A/N: Okay, I changed the summary a bit because I think I finally have a good idea of where I'm going with this. After this chapter we'll be digging into the meat of the plot. :)

Chapter Four

In the eight years that Sam and Carly have been best friends, the Shay apartment had become more of a home to Sam than her own home. Except for the times when she and Carly had had bad fights, Sam never felt uncomfortable or awkward in the apartment. But now she was standing outside the door to 8D and dreading going in.

It was the first time she would be seeing Freddie after their midnight break-up and Sam was ashamed of the fact that her hands were shaking a bit. She didn't want to see him. Paradoxically, she wanted to see him so badly that it made her chest burn. She had managed to stay away from Bushwell for the entire weekend and had managed to successfully avoid him at school for that day. Principal Franklin was more than a little surprised at Sam's unscheduled, drop-in visit to his office during third period but if that was what it took to get out of the class she shared with Freddie then Sam had been willing to do it.

But there was no way she could avoid this iCarly meeting, and it wasn't like she could avoid Freddie forever so she might as well bite the bullet now. And maybe she missed him, just a little bit. But it's not like she would ever admit to that.

Sam took a deep breath and turned the door knob, walking into the apartment. And there he was, sitting in front of the computer. Only four days ago she would have greeted him by wrapping her arms around him from behind and resting her head on his shoulder, nuzzling his neck in that way that he loved. Four months ago she might have greeted him by throwing a paper ball at the back of his head. Now she didn't know what to do, how she was supposed to act.

"Hi, Sam!" Carly waved from the kitchen.

Freddie turned around and hesitantly smiled. It felt to Sam like her heart was being squished inside a big giant's hand but she kept her face expressionless as she acknowledged him with a nod.

"You got any ham?" She asked Carly.

"Why don't you come and see?" Carly said.

"Don't tease me, Shay."

And just like that, Sam was walking past Freddie and into the kitchen. Like everything was normal. Like she didn't get everything she had been wishing for two years and lost it in a few hours inside of an elevator.

She knew how it had to be now. It had to be like their relationship had never happened.

"Okay, come on, Mel. Carly's waiting…"

Sam stopped and looked at the mess that was her room. Not that it wasn't usually messy but now it was like a tornado had blown through it. Clothes were strewn around everywhere, on the bed, on the floor, on her desk. Melanie's suitcase was completely empty and Sam's closet was nearly empty. And there was her sister, standing in front of the mirror and applying her make-up.

"Melanie! What did you do?"

"Hey Sam!" Melanie said brightly, her reflection grinning at her. "Sorry about the mess, I'll clean it up I swear."

She turned around and Sam got a good look at what she was wearing.

"That's my clothes!" She exclaimed. Melanie was wearing her jeans, her blue and white striped shirt, and brown jacket. To top it off, her hair that was normally straight and tied up in a neat ponytail was now hanging loose in soft waves. It was literally like Sam was staring into a full length mirror, and it creeped her out a little. She and Melanie hadn't done the let's-dress-exactly-alike twin thing since they were four and their mom actually gave a damn about how they looked.

"Okay, I'm sorry, don't be mad but I had to borrow something. I have a date tonight!"

"A date…" Sam sat down on a pile of clothes on the bed and rubbed her forehead. "I go to school and come back and somehow you have a date."

"Well, you didn't think I'd stay in the house all day, did you? That cat of yours might have found a way to kill me."

Sam smiled at the thought of her cat's viciousness. The two of them being twins didn't fool Frothy one bit, Melanie was subject to the same hatred and disdain that Frothy treated everyone to except Sam (and Freddie, but she didn't think about that).

"Why are you wearing my clothes?" Sam asked, getting back to the matter at hand. "Aren't your own clothes more date-like?"

"Not for this guy, I don't think…" Melanie said, twisting her hands nervously in front of her.

Sam narrowed her eyes. "It's not with Freddie, is it?" The words were out of her mouth before she had even thought about it.

"What? No," Melanie laughed. "When would I have even talked to him? He's been at school with you all day. Plus, you're deliberately keeping us away from each other." She sat down beside Sam and nudged her shoulder with her own.

"I am not," Sam defended. "I invited you to watch iCarly tonight, he'll be there."

"Carly invited me to watch iCarly. Tell her I'm sorry I can't make it."

"Who is this guy?"

"His name's Matt. We met at the drugstore when I was picking up Mom's ointment."

"And he asked you out anyway? This guy must be desperate."

Melanie shoved her. "He didn't see it!" She giggled.

"Mel, you're going to Stanford tomorrow."

"So?"

"Don't you think that if you're going to start dating someone then it should be at the place where you're going to be living for the next four years and not here in Seattle where you barely visit?"

"When did you become the voice of reason? I'm just having fun for a night, it's not like I'm going to marry the guy."

"As long as it's not Mom fun," Sam muttered under her breath as Melanie got up and started picking up the clothes.

The doorbell rang and Melanie squealed, dropping her armful of clothes. "He's here! How do I look?"

"Like me," Sam said.

"Good, good," she grabbed her purse and started throwing her make-up that was scattered on the dresser into it.

Sam got up. "Well, let's go meet the guy."

Melanie grabbed her arm. "No! No! You can't!"

"Why not?"

"Because if he sees you then he might not want to go out with me!"

Sam thought that her sister might really be losing her chiz. "We look exactly alike right now."

"Well, then, he might want both of us!"

"Who is this guy?" Sam asked incredulously, not really liking the sound of him.

"Please, Sam? Please just stay here?"

There was the puppy dog eyes again.

"Fine," she relented, rolling her own eyes.

"Thank you!" Melanie hugged her quickly and ran out of the room as the doorbell rang again.

Sam followed her, keeping her distance and peeking her head around the corner of the hallway as Melanie opened the front door.

The guy that stood there was not what Sam was expecting at all. He was tall and leather jacket clad, and looked older than them, eighteen or nineteen if Sam had to guess. His dark hair was in a buzz cut and he had stubble on his chin, an unlit cigarette dangled from his lips, completing the stereotypical 'bad boy' look. At first glance, he looked like someone that Sam herself might have once dated but he had such a poser look about him that she knew even back in her 'desperate-to-get-over-her-crush-on-Freddie' days, when she'd dated a string a losers that Carly had worried incessantly about, she never would have touched this guy with a six foot pole.

Sam watched as he put his arm around Melanie and the two of them left, closing the door behind them. She wondered what had gotten into her sister, she was acting so un-Melanie-like. Three years ago she would have been thrilled at her goody-two shoes sister turning into someone semi-cool, someone that she could actually talk to. But now she was just worried.

"And I said, 'don't step on the flour' and she said, 'where are the flowers? I love flowers!'," Gibby laughed hysterically and Freddie tried to laugh along even though he didn't get the joke and was only half listening.

He pushed open the door to the Groovy Smoothie and walked in, Gibby following behind him, still chuckling and muttering "I love flowers" to himself. He was on his way to the counter when a flash of blonde caught his eye and he turned to look at Sam in a corner booth with a guy in a leather jacket.

Gibby ran into him and nearly knocked him over since Freddie had stopped abruptly in the middle of the shop.

"Dude, what…" Gibby followed Freddie's gaze. "Whoa, looks like Sam's on a date."

Freddie's hands bunched into fists at his sides. He knew that she had been acting strange lately, that she and Carly had a secret that Sam refused to tell him, but he wouldn't have guessed that she was dating someone.

"No wonder she ran out so fast when the show ended," Gibby said, referring to how Sam had left Carly's place almost as soon as he had called "Clear" and put down his camera.

Freddie watched as Sam laughed at something the guy said and felt his blood boil. Gibby had left his side and had gone up to the counter to order a smoothie but Freddie couldn't make his feet move. Sam looked up and saw him and actually smiled and waved. The guy she was with took her hand and Sam turned her attention back to him, seemingly forgetting all about Freddie.

His feet did move then, they carried him out the door as out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sam's hair swing forward as she laughed again and the ache in his chest felt so big that even the cold, fresh air felt like knives that he was inhaling.

He always knew that Sam would move on, likely before he would, but he wasn't prepared for what it would feel like when it actually happened.

She wasn't worried, Sam told herself as she paced around the living room. Melanie was a big girl, she lived on her own in a boarding school across the country, she could obviously take care of herself.

But she really didn't like the look of that guy, plus Melanie had been acting so weird lately…Sam picked up Frothy and looked at the clock for the hundredth time in the past hour. 11:17.

This date was taking awfully long and when had she become the mom in this household?

Sam blew out a breath in frustration and shifted Frothy in one arm while she fished her phone out of her pocket and called the only person she knew who had experience with being this big of a worrywart.

"Hello?" A sleepy sounding Carly picked up.

"She's not home yet," Sam said.

"Sam?"

"Yeah yeah, it's me. Melanie's not home yet!"

"From her date? It's not even midnight yet."

"So you're saying I should wait until midnight to worry?"

"Aww…it's sweet that you're worried about your sister."

"Shay…" There was a warning tone in Sam's voice.

"I'm sure she's fine," Carly said.

"I knew I should have hired someone to follow her."

Carly laughed. "Don't you think you're overreacting? You haven't always liked some of the guys I dated and you've never had me followed."

Sam was silent, thinking about the time she had Germy trail Carly on a date. He didn't do anything, just watched from afar with binoculars and kept her informed that the guy wasn't trying any slimy moves on Carly.

"Sam? You've never had me followed, right?" Carly asked.

The front door opened then and Melanie walked in, all smiles.

"She's home, Carls. Gotta go," Sam hung up on Carly's protests. Frothy caught sight of Melanie and immediately started hissing and fussing in her arms. Sam put him down on the ground before he could try to jump and he went running off into the dark hallway.

"Aww, Sam, were you waiting up for me?" Melanie grinned.

"No, I was just talking to Carly and hanging out with Frothy."

"Uh-huh," Melanie took her hand and pulled her onto the couch.

"How was the date?" Sam asked.

"Great! I mean, I'm not going to see the guy again, obviously, but he was really interesting."

"He doesn't really seem like your type."

"Because you're the only twin who can date guys who've been to juvie? Before this year I would have said that nerds aren't your type but you dated Freddie."

Sam's head was spinning. A guy with a juvie record? Did she and Melanie switch brains or something without her knowing? "How did Freddie get brought into this?" She asked.

"Well…" Melanie bit her lip and watched Sam's face carefully. "I saw him tonight."

Now Sam was feeling faint.

"I didn't talk to him or anything but he saw me on the date and I think he thought I was you."

"What…How…"

"It was at the Groovy Smoothie."

"Why were you at the Groovy Smoothie?"

Melanie shrugged. "I like their smoothies. Anyway, you might be interested to know that Freddie definitely looked jealous. I didn't know a person's face could turn that many shades of red…"

Sam felt her heart leap in an annoying way but kept her face blank. "Why would I care?"

"Because no matter what you say, dear sister, I know you're not over him. And he's obviously not over you."

"Stay out of my business, Melanie," she said, not wanting to feed the fluttering hope in her stomach.

Melanie raised her hands. "Okay, fine." She stood up and made to leave but a dawning realization was rising up in Sam as she looked up at her sister. Her sister that, at this moment, looked exactly like her.

She'd been underestimating Melanie. Underneath the sweetness and niceness she was still a Puckett. And Puckett's had devious minds and hidden agendas.

Sam stood up and faced her sister. "You did this on purpose!"

"Did what on purpose?" Melanie tried for the innocent look but Sam was all too familiar with the fake angel face, she'd used it a time or two herself.

"Dressing in my clothes, going on a date with a guy who should be my type and taking him to the Groovy Smoothie of all places. You wanted Freddie to see you. You wanted him to think it was me on that date."

Melanie had the gall to smile at her. "Okay, you figured me out."

"Why? Why would you do this?" Sam demanded.

"Because you weren't going to do it yourself! No matter what you say I know you're still in love with Freddie but for some reason you're not doing anything about it. He's a boy, Sam," she spit out the word boy like it was a bad word. "They're clueless. He's not going to make a move unless you do."

"I did make a move! I kissed him, I started the whole thing and it turned into a disaster!" Sam yelled, anger filling her bones. "And what makes you think that you can just come here and meddle in my life? Huh, Melanie? You call, like, once a month, you only visit every other year and now you're here for two freakin days and you think you're an expert on my love life?"

Melanie at least had the decency to look ashamed.

"You don't get to do this, Melanie," Sam continued. "You don't get to choose when you want to be my sister and when you want to pretend I don't exist. Stop messing with my life and just leave like you always do."

Melanie didn't just look ashamed now, she looked devastated and Sam couldn't look at it. She always hated it when Carly cried, a big part of it was that her heart couldn't stand to see her best friend so sad, and another part of it was that it reminded her of Melanie crying when they were young and how Sam had always felt an instinct to protect her, to shelter her from the cruel realities of their life.

"Sam, I…" Melanie tried to talk even with tears running down her cheeks but Sam simply walked away, retreating to her bedroom and the chaotic mess it was still in.