~*~

Author's Note: Hmm, well most of you said you like long stories better, so long story it is! I just hope I don't get all distracted and make the story boring, LoL. I'm trying to think of some storylines to keep the story going, so please bear with me! It will be a Lizzie and Gordo story towards the end, but it might take awhile to get there!

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-Gordo's Car-

Gordo drove Miranda home first, dropping her off and watching to make sure she made it inside. He drove Lizzie to her house next. He pulled into her drive way and waited for her to get out.

"Gordo?" Lizzie asked as she unbuckled.

"Yeah?" Gordo turned to her.

"You get along OK with Ethan right?" Lizzie asked, biting her lip. "You guys seemed a little tense tonight."

"I don't see what you like about him Lizzie, I never did," Gordo said quietly.

Lizzie smiled slightly. "It's hard to explain. How can you put into words the way you feel about someone?"

"Easy," Gordo looked straight into Lizzie's eyes, "You can say that that person means the world to you, that they're the reason that you wake up in the morning, and the person who you think about when you go to sleep at night. That you can laugh and cry with them and never feel embarrassed. That they're your best friend and you would do anything and everything to protect them."

Lizzie searched Gordo's eyes with her own, trying to decide if he was trying to tell her something.

"You'd better go. You know how strict your parents are about curfew," Gordo turned back forward.

"Gordo…" Lizzie tried to think of what to say.

"Just go," Gordo said, refusing to turn to her.

Lizzie looked at him for a second before getting out silently.

~*~

-The School Gymnasium-

"I love this song!" Lizzie squealed. She grabbed Ethan's hand and pulled him onto the dance floor. *NSYNC music played over the loudspeaker. "I can't believe that the dance has a whole 2000 theme! I feel like I'm in middle school again!" Lizzie giggled as Ethan swung her around.

"This brings back memories!" Miranda called from a few feet away where she was dancing with Gordo. The music was so loud that Lizzie and Ethan could barely hear her.

The song ended and the four of them walked over to get some refreshments.

"This is so fun," Lizzie smiled. "It's like double dating!"

"Except Gordo and I aren't really dating," Miranda laughed.

"Do you wanna go out some time?" Gordo asked. Miranda stopped laughing and Lizzie and Ethan looked over in surprise.

"What?" Miranda asked, checking to see if she heard right.

"Do you want to catch a movie, just the two of us?" Gordo asked.

Miranda looked over at Lizzie, who shrugged. "I guess," Miranda answered weakly.

"Great, I'll pick you up at say, 7:00 next Saturday?" Gordo asked. Miranda nodded, still slightly dazed from his unexpected offer.

"I see some friends, I'll be right back," Ethan said. He kissed Lizzie and went off.

"I see someone I want to say hi to too," Gordo said and wandered off towards the other side of the gym.

"Did that just happen?" Miranda asked in disbelief.

"I know! Gordo just asked you out!" Lizzie said, equally shocked.

"You don't have a problem with that right?" Miranda asked. "I know that you said-"

"I don't have ANY problems with that," Lizzie smiled, not even allowing Miranda to finish her sentence. "I'm happy for you guys! My two best friends together, what could be better?"

"Well, if you ever change your mind, just tell me," Miranda said. "You'll always come first and I don't want to intrude on Gordo if you have any feelings at all for him."

"Thanks," Lizzie smiled and they hugged each other.

"Oh, I see someone, I'll be right back!" Miranda waved and walked off.

"Bye…" Lizzie's smile immediately faded. She turned back to the snack table, her eyes full of hurt. "I thought that last night in the car he was saying that he likes me…"

"What?" Lizzie jumped at the sound of Ethan's voice and turned around.

"Huh?" she asked.

"You were saying something," Ethan said.

"Really? Oh, I must have been thinking out loud. It was nothing," Lizzie put on a cheerful guise. "Let's go dance!"

Ethan took her hand and led her onto the dance floor. Another song from the year 2000 was playing, but it was a slow one this time. Ethan wrapped his arms around Lizzie's waist and began to rock back and forth in beat with the music. Lizzie put her arms around his neck and leaned against his chest, turning her face so that she could still see the crowd around them. She watched as Gordo went over to Miranda and asked her to dance. They walked onto the dance floor and began to move to the music. They seemed to be enjoying each other, but it pained Lizzie to watch. Lizzie tried to look away, but couldn't. Gordo looked over at Lizzie and their eyes met.

"Lizzie?" Ethan asked.

"Mmm?" Lizzie looked up into his face.

"You seem distracted," he said.

"I'm sorry. I have so much on my mind," Lizzie said. She looked back over at where Gordo and Miranda were dancing, but they were in conversation now. "Can we get out of here?"

"Yeah," Ethan smiled and led her out to his car.

He drove for awhile before Lizzie noticed that it wasn't the way to her house.

"Where are we going Ethan?" Lizzie asked.

"Well, you said you wanted to get out of there. You didn't say you wanted to go home," Ethan smiled. He pulled into a dark park. He got out of the car and got a blanket out from his trunk. "Come on!" he called to Lizzie as he spread the blanket onto the hood of the car.

"What's this?" Lizzie asked as she got out.

"I always keep this in the trunk in case I get trapped in a snow storm," Ethan winked at her. He climbed onto the car and patted the blanket next to him.

Lizzie sat beside him. Ethan put his arm around her shoulders and they stared up into the sky. "The stars are so beautiful," Lizzie sighed.

"Yeah," Ethan agreed. He looked at her, studying her face before leaning over and trying to kiss her.

"I'm sorry, Ethan. I'm not really in the mood right now," Lizzie pulled away.

"Come on, you don't have to be in a mood to make out with your boyfriend," Ethan said, visually annoyed.

"I said I don't want to," Lizzie said.

"Come on," Ethan said. He leaned in again.

"I said no! Take me home," Lizzie slid of the car and climbed back into the passenger seat.

"Fine," Ethan grumbled. He got in and drove her home, but they didn't talk the entire way.

~*~