A/N: Sorry, guys. This would have been up last night, but I got seriously sick. Like, almost "take-me-to-the-hospital" sick. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Just in case I don't get a chapter up tomorrow.
bFishstix: Thank you! Enjoy!
River Tam: Thank you :) They'll get back together within the next three or four chapters. Sorry for the spoiler there, lol. Maybe they are Friedo's dad…maybe not. Mwahaha! Patiently awaiting your next update of "Star of David!" And I'm so sorry that work's been so sucky for you! That's no fun. :( Enjoy this chapter!
Bubbles237: Thank you! Enjoy!
Gordo walked in the house, shopping bags in hand. "Dad," he called, "I picked up some eggs, bread, and milk. We were all out." No reply came. "Dad?" Gordo heard footsteps behind him and turned around. His mother was leaning against the kitchen counter, smiling brightly. "Mom! I didn't know you were being released from the hospital!" He embraced her.
"I was released late last night. You and Elizabeth were up in the tree house when I got home, and I was so tired that I went straight up to bed…is everything okay with you and Lizzie?" Gordo blushed and continued putting groceries away.
"Yeah."
"She was pretty upset with you last time I saw her."
"Mmm." Gordo tried to avoid conversation by mumbling something about getting his cell phone in his car. He dashed down the pathway and sat opened his door. The cool air fled to his face, returning it to its natural color. He pulled his android off of the dashboard and checked his text messages. He smiled as he read a text from Lizzie.
HEY. ARE YOU BUSY?
He replied with:
NO. WHAT'S UP?
His phone suddenly rang, startling him. "Hello?"
"Can you meet me at the Digital Bean in ten minutes?"
"Yeah. Is everything alright?"
"Yes…what, you don't want to hang out with me?"
"No!" She laughed as his voice cracked. Gordo cleared his throat. "No. I was just wondering if there was any special occasion."
"No special occasion. See you?"
"I'll be there." Gordo hung up and went back inside. His mom had finished unpacking the groceries for him and was sitting at the counter eating a piece of toast. Gordo gave his famous half-smile and pulled out the apple juice. He poured some and sat down across from his mother. "I'm going out," he said, putting the now empty glass in the sink.
"With Elizabeth?" Roberta asked, glancing at her son over her shoulder.
"Why do you ask?" Roberta noted the uncomfortable look in Gordo's eyes.
"I was just wondering." She hesitated, then added, "Did something happen between you two to make you so uncomfortable, David?"
"Who said I'm uncomfortable?" Gordo blushed profusely and tugged his coat over his shoulders.
"Just instinct. Have a good time. Tell Elizabeth I say 'hi'." Gordo left without another word. At the Digital Bean, he saw Lizzie waiting at a booth. The three amigos had often sat at that exact table after school.
"Gordo!" She called, waving him over. He lifted a hand in a salute-like wave and sat down. "You'll never guess what I found," Lizzie continued, hazel eyes fraught with excitement.
"Hello to you, too." Gordo joked folding his hands on the table. Lizzie sighed and leaned over.
"I've had enough of you and your smart-alecky tone, Mr. Gordon." She raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips.
"Did you just call me Mr. Gordon?"
"Gordo!" She wailed, stretching out his name for good measure. "Stop! I'm really excited about this!"
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry," he whispered, patting her hand.
She inhaled deeply and continued, "I searched for Darian Romero on Google. A few results came up with a group of lawyers in Boston, but that's obviously not our guy. I modified my search to our area, and I found him! He studied psychology at USC, but became a drug addict. He started stealing stuff. Not enough to get him on America's Most Wanted or anything, but still. He was recommended to visit local psychologist Howard Gordon. He stopped going after two weeks. I couldn't find why, though…" Lizzie flipped through a bunch of print-outs she had in front of her, scanning for more useful information. "Is your dad at work today? I think we need to do a little more file digging."
"He's at the office," Gordo said, a frown pulling at his lips. He glanced down at the table. He realized his hand had never moved from Lizzie's. He pulled it back sheepishly. "Tomorrow he's leaving on business, but my mom's going to the office, then. We could go with my mom and wander off to 'find the bathroom'…" he said, using air quotes.
"And just so happen to go into your dad's office and look through his case file for Darian Romero. Accidentally, of course."
"Of course. Let's do it."
"Cool! But, um…do you still want to hang out today?"
"Sure. It's your turn to pick the activity."
"How about a movie. We haven't been to one together in a while."
"Sure. What's playing?"
"Glad you asked! There's this new movie about a girl living on a Farm in Kansas, and she's in love with the doctor's son. No one thinks she's good enough to date him, so she decides to hide her identity to try and win him over and…" Gordo began to tune her out, smiling at her like a love struck idiot. He loved the way she could talk for so long about this movie, never losing excitement for it. Her eyes glowed, and she made wild hand gestures as if they would somehow make up for the current lack of a movie screen. "Gordo, are you even listening to me?"
"Uh, yeah. It sounds good. Let's go."
The movie theater lights began to dim, and Lizzie grabbed Gordo's coat sleeve to lead him to a seat. About halfway through the movie, Lizzie found herself leaning into Gordo's chest, their hands entwined. Gordo was silently cursing the terrible special effects job that had been done on the movie. No matter though, he decided. If seeing this movie was making Lizzie happy enough to cuddle up with him, he would watch it over and over again all day long. The evil old grandmother on the screen offered the main character an apple. The girl took it graciously. "You think by now that they would have learned to not take apples from old women." Gordo whispered. Lizzie sighed and closed her eyes. Gordo wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "Are you tired?" He asked, running his hand up and down her arm.
"No," she said, snuggling closer. Her breathing evened. Gordo waved a hand in front of her face, getting no response. He leaned down and planted a soft kiss on her head.
"I'm home," Gordo called. "Mom? Can I talk to you?"
"Sure. I'm in the family room."
Gordo walked into the family room and sat down in a Lazy Boy Recliner. "Lizzie and I were talking, and…well I know you're going to the office tomorrow, and we want to come help you. We can organize files or something."
"That would be lovely! You haven't been to the office in so long, David, I'm sure my colleagues won't even recognize you!" She beamed, brown eyes lighting up with delight.
Gordo chuckled, pleased to see his mom so happy. "Yeah. What time are you planning on leaving?"
"Could we pick Elizabeth up at 7:45? I need to be there by 8:00."
"I'm sure it's fine. I'm gonna go watch some TV." Gordo slid the recliner back up to its normal position and headed upstairs to his room. He threw himself down onto the bed and grabbed the remote. After channel surfing for a while, he decided on the News. They were getting ready to do an interview.
"Please welcome local Hillridge author, Darian Romero," The news caster said. The audience politely clapped. Gordo's blood ran cold. "We're so excited to have you here, Mr. Romero."
"Excited to be here!" Darian announced, smiling and running his hands through his beard. Gordo picked up his cell phone and dialed Lizzie's number.
"Gordo?" She asked.
"Liz. Turn on the news."
Lizzie swallowed hard. "Uh-huh…it's already on."
"Is that who I think it is?"
"Uh-huh."
"What do we need to do?"
"First of all, I'm going to record the rest of the interview." Gordo could hear her fumbling around for the remote. "And we need to go get his book." On Gordo's screen, Darian held up a hard-cover copy of his book proudly.
"From Druggie to Author: My True to Life Story."
"Yeah…Gordo, come and get me. We're going to the bookstore."
"Will do." Gordo hung up and grabbed his coat.
"David? Where are you going?" His mom asked, putting the newspaper down.
"Out. I'll be back soon." He left without another word. Gordo couldn't think straight, and driving took a lot of concentration. He almost passed Lizzie's house. She jumped in the car. "So, what bookstore are we going to?"
She laid her purse down over her lap and buckled up. "Over to Nook's. It's nearby."
"Here it is!" Gordo called, grabbing a green book off a display table. Lizzie rushed over and examined the book.
"Great. Let's go." They walked up to the front desk. The attendant took the book and scanned it.
"Find everything alright?" He asked.
"Yes, thank you." Gordo replied. Lizzie nodded her head in agreement.
"Twenty dollars even." Lizzie reached into her purse, but Gordo put his hand on hers to stop her. He pulled out bills to pay. "Have a nice day."
In the car, Lizzie held the book with shaking hands. "It's okay, Liz," Gordo said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. He pulled out of the parking spot and headed towards Lizzie's house. "What's the worst that we could find in there?"
"I don't know…I don't even want to think about it."
"It can't be that bad. Trust me. Have I ever lied to you before?"
Yes, she wanted to say, you told me that you loved me. "No."
"Then why would I start now?"
"I don't know."
"I wouldn't."
Soon the two were sprawled out on Lizzie's bedroom floor, paper clips and post-it's all around them. Lizzie read a passage from the book aloud and thoughtfully picked up a yellow sticky note to mark it as important. She glanced over at Gordo, who had his hands over his eyes and was breathing deeply, willing himself to stay awake. "Gordo, do you want to stop for tonight?"
"Yes," he said weakly. "I gotta get home. We're picking you up at 6:45 tomorrow morning, by the way."
"Okay. Should you really be driving? You look so tired."
"I'll be okay, Liz." He stood up. "Good night." They embraced, holding onto each other for a little longer than necessary. Once Gordo was gone, Lizzie plopped down on her bed. She didn't know if she could stand to be around Gordo anymore. Her overwhelming emotions for him were driving her crazy. And he didn't feel anything for her…or so she thought.