story: good friend
by: lauren (aka xo bella italiana ox)
rating: pg, mild language
summary: sometimes it's best to let something go.
disclaimer: i own nothing
pov: lizzie
when: during high school years
form: a three-part story of the progression of the relationship between lizzie and gordo.
inspiration: "good friend", by nine days
reviews: much appreciated, praise or flame, constructive criticism welcome.
a/n: disregard the summer in rome, in this fic, it never happened.
part II: how it progressed (the good days)
"So how have things been going with you and Gordo?" Sherri, my coworker at the coffee shop asked me, with a little smirk on her face as she nudged me in the side.
"Amazing," I answered her wistfully. I left it at that, knowing that the assistant manager, Chip, was nearby, and I definitely didn't want that slimy old man to overhear anything about my romantic life. "Give me my latte, aright?"
She went to hand over the paper cup, only for it to slip out of her hand and splash all over the floor. "Shit," she cursed. "I'll get that, don't worry about it."
"Sherri, Lizzie!" Chip called. "I'm leaving early today…I have dinner reservations with my wife. Can I leave you girls to close up at 11?"
"Sure, Chipper, no problem," Sherri chirped cheerfully. We heard him leave.
"God, how can you be so friendly to that man?" I groaned, disgusted. "He doesn't even say goodbye, and he smells like…I don't know, cheese."
"Easy, baby—who else is gonna pay me?" she pointed out easily. "I'm still paying my parents back for that Mustang, you know."
"True, true." I sighed. "I had most of the money from all the modeling jobs I did a while back, but now I'm flat broke, and when I want a new Coach bag or a new pair of leather boots, guess who's paying for them. Hint: not the people who claim to support me in times of need."
"I hate to break it to you, Lizzie, but your shoes being 'so two weeks ago' doesn't exactly qualify as a time of need."
"Gordo!" I cried out, my head shooting up. "What are you doing here? You're not allowed to see me like this." My hands immediately shot up to my hair to fix whatever messy, working-girl hairstyle it had managed to fall in to.
"Hey, relax. I like you however you look. And as for why I'm here, my dad let me use his car tonight, and I felt bad for you," he grinned, leaning over the counter to give me a quick kiss, "slaving away at the coffee shop. But I wouldn't exactly call it slaving," he added lightly, gesturing towards me.
"Hey!" Sherri cried out, popping up from behind the counter. "I'm the one cleaning up tidal waves of coffee off the floor."
"Hey, Sher," he greeted her easily, rolling his eyes. He'd heard the a thousand times. "Yes, I know you are an underappreciated worker, and I want you to know that I fully appreciate you." He brought a fist to his chest in mock-bravado, a drawn out exaggeration.
"Thanks," she scoffed.
"So anyway," Gordo continued, catching my hand in his. "What time you are you getting off? I've been so busy with finals and I've barely seen you all week."
I took a moment to look at him. It'd been almost two years since we'd been together, and every time I looked at him, it was still like I was looking at him for the first time. He still had that curly mop of hair, though slightly shorter, still the same crystal blue eyes, and still the same cute half-smile. Though he had grown a few inches taller, and developed a larger build ever since he took up hockey sophomore year, he was still the same guy I used to take baths with as a kid. It's crazy how much things change.
I glanced at the clock. It was only 9:30. "Oh man. I don't get off until—"
"Right now!" Sherri cut in, winking at me.
"But—"
"Go!" she urged me, beginning to untie my apron from the back.
"Are you—sure? Friday's our busy night!"
"Doesn't look very busy," she gestured around the shop. Two older men were sipping on coffee and seemed to be in a very heated discussion, and one woman was flipping through a newspaper in the corner while munching on a brownie. "Relax, I've got you covered."
"But what about—"
"Old Chippy? Chill, I'll take care of it," she insisted.
Gordo was looking at me with hopeful eyes and a playful face. "Please?"
I looked at them both, then around the store. "Okay…fine. But, Sher, if we get busy, I've got my cell, so just hit it. Are you positive you're okay?"
"One hundred ten percent positive," she assured me.
I walked around the counter and waved to Sherri as Gordo slung his arm around my shoulder. "Ciao, bella!" I called, waving to her.
"Behave yourselves, children!" she teased.
"Okay, where are we off to tonight?" I asked Gordo, loosening myself from his embrace and walking around to get in the car. "Dinner? Movies?"
"I was thinking," he began, "something a little different."
Where is he going with this? I wondered. "Okay," I agreed. He grinned and rested his free hand on top of mine.
We drove in silence to the sounds of John Mayer, whom we'd both recently agreed on as the most amazing artist of all time. It wasn't a weird silence. It was that comfortable silence you have with your best friend, where nobody says a thing, but you just connect.
The car stopped, and I glanced over at Gordo. "Um…where are we?"
"I just thought we'd come by here, you know, for old time's sake," he explained, grinning at me. "Wait, take off your shoes."
I did just that, but my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. All I could see was the dark and a few trees outside.
"Come on!" He hopped out of the car, and I followed suit. He grabbed my hand, and I ran alongside him, until we passed a few trees and I saw a place that I had known my whole life. The lake.
I'd almost forgotten about it. We'd shared so many memories here; good and bad, when we were old and young. This lake was the place where our lives had completely changed.
I turned to him and kissed him softly. "Is today the day I think it is?"
"Yes," he murmured between kisses.
I laughed and pulled away. "How about a game of Shotgun? For old time's sake, you know."
"Race you to the lake?" he suggested, a mischevious glint in his eye.
That was our cue to run. He beat me, naturally. "Hey! No fair!" I protested. "You started early!" I knew very well that he didn't.
"Well," he began, raising an eyebrow, "what are you gonna do about it?"
"This," I decided, leaning in closer to him.
Unfortunately, he'd been prepared for something completely different and was completely unprepared for what had really been coming. He fell right into the lake.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, sputtering and coming up for air. "Now that was not fair." I laughed easily at him, and jumped right in after him. The water was fairly cold and shallow, a lot more so than I remembered. But it was not the lake that had changed, it was us.
We stood inches apart, not saying anything. My heart was racing, and goosebumps had already begun to appear down my arms. We'd had our share of fights, stupid ones, reasonable ones, our share of difficulties, our share of good times. And through it all, I still saw him exactly the way I'd seen him two years ago—my best friend. Only now…the best friend also made my heart beat faster. I felt like a kid again, with a silly crush.
Only it's so much more than that, I realized as Gordo's lips came crashing down on mine.
Eventually we parted and hoisted ourselves up along the water's edge. Our clothes were soaking wet and it was a little chilly, so I had no objections to Gordo pulling me into his lap and wrapping his arms around me.
"Favorite memory?" he began languidly, resting his chin on my shoulder.
"Every time I'm with you," I murmured lazily, taking a hold of his hand and tracing patterns on it with my finger. It never gets old, being with him. "Biggest surprise?"
"You. This." In one swift movement he spun me around to face him. Searching my eyes and biting his lip, he trailed off. When he saw me looking at him oddly, he found his voice again and explained, "I don't know. I never thought we'd ever actually get together and stay this way. I'd figured that…you'd just open your eyes one day and be like, 'Wow, I could do a lot better.' But everything's…just so great. It's like…yeah. I never thought you'd see me as anything more than a friend. I never thought this could happen. And I never thought…I never thought I could fall in love with someone so early on in life."
What?! "You've fallen in love," I repeated, trying to inject a a teasing undertone, but my shock wound up drowning all that out. I regained my composure to some extent and put on my best smile. "Could you be a little more…specific?"
"You're killing me, McGuire," he laughed. After some silence, he put a finger under my chin and tipped my face up to look at him. "I love you, Lizzie," he declared, his eyes intent on mine. He'd never sounded so sure of anything in his life.
"Love you too," I murmured softly, cut short by his lips. Someday I'd be able to say the whole thing out loud. I love you, David Gordon. I wanted to scream it, yell it, stop the cars in the street and announce to them that I was in love. And someday I won't be so afraid, and I will.
"Know what I keep thinking about?" Gordo said suddenly.
"What?"
"Remember
when we told your parents, that we were together? And then Miranda, and then my
parents, and pretty soon everyone knew?"
"Yeah."
The thought made me smile. We'd been so nervous to tell everyone, when we were
barely sure ourselves what we were feeling. I mean, one day you kiss your best
friend, and the next, it's like…your whole life changes. "What
about?"
"I don't know…they just didn't even seem surprised. It was like…they all knew that it was gonna happen, just a matter of when. I think we were even more surprised by us than they were."
"Well, I guess some things are just supposed to be a certain way. And nothing can change that, you know?" I let him think about that for a while.
The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. But I have to tell you—I have never had a more perfect time doing absolutely nothing.
A/N: I love this chapter…not sure why, but I like the vibe from it. Anyway, REVIEW! Part III, the final chapter, coming soon!
