Love Lifts Us Up (To Where We Belong)

Summary- One-shot. When Lizzie and Gordo are stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel, true feelings are discovered. L/G.

A/N: I'd like to dedicate this story to my fifth grade teacher from last year, Mrs. Sue Stan, because she's the only one who thought I could actually get anywhere with my writing, and without her encouragement, I wouldn't been writing fanfiction or even my fiction story 'The Mystery of the Sorry Screamer'.

Well, in the meantime, have fun reading this!

***

Lizzie's POV

"Please?" I begged. "Please? It'll be so much fun!"

"No way." Gordo glanced at the immense figure of the Ferris wheel and flinched. "What if we get stuck?"

I scoffed. "What are the chances of *that*?" I rolled my eyes and grabbed his arm and started dragging him toward the ride.

We were at the Navy Pier in Chicago during spring break. Dad had a business trip, and he had let me bring Gordo, so here we were, in line for the largest Ferris wheel. And surprisingly, even though he wasn't afraid of heights or anything, Gordo was flipping out.

"It goes really slow." I promised. "Look at it!"

I was right. It was barely moving, just inching along slowly, and so if you were on it, you would probably not even notice you were moving. But that didn't lure Gordo. He was still looking at it doubtfully, as if it were some huge green monster waiting to eat him up.

"Oh, come on, you big baby." Matt rolled his eyes as he cut us both in line.

Gordo's eyes narrowed into little slits and he glared at Matt and got in front of him. "I'm going on, don't worry." He assured.

"Hey! No cuts, no buts, no coconuts!" Matt exclaimed, but let us be ahead of him anyway.

Gordo looked at me. "But you have to sit with me, okay?"

"Awwww, is little Gordie scared?" I teased.

"No!" He protested.

The line was growing shorter and shorter, and even I felt sort of queasy. It *was* big. I looked at him smugly.

"Yeah, sort of."

I giggled. "Me too." I admitted, tossing my hair over my shoulder.

***

Gordo's POV

A shiver went up my spine as Lizzie flipped her hair over her shoulder. The sun hit it just right, and from where I was standing, she looked like and angel. Oh heck, she looked like an angel all the time, no matter *where* I was standing.

*"Gordo..."* I heard her whisper into my ear. *"Gordo... I love you."*

"What?" I asked softly and dreamily, into space.

"Gordo! Get on!" I heard her snap. "They're gonna switch without you!"

I snapped out of my daydream and climbed onto the platform, eyeing the Ferris wheel suspiciously. I sat down next to Lizzie, and then the Ferris wheel jolted and we were starting to go up.

I couldn't take my eyes off her.

She was giggling like crazy for no apparent reason. She was giggling so hard she fell onto my shoulder, and I don't know if she felt it, but her forehead brushed against my cheek. I shivered and pressed my lips together.

"What's wrong, Gordo?" She said, catching her breath and looking at me with a great amount of concern.

"Nothing." I said through my clenched teeth.

She smiled, and pointed out the little box that was carrying us higher and higher. "Look at that! Isn't that really pretty?" Her eyes shimmered at she stared at Lake Michigan dreamily.

"Yeah, yeah... it is." I said, unclenching my fists.

Lizzie smacked my head. "Gordo, no need to be all tense... this is fun, right?"

I smiled. "Sure."

We went higher, and it took all my might to not kiss her. I couldn't even look at her, or thoughts filled my head and I froze. But there she was, next to me, laughing and pointing everything out, not even six inches away. Our legs were touching, and every now and then she'd put her fingers on my cheeks and stretch them until I smiled. By the time we got halfway up, we were laughing our brains out.

"Oh, my gosh, Gordo, look at that!" She smiled and pointed at the city.

"Wow! That looks so cool!"

"It's so small!"

"It looks so beautiful." I said softly, staring right at Lizzie.

"Yeah," She said. "It does."

There was a long pause after that, and after ten seconds of silence, we both busted up. At the same time. We were so synchronized that it scared me. We continued to point and giggle and I was about to point out that one of the umbrellas looked like a thumb tack from up here when the Ferris wheel stopped.

Just suddenly it stopped moving, without warning. Jolted, and stopped. Just like that. At first I thought someone was having trouble getting on, but after we didn't move for a while, I got suspicious. So did Lizzie.

"What's going on?" She asked nervously, looking down. "This isn't funny."

"L-Lizzie?" I asked, gulping.

"Yeah?"

"Isn't it ironic that we get jammed on peak of a Ferris wheel when you significantly stated to me that we wouldn't?" I whispered.

"Gordo! You're nervous! Stop using big words!" Lizzie looked around. "We aren't moving!"

"Lizzie, we are stuck on top of the Ferris wheel!" I yelled practically in her ear.

She jumped, and the little cradle rocked a little, which freaked me out a little more. "Oh, my god, are you sure?" She said, biting her fingernails.

"May we have your attention please?" A voice bellowed over the PA system.

Lizzie took in a deep breath.

"We are sorry. We are having some technical difficulties with the Ferris wheel at this point. Please do not panic; we will have everything fixed soon."

I looked at her knowingly. "Does *that* answer your question?"

Her eyes froze in panic, and she clutched my arm. "Gordo, I'm scared." She whispered.

Yeah, so was I. Here was my best friend, the one I had a massive crush on, gripping my arm and breathing down my neck, telling me that being stuck on top of a Ferris wheel frightened her. What was I to do? Tell her, "Oh, yeah, I know, this stinks. And by the way, I love you."

I did the only thing I could do. I pulled her closer (if that was even possible) and stroked her hair. "It's okay, Lizzie. They said we'll be okay."

She was shaking now. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but she clamped it shut and snuggled into me.

"Lizzie, are you afraid of heights?"

She looked up. "Kin-da." She whispered, looking right into my eyes.

"Me too." I chuckled nervously, and looked away from her hypnotizing sea- colored eyes.

"Gordo, do you think we'll die?"

I rolled my eyes. "Probably not."

"*Probably* not?" She looked at me, horrified. "What do you mean, probably?"

"I mean, no! Why would we die?"

"'Cause they might not be able to fix this thing, and then it would tip over, killing all of us!" Lizzie let go of my arm and flailed her arms all over the place. "Help! Help!"

I grabbed her hand and a shock ran down my nerves as she set her arms down. "At least we'd get killed together." I said, not thinking of what I was doing.

I was stuck at the top of a Ferris wheel, holding her hand, and flirting with her.

"What?" She said, letting go of my hand. "What does that mean?"

"It means..." Yeah, Gordork, what *does* it mean? It means I want to be with her for all eternity, dead or alive but I can't tell her that! "Um... It means, it means... we'll be friends forever."

***

Lizzie's POV

My smile drooped.

Friends forever?

Didn't that mean that there was absolutely NO chance of us being *more* than just friends?

It felt really nice, being with Gordo alone up here, even though we were stuck on top of a Ferris wheel. It was just a little quirk in being with him. And although my mind had denied several times that I couldn't like my best friend... I did.

"Yeah." I sighed. "Friends forever."

That statement was followed by a long silence. It was broken when the wheel jolted forward, swinging me and Gordo back and forth. I whimpered, and Gordo put a hand on my shoulder. At first I could've sworn it was the wind, but then I noticed something. No one was fixing this ride. They had told us to not panic, and that it'd be fixed soon, but no one was actually DOING anything. Everyone was scattered around, acting as if the Ferris wheel didn't exist.

"Gordo..." I said, pointing.

He glanced down. "What?"

"Did you notice that no one's trying to fix this thing?"

"No one?"

"Yup."

"How do you know that?"

"Look and see for yourself."

He studied the ground for a while, and then turned back to me with a horror- stricken look. "No..."

"Gordo, I'm really scared." I said, my voice breaking, as I squeezed in tears. "What if they forget about us?"

"Oh, Lizzie, It'll be okay..." He put his arms around my shoulders and hugged me. "I've got your back."

Now it feels so good like that, him whispering in my ear and hugging me, but I pulled back. I took one look at him, and the ground, and started crying. Hard. Wailing. Screaming. But Gordo took it. He just silently wrapped his arms around me once more and tried to coax me into becoming calm. By the time I stopped, Gordo's sweatshirt was wet. And although he was stroking my hair gently, it didn't make me feel any better.

"Hey, shhh, Lizzie." He whispers. "It'll be just fine."

"How do you know?" I said, dying my tears with the back of my hands.

"I just do. Isn't that good enough?"

"No."

"Lizzie, this is me we're talking about. Aren't I usually right?"

"Yes."

"So I'm right now."

"I guess."

"So we'll be just fine. It's just a stupid-"

The Ferris wheel shook harshly, flinging us onto the floor. I landed back- flat on the floor, and Gordo fell on top of me. If we were so scared, it would have been romantic.

Actually, it was sort of romantic right now.

Really romantic.

"Heh-heh." Gordo chuckled nervously, struggling to get off of me.

I chuckled along with him, breaking the romantic tension-a little.

We didn't move for a few seconds and I couldn't help that I liked this position a little. But then I coughed and he started getting up, muttering 'sorry' a million times.

Once we were both positioned in our seats once again, I asked, "Truth or Dare?"

His eyebrows shot up. "I hate this game."

"Well, it's the only thing we have right now."

He scoffed, then sighed. "Okay... truth."

I pretended to make a face. "You're no fun. Okay... So, if we were to die right now, what is the one thing you would say to me?"

***

Gordo's POV

I froze.

Well, of course I knew what I was going to say. It was just that I didn't want Lizzie to hear it.

"Um... can I pick dare?"

She put her hands on her hips (if that's even possible to do in a cart). "No."

"But Lizzie, I can't answer that!"

"Oh, yes you can."

"NO, I can't!"

"Fine." She crossed her arms. "I'm not speaking to you then."

"Lizzie, I love you!" I whispered, but then the PA system overlapped what I was saying.

"We are sorry, but we have not succeeded to repair the technical difficulties. Please do not worry. We will have the problem fixed soon."

"What was that?" She asked, looking me straight in the eye.

"Um... I said that I want to skip my turn."

She sighed. "Fine..."

"So, Lizzie, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Who do you like?"

"That is such a second-grade question."

"I didn't ask for comments. Now, answer the question!"

"Well, normally I'd say Ethan Craft, but since, it's *you*, I'll tell you a little secret." She said, motioning for me to get closer to her.

"What?"

"Well, it's just that..." She took a deep breath and started whispering. "It's just that I have this friend. And he's just... you know... amazing. He's nice, cute, sweet, and funny. He's always there for me... and I think I like him more than I like Ethan."

My heart sank. More than Ethan? That was uncalled for. "So... do I know him?" I asked, trying not to sound too disappointed.

"Yeah, sort of... in a way..."

"Is it Larry?"

Lizzie looked at me, aghast. "Larry!? No way! Are you insane? When pigs fly! Larry Tudgeman and I will never, and I repeat, NEVER be together as one. Got it?"

I nodded, bobbing my head up and down with every word.

"... but he's so dreamy, and I can't stop thinking about him! And every time I look into his eyes, I feel like I just... belong. I know it sounds crazy, but I think I really like him."

I smiled weakly, totally covering up my grief and sorrow. "Yeah, well, I like this girl, too. Becca. She's truly something. She just blows me away... but she's too busy obsessing over other guys to even glance at me." So I had lied about the name.

Lizzie's expression softened. "Oh, my god, where is she? I'm going to go beat her up right this instant! No one ignores my Gordo!"

'No one?' I thought. 'Does no one include you?'

"Does no one include you?" I mumbled, silently wiping away a tear.

Lizzie's twirled around. "What did you just say?" She asked.

"Noth-"

"David Zephyr Gordon, are you saying I ignore you?"

"Yeah." I whispered, which sounded odd over the contrast of our voices.

"I do?" She looked at me with a painful look and stroked my cheek. "When?"

I shivered as one of her fingers brushed against my lip. "Every day." I whispered.

Every hour, every moment, every minute, every second... Lizzie didn't even know I existed.

"I... I... I'm so sorry, Gordo." She said quietly. "I never meant to."

"I know you didn't." I frowned and looked out the window.

"I'm scared."

She rested her head on my shoulder and I smiled at her. For a minute I almost forgot that she wasn't my girlfriend. After all the fantasies, after all the dreams... after all the tears wasted on her, I was so used to feeling as if she *were* my girlfriend. This was no exception. I gazed at her wistfully, examining each and every curve and color of her face.

I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to me, so close that our noses were only three inches apart. Our eyes locked, and she stared at me intently. I want to kiss her, right then and there, but something inside made me hold back.

I moved away, and started looking out the window as if a lake and a pier were the most interesting things in this world. And in the middle of my fascinating glaring, Lizzie started crying again. I glanced at her and she sniffled.

"Sorry." She said, smiling weakly.

I took one look at her miserable tear-stained face, and I swear I have no idea what possessed me to do this, but I kissed her.

***

Lizzie's POV

It was so sudden. He just cupped my chin in his hands and kissed me. It wasn't long, it wasn't deep, but it was full of passion. And it felt good. His lips touching mine was so spontaneous that I couldn't let go.

But he eventually pulled away. Now, if I wasn't stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel, I'd probably blush then run away. But I was. So I just stared at him silently. He was red as an apple, but stared at me back.

I knew I liked him, but I didn't realize how MUCH until then. Kissing him was actually-do I dare say it?-fun.

And when he smiled at me, I couldn't help but want more.

I licked my lips. I put a hand on his cheek and leaned forward until our lips were once again touching. He seemed so shocked that at first he didn't kiss back. But then he caught on and he kissed me. His lips were so tender, and he kissed me so calmly that it made it ten times better.

And that is when I figured it out. I was Becca, the girl Gordo was talking about. He liked *me*. ME... Lizzie McGuire.

And so there we were, kissing each other, when the Ferris wheel jolted again, and we started moving downward. It was fixed!

Gordo and I broke apart unintentionally. I grinned at him and asked, breaking the five minute silence;

"So, did you plan to do that?"

His jaw dropped. "Yeah, Lizzie, this morning when I got up, the first thing I thought was 'I'm going to kiss Lizzie on the Ferris wheel when we get stuck today'." He said sarcastically.

I smiled. "Did you, you know... like it?"

"Um..." He flushed twenty shades of pink. "...kinda." He glanced at me. "You?"

"Kinda..." I smiled, and we rode all the way down in silence, smiling at each other.

THE END