A/N – "Thoughts"

Part 3 – Realizing What's Always Been There

That night, Miranda was dressed in a pair of olive drab cargo pants, a black t-shirt with a silver butterfly printed on it, and a pair of beat up sneakers. She was pacing around her living room, trying to think up excuses to get out of this and not complete crush Gordo.

Sighing, she ran a hand through her brunette hair. "What could be the worse that could happen from just listening to him?" Miranda hypothetically asked herself. "You could actually fool yourself into believing you could have something," her subconscious answered her.

Hearing the doorbell ring, she quickly spun and faced the door. Just staring at the door, Miranda's mind went blank and she felt butterflies in her stomach. The second ring, snapped her out of her daze. Shaking her head, she tried to let out a calm, collective breath to try and pull herself together. Pulling her hair back into a loose ponytail, she slipped a hair tie around the base.

Walking to the door, she looked out the peephole and seeing him standing on the other side, she felt a shiver shoot down her spine. Taking a deep breath, she stepped back and opened the door. "Hey," she said with a polite grin and trying her hardest to keep her voice level.

"Hey," he responded with a lopsided grin, Miranda tried her hardest to not let her lips pull into a smile. "Didn't think you were gonna answer," he tried to joke, noticing the awkwardness.

"So you wanted to, uh, talk," she said as she nervously shifted from foot to foot.

"You wanna go for a walk?"

Shrugging, she grabbed her jean jacket off of the coat rack and followed him outside.

It was dusk and the sun setting gave the sky a multi-colored effect, from orange to deep violet. As she looked up at the sky, "So where are we going?"

"I just thought we'd wonder a bit, see where it takes us."

Miranda snickered, "Very philosophical. Any double meaning?" Gordo stayed quiet and they kept walking down the sidewalk. "You gonna say anything?" Miranda teased.

"When the time is right." Reaching the business district, "You eat dinner yet?" he asked looking at her. Miranda shook her head no and they walked into Cornerstone Pizza. After getting two slices of pizza and two sodas, they sat down at one of the tables.

As Miranda ate, Gordo's silence was starting to get to her. She had been expecting some kind of grand gesture but so far, he hadn't really said anything. "What's with you?" she snapped at him. Gordo looked up from his plate at her with a small smirk.

"You're supposedly trying to change my mind to be with you but yet you've barely said like two sentences all night." When Gordo just continued to smirk at him, she started getting more agitated, "Will you stop that."

"Stop what?" he asked amused.

"Just staring at me with that stupid smirk."

Gordo grinned at her, "Maybe its cause you're cute when you're off balance." He chuckled under his breath as Miranda opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. "Why are you so against even giving us a try?"

"I just don't think it's a good idea," Miranda said softly as she twirled her soda with her straw.

"Why?"

She shrugged, "Cause the wedding highlighted the fact that were both alone and a little lonely and it's too easy to find comfort in each other."

"Why are you fighting this so hard?" he asked as he finished his pizza.

Rubbing her forehead, "Cause every time I open myself up like this I get hurt. Every time I let a guy in, he breaks my heart. The last thing I want to do is end up hating you. There is no faster way to destroy a great friendship than dating."

"You wanna know what I think?" Gordo said as he folded his arms across the table and leaned forward a little.

"Not really," she said sarcastically as she finished her pizza.

Smirking, a soft snicker escaped his lips, "You're making excuses because you feel the same way I do but don't want to admit it."

"You're so full of it."

"Maybe," Gordo said, "But I'm right."

Rolling her eyes, Miranda got up and threw away her garbage before walking out. Gordo quickly followed suite and followed her outside. Hearing Gordo's footsteps catch up to her, she stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jean jacket and just continued to walk.

"Park?" he asked suddenly.

"Uh?" Miranda asked, stopping and turning to face him.

"You wanna go to the park?" Gordo asked with a small grin as he motioned over his shoulder. Across the street was Hill Ridge Town Park.

"Sure." After walking inside the park for a few minutes, "You remember when we use to spend hours here?"

Snickering, "I remember this is where you broke my leg," Gordo said as they approached the playground.

Miranda laughed softly, "Its not my fault you didn't know how to take a tackle."

"We were playing soccer," Gordo said dryly. Then a boyish grin appeared, "Though I did enjoy the outcome. You playing nurse for me the rest of summer."

She grinned a little, "I felt so bad about breaking your leg and wrecking your summer."

"Swings."

Smiling, she walked over to the swing. "Remember jumping out of these."

"I remember your mom and Mrs. McGuire yelling at you girls to stop jumping from the swings. You scared the hell out of your mom when you landed wrong."

"I only sprained my shoulder," Miranda said with a smirk as she started to gently rock back and forth on one of the swings.

"Yea, only. And Lizzie only got a small concussion from landing on her head."

Giving him a grin like a little girl, "Come on Gordo."

Rolling his eyes, he took the swing next to her. Within minutes, they both were swinging higher and higher. "Ready?" Miranda yelled at him as she laughed.

"For what?" he yelled back.

"Jump!" Miranda slowly got her swing in as close in sync with Gordo's as she could get. "On three."

"1…2…3," Miranda counted and on three, they both launched out of their swings.

Gordo landed perfectly but while Miranda landed on her feet, she lost her balance. Stumbling sideways, she crashed into Gordo and caused them to fall down. Landing in a heap, Gordo on top of Miranda, they laid there for a moment a little stunned. Gordo snickering caused Miranda to start and within seconds they were laughing hysterically. They laid there for a few minutes, just laughing at themselves.

As Gordo slowly rolled off her, Miranda felt a pang of disappointment and this scared her. Taking the hand Gordo offered, he helped her up to her feet. Brushing themselves off, "So are we done channeling our six year old selves?" Gordo asked, a smirk still playing on his lips.

"Oh shut up, you loved it." Then a playful smile spread over Miranda's face. Quickly, she blindsided Gordo and checked him. As Gordo fell, Miranda took off running. Rolling to his back, he jumped to his feet and quickly gave chase.

While Gordo was faster, Miranda was more agile. Every time Gordo would catch up to her, Miranda would cut right or left, just evading his grip. After running for a few minutes, they reached the fountain that was in the center of the park. Reaching the fountain, Gordo guessed right on which way Miranda would cut and grabbed her into a bear hug.

Miranda was squealing with laughter as he spun her around. As he looked at her, her huge smile was infectious as he felt an identical smile spread on his face. Looking into her eyes, he became mesmerized by how they were practically dancing. Slowly leaning in, he kissed her.

"Gordo," Miranda mumbled against his lips in half-hearted protest but quickly started to kiss him back. Unlike last night when the kissing was fast and furious, this time the kiss was slow and more passionate.

As Gordo pulled back and took a deep breath, he licked his lips and grinned widely at her. "Still think it's a bad idea?"

She didn't say anything but pulled him in for another kiss.

As they walked out of the park and heading back to Miranda's apartment, Miranda looked over at him. While she wasn't completely comfortable with dating Gordo, it somehow felt right. He was the only boy she had really let see the whole her, the real her. "David," Miranda called softly, using his real name.

"Hmm?" Gordo said stopping on the sidewalk.

Miranda stopped and faced him. She then leaned in and kissed his cheek, "I'm trusting you not to break my heart."

Cupping her chin, he gently brushed her cheek with his thumb. "And I'm trusting you to do the same." Miranda nodded and Gordo smiled softly as they continued their walk back to her apartment.

Standing in front of the apartment, Miranda and Gordo looked at each other with identical smirks and a comfortable silence falling between them.

"I better get inside," Miranda's said as she pulled her keys out of her jacket.

"I was thinking, maybe we could go out to dinner or somethin," Gordo mumbled.

Miranda smiled softly as she watched Gordo get nervous. "Sure. Dinner Friday sounds good."

"Great," he said as a smile spread across his face. "So I guess I'll talk to ya later," he said and slowly turned around to leave.

"Gordo," Miranda called, making Gordo stop and turn back around. She slowly walked up to him, "You forgot something." Gordo was about to ask what, but just as he opened his mouth, Miranda leaned in and kissed him. She giggled softly as she looked at the stupid happy grin that was plastered on his face. "Night," she whispered.

Quickly recovering, "Night," he called out to her retreating her back. As she walked inside, Gordo knew that his stupid grin wouldn't last but the feeling would.

-----

As Gordo stood in Miranda's living room, he nervously tugged at the color of his dress shirt. It was Friday night and they were going out to dinner, their first real date. Gordo had never felt this nervous before, even for his first date with Lizzie. Taking a deep breath, Gordo let it out slowly and ran a hand through his hair.

"Why am I so nervous? Its Miranda, I've known her for years and I'm completely comfortable with her. Its not like we haven't kissed." He smirked as the memory of last weekend played in his head. "Its cause this date means you're really together and you don't want to do anything to fuck this up," Gordo thought as he answered his own question.

Checking his watch, "Its quarter to seven and reservations are at quarter after." Fidgeting with the cuffs of his shirt, he tried to relax. "Miranda?"

"Relax Gordo," came the slightly muffled reply from the bedroom. "I'll be done in a minute."

Chuckling softly, he rolled his eyes. "I've heard that before," he teased back.

Walking out of the bedroom, "You want to be having dinner alone?" Miranda shot back.

"You look great," he said with a small smile. She was wearing a pair of black pants, a black and red top with spaghetti straps, and a pair of red sandals.

"Keep groveling," Miranda said with a smirk. "You don't look so bad yourself," she said as she looked him up and down in his soft blue dress shirt, dark blue pants, and black dress shoes. "Ready?"

Gordo smiled at her as he understood the double meaning to her question. Reaching his hand out to her, "Yea. You?"

Taking his hand and intertwining their fingers, Miranda smiled back at him, "As I'll ever be."