Dis: LOL!
A/N: It's up! Finally new chap! Thanks Christy for the beta-ing!
By the time Miranda was all cried out, the sun was beginning to set.
"I should probably go pack," she said, pulling away from Gordo and standing up. "Thanks."
"Wait!" he called out, getting up. "I'll go with you."
"What?"
"I'll help you pack, lets just go tell the 'rents."
"Gordo, wait. I can't go in there!" Miranda urged as they stood before his door.
"Why?" he asked, opening it.
"I'm splotchy, and oh yeah, I just burst in there uninvited!" she whispered harshly, trying not to be overly loud.
"Miranda, you're not splotchy, and you're always invited. Now come on!" He grabbed her hand, pulling her in after him.
Scanning the crowd he found his parents talking to Gorgeous.
"Oh David! There you are, and Miranda!" The older woman exclaimed, hugging them. "And who's this?" she asked, taking Frederick.
"That's Frederick," Gordo responded easily. "He's a cool little dude," he added chuckling a bit, and earning some strange looks from both his parents.
"Yes, well I see he's a fine bear, stylish too," she observed, handing him back to Miranda.
"Um, actually I was wondering if I could go over to Miranda's for a while."
"Gordo, I don't know that that would be a great idea, after all we have guests," his mom informed him.
"Um, that's fine Gordo, I can pack alone," Miranda smiled politely, trying to avoid tension.
"Oh, are you going somewhere?" Gorgeous asked with interest.
"Um, yeah kinda, I'm moving…"
"…to Mexico." Gordo finished.
"Really, when do you leave?" Gorgeous asked, both curious and slightly concerned for her grandson.
"Day after tomorrow," she managed to say evenly. "If you'll excuse me, I really have to go," she smiled apologetically then walked out the door, before anyone could see her break down.
"Mi'ja, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I will be," Miranda reassured her mom, before ascending the stairs and heading to her room.
Ten minutes and half a box of clothes later she heard a knock on her door.
"I'm fine. Yes I'm sure. I'm packing, no I don't need help!" she yelled out, anticipating her mother's questions.
"Well, in that case I'll just be going," Gordo grinned from her doorway.
"Gordo?" Miranda exclaimed, turning around. "What are you doing here? I thought you had company."
"Well, I still do, but I made a valid argument…then Gorgeous ordered my dad to let me come," he said, doing the classic Gordo-blink-shrug-combo.
"Thanks."
"Come on, you have a lot of junk."
"Hey!" Miranda protested, thwacking Gordo on the head with Frederick.
"What? You do!"
"Yeah yeah yeah, everyone's a critic. So you gonna help 'o what?" she asked, grabbing a fedora off the floor.
"Sure t'ing boss, I ain't wanna be swimming' wit' no guppies."
"Its fishes you half- wit! And it's sleepin', not swimmin'!"
"I don't wanna do dat wit' them neither.'
Lizzie reread the e-mail from Miranda somewhat in disbelief.
'Moving? But what about high school? I thought we were all gonna go together, isn't that why Gordo came back?' she thought, confused.
At the moment, Lizzie was sitting alone in her hotel room while Jo went to some meeting with the people at the record label trying to make sure they didn't pull one over on her daughter.
"Gordo…" she sighed softly.
'With Miranda gone, there would be more time for Gordo and me without Miranda being the third wheel. I could only imagine how uncomfortable I'd be if she were always flirting with Gordo, and they never paid any attention to me.' Lizzie's eyes bugged out at the thought, before she broke into hysterical laughter.
"Yeah right!"
"What time is it?"
Gordo looked at his watch. "12:05"
"Gordo?"
"Yeah?" he asked, turning his head to look at her. They were presently laying on the floor of her living room.
"I'm moving today," she said, her voice cracking slightly.
"Hey, lets not think about it."
"What'll we do?" Gordo was spending the night to help pack, a task they'd finished thirty minutes ago.
"How about some music?" he asked, making his way to the small boom box on the floor.
As soon as he turned on the radio he regretted it, "'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane. I don't know when I'll be back aga…" came Chantal Kreviazuk's voice before Gordo scrambled to shut it off.
"Okay, no radio…"
He found an old Aaron Carter tape in a nearby box. Most of the song titles were rubbed off, but it seemed harmless enough.
Gordo pressed "play" before regaining his post next to Miranda just as an old Jackson Five cover was ending. 'This works' he thought.
"Hey girl, I'm sad. I heard that you were leavin'... You can't go. You're my best friend. I'm sure gonna miss you," came the little boy's sad spoken words. Gordo groaned, but just as he moved to turn it off the power went out.
There was a brief silence before they both cracked up.
"Marco!" Miranda whispered getting up.
"Polo!" Gordo responded from an unknown location.
"Mar…Ow! Stupid box!" Miranda grumbled getting down on all fours.
"Polo?" Gordo asked through a chuckle.
"Mar…"
"Oof." Gordo grunted falling back under Miranda's weight, leaving them in a tangled heap.
After what seemed like and eternity they made it back to the designated sleeping-spot on the floor.
"So… what now?" Miranda asked, getting comfy.
"Sleep?" He suppressed a chuckle at Miranda's scoff. "What's your suggestion?
"Shadow puppets?"
"No flashlight."
"Technicality." Silence, "Fine, we'll sleep."
"Night" Gordo yawned.
"Night…Gordo?"
"Hum?"
"I can't sleep."
"Did you try?"
"Uh huh." She nodded in the dark.
"What do you want me to do about it?" he asked, turning to face her, her outline barely visible in the dark.
"Tell me a story?"
"Okay, so there's this guy…"
"No, it should begin with 'once upon a time.'"
"Fine, once upon a time there was this guy…" By the time he was done, she'd fallen asleep.
At the airport, Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez went to board, leaving Miranda to her good- byes.
"Well, this is it," he said, shifting his weight.
"Yup," she said, looking down.
"I'll miss you!" they stated simultaneously.
"Here," he said, reaching into his pocket and handing her his lucky hackysack.
"What's this for?" she asked, looking at it.
"Practice. Thought you might want a rematch… next time," he emphasized.
"Thanks, here." She handed him Frederick.
"Miranda, I can't…"
"Well with me gone and Lizzie's deal, I figured you wouldn't mind holding him for me. Just until next time." To his skeptical look she added, "There will be a next time right?"
'Guilt trip.' "Yeah, he can bunk with me." He smiled, first looking the bear in the eyes, then making him nod.
"So, you got a ride?"
"'Rents, don't worry, but you take care of yourself."
She nodded.
"You wont have me to save you from any more geese," he smirked.
Miranda backhanded him, laughing, before she burst into tears.
After a few more tears and a proper farewell hug she was gone, leaving a very familiar image of a guy with a superman teddy bear behind.