After a few days, chapter two is up. It's rare I update this fast, I'm so proud. This chapter settles more on L/G, and is a bit longer than the last one. Hopefully you'll enjoy it.

The sound of a heart can be stretched over time, so it may not even be noticeable. Produce a stimuli over a long enough period, being sound, sight, or smell, and our minds will adjust themselves to incorporate it as a constant in our environment. Concentrate enough, take it away, or have it show itself through some act, and we can recognize it.

Lizzie never understood the sound to begin with. It began so long ago, and was so constant throughout her life, it's really no surprise she was oblivious to it, and that she lacked that comprehension of it. However, it obviously played a large part in her life. The way she missed Gordo when she hadn't seen him for a long time, or the way her envy flared up when any other girl begins to play a part in his life; it all showed she had some fancy for the boy, but she wasn't completely aware of how deeply she really cared for him.

Lizzy sighed, the corners of her lips picking up slightly, as she slowly nodded her head. "You're amazing, you know that Gordo?" She peeked up and looked at David's scruffy scalp, and then back into his eyes. He was unique, funny, sort of goofy and she couldn't imagine him anyway else. That's probably why she loved him.

Wait.

Gordo?

Love?

"Yeah, if amazing means a total nut." Miranda said, to which Lizzy almost recoiled. She couldn't tell if Miranda was being mean, or just kidding around sometimes, but she settled on the latter.

"Ah c'mon Miranda, you know you looooove him." Lizzy teased, hoping to lighten up the mood, but she almost wished she had eaten her words. The thought of anyone else loving Gordo always made her stomach churn. Her eyes turned green with envy even at the thought of it. She pasued to tuck away those negative vibes when she noticed Miranda looked as if she just swallowed a frog. She hadn't struck a nerve had she?

Wait.

Miranda didn't love Gordo...did she?

"Uh, guys?" Gordo looked at his two friends, struck by their sudden silence, "Are you as hungry as I am? I think pizza is in order."

Lizzie and Miranda instantly noticed their own silence and snapped out of it. "Yeah, pizza sounds good." Lizzie said, getting up and stretching. The courtyard in which they were sitting wasn't very large, more or a small cropping of a larger park. The white metal fencing was old and gothic, stretching up past six feet. The ground was grass, with a cement sidewalk stretching down the center, and different types of card tables, checkerboards, and other such recreational devices running along the side. It was a quaint area, normally occupied by senior citizens, but recently discovered as a nice summer hideout by our two heroines and single hero.

"Pizza's good with me." Miranda chirped, also standing. Gordo lifted himself up as well, and the three began to walk. Lizzie couldn't help but look at David most of the walk there. She had always thought of him as all those things that made him such a great person, but she had never made the connection to romance. It was as if she had just woken up to something that was always there. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense, and the more sense it made, the more she thought about it. Could she really be in lo-

"So, what are we going to do this summer?" Miranda asked, crossing her arms.

"Go camping?" Gordo shrugged.

"Again?" Lizzie sneered as she spoke, expressing her obvious discontent with the suggestion.

"What about going to the beach?" Miranda smiled.

"The beach? I'm not sure if my parents would let me." Gordo pulled his lip back in unsureness.

"Maybe we're thinking too big." Lizzie started, "What could we do just tonight?"

"What about a sleepover?" Miranda proposed, with some small amount of hidden glee.

"Yeah, that sounds fun." Lizzie smiled wide.

"Uh, hello? Guys? Do you think our parents would really let us have a co-ed sleepover?" Gordo raised his eyebrows wildly.

"Mm...good point." Miranda's smile faded into sadness.

"What if they didn't know?" Lizzie's mischievous smirk quickly spread to a smile.

"How would we work that?" Gordo shifted his eyebrows again.

"Hmm, you could tell your parents you were sleeping at someone else's, and we'd just have to hide you somewhere when my parent's were around." Lizzie explained with an air of triumph.

"The only problem is I really don't have any other friends to use as decoys. You guys are pretty much it." He said dejectedly. "I guess you guys will have to go on without me.

"We'll find some way Gordo, don't worry about it." Miranda gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

They walked in silence for some time. Lizzie still couldn't help but stare at David a bit. The thought of him sleeping over made her heart beat twice as fast. She could feel all the blood rush to her hands, giving them a strange tingly feeling. Just the thought of sharing a room, less than a room even, the thought of sharing a few feet made her bite her lower lip with anticipation. She had never felt like this before. Was this lov-

"Woo! Pizza! About time!" Gordo declared as they reached the pizza parlor, breaking the silence.

"I really didn't realize how hungry I was. I'm starving." Miranda half-moaned.

"I call pineapple on half." Gordo near-ran in the door.

"No way Gordo!" Lizzie called after him. It wasn't long before the trio decided on toppings. There was much pizza consumed that afternoon, much soda drank, and many brave slices of pepperoni gave their lives, until at last the hunger of three teenagers was subsided and the tomato-sauce carnage ended.

"I don't think I've ever been this full." Miranda leaned her head on one hand, exasperated from the feast.

"Tell me about it." Lizzie sighed, sipping more of her cola.

"Oh come on, you guys really aren't full, are you?" Gordo asked, finishing the last of what crust was left.

"You're still hungry?" Lizzie's eyes and voice bled disbelief.

"I'm gonna' grab another slice, I'll be right back." He said, excusing himself to the counter.

"Can you believe him?" Miranda raised her arms in a bewildered shrug.

"He's a guy." was Lizzie's only response to that. "You know, I'm sort of excited about tonight. It'll be a lot of fun if Gordo can come."

"Yeah, I'm getting excited too. We have to find a way for him to come." Miranda said, drumming her hand on the table, pondering.

"Hmm..." Lizzie started. Suddenly, she perked up as if she had an idea, but she only let out a burp that made her slap her hands to her face, trying to cover her mouth and reddening cheeks.

Gordo swung around the back of her chair, saying, "You're cute when you burp and try to cover it up." He sat down and began to eat the rest of his pizza.

Wait.

Did Gordo just call Lizzie cute?

Her cheeks burned a deeper red.