A/N: Yeah, so I guess there isn't a really good excuse as to why I haven't updated more this summer other than like becoming addicted to solitare on the computer—yes, the card game. School starts way too soon.

Chapter Eighteen

"Okay, let's start with the couple with the most points. The couple with the most points, with negative sixteen points by the end of the night is Tory and Daniel. Tory and Daniel, you will be staying here for the time being," Ryan announced.

Lizzie and Gordo smiled, admittedly happy that they were staying for their own reasons.

"The couple that had the second to most amount of points, with negative nineteen points by the end of last night is Mary and George. You, too, will be staying here tonight."

Lizzie smiled at Mary, happy that Mary was staying with her for at least a few more days.

"And now for the other two couples," Ryan said, directing his focus on Elizabeth and James and then Jane and Thomas, "It was pretty close between you too, but unfortunately, there was someone who had one kiss too many last night. Remember, the couple that had lost the most points last night will be packing up as soon as this is over and leaving the island tonight. Now, the couple with the second to least amount of points last night was...Elizabeth and James with negative twenty-eight points. This means that Jane and Thomas, with negative thirty-one points, I'm sorry, but you will be leaving tonight. Say your goodbye's to everyone now, for you won't be seeing them tonight."

Jane and Thomas stood up and slowly so did everyone else as they said goodbye and hugged everyone before being directed toward the mansion so they could pack their things. Soon after that, the rest of them were released, but told that there would be interviews and then time for relaxation and that their production meeting would happen at some point before dinner.

Lizzie and Gordo returned to their hut and it was weird because both of them really wanted to get the full story on the night before and for reasons they couldn't explain, they were happy to still be there, but not just for the money. Ever since they "reunited" that morning, Lizzie felt strangely attracted to Gordo. She wanted badly to override these feelings with the explanation of that he looked really ugly the night before, but decided it wasn't worth the extra stress. Attractions come and go, and this strange attraction would probably disappear by the end of that night. But for now, the clean-shaven, curly haired, brown eyed, sensitive, witty, former best friend was the only thing she wanted to think about. Maybe the possibilities were endless, after all.

While Lizzie was thinking about Gordo, Gordo was thinking about Lizzie. He'd thought about her a lot in the past several days, and became sorry that he let her go in the first place. Ever since he learned the truth about Ethan, he began to realize how stupid their break-up was in the first place. And at the club the night before, he was beginning to get the feeling that maybe he wasn't the only one feeling something other than hatred. Lizzie only danced with a few people and talked to a few men. Gordo watched her the whole night and not once did he see her kiss someone or exchange any phone numbers. He wanted to ask her to dance, but didn't know if that would be cheating. He peered over at Lizzie, who was reading a magazine and wondered if she ever thought they had a change. His feelings for her were becoming stronger every day and it was at the point where he couldn't really deny it any longer: certain feelings he felt in high school were resurfacing.

Gordo sat on his side of the bed, took off his shoes and lay down. Only to prop his head up with his hands on his pillow minutes later, "Lizzie?" he asked.

"Hmm?" Lizzie asked, not really looking up from her magazine.

He had her attention. Now what? "Um, so, if we win, what do you think you will do with the money?"

Lizzie put the magazine down on her lap and shrugged, "Well, I think I'm going to pay bills, first. Then, after that, I think I might travel and then save the rest," she said, then nodded toward him, "What about you?"

Gordo shrugged, "Oh, I don't know. I think I might travel some after tie up some loose ends and then probably buy a new car."

"What kind of car do you drive now?"

"The same car I drove when I was in high school."

"Wow. Even I have a different car."

"Well," Gordo said, defensively, "I had other things to worry about other than getting a new car."

Lizzie smiled, "Yeah, maybe you should consider putting some of that money towards plastic surgery. That look last night worked well for you."

"Ha ha," Gordo said, and then he added "I don't need plastic surgery to look like the sexy beast that I am."

"Oh, right," Lizzie said, going along with him in a sarcastic tone.

Both of them laughed and then after they calmed down, the two exchanged smiles and a moment of wonderment, until Gordo decided to go for it, "You know, Lizzie—"he started, until the phone interrupted him. Their was one phone in the Love Hut and neither of them had used it. It was next to Gordo, so he answered it, "Hello?" he said.

"Why, he-llo," the voice, who was obviously a woman and Gordo didn't recognize her voice, said, "You must be Daniel. This is Caroline, a dear friend of Tory's. Is she there?"

"Sure. Hold on a sec. Gordo looked at Lizzie and held the phone in his hand, "It's your friend, Caroline. Wait—isn't that your cousin?"

Lizzie's eyes widened, "Shh!" she said to Gordo, "I don't want Caroline to know about this." Lizzie took the phone from Gordo, took a deep breath, and spoke, "Hi, Caroline! How are you?"

"Why, Victoria! I happen to be excellent. Are you having a good time?"

"Oh," Lizzie said, trying to think of an answer her cousin would like to hear, "only the best."

Gordo watched Lizzie as she talked with her cousin, curiously. He wanted to see how she's answer the questions she asked, even if they were lies. Caroline spoke loud enough so he could hear what they were both saying.

"That's good to hear. So tell me, how is this Daniel person?"

Lizzie glanced over at Gordo, and could tell that he was listening. Not that she'd tell Caroline the truth, but she didn't really know how to answer the question, "He's fine."

"Would Tory date him?"

"I don't know. I've only met her once or twice."

"Okay fine. Would I date him?"

Lizzie shook her head, "I don't think so."

"Oh, well, maybe that doesn't mean anything. Is he cute?"

"Yeah, Lizzie said and with that Gordo started grinning, that is, until she added, "I guess he is."

"Well, that's good. Who knows, Liz, maybe you will end up together by the end of this. It might be kind of nice to see you out there and dating someone again. Maybe you can even invite this Daniel person to my wedding," Caroline said, in a by the way type of manner."

Lizzie blinked, "You're getting married?"

"But of course! Peter finally proposed to me last night after dinner at the Country Club."

"Good for you!" Lizzie said, "I'm so happy for you."

Caroline giggled, "Anyway, that's not the only reason I called you. The primary reason I am calling you, after checking up on you, of course, was to make sure you aren't doing anything stupid or acting like a prude. You may have to live with your face and reputation, but its Tory who has to live with the name and I don't want them to get the wrong idea about Tory."

"Okay," Lizzie said, feeling slightly awkward. Was her cousin always this...bitchy?

"Anyway, I do hope that you are having a great time and Tory has invited the both of us to her lake house when you get back."

"Okay. I'll think about it."

"Oh, you should come. Hey! You can even bring Daniel if all of this works out! I have to go now, though. Have a good time!"

"Thanks," Lizzie said, "Bye!"

Caroline had already hung up, though. Lizzie did the same, as she thought about what her cousin had just said, "I can't believe the nerve of that girl," Lizzie mumbled.

"I know," Gordo said, nodding his head, "I didn't mean to, but I heard the whole thing. What does she have up her ass, anyway? And what is the real Tory like?"

Lizzie shook her head, "Well, she's rich and apparently smart and not a prude."

"Oh, don't listen to her. Take it from someone who has known you for all your life: you are intellectual and you are most definitely not a prude," he said, then he realized that might have sounded wrong, "Not that you are a slut or anything, but..."

Lizzie grinned, "Gordo?" she said, looking at Gordo, "You can stop now. I get the idea and thank you."

"You're welcome," Gordo said, grinning.

Just when another moment of awkward silence was about to occur someone knocked on the door. "They must want us for an interview," Lizzie said.

"Yeah," Gordo said, as he watched Lizzie get up and disappear to answer the door. She was right. Gracie, one of the producers, was on the other side and asked for Tory to come with her. Without looking back, Lizzie followed and headed toward the interview room, wondering what she was going to talk about and if this small crush on Gordo would go away.

After the twenty minute interview was over, where she commented on the loss of Jane and Thomas, her growing relationship with Daniel, and the trip the night before, she headed back to the Love Hut, looking forward to more time alone with Gordo.

However, as soon as Lizzie left the mansion, the host, Ryan, wanted to talk to her.

"Tory," he said, running o catch up with her and he lightly touched her arm when he did, "Would you like to go for a little walk?"

"Um," Lizzie said, looking at her hut which was about one hundred yards away from them, "Sure."

"Okay," he said, leading her to a different direction, "So, Tory...is that short for Victoria or something, you know, like Tori Spelling?"

"Yeah," Lizzie said, wishing at this point that she'd turned him down, "Are you sure we aren't going to get in trouble with this?"

"Ha! Are you kidding me? We have another two hours until that production meeting. These people don't actually care what we do with our free time. Anyway, so where in New York are you from? I'm a Jersey boy myself."

"Um...the Hamptons," Lizzie said, not that she actually knew where the real Tory lived or where the Hamptons was located. All she knew was that it was a place where rich and famous people visited.

"Really? You know, that's not far from where I am. Maybe after this is all through, we can get together."

Lizzie took a deep breath, as she was only half listening to Ryan, "Um, well, you see, the thing is, I think I am moving really soon."

"Really? Where?"

Let's see, Lizzie thought, what was the most random state she could think of to tell this guy. Wyoming...no, she didn't know anything about that place. She did, however, have some distant cousins in Wisconson. "Wisconson."

"Hmm," he said, "I've never been there before. Don't they make good cheese or something?"

"Yeah."

Ryan shook his head, "Anyway, so what do you think of this place?"

Lizzie looked beyond Ryan and noticed Gordo walking toward his interview. She knew she and Ryan weren't exactly hidden, so it didn't really surprise her when he looked over at her and then looked down and walked a little faster to the interview. "It's fine," Lizzie said.

"So, are you and Dan getting along?"

Lizzie thought about how to answer this question, and then she realized she didn't have to answer it, especially since she had been wondering the same lately herself. Lizzie shook her head and backed off a little, "I don't think that is actually any of your business," Lizzie said, backing off some more, "No, in fact that has nothing to do with you."

Ryan, who was taken aback by Lizzie's reaction, sort of flustered, "I'm sorry, Tory. I just wanted to know if I was wasting my time."

"Well," a miffed Lizzie said, "You are wasting your time whether or not I do like Gordo."

Ryan looked at her confused, "Who the hell is Gordo?"

Lizzie blushed slightly, "I meant Daniel. Anyway, I would never in my life dare to even consider dating the likes of you," Lizzie said, storming off.

Not once did Lizzie look back to see how Ryan was reacting as she headed back to the hut and cried as soon as she could. She didn't mean what she said to Ryan, but her mind was too clustered to worry about hurting anyone's feelings. She didn't know what suddenly ticked in her mind that got her so upset, but it was almost like she was looking for an excuse to get mad at someone and an excuse to blow up at someone. Things were getting more and more complicated each minute with her and Gordo and she didn't have any answers for herself. She had no idea what she wanted.

A/N: Okay, here is a question for you.

Who gets to live in the mansion now that Jane and Thomas are gone?