Hi! I'm baaa-aaack! Writing Lizzie McGuire fanfiction once again, and it feels so good.

There have been quite a few changes in my life since I was last here, the most notable being that I have hooked up with fellow LM FF writer Dr. Strange and moved to another state in order to be with him (as well as to escape Hurricane Country!). So I now have a new love, a new job and a new home. All is well, and now that my life is more settled, I hope to once again be able to indulge my creative spirit, churning out fanfiction for your delight, as well as my own.

I have extensive notes for a story tentatively called Parker's Revenge, which will fit into my Gordo series, but before I go there, I wanted to get my feet wet with a one-shot. However, as I am almost incapable of completing a story within a single chapter, this "one-shot" has turned into four chapters. But it's all sweetness, and I hope you enjoy it.

You know the drill: I own a Saturn, two adorable cats, and a pull-string Pee Wee doll that laughs obnoxiously and says "I meant to do that!" but I don't own anything from Lizzie McGuire, except the boxed set of the first 22 episodes.

Enjoy.

"Lizzie?…Lizzie McGuire?"

Liz lurched forward on the tall cracked curb, almost toppling into the busy New York City street. The childish gasp that escaped her glossy lips was worthy of the name she had clearly heard uttered above the urban din.

Lizzie. Lizzie? How long had it been since anyone had called her "Lizzie"? She felt like she was fourteen again. And so, as curious as she was to see who might be calling out that name, she felt equally as flustered.

David Gordon stood at the back of the crowd that was attempting to cross Madison Avenue and East 33rd Street. At this moment he could only see her long silky blonde hair, hanging halfway down her back, now somehow even brighter than he remembered. He had only caught a glimpse of her face, and in one uncharacteristically reckless moment, called out her name. Now he waited, biting his lip, wondering if she would turn, half-hoping she would, and yet half-dreading the same.

The traffic light changed, the crowd pulled forward, and David was taken along for the ride. Taken along, that is, until a moment later he found himself face to face with the most beautiful girl he had ever known. Lizzie McGuire. Yep. This was her. No doubt about it. She was older, prettier, her lashes long, her lips looking so kissable. He knew his mouth hung open and he had no words. Someone pushed him from behind, and as he swayed forward into Lizzie, his hands instinctively reached out to grab hers, to keep her from falling off the curb.

Liz gasped again. For a moment her mind reeled, trying to place this face. It was like the face of a boy she used to know…. like this boy, and yet not quite. The boy she had known was much younger, and nowhere near as tall. And that boy had never looked so…so….what was that look in his face? She wondered.

"Gordo?" she squeaked out.

Slowly David began to smile, the left side of his face first, followed quickly by the right. If that look in his face had been worry, anxiety, or sadness, now it was gone. Liz smiled too, squeezed his hands, and brought him in close for a hug.

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "Gordo! I can't believe it's you! Never in a million years did I think I would ever see you again! What are you doing here?"

"I… uh….live here," David answered simply, taking in a deep whiff of her perfume. "NYU, remember? Or maybe you didn't know…?"

"No! I knew. Of course I knew."

"Well, we didn't talk much those last few years of high school, Lizzie, so I wasn't sure---"

"No, no," Liz insisted. "Of course I knew. Everyone was talking about it, about your fabulous scholarship. How could I not know? You were absolutely the smartest kid in our graduating class, Gordo. Well, you or Tudgeman, of course."

David laughed lightly. "Ha, ha. Yeah….Tudgeman…."

"So I knew you were here," Liz went on, "only I just kind of….well, I wasn't thinking….I mean, I've been so….so busy and all, you know…."

"Yes, I know," David said. "I see your face everywhere I go, all the billboards, all the magazines. You're doing very well for yourself."

Lizzie "pshaw-ed."

"Modeling," she said disdainfully. "It pays the bills, I guess. But I won't be young forever. I mean, for Heaven's sake, I'm nearly twenty three, I don't know how much longer---"

"Lizzie," David said, pulling in a deep breath, "you always were, and always will be, the most beautiful girl I've ever laid eyes on. Even when you're eighty. I'm sure of it."

At this point Liz did fall off the curb, and David pulled her back. Regaining her balance, she looked at him, feeling strange. "Gordo…" she said in wonder. He had never said anything like that to her before. She had no idea….

David grinned sheepishly. "Gordo," he repeated with a smirk. "Do you know how long it's been since anyone's called me that?"

"Gordo," Lizzie repeated, grinning and teasing him. "Gordo…Gordo…Do you know how long it's been since anyone's called me Lizzie?"

They were both feeling a bit silly, and then suddenly both extremely aware that they were still holding hands, standing on this curb, as a crowd of people passed by.

"I…uh…." David stammered.

"Yeah, I know," Lizzie agreed absently.

"I think we should….you know…."

"Move?" Lizzie suggested, as a new crowd of potential street-crossers began to build around them.

"At the very least," David agreed. "Though I was thinking more along the lines of…"

He took a deep breath. He wanted to say something, but he was afraid. He felt once again like the foolish boy he had been in high school, so enamored of this beautiful young woman, and yet so afraid to say anything for fear of utter rejection.

"Along the lines of what?" Liz asked, hopefully.

"You know…well…" he began, feeling his hands begin to sweat in hers. "You…uh….mentioned Tudgeman, and I was wondering if you might know anything about how he's doing. And Ethan, and Danny, and Kim and Veruca and….well, I mean, you've been living out there in California these last four years, while I've been here, so I was hoping you might have some word about how everyone's doing---"

"And I want to know about Miranda!" Liz said suddenly, brightly. "You did date Miranda for a while, didn't you? Do you still keep in touch?"

"Occasionally," David admitted.

"So you know things I want to know," Liz reasoned, "and I know things you want to know. So it would be a good idea, don't you think, for the two of us to sit down together for a while and do some catching up?"

"I was….Yes!" David agreed heartily, with a great sigh of relief. "Exactly what I was thinking."

"When?" Liz asked.

David wet his lips, a lump forming in his throat. He had gotten this far. This was unbelievable. He was standing on the corner, holding hands with Lizzie McGuire, his persistent fantasy these last ten years, and she was suggesting they get together. He decided he was going to go for the gold.

"Dinner?" he suggested, boldly. "Tonight?"

As the face of his dreamgirl fell, so did his own. "Oh!" Liz exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, I can't. You see, I'm in town to meet with this producer tonight."

"I understand," David said, feeling his hands begin to get clammy in hers.

"It's Alex Paige, you know, he's a very big deal record producer, though why he can't be out on the West Coast with all the other record producers, I have no idea. Anyway, my agent pulled some strings, sent in this demo we made, and I actually have a meeting with him! You don't know what a big break this could be for me! You see, I don't want to be just a model forever, just another pretty face. I'm hoping to jumpstart a singing career."

"I understand," David repeated, freeing his hands from Liz's. "And I'm sure you'll be great at it. Good luck with that, Lizzie. It was nice seeing---"

"Wait!" Liz called, as David stepped off the curb, ready to allow himself to get caught up in the churning wave of humanity making its way from one side of the street to the other.

"Wait!" Liz repeated, almost frantically, and he turned and looked up at her.

"What are you doing now?" Liz asked.

"Now?" he questioned.

"This moment, I mean. In the next hour or so."

David took a deep breath. "I…uh….well, I was on my way to the library to do some research on my---"

"Can it wait?" Liz asked. "Can you do it later?"

"I…I…"

"Can you come out with me now? Would you like to….I don't know, go somewhere and get a cup of coffee? Can you do that, Gordo? Would you?"

"I…I guess I could make some time," David said, once again grinning from left to right.

Liz smiled as she stepped down into the street next to him, taking his arm.

"Good," she said with a slight wrinkle of her nose as at last they began to cross the street together. "You and I have lots of catching up to do, don't we?"

Next chapter: Lizzie's Confession