A/N: Hey! Just another update before the weekend ends. Expect another couple of chaps next weekend. Short chapter, I have to go do homework soon. Peace!

By the way, this kind of switches point of views in this chapter. I'm not doing POV, but if you read this you'll know what I mean.

Chapter Thirty Four

Some people tell me, that you're not my kind
And I believe them, but I can't get you off my mind
Some people tell me that I should stay away
Maybe I will ... some other day

-Mandy Moore "Seventeen"

"Dad," Natalie began to say at the dinner table a few days later, "Is it all right if I go camping this weekend with Ryan, Deirdre, and Brandon?"

Gordo took a bite of mashed potatoes, took a quick glance at Lizzie, who was sitting across from him, then nodded.

It was four days after Brooke had left for San Francisco. Natalie and Lizzie still hung out a lot, but mostly it as Lizzie and Gordo doing things together. They had gotten a lot closer since Brooke had left.

"Thank you so much," Natalie smiled and helped herself to some more oven-baked chicken.

"Gordo, this chicken is so good," Lizzie told Gordo between mouthfuls, "How did you know oven-baked chicken is my favourite?"

Gordo froze. He had remembered what Lizzie's favourite food was from when they were teenagers, so he decided to make it for dinner. Gordo had suddenly felt his old feelings for Lizzie coming back, and his romantic feelings towards Brooke were fading away.

"I-I took, uh, a guess?" Gordo answered stupidly. It sounded more like a question than a statement.

Lizzie smiled. She was wearing a pink tank top underneath a see-through button-down shirt that was tinted peach, along with a black knee length skirt. Her curly hair was left down and the only makeup she had on was cherry lip balm. When Gordo had first seen her wearing the outfit that day, his jaw dropped slightly, but had quickly closed it.

"Cool," Lizzie said, the smile still lingering on her lips. She was nearly finished her meal.

"So, we're probably going to leave Saturday morning and drive up to the campsite," Natalie explained to her father. Suddenly, the phone rang, and Natalie dashed into the kitchen to answer it.

"Hello?" Lizzie and Gordo heard her say, "Oh, hey, Ryan! What's up?"

As she started saying a bunch of sweet stuff to her boyfriend on the phone, Lizzie and Gordo kept stealing glances at each other. Lizzie cleared her throat and said, "I'm full. Thanks for dinner,", then stood up and brought her plate into the kitchen.

Is it just me or has Gordo gotten hotter over the years? I wonder what he looks like without a shirt on...no, no, no, Lizzie! Stop it! You know you'll never have a chance with him! He's married! He's married, he's married, he's married! Lizzie screamed in her head as she threw out the scraps of her meal into the garbage. She placed her plate into the sink and walked into the living room. She sat down on the couch, grabbed the remote, and turned on the TV. She started watching whatever was on the channel. It was some girl and a guy making out on a couch. Lizzie sighed and changed the channel. This time she found a woman confessing her undying love to her ex-husband. Lizzie glared at the screen and hit the Up button on the remote. Sweet Home Alabama was playing. Lizzie accidently let out a frustrated scream and pressed the Off button. She stood up and went into the next room, which happened to be the dining room. Gordo was sitting at the table, deep in thought.

"What's wrong?" Gordo asked vaguely.

"Nothing," Lizzie breathed. She was hooked on Gordo's blue eyes, "I think I'm going to go do some reading in my room."

She dashed into the foyer, then slowly walked upstairs. She trudged into the guest room and threw herself on the bed. She let out an exasperated sigh. She lay there for a while, then sat up and looked around. The alarm clock on the nightstand read 7:00. Lizzie stood up, walked downstairs, and found Gordo in the kitchen.

"Where's Natalie?" Lizzie asked in a tired voice.

"She went to her boyfriend's," Gordo told her. He blinked a couple of times, then looked at the phone. Then, as if it were on cue, it rang. Gordo picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Honey," Brooke's voice filled Gordo's right ear, "I'm just calling to let you know how my mom's doing."

"And how is she?" Gordo asked in a blank voice. He honestly didn't really care how Brooke's mother was feeling. He had only met her three times, and she was very rude to him all three of them. Besides, it's not like it's going to matter, he thought to himself, I might not even be married to Brooke by the end of the year.

Shut up, another part of his brain told him. You're not divorcing Brooke. She's nice, sweet, pretty....but not as pretty and sweet as Lizzie. What am I saying!? Brooke is fifty times as pretty as Lizzie! Her eyes are very mysterious...but not sparkling like Lizzie's. Brooke went to college, I doubt Lizzie did. Lizzie is a fantastic mother, though...

As different parts of Gordo's brain were fighting over his wife and Lizzie, Brooke kept going on about her mother's condition.

"Gordo? Sweetie? David? Hello? Are you listening!?" Brooke screeched five minutes after she was done explaining.

Gordo snapped out of his trance. "Oh, yeah, Brooke, listen, something's up, I gotta go..." He lied.

"What? What happened?" Brooke asked. She sounded worried.

"Nothing big, just something," Gordo said quickly, and was about to hang up just as Brooke said, "I love you, David. A lot."

Hearing this, Gordo's heart sank. Sure, he loved Brooke, but not the way he used to. He didn't want to break Brooke's heart. He sighed. "Yeah...I love you too," he told her, then hung up.

Forgetting Lizzie was standing behind him, he swore and left the room.