WARNING: CLICHÉ, POINTLESS IZZY/NOAH FLUFF! (with a slightly less cliché ending)

I don't own TDI.

So this was written for and dedicated to DarkMindedThinker89. Thanks to her for making me stop being so lazy and write something! Sorry for the horribly long wait and I hope you enjoy this!

Also, thanks goes out to JoeMerl, as his review on my last Izzy/Noah one-shot was very helpful in writing this. Hopefully, I did better on not rushing their relationship too much.

Keep in mind, I'm not perfect here, people. Ideas, criticism, ect. are greatly appreciated.

Izzy always thought buildings were more intelligent than they seemed to be. She could sit cross-legged on the floor of her apartment for hours just sitting and staring at the walls, studying every crack in the ceiling, every paint chipped bit of door frame. Where did you get that damage from? she wondered. The structure had been around for many more years than her. What have you seen?

In a way, she sort of envied the run-down building situated in the worst part of town, painted drab grey, carpet frayed and stained until its original color was no longer recognizable. True, she thought, it would suck to be permanently ensconced in one place for all of eternity, but the wisdom these structures must have acquired over the years, seeing life at its most raw would help take away the doubt that always plagued her as a human being.

Wow. It makes my head hurt just thinking about it. She pulled her thin navy-blue jacket closer around her. Ah, winter in Canada with no heat. Not the most fun experience in the world, but she and her friend/roommate Noah would live. They could barely afford rent that month, and utilities cost extra of course. Which also meant a severely limited supply of running water. Oh well, nothing could be done about that.

The door squeaked open, then slammed shut. Noah, shivering slightly, pulled off his sneakers, and shook ice flakes out of his brown hair. "Why did my parents have to choose the middle of winter to forget to send money from their business trip?!" He sighed heavily. A faint smile flit across her face; she could see his every breath, smoking the air like a fire-breathing dragon. "What are you doing?"

He took his grocery bags to their kitchen, but the apartment was so small that he could still see her in the living room. Darn it. He cursed his luck silently. The milk froze on the way over here. He shrugged and dropped the carton in their cooler, full to the brim with expired, soupy ice-cream and melted ice cubes. The cooler shook when the lid was forcefully closed and tied shut with cables.

He almost didn't hear her answer.

"The walls have eyes." It was soft as a whisper, which only added to the eeriness. Noah nearly dropped the box of crackers now in his grip.

He finally managed to stutter out a faint, "Wh-what?" Her green eyes bore holes through him. Neither of them said anything. Just silence. A tense, electrifying silence that threatened to snap them both in half.

Finally, after a forever and a half she said, "They can see you, you know. Every move you make." Noah raised his eyebrows. Izzy suddenly threw her head back, letting out a cackle loud enough to wake the dead. "You should have seen the look on your face, Noah! You were like, freaking out!" She smiled widely, bearing fanged canines.

"Whatever." Noah looked more than a little relieved, "It's so cold, I can't force myself to even be ticked at you anymore." He opened the bag of potato chips, and ate a few straight from the bag- he couldn't dirty any dishes, as conserving water was of the utmost importance. He held the bag out for his roommate to take a few. She snatched the chips, and dumped half the bag into her mouth, ravaging the snack food hungrily. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought she hadn't eaten in days instead of hours.

Normally, at this point, he would be at the couch, book in hand. However, the constant freezing temperatures were taking its toll on his nerves; he'd start going mad if he had to stay there much longer.

"Izzy, why don't we go to…" he shuddered, sneering the awful words, "the mall." The mall. The epitome of adolescence. He hated it with a passion. All those idiotic teenagers with nothing better to do than irritate him with their… being. Wow, that's probably really bad karma. But despite his revulsion, he saw no other options. What other place would both be heated and not kick them out? No, seriously, if there was anywhere else, he'd be there in a heartbeat.

Izzy laid on her back, feet and arms flailing in her impression of a dead roach. "Uhhh… I don't know." She complained. "Do we have to?"

"Come on." He yanked the red-head to her feet. "'S too cold." He reluctantly replaced his shoes, while Izzy laced her boots. She looked around, studying the walls, mentally cataloging their surface. The walls have eyes. They never speak, but the things they could tell you if they were able… It's horrible when you think about it. Nothing you ever do is private. No where is safe. They see everything, everyone, at all times.

She shook the wandering thoughts out of her head then grinned like a small child. She leaned in close to Noah. "I'll race you!" And with that, she was out the door.

"Izzy! Izzy!" She didn't stop. Of course not.

******

The second Noah felt warm air rushing out when he opened the door, he couldn't remember why he was hesitant to be there in the first place. He shed the wet gloves, shoving them in his pocket to let his fingers thaw. For a second, he just stayed perfectly frozen in place, as if he were afraid the warmth would suddenly be gone if he moved from that spot.

A rather rude individual shoved him out of the doorway with a threat and the muttered comment 'stupid hobo.' Noah frowned at that. Maybe he did look like a hobo; actually, he hadn't seen himself in a mirror since… a while.

Whatever. The guy could think whatever he wanted. Even if Noah did have the appearance of a homeless person, didn't mean that he intended to ever end up on the streets for real. That had always been his worst fear. As he recalled, his parents had been the first to take advantage of this. They told him nearly every day as a child "if you don't study for such-and-such test, you won't get into college. Then you'll end up a homeless bum." Even when he didn't know what a 'bum' was, the concept scared him to death, especially when they told him countless tales of little boys like him, who failed an English quiz and were thrown out of their house by their parents. This was an ill-disguised threat of course, no matter how unlikely it would be that it was carried out. Thus, even as a 16 year old, the whole concept scared him to no avail.

By the time Noah had finished rehashing old childhood traumas, his eccentric companion was gone. Oh, well. I'm sure she'll turn up soon. After all, how much damage could she cause in an hour or two? He paused. No, really, how much? Maybe letting her go off alone wasn't such a great idea after all.

"Izzy! Izzy where are you?!" shoppers gave Noah dirty looks as he raced up and down rows of stores shouting. He ran into several people, once even becoming entangled in one person's baby stroller, muttering apologies between yells and barely-suppressed cursed words while he attempted to separate himself from said stroller and the screaming child inside.

After nearly an hour, Noah found himself sitting on the edge of a large blue fountain situated exactly in the center of the food court, decorated with shiny red and green tinsel to celebrate the holiday season. There was even a sign next to the fountain which read in a scribbled, 3rd grader style handwriting 'mony put in fountan helpes fed the homles.' Noah groaned and rolled his brown eyes at the atrocious spelling and grammar . Great, just great. Now I'm hungry, still cold, and the mall's closing soon. Why didn't I just go with my parents on their business trip to the Andes mountains? Sure, I'd still be cold, but at least there'd be enough water for me to shower more than once a week! He paused to remind himself that this wasn't the time to go all emo. Or start talking to myself. Exactly.

Well, he couldn't just leave without Izzy. Oddly, he felt sort of responsible for her. She was always trying to jump off the metaphorical (or literal) bridge, and he was the one to pull her back, scolding her idiocy the whole time. That's what friends are for, he supposed.

Either way, she'd better get back soon or he would … do…something… Or not. He was too exhausted to come up with threats at the moment.

Suddenly, he felt someone tap his shoulder. He nearly fell back into the fountain. "Noah!" Izzy said, smiling like she hadn't seen him in years. He stared in shock, mouth agape.

"Uh…" It took him a minute to be able to speak again. "Izzy, why are you wearing an elf costume?" A tree-green skirt and shirt were clumsily pulled on over her jeans and t-shirt.

"Oh, that?" she brushed his question away with a swipe of her hand. "Well, you see I took this job being one of Santa's helpers like, a half-hour ago, but they fired me for harassing the parents about the dangers of bird-flu!"

Noah sighed, "Izzy, you of all people should know that no one cares about bird-flu." He said. She shrugged and nodded in reluctant agreement. The bell on her green cap jingled every time she moved her head. "Even though it still kills hundreds of people in other countries, its old news, and therefore, unimportant. Swine-flu is the new illness to have, didn't you hear?"

"Geez Noah," she sat next to him, "are you feelin' all depressed and emo today?" I told you talking to yourself wasn't a good idea. Now see where it got you, Noah. Shut up!

He decided to humor her for once, and seriously consider the question. Was he depressed? Actually, not really. Sure there was a lot to be depressed about, what with the lack of money for food, rent, ect. And of course the freezing temperatures of the Canada winter, but somehow that didn't bother him too much. Hanging around her was rather time-consuming, but it distracted him from all the bad things, and he knew he couldn't just stew over every little thing. That'd drive anyone over the edge, especially Noah with his to-do list a mile long. And as for being emo… nah; that wasn't really his thing. "No," he answered simply.

Izzy scrutinized him, leaning close enough to smell her mint-vanilla toothpaste. "I don't believe you." She jumped up, proclaiming "But I know how to fix it!" Uh-oh. Dear God I'm going to die.

She stood on a conveniently located table, "This song goes out to my best friend, Noah!"

"Poor old Johnny Ray

Sounded sad upon the radio,

he moved a million hearts in mono.

Our mothers cried and sang along and who'd blame them.

Now you're grown, so grown,

now I must say more than ever.

Toora Loora Toora Loo-Rye-Aye

and we can sing just like our mothers.

Come on Noah,

I swear well I mean,

At this moment

You mean everything

These people round here wear beaten down eyes

Sunk in smoke dried faces

they're so resigned to what their fate is,

But not us,

no not us we are far too young and clever.

Remember Toora Loora Toora Loo-Rye-Aye

Noah I'll hum this tune forever.

Come on Noah,

I swear, well she means

At this moment,

you mean everything,

Ah come on now, ah come on Noah."

The food court erupted in applause. Izzy may have been a little nuts, but the girl could sing. Izzy laughed and took a bow for no real reason other than that she could. When the crowd finally dispersed Noah said to her, "You just sang an adaptation of 'Come on Eileen' in front of at least one hundred people just to cheer me up?"

She looked down at the ground, shuffling her feet, suddenly looking like a small child, like a bundle of nervous energy. "Well, sure. You mean a lot to me. Of course I'd do that for you."

Noah dropped his gaze as well, "As a friend, you mean?"

"You know we're friends."

Pause. "Just friends?"

Another pause, longer this time. "I don't know. Depends." She snapped her head up to look at him for a reaction. "What do you think?"

Noah had never really given much thought to anything like this- not whether or not he liked her, just whether he was ever going to let her know. To be completely honest, he had had a slight crush on her ever since fourth grade, and it had only gotten stronger since. However, it had always been an agreement with himself that this little tidbit of information would stay in his head. Which left him with a dilemma: tell Izzy what he thinks and risk ruining their friendship if she rejects him or keep quiet and never know what might have happened otherwise. Tough choice.

Better play it safe. "You first." Yeah, real brave Noah.

She grinned, "No you first." She shoved him lightly, just enough to catch him off-guard. With a yelp, he fell back into the fountain, reappearing a second later, drenched and spiting out a mouthful of water. Izzy found this to be quite hilarious. She laughed loudly, doubled over, unable to catch her breath. She pointed at him, saying something indecipherable through her laughter.

Noah frowned at her, "It's not that funny." A devious smile briefly took over his expression. Without warning, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her down with him. Once in the water she sat there shocked, hair dripping.

"Ha! That'll teach you to-" he paused, frowning. "Izzy?" She still hadn't moved from her position in the water. "Izzy?"

Without warning, she reached over, grabbed Noah by the collar of his shirt, and planted a kiss right on his lips. One… two… three… four… five… six. She pulled away, still holding his shoulders, seeming a bit surprised at herself.

"Uh… um, uh…" He stuttered and swallowed before finally finding his voice, "W- What was that for?"

She smirked, "Payback. Karma, if you will." He vaguely remembered hearing somewhere that if a 'fake kiss' lasted for longer than four seconds, it wasn't fake. He sort of hoped it was true.

He coughed, looking down. He wondered how many people were staring at them, sitting in the middle of a water fountain. He also wondered why he didn't care. Noah watched her absentmindedly picking at the hem of her jeans, "Hey Izzy. I was thinking-"

A siren sounded, loud enough to make the whole mall come to a temporary standstill. After a few rounds of the din, "IZZY! THIS IS THE RCMP! WE KNOW YOU'RE HERE; SURRENDER PEACEFULLY AND YOU WON'T GET HURT!"

"Uh-oh." She was on her feet in an instant, Noah close behind. Her eyes darted around, scanning for the nearest exit.

He gripped her arm on instinct, "Izzy what's going on? What do they want?"

Izzy wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, which he returned after a moment's hesitance. Before pulling away, she whispered, "I told you, Noah. The walls have eyes." Her voice sounded so strange, had such an odd sort of sincerity rarely seen in her, that he thought maybe Izzy wasn't as crazy as she appeared.

"I love you, Noah! Bye!" She said, smiling maniacally. She threw her head back, shouting to the air "YOU'LL NEVER GET ME ALIIIIIVE!" And with that she was gone, running and shrieking like a banshee.

"What the…?"

"Hey, hobo kid. Get out of the fountain!"

Wow, Izzy was right.

The walls do have eyes… and they're watching…

Okay, admit it, you totally didn't see the whole RCMP thing coming, did you? Oh, and I know 'Come On Eileen' (made and owned by Dexy's Midnight Runners) is an odd song to use for this couple, and required a lot of editing, but I totally thought it was something Izzy would sing to Noah (plus, the song is awesome!) Yep. So please review people! Constructive criticism is encouraged!