Ross's POV
"No way! Oh my gosh, I can't believe you did that!" Laura tries and fails to hold back her laughter from across the table.
"Look, it's not my fault store clerks are that rude!" I defend, "I didn't think she would call the mall security on me."
Laura shakes her head in my direction, "I swear to God," she takes a sip from her drink, "You certainly are something else, Ross Lynch."
I smile at Laura and begin to take in the ambience of the restaurant. In between us, a brightly burning candle sits in its holder. The creamy white of the tablecloth is blemished only by the red-white of the decorative rose petals. In combination with the dim lighting in the room and the table setting, the way Laura looks from across me can't be described by anything other than angelic.
I make sure to give my thanks to Laura for what she's doing to prove who I am to her. I can tell by her relaxed, comforted look that she's not putting up an act tonight in terms of who she is. She's making an honest effort, for us, and that's all I ever wanted, "By the way, the incident at the mall happened when I was buying you that necklace with the interlinked hearts."
She loudly gulps down some of her drink, "What?! Wait... are you telling me this could've been police evidence!" Laura holds up the silver chain between her fingers.
"Well in a way, yes," I grin at her, "But regardless, you deserve the best. I was and still am willing to risk it all for you."
Laura turns up the curves of her mouth and smiles with her eyes, "It means a lot that you care that much. Thank you."
Her response surprises me a little. I half-expected Laura to gracefully laugh it off and comment on how sweet I am, since that's typically how she takes compliments. Perhaps, in the past, she did that to divert my affection. Regardless, she's more comfortable now and more willing to accept the feelings I have for her. I must admit, it's much more relieving to know my words get to her and mean something, too, "Of course."
We sit in a silence that's not unfamiliar to us, but also not unsettling. The two of us have grown to be so compatible over the years that we'd be capable of carrying a conversation with only our body language.
She may not recognize it completely, but this night really means something to me. I don't know what I'd do without her, and I hope with this date I'll have the balls to tell her that, "This got me thinking," I start.
Laura motions for me to go on, "I'm listening."
"Well, there's quite a bit we don't know about each other," I wipe my mouth with a cloth napkin, "We've been friends for so long, but there must be details about each other that we could never know because we wouldn't be comfortable enough to share them out. At least, not unless we were intimate enough to be dating. And when we did go out, we couldn't share them to each other because you weren't... we weren't together long enough... not long enough for anything to come up," I sputter out, careful to avoid saying anything about how Laura deceived me.
She nods, "I get it. We don't know each other's likes and dislikes from a dating perspective."
I smile at how sharp and understanding she is, "Exactly," a smirk crawls onto my lips, "I still don't know what your favorite positions are."
Laura returns the smirk, equally as cocky, "Maybe you'll find out tonight at the beach house."
What? I end up spitting some of my wine back into the glass, which will probably leave a stain for the dish washer, "Come again?" I cough.
Did Laura actually just hint at what tonight could lead to... and where?
"Oh, gosh, sorry. I forgot to tell you this earlier, but I booked us a night at a house on the beach not too far away from here," Laura starts nonchalantly, "I hope it's okay. It's more secluded than a public restaurant full of people. I think we'll want the privacy."
I gulp and clear my throat, trying to simultaneously regain control of my voice and untangle the knot in my stomach, "Mhmm," I'm afraid to open my mouth to speak, mostly because I don't know what to say.
"You don't have to worry about getting a toothbrush or clothes for tomorrow. I already asked your mom to pack a bag for you... it's in my trunk now, along with my own bag of course," Laura shrugs.
I blink a couple times at her in an attempt to appear as relaxed as possible. It feels like I've just read the most dramatic ending to a book ever made. At the same time, my eyes soften when I look at her.
It all clicks into place: the lies she led me on with, the trip she made to London, the secrecy of hiding the tattoo from me when she first got it. They all make sense. All of it led up to this moment, and to this night so she could make up for all her wrongdoings and guilt. I reach across the table to grab Laura's hand and tell her how much I love her.
"Ross, are you okay? You haven't said much," Laura trails off.
I nod my head and take her tattooed hand into my right hand, "Perfect," I tell her, "Absolutely perfect."
She gives my hand a squeeze in appreciation.
Moments later, the waiter returns with our bill. Laura takes her credit card out of the pocket and puts it in her purse. She scribbles her name in what I assume is calligraphy, on the receipt, "Ready to go?" she sweetly asks.
I smile and push my chair back, offering Laura my hand, which she gladly accepts. Despite our small bickering over who was going to pay, Laura won, with the argument that she was the one who invited me on this date. Fair enough. I'll have to buy her something expensive to get her back.
We ride along in her car to carpool karaoke. I watch her expression as she sings along to one of Toto's songs while completely losing herself in the music. She's so comfortable around me now, and I love it.
Right as we pull into the beach house's driveway, we finish off the last lyric of the song together in dramatic, pitchy harmony. Laura's laughs prolong even after she gets out of the car, and I don't hold back on mine either. She's incredible—I can't remember ever laughing like this with anyone else in my entire life.
***
lol I was just reading through all my past twitter mentions from the cast and omg I love them
y'all better get ready ross is gonna be at laura's show in 2 weeks am I even ready for this?? all I'm saying is pics and vids or it didn't happen
get ready for the next chapters bc sh*t is going down ;D in the good way of course. it will def be something v raura-y
Vote/comment!
Steph (yesifeelgoodr5)
YOU ARE READING
Like a Tattoo (Raura)
FanfictionI'll admit. He's got irresistible looks, and he's a damn good friend. In fact, we're so close, it's almost like he's my tattoo. There's just one problem to all of this: he's my friend. Why would he want to risk our friendship by asking me out? And e...
