Disclaimer: I don't own Lizzie McGuire or the characters. Disney does.
"Hi Gordo."
Gordo jumped up and spun around when he heard Lizzie's voice behind him. "Lizzie! You're here!"
"We- did agree to meet here didn't we?" Lizzie looked at him strangely.
"Yeah, of course- I just- I mean- you surprised me…sneaking up behind me like that," Gordo stammered.
"Right…" Lizzie paused, leaning against the back of the bench.
Gordo cleared his throat, but couldn't get rid of the lump, or the nervous shake in his voice, "You wanted to talk?"
"Yeah," Lizzie choked out, sounding as if it were the last thing in the world she wanted to do.
Gordo watched her as she took her time to gather herself and breathe, and come and sit beside him…and gather herself and breathe again. Knowing her so well, and knowing just how nervous she was, somehow made him more nervous. The kicker was, he was far too messed up in his own emotions to properly interpret hers to see whether this conversation would be a 'let him down easy' or 'let's date, get married, have babies and grow old together'.
"So, yeah, I read your message," Lizzie started bravely.
"Yeah…" Gordo murmured, looking down at his shoes, feeling the urge to throw up his breakfast.
There was a hitch in Lizzie's breath, and her voice choked and cracked on, "I-"
Gordo looked up quickly to find Lizzie's head turned away as she hastily wiped at her eyes, her hitched breath betrayed the small, distressed sobs.
"God, Lizzie, I'm so sorry for writing that note. It was stupid to heap all that on you. I didn't mean to make you cry." He reached out and curled his fingers around Lizzie's palm, tugging it down from her face. "Come on, what do you say we forget any of this ever happened? Go back to being best friends forever?"
Lizzie shook her head, "No."
"What?" Gordo looked down, baffled, when Lizzie's hand turned in his so their palms were together, and squeezed his hand, her thumb rubbing softly over the inside of his wrist.
Lizzie sniffled and took a deep breath, and spoke in a louder, more confident tone, "I don't want to forget what you wrote."
"You-don't?" Gordo was blinking dumbly, still staring down at their clasped hands.
"Gordo."
Gordo forced his gaze up until he met hers, feeling shaky in this cautious hope.
"Your note made me feel scared and confused, but then…happy," Lizzie's eyes smiled at him wetly and nervously.
Gordo blinked at her.
He felt her squeeze his hand tighter.
"Gordo?"
"Yeah," his voice wobbled weakly.
"Are you hearing me?" she questioned anxiously.
"I…happy?" Gordo stammered.
"Yeah," she was the one who looked away this time, quickly blurting out, "So, the answer is yes."
"What answer?" Gordo questioned, still not allowing himself triumph.
"What you said in your note, you still want that, right?!" her voice sharply increased in pitch.
Before she could panic in misunderstanding he said, "Yes! Yes! But…really??"
They shyly met each others eye again as Lizzie murmured, "Yeah, really."
"I didn't- I mean, I hoped, but I never expected…" Gordo shook his head, unsure how to feel or what to do. It obviously hadn't hit him yet or he would be running around, yelling it at the top of his lungs and praising God for a miracle.
Lizzie smiled, "You're a good guy Gordo, I know that better than anyone. I'd have to be an idiot to say no."
Gordo felt his heart skip a beat, "Thanks Lizzie."
"No problem."
There was an awkward pause. Were they now dating? Gordo thought. Or did he have to ask her out? Damn, if only he knew what the hell he was doing. The reality of actually getting all his wishes was terrifying.
"Um…do you want to go out…on a date?" Gordo asked awkwardly.
"Yeah," Lizzie beamed at him, so he'd obviously done the right thing.
"Okay…how about Monday night?"
"Yeah, okay."
"Alright."
When conversation stopped, Gordo was awkwardly aware of himself, "Uh…do you wanna go to the digital bean now?"
"Oh…Nah, I have chores to do, you know."
"Yeah, okay," Gordo wasn't about to call out any lie at the moment, so he smiled dumbly and nodded his head.
"Okay."
There was a silence, and then they both stood, their clasped hands falling apart.
Lizzie gave a half smile and wave and started walking away.
"Lizzie," Gordo called out.
Lizzie spun around.
"I- thankyou. It means a lot that you're giving me a chance like this."
"If anyone deserves it, it's you Gordo," Lizzie said sincerely.
Gordo smiled his broadest, most un-self conscious smile, and he felt invincible.
"Oh God," Lizzie let residual tears fall down her cheeks as she hurried home, "I can't believe I just did that."
Her mother must've been watching the door like a hawk, because the moment Lizzie stepped inside, her mother excitedly questioned, "What happened?"
"What? Mom, gimme a second," Lizzie closed the door and wiped at her eyes.
"Oh. Oh no! Did something go wrong? Why are you crying honey?"
"I'm not- I…" Lizzie sighed and smiled shakily as she said it out loud, "Gordo and I are going on a date."
Her mother squealed and was practically hopping around in her excitement, "That's so great honey. Oh, you two are so perfect for each other."
"Mom, chill, please."
"Right, sorry, of course. Come on, let's talk," her mother grabbed her hand and led her over to the couch.
Lizzie flopped her head back with a sigh.
"So, what's up?"
"What do you mean-?" Lizzie tried, before giving up. Her mother was too smart to fall for the dumb act. Lizzie shrugged, "I dunno. This is all just so…hard."
Her mother looked at her fondly, "Yeah, romance usually is."
Lizzie sat up, looking worried, "How do I know this is the right thing to do? Maybe I just made the biggest mistake of my life. What if this date is a disaster and Gordo and I never speak again?! He's…I've known him since I was a baby!"
"Lizzie…"
"I don't want to lose him," Lizzie whispered.
"Okay, I understand that. But you can at least give this a chance. You won't know unless you try."
"Yeah."
Lizzie watched the mischievous smile grow on her mothers face and waited for it.
And it came.
"So…what did Gordo do when you told him?"
Lizzie looked at her mother and replied dryly, "Well, I was crying, so he told me to forget about everything."
"Oh," her mother looked disappointed by the answer, "Well, what happened then?"
Lizzie blushed, "Mom! You're so nosey."
This made her mother smile in amusement, "Spill it."
Lizzie's face burned brighter and brighter by the second, and finally she muttered, "He held my hand."
"Ooo!" her mother clapped excitedly.
Lizzie rolled her eyes even as she blushed.
"And then?" her mother pushed.
"Don't you have your own love life?" Lizzie said defensively. But inside her head she answered, 'and then he gave me the most breathtaking smile I've ever seen.'
"Alright, you keep you're secrets. So, when's the big date?"
"Tomorrow night."
"Great. Have you thought about what you're gonna wear?"
Lizzie jumped up, eyes wide in panic, "Oh no! What am I gonna wear?!"
She turned and ran up the stairs.