Author's note: I was super excited and I was going to write about a Raura reunion at the AMAs, but now I'm just kind of sad because that never happened. You never know about Laura's birthday, though, which is coming up really soon:) Well, this is a new oneshot (I seem to be writing a lot of those) based on the AMAs but sadly is nothing near what actually happened there. I hope you like it anyways, and if not...well, feedback is appreciated so I can improve:)
I know the AMAs we're a while ago...robotics season has been super busy because I have three competitions coming up so I've had almost no time to do anything except robotics for a few weeks. Hopefully it'll be less crazy once competitions are over and exams start...what a life :'D
P.S. I've said this before, but I'll say it again: I have absolutely nothing against anyone who might be romantically associated with Ross or Laura. And I hope we can make the fandom an even more respectful, loving place where we can just state our own opinions without hurting other people.
She knew that he was going. He knew that she was going. They both badly wanted to see each other, but they somehow still didn't. She hosted the pre-show, and he got there late. By accident, he told himself. But then why did he feel so nervous about seeing her?
He sighed. It was the show already, and she still hadn't gone up to present her award. R5 had been nominated for one award, which still hadn't been presented, but somehow he was doubtful that they would win. He knew that they had great fans, and he wouldn't trade them for the world, but he also knew that the chances were slim that they would actually win. There were a lot of other really popular bands, and they probably had a better chance of winning.
"And here's Laura Marano to present the next award!"
He sat up in his seat, suddenly paying attention. He couldn't help but notice the beauty of his friend standing up on the stage. Well, they called themselves friends. In reality, they hadn't seen each other for half a year, and even he didn't know if they were "friends". He looked at her. She looked in the crowd, and he could have sworn that she looked directly at him and smiled. Was he delusional?
She held the piece of paper up to read it. "And the nominees are..."
He sighed as she read the names of the three bands out loud. He smiled slightly as she said "R5", his bandmates all looking at each other and grinning, but he was also doubtful. Sure, he hoped that they would win, but he knew that the chances were slim. They were the underdogs in every big awards show, the obvious winners for any small award. He could only hope that they would grow into one of those big bands that actually stood a chance in every award they were nominated for.
"And the winner is..." she said excitedly, opening the envelope and reading what was written on the piece of paper inside. "...R5!"
He smiled, feeling actually happy for the first time in a while. He couldn't believe it! He had thought that they didn't stand a chance, but they were the winners! He followed his siblings up on the stage, Ellington walking behind him. Laura smiled down at them as they walked up the stairs to the stage. She handed the shiny trophy to Riker, hugging him. Then she hugged Rocky and Rydel, and somehow Ellington had walked in front of Ross, so she hugged him too.
As Ross walked up to Laura, he couldn't help but feel a tiny bit anxious. They hadn't seen each other for months, and it would be an understatement to say he missed her. Why he was anxious, no one could explain, but he thought of it as a little anxious excitement. More excitement than anxiety, that was for sure, but that was what the butterflies in his stomach were. Anxious butterflies.
As soon as he made physical contact with her, his arms wrapping around her tiny body, it was like all of the butterflies flew away. It felt so good, finally seeing her again, even just the slightest touch was its own reunion. The crowd cheered, and he knew that all of their fans were freaking out, but he didn't even care. She was one of the reasons why their band took off, and she was also the one presenting them with their first major award for all of their work.
"I missed you," he whispered, before separating from their hug.
The five band members gathered at the microphone, Riker holding the award, all of them smiling.
"We want to thank Hollywood Records for everything they've done for us and letting us do our own thing," Riker said.
"And all of our fans for being so supportive," Rydel added.
"And Ryland for being our cool little brother who always supported us," Ellington said, "even though I'm not even your brother."
Everyone laughed here as Rocky stepped up to the microphone.
"Thanks, mom and dad!" he exclaimed, as the crowd laughed harder.
Ross stepped up to the microphone, everyone anticipating what he would say.
"And I don't think any of us are going to forget where we started out," he said. "Thanks to Disney Channel for being our first major promoters, and everyone from Austin & Ally for supporting us from the start."
An audible murmur from the crowd rose as others cheered, Laura looking surprised. Ross only smiled at her, before following his siblings and Ellington back to their seats. He took one last look at the stage and at his brunette best friend, and she mouthed to him, "see you at the after-party!"
He smiled. Yes, everything was just like it used to be.
It was the after-party. It had been a great awards show, but this was what he was waiting for. Was it wrong that he so badly wanted to spend some time with his friend? He didn't understand why all of his fans were so crazy about the two of them. They were just friends, and they had never mentioned anything about being anything other than that.
Wait, did they? Maybe they had. He couldn't remember. Either way, there was no reason for his fans to freak out over everything that he did with Laura.
He waited impatiently, looking around. Almost everyone around him was talking to someone else, and he had no idea where his siblings were. Well, he was pretty sure he knew where Rydel was. She was probably somewhere with Ellington. But since his whereabouts were unknown, Ross found himself alone in a large crowd.
"Hey, congrats on your award!" someone behind him said, clapping him on the back.
"Thanks...?" he replied, turning to see who was talking to him. But there was no one in sight, or at least no one who looked like they had just attempted to talk to him.
He sighed. Where was Laura? It was all her fault that he was alone in a party. An after-party, to be exact, but she had said that she would see him there.
Maybe she can actually see me right now, he speculated, but I can't see her.
He took a look around and laughed. The possibility of that happening was quite likely. She was rather short, and he...not so much. She was likely present in the room, watching him amusedly, and he couldn't see her. He frowned. That wasn't too fair. He would have to tease her about it when he found her.
He walked around to see if he could find her, but to his dismay, she was nowhere to be found. Maybe she wasn't in the room after all. Maybe she was just caught up in interviews, or just caught in a crowd on the way to the after-party.
"Ross!" he suddenly heard behind him.
He spun around, and of course, it was Laura. He smiled.
"Laura! I missed you so much!" he exclaimed, picking her up for a hug.
"I missed you too!" she said. "I'm so proud of you guys!"
"We couldn't have done it without you," he replied.
"I didn't do anything!" she objected. "It was all your hard work. Speaking of which, you know your little speech is going to be trending tomorrow morning on social media."
He shrugged. "Well, I only spoke what all of us were thinking, so it's not going to be a bad thing. Plus, I need to keep feeding the fans' excitement! It's pretty awesome right now, with everyone all excited and going crazy. I don't think I've gotten this much media attention in a while!"
She laughed. "With your movie? I heard it was really good, at least that's what Calum said. I'm super proud of you, Ross! But, you know, you're not getting that much media attention. Honestly, I haven't been paying tons of attention, but your movie's not that popular."
He stuck out his tongue at her childishly. "Gee, thanks, Laura. And I'm getting media attention for things other than my movie. Like...our new song!"
He didn't mention his breakup, because he didn't know if she knew, and somehow he felt uncomfortable bringing it up in front of her. Of course, she knew. Any time something happened that had to do with him, she was one of the first to find out from all of their fans. And unlike him, she wasn't uncomfortably about bringing it up in front of him. After all, they were friends, they could talk to each other about anything.
"I heard about your breakup," she said, "I'm sorry. But, you know, you kind of confused everyone for a while. Even now, no one's sure what's going on with you two."
"We're still friends," he replied. "It was a mutual breakup. You don't have to be sorry."
"I get that," she murmured.
"What?" he said.
"Mutual breakups," she replied. "And we're still friends, after all these years."
"Who?" he asked, a little jealousy rising in him. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend."
"You don't remember?" she said, tilting her head to the side. "Remember? We dated back in...I can't even remember, but it was a long time ago. Calum always tried to make you jealous by talking about him. Don't you remember?"
Now he remembered, and he really wished he didn't. He was jealous at the time. He really had no reason to. Laura was just his friend, and that's what she had always been. He frowned. Why had he been jealous?
"What's wrong?" she asked, noting his silence and frown.
"Oh, nothing." he replied with a small laugh. "I was just thinking about how I used to be jealous. I mean, how it was so weird that I was jealous."
"You were jealous?" she asked.
Normally, he would have expected her to ask that question in this context while she laughed loudly. But this time, she seemed dead serious.
"I..." he stuttered, "yeah, I guess so."
"Why?" she asked.
"I don't know..." he replied. "It's stupid, really. I really don't know."
"Oh," she said, "that's a disappointment. Because...gosh, I can't believe I'm admitting this...I was jealous, too."
"Of what?" he asked, baffled.
"Of...you," she replied, completely taking him by surprise. "I mean, not of you, but of you and your girlfriend."
"Why?" he asked, completely taken aback.
"Well, I..." she mumbled, "I guess I kind of liked you."
He lapsed into thought. "I guess I kind of liked you, too."
He paused, not really realizing what was happening, then understanding dawned on him, and his jaw dropped.
"Oh," he said. "Oh. I get it now."
She looked at the ground awkwardly. "Yeah...look, Ross, don't worry about anything. We're still friends, really good friends at that, and it's going great for us."
There was a twinge of sadness in her voice that he almost didn't recognize, but he did. And he knew in that moment that something wasn't right.
"But...Laura," he interjected, just as she was about to walk away. "Is this how you want it to be? Because believe me, I can take the hate; I would do anything for you. What do you want?"
She smiled a little. "That's really sweet, Ross, but I can't make you do that. Sure, this is going to make it a little awkward between us for a bit, but...it's for the best. We can't date, you know that."
"Why not?" he argued. "We're not filming together anymore, we're both single, and we both like each other, and we've been waiting for this for so long...so why not?"
"It might...ruin our friendship," she replied unconvincingly. "I don't want something to go wrong. I can take the hate, too, don't worry about me, but...no. I don't know if..."
She trailed off, internally conflicted. She really wanted to just agree with him, but...well, it was in their nature to argue with each other constantly. She would give in eventually, she knew, but she wanted to keep up the argument for the sake of annoying him for a bit.
"Well...if that's what you want, I won't force you into anything." he said, surprising her. "No, I won't force you into anything."
With that he turned to walk away, sighing defeatedly. He didn't know what was going to happen to their friendship from then on, but he wished that he hadn't said anything. It would be okay, he knew, but it would be hard, especially since he was supposed to help to plan another birthday surprise for her. He didn't know if he was up for it.
"Wait, Ross!" she exclaimed, making him turn around for one last look at her.
The crowd around him turned to stare, her call apparently too loud. She blushed a little.
"Meet me on the other side of the room," she mouthed to him, and he nodded.
He walked quickly to the other side of the large room, caught in yet another crowd of people completely unaware of his and Laura's conversations.
"Ross, I didn't mean what I said," she told him as soon as they met up. "I was just trying to argue with you. I really like you, and I'm willing to try to get together. But...if it doesn't work out, we have to break up sooner or later."
"We don't want to mess anything up," he agreed.
"And we're not going to mess anything up," she said, pulling him into a hug. "Because we're Ross and Laura, and we're too good for that."
They both laughed, but they both still understood the truth behind her statement. The understood each other too well to hurt each other enough to hurt their relationship. Sure, they teased each other constantly, and they annoyed each other, but it was all part of their relationship. It was a special part of them.
"Imagine the fans' reaction," he laughed.
"Maybe we shouldn't tell them," she suggested, "we should torture them until they figure it out."
"That sounds like a good idea," he agreed. "I give them a day before they figure out."
She groaned. "No fair, that's what I was going to say! Fine, I give them 23 hours and 59 minutes. No changing your answer. Whoever's closest wins a free lunch from the other person. Better get your lunch money, Ross!"
"No fair!" he exclaimed. "Fine, okay, I'll stall for them. And you're not allowed to announce it."
"Deal," she replied.
He knew he would lose. It had been nearly seven years since he had first met her, and he was pretty sure he'd had feelings for her during at least five of those years. But really, thinking back to the day they walked into the audition room together, back when they first met, he probably had a little crush on her as soon as he met her. Those butterflies weren't just nervous butterflies. There was no way, after all of the tension and hidden feelings over the years, that they would be able to hide it for a whole day.
But that was okay. Because, hey, it would only cost him a few dollars and teasing for a few days. His wallet could definitely endure the loss of cash, and for her, he would endure any amount of teasing. He didn't know if there was anything he wouldn't do for her. Because he loved her, not just in a romantic way, but also as a fellow singer, as a fellow actor, and most importantly as a friend. Because no matter what label they were given, one would always stay constant: friends.
An audition, a TV show, nearly seven years of tension, and an award. He wouldn't trade her for the world.
Author's note: I hope you liked it! Well, if you didn't, please give me feedback so that I can improve! I probably won't be able to write anything new too soon because of lack of inspiration and lack of time, but as soon as something comes up, I'll be sure to post it!