Ross was sad and anxious all day, as it was the very last day for shooting Austin & Ally permanently. After 4 long years, he had desperately tried to deny his feelings for his co-star, Laura Marano. He had played Austin and she had played Ally, best friends / couple on the hit Disney series. The only time he got to spend really close to Laura was when they had to act all couple-y on the show as the characters. He longed for those experiences and secretly wished the writers would put more of them in the script. But it was a Disney show and young kids wouldn't want to watch a show all about that.
Ha, who was he kidding? Of course they would. He knew all about the people who wanted him and Laura together in real life. He's seen all of the tweets about wishing Austin & Ally wasn't a Disney show so there could be more intimate scenes. He saw them. And he agreed. Even the younger kids wanted that. It's unrealistic to minimize the contact made in a relationship in a show. As much as they want to keep rated G, but even in real life, couples do make contact. They do kiss. They do make out, it isn't all about the cheesy "oh I love you". As much as Ross was a romantic, it got kind of old after a while.
He was definitely sad about the show ending, though. It jump started his career. R5's, too. It got him in to Teen Beach Movie. It made him a name in show business. He'd be eternally grateful. But as most Disney shows go, 4 seasons (assuming the show makes it that far) is as high as they'll go, unfortunately. They opted for 5 but were shut down. They didn't say why because apparently it was something exclusive to do with the producers, but either way, he had a blast with the friends he made on set. They were a second family to him, Calum like a big brother and Raini like an older sister. Coincidentally, they were also great friends with his actual siblings/band members.
Laura was also like family, but for different reasons. He had said before that they were sort of like a married couple. They argued a lot but when it mattered they had each others' backs. The problem with the two of them was that he really liked Laura. He tried really hard not to show it the first two years. In the third year he ended up giving a little away, admitting that he'd consider dating her in 5 or 10 years. The people who wanted he and Laura together – also known as Raura shippers – didn't easily let that go. The only thing that fogged his transparent emotions was the promotion for his Disney movie, Teen Beach Movie. While travelling around the world, doing interviews and performing and promoting the hell out of the movie, he and his costar Maia Mitchell got really close. Never as close as he and Laura, but close enough he could vent to Maia about how frustrated he was with himself for being too scared to confront Laura about his feelings. She was a great friend to him.
Throughout the promotion (which ended up taking months), some people – Raia (Ross and Maia) shippers – sprouted and got in fights with Raura shippers over who Ross should choose. He wasn't interested in the drama – especially considering Raia was never a thing. Maia had – and still has – a boyfriend who she loves a lot. She's also like a sister to him, like Raini and (obviously) Rydel. Admittedly, it was fun for him to see people take minor tidbits of something and turn it in to Raura. Like a Twitter conversation or the colours they'd wear together or even the chemistry from the show. He didn't mind people shipping him and Laura.
Hell, he's done it enough times.
Laura was different though (in terms of the cast being family), because he wanted her to be the person he starts a family with in the future. The person he proposes to and devotes his life to and has beautiful children with.
But it didn't really seem like Laura was interested and it hurt. Ross, this cool, calm, collected guy, gets nervous around her now.
In the fourth year, fourth season of Austin and Ally, there were plenty more on-screen kisses for the show. He's kissed a few girls before but nothing compared to Laura. He was pretty sure he was in love with her.
Now that it was the last day, he was really afraid he might not see her that often. He was really sad. There was only a little left to shoot before the buzzer would chime and they'd all go to their dressing rooms one last time. No more furniture, no more spray-painted walls. The seemingly endless repeats of Austin & Ally on their personal TVs will finally come to an end today. They'd leave the building and not look back. Ross would never forget Austin & Ally. So many fond memories.
So many things to hold on to.
"Take 5" the director instructs, snapping Ross out of his daze. He sighs and slumps over to the piano bench in the practise room set. He leans his forehead on the instrument in front of him, realizing it would be the last time he would probably touch it.
Laura walks over and sits beside him. "Why so glum, chum?" she asks, playfully shoving his shoulders.
He doesn't look at her. "Today's the last day," he tells her quietly. "I'm not ready to say goodbye." He averts his eyes to his hands, brushing lightly on the keys, yearning to play.
He feels her shift beside him. She rests her head on his shoulder lightly. "It isn't goodbye," she says to him. "It isn't."
"Promise?" he asks, his eyes resembling a lost puppy's.
She smiles an award-winning smile. "I promise." He just smiles back, his eyes travelling to the piano again. "Play something," she whispers.
He thinks for a moment, focusing on the fact she hasn't moved her head. Her even breathing calms him a little. He thinks of a song to play. He settles on All You Need Is Love by The Beatles. That was a song they've come to appreciate the last few years. They've always loved the song, but it seemed to be more relevant to their lives.
She laughed lightly beside him as he played and when he sang, she say along.
"Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love," Ross sang perfectly.
"There's nothing you can do that can't be done," Laura sang. "Nothing you can sing that can't be sung. Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game. It's easy."
"Nothing you can make that can't be made," Ross sang, smiling. "No one you can save that can't be saved. Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time. It's easy."
Laura laughed and continued. "All you need is love, all you need is love, all you need is love, love, love is all you need."
Together, they continued. "Love, love, love," they sang, their voices harmonizing perfectly.
"Love, love, love, love, love, love. All you need is love, all you need is love, all you need is love, love. Love is all you need."
They continued to sing, alternating verses at the exact right time, combining the chorus and sounding wonderful. Ross then realized that even after Austin & Ally was over, there'd still be Ross and Laura. It rolled off the tongue nicely. He smiled, laughing when it wasn't his turn, painfully aware that they'd have to stop soon.
He didn't notice everyone else – the crew, Raini, Calum and the extras – had gathered around the piano. That is, until they sang with the him and Laura.
"Yesterday (Love is all you need)," they all sang at once. " Love is all you need (love is all you need), love is all you need (love is all you need), love is all you need (love is all you need), oh yeah (Love is all you need). She loves you, yeah yeah yeah (Love is all you need). She loves you, yeah yeah yeah (Love is all you need)."
At the last line, Laura leaned her head on Ross' shoulder again.
When it was over, everyone – including Ross and Laura – clapped. They were whooping and laughing and clapping. Once it died down, Kevin and Heath wormed their way to the front, standing by the 4 main stars. "We had a good run," Kevin says. "Unfortunately, as all shows do, it has to come to an end. Today is the last day. For all of us. The episode will be edited and dished out tonight. You'll get a link in your email. 'Memories and MUNY' will air in September."
Heath continues. "The closing party will be tomorrow. Remember, this isn't goodbye. This is more of a... see you later, I suppose. We will see each other again. Maybe not next week. Maybe a year from now. Maybe ten. But we'll see you all again."
Ross felt Laura sniffling beside him. He wrapped his arms around her to stop himself from crying. Raini and Calum went over and wrapped themselves around the other two in a big group hug. Unbeknownst to them, Stormie snapped a picture.
Moments later, Ross receives to alerts to his phone. Pulling it out, he sees both are from his mother, Stormie. He looks up to see her, her eyes also teary. Laura turns to look at Raini and Calum as he reads the notifications. One from Twitter, one a regular text.
He checks Twitter first. He opens the app to see her tweet.
AND THAT'S A WRAP! #AUSTIN&ALLY IS DONE. GROUP HUG. rossR5 lauramarano raini_rodriguez calumworthy XOXO
Attached to the tweet is a picture just taken of the four of them. He smiles and saves the tweet before replying.
Love you all RT StormieLynchR5: AND THAT'S A WRAP! #AUSTIN&ALLY IS DONE. GROUP HUG. rossR5 lauramarano raini_rodriguez calumworthy XOXO
He turned to see Laura, Raini and Calum gone. He looks back down at his phone, ignoring all of the tweets from his over a million followers. He opens the text from his mom.
Go get your girl, honey.
He smiles and looks to his mom, who is waiting for his recognition.
He stands up and runs to her, pulling her in to a bear hug. Laughing, she pushes away. "Go," she chuckles.
He turns around and heads for Calum's dressing room, knowing that's where everyone would be. Getting anxious, he picks up his pace. Scurrying around staff and around corners, he gets to his room and runs in.
"Hey, Ross," Laura greets, wiping her eyes from the few tears that slipped. Before she can say anything else, he runs up to her and forcefully – though gently – pushes her in to the wall behind her, kissing her. She gasps a little but he continues. "Ross," she whispers against his lips. "What are you-"
"Shh," he hushes her. He deepens the kiss then, and she nervously chuckles under his touch. He smiles, then realizing she's responding.
After a few moments, he pulls back, standing extremely close to her, so close they could feel each others' breaths and hear the unsteady breathing.
"I.. I..." she stuttered.
"Finally," Calum sighed, exasperated.
"Seriously, what took you so long?" Raini smirks, impatient.
Ross turns around, still smiling. Laura cranes her head around his body, her face flushed. Ross turns back to her, ignoring the question. "I've wanted to do that since the audition," he informs her.
Her eyes widen. She blushes even more and giggles. "Me, too. But why? Why now?"
"The show's over..." he says. "But we don't have to be."
She wraps her arms around his neck, hugging him.
"Everyone said to wait until the show is over. It's over. I'm not waiting anymore." He kisses her forehead.
"Let's all grab lunch," he suggests to his friends. "I'm buying." He takes her hand and the others accompany him to meet his mother outside. No one notices them holding hands.
Stormie does. "Finally," she laughs. Raini doubles over.
"Yeah, yeah," he laughs. "We're going to eat, Mom, come with us."
"I'm glad you're together now," Stormie says in between bites of her burger.
"Me too," Laura says sheepishly. "I'm glad we waited until the show was over, though."
"Agreed," Ross replies.
Just then, his phone rings.
"Hello?" he answers, confused.
"Ross," the voice says excitedly.
"Heath?"
"Yeah. ABCFamily wants to buy Austin & Ally from Disney, but only if everyone is willing to come back."
Ross freezes. "Uh."
"What's wrong?" Laura says, concerned.
He covers the speaker to the phone. "ABC is trying to buy Austin & Ally, provided we all agree to star again."
"What's wrong with that?" she asks, suddenly really excited.
"We'd have to give up this," I say pointedly, lifting our intertwined hands.
She frowns.
"I don't know," I tell Heath. "Laura and I are together, now."
"So?"
"So I don't want to separate for TV again."
"It was your decision to not date, remember? We never told you no."
Ross face lights up and repeats it to the table.
"Yes," Laura whoops.
Ross uncovers the speaker to his phone. "We're in."
