Hey, so this is just something I created for myself as I've gotten so intrigued by what's going on with Ross, what with some of his depressing posts and everything. And the whole Courtney situation annoys me as a Raura shipper, so I created this to turn it back to Raura and thought I'd share it incase anyone is interested. This is my first attempt at writing so sorry if its not great and thanks for reading!
The title is based on a quote Ross tweeted in April, saying 'And in the end, we were all just humans... drunk on the idea that love, only love, could heal our brokenness.'
Disclaimer: This is all fiction, and I don't mean to judge or put a bad light on anyone in real life.
I pressed dial and lifted the phone to my ear, listening to it ring. I was nervous... Really nervous but I had no reason to be - or at least thats what I tried to convince myself. You see, I hadn't heard from him in a few weeks now - Ross - and in all honesty I was starting to get quite concerned about him. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat, thinking through all the texts I've sent him. All the texts he hadn't replied to. And even when he used to reply, it wasn't him... Well obviously it was him, but not the Ross I know, the one I've spent the past 4 years with. I knew he was off touring but that still wasn't like him. I turned my focus back to the ringing. And then to the voicemail speech playing in my ear. Great.
It was around 10:30 in the morning here in Dubai, so it was only half past midnight in Colorado and he surely wasn't asleep already and, even so, he always used to answer no matter what time, he'd be there. I missed that.
I searched through my phone for one of his siblings, clicking on the first name I found which happened to be Riker. Unlike his brother, he answered almost immediately.
"Hey! Laura! What's up!?" He was practically shouting down the phone, presumably so he could be heard over the music audible in the background.
"Hi, I was just... I tried..." I stumbled over my words for some reason. Now I was the one out of character. I swallowed, taking in a deep breath as I worked out what I was actually trying to say. "Is Ross okay?"
"He's out fucking Courtney." I felt my breath hitch and this clenching in my heart. My face felt hot. You don't care. I blamed it on how bluntly he'd put it, not the fact that Ross was with her. At least that means he's okay.
I muttered, not finding words to say. "Oh."
"I know." He sounded bitter and angry, lowering his voice slightly.
"I'm off out for a performance soon," I tried to brighten back up, "If you see him please can you let him know I wanted to speak to him, I wondered about meeting up soon."
"Of course." He slurred, making me let out a small laugh.
"Thanks Riker. Are you at a party?" I was pretty sure he was, considering the music, and I was pretty sure he was rather drunk- actually very drunk what with the way he was talking about Ross.
"Yeah, he's not here though. Some hotel bed is being blessed by their screwing." I cleared my throat, shifting in my seat. How do you reply to that..? Thankfully, I didn't have to as Riker continued, "I'm sorry Laura."
"What? Why are you sorry? Ross and I are just friends." I tried to brush off whatever he was implying, hoping that would also remove this feeling in my body. I Felt this heaviness in my chest and I knew my face was expressing an emotion I didn't want it to. We're just friends.
"No you're not. We all know how he feels about you. He is in fucking love with you Laura. He denies it, but we know. He'd rather be with you right now. You're like a sister to me, unlike Courtney and I don't want to see you get hurt by all this. It's not fair on you and it's not fair to himself." I was pretty sure my face was on fire. I ran my hand through my hair, glad I was alone in my hotel room.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes you do," he interjected almost immediately, "Ross loves you. And I don't think I'm wrong in saying you feel the same about him." I rested my elbow on my dressing table in front of me, putting my head in my hand. I didn't know how to feel. We're just friends. "He doesn't love Courtney. He just wanted his one song and then to fucking move on, but he hasn't. She's hot, caring and she's loving to Ross, but she's just convenient. She's there, throwing herself at him and she's there as a release for him, and to pretend he doesn't need you." It was almost amusing how he'd quoted one of their songs. "He's not happy Laura. He thought Courtney was what he needed to save him. Sure, he smiles when he's with her, he laughs and looks like he loves her, but I'm not falling for it. As soon as she's gone, he goes back to being dead. His face turns expressionless again and he doesn't speak, he never smiles. He used to, when he spoke about her and when he texted her but he was just trying to fool us. He knew we caught on so he gave up with his constant pretending. I'm worried about him. We're all so damn worried." His voice was a mixture of anger and desperation. It also sounded like he was crying and I knew I was on the brink of doing so too. He took a moment to breathe before continuing. He'd probably had this rant building up for a while, and now in his drunken state he was letting it all out. "Don't worry, he's not there being all loving with her. When they're done 'making love'," he laughed slightly at the irony of the phrase whilst I let out a shaky breath that I didn't know I'd been holding, "he waits till she's asleep and then he stays up, doing anything other than laying with her thinking about what he's done. But he's always there with his arms around her for when she wakes up. When Ross saw her a while ago, he was very, very drunk. That was the only time he's spoken to one of us about it. Rocky got through to him, and apparently Ross was a wreck whilst Courtney laid in the bed across the room fast asleep. He couldn't form proper sentences, but there was something about regret and hating himself. By the time he came home his façade was back and he denied everything he said the night before, getting mad if we brought it up. Now, every morning after, he's the same fucking disaster. I could go on quoting lyrics. He came up with the idea for that one and it didn't take a genius to work out that that song was about you. He brings us all these dark lyrics, with no explanation as to why he wrote them. His mind is so fucked up." He paused once more. I was still trying to process all of this information. It was too much. I opened my mouth to speak, but it was dry and nothing would come out. Riker sighed, defeat clear in his voice and a seriousness I'd never heard from him before, "I don't know what to do Laura. He's slipping away from us... He drinks a lot now. He lives off cigarettes and he's getting high on weed every day. I'm scared he'll do something stupid. We all know he will soon. I'm fucking terrified, because... because we can't save him. But I think you can. Ross needs you to save him Laura... Before it's too late."
He needs me.
And in that moment, I broke down.
The realisation hit me.
There's nothing I can do.
