Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Have you ever noticed that some of the Digidestined weren't very close to each other as they were to others? This is my way of bringing them together. Matt needs someone on his side!

My Best Friend's Girlfriend

Chapter 8: Someone to Lean On.

Izzy Izumi

Izzy looked up from his laptop, at the sound of the computer room door opening, and smiled at Matt who had just entered the room.

Even though the Digital World was now a peaceful place, they still travelled there to visit their digimon occasionally after school and on weekends. Most of the time they used the computer room at the elementary school where Davis or one of the other younger kids could open a gate to let them all through. Out of habit, he and the rest of the older Digidestined had started using the high school computer room as a hangout. It was a place where they could talk about digimon without being disturbed. The only problem they had was trying to keep that information hidden from Jun. That was the reason why they had been sitting in a regular classroom the other morning. They were trying to keep Jun from finding out about their meeting place. If she knew, Matt would never be free of her.

"Hey, Izzy," Matt said, sitting down in the chair next to him.

Matt's golden head came to rest against the table, and Izzy frowned. His friend's sapphire gaze was dark and stormy.

He looks really worried about something.

Izzy gazed thoughtfully at his computer. Despite the opinions of his friends, he actually saw a lot more than he let on. Even though he was often working on his laptop, he was still aware of anything and everything that went on around him. That was one of the advantages of being a genius. He could do at least three things at once. As a result, he knew that Tai was struggling with some inner battle and that it all had something to do with Matt.

"What are you doing?" Matt asked, leaning over his shoulder to take a look at the computer screen.

"Not much, just talking to Willis," he replied, indicating his computer and glancing at the blond out of the corner of his eye. He might not be as close to Matt as Tai was, but he still worried.

"Do you think that Tai has changed his mind about me?" Matt asked so suddenly that Izzy stared at him.

Matt's confiding in me? Well, this is new!

Even Matt seemed surprised by the sudden outburst because the blond blushed and quickly looked away from him.

Izzy had to smile Matt obviously had not meant to say those words aloud.

"What do you mean?" he asked, turning his attention back to his laptop in an effort to make Matt feel more comfortable with the sudden situation that had arisen.

"Nothing," Matt mumbled, his cheeks turning an even brighter pink. "It's just...you don't think that Tai has outgrown me or anything, do you?"

"I don't know," he replied, staring calmly at his computer screen. "Is Tai the type of person who would outgrow a childhood friendship?"

Matt shrugged. "I'm not sure," the blond mumbled. "That's why I'm asking."

Izzy smiled slightly. "What brought this on all of a sudden?"

Matt shifted uneasily in his chair and twisted his hands together. "Tai's been acting a little distant lately, and I just wondered..."

"You think that Tai's drifting away from you," he said bluntly. It was not a question, and he could tell that Matt knew it.

The blond's mouth dropped open, and Izzy watched his friend quickly look away from him.

Matt looks so unsure of himself. He must be really upset about this.

"Is he?"

Matt's voice was barely above a whisper, and Izzy shrugged.

"I don't think so," he replied, turning away from his laptop to stare directly into Matt's cloudy blue eyes. "I know that Tai's been acting a little funny lately, but I'm sure he has a good reason for it."

Matt stared at him in surprise, and Izzy rolled his eyes. "Yes, Matt. I do notice these things despite what you and the others think."

Matt smiled slightly and shrugged.

"Don't worry so much," he said softly, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Your friendship with Tai has survived a lot worse things than this."

"I can't help it," Matt said quietly, staring at the table.

"You're worried about what happened with Jun yesterday, aren't you?" he asked, gazing closely at his friend's face.

"I think Tai might have told Jun where I was hiding," Matt muttered.

Izzy nodded. "That was my theory, as well."

"But why would he do that?" Matt asked, sounding hurt.

Izzy shook his head. "I don't know."

"I hardly ever see him anymore," Matt mumbled, running his hands through his golden hair. "Everytime I want to make plans with him, he always has something else to do. I know that he's busy with soccer and stuff, but that's still no excuse. I'm always busy with my band, Sora, T.K., and all kinds of things, but I still make time for him."

"That's true. Listen, Matt. Maybe all Tai needs is a little space right now. He's probably just going through a weird faze or something."

"But what about the thing with Jun?" Matt asked.

"I'm sure Tai has a good explanation for that, too. He did leave the restaurant right after Jun. She probably forced him into telling her where you were. You know what she's like, and she did seem pretty suspicious of us. She probably didn't believe me when I said that you were at band practice. I'm sure Tai didn't mean to say anything. It was probably an accident."

"You think so?" Matt asked, perking up a little bit.

Izzy nodded, but inside he felt a little guilty. After all, he secretly suspected that Tai's strange behaviour did in fact have everything to do with Matt, although he was not exactly sure what Matt could have done to make Tai act so odd.

Matt's worried enough already. If I tell him what I really think, it'll only cause him even more stress.

"Have you told Sora any of this?" he asked. He was curious to know what she thought of Tai's behaviour. The two were pretty close, and Tai could not hide things from her very often.

"No," Matt mumbled, his face turning bright red.

Izzy raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Why not?"

Matt let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes. "You know what Sora's like, Izzy. If I told her, she would go straight to Tai and bug him until he blurted out what was wrong. I definitely don't want that to happen."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't think I want to know what's bugging him," Matt whispered. "Besides, there's no use worrying her, especially if it turns out that there was nothing to worry about in the first place."

Izzy stared at his friend for so long that Matt began to squirm under his gaze.

"Why don't you want Tai to know how you're feeling?" he asked, his voice calm.

Matt's sapphire eyes sparkled with sudden emotion, and the blond turned to gaze out of the window.

"Matt?"

"I bet Tai thinks that I haven't noticed how he's been acting," Matt said, his voice trembling.

Izzy leaned forward and placed a hand on his friend's arm. "But you do know. I don't understand, Matt. Why are you trying to keep the fact that you know hidden from Tai? He's your best friend."

Matt pulled away from him and did not reply.

Izzy sighed. His friend's face had grown pale, and the blond's eyes had turned to ice.

"Let me guess. You don't want Tai to know that he's upset you."

Matt looked so shocked by his quick accurate analysis of the situation that Izzy hid a smile behind his laptop.

"How do you know that? No wait." Matt held up a hand and shook his head. "Forget I asked that. I don't think I want to know."

"You didn't answer my queston from before," he said, ignoring Matt's comment. "Why are you so afraid to let Tai know how you are feeling?"

Matt's eyes grew hard and a bitter smile crossed the blond's face. "I've been hurt too many times in the past already, and I'm tired of being the victim. I won't leave myself open to that sort of pain ever again."

"Matt, I thought that you had put all of your fears behind you a long time ago," Izzy sighed.

Matt hugged himself and stared sadly at the floor. "Old fears have this funny way of popping up again when you least expect it," the blond whispered.

Izzy gave his friend a long look and reached out to place his hand on Matt's arm again. This time Matt did not flinch away from him. "Matt, not that I'm complaining or anything, but why did you tell me all of this when you won't even tell your own girlfriend?"

"I didn't mean to say anything," Matt mumbled, looking very embarrassed. "It just sort of popped out."

"Matt," he said gently. "Tell me why."

"Because I had to tell someone," Matt whispered. "Otherwise I think I would have gone insane."

"Is that all I am to you?" he asked quietly, looking away and feeling a little hurt. "Am I just some nobody?"

"What? No!" Matt shouted, looking shocked. "Izzy, hey, I didn't mean it like that. I just didn't think that you would understand, that's all."

Izzy did not answer, and he felt the sudden warmth of Matt's hand on his shoulder.

"Listen, Izzy. I'm sorry if I made you feel bad. That wasn't what I was trying to do. Actually...um...thanks, you know, for not telling me to get lost or anything."

"You mean thanks for caring?" Izzy asked, smiling slightly.

"Yeah," Matt mumbled, blushing bright red again.

Izzy shrugged. "Of course I care. You are my friend, after all, and I do understand even if you and the others don't think I do."

"Thanks," Matt whispered.

"Tai would never hurt you, Matt," he said softly, giving the blond a warm smile. "You know that as well as I do."

Matt frowned at the table, his face filled with uncertainty. "I hope you're right. What should I do?"

Izzy shifted in his chair so that they were facing each other again and gave Matt a serious look. "I think that you should talk to Tai. What's the point of worrying yourself to death when Tai could easily give you the answers to your questions. That would be the most logical thing to do. Willis agrees with me. Give Tai a little space for now, to give him a chance to sort out his feelings, and then ask him what's wrong when the time is right."

"Willis?" Matt gasped, his face filling with horror. "You told him?"

"What do you think I've been typing all this time?" Izzy asked, smiling in amusement. "He wanted to know what was going on over here, so I told him."

"Alright! This is the last straw! Give me that computer right now!" Matt shouted, making a grab for it.

Laughing, Izzy pulled it out of the blond's reach and scrambled out of his chair.

Matt tackled him, and they ended up falling to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs.

"When I get my hands on that laptop, you're are never going to see it again!" Matt threatened, trying to yank it out of his grasp.

"Don't worry so much. Willis isn't going to tell anyone. I made him promise not to," Izzy laughed, hugging his laptop tightly to his chest so that Matt could not get his hands around it.

The door suddenly opened, and they both looked up in time to see Sora enter the room.

"Matt, why are you attacking Izzy?" Sora asked, raising her eyebrows and giving her boyfriend a look.

"Because he deserves it!" Matt shot back.

Sora's presence had caught Izzy off guard, and he accidentally loosened his hold on his computer.

Matt managed to grab it out of his hands and gave him a triumphant smile. "If you think that I'm going to let you get away with this, forget it!" the blond said, scrambling off of him.

Izzy groaned. Matt was two inches taller than him and several pounds heavier. That was definitely not an advantage when you were the one on the bottom of the pile.

"I'll get you back for this, but first I'll deal with Willis!" Matt added, typing something out on the keyboard.

Izzy peeked over Matt's shoulder to read what his friend had written and rolled his eyes.

Matt's message said:

Willis, if you tell anyone, I'll kill you!

They waited a few seconds for Willis to reply and when he did, Izzy laughed.

I love you, too, was Willis's smart remark.

"I'm not even going to ask," Sora said, shaking her head and smiling slightly.

Izzy frowned at Sora and studied her face. That's weird. She doesn't seem at all like her usual self today. I wonder what's up.

Matt must have sensed it, too, because the blond gave his girlfriend a concerned look. "Sora, is something wrong?"

Sora jumped and gave Matt a shaky smile. "No, of course not. Come on, guys. You don't want to be late for class, do you?"

"No, lets go," Matt said, getting to his feet.

Izzy stood up next to his blond friend, and Matt leaned close to him.

"Izzy, will you promise not to tell anyone else about what I said to you?" Matt whispered in his ear, glancing anxiously at Sora.

"I promise," he said softly.

"Good, then lets get to class. Oh, and I'm taking this with me!" Matt added, waving the laptop in the air for emphasis.

"Hey, wait! My history essay is on there!" he shouted.

"You should have thought of that before you decided to pull that little stunt on me!" Matt laughed, grabbing Sora's hand and racing out of the room.

"If I don't get my laptop back, I'm going to kill Willis!" he muttered, sprinting after Matt and Sora.