Ellie pulled Laura's hair down from it's now sticky bun. She had been out in the sun all day which was a drastic change to where they had been filming for the past month. While the first week, they had been out in Little Karoo, the next ones had been spent inside a historical hotel and on the coast line of Cape Town where the movie's core Ten had been thrown together and told they either save the planet or die. Now back in the forest for the day, Laura had been "Magellanized", as Ellie put it. Her aurous hair had been pulled into a wild ponytail and once Ellie had pulled it down from it, she shook her head like you see in the hair commercials; although it wasn't the sleekest or silky shining hair that you see. It was real hair, that was a bit frizzy and dry and at the moment, all over the place.

Laura closed her eyes as Ellie worked more magic on it. From frizzy and dry to yes, the silky hair you all envy over in the previously mentioned commercials. Just one of the perks of being an actress - people to make you glamorous every day, and on this particular day, she was more than thankful for Ellie giving her the star treatment on her hair. The scenes today were rough just because it was her and Summer, racing against Godfrey and Gale, across hills towards Table Mountain. To say she was tired was an understatement and with Ellie's fingers in her hair, she felt like she could fall asleep. Laura didn't even dare to take off the flat sneakers wardrobe gave her yet. She knew both of her feet were red as roses and didn't want to see if blood had actually been reached.

Hearing someone plop down beside her in the hair trailer, she poked one eye open to see Ross scrolling through his phone and most likely checking his emails. She had to admit that filming a movie 10,000 miles away and 10 hours ahead from what they knew was a bit difficult. Emails were answered almost a full day after, phone calls were missed and important messages or urgent things that needed approvals right away were never touched.

"Anything good?" she asked him.

"Oh yea. I got Riker in a Pink Ladies jacket," he said, opening up the image and showing it to both her and Ellie. "I have a weird brother."

"You do know you have more than one, right?"

"True. Very true," Ross put his finger to his nose, signaling she was right on the money about that.

"But you miss them," she finished his thought for him. "I told you you would." He sent her a wink before going through more messages and Laura returned to her state of heaven, thanks to Ellie. "Wait, why are you still here? Didn't the other van leave?"

"Yep. Stevenson asked me to stay. Said he had something to talk with us about."

"Oh," Laura said, racking her brain for why...and then it dawned on her. Reaching for the next day's itinerary, her eyes roamed down the call sheet and the scene number which she quickly referenced with her script. "Ross. It's the scene."

"What scene?" Ross glanced at her quickly and back at his phone, still scrolling down either his inbox or text messages.

"The scene, the scene," she emphasized, showing him the call sheet for tomorrow, pointing straight at the line that read: SNOW (1). MCLAREN (3). SCENE 41 PREP.

"Why are you freaking out about it?" Ross raised his eyebrow at her.

"You do know what scene 41 is right?" Laura started to read off the scene intro to him from the script. "Rory enters with a tray and rag on his shoulder. He pours the treatment he made onto the rag and takes a seat on a rolling chair. And his first line is..."

"I need you to take your shirt off."

"So you do know the scene."

"Of course I do."

"Then how are you not a bit freaked out over it? I mean, it's where..."

"We sleep together," he finished for her, not breaking his calm and collected demeanor on bit.

Laura eyed Ross, a bit puzzled to see that he wasn't any bit fazed by the fact that they were going to be filming a very deep and powerful love scene in just two days time. She, on the other hand, was getting her freak out on early. She had done love scenes before - some with Freddie, some with older actors, and even one with a girl - but this was different. This was Ross. With his blonde hair and irresistible smile and lips that she knew were addicting. After sharing many kisses as Austin and Ally, Laura knew his lips could cause anyone to obsess over them. She wouldn't and couldn't admit this to anyone but herself, but she had dreamed of how it would be with him. Passionate, extreme, extraordinary - that's how it would be, whether it be a scene like this or real.

She could even see and predict the fans' reactions to it now, going mad and crazy to finally see Austin Moon and Ally Dawson in a much more mature way; in a way they probably wrote fan fiction stories about and made trailers for episodes that didn't exist. It would be heaven for them.

"Alright," Stevenson, with Alex behind him, came into the trailer then as Ellie said her goodbyes. The director took a seat between them and took off his glasses to speak. "I'm sure you both saw the call sheet tomorrow. On Thursday, we'll be shooting scene 41 where Magellan and Rory give into their emotions and tension. I wanted to make sure both of you are ready; knowing your friendship and all."

All Laura could do was nod at him as Ross spoke up then. "We'll be okay with it."

"Yea," Laura echoed. "I've done a lot of love scenes. Nothing different about this one at all." But there was. She looked back at Ross just to see if he had any reaction to her words - nothing. At least none that she could see at the moment.

"If you're both sure, then great and just to up the scene...we want you to go on a date tonight," Stevenson looked between the two of them as they both perked up then, eyes wide with a bit of shock. "It's on the studio. We're sending you to this amazing estate just outside of Cape Town and if you don't fall in love with the place, something is wrong with you both."

"A date," Ross looked over at Laura and shrugged. "I'm in. Are we leaving right now?"

"A car will be here in about an hour. Wardrobe is available to you, as always, for any changes and that. I'm glad you two are in for this. I know when we did the table read, it seemed like both of you just passed it over. I want to make sure you know that this is a very serious scene for the movie. It puts these characters in a position that they never expected to be in and this turns everything upside down."

Laura got up from her chair. "We're professionals, Stevenson. We'll go on this date and give you a Magellan and Rory you don't want to give up."

"Good," the director also rose from his seat. "Have fun tonight you two. Do what you would normally do on a first date."

They both watched him leave before looking at each other again. "Does that mean we hook up? Because, I'm not going to lie, that's what I sometimes do and I don't think I want to do that with you," Ross confessed.

"Gee, thanks Ross."

"Laur, I mean, we're best friends. I don't really think of you like that," he told her. Lies. All lies.

"Same here." More lies. In the weeks that had passed, their characters had shared almost kisses in the movie. There were intimate gestures, protecting, everything that would really sweep a girl off of her feet. They were both lying over the fact that their friendly feelings hadn't turned that way. "I'm going to go see wardrobe. If we're going to an estate, I'm no where near dressed for it."

"I don't think I am either. Look, Laura," Ross stopped her before she left the hair trailer altogether. "If we're supposed to think of this as a real date, then let me ask you properly."

"Ask me?"

"Yea, ask you," Ross cleared his throat, running out of the trailer and leaving her behind for a moment before returning with pink King Protea flower from the area. "Please be my date tonight?"

"You're so weird," Laura told him, gladly taking the flower from him anyway. "Yes, Rory, I'd love to go out with you tonight."

"Great. I'll pick you up in," he pulled out his watch on his wrist, and spat out a random number for her. "Twenty minutes?"

"Give me thirty," she nodded. So, she was indeed going out with Ross...or Magellan was with Rory. This was going to get interesting.

Legs. It was all about her legs for him and the dress she had on was not helping their date or their conversation because all he kept focusing on was her legs; her silky, smooth and shiny legs that were taunting him, telling him to touch them. The dress she had grabbed from the wardrobe department wasn't a ball gown, but it wasn't rags either. A dark navy in color, the fabric covered up all of her torso, a saggy bow coming down over her breasts from the high collar. The rest of the dress though, it was torturing. Two mid-thigh slits cut up the fabric so which ever way she chose to cross her legs or walk in any way, they taunted and teased his eyes and his hands; almost showing everything there was to offer. Something he told her not two hours ago that he would ever want. Liar! his head screamed back at him. Yep, he was a total liar.

Her arms were almost bare except for the small watch on her left wrist and sparkling bracelet on her right. She wore only a few rings on her right hand and he had only noticed those because of the way her fingers circled the top of her wine glass, making a soothing sound he didn't expect from it. Ross didn't know what he would do if this was a real real date with her because if conversation was what helped a date along, he had none. It was those legs! When did he become a leg man?

"Are you okay?" Laura asked from across the table, pulling her menu down just a tad and watching where his eye line exactly was. Stretching the thin fabric back over her right leg, Ross snapped out of it...if only for a minute. "So, you're a leg guy."

"Huh? Um..." Ross stammered. How was he supposed to respond to that?

"Legs. That's what does it for you. I picked the right dress, apparently," she smiled, taking another sip of the wine in front of her. Red lips, red wine, and a blue dress he could rip to shreds right in front of him. What was going on?

"The dress is nice," he held it in. No need to jump over the table and take her right there. At least, not yet. "I always thought myself a boob guy," he admitted and watched her face light up in front of him. The chuckles came out strong and loud; an amazing laugh that he had missed over the five years he'd been away from her. "Was that funny or something?"

"You have no idea," Laura got her breathing under control after her laugh attack.

Smiling back, Ross repositioned himself in his seat on the other side of the private table. When Stevenson had said the place was nice, he wasn't joking. Not in one bit. The Delaire Graff Estate was not only breathtaking in views, but in ambience as well. The restaurant they were currently dining in had two parts to it - the inside that was filled with lush velvets and so many candles you couldn't help but feel out of place if you weren't there on a date; and the outside deck, where the night was literally glittering with tiny diamonds in the sky; like the ones he had seen the other night, the stars were just fantastic and mesmerizing.

"Can we treat this like we're our characters tonight? I know that sounds silly, but I think it might help us," Laura suggested to him. The date wasn't awkward at the moment, it was just...stalled, if that was the right word.

"As Rory and Magellan?"

"Yea. Like a blind date or something," she placed her wine glass back on the table, leaning back in her seat. "Give them a backstory of meeting in another life where they were this amazing couple, torn by time and put back in this screwed up new Earth."

"You been watching The Time Traveler's Wife again?" She looked away, and it got him re-thinking. She wasn't watching it; she was reading it. She was a bookworm through and through. "I like the idea though," he agreed. "So, your name is Magellan?" he asked, slipping right into the mind of Rory and thinking of this as a blind date with Captain Magellan Snow.

"I know, it's a weird name. My parents were, still are, obsessed with exploration. I have an older brother named Christopher and sister called Cortessa."

"No nicknames at all? I feel like Magellan is worthy of a cool nickname."

"No nicknames. So if you call me Maggie or Mags, I will walk out on this date right now," Laura, as her character, sternly told him; and she was right. No way in hell would Magellan have a nickname nor would allow it.

"Got it. Job? Is it weird too?"

She laughed, nodding. "Very weird and kind of secretive."

"You're not gonna say you'd have to kill me or something if you tell me, right? Oh, you are. Damn."

"Sorry. I can tell you that I'm an Airman though. Just earned the rank of Captain."

"Wow, that's pretty cool. Congratulations," Ross picked up own his glass of wine and toasted to her.

"What about you? What does Rory McLaren do?"

"I'm a doctor actually. But I don't do all that modern medicine crap," he explained, seeing the questions in her eyes as she placed the menu down and immersed herself in this fake date. "Long story short is that a patient of mine was misdiagnosed by a colleague and he didn't double check dosages or medicines before he died. I was furious and almost quit the whole occupation. The patient was a really good friend of mine," Ross reflected on Rory's backstory and how he took the road of holistics instead of modern medicine. "So I chose to go on another path. Joined Doctors Without Borders and have been based in South America for the past few years."

"Wow, I didn't expect that."

"What did you expect?"

"Um, don't think bad of me but when I look at you, I just automatically think surfer guy. But I like the doctor," Laura's hand covered his. "It's very noble what you did. You probably gave up a good cushion to do this line of work."

"I did," he confirmed, starting to play with her fingers on his as their waiter came to get their orders. Once he left, Ross and Laura went quiet as some cool winds passed by them on the deck. "Are you cold?"

She shook her head. "Not yet, but thank you for asking."

"I'm a nice guy like that."

"Good to know," her lips curved up into a smile and she looked out to the view of Table Mountain and the Valley of the Red Gods. While she enjoyed that view, he enjoyed the view of her and wondered that if this was a real date, what he would say next. But he knew the answer to that, if this were a real date for him and Laura, not Magellan and Rory. He'd show her all the embarrassing pictures of Riker as Putzie, tell her that Rydel had sent him a two page long email about how she was fed up with her physics professor and how he wrote a song the other night. That would be later; he would tell her all that later right when he could get a feel of her legs.

"We should climb that," Laura broke their silence and gestured to the mountain top that stood tall over the area, as if to say that the city belonged to it and it was protected.

"Seriously?"

"Yea. I mean, we've done the easy Runyon hikes before. Let's do it."

"Of course Runyon is easy, it's only three and a half miles. Table Mountain is what? 3500? I don't think I'd survive."

"We'd do the cable car and then hike up the rest. I think we could do it."

"Then let's plan on it," he told her. "Bring the others?"

"If we could convince them, then yea. I could just see Milo crapping out on us."

"We'd need video footage for future blackmailing, of course."

Ross and Laura both settled into their fake date, which ended up feeling more real than he expected it to. The food was delicious, the view spectacular and as Ross walked Laura back to her room at the hotel (with her legs still teasing him), he didn't know whether to save the kisses for tomorrow or go for it now.

"So, how do you think Rory would end a date?" he asked her, as she pulled out her keycard.

"You mean, would he kiss Magellan?"

He nodded, watching as she thought about their characters; and it was a good question. Would they kiss or would he just kiss her cheek? Would he call right away or wait the dreaded three days that mostly every girl hated? Would he text or email or would it be a straight phone call? An even better question is would she pick up the phone call, would she return the kiss or welcome him in for coffee?

"I think he would, after asking."

"Well then, can I kiss you Magellan?" he leaned his hand on the door frame, enclosing her to where she couldn't get out from him unless she escaped into her room. Ross saw her nod and he leaned forward slowly then, remembering that this was about Rory and Magellan, not about him and Laura. He was Rory...not Ross. He saw her eyes close and he wiped away a hair from her face, his fingers tracing the curve of her cheek ever so slightly. Why was he this nervous? He wasn't nervous before this. He was never nervous when he was Austin and she was Ally. Tilting her chin up to his, Ross's lips met with hers quickly. It was soft and abrupt and he didn't want to cross a line with her, even if she was acting as Magellan right now.

"That's it?" Laura asked, not opening her eyes at all.

Taking that as a challenge, Ross did her one better and threw caution out the window. His lips captured hers once again, and this time their meeting wasn't hasty, it was slow and something he could definitely get used to. He could taste the after dinner mint on her red stained lips and it sent a current through his being - one that he didn't expect to feel. But just as it started, it ended and leaning back from her again, he picked up the sweet scent of her perfume. Not too fruity or too husky, it was soft and light and was just like Laura.

"So that's what Rory kisses like," Laura opened her eyes, a smile beaming back at him. "Not too bad."

"Not too bad? I think it was more than 'not too bad'."

"You can prove that on Thursday," Laura patted his chest and turned to open her door, but before she entered, she leaned up and pecked him on the lips once more. "Goodnight Rory."

"You what?!" Jenna almost spit out her tea onto Laura the next day on set. They were back in the historic hotel in downtown Cape Town and one of the suites was being transformed into a white on white on white on top of more white room for their scenes in Edu's capsule. Sitting at a table just outside in their robes to protect their wardrobe for the day, Laura had told her just what happened the night before. From Stevenson setting them up on a date, the dinner, the view, and the kiss. "You kissed Ross and didn't come straight to me afterwards? Have we really not established you should always do this? What was it like? Wait, how long has it been? I might be a treating us to dinner."

"Wait, what?" Laura eyed her friend. "Oh my God, you have a pool going don't you? Jenna!"

"Milo started it, honestly."

"I can see that."

"But seriously though, start telling me everything. Feel, taste, who leaned in first, ten point scale..."