This is going to be my last Lizzie McGuire update for awhile. I'm going to take a little break because I need to recharge and I also want to focus on getting my Harry Potter story done. I'm still going to write another chapter for Looking Back but I'm not sure when I'll actually get to it. I'll still be around reading and reviewing, and you can also catch me on my LiveJournal (in my profile).

A/N – "Thoughts"

Part 6 – What Lies Ahead?

Gordo sat quietly in the cab as it drove from the hotel to the airport. The final few days in Rome had been awkward to say the least. Lizzie had spent most of the final days bunkered down in her mother's room as Miranda and Gordo would spend time in the neighborhood around the hotel. The few times Miranda and Lizzie were together, the tension was so thick that nobody was comfortable. Lizzie was depressed and Miranda was agitated, sticking Gordo in the middle.

Lizzie had been reluctant to go with them to the airport, but Mrs. McGuire had convinced her that she'd regret not saying goodbye. When they saw each other, Miranda and Lizzie barely acknowledge each other and in the cab. Miranda had taken the front seat, while Mrs. McGuire sat in between Lizzie and Gordo in the backseat.

As they drove, Gordo stared out the window, wondering what the hell had happened to him. His best friend was avoiding him and while things with his girlfriend, "Well, technically she's my girlfriend again," were better than they had been, but he still felt like he was walking on eggshells. As much as he cared for Lizzie, Gordo was looking forward to going home.

Pulling up in front of the airport, the driver got out and put their bags on a cart. As Gordo was helping the driver, Miranda was standing on the curb, looking like she couldn't wait to board the plane. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Lizzie glancing at her every few seconds. "Please let them get those stupid suitcases on the cart, so we can get the hell away from her."

She almost got her wish. When they finished, the driver got back into his cab to wait for Lizzie and Mrs. McGuire for the trip back. As Gordo was saying goodbye to Mrs. McGuire, Lizzie tentatively approached Miranda.

"Hi," Lizzie said softly.

Miranda glared at her for a second before quickly looking away.

Lizzie took a deep breath and pressed on, "I hope you had a nice time," she said weakly and Miranda barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I'm glad you came," Lizzie tried again, to which Miranda scoffed and glared dangerously at her.

Lizzie sighed softly, knowing she was trying to fight a hopeless battle. She had screwed up royally; in her single mindedness to win Gordo back, she had almost completely destroyed the friendship with one of her closest friends. "I'm sorry Mir, I didn't think," she started to apologize but Miranda cut her off.

"You're right, you didn't think. You didn't give a damn about me; the only thing you cared about was what you wanted." Miranda folded her arms across her chest as she continued, "You think you can simply apologize and everything will be alright. It's not going to work this time." Taking a step forward, Miranda used their height difference as a way to intimidate her. "The only reason I don't kick your ass is cause you were once my best friend and David, for some reason, still cares about you."

Lizzie swallowed hard as she tried not to show that she was intimidated. "Once?"

Miranda gave her a harsh, sarcastic laugh. "You honestly think I'd trust you again enough to still be my best friend?"

Tugging at the hem of her shirt, Lizzie tried to pull herself together. "Do you think we could ever be just friends again?"

This time it was Miranda who sighed softly, and for a brief moment, the anger disappeared from her face, "I don't know." Running a hand though her hair, she looked away for a moment. "I am angry at her but it would be weird to just have her cut out of my life completely." Continuing to play with her hair, she slowly looked back at Lizzie, "Maybe. I don't know." Dropping her hand, "I can't answer that right now. Maybe someday, when things aren't as…strained."

"Oh," Lizzie said softly under her breath, "Fair enough."

"Everything alright girls?" Mrs. McGuire asked warily.

"Yea," Lizzie answered as Miranda just nodded. "I'm going to go say bye to Gordo," Lizzie said as she turned and walked away. Miranda watched her and could tell she had dealt a heavy blow to Lizzie, like she had wanted to since the beginning of the trip. Now, though, it wasn't as satisfying as she thought it would be.

Gordo was leaning against the luggage cart and watched Lizzie slowly approach. She tried to give him a weak smile, to which he grinned back, but he could tell that she was hurting. "At the very least, it's been interesting," Gordo joked.

She gave him a tired laugh. "I'm gonna miss you, Gordo."

"I'm going to miss you too, Liz," he said as he hugged her. Looking over Lizzie's shoulder, Gordo saw Miranda trying not to be obvious about watching them, but as she was half listening to Mrs. McGuire, she constantly was glancing over at them.

Pulling back, Gordo looked at Lizzie and told her, "Things will work out. Eventually, you two will be talking about all that girlie crap again, instead of annoying me with it."

She forced herself to grin at him, "Maybe, but things will never be the same."

Gordo shrugged, "Life never stays the same. Children grow up and chase their dreams."

"I hate it when you get philosophical," Lizzie said sarcastically and Gordo snickered. "Enough about me and Miranda," Lizzie took a deep breath and then said, "I want to know about us. Are we going to be ok?"

"We will be," Gordo told her, "We've been friends since we were babies and I'm not ready to throw that away. As long as you know that nothing is going to happen between us right now. I love Miranda and I don't want to hurt her anymore."

Trying to swallow her pride and hurt, Lizzie said, "I get you. It won't change how I feel but…I'm willing to live with it; you're too much of my life to not have you with me." Lizzie hugged him once more. "I'm gonna miss you, Gordo," she told him, her voice cracking a little as she tried not to cry.

"Haven't we been though this already?" he teased back. "But I'm gonna miss you too. Are you going to be back in the States any time soon?"

"I'm trying to arrange it so I can come back for Christmas."

"Cool," Gordo smiled at her, "Be careful. I can't exactly save your butt an ocean away," he teased.

Lizzie let out the first real laugh she had in days, "You too. I can't exactly mediate any fights between you two anymore." The two friends smiled at each other and hugged once again before parting. "Bye, Gordo," she said softly and waved at him.

"Bye, Liz."

As Miranda and Gordo, who was pushing the luggage cart to the check-in counter, walked away, Mrs. McGuire walked over to her daughter. "You ok, baby?" she asked in a motherly tone.

Wiping away a few stray tears, "Yea," she said as she watched her friends disappear inside the airport. "I'm gonna miss them but I'm going to be ok."

A few hours later, with their plane somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, Gordo was growing restless. He was getting bored with the in-flight movie and a little cramped from the uncomfortable seats. As he tried to get comfortable, he casually looked over at Miranda sitting next to him. She starred blankly out the window, absentmindedly biting her fingernails. He knew that when she was agitated about something, she had the nervous habit many did of biting their nails.

Gordo grabbed her hand and pulled it away from her mouth. "You going to talk to me or chew away the last of your nails and then complain about them two days later?" he asked sarcastically.

Miranda stayed quiet for a moment, continuing to stare out the window as Gordo held her hand. "Randi," Gordo said softly as he leaned forward for a better look at her face.

As she slowly looked away from the window and at Gordo, a soft sigh escaped from her lips. "It's just sorta sinking in, everything that's happened. I can't believe I lost my best friend."

"You didn't lose her," Gordo start to tell her again, trying to make her feel better but Miranda cut him off.

"Yes I did," she said. "We may be friends again, we may even be good friends again, but we'll…never be that close again. I can't trust her like I used to, this…just cuts too deep. I guess girls are just closer than boys." Miranda looked away from Gordo to the back of the seat in front of her as a sad smile crossed her face. "When we were younger, we made up this secret club, just the two of us. We made up our sayings, spend hours just doing the strangest stuff, but we thought it was cool." She then started laughing a little. "We must've been eight or nine when we created our own code and then like three months later we lost the key. Couldn't figure out half the stuff we wrote, and we created the code." She quickly sobered and bit the inside of her cheek as she tried not to cry as she continued to reminisce.

Gordo felt for her and tried again to cheer her up. Grinning at her, "So you have been keeping stuff from me?" he said sarcastically. Miranda tried hard to not smile but glancing at Gordo, she lost it and her lips twitched into a smile.

"Like you would've wanted to spend hours every day after school planning you're dream wedding to Josh Hartnett," she shot back. Miranda leaned into him as she they started laughing a little, ignoring the weird, curious looks from their neighboring passengers.

Settling down after a few seconds, Miranda kissed Gordo's cheek. "Thanks."

"Anytime, beautiful."

"David," she said softly as she sat back up in her seat, "Things will get better? Right?"

Gordo nodded slowly. "We'll get home, sort some stuff out, and then we can have a secret meeting where you tell me all about our dream wedding."

Miranda snorted and backhanded Gordo, "You wish." Finally starting to relax a little, and as the knot in her stomach slowly untwisted, she felt the exhaustion from the past few weeks catch up to her. After a large yawn, she shifted in her seat and rested her head against Gordo's shoulder.

"So I'm your pillow now?" he joked as Miranda closed her eyes.

Simply mumbling, "Mmmhmm," Miranda fell into a light sleep.

Gordo just snickered and rolled his eyes as he watched her sleep for a moment before turning his attention back to the in-flight movie. As he stared at the screen, not really watching the movie, he started to think, "Things will get better? Right?" he asked himself, repeating Miranda's question from moments earlier. Glancing down at the sleeping girl against him, a small smile creped on his face and he shifted a little so he could wrap his arm around her chest. "Yeah, they will," he thought, "It's time to let go of the past and move on."