Actively and attentively engaged in work or a pastime - that was the textbook definition of the word busy and if you opened up the Oxford English Dictionary at this point in your life, you'd actually find Laura's headshot right next to it. At least, she was convinced she would.

She and Ross had only been back in Los Angeles a few days and already she was booked until two weeks beyond that. On top of a few auditions, there was a meeting with Scott Borchetta about picking up her music career again, interviews that she hadn't said yes to, but was booked to do them anyway thanks to her power publicity team and not just one or two magazine shoots, but five. Yes, five. And that wasn't all. On top of the tiny mountain of things she was obligated to do for promotion for Into Thin Air, there was Riker's Grease premiere, that he personally called her up and told her to be at or he was going to write her out of his last will and testament; and then there was planning her mom's birthday party with Vanessa, who, yes, was still in San Francisco.

Maybe busy didn't even begin to describe her at the moment. It was more overloaded and swamped and buried and just...done. Thinking back to what Ross said about not wanting to go home from their getaway to Thailand, maybe she should've agreed and they could've just stayed there and grown old together. With elephants. Deep in thought about the possibilities there, she hardly heard Amy talk to her about all the promo stops for the movie that she was signed up for.

"Full promotion starts at the middle of August," the now senior publicist told her, poking her on the arm so she would pay attention. "You'll be going to Venice, Cape Town, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, London and Sydney."

"Do you know who else will be those cities?"

"If you're asking about what cities Ross is signed up for, I have no idea," Amy pushed that page aside, before picking up another. "I do know that the full cast are signed up for London, New York and Los Angeles, though."

Three cities are better than none.

"I also called up Karen for you while you were away with styling. Since your contract is almost done with Valentino, you are able to wear other brands for this promo tour. That being said though, they still do want to do business with you and have already sent flowers, chocolates and a great deal of emails to the office. We've eaten all the chocolates," Amy told her. "But, they want to design a trio of dresses for the big premieres for you. That, of course, is up to you."

Three custom dresses from Valentino, just for her. That didn't sound like a bad deal at all. She was almost tempted to call them up right there and say yes. Instead, she listened to what more of her schedule for the next two weeks looked like. First there was an early morning appearance on KTLA, then a short trip to New York for more little interviews and a fashion shoot with Glamour magazine. Then it was back to LA, where there were four more shoots in the span of a week and after that last one, for Elle, she'd be crashing in her bed and not emerging from the apartment for another week. At least, that was the plan. We'll see how that goes at the end of it all.

"I know you also have a few auditions, too, right?"

"Yea. One is later today actually."

"Okay, so since you have all this movie promotion, you'll have the summer to really shoot something, and then you're booked until February next year. This movie is going to kidnap you."

Laura smiled at Amy's words. Yes, yes it was. She knew what she had signed up for when she first stepped foot into that stage to audition and when she said yes to the role. The role really came at such a perfect time. She was wrapping up a drama series and she wasn't sure about diving back into music then. A big screen movie was the next option and she was happy and lucky that she got that role...especially when it gave her another chance with Ross. She'd always be grateful for this movie and even though it was going to kidnap her for most of the remainder of the year, it was worth it.

Going down tomorrow's schedule before she left, Laura quickly shot off a text to Ross about picking up dinner before heading over to her parent's house to spend some time with them. She hadn't seen them in about three weeks and she definitely missed them, and judging by the hug her dad had given her as soon as she stepped out of her car at their home, they missed her too.

"Velvet, my baby," Laura cuddled up to the pup who was showing her age more than she wanted to admit. She remembered the times when she'd be playing the piano in the living room and Velvet would be singing along to her own tune and she still did that, but it was much less now and more our of tune. Laura didn't mind it, but she kind of missed the loudness of her puppy's voice. The dog's fur had gotten longer, like she hadn't been groomed recently, but that was okay. Her fur was soft and fluffy and all Laura wanted to do was lay down on the floor with her and take a nap. Judging by her week ahead, and the week after that, a nap wouldn't be a bad idea.

"She's missed you," Ellen came in the room, setting some water on the coffee table ahead of them.

"I've missed her too. I should kidnap her for a day."

"How about a month?" Ellen joked with her daughter as Laura placed her head onto the dog's back as she rested. "How many things do you have this week?"

"A lot," Laura muffled, before sitting back up and rambling off all the things that were happening for the rest of the week, starting at ten in the morning tomorrow. That was when her first interview happened and she was kind of thankful that it was over the phone, so she didn't have to change out of her pajamas that she planned to spend the entire day in. "Then after New York, I'm back here again and it's day after day after day of photo shoots."

"Well, hopefully you'll maybe have some time to help me shop for a nice dress. Your dad is taking me out for a fancy dinner this weekend."

"Oooo, where ya taking her?" Laura smiled over at her dad, who was sitting on the chair next to them.

"Somewhere she's wanted to go for years."

"And all he'll tell me is that it's fancy and I need to dress the part."

Laura could only imagine that this was for Ellen's birthday. It was only a few weeks away and it looked like he was doing something early, as to not mess up any of Vanessa's plans, whatever those may be. Smart man. "Maybe Friday?"

"You let me know and we'll go from there. Now, tell us all about your trip to the jungle."

Laura smiled wide at the mention of Thailand. Where would she even start?

+++

So when Laura told him she was coming straight home from an edgy photo shoot, she was being very literal. Very literal.

He stopped what he was doing in the kitchen and watched as his girlfriend - you know, the one with chestnut hair that he could always run his hands through and it felt like silk and the one who always looked like a million bucks the moment she stepped out of the shower with no trace of makeup on her face - threw her keys in the bowl they had set up by the door and stripped of the tiniest black leather jacket on her shoulders, tossing it onto the sofa. Her hair - the aforementioned hair that he could run his hands through it - was braided in every which way direction on the sides of her head, with a top knot on the top while the rest of her hair flowed in the back.

On top of that tiny leather jacket, her body was covered in an extremely tight crop top and pants that look like they were painted on. He could see that she had toned down her makeup from the shoot, but it was still intense with heavy eyeliner and lashes that didn't seem to end. He loved her natural look but this, this was a different look all together and it was turning him on with every step she took towards the kitchen. Laura had always been hot and sexy in his eyes, but this was on a whole new level. This was a look that screamed wild and wicked and he was already making up fantasies in his mind.

"So, when you said edgy, you meant..."

"Edgy," she nodded, coming around the corner and heading straight for the fridge and digging out a water.

Ross set the knife down on the counter, still watching her as she moved from foot to foot in the pants that he was very tempted to rip off of her. Speaking of feet, did he forget to mention that the caged heels that she was walking around in made her every taller than she usually would be with just plain heels on? Suddenly, their inside joke of her looking like sex on heels was very, very true and her turning him on by just walking by him was becoming a major problem. Stop thinking, stop thinking, stop thinking...

"I have my third shoot tomorrow and is it bad that I'm hoping for something that will require me to be in just pajamas?" Laura came around his side again, leaning onto the counter and glancing at the fruits he had stopped cutting up. Snatching one and popping it into her mouth, he knew she must've seen his erection as well, judging by the smirk curling up on her lips. "You must be really happy to see me..." And she did.

"What magazine was this for again?"

"Complex."

"Note to self: buy out all the newsstands in the city." He felt her press a kiss to the bottom of his chin and squeezed in between him and the counter and that was all it took for him to get even harder. "You are evil."

"I thought the outfit covered that?" Laura smiled up at him. Even though she was in sky high heels, she was still shorter than him and while he loved that she was much shorter than him to begin with, having her in heels right now made it so much more easier to devour her in every aspect.

His head tilted only slightly as he captured her lips and his hands crawled up her exposed skin on her back and over her crop top. Ross pulled her closer, bending her a bit backwards over the counter. Their kisses were zealous and getting heated quick and if he didn't just prick his finger on the knife he had set down earlier, he was going to lift her up on that counter and have his way.

Ross backed away from her regretfully, muttering under his breath about not putting the knife into the sink behind them the minute she walked in. Turning and switching on the water, he pushed on his finger to get the small drops of blood that he had drawn from the poke of the sharp edge. Looking back over his shoulder, Laura was already cleaning up the countertop and keeping the knife in her view so she wouldn't slice her own hands.

"You okay?"

"Yea. Just a little poke. Nothing big," he said, watching her come by his side and placing the knife into the dishwasher. "But you, you need to change so I'm not distracted. Not that I'm not always distracted by you, but this..."

"Ross," Laura stopped him. "I get it, but before I do, I need you to think about something." He raised his eyebrows, letting her go on and he was suddenly intrigued about her question. "Think about me looking even more edgy than this."

"More edgy?"

"Yea. I have an Esquire shoot in two days."

His eyes went wide then. He knew Esquire. He knew it very well. It was a magazine that he actually picked up quite often and would actually read from front to back...pending the article blurbs on the cover. Ross was always in between with the magazine. Some would say that the magazine didn't really fit with him, but others (particularly ex-girlfriends) saw it as something sexy that he read. If you asked fans now, they'd probably like him reading Rolling Stone and Details, but wouldn't even think about Esquire. Described as a general-interest lifestyle magazine that 'defines, reflects and celebrates what it means to be a man', he knew how the magazine operated. Which meant he knew how the magazine presented women as well.

Some features were objectified, some where sexy, and some where just, well, there was no way else to say it. They were raunchy. And now that he knew Laura would be shooting with them in just a couple of days and had physically no say in the direction of the shoot (not that he would pull rank for that anyhow), he was kind of nervous. Laura was hot - while she didn't always see it, he saw and knew it and evidently, the magazine knew it too. He could see it now, guys all over the country would flip the pages in a future issue of Esquire and their eyes would fall out of their heads and jaws would drop when they would see his girlfriend clad in only a lace bralette and even lacier panties with her hair all messy and her bedroom eyes that weren't seductive at all, but were somewhere on the edge of lively and wild.

Yea. He maybe didn't want all those other men to see Laura like that. That, that was his Laura. But then again, she was an actress and he knew it was all a part of the job. Just like she would have to handle him with Sofia Vassileva on Permafrost later on, he would have to handle Laura in sexy shoots and with other men on future projects.

Ross dipped his head, still leaning over the sink when she came back out of the bedroom. She was in her favorite shorts - the ones with palm trees all over them - with purple fuzzy slippers on her feet and a blank tank top. Her fingers were sliding through her hair as she took out of the braids, revealing waves upon waves. Bringing out the bowl of fruit that he had cut into the living room, he took a seat by her side as she slid over the length of the sofa. "Your hair has it's own life right now."

"Much like yours does in the morning," Laura smiled up at him, pulling herself up and taking a few cubes of melon to pop into her mouth. "Did you think about what I said?"

"About Esquire?" Ross nodded. "Yea."

"Thoughts?"

"I have none."

"You have none?"

"As your boyfriend, yes, I have a lot of thoughts. The first being that I'll need the photographer's number so I can purchase the pics and blow them up and plaster them on the walls in our room. The second being that this," he motioned to her slender body, his hand coming to rest lightly on her knee, "is something I would love to keep all to myself."

"So, why no thoughts?"

"Because we're actors, and this is sort of our job. You wouldn't tell me not to do a certain role that I really want because it's going to require me having fake sex with another girl or because I'll be showing the world my ass. I'm not going to tell you not to do something when you want it."

Laura shrugged her shoulders slightly. "I don't really want want to do the shoot. I mean, it's not on my bucket list of magazines I want to cover in my lifetime..."

"Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour..." he started to rattle them off before she smacked him to stop.

"Esquire has never been on my list. When we were still on Austin & Ally, I don't think you or I could ever dream about getting anything beyond Tiger Beat and Popstar."

Ross let his smirk grow on his face. "Still in those."

"Every month?"

"Every month. Even on the websites. I, and mostly Ryland now, get Twitter notifications from them too."

Laura ran her hand through the abundant waves that were laying loose on her shoulders, pulling them all to one side. "I don't know what the shoot direction will be or how much clothing I'll actually be wearing."

"I know. But I trust you," Ross pressed a quick kiss to her lips before getting up to check on the dinner he had put into the oven only a few minutes before she arrived.

"How much do you trust me?"

"Completely."

"Good. Because it's not Esquire." Ross looked up at the exact moment she bit her lip and revealed the real magazine the shoot was for. "It's Maxim, and it's the cover."

All those men he had pictured before now definitely had their eyes out of their head and jaws on the floor. Including him.

And while she was doing that two days later, he was off on his own shoot - for Details. He currently was in the middle of nowhere, well almost. He was actually north of Los Angeles, in the woods that people actually forget were there, with a stethoscope around his neck and trying to channel a rugged doctor that was searching for alternative medicine in the wilderness, just like the man he had portrayed for Into Thin Air. He could hardly believe that it had been almost a year since he was playing Dr. Rory McLaren, and he couldn't believe that he was going to be covering this magazine for him either; or any magazine for that matter.

One of the stylists came to brush up his hair again as Brian Bowen Smith kept shooting for the spread, breaking his thoughts about how fast time had flown by and just how much had changed. They had moved from a sound studio earlier in the day where he posed in an open airport hangar, private planes all in a row with just his baby, the Fender Jaguarillo electric guitar. It was two of his loves coming together and he had a bit of a freak out with those shots.

Still without a proper PR, the studio had sent another rep, Adrienne, to keep him company and make sure things were going as planned. He honestly, was just thankful that it wasn't Simone. Especially since during the hangar shots, he was going shirtless. That would've been something to live through if they had sent her.

"Ross, stop looking at the camera," Brian instructed him to do. "Beyond my shoulder is the best In-N-Out meal ever. Salivate and stare, man."

"That is not a problem at all." And it wasn't. It was actually all he was thinking about now and how it would taste in his mouth and yep...guess what he would be having for dinner?

Double checking with Adrienne about the interview, which was the next day, he was wrapped up in the next hour and headed straight for one of the many, many, many In-N-Out's that would have a line wrapped around the block. Damn Brian for putting the idea in his head that he needed a double double with extra grilled onions and lemon pepper fries with cheese. Oh, and a Neopolitan shake.

Looks like he'd be hitting the gym bright and early tomorrow.

+++

She honestly didn't know why she was doing this. She had zero time to do this, but she was here, in a lobby, sitting beside another actress that looked kind of familiar to her, but if you asked her, she wouldn't be able to name her. She had come straight from an interview on KTLA, which was moved because of her own schedule. Wearing a high collared lace top with a full white midi skirt, Laura prayed that she was dressing for the part she was reading for.

Glancing at the sides in her hands and re-crossing her legs over the other, she read up again. It was a little indie role, nothing big, which was exactly what she wanted. A thirty day shoot was all that indie movies tended to run and she kind of loved that. She could actually do two of them in a row before she was whisked off on a promo tour for Into Thin Air. The part that she was reading for was a woman who was moving across country with her new husband and during the trip they discover things about the other that they never knew, which only causes them both to question the new life they started on together.