"Why are you stopping? We can not stop for Starbucks, Ross." Laura glared over at her boyfriend who was the sole reason why they were already twenty minutes late for the Vanity Fair call time.

Twenty minutes. That was ages to her. Laura was known for being twenty minutes early, not late, so when she turned over and saw the time blinking on her alarm clock, which failed to go off, and double checked her phone, that also failed to go go off, she was freaking out. The night before hadn't been that eventful that they were so worn out and slept way beyond the time they were supposed to. They had dinner, they came home, they watched television, she asked him to go over lines on her movie with him, they went to bed. See, nothing eventful. Nothing at all.

She was still baffled by why both her clock, and her phone, and his too, all failed to go off and wake them up at the right time so they wouldn't be late for the shoot; and him stopping off at a Starbucks drive-thru, which was always, always backed up, was now just getting on her nerves. "Seriously, we do not have this time. There are fifteen people for this shoot. We need all the prep time we can get. Ross, stop turning into Starbucks!"

"Relax, Laur. We'll be okay."

"No," she deadpanned. "No, we will not. Fifteen people!"She glared back at his smirk at her, silently throwing toxic daggers at him from the passenger seat. She hated being late for anything and especially for something related to work. The Vanity Fair shoot was a huge thing for the whole cast to get. It meant the cover, a feature on each of them inside, a photo spread that would be spread all over the internet and media outlets worldwide. It was the first look at the cast as a whole and it was important since the studio had invested so much money in them all; and when Ross shrugged off the fact that they were late, it was infuriating.

Laura stared at him with her tight eyes, watching as he still stopped to get coffee before they hit the highway and drove to the studios. The cast was so big that holding the shoot at a normal photo studio was not going to cut it. Paramount had booked the magazine at one of the empty stages for all the people that were going to be there. Leaving Ross behind as he parked the car and walked like there was no real hurry, Laura ran towards stage seventeen, which, yes, was all the way on the other side of the studios from where they were. Apparently 'late' did not mean the same thing to him as it did to her. She waved down an assistant she recognized from the movie, a little out of breath from her sprint towards the stage.

"You know you're only about ten minutes behind. Not late at all," the assistant explained to her. "In fact, the crew from the magazine is just starting to get set up."

"Wait, it's not eleven thirty?"

"Uh, no. It just turned ten thirty."

Laura turned back around, narrowing her eyes at her boyfriend who was still taking his time walking to the stage and picked up a friend along the way. He had tricked her. Completely tricked her and she was turning infuriated into a livid and 'don't even think about touching me for the whole' day attitude. This day would not be ending up with a New York situation where they were having sex all over the place. This day would end with her locking him out of the apartment if she had to.

"Well, hello Mrs. Lynch," Gale greeted her right as he and Ross strolled up to the door.

"Don't call me that," she spat back, her scowl giving him shivers. "You," she jabbed at Ross's chest. "You had me thinking we were an hour late this whole time. What the hell?"

"I never said it actually was, you just assumed."Laura smacked him in the arm a few times and took his coffee away to claim as her own."Come on, that's my coffee. You didn't want any," his voice followed her inside the stage.

"Because you made me think we were late; and not just a few minutes late, but late late. There's coffee right over there," she pointed to a craft services table they were still setting up. Taking the last sips of the coffee she stole from his grasp, Laura watched Ross sulk over to the table while Gale came up beside her again.

"I'm glad to see you two are still together."

"Strong as ever," she smiled up to the older man.

"As I can see," Gale smiled down at her, pulling her in a hug. "I'm happy to see you. I feel it's been too long."

"Hasn't even been a year, but I agree. It's been a while. Tell me all you've been up to while my boyfriend thinks about what he's done in the corner."

While Gale and Laura caught up, the same assistant she had talked to earlier brought over a few chairs while more of their co-stars and the magazine crew walked into the stage. It wasn't a big stage, but it wasn't small either and complete with the cast, Stevenson and Alex, a few assistants, plus the magazine crew, photographer and catering staff, it was just the right size. Karen was the next one to arrive, with Yaya and Beth not far behind her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ross and Milo attacking the craft services table and berated herself for shoving him in that direction in the first place. Never reward a guy who can and will eat everything with a full table of food for punishment. Never.

The stage was getting loud and everyone was having little conversations and catching up, but all stopped when Jenna arrived and Laura bolted straight into her arms. There were screams and never ending hugs and suddenly, all eyes were on them both but they could care less. Jenna was back in her arms and she was not letting go of her at least until the individual shots were going on. The cast were introduced to all the hair and makeup people and given the concept for the shoot and in the middle of getting her hair super curly once again for Magellan Snow, Stevenson arrived and that's when the party officially started.

"My beautiful cast!" his statement echoed throughout the stage.

It wasn't long after that Laura was hanging on Yaya's shoulder in a group shot with the females of the cast on the blank white background. Her hair was super-sized, her green and pink color blocked dress was pinned to the back of her and her lips painted a bright, candy apple red. They wrapped up the mini-group shot quickly and she jumped when the guys took their spot and Ross grabbed her butt playfully.

"Still mad at you."

"You can't stay mad at me all day long," Ross called after her.Laura turned around, slipping in a wink for good measure.

"Watch me."Jenna strolled up right next to her again.

"Okay, why are you mad at Mr. Marano."

"Why are people calling us that? Gale and Milo both called me Mrs. Lynch," Laura wrinkled up her nose. "And I'm mad because he put both our phones and my clock at home an hour ahead, making me think we were late for today," she explained to her friend as they were thrown back into wardrobe for a quick change, well at least for Jenna it was. "It's not funny. Stop laughing."

"Oh, but it is funny. And we're calling you both that because you're an old married couple," Jenna kept on laughing at the twosome and the little fight they were having.

Laura was led away from the wardrobe and from Jenna and back to hair and makeup. They were taking her super curly hair and pulling it back into a bouffant bun for the retro and entire cast shot. From the way the photographer was taking, Stevenson would be in the middle with all of them in a straight line around him while he read the very thick script in his hands. After getting the entire group shot, they'd be split up into couples and yes, she would be with Ross. Magellan and Rory were the center love story of the film and she didn't expect it any other way.She changed into her form fitting dress which made her look straight out of the 1940s and headed his way. Laura spotted him pulling on a sport jacket and eyeing the set they had laid out for them in the background of the slim bench for the big group shot.

Following his gaze, she spotted the martini glasses sitting on top of the clear table. She knew just what they had in mind for their pictures and knew he was probably flipping out inside. Ross had always been a huge Bert Stern fan and something told her the powers behind this massive shoot knew that. Watching a wardrobe assistant fix the collar on his jacket, Laura came up beside him as another assistant joined them with a pair of shoes for her. Her look was so retro 40s that she couldn't love it more.

"Still mad at me?"

"You betcha," Laura smiled up at him. Sure, she technically was still mad, but she kind of couldn't resist him in a sharp blazer. He always looked good in a blazer...even better with it off. "How excited are you for that martini?"

"You saw that too? I hope those are real," Ross smiled over at her before stepping away and looking over what she had on. "You look great."

"Thanks."

"Can I kiss you now or is not getting one part of my punishment for this morning?"

"It's punishment," she stopped him as the photographer called them all over. "Come on Dr. McLaren."

+++

Ross stared at Laura from across the clear table, looking like she was ripped right from a 1960 issue of Vogue with a martini glass at her lips. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun on the back of her head with fake bangs dusting over her forehead. The little white dress she wore was fitted to her body perfectly, not leaving anything to anyone's imagination and he was hoping all the men who were on the shoot were wishing they were him.

He was the lucky one who got to be with her and even though he was still feeling the so-called wrath of this morning's antics from her, Ross was still thanking every star around him. He stared back in her eyes as the photographer snapped their picture around them. "What do you want to do for dinner?"

"You mean you didn't fill up on craft services with Milo?"

"Not one bit. I think he cleaned them out."

"That sounds like him." Laura set the glass down and traced her finger around the rim, making it sing softly. "What did you have in mind?"

"This is why I asked you because I have no clue."

"Okay, Ross, Laura," the shoot coordinator brought a stop to their little conversation about dinner plans. "We're going to switch things up for you two. We were just informed that you two will be the cover shot and Lila, over there, has a quick wardrobe change for Ross and Bryan," she pointed to the hairstylist, "will be giving Laura's hair some serious attitude."

They both nodded and headed towards their designated person with Jenna coming up by him shortly after. "Can Mr. and Mrs. Lynch come to dinner with me and Milo?"

"Okay, who the hell started calling us that? I want names Coleman."

"Sorry, bound by the Order of The Ten," Jenna zipped up her mouth like she was locking it up and throwing away the key. "But, dinner, you, me, Milo and Laura. Yes?"

That would solve their dinner plans and as he was running all the options through his head, dinner with Milo and Jenna wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. In fact, it would be quite welcome, and he could pit Milo against Laura in an eating contest. Most of the cast had other plans and Jenna and Milo really wanted to catch up with them before they both left the state for their new projects. While Laura would be around up until Oscar weekend, he was gone in just a few days time.

"We're in," he nodded and looked over at Laura, who was still in that same tight white dress that was sending so many impure thoughts through his mind. The hairstylist, Bryan, unpinned and tousled her hair from the bun it had been in, making it look just like she did after they had sex. It was her sex hair and it yes, it was hella sexy. While he got a fresh shirt and Lila helped him roll up his sleeves, he watched her get a touch up on her lips and eyes.They both were sent on their way back to the photographer for the cover shot. They soaked up the directions from him - one pose had him on a chair and her beside him, in another he was still on the chair, with her coming from behind him, but his favorite was the one they were in right now.

She sat on top of his knee with her own legs crossed. Her hair was to the right side of her face and brushed back while she looked down at him. He saw the flashes going off from the camera and bit on her finger as she got a bit playful with him, running her fingers over his lips. Laura got up from his lap for a minute and it was only one minute more before he was pulling her back and dipping her from his sitting position. Her legs flew high in the air and he took the spontaneous moment to tickle her side just above her hip; the spot he knew was very, very ticklish. There was absolutely no way she could be mad at him anymore. She wouldn't laugh like this if she was.

"See, you can't stay mad at me for long."

"As much as I want to say I can, I can't." Her hand cup his cheek and he dipped his head closer, brushing his lips gingerly. It was a sweet kiss and one that he loved to share with her. Ross never really wanted to put their romance on display and he wouldn't be doing so for this either, but he made a mental note to get that shot that the photographer just took for their personal collection.Ross and Laura peaked at the images on the camera after they were all done and they both pointed to the same image they liked for the cover. She was tugging at his shirt collar, pulling it open and he was kissing her chin. It was the perfect shot and they were praying it would be the photo editor's favorite too.

Back in their clothes they arrived in, Ross held Laura's hand as they headed back to the car. It was nearing seven at night now, the sun settling on the horizon in the distance and as the exhaust seeped into their bones, they were headed to meet Milo and Jenna at a rinky dink cafe in Santa Monica. It wasn't that far a drive since he knew all the shortcuts now, but he was still wishing it was closer. Hell, they should've just went across the street to Lucy's...and swiping out his phone from his pocket before opening the door to the car, he quickly dialed Milo.

"Please say you're not already at the diner," Ross spoke into the receiver.

"Not at the diner, but we're on our way there. Just pulled onto Sepulveda. Why?"

"Want to turn around and just head to Lucy's? I know the owner, she'll give us free drinks.""And turning around."Ross ducked down and smiled at Laura as she sat in the passenger seat. "I expect you to eat Milo under the table."

"What do I get if I do?"

"Lots and lots and lots of praise, and maybe a crown. Queen of The Order of the Ten," Ross held his hands up like he was showing her a marquee with her name on it up in lights. "Sorry about this morning."

"Yea, still a little ticked you did that."

"But it worked though. We were the first ones here."

"First ones here or not, you had my blood pressure all over the place. Not really wanting to have a heart attack at 25."

Ross scooped up her hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing it sweetly. "Sorry. I know how you like to be early to things and setting all our clocks ahead was done on a whim last night. I know it would have me up and you wouldn't have to be pushing me or rolling me down the stairs to get me out and here."

"No more messing with my clocks," Laura pointed at him and he playfully bit at it before she leaned over to kiss him. "I was thinking Runyon tomorrow morning. Want to come?"

"And beat you up the mountain? Hell yea."

Laura laughed at him, poking her tongue out. "You'll never beat me."

+++

Once upon a time, when they were still sixteen and teenagers, she had entered his childhood room he had shared with Ryland. She remembered it being the messiest, stinkiest, funkiest room she had ever seen. There had been clothes all over things - boxes, furniture, the entire floor. It was also a dark room, with the deepest grey paint they could probably find with deep blue stripes for some sort of accent in the four-walled space of the house. It was very different from Rocky and Riker's room. Theirs had been brighter, neater and well, not a typical boy room. It was still messy, but it was not as messy. Which might have explained why, while she was still closest with Ross at that time, spent most of her time in Rydel's room with the only girl of the family. Now her room, was gorgeous. It was such a timeless room and when Laura peeked her head inside the space earlier in the day, it looked just as classic as it had seven years ago.

His new room was Riker and Rocky's old one. It still had green and blue all around it, hand me downs that he hadn't bothered to change since he hadn't really been living in this room for close to six years now. It was neater, and not as messy...something told her that he'd been messy by association then. But somehow, as neat as his room now was and had been, he still could not find three items he needed to take with him: his winter jacket (just in case, because Calum told him too), more film for his camera (he had stocked up on the stuff when he got really interested in photography years ago), and his new toothbrush...which was actually just in his hands and suddenly disappeared.

"How could you lose that? It was in your hand about two minutes ago?" she questioned and started to look around the bed, her hands messing up the sheets in a way that would make one wonder if something else was going on besides just packing.

"I'd like to use the 'because I'm a Lynch' excuse, but that would not work on you."Laura smirked. He was right. It wouldn't.

Pulling up the top cover in one motion, her eyes spotted the skinny package just underneath the pillows and she crawled over the bed to grab it. "Found it."

"Thanks babe," he kissed her in reward as she spread out over the mattress and she watched him try to stuff even more shirts in his bag.

Looking over at the bookshelf that was squeezed in next to an overstuffed desk that was hardly ever used and the bedside table, Laura spotted all the scripts Ross and even Riker had accumulated over the years. There was bound to be scripts from Glee and from Austin and Ally that could go for thousands on eBay...all Laura would have to do is make them both sign all of them. She didn't need the money, but some charity could benefit from it. Reaching and grabbing one off the top of the many piles, Laura smiled at the episode title on the top. It was Ross' favorite, had been at the beginning when fans and press started to ask him and was until the end when everything had wrapped up - even years later. It was one of her favorites too.

Turning to a random page, Laura read over the notes Ross had scribbled all over the page. Most of them were actual notes, others were funny jokes that she was trying to hold back laughing at and then there were doodles. Doodles that resembled nothing in the world. "What the hell is this?"

"What?" Ross turned just as he flipped the top of his luggage closed and looked at what she was holding in her hands. "Where'd you get that?"