Disclaimer: I know this is a hard pill to swallow, but I don't own the show. I know, I was just as surprised as you are.

Gordo couldn't believe it. This was by far the toughest decision his parents had ever left up to him.

They were giving him the opportunity to go back home to Hillridge. It was the summer before his junior year. School had just let out a few days ago. He had anticipated enjoying the summer with his friends. This sounded too familiar. Too deja vu. The last time this had happened, summer had just started. Looking forward to spending it with his two best friends: Lizzie and Miranda. Then abruptly being pulled from the only environment he had ever known, and being thrown into someplace alien. Being forced to start all over again.

The first time this had happened, he couldn't have imagined being happy here. Making new friends. Becoming familiar with the people and the atmosphere. But the face was, he did. And he enjoyed his new home. Making friends was ,what he thought, would be his biggest obstacle. It had been the simplest adjustment, he quickly discovered. In fact, he had many more friends here than he had back home. But that didn't fill the void that he felt when he left his two best friends. Quality had always been better than quantity.

But if he went back home would he have to start all over? Sure, he hadn't been gone too long. But things had to have changed somehow while he was gone. He, too, had changed. Would the people have changed? Would the environment have changed? Worst of all, would his friends had changed? If they had, would he really want to go back? After all, they were the only reasons he would have to return to Hillridge.

When people are out of contact for so long, things became awkward. But when they had visited him last Christmas they had been out of contact for awhile. But as soon as they were reunited, things were just as they had always been. Well despite Lizzie's confusion with Gordo's new look. Her smirked as the memory.

Gordo continued laying on his bedroom floor with his hands behind his hand, while he continued staring at the ceiling. This was such a huge decision. How would he ever be able to decide? He really needed to talk to somebody. But who? Who would ever possibly understand what he was going through?

It was a bright gorgeous summer day. The sun beamed down upon the city. Children played at local parks and swimming pools. Kids raced down the streets on bikes and skateboards. Teens were at amusement parks or enjoying their driving privilege's by going as far as their heart desired. (Or as far as their parents allowed). Lizzie McGuire sat up in her bed staring at the wall doing, what else? Thinking. Thinking about that infamous night. It had taken place nearly two years ago, like it plagued her mind.

Nothing had even happened, she constantly reminded herself. Yet, it effected her. She yearned for her old carefree lifestyle. No matter how hard she tried, she was unable to capture her forever lost familiar self. Her old self was out of reach. All this contemplation usually made Lizzie drift away into her own Lizze-land. So it really was no surprise when she didn't hear the phone ring.

There was a loud pounding on her bedroom door.

"Lizzie! Phone!"

She jumped at the sudden outburst by her brother, but quickly gathered her wits. The blonde rolled over and hit the Talk button on her pink telephone.

"Hello." she said with hardly any emotion.

"Lizzie?" the voice asked.

The voice sounded faintly familiar, yet she had trouble placing the owner. She cleared her throat and sat up.

"Yeah, this is Lizzie. Who's this?"

"Oh, it's uh Gordo."

She grinned into the phone.

"Oh, hi!"

Her sudden change in tone made Gordo more comfortable. When she first answered, he didn't think it was her. She sounded emotionless. But her sudden chipper mood refamiliarized himself with her voice.

"Wow, I haven't heard from you in a long time!" she continued. "How have you been?"

The fact that she was so happy to hear from him made Gordo forget his problems for a moment. But only for a moment.

"I'm fine." he said.

He wasn't convincing her.

"Are you sure? You don't sound fine."

Gordo exhaled into the phone. "Actually Lizzie there's a reason I called."

Lizzie became concerned. "Are you ok?"

"Not really." he sighed again, rolled over in his stomach and continued. "Lizzie, I just needed to talk to someone really bad and you were the only person I could talk to." he paused a smiled a little. "I mean you've always been the one person I felt the most comfortable talking to, and I was hoping I could count on you."

It took Lizzie a second to grasp what he said and smiled broadly into the phone.