Sam was unable to tell whether or not it was forced, "I'm sure you'll do fine… Just don't forget about us when you get famous."

He closes the door and goes back to his room…

She retreats across the hall to her friend's apartment…

Neither of them knowing if they would ever see one another again.

-Back to Freddie's Room-

"It's not the same, Freddie."

"What's the difference?"

"The difference is that you never actually said 'goodbye'." Freddie closes his eyes in aggravation, "The difference is that Sam boarded a plane to another state… on the other side of the Country!" Freddie could only sigh, "It's not just some drive we can take, and it's not just some weekend thing we could do…" Freddie hears her voice break, "She gone, Freddie… and we may never see her again."

"Carly I…"

"No, Freddie. I know what you think and what you're gonna say. And I'm not saying that you should have shown up and tried to convince her to stay. I'm saying that you should have shown up because today could have been your last chance to see her." Carly was crying now. He could hear it in her voice, "People change, Freddie. And long distance friendships are just as hard to maintain as long distance relationships."

"Carly, look. It will be hard to keep up with her when she's across the country but we'll always be friends. We didn't exactly have a normal high school experience and I think that the bond that we formed while doing the things we did will allow us to stay friends, through anything."

"You may be right Freddie but, you didn't see her face when she had leave without a goodbye from you." Freddie couldn't find a rebuttal, "I'll talk to you tomorrow. It's been a long day." With those words she hung up and was gone.

Carly was right. Sam deserved more from him. Freddie took out his phone. She wouldn't get the message right away because she was on the plane. But he figures that it would be the send off she deserved.

Later that day, Sam got off of her flight. While waiting on her luggage, she turned on her phone and checked her messages.

Please enter your passcode

"SAMIAM"

You have two new messages and one saved message. Press… "1" message from "Carly"… message saved. You have one new message…"1" message from "Freddie"

"Hey Sam. I won't fill this time with apologies. I just want to say one thing. I'm not going to say goodbye because I'll see you again. And if things don't work out in the world of show business, then, you'll always have a home to come back to. And if you don't come home then I'll come and visit you. So instead of goodbye, I'll just say this: Give my regards to Broadway. See ya."

To save this message press… message saved.

"Freddie, you're such a nub." She picked up her bags and met up with her uncle who had come to pick her up from the airport.

Despite her best efforts, a smile graced her lips at the thought of the message…

But I'll hold you to it.

Well there you have it. My triumphant (hopefully) return to my keyboard.

Now there may be those of you who are reading this and wondering; "What, ever, happened to War Games?" Well don't fret faithful readers. I haven't totally abandoned the fic but I did have to take a break because I fell out of love with the fic. And I wouldn't dare try to produce anything I didn't put my heart into. You guys deserve better than that and I will give you somethin' you guys'll love. Promise.

Now for this fic… chapter two will come eventually (I'm about 90% on whether or not to do one.). So if there are those of you who desire a continuation I will do my best not to disappoint.

Now for a few plugs and thank you's… A special thanks to Pigwiz, Axel100, TechMan, and JamesTheGreater. They helped me to keep this thing in line. Check out their work. I promise you won't be disappointed. Speaking of work, Axel100 has posted his first iCarly fic ever. So pop on by and show his fic some love. Also check iWant to be Something More by Hartful13, co-written with yours truly. So show that one some love as well.

Well I believe that will, just about, do it for this one. Please review (It fuels my fingertips and helps me write faster and better). I hope you enjoyed reading this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you guys and girls for reading. Until next time,
Deuces
KL21