On the ride back to the Gordon's, Gordo and Brad were having a less girly version of the conversation Lizzie and Miranda were having. "So," Gordo asked, "Did you have a good night?"

"Yes I did," Brad said proudly, "I don't have to ask you if you had a good night."

"Why's that?" Gordo asked.

"You've had this dopey smile on your face since you and Lizzie returned," Brad said.

"Oh," Gordo said sounding slightly embarrassed.

"Obviously you and Lizzie shared the PG-13 rated version of your evening. What else happened?" Brad asked.

"Not much. Some serious making-out, minus clothing, but besides that..." Gordo bragged.

"You guys were naked, on the beach?" Brad asked incredulously.

"No. We were both in underwear and were in the backseat of her car," Gordo answered.

"Sorry I called you dopey. After the evening you had you can look as dopey as you'd like," Brad said.

"So, what about you and Miranda," Gordo asked. "I saw you two kissing out in the driveway. When did that happen?"

"Right after you guys left we had a talk. Apparently I just had to make her jealous before she realized she wanted to be with me," Brad said.

"So, you kissed her," Gordo said, "How was that?"

Brad looked embarrassed for a moment then honestly said, "Well, despite the fact that I have nothing to compare it to, I thought it was pretty great."

"Cool," Gordo said.

The two rode in silence the rest of the way home. Everyone needed to sleep in late after the night they'd had. Around one Gordo called and asked Lizzie and Miranda if they wanted to come over once they were ready. The girls agreed and got out of bed to get ready to go. An hour later they pulled into the Gordon's driveway in Lizzie's new car. They found Brad and Gordo on the deck in the back setting up a picnic lunch.

"Ah, how sweet!" Miranda said as she shyly kissed Brad hello.

Gordo and Lizzie were less inhibited about their display of affection for one another. Gordo had maneuvered Lizzie into a corner and was whispering things in her ear. Lizzie was giggling and playfully trying to push him away.

"Get a room you two!" Miranda exclaimed.

"Oh settle down," Gordo said, "It won't be long until the tables will have turned and it will be Lizzie and I telling you two to cool it."

Miranda simply said, "We'll see."

Over their lunch of chicken salad sandwiches the four of them discussed what they wanted to do for the rest of the summer. Several ideas were thrown out. They discussed the amusement park, going to the ocean, camping, a road trip and several more ideas.

"I almost forgot," Gordo said, "My family is going to our cabin next week, we are leaving on Friday." Lizzie and Miranda looked disappointed until Gordo added, "My mom said we could invite the two of you!"

"That sounds like a lot of fun!" Miranda said excitedly.

"Yeah," Lizzie added enthusiastically, "A relaxing change of scenery."

"Exactly!" Gordo said, glad that the girls were excited about the idea.

"As long as we are talking about our summer plans," Lizzie said, "We should know when you are going back to Houston, Brad."

Both Brad and Miranda, who were holding hands under the table, grew serious at the mention of Brad's departure. "I'm not really sure yet, but school starts at the end of August, so sometime before that, I guess."

Miranda didn't say anything, but squeezed Brad's hand, hard. "This stinks," she was thinking. She was finally in a relationship, as early as it might be, and the guy she was with was not going to be around longer than the summer. Part of her wondered if a short-term relationship was even worth it. What if she got her heart broken at the end of the summer?

Lizzie could feel Miranda's mood drop when she brought up Brad's leaving. She felt like she was being so insensitive, she hadn't even thought about how his leaving would make Miranda feel. She felt bad for her friend; she could only imagine what it would be like to be in her shoes.

Brad could also feel the shift in Miranda's mood; he decided that he needed to reassure her. "Miranda, would you like to take a walk with me?" he asked.

"Sure," she said quietly. The two got up and disappeared around the front of the house. Lizzie helped Gordo clean up their picnic lunch before the two of them headed up to his room. Mr. and Mrs. Gordon had both left early that morning on business trips, even though it was Sunday.

Lizzie sat on Gordo's bed and said, "I feel so bad for Miranda. I didn't even think about how she'd feel about Brad leaving until after I asked. I have such a big mouth."

"I feel bad too, but we all knew he'd have to leave eventually. Who knew that when he came we'd all dread the day he has to leave," Gordo said.

"If we were in their shoes, I'd be so crushed," Lizzie admitted.

"Me too," Gordo agreed thoughtfully.

Gordo put his arm comfortingly around Lizzie. She turned to wrap both her arms around his neck. She buried her face in his shoulder and he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

Miranda was a few steps ahead of Brad. Her arms were tightly crossed across her chest and she was looking down at her feet. Brad did not take this as a good sign. He sped up a little to catch up with her. He put a hand on her shoulder and she stopped and turned toward him. "I forgot that you don't belong here and eventually you'd have to go back home," Miranda said.

"I don't know what you want me to say Miranda," Brad said, "You knew I was not staying forever."

"I know," Miranda said quietly, "I just wasn't ready to think about it yet. Then, because I was forced to think about it, I started having all these doubts."

"What kind of doubts?" Brad asked.

"Mainly, is it really going to be worth it for me to even be with you?" Miranda said.

"I understand your reservations, but can't we give it a try?" Brad asked, "Maybe you'll decide you don't like me anyway. Besides, if this really works out, it's not like you're never going to hear from me again. We can write and I can come back to visit."

"Yeah," Miranda said sounding unconvinced.

"I really like you," Brad said, "let's just see where things go this summer and we can take it from there. I don't want to just give this up."

Miranda smiled. He'd said what she needed to her. She wanted to be sure that he was a committed to trying it out as she was. Brad smiled in return and asked, "So, we're okay?"

She nodded and pulled him toward her.

Back at the Gordon household, Lizzie had gotten over her sadness and was feeling very daring. Even though she knew no one was home, she felt reckless at making out so carelessly on Gordo's bed. Her shirt was unbuttoned and her hair was a mess. She knew that at any moment, Brad and Miranda could come back in the house and catch them in the act. But, she didn't really care. All she knew was that the things Gordo was doing to her felt so right. She completely understood what her mom had meant when she'd told her than things can get out of hand quickly.

Sometimes she thought she was ready, but knew deep inside that she really wasn't. She loved Gordo, but did she want to give away the most precious gift she had to offer someone, when she was 16 years old?

"Gordo," Lizzie said between kisses, "We need to slow down."

Gordo didn't stop immediately, but slowed down gradually, like a run away train with no brakes. When he was finally lying still on the bed beside her Lizzie said, "We need to set some boundaries."

"Okay," Gordo said.

"What we just did, I'm fine with. I am not comfortable with things going any further than that for the time being though. I need you to swear that you will respect my decision," Lizzie said.

"I swear," Gordo said, "I have said all along that we will only go as far as you want to. You just have to say the word. I think setting some boundaries is a great idea."

"You are being so great about this," Lizzie said.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Gordo asked.

"You're a guy," Lizzie said.

"Just because I'm a guy doesn't mean I don't understand where you're coming from. We're young; we have our whole lives in front of us. We don't need to do this now. I hope some day my first time is with you, but I think if we wait until we're older and we've been together longer it will mean a lot more," Gordo said.

"You do understand," Lizzie said.

"Sometimes I want to, so bad. But, yes, I do understand what the consequences might be and what the benefits to us waiting are," Gordo said, "Plus, I love you, I'm not going to jeopardize that by pushing the issue, where would that get me?"

"Well, you'd be single," Lizzie said jokingly.

"See, and the last thing I want to do it loose you," Gordo said reassuringly.

Eventually Brad and Miranda returned to the house. The four decided to spend the rest of the evening watching movies and planning for their trip to the cabin. Each was feeling slightly more secure in his or her relationship. Although they were just teenagers they seemed to understand that relationships are not without conflict and conflict is resolved by talking things over and truly understanding where the other is coming from.

Author's note: This is not a very exciting chapter. It is kind of boring filler chapter leading from one big event to another big event, the next one will be more interesting. I'm not sure what people are thinking about my keeping Gordo and Lizzie from doing the deed...and I'm not sure myself yet if they are going to or not in this story. I like the stories were they do and I like the stories where they don't. What do others think?