Disclaimer: Ross and Laura and R5 are real people and therefore not owned by anyone. Well, maybe by Disney. Or HR. Just not me.

A/N: Well the end is finally here and I met my deadline of finishing it before Laura's actual prom! I hope you guys like it. The song is called Never Stop (Wedding Version) by Safetysuit. (thank you Emily!)

They haven't communicated in two weeks. No texts. No phone calls. Nothing. Everything he knows about her is what she tweets to her fans, which isn't much. He knows she got an iPad. He knows she hung out with Calum until 1 in the morning. He knows she took the SATs. He digs a little and finds out who she's not going to prom with. He knows she's not doing anything differently than she usually does.

He, on the other hand, is kind of a mess. His mood has been erratic and his family is starting to notice. He's been silent, maybe brooding a little, as they're driving from Vancouver back into the United States when his sister finally calls him out on it.

"What's the matter with you?" Rydel asks, taking a seat next to him. "You've been weird ever since the RDMAs. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he says instantly, trying to perk up. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just tired."

"You're my little brother. I know when something's wrong with you and something's wrong with you. Now spill."

He shakes his head. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Does it look like I'm giving you a choice?" she says, raising an eyebrow.

He sighs and her eyes soften. "Come on, Ross, is it about Laura? The prom thing? You know you couldn't have gone anyway."

He doesn't say anything for a long moment and instead stares at the floor. "But if I was with her she wouldn't be going with someone else," he finally says. He looks up to see that her eyebrows are raised slightly. "I confronted her at the RDMAs," he confesses quietly. "I was a jackass about it, too. She's pretty mad at me."

She frowns. "What did you do?"

He shakes his head. "I was being an idiot. Trying to make her jealous because I thought that's what she was doing. What was I even thinking? It's Laura. And then I told her that I loved her." He laughs bitterly. "And to top it all off, I'm pretty sure she likes me back. But I totally blew it."

"Oh, and I haven't talked to her in two weeks. So yeah, that's cool," he continues sarcastically. "I might have lost my best friend, too."

Her face falls. "Oh, Ross," she says. "I'm so sorry."

He shrugs. "It's my own fault. And I can't do anything about it because we play a show that night."

"Maybe you can," she says after a minute. "A flight from San Francisco to LA is what, like an hour and a half?"

"We have a show. I can't bail on our fans to crash her prom. Which would actually probably make her more upset," he argues.

She nods. "Leave right after. You need to do something big, Ross," she says encouragingly.

"After?" he asks, slightly confused. "But I wouldn't get to LA until what, 2 am?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something," she says, pulling him in for a hug. "You always do."

He absentmindedly hugs her back and then sits there, thinking. He hardly notices when she walks away with a small smile on her face but then he hears her telling their parents that they need to book him a flight ticket as soon as possible. He watches out of the corner of his eye as his mom smiles and nods (because it's Laura and no one, not even his mom, needs more explanation than that) as Rydel explains what happened and he knows he won't have to worry about that, at least.

It takes him a day but he finally comes up with a plan.

And it's going to be all or nothing.

All or nothing means that he plays the best show of his life and then skips out on signing after the concert to catch a plane to LA.

He's showered and dressed and in the air holding a corsage a little after midnight and before he knows it they're landing and he starts to panic a little bit because he still doesn't know exactly what he's going to do. He changes into a tuxedo in the airport bathroom and his hands may or may not be slightly trembling as he knots his tie.

There's a car waiting for him and he tells the driver the address to her house and he's praying she's home by now because it's 2 am and he doesn't know if he can take knowing that she's still out with some guy this late even if she said he was just a friend.

He practices what he's going to say during the drive to her house in his head and then they're pulling up across the street and his heart starts pounding wildly. He takes a deep breath and then he walks around to where he knows her bedroom window is and peeks in. She's standing in front of her dresser in her pajamas, undoing her hair in front of the mirror, and he quickly taps on the glass before he can think about it too much.

She jumps and whirls around, her eyes wide, and then she spots him outside the window. Her jaw drops and he motions for her to open the latch. She slowly walks over, a cautious expression on her face, like she can't believe that it's actually him, and slides it open.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asks, before he can say anything.

He smiles sheepishly. "Will you come outside?"

She looks at him incredulously. "Are you serious? Ross, it's almost—" She turns her head to look at what he presumes is a clock. "—Three am, can we just talk in the morning? How did you even get here so fast? Didn't you guys just play in San Francisco?"

"I took a plane. I need to talk to you. Please?"

She bites her lip. "Okay," she says after a pause. "Backyard?"

He nods and watches her leave her room before he walks around to the back of the house. She steps down from the patio and carefully closes the door and walks over to him with a questioning look on her face when she finally sees how he's dressed.

He suddenly forgets everything he was going to say because she's standing in front of him now and it's real and it's happening and he realizes that this might be his one chance.

"I came to apologize," he says, looking at her. "I never said I was sorry. At the RDMAs, I mean." He pauses. "And I am. I'm so sorry. I was being an idiot. I tried to make you jealous and play games and it was a shitty thing to do. But the idea that you were going to prom with someone else—and that you went—was and still kind of is driving me insane."

She raises her eyebrows but he continues, taking a step towards her. "I had this entire speech planned out but I can't remember a single word of it anymore so I'm just going to say it. I'm done screwing around. I want to be with you, Laura," he says.

She looks at him with an unreadable expression on her face. "What's with the tux?" she finally says.

He gives her a half smile and shrugs. "I was hoping I could…take you to prom?"

He holds out the corsage to her and she lifts her hand so he can put it on her wrist, looking at him suspiciously.

"You know, my night was a disaster," she says as he digs in his pocket for his phone. "All around terrible."

"What? Why?" he asks, stopping to look up in surprise. "What happened?"

She sighs. "Turns out the 'just friends guy' was you know, not exactly looking for a new friend."

He narrows his eyes. "What?"

She shrugs. "Calm down, Ross. It wasn't a big deal. He just wasn't really the guy I thought he was and I kind of spent the night by the punch bowl…not dancing," she says, frowning slightly.

He frowns and then reaches out to take her hand. "Hey," he says quietly. "Then will you dance with me?"

She looks up at him and she doesn't have any makeup on and her hair is kind of a mess and she's wearing an old T-shirt that's seen better days but he doesn't think he's ever seen anything prettier in his entire life. "Okay," she says softly, taking his hand, and he smiles, then presses play on his phone.

This is my love song to you
Let every woman know I'm yours
So you can fall asleep each night babe
And know I'm dreaming of you more

The sound is a little muffled because he has to keep the phone in his pocket but the music surrounds them in the quiet night air and he tugs her towards him gently. He wraps his arms around her waist and she circles hers around his neck and rests her head on his chest as they sway slowly.

You're always hoping that we make it
You always want to keep my gaze
But you're the only one I see love
That's the one thing that won't change

"I'm still mad," she says suddenly. "You should know that you can't just sweep me off my feet this easily."

He lets out a quiet laugh. "I didn't know I was sweeping," he counters.

I will never stop trying
I will never stop watching as you leave
I will never stop losing my breath
Every time I see you looking back at me

She leans back slightly so she can look at him. "You aren't," she says. "Not even a teeny tiny little bit of sweeping is going on here."

"Oh yeah?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

And I will never stop holding your hand
I will never stop opening your door
I will never stop choosing you babe
I will never get used to you

"Yeah," she says. "But I didn't get to dance all night and it's all I really wanted to do and you're…available, I guess," she says in a bored tone.

He gives her a small smile. "Whatever you want," he says, because if he thinks about it, he knows that he really, really means whatever she wants, whether or not that includes him.

And with this love song to you—

She looks at him for a moment and then she lets out a frustrated sigh, letting go of him and taking a step back. He fumbles in his pocket to turn the music off.

"Why did you have to go and do this?" she says angrily. "Why did you have to fly here and come to my house at freaking 3 in the morning wearing a suit and a tie holding a corsage with my favorite flower—I don't even know how you know that by the way—and play music and ask me to dance? How am I supposed to stay mad at you?"

His eyes widen. "I don't—"

She takes a step closer and rises up on her tiptoes, her eyes narrowed in anger as she cuts him off. "You don't know, right? You think you can just waltz in here and turn out to be the best part of this stupid night with your stupid smile and your stupid dress shoes and your stupid song?"

He looks at her in confusion. "My shoes? Laura, what—"

"I just wanted to be mad at you," she says tiredly, falling back onto her heels. "I wanted to be mad at you and enjoy this night and not think about you. But you just…you're here."

He reaches out and takes her hand and she squeezes his fingers back just the tiniest bit. "I'm here," he repeats quietly. "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. Unless you want me to."

She nods and he thinks she's about to ask him to leave and his heart drops. "I don't want you to go," she whispers after a moment. "Can we just…finish the dance?"

He nods slowly and turns the music back on and she hesitantly takes a step closer and winds her arms around his neck. He drops his chin to rest it on her shoulder and circles his arms around her waist and she turns her face into his neck and he shivers a little when he feels her breath on his skin. He squeezes her a little tighter when he feels her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck and she lets out a breath and then they're both silent as the music floats around them.

It's not a momentary phase
You are my life, I don't deserve you
But you love me just the same

And as the mirror says we're older
I want to look the other way

You are my life, my love, my only
And that's the one thing that won't change

I will never stop trying
I will never stop watching as you leave
I will never stop losing my breath
Every time I see you looking back at me

And I will never stop holding your hand
I will never stop opening your door
I will never stop choosing you babe
I will never get used to—

"You still get my heart racing, you still get my heart racing for you," he sings quietly. He lifts his hand from where it's resting on her waist to take hers and leans back a little bit. She looks up at him with wide eyes and his pulse is racing as he places her hand over his heart, covering it with his own.

You still get my heart racing
You still get my heart racing for you

He can't look away as he whispers the chorus to her and neither of them notices that they've stopped dancing but are standing completely still, just looking at each other, as he tries to convey every emotion that he's felt for her over the past two years.

I will never stop trying
I will never stop watching as you leave
I will never stop losing my breath
Every time I see you looking back at me

And I will never stop holding your hand
I will never stop opening your door
I will never stop choosing you babe

"I will never get used to—" He's cut off when she rises up on her tiptoes and kisses him, a soft, brief kiss that has his head spinning.

"Um, so maybe there was uh, a little sweeping going on," she stammers nervously, blushing slightly. "But just a little."

He finally takes a breath. "You like the romantic stuff just as much as I do, don't you, Marano?" he asks, grinning. "I told you I'd make it up to you, didn't I?"

She tries not to smile back but can't help it. "Hmm," she says. "We'll see."

He raises an eyebrow. "See what? You're the one who kissed me."

"I have yet to see you actually open a door for me, Lynch," she says lightly. "Do that and then we'll talk."

She starts to turn away but he pulls on her hand gently to spin her back around. "Anything you want," he mumbles, his eyes serious, and he knows she understands that he's not just talking about doors.

Her smile fades slowly and then they're both just looking at each other again and he can't help but lower his head just slightly. He searches her eyes and she tightens her grip on his hand almost imperceptibly and then he's kissing her and she responds immediately, stepping forward until her chest is nearly flush with his. He lifts his hand to cup her neck and she leans into him as he wraps his other arm around her waist and he deepens the kiss, pressing her even closer to him.

They break apart and he watches as her eyes slowly open and he knows he couldn't look away even if he tried. Because she's staring at him in a way he's never, ever seen before and it makes his breath catch and he closes his eyes as she tilts her head up to softly press her lips to his cheek.

"Thank you for prom," she says softly. "And…I'm officially swept."

He tightens his arms around her waist. "So what do I get for that?" he asks.

She lifts her hand that's resting on his arm to cup his cheek and he tilts his head into her hand, the corner of his mouth turning up as she smiles at him and he thinks he might want to stay right here, forever, with her.

"This," she whispers, and then she rises on her tiptoes to kiss him softly, letting her fingers wander into his hair as his tangle in the fabric of her shirt and right now, in this moment, it's him and it's her and it's them and everything he will ever need.

thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed/favorited/followed so far!

reviewing will make you feel good inside...so do it :)

(and I'm just going to self promote for a second, please go read What We Have Is Never Ending (my multichapter Auslly fic) because it's sort of my baby and my favorite thing I've ever written and thank you again and I'm done, I promise)