The original version of this story was longer but when I posted it, I decided to cut some of it. After the reaction I got from the first part, I decided to take the part I cut, rewrite it, and make a second part.

A/N – "Thoughts"

Part 2 – Moving On

It was New Year's Eve and Miranda was at Greg Nicholas' New Year's Party. Greg Nicholas was a senior and one of the starters on the Hill Ridge varsity basketball team. Most of the High School was there and the three-story house was packed.

As Miranda weaved her way through the crowded house, a small smile tugged at her lips as she thought about Gordo.

It was hard for her to keep her emotions in check and be around him almost everyday. At first it hurt watching him walk around in a fog, she could tell how deep his feelings for Lizzie had been. But after a month or so, Gordo slowly started to turn around. He finally seemed to come to terms with Lizzie being a continent away and getting used to it.

Around Thanksgiving, she started to notice a big change in Gordo's behavior towards her. They loved teasing each other and arguing over stuff, and it always had a very subtly flirting undercurrent to it. But during Thanksgiving break, the flirting started to increase. Then at Christmas, they had shared their second kiss. It was simple and innocent, just like the first.

While she had told him she could wait for him, it was getting harder. A part of her wanted to know what it'd be like to take things farther. "But he's not ready," she thought to herself sarcastically. "Then of course that stupid email from Liz had to make him cranky. I just hope he's in a better mood tonight."

Finally making her way into the living room, she spotted Gordo standing with a group of people. She instantly recognized Ethan and a bunch of other guys from the freshman basketball team.

She snickered under her breath, as she thought of Gordo being the starting shooting guard on the team. Ethan had convinced him to come tryout with him and he not only made the team but was also named a starter.

As she walked towards him, she noticed Kate and a few of the other freshman cheerleaders in the group. She noticed one in particular, Nicole Brahms, trying to flirt with Gordo. It was one of the things that Miranda truly hated about Gordo being on the basketball team. His popularity was starting to rise and girls were starting to notice him.

But she smirked as she saw Gordo's expression. He had on a polite smile but his eyes gave away his annoyance. When Gordo saw her walking to them, his smile changed into a genuine one and his eyes softened.

As she walked up she heard Ethan and Gordo talking about varsity jackets. "What about varsity jackets?" Miranda asked as she stood next to Gordo, in between him and Nicole. As she waited for an answer, she quickly glared at Nicole. "I haven't been fighting Lizzie's shadow just to have another girl steal him from me."

She could hear Gordo laughing softly under his breath but she didn't care.

"When I make Varsity next year, you gonna wear my jacket?" Gordo joked to her.

Miranda looked at him and with a smile, "Only if you wear mine." Miranda had played JV soccer during the fall and the freshman softball coach was trying to get her to tryout.

"Deal," Gordo said and they both started laughing. He then leaned in and whispered into her ear, "You can withdraw the claws now."

Miranda blushed a little and elbowed Gordo's ribs as he started laughing under his breath again.

After a few more minutes of talking and hanging out, Gordo took Miranda's hand, "Can I talk to you."

She looked at him a little confused and furrowed her eyebrows. "Sure."

Gordo lead them through the house and finally out onto the deck in the back of the house. As they leaned against the railing, she looked over at him. "What is it?"

"I wanted to apologize for blowing you off the past couple of days," he said as he seemingly became fascinated by the railing.

A few days ago, Gordo had gotten an email from Lizzie. When he had read how much fun she was having and how much she loved being there, he got a little moody for a few days.

"Lizzie's letter throw you that much?" she asked softly, trying to keep the hurt of her voice.

He just shrugged. "I don't think it was so much the letter but that she was having so much fun there and here I'm stuck trying to get over her." Standing up straight, he shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "Enough. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for being a jerk."

"Don't worry about it, I get it," Miranda said trying to ignore her hurt pride. She knew this could and probably would happen since she opened herself up to him when he wasn't over Lizzie.

"But you shouldn't have to," Gordo said, the frustration in his voice. "You shouldn't have to deal with me getting cranky every time I hear from Lizzie."

"Gordo, shut up," Miranda ordered as she grabbed his hips and spun him so he was facing her. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Ok," he said while nodding. "You look nice tonight." Gordo told her. She was wearing a black t-shirt with the British flag in gold printed across it, a pair of black jeans, and a pair of black and white sketchers. "What is it with you and the Union Jack?" he said trying to lighten up the tense situation.

"Uh?" Miranda asked a little confused.

He pointed at the flag on her shirt. "The Union Jack is another name for the British flag. Like how the US flag is nicknamed Old Glory and," Before he could go on, Miranda pressed a finger to his lips to shut him up.

When he kissed her finger, she tried to ignore the way her skin goose bumped. Brushing the feeling aside, "Looking at my chest Gordo?" she said sarcastically. Miranda giggled a little when Gordo wiggled his eyebrows and smirked at her.

"Do you want to know or not?" He kept his mouth shut and motioned with his hands for her to continue. "Aside from the fact that I like the design, when I get older, like out of college, I want to travel for awhile. Two of the places I really want to go are Ireland and Great Britain. I want to go see the Irish country side and the shop in London."

Gordo grinned as he listened to her. "So do you have a shirt with the Irish flag on it?" he joked. When she glared at him, he just smiled back at her. "You by yourself on this trip?" He didn't even think about it, the question just came out naturally.

A small smile played on Miranda's lips as she looked at him. "I don't know, maybe. If I found the right person."

They smiled at each other. When Gordo opened his mouth to say something, they were interrupted as James, one of Gordo's teammates, walked out onto the deck and interrupted them. "Yo Dave, the ball's bout to drop."

As Gordo rolled his eyes at being interrupted, Miranda snickered. It was still weird for her to hear people call him David or Dave. When they entered high school, he started going by his real name. Every once in awhile someone would call him Gordo but it'd usually be Ethan or Larry. But to her, he would always be Gordo and she couldn't wait for the day to call him my Gordo.

"Thanks," he said to her.

Miranda looked at him confused, "Por que?"

His smile returned, "For making me smile." Miranda snickered and rolled her eyes as he drew her in and hugged her.

They made it back inside just as the drop was on its final ten seconds.

As everyone, including Miranda, counted down around him. He looked at her and felt something stir inside him. "Its time."

Just as they got to zero, it seemed like everything slowed down to Gordo. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulling her to him, he kissed her. But this time it wasn't a quick, little kiss; this one held three months worth of pent up passion. Once Miranda got over the shock and surprise of the kiss, she started kissing him back just as hard.

After a few minutes, they broke apart gasping for air. Miranda looked at him with a mix of desire, happiness, and caution.

Taking her hand, he intertwined their fingers. "Let's blow off the rest of this party. I wanna talk in private." Gordo lead them through the crowd and out of the house. They started walking down the street, neither really sure what to say.

After about ten minutes, they found themselves in the park. As they passed the swing set, Gordo grinned. Tugging her arm a little, he motioned with his head towards the swings. Miranda snickered and let Gordo lead her over to them.

Miranda sat in the swing and Gordo pushed her. When she started laughing like a little girl when Gordo was pushing her higher and higher, it cracked him up and he started laughing. That was one of things he loved about her, whenever he was upset or moody, she could always make him smile and laugh.

Gordo watched her jump from the swing and land gracefully on her feet.

She cocked her head a little as she looked back at him, almost as if studying him and trying to figure out what was new about him.

"Can we talk?"

"Sure," Miranda replied cautiously.

Miranda sat back down in the swing and Gordo sat in the swing next to her.

After a few moments of silence, Gordo swallowed the lump in his throat and took a deep breath. "Its time I let go of my past and that huge ghost that's been haunting me."

"What do you mean?" Miranda asked her voice barely over a whisper. "I am not going to get my hopes up."

"I told you that you would be the first person I'd tell when I was over Lizzie. Well, I'm telling you that I'm over Lizzie."

Looking down at the ground for a moment, Miranda felt like her head was spinning. Standing up, she walked away a few steps and then stopped.

"Rand?"

"How can you be sure? I want to believe you but I don't want to get hurt," Miranda said as she turned around and looked at him.

"Come here," Gordo said while motioning her over. When she was standing in front of him, he put his hands on her waist and looked up at her. "You have been so supportive of letting me deal with everything on my time and you have no idea what the means to me. When I got her latest letter, it did hurt a little but it also made me realize that I can't rely on her for my happiness. I need to start living my life again. Find something new that makes me happy."

"Gordo, I don't want to just replace Lizzie."

"You wouldn't be. I'd never do that to you, I could never intentionally hurt you." Pulling her in closer, he wrapped his arms around her waist. "There will always be a small part of my heart that'll belong to Lizzie, she is a big part of my life. But I think that we can really be something, if you're still willing."

Miranda sighed and stroked his hair. "Of course."

"Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked her.

She smiled softly as she looked down at him. "Yes." She then leaned down and kissed him.

Gordo stood up and wrapped her tightly in a hug. Miranda hugged him back, rested her chin on his shoulder, closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling. "We should be heading home. My curfew is two," Miranda said.

"We should be doing a lot of things," Gordo joked as he nuzzled her neck a little. He was getting addicted to her scent, "Smells like wild flowers," he thought with a grin. "You're the one who's always telling me to loosen up."

His breath on her neck sent a chill down her spine. "Yea but do you want to have our first date now or wait a month?" she joked back. She then shifted her head and brought her lips into contact with his.

"Fine," he mumbled against her lips. Letting go of each other, they started walking out of the park and the rest of the way home.

It took them about fifteen minutes, but they were finally standing on the Sanchez front porch. As Gordo threaded her hair through his fingers, Miranda playfully swatted his hand away. It quickly became a game between them. "You look good with the dark red streaks," he said with a smirk.

Miranda snorted and looked at him sarcastically.

"I was thinking."

"Which is never a good sign," Miranda teased.

"Shut up Mirando," he shot back. They both started laughing at each other. "Seriously, I think we should go out to dinner Saturday. There's a small Greek restaurant I want to take you to."

Miranda grinned at him, "I'd like that." Just as they started their goodnight kiss, the front porch light came on and the front door opened.

The person at the door cleared their throat and Miranda and Gordo turned to see Mrs. Sanchez grinning at them from the doorway.

"Hi mom."

"Mrs. Sanchez."

"Hello Gordo, hija. I think its time you came inside Miranda," she told her daughter but never loosing her smile.

"I'll talk to ya later," Miranda said and then gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "Night."

"Night," Gordo said back to her and then watched them go inside. With a smile, Gordo walked off the porch, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and headed towards his house.

Just as he reached the street, his cell phone went off. Reaching into his pocket, Gordo pulled it out and smiled as he saw the caller id displayed Mir. Turning it on, he answered it, "Hey beautiful."