Disclaimer: We don't own anything except the stuff you don't recognize. So please don't sue us... we'd like to keep our money. The story title belongs to Gatsby's American Dream and the chapter title belongs to Cute Is What We Aim For. That's all, please don't steal and enjoy!

Chapter One: These Fingertips Are Moving Faster Than These Lips

Sighing heavily as she stood in front of the door that would allow her in her apartment, Isabelle Kendrick began digging through her bag, searching for her keys the sun having nearly set and giving way to the night. Mentally cursing herself for deciding to walk to work that day, she ran hand through her long, heavily layered bleached blonde hair before sitting on the ground and dumping her purse out in front of her. In mere seconds she found the large collection of key chains that was connected to the few keys that she hand and pouted. She'd at least wanted a challenge seeing as now she had to pick up everything she'd dumped out. It really wasn't turning out to be her day.

Soon enough she'd managed to stuff all her belongings back in the rather large tote she carried with her as her purse and dusted off the back of the jeans she was wearing before jamming her key into the lock. At that point, all she wanted was to get inside, change into a pair of pajamas, and vegetate on her couch for the rest of the night. Turning the doorknob, she'd just barely managed to push the door open when someone yelling her name caused her to jump, startled by the sudden noise.

"Aww… did I scare you Belle?" A voice asked as she slowly turned around to face the person who'd screamed her name. Narrowing her eyes as she looked up at the rather tall, skinny boy now standing in front of her with a wide grin she said sarcastically,

"Of course not, Coby. 'Cause you know I randomly decide to jump about seventy-five feet in the air for no apparent reason."

"I thought that was probably it." He answered, pushing her into the apartment which they shared, the dark fringe that was his bangs swept off to one side of his face, succeeding in hiding one of his eyes. Shaking her head and laughing slightly, she felt her mood starting to brighten already as she walked towards her bedroom. Not bothering to shut the door behind her as she undid the button on her jeans before sliding them down her legs and stepping out of them. Grabbing the black lounge pants laying at the foot of her bed, she quickly slid them on, not bothering to change out of the pale blue 'Taking Back Sunday' t-shirt she was wearing. Making sure to take one of the many hair ties off her dresser, she was just pulling her hair into a sloppy ponytail as she walked into the kitchen where Coby was standing, looking through the cupboards. Glancing over at her before continuing his search for food, he asked,

"Rough day at work?"

"God… you have no idea." Isabelle answered, moving to the refrigerator and pulling out a pitcher of Kool-Aid. Pouring herself a glass, she was quick to put the rest back where it belonged, taking a drink as she did so. From there she dove into all the details of what had made her day so horrendous, from the moody woman who'd gotten snippy with her for no apparent reason to the child who'd decided that the floor was thirsty and dumped his chocolate milk on it while throwing at tantrum. By the time she'd finished her story she'd heaved another sigh and ended with, "And I swear if I didn't need that job I'd never go back."

"Feel better now?" Coby asked, moving to stand next to and slung one of his arms around her slender shoulders, his green eyes staring down at her. Nodding, Isabelle met his gaze with her own deep blue eyes and wrapped both her arms around his slender waist.

"Yeah, take-out would make me feel even better though."

"Chinese?"

"Read my mind." Detaching themselves from one another, Isabelle grabbed the correct menu from the drawer where they kept all their take-out menus handy while Coby grabbed the phone. Looking over it for a second with him standing behind her, reading over her shoulder, she told him what she wanted and left him to do the ordering. He was better at deciphering the thick accent of the people that owned the restaurant anyway. Moving into the living room she pushed her angled bangs out of her eyes and grabbed her laptop and the remote, switching on the television as she settled down on the couch. Coby joined her a few minutes later, walking over to their DVD collection and grabbing one off the shelf, putting it in the player. Sitting down next to her as the opening credits began, she glanced up from the screen of the computer sitting on her at the television screen before smiling widely and looking over at the boy sitting next to her,

"Did you know that you, Jacoby Owen Richards, are the coolest best friend ever?"

"Duh. And did you, Isabelle Rose Kendrick, know that you are addicted to the internet? Put that thing down and watch the movie with me dammit." Coby answered, staring at her while pointing to computer. Grinning at him, she did as told, sitting it on the coffee table in front of them, before settling in to watch Pirates of The Caribbean. Half an hour later, the two were having a very serious discussion about who was hotter, Orlando Bloom or Johnny Depp, when there was a knock on the door.

"Food's here." Coby announced, and Isabelle rolled her eyes while pausing the movie and said,

"So go get it idiot." Giggling as the only response he gave before standing from the couch was a raised middle finger, she watched as he walked to the front door before pulling it open. Handing the delivery guy two bills and telling him to keep the change, he took the bag from him and kicked the door shut before returning to the spot he'd just abandoned. Taking one of the cartons from Coby and opening it she inhaled the citrus smell that the orange chicken inside gave off before asking, "Where are my chop sticks?"

"You called me an idiot, so you can eat with your fingers." Coby responded, grabbing both sets before tucking one underneath the leg furthest from her. Watching as he began eating, all she could do is gape at him, mouth hung open slightly, for a few moments.

"Fine! You win, I'm sorry. You're not an idiot, now can I have them?" Sighing over dramatically, he handed the eating utensils over to her while saying,

"Yes… but only because you'll get that incredibly gorgeous brother of yours to beat me up if I don't."

"Ew. Coby I am attempting to eat here. Can we not talk about how badly you want in my brother's pants? It's more than only a little disturbing." Rolling his eyes, Coby ignored her, turning his attention back to the television where the movie was playing once again. Isabelle did the same, munching on her food and occasionally reciting random lines from the movie which she knew by heart.

xoxox

A few hours and two movies later, Isabelle was still sitting on the couch, her carton of food discarded and her laptop on her lap. Coby was passed out beside her, his legs dangling over the arm of the couch opposite of her. His mouth was hanging open slightly and she couldn't help but giggle a little as she noticed the small amount of drool coming from the side of his mouth as pushed his bangs from his eyes. Smiling she realized how calm and innocent he looked while he slept and couldn't help but compare that to the way he acted when awake. The two sides of him were polar opposites. When he was awake he was the epitome of hyperactive-ness, always coming up with crazy ideas and schemes to get what he wanted, and that was what she loved about her best friend most.

She was snapped out of her day dreaming by the sound of and instant message popping up and quickly glanced down at the screen in front of her. Her smile only widened as she saw the screen name that was followed by a very simple message.

highonlife: hey Belle… are you on?

xxbleedingrosexx: yep I'm here. How are you??

And with those few words she was up for a good part of the night, chatting with the amazing friend she'd been talking to for over a year. Her fingers fluttered across the keyboard in a flurry, losing all track of time until she heard a muffled ringing from somewhere. Someone had better be dying she thought to herself, glancing at the clock which read 2:30 AM as she typed a quick 'brb'. Answering it she all but growled out,

"Hello?"

"Izzy! How's my favorite baby sister?" She heard her brother ask cheerfully causing her to scowl at nothing in particular.

"What in god's name are you doing calling me at this time of night? Normal people are sleeping at two-thirty in the morning."

"Since when have you ever been normal?"

"What do you want Brian?" She asked, her tone of voice clearly conveying just how annoyed she was with him at this point. It was obvious that he realized this when he stopped trying to make small talk and got right to the point.

"We're going to be in Seattle next Tuesday. I want you to come up and spend the day with me. I haven't seen you in forever."

"Can I bring Coby with me?"

"Do you have to?" Brian groaned, and Isabelle couldn't help but smirk.

"Do you want to see me?"

"Fine… bring him along. But if anything happens to him, it's not my fault."

"Shut up, you act like he's some sex-crazed teenage fan girl."

"Are you trying to tell me that he's not?"

"I'm hanging up now Brian. I love you and bye." Not waiting for a reply from him, she hit the end button and tossed the phone onto the side table by the couch. Focusing her attention back to her computer screen she nearly growled in frustration, mentally cursing her brother and his horrible timing, as she read the last few lines in the instant message.

highonlife: I really hate to do this… but I've really gotta go. I'll ttyl

highonlife has signed out…

Signing herself out, she shut down her computer and gently woke Coby, telling him to go to bed. Then following her own advice, she walked into her own bedroom, dropping down on her bed with a soft 'thud'. Crawling underneath the blankets, she quickly fell asleep, the last conscious though on her mind being the rather amazing boy she'd been talking to for most of the night.

A/N: Well that's the first chapter and hope you enjoyed it. I know I had a lot of fun writing it. Please, review and let us know what you think, we appreciate all the feedback. That's about all I can think to say for now. The next chapter should be out really soon, so until then I'm outta here. Jessica S. is up next... -Jessica C.