Sivchik- I hope you had as good of a holiday as I had, it is nice to come back and have some of my favorite fictions be updated while I was gone- you probably understand that! Hope the unpacking went better than mine though (I have a HUGE pile of laundry to get through!)

RoxyAnne- thanks, writing in the storyline along with the fluff is harder balance than I thought, so I'm glad you liked it!

RandomBlobOfNothing- Thanks so much for your praise, sorry I wasn't able to update for so long though!

Hermione-Granger17- Wow, thanks so much I'm really glad that you've enjoyed this story so far. I think that the Lizzie McGuire section has been lacking for a while so it's good to hear that. Hope you continue to think so!

Xandy- thanks so much! I get a little too sweet sometimes writing about these two, but they are so cute sometimes I can't stop myself.

popkornchicken- I'm glad you liked the last version of the story- I liked the graveyard scene and all, but I felt like it detracted from the overall flow of the story to have the climax between her and Gordo before they even arrived at Miranda's house. So I decided to just move that scene to later and then I got a much cooler idea instead, so this chapter is what you get. I hope you like it just as much!

mitchel-musso-lver- Miranda and Lizzie, while their friendship still isn't perfect, is definitely on the road to recovery. I'm glad you liked the chapter (I like this chapter much more though!)

budgiefreak- Thanks so much for the praise- I really try to put a TON of description in my stories. I think that is what creates the suspense and the feeling like you are actually there.

Jake- You are right- the last version did have a cemetery scene. However, I decided that there needed to be more interaction with Miranda in this story so I decided to postpone that scene until after they arrive at Mirandas.. and well instead of being at a graveyard they are going to be… well you'll see in this chapter!!

KittyDoggyLover- I hope you made it without me for the past 3 weeks, thanks for sticking with me!

Dario- I'm glad you liked Miranda and Lizzie's friendship- I'm pretty sure they are all good now, it's just Gordo and Lizzie left to be worried about!

Ali oldman- thanks! I based my image of Miranda based on Lalaine's new look after she left Lizzie McGuire.

Juan Pablo- Thanks so much for checking my Spanish for me!! I have been in Costa Rica and Nicaragua for the past three weeks, so you think I'd be better at it by now, but I guess the people I spoke with were very nice about all of my grammar mistakes (that was a general trend I saw while I was down there). Anyway, thanks a bunch!

Note to everyone (and to those who don't review because I still like you!): First off- huge props to Juan Pablo for being my Spanish translator for this chapter! Also, I hope that everyone is still reading this after my huge vacation (the reason why I haven't updated since Dec). Just a general schedule of events: I'm not going to tell you how many chapters are left (I'll leave that a surprise) but this story should be over in the next two weeks. After that, I have a cute fluffy story idea that is already in progress of being written and then another HUGE project that I'm not sure I want to embark on (both would be Lizzie Gordo stories). What do you all think? Either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 11- Salsa Lessons

"Lizzie? Lizzie?" a voice whispered

Lizzie rolled over and with a groan mumbled, "It's too early…"

"It's almost 8 but I have take my cousins to school and be at work in a bit" she heard Miranda's voice from under her blanket. This was a general trend for her for the past 5 days that Lizzie and Gordo had been in Mexico. Miranda would go into work around 8 and Lizzie and Gordo would spend the day hanging out or doing extra chores for Miranda until she got back around 3.

Lizzie rolled the covers back and blinked at Miranda, still trying to wake up. "I'll be back around 2, you guys are welcome to anything you want in the fridge for breakfast and lunch. Oh- and get out your sexiest outfit for tonight" Miranda said, grabbing her brush of her beside table.

"Why?" Lizzie questioned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and sitting up a little in bed.

"Porque vamos a bailar esta noche" Miranda exclaimed, doing a little shake of the hips.

Lizzie squinted at her tying to translate the words she knew in her head, "Yep, see the whole Spanish thing still isn't really coming around for me."

"Because we are going dancing tonight." Miranda smiled and walked to her closet.

"See that makes a whole lot more sense now." Lizzie smiled, "What type of dancing?"

Miranda popped her head out of her closet, a brightly colored t-shirt now on, "Salsa."

"Sounds… exciting." Lizzie commented.

"Trust me chica" Miranda said, glancing at herself in the mirror with a grimace, "you don't get much more exciting than true Mexican Salsa."

"I'm already excited" Lizzie said with a little yawn. "Have a good day at work." She settled herself down a little lower under the covers.

"I'll give it a shot" Miranda said sarcastically. "By the way, can you tell Gordo about tonight when he gets up?"

"Wait- Gordo's coming?" Lizzie sat up, suddenly wide awake.

"Of course- he was the one who suggested it" Miranda explained.

"What?-Wh…Wh-Why??" Lizzie was stuttering.

"Well, he knows how much I love to dance and he mentioned he had taken a few introductory salsa lessons before so he though it'd be fun."

"Wait- when did Gordo take salsa lessons?" Lizzie asked, utterly perplexed.

"I don't know Lizzie" Miranda said, sounding slightly amused, "Why don't you ask him?" Lizzie narrowed her eyes and mumbled something that sounded like 'never mind.'

"You don't have a problem with him coming do you Lizzie?" Miranda said sarcastically with a knowing glance in her eyes, "I mean, cause I could tell him that you feel uncomfortable about him coming." Miranda was trying unsuccessfully now to keep the grin off her face.

Lizzie laid back down and covered herself with a blanket, trying to hide her red face. "He can come" she mumbled, trying to sink herself lower.

Miranda laughed and, shaking her hips as she went out, called back suggestively, "See you tonight…"

Lizzie sighed out and roughly pulled her pillow over her head. She tried not to think about if Gordo would be a good dancer or not. Gordo took salsa lessons?! she thought wildly. He was never a dancer. An unbidden thought crept into her mind, Maybe he went with Samantha. She burrowed herself down deeper in the covers and tried, unsuccessfully, to go back to sleep.

"What is with you today?" Gordo asked impatiently in response to Lizzie's snap at him as Lizzie slouched down lower in her seat and stared out of the car window moodily. "You've been arguing with me all day."

"Nothing" Lizzie shot back, equally as impatient. The truth was, Gordo was completely right. Lizzie shut herself up in Miranda's room all day, complaining of a stomachache and snapping at Gordo every time he knocked on the door to check on her.

"We're here!" Miranda said cheerily as they pulled into a parking lot of a club with a line out front.

They headed to the door and Lizzie was about to get in the end of the line when Miranda grabbed her arm and said, "It's okay, one of my cousins works here," and led her and Gordo around to a side door. There was a tall man there wearing leather pants who simply nodded at Miranda and moved to the side a bit so they could get by. Lizzie grinned as the sounds of blasting salsa music greeted her ears. The club was packed and Lizzie held on tight to Miranda's hand as she led her and Gordo to the bar.

"¡Miranda!" An older guy wearing a form fitting black dress shirt and a goatee ran up to Miranda and gave her a kiss on each cheek. "¿Cómo estás mi amiga?" he exclaimed.

"Muy bien, gracias," Miranda smiled, "Estos son mis amigos de California, Gordo y Lizzie." She turned to Lizzie and Gordo and pointed to the guy saying, "This is my friend Sebastián." She pronounced it 'Seh-bahs-teeahn.'

Lizzie and Gordo both smiled at him as Sebastián smiled back and said, "It's so great to finally meet the infamous Lizzie and Gordo. Miranda has told me all about your adventures growing up."

Lizzie was about to ask what sorts of stories he heard when Miranda suddenly exclaimed, "Oh hey guys, a table just opened up along the wall there." They followed Miranda to a table and all sat down. "Sebastián and I took dance lessons throughout high school together" Miranda explained.

"Wow" Lizzie said, "You two must be really good then."

"Well, Sebastián is very good" Miranda said with a smile.

"Miranda is very humble," Sebastián said with a grin, "She is excellent. Do you want to see?"

"Of course" Gordo said, scooting aside so he could let Sebastián and Miranda out of the booth. "We'll be here."

Sebastián was right about Miranda's dancing. Lizzie was almost mesmerized by their movements together on the floor. It was almost like they moved together as one person. She wanted to comment this to Gordo but still didn't want to talk to him.

They watched Miranda and Sebastián dance a song and a half together before she felt Gordo lean in closer to her, "They are both really good aren't they?" As he asked her this he placed his hand on the lower part of her back and spoke in close to her ear. Unwanted goosebumps rose on Lizzie's skin as she tried not to breathe in his scent.

The booth suddenly felt entirely too small. Lizzie forced herself to quickly move away from his touch by getting up and walking away. "Lizzie!" she heard Gordo call behind her and suddenly she felt herself being grabbed by the wrist and turned around to face him.

"Lizzie…" he said, anger now in his voice, "I don't want to do this again. And don't tell me nothing is wrong. What did I do?" He sounded hurt.

Lizzie let her eyes, for the first time that night, wash over him. He was wearing a blue shirt which brought out his eyes and black dress pants. It suited him well and Lizzie felt the urge, even in her anger, to close the distance between them.

"Why do you know how to salsa dance?!" she felt the words tumble out of her mouth in a rush.

His jaw dropped in surprise as he tried to process her question. "I took a few salsa dancing classes back when we did West Side Story our junior year."

Lizzie blinked and asked a question she promised herself she wouldn't. "Did you take them with…" she couldn't bring herself to say her name.

Understanding washed across his face as he looked closely at her, obviously choosing his words carefully. "Yes. Samantha was playing Anita and she really needed someone to go to be her partner so she could learn."

Lizzie felt her wall of defense come back up and said hastily, "Fine." She turned around again and tried to push her way into the crowd away from him.

He came around behind her again and this time grabbed both of her shoulders to turn to face him. The music was louder here and it forced him to yell a bit. "Lizzie, she and I weren't even dating then. I wasn't interested in her like that, even when we did give it a try for a few weeks early this spring." Lizzie bit her lip and looked away from him. He leaned in a little closer to her and said a little more quietly, "Why…" He seemed to hesitate as Lizzie looked up into his eyes, "Why… does it bother you so much to hear about her?"

Lizzie felt her jaw drop open at the forwardness of his question. She stared into his eyes for a moment and tried to make the words come out but couldn't. She felt frozen to the spot as she tried to communicate with her eyes what she couldn't with her words. He stared long and hard at her, an almost fearful look in his eyes.

The current song ended and suddenly Miranda and Sebastián were at their side. She noticed Gordo take a step back and plaster a smile his face. She followed suit and exclaimed at them as they bounded up, "Wow, you guys were great!"

Sebastián thanked her as Miranda looked at them both quizzically, her eyes lingering on Lizzie's with an almost devilish look in her eyes. "Hey…" she said, "Why don't you two show us what you got and Sebastián and I can hold down the booth for a bit." Her eyes were gleaming.

Lizzie's own eyes were widening, "Uh, I don't know how to salsa" she stammered.

"Gordo does, so he can teach you! Plus, you've been taking all of those dance classes for Jay so you're a quick learner now" Miranda exclaimed, putting a hand on each of their backs and leading them to an open spot on the floor. She disappeared, leaving Gordo and Lizzie looking at each other awkwardly.

"We don't have to…um" he brought his hand up into his hair nervously as he studied her carefully.

"I… well… I" Lizzie found herself stammering along with him.

"-unless you want to…" his voice trailed off here.

"I'd like that" Lizzie said with a deep breath. I'm acting like I'm fourteen again! she reprimanded herself.

"Okay…" he gave shaky grin and nod. "Well, I like to think of salsa dancing as a math problem" he explained.

"Only you would think of math at a time like this" Lizzie laughed.

He smiled at her and said, "The basic step goes like this: I take a step forward with my left foot, you take a step back with your right. Then you take a step forward with your left and while I move back with my right. Every motion is equal and opposite. We can try it first without hands."

Lizzie nodded and they both tried the simple move a few times to the beat in the music. "See that is the basic underlying movement, then everything else you add, like hip and arm movement, is just a variable in the problem." Lizzie felt herself start snickering and Gordo squinted his eyes at her, "Are you laughing at my method?"

Lizzie put on a serious face, "No, certainly not Professor Gordon" she felt her face break into a huge grin and she giggled.

He tried to look put off. "We'll see who is laughing in a bit McGuire. The method is foolproof." She flashed him a smile and she noticed that he faltered a bit before going on to the next instruction. "Okay… next is your frame. I'm guessing you know the importance of having a strong frame in dancing?" Lizzie nodded her head and lifted both her arms up to him. She placed one arm on his shoulder as he placed his right arm on her upper back and took her right hand with this left.

Lizzie felt her heart speed up a bit at this new contact between their hands and arms and concentrated on steadying her breathing. "With salsa, you hold your hands a lot higher than other dances" he explained, lifting their joined hands up so they were bent at the elbow and their hands were up high near their faces. They were standing a good foot or so away from each other. "Now, all you need to do is feel for the changes in my movement and respond to it." Lizzie nodded and they started to do the basic movement, Gordo putting a slight pressure on her shoulders to start the dance. "Another move is the sideways basic, which is more of a mirror movement- if I take my right foot and swing it back and twist my hips, you do the exact same thing but with your left foot." Lizzie watched him do it once and did the same thing.

They practiced this for a while before Gordo smiled and said, "See, you're already better than me. Are you ready for the spin?" Lizzie grinned and nodded. "We go back to the first basic step and do the spin instead of one of the steps, just remember to keep with the beat." Lizzie felt him change the pressure a bit and lead her into the spin, which she pulled through quite gracefully. When he pulled her back to him however, Lizzie noticed they were much closer this time than before when they were standing in the same stance.

She suddenly felt much warmer as she concentrated on following his movements, "When I pull my arm down like this" he pulled his left arm down, "It means that we spin around together" he spun them around so they were facing the other direction and Lizzie responded by pulling in a little closer to him. She felt a little light headed now at their closeness.

She noticed that he seemed to loose his footing for a moment before getting back on the beat. She grinned and stared up into his light blue eyes. "How's that foolproof method working out for you now Professor?" she asked, her voice a little lower than she intended for it to come out.

"Perfectly." His voice seemed a lot lower now too and Lizzie tried not to focus on the fact that their hips were inches away from each other.

They continued to dance together for the next two songs, Gordo showing her the extent to his knowledge and Lizzie adding in a lot of the same principles she already knew from other dances. "Who would have ever thought that you would be teaching me salsa?" Lizzie smiled up at him as they pulled in close from a spin.

Gordo grinned and said loudly above the music, "Life throws you unexpected surprises every once in a while."

Lizzie looked at him seriously for a moment before responding more quietly into his ear, "Yeah… it does." She felt his movements stop and they both just stood there close together on the dance floor. Lizzie pulled her hand, which had been lying on his shoulder up to his face to brush some of his brown curls to the side. She felt Gordo respond by leaning his head into her touch.

Licking her lips and her heart fluttering in her chest, Lizzie looked up at Gordo and wondered if she had the guts to do what she so desperately wanted to. His light blue eyes were wide with an expression that Lizzie was having trouble reading. They stood there, staring into each other eyes, letting themselves become lost in the moment.

He gradually lifted his hand up to her face, caressing it gently. Lizzie let in a sharp breath at his touch that still sent shockwaves over her body. She closed her eyes, letting herself become lost in his touch and found her other hand moving slowly up his lean arms. She finally rested them when they slowly reached his neck and she felt Gordo tremble slightly. Taking another step closer so that their bodies were flush against each other and their lips were merely inches away, Lizzie could feel the heat radiating off his body.

Her breathing was becoming more and more difficult and all she could think about was closing that few inch gap that was separating her lips from his own. His eyes flickered down to her lips and Lizzie felt a jolt in her chest.

"Gordo…" Lizzie whispered.

There was a beat in which nothing happened but just as suddenly as it all began his eyes suddenly turned downcast and cold as he quickly took a step away from her. This action caused her arms to drop from his shoulders and he dropped his own hands from her face.

"Lizzie, we can't do this." He turned to the side, pulling his arms around himself.

"But… I…" Lizzie stuttered, "I don't understand…" She felt the hot tears of embarrassment begin to fill her eyes.

He looked at her, hesitated, and looking incredibly pained he choked out, "I'm sorry." With that, he walked past her and left her alone on the dance floor.

Lizzie, feeling the tears beginning to stream down her cheeks, tried the best she could to compose herself before she saw Miranda at her side, looking worried. "Do you want to go home?" Miranda asked.

Lizzie nodded and Miranda grabbed her hand and led her outside. "How is Gordo going to get back?" Lizzie asked in a small voice.

"Sebastián said he would take him for me" Miranda said, opening the door for Lizzie and helping her in. The ride home was quiet and Lizzie got the feeling Miranda was waiting until she was ready to talk. After she and Miranda settled down in her room after changing into their pajamas Miranda just sat there on her bed looking at Lizzie. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Lizzie hesitated. "Well… it's kind of a long story…"

Miranda leaned back against her pillow that was propped up against the wall, "I've got time."

Lizzie took a deep breath, "Well… I guess you could say that it all started back in the eighth grade…"

Lizzie told her everything, from the Murder Mystery Party to Rome to all of the events that led to their fall out in the 9th grade. She told her about how she felt about him, about bungee jumping, about her getting the courage to quit singing, and about the incident at the pool. Miranda let Lizzie get it all off her chest and listened the entire time before she questioned, "Lizzie?" She looked thoughtful.

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever told Gordo you're sorry?" she asked.

"What?" Lizzie asked, not sure what she was referring to.

"I mean… have you ever apologized for what happened between you two back in the 9th grade? You know, the whole falling out thing? Or even brought it up at all?"

Lizzie was still for a moment, starring at one of Miranda's posters of Johnny Depp on the wall. "No… We've never talked about it…"

"Well… maybe that's your answer to why he's been acting the way he has. I mean, you guys never really settled the past so it's kind of hard to move forward…" Miranda explained.

Lizzie just sat there. "I never thought about that" she admitted.

"Something to think about then…" Miranda said with a yawn.

"Are you ready to go to bed?" Lizzie asked.

"Only if you're okay." Miranda looked at her, the worried look still in her eyes.

"I'll be okay, I promise. If anything, it really helped me to be able to talk about it with someone. I really missed that." Miranda nodded in agreement as Lizzie got up to turn out the light. "Oh and Miranda?"

"Yeah?" Miranda sounded sleepy.

"Tomorrow you need to tell me what is going on between you and Sebastián- because it is so obvious he likes you."

Miranda laughed and said with a yawn, "You go it."

"Oh, and one more thing..." Lizzie continued.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for being there tonight."

"Your welcome."

A few minutes later she heard Miranda's breathing change and knew that she was asleep but Lizzie's mind was racing a mile a minute. Suddenly everything seemed to come together, why he had been acting so guarded since the beginning of the trip. There was one thing that didn't make sense though. Her mind was transported back to the 9th grade and she remembered how he had begun to push her away the summer after Rome. That was before our fight after the digital bean incident, so why was he acting that way then?

Well, she thought, at least I have one thing figured out. She decided the next chance she got she would talk to Gordo about what happened, finally getting everything out there on the table. Sighing in relief she rolled over, This time I'm going to get it right.