Spencer and Socko were at Flannery's, a local Irish bar, on a Friday night.
It was supposed to be a toast to their eternal bachelorhood, a status that neither man, both in their mid-thirties, would likely never change.

The hours had passed rapidly, and when Spencer checked the time, it was just about midnight.
Carly was home on spring break, but Spencer didn't think she'd mind if he stayed for another hour or two.
So he remained, and lost himself as the world slowed down when she entered the building.
Samantha Puckett, in a white dress, smiled as she walked, and it seemed to Spencer that the piano accompanied her smile.
Like the band suggested, he forgot himself and took her in. He blond hair tumbled down her back in the same curls, but she was different.
She was mature and beautiful, but dressed simply in her cotton dress and sandals.

Spencer watched her (and he's sure she knew, she always knew when it came to him) and he's pretty sure she's watching him too.
Her tonic remained firmly grasped in her hand as she laughed at a joke and turned and smiled when someone Spencer doesn't recognize tapped her on the shoulder.
Sam caught Spencer's eye, and began to walk toward him; he silently thanked whatever God there was that Socko had gone to get more drinks.

It might have been the alcohol in his system, but for some reason, the room spins around Spencer.
"How are you?" is what fell out of Sam's mouth, but what wafted toward him was her perfume.
A visual ran through his head of those nights, and suddenly all he can think of is those nights as he steels himself.
He remembers how they fit together so perfectly, entwined like circles.
Again, Spencer lost himself in the haze of the wine; his hope and home have temporarily been misplaced because of her.

"I'm fine, Sam," is all he managed to eke out.
"It's Samantha now, actually".
He cocked an eyebrow at her, as if to say "Oh, really?".
What came out was "I've missed you. It's been two years…", and, after seeing the look on her face, he regrets it almost immediately.

Sam was saved when the same boy from earlier tapped on her shoulder and told her it was time to go.
That same boy shot Spencer a warning glare. She walked over to their table and gathered her purse and leather jacket.
She shot one last look at Spencer, and then bolted out the door with her pseudo-boyfriend's arm around her.

The entire encounter took maybe 5 minutes.

Spencer could feel his blood boiling- how dare that boy turn Sam Puckett into a submissive.
When Sam left Spencer at the end of those nights, she was a strong, beautiful, and captivating woman.
This boyfriend broke her spirit, and a part of her had died.
Spencer felt his stomach roping around itself as he thought:
She should have stayed.

Socko walked up with the round of drinks he had gone to get, and, noticing how pale and sickly looking Spencer was, asked:
"What happened, man? You look like you've seen a ghost".
Spencer just downs his drink, and then says in reply:
"I've got to go".
And, like Samantha, not Sam, he bolted out the door and onto the sidewalk.

The streetlights beamed down on Spencer, and the alcohol eating away at his insides prevented him from seeing the stares of the passerbys.
For once, Spencer didn't give a rat's ass about how he looked; all he could feel was the pieces of earth shattering and crashing down around him.
She needed to stay, the first voice in his head said.
You were too old, she deserved better, was the rebuttal of the second.
You love her, though.
But she doesn't love you.
She's broken.
She doesn't care.
You just have to see her, Spencer.
You know that she'll break you in two.

Delirium overtook Spencer, and the one thought that pervaded all of those was the last.
She would break him, but it was a break he needed- as long as it was from her.
Her ghost appeared in front of him, and when he went to touch her, it turned out that she was nothing but a memory.


A/N: Dedicated to and completely inspired by the masterpiece Sometime Around Midnight by The Airborne Toxic Event.

This is my first time writing for the iCarly fandom, so let me know what you think!