Today was the day. The day when he would get off of work at 8:30 in the morning from working all night in the cool temperatures in the Strait of Georgia, and straight to the train station where he would pick up his stunning girlfriend from her train ride from Seattle. She didn't get in until around 11 and it gave him just a little bit of time to drag Sofia to breakfast, which was a daily ritual these days.

It had been two weeks since he last saw Laura and had been working on Permafrost with his new castmates and while he hated being away from her, he loved working with new people. He loved the plotline, which he was now sworn to secrecy on; he loved getting up at ungodly hours in the morning and working all day on a boat (for the most part); he even loved the city, although he knew he would since Calum had made it a point to tell his own parents all about his schedule so he was never alone in the city. Gotta love Calum.

Ross stepped off the boat, wrapping his coat a little closer to his body and picked up his step to catch up to Sofia, who played his love interest in the show, Korli Lennox. The two had just spent the majority of filming in Korli's little science lab on the ship and her trying to get his character, Joseph, to understand what the hell they were actually going to Antarctica for. Joseph, nor Ross, could comprehend all the scientific stuff she had been rambling about. In the real world, he knew that the glaciers were still melting away and on the show, it was that way too. The research team was heading there to relieve another, all who were researching for a cure, so to speak, on how to keep them from melting away. Half of the actual team was looking for the cure, and the other half were studying what was underneath it all and in the middle of understanding that all, Ross was thankful his character was just a science officer a.k.a. security.

Bumping Sofia's arm as he walked up to her, Ross pulled his hands into his pockets, trying to get them warm. "The usual?"

"Um," Sofia brushed her long blonde hair out of her eyes. "Can we do it tomorrow? Sorry, Ross. I know you're probably starving and will eat the entire breakfast menu at Lulu's, which I would love to see, but I'm so tired."

"But, food..."

"I promise, we'll go later with Laura and me and her can make fun of that vacuum you call a mouth."

"Sofia..." he started to whine. He was actually really hungry here.

"I promise, but I, unlike you, have to be back on this set in five hours. I need sleep."

Ross pouted for a bit as she walked off and headed to the crew van that was going to take her, him, Bruno Campos, Tequan Richmond and the youngest of them all, Cleo Massey (who played his sister in the show) back to the hotel. Maybe he could crash the diner all by himself...or maybe, he could catch up on a little sleep before he went to the train station to pick up Laura. Either way, having breakfast without Sofia at Lulu's would not be the same. Just over the course of these two weeks, he and Sofia had become close, closer than he thought they actually would, since her character essentially pushes him to the side for the sake of science.

Resting his head against the glass window, Ross only closed his eyes for a quick second and when he opened them up, they were almost to the hotel. Maybe he did need the sleep more than the food. Maybe the food could come after he picked up Laura and they could stuff themselves together. Yea, that was the plan. Bed, shower, Laura, food. Lots of food. He trudged up to his room on the twelfth floor, tossing his coat, phone and keys onto the catch all before he dived onto the bed that he hadn't even bothered to make the night before.

He quickly set his alarm on the table beside him before letting sleep take over his body. Sofia was right, sleep was good. There were only a few hours left until Laura arrived and he was going to use them up by dreaming about her. If you asked him about the past two weeks and how hard it was being away from her for that long, Ross would tell you the truth: it wasn't hard. It wasn't hard because every night they would be on Skype or be texting back and forth. Laura had made him update his phone with all the latest emojis so they could have a full conversation of just emojis, which both amused and confused him all at the same time.

The night he got to Vancouver, he was escorted away almost instantly, meeting and eating the rest of the cast. The night after was him trying to memorize his lines, which weren't many...at first. Then came the re-writes. He had finally caught up with Laura after the Oscars and after he had spent almost every moment of the previous two days with Cleo. Their characters, Joseph and Claudina were siblings and in the write up, were said to be 'as close as siblings can be. After their father was injured, Joseph was the one to step in on everything in Claudina's life - her school, her love life, and now, her work and career.'

Ross had met up with Cleo for a fun afternoon, taking some of the places on Calum's list for their adventures. They had gone to ScienceWorld for some fun and then over to FlyOver Canada, which was the coolest thing ever before winding down with a cool dinner at the hotel. Afterwards, he'd called his girlfriend who was just a few hours away, by train, and she was miserable in the rainy weather. While the movie was actually set in Seattle and the rain was welcome, it was raining a bit on Laura's mood for the past few days. She loved rainy days in Los Angeles...but then again, those had been spent inside and in bed...with him. Those had been good days; very, very good days.

Rolling over onto his back, he glanced at the clock. It was only ten, which left him an hour before her train arrived. As much as he wanted to just close his eyes and head in to a deep sleep, his body was not letting him. It would be easier sleeping with her by his side anyhow. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Ross reached for his phone he left on the chair and scrolled down the new messages that were blinking back at him. The first was from the Permafrost writers with another rewrite with his scenes for tomorrow morning; and the other, was from Laura.

Train delayed an hour. Sorry. Should've taken a plane. Bring me coffee. I love you.

Ross smiled at her message, and quickly texted her back before he plugged in the phone to his charger. If her train was delayed for an hour, that meant he actually had time to eat a full breakfast, and drink coffee, and even take a shower; which was exactly what he needed. He pulled off his socks and started to unbutton his pants as he padded over to the bathroom, turning on the water. Shimming his pants down his body, he was all stripped down and ready to jump in way before the water was the temperature he wanted it to be.

Waiting a few more moments, he stepped into the water and let the heat flow over his body. It felt good...really good after being out in the open sea for the majority of shooting this morning. Thinking back on his schedule for the next week, he knew they were even further out to sea in just a few days and he remembered seeing 'North Pacific Ocean' on his sides for Sunday night. While he couldn't wait to see what the ocean held at that time at night and just how cold it could really get, he really couldn't wait to see Laura later on. He was excited and had to remind himself to call Sean and Amber to see if they still wanted to go with them to the Capilano Suspension Bridge later on. He had mentioned it in passing and they were the first to sign their names up and make it a double date instead of a just him and Laura date.

Ross had a little list of all the things he wanted to do while Laura was here. As far as he knew she was only there for the weekend and he was going to soak up every bit of her time with tons of activities and little to no sleep. He scrubbed the ocean air out of his skin still thinking about how many hours and how many hours they would have together this weekend. He had plans in his mind - the bridge, the bed, and then the breathtaking view. There was a date planned and the excitement was tingling all the way to his fingertips.

He had been teasing Laura all week with little blurbs from the restaurant's website and the items on the menu. Being a big foodie himself, his mouth was already craving the food, and he knew that for Laura, she'd be dreaming about it and trying to decide which meal she'd actually get. Smiling to himself as he threw a towel over his head and headed out of the bathroom, he remembered her question just the night before. Can't we just order everything?

Glancing at the clock real fast, he quickly changed and started to head out. In just a half hour, he'd have her back in his arms again and that was worth missing a full four hours of sleep for...hell, it was worth missing a lot of sleep for.

+++

The Permafrost cast wasn't huge. The way Ross had talked to her before made it seem like the cast was never ending with not just the ten she had counted in her head, but with more than thirty people. In reality, it was only fourteen people, including Ross. That was not a huge cast...of course, some would argue it was. She came from a show where it was more like a soap opera with over 30 main characters in and out of each season. But the cast that she was meeting right now was not that big.

She had met Sean first, because he was the one who was hugging her before she could even say hi. Amber was next and as soon as she put two and two together and realized it was the same girl from Hook, Laura might've scared her off from fangirling over her. Ross had taken her around to introduce her to all the members of the research team - the ones that were headed to Antarctica, and some of the Antarcticans - which were who Sean and Amber were playing.

In the middle of their lunch, Ross was called back into set and although she would've loved to tour the city with him by her side, she was okay heading back to the set to watch him work. In all honestly, she loved watching him work. Yes, she loved Ross for his heart, and the way that with just one look he could turn her whole attitude and day right side up, but she also loved him for his work ethic. He was dedicated and didn't skip out on any part of his projects. Taking a seat on his chair, Laura pulled on the headphones one of the P.A.s gave her to listen in and watched from her place in video village.

She watched him get into character, smiling to herself about just how much scruff was now on his face. Laura had never seen him with a lot of facial hair. Running her hands over it earlier when he picked her up from the train station, it was a weird sensation on her palm of her hand, but she had to admit - it was sexy; so, so sexy. Ross zipped up a jacket and clipped on a weapons belt and walked ahead of Cleo, the girl who played his younger and much smarter sister. They were arguing about something and Laura was trying to follow along, but it seemed that this script was possibly even more confusing than Into The Air had been.

"So, I'm good to go?"

Her little trance she had been in was broken when she heard Ross right next to her instead of through the headphones. She pulled them off and waited for him to let her know what was going on. The moment he turned back around with a sly smile on his face was the moment she knew that they were heading out and in all honestly, she was excited. Not because she wouldn't get to see him work - she still loved that, but her own tiredness was finally catching up with her. While he had been working sixty hours straight, so had she...and she was murdered, so, there was that.

"You look tired. Are you tired?" he asked her on the way back to the hotel twenty minutes later and she nodded into his shoulder. "Good, because I'm tired too," Ross pulled an arm over her shoulder and kissed her head, her eyes fluttering close for just a moment as the van pulled up to the hotel. He held her hand as they walked into building and headed for the elevators.

"How tired are you?" she mumbled and leaned her head on his shoulder once more as the lift climbed up the building towards his room.

"Well, I've been up since ten of last night, and I couldn't sleep when I got off work this morning."

"Why not?"

"Too anxious to see you," Ross smiled down at her. "I think we should take the longest nap we can and then order as much room service as we can, stuffing ourselves before slipping into another deep sleep."

Laura smiled at him as he opened the door and she headed straight for the bed, not bothering to take off any clothing at all. She buried her face into the pillow and jumped a bit as she felt him take her shoes off and grinned as his hands molded into her arch. "That feels good."

Ross laughed at her as she turned over and shimmied out of her jacket and he worked on discarding his own wardrobe. She tossed her pants on the floor beside her and lifted the thin blanket over both of their bottom halves, scooting closer to him. Her hand found his and he gripped it tight, turning his head just so to kiss her forehead again. "I'm glad you're here."

Her lips curled up into a crescent. "Me too. I'm excited for tomorrow," her voice grew low, just barely above a whisper.

"Me too, but we still can't order the entire menu."

Hours later, she was woken by the shuffling of feet, and him turning on the bathroom light, before he returned to the bed, grabbing the room service menu as he passed by the desk and returning to her side. She closed her eyes again, waking up more slowly and listening to him get settled back into the bed. She loved the times like this...when there wasn't an urgency to have sex or be passionate with each other. Sure, those were always welcomed, and in fact, she would definitely be doing something with him tonight, but she loved the times where words weren't needed and the only thing they needed was to be next to each other.

"I know you're awake," he nudged her softly and his fingers slowly started to crawl over her arm.

"How?"

"I saw you before. Would you like me to wake you up like the first time after we had sex?" Laura laughed at him, a little blush creeping over her cheeks. "I am definitely up for it."

She pushed him away playfully, and opened her eyes, unaware of just how close he was. Instead of seeing his entire face, her eyes were greeted with the intensity of his coffee eyes. It had been two full weeks since she'd seen him last and somehow, the warmth of his eyes could still send her swooning over the edge. She was willing to bet that they'd be doing that for a very, very long time. She noticed how they always changed, from warm coffee and chocolate hues to intense russet and burning cinnamon and she loved them all. "What time is it?"

"Just past six," he glanced at his phone to confirm the time and placed it behind him on the table.

"We slept a long time."

"But we needed it."

And they did. From what he had told her before they headed to the Permafrost set, he hadn't really been getting a lot of sleep and it wasn't for lack of trying, it was just that his body clock was off. Hers was still on the right clock, but it was just wacky without Ross by her side at night. Going from having him by her side each and almost every night since they've gotten together to suddenly without, it was an adjustment and the little, or big nap they had just taken, was the best sleep she's had since he left ahead of the Oscars.

"Are you hungry?"

"A little," she admitted, smiling up at him before stretching out over her side of the bed, which she seemed to have fully stolen from him. Her arms went high, extending way over her head and her toes pointed out, beyond the length of the blanket she was still underneath. Turning back over to him, she caught the amused smirk on his face. "What?"

"You," his smile turned up even more. "You're just so cute. I had an aunt who I remember calls those 'ooo-ooos'."

"Ooo-ooos? Why?"

"I have no idea and I had no idea how cute they were until you just did them."

She poked her tongue out and was about to say a really good comeback before he hushed her up with a kiss. She had morning breath - or so she assumed - she was still waking up and even if she wanted to protest, she couldn't. His kisses were just that good. Kissing right back, her hand felt the scratchy scruff on his face again before they broke apart. "I think I was cuter than just that."

"You were the one that broke it," Ross pointed out, pecking her on the lips once more. "Now about that hungry bit, I was serious about the room service."

She kissed him once more before rearranging the pillows she had been laying on. Placing them up against the headboard and even closer to him, she stole the menu from his hands and started to flip through the many, many pages. It was all standard stuff - entrees, appetizers, salads, desserts... she was hungry, but not order-the-entire-menu hungry yet. "What are you going to get?"

Ross quickly told her his menu picks and before she could even say that she wanted the same or tell him a different order, he shut her down with the no stealing each other's food rule.

"You are just no fun."

"Every time we do that though, you steal all of my food. All of it."

"You love it."

"Yea, sure," he playfully rolled his eyes as she moved off of the bed. "Where you going?"

"Bathroom," she pointed out and turned around, walking backwards. "And I'll be the one closing the door."

"What about the food?"

"You know what I like."

+++

It was seven in the morning and secretly, inside, he was jumping for joy that he was awake at this time. But in all reality, he hadn't exactly gotten any more sleep either. His breath was even now, after catching it for the past hour after their goodnight kiss had turned into an all-nighter and he wasn't complaining one bit. "I think you got louder," he told the woman beside him who had turned everything in his life upside down. He held her hand in his again, playing with her fingers like they were strings on a guitar.

"We're in a hotel," she explained like it was an obvious answer. "If we were at home...we have neighbors to think about. Here, not so much."

"I like when you get loud."

"Come on get loud loud let it out, shout it out from the rooftops," she sang to him, a teasing smile curling up on her lips. "Come on get loud 'til they shut us down..."

"Okay, then," Ross ignored her protests as she laughed at him, turning over from his back to on top of her again; but he wasn't going for sex this time, he was going for pure torture and finding all the spots on her body that were ticklish beyond comprehension. The place just under her elbow, the skin to the right of her breasts, the very big area of her hip...his hands found each and every one of her ticklish zones and her laugh was echoing off the walls in the room.

"Ross!"

"You said you wanted to get loud."

"Stop it!" her laugh broke up her protests while he legs kicked around under him, squirming at his touch at little spots. He was making his was down to her ankles when she caught his hand. "Don't you dare."

Ross bit his lip, lifting her upper body towards him. He walked his fingers up her bare leg and stared back at her. "Where would you like my fingers to be?"