Here it is! Chapter two of this epic story. Surprise along the way. See if you can figure out what it is... ;)
Enjoy. I don't own anything. Like, Ellington, who is totally hot by the way (don't tell my boyfriend I said that, haha).
I'm pretty sure you're gonna love Rocky and Rydel in this, I know I sure do. I couldn't stop laughing the entire time I was writing this.
Anyway, all I'm gonna say is #AwkwardFamilyDinner and #PoorRoss. Haha.
Mwuah!
Here it was.
The day coming that Ross dreaded the most.
No, it wasn't the last day of shooting his show, or his last day or tour, or the day he'd get his wisdom teeth removed.
That last one actually he would have much rather gone through then what he was about to, actually.
Yes, it was the day.
The day of the Marano-Lynch Family Dinner.
All capitalized because that's just how important it was.
To Laura.
Not so much to him, but he wouldn't admit that to her.
Since he was officially buddies with her father, he didn't want Rocky or Rydel's smartass comments to ruin that.
And they were pretty smartass, those siblings of his.
But he knew he had to do it and he figured it would be good for his family and her family to be together, even if it was for just one night.
Since his mother had insisted on cooking the meal, the gathering would be held at his house. Since Laura just had herself, her mother, her sister and her father, it made sense. Ross' family was too big to move from one place to another.
So it was decided on the dinner being in the Lynch home.
He just really hoped it went well.
"Okay, Lynch Family meeting!" Ross called throughout the house. Everyone met up in the living room.
"Why?" Was Rocky's first question.
Ross pointed his finger at him, "excellent question, Rocky. Why, well, here's why. Since everyone seems to know about Laura's and my sex life, we're going to not bring that up," He looked pointedly at his older brother and sister, "and we're going to try not to embarrass Ross tonight okay?" He pointedly looked at Rydel and Rocky again, "I'm looking are you two, Rydel and Rocky."
"What? Us?" Rocky scoffed, "we are so the innocent ones in this. Totally not the ones you should worry about."
"Really?" Ross deadpanned.
"Why so nervous?" Rydel smirked at him, answering the question before Rocky could.
"I'm not nervous."
"Aren't you friends with her dad now?" Rocky asked.
"Okay! Focus! They're going to be here any minute so will you please-" Ross was cut off by the doorbell ringing. His eyes widened.
Rocky just shook his head as Rydel rolled her eyes, Riker raising an eyebrow.
"You are jumpy," Ryland commented.
Rocky opened the door, only to turn around to speak to his sister, "Rydel! Your boyfriend's here, hey Ellington." He winked at him and Ellington just shook his head.
"He's not my boyfriend," Rydel muttered, walking up to the front door. She hugged Ellington, "thanks for coming!"
"Anything to see Ross squirm in his seat." Ellington responded hugging her back, "but you know, it's always good to see you too."
"What about me?" Rocky asked.
"Not you, not always good to see you." Ellington joked.
Rocky rolled his eyes, "you two aren't dating my ass." He muttered.
He was just about to shut the door when a hand stopped him, he opened it again and looked to see Laura was there, with Vanessa and who he assumed were her parents.
"Ross! Your girlfriend is here!" He shouted so he could be heard throughout the house.
"Thanks, idiot." Ross muttered, then smiled upon seeing Laura and her family. "Hey guys! Welcome! Come in!"
"What are we in a circus?" Rocky asked and Rydel smacked him, though she was smiling.
Ellington gave them a knowing look, "you two are up to something aren't you?"
"Whaaat? Us?" Rydel moved her finger in between herself and Rocky, "you know us too well." She smiled happily.
Ellington just shook his head as Mark and Stormie joined everyone at the front door.
"Stormie!" Ellen happily hugged her friend, "it's been a while!"
"I know! How are you?"
"Great! How are you? I heard you've been touring everywhere lately!"
"We have, just a week ago we were back in Colorado…" Stormie's voice trailed off as she and Ellen walked to the kitchen.
"Hey Ross!" Damiano greeted his girlfriend's boyfriend.
"Hey, Mr. Marano! How's it going?" Ross asked as he hugged him, "I don't think you've met my dad, but this is my dad, Mark Lynch."
Damiano smiled warmly and shook Ross' father's hand. Laura quietly squealed next to him and Ross laughed.
"So, let's talk, please follow me into the living room," Mark said, leading Damiano away.
"Yes!" Laura and Ross high fived. They had hoped their fathers would get along and it looked like they would be.
"Sup." Rocky nodded his head in Vanessa's direction.
"Hey, Rocky, long time no see." She smiled.
"Yeah, you know, been busy playing, in a band, it's good, you should check it out." Rocky said, "called R5, there's a killer guy who plays guitar in it and I don't know, I think it's worth checking out one day."
Vanessa laughed, "maybe I will, but I heard that guy's already taken, by my sister." She raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, two guys who play killer guitar." Rocky amended, "only one's totally single."
"Flirt." Riker muttered and then smiled at Vanessa. He hugged her and Ryland did the same.
"Let's all go to the playroom/practice room/Ross and Rocky's video game room," Rydel suggested, "while we wait for dinner to be ready."
Everyone agreed and with that they followed her up the stairs.
"I'm so going to kick your ass!" Ross told his brother as he pressed the buttons super fast as he fought against Rocky's character in the game.
"Dude, not even, I just totally owned you!" Rocky stood up and cheered, "whaat? Epic win for Rocky!"
"Don't worry, Ross, one day you will be a winner," Rydel pouted, squeezing his cheeks together.
"Well, that day," Ross glared at her, she just smiled, "is gonna be today!" He picked up the controller and was just about to start a new game when his mother called his name. "Dammit!"
"Dinner's ready!" She called.
"Oh, shit." He said and dropped the controller.
"Come on, Rossy Shor, it'll be fun." Rydel winked at him and he gave her a look.
"For you, yes."
"Always." She grinned, flipping her hair behind her shoulder and with that, walked out of the room.
"Come on, time to do this." Laura smiled at him and he smiled back at her.
"First we have to…" He trailed off as he sat up to kiss her. She smiled into the kiss and kissed him back.
"Yo, you guys comin or what?" Rocky stuck his head back inside the room.
"Dammit!" Ross huffed and stood up, taking Laura's hand in hers as she laughed, following him down the stairs and into the dining room.
It had been twenty minutes into the dinner and everything was going pretty smoothly. Or at least Ross figured it was.
Their parents were talking while the kids were in a conversation of their own.
Until his dear sweet mother decided to engage him and everybody else in conversation as well.
"So, Laura, Ross. How is it filming season four?" Stormie asked.
"It's great, awesome." Ross answered.
"Yeah, you've been traveling the world, how do you handle being a rockstar and an actor at the sane time?" Ellen asked.
He shrugged, "I just go where I'm told to, pretty much. Though, I love days off, I love when I work. It's an awesome feeling."
"Yeah, you like days off," Rocky nodded, pausing to sip his drink, he looked at Rydel and they shared a quick look, before he smirked in his brother's direction. "So you can get funky with Laura."
Ross' eyes widened and Laura closed her eyes and groaned.
"I'm sorry, did you just say Ross likes days off so he can get funky with my daughter?" Damiano asked. Rocky nodded.
"So funky." Rydel added.
Damiano looked at his wife, "what does that even mean?"
"Means we dance!" Ross blurted, glaring at his brother. "You know, for the show, we practice dance moves…" He trailed off.
"That was lame." Rocky commented.
"I'm going to kill you," He said.
"Too bad you can't." Rocky teased.
"Yeah because Ally clearly needs work with her dancing and it's totally in the episode we're currently working on," Laura quickly covered, making a mental note to add it in the script as soon as they got to work the next day.
"Yeah, totes." Rocky smiled.
Ross, meanwhile, was picturing sending Rocky off in a box to the middle of nowhere in Africa.
"Did you guys know that Ross and Laura spend a lot of time together?" Rydel asked everyone at the table, she smiled innocently, "alone?"
"What?" Damiano demanded.
"Why, just why?" Ross asked nobody in particular.
"Well, we are boyfriend and girlfriend, of course we're going to want to spend time together." Laura said.
"Yeah, but you two do spend a lot of time alone with each other," Vanessa agreed.
"Because we're boyfriend and girlfriend," Laura said.
"And what do you two do together?" Mark asked.
"We play UNO, yeah, those games can get pretty intense." He wasn't totally bullshitting, they did play UNO a lot.
"And get funky." Rocky added.
"Okay we are done, let's talk about something else," Ellington suggested.
'Thank you' Ross and Laura mouthed and he nodded.
"Yeah, like the tour," Riker suggested. "Awesome shows, awesome people, just all around awesomeness."
"So awesome." Rocky agreed.
"How was laser tagging with Ross Mr. Marano?" Rydel asked.
"Wait, you two went laser tagging together?" Vanessa blinked in disbelief, she looked at Ross, "you went on a date with my father?"
"No, it was more like two guys hanging out, not a date. I can't kiss him." Ross responded.
"But you can kiss his daughter all you want." Rocky joked.
"ROCKY!" Riker and Ellington shouted as Rydel just laughed in her seat.
He shrugged, "What I'm just saying the truth."
Laura leaned in, "this is kinda awkward." She whispered in his ear.
He nodded, "you can say that again."
His hand grabbed hers and she laced their fingers, squeezing his hand for support when suddenly she got an idea.
"Want to make Rocky squirm?" She whispered in his ear so that only he could hear it.
He nodded, "hell yeah, but will your dad call a hit man on me in the process?"
She shook her head, "don't worry about him."
Ross nodded, "okay." He said, "um, just don't be you know, like your normal self." He was referring to how she normally acted when they got intimate together.
"I'm not actually going to touch you, I'm just gonna poke you. Make it look like something's going on."
"But wouldn't that make it obvious?" He asked.
She shook her head, "we're actors, we can make it work."
He nodded, "okay." He responded and then realized that everyone was staring at him. "What it's not like we were making out, jeez. Relax guys. Can't a couple have a normal conversation while not being stared at?"
Laura giggled behind her hand. She then poked him and he hit his hand against the table.
Rocky looked up. She did it again and he hit the table again.
"Something up Ross?" Rydel asked him.
"Whaaat makes you say that?" He asked, stretching out the word, 'what'.
Laura let go of his hand and then poked him again. He jumped and then smiled at her, she smiled back.
"You two are up to something," Rocky commented.
"We're not up to anything." Ross said as he poked her and she closed her eyes and smiled.
"Oh yeah, then what's up with her smile?" Rocky asked.
"What's wrong with her smiling?" Ross asked, "she likes me."
Laura then put her hand on the top of Ross' jeans, unbuttoning them she pulled the zipper down and then in less than ten seconds, she was actually touching him. He jumped and his hand hit the table.
"We did not agree on this." He whispered to her.
"Go with it." She whispered and he nodded.
Since he was sitting next to Rocky, he saw him jump again and then close his eyes.
"Uh, what is going on?" He began to sound uncomfortable.
"What do you mean?" Laura asked him, Ross slowly opened his eyes and nodded. How the hell they were doing this with her father just a few feet away was beyond anything he could understand. He really hoped he wasn't going to die that night.
She moved her hand away and Ross sighed. He quickly fixed his pants (as much as it hurt him to do it) and then smiled at his older brother.
"Something up?"
"Uh yeah." Rocky said, "look down baby bro."
"What?" Rydel spit her drink across the table and then covered her mouth once she realized she hit Ross in the face. "Oh my god, Ross! I didn't meant to-"
"It's fine." He said, wiping his face clean.
"Ross, why don't you go upstairs and get cleaned up?" Stormy suggested. He nodded and with that moved away from the table, forgetting about his problem for a moment. Laura quickly realized it as well and jumped up, turning him around and thankfully only Rydel, Ellington, Rocky and Riker were the ones to see what was going on.
"Overshare." Riker muttered and looked down at his food.
"Let's go upstairs." Laura suggested and Ross nodded.
"They're so gonna get funky together," Rocky commented.
"Really?" Ellington looked at him and he just shrugged, like nothing had happened.
Ross heard the door to the bathroom close and Laura leaned against it for a moment. She took a deep breath and then got off the door, going to help Ross, clean his eyes.
"What is Rydel drinking? That shit stings!" Ross complained as she helped him hold the towel against his eyes.
"Lemonade." She responded, she sniffed, "and probably some vodka. She is old enough." She shrugged and then soon enough, Ross was able to open his eyes and see again.
"My vision just died as soon as my mom told me to get cleaned up."
"I wonder why." She mused and then looked down. He looked down too. "Wanna make it quick?" She asked him.
"Our entire families are downstairs…" Ross trailed off.
"And?"
"I don't want to die tonight."
Laura laughed, "you really think my dad is capable of murder?"
"You're his youngest daughter, I'd say its yes on that one." Ross responded.
"But you're his friend now, he trusts you." She trailed her finger on his chest and smirked.
"Fuck, Laura." He said, closing his eyes. She just smiled at him.
He opened his eyes a moment later and looked at her, "super fast." He said.
"Super fast." She agreed and with that, he picked her up, which then allowed her to wrap her arms and legs around him and pressed his lips against hers.
Rydel noticed that Ross and Laura had been gone for a very long time.
Well, twenty minutes, but seriously, it didn't take that long to change, did it?
"I'm gonna go get them," Rydel said, standing up.
"Go for it." Riker responded.
"Excuse me, I'll uh, be right back." Rydel said and with that, went up the stairs.
She found the bathroom and knocked on the door loudly.
"What?" Ross' voice was loud enough she could hear it.
"Everyone's looking for you two!" Rydel responded.
It took about thirty seconds, but the door soon opened to reveal a messy haired Ross and a flushed in the face Laura.
"Oh god, I just interrupted something didn't I?"
"And you and Rocky are tied for epic cockblockyness." Ross made a face, "that didn't make sense."
"No it didn't and gross!" Rydel made a face. "Get your asses downstairs!"
"You're the one that spit a drink all over my face," Ross pointed out, "you asked for this."
"I didn't do it on purpose." Rydel responded, "though come to think of it," Her expression changed, "this isn't the first time I've heard you go at it, so… yeah. Come downstairs. Or her father will probably come up next." She saw the flash of fear in Ross' eyes and smirked. "See you two soon."
"Wait! We should come down with you," Ross said, "make it less suspicious."
"But not obvious," Rydel responded sarcastically. Ross fought the strong urge to roll his eyes.
"Smartass," Ross muttered as they reached the first floor landing. The three of them walked to the dining room.
"Be nice." Laura whispered to him.
"Uh huh, sure." Ross responded.
"So what happened to you guys?" Ryland asked.
"You don't want to know," Rydel responded.
"Getting' funky right?" Vanessa asked, high fiving Rocky.
Ross looked at Laura, "I'm putting Rocky up for adoption." He said it with such a straight face it caused Laura to burst out laughing.
"Now that you two have returned, let's talk about some things." Mark suggested.
"Like what?"
"Getting funky." Rocky responded.
"I'm going to ship you in a box to Africa." Ross threatened.
"You can't, we kinda need him for the band and family's sake." Riker reminded him.
"Dammit." Ross muttered.
Laura laughed again.
"What do you want to talk about, Rocky you say anything I am going to murder you." Ross threatened. Rocky promptly closed his mouth.
"Well, we were thinking and we've been thinking about this for a while, being that Ellen and I have met a few times before and that you two have been a couple for as long as you have, we should go on a family vacation together, all of us." Stormie said.
"A vacation? Like as in Rocky will be there and Rydel will be there and our parents will be there and our whole family will be there," Ross said, the look on his face one of horror.
Laura tilted her head, "is that such a good idea?" She asked.
"Yeah, I meant, I might literally ship Rocky away." Ross said. "Possibly Rydel too." He added.
"Hey! I wasn't that bad." Rydel muttered while Ellington just gave her a look, "what I'm just saying the truth."
"Tell Ellington how you really feel about him and we will talk," Ross said and her eyes widened. She looked at Ellington who raised his eyebrow towards her.
"I have no idea what he's talking about." She said.
"Ellington tell her how you feel too." Laura added.
"And this just got a whole lot interesting." Rocky sat back, "where's my popcorn? Ryland?"
"Get your own popcorn, Dumbass," Ryland responded.
"Well, you're a buzzkill." Rocky stated.
"Great! It's settled, we will all go on a family vaction together," Stormie smiled.
Ross groaned.
Laura face palmed and Rocky just smiled big.
"More time to get funky with Laura, Ross," He winked.
"I still feel like I'm missing something," Damiano said.
"Oh and dates with my dad too," Vanessa added.
"Wait, is there gonna be laser tag wherever we're going?" Ross asked.
"I'm sure there will be somewhere nearby." Mark assured him.
Ross clapped his hands, "I'm in. Mr. Marano, you're going down."
Damiano laughed, "sure thing, I'm a laser tag champion."
"He really is." Laura whispered to Ross.
"He's also very competitive," Ross said pointing to himself, "I mean I am." He blinked. "Anyway, Mr. M, let's bring it."
"You do realize we're going on a family vacation with our parents and won't have any alone time right?" Laura asked once Ross had sat down after her father agreed to the challenge.
He looked at her.
"Daaamn, crap." He moaned and sat back in his seat.
"There it is, the realization just hit him." Rocky grinned, "this is gonna be one fun trip." He excitedly rubbed his hands together and laughed.
"Well it's official, my parents just want things to be awkward for us." Ross said as he and Laura walked into his room after the dinner was over. He lay down on his bed and Laura laughed, shaking her head as she lied down beside him.
"You're just over thinking it and besides, it was my mom's idea too." She reminded him.
He looked at her, "Rocky's going to be there, Rydel's going to be there…" He trailed off. "It's like those two teamed up could end up in a huge… I don't know, blow up of some kind! Like your Italian father calling a hit man on me for, I don't know, having sex with his daughter!"
"He still doesn't know, even if Rocky kept hinting at it." Laura reminded him.
"Yeah, I don't know why he chose the world funky, but alright, Rocky. Whatever helps you sleep at night I guess, buddy."
Laura laughed, "it'll be fun."
"I'm going to lose so many man points." Ross said.
"You'll be fine." She reassured him, she leaned up and gently kissed him. "Now, instead of thinking about that vacation, why don't we spend some alone time before I have to leave?" She asked.
"Door locked?" He asked her.
"Locked it on my way in here."
"Siblings busy playing video games?"
"I really hope so."
"Our mom's are for sure having a gossip sesh like two teenaged girls, most likely what Rydel and Vanessa are doing as we speak and our fathers are getting to know each other. We are completely alone, without actually being completely alone." Ross said, thinking over his words.
"And now's where you kiss me Lonely Boy." She teased and he playfully rolled his eyes, smiling at her, before pressing his lips against hers and moving so that he was hovering above her.
As she kissed him back, Ross realized that maybe the family vacation wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. That is if Rocky or Rydel didn't get in the way and embarrass him like they had that night, everything should (and hopefully would) be okay.
All he could do was hope though.
And yes, that means there's gonna be another chapter.
Whaaaat?
Okay, reviews. All around, tell me what you think. Get it to I don't know another twenty? Jk. You don't have to. But it'd be really cool.
I love all of you guys anyways ;)
Much love! xx