before i get started (and apologize for this overly due chapter) i wanna give a HUGE shout out to raura_tde5 !!!! she's a new writer on here and just put out her first ever story, 10 Years From Now! please please please go check it out and show her some love and support :) she's an absolute sweetheart and deserves the support.
now, enjoy this chapter <3 so sorry for the month plus long wait! xxx
We're Not Friends | 8
A Couple Days Later
Monday
June 20th, 2022
Ross:
Just got to car. Should b back soon. Need
to stop at my place for a sec
Laura smiles down at her phone. She hasn't seen this man in six days now and she's missed him more than she thought she would. She's gone months to a year without missing him this much. It's insane, to say the least.
Laura:
Okay! See you soon :)
She guesses it'll take him around a half an hour, maybe forty minutes to get here. With it being so late (it'll be past 10:00pm when Ross comes) she decides to see if she can Uber Eats some ice cream or some type of dessert. She's too lazy to go out by herself and she knows most things close before ten so her and Ross won't be able to go out and get something. But after going through the app and not finding anything mouth-watering, she decides against ordering out. She sighs and sets her iPad down.
Ross:
I'm watchin ur vid thingy on insta that u posted
today. Its funny
While Ross was in L.A., Laura was so bored that she decided to reboot her LOL (Life of Laura) videos on Instagram. The only problem? All her equipment was in L.A. So, Thursday she went out and bought a new ring light, a camera, camera batteries, a hard drive, and SD cards. She recorded her *new/updated* skincare routine. Honestly, she's surprised Ross is watching it.
Laura:
Thanks lol. Didn't think you were a skincare kind
of guy Ross :p
Ross: I'm bored...
Laura: Mmm sure you are
Laura: Doors unlocked. Let yourself in!
Ross: Ok. Should be 15 min
Laura: Okay :)
"Yo, Ross." Ross looks up from his phone. The video of Laura only has thirty seconds left on it. He's been having to hold in his laughs every now and then. He'll admit it, she's funny. I guess he already knew that, but it's been awhile since he's watched an interview with her (let alone been in an interview with her). "We're all thinking of going bowling Saturday night for that glow bowl special they're having. You in?" Chance asks.
"Can I invite Laura?" Ross asks.
"Of course, mate." Ross smiles. "We're already having a big group so I'd keep it with only her." Ross nods understandingly. He knows Gavin's sister and her husband are coming up to visit, which is most likely the reasoning behind the glow bowl happening.
"Dope. who's making the reservations?" Ross asks.
"Gav's calming now. Hopefully three or four lanes will be open that we can snag up. We still have to ask the oldies if they want to come." The oldies refers to the older set of cast; Lucy, Miranda, etc,. They've been calling them that since day one (with their permission, of course).
"Sweet." Ross looks back down at his phone so he can finish off Laura's video. Once it's finished, he scrolls through her old videos and reads out the titles in his head, not actually watching any of them. When they pull up in front of their apartment building, he pockets his phone and headphones before getting out of the van and grabbing his guitar from the back (he usually brings his guitar to set in case his creative juices start flowing in between takes).
"Hey," Ross jerks his head to his left and gives Jaz a small smile. "some of us are heading to my room to watch a movie after I take Zora potty. You wanna join? Zora would love to have you cuddle with her." Since Ross had his headphones in the whole ride home, Jaz never got a chance to ask him if he was in. He scratches his chin.
"Um, I'm actually heading up to Laura's for the night." Jaz raises her eyebrows. It's a little awkward talking about the opposite sex to each other, especially since it's Laura who was just friends with him when he was dating Jaz.
"Gotcha. Zora will have to deal with Chance or Gav to get her manly cuddles." She teases, walking in front of him to get into an elevator. As much as Ross loves Zora, he really missed Laura and doesn't want to waste time getting up to her place, which sounds crazy in his mind because it's been six days. Within those six days they texted back and forth every day, even FaceTimed after Ross went to her parents on Thursday. He ended up staying for a beer and they chit-chatted in the backyard for over an hour.
"Tell Zora I'll give her loves tomorrow. You're bringing her to set, right?" Jaz has more of a chill day of filming tomorrow so Zora is accompanying her to set. When Jaz is super busy, she'll leave her at home so she can sleep and not be stressed out on set.
"Yup." Ross smiles.
"Sweet." The rest of the ride up is spent with the other chatting. Once in their hall, they all bid a goodbye as they approached their doors. Once Ross is inside with the door shut, he smiles. Quickly, he changes into dark grey sweat shorts and a white t-shirt. He pockets his phone into his shorts pocket, his charger in the other, an led slips on his slides. On his way out the door, he grabs the reusable grocery bag full of several things Ellen wanted Ross to give to Laura. He locks up his place and heads towards the elevator. He doesn't bother texting Laura and instead knocks twice before opening her door. "Laura!" He semi shouts. She's quick to stand up on her feet.
"Hey." She walks from the couch to the front door, just in time to have Ross set his keys and the bag on the counter. Without hesitating, Laura goes up on her tippy toes and wraps her arms around Ross' neck, planting a quick peck on his cheek before hugging him tightly. "How was set?" The slightest bit shocked, it takes Ross a second to hug her back.
"Good, fun, productive. I finished adding lyrics to that bridge I couldn't nail down a week ago." He answers softly. "How was set for you?" She pulls away from the hug and gives him an exhausted smile.
"Tiring." She tells him. "Slept like shit last night and woke up with a sore back, neck, shoulders, you know, the whole package." He chuckles, knowing exactly how she feels.
"Do you want me to rub your shoulders out?" He asks, following after her as she makes her way to the couch. She thinks over his words for a moment.
"No, it's okay." He raises his eyebrows.
"You sure?" He questions. "I give a mean massage. My brothers always ask me to rub out their shoulders." Laura bites the inside of her cheek. "Come on, you know you want me to." She fights back a smile. "Laura, sit your ass down on the ground in front of me." She full blown smiles as Ross sits up straighter and spreads his knees apart the slightest.
"Okay." She gladly plops down in front of the couch, right in between his feet. "You only have to do it for five minutes, I promise." He hums in response. Her muscles start screaming as he rubs her shoulders out, her back tensing every so often due to the soreness sensitivity.
"How the fuck did you sleep last night, Laura? There's multiple knots." His thumb presses a little harder against her skin beside her shoulder blade.
"I don't know!" She complains. "Maybe it's been forming for awhile? I fall asleep on set in random places and positions a lot." She admits.
"Clearly." He mumbles. They're both silent for a moment while Ross works his magic on her shoulders. "Did you already make plans on Saturday?" Laura's relaxed state of mind almost causes her to mia what Ross just asked.
"No." She replies.
"Gav's sister and brother-in-law are in town and the cast wants to go bowling Saturday night. Would you want to come?"
"Yeah, that sounds fun." She begins to feel bad about the fact that Ross is still rubbing out her shoulders, but a small part of her wants him to keep doing it because it feels so good. "You can stop now if you want. My shoulders and neck feel a million times better than they did before." He pauses.
"You sure?" He asks.
"Yeah, I'm good." Ross completely takes his fingers off of her and relaxes back in the couch. "Thank you so much." She quickly rolls out her shoulders before sighing contently and standing up.
"Feel free food ask me for more shoulder rubs whenever you need them. I don't mind doing it." He shrugs.
"You're too sweet to me." She smiles. "Can I show you this melody I have stuck in my head but can't for the life of me add to?" Ross chuckles.
"Lay it on me." He pats his thighs before standing up and following her to the kitchen table where she currently has her mini keys at, alongside her open laptop and her journal. "It better not sound like a Driver Era song ." Ross teases. She grins at him.
"No promises."
Several Days Later
Saturday
June 25th, 2020
"Are you almost ready?" Ross asks into his phone. Laura sucks in a breath as she unzips the side of her dress. She had a late lunch/early dinner with a photographer and a journalist that both work with a local Canadian Style Magazine. They want to do a cover story on her; mostly to promote her newest show (but also to promote her single she's planning on releasing in a month-ish) and talk friendships and relationships, along with fashion. Today was a sort of pre-interview for everything. They set a date for the interview and the photo shoot (interview is on Monday after Laura's table read, photoshop is on Saturday) and then talked about previous photoshoots with other artists/actors.
"Um... yeah." The dress falls down her body and lands on the floor. "I'm currently changing out of my dress. I'll be down in the lobby in like, five minutes tops, I promise." She quietly grunts as she scans her closet. "I am so sorry, Ross. I wasn't expecting this lunch slash dinner thingy to last so long." Laura yanks a pair of light blue jeans from off of the hanger.
"Don't worry about it, it's alright. We're in no rush." He shrugs. Everyone's (Ross, Chance, Abbey, Tati, Sam, Adeline, Kiernan, Luke, Gavin, Cav's sister Chloe and her husband Nathan, Jaz and Lachlan) just chilling in Kiernan's room anyway. It's not like anyone had to wait for an Uber, the bowling alley is walking distance. "We'll head on down to the lobby. Do you want me to get you from your room?" Laura chuckles.
"Make you go out of your way because I suck? No, Ross. I can meet you down there." He rolls his eyes.
"Okay, whatever, lady. I'm just trying to be nice before I destroy you at the bowling alley later." Laura raises her eyebrows at his empty threat.
"Tough guy tonight, are we?"
"Always. Now hurry your ass up." She frowns. "Haven't seen you in days." He mumbles. Their filming schedule these last four days have been the complete opposite of each other. Laura's had mid-morning to late-afternoon shoots, Ross has had late-afternoon to early-morning shoots. He didn't get back to his apartment building until 3:00am today.
"That'd be a hell of a lot easier if I wasn't talking on the phone." She tells him.
"I'm hanging up now. Bye, see you in a few." Laura hums before pulling her phone away from her head and tossing it on her bed. She grabs a tight black crop top with thin straps and quickly changes. She shoves on vans (which is a great choice of shoes considering they're slip ons and she won't have to struggle getting them on and off at the bowling alley), grabs her hand clutch (that has her wallet and chapstick, plus room for her phone and keys), then heads out of her apartment.
Laura:
In the elevator
As soon as the elevator doors ding, she steps out into the lobby and scans the area. It doesn't take long to spot the gang, there's a shit ton of them and they're loud. Ross' eyes find hers and they both immediately smile. He meets her halfway with his arms open.
"About time." He teases, pulling her in for a hug. He makes sure to press a kiss against her cheek before squeezing her.
"Shut up, it was pretty quick." He chuckles as he releases her.
"So quick you forgot a coat?" He questions. Her eyes widen the slightest.
"Ah, shit." She mumbles. "Can you give me two more minutes?" She asks. He waves her off.
"You can just use mine if you get cold. We're already going to be a few minutes late for the reservations." She smiles and presses a hand against her heart.
"Aw, always the sweetheart you are." He rolls his eyes. "I'm sweating right now, but I may take you up on that offer after bowling." He gives her a small smile before nodding his head in the direction of the rest of the group. Side by side, they walk through the lobby.
"Let's gooo!" Ross semi shouts with a clap. "I have some ass kicking to do on an old co-star of mine." Laura scrunches up her nose as she follows Ross and everybody else outside.
"Oh, please. You may be more athletic than me, but I can kick your ass in bowling anytime." Laura comments. Ross scoffs.
"Laura, do I need to remind you that every single time we went bowling, I always kicked everyone's ass." Now Laura scoffs and gently nudges his arm.
"That was years ago, you haven't seen my new and improved skills, Ross." He gives her a funny look.
"I highly doubt your new and improved skills are good enough to beat me." She narrows her eyes at him. She knows that he'll be the winner tonight. She's not athletic. She definitely doesn't have new and improved skills. However, it is fun to mess with Ross, so acting's as if she's suddenly this amazing bowler doesn't seem like such a bad idea. Laura gives him a smile. A flirty smile. The same smile she used to give him back in 2013 and 2014. His heart skips a beat at the sight. He smiles back.
"May the best bowler win."
• <3 <3 <3 •
Ross shakes his head in disbelief as he reads the scores
off the screen. In his lane was Laura, himself, Kiernan, and Luke. Laura beat him. She actually beat him. From beside him, Laura can't help but laugh. Ross glares at her, trying to hide the smile that's creeping onto his face. He had a feeling she'd win. He gives in and laughs a little at her surprised face as she looks back up at the scoreboard
"I totally wasn't expecting to win." She tells him. By win, she means beat Ross. Luke's the actual winner of the group. Then Laura, Ross, and Kiernan. "Kiernan!" She shouts, gaining her friends attention. "Can you get a picture of Ross and I standing underneath the scoreboard? I want to document this moment and show it to our friends." Without asking, she snags Ross' phone from his back pocket and holds it out for Kiernan to grab. Her flip phone definitely wouldn't do the lighting justice. Laura grabs onto Ross' arm and drags him with her until they're standing below the score board. While still holding onto his arm, Laura smiles widely at the camera. To be dramatic, Ross gives the camera an unamused stare.
"Alright, stop pouting and get your ass in gear. We have just enough time to play around round before we shut down this place." Luke says, pressing restart on their scoreboard. Luckily, Kiernan stopped taking pictures the second Luke got near them. He was using the restroom. Ross chuckles at Luke's (joking) attitude and heads back to their bench. Laura follows after him, taking a seat right beside him.
"When did you get so good at bowling?" Ross asks Laura. She shrugs and watches Luke send the bowling ball down the lane
"Never." She admits. He shakes his head in disbelief again, this time with a smile on his face.
"So what you're saying is you got in my head..." She grins. He pats her thigh twice before standing up. "Nothing's changed." He mumbles, walking towards their lane. He grabs his ball from the dispenser and takes a deep breath. Luke had two pins remaining after his second shot. He throws his head back.
"Damn, I think my winning streak will end early." Ross laughs and pats Luke on the back.
"Hey, as long as you don't come dead last, that's a win." Ross tells him. Luke stars at him for a second before nodding his head and agreeing with Ross' words.
Throughout this round, Ross managed to pull out a win while Laura managed to pull out a major loss. She seriously cut her score in half. Ross made sure to tease her to no end about how badly she was sucking, but it was all fun and games and actually made Laura really happy and... giddy. She hasn't had this much fun in a long time. And honestly, she owes it all to Ross. She also owes Ross because the moment they stepped out of the bowling alley and the wind hit Laura, she gave him her puppy dog eyes and Ross handed over his jean jacket for her to wear. She sighs with contentment as she wraps the jean jacket around her body.
"See, you're always a sweetheart." Laura smiles over at him. "Even though I know you're still bitter over the fact that I crushed you in the first game." Ross chuckles.
"That's because my mama raised me right." He tells her. She smiles wider and looks out in front of them. Somehow the two of them ended up in the back of the group. They must've been walking slow because Laura remembers being one of the first people to exit the building. "And I'm not bitter, Laura... anymore." She laughs.
"I still can't believe I beat you." He playfully rolls his eyes.
"You're going to hold that against me for awhile, aren't you?"
"You've gotta admit, Ross. It's pretty astonishing that I won. Like, me? Wimpy Laura Marano beat athletic Ross Lynch at something? Who knew it was possible." Ross hums. "And I have picture proof. I'm totally sending it to your family, to my family, to Raini and Calum, heck... I'll even send it to my cast mates-" She gets cut off to the sound of Ross' phone ringing. He quickly pulls his phone out of his back pocket. To his surprise, it's his mom FaceTiming him. He almost ignores it, but Laura grips his wrist to stop him. "Wait!" She semi shouts. "Answer it, I wanna see her face and talk to her." Slightly shaking his head, he swipes across the screen and the two of them stare at the screen as the call connects.
"Hi, sweetie." Stormie says the second her face pops up on the screen. Her smile immediately widens when she notices Laura at his side. "Laura! Hi!" Without hesitating or even thinking about what she's doing, Laura wraps her arms around Ross' arm, trying to get herself as close as she can to his phone.
"Stormie!" She cheers.
"Aw, look at you two. I'm so glad your bestie friendship is back." Laura leans her head into Ross' bicep. Ross isn't about to complain about Laura hanging onto his arm. In fact, he's glad she's hanging onto him. Despite being mid-Summer in Canada, it's still breezy at night and she's currently wearing his only jacket he brought out tonight. He'll gladly have her on his arm the whole walk home.
"I'll admit it, Stormie. I missed your sweetheart of a son." Stormie's eyes watered up the slightest. It's always the best feeling in the world when her children are happy. She can see it in Ross' eyes that he's happier with Laura around. It truly warms her heart.
"Yeah, he's my biggest sweetheart." Ross playfully rolls his eyes. "What are you two up to tonight?" She asks.
"Just finished up bowling with the cast. Gav's sister's in town with her husband so we thought we'd have some fun." Ross explains to his mom.
"Mm, guess what." Laura says, gaining Stormie's attention.
"What, honey?" She asks.
"I beat Ross." Her eyes widen the slightest and Ross can't help but snort at the sight of his moms surprised face.
"You did?" Stormie questions.
"Only the first round." Ross waves his words off. "I was just getting warmed up. I smashed her in the second round." Laura crinkled up her nose at Ross' use of the words smashed and second round in the same sentence. If Stormie didn't have the correct context, their conversation would most likely be heading down a dirty road.
"Wow, you actually beat him, though?" She ignores Ross' explanation. "Did you get a picture of the scoreboard?" Laura smirks.
"Of course! I even got us in it, I'll send it in your family group chat on Ross' phone so all the siblings know I beat him, too." Stormie laughs. "No way was I passing up the opportunity to document my win. I'm totally sending it to Raini and Calum, too. They need to witness this as well."
"Yes!" Stormie exclaims. "Everybody would love to see that." She adds. "What else do you have planned for the night?" She asks.
"Um, not sure. Might just hang in someone's room or something." Ross shrugs. "Actually, I might just end up going straight to my room. Night shoots are not fun. I'm running on four hours of sleep." He admits.
"Aw, Ross Shor, get to bed. You get cranky when you don't sleep good, honey." He rolls his eyes at his mom while Laura holds back a snort. "What about you, miss Laura?" She asks.
"Um, I'll probably go to bed, too. Or mess around with a few new songs." She tells her. "I don't know, I guess we'll see what I'm feeling like when I get to my room." She explains.
"Okay, I'll let you guys go. Call me tomorrow, Ross Shor. Love you both, goodnight." Stormie blows them a kiss.
"Love you, Stormie." Laura replies, blowing a kiss right back.
"Night, mama. Love you." Stormie gives them one last smile before ending the call. Laura untangles herself from Ross and lets him slide his phone into his back pocket.
"Do you want to be alone tonight or share?" Laura asks. Ross shrugs his shoulders.
"Are you going to go to bed or work on music?" He asks her. "Because I will gladly share my bed with you if you're willing to go to bed right now." She chuckles.
"Um..." She trails off. She's missed Ross, they've barely spent anytime together all week and he was gone all last week, but she also can't not work on music. She's been slacking a lot lately due to her film schedule and hanging out with friends. Music needs to be a priority at some point. Sighing, she crosses her arms. "I think I wanna work a bit on music."
"I'll walk you to your place, then." He says quietly. He's a little disappointed. He was hoping she'd pick bed, that way they can fall asleep to How I Met Your Mother. But he gets it, music is important. He'd blow her off to work on music, too. "We can do something tomorrow." He adds. She nods her head.
"Ooo, can we go have lunch in that big field area by the fountain? Like a picnic?" She asks. Ross chuckles at her excitement.
"Sure." The apartment building is in view and Ross and Laura continue to stay behind everyone else. "Are you sure you want to stay up work on your shit?" Ross asks, holding the main door to the building open for her.
"As much as I would love to lay in bed and fall asleep to How I met Your Mother with you, I've been neglecting my music for a couple of weeks." Ross sighs. "What time do you film Monday?" He itches his chin.
"Not until the afternoon. I only have two scenes." He tells her.
"We can stay with each other tomorrow night." They follow the group into the elevator. It's pretty quiet on the way up, only a few of them are having a conversation. Once the doors open on the fifteenth floor, everybody but Ross and Laura get out.
"You not comin'?" Gavin asks Ross.
"I'm walking her to her place." He tells him. "Then I'm going to bed. I'm fucking beat." Gavin laughs and waves him off just in time for the elevator doors to close.
"You don't need to walk me to my place, Ross." She says quietly.
"It's the sweetheart thing to do, Laura." He says just as quiet. She can't help but smile at him.
"It is the sweetheart thing to do." She repeats. The elevator stops moving and the doors open with a ding. Ross let's Laura walk out first and they walk down the hall to Laura's apartment. "Thank you for inviting me. I'm sorry I was a little late." He waves her off and watched as she fumbled with her keys.
"You're always welcome, Laura." After successfully unlocking her door and pushing it open, she turns around. For a moment, the two of them look at each other and don't say a word. Their demeanor towards each other shifted tonight. Actually, it shifted on Monday, today just made it clear. They both choose to ignore the shift. He opens his arms a little and she smiles walking into them. She loosely hugs his waist and closes her eyes as Ross wraps his arms around her shoulders, squeezing her to him. "Are you one hundred percent positive you want to stay here and work on your music?" Laura chuckles into Ross' chest.
"Goodnight, Ross." She pulls her head back to look up at him, her arms still wrapped around him. "Text me in the morning when you wake up, okay?" She asks him.
"Okay." He mumbles. "Goodnight." He leans forward and presses his lip against her forehead softly. Laura's eyes close. Ross is a cheek kisser. Out of all the times Ross has kissed an area on her face, he's always gone for the cheek (or the lips when they were playing Austin and Ally). This is a first and she was going to remember it. Why? This feeling, the feeling of his lips pressed against her skin, is different than any other feeling she's felt before. His lips linger for another second before he slowly pulls away. It takes a moment for Laura to open her eyes back up. "Don't stay up too late, okay?" She nods her head. With one last smile, Ross takes a step back and out of Laura's grip. Despite this feeling in his gut telling him to screw his decent night of sleep and stay up with her while she works on her shit, he turns around and heads for the elevator. She stares after him as he walks away.
The feeling in Ross' gut turns into a desire of some sorts. He's definitely had this sort of desire before around her. He squeezes his eyes shut as he presses the down arrow on the elevator. Breathlessly, Laura steps into her apartment and shuts the door behind her. She suddenly remembers feeling like this before. As soon as the elevator doors ding and open, Ross stares at the empty space. He shakes his head.
"Fuck it." He turns back around and heads straight for Laura's door. Without thinking, he knocks three times and waits, tapping his foot impatiently. It takes Laura a moment to open the door.
"Change your mind?" She asks with a hopeful smile. Ross ignores her and instead takes a step inside, cups her face, and presses his lips against hers.
• i cannot even begin to express how sorry i am for making you all wait over a MONTH for this chapter. i had major issues with writing it out, despite having it planned out in detail. i don't know what got over me! however, i hope this long chapter semi makes up for it :) i really hope you guys liked this chapter because this has been the plan since day 1, have them kiss before they really realize what they feel ;)
on a side note, i'm no longer going to update on saturdays. considering this took me over a month to write, i have a feeling my updates will be slow. i'll just update when i finish a chapter, regardless of the day! so if you would like to follow me, i'll be giving out updates on when these new chapters will be!
moral of the story; i suck, feel free to tell me how much you hate me, vote for this chapter so i know you guys still somewhat care about this book, and follow me for sporadic updates on my page :) <3 i will definitely work my ass off to get a new chapter up before november hits hahaha
love you guys! •
p.s. this is definitely not edited/been proof read, so don't mind the mistakes. i was ready for you all to read it <3