Title: It's Time
Rating: G
Summary: Life isn't measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.
Type of fic: Story
Disclaimer: Miranda, Gordo, and all Lizzie McGuire related stuff belongs to Disney and…whoever else has rights to them.
Author's notes: I was listening to Michael Buble's It's Time, and I've always wanted to try writing a story based around an album, and straight away I knew this was the album. And that it was to be Miranda/Gordo. As for the summary, I was going to go with "Gordo falls in love, but is it too late?" – but it seemed too trite. Instead, I went with the quote. :)

-

I'll give you all I've got to give
If you say you love me too
I may not have a lot to give
But what I got, I'll give to you
-"Can't Buy Me Love"

'You left before I could say anything,' Miranda said. The two of them sat side by side on the Gordon's back porch, staring out at the night.

'Well, you kind of didn't say anything for five minutes,' Gordo pointed out. 'I figured that was my answer.'

'So much for fighting to win me,' she replied, a light teasing tone to her voice.

He chuckled. 'I guess I got scared. When you said nothing, I thought it was time to go back to the drawing board. Though, I'd prefer to think that it was me giving you a little room and space to breathe. Take it all in.'

Miranda kept silent for a long time. Then, softly, 'I left London, you know.'

Stunned, Gordo turned to look at her. She was so close. All he had to do was move a few centimetres and he would touch her. 'What?'

'I left my job. I left… I left Connor.' She turned to face him. Her beauty was almost heartbreaking. 'I don't…feel the same for you, Gordo, I'm sorry. But I left an amazing life behind in London to come back home. To be here, where you are. I guess that's my answer.'

He had expected it. Unrequited love. And it hurt like hell. But Gordo knew that all was not lost, because her words also brought him hope. 'Thank you, Mir. For being honest.'

Miranda stood, and he did the same. She smiled at him. 'I'll see you tomorrow?'

He nodded. 'Of course.'

To his pleasant surprise, she leaned forward and softly kissed him on the cheek. 'Goodnight, Gordo.'

-

'Hey.'

Miranda looked up and smiled at her thirteen-year-old sister. 'Hey.'

Stephanie walked into her bedroom and sat down on the end of the bed, her legs swinging. 'So…what's this I hear about you and Gordo?'

She raised an eyebrow. Miranda knew of her sister's crush on Gordo. 'And what exactly have you heard, Little Miss Nosey?'

Stephanie was avoiding her eyes. 'You know. That's he's in love with you. You're in love with him. Whatever.'

'And where did you hear that?'

'Around.' After a moment, her sister finally looked up at her, brown eyes wide and serious. She reminded Miranda of herself when she had been at that age. Except that Stephanie was much smarter than she had ever been. 'Are you in love with him, Randa?'

Miranda moved to sit beside her sister. 'I really don't know, Steph.'

'But you came back home to be with him, right? Isn't that why you're back?'

'I'm home because-' Miranda stopped abruptly. It was a good question. She had returned because she missed her family, her friends. Because she missed Gordo in a way that made her heart ache. Because a voice somewhere deep inside of her whispered that she had found…something. Had found him.

And she hadn't even realised that she had been searching. That she had been missing a large part of herself.

'It's okay, big sister,' Stephanie said, reaching out to pat her on the leg. 'If it was to be anyone, I'm glad that it's you.'

Still processing her discovery about her personal feelings for her bestfriend, Miranda looked at Stephanie in a daze. 'What?'

Her sister smiled benevolently at her, seemingly much wiser than her years suggested. 'If anyone is to be with Gordo, I'm glad that it's you.' Stephanie's smile turned impish. 'Us Sanchez women are the bomb!'

Miranda just stared at her sister.

-

'Steph tells me that it's okay with her if I ask you to marry me,' Gordo said with a mischievous grin. He had picked her up early in the morning at her house, and they were now driving towards a bluff an hour from town. He had planned a picnic breakfast for the two of them.

Miranda laughed. 'Lucky me. If you're not careful, she's going to be planning the whole thing pretty soon.'

He relished the thought, and glanced at her. 'I don't mind. I'm sure I can suffer through it.'

'I… She does have great taste, though,' she replied.

Gordo had a feeling that she had been about to say something else, but he didn't push it. He knew that the situation still confused Miranda, scared her. He didn't blame her. At times, he himself had questions.

But all he had to do was look at her, and he was reassured. Miranda was his one, and only, future.

-

It had been a wonderful morning. Yet, it was all still quite strange. Despite his best to make it as comfortable for her as possible, Miranda found it impossible to stop thinking about the underlying tension that permeated their interactions with the other. It wasn't that Gordo treated her any differently. He had always treated his two female bestfriends with respect and with care. He believed them to be two unique, beautiful individuals. No, that part didn't change. But she could feel it – there was something that was just not the same.

And as she watched him Miranda realised that with Gordo it was to be all or nothing. He loved her. In his words and in the tone of his voice, in his eyes when he looked at her, in the way his lips quirked when he smiled at her, in his actions and reactions to her – in all that he did, Gordo unreservedly revealed the depth of his feelings for her. Gordo loved with everything in him, and he deserved the same in return.

And as she watched him Miranda realised that she was unworthy of Gordo's love. It was a sad realisation, and it made her feel like a fraud.

'Deep and meaningful thoughts, Mir?' Gordo asked, looking up at her, shielding his eyes from the bright sun.

She swallowed, and found herself forcing a smile. 'Always, Gordo.' Miranda found it hard to keep looking at him. She feared that he would see through her, would realise his mistake, and would tell her that he was wrong. That he really didn't love her at all.

And that thought made her heart ache.

'Miranda?' The concern in his voice was almost tangible. 'What's wrong?'

She turned back to him, shaking her head so as to avoid his eyes. 'Nothing's wrong,' she lied. 'I was just thinking about how unbelievably beautiful it is out here. How'd you find this place?' She was half afraid he would tell her that this was a special place he used to take Lizzie to.

'I found this spot on my first trip out to LA,' he said. 'I wanted to take a back road, and when I saw the view from here I had to stop.' Gordo paused, his voice growing softer. 'I vowed that I would keep this to my self. My own private place for whenever I wanted to get away.'

Finally, Miranda was able to look at him.

But now it was his turn to avoid looking at her. His eyes were downcast, staring intently at the blanket as he picked at loose threads.

Why did you take me here? The question echoed in her head, but she knew better than to ask it out loud. So she kept silent.

'I thought that you might like it here, too,' Gordo said after several moments of silence. He looked up at her once again, his face resolute and solemn. 'I've been visiting this place a lot in the past few weeks, but… It wasn't the same as before. I can't force you into feeling something that you don't, but I'm not going to just sit back and hide either.

'I love you, Miranda. I know it makes you uncomfortable when I say it, and I wish to God it didn't. I need you in my life, and that means letting you be a part of everything in my life.'

Miranda reached out and touched his cheeks with her fingertips, lightly tracing his jaw line before letting her hand drop. Gordo deserved so much more than her. There was nobody in the world that would ever be good enough for her bestfriend.

'You're a dream come true, David Gordon,' she told him softly. 'Do you know that?'

'But not the man of your dreams,' he replied, his voice tinged with subtle heartbreak.

Miranda could not lie to him. And so, once again, she kept silent.

end part six.

-

Author's notes: As always, thank you for the reviews. And apologies for the delayed update. Crazy, crazy RL at the moment, and it will probably be another month or so until the next one. I've got exams coming up – EUGH!