All I have to say about this is that this is where the drama starts with Ross and Laura.
You may hate Raini, but you'll love her by the end, because I love her and I don't want her to be hated for the whole story.
Okay, enjoy. I don't own anything.
He slowly opened his eyes, blinking a bit as he realized there was somebody on top of him. He looked down and smiled, only to see Rydel was laying with her head on his chest, a huge smile on her face. She still appeared to be sleeping, but he knew better than that.
"Rye, I know you're awake." He whispered, laughing when she started to giggle.
"Damn, I tried," She said, her tone a bit raspy. She lifted her head so that she could look up at him. "Is it bad that I'm a little happy right now?"
"Why would that be a bad thing?"
"Because of everything that happened yesterday," She sighed, "I just don't want my mom to look at me any differently, you know?"
Ratliff nodded, she scooted upwards more and he wrapped his arms around her neck, softly kissing her head. "I know you don't," He said quietly.
"You know what?" She wiped under her eyes, smiling over at Ratliff. "I'm not going to spend all day crying about… everything. What would you say to going to set and surprising Ross and Laura?"
Ratliff looked at her, like he wanted to say something else, but he just closed his mouth and smiled at her softly. "I'd say let's do it."
She giggled and then leaned in, kissing him gently, before pulling away. "I'm gonna go shower, you're welcome to join me you know…" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and Ratliff rolled his eyes, laughing at her. "But for now, just stay here. I'll be back soon."
Ratliff nodded, "I'm gonna go downstairs, see if anyone else is up."
"Or you could do that," Rydel agreed and then stood up, stretching she ran her fingers through her hair, smiling to herself when Ratliff's eyes went to her shirt that had risen up a bit.
After she had left the room, Ratliff stayed on her bed for about two more minutes, thinking over a few things, before he went downstairs. He went to the kitchen, to grab a banana, when a movement caught his attention from the corner of his eye.
He walked over to the couch and noticed that Rocky was still fast asleep, with a girl on top of him. It took him a few moments, but he was able to recognize the girl as Vanessa, which gave him a sense of relief in some strange way.
He tried to leave, quietly, but a quiet voice stopped him.
"I really hope you don't think this is weird." Rocky said.
"Why would I?"
"Because you've never seen him with a girl before?" Rocky said and Ratliff nodded.
"It's not that weird, if you like her, cool. I mean, yeah she's your brother's girlfriend's sister, but hey. I'm not judging."
Rocky gave him a look, and Ratliff just smiled, he started to walk out of the room when Rocky softly called out his name again.
"Hey, um… I just wanted to ask you, how have you been you know, about this whole thing?" Rocky didn't have to elaborate for Ratliff to know what he was referring to.
"Honestly? Kind of… upset, freaked out a little and… I don't know angry?" Ratliff nodded, "yeah, definitely angry."
"I don't blame you, bro. If I ever saw my father again, I'd most likely punch him until he couldn't breathe anymore."
"That seems very… gory, but hey, dude. I say go for it." Ratliff answered. "I'm just… I feel bad that she had to go through that, you know? It must've scared her and… to see her the way she was last night… I just wish there was something more that I could do."
"I don't think there's much we can do. She's not gonna want to go to therapy, trust me. And… right now, she just needs us to be there, you know? If she breaks down, freaks out, whatever. She needs our support more than ever."
"Yeah," Ratliff agreed. "Um, I'm going to tell you something and promise me you won't flip your shit."
"Okay." Rocky nodded for him to continue.
"She told me… a little while ago that she was ready."
Rocky raised an eyebrow, "ready? Ready for what?"
Ratliff looked down, clearing his throat, before looking back up at Rocky again, scratching the back of his head.
Rocky thought for about a second, before he realized just what Ratliff was referring to.
"Oh… I see." Rocky said and Ratliff silently nodded. "I'm not gonna beat you up for it. I trust you and I trust that you wont hurt her, but… why are you bringing that up?"
"Because, dude, I honestly believe that with all that's going on right now, that she's not ready yet. I mean, I'm not saying I wouldn't you know do it with her, because I do love her and I do want to share that… intimate moment with her, but I think that we should wait a little longer until she's ready, ready, you know?" Ratliff hung his head and looked down at his hands, taking a deep breath before looking back up at Rocky again.
Rocky felt movement and looked down to see that Vanessa was getting comfortable again and then soon, her breathing went back to being steady and he knew she was fast asleep.
"Yeah, bro, I couldn't agree with you more. But it's not up to me, it's your guys' relationship. It's entirely up to you two what you wanna do."
Ratliff nodded, "I just don't know how to tell her this, you know, without her getting mad at me."
"Find a moment to talk to her about it. She'll hear you out, I'm sure." Rocky assured him.
"Yeah, you're right. I'll do that. Thanks bro." Ratliff fist bumped him and then studied him. "Hey are you okay? You know, about everything?"
Rocky shrugged, "it's getting to me, man. I can't let it not get to me, you know? It's making me crazy and I don't know what to do about it."
"Talk about it. Don't let keep it inside."
"Yeah, I know. I will, it's just…freaks me out, you know? I feel like I could've been there for her, and the worst part of it was I couldn't, and it hurts."
"Yeah, you're not alone in that," Ratliff assured him.
"I know, I'm not trying to make myself look like the victim, I just feel so guilty."
"Well, don't," They both heard, Rocky lifted his head and Ratliff slowly turned around to see that Rydel was standing behind them, her lower lip trembling as she stepped further into the room. "I don't want you two or anyone else to feel guilty. It wasn't your fault."
"You have to know it wasn't yours either," Ratliff told her, going over to her, he put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards him.
Rocky felt movement again and looked down to see Vanessa was waking up. Despite the tense situation, he smiled down at her, "good morning." He whispered.
She gave him a soft smile back, "good morning to you too." She then took a deep breath and looked around a moment, before she sat up, and sleepily rubbed her eyes. She opened them again and noticed that Rydel and Ratliff were in the room, Ratliff holding her as she cried. She tilted her head, confused.
"Rydel, are you okay?"
Rydel cried harder and immediately Vanessa got up to go over to her. Rydel moved from Ratliff to Vanessa and immediately fell against her, hugging her.
"It's okay, it's okay…" Vanessa soothed her as Rocky sat up on the couch, running his fingers through his hair and Ratliff just softly rubbed Rydel's back.
After a few moments, Rydel calmed down and sniffled, wiping her eyes, "I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry?" Vanessa asked her, looking right at her. "Crying is a good thing, trust me. You have no reason to be sorry."
"I feel like I put this family through the worst it possibly could go th-through a-and—" Rydel was cut off by Rocky shaking his head.
"You did nothing, Rydel. I promise you, not one of us blame you for what dad did."
Realizing that Vanessa didn't know much, Rydel looked at her, only to see that she looked sympathetic.
"My—my father he—sexually abused me," Rydel told her, and then Vanessa pulled her towards her and hugged her. It wasn't until after she pulled away a few moments later that Rydel noticed she had tears in her eyes and one was even slipping down her cheek.
"So," Vanessa asked after a few moments of silence, "how are you going to get that pervert in jail?"
Rydel smiled at her, despite being so sad and depressed about everything. "You're on my side."
"Why wouldn't I be? He did something so gross and so disrespectful and disgusting…" Vanessa made a face and then turned to Rocky, "whatever you guys are planning, I want in."
"You sure?" He asked and she nodded.
"I'm positive."
Rydel hugged her again, gratefully, "thank you, you don't know how much tease means to me."
Vanessa smiled softly and hugged her back, "of course."
"Laura," Ross whined as she parked his car in the parking lot of the studio. "Why did we have to wake up at the crack of dawn?"
"Because it was when our call time was?" Laura gave him a look, "come on, at least try to act excited that you're going to see Calum and Raini."
"I am… sort of. I'm just really tired." He shook out his hair and then messed it up a bit, before looking at her.
"You need coffee," Laura said and then opened the door to get out of the car. Ross quickly shook his head, seeming more awake and quickly got out. He went to the driver's side and held his hand out for Laura to take. She smiled up at him and stood up. Ross closed the door behind her, and then together they walked into the studio all the way to Calum's dressing room where they knew Raini and Calum would already be.
"Good morning!" Raini sounded a bit too chipper for Ross to handle. He glared at her and she smiled even bigger, "aw, looks like someone's very cranky."
"What gave that away?" Ross sarcastically asked her.
"You need coffee," Calum said and then stood up to go get him some. Laura, meanwhile had been watching them speak and for some reason, Calum getting up made her think of the day before, how he had helped so much with Riker and she promptly burst into tears.
Ross turned around, concerned, "are you okay? Laura? What's wrong?"
She shook her head. Though, she did sort of know what was going on, so she whispered it in his ear, "hormones."
He nodded understandingly and pulled her close, pressing his lips against her forehead.
"You okay?" Raini asked her.
Laura lifted her head to look at Ross and he just nodded, telling her silently that it was time to tell her. Calum came in a moment later, giving the hot cup of coffee to Ross, he sat down.
"Um, Raini? Calum?" Laura shifted a bit uncomfortably in her spot on the couch that she'd taken soon after entering the room. "Ross and I have something we need to tell you."
"You're engaged?" Raini guessed, looking in between them.
Ross and Laura shook their heads.
"I'm pregnant," Laura said and then Raini stood up, shocked.
"You're pregnant? As in you're having a baby? What? You're only eighteen! How did this even happen?"
"I think you know how it happened," Laura snapped back at her, not liking her attitude about it.
"Well, no wonder, you two are constantly having sex, it's not even a joke anymore, it's happening so often."
"Raini, stop," Ross said, "listen to yourself and calm down."
"No!" Raini yelled at him, "you two think that just because you're the leads of this damn show that it's okay to screw it all up? What about Calum and I? You aren't the only ones here!"
"Raini!" Calum yelled at her, "come on, stop. You're being ridiculous."
"I am? They're the one's who are ruining this show! Because they're selfish! I can't believe anybody would actually support this."
Laura stood up with Ross, both having heard enough and Laura stared hard at her.
"This isn't exactly what we planned, but I'm not going to let you talk shit about us right in front of us," Her tone was cold, "I thought you of all people, would be supportive, but you're not. Fine. But if you're not going to be than I'm not speaking to you. Not unless it's for work. I'm done." Then without another word, she turned and walked out of Calum's dressing room.
Raini's mouth dropped open. "She can't—she didn't just—"
Ross didn't say anything to her and just walked out of the room. Raini looked at Calum in disbelief.
"I'm not helping you out of this one," He said, sitting back in his chair, he picked up his phone and then Raini just turned to the empty doorway, staring out of it for a few seconds, before she stormed out of it and and into her own dressing room.
"Knock knock!" Laura heard after a few moments of silently working on her homework with Ross and lifted her head to see Rydel, Vanessa, Rocky and Ratliff walk into the room.
"Vanessa!" Laura squealed and pushed her homework to the side, getting up she hugged her sister. She turned to Rydel, "and Rydel! Wow, today must be a good day if both of you are here."
"Hey, what about us?" Ratliff asked, throwing his hands up, motioning to himself and Rocky.
"What are we? Something very disgusting that you are very unlikely to eat?" Rocky asked her and Laura playfully rolled her eyes.
"I'm happy to see you both too," She assured them and then looked down at her feet.
"What's wrong?" Vanessa asked her.
"We told Raini and Calum about the baby today," Ross said, staring ahead. "Calum knew already, but Raini didn't take it so well."
"What do you mean? What did she say?" Rydel asked, going over to her brother and sitting down beside him.
"She said she wasn't going to support it, we were selfish and that she couldn't believe anyone actually would support it." Laura answered. Then she realized what Ross had said. "Wait, what do you mean Calum already knew?"
"Did you not notice he barely reacted? I told him a while ago. I didn't mean to, it just came out." Ross told her and Laura sighed.
"I'm not mad, just curious."
"Sorry." He apologized.
"Well, that's super shitty." Ratliff said, "I mean, about Raini, but who knows guys, I'm sure she'll come around. You're all like super close, she wouldn't fuck all of that up over this."
"She thinks this baby is going to ruin the show and that just because we're the leads, it doesn't mean we can screw it up for herself or Calum." Laura angrily shook her head. "My father died and fucking production was stopped for a while, she didn't react to it or mind that, but this she cares about? That's so… ugh!"
"Laura, you need to calm down, this isn't good for you or the baby," Vanessa told her, putting her hand on her sister's shoulder.
"You want me to be calm?" Laura yelled at her, "how the hell am I supposed to be calm when one of my best friends hates me? Oh and also, forgot to mention this too, Ben and Amber are fucking blackmailing me because of something that happened so long ago. So, if you think I'm not stressed out or freaking out for any reason than you're wrong!"
Vanessa didn't even blink an eye, "sit down, breathe and relax okay?"
"I can't! It's—it's too much!" Laura's eyes filled with tears and she covered her face with her hands. "I cant deal with Raini, stupid Ben and slutty Amber! I'm having a fucking baby in a few months and I'm graduating high school! I also have this show and the audition—" She realized what she said, her eyes widening and then turned around, walking to the other side of the room.
Ross lifted his head and looked at her, "audition? What audition?"
"N-nothing, I um, I wasn't going to do it."
"Why not?"
"Because I just can't okay? You think it's smart right now on top of everything we have going on?"
"Laura, I never said you had to give up your dreams for me." Ross told her as he stood up to talk to her.
"Too late," Laura snapped at him and he blinked.
"Oh…no." Vanessa sighed.
"Excuse me?" Ross demanded.
"I'm having a baby, aren't I? That's going to fuck up my career for sure, oh and also the show might end too, so there's that and—"
"Stop it," Ross snapped at her.
"What?"
"Just stop! Rewind a little bit and then play."
"I'm not a video tape Ross, what are you talking about?"
"If having this baby is stressing you out so damn much, then why didn't you talk to me or tell me about it? Why did it take Raini's disapproval for it all to come out?"
Laura didn't answer.
"And what about Ben and Amber, I thought we were done with them." Ross told her and she shook her head.
"I can't-I can't do this right now." Her eyes filled with tears and she just pushed passed Ross, grabbing her stuff, she opened the door and then walked to her dressing room, slamming the door behind her. Ross just stayed where he was, not moving, before he turned around to face everyone else.
"You have to go after her, Ross," Vanessa said, "just because she ended the conversation doesn't mean that it's over."
"What is going on with her?" Ross demanded, "she was fine earlier and yesterday, but after telling the news to Raini it's like she completely changed."
"Go talk to her," Ratliff gently told him. "Right now."
"Or do you want me to?" Rocky offered. "I'm pretty good at it, I can get her to talk."
"No, I should be the one to do it," Ross sighed, and then he walked out of his dressing room and knocked on Laura's.
"Go away, Ross."
"Not until you open this door and talk to me," He said. "Is this what we're going to do now? Go back to the way it was before, fighting and arguing all the time? Or are we going to actually be adults about this and communicate."
It took a moment, but Laura soon opened the door. Her eyes were red and puffy and her stare was cold.
"That's a start," Ross said after a few moments of tense silence. Laura didn't say anything and he just sighed, before pushing passed her into the room. "Okay, look, I'm sorry that this baby fucked things up for us, okay? I know that we, or really I messed up since I was the one that got you pregnant, but… I thought you were okay with this."
"I am," Laura told him, "I'm just—" She stopped speaking.
"Just what?" Ross asked gently, trying his hardest not to becoming impatient.
"Raini hates me," Laura's eyes filled with tears, "she's one of my best friends and now she hates me." Her lower lip trembled and Ross went to her, immediately wrapping his arms around her. "I can't lose her as a friend, even with everything she said."
"I know she didn't mean it, it was one of those, 'in the moment' things."
"I'm not so sure about that," Laura whispered, "I think she might have meant it and I don't blame her, if it was her that was in the situation with Calum or something I'd probably be really mad about it too."
"She still shouldn't have reacted to it like that," Ross told her, "I get that you and I are privileged in the sense that we're the leads of this show and without us, there isn't a show, but come on. It's not like the show will end, not unless we wanted it to, and by that I mean everyone who works here, not just us."
Laura nodded her head, "I'm sorry I blew up on you, I'm just so upset by what happened and I didn't mean to yell at you, it wasn't your fault."
"It's okay." Ross assured her, "I'm always here for you to yell at, and I apologize in advance if I react in the same way, I'm just used to reacting that way, but I know that I gotta stop doing that. Especially now, when you need me the most."
Laura smiled up at him, "you are such a sweetheart."
"I try." He smiled back, but it soon faded away. "Now, tell me about Ben and Amber, what are those idiots doing to you now?"
"Well, I ran into um, Ben, yesterday and he figured out pretty quickly that we're together. He threatened to go public with it, but I sort of ignored him and said that he was pathetic. Then, I ran into Amber, who just happened to be there, quote, unquote, and she basically threatened me too. She also knows I'm pregnant because she was at brunch with Rocky, Vanessa, my mother and I, and she heard our conversation." Laura took a deep breath, not ready yet to tell him the rest. "I don't know what to do, because if they do tell the world, then… it'll be out and it's too private for it to be out yet."
"What are they going to do if you don't do what they say?" Ross asked, "Or, wait, I meant what do they want you to do?"
"Um, nothing major, just like… help them cheat on the next few history tests." Laura came up with, the worlds tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them.
"What? No! Then you'll get expelled and you won't be able to graduate!" Ross looked really pissed off, and Laura was only scared of what his reaction would be if she told him what they really told her.
"I don't have a choice, Ross. I'd rather do that than have what's going on with us privately become public."
"Tell them to study, it's a new fascinating thing, really." Ross turned away from her, "fuck, this sucks."
"I-I'm sorry," Laura weakly whispered behind him and he quickly turned to her. She looked like she was going to cry again so he shook his head and put both hands on her cheeks, pulling him towards her, he softly kissed her.
"I love you, Laura." He whispered.
She looked up at him.
"And I want you to do what you feel is right, but if you have to um, do whatever you need to do then I understand, I wont agree with it, but I understand."
She looked at him confused, before it hit her. She quickly shook her head, "no, no. Ross, I don't care how messed up things get, I will never get rid of this baby or of you. I want this, okay? I might meltdown about it, but nothing will change my mind, not Ben, not Amber and not Raini."
"What about the audition you were talking about?" Ross asked her. "Are you going to pass that up?"
"I—I don't know," She answered honestly. "I still have time to think about it."
"Just promise me one thing," Ross said and she nodded. "Don't ever give up on your dreams for me."
"What? Ross—"
"Promise me," He said, his tone a bit more firm. She opened her mouth, unable to say anything and just slowly nodded her head. "Okay," He whispered.
"Ross?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you, don't ever forget that." She whispered, tearfully and he nodded.
"Never."
"I see you two worked everything out," Rocky said as Ross and Laura walked backed into Ross' dressing room.
Ross nodded, "for the most part, yeah." He said, going over to help Laura sit down on the couch. She pulled him down next to her and held his hand.
"Oh hey," Calum came into the room and noticed everyone else was in there, "hey guys, what's up?" He didn't wait for them to answer, "Kevin wants to see you two."
Ross and Laura exchanged a look before nodding and standing up. They slowly walked out of the room and into Kevin's office. He motioned for them to shut the door and they did, taking their seats in front of him, while he finished his phone call.
"What did we do now?" Ross blurted, ignoring Laura's look. "We've stayed out of trouble for a while now."
"Yes, sort of. I mean, you're still pranking Calum and Raini and other crew members," Kevin reminded him and Ross rolled his eyes.
"What is going on?" Laura asked.
"I got news about you two," Kevin pointed in between them. "Are you both expecting a baby?"
Laura's mouth dropped open and Ross was speechless.
"Where did you hear that?" Ross asked.
"A crew member," Kevin said, "they heard you two fighting."
"So Raini." Laura threw her hand up, "unbelievable."
"Whoa, wait, Laura, I don't think she'd do that—" Ross began.
"She was so angry, Ross, what makes you think she wouldn't blurt this out?" Laura demanded.
"Okay, you two can talk about that later, but for now, we need to talk about what to do. Since this news is very new, I don't really know how to deal with this." Kevin rubbed his temples.
"You're not going to cancel the show are you?" Laura asked him worriedly, "because I can still work."
"How?" Kevin demanded, surprising her as he'd never risen his voice towards her before, "you're just going to look more and more pregnant and I'm pretty sure the viewers will notice. How could you two be so irresponsible? I thought turning eighteen would mean you would stop being immature, but I guess not. You're both still the same way you were when we got back to film this season."
"Kevin, we're sorry," Ross said, exchanging a look with Laura who looked down at her hands. "We were being careful but—"
"If that's true then why the hell is she pregnant?" Kevin yelled at him.
Ross knew that yelling at his boss was probably not the right way to go about things, so he fought really hard to keep his cool.
"Don't yell at her," He said, his tone unsteady. "She's got enough shit to deal with as it is."
Kevin just let out a loud sigh and let his head hang. "I don't know what we're going to do, but for now, you two can go home. Production is cancelled for the day and until further notice."
Laura's head snapped up, her eyes filled with tears. "No, don't—"
"You may leave," Kevin told her and Laura stared at him, her lower lip quivering before she just stood up and walked out of the room. Ross followed after her, walking behind her and trying to catch up to her. Her head was down as she just walked until she reached her dressing room, but just before she did, she saw Raini walk out of her own.
"You bitch!" She yelled at her and Ross stopped suddenly as Laura approached Raini. "You told Kevin about the baby! How could you?"
"No, Laura, I may not support this but I didn't—"
"You're lying!" Laura didn't know what she was doing exactly as her mind was racing with a million thoughts and her eyes were teary. All she could hear was her yelling and Ross trying to get her to calm down. "You told him and now we're all going to lose our jobs, are you happy? Is that what you fucking wanted to accomplish by doing that?"
"Laura, I swear, I didn't—"
"Well, excuse me for not believing you." Laura roughly snapped at her. "I'm sorry you don't support this, but that doesn't mean you can go blabbing it to everyone else." She stared at her hard and Raini, this time, didn't even respond. "I hope you're happy Raini, because now, I hate you."
"You don't mean that." Raini shook her head in disbelief.
"Guess you're wrong about that," Laura kept her voice cold, but even. "Guess we're not best friends, are we? Goodbye Raini." Then, without another word she pushed passed her and into her dressing room. Raini looked at Ross, who just shook his head, disapprovingly and followed after her.
"Of course, you'd take her side," Raini called after him. "You didn't even hear my side of the story."
"What there to hear?" He asked her. "You did this, so you have to deal with what you did." He shrugged and with that, disappeared into Laura's dressing room.
"I can't believe you would do that," Rydel shook her head. "How could you do that to them?"
"I didn't!"
"Whatever." Rydel answered and didn't even give her a chance to speak, before she turned and left her in the hall. Raini then watched as Ratliff, Vanessa and Rocky all did the same, leaving only herself and Calum.
"You believe me, don't you? I would never do that to them."
Calum shrugged, "honestly, I don't know." Calum answered, "find a way to prove it, then maybe I'll believe you."
"Why wouldn't you now?"
"Because of how rude you were to them and what you said, it wasn't cool and it doesn't really help out your case." He answered, backing away. "Sorry, Raini." Then he too left her behind.
Raini's eyes filled with tears and she just stood there, for a few moments, in disbelief and wondering how she was going to fix it and prove that she was innocent.
Yeah, so drama. Yeahhhh, it'll all be explained and stuff what happened, but right now, Laura is under a lot of stress and Ross is feeling a lot of guilt. Vanessa's on Rydel's side and the next chapter will have Mark back! And Ross is going to find out something he's not going to like. Also, Laura is going to run into Amber again... yeah.
I dont know where I was going with this author's note, because I had it all ready to go in my mind. Fucckkkk.
Well, anyway, happy birthday Calum! You'll never read this haha.
Oh! I wanted to ask who your favorite couple is (other than Ross&Laura and Rydel&Ratliff). I want to write more about the couple you like or if you have any suggestions. Let me know. I'm open to them. Really.
So, I hope you like this one, sorry it's rushed and short. I just wanted to get something out because I feel bad when it's ages and there's nothing and you all are like, wtf! You know? So, thank you for your support. You guys rock!
Also, follow me on twitter if you have one: jessier529. I'm on a lot and I love talking to and meeting people.
