LAST CHAPTER!

Well, this will be it for this particular story, but this is definitely not the end of all the stories I am planning to write for this particular Gordo. He does not get to have sex with Miranda in this story, because I have already established in The Graduate that his first time will be with a girl named Jenny when he gets to college. I don't know anything yet about Jenny except her name, and I may or may not write out that story in detail at some later date, haven't decided yet.

What I do know is that my next story in this series will be called "Gordo's Girls" and it will take place, chronologically, after "Love Finds David Gordon" (already written) but before "Parker's Revenge" (not yet written). "Gordo's Girls" may not appear until December, as I expect to be taking a month off from FanFiction in November to give my full attention to my NaNoWriMo project. In the meantime, I am contemplating a one-shot that hopefully will appear in October, before I start planning for my NaNo..

I am also tentatively planning a story about Gordo and his cousin Adam RV-ing around the country with their Grandma Ruth. Believe it or not, this will also be a heavy MG story. I'm seriously considering having Gordo end up with Miranda when all is said and done. What do you think?

Thanks for all your support on this story I am just finishing up. It's been a blast!

-

-

"Gordo, we need to talk."

Gordo sighed into his cell phone. "I know."

"Are you busy?" Miranda asked.

"Kinda. I'm at work." With one hand he was holding his cell phone, with the other he was attempting to get a huge box of Rice Crispies into an uncooperative plastic bag.

"Then we can't talk now," Miranda said. "When do you get off?"

At the most inconvenient and embarrassing moment possible, Gordo thought, smirking to himself. What he said was, "Five o'clock."

"I'll wait for you," Miranda said. "Out front. On the bench. Don't you dare think about trying to slip out the back."

"Why would I do that?" Gordo questioned. "I know we need to talk."

"Okay then. I'll see you later."

As he clicked off his phone and dropped it in his pocket, once again giving full attention to his bagging activities, he couldn't help wondering, yet again, what Miranda must think of him. A part of him felt certain she must hate him. Another part wondered if she was as confused as he was. No matter what might come of it, they definitely needed to talk.

-

It seemed that five o'clock would never come. About four thirty, Gordo started looking at the bench outside the front of the store, every time he took an order of groceries to a car. By 4:55 Miranda was still not there. Had she changed her mind? He wouldn't blame her if she never wanted to see him again.

As Gordo came back into the store for the last time that evening, he looked, and suddenly Miranda was there, sitting on the bench as she had promised. She was wearing that little boy tee shirt again, and her rattiest pair of blue jeans, the ones he knew she went for like a security blanket, whenever a difficult task awaited her

He was her difficult task. He hated that, and he hated the look of nervous anxiety on her beautiful face. He tried to smile as he approached, but he was afraid he wouldn't be winning any prizes with this expression.

"Hi," he said quietly.

"Hi," she returned, also quietly.

"I'll be right out," he said, and she nodded.

When Gordo went back into the store, Miranda closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She still didn't know what she was going to say to him. She only knew they had to start talking, and she hoped that fate and common sense would lead them in the right direction.

Now Gordo was beside her, sitting down. "Hi," he said again.

"Hi," she said again.

"Hi…" he said, again, absently.

Miranda looked at him. "I think we've established that."

"Established what?"

"'Hi,'" she said.

"Yeah, I guess we have," he agreed. "I think we've both said 'hi' enough for the time being."

"And I think we've both been high enough for the time being," Miranda added.

Gordo actually found himself laughing. He really did love this girl. She could always make him laugh. They could be so good together…couldn't they?

They sat silently for a few moments, swinging their feet, neither knowing how to begin. They watched a young mother come out of the store, a two year old screaming in the front seat of the shopping cart, another baby in her belly. Miranda noted with alarm that this woman did not look too many years older than she was. Sex was dangerous. What had she been thinking?

"Miranda…" Gordo said finally.

"Gordo, what happened last night?" Miranda asked suddenly.

"What happened?" he repeated. He swung his feet some more, then smiled wistfully and said, "I think what happened is…for the first time ever…we visited Planet Gorranda."

Miranda gasped. "You remember that?"

"I remember everything," Gordo said. "Trouble is…I don't remember it as if it really happened. I remember it all as if it were a dream."

Miranda considered, then said, "Maybe it was only a dream. Maybe it's not something that's supposed to be real for us."

She paused, observing Gordo's expression, waiting for him to confirm or deny, desperately trying to figure out what he was thinking, what he was feeling.

At last Gordo said, "Well, maybe…maybe not yet."

"What do you mean…'not yet'?"

"Do you think either of us was really ready for what happened last night?" Gordo asked. "Do you feel mature enough, right now, at sixteen, to handle all the problems and issues that are invariably going to attach themselves to…to using drugs…and having sex?"

Miranda looked down. "No," she said quietly.

"Neither do I," Gordo said. "It was scary. I panicked. I'm sorry." In fact he had panicked, so this was not exactly a lie. It just wasn't the whole truth. And as honest as he was being with Miranda about everything else, he had sworn to himself that he was not going to tell her the whole truth about what happened to him last night. It was just too embarrassing.

"It was scary," Gordo went on, "because even in the middle of all of it, I realized I was acting without thinking. For the most part. But I was thinking enough to know that acting without thinking can lead to disaster. And I'm not willing to risk disaster with you, Miranda. You mean too much to me. I value our friendship too much."

Miranda knew she should have been touched by his heartfelt words, and on one level she was, but still she could not help herself from blurting out, "So you get up and walk out on me as soon as I throw myself at you? How do you think that made me feel?"

"I wasn't thinking about how you felt," Gordo answered bluntly. "I wasn't thinking about anything but myself. I was being completely selfish. And that's what makes me realize I'm not really ready for anything like that.

"And by the way, for the record," he added, "you didn't exactly 'throw yourself' at me. It was completely mutual."

"No. I distinctly remember you saying 'Please, don't.'"

"No matter what I was saying," Gordo sighed, bracing himself against a pain that was almost physical, "believe me: it was completely mutual." He sat back, thinking, At least this time it wasn't like what had happened with Parker. At least this time I really did like the girl I was fooling around with. That has to count for something, doesn't it?

"You know me," Gordo said, when neither had spoken for some time. "I hate it when people are immature and irresponsible. I especially hate it when I'm the one who's immature and irresponsible. And what we were doing last night…well, let's just say I really don't want it going down on my resumé that I'm just some dumb kid that got high and had sex with his best friend."

"Gordo, you don't put stuff like that on your resumé," Miranda advised.

Gordo rolled his eyes. "Figuratively speaking…"

"Oh…"

"Last night, it was all too…too…" Gordo sighed in frustration, unable to express himself. "Last night, I… I couldn't see the right thing to do. But I see it now."

"But you did see if last night," Miranda pointed out. "Otherwise you wouldn't have got up and left."

"I was forced into seeing it last night," Gordo said.

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind," Gordo said. "All you need to know is that I love you, Randa---"

"And I love you too," Miranda said, turning to face him on the bench.

"I know," he said, smiling at her. "But I don't think either one of us is ready…"

Miranda nodded. "I think you're right."

"But I think we'll probably end up there someday---"

"Do you really?" Miranda asked, her face lighting up.

"Yeah, I do, " he said simply. "I think you're the right person, Randa; I just don't think it's the right time. I don't want to force it. I want us to enjoy what we have and let nature take its course. Naturally. With no drugs."

"I want the same thing," Miranda agreed. "So what do we do from here?"

"I think we should just…step back a little, don't you? Sort everything out. See how we feel. See what might happen…naturally."

Miranda was still nodding, now more heartily. "If there's one thing I do know, Gordo, more than anything else in the world, it's that no matter what happens, I don't want our friendship to get ruined. Kissing you last night was…amazing. Thinking about having sex with you …amazing."

She stopped for a moment, lost in those thoughts, then went on. "But I look at what happened with you and Lizzie, how after you broke up you two don't even talk anymore, and I know that I don't want to take that chance. So even if it means I don't ever get to kiss you again… or that we never ever get to have sex…I'm willing to do without any of that. But I'm not willing to do without your friendship. That's not gone, is it?"

He beamed at her. "No, Randa. It's not gone."

"So can we pretend…that last night never happened?"

"We can try," Gordo said. "I'd really like to try." Well, a lot of it he wanted to pretend had never happened. But how it felt to kiss her…that was going to be hard to forget. And he didn't want to forget.

Suddenly Miranda popped up from the bench. "Well then, come on, Gordo! Let's go!"

"Where are we going?" Gordo moaned, as she dragged the tired working man to his feet.

"My house!" Miranda sang.

"Do you think that's wise?"

"Don't worry. The parental units have returned. Does that make you feel better?"

Gordo laughed. "Yeah, actually, it does."

"Then, come on! We still have those Creamsicles in the freezer. That is, if Stevie and my dad haven't consumed them all! I want to have one, don't you? I know they won't taste super good like they would have if we could have stayed on track last night and eaten them when we got the Munchies, but I think they'll still taste pretty damn delicious."

"I'm sure they will," Gordo said as they began to walk. "And that's good enough for me…for now."

"Me too," Miranda said. "Good enough…for now."

-

Gordo sat with Miranda on the "swing thing" in her backyard. It was late, dark, and they were both eating Creamsicles, smiling across at each other now and then, but neither of them saying anything. And that was okay.

Miranda's parents were in the house, cleaning up after dinner. Gordo had stayed for dinner, and it had been nice. Their friendship was not ruined. And that was more than okay.

Gordo sat, swinging…eating…thinking. He was recalling something Miranda had said to him while they had been high together, now trying to determine if it passed the sobriety test: Just because Parker was after your bod doesn't mean every girl you meet wants to rape you. You've got to get over this, buddy. At the time, it had seemed to make so much sense.

And it still did.

He looked across at Miranda, smiling silently at her once again, and he knew that she liked him, and that he liked her, but he also knew that for this moment, at least, they had agreed to step back and take it easy. And that was okay.

He felt he could handle that, as long as he didn't get high, or drunk, or allow himself get into any compromising situations. He didn't have to be stupid about sex. He didn't have to be overcome by his impulses each and every time the thought of sex popped into his head. Sure, he had a problem, he realized, but probably no more or less than every other sixteen year old boy.

He didn't have to self-destruft over this.

And if it ever became too much for him to handle alone, Father Gordo the Fat Monk was out there somewhere. Now that Gordo was once again in full command of his faculties, he didn't imagine it would be too difficult to find Father Gordo, should his services ever again be required.

He saw Miranda looking at him, and blushed a little, feeling she had caught him in his thoughts. He finished off his Creamsicle and chewed on the stick. "Pretty damn delicious," he commented, and Miranda smiled at him and nodded.

It had been a little bit of a rough summer so far, Gordo contemplated. But the highlight, the thing he would write about for his "What I Did On My Summer Vacation" essay, if he were to be completely honest, was definitely the unexpected discovery that Planet Gorranda was out there, somewhere, waiting for the right moment to again be visited and explored.

Nah. That was way too personal. He would probably write about how fulfilling it was to hold down a job at Food Giant.

Right…

Gordo smiled at Miranda one more time, then turned on the seat to face her. A mild tingling sensation ran through his body as he could not help but recall exactly what it had felt like to kiss her. He knew with certainty that he would kiss her again someday, on Planet Gorranda. It might be later rather than sooner, but that was okay.

Actually, that was more than okay.

With Miranda, everything was good, everything was easy. There was no need to rush. Getting there, he decided, was half the fun.