The Boy Next Door (R5 fanfic)

Chapter 11

“I didn’t know someone else was in here with you, Ross”, Laura continues to say. 

“It’s okay”, Ross sighs and by the way he runs his hand through his blonde hair, I can tell he was upset that we were interrupted.  “Anyway, I would like you to meet someone very special to me.  Laura, this is my girlfriend, Elizabeth”, Ross says, standing next to me and gently placing his hand on my lower back

My eyes grow wide as I look at Ross who just smiles down at me. 

“Nice to meet you”, Laura says, sticking a hand out that I shake.  I try to focus but all that I can think about is the fact that Ross just used the “G” word.  Did he really just call me his girlfriend?  To his co-star?  Does that make us official?

“It’s nice to meet you too, Laura”, I finally say. 

“Well, um, Ross, the writers have some things they need to do later today so we were going to start the table-reading now”, Laura tells him. 

“Okay sounds good”, Ross replies as he grabs my hand and we leave his dressing room and walk down the hallway.  We enter a room that has a long conference table in the middle with about a dozen very comfortable-looking office chairs surrounding it.  Raini and Calum were already seated at the one end of the table while at the other end were people who I guessed were extras and some crew members.  Ross takes the empty seat next to Calum and I sit down in one of the hard-backed chairs that lined the room.  The cast quickly got down to business, reading over the script and stopping every now and then to alter a line.  The whole time I watch Ross and admire how focused he becomes.  He instantly gets into character, adding the right emotion to his voice when necessary. 

About an hour and a half later they finished and Ross tells me to go wait for him in his dressing room after Calum asks him for help with something.  I turn down the hallway and after a few minutes realize I have no idea where I am.  I should have passed his room by now, I think to myself.  I keep walking until I come to a door with the name “Laura Marano” plastered across the front of it.  I knock, hoping someone is inside to point me in the right direction. 

The door quickly opens and there stands Laura with a smile on her face.  “Oh!  Hi!” she exclaims, sounding a bit surprised to see me. 

“Hi”, I reply.  “So, I hate to bother you but I’m kind of lost.  Can you help me get to Ross’s dressing room?”

“I could”, she answers slyly, “Or I could invite you in and you could help me sort through some mail”, Laura suggests, opening the door wider to reveal a massive pile of letters stacked on the floor. 

“Is that all fan mail?” I gasp. 

“Yup!  I try my best to read them all but sometimes it gets a bit overwhelming.”

“Yeah, I guess I can help you for a little while”, I tell her and follow her into her room.  We sprawl out on the ground and begin to tackle the pile, opening envelopes and reading over all of her fan mail.  Many of them were generic, stating how much of an inspiration Laura was, but some had funny jokes or sweet remarks that I would show Laura.  We were so engrossed in reading the letters, joking around and getting to know each other that we lost track of time and were not even aware when the door opened.

“What are you two up to?” Ross asks.  I turn and see him leaning up against the door jam, arms crossed, a slight smile on his face. 

“We’re obviously having fun!” Laura tells him, throwing a stack of letters up in the air and letting them scatter all around us.  We burst into another set of giggles and Ross just rolls his eyes, but I can tell he is fighting to not join in laughing with us.

“Anyway”, Ross finally says, “are you ready to get a tour of the set, Elizabeth?”

 “Yeah!” I say, standing up and walking over to Ross. 

“Bye Elizabeth!  And thanks for all of the help”, Laura calls after me. 

“You know where to find me if you ever need me again”, I say as I follow Ross out of the room.  

I look over at Ross who raises an eyebrow.  “Seems like you two hit it off.”

“Yeah, we did”, I tell him, smiling to myself as his arm rests across my shoulders and he pulls me closer. 

“I’m glad”, he says, leaning down to softly kiss my cheek.  “I don’t know what I would do if my girl and one of my best friends didn’t get along.”