Chapter 8

Lizzie sat at the dining-room table for an hour attempting to fight her way through the pile of homework Senora Diaz had assigned. But after an hour or so she knew all her attempts were at a loss. She could not concentrate. She listened intently to all sounds upstairs, and filled in the blanks with horrible thoughts of what her mom might be going through. She couldn't stand it any longer. She wanted to go upstairs and hold her mom; make it all better. But, she knew right now it might only make the situation worse. Her mom was in a lot of pain and she had to stay away.

Pushing the rest of her homework in her binder, she decided she would call Gordo. She had to talk to someone. He would know what to say to make her feel better. Looking up at the clock on the kitchen wall, she saw that it was 4:30. Gordo would be getting out of track right now, so if she called him on his cell, he should be there. Grabbing her pink flip phone from her backpack, she made her way to the front porch. She didn't want to make any unnecessary noise.

"Where are you going?" her younger brother looked up from his math homework.

"I'm just going outside to call Gordo. Finish up your homework."

Shutting the front door behind her, she took a seat on the front step. She quickly dialed his number and waited, not so patiently, for his response.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Gordo. It's lizzie."

"Oh, hey Liz. What's up?"

"Not much. I just needed someone to talk to. I just…" Lizzie suddenly found it impossible to hold back the tears that had been building up all day. "It's my mom. She's so sick from the treatment. And-and-and I-I just can't stand it. I want her to be, to be ok. I hate knowing that she's upstairs, in pain, sick, and I'm fine."

"Lizzie, don't you dare feel guilty. You're mom wants you to live your life as normal as possible. She doesn't want you to give up on everything just for her."

"But-but, I just don't know…" Lizzie found it hard to speak through the sobs. She couldn't stop crying.

"Wait, Lizzie. I'll be right over."

"Ok," she managed to choke out through the tears. She flipped her phone shut and buried her head in her arms and cried.

Ten minutes later Gordo pulled up in front of her house. He jumped quickly from his car and found a spot next to Lizzie on the front step. Without any direction, he wrapped his arms around her. Leaning into his chest, she cried for what seemed forever. She just needed to be held, and Gordo was there to do it.

After several minutes, Gordo loosened his grip and looked into Lizzie's big brown eyes. "So, are you going to stop feeling guilty?"

"Lizzie couldn't help but smile. HE had that amazing smile, and that look in his eye when he was serious about something; when he really cared about it. He had that look in his eye. He cared about her; he truly wanted to help her through this. And she was glad she had him to help her through this.

"Yes, sir," she responded as she gave him another tight squeeze.

"Now, did you do your homework, Young Lady?"

"I tried to but..."

"But what?"

"My mind is a little distracted."

"Hey, what did I say earlier? You're mom wants you to go on with your life. How are you going to do that when you drop out of high school because you didn't get into the college you wanted because you didn't feel like doing your homework?"

"What are you, my father?" Lizzie asked through giggles.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Ok, ok, I'll do it."

"Do you want any help?"

"Yes please." She shot back through laughter. "But could we go to your house? I don't want to make any noise. My mom is sleeping."

"No problem. Just run inside and grab what you need. I'll get the car started."

"Lizzie did as instructed and they drove to Gordo's house. Both his parents were still working, so the two had the house to themselves.

"Ok, what are we working on first?" Gordo inquired.

"Spanish. I swear, Senora Diaz hates me."

"I highly doubt that."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

The two spent the next two hours finishing up their homework. Gordo spent most of it assisting Lizzie with hers, but he still managed to finish at the same time.

"I should probably get home. Matt is probably hungry. I should cook him something for dinner."

"Ok, let's get you home."

The two drove back down the road to Lizzie's house. She honestly had no true desire to go home. Her house held too much pain right now. It reminded her of everything that was not good. But being with Gordo made her feel safe, protected. At his house, she was away from the crazy, mean world.

They pulled up in front of her house, and he exited the car to walk her to the front door. Pausing on the front step, he wrapped her in a huge bear hug. She felt so protected and never wanted to leave his arms. She could remain there for the rest of her life. But the hug came to a close to quickly, and he stepped back to look at her face. Neither said anything. They just looked at each other's face. Without warning, Gordo leaned in slowly, and kissed Lizzie on her tiny, pink lips.

Realizing what he had just done he pulled back quickly. Neither of them knew what to say or how to react. It had happened so quickly.

"Um, I'll, um, see you tomorrow, Lizzie." Turning quickly on his heels, he returned to his car and drove away.

Lizzie stood on the front step trying to process what had just happened. What just happened? Did it mean something? Did he regret it? Dozens of questions flooded her mind She stood there for several minutes, to soak it all in.

"He likes me. And I like him." She mouthed to herself. "He likes me. He likes me." She began to jump up and down. "David Gordon likes me. And I like him." Entering her house, she retrieved the phone to tell Miranda the great news.

A/N:

Thank you all so, so, so, so much for all the reviews. This is my highest grossing fic, haha. But seriously. I've received more reviews for this fic than any of my others. So what does that mean? It means you need to review my other fics. Haha, I'm just kidding. It means I'm very appreciative and will continue on. My thanks to all who have reviewed so here is a short recognition to all of you so far. Thanks to LizzieGordo4ever, staradm98, cka3ka, shadowfax42713, WB7thHeavenFanatic1234, invisibleA, kalanadiangal4ever, anonymous, lightning-storm222, GreatWriter, woemcat, snowfrog5152, masamor99, shealtiel, xxluxx, hotchic12, gordo12, reviewer, tinkerbell877, Black Knight 03, Allyson, Hilary Fan, Danithe, who writes Heav, zero, and reading redhead.

I've never used a beta before, but have been thinking about it, so if anyone is interested let me know in a review. And if anyone needs a beta, I'm interested in being one as well. Thanks and please review.