I3itterSweet – I'll bring pairing diversity into this section even if I have to do it myself, lol. M/G is still my favorite but K/G is a close second.

D.Torres – About continuing Wake Me Up, I'll give it some thought. I'm not against the idea but I'm just not sure where I'd go with it.

Abuhin, catchastar – Thanks for the reviews.

A/N – "Thoughts"

Chapter 2 - The Wharf

Gordo walked a few steps behind Kate as they walked along Fisherman's Wharf. As he looked around, Gordo tried to figure out how exactly he ended up here, with her.

After the park, Gordo had taken Kate back to her father's apartment building. They had been standing in front of the building, trying to make small talk but failing miserably. Suddenly, Kate asked him if he wanted to hang out again. Maybe it was the way her voice sounded but Gordo found it hard to say no. So here he was walking around Fisherman's Wharf with Kate. Even though he'd never admit it out loud, hanging out with Kate wasn't as bad as he imagined.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he watched Kate walk over to a nearby bench and sit down. "Finally," he joked as he sat down next to her.

Kate just rolled her eyes and looked out at the water. "This is nice," she said after a few minutes of silence.

"Yea, its an incredible view. You should be able to see Alcatraz."

Snickering softly, Kate looked over at Gordo, "I wasn't talking about the view." When Gordo gave her a questioning look, she explained. "Its nice just hanging out together and not have to deal with the High School crap."

Gordo grinned slightly and shook his head in agreement. "Can I ask you something?" Kate nodded yes and Gordo asked, "Why are we hanging out? I mean, the last time we saw each other, you were bitching about me being in your way."

Kate frowned a little. "Sorry about that." She turned on the bench, so her upper body was facing him. "Its just, when I'm with you now, here, I don't have to put on an act or keep looking over my shoulder. I can just be myself and not have to worry about how I look. That make any sense?"

"Yea, it did," Gordo told her with a small nod.

Kate looked out at the water for moment and then back to Gordo. "Have you ever done something that at the time, thought it was the right thing but later you start to regret it?"

"Sure. Everyone regrets something. Why, what did you do?"

Kate let out a sad sigh and told him, "The summer from hell."

"The what?" Gordo asked confused.

"Its what I call the summer before 6th grade. My parents finally divorced, my Dad took off and my Mom didn't want to deal with anything, so she sent me off to Cheerleading Camp. Camp was fun, I guess."

"You guess?"

Kate shrugged and ran a hand through her long blonde hair. "Becoming popular was fun, for awhile at least. At first, everything is so new and exciting, everyone wants to be your friend and the parties are incredible but everything gets old after awhile. You're constantly looking over your shoulder, suspicious of everyone, wondering who could stab you in your back. It wears on you after awhile."

Gordo reached out and gently squeezed her shoulder. "You still haven't told me what you regret."

Reaching up, Kate put her hand over Gordo's, "I regret that when I needed them the most, I pushed away the only people that really cared about me. My real friends."

"If you feel like that, then why don't you give it up?"

"Because it's hard to," she said in a soft almost whining voice, "It's like an addiction. When you don't have it, you want it and when you do, you want more. If you ever try and give it up, the pull of it is intense. I'm not strong enough." Kate hung her head and turned back forward. After sitting there for a bit, Kate got a little embarrassed and took her hand off of Gordo's.

Gordo slowly pulled back his own hand. "So you wanna do something this weekend?"

Kate looked over at him, surprised. "You mean you wanna hang out again?" her voice rising a little in excitement.

Snickering, Gordo grinned. "When you take off your mask and you let yourself be you, you're fun to be with. Kinda makes me miss our old friendship."

"I miss it too," Kate said softly.

"Then lets do something about it," Gordo said standing up. Reaching out, he grabbed Kate's hand and pulled her to her feet.

"Gordo?" she shouted as she landed on her feet.

"We forget about the past and just hangout this summer as friends," Gordo told her as he stood in front of her.

"What? We can't just forget the past."

Gordo smirked, "Why not?"

"I…I…" Kate tried to come up with a reason but couldn't think of anything. "You sure?" she asked a little tentatively, not really trusting her luck. Was she really getting a chance to start over with one of her oldest friends.

"Yea. Let's face it both our summers were looking pretty crappy until we bumped into each other. I'm willing to forget if you are?"

Kate smiled, "Yea, I am." She hugged Gordo, "Thanks."

"Well now that we're done with the Hallmark moment," Gordo joked and Kate laughed. "How about we get lunch and then head over to Alcatraz."

"Sure, except this time I pick the place," Kate said leading them down the wharf again.

"Pick what? Everything is seafood."

"If you don't stop whining, I'm gonna make you eat sushi," Kate threatened with a smirk as she glanced over her shoulder at him.

Gordo pretending to grimace but couldn't hide his own grin. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me," she deadpanned.

Gordo snickered and shook his head as he followed her. The summer was starting to look better.