When they're on tour and the chapters require a show, I will put a pic of a photo from the m&g to show you what they wear, and I'll make a similar outfit that'll be what Laura wears right below it. So if you're curious, check the photo above or beside, depending on the format and I always will put a white line through the people in the picture for privacy purposes :)
Enjoy💜
If This Is Love: 22 | If This Is Love
| Laura Renae |
| A Few Days Later (June 24th, 2017) |
"Mmmmm, my girlfriend is looking sexy." I roll my eyes as Ross snakes his arms around my waist from behind, dropping his head down enough to kiss my cheek.
"Careful, I have makeup on and I don't want you to ruin it." I tell him, putting my hands over his arms. He lifts his head up, staring at us in the mirror. I smile and lean back against him, checking out my outfit. "Is a pink skirt too much?" I ask quietly. "I wanted to try and match Rydel's wig somehow and well... this was what I had."
"I like it." He tells me. "And I like this." Ross trails his pointer finger down the lace up on my shirt. I grab his wrist, stopping him from getting too sexual considering the lace up part of my shirt was down my almost nonexistent cleavage. He laughs the slightest at my answer and unwraps his arms from around me. "Dad said that we need to head out for meet and greet."
"Okay, I just need to put some lipgloss on." I say, grabbing my makeup bag.
"Kiss me first." I raise my eyebrows up, glancing at Ross through the mirror. "If you kiss me with lipgloss on, it'll be sticky. And it'll be obvious, but mostly the sticky thing." He explains, shrugging his shoulders. "And I haven't kissed you for awhile." He adds. Smiling at his cuteness, I set my makeup down and turn around, letting him take the step forward and grab my hips, pulling my body into his as he kisses my lips. I bring my hand up to his hair, kissing him harder.
"We really need to go." I whisper, pulling my lips away from his the slightest.
"But I'm not done." He whispers back.
"Yeah well, I'd rather stop now than have someone walk in on us mid make out while you have your hand somewhere it shouldn't be." Ross smirks, his lips brushing mine, and gently gives my ass a squeeze. The one place it shouldn't be and it's always there.
"I can't help it. I love your ass, bean." He tells me. Chuckling, I pat his chest and push him away, immediately bringing my fingers to his hair and fixing it a little. "And you love my hair." He mumbles, swatting my hands away. "It looks fine." Sighing, I shake my head and grab my lipgloss, applying the light pink shade and rubbing my lips together. "Ready?" He asks, the second I zip my makeup bag up.
"Uh... yeah, I guess." I reply, reaching for my phone. "How many people are here? Did Andre get an estimate?" I ask.
"Around eighty." Ross replies, placing his hand on my lower back as we walk through the halls. I couldn't help but smile and turn my head back, looking up at his face. "What?" He asks, smiling the slightest at me. Oh lord, he is the cutest person in the entire world. Lifting my hand up that wasn't currently holding my phone, I cup the left side of his face and pull his head down to kiss his lips, despite his earlier complaint about lipgloss. Pulling away after a second, I rub my thumb against his skin and keep my eyes on his. "What was that for?" He asks, licking his lips. He furrows his eyebrows and licks them again, then leans down and sniffs my lips. "Is that strawberry favored?" He asks me.
"Berry." I tell him, kissing his lips again.
"Stop giving me kisses or else my hand will be up your skirt, bean. Not on top, under." He keeps his voice low, only making my cheeks flush harder. "They're actually gonna kill us." He adds, gently pushing me backwards.
"Right, meet and greet photos." I murmur, turning around. Ross trails a few feet behind me as I walk over to where we had our photo booth type thing set up. The four of them were already there, all talking and messing around. "Did you guys take some test shots?" I ask.
"Like fifteen minutes ago." Riker says, fixing his sunglasses.
"Nice lipgloss, Ross. Very shiny." Rocky says, a smirk on his face.
"Thanks, bro. It's berry flavored." Ross tells him, smirking right back with a couple head nods. I gently slap his stomach, letting him grab my hand and wrist with his own hands. "And I think I might need a bit more." He adds, laughing.
"Oh hush. And no being all cutesy and touchy, I can hear the line gathering behind the corner." I tell him, taking the back of my hand and wiping his lips. He frowns at my action, to which I roll my eyes and take a second to fix his hair again. Now he swats at my hands away with a disgusted look on his face. "Oh stop it, babe." I mutter. "Your fancy pants have pockets, right?" I ask, not even waiting for an answer while I reach my arms around him to feel for pockets. Once I successfully stick my fingers in his pocket, I smile and hold up my phone.
"Hmm, thanks for feeling up my ass." He says, grabbing my phone. He furrows his eyebrows again as my phone lights up and shows my lock screen. "Wait, I thought Marc never got a photo of us because Ellington called?" He questions, referring to the San Fransisco film fest when we had a small argument.
"I didn't think he did either. But the next day I was going through my photos and saw it. It's a bit blurry, but I still really like it. Even if it wasn't the smile I wanted." I tell him, giving him a slight stink eye. Ross nods slowly, then shrugs his shoulders and shoves my phone in his back pocket.
"I think that smile is close enough." He replies, looking down at me. "Send it to me later." I nod at him, putting on a genuine smile as the first couple fans approach us, the two of them looking related. The giant smiles on their faces made my heart actually melt. Rydellington pulled them into a group hug, and then I hugged each of them individually while laughing as they called me pretty and sweet, to which I told them I both loved their hair because it was long and dark. Meet n greets are always my favorite.
"Players, put yo' pinky rings up to the moon! Girls, what y'all trying to do?" All the boys sing, raising their drinks up in a cheers to take a shot of their nasty alcohol. I share a glance with Rydel, who give some the same look, and we both laugh at each other. Ross smiles at me as he walks over towards Rydel and I, his smile slowly turning into a I want you smile with every step. Once he got close enough, I reach out and put both hands on his chest. But Ross is strong and I end up stumbling back a few steps into the corner by the green room couch.
"Whatcha doing?" I ask him, raising my eyebrows up at him.
"I want a kiss." He tells me, keeping his gaze on me. This boy.
"Your whole family is back here." I say, taking a peak. The band, all seven of his little cousins, two aunts and two uncles, his own parents, and his Mamoo were all gathered around the room talking in small groups. And here Ross is, having me corned by the couch.
"They all know we're dating." He replies.
"Ross, I'll give you a kiss before we go on stage." I tell him. He throws his head back with a loud groan, nearly spilling his cup of beer. Well at least I think it's beer, I don't really know. "Don't be such a baby, dude. We literally kissed before meet n greets and you grabbed my ass in almost every photo." That parts true, every chance Ross got he let his hand rest on my ass. And it was more times than not, let me tell you.
"Alright alright, a kiss before we hit the stage sounds fair." He tells me, raising his hands up in surrender. "Don't be afraid to say sexy things about me in the dead mic." The smirk was back and better than ever.
"I'm not gonna do that. We already have to deal with Rydel doing that every concert." I reply. "But I will say sexy things possibly after the show." I add. "So make it your best performance." He raises his eyebrows at me before turning around. "What?" I ask.
"Just seeing what everyone's doing." He gives me a sweet smile before nodding his head behind him, signaling he's leaving me, and walks away. Laughing the slightest, I follow behind him to where his family was. For the next fifteenish minutes we all chatted and occasionally belted out in song, but since we had to be on stage in five minutes, everybody except the band had left to go hang out side stage.
"Alright! Let's have a good show! Party hard!" Riker starts. I nod, putting in both my in-ears in.
"Dance hard!" Ross adds, nodding his head. E quickly shoves his right in-ear in while Rocky sips on some more alcohol while doing a little dance. Rydel was shakes out her arms then fixes her wig, shooting us a thumbs up. Riker was doing a little dance with Rocky, singing along to the words. Just like I promised, I bump my hip with Ross' and pucker out my lips. He smiles and leans down, pressing a sweet kiss to my lips. Just as we pulled apart, our opening music started and one by one, we walked out on stage.
The first song we played was If, and I may have said an inappropriate compliment to Ross through our dead mic system afterwards, which most of our crew members can hear as well, but that's fine I guess... Rydel does it all the time so what's the harm in it if I do it? Plus, it was totally worth Ross' smile when he turned around and winked at me. We played eight more songs, then ended with Trading Time so Ross could prepare for his little solo. But after every song, all I could think about was I wanna play my song. I wanna face my fear. I need to sing. I need to do it. As soon as Trading Time ends, I close my eyes and press my lips to my mic as Rocky and Riker were handing Jeff and Diamond their guitar and bass.
"Hey, if you guys don't mind... I-I'd like to sing a song I wrote." I didn't open my eyes for a few moments, but I could faintly hear the crowds scream. And then Ross speaks up in the dead mic.
"Wait, what? Are you serious?" Opening my eyes, I look around at the band, all of them staring at me with wide eyes. So, I move mine and Rydel's dead mic towards me.
"Yes, I want to sing." I say, looking at Ross.
"You wrote a song?" Riker asks, speaking through his.
"I did. And if you guys will let me, I'd really like to sing it. By myself." Ross steps up onto the small platform I was on, yanking out his in-ear. I do the same, a little confused at what he's doing. He cups my ear to be able to talk to me clearly and tune out the crowd.
"Bean, you don't have to do this." He tells me. I roll my eyes and motion him to lean down, which he does and I cup his ear, now talking to him.
"I really need to do this." Ross sighs and pulls away, standing up straight.
"Well?" E says. I bring my lips to the dead mic.
"I'm ready." I tell them. "I need to do this, you guys. You'll understand when you hear it." Ross' gaze stays on me as the entire bands leave, leaving the crowd super confused. I motion him to lean down again. "I promise I'll be fine, Ross. As long as you stay side stage where I can easily find you, I think it'll be okay. And if anything, anything, seams off, you can come onstage and get me. But please, I have to do this." Ross slowly nods his head once he was standing up straight again. He brings his lips down to my actual mic.
"Give it up for Laura Renae!" He shouts, getting the crowd pumped. He takes his other in-ear out and smiles at me while I shove my other one in, giving him a smile. I mouth and I love you, he mouths it back, and he finally walks behind me and E's drum set as he heads side stage, staying right where only I could see him if I turned my head.
"Um, hi." I awkwardly laugh out. I look at the entire crowd, growing nervous. Why did I choose the only non-club venue to do this? "So uh, if you guys have been a fan of us for awhile, or just have listened to our old stuff, you'd realize that I've never had a solo song... or really a solo part in general." I start. "Well, there's a reason why, but that's a story for another day." I laugh again, feeling my nerves increase. "Um... until recently, I've never completed a song on my own, not even an entire verse on my own, but I went through something a few months back and this song... this song just sorta poured out of me, I guess.
"This song is really personal to me, like none of the boys or Rydel are even aware that I wrote this. So it's very personal. And I'll admit... I'm freaking out right now because I've never been alone onstage." Again, I laugh awkwardly and brush some hair out of my face. "What I'm trying to say is... I'm incredibly nervous, this song is insanely personal to me, and it's a complete surprise to the band and the entire crew and family." I say, closing my eyes. I gently press a chord, keeping my eyes closed. "And please, forgive me if I mess up. I haven't played it in awhile." I laugh again before playing a few chords. "Alright, here goes nothing." I quietly whisper. "It's called, If This Is Love." (The song below is If This Is Love by Ruth B, except it has other instruments in it besides piano. For the story, the only instrument is Laura's keys, so... just letting you know that it's ONLY piano. There is a version of Ruth B singing live with only piano, but she sang it differently and it didn't fit Laura so I chose this instead.)
Taking a deep breath, I play the first few measures of the song, my eyes never opening until the first word. "It's been a long day and I'm trying to figure it out." I start, faintly hearing the screams. "The way those words left your mouth. I feel broken, shattered, and blue. And it's all because of you. And I'm trying, trying to figure it out." I glance over at Ross, his entire face in nothing but pure guilt. So he realized its about him... "If this is love. Why does it break me down? Why do you break me down? If this is love. Why does it break me down? Why do you break me down?" I take a deep breath, looking out across the crowd.
"It's been a long time since I felt the way that I do now. Like I need you, but I don't know how. It's been a while since I smiled. And I meant it from my heart. But the idea of leaving this behind. It tears me apart. If this is love. Why does it break me down? Why do you break me down? If this is love. Why does it break me down? Why do you break me down?" I slow it down, my voice becoming softer as I close my eyes. "Kiss me now and remind me why. I ever wanted to make you mine. And even though it hurts in this moment. I've always known it. You're the other half of my broken heart." I increase the volume of my keys and my voice, opening my eyes to look around at the crowd again, keeping my gaze over at Ross a little longer than anyone else.
"If this is love. Why does it break me down? Why do you break me down? If this is love. Why does it break me down? Why do you break me down?" Again, I slow it down just as my eyes begin to water. "Even though it hurts in this moment. I've always known it. You're the other half of my broken heart." I hold the last chord on my keys, the first tear sliding down my cheek. Within the next second, Ross was rushing out towards me, his eyes glossy and his arms opening as he gets closer.
He wraps me up in a hug, lifting my feet up and all as I wrap my arms around his neck, squeezing the life out of him like he was doing to me. Somehow, the two of us managed to get backstage without untangling from each other. As soon as Ross pulled me far enough away to not be seen by anyone, I awkwardly reach for my ears and take out my in-ears, hearing Ross mumbling the words I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm so sorry over and over again as he rocks the two of us back and forth. Despite his already sweaty hair, I take one of my hands and run my fingers through his hair, gently telling him it's okay it's okay hoping to drown out his sorry's.
"Babe, stop it. It's okay. I'm okay." I tell him, pulling my head away. Ross stands up a little straighter, shaking his head as he tightens his grip around me.
"But it's not. Those lyrics... those seam so fucking depressing and miserable. You were miserable because of me and I-I... that's not-" I unwrap my arms from around his neck and gently cup his face, swiping away his few tears that have escaped his eyes with my thumb. I've never really seen Ross cry when a movie wasn't playing, because Ross cries a lot during movies, but... I've only seen him cry maybe three times since I've known him about something that didn't require a movie. Meaning this is serious.
"Hey hey, it's done and passed. It worked, I'm okay, you're okay, we're okay. Were more than okay, yeah?" Ross slowly nods his head. "Now go out there and sing your big heart out while I watch you from here." Again, Ross nods slowly, adding a little sniffle in it. "I love you."
"I love you, too." He tells me. I pull his head down the slightest, planting a soft kiss on his lips.
"We can finish this later." I say. Ross smiles the slightest at my words and leans down to kiss my lips again. "Go rock it out there." I tell him.
"I'm proud of you." He quickly says. "Really proud of-"
"Go, Ross. We can talk after the show." He throws his head back and sighs, rubbing his eyes really hard with his palms. "I'll stay right here." Ross nods, taking the acoustic guitar from Diamond and jogging out onstage. Ross goes to his mic, looking back at me and speaking into his mic.
"Laura Renae Ratliff, wasn't she amazing?" He asks the crowd, never breaking eye contact with me. "I don't know if I can follow that, but I'll try." He fixes his guitar and his in-ears while he says his next words. "So happy you all finally got to hear how incredible she is." I smile, a small blush coming on my cheeks. The best boyfriend and best friend a girl could ever ask for. He takes the back of his hands and wipes his eyes. "Sorry, just a little emotional is all." He mumbles into the mic. I laugh a little, loving how jumbled his state of mind is. Fucking love this man.
• it just seams like chapters are this long now 😂 but hey, who doesn't like long chapters? did you all like laura's song and a small raura moment? hopefully next chapter will be a continued part of this... haven't figured out what i want for it yet. so it could possibly be the same night or a completely different night. don't forget to vote, comment something sweet, and follow me! love you, babes💜 •
and also, now that this is over and done with, any other questions you want to ask rydel and laura for their bff tag? i still haven't written the chapter, so i'm still open to the questions!!! i will roll include username and follow you if I'm not already! thanks a ton😘
-rydelly_belly💜