DISCLAIMER: I don't own Lizzie, Gordo, Miranda, or any other LM characters mentioned. I own Cody and Denise, though! Woohoo! Oh, I don't own the song, either. . .

You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This

"Miranda! What am I going to do? Prom is tomorrow night, and I STILL don't have a date!" Lizzie McGuire whined into the phone.

"Chill, Lizzie. What about Cody?"

"Cody's going with Denise." Lizzie said bitterly. She'd dated Cody Wiler for a couple weeks during junior year, but they'd broken it off and decided to be friends instead.

"Somebody's not happy about that," Miranda remarked.

"It's not that, Miranda. Nothing to do with Cody or Denise. I just, I'm in a bad mood because there's like NO ONE who still doesn't have a date, besides me," Lizzie lamented. She blew a lock of blonde hair out of her eyes and flopped down on her bed.

"There's always Tudgeman."

"MIRANDA!" Lizzie was horrified with even the mere idea. Larry Tudgeman was still the same strange person he'd been in middle school, worse in fact, if that was possible. "Besides, Tudgeman's already got a date. I already asked him." Lizzie hoped Miranda could keep that one a secret.

"Tudge has a date? You're kidding me. Who in their right mind. . .?" Miranda trailed off.

"That's pretty much what I said, too. But at any rate. . . even Larry has a date. That leaves me with nothing."

Miranda was silent for a moment, then spoke carefully.

"Well, there's always Gordo. . ." she suggested.

Lizzie hadn't thought of that. Gordo had said he didn't have a date, and they were good friends, that would be perfect. No worrying about whether her date would kiss her, and if he did, would he think she was a bad kisser. No worrying about her date thinking she was weird. No worrying about. . . anything.

"Miranda! That's a great idea! Why didn't you think of this before?" Lizzie exclaimed, jumping back up off the bed.

"I don't know. Why don't you call him and find out if he's game?" Miranda asked. Lizzie agreed to do just that, and got off the phone with Miranda. She eagerly dialed Gordo's phone number, then wondered why she felt the dire need to call him so quickly.

"Hello?" Gordo's voice came over the phone.

"Gordo! Hey, it's me. Listen, I have an idea. . . why don't you and I go to Prom together?" Lizzie suggested.

"Lizzie. . . I-"

"Oh, no! You already have a date. . ." Lizzie was surprised at that weird feeling of hurt that came over her. It was just Gordo, why did it feel like her heart had suddenly been stepped all over?

"No, no I don't! You didn't let me finish. I was going to say, I think that sounds like a great idea, McGuire. Don't jump to conclusions, Miss Impatient," Gordo joked.

"Oh! Sorry. . . thanks, Gordo! This is going to be fun! We won't have to be nervous, we can just relax and have fun!" Lizzie's excited squeal made Gordo wince and pull the phone away from his ear for a second.

"My ear, McGuire. I think you bruised my eardrum," Gordo said dryly.

"Sorry! Anyway, so what time should we leave tomorrow night? What color is your tux? You do have comfortable shoes, right?" Lizzie fired questions at him so fast he swore his head was rotating on his neck.

"Lizzie! Calm down! The limo is picking us up from Miranda's house at 5:30, remember? My tux is all black, and yes, I have comfortable shoes." Gordo let out an exasperated sigh.

"Alright. Well, I have to go, Gordo, mom wants me to help make dinner. Actually, hang on a second." He heard the phone drop on her desk, she hadn't even given him a second to respond. She came back a couple minutes later. "Would you like to come over for dinner?" she asked.

"Sure, if my parents don't mind. I'll call if I can't. Otherwise I'll be over in about ten minutes."

"Okay, see ya in a while!" Lizzie chirped, then hung up the phone and hurried back downstairs. Her mom was making cheeseburgers and curly fries for dinner, and she knew Gordo loved curly fries more than anything.

NEXT DAY

Lizzie's parents had been ecstatic to hear that she was going to Prom with Gordo. He was the only guy they trusted around their daughter. When Gordo arrived the next afternoon to take her to Miranda's house, the McGuire's had their camera set up in the living room and insisted that the two stay for "a few pictures". Jo took what seemed like a hundred photos before Lizzie spoke up.


"Um, mom? Not to be rude or anything, but the limo's picking us up from Miranda's in like twenty minutes, and if we don't leave now, we're going to get left behind."

"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie! Here, one more picture, then you can go. . . Gordo, hold her hand, so I can get her corsage," Jo said, leaning over the camera. Gordo took Lizzie's hand and looked over at the camera. "Is this good?" he asked. Jo peered over the camera and nodded, then looked back into the lens and snapped the picture. Then she hurried over to hug Lizzie and Gordo, and told them to have fun and be careful.

"We will, mom! Do I have a curfew tonight?" Lizzie asked.

"Midnight," her dad said.

"Sam! This is their Prom night!" Jo looked at her husband, then back to her daughter. "Sweetie, just be careful, okay? Come home whenever you want," she continued.

"Thanks, mom!"

"Make sure she stays out of trouble, Gordo!" Sam said, trying his best to sound stern. Gordo smiled. "Not a problem, Mr. McGuire. Lizzie's a good girl," he said, looking over at Lizzie, who stuck her tongue out at him. Jo snapped a picture right at that moment, and Lizzie looked over at her in surprise. "MOM!" she groaned.

"Have fun, kids!" Jo responded, as the two walked out the front door to Gordo's truck.

"Lizzie, tell me I'm not seeing things. . . is Kate dancing with Tudgeman?" Gordo asked, later that evening when they arrived at the Prom.

Lizzie's eyes searched the room, then widened when they landed on Kate and Larry. "You're kidding me. . . KATE is Tudgeman's date?" she squeaked.

"That's what the entire school is saying. Anyway, want to dance?" Gordo asked, offering his hand. Lizzie accepted and they headed out to the dance floor just as Britney Spears and Madonna's song "Me Against The Music" came on.

They danced to several songs, then left the floor to find something to drink. Miranda caught up with them and warned them that someone had spiked the punch, so unless they were planning on getting drunk, they should opt for Coke or water from the little bar set up in the back corner.

"Any clue who did it?" Lizzie asked.

Miranda giggled. "Ethan and his little posse. They're all trashed, rumor has it that he tried to get Kate to give it up to him in the bathroom earlier. Parker said Kate slapped the shit out of him, bruised his cheek and everything. I haven't seen him though, so I don't know if that's true or not."

"Awesome!" Lizzie and Gordo headed back to get some water, then decided to get back out on the dance floor and maybe stumble upon Kate or Ethan. They might be two weeks away from graduating into the real world and adulthood, but no one wanted to resist a little juicy gossip.

Lizzie looked around the dance floor as she danced with Gordo to Clay Aiken's song "Invisible". She hadn't been able to spot Kate or Ethan, and was beginning to wonder if maybe they'd gone back to the bathroom after all. The song ended, and a slow one came on.

Lizzie suddenly became all too aware of the shock of Gordo's hands on her waist. What was she supposed to do? She'd never slow-danced with anyone before. She looked around the room and took notice of what the other couples were doing, before sliding her arms up around his neck and smiling nervously at him.

"Why are you nervous?" Gordo asked quietly.

"I've never slow-danced before!" Lizzie hissed through clenched teeth, hoping she wouldn't step on his toes.

I got a funny feeling

The moment that your lips touched mine

Something shot right through me

My heart skipped a beat in time

Lizzie didn't recognize the song, it was definitely country, but a good song, she thought.

There's a different feeling about you tonight

It's got me thinking lots of crazy things

I even think I saw a flash of light

It felt like electricity

'She's really beautiful. . . God, I wish I could tell her!' Gordo thought, biting his tongue to keep the wrong words from spilling out of his mouth. 'But what if she feels the same? No, she couldn't. Someone so beautiful as Lizzie could never feel that way about you,' he thought.

You shouldn't kiss me like this

Unless you mean it like that

Cause I'll just close my eyes
And I won't know where I'm at

We'll get lost on this dance floor

Spinning around

And around and around and around

They're all watching us now

They think we're falling in love

They'd never believe we're just friends

When you kiss me like this

I think you mean it like that

And if you do, baby kiss me again

Lizzie listened to the words of the song, it was a sweet song, and it was ironic that the guy singing it was singing about two friends dancing together. She giggled to herself as she thought about it. Gordo looked down at her.

"Whatcha laughing about?" he asked.

"This song. . . it's talking about two people dancing, and he mentions they're just friends, I don't know. . . it made me think about me and you," Lizzie replied softly.

Gordo felt his heart skip a beat. Did that mean she felt the way the guy in the song felt? Or did it mean that she looked at him as nothing more than a friend?

Everybody swears we make the perfect pair

But dancing is as far as it goes

Girl you never moved me

Quite the way you move me tonight

I just wanted you to know

I just wanted you to know

He knew that everyone thought they were perfect together, everyone except Lizzie. Lizzie had always been a little naive, sometimes never seeing the complete picture. Was she completely unaware that he was in love with her? Or did she know, and choose to ignore it?

You shouldn't kiss me like this

Unless you mean it like that

Cause I'll just close my eyes

And I won't know where I'm at

We'll get lost on this dance floor

Spinning around

And around and around and around

Gordo was sick of the "voices" in his head arguing back and forth. He decided right there that somehow, tonight was the night he'd tell Lizzie how he felt. He closed his eyes as Lizzie put her head on his shoulder, and smiled to himself. This was how it should always be. He felt her lift her head up again, and opened his eyes to look at her. She smiled up at him, then without warning, stood on her toes and kissed him softly.

He felt his heart rate skyrocket, and it took a couple seconds for the shock to wear off. Before she had a chance to pull away, he kissed her back, praying that she wasn't just caught up in the song.

They're all watching us now
They think we're falling in love
They'll never believe we're just friends

When you kiss me like this

I think you mean it like that

And if you do, baby kiss me again

"Lizzie. . ." Gordo spoke softly, when they separated.

"I'm sorry, Gordo. . . I-"

"Don't be sorry. Please. Tell me that meant something, anything to you. Don't say it was a mistake. . ." Gordo found himself pleading with her.

"They'll never believe we're just friends," Lizzie said, smirking at him.

"I think you mean it like that. . ." Gordo's eyes locked with hers.

"Kiss me again," Lizzie whispered, as he did just that.

A/N: Okay, review time! Good, bad, okay? Let me know what you think! Song credit goes to Toby Keith for his song "You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This". Review, kiddies! Mwuah!

SillyRabbit03