The concept of bowling was simple. Take an eight to fourteen pound ball that was painted with pretty colors (or just black, if you're that type of person) and toss it down an extremely slippery wood floor towards ten pins set in a triangle, and knock them all down. It was that simple. Of course, as she watched some of the people around her, they were pulling out all their fancy tricks and hooks, and rubbing their balls down with special towels that she was sure were just plain ol' towels you could pick up from Target or wherever. She watched them all tie up laces on their special bowling shoes and do a little walk from the edge to the tip of where the lane actually started, like a ritual, spacing out and getting in the zone for the game of bowling.

However, simple was not her middle name and nor was it a concept in her life. Nothing was simple. It was complicated and she always needed someone or something to show her how or push her to do these things...well, most of the time. She did recall that she was the one pushing her mom to take her and her sister to auditions when they were young. That was the only thing that she never needed any pushing on. This however, was a whole different story.

Telling Ross about the bowling idea with both families and some friends a few days ago, he was jumping all over it and the one that was getting everyone here. It was cute to see just how excited he got over it; kid in a candy store like. Of course, he was mostly excited to do something other than study scripts that he'd be acting out in a weeks time in Vancouver again. He'd been trying to memorize them all in the week's time, and she was kind of hoping he would. It was a running bet and if he didn't by the time he had to leave, he couldn't go surfing for a week. She couldn't recall why she chose that punishment at all, but he did tell her she had to cook all week if he succeeded.

Watching Rocky roll the ball down the lane and knock all the pins down was getting her discouraged. She was never going to get more than 100 points. Never. Ryland was next, and then Savannah before she would try again. Riker had teased her earlier, telling her they could get the bumpers out if they needed to. While everyone else was knocking down five pins or more each time, she was at two. Two. And it was ridiculous and embarrassing all at the same time.

"Okay, so you're going to get whiplash if you keep looking back and forth like that."

Laura looked back to her right side and up at her boyfriend. Poking him in the side and sticking her tongue, she scrunched up her nose too, just because. While yes, she had suggested bowling, she hadn't let on what prompted her to suggest it. He didn't know about Sofia and how she was supposed to randomly show up during their outing and join them and then her and Riker could live happily ever after...well the last part was in her mind, but it was good to hope. She wasn't entirely sure about Riker's own love life but she did know that he'd been crushing on Sofia for a long time...and in between his other relationships throughout the years, he'd always go back to the idea of her. The only reason she knew about that was because she'd gotten a crash course in everything Lynch during their movie shoot in Cape Town.

But Sofia, she knew exactly everything about Sofia's love life - partly because she had told her at lunch the other day and because it had been blasted all over gossip sites and television and papers for the past three years. Just like she had, Sofia had been involved in a very high profile relationship and it was all perfect. But you know when something seems perfect and a match made in heaven, it really isn't; and it definitely wasn't for Sofia. She had told Laura that for the first year she was over the moon about the guy and after playing a princess on television, she was truly being treated like one but that was until more jobs surfaced and rumors that they had usually brushed off, were getting to both of them. At the end of it all, as much as they had loved each other, the worry and being apart for most of their relationship was the breaking point.

"Who exactly are you looking for? You're expecting someone else?"

"Um..." she pressed her lips together, keeping mum for the moment and catching Savannah taking her turn on the lane.

Ross raised his eyebrows, setting his beer down on the table beside her. "Who'd you invite?"

"Oh look, it's almost my turn," Laura tried to avoid his 'do not get involved in my brother's relationships' talk and hopped off of the stool and headed towards the lane. Savannah was already celebrated her spare pickup and her score had jumped up from 85 to 95, pending the next frame. Laura then looked at her own score. 36. Damn, she was horrible.

"Just one second," Ross pulled her back. "Who'd you invite?"

"You invited someone else?" Ryland asked, picking up the conversation.

"No, no," she insisted, lying straight through her teeth. Turning around, she picked up the twelve pound ball she was sharing with Savannah and stepped up on the lane, hoping to get more than three pins down and hoping that when she turned back around there wouldn't be four sets of brown eyes staring back at her.

Taking her stance, she breathed out, stepping small and then running down the lane, swinging her arm back and letting go as soon as she hit the start line. No bumpers needed at the moment, she watched the round sphere swerve over the wooden floor towards the pins with anticipation. When it finally hit them, they started tumbling down.

You know those scenes in movies when the music is really slow, playing over a climatic scene and all of the sudden goes into it's normal tempo and is blasting over the scene in front of you? That was exactly what was happening here, because Laura could hear the tempo of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 get louder and louder and louder as the ninth and tenth pins came down. That was a strike. She had gotten a strike and no sooner than she jumped up, she raced back to Ross and bounced into his arms.

"Where did that come from?"

Laura slipped down from him, "I don't know. But that's a strike! I got a strike!" Turning around and looking up at the screen, she had to make sure the computer got that frame right. She got a strike! Out of two almost full games and not more than 4 points on each of them, and she finally got a strike. "Who needs bumpers now, Riker?"

Riker looked back over at her. "Still you, but that was a good ball."

Yea, she probably still did need bumpers but at the moment she didn't care. She got a strike that was enough to celebrate until Monday for her. Laura felt arms wrap around her upper arms, caging her in so she couldn't move and she smiled as his lips softly pressed against her temple.

"But," Riker spoke up again, distracting her from the coziness of Ross' arms. "I bet you can't do it again."

Okay, now it was on. Before it was just about her getting through the game and keeping watch for Sofia, but now, now it was a real game with the point of proving her boyfriend's brother wrong. "Wanna bet?"

"Yes, yes I do. Say...cleaning mine and Rocky's place."

"Dude..." Rocky let out in a low voice, knowing that their apartment was dirty like an actual dirt bomb had went off inside it - several times. Laura did not know this. The only thing Laura knew was that it was smaller than her place, and much more manageable to clean.

"It's only 10 pins." He kept egging her on, a little glint in his eyes.

"Only 10 pins," she said calmly, reminding herself that she could knock them all down again. Easy peasy. "Does a spare count?"

"No. Strike, or you lose."

Rocky shook his head at the two coming up with their deal.

"And if I get the strike, I get..."

"We'll clean your place."

Laura scoffed at the offer and Ross leaned back from her, shaking his own head. "Um, no. Our place is actually clean."

"Spic and span, man."

"We'll write you a song."

"Pretty sure you already did."

Riker was about to come back with something else for her when his gaze stopped beyond her head. He stared, his eyes only moving slightly up and down before his mouth tried to curl up into a smile before he stopped it. That could mean one thing - Sofia was here. She knew that kind of look he had on his face. She saw it when Rico first met Amanda, who he'd been dating for about two years, and she saw it every single time on Calum's face when his own fiancee, Rebecca, entered the room. Calum was the biggest hopeless romantic she knew, so to see that same time to face on Riker right now, was everything.

Turning about to where his gaze was fixed on, Laura smiled over at Sofia, who had her eyes locked on Riker as well. Her hair was pulled back into few messy braids and she had traded in her signature fashion boots that she always wore for some sneakers, making her shorter than she normally appeared. A basic graphic tee and slim jeans completed her look and as Laura's head whipped back and forth again, like it was doing before, she could see that he'd actually agree to anything she said right now.

"If I get the strike, you fund the rest of your parent's anniversary trip, no questions asked where it's to."

"Look at you giving a perfect opportunity away to him like that," Ross said from behind her. "I would've made him detail your car, or maybe even dive for some gold in the ocean or something."

Laura slightly rolled her eyes at Ross. "That's because you're his brother and you can torture him like that. Me, not so much. I already made him move furniture."

"Is this you're doing?" he nodded over to the barely talking, but clearly infatuated Riker and Sofia who were on the verge of spitting out a novel to each other, but stopped, not knowing where to start or even what to make said novel about. Ross pulled her back to him so she stood in between his legs as he sat on the short chair that circled the bowling area. His hands rubbed the skin below her shorts before resting on them and her hands landed comfortably on his shoulders. "Playing matchmaker again are we?"

"Again?"

"I do recall you trying to do that with me when we were on the show. What was her name...Stacy? Sarah? Something like that."

"How do you remember that?" Her head dipped, a little embarrassed about it. That was at the time when she had a boyfriend and so did Raini and Calum was just newly single and the plan was to find girlfriends for both him and Ross and well, it didn't turn out to her and Raini's plan. It ended up being a giant fight instead of the start of the greatest romance alive. Looking back, she was kind of glad it didn't, but then, it was a bit of a tragedy for her.

"Oh, I remember everything. I have things on you that you don't even know."

"What do you have?"

"You'll find out when I need to actually use them. But, back to this," he referred to the two still trying to get words out.

"I ran into her at an audition, we went to lunch and then Riker came up in conversation," Laura slipped down on his knee, her left hand loosely playing with the hairs on the back of his neck. He was going to have to get it cut soon. "She actually really likes him. The date they had was just..."

"Awkward?" Laura nodded, agreeing with his word that he blurted out. "I love you and all, but stop playing matchmaker." Ross kissed the top of her head quickly and moved out to take his turn on the lane.

Laura shrugged. It wasn't like she was setting up everyone in her life with someone. It was just one. Of course, he just happened to be her boyfriend's brother and the girl who he'd had a crush on forever, who was also his co-star. Yea, this was a little complicated when one said it out loud, but it was for true love. At least, that's what she was telling herself. Forgetting about the bowling bet for right now, she took over Ross's seat and watched him let the ball fly down the lane, and she could've sworn the pins fell down as soon as they saw him take position.

"So, I heard you got your first and only strike just moments before I got here," Sofia took a seat next to Laura, beckoning her attention away from the blond brothers and the lanes to her instead.

"Riker!"

"Don't kill him," Sofia patted her arm. "How long has it been since you actually went bowling?"

"A long time and Riker," her voice went low and loud at the mention of his name, "will not let me forget it."

"You should let me bowl for you. I'm really good."

"How good?"

"Insanely good," Sofia emphasized. "I have a grandfather who is obsessed with the game and got me really into it when I was young. I bet," she paused, looking over at Riker who was getting ready to take his turn again. "I could even beat him."

"Did I just hear you right?" Riker looked back at her, holding his ball up in the air on his fingers. "You think you, can beat me? Do you not know how good I am at this game?"

Sofia smiled big. "Oh, I recall your bragging on set very well and yet, none of us got to see this so-called skill."

Laura watched the two flirt back and forth, upping the stakes of her previous bet with him into something with her instead. Just like she wanted.

+++

His eyes were fried. Seriously fried. He was very tired of staring back at a computer screen and even more tired from being on the phone all day with Paramount and CBS at the same time, figuring out his own promo schedule for the movie, all while balancing filming for the show. He still had about six more episodes to film before their little break in late summer, and then the cast would be back in Vancouver filming the rest of the season for the winter months.

With the movie, they had so many promo stops and festivals and while at first he was hesitant on having such a big cast, it was working in his personal favor right now. Instead of having a bajillion cities to go to and living off a plane again, he would only be going to seven. Seven was a hell of a lot better than a bajillion. It wasn't really a bajillion, but it looked like it on paper. He couldn't remember what cities Laura was going to, even though she had told him. He knew for a fact that three out of the seven they would be there together, but that was all.

Pulling the phone from the crook of his neck and putting it on speaker, he let the guy from CBS, Todd, if he recalled, and Paramount work out the nitty gritty details of his life for the next six months. He was pretty flexible, for the most part, and alerted them before hand that he had to be back in Los Angeles for his brother's premiere in July. That was a non-negotiable thing. So far, they had worked out that he'd be back in Vancouver for the entire month of June (which just happened to be days away), and most of July and August. That was three entire months of the show and that would get them up to at least 14 episodes to air. After mid-August, he'd be on the movie promo train, and heading to Toronto first, followed by London, Los Angeles and New York. He had zoned out when they were talking about beyond that. Beyond October. It seemed like such a long time away, but he knew that as soon as he thought that, that the time would speed up and he'd wake up tomorrow and it would be March of next year.

"I still get Christmas and Thanksgiving off, right?" He interjected, hoping to get at least some laughs from the guys going back and forth. But, there was nothing. The fact that he could almost see Todd rubbing his temple from the headache he was getting from this in his mind, told him everything. "Kidding," he added in a small voice.

Looking up at the clock on his computer, it was well past three and he was getting hungry. He hoped that Laura had picked up the T-bones that he had written in big bold letters on her shopping list. He had been good in eating healthy crap for the past few days and hitting the gym every other hour (he did have a physique to keep up for the show after all - and for her), he really wanted that T-bone tonight. Grilling it up with the best salt they had in the cabinets and the pepper just before taking it off the grill. His mouth was already watering at the thought of watching the salt soak up the moisture and then slathering it with the blazing hot salsa he'd stolen from his mom's kitchen just the day before. Instead of the regular barbecue sauce, he was the old ball out with the salsa. It was a thing he'd discovered years earlier while roaming the dark city of Lisbon during the midnight hours. It was a little joint, down below the city where absolutely no one went - except him, apparently.

"Okay, Ross. You are all set. We'll send you over the final itinerary and commitment plan to you in a few hours," the Paramount rep broke up his thoughts about the steak and back to his future in becoming a professional globetrotter. Come to think of it, that wouldn't be a bad job.

"Sounds great. Thanks for everything guys."

"Anytime."

Ending the call, Ross slipped out of the dining room chair and went to turn up the volume on the Kings hockey game that he had recorded and forgotten about until just a few minutes before the call happened. As hungry as he was, he was more interested in the game now. He could relax, watch the game, have a steak...this could turn out to be the most perfect night. But, of course, he still had to go over lines for Permafrost and make sure his flight was still good to go and oh yea, packing. Again. More packing. He chuckled to himself, thinking of just how much packing he'd actually done in the past month.

Flopping down on sectional, Ross turned up the volume even more and was getting so comfortable that he was almost thinking about waiting on those steaks until tomorrow...but then Laura walked in with bags upon bags in her hands and his eyes narrowed in on the one with the steaks inside it. Yea, screw sitting around; he wanted those steaks.

"Hi honey, I'm home."

"Did you really just say that?" Ross looked over at Laura from his spot on the couch still, very amused.

"I always wanted to. I'm not really loving it though. You're not a honey."

"What?"

"You're not a honey."

"What am I, then?"

"You're more a sexy or, you know, dude. 'Dude, I'm home. Help me with the groceries.'" she paused weighing the sentence that she just uttered. "Yea, I like that one."

"Was that actually a request or..."

Laura rolled her eyes from the peninsula and started to unload the things she had bought. She technically didn't give him an answer and while he probably should get up and help her and all, he didn't. He sat there and watched the hockey game that he had been plugging his ears over when his brothers wanted to talk about it.

"Did you talk with Paramount today?"

"Yep."

"And..."

"And they're sending me the final schedule tonight."

"Do you know where you're going?"

"All I know for sure are New York, London and LA, like everyone else."

"Do you want to make these steaks tonight?"