A/N So this was requested by Aparna forever ago and I've finally gotten the time to write it so here we are! Raura in Rome, Italy. Don't know exactly where the idea came from, but yeah we've been figuring out how this should go for a while and I hope I included everything you wanted Aparna. And I'm sorta iffy on this and it's really super fluffy but um yeah let's do this… Oh and this is set in about January….I think…
Disclaimer: I don't own Ross and Laura or anything else you might recognize.
"So Ross," Laura said pointing his phone's camera at him, while they're walking through the airport. "We're in Rome, Italy. Are you excited?"
"Yeah, I'm excited!" he exclaimed. "It's my first time here!"
"It's not my first time here in Italy." Laura said when Ross turned the phone towards her. "But I'm excited still! It's my first time with somebody who's not family."
"We're having a meet and greet while we're here, so that's fun." Ross said. "But we have to finish this keek now so bye!"
Rome, Italy. A boy and a girl. Both eighteen. Two very close best friend eighteen year olds. This should be interesting.
The moment they stepped off the plane the air felt different. They're here alone something they've never done before for an event. But they're eighteen and it's time they start acting like adults and their moms don't come everywhere with them.
They've both talked about going to Italy before. But now that it's actually happening it's unreal. And being together, what could be better?
It feels as if something suddenly has shifted. They're here. Alone. They both have this feeling something big will happen while they're here.
Something for the better. Or at least they hope it's for the better.
They're walking through their hotel when they know something for sure is going to happen and the air has definitely shifted. Their hands brush.
Their hands brushing is a quite normal occurrence. No big deal. What's not a normal occurrence is Ross grabbing Laura's hand in his. And Laura interlacing their fingers.
Nope, that's not normal. But it felt so natural. Like this was way that it was supposed to be.
He walks into her hotel room to pick her up, when he notices something different about her. Their meet and greet isn't until tomorrow so the day after they arrive they get used to explore the city.
He looks her up and down- hey who says he can't check out his best friend? Jeans? Normal. Sweater? Normal. Yellow beanie? Not normal.
Wait, he recognizes that beanie. He could have sworn he lost it on a tour or something though.
"Hey Laura is that my beanie?" he asked.
"Maybe..." she trailed off avoiding his eyes.
"That is mine!" he exclaims, "Dude how did you get that?"
She shrugs before walking into her bathroom. Avoiding his question.
Of course he follows her in there, watching silently as she fixes the beanie on her head and lightly applies lip gloss.
Suddenly he grabs her hand, pulling her to face him. Bringing her almost flush against him.
"You look beautiful." He whispers, and her breath hitches. "But I still want to know how they heck you got my favorite beanie though…"
"You gave it to me to wear on beanie Tuesday on set." She whispers looking up at him through her eyelashes. "I might have stole it cause I liked it so much… Did you want it back?"
He takes this chance to look at her. Really look at her. And then it hits him. He's ready to make a change in their relationship. Cause this girl in front of him, is all he's ever wanted in a girl.
All he's ever needed.
Her breath hitches again from the intense stare he's giving her, and when his fingers brush against her cheek pushing a piece of hair back in the beanie. And she wonders for a moment if she'll ever be able to breathe normally around him.
"Keep it dude." He whispers his fingers still in her hair. "It looks better on you anyways… A lot better."
Biting her lip, trying to fight back a grin she decides she won't ever be able to breathe normally again for sure. And they're definitely about to change something big in their relationship while on this trip. Especially if she has any choice in the matter.
They walk around the city of Rome until they're too tired to do anymore walking. The whole time they walked Laura would comments about stuff that happened in the Lizzie McGuire movie at that place, and Ross couldn't help but laugh.
She was too adorkable for her own good.
They ate dinner in his hotel room, and it was a truly great first full day in Italy. They talked about memories from set over the past three seasons.
He tells her some stuff he hasn't about touring before. And she tells him about her photo shoots.
They got onto the subject of her graduating… Neither really wanted to think about what would come after she was out of high school. Especially since their relationship is changing so quickly.
They've always been on the path of a relationship as more than friends it seems though. Maybe it'll happen sooner than in ten years.
"We're never going to lose touch are we?" she asks, because honestly that thought has always been in the back of her mind. And he doesn't know why he does it, but he kisses her cheek.
It's like all the reassurance she needed was in that soft chaste kiss to the cheek.
It's after their meet and greet the next night when he asks the question that's been on his mind since last night.
"I didn't freak you out with the kiss last night did I?"
She smiles at him, and shakes her head. She knew this would come up sooner or later. And honestly it didn't freak her out. Not in the least bit.
It almost felt like second nature him kissing her on the cheek. Like that's the way they're supposed to be.
"Okay, good." He told her flashing that smile of his he had reserved for her. "I-I did want to talk to you though about the kiss… Well not exactly about the kiss but just us in general."
"Us?" she questioned, scooting slightly closer.
He saw her small movement to be closer to him and relaxed.
"Okay so if you haven't noticed I like you as more than a friend." He blurted out. "And I was just wondering how do you feel? Because I don't know about you but I felt like something was going to happen while we were here."
"I definitely had that feeling too. That something would happen between us while we're here." She confessed. "I feel like we've sorta always been on that path you know? No matter how much I've tried to deny it, I've always felt something for you."
He smiled relaxing back on the pillows on his bed. He reached for her hand, which she took and pulled her up to the pillows with him.
She lays her head on his shoulder, and plays with his fingers with the hand that isn't still intertwined with his. Hey eyes start to drift close as the comfortable silence washes over her before he decides to speak.
"Do you remember how I always said I related to 'If I Can't Be With You' emotionally?" he continues when she nods. "It's you."
She gives him a questioning glance, telling him to continue explaining.
"Have you never realized it's you?" He asked laughing slightly at her obliviousness. "You're the one I can't be without. The one everything sucks without. It's you. It's always been you."
"Apparently Dove knew I liked you before I knew myself..." she confessed, "She'd always tell me, her and Ryan wanted to have a double date with us. Although I think it was more Dove than Ryan. She also mentioned and I quote 'Once you and Ross are together, we can not only have double dates but triple dates too with Luke and Olivia.' I didn't believe a word she said…"
"And now do you believe her?" he asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"You tell me." She whispers, pressing her lips softly against his.
"Come on one picture." He says she makes a silly face in the direction of his phone in response waiting for him to snap the picture.
"You sounded like your mom when you said that." She teased poking him in the chest.
"Shut up." He mumbled swatting her hands away. "Come on we have an interview."
"What'd you post as the caption?" she asks but gets handed his phone.
Opening his instagram she sees the first thing on his feed is the picture he just posted of her. 'Interviews with this girl…' is the simple caption.
"You know… we'll have to tell the fans we're together at some point right?" she told him intertwining their fingers as they walked out of her hotel room.
"Nah we won't…" he said swinging their arms between them. She sent him a questioning glance meaning to continue. "I don't think we need to announce anything. Just let them figure it out."
She didn't say anything, for a few minutes. Trying to figure out what he meant. So they just won't tell the fans, but they'll go out like a normal couple?
"That's exactly what I mean Laur." And then she realized she said her thought out loud. "We're going to act like a normal couple, and everybody will figure it out soon enough."
She nodded smiling at him. That was probably a better plan than them telling the fans straight up.
"You ready to be home?" she asked as she laid her head on his shoulder.
They were in the plane about to land back home in LA in about twenty minutes. They're trip in Rome has come to a close. Time to go back to reality.
He shook his head, continuing to scroll through his mentions on twitter on her iPad. They were laughing at some of the ridiculous tweets people were tweeting them, over some photos they had posted since they decided they wouldn't be announcing that they're a couple, and just let the fans figure it out.
They each posted photos and tweets that made it obvious they were together now but not too obvious, not wanting their relationship to be public quite yet. They only made subtle comments but it seemed that some of their fans and shippers had picked up the true meaning to what they were posting.
One of the main ones that did make it probably more obvious than they had hoped it would was a picture Laura had posted on instagram. A simple picture of their fingers intertwined, resting on Ross' knee with the caption 'Our hands are so frozen.'
About a third of everybody picked up what she meant by the picture. But then everybody else thought they were just holding hands, because their hands were just that cold. Laura wasn't sure to laugh at the obliviousness, or consider they're trying to deny what they saw so in their mind's Ross isn't holding hands with one of his best friends/costar.
Either way it's pretty funny.
"I'm not ready at all to be home." Ross finally said after a few minutes answering her question. "It's not that I'm not ready to be home exactly. I'm just more not looking forward to all the teasing I'm going to get from my siblings."
Laura's laughter filled the air, as she buried her face in his neck. He grinned at her reaction, even though he really wasn't looking forward to all the teasing from everybody for finally making a move he still couldn't help but smile and laugh himself. Her laughter was contagious.
A few minutes later, they found themselves walking off the plane, holding hands laughing at some corny 'Laura Joke' Ross had just said. They spot Ross' family there to pick them up, and then they hear a squeal. Of course coming from Rydel followed by…
"You two are finally together?" She asked bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Who knew all it would take was sending you on a trip alone, for Ross to finally make a move."
Fin.
Reviews are sorta cool.