A/N: Okay, here's my longest chapter, seriously. Anyways, thanks so much for the reviews. I love you all so much, lol. Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon. I'm working on my other fics to though, so they won't be quite as frequent. But for now, here's this chapter. Please review.

The Prince You Charmed

Chapter 12: Letting Go

Lizzie let out a slightly irritable sigh as she heaved the heavy glass door to the Digital Bean open. She realized that for the last few weeks she had been practically living at the Digital Bean, always meeting someone there. She also realized that none of the meeting had been very pleasant. Most of them, if not all of them, had resulted in Lizzie walking out of the door mulling over something, and in a fight with someone new. The way her karma was going, she had a feeling this meeting would be just as bad. She hadn't done anything worthy of good karma for the past couple of weeks.

She eyed Ryan carefully before seating herself in a chair across from him. He looked up at her and smiled, then he scooted his chair closer to her. Both were silent for awhile, waiting for the other to start the conversation. After neither had said anything for a few minutes, Ryan opened his mouth.

"So," he started, in a cautious voice, "Why weren't you in school today? I noticed that Miranda and Gordo weren't there either, and you certainly don't look sick, it makes me think that you betrayed my trust and skipped school to be with them. Did you?"

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "No," she told him simply. She had never before realized how completely controlling he really was.

"Are you sure?"

Lizzie gritted her teeth, and felt the need to reach over and strangle him. "I'm positive," she snapped before calming her voice down to continue. "I wasn't at school because Gordo was in an accident last night."

"So, what does that have to do with you missing school? I mean, him I see, and Miranda too. But you had no need to be there."

Lizzie took a deep breath to try to soothe herself. She briefly wondered if Ryan had always been this, this, inquiring, and annoying, and utterly stupid.

"He's my best friend, Ryan," she said, as if she was talking to a two-year-old. At times, she felt like she was.

"No, not anymore."

Lizzie ran her hands over her face and started to speak in a surprisingly relaxed voice. "Just because you don't want me around them, doesn't mean they aren't still my friends. You can't just ruin friendships like that, I don't care who you are, but you can't."

"So you have been ditching me to spend time with them, haven't you?"

Her eyes widened and she felt her face heat up. "Do you know how incredibly stupid you're being right now? I haven't been ditching you, the only one's I've been ditching are them. You accuse me of all these things, and you make me feel like a horrible person, but you know what? You're the horrible person. You're horrible for all the hell you've been putting me through."

He eyed her, warily. Choosing to ignore everything she had just voiced, he started to speak. "So, seriously, why weren't you at school?"

Lizzie took a deep breath and didn't know how to explain this any better. He was being annoyingly frustrating, and at the moment, she couldn't stand him. She didn't know how she ever could. "I wasn't at school because I was at the hospital, making sure Gordo was going to be okay. I was doing this because Gordo was in a very bad accident and he's in very bad condition," she finished, explaining it as she would to a very small child.

"Does your little mind comprehend now?" She asked him.

He continued to stare at her for awhile. "So, you missed school because Gordo got hurt? That's all?" He asked, carelessly.

Lizzie looked at him, and began to mumble incoherent words in Spanish. She didn't even know what she was saying, but she had picked the words up from Miranda, and they were the ones Miranda said whenever she was incredibly mad. "Hurt? Gordo could die, Ryan. Don't you even care?"

He shrugged, nonchalantly. "Not really. I'm serious, Liz, you'd be better off without him. Everyone would be."

This was the last straw for Lizzie, and she began to lash out at Ryan. She couldn't believe how unbelievably insensitive he could be. Someone's life was on the line and he didn't even care. Lizzie reached across the table and slapped him just as she had done the day before. This time however, it was hard, and she meant business. The contact of their connecting flesh stung her own hand. Ignoring the burning sensation, she slapped him a second time. Then a third. It happened so fast that Ryan hadn't had a chance to react to it yet.

But, by the time Lizzie swung her arm the fourth time, Ryan grabbed it. "Do you feel better now?" He growled out.

Lizzie scowled, glared, and yanked her arm out of his grasp. "No, I don't. I'd feel better if I'd never met you. That's it Ryan. I'm done. No more! We're through, for good."

He looked at her as he held his throbbing cheek. She smiled as though he had just heard a joke. "Yeah, right," he responded disbelievingly.

Lizzie continued to glare at him. "You don't honestly think I'm joking, do you?" She began to question, "Because I'm not. Gordo is the best guy I've ever known, and I don't know how you made me so blind to ditch my two best friends for you. It was the biggest mistake of my entire life."

"What was?" He questioned her.

"Dating you. Meeting you. Anything to do with you. I hate you, Ryan. There's no excuse for what you said. None. So don't even try to think one up. Don't play your 'I'm so sorry' card, either. Just stay out of my life, forever," she spat out, vehemently.

"You don't mean that," he said, as though he knew everything in the world.

"Yes, I do. What part of 'I hate you, I never want to see you again, you're a miserable excuse for a human being' don't you understand?"

"Lizzie," he started.

She held up a hand. "No, you got me started, now you're going to listen. There's no way I'll ever forgive you for what you said, ever. You got that? Don't play innocent with me either, and don't come crawling back to me, because number one, it's not going to do you any good. I'll never leave my friends for you again; you're not worth it. You aren't even worth leaving my worst enemy for. And number two, I'll just send you off to your precious little Sarah," she paused, and watched as a surprised look came over his face.

"Yes, Ryan. I know you've been cheating on me. Do you honestly think that you can make out with someone in a public place and no one will see you? Because someone did. And that someone comes in the form of Gordo, and he would never lie to me, he would never cause me pain. And he's the most important person in the whole entire world to me," Lizzie finished, out of breath and wanting to go home.

Ryan began to start up again, but Lizzie interrupted him. "No, I'm done with this. I'm done with you. All I want is Gordo back. And Miranda too," she added. She turned on her heels and marched out of the Digital Bean.

Lizzie knew that all eyes had been on the two in the Digital Bean but she didn't care. It didn't make a difference what people thought about her right know. All she cared about was Gordo, and how he was doing.

That was the moment she knew. The moment she knew that she, Lizzie McGuire was in love with him, David Gordon.

The only problem was that he might not live to know it.

Lizzie sighed as she entered the comfort of her own house. She had just gotten rid of the biggest mistake in her life, but it didn't make her feel any better. Her mind was focused merely on Gordo. She knew that she had to talk to him, even if he was in a coma.

She walked around the house, searching for her mom. Entering the kitchen, she saw a small note sitting on the island. She picked it up, skimmed it over, and sighed. Her dad had to work late, and her Mom had taken Matt over to Lanny's to work on a school project. Lizzie set the note back down in it's previous spot, and headed upstairs to take a quick shower.

She figured that by the time she was out and read, her mom would be home. And she was right. After her shower, she quickly got dressed, semi-dried her hair, and put on a touch of make-up. Lizzie left her room and headed into the living room where she found her mom seated on the couch, flipping lazily through TV channels.

"Mom?" Lizzie asked, quietly. Her mom jumped slightly, and then turned to face Lizzie.

"What?"

"Do you think you could take me to the hospital, to see Gordo?"

Her mom nodded, slowly and slightly. "Of course," she told her daughter, "are you ready right now?"

Lizzie nodded, and her mom stood up and headed towards the front door. "Then so am I," she told Lizzie, and Lizzie quickly followed her mom out to the car.

Lizzie entered the hospital, and made a mental note that she hated the smell. Especially the smell of the ICU, the area where Gordo was still occupied in. As they entered the waiting room of the ICU Lizzie noticed that Gordo's parents were in almost the exact same positions they had been a few hours ago.

Lizzie waved slightly and sped up her pace as she headed to Mrs. Gordon's side.

"Any new news?"

Mrs. Gordon shook her head slightly. "The doctors are in there right now, they want to see if there's been any improvement in his condition. They're still hopeful that he may come out of this without brain damage. Although, they're beginning to lose hope. They're checking to see if his brain is doing anything, if there's any type of activity, or improvement in his condition," Mrs. Gordon paused, realizing that she was rambling on, repeating the same things over. "I'm sorry, Lizzie, dear, I don't mean to ramble."

Lizzie shook her head, and sent Mrs. Gordon a polite smile. "There's no need to be sorry, I know you're going through a lot right now. We all are. But Gordo's strong, I'm sure he'll come out of this just fine," Lizzie summed up, as she leaned down and gave Gordo's mother a small hug.

"You think so?"

Lizzie nodded. "Yeah, I do." Lizzie noticed that the doctor was headed their direction. She began to move out of the way when Mrs. Gordon grabbed her arm. She whispered a quiet 'stay' to Lizzie, and so she did. The doctor put a warm smile on his face.

"Well, David's coming along," he said shortly, and then continued, "He's not making many improvements, but the accident just happened last night, and granted, sometimes people are only in coma's for a few minutes, but some are in them for years. By the results of his tests, my guess is that he may wake up in a few days. Of course, I can't be sure, and I won't lie to you, there's still a chance that he'll never wake up."

He paused for a second. "But, I'm not going to go into that right now. There's no need for it. I'll leave you all alone now."

The doctor gave them all reassuring smiles as he turned and went into a new room.

Lizzie looked at Mrs. Gordon and pointed to Gordo's room. "Can I talk to him?"

"Of course, Lizzie."

Lizzie responded with a quick 'thanks', and then went into the room. She detested hospital rooms, too. They were almost all white, and were full of weird beeping machines. It made Lizzie cringe to know that those machines were what was keeping Gordo alive right now. She studied his face that was full of tiny scratches. He looked so peaceful, almost as if he was just sleeping.

Lizzie took a seat beside his bed, and grabbed his hand.

"I'm so sorry, Gordo," she said, tears threatening to spill. "So, so, so sorry. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean I didn't care about you. Because, truth be told, I care about you more than anyone in this world. I'm a horrible person, aren't I? I mean, look at you. It's my fault you're in here. If I'd never said those things, well, you might not be in this situation. And you were right. Ryan was cheating on me, and I guess I knew it from the second you told me. Because, like you said, I could tell you weren't lying, and I do know that you'd never lie about something like that. I don't get it, Gordo. I don't get how you can constantly be such a good friend to me, even with all the stuff I put you through. I'm completely done with Ryan. I promise. In fact, I've moved on to someone better. Someone that's always there for me no matter what," Lizzie paused, taking short, deep breaths.

"You, Gordo. I've moved on to you. You're perfect, you're everything. You always manage to pick me up when I'm down, and you support me even when I do something that hurts you. I don't mean to hurt you Gordo. I don't. I love you. And I don't mean I love you as in, Best Friends Forever, although I mean it that way to, but I'm in love with you. I'd give anything for you to wake up and be okay. You have to be okay, Gordo."

Lizzie took a few shaky breaths as tears rolled down her cheeks. She clamped on to Gordo's hand, and never wanted to let go. Her sobs were wretched, and they were clogging up her throat, Breathing was becoming hard, and a dizzy sensation passed over her.

But she didn't care. She just wanted Gordo to be better. "I know you probably can't hear me, and I know that you probably don't want to hear anything I have to say, but I'm telling you anyways. You have to wake up, open your eyes. Open them. Please Gordo? I'm begging you. Even if you stay mad at me for the rest of your life, just wake up and be okay."

Lizzie stayed silent for awhile as her tears began to subdue slightly. "I love you, Gordo. I want you to know that. And I want you to wake up so I can look into your eyes and tell you how much I love you," Lizzie was quiet as she realized she didn't know where she was headed with this confession.

Standing up, Lizzie wiped her eyes and turned away from Gordo. She whispered a quiet 'I'll be back' into his ear and left the tiny room. Wiping away her tears, Lizzie headed over to her mother to ask for a ride to Miranda's. Lizzie had to talk to her, apologize. She knew that Miranda could be stubborn at times, but she honestly hoped that they could work things out.

"Mom," Lizzie began, "Can you drop me off at Miranda's?"

A/N: Wow. I really made Ryan stupid, didn't I? Oh, well. Next chapter soon!