A/N: In case anyone forgot, I don't own iCarly. Standard Spam warnings apply. For my purposes, the IOMG/ILMM storyline does not exist. No apologies – this is Spamland after all! This is my second attempt at this story – it's been fighting me (maybe I've been fighting it!) from day one. Part of the reason is that it's not the same KIND of Spam story that I've written in the past, and I had in my head that I wanted it to be. While both Spencer and Sam have weaknesses that lend themselves to my stories, they are more apparent (and exploited) here. This story is not a fairy tale in the sense that iDouble Take and iRoll are. Then again, most of us don't get to live in a fairy tale either. Speaking only in terms of the writing, I decided that I really needed to broaden my focus. I hope you'll give me a little bit of wiggle room! (And many thanks to WhiteKnightro; without his shining example I would not have been moved to [shudder] attempt a revision of this story…) Drafts? What are those? I know I said I wouldn't repost it until the story was complete, but upon further consideration, that was really taking the easy way out. I have to challenge myself to write this story and the best way is to put it out there.

Prologue

Sam Puckett didn't set out to fall in love with her best friend's brother. Who did that? Especially when said brother was considerably older and knew better than to ever look twice at an (almost) eighteen year old girl. She'd once tried to tell him – knowing that no one would take her seriously – just to see how he might react. There'd been a moment of silence, and an abrupt change of subject. It was never mentioned again. But it was going to have to be mentioned again. Because she also counted her best friend's brother as her friend, and he was about to make a big mistake.

Spencer strolled nonchalantly into the Groovy Smoothie, pausing to stare up at the menu as though he really had no idea what he wanted. The perky young woman behind the counter smiled at him. He'd been doing this every day for the past two weeks. "Hey Spencer!" she'd call brightly. "What can I get for you today?" She would bat her eyes and tilt her head in a most becoming fashion. Next he would act surprised to see her –

"Oh HI April! I didn't know you were working today. What do you recommend?" He would smile back at her and lean against the counter.

"T Bo's running a special today on Tingleberry Blitz (or Strawberry Splat, or Pumpkin-Banana-Choco-Splosion, or whatever the flavor of the day happened to be.) It's really gooood," she would trill.

"Sounds delish. I'll take it," Spencer would say, still smiling at the dark haired wench. His hand would brush hers as money was exchanged. She would blush and look up at him coquettishly, her hand lingering a little too long on the smoothie as she passed it to him. Their conversation over, Spencer would give her a small wave before turning to leave, pausing just long enough to see if she would wave back. She always did. The ring on her left hand would flash in the sunlight, but it might as well be invisible – Spencer never seemed to see it.

Sam sat at her favorite table, watching the same scene replay itself this afternoon. At first she hadn't thought much of it. After all, they were ALL regulars at the Groovy Smoothie. She, Carly & Freddie were there almost every day after school. It wasn't a big deal that Spencer was there too. She had started to pay attention the day she noticed the woman – April was her name – open her compact and refresh her lip gloss moments before Spencer walked in. She'd watched day by day as the smiles got wider and the eye contact got longer. Sam was getting more irked by the minute. If Spencer Shay was bound and determined to make a mistake, Samantha Puckett was damn sure going to make sure that it was with her. Not with some two timing married witch with a capital B.