Disclaimer: I don't own Ross Lynch or Laura Marano or Austin and Ally. Disney does.
A/N: I'm apparently in a horribly sappy mood because all I can seem to write lately is fluff. This is a request for NadaaaR5 on Twitter who asked for a story in which Ross uses pick up lines to get Laura to fall for him. I hope you like it!
The filming of season three of Austin and Ally is well underway when he decides that he finally wants to tell his co-star that he wants to be more than just friends. They've been dancing around the possibility of a relationship for the past three years and he's finally fed up enough that he wants to tell her now.
He thinks about the best way to go about this because it's Laura and they're best friends and coworkers and he has to be careful about this in case she doesn't feel the same way because he won't be able to handle it if he messes up what they already have. Because it's already amazing but it could be so much better and he's never wanted anything more badly in his entire life. Because he's almost eighteen and a rising celebrity and he's starting to figure out that there are certain people that mean more to him than anything and everything else.
He knows two things about Laura:
She likes guys who make her laugh.
Stupid things make her laugh.
Therefore, he figures, he should say stupid things to make her laugh, and it stands to reason that she'll maybe like him then. He wonders what kind of stupid things he should say to hint at what he wants, because regular Laura jokes aren't going to cut it.
Dumb pick up lines, he thinks. They're lame enough that if she maybe doesn't feel the same way he can brush it off as just another joke but if she blushes or gets flustered he'll know he might have a chance. He knows her well enough by now that if any of them make a move, it'll be him because she's too shy and maybe even a little oblivious as to how much he obviously likes her so he tries to make some up and then he asks everyone he knows and Google for ideas. A few days later he's got a list and he sets out on his mission.
He's alone with her for a few minutes as they wait for Raini and Calum to join them for lunch and he decides that it's now or never and opens with his first line.
"Hey Laura, did you just fart?" he asks, grinning when her jaw drops. "Because you just blew me away."
She narrows her eyes. "Ew, Ross," she says. "That's terrible. Don't tell me you honestly tried that on a girl."
His face falls because she's obviously not getting it. "Really? I thought it was stupid enough that you'd like it."
She shakes her head. "It's gross. Don't ever say it again. Unless you're trying not to attract someone."
He wants to groan in frustration because she doesn't know that she's the one he's trying to attract and he's failing miserably.
"Thanks for the tip," he grumbles, and then she launches into a story about her most recent photo shoot and he's distracted for a while because she's so excited and smiling and happy that these big, career changing things are happening for her. He's happy for her too, because she's so talented and beautiful and smart and she deserves this more than anyone.
Plus, he appreciates any photos that result from said photo shoots—not that he'd admit it to her. Well, at least not yet.
"Things are changing, aren't they?" she asks, resting her chin in her palm. "I mean, the show's going to be over soon, maybe in another year, and we'll probably won't see other that often after that. It'll be weird after so many years of constantly spending every minute together."
He swallows because he's been dreading that moment and he's trying to make sure that doesn't happen because he can't even imagine his life without her in it.
"But we'll still hang out, though, right?" he asks hesitantly.
She looks at him for a long moment, an unreadable expression on her face and then she finally nods. "Of course we will, Ross. We're friends."
Friends. Friends. He wonders if it's possible to hate a word. Because he's pretty sure he does.
The next line he tries is a little more to the point. They're sitting in the bleachers, watching Calum and Raini rehearse a scene together.
"Is that a mirror in your pocket?" he says, when the director calls cut.
She turns her head to look at him and frowns in confusion. "Wha—"
"Because I can see myself in your pants," he finishes, grinning lasciviously.
She blushes almost immediately and avoids his eyes and he smiles because he knows it's at least gotten to her.
"Please don't tell me you honestly used that line on someone while you were on tour," she says when she finally makes eye contact. "Did she run away?"
Or not. He facepalms internally. "No," he sighs. "Of course I didn't."
"Good," she says, wrinkling her nose, and it's adorable and it would be really, really bad if he leaned forward to kiss it, right?
"That's so…crude. And also kind of weird because I guess you could interpret it as you wanting to actually wear some poor girl's pants, right?"
He nods. "Definitely weird," he repeats.
He wonders how he's supposed to make it clear that he's trying to use these lines on her. Maybe it's time for a more traditional approach.
"Hey, do you want to grab dinner after we're done today?"
She smiles. "Sure, that would be fun. Where do you want to go?"
He racks his brain to think of the most romantic restaurant he can think of. "Um, how about that new place near the beach?"
She looks at him with an odd expression on her face and he hopes it's because she's starting to realize what he's asking and he waits with bated breath for her answer.
"Isn't that place kind of fancy?" she finally asks.
He nods. "I feel like we should celebrate. We're halfway done with filming this season as of this week, did you know that?"
She raises her eyebrows. "I didn't realize that," she says, perking up. "Then we should definitely go!"
He opens his mouth to say something but she continues. "I'll let Raini and Calum know."
And he promptly shuts it. "Awesome," he grits out. "Sounds great."
She grins and then turns back to watch the scene, which has started up again.
He frowns.
He decides that the two pick up lines he used are either too unclear or too shocking for Laura to take seriously. He thinks about what she likes, books and school and other nerdy things that he secretly finds incredibly charming and comes up with a new one to try.
They have a break after doing a table read all morning and he follows her into her dressing room. Raini and Calum are off somewhere having an epic video game showdown and they're alone for the first time this entire week, even if it's only for a few minutes.
His eyes land on a book that's sitting on a table next to the couch and he walks over to pick it up. "Hey, what are you reading these days?"
She glances over at what he's looking at and laughs a little. "Oh, that's just Pride and Prejudice. Again. I should probably try something new," she says. "I'm so boring."
"You could never be boring," he says automatically, and feels his ears getting hot as she looks at him, her eyebrow half raised. "Uh, I mean, you're um…" he trails off and awkwardly scratches the back of his neck. "You're um…fun?"
She looks at him oddly. "Um, thanks? You're fun, too?"
"Would you say I'm a fungi?" he asks, grinning, and the odd tension dissipates as she laughs.
"Definitely."
They fall into a comfortable silence as he scans the summary text and she sits down at her keyboard when he suddenly has an idea, inspired by the book he's holding.
"Hey, Laura."
She looks up at him, her hands paused above the keys.
He smirks. "I don't have a library card, but do you mind if I check you out?"
Her eyes widen and she sputters a little and he thinks it might be finally working. She blushes, and he decides that it is. "That's actually kind of a good one," she admits, grinning a little. "Library jokes for the win, am I right?"
She raises her hand for a high five and he slaps her hand lightly and considers it a victory because she doesn't ask if it's for some other girl. "You're so cute," he blurts out because she is and he just can't contain it any longer and he can't wait anymore.
"Really?" she asks, her voice a little shy, and he's never heard her sound like that. He's immediately enamored with it and resolves to do whatever it takes to hear it again.
"Really," he says, his eyes steady on hers. "Listen, Laura, I—"
He cuts himself off when he suddenly hears their names being called and she stands up quickly, avoiding his eyes. "Uh, we should go," she says, and then walks out of the room before he can do anything. He waits until he's sure she's gone and then groans loudly, running his hands through his hair and pulling roughly in frustration.
He wonders what he did to make the universe hate him so much.
This time, he strides into her dressing room with a singular goal in mind because it's been a week since their…almost something and she hasn't acknowledged it in any way.
She's sitting on the floor with her back against the couch, a textbook open in front of her and a notebook and a calculator on her lap as she taps a pencil against her chin and she looks up, surprised, when he forcefully throws the door open.
He's about to declare…something, not quite sure what it is himself, but she waves her hand to quiet him before he can say a word.
"Hang on, I've almost got this problem."
He shuts his mouth and sighs dejectedly but she doesn't pay him any attention.
He watches her work through the solution, her brow wrinkling in confusion when her calculator doesn't give her the answer she's expecting and he's about to tell her to take a break when her eyes abruptly widen in realization and she rapidly scribbles something down.
"Yes!" she says excitedly. "I've been trying to figure out this math problem for hours!"
She pumps her fist and he kind of forgets what he came here to do because it's so incredibly endearing and he can't help but grin at her. She grins back and then closes the textbook and stands up to stretch. His eyes lock on the tiny patch of skin that's briefly exposed as her shirt rides up slightly and suddenly he's incredibly nervous.
She looks at him questioningly. "Did you come here for something?"
He shakes his head to clear it and looks at her. "Uh, yeah."
"What is it?" she asks, after he doesn't say anything for a minute. "Do they need me—"
"No," he interrupts. "I need to tell you something."
"Okay?" she says. "You're acting kind of weird, are you okay?"
He nods, his mind suddenly going blank. "I um, uh…I…you, um," he stutters, his eyes rapidly searching for something, anything to help him, when they suddenly land on the math textbook.
"Um, are you a magnet?" he asks, and cringes a little because this is so not how he imagined this going. "Because I think I'm attracted to you," he finishes, and then stares at her, mortified.
She's looking at him with an expression he doesn't recognize and he's half expecting her to burst into laughter and call him an idiot but she just slowly walks over so she's directly in front of him. She takes his hand in his and intertwines their fingers and his brain shuts down because her hand is so small and he can barely believe what's happening.
She rises up on her tiptoes and stops when her face is inches from his, using her other hand to support herself on his shoulder. "Wrong subject. That's physics," she whispers, and then leans forward to kiss him, sliding her arm around his shoulders.
He responds immediately, moving his free hand to cup the back of her head gently before drawing it slowly down her back as he nudges her closer. She drops his hand to wrap both of her arms around his neck and he circles his around her waist as he holds her flush against him and he kisses her like he's been dreaming about for years.
When they finally break apart, she lingers, pressing her lips to his cheek, his jaw, the corner of his mouth, before finally dropping down to her normal height.
They stare at each other for a second and he's about to say something but she beats him to it.
"You know, I know a good math line," she says, smiling at him.
"Let's hear it," he says, unable to keep the grin off his face.
She bites her lip and looks up at him through her eyelashes. "If you were a triangle, you'd be acute one."
He laughs and then bends his head to kiss her again because he can do that now and that blows his mind a little bit. He wonders why he didn't try this sooner and then realizes that he should maybe leave this whole pick up line thing to her because she's apparently way better it than he is.
But then again, he thinks, as she softly presses her lips to his collarbone, that maybe his lines weren't actually so bad after all.
Fin.
Thank you for reading and reviewing! I hope you all liked it!