A/N: Happy Valentine's Day! This is my absolute favorite holiday because it happens to be my birthday, and I wrote this one shot to celebrate. This idea was given to me by one of my tumblr followers, HAO-WNT (if you like women's soccer, you should follow her), so I hope you all enjoy. Here's a Raura one shot to help celebrate, leave me feedback birthday reviews. Please?
Disclaimer: I own nothing and do not personally know the parties involved in this story. Song credit to A Great Big World.
Rating: T for mild language
Say Something
He rubbed his palms on his jeans. He was already sweating, which was problematic. He didn't know why he was getting so worked up because what he was about to do didn't really even directly involve him. There was literally nothing to be nervous about. He was just hanging out with a friend, no big deal.
He checked the clock on the dash again for the fiftieth time. He was super early. She would definitely know something was up if he showed up on time. He was never on time. She was always on time, but he hadn't seen her car turn up yet. He had checked the lot like a hundred times. This was how he knew he was over thinking things.
He flipped the mirror down and checked himself. He cocked his backwards baseball cap just so, as if the adjustment would be noticed. It wouldn't be. He was being ridiculous. They were having a casual lunch, just two friends. Totally normal.
Normal, except for their extraordinary circumstances.
He made sure he had his sunglasses. Rarely were he and Laura out together, but when they were, it seemed people recognized them much more readily. It could be because they stood out like sore thumbs when they were together. They were the two stars of Austin & Ally, hit Disney Channel show, in the flesh; it was like people could literally smell them a mile away. He wasn't in the mood to be recognized today though. He just wanted to do what he was about to do and go about his business. He really didn't want to give the public more fodder to suport their case of Raura happening.
It wasn't happening. Much to his chagrin.
Laura was great. She was beautiful and goofy and smart, but she was completely clueless of the affect she had on every male around her, especially him. She literally had no idea. All of their flirtations, all of the bickering, the teasing, it was all for naught because she just did not get it. She could never imagine anyone to be interested in her; she was nuts. He recalled a conversation they'd had recently when she confessed that she had been completely taken aback when she found out her co-star in a recently completed side project had a tiny crush on her! She'd gone on and on about how crazy that was.
Yeah, real crazy.
Her lack of ego was refreshing, but yet very frustrating at the same time. But he had long ago given up on them ever being more than friends. That tide had passed. It was okay though, it just wasn't meant to be between them, he got that. Knowing that made it a little easier for him to accept things the way they were, but it didn't stop him from wanting to do things to make her happy.
The fact that nothing ever would happen still kept him up at night, even though he understood the reasons. It was pretty clear that the network discouraged such interactions, and she wasn't going to jeopardize her standing with their bosses. And he was her annoying, gross male co-star; he practically had cooties in her eyes. She had completely friendzoned him without knowing that she had. That was his life.
He had spent so much time suppressing it; so much time ignoring any feelings he may have developed that for awhile, he had convinced himself that nothing was there. She was Laura. That couldn't happen. She was like his innocent little sister (even though she constantly reminded him that she was a month older than him), the down to earth girl in front of whom he could burp and fart. The easygoing chick he could swear at and tell dirty jokes to, just to see her roll her eyes at him. She was so easy to poke fun at and antagonize. It was that kind of relationship. They were co-workers, there was nothing romantic there in the slightest.
Except there was. If only he had realized it soon enough to do anything about it. He wondered if anyone else on set had seen their relationship blossoming in the beginning, if those casual observers had just kept it to themselves. Certainly, the fans had seen their chemistry. They had both just chalked it up to the fandom wanting their characters to be together, which had bled into projecting those feelings onto him and Laura. But no, they weren't wrong, there was something there.
He never noticed while they were working until the very last few weeks of filming, but he'd never been one to win any awards for being particularly observant. They had gotten close throughout the years, but their characters had gotten even closer, sharing a kiss at the end of the season. They hadn't ever kissed before on the show, it had all been Hollywood magic with awkward poses and camera angles, but even their proximity with those other scenes had been fine. No big deal.
But he realized in the weeks leading up to the big smooch that he had been nervous. The concept of kissing her was so weird to him. At first he thought it was because they were so comfortable with each other that it would be like kissing a cousin. Then they did it, and he realized he had gotten it ALL wrong. It was weird because the kiss was actually the opposite. It was kind of hot. At least it was hot from his standpoint. To her it probably was like kissing a relative, which was semi-painful.
Regardless, it meant something more to him, which was trouble. He had kissed his share of girls in the past, but this brief kiss made his stomach turn, but in the best way.
He found himself thankful that filming on A&A had ended shortly thereafter, that way he couldn't obsess about it…even more than he already was.
Night after night on a bus or a plane with the European jetlag gave him lots of contemplation time. It was dangerous to be left to his own devices because he was prone to thinking about things constantly. He couldn't believe he was developing a little crush on her. And now, what shitty timing! What if they weren't picked up for a fourth season? What if they had already completed filming their last scenes together? What would happen then? What if they never worked together again? What if he never knew how she felt? What if she didn't feel anything at all?
Ugh. He couldn't think about it, that thought made him feel sick. He tried to play it cool with the press and in general, but he really wanted to do another season. He wasn't sure if he was ever going to reveal to her how he felt about her, but if they had another season to film, maybe he could slowly make her see what was there.
She was so sweet, and nice and pretty. They'd really transformed her from the gawky geeky dork she was to this beautiful, sophisticated woman. But he liked her the way she was, she was both the awkward duckling and the gorgeous swan. It sounded totally lame of him to say that, but it was true. All joking and scoffing aside, he really did care about her and he hoped she knew how much she meant to him. He never took the opportunity to tell her how great she was, he needed to do that.
Now that they were no longer together every week, now that they were in danger of never working with each other again, he missed her. It was like that Joni Mitchell song, you don't know what you got 'til its gone.
And that's how he knew there were feelings there all along.
But, he was fine. There were a lot of girls out there, and Laura was just a good friend with whom a relationship had never panned out. It was better that way, less complicated. But still, he figured he would take the opportunity to see her one more time, to do something nice for her before he left on tour again, just in case he'd never get another chance.
He looked at the clock again and realized that all his thinking had now made him about 10 minutes late. Of course. He jumped up the steps to the café and opened the door, her smile shining at him like a 1000 watts from the line. She waved wildly at him, as if he didn't see, but how could he not?
"Hey, what's up?" He gave her a slick side hug, too quick for his liking, but he had to play it cool.
"Hi! Great to see you!" She stepped up to the counter, standing on her tiptoes to place her order. She was so damn cute. He really had to do something about this issue.
"So, did you miss me?" he posed, placing their food on the outside table.
"Of course."
"Well, how could you not after the last time we saw each other…" he trailed.
"What happened the last time we saw each other?" she tried to remember if anything special stood out.
"Umm, only the best kiss of your life," he stated dryly, his insides doing little flips.
Her eyes lit up, "Oh yeah! More like the only kiss of my life, ha."
"First of many," he reassured.
"But not from you," she blurted out, realizing what she insinuated with her comment. "I mean, that's not what you meant, I know, that was a weird thing to say."
"What? No, that's not what I meant, but well, unless you want them to be?" he asked, trying to cover up his excitement.
She chuckled, "Ha, ha very funny. So, how was Europe?" she asked, changing the subject and stealing a fry off his plate.
"Awesome. The shows were so incredible, but it kind of sucked that we had to jump from city to city so quickly because we didn't get to experience any of the places we went. Although, European fans are like a whole different level, we had like hundreds of them waiting outside our hotel in Germany. It was crazy."
"I'm so jealous. You're off cavorting around Europe and I'm stuck here, in boring old school."
"You love school," he retorted.
"I know, but still."
"And you were totally off on location, enjoying Mardi Gras, I'm the jealous one."
"Well, I can't unsee some of the things I saw that week, but it was so fun! You have to go one day."
"We should go, you can show me all the spots."
"That would be so awesome, we totally should!"
"Oh yeah, congrats on all the acceptances, have you decided?" Of course, the academic superstar she was, Laura had been accepted to every school she applied to, Ivy Leagues and all.
"Thanks! Uhh, I don't know," she groaned. "Do you want to just pick one for me?"
"Yeah, you don't want me doing that."
"Well, it kind of all depends on if we get picked up or not, you know?"
"Yeah. Kind of a big if. I feel good about it though, I think we'll get picked up."
"I mean, if we do, obviously, I'll be more likely to pick a school in LA, USC or UCLA, so that I can work and go to school without much interruption. If we don't, then maybe I go East. I don't know."
Laura on the East coast. Then they'd never see each other. That was a horrifying prospect.
He hid his dismay smoothly, "Well, we'll find out soon enough. We have to get picked up. The fans would riot if we didn't. Like, there could be a lot of casualties."
"I know, can you believe it? They're so great. They keep trending #AustinandAllySeason4. It's so awesome. Like, network shows don't have fans like ours. We're so lucky."
"Yeah, definitely. It would just be hard to believe that we would have already filmed our last scene for the show, you know? I feel like there's a lot of story to tell with Austin and Ally."
"I know! I want the show to end how Kevin and Heath intended it to. We have to get picked up."
"We will…I can feel it."
"Can you feel it, turn it up, up, up!" she sang.
He tossed a fry at her. "Goofball. So, Laura…"
She made a face at him, but popped the fry in her mouth. "Oh, here it is."
"What?"
"Well, I figured something was up. You never call me to just grab lunch with you," she reasoned.
"What?" he gave her a surprised look. "Of course I do. We eat together all the time."
"At work…you're always too cool for me in real life," she teased. He stuck out his tongue. "Real mature. What's up?"
"Oh—kay, so, you remember how I told you that I had an additional birthday surprise for you?"
"Oh, yeah! I forgot!"
"Well, I almost didn't think it was going to come through, but things happened, so, here it is…"
He pulled out an envelope from his pocket and slid it across the table to her.
"What's this? The Satellite Sentinel Project?" she read aloud after ripping into the envelope.
"Yeah, it's one of George Clooney's charities that he supports. It's tickets to this charity event, and you don't get to sit at his table or anything, but you get to meet him."
Her eyes bugged out of her head, "Are you kidding? ROSS!" She hit him on the shoulder.
"Oww. Happy belated Birthday."
"Oh my GOD!" she squealed. "Are you serious? I can't—I don't even, I mean, how am I even going to speak?"
"In sentences, I hope."
"ROSS, you're the best! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
"You're welcome." His cheeks flushed bashfully.
"I just can't believe, how did you even get this? It's crazy, I love it, but you shouldn't have!"
"Oh, I knew you would love it, so I wanted to do it for you."
"Aww, Ross…" she gushed, blushing up a storm.
"No, seriously, all the jokes and the teasing aside, you mean a lot to me…and I just wanted to do something that would make you smile. It's not a lot of time, the event is in a few days, but I hope you have fun."
"I'm going to have the best time, and it's going to be amazing, thank you so much, you're the best. Seriously." She beamed at him, and he opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He just returned a sheepish silent smile.
They just stared at each other, not knowing exactly what to say to the other. She was confused. She didn't know where this grand gesture was coming from; she just wanted him to say something. He thought his actions said it all.
"Well, I…umm…gotta go, but let me know how it all goes."
"Are you kidding? I'm going to be texting you like a live feed from the event. It's GEORGE, I'm dying, I don't even know what I'm going to do with myself."
"Well, just be yourself, you're great. He'd be a fool not to pick you as his next girlfriend, I would."
"Aww, stop. Well, have a great time with the rest of your tour. I'll see you soon?" He watched her flounce off, a bounce in her step. It felt good to know that he put that there. He knew he would do anything to make her happy, and that knowing would just be enough.
He lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. It was eerily quiet in his house. Most of the time his brothers or sister were yelling or laughing or playing music. They were all out. He could have joined them, but he was feeling tired. He was surprised they hadn't pushed him to come with, but maybe they knew the real reason he wanted to stay in tonight. Or maybe they were sick of his moody shit. He couldn't help it though, the more he thought of the prospect of Laura and her dream man hitting it off, no matter how implausible, the more he wanted to punch a hole through a brick wall.
It was his fault though, he was basically leading the gazelle to the lion.
His phone pinged.
Getting ready for George!
Awesome, have fun!
What are you doing tonight?
Just hanging out here alone. Have a good time.
He wondered if she had ever felt a sliver of excitement to see him as she did about meeting her idol.
It was only 7 PM, and he felt like grandpa, but he was just going to eat and go to bed. He turned his phone on silent and tossed it on his nightstand. He wasn't going to think about what she was wearing or how her face was probably all lit up all cute. He was not going to check the internet for pictures from the red carpet. He was not going to think about how she might stumble on her words when she met George. How he wished she would get tongue-tied like that around him. He wasn't going to think about that. Tonight was going to be all about avoidance.
He was so defeated. She was probably having the best time ever, dancing the night away, staring into Clooney's eyes. How could the best night of her life be the worst night of his? He had this consistent heartburn all night, the rolling acid just ripping his insides to shreds. It was painful.
Over the past few hours, torturing himself with every scenario possible, he had finally come to terms with things. This was likely it, he'd lost her forever. Laura and George would fall in love, get married and move to Lake Como where they could speak Italian to each other and eat pasta and ride around on his motorcycles. He should have been the one getting to do that. He could have been that guy.
Lucky bastard.
He was flicking through the channels when he heard the doorbell ring. The whole going to sleep plan hadn't quite work out. He had just been laying catatonic on his bed. It was now 11 and he was still awake. He shuffled toward the door, cursing whomever it was in his family who forgot their key. He threw open the door to see the last person he thought he would see.
The prettiest girl at the ball, except she wasn't at the ball. She was standing there right in front of him.
She wore a long jade-hued dress with sequins or sparkles or whatever they were called. Her hair was down, framing her cute little face. She was alone, right in front of him, and he was a little confused as to why.
"What are you—?"
He was cut off by her lips on his, her arms pulling him down to her level. Her nose nuzzled his, her body fitting to his like it belonged. His arms grazed her bare back, sending shivers down both their spines. And then there they were. She was in his arms, and he was just staring into her dark eyes, and neither knew what to do.
"Say something."
She opened her mouth to do just that, but stalled. She was frozen.
"This might be the first time I've ever seen you speechless," he murmured.
The corners of her mouth turned upwards. "I actually have something to say, I just have to recover for a second." She took a deep breath. "I just wanted to tell you thank you."
He chuckled. "That's one way to do it. You're welcome. Why aren't you at the thing?"
"There was someone I wanted to see. I just had to tell you how important you are to me. You got a chance to tell me, but I stupidly didn't say anything. I should have."
He was dumbstruck. "I mean, I'm glad you're here, but the party, George…"
"I was at the party and it was amazing, and such a good cause. But, I met George, and he was really handsome, like really handsome. And he's so nice, and such an inspiration, but the whole time I was talking to him, I kept on thinking about you. I kept wondering what you were up to, why you stopped responding to my texts, why you sounded so sad, and I got worried. My stomach didn't feel right. Then I thought about all those nice things you said the other day, and I realized I was thinking about you because I wanted you to be there with me, I wanted to see you. George is great, but he's no Ross, a guy I have known for years but maybe not realized how much I adore."
"He sounds awesome."
"He is." The two never broke eye contact as he ran his hands up and down her arms. One of his hands softly stroked her cheek and his finger made its way across the soft roll of her lips.
He let the cool guy façade drop. That didn't matter anymore now, they were here, just Ross and Laura. "So you're a little late, I've known that I adore you for awhile now."
"You should have said something."
"I didn't know what to say, but now I do. I like you."
"I like you, too." His head dipped down and met hers in the middle, connecting their lips in a sweet lingering kiss.
"So, this is okay? I'm not overstepping any boundaries?"
"Well, we might have to do it again so that I can be sure…" she replied, giving him a close-lipped smile before standing up on those tiptoes to kiss him again.
A/N: Happy Valentine's!