She had imagined what would happen if she got off the plane, the entire thing played out in her head like a movie. And while it felt picture perfect and safe and familiar, Rachel knew that she had to let the fantasy go. They had fought more than they had done anything else. The jealousy, the anger, how she had acted when she didn't have him. She was at her worse when she was stuck on her feelings for him.
And deep inside Rachel knew that she would resent him. She had never let him cheating go, not even after they had gotten back together. If she went back because of him she knew that sooner or later they would fight and she would throw that in his face. Even if she went back to her old job, she could never forget that she had given up her dream job and who had convinced her to do that. Maybe she would even resent Phoebe for going with him.
While she would have been going back to her old life again, everyone would be moving on. Monica and Chandler were parents now. The apartment finally had none of them living in it. It was the end of an era and she had to bravely step into the new one.
Rachel looked out her window. There wasn't much to see so far, it was so dark out. But the future wasn't as dark. She would work, she would brush up on her french, explore Paris and drink wine. Rachel couldn't wait until her mother came over with Emma. She knew that her friendship would survive this, she had finally found the people that would stick with her for life. One day she would show the gang around the streets of Paris.
Rachel leaned back and closed her eyes. She had a feeling that the trip would be over before she knew it.