if i'm not mistaken, Laura doesn't have her license yet, but for fanfictions sake, let's pretend she does. mkay?
p.s. I wrote this a long time ago and I just reread it and oh my god im sorry
"And that's a wrap," the director shouts. The cast and crew disperse, Laura Marano being the last one to step off the Sonic Boom set.
"Hey, Laura," Stormie Lynch approaches her.
"What's up, Miss Stormie?" she smiles.
"Are you busy tomorrow afternoon?" Stormie asks hopefully.
"I don't think so," Laura shakes her head, "why?"
"Well I was wondering if you could do me a favor?"
"Of course! What is it?" she nods.
"Ross has to get his wisdom teeth removed tomorrow and the kids and I are doing a dress rehearsal and I was hoping you might be able to pick him up?" Stormie grins.
"No problem," Laura agrees.
"You're a lifesaver!" Stormie says happily, "the appointment is at 5:30."
"Okay, after work I'll take him to the dentist and drop him off at home when he's done," Laura says.
"Sounds like a plan," Stormie says. "Gosh, Laura, you're a doll. Well, I better go find that son of mine."
Laura laughs, "It's no problem, I'm happy to help."
She's studying for her Chemistry final when there's a knock at her dressing room door. "Come in!"
Ross steps into view, closing the door behind himself, "So, you're the one taking me to hell- I mean the dentist?"
"Very funny," she smiles, "Yes, your mom asked me yesterday."
"Well in that case, how about we ditch the dentist and go get frozen yogurt or something," he suggests.
"Are you scared?" she tries to hold back her laughter.
"No! I just... really want some froyo," he shrugs, looking around the room.
"We can get frozen yogurt after the dentist," Laura says, closing her textbook and setting it off to he side.
"Oh, good idea," he mumbles unenthusiastically.
"Ross, are you scared?" she asks again, this time there's no laughter to be held.
"I just told you-"
"Be honest."
"Okay," he sighs, "maybe a little bit."
"Being scared is okay, you shouldn't be embarrassed," she tells him.
"That's such a cliché thing to say," he laughs.
"I know," she smiles, "it's almost 5:00, ready to go?"
"I guess," he sighs.
"You'll be fine, I promise," she says. He sighs again and walks out the door.
"I can't do this," he whispers as they sign in.
"Yes you can," she nods.
"I absolutely cannot," he says.
"I believe in you," she smiles. They find two empty seats near the back of the waiting room and watch the TV set up in the corner. Austin & Ally is on.
"This isn't weird at all," he mumbles with a sigh.
"It's from season 1!" Laura says giddily, "We were so tiny."
"Did my voice just crack?" he groans.
"Look at us," she pokes him in the ribs, "you've gotten so tall since then."
"And you haven't," he laughs.
"Hey!" she rolls her eyes.
"My palms are sweating like crazy," he whispers, glancing around the room.
"You'll be fine," she finally looks away from the TV and grins at him, and even that doesn't make him feel any better.
"Somehow I've been able to get out of dentist appointments since I was 13 and I just can't believe I couldn't do it this time," he tells her.
"Just think of the frozen yogurt you'll get once this is over," she says half jokingly.
"I am, and it's not helping," he admits, "look! Laura my hands are shaking and if that doesn't say fear then I don't know what does."
She grabs both of his hands with her tiny ones and sighs, "I know you're afraid, and it's normal and understandable and I'm here if you need me."
"Thank you."
Five minutes later a nurse opens the door and reads from her clipboard, "Ross?"
He takes a deep breath and looks at Laura, it pains her to see the fear in his eyes because she's never seen him this way.
"This will probably sound silly but do you think you could come with me?" he mutters.
"I don't think it's silly, of course I'll come," she says quietly as she stands up. He doesn't let go of her hand.
"You can stay here," the nurse tells Laura.
"Um, actually, he's a little scared so I was wondering if I could-"
"Laura! I am not scared," Ross scoffs.
"Ross," she gives him a look, which he quickly returns.
"Alright, you can come," the nurse sighs, leading them down a series of hallways.
"Do I have to sit in that?" He asks, glancing pointedly at the chair.
"I'm afraid so, your girlfriend-"
"Not my girlfriend," Ross interrupts casually, they get that whenever they go out in public together, it's nothing new and frankly they don't give it a second thought anymore.
"Friend," the nurse corrects herself, "can sit right over there," the nurse nods towards a chair set up against the wall.
"Promise you won't leave me?" he asks Laura quietly enough that the nurse pretends she doesn't hear.
"I wouldn't leave you if the building was on fire," she says. He takes a deep breath and climbs into the chair.
"I'm just going to clean your teeth," the nurse tells him, "if it makes you feel any better you can call me Brenda." She wraps something that resembles a giant bib around him.
"Okay," he nods.
"Would you like orange or bubblegum flavored toothpaste?" she asks.
"Bubblegum," he mumbles. Laura smiles, he seems so childlike, so different than his usual self. She finds it adorable.
"Alright," Nurse Brenda grins.
It takes a while to brush his teeth because for some reasons Brenda can't understand, he and Laura keep looking at each other and laughing. No words are said, their facial expressions hardly even change, but they keep giggling.
"Alright guys, the more you laugh the longer this'll take," Nurse Brenda says.
"Sorry," Laura covers her mouth as an attempt to stifle her giggles.
The nurse finishes the cleaning and gives him the tube that sucks up all the water and excess toothpaste.
"The dentist will be in to see you soon," she stands and leaves the room.
"See, this isn't so bad," Laura says.
"No, Laura, the dentist is going to come in here and stab my gums with that stupid pointy hook and shove a tiny mirror down my throat and ask if I floss daily which forces me to lie to avoid that look of judgement I get for telling him that I don't. Also he's going to take x-rays and make me bite down on that little plastic thing and shine bright lights into my eyes and I'm scared Laura, I'm really scared," he says in one breath.
"It'll be okay, I'm right here and I won't let him hurt you," she says.
"It's so stupid that I'm afraid of this, I'm supposed to be a rockstar."
"Rockstars get scared too, everyone does. It's a natural reaction to situations that you don't feel comfortable with," she says soothingly, "I won't leave your side."
"Alright, buddy let's get to work," someone that Ross assumes is the dentist opens the door and plops himself on the little circular chair beside him.
"Do we have to?" Ross asks, half kidding.
"Oh don't be nervous," the dentist smiles, "now open up real wide."
Ross takes a breath and leans back, hesitant to open his mouth wide enough for the dentist to probe his teeth with his instruments of torture.
"I'd rather not."
"What can I do to make you less nervous?" the dentist wheels his chair over and folds his hands in his lap.
"Not stick pointy tools inside me," Ross suggests, he hears his voice crack. Suddenly Laura's squatting beside him clutching his right hand in both her own.
"I'm right here," she assures him. He nods.
"Ready?" asks the dentist.
"Ready set rock," Ross chuckles dryly.
"You still in school?" the dentist asks. Ross says something he can't understand considering he's got a miniature mirror and a hook in his mouth.
"He graduated early," Laura answers for him.
"Really? What do you do in your free time?"
"He really doesn't get much, he's in a band preparing to go on their first world tour, and he's on Disney channel," she explains.
"Austin & Ally! I knew I'd seen you somewhere," the dentist says.
"She's Ally," Ross manages.
"You two are very talented."
"Thank you! You're not so bad yourself," Laura chuckles.
"The songs are so catchy," he continues, "there's no way I could make it without you!"
"That they are, we work with such a talented group of people," Laura beams.
No one says anything until the dentist accidentally pokes one of Ross' more sensitive teeth and he nearly knocks the tools out of his hands.
"You okay?" The dentist asks. Ross nods and takes a deep breath. Laura rubs her thumb across his and presses her lips against the back of his hand.
"You're alright," she whispers. It's such a small gesture, but it's what gets him through the rest of the probing.
"Alright, your teeth look good so let's get that wisdom tooth out," the dentist says, placing his tools on the tray.
"Today?" Ross backs away from him.
"Yes, sir," the dentist tells him.
"I'd rather not," Ross admits.
"Oh you'll be fine," he warns.
"O-okay then."
"We'll do some x-rays first."
"Alright."
"I'll be right back," the dentist stands.
When he's gone Ross let's out a groan and looks at Laura, who hasn't moved at all. She smiles and reaches up to stroke his hair, "you can do this."
"I'm terrified," he scoffs.
"But they'll put you to sleep, you won't feel a thing," she reminds him.
"You won't leave me, right?" he asks.
"They probably won't let me stay with you but I promise you that the second you wake up I will be right here."
The x-rays aren't nearly as bad as Ross is expecting them to be but maybe that's because Laura's been mouthing words of encouragement from her chair in the corner the entire time.
"Okay, let's get that tooth pulled," the dentist says.
"I can't stay with him, can I?"
"I'm afraid not, however you can wait right outside the door," the dentist tells her.
"Good luck," she grins at Ross, he looks terrified and it breaks her heart.
"Thanks."
Waiting for them to be finish seems to take forever, she tweets fans mostly and watches them freak out over the fact that she took Ross to the dentist and then they trend "Feel Better Ross" which she knows will cheer him up a little. She takes a selfie with the happy tooth poster on the wall and finally after her 3rd game of "why is the person in that room screaming" the dentist opens the door and tells her that Ross should be awake soon.
She patiently kneels beside the chair, holding his hand and leaning her head on the arm rest. He's awake and looking around within 5 minutes, his cheeks are swollen and the dentist instructs him to chew on a piece of cotton. He prescribes Ross a painkiller and tells him not to have any solid foods, Ross is still drowsy and doesn't seem to be comprehending anything the dentist is saying, so he's mainly talking to Laura.
"Feel better, buddy," the dentist grins at Ross.
"You're all set," the nurse from earlier says, "would you like a sticker?"
"Mhm," he nods, Laura helps him follow the nurse.
"I thought so," she nods. He and Laura follow her back towards the waiting room and they stop at the front desk to pick out stickers.
"I want that one," he grabs a smiley face from the drawer. Laura signs him out and helps him out to her car. They stop at a convenience store and she picks up various ice creams and frozen yogurts.
"Is your mom home?" Laura asks.
"I dunno," he mumbles, chewing on his cotton.
"I'll call her then," she says as she pulls out her phone.
"Hello Laura," Stormie says.
"Hi!"
"How's Ross?"
"Drowsy and confused, but okay," Laura replies, "hey are you home?"
"Shoot! Rehearsal ran late I might not be home for a couple hours," she sighs, "spare key taped underneath the mailbox."
"Alright," Laura says, "thanks."
"I'm tired," Ross groans.
"Come on, let's go inside," Laura grabs his hand.
"Raini has such curly hair," he says as she leads him to the couch.
"I know."
"Calum is so funny, he's so gingery."
"Of course, get some rest, okay?" Laura advises.
"Are you leaving?" he groans.
"Not if you don't want me to," she says. He makes himself comfortable on the couch.
"I'm cold."
"Okay," she stands up, "where are all the blankets?"
"I dunno," he shrugs drowsily.
She finds one in the hallway closet and spreads it over him, he's drifting in and out of consciousness and saying things that don't quite make sense.
"I just wish everyone would stop expecting so much from me, y'know?" he sighs. She walks over and sits beside him on the edge of the couch.
"Does your mouth hurt?"
He rolls his eyes, "Does YOUR mouth hurt?"
She laughs because he's become more of a babbling idiot than usual. He sighs, "I wanna sleep but I just can't."
She softly combs through his hair with her fingers and tries to relax him.
"I think you're beautiful, Laura," he says as he drifts off.
She doesn't do much while he rests. She does put his ice creams away and washes the very few dirty dishes that are in the sink. She texts Vanessa for a while, and watches TV. Ross rolls over in his sleep and mumbles something incoherently. She's watching Friends when he wakes up and asks why his mouth hurts so bad.
"Remember? You got your wisdom teeth taken out, would you like some painkillers?"
"Ugh, yes please," he rubs his eyes. She comes back with two pills and a glass of water.
"Thanks," he says. He pops the pills in his mouth and takes a sip of water.
"I should really be going," Laura says.
"Alright," he nods.
She gathers her stuff and start towards the door, "Your mom called earlier, she'll be home in less than an hour."
"Thanks for everything, Laura," he says.
"No problem," she shrugs, "I'm really proud of you. You did great today."
"Maybe you should take me to all my dentist appointments because I hardly ever do that well," he jokes.
"Let's make it an annual thing," she adds.
"It's a date," he says. They both stare at each other as tension fills the room and he realizes what he just said.
"Haha," she chuckles awkwardly, "a date."
"That was a funny joke," he smiles.
"Hilarious," she nods, "well I'd better get going."
"Have a great night," he calls as she leaves. He silently scolds himself. He spent all day with her and had so many opportunities to make a move. He should just change his address to "the friend zone".
"You're so stupid," he says, angrily spitting the wad of bloody cotton in the trash. He's so tired of not being able to tell her how he feels. He doesn't want to be "Ross? Oh we're just really good friends!", he wants to be "Ross is the love of my life". It isn't fair.
"Hey Laura," he sends her a text message.
"Is everything okay?" she replies quickly.
"How about I take you on a real date?" he asks. Why not put himself out there? Now or never. Go big or go back to the friendzone.
"Let's do it," she answers. She even adds a smiley face at the end.
He can almost hear his brothers in the friendzone cheering for him as he makes his bold escape. Maybe he's not all the way there yet, but he's closer than he's ever been.
I know this might seem a little far fetched and like he's over reacting but if you're truly afraid of something it can feel like the most difficult thing in the world. I speak from experience and I think the worst thing someone can tell you is that their fear is stupid or unreasonable. Woah this just got deep ok let's stop.