Ross went to Laura's apartment after rehearsal, like she told him.
"Okay, Mr. Grumpy Pants, what's wrong?" Laura said, as they sat on the couch.
"Will you think what I'm about to say is silly?" he asked.
"Of course not."
"Okay. I'm just upset about everything: my foot, not being able to rehearse, you get what I mean."
"Oh, Ross, you're upset that you won't be able to perform?"
"Well, that's not what I mea-"
She cut him off. "There will be other big shows! There's no need to get upset over this one. Now, let's try and get your mind off things. Wanna watch a movie?"
"Uh… sure." He said, sighing as she walked into the kitchen to make them some popcorn.
'That's not what I meant! I'm upset because you don't get that your new dancer is a total perv!' he thought.
It was three days before the big performance, and Ross was more mad than ever at Liam. He'd said so many pervy things that week to Laura, all of which she continued taking as jokes and ignored.
But what happened next was one of the worst things Liam could do. "Hey, Laura. Ross just told me that he thinks that he's the main act of the show, and everyone just pays attention to him." Liam said, obviously lying to Laura. Ross would never even think something like that!
"What? No, that's not like him." She answered.
"Yeah, it's not. But he told me that he thinks he deserves to be more famous that you because he works harder. He thinks that you're a spoiled brat and you get everything you want."
That was the last straw for Laura. "You know what? He deserves to be punished. Ugh, I can't believe him!" she said, storming away. Instead of confronting Ross, she chose to avoid him all day, despite his attempts to talk to her.
That afternoon, Ross went over to Laura's apartment, though she wasn't expecting him. As he walked in, she looked up from the TV and her expression immediately turned sour.
"I can't believe you would say something like that!" Laura screamed at him.
"I'm sorry, what?" Ross said, oblivious to what she was talking about.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. You know what you told Liam."
"I'm sorry, I'm so confused. What?"
"Don't play innocent. I know you think you're so much better than me and that I'm such a spoiled brat" she yelled.
"What? I never said that! You know I wouldn't ever dare to say something like that!"
"Well, you're clearly lying. Liam said you told him all about how you're the main act and you work so much harder than me."
At that moment, Ross knew what had happened. He sensed that Liam was jealous of him, based on the way that Liam never even tried to be nice to him. So, Liam had made it up to make Laura mad at Ross.
"Laura, he made that up! He's the one that's lying!"
"Stop being so childish! You know what? Just get out of my apartment. I don't want you here."
"Lau-"
"Save it. Get out right now." She demanded. So he left, feeling helpless. How do you even fix a problem like this?
Laura avoided him up until the day of the big performance. Ross already had a performer pass, so he could still get in and be with the rest of the dancers and band before the show.
"Hi, guys. Do you happen to know where Laura is?" he asked as he entered the band's dressing room.
"Probably in her dressing room."
"Thanks. And good luck out there! I'm sure you'll do amazing!" Ross said to them as he exited the room.
He wandered until he found Laura's dressing room. He heard voices from inside, which he assumed were her makeup team. But when he knocked on the door and heard, "come in" and entered the room, the only people he saw were Laura and Liam.
Laura sighed when she saw him.
"Laura, can I talk to you for a second?" he asked.
"No. Go away."
"Laura, please? I need to say some stuff."
"Fine. Liam, will you please excuse us for a few minutes?"
"Sure, I'll be in my dressing room if you need me." He said, before leaving the room.
"What do you want?" she demanded.
"I want you to just listen to what I have to say, and don't say anything until I'm done."
"I'll try."
"Okay, I'll start out by saying that I know you're mad at me. And I want to tell you that no matter what you think, I know that you know deep down inside that I'd never say anything like what Liam told you I did. Ever. My parents definitely raised me better than that. And you know me better than that. So, I just want you to know that even if you don't believe me, I promise you that I never did say that I'm better than you and it was just a giant lie."
"Alright. Ross, this is hard for me to say, but I do believe you. I've wanted to believe you. But every time I saw Liam, he'd remind me of what you supposedly said, and I guess I just forgot that you'd never say anything that bad about someone. I'm so sorry."
"I forgive you. And I'm sorry too."
"Why? It wasn't your fault that Liam said that about you."
"I know, I just feel bad about all the drama."
"Don't worry about it. I'll talk to him."
"Thanks. You really are the best friend anyone could have." Laura smiled.
They spent the night playing board games, watching TV, eating pizza and ice cream, and laughing.
"Liam, I need to talk to you." Laura said as she entered her dancer's dressing room the day before the big show.
"Okay, what's up?" Liam smiled, shutting his laptop.
"I know that you lied about what Ross said. He would never ever say anything like that. You humiliated me in front of my best friend. I don't hire people who do that. So, I'm going to have to ask you to pack your bags after tomorrow night's show."
"You're firing me?"
"Yes. And don't try to change my mind. I'll see you at 2:00 rehearsal tomorrow. Don't be late." She said, before storming out of the room.
It was the day of the show. Laura was feeling so many mixed emotions. She was extremely excited and happy about performing tonight, but was also extremely upset with Liam. "Ugh, why did he have to do that?!" Laura said to herself, for about the millionth time.
Laura was feeling super anxious about what would happen during the show, especially because she had so many dances that involved Liam. She asked Ross for advice, and they decided to listen to "Shake it Off" by Taylor Swift together. "Wow, I actually feel so much better!" Laura said when the song ended.
"Laura, it's time for you to go on." Laura's tour manager said through her dressing room door.
"Yay! I'll be right out!" she called.
"You're gonna do amazing. Break a leg. I wish I could be out there with you!" Ross smiled as she placed her hand on the doorknob.
"Thanks, Ross. I wish you could be, too."
Without thinking, she kissed him on the cheek before running out of the room.
"Whoahhhh. What. Just. Happened?" Ross said, before going out to his front row seat.
Soon after he sat down, the music started that Ross knew so well. Usually, the intro music to Boombox, the first song, was his cue to go stand with Laura on the rising platform to the stage. But tonight, it was Liam doing that, which made him cringe.
"Hi Los Angeles! What's up? I'm so excited to be here tonight! Let's press play on the boombox, shall we?" Laura said into her microphone, before skipping to a big "boombox" and pushing the play button.
"Press play on the day that you came into my life, yeah." Laura sang.
Ross couldn't stop thinking about how Laura had kissed him. Did she like him?
"Yeah you're my boom, boom, boombox baby." Laura sang, smiling. Had he really been thinking about Laura for the entire song?
The rest of the show went great, as always. Apparently, Ross was the only one in the audience who noticed the tension between Laura and Liam. But that was good, he guessed.
"Thank you so much Staples Center! You guys are amazing! Thank you all for coming out here tonight to spend time with me! I love each and every one of you, don't ever forget it! See you soon!" Laura said, and then the lights went black.
"Encore, encore!" the audience yelled. Ross knew that they always tried to make the encore dance the best one.
Tonight, they'd selected Dancing Around the Truth for the encore show. Ross was mad that it wasn't him up there doing the dance that he choreographed just for this show.
It made him happy to see the smile on Laura's face the entire show, though. Anyone could tell that performing was the thing that made her happiest.
And then he realized something. He was crushing on Laura Marie Marano. But not only that. He was in love with her.
After the show, Ross went back to Laura's dressing room to wait for her to come. When she walked in the door, Ross ran up to her, wrapped her in a hug, picked her up, and swung her around. "Whoah!" Laura said when he put her down.
"Laura, that was amazing! I'm so proud of you!"
"Ah, thank you! I loved every second of it!" she smiled. "And there's something I need to talk to you about."
"Me too." Ross said.
"You go first," they both said at the same time, causing them to laugh.
"Okay, I'll go." Laura laughed. "So, um, I'm just gonna say it: I'minlovewithyou," Laura said so fast that he didn't understand.
"What?"
"I'm in love with you, Ross. I have been for a while."
"You wanna know something?"
"Sure."
"I love you, too." Ross said, before smashing his lips onto hers.