A/N: Yet again, sorry it took me so long. These past few weeks have been really hectic.

Disclaimer: I do not own Lizzie McGuire.

Chapter Ten

Day Six: Part Two

15 July 2004

Thankfully, Gordo agreed to sit down. I guess maybe he'll listen to me after all. We sat down on the bench as I thought, "here goes nothing."

"Gordo," I said, looking directly at him. This was it. This was my moment for everything to turn around. For everything to get back to normal.

"Yes?" the unsuspecting Gordo said.

"There is something I need to talk to you about."

"Okay," Gordo said, getting a little confused, "like what?"

I took a large breath. How do I say this? How do I tell him the truth without freaking him out? "Well, for starters, I think I owe you an explanation."

"Oh?" Gordo asked, getting interested, "What kind of explanation?"

I decided to start slowly, "Well, for starters, I hate Stuart."

Gordo's eyes widened, "You do? Wow! I would have never guessed. Then why are you and him so close?"

"Because I have to be," I said.

"W-what?"

I sighed, "I made a deal with Jaime that I would keep him company and at the time I was okay with the deal."

"But now…you realize he's a pompous jerk?" Gordo asked.

I nodded my head to agree, "Well, yeah, but also there's one other thing."

"Like what?" Gordo asked, not seeming to get the big picture. You know, for as smart as he is, he was never one to get the big picture of everything.

"Because," I said, taking his hand. He looked down at our hands and waited for me to finish what I wasn't sure I had enough strength for me to finish, "because I'm in love."

Gordo gulped. I prayed that it was the type of gulp that knew exactly where this conversation was going, "Oh?" he asked, in a throaty voice.

At this point I couldn't take it anymore. I had to let it all out now, "Gordo, I was being selfish when I broke up with you and now more than ever, I miss you."

Gordo said nothing. He just starred at me in disbelief. Not that I blame him. I mean, if he told all this to me a month ago, I probably would have slapped him. Finally, just as I thought he would walk away, he scratched his head and said, "Wow."

"I know," I said back.

"Since when did you realize this?"

Here we go. I sighed, "I don't know. I knew for sure yesterday but I think in the back of my mind I always knew it."

Gordo looked down at our hands and picked his up abruptly. I was pretty sure he was mad at me when he did this and the way he looked at me didn't help much either. He looked at me really confused, "Lizzie, I don't really know what to say."

I looked at him upset. I should have been prepared for the letdown. I should have known this wouldn't be this easy.

Gordo sighed, "Lizzie, what do you want me to say? 'Okay? Fine! Great! Let's get back together and love each other like this is never going to happen again?' because you broke my heart when you broke up with me. I don't know if I can handle that again."

"Gordo!" I said, with tears forming in my eyes, "I won't let that happen! I promise."

Gordo shrugged, "How can I be so sure? You didn't even give me a reason."

"Do you want a reason?" I said, crying softly at this point, "because I can give you a reason. I can give you all the reasons I have, but I'll only give them to you if you give me another chance."

"Lizzie," Gordo said, shaking his head, "It doesn't work like that. I don't just want another batch of excuses I want the truth."

I sighed. Here I was in the middle of London, ready to explain everything, "I can give you the truth. The truth was that I was scared."

Gordo looked at me doubtfully, "Lizzie, what were you so scared about?"

I closed my eyes and sighed, "Gordo. . .I was ready to. . .on your birthday I almost gave you. . .Gordo, I was just scared, okay?" I said, as the tears fell harder and harder. I am sure everyone in the park was starring at me or looking at me funny but I didn't care if I was making a scene. It wasn't like I knew anyone else on the streets. All I cared about in those pivotal moments were Gordo.

"Lizzie," Gordo said, probably noticing that this wasn't something stupid, "You had nothing to be scared about? I believed in us and I thought we could get through anything. You proved that I was wrong."

"No, Gordo," Lizzie said, "You were so right. This is just another obstacle! Gordo, I love you! Please, give me another chance."

"Are you still scared?" Gordo asked.

"Not anymore," Lizzie said.

Gordo took my hand and stood up, "Good."

I stood up. Was that it? What was happening, "So now what?" I asked as we started walking on.

"We'll just have to see," Gordo said, "but if you get scared again, you are going to have to tell me, okay? You never know when I might be scared about the same thing." Gordo looked at me knowingly.

I gasped, "You-you know why I was scared?"

Gordo shrugged, "I figured it was something along those lines."

"And-and you never talked about it."

"Well," he started, "Unlike you, I thought I would wait it out and see where that road would take us."

"How did you know I was scared?"

Gordo shrugged, "I guess I had a feeling when you started to get nervous around me when we were alone. I was never sure about it, but I figured eventually we'd talk about it."

"So you are okay if I want to take things slowly?"

Gordo nodded, "Lizzie I would wait for you as long as you would wait for me."

I smiled as we walked on, "I can't believe I almost lost you."

"Neither can I," Gordo said, "Because I am a damn good catch."

I laughed as we walked, this time we didn't let go of our hands. "Gordo?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for being patient as I sorted through all my thoughts and processed them all."

"You're welcome."

"And thanks for not dating anyone. I don't think that would have helped me."

"Thank you for hating Stuart. Had you liked the guy, I would probably have complained."

"I feel so lucky."

"Well," Gordo said, "Just as long as you aren't scared."

"Gordo?"

"Hmm?"

"Maybe I should never have apologized."

"Why not?"

"Because, as that movie says, 'love means never having to say you are sorry.'"

"Lizzie?" Gordo said, "stop watching Love Story."

"Okay," I said, leaning in closer to him.

"And Lizzie?"

"Hmm?" I said, as if I was in my own trance, not really paying attention to the outside world. He stopped and I stopped. We looked into each other's eyes as I waited for him to say something.

"How about a kiss for old time's sake?"

I smiled and blushed and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. I never was one for public displays of affection.

After pulling away, I smiled, thinking about Gordo and me, "And now how about a kiss for new time's sake?" and then that's when I did it. I leaned in and kissed him passionately and held onto him for a really long time before I let go. I looked at him and instead of looking at me, he looked to his left and urged me to do the same.

Standing right in front of us was Buckingham Palace!

~~

After our long, pleasant walk, we had everything planned out. We weren't going to tell anyone what was going on. We were going to let everyone figure it out by themselves. (It wouldn't be hard)

The rest of the day was pretty much a daze for me. We went to dinner and no one noticed that I was sitting next to Gordo. We went to the play and I sat between Stuart and Gordo, so of course no one noticed what was going on there. Stuart was probably the only one who noticed that I leaned in to comment on the musical every now and then to Gordo, but he probably didn't think twice about it.

We took taxis back to the youth hostile. I was in a taxi with Stuart and Miranda.

"You know," he said, "I'm leaving to go back to the states tomorrow."

"Really?" I said, although I didn't care. It was getting crowded anyway, "That's too bad."

"I know. I think you were the best thing that happened to me on this trip."

Too bad for him, "Thanks. You're sweet."

"Hey Liz? Would you mind if I called you?"

I looked at him, "Gee, I don't know. You see, I have this boyfriend and I don't think he would like it if I let another guy e-mail me."

Stuart looked at me confused, "I thought you didn't have a boyfriend."

"Yeah," I said, "Well, I lied." And with that, I got out of the Taxi, as we'd reached our hostile and while Miranda and I got on the elevator, Miranda said, "You know, you could have just told him the truth. You know, that he wasn't worth your time of day."

"Yeah, I could have," I said, "But I kind of like the way the truth sounds better."

Miranda had to think about that one and didn't say anything until we got off the elevator and into our room, "Lizzie?" Miranda said, "You have a boyfriend?"

Luckily the room was empty, "Yeah, but don't tell anyone. I don't want to make a big deal about it."

"Who is it?"

Miranda thought about it and gasped, "You and Gordo?"

I nodded my head and she squealed. I had to shush her when I heard the door walk in and everyone else came into the room. They were all busy talking about the play. Gordo looked at me and smiled, but quickly turned somewhere else. Miranda and I exchanged smiles and I went to me bed and gathered my pajamas to get dressed in the bathroom. I left the room and got dressed in my pajamas, later to be joined in the bathroom by the other girls.

"That was a great play!" Anna said.

"Yeah," Jaime said, "It was even better than the version we saw in New York."

I let them talk while I went back to the room and saw David and Brian, but no Gordo. They were standing in front of the mirror and sink in the room. David was brushing his teeth while Brian was taking his contacts out. I undid my covers and climbed in bed. Miranda's bed was right on top of mine (they were bunk beds) and on the wall beside Jaime and Anna's. Sarah, David, Gordo, and Brian were on the other side of the room, but only a few yards away. It was a small room, but it was comfortable. I was just glad I didn't have to share a room with strangers.

The next people to walk in the room were Gordo and Miranda. They looked like they were talking about something and immediately shut up once they were inside the room. Miranda smiled at me and said, "Goodnight," before climbing on the bunk on top of mine. I watched Gordo get his toothpaste and toothbrush and realized something. It was stupid, but it was a realization. I had never seen Gordo brush his teeth. Wow. In all my life…okay I have no life.

Eventually Sarah, Anna, and Jaime came in (Stuart thankfully was in another room) and we all were in bed within the next twenty minutes. If we weren't tired, we probably would have stayed up and talked, but everyone was tired, except for me. I stayed up and couldn't sleep as I thought about the day behind me and the possibilities of the day ahead of me. I was with Gordo, now, and everything in my life seemed to fit again. What was wrong with this picture. Probably after an hour of staying away I saw Gordo's shadow get up and him leave the room. He must have gone to the bathroom or something. After a minute of thinking about what to do, I got up myself and went out of the room. I couldn't believe I was doing this, but I was standing there waiting. I don't know why it was exactly that I was doing this, but I guess this day wouldn't feel complete without talking to Gordo one more time.

I saw as he turned, headed back to the room and he looked at me confused, "What are you doing out here."

"I don't know," I said, wrapping my arms around him, "I guess I just wanted to make sure this wasn't all a dream. That we are really back together."

Gordo smiled, "Ah, I see. Well, if I had it my way, I would have tortured you for as long as you tortured me but I guess I'm too weak."

I smiled as I leaned in for a kiss. He kissed me back and we stood in the hallway and kissed passionately for a few minutes. Yes, it was a public place, and yes, I am madly in love. After we broke off he looked at me in disbelief, "What has gotten into you today, Lizzie?"

"I don't know," I said, "I guess I'm just trying to make up for all the time we lost."

"But what if someone walks out and sees us?" he whispered.

"Let them think what they want to think," I said and I pulled him into the most passionate kiss I had given him yet. I wanted to give him a good night kiss for him to remember. I wanted to show him that I wasn't scared anymore. Not of us, and not of what other people thought.

After it was over, Gordo looked at me for a minute, speechless, "We should probably get back into the room," he mumbled.

I pouted a little before agreeing, and I let Gordo come in first. A few minutes later, I came back in, too.

"Lizzie," I heard someone whisper, and I saw that it was coming from Miranda's bunk.

"Hmm?" I said, walking toward our bunk.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are a slut?" she whispered, but it was soft enough to where no one could hear.

I laughed at my best friend and said, "Thanks. Right back at you."

So this, dear diary, was a monumental day for me. Not only do I have Gordo back, but also I am happier than I have ever been in my life. I am right where I need to be and I no longer am afraid. I know how I want this relationship to work out and if I ever feel like I did before, I know to talk to Gordo.

Goodnight London!

Lizzie