Author's note: I've finally written something! Life has been insane with robotics and exams and everything but Austin & Ally recently celebrated its 6th anniversary and we got tweets from Laura, Raini, Calum, and even Ross! The fandom's been freaking out over the last one, and honestly, I was really excited when I saw it, too. I could rant for days about this, but I'll spare you that. And then there was a whole lot of other cast interaction, so it's been pretty exciting. That's why I wrote this oneshot. It's kind of short, but I hope you like it!
P.S. Check out the poll on my profile page! It would really help me if you filled it out:)
"I will forever love these people."
Six words, six years. It was a simple message, but only four people truly understood the meaning behind them. And no one understood them as much as the writer, or rather, Tweeter, Ross Lynch. It had been six years since Austin & Ally had premiered, and he was the last of the four main cast members to say anything about it.
He had been internally conflicted for a long time about it. No one knew his true feelings for all of his castmates but him. He pretended that he was moving on from that part of his life, and most people bought it, but he knew that it was a part of him that he would always cherish. He still considered them to be his best friends, even after the show ended. He didn't know if they felt the same way.
He didn't know if she felt the same way. True, she had posted an unreleased picture from their fake wedding episode, but it was just for fun. It didn't mean anything. At least, not that he thought.
"I will forever love these people," he murmured, lying on his bed as he watched the likes, retweets, and comments skyrocket within a few minutes.
Every word was true. The simple phrase meant the world to him. She meant the world to him.
He sighed, shaking his head. Who was he kidding, they were just friends and always would be. He would forever love her, as a friend, just like he would forever love Calum and Raini as friends.
He frowned. That wasn't right. He didn't love her in the same way as he loved them. It was a different love. He tried to convince himself that it wasn't a romantic love, but the more he thought about it, the more hopeless he became.
He had seen her last only a few weeks before, and no one even knew about it, but it had been amazing. Nothing had changed between them, and he was glad. But also disappointed. They were both single, and upon seeing her, he almost lost control of himself. He had sworn that she had looked at him with an intensity that he had only seen more than four years before, while they were filming the now-infamous kiss in Real Life & Reel Life. But maybe he was wrong. He must have imagined it. Because she had never wanted to be anything but friends.
He kept scrolling aimlessly through multiple tabs on his phone, everything seemingly Austin & Ally related. Every memory from the past six years kept coming back to him, and he would be lying if he said he was a little emotional. He was a romantic at heart, and their experience and friendship had been the best and worst of love stories. He wouldn't have traded any of their moments for the world, but he would have given the world just to have a chance to be with her.
He took a deep breath, trying to organize his thoughts and stay his usual impassive self, when he came to a realization. He was alone in his room, and the door was locked, and he was tired of suppressing his feelings. So, for the first time in years, he opened the book of pictures that he kept hidden in his dresser. It was a book of his favorite moments of their show, but to him, it also came with all of the memories that came with the process of developing all of those moments. He flipped to the last page, seeing the famous picture of just him and Laura during the Two in a Million duet.
He sighed sadly, wishing that they could still be like that, then longingly took a last glance at the picture before turning to the very first page of the book. He almost cried, seeing himself sitting at the drums with those corndogs and her standing next to him. That was what started it all. Then he sighed, trying to contain his feelings again.
He was in the middle of trying to figure out whether he should let out all his feelings or keep them bottled up when his phone began ringing. He picked it up without reading the Caller ID, which he should definitely have done. He received countless spam calls and tried to avoid them as much as possible.
"Hello?" he said.
"Hey, Ross, it's Laura." was the answer on the other end.
"L-laura? Why are you calling me?" he stuttered, a bit surprised.
"I-uh, I just wanted to say that your Tweet is really sweet!" she answered, then laughed. "That rhymed!"
"Aw, well, yours was, too!" he replied. "Um, so why did you have to call me about it?"
She paused and there was a moment of silence between both of them. Why had she called him? She'd thought it a good idea, but there was really no reason behind it.
"I don't really know," she said after a while, making both of them laugh. "Well, I guess I just wanted to say it to you. And I wanted to hear your voice. I miss you so much, Ross."
"I miss you too," he admitted. "I mean, we just saw each other, like, a week ago, but it's still weird not having you around."
She nodded, but of course, he couldn't see her. There was silence on the line again. He sighed.
"Laura, why does it feel like everything's changed between us?" he asked, finally. "I mean, we used to always talk to each other, and there would never be silences like these. What happened? Why aren't we like that anymore? I miss our old friendship."
"Nothing about our friendship's changed," she replied, "it's just us. We've changed. We're older, more grown-up... we're not our old silly selves anymore. But nothing about our friendship's changed."
He frowned upon hearing her words. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? He didn't want to stop being friends with her, but if nothing about their friendship had changed... then they were nothing more than friends.
"I need to see you, Laura." he finally said, after another long pause.
"O-okay," she replied. "But aren't you busy? I mean... if you want, I can meet you down at the beach in ten minutes."
He smiled, even though she couldn't see him. "That sounds great."
True to her word, Laura showed up at the nearby beach within ten minutes of calling him, even though it was already getting dark outside. He, of course, was late. But that was okay.
"Remember when we used to do this all the time?" she recalled. "Coming down to the beach at night to talk?"
He smiled, fondly recalling the memories. "Yeah. Those were pretty good times."
"I can't believe it's been six years," she said, looking up at him. "It seems like just yesterday that we were huddled around that TV, watching the very first episode."
"Yet... so much has changed." he said, finishing her thought.
They sat down together, watching the waves in the endless ocean as the sun slowly began to set. It was a picturesque moment, but all they each wanted was the other's company. And that was enough.
"So... why the Tweet?" she asked. "I thought you were avoiding bringing up Austin & Ally now that the show's ended."
"I just wanted to make sure you all knew how special you were to me," he replied. "And I'm not trying to avoid my past. It's what brought me here, and I love all of you, and that's never going to change. I will forever love you guys."
She swallowed hard, trying not to let out too many emotions in case he didn't really mean anything.
"Forever is a long time, Ross." she sighed.
He was silent for a long moment, and she was afraid that he was going to take back what he said. She didn't know how she felt about him. He knew how he felt about her.
"I'm still going to love you for a long time, Laura." he finally said, turning to look at her. "Forever."
"But... but, Ross, you can't say things like that, because forever... means forever. No, you can't say that anything is forever." she replied uncertainly.
"Laura, look at me," he said firmly.
She turned her head slowly to look up at him, and she gulped. Yes, she knew how she felt about him. She loved him. And he loved her... but only in a friendly way, at least, that's what she thought.
"Do you believe in true love?" he asked quietly.
Her heart was pounding in her chest. "I... I... guess, but... why is this relevant? Ross, why-"
"Because," he continued, quieter than before. "True love means forever. That's how you know it's true love. And... it's been more than six years since we first met, and we all fell in love with Austin & Ally six years ago, but I know now... I loved you the first day we met, in a totally friendly way, but over the years, it's changed, and it's changed a lot. Laura, I've never meant anything more when I said that I'll love you forever. I know that forever is a long time, but I know now that you are my true love..."
He took a deep breath, not daring to look at her directly. He knew that he would probably ruin their friendship, which he cherished more than anything else in the world, but he couldn't help himself. He couldn't hide it for any longer, at any rate. He didn't even care anymore. He wasn't ever going to stop loving her, that was for sure, and he knew that now. So she deserved to know who she really was to him.
"Ross..." she said quietly.
"I'm sorry, Laura, but you had to find out sooner or later. And I wouldn't have told you if I wasn't absolutely sure of every word."
She was silent for only a few seconds, but to him, it seemed like hours of their friendship slowly falling apart. Every second was in slow motion, his thoughts racing hundreds of miles per second. Then he spoke again.
"I'm sorry... will you forgive me?"
"I don't think I need to forgive you," she mumbled.
He slowly turned to look at her in confusion halfheartedly, expecting the worst. Instead, she took the chance to pull him toward her in a gentle kiss. It was heaven. Neither of them could believe what was happening. It was too surreal, too perfect. But both of them believed in true love, and both of them knew that they had it.
"That means I love you too, in case you couldn't tell," Laura said with a shy smile. "Forever. I'm sorry it took me so long to figure out."
"Forever is a long time," he teased.
"Shut up," she groaned, laughing, before pulling him into a hug.
"Forever?" he repeated. "No matter what?"
"Forever." she replied, pulling away from him to look him in the eye. "No matter what."
I will forever love these people.
Author's note: Tada! Sorry that it was kind of short and pretty much exactly the same thing as every other oneshot I've ever written:( On the plus side, we don't need fanfiction to talk about reality! Despite all my life stresses, Raura makes me happy:)
Please answer the poll on my profile page! It would really help me figure out what to write:) As well, if you have any specific plot ideas or suggestions, please PM me or review:)
Look how many happy faces that was! Three happy faces and one sad face! That makes an total of two happy faces, since the sad face and a happy face cancel out... oh wait. My exams are coming up. Well, I'd better go study, sorry if I take a while to write anything new.