A/N This story is going to be little more run-of-the-mill, no e-mails to speak of. But I hope it will be as popular, and a little easier to understand. This story is written Worst Case Scenario. As in, Disney does not put Gordo and Lizzie together in the movie. AKA, they come back from Rome still not together.
Oh, and for my purposes they only spent 10 days or so in Rome (which is the amount of time I'm spending in France this summer on my class trip…). So this story begins in the summertime, with Miranda still in Mexico. Where she will remain through the story. But don't worry, we WILL hear from her.
AND, I've decided to incorporate Cartoon Lizzie. She will be expressed by "*."
Disclaimer: I don't own Lizzie McGuire or any of the songs used in this story. Although if anyone knows if Gordo or Adam Lamberg is for sale, please let me know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Face it like a grown up,
When ya gonna own up,
That you've got got got it bad?"
-Hercules, Won't Say I'm in Love
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rush of the return home was still with Lizzie when she woke up in her bed for the first time in 10 days. Despite Rome, despite Paolo, despite her brief singing career, there was no getting around the fact that she had MISSED her bed.
How pathetic.
With a grin used only by those who are extremely, perfectly happy, she rolled onto her side and enjoyed the sunlight streaming through the window. It was a beautiful day in Hillridge, and she was planning to enjoy every moment of it.
Downstairs, the phone was ringing but she made no effort to move. She was going to spend the next half hour just enjoying the feeling of her bed, with the comforter snuggled around her protectively. Then, after she was finished with that, she would plop around the house in her pajamas without a thought of brushing her hair. Nope, that day, she was going to relax.
A gentle knock on her bedroom door caused her to shut her eyes quickly. Maybe her mom would leave her alone if she thought she was asleep.
"Lizzie," Mrs. McGuire whispered, entering the room quietly. Seeing her daughter's apparently, sleeping form, she turned her attention to the phone in her hand. As she began leaving the room, Lizzie heard her say, "I'm sorry, Gordo, but she's still-"
"Wait!" Lizzie leapt out of bed and rushed her mom. Snatching the phone from the other's rip, she explained, "Um, never mind, mom, I just woke up."
With a knowing smile, Mrs. McGuire nodded and returned downstairs.
"Hey Gordo," Lizzie said into the phone. She chose to ignore the racing of her heart. She was nervous. Of course she was. The guy she loved was on the other side of the line.
"Hey, Lizzie," came the cheerful reply. "You mom said you were sleeping."
"I, uh, was. But I woke up when I heard her come in."
*Right. That's good.*
"What's up?" she asked.
"Well, I wanted to know if you wanted to, you know, hang out today. That is, if you're not busy or anything."
She stole a glance at her bed.
*Rest is so overrated.*
"Not doing a thing."
"Okay. So, I'll be over there in about… an hour?"
"An hour is perfect."
"See ya then."
With that, they both hung up.
"What have I gotten myself into," she asked her room, aloud.
It had been months since Kate had revealed Gordo's feelings for her. And once Lizzie's eyes had been opened, there had been no stopping all the signs she realized that he had been sending her. She'd wondered how she'd missed them all.
Yet.
Yet in Rome, things had changed. Suddenly, the nervous smiles, the staring looks… had disappeared. It was as if whatever feelings he'd had for her had been flicked off by a switch or something.
And she was suddenly very aware of how she ached for them.
It was this revelation that she'd had on the plane home, as she'd watched him sleep. When no one was looking, she'd brushed a lock of his curls away from his eyes, and found herself caught up in the feeling of her finger against his forehead. And ignoring every thought in her head that seemed to shriek of how crazy the idea was, her heart sang a different tune. A tune that sounded suspiciously like, "You're in love with him."
With a smothered sign, she grabbed some clothes from her closet and raced to the shower before Matt would wake up and take over the bathroom.
"Lizzie," called Mr. McGuire from downstairs about 40 minutes later, "Gordon's here."
"Just a minute, dad!" Frowning, she stared at her appearance in the mirror with a critical eye. 'Not hideous,' she finally decided. She was reminded of a similar conversation with her sitting in this very spot, not too long ago.
-FLASHBACK-
"I'm… decent looking," she said, rather pitifully examining her reflection.
"You're very pretty," Gordo replied from her bed.
For whatever reason, her heart skipped a bit.
-END OF FLASHBACK-
Now she smiled at the memory and got to her feet.
"Hey, Gordo," she said, getting to the bottom of the steps.
"Hey."
None of her family was around.
"They all went to the store, I think," Gordo informed her, reading her mind.
"So, what do you want to do?" she asked.
"Want to go to the lake?"
She and Gordo at, in her opinion, one of the most romantic places in Hillridge? Probably not a good idea. She had a tendency to get caught up in a moment. What if she blabbed her feelings?
"Sure," she readily agreed.
*Good job, McGuire.*
"Can I use your phone," he asked. "I can call my parents and they can drive us."
"Sure." She tossed him the cordless and left him to talk.
'You,' she thought to herself, 'are SUCH a loser.'
Gordo appeared at that moment. "They said that's fine. Want to grab some bread to feed the ducks?"
Bowing her head sheepishly, she nodded. Gordo was one of the few people in the world that knew how incredibly guilty she always felt, going to the lake with food for herself but nothing for the ducks.
Doing so, between the two of them, they made a picnic and waited outside for his parents to arrive. In the silence, the sun warmed her bare arms and, knowing it was nothing but trouble, she glanced at Gordo. His eyes were trained to the road and it took him a full minute to realize that she was staring at him.
"What," he asked, shifting his gaze to where his eyes were now meeting hers.
Her heart flipped over in her stomach. "I just… I was wondering what you were thinking."
He grinned. "I guess I was thinking about us."
*Us?*
"Us?"
"You know. Everything we've been through. Like the whole Monte Carlo thing we pulled last year. And tie dying your sheets. And when you tried to change who you were to impress Ethan. And the murder mystery party."
"The murder mystery party," she repeated after a second.
"That was fun," he continued.
"Yes it was. You were impressive."
He seemed to be staring into the past. "I don't know what was wrong with me that night."
*You liked me, you idiot.*
"You just…wanted to win."
He looked down at his hands. "That I did."
*And you know why, too. Don't act innocent with me, buddy.*
With that, the Gordon's car pulled into the driveway, and the pair got to their feet.
*This has trouble written ALL over it."
Oh, and for my purposes they only spent 10 days or so in Rome (which is the amount of time I'm spending in France this summer on my class trip…). So this story begins in the summertime, with Miranda still in Mexico. Where she will remain through the story. But don't worry, we WILL hear from her.
AND, I've decided to incorporate Cartoon Lizzie. She will be expressed by "*."
Disclaimer: I don't own Lizzie McGuire or any of the songs used in this story. Although if anyone knows if Gordo or Adam Lamberg is for sale, please let me know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Face it like a grown up,
When ya gonna own up,
That you've got got got it bad?"
-Hercules, Won't Say I'm in Love
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rush of the return home was still with Lizzie when she woke up in her bed for the first time in 10 days. Despite Rome, despite Paolo, despite her brief singing career, there was no getting around the fact that she had MISSED her bed.
How pathetic.
With a grin used only by those who are extremely, perfectly happy, she rolled onto her side and enjoyed the sunlight streaming through the window. It was a beautiful day in Hillridge, and she was planning to enjoy every moment of it.
Downstairs, the phone was ringing but she made no effort to move. She was going to spend the next half hour just enjoying the feeling of her bed, with the comforter snuggled around her protectively. Then, after she was finished with that, she would plop around the house in her pajamas without a thought of brushing her hair. Nope, that day, she was going to relax.
A gentle knock on her bedroom door caused her to shut her eyes quickly. Maybe her mom would leave her alone if she thought she was asleep.
"Lizzie," Mrs. McGuire whispered, entering the room quietly. Seeing her daughter's apparently, sleeping form, she turned her attention to the phone in her hand. As she began leaving the room, Lizzie heard her say, "I'm sorry, Gordo, but she's still-"
"Wait!" Lizzie leapt out of bed and rushed her mom. Snatching the phone from the other's rip, she explained, "Um, never mind, mom, I just woke up."
With a knowing smile, Mrs. McGuire nodded and returned downstairs.
"Hey Gordo," Lizzie said into the phone. She chose to ignore the racing of her heart. She was nervous. Of course she was. The guy she loved was on the other side of the line.
"Hey, Lizzie," came the cheerful reply. "You mom said you were sleeping."
"I, uh, was. But I woke up when I heard her come in."
*Right. That's good.*
"What's up?" she asked.
"Well, I wanted to know if you wanted to, you know, hang out today. That is, if you're not busy or anything."
She stole a glance at her bed.
*Rest is so overrated.*
"Not doing a thing."
"Okay. So, I'll be over there in about… an hour?"
"An hour is perfect."
"See ya then."
With that, they both hung up.
"What have I gotten myself into," she asked her room, aloud.
It had been months since Kate had revealed Gordo's feelings for her. And once Lizzie's eyes had been opened, there had been no stopping all the signs she realized that he had been sending her. She'd wondered how she'd missed them all.
Yet.
Yet in Rome, things had changed. Suddenly, the nervous smiles, the staring looks… had disappeared. It was as if whatever feelings he'd had for her had been flicked off by a switch or something.
And she was suddenly very aware of how she ached for them.
It was this revelation that she'd had on the plane home, as she'd watched him sleep. When no one was looking, she'd brushed a lock of his curls away from his eyes, and found herself caught up in the feeling of her finger against his forehead. And ignoring every thought in her head that seemed to shriek of how crazy the idea was, her heart sang a different tune. A tune that sounded suspiciously like, "You're in love with him."
With a smothered sign, she grabbed some clothes from her closet and raced to the shower before Matt would wake up and take over the bathroom.
"Lizzie," called Mr. McGuire from downstairs about 40 minutes later, "Gordon's here."
"Just a minute, dad!" Frowning, she stared at her appearance in the mirror with a critical eye. 'Not hideous,' she finally decided. She was reminded of a similar conversation with her sitting in this very spot, not too long ago.
-FLASHBACK-
"I'm… decent looking," she said, rather pitifully examining her reflection.
"You're very pretty," Gordo replied from her bed.
For whatever reason, her heart skipped a bit.
-END OF FLASHBACK-
Now she smiled at the memory and got to her feet.
"Hey, Gordo," she said, getting to the bottom of the steps.
"Hey."
None of her family was around.
"They all went to the store, I think," Gordo informed her, reading her mind.
"So, what do you want to do?" she asked.
"Want to go to the lake?"
She and Gordo at, in her opinion, one of the most romantic places in Hillridge? Probably not a good idea. She had a tendency to get caught up in a moment. What if she blabbed her feelings?
"Sure," she readily agreed.
*Good job, McGuire.*
"Can I use your phone," he asked. "I can call my parents and they can drive us."
"Sure." She tossed him the cordless and left him to talk.
'You,' she thought to herself, 'are SUCH a loser.'
Gordo appeared at that moment. "They said that's fine. Want to grab some bread to feed the ducks?"
Bowing her head sheepishly, she nodded. Gordo was one of the few people in the world that knew how incredibly guilty she always felt, going to the lake with food for herself but nothing for the ducks.
Doing so, between the two of them, they made a picnic and waited outside for his parents to arrive. In the silence, the sun warmed her bare arms and, knowing it was nothing but trouble, she glanced at Gordo. His eyes were trained to the road and it took him a full minute to realize that she was staring at him.
"What," he asked, shifting his gaze to where his eyes were now meeting hers.
Her heart flipped over in her stomach. "I just… I was wondering what you were thinking."
He grinned. "I guess I was thinking about us."
*Us?*
"Us?"
"You know. Everything we've been through. Like the whole Monte Carlo thing we pulled last year. And tie dying your sheets. And when you tried to change who you were to impress Ethan. And the murder mystery party."
"The murder mystery party," she repeated after a second.
"That was fun," he continued.
"Yes it was. You were impressive."
He seemed to be staring into the past. "I don't know what was wrong with me that night."
*You liked me, you idiot.*
"You just…wanted to win."
He looked down at his hands. "That I did."
*And you know why, too. Don't act innocent with me, buddy.*
With that, the Gordon's car pulled into the driveway, and the pair got to their feet.
*This has trouble written ALL over it."