FANFIC TIMEEEE!!
this one is set in TOW Ross and Rachel Take a Break, and judging by the shitty title, I guess you can tell that they don't ;)

Enjoy!

Rachel was miserable.

She had been trying to get in touch with Ross for the past one and a half hours, with no luck at all. Today was supposed to be a great day for them, and it pretty much turned out to be their worst.

She didn't want to take a break.

Of course not.

She didn't know why she's said it, but her decision mostly stemmed from weeks of pent up frustration.

Oh gosh, when Ross had suggested they go for a frozen yogurt or something, why did she have to open her big mouth and say otherwise?!

She would never say this whole mess had been her fault, because it hadn't… well not entirely anyway, but Rachel knew she was partially to blame. On the other hand, she could see where Ross was coming from.

She'd admit that she hadn't been the best girlfriend lately and that she'd been spending way too much time at work, leaving no room for Ross. It had driven him absolutely insane… what did he say? He was tired of having a relationship with her answering machine or something?

Rachel couldn't even remember. All she knew was that her (ex?) boyfriend was a very affectionate guy and her lack of presence was not too well received by him.

However, which is not to say that she considered it to be a valid excuse for his constant harassment about Mark. She had no idea how to convince him that not only was she not having an affair, but that she didn't even WANT to have one. She was happy with him. He made her happy.

If Mark wanted to sleep with her, it didn't mean he got to.

But how could she tell Ross that if he wasn't even TALKING to her?

"Dammit, Ross, PICK UP YOUR PHONE!" she yelled, slamming the phone down in frustration. He obviously wasn't home. And no amount of redialing was going to change that.

Dejectedly, Rachel stood up and made her way to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Almost at that exact instant, the phone screamed for attention, and before it could even get to the second ring, she had raced out of her room and lunged forward to grab it.

"Hello?!" she all-but-screamed excitedly.

"Hey!" a male voice greeted on the other line.

When she heard his voice, all the enthusiasm was immediately sucked out of her system. "Oh.."

"What? Is it my breath?"

"No! Sorry, I just thought you were somebody else. Hi!"

Mark sounded almost surprised that she'd picked up the phone, "Hi. Well, look, I was just gonna leave a message, isn't tonight your, your big anniversary dinner with Ross?"

Rachel felt her eyes tear up at the mere mention of his name. "Yeah. Well, umm....." She balanced the phone between her ear and shoulder, in order to wipe the moistness that threatened to escape from her eyes and stain her cheeks.

She didn't want Mark to hear that something was wrong.

"Rach, are you okay?"

"Yeah – yeah, I'm fine," she assured him. "I'm fine."

Not believing her, he still insisted, "You wanna talk, I mean I can come over?"

"No, Mark, I'm alright."

"What's going on? Did Ross do something to you?" he persisted, the volume of his voice increasing.

At this, Rachel felt nothing but pure disgust. She replied to him, gritting her teeth together. "He did nothing. He would never do anything to hurt me."

"So then what's the-?"

"Look Mark, I'm expecting a call, I have to go."

"But Rach-"

"Goodbye," she told him firmly, before hanging up the phone.

Why did Mark need to know anything about her personal life? He had no right!

And now that she came to think about it, like Ross, she too was starting to place some blame on Mark for the destruction of their relationship. She knew he'd had a crush on her and suddenly everything was becoming clear to her.

After all, every time she'd had to work late, it was either because he had asked her to or because he had screwed something up.

This new realization made Rachel's blood boil.

How DARE he?

She almost felt sorry for snapping at Ross every time he brought up Mark. If she'd known that one of Ross' co-workers had a crush on him and HE was the one spending all his time at work, she'd have probably behaved the same way. Her pride would never let her admit it though.

The only thing she wouldn't have done is accuse Ross of crushing on the other woman as well.

Ugh. This was such a mess. Just a huge giant mess.

"So what are you gonna do?" Joey asked his distraught friend.

"What CAN I do? One person wants to break-up, you break-up." Ross groaned, burying his face into his hands.

Chandler lightly slapped him on the back and proceeded to provide him with sympathetic advice. "Hey, no way! Come on, this is you guys, call her and work it out."

Ross could hardly believe any of this was happening. Just a month ago, he and Rachel had been so blissfully happy and now he was talking to his two best friends about the possibility of losing her forever? It was surreal, to say the least.

"Oh come on, we just had this huge fight, all right, don't I have to wait a while?" he wondered.

Chandler rolled his eyes and scolded, "Hey, this isn't like swimming after you eat, pick up the phone!!"

Ross gathered the energy to drag himself off the barstool and towards the pay phone in the back of the room. Right about now, he wanted nothing more than to get really really REALLY drunk and just pass out on the floor.

Actually, he wanted nothing more than to get back together with Rachel. But chances of that happening weren't looking too good. He'd hurt her and he'd hurt her bad.

Although she'd been pretty nasty to him too. He had hardly seen her all fucking week and she was throwing him out of her office, on their anniversary nonetheless?!

Ross knew he had good intentions. It was supposed to be such a special day for them and it seemed to be only common sense that he'd want to spend it together with her. She didn't have to throw a pissy fit at him. And what was ten minutes out of her day, really?

Was he not even worth ten minutes to her?

Shaking all these negative thoughts from his mind, he picked up the phone, deposited two quarters, and proceeded to punch in the ten digits that consisted Rachel's number. The phone rang for, maybe, two seconds tops, before he heard her sweet velvety voice on the other line.

"Hello?!"

The urgency with which she said the word broke his heart. This didn't sound like the Rachel he was used to hearing. This Rachel wasn't chirpy and enthusiastic; instead, she sounded more like she was trying to hang onto something. Her voice was hoarser than usual and he almost felt guilty to assume that it could have been because she was shedding tears about what had happened to their relationship.

"Rach…" he breathed into the phone, not sure of any other response that would be more appropriate.

The line went silent.

"Ross?" she questioned, almost doubtfully.

"Yeah, it's me," he affirmed, clutching the receiver tightly.

"Hi! Oh, I'm so glad you called. I-" She hesitated for a moment and he realized it was because she didn't know what else to say.

The ball was in his court. This conversation could either make them or break them.

Ross reached into his pocket, digging deeply to pull out two quarters. He pushed them into the machine, knowing that if he didn't do so, the time of the call would run out.

He closed his eyes tightly together and inhaled, thinking of the best possible way to start the conversation. "Really? I've been thinking, this is crazy, I mean don't, don't you think we can work on this?"

He hadn't even finished asking her the question when she replied, "Of course we can."

Ross' eyes clouded over with tears and he didn't care that being a man, he was semi-crying in public. "Really, Rach?" he asked in disbelief.

"Please baby, come home." Rachel was practically begging him now. Screw pride and dignity. "This is – we're just being stupid." She wiped her eyes before continuing. "I don't want to take a break."

"Me neither, Rach, me neither," he reminded her, finally starting to get his act together.

"Come quickly," she said, letting the words hang tentatively in the air.

"Give me five minutes."

Those five minutes turned out to be the longest five minutes of Rachel's life. She literally sat on the couch staring at the digital clock on the cable television. By the fifth minute, she was growing increasingly impatient that he hadn't shown up yet.

She knew he wasn't at home, but he'd told her five minutes and he wasn't here yet!

Where was he?

Soon it became six, then seven, and finally eight minutes, and Rachel was really getting antsy.

Finally she heard the sound of a brief knock against the door. She assumed that it was him and that thought kind of depressed her.

Not once since she'd moved to the village had Ross EVER knocked on that door, especially not when they were dating.

It was so impersonal.

"Come in!" she called, trying to keep her composure and not burst out of her seat.

She turned her head and saw the knob twist slightly to the left before the door was pushed open. Of course it was Ross on the other side, looking slightly, wait no, much more disheveled than usual.

"Rach…" he breathed, similar to the manner in which he'd called her name just under ten minutes ago, almost relieved to see her intact sitting in front of him.

She stood up immediately and a huge smile overtook her face. "Ross, there you are!"

He took a few steps in her direction but then stopped hesitantly when he got to the dining table, unsure of what he was supposed to do… rather, what would be appropriate for his next move to be.

Ross didn't really have any time to think because before he knew it, Rachel had turned up right in front of him, throwing her arms around him gratefully.

He returned the gesture, certain that she could feel his heart thumping against her body. He clutched onto her more tightly, stroking her hair meticulously with his hand, allowing her delicate strands to flow smoothly through his fingers. Burying his face into her neck, he was able to identify her distinct smell. Her special unique scent that was all her. All Rachel.

Throughout the entire time he'd been together with her, Ross had a hard time stomaching the fact that there actually WAS someone that existed who was a tangible manifestation of everything he'd wished he'd get in a woman. For the past one year, every time he'd be with her in the same room, or somewhere thinking about her, the emotions he'd felt had always been complicated. Mostly positive…but complicated nonetheless.

Tonight, at this precise moment, for it was sure to change later, for the first time, Ross could honestly say that his feelings were the simplest they'd ever been. He was just feeling thankfulness and that emotion had conquered all the others in his mind.

"I love you, Rach," he whispered, kissing her cheek repeatedly before shifting his ministrations to her forehead.

"I love you baby, so much," she replied tearfully.

Ross tried to wipe away the moistness from her cheeks, unsurprised when her tears continued to flow. "Sweetie, everything's fine. We're fine."

"I know," she confirmed, tightening her grip around him. Sometimes Rachel felt that Ross didn't think he was adequate enough for her and she could understand why he felt that way. She knew he still sometimes saw her as that unattainable girl he'd dreamed about as a boy, and honestly, she'd be lying if she didn't say that she'd been seeing him in a similar light.

Not Ross exactly, per say, but someone just like him. As a little girl, she would sit with her friends and dream about the men they'd marry – all those qualities and more she had found in Ross. She couldn't conjure up a better man for herself no matter how hard she tried.

She just wished she could somehow let him know that.

Tonight what had happened should never have happened, although both of them had foreseen something of a similar occurrence happening at some point, as things had really gotten out of hand.

Rachel gently tugged at his collar. "Hey," she whispered.

"Yeah?" He looked up, a thin film of tears blanketing his eyes.

"Please don't cry – everything's fine!"

He smiled. "I know but I almost – we almost – I could have lost you tonight."

She knew it wasn't necessarily applicable to the day's events but she told him anyway. "Oh honey, you could never lose me." She planted soft kisses all over his face, wherever her lips could reach.

Ross thoroughly relished the attention he was getting from her – after all, he hadn't been with her like this for days now. As he cradled Rachel's tiny frame, an overwhelming feeling of love dominated his being. He couldn't possibly begin to describe the powerful moment in words without demeaning its true significance.

As silly as it may have seemed, this was his Armageddon. This was his moment of certainty, the moment in which he knew that they would be together forever. He promised to strive to make their relationship work, even if it required self-improvement on his part.

Ross couldn't adequately express how much that night had changed him. Finally standing there with the love of his life in his arms after such an eventful day reminded him that even in moments of boundless melancholy, there was a light somewhere.

And Rachel was that light.