Worth the Wait || Raura

t w e n t y - o n e

Worth the Wait: 21 | Lost in You
| Laura Marano |

| A Few Days Later (May 17th, 2021) |

Smiling, I screw the cap back onto the nail polish and admire my work done on my toes. This time around, I painted them a very pale pink instead of my usual dark red or white. As for my finger nails... I get those done in the salon because no matter how hard I try, my at-home gel nails turn out like shit and don't last as long as they do when I get them professionally done. From across the room Ross was sitting on my couch and watching some crime show. Suddenly, a great idea popped into my head.

"Hey, Ross?" He turns his head to look over at me. "Would you ever let me paint your toenails?" I ask. He immediately shakes his head and turns to watch tv again. "Come on, please?"

"No, Laura. That shit stays on for ages." He tells me, his eyes still on the tv. I frown and look down at my toes.

"I'll paint them a manly color." I say. He looks over at me. "Or I can paint them yellow! Yes, Ross! Yellow, a pale yellow!" I stand up from the ground in front of my dining room table and awkwardly walk over to Ross to try and not screw up my nails. Ross grabs ahold of both my wrists, before I could sit down on top of his legs, and forces me to sit down on my ottoman beside his legs. He releases my wrists and lifts his hat off his head to run his fingers through his hair, his eyes never leaving the screen.

"No." He repeats, putting his hat back on. If his hat was on forwards and not backwards, I would flick the bill so his hat would fall off just to annoy him.

"I can do black?" I say softly. Ross sighs and looks at me. I give him an innocent smile. "I can do black instead of yellow."

"If I say yes, will you come to the music festival we're playing this weekend?" He asks me. I jerk my head back slightly at his words and furrow my eyebrows.

"You want me to come with you to Alabama?" I clarify, knowing the music festival he's going to is in fact in Alabama from Friday to Sunday night.

"My parents, Ellington's parents, Vanni and Ryland are going, so you can stand with them while the rest of us hit the stage." He explains.

"What day do you guys play?" I ask.

"Saturday. We all fly down Thursday evening." He tells me.

"Is it okay if I fly down Friday morning? I have a recording session Thursday night planned."

"Right, forgot about that." He mumbles. "Friday morning works." He says with a smile. "As long as you get to see us perform, you haven't seen us perform in ages."

"All this for allowing me to paint your toenails?" I question.

"I'll let you paint my finger nails, too." I raise my eyebrows. "One condition, black on my fingers, I'll let you do whatever to my toes." I smile wide. "I might regret this, yeah?" I shake my head and stand up.

"I'll be right back. Grab a paper towel and sit at the dining room table!" I exclaim, rushing to my room. I grab my pale yellow nail polish, some nail stickers for his big toes, my black nail polish, my nail filer, tweezers, and my nail clippers. Knowing Ross, his nails were probably all uneven and jagged. Walking into the main room with my hands full, I can hear Ross mumble out curse words as he watches me walk over to him.