Ireland just became the number one spot on his bucket list. Not that the band hadn't been to the island country before, because they had. Many times. But as he heard his sister talk about all the adventures she had taken with Ellington during their engagement-moon, he really wanted to go back to explore. He wanted to see the Cliffs of Moher, and the Ring of Kerry, the distillery was a must and according to Rydel, there was no way in hell that anyone couldn't be impressed by the Dingle Peninsula. She had shown him pictures upon pictures and went through Ellington's Vine account to tell him the true stories behind each and every one of them.

Rydel and Ellington had been back for a few weeks but this had been the first time he had gotten to really talk with her. On top of her getting back into school and him being recruited by Rocky to help on a few music projects, he was getting ready to go off and film a pilot in Vancouver in just a matter of days. They had met up at a local dive before heading back to their parents' place to rest before the rest of the clan returned for a big family dinner. With the promise of Stormie's best recipes - which, let's be honest, were all of them - everyone would be at the table. That meant at least eleven chairs and two leaves, not just one, in the table. Just like it was Thanksgiving.

"You guys set a date yet?"

Rydel rolled her eyes and let her head hit the back of the cushion on the couch as the sound of some random television show became background noise. "You are the sixteenth person who's asked me that."

"Sixteenth? That's a very specific number."

"Mom was asking a half hour after I had this on my finger," she wiggled the piece of jewelry on her hand.

"So, that's a no?" Ross let one of his eyebrows go higher than the other as he took a drink of his beer.

"Yes, that's a no. I just got engaged. Let me enjoy it," she punched him in the arm.

Ross smirked over at her as they heard the door open and close, with voices headed their way. "Heard you've been enjoying it," he muttered, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively. "Very much."

He knew a lot of things about his sister. The first was that she was possibly the sweetest person alive. So sweet that if you got too close to her at some times, you'd get a sweet tooth yourself. The other things he knew was that she loved with all her heart, was passionate about everything and the best one? When she got embarrassed, which wasn't often, it was never hidden. Her face turned not the bright pink that Laura's did, but a very deep red. One that if you didn't know her, would confuse as anger. Her legs came up from being outstretched to the table, her head disappeared into her shirt and she tried to hide away from whoever was joining them and him altogether.

While he laughed at her demeanor and wanted to see her turn even more into a turtle, his attention was taken away when their brothers entered the room and were talking in beats. No words. Just beats. It had been about a year since they returned from their worldwide tour and each of them had taken their breaks, and worked on some music in between...but nothing like Rocky had. In between all his producing other tracks for major artists (Ross was secretly jealous of this), he had also been working on new stuff for the band. Their sound really hadn't changed through the years, but the songs got more meaningful, more personal.

"Letting Go" was one that Rydel wrote after the she and Ellington first broke up. "Coming Back" was Ellington's answer. "Living Wild" was Rocky's attempt at giving them a classic rock song. "Deep In My Heart" was Riker's love letter to all the fans and for him, "That Night" was about missing a chance in a night from the past.

Riker and Rocky slipped down in some chairs spitting out beat after beat, not noticing that Rydel still hadn't come out of her shell. Ross leaned back and listened to the music his brothers were making and started to tap his fingers against the neck of the bottle in his hand. It was a good beat, something that their band wasn't really known for. It was a rough beat and he was willing to beat if they got Ellington in here, they'd have a song put together with lyrics in an hour. Some songs were like that, some were not. He could recall many, many times having a melody in his head and not being able to use it until the last possible minute to make an album. It actually happened much more often than anyone knew.

"Oh!" Riker stopped the creative process and sat up in his chair. "You all need to be free in July."

"Dude!" Rocky yelled at him and looked around for a sheet of paper to write what they were working on.

"Sorry, man. But July, all of you," the eldest Lynch pointed to all of them.

"All of July? There's a lot of days in July, Rike," Rydel pointed out.

"Don't know a premiere date. I just know July."

"Oh, for your movie?" Riker nodded to Rydel again.

"You gonna man up and ask Sofia as your date?" Ross teased.

"She's got someone," he waved it off.

"Go ahead, use that as an excuse," Ross rolled his eyes, finishing off his drink and placing it back on the table.

"She does!" Riker defended himself. "I'm not about to break something up for my own personal gain."

Even Rydel was rolling her eyes at this point. "What is it with you and Ross? He waits five damn years, you don't want to be a homewrecker...Riker, she's not married to the guy. They've been together for four months. That's nothing."

Riker has his mouth open, but no words were coming out. Whenever any of the brothers needed someone to smack them in the back of the head, Rydel was always there and she was doing just that for Riker right now. Ross knew he wouldn't listen to him, but to Rydel? He'd always listen to her, hell, they all would.

"You just have to go to her, kiss her, tell her you love her and then just pray to high heavens that she says something back. Anything really."

"Del, you know I love you, but do you actually think a cliche movie ending is what's going to happen?"

Rydel shrugged her shoulders and tried to hide the smile creeping up on her face. "Happened for me."

The siblings went back and forth about Riker's love life, since Rydel and Ross's were set and Rocky was still in the zone of music, before Ellington arrived and Stormie pulled Ryland in to help in the kitchen for a massive meal and the five piece band headed outside where Mark was grilling up something that was making all their stomaches hungry. They talked more about Sofia and urging Riker to just go for it, before dabbling into the music again and just like Ross could have predicted, by the time Stormie called everyone inside to set up the table and greet more of their family members who arrived, they had a song.

"Hey, where's Laura?" Ryland asked Ross, noticing there was no petite brunette amongst them.

"At her place. She was in a wardrobe fitting all day and is getting ready for her next project."

"Where's she going?" Stormie asked, as they all sat down to a family feast that he wanted to get in his belly sooner rather than later.

"Seattle. She leaves about a week after I do for Vancouver."

Rocky laughed. "That worked out perfectly, didn't it?"

Ross didn't have to lean over Riker to punch his older brother, Rydel did it for him.

"When do you leave again?" Mark asked his son.

"Third week of February. Just before all the Oscar craziness starts," he pointed out, a bit thankful for that as well. Whoever was in charge of planning this new television show was on point. He would get to skip all the parties - some that he would like to go to and others he wouldn't - and the traffic. Instead, he would be up in Vancouver, getting started on a new project that he was really excited about. He'd be with Sean and Arielle Kebbel and George Stults and Ki Hong Lee, who he'd also known for ages but hadn't seen in a while, just like Sean. More of the roles were still being cast and he was still just as anxious to find out who was playing his sister. But they wouldn't be worrying about what they were going to wear to an Oscar party or finding new shortcuts around Los Angeles, they'd be holed up in a cute cafe or discovering all the cool things about Vancouver.

In between talking about his show, getting more details about Riker's own premiere for Grease, and making Rydel and Ellington answer anything and everything about any wedding plans they had, the newly engaged couple were now drilling him on just how to announce it to the public.

"Why would you ask me?"

"Because Laura told us to ask you," Ellington mumbled, taking a bite of his meal.

"She what?"

"She told us to ask you. I sent her an email during our vacation about it and she said to ask you," Rydel added.

"Um..." he could feel his eyes popping out of his head and he wasn't sure what to even tell them. He was going to kill her when he saw her the next day. Definitely killing her. When they had announced they were together, it wasn't because they were engaged. It was because someone had caught them and it was better to come from them than from some gossip paper stateside. But with an engagement, that was a different thing altogether...and Rydel and Ellington were smart. Unlike his and Laura's relationship, paparazzi never followed the band...at least not a lot. They also hadn't let anyone else besides their immediate family and friends know, and didn't post it on social media...so essentially no one knew.

Ross didn't exactly know what advice to give them. There were a handful of websites and publications that the band trusted and he was actually wondering why they were coming to him instead of to Andre or their father. They would be the best people to ask and turn to in this situation. Not him. Definitely not him.

The conversation shifted from her trying to pry out advice from him to Riker's movie. The flick would be having premieres all over and his oldest brother was set to fly to London and Tokyo for the promo tour, as well as New York City and the one in Los Angeles. On top of his own schedule and the engagement announcement, this family was about to be in the news. A lot. Leaning back in his chair, Ross just realized that that was what this family dinner was all about. It was about scheduling and dates and making sure all their calendars for the entire year were synced up. Could you hear his enthusiasm?

+++

My beautiful cast,

I still miss you all. Alex might miss you more though, seeing as he's told me he's sick of my face every single day. Remember when I said we must all get together? Well, that will happen sooner rather than later. I promise, it will - because we're making plans for the premieres! You all have no idea how excited I am about this all.

Paramount has put so much support behind this movie and I am very happy to report that we're going to take the world by storm. The publicity department should be in touch will all your managers and reps soon about the insanely awesome promo schedule, but I will announce the most exciting part - we're going to Cannes!

The movie will be the closing film at the festival and when I told everyone that this movie was going to get us an Oscar, I was not lying. We just finished up the final cut and will be screening it soon as well.

So, get excited for Cannes and look out for your schedules coming through soon.

Stevenson Long.

+++

Laura stared back at her promo schedule for Into Thin Air. Crazy and senseless didn't even begin to describe how hectic it was. She had been on and off the phone with Mona, her mom, her dad, her lawyers, Chris, and even Wendi, who she really didn't deal with anymore, but was still on her payroll. As soon as she wrapped on her next project, she was going to be whisked away to Miami for a personal stop and then to Bermuda. All of the cast were being sent to the actual locations, or around them, that their characters disappeared from. It was actually a cool concept. As Magellan, Laura would be making personal appearances to where her character was from and disappeared from in the last bit of spring before heading to Cannes in May. After that, Laura was signed up for London, Sydney and Cape Town, plus the Los Angeles and New York premieres.

Starting up her car, Laura pulled out of the complex and headed towards the coast. It wasn't rare, but she felt like she hadn't had a full day off in ages. Ever since the SAG Awards, she'd been in and out of meetings, in and out of wardrobe fittings for her next project and it seemed like she was always on the phone with some magazine or paper discussing not just the movie, but her SAG win, what was next and when the reporter wanted to push buttons, Ross. She still wouldn't answer anything about their personal relationship no matter how hard they tried or reworded the question. When they were still teenagers, yes, they would both answer the many questions they got. But now that they were together and in it for the long run, there was no way she was jeopardizing that.

Laura smiled as the radio station she was listening to switched to another song and it just happened to be one of the newer ones from R5. "You're just what I want and you're just what I need, you don't need to tell me to stay, you've already gotten your way," she sang along as the coastline came into view and she headed straight for the spot that would always be her and Ross's; although she was meeting an entirely different person there at this moment than Ross. Sliding into an open space, Laura double checked her bag and headed towards the rocks, watching her steps as she walked down to the sandy shores. Spotting super curly, super black hair on the waterfront, she started to strip of her shirt that was hiding her favorite bikini to soak up the sun and in only a few more steps, slipped down beside her sister.

"I'm surprised you actually remembered where the spot was."

Vanessa turned her head and beamed up at Laura. She was already in the zone, getting all the sun she could during her little vacation away from San Francisco. Haunt was currently on hiatus while it aired the third season and in between her own promo schedule, which wasn't much, she had made plans with Laura to soak up all the sister time they could.

"Pretty sure I showed you where this spot was in the first place."

"I don't think so," Laura argued. She knew for a fact it was indeed Ross. Or maybe it was her showing Ross. All she really remembered was being out late one night, wanting to talk and he was the first one on her speed dial that she pressed to call. The rest was history. "Been here long?"

"Not that long."

Laura spread out her own towel beside her sister's and stole her spray sunscreen instead of rummaging through her own bag. Sunglasses on her face, she leaned back on the sandy beach and let out a deep sigh. "Don't let me fall asleep," she nudged Vanessa.

"Are you that exhausted?"

"I had fourteen phone interviews this morning. Fourteen," she held up her hands to count out just how many they were, despite the fact she knew good and well Vanessa knew how to count. "I have six tomorrow morning and then another meeting with Christopher and the director for this movie and after that, I plan to take a very long nap before dragging myself out of bed and Ross to Mom and Dad's for dinner. The next day, Ross and I have a shoot with Vanity Fair before he leaves and then the Oscar parties start..."

"Whoa," Vanessa said. "That's quite a lot. I hope you're stocked up on energy drinks for the next month."

"Don't joke," Laura poked her tongue out at her sister. "I feel so drained. Trade?"

Vanessa laughed in her face. "Yea, no. That's not going to happen. I am perfectly happy sticking to my light and fluffy television promo duties, thank you very much."

"You're no fun."

The sisters spent the next hour lying in silence on the beach and it was heaven to Laura. It was an hour without distractions, an hour without any questions about how she related to her character, an hour without trying to come up with something creative to say when someone asked an outrageous question. It was just an hour alone with her sister. Her sister who she had missed like peanut butter misses jelly on a sandwich. Vanessa was in her third season on USA's Haunt and it was insanely successful. While she didn't watch it religiously like Calum had watched First Aid every week, she was the one to binge watch an entire season in a week and Laura was hoping she would get the chance while heading to Seattle in the next week.

Vanessa played Andrea Marcos, a realtor who finds herself flipping a house that's actually haunted - not just with one ghost, but with generations of them; and there was no getting rid of them. It was a funny show and when Vanessa was first offered the show, she had turned it down. But with a few twists of her arm and Laura yelling at her to take it, she did.

"I met a guy."

Laura sat up, ditching the idea of even trying to get any more rest for the day because her heart just sped right back up once her sister spoke. "You met a guy?"

The curve of Vanessa's smile became deeper. "I met a guy."

She couldn't help it, Laura mirrored her sister's smile. "You met a guy! Why the hell did you not just jump over my pity party about interviews and not tell me everything as soon as I hit this sand? You met a guy!"

"Because it's super new and I have no clue if it will turn into something more yet," Vanessa reasoned.

"So does not matter. Spill. Everything."

Vanessa sat up next, taking a drink of her water before she started to tell Laura about everything she knew about this new guy. Laura had found out he wasn't in show business (bonus point number one), he held the door open when Vanessa entered anywhere (triple point score) and lived in San Francisco. As Vanessa described this new guy to her, Laura couldn't help but smile and there was no way she was hiding it. After the two years from hell with her previous boyfriend, Vanessa had announced she was taking an indefinite break from boys...and it was a smart decision at the time, seeing as her heart needed that time to heal. This little tidbit she decided to slip into their beach getaway was music to Laura's ears. She wanted to know all about this guy and their relationship.

"He's pretty great. I love how he's not...well, you know. He's Adam and he's sweet and kind and," Vanessa stopped suddenly and looked back at Laura. "I'm starting to sound like you."

"Now you're being mean. Keep going. I love you being in love with love."

"I've told you mostly all I know, Laura. We've only been hanging out for a few months."

"Few months? I think I called you the moment after Ross and I happened and I have to wait for a few months?"

Vanessa stared down her sister. "No. I had to find out from Mom and Dad about Raura. You, you waited a month or so to call me from Cape Town."

"Still...a few months?"

Vanessa rolled her eyes as she took another drink of her water, and Laura did the same. "All you need to know is that I like this guy. His name is Adam and he lives in San Francisco."

"I need to know much more about him. So much more."

"Like what?"

"Like needing to know he's not going to turn into an asshole."

"He's a guy..."

"I need to know he's not going to be rude and stupid."

"Again, he's a guy."