Hello again! Sorry for taking so long to update... Here's another chapter...

Umbre0n: Once again, laughed when I saw your comment... :D Yeah, Rapunzel's father is roughly based on my own dad... Some of the things I had Richard do are definitely things my dad would do... (;
DreamGirll: Really? I wouldn't know because Tangled didn't come out here in Aussie until the following January... Anyway, since you're so desperate to know what happens, here's the next chapter...
MrAndersIversen: Like always, thank you!
Trekrider: Yeah, he's awesome... Even if he is absolutely crazy at times... As far as them meeting, that's still a long way off... Just be patient...
Bookworm741: This has gotta be one of the longest reviews I've ever received... Hope to receive more reviews from you with future chapters! (;

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Chapter 10 ~ Threads of a Spider's Infoweb

November 28th 2011, New York City

The sound of the lunch bell echoed through the school, and students began flooding from their classrooms. Yanking open a set of heavy glass doors, Isabelle, Kaitlin and Taylor walked out of the classroom block and onto the snow-covered grounds, nice and warm in their coats, gloves and scarves.

"Look at all this snow!" Taylor smiled, taking a handful of snow and throwing it into the air.

Kaitlin giggled at her antics, "So, where are we going to sit?"

"Uh... How about over there?" Isabelle asked, pointing to a nearby picnic table. It was half-covered in snow, but that would wipe off.

"Sure," Kaitlin shrugged. With that, the three girls started walking over to the table.

"Taylor!"

Taylor felt her breath catch in her throat, and turned to see none other than her crush walking up to her.

"Uh- Hey, Christian," Taylor replied, nervously tucking a few loose strands of her blonde hair behind her ear as she walked up to meet him, unaware of the smirks her BFF's were trying so hard to hold back.

The boy, Christian Ruby, held out a small pink notebook, "You dropped this on your way out of class..."

Taylor smiled, taking the notebook, "Thanks."

He returned her smile with one of his own - and Izzy could have sworn she saw a sparkle in his deep green eyes - before jumping back to reality, "Anyway, I'll see you after lunch…"

"Uh, yeah, sure…" Taylor replied, trying to sound calm. With a final smile, he turned and started walking back to his friends. Once he was out of earshot, Taylor turned and walked up to her friends, who were waiting for her by the table with knowing smiles on their faces.

"Ooooooooooh…" Isabelle and Kaitlin chorused, before Izzy added in a sing-song voice, "Some-one likes you…"

"Isabelle, he doesn't like me."

"But Tay-"

"Okay. Yes, he gave me my notebook back," she acknowledged, a hint of pain in her voice as she added, "But he's too busy with Skye to notice me…"

Kaitlin cocked an eyebrow at her, "Are they even together?"

"Come on, Katie, look at them!" Taylor cried, gesturing a hand towards where Christian was now gathered with his friends, with the 'Skye' in question trying to get as close to him as possible. Isabelle slowly shook her head in response.

"No Tay, you look at them," she replied. Taylor sighed, but did as instructed, and Izzy continued, "She's practically clinging to his arm! And look at the look on his face... I don't know much about guys, but I know enough to know that that's the look of a guy who's trying to be a gentleman, but in his mind he's screaming at her 'Okay, just back off!' . She's probably just hanging around him for the popularity... He is one of the most popular guys in our year level after all…"

Taylor had to admit, Izzy wasn't wrong. It was obvious that Christian was uncomfortable with the way Skye was hanging off his arm by the way he carefully loosened himself from her grip. She sighed, frowning, "Still, like you said, he's one of the most popular, good-looking guys in our year… Why would he go for a girl like me? I'm clumsy, I'm dull, I'm plain, my eyes are too dark a brown, my cheeks and nose are covered in freckles-"

"Tay, stop it..." Isabelle interrupted, nothing but tenderness in her voice, "You're not clumsy or dull, you're amazingly talented, you're kind, sweet, beautiful, your eyes are stunning, and your freckles are adorable!"

There was a brief pause, before Izzy took Taylor's hands, "Just… Just hold on a little longer, okay? Things will work out… And even if he isn't the right guy, your right guy is out there, and you will find him..."

Taylor looked up at her and smiled, "When did you get so smart in this area?"

Izzy opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Kaitlin answered, "Since she started dating her dad's perfect match."

The three girls all started laughing hysterically. Once they'd calmed down, Kaitlin asked, "Hey, speaking of that… How did your first chat with Rapunzel go?"

"Pretty well," Isabelle replied as they started eating their lunch. "We just talked a little about ourselves, our jobs… little things like that…"

Taylor noticed a worried look in her eyes, "But…?"

Isabelle sighed, explaining, "I'm just worried I might blow my cover… I mean, there's no knowing what she's going to ask and when. What happens if she asks something I can't answer? I can't just message back saying 'I don't know'… It'd be a dead giveaway!"

"You just need to try and learn as much about your dad as possible," Kaitlin explained, putting down her sandwich. "Listen, imagine you are a spider-"

Isabelle cocked an eyebrow, asking sceptically, "Katie, how's that supposed to help me?"

"Just hear me out," she replied, holding her hands up in defence. Izzy sighed, before nodding for her to continue. "Okay, imagine you are a spider, and that this account is a complex web you're crafting..."

"Okay..."

"You want to weave in all the delicate details, but before you can you need to create the base threads connected to the wall; the ones that hold the web together. For you, the base threads would be those basic aspects of his life..."

"You mean like his childhood and his work life?" Taylor questioned.

"Exactly," Kaitlin confirmed. "But you need a wall for those threads to be attached to, i.e. someone who can give you the info you need…"

"Okay, well Jess's already agreed to helping me as best she can so I'm sure she'd be willing to fill me on Dad's work life," Isabelle determined. "And I'm pretty confident I can talk Grandma Makena into helping me in the 'childhood' area…"

"Great!" Kaitlin smiled. "Then once you have those base threads, you can then go back and weave in all the details…"

"Oh, you mean like that scar?" Taylor asked, before receiving a blank look from Kaitlin.

"Remember? Once when we were kids Izzy's parents took us all swimming... I got some water in my eye so Eugene went to get my towel for me, and as he was walking back to us, we saw that scar on his side..." she explained, point to the lower-right side of her stomach.

"Oh yeah! I remember!" Isabelle recollected, then mused, "No one actually ever told me the story behind that..."

"Yes, like that," Kaitlin clarified. "Anyway, it's pretty simple... you have those base threads, and you'll be able to weave in the details..."

"Did you really just give me a lesson in identity fraud by comparing me to a spider?" Isabelle smirked. Kaitlin shrugged with a smile.

"It's actually a pretty clever analogy when you think about it…" Taylor pointed out.

"Hum... But there's still one more thing..." Isabelle stated. "Exactly how Mum and Dad met..."

Taylor bit her lip, "The one who'd know the most about that would be your dad..."

"... And asking him is bound to raise questions..." Kaitlin added. "And rub salt in his wounds..."

Isabelle thought for a moment, before she smiled, "I've got it!"

Pulling her phone out of her bag, she switched it on and started going through her contacts. Once she'd found the person she was looking for, she sent them a text reading, 'Can u pick me up from school 2day? We need 2 talk...'

Isabelle stood in front of the school, checking the clock on her phone for the fifth time now. She'd been standing there since school ended 10 minutes prior. Both Kaitlin and Taylor had gone home, so she was left to just stand and wait.

The teen sighed, looking up. As she did so, she saw a car approaching. Recognising it, she picked up her school bag and walked up to the car as it pulled over.

Opening the front passenger-seat door, she scowled at the driver, "You're late."

The driver sighed, "You really are your mother's daughter, aren't you?"

"I've been standing out here in the cold for over 10 minutes!" Isabelle grumbled, climbing into the passenger-seat and doing up her seatbelt. "Uncle Kurt, where were you?!"

"I was giving a lesson!" the piano tutor defended himself, pulling back onto the road. "I got here as soon as I could..."

"Well, you're here now..."

The next several minutes went by reasonably quietly as her uncle navigated his way through the busy roads, but before long, they reached her apartment block. After Kurt had parked his car, the two made their way up to her and her dad's apartment.

"Thanks for getting me home Uncle Kurt," Izzy said, walking into the living room and placing her bag on the floor.

Kurt closed the front door behind himself before joining her in the living room, "So what's all this about? From the looks of your text, it's something important..."

Isabelle silently turned to her uncle, who added, "Did I do something?"

Izzy shook her head, and replied quietly, "It's not you, it's Dad... I need your help..."

"I'm listening..."

"You know how Dad keeps on telling people he's fine when he's obviously not?"

"Yeah..."

"Well..." Izzy began slowly, carefully choosing her words as she sat down on the couch. "Let's just say I kinda took matters into my own hands..."

Kurt raised an eyebrow and smirked, sitting down next to her, "Go on..."

Taking a deep breath, she explained, "I may or may not have posed as Dad on eHarmony..."

"For real?" Kurt asked eagerly. Isabelle nodded, and his eyes lit up with excitement as he beamed at his niece, "Izzy! I'm so proud of you! Finally doing something rebellious!"

"Excuse me, this is not rebellious!" Izzy denied. "This is simply me trying to help Dad find love again..."

"Okay. Okay... So where do I come in to this?"

"Well, I was talking with Tay and Katie about it-"

"So they're in on it too, huh?" her uncle smirked. "Who else has been dragged into this scheme of yours?"

"Just Jess and Grandma Makena, but that isn't the point!" Isabelle replied.

"I'm just asking..." Kurt again defended himself. "Anyway, so you were talking with Taylor and Kaitlin..."

"... And we agreed that if I'm going to pull this off, I need to know as much as I can about every aspect of Dad's life," Isabelle explained. "Now I called Grandma Makena while I was waiting for you to come get me-" she shot him a displeased look, "- and she agreed to help me with Dad's childhood, and I've already got Jessica filling me in on his work life, but I need someone who can tell me everything there is to know about how he and Mum met... And since I obviously can't ask Dad-"

"- so you're going to the unfortunate uncle who was forced to sit and watch his sister and some lovesick guy she'd only just met fawn over each other, before getting engaged less than a month later," Kurt added, rolling his eyes at the memory.

"Excluding Dad, you know the most about it... You're my best option..."

Kurt sighed, replying a moment later, "Alright... I'm in."

Isabelle smiled, "Great! So, how exactly did they meet?"

"Well, you already know the basics, but it all started when your dad very nearly got dragged into a jewellery heist..."

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Really? Did you honestly think I was going to go any further than there? *wicked grin* Okay, I'm OFFICIALLY in dire need of SUGGESTIONS... I mean, I know how I want the rest of the story to play out, but I'm stuck with what to have for the next chapter... PLEASE HELP!