“Mandi come on! You have to get dressed!” Rydel urged, tugging on your arm. You waved her away, not wanting to move from your extremely comfortable position on Ross’s dressing room couch. “I am dressed!” you said defensively, looking down at the jean shorts and tank top you were wearing. Rydel stepped back and crossed her arms. “Why don’t you ever let me have any fun?” she pouted. “Because your fun isn’t any fun for me.” You replied. “Besides, no one’s going to see me. I’ll be backstage the entire time!” She scoffed. “And? You can still look hot, even from backstage. Pleeeeeeeeeease let me dress you?” she begged once again. You sighed, standing up. “I’m not a life-sized Barbie for you to use for your enjoyment you know.” She grinned and grabbed your hand, tugging you down the hallway towards her dressing room.
****
An hour later you walked back into Ross’s dressing room, dressed from head to toe in Rydel’s clothes. “You look fantastic!” she gushed. You laughed and sat back down on the couch, kicking your feet up on the coffee table. “I look like you!” you retorted. She shrugged. “Same difference.” She said playfully. “I’m going to go get dressed. If I come back and you’ve changed back into your shorts I’m going to throw you off of the balcony!” she called over her shoulder. “Is that a threat or a promise?” you asked sarcastically. She turned around and stuck her tongue out at you before shutting the door behind her. You turned your attention back to scrolling through Tumblr on your phone. You clicked over to the Ross Lynch tag and began scrolling through it, just for curiosity’s sake. You and Ross had been secretly dating for nearly a year now. You had hit it off at an R5 meet & greet last November & you’d been together ever since. Trying to hide your relationship from the fans had been a challenge; you couldn’t go out on any public dates unless Ross came to visit you in your hometown where nobody knew or cared who he was. Since the majority of the time you flew out to LA to see him instead of him coming to see you, most of your dates consisted of a nice dinner in Ross’s family kitchen and a movie in the living room. You didn’t really mind; as long as you were getting to spend time with Ross, it didn’t matter what you were doing. You continued scrolling through the tag, laughing at different comments R5ers had posted. ‘There’s no way he doesn’t work out!’ ‘ROSS CAN YOU NOT?’ ‘He’s too sexy for Disney channel.’ The fans were a big part of the reason Ross wanted to keep your relationship a secret; he had seen how hateful different fandoms were towards their idols’ girlfriends and he was terrified of losing you over hate. You had assured him that you would be fine, but he was still hesitant. You were fairly certain that the R5 fans would be supportive of your relationship with Ross; they were super nice to Ellington’s girlfriend Kelly. You stopped scrolling when you came across a picture of Ross with his Austin & Allyco-star Laura. He was kissing her on the cheek at some photoshoot. ‘Raura forever! It’s so obvious they’re in love.’ Someone had commented underneath. You gritted your teeth. Since the fans thought Ross was single, the majority of them wanted him to date Laura. Ross didn’t really let the rumors get to him, but you couldn’t help but feel a little bit annoyed. You hated that you had to keep your relationship with Ross a secret while the fans fawned all over Laura; if they could accept Raura, why shouldn’t they accept you & Ross? “Hey babe!” Ross greeted you, stepping into his dressing room. “Hey.” You said halfheartedly as he leaned down and kissed you on the cheek. “What’s wrong?” he asked. He glanced over your shoulder and saw the picture pulled up on your phone. “Oh. Don’t let it get to you Mandi, it’s whatever.” He said, walking over to his rack of clothes. You stood up and turned around to face him. “It’s not ‘whatever’ Ross. It’s getting kind of old. We’ve been together for almost a year now! Why are we still hiding??” you demanded. He continued flipping through shirts, not turning around. “You know why.” He replied, pulling one of his signature muscle shirts off of its hanger. He pulled off his t-shirt and turned to look at you. “I don’t want you to get hurt.” He slipped the blue tank top he had selected over his head. You stepped closer. “Ross I told you, I’ll be fine. Kelly never gets any hate from the fans! I’m sure they’ll accept me too.” He shook his head and stepped around you, sitting down on the couch. “Mandi I really don’t feel like talking about this right now.” He said, unlacing his red Converse. He tossed them to the side and pulled his favorite pair of black ones out from under the coffee table. You crossed your arms and glared down at him. “Well I do feel like talking about it.” You snapped. You knew you shouldn’t push this issue with Ross right now; he hadn’t been feeling well all day and he was running on about 3 hours of sleep. He ignored you, focusing on lacing up his shoes. “I bet you wouldn’t hide it if you were dating Laura.” You muttered, turning around to leave. He leapt up from the couch. “There it is again! Laura! Why are you so concerned about her??” he demanded. You whirled around. “Because Ross! The fans are pretty much convinced that you two are going to skip off into the sunset together one day, and as your girlfriend maybe that hurts a little bit!” He groaned, tugging on his blonde hair in frustration. “Mandi I can’t control what the fans think! If they ‘ship’ me and Laura then that’s their business! There’s nothing I can do about it!” You scoffed. “Ross, you could stop it if you wanted to!” you accused. A look of pure anger flashed across his face. “What’s that supposed to mean??” he yelled, stepping a little closer to you. You stepped closer as well, not backing down. “All the flirty interviews, the kisses on the cheek…you’re encouraging them!” He stared at you incredulously. “I am not! I guarantee you if Laura and I never spoke again there would still be fans that are convinced we love each other. I can’t worry about what people think!” You rolled your eyes and turned around, making your way towards the door. “Well apparently that includes not caring what I think either!” You called over your shoulder. You stepped out & slammed the door behind you.
****
An hour later you were sitting alone in Rydel’s dressing room, sulking. You knew you shouldn’t have started that fight with Ross. You felt terrible. But you were too stubborn to get up and apologize. You heard someone walk into the room. You turned around and saw Riker standing in the doorway. “Hey Mandi have you seen Ross?” he asked. You shook your head. “No, he was in his dressing room the last time I saw him.” He stepped further into the room. “Yeah…that’s the problem. He isn’t in there. Or anywhere. We can’t find him.” You stood up and walked over to Riker. “What??” you asked. He looked concerned. “Yeah we’ve been looking for him for the past thirty minutes. He isn’t here. And he’s not answering his phone. The show starts in less than an hour.” You immediately brushed past Riker and headed out the door. “I know exactly where he is.” You said quietly.
****
You leapt out of your car once you made it to the secluded beach just outside of the city. You and Ross had discovered an abandoned beach house right on the shore a few months ago. It had become your secret hideout. You quickly jogged a few yards down the beach until you reached the house. You stopped breathlessly at the front door. You put your ear up to the door and listened; you could hear the faint sounds of a guitar being played from inside. You placed your hand against the door and pushed gently. It swung open with a creaking noise; Ross was sitting on the floor, strumming his guitar aimlessly. He looked up when you walked in. “Hey.” You said quietly. He looked back down, continuing to play. You stepped inside and shut the door. “Ross I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have started fighting with you earlier.” He shook his head and stood up. “I’m sorry too Mandi. You’re right…I’ve been hiding our relationship for too long. I want everyone to know what an amazing and beautiful girlfriend I have.” He stepped closer to you and took your hand in his. “I love you.” He said, leaning down to gently kiss you. “I love you too.” you replied.
****
“There you are!” Stormie said, relieved. You and Ross had just walked back through the side door of the arena. “Dude! The show starts in five minutes!” Ryland scolded. He took the guitar Ross was holding and handed him the black one he usually used at concerts. “I’ll see you after the show.” Ross said, quickly pecking your cheek as Riker and Rocky dragged him in the direction of the stage.
****
Thirty minutes into the show, Ross stepped up to the mic and gestured for silence. “Alright guys, this next song is dedicated to a very special someone. My amazing girlfriend, Mandi. This one’s for you babe!” The band began playing ‘Here Comes Forever’. You smiled to yourself backstage, watching Ross sing his heart out. You quickly took out your phone and scrolled through your pictures, finding one of your favorites of you & Ross. You uploaded it to Twitter with the caption: ‘So lucky to have this amazing guy in my life. <3 @rossR5’
