A/N: As much as I love keeping, like, five stories unfinished and a lot of them not updated in a year or something, I think I'm going to take a little time to finish up some of these stories. Forgive me. 'Tis been a long time since I've thought about a macdeniken story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Lizzie McGuire.

Chapter Twelve

Day Eight

17 July 2004

According to our schedule, today was unplanned. Other than Jaime and Miranda, no one else knew about Gordo and while I liked having it a secret, I felt guilty because Jaime knew and Anna didn't, and that just didn't seem right. I mean, it really isn't all that big of a deal that Gordo and I are together to the rest of them, but at the same time, they night as well know now.

I think I'll wait until we get back to the states to worry about telling people. I'm excited, though. I called my mom this morning and I told her. I don't think she was all that surprised, but she was happy for me.

You know what dawned on me last night? Gordo and I are going to be able to go on driving dates! I mean, yeah, we live in Hill Ridge, where you can pretty much walk or take the bus anywhere you go, but still…now that we are dating and both have our licenses, we can drive off and go anywhere we want to go. That is, assuming one of our parents will let us use their cars.

Anyway, back to today. After, like, an hour of deciding whether to go to Guildford or Godalming for some last minute shopping, we finally agreed that we would just drive into Godalming and hang out there, near where Anna went to school. I liked Godalming. It's a smaller place, but it has some cool places to shop, and since I still needed to get some things for the family, this place was fine with me.

I sat up front with Jaime again, as I'm the only one here that really knows Jaime. When everyone in the backseat was singing or goofing off and not paying attention, she asked me about Gordo. I told her the truth, and all she did was shrug and say, "Hmm. I knew you and Gordo were the perfect couple."

I smiled and she went on to apologize for Stuart's behavior. She said he changed a lot since the last time she saw him and she didn't remember him being so horrible.

I'm glad she noticed.

We talked the whole way there and the longer we talked the more I realized that this was our last day. I thought we had so much time yesterday and the day before that, but time was running away just like that. We would be leaving the next morning. I almost cried right there in her car before we even started shopping.

Jaime and Anna have both talked about going to college in America, but that's in two years for Anna. Jaime is staying in England for at least one more year. This whole thing was crazy. Why do friends come and go so often?

Anyway, when we got there and got out of the car, I decided that I wanted to shop with Anna, just so I could spend some more time with her. Everyone basically split up and Gordo asked if I wanted to join him and Miranda, and although it was tempting, I decided to go shopping with Anna and Sarah. Jaime decided, just for kicks, that she would show Brian and David some local museum since they didn't want to go shopping.

Spending time with Anna and Sarah was fun, even though it was kind of weird. We went looking at the clothes, the books, and all the other miscellaneous stuff you could get and I tried on these jeans and Anna and Sarah both convinced me that I should get them, so I did. I think I've spent too much money on myself on this trip. I got my dad a book about statues in England and I got my mom a music box thing. I bought Matt a key chain in London, so I didn't have to worry about them.

Okay, so they were lame gifts. I'll admit to that. The more I think about it, actually, the more I realize that their gifts suck. I hope they realize that it is the thought that counts.

When we got back to the house, I totally crashed. I'm not sure how long I slept, but when I woke up, everyone was discussing dinner. Wow, it was our last dinner in England. I wonder if I'll ever get to go back to England. I hope so. There's so much more to do here and so many good memories.

Anyway, for dinner, we went back to the pub, but I wasn't that hungry. After dinner, we went to rent movies and while everyone else started watching the movies, Gordo discreetly asked me if I wanted to go for a walk. I agreed, but I really had no idea what I was getting myself into.

When we got outside, it was chilly. "Lizzie," he said, once we are outside, "Just promise me one thing when we get back home."

When I asked him what he was, he took my hand and smiled, "No matter what happens between now and 2006, promise me that we'll share our senior prom together."

I agreed, and asked if this meant he planned on breaking up between now and then.

He shook his head, however and said, "Lizzie, just promise me, okay?"

"Okay."

Sometimes, I don't understand Gordo. I wouldn't call him spontaneous and I wouldn't call him romantic. When he asked me to the prom, though, I could tell that it was important to him. It was random, but it was sweet. I know he had his reasons and I probably wouldn't appreciate them, but stuff like this always reminds me why we make really good friends.

After that, of course he switched topics on me and started talking about a movie he wants to see when he gets back, but he's Gordo. He makes me realize that we'll always be somewhat awkward in our relationship, but in the end, we'll always have a relationship. I don't look forward to breaking up with him ever again, but its probably going to happen again. I don't anticipate it, but it's the way our friendship works. We love each other and we care about each other and there will always be a special jealousy I'll have about him. I hope I never have to be jealous, but its probably inevitable. We're young and we're in high school.

It makes sense to me, anyway. When we returned, we watched the rest of the movie and then watched another one. By the end of that movie, half of us had fallen asleep. It's two AM and I'm still awake, contemplating.

This trip has taught me so many things about myself. I've had a great deal of time to reflect and between dealing with Stuart and Gordo, I'm not sure what I have to say about all of this quite yet. Years from now, I know I'll have great memories of this all and will probably know exactly what I have learned. I guess I'll have to wait and see what's in store for the rest of the summer…and what's in store for the rest of my life.

I suppose I shall try to go to sleep now.

Until later,

Lizzie