A/N: Thanks again for the reviews! I have high hopes that this story will be really good and once everything is set up and everyone meets, I hope everyone else feels the same way. A special thanks to Hacen, loppylou1, Black night 03, and Danny for their reviews for the last chapter.

I do not own Lizzie McGuire!

Chapter Three

Almost Didn't Happen

The next day was Sunday and Miranda was busy with the restaurant, Lizzie was working all day with weddings and Gordo was busy preparing some data for the following day. Well, that took approximately an hour, but he was looking for an excuse to wait and call Lizzie and Miranda, as he didn't want to seem too desperate, so he also managed to unpack a few more boxes. He did give Miranda his phone number but he knew that he was probably not on her list of priorities.

…So before they knew it, it was Monday. Lizzie usually worked minimally on Mondays, as usually her weekends were pretty hectic with weddings and meetings. Miranda woke up early, went to work out and met up with Michael for a middle of the morning breakfast.

Gordo also woke up early for work. He had mixed emotions about this because this was his first hardcore job. He had plenty of interning experience as well as part time but no full commitment type work, but this was permanent. He was nervous, but a large part of him felt ready for this. He was ready to apply what he'd spent the last ten years learning about to real life and make it official.

He arrived at the University around eight o'clock and the administration handed him a set of keys to the building as well as his lab. He opened the lab and out of the six people that were supposed to be working in that space with him, one of them was already there. He was told to wait until everyone arrived to do anything, as it was his first day, but the other guy seemed hard at work, taking notes on a book he had. The guy, Dr. Adams, barely looked up when Gordo came in and continued working when he nodded, "Dr. Gordon."

Gordo nodded back. He sat down a few stools away and put his things down on the ground. He was tempted to try to talk to Dr. Adams, but he didn't know if that was appropriate, as he looked like he was hard at work. Instead, he remained silent and looked around the room he'd been in a few times before.

Suddenly, a few minutes later, Dr. Adams cleared his throat and spoke up, "So, do you know what you are working on today?"

Gordo shook his head, "No, what?"

Dr. Adams chuckled, "I have no idea what YOU are working on, Dr. Gordon. I only know that I have to work on a few conversions with proteins, teach two classes, and then work on editing a speech I am giving next week at Harvard."

Gordo nodded his head. He often times forgot why he decided to become a doctor of biochemistry in the first place. This was one of those times. Scientist's lives seemed so boring and so focused on…. well, science. He always tried to picture these people living their average lives with their family, and he couldn't see them talk about anything other than science. He couldn't see himself be like that, of course, but it was like this was a fully separate world from the real world.

Dr. Adams retuned to his work and other people arrived and by half past eight, everyone was there in a seat. Dr. Ferguson explained to Gordo that he wanted him to work with proteins today and help with some experiment later. Gordo did this and with lunch break included, he was finished by two o'clock. Dr. Ferguson said that when people finished, they were generally free to leave. This meant that some people were gone by eleven and some people stayed until the building closed, eight o'clock. That was only special circumstances, though, as most people finished by three or four. This was part of what Gordo liked about this job. He'd be home at a reasonable hour and if he ever chose to start dating or have a family, he would be home at a good time and still feel like he accomplished something.

Gordo was pleased with his first day on the job and decided he might try giving Miranda and Lizzie a call to see if they wanted to meet with each other anytime soon. He called their apartment and after a few rings, someone finally answered. It was Lizzie. Gordo didn't have to ask, but he could tell by her voice.

"Hello?" she answered.

A few seconds passed before Gordo realized that this was an actual call, "L-Lizzie?" he finally managed.

He could hear a small gasp on the other end and then she said, "Gordo? Is that you?"

"Yeah," he said, simply.

"Oh, my gosh! Miranda told me she saw you the other day. How have you been?"

"Uhh, Good," he said, feeling surreal, as he hadn't spoken to this girl in over two years. Maybe he was making too big of a deal out of this, "How about you?"

"Busy," Lizzie admitted, "You know, as fun as weddings are to plan and watch fall through, by the time Monday rolls around, I'm just ready for a nice, relaxing day."

"So you don't work on Mondays?"

"Oh, I work," Lizzie said, "But I only do little things, like tour a dining hall or discuss colors. Just enough to keep me sane," she said, then she realized that she had spoken to Gordo for less than a minute, and already she was talking about work. Maybe that was a little inappropriate, "How about you? I hear you finished school and work at USC."

"Yep. Today was my first day. Don't worry, though. You can still call me Gordo. You don't have to call me 'Dr. Gordon.'"

Lizzie smiled, "I won't."

Gordo relaxed a little, leaning against his kitchen counter with the phone, "So, are you doing anything tonight?"

"Um, I have an appointment at seven to see a country club. Why?"

"Oh, I don't know," he said, "I just thought maybe you, Miranda, and I could have dinner together or something to catch up."

"Well, Miranda has to work at the restaurant, but I'm free after the appointment. Does that count for anything?"

"Of course. What time will it be over?"

"Oh, probably by eight, since I'm not the one giving the tour. Do you want to meet then?"

"Okay," Gordo said, "Where?"

"I don't care, really. I usually order take out. Do you like Indian food?"

"Sounds fine with me. Do you need me to pick you up?"

"No, we can meet there. It's that Indian restaurant next to the Reebok on 59th. Want to say 8:30, then? Just to be on the safe side."

"Sure," Gordo said, glad that this was so easy, "I'll see you then."

"Yeah," Lizzie said, "It was nice to hear from you."

"Yeah, It was nice to hear from you too. I'll see you at 8:30."

After saying their goodbyes, they hung up and Lizzie worked on some wedding ideas while Gordo unpacked a few more boxes.

---

When Lizzie told Miranda about her plans with Gordo that evening, Miranda sounded jealous, "You should have called me sooner. I could have made up an excuse."

"I'm sorry. We'll probably see each other again."

Miranda sighed, "Well, you could have at least had him meet you here. That way, I could have talked to you."

"Um, Miranda, no offense, but I eat a lot of food from that restaurant. I was in the mood for something a little different."

"Oh, fine," Miranda huffed. She wasn't all that mad at Lizzie, she just wanted to be there with them.

"I'll tell you all about it when you get home."

"Good. I'll see you later, hun!"

"Bye," Lizzie said, hanging up the phone.

After hanging up the phone, Lizzie took a shower and got dressed for the evening. Actually, she usually liked these meetings because she wasn't usually involved with anything but pricing and space. She didn't have to stay with them as they discussed everything.

Lizzie got there and an hour later, she was out of there and heading for the restaurant to meet her old friend. She was less than two miles away from him and making good time when all the sudden…her car stopped working. "I just got this car last year," Lizzie thought to herself as she dialed for help on her cell phone.

In the meantime, Gordo had found the Indian Restaurant and arrived a little early and decided to go in and sit down. 8:30 rolled around and there was still no sign of Lizzie. He decided not to worry too much about it, but when he sat there for thirty minutes, he couldn't help but wonder where she was. "Shit," he thought, "I don't know her cell phone number and I didn't give her mine." He glanced at his watch, which read 9:00 and debated about what to do. He was about to get up and leave when she came through the door, looking out of breath.

Gordo stood up and watched her walk towards him, in a minor state of shock. Lizzie looked great. Lizzie smiled at him and gave him a warm hug when she reached him, "I'm so sorry."

"That's okay," Gordo said, and they pulled away from each other and took their seats, "Did the meeting run late?"

Lizzie rolled her eyes, "No, I had some trouble with my car. It's okay, though. It's towed and it's going to be fixed by tomorrow night. I'm really sorry for making you wait, though."

Gordo shook his head, "It was not a problem. Any old friend is worth waiting for, right?"

Lizzie smiled, "Of course."

"So," Gordo said, leaning in toward her and putting his hands on the table, "Tell me about you."

Lizzie raised her eyebrow, "You don't waste your time, do you?"

"Yeah, well, forgive me for trying to avoid any awkward moments."

Lizzie took a sip of her water and leaned in to the table, too, "Well, what do you want to know?"

Gordo laughed to himself. Maybe this wasn't going to be too easy, after all, "So, you still plan weddings, don't you?"

Lizzie nodded, "Yeah, I do. It's a lot of fun."

"Really?"

"Yeah, of course! I love watching people who are in love compromise over small things like whether they want an ice sculpture at their reception and work out where random family members are going to sit. It's genuine and, well, one of couple's greatest tribulations in life is compromise, right?"

"Ooh, that's good," Gordo said, taking a sip of his drink and thinking about what she said, "You really should think about writing a book."

Lizzie picked up her menu and leaned back, smiling, "Oh, Gordo," she shook her head, "Gordo, Gordo, Gordo…I guess all that studying really did make you a little out of it," she saw that he looked a little confused, "My book was published a little over a year ago."

It was now Gordo's turn to raise his eyebrow, "You mean you actually wrote a book?"

Lizzie nodded, looking at the menu, "Yeah, it was about planning a wedding. It was number thirty four on New York's Bestselling List for a week and number one book of the year in this year's LA Bride."

"Oh," Gordo said, slowly leaning back and looking at his own menu. He didn't know what else to say.

Lizzie grinned, "Don't feel too bad about it. If it makes you feel any better, I never read your Doctorate's thesis."

"And your probably a better person because of it," Gordo said, casually.

The waitress came around and Lizzie ordered some white wine, "Well, tell me about you," she said, "Besides school, what have you been up to?"

Gordo shrugged, "I had an internship over the summer and now I work in the science department of the University of Southern California. Other than that, nothing really."

Lizzie's drink came and they ordered food and once the waitress was gone, Lizzie leaned in once again, "Oh, come on, something interesting had to have happened. Do you have a girlfriend? Are you thinking about getting married? Because if so…"

Gordo shook his head and laughed, "and this is from the girl who panicked because she had no direction."

Lizzie laughed and took a small sip of her wine, "Do you have a girlfriend, Gordo?"

Gordo decided to become serious and said, "No," and then without thinking about it, he said, "and don't try to fix me up with anyone either. I am not looking for any type of relationship right now."

"Well, if you think I'm ever playing maker, then I think you don't know me very well. I can't manage my own love life, much less try and start some other people's relationship."

Gordo didn't say anything at first. What was he supposed to say?

Lizzie noticed the silence and felt bad. She sighed, leaning back in her chair, "Don't feel bad. It all happened a long time ago. I'm not complaining."

This made Gordo feel a little better, "I, uh, take it you don't have a boyfriend."

Lizzie laughed to herself, "Honestly, I don't ever plan on having a boyfriend."

"That's understandable," he said, and then he thought maybe that sounded a little mean, "I mean, considering what you've been through with guys and everything."

Lizzie took another sip of wine as she seemed deep in thought, "It's not that I've given up on love, really," she said, "I mean, I have learned a lot about myself over the past several years and honestly, I wouldn't take any of what happened back. I mean, things do happen for a reason, right? Romance doesn't work for everyone and I've learned to accept that it doesn't work for me. Sure, I won't have that fantasy wedding that every girl dreams of when they are ten and I'll grow up to be an old maid. I also know that I can't take another broken heart. They take too long to heal."

Gordo looked at his friend and could tell that she was a little overcome by emotions. He didn't say anything to her and more awkward silence came. He admired his friend for her courage and strength as well as her insight. She seemed to have everything figured out for herself and overall, appeared to be very happy. He was thinking about how lucky he was to know this wonderful person when she suddenly spoke.

"Gordo, I'm glad that you're my friend and that I got to see you tonight," she sighed, "Oh, God! If Miranda had been here she would have killed me for telling you all this. She doesn't let me get carried away with this subject because she says It only brings up bad memories and I start to analyze myself…she's completely right of course, but still…sometimes it doesn't hurt to think a little," she smiled, looking directly into his eyes, "we should do this more often, have dinner or something."

"Yeah, we should," Gordo agreed, smiling.

The rest of dinner, they talked about themselves and when they were finished, Gordo gave Lizzie a ride back to her apartment.

It was the end of the evening….and the beginning of something bigger…much bigger, actually.

To be continued! Please review!