Title: If It Wasn't For You

Rating: PG

Summary: At a bid to stop their arguing, Miranda traps Lizzie and Gordo in a closet to sort out their problems. L/G fluffiness. One Shot.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Lizzie McGuire. However, I do own Holly Adams.

ENJOY!

Ever since Lizzie, Miranda and Gordo were six years old, it had been a yearly tradition for them and their families to retreat to the Gordon's holiday ranch in Colorado starting from New Year's Day and for the rest of the week. And every year this tradition went as plan, and all families celebrated the holidays at Colorado without fail.

But this year, the year that the trio was in their senior year, their parents had decided that they were old enough to stay in the holiday home on their own, granted that Gordo's grandmother was to be in the cabin next to theirs and technically there would still be adult supervision. But still, The Three Amigos were ecstatic that this would be their first holiday on their own all together, and were looking forward to a great time.

The first couple of days went without any problems, but it wasn't until their third day that Lizzie and Gordo had started bickering about everything and anything. Some arguments even got Grandma Gordon to do more frequent check ups. At first, Miranda found it slightly amusing. She was the only one who knew of Lizzie and Gordo's feelings toward each other. Both of them were of course oblivious to the fact that the other wanted the same thing- to have something more than a friendship between them. After a few more days of the arguing, Miranda had had enough, she had to deviate a plan to get them together, or she was certain she would die from insanity. It wasn't till the fifth day of their holiday that Miranda had finally found an opportunity to play matchmaker.

January 5. 10:30am

Lizzie sat slumped on the couch, feeling as lazy as ever. "I still don't see why I have to light the fire. I did it last time, Gordo." She said narrowing her eyes at him.

"You have to do it, Lizzie, because you're the one who's complaining about it being too cold in here. I think it's fine." Gordo retaliated stubbornly.

Lizzie didn't take that for an answer. "Oh, it's all fine for you, Gordo, you're a guy."

Gordo sat up in his chair, clearly interested at where this was going. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Lizzie seemed troubled at thinking what to respond with "Well, you know what they say, men contain more body heat…" she trailed off, clearly unsure of what she was talking about. Gordo smirked.

"You made that up and you know it. You're just not admitting that you didn't bring enough warm clothes." Gordo said in a matter-of-factly tone.

Lizzie pouted. "It's not my fault. None of my winter clothes are cute enough."

Miranda, who had suddenly become a forgotten member in this conversation grumbled from her corner of the room. "You know what, if its really that much of a big deal, I'll light the fire." She heaved herself up off the floor and headed straight toward the fireplace.

Lizzie and Gordo were still at a war against each other, and didn't pay any attention to their neglected friend. "Is that so, Lizzie?" Gordo said with a smile. "I don't see why that has to concern you. I mean there's no Ethan Craft here to impress. Why worry about wearing your cute clothes? Who are you trying to impress?"

Miranda, who was busy tending to the fire had turned around at Gordo's question. Clearly, Gordo didn't realize the effect this question had on Lizzie. She watched the troubled expression on Lizzie's face, and took this moment to save Lizzie from her moment of embarrassment.

"Gordo, I would think after all this time being our best friend, you would understand girls. We always have to look our best, whether we're trying to impress someone or not."

Lizzie shot an appreciative look toward Miranda and sighed in relief. Lizzie knew who she was trying to impress, but she wasn't going to let Gordo know that. Gordo rolled his eyes dismissively.

"Girls…" he muttered.

January 5. 3:15pm

"Okay, okay…" Gordo said, feeling defeated having been talked into playing Truth or Dare with Lizzie and Miranda. "I pick truth."

"Okay," Lizzie said, biting her lower lip, thinking about what to ask.

"Who do you have a crush on?" she finally asked.

"Wow, how original Lizzie." Miranda muttered sarcastically, but she could understand why Lizzie would ask such a question.

Gordo tried to play it cool, although he was feeling a whole bundle of nerves.

Miranda smiled gleefully, and couldn't wait for the answer.

"Nobody." He answered not-quite-so-truthfully.

"Come on," Lizzie insisted. "There has to be someone." Gordo shook his head.

Miranda piped up, "You don't have to say any names. Just, you know, describe her or something."

Gordo looked up hopefully at Miranda. He knew right then that Miranda wouldn't be surprised if he revealed who he really liked. Lizzie, on the other hand…

"Okay, she has blonde hair…" he trailed off

Lizzie giggled hysterically. "Yes!" Lizzie yelled. "I knew you had a crush on Holly Adams!"

Gordo appeared somewhat shocked at Lizzie's accusation. "I never said that!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah you did!" Lizzie giggled.

"Actually Lizzie, he didn't. He just said he liked a girl with blonde hair. There's like 50 girls in our grade with blonde hair. Why Holly Adams?"

"Because." Lizzie said, suddenly serious, staring intently at Gordo. "In chemistry. He's always choosing to be partners with her, and in English he's always next to her. And he voluntarily tutors her in class." Miranda could easily pick out the jealousy in Lizzie's tone.

"How do you know? You're not in those classes." Gordo said stunned at what Lizzie knew.

"Because she's always talking about you in the cafeteria." Lizzie put on her best exaggerated cheerleader impersonation.

'Oh my God, that David Gordon is soooo sweeeet!' she squealed at the end and tossed her blonde hair back dramatically for effect.

"Really?" Gordo said, seeming flattered. Lizzie glared at him.

"What's so good about Holly Adams anyway? She's just a cheerleader. And what does she see in you? You're not even a jock." Lizzie stopped, knowing that she might have gone too far. She was right.

"Oh that's a bit rich, coming from you, 'future Mrs. Craft' wannabe. Have you seen Ethan's track record? Kate, Claire, Tiffany, Holly? And you think you come close to being next in line? Keep dreaming, McGuire."

They both glared at each other, both looking like they were about to step onto a boxing ring. Miranda could almost hear the bell signaling Round 1. She knew she had to intervene. She glanced over to the nearby closet. "Perfect." She thought, a devilish grin appearing across her face.

"Okay, guys" she said, stepping in between them, out stretching her arms so they would be closer apart. "Time Out."

Miranda waited until they seemed as if they had cooled down and therefore more vulnerable for her next actions. She grabbed both her friends by their shirts and pulled them towards the closet. Neither Lizzie nor Gordo had seen what was coming.

She heaved them into the closet, and slammed the door shut, quickly grabbing a nearby chair and wedging it under the doorknob so neither of them could get out. After registering what had just happened, Lizzie and Gordo started pounding furiously on the door.

"Miranda! Miranda! Let us out!" Gordo yelled.

Miranda maintained her mischievous grin and yelled into the door.

"Ok, guys, if you wanna get out, here are the conditions. You two had better get along because I am not spending the rest of this vacation with you two fighting all the time. The moment I am positive you have stopped fighting is the moment I will let you out of the closet. Are we agreed?"

"I'm going to kill you when I get out of here, Miranda." Lizzie screamed. Miranda smiled, took that as an agreement and headed back to the coach to get some much-needed peace and quiet.

January 5. 4:00pm

After about five minutes of trying to get Miranda's attention, Lizzie and Gordo decided that Miranda was adamant to get them to stop fighting.

"This is all your fault, you got us into this, Gordo. If it wasn't for you…" Lizzie said, glaring at Gordo for what seemed like the 50th time that day.

"Oh, this is my fault?" Gordo said, insulted, "Might I remind you, that you were the one who accused me of having a crush on Holly Adams. If it wasn't for you…"

"Well its true, isn't it?" Lizzie demanded.

"No, actually, it's not."

"Yes it is."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is."

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"Lizzie, cut it out. This isn't going to get us out of the closet."

Lizzie knew he was right. But she couldn't get the jealous feeling out of her. "You're right, Gordo, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have accused you of liking Holly. It was childish of me." Gordo chuckled.

"What?" Lizzie said, annoyed that Gordo wasn't taking her apology seriously.

"Yes, it was pretty childish, but we seem to be acting like that was a lot lately." He answered.

He held out his arms, and she came towards him, and they embraced in a hug. He rubbed her back tenderly, the way he used to when they were kids. Lizzie just felt a jolt of electricity running down her spine. She felt this every time they hugged. Unwillingly, they pulled apart, and sat side by side on the ground. Gordo looked over at her and smiled. He remembered they had an unfinished game to continue.

"Truth or dare?" he asked.

"Truth."

"Were you jealous when you thought I liked Holly?"

She hesitated, wondering whether or not to tell him the truth. He slid his hand next to hers, entwining their fingers and he squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Yes, I was jealous." She admitted, staring down at their clasped hands.

He raised his eyebrows. "Ah! Ms. McGuire! I didn't think you had a jealous bone in your body." He teased.

"Well of course, I didn't want you wasting your emotions on Holly." She grinned.

"…Who?" he joked.

"O.K I've got a truth for you." Lizzie stated. He gulped mockingly. "Uh oh."

"If it isn't Holly that you like, who is your real crush?" she asked, her frantic hazel eyes searching his blue ones.

"Do you really want me to tell you?" he asked. She nodded hesitantly.

"I'm looking at her." He whispered. Lizzie felt like she had stopped breathing.

"What?" she asked. She was certain he was bluffing.

"It's you, Lizzie."

"Really?"

"Would I lie to you, McG?"

"Why me?" she asked innocently

He cupped her face in his hands so they were staring right into each other's eyes. "If it wasn't for you, I'd be wasting my emotions on people like Holly Adams. And if it wasn't for you, I'd have nobody to fight with, nobody to be childish with, and nobody to love as much as I love you."

Gordo leant over to Lizzie, so his lips were inches apart from her trembling ones. Suddenly aware of what she was doing, Lizzie closed the gap between them, not expecting anything of what she was going to feel next. It was like fireworks on New Year Eve, like bright burning candles on a birthday cake. Just about anything that symbolized beauty, she felt it.

Meanwhile, an unsuspecting Miranda hadn't heard a peep from her friends for about five minutes, so she had decided that they had given up on attacking each other. She walked over to the door, silently removing the chair from its bolted position under the doorknob and slowly opened the door to see her best friends in their romantic embrace. They were so involved in each other that they didn't even notice that they were free from their entrapment and their captor watching on gleefully. As silently as she had opened the door, she closed it again and danced in victory, knowing that her plan to get her best friends together had succeeded.

January 7. 9:50am

It was the last day of their vacation and the trio had decided to spend one more hour relaxing in the ranch before they went to the airport to return to Hillridge. Lizzie and Gordo were snuggling up on the couch, and Miranda was on the other side of the room reading a magazine, trying to ignore Lizzie and Gordo.

Lizzie trembled. "Brrrr… it's cold." She complained, snuggling deeper into Gordo's chest. He chuckled, told her to get off him so he could put his jacket over her.

"You know, that shirt is really cute on you." He said.

She turned around and smiled cheekily at him. "See, freezing to death paid off in the end. I managed to impress you after all."

Giving her a devilish grin, he picked her up and flipped her around so that her chest was lying on top of his.

He lifted his mouth to her ear and whispered softly, "That's not all that you managed to do."

They leaned in for another long kiss, and when they parted they rested their foreheads against each other. "Mmm, you taste like Hot Cocoa." She said, reminding him of what they drank earlier that morning.

"I hope that's a compliment."

"It is." He tilted his head so the tips of their noses were touching.

"I adore you." He whispered.

"I love you." She whispered back, as he rubbed his nose against his, giving her an Eskimo kiss.

"And I hate the both of you." Miranda piped up. Snapped out of their moment, Lizzie and Gordo turned their heads and watched Miranda grumble.

"Somebody please get a broom and shove it up my throat, because that is what I feel like doing when I watch the two of you make out with your noses all day. You know, Gordon, I could easily get your grandma to send those snow dogs to sic you, the way you've been behaving."

Lizzie smirked and reluctantly got up off Gordo, walking towards Miranda with a pillow discreetly behind her back. "You know Miranda, if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be together. And because of that, it's now two against one. So you should be more nice."

"And what are you going to do if I'm not?" Miranda challenged.

"This." Lizzie said, whacking Miranda across the face with a pillow. Miranda feigned shock and anger.

"Oh that's it, McGuire. You've crossed the line." She said, reaching for the nearest pillow and smacking Lizzie on her head.

And as the snow fell softly down in the winter Colorado air, the sound of three life long best friends enjoying each others company and engaging in a game of pillow fights could be heard to anyone passing by, and even though this new feeling of love between Lizzie and Gordo was established, there was still the same strong bond between the Three Amigos that would never change.

Fin.

A.N: Awww… I love a good ending cries. Well I hope you enjoyed. Please Review. Constructive criticism is very welcome. I don't really like flames, but if you think it's necessary... I hope you enjoyed!