A/N - "Thoughts"
Chapter 8 - Caught Between Friendship And Love
It was a few days before Christmas and Jason was wandering through the Hill Ridge business district. The past few weeks had been very awkward between him and Amanda. It was like this big question was hanging in the air. They were stuck between being just best friends and being a couple. Both were scared to even approach the subject, so neither brought up their near kiss during homecoming.
After his unsuccessful shopping trip, he stood at his window and looked across his backyard to the house that was behind his. "What the hell am I gonna do?" Walking away and out of his room, he slowly made his way downstairs. He needed advice and the one man that would be the biggest help was living under the same roof.
Pausing at the door of his father's office, he tired to squash the nervous feeling. While it was odd for a teenager to go to their parents for advice, especially on dating, this wasn't ordinary. Taking a deep breath, he slowly reached out and knocked. Hearing a muffled come in from inside, Jason opened the door and walked inside.
"Hey Dad. What ya doing?" Jason asked, trying to think of the best way to start the conversation.
Gordo looked away from his laptop and at his son as he slowly started to pace back and forth. "Editing Tudge's screenplay. Something you wanted to talk about?" he asked as he folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair.
Jason snickered and sat down in the armchair on the other side of the desk. The problem with being like your father, you shared a lot of the same mannerisms and could often read each other. It made getting away with things a lot harder.
"What's it like dating your best friend?" Jason asked suddenly. Gordo chuckled under his breath and Jason tried to glare at him but couldn't help but snicker. "I figured you'd be the guy to go to seeing as how you'd have the most experience," he said sarcastically. Like his father, Jason used humor to try and defuse tense situations.
"It can be weird at first." Gordo told him. "You and Amanda?"
Nodding, he rolled his eyes as he heard his father laugh. "How?"
"Doesn't take a genius to figure that one out." Gordo grinned at him, "You two have been walking on egg shells around each other for weeks now. What happened?"
"I don't know," Jason said as he slouched in the chair. "One minute we were hanging out, next thing I know we're about to kiss."
"That a bad thing?" Gordo asked trying not to snicker or smirk.
Shrugging, "I don't know. Its like before that moment, I hadn't given it much thought. But now, I can't get it out of my head." Putting his head in his hands and let out a deep breath, "I'm giving myself a headache."
Snickering, "Welcome to the club," Gordo said. "Look, I can't exactly tell you what to do. I do know, that ever since a certain blonde haired girl first saw you, she's been attached to your side ever since. Just don't let the fact she's your best friend scare you away."
"Talking from experience?" Jason said sarcastically.
Gordo laughed, "If I can survive your mother, you can survive Amanda."
Jason snickered, "Thanks Dad."
"Anytime," Gordo said and then watched Jason walk out. A few moments after he left, someone else walked in.
"So you survived me?"
Gordo looked up with a grin, "You gotta admit, you are like a hurricane. Incredible power and unpredictable," he teased.
Miranda glared at him and walked around the desk. "That all?"
Pulling her onto his lap, he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Unbelievably gorgeous," he said and kissed her.
Wrapping her arms around her husband's neck. "How long do you give them?" Miranda asked with a smirk.
Gordo chuckled as he kissed Miranda again. "They're getting close. I think they realize what could be there and it scares them a little. Something is gonna have to push them over the cliff."
Miranda pulled her head back slightly, "And what exactly pushed you over the cliff?"
"You remember when you got the letter from the jackass," he said and for a moment, anger flashed in his eyes at the thought of Ryan.
Miranda pressed her forehead against his, "Gordo," she said softly and gently stroked his head.
"When I saw you curled up on your bed with those tear tracks on your face, something inside of me just wanted to hold you and make everything better. At the moment, there was nothing more I wanted than to be with you."
Miranda smirked, "You're a dork." Her smirk widened into a smile, "But you're a sweet dork and you're mine," she said as she rested her head on Gordo's shoulder. "Amanda's got Kate's strength, I think she can handle a Gordon," she joked. Gordo snickered and pulled her closer. As he kissed the side of her head, Miranda chuckled softly in his arms.
A few days later, Jason walked around the block carrying Amanda's Christmas gift and he was trying to keep himself from throwing up. His stomach felt like it was one large knot. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm his nerves.
Reaching the Crafts' house, he looked skyward for a moment before reaching out and ringing the doorbell.
A minute later, the door opened to reveal a disheveled Amanda. Seeing who it was, Amanda let out a low shriek before slamming the door shut in Jason's face.
The expression on Jason's face was a mix between confusion and weird amusement. "What the hell?"
Then just as quickly the door opened to reveal Amanda again, this time a little bit more organized with her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail and wearing a sweater over the beat up t-shirt she had been wearing the first time she opened the door. "He, Hey," she said nervously as she picked at her outfit trying to act cool.
Jason arched his eyebrows, "You're not gonna slam the door in my face this time?" he asked sarcastically.
"Of course not," she said calmly but he could see a little tinge of pink in her cheeks. As Amanda stepped aside and Jason walked inside the house.
"Um, I got your Christmas gift," he said showing her the package he held.
She gave him a nervous smile, "I got your Hanukah gift too." She started for the stairs, "I'll be back in a minute." Amanda practically ran upstairs to her room.
As he waited for her to come back, he walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. It was normal for the parents to find at least one of the new trio in the other's houses as they spent a lot of time together. Putting her gift on the seat next to him, Jason leaned back and closed his eyes as he tried to relax.
A few minutes later, he felt the couch bounce slightly and heard a soft giggle. "I leave you alone for three minutes and you fall asleep."
"I'm not asleep, just a little tired," he shot back.
Amanda snickered and smirked at him. "Well, anyway, here's your gift," she said handing him a small wrapped package.
Opening the package, he grinned. "You're kidding me right?" he asked sarcastically. The gift was a burned cd of numerous pop songs.
Amanda grinned back at him, "Well someone has to bring your music tastes up to the present."
"My music tastes are fine."
Laughing, "Do you have anything that wasn't sung before our parents were born?" she teased with a knowing smile.
"Fine," he grumbled. "Open your gift."
Amanda tore off the wrapping pair and opened a small box, inside was a purple watch. Amanda looked at him with a smirk. "A watch?"
Jason chuckled under his breath, "Maybe now you'll actually be on time for something," he teased her with a matching smirk.
Amanda rolled her eyes at him and put the watch on her wrist. Falling into an uneasy silence, Amanda started toying with the watchband and Jason intently looked at his fingernails. "You wanna watch TV or something?" she asked softly, trying to find something, anything for them to do.
"Sure," Jason answered almost as softly.
Grabbing the remote, Amanda flipped through the channels until finally settling on something. Neither was really watching what was on TV but just trying to distract themselves from the growing tension and attraction between them. They both felt the growing pull between them but they were completely unsure of what to do about it. The only thing they knew was it was getting stronger.