Ross' wedding What could have happened

by Hes Her Lobster

This is just my interpretation if you like, of what could have happened at the wedding if Rachel had of told him how she really felt.

London. Ross' wedding. What could have happened?

Ok, this fic is a one shot fic based on what could have happened at Ross' wedding. What if Rachel had of told him her true feelings at the church? Would Ross have gone ahead with the wedding?

Some of the script used does belong to the writers of Friends, as I took some lines from scripts, however most of it is my own original work.

None of the characters belong to me.

Please enjoy, and comment.

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New York airport.

She climbed out of the cab, after paying the driver the fare. "Thank you", she said before closing the door behind her, pulling her suitcase behind her.

There were a million voices sounding in her mind, Phoebe telling her that she was crazy for even thinking of flying all the way to London to ruin a wedding.

"Look, Rachel, if you go, you're just gonna mess with his head and ruin his wedding!"

She had told Phoebe that she still had a chance, as long as she got there before the wedding, before either of them could utter those two words, "I do".

Rachel knew that flying across the world to break up a wedding wasn't the best of ideas, but her own voice in her mind kept telling her repeatedly that if she didn't tell him how she really felt now, then she would never know if he did feel the same way about her.

She ran through the airport, feeling quite grateful she had decided not to wear her heels today.

Out of breath, she attempted to ask the ticket agent behind the desk for tickets to London, "Hi...umm...I..need..tickets". She panted, her chest felt tight as she spoke.

The lady looked up from her computer, "Hello" she said cheerily.

"Hello"…Rachel spoke back just as cheerily in return, "I need to get a flight out to London, it's kind of an emergency…please tell me there's a flight out soon?" Rachel asked politely, finally catching her breath back.

"Luckily for you there is a flight leaving in thirty minutes," the lady told her, "and I do believe we have one seat left", she smiled as she checked on her computer terminal.

Rachel smiled with relief, "oh thank god", she got out her purse ready to give however many credit cards it took to get this ticket, she knew it wouldn't' come cheap.

"Can I just see your passport miss?" The lady asked Rachel, as Rachel handed her five of her credit cards at once.

"Yeah sure", Rachel reached into her purse and fumbled around to find it. "Its here somewhere..", she told her, "…I'm sure it is…". She said, looking quite unsure.

"I'm afraid you cant step on the plane without your passport miss, I will need to see your passport..". She stressed.

"Ok…listen, I know exactly where it is. I can go back and get it…"

The lady nodded, "well the plane leaves in under an hour….if you think you can make it back in time then go ahead, here is your ticket but I will need you to bring your passport back to me when you return".

Rachel felt so embarrassed , "it's just typical of me to forget my passport, seems as if somebody doesn't want me to get on that damn plane.." she laughed.

She left the desk, running back outside to flag another cab to take her back home so she could get her passport.

She didn't think it was possible to want to be somewhere else so much, but the way she had left things with Ross had made her feel incredibly guilty, and she had finally realised that the reason she was finding Ross' engagement so hard, was because she was clearly still in love with him, and she had a feeling he loved her too.

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A few hours earlier.

"Your really not going to come?" Ross asked her, his eyes were pleading with her, but she just couldn't go.

"I'm sorry Ross, I cant". She told him, trying to avoid eye contact with him.

"I'm sure you can get a few days off work? This is my wedding we're talking about Rach" he reminded her.

"I know Ross, but I cant" She said, sort of angrily, but she wasn't angry, she was upset.

The way he looked at her before he left the apartment hadn't left her memory, it was a look of sheer disappointment.

"Fine…You'll-you'll watch it on video when we get back." he said to her, before walking away.

She would have liked to ask him if he could have done the same if she had been the one getting married, she was sure he wouldn't have made her wedding either.

When Phoebe had assumed Rachel wasn't going to the wedding because she still loved Ross, she had assured her that it wasn't anything to do with love, it was only because he was her ex boyfriend.

But she realised that it wasn't just because he was her ex boyfriend, it was because he was Ross. She hadn't felt at all upset or uncomfortable at Barry's wedding, and he was her ex fiancé, but she never loved Barry…and that was the difference. Ross was the only man she had ever really loved.

She tried to deny how she really felt, but even shopping didn't take her mind off things, and Phoebe's pointless method of getting Rachel to forget about Ross hadn't worked either, it had only made her want to see him more.

And that's when she had decided to follow him to London, because she couldn't wait till he returned home with a wedding ring and Emily on his arm, because then it would be too late.

She had made too many mistakes in the past, she wasn't ready to make another.

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London

Ross paced the hotel room, trying to figure out where everything had gone so wrong, "Emily…there is no way we are putting this wedding on hold, your dad said we could find a new place for the reception another day…think about all the people who have came here especially, we cant just tell them to go home!"

" So what are you saying? If we don't have the wedding now, we wont have a wedding at all?" She shouted.

"Your putting words into my mouth now…all I'm saying is that putting the wedding off is not an option" he said sternly.

Emily just threw him a 'well if that's how your going to be' look, then walked out of the room leaving Ross on his own.

He sat down on the sofa, holding his head in his hands whilst he thought about how he was going to resolve this mess, if he had been a strong believer in fate then he would have considered maybe this wedding wasn't meant to be…but he put that thought aside and stormed out of the room to find Monica, who he was quite mad at as she had been the one who had suggested postponing the wedding.

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Next morning

Monica and Emily arrived outside the church, talking about the wedding. "Ross made it pretty clear that he didn't't want to postpone the wedding..".

"I know, but listen. I spoke with him, and well…oh just get inside here". Monica said, dragging her into the torn down church which was originally the place of the wedding reception.

"Why are we here, of all places?". Emily questioned, but as she stepped inside, she saw that the inside of the church had been completely refurbished with chairs, flowers and the band was even ready to play by the alter.

"Oh my gosh, you did all this?" Emily asked Ross, "but how?".

"I did it…because I love you. But if this isn't what you want, or how you imagined it. Then we can find another place and do it another day, its fine..". Ross told her.

Emily smiled, "No. it's perfect, even more perfect than I could ever have imagined".

They heard the sound of Monica sighing, "Oh you guys". She smiled, So the wedding is still on? Great, I'm going to go tell the guys to get ready…and we'll be down, ready for 3oclock" She said, leaving the couple to be alone.

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A few minutes later, just missing Monica exit the church, Rachel got out of the cab at the address she was sure the wedding was at, but looking at the torn down church, she was wondering if she had gone to the wrong place.

Still, she walked towards the old, yet beautiful church.

Her flight had been a long duration, yet she hadn't slept one wink. Her mind was too alert to sleep, she had too much to think about, and so much to plan in her head.

The guy she had met on the plane had been an absolute nightmare to be around, telling her she was doing the wrong thing by coming to ruin someone's wedding, which she could understand, but he was ever so rude to her.

She put down her case outside the church, and looked around.

So this was London, it looked like no other place she had been to before, for one thing, there were no people outside, but maybe that was because it was a Sunday.

She knew the wedding was starting in just 2 hours, so she expected everybody to be still at the hotel getting ready.

"Hi, is this church still open?" She asked a man who was stood in the reception.

"Well madam, it's in the middle of being torn down…but we have one final wedding here today, are you a guest?". he asked her.

"..You could say that". She smiled, "are there any guests inside yet?".

"Go inside if you wish, I think the wedding is on in about an hour or so…".

"Oh, I didn't't think it was till 4?".

"3oclock is what I'm told".

She nodded, "I think I'm going to go to the hotel across the road….see if my friends are over there".

She picked up her case and walked quickly over to the hotel.

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Meanwhile, Joey was trying to find someone so he could tell them that Rachel was on her way to London, the phone call from Phoebe had been quite a surprise as he never would have thought Rachel would come and ruin the wedding.

He knocked on Chandler's door, "Chandler, you there?"

Chandler came to the door, still in his night clothes. "What's up?", Joey entered the room, "Have you seen Monica anywhere?…".

"I'm not seeing Monica". Chandler said defensively, Joey looked at him confused. "I didn't't say you were seeing her…I said had you seen her?".

"Oh.." Chandler said, realising he had to stop being so alert at the mention of her name, otherwise their liaison wouldn't't be kept quiet for much longer.

"I haven't seen her since last night", Chandler lied.

"Well we need to find her, Rachel is on her way to London to tell Ross she loves him. We have to stop her from ruining the wedding!" Joey told him.

"Well there mightn't't even be a wedding yet…" Chandler said.

"Wwhat?" Joey asked, confused.

"Emily and Ross have been arguing, as she wants to postpone the wedding but Ross wants to have the wedding today…even if there isn't a place to have it!".

Joey put his hand on his head, "Man this couldn't't get worse…I'll go downstairs and try and find Monica…" Joey said, leaving the room.

"Joey!" He heard a familiar voice shout. He turned around to see Rachel walking towards him. "Rachel…". They hugged.

"I was hoping you would be up here, I was wanting to find Monica but..".

"Listen Rach, Phoebe told me…I know what you're here for…but really, do you think this is the best idea?".

She hung her head, "Joe, I've been back and forth on this one…but you know, I cant deny how I feel this time…and I just..oh…I don't want to ruin this day for him, trust me on that…but I really cannot let myself go back home without telling him.

"What if he still..".

"Marries her?".

Joey nodded.

"Well, then at least I'll know where I stand".

Joey knew there was nothing he could say or do that could change her mind, "Where is he?" she asked him.

"Last I knew him and Emily were arguing over postponing the wedding.."

"Postponing it?".

"Yeah, the place they were going to get married was torn down…"

"Oh I just went there, I was thinking I had gone to the wrong place…".

They were then joined by Chandler, "Rachel?!". "Hey Chandler..".

"So the rumours are true.." He joked.

She nodded, "Do you know where Ross is?".

"I'm guessing he's at the church, Monica told me she was there with him and Emily.

"I thought you hadn't seen Monica?" Joey asked him.

"I hadn't, but then I checked the hotel answering machine, and she left me a message telling me…" He explained.

"But I was just at the church, they weren't't there.." Rachel told them. "Right, I'm going to go back and find Ross..".

"But Rach--". Both Chandler and Joey called after her, but she ignored them.

"This so cannot be happening". Chandler said.

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Ross and Emily were still at the church.

"You're really ok with this?" Ross asked her.

"More than ok.." Emily assured him.

They leaned in for a kiss.

Rachel just stood opposite him, at the end of the aisle. She watched them kiss, before hanging her head a little, she couldn't believe it had came to this.

"Rachel?" Ross said, he and Emily still remaining in touch.

"Rachel?" Emily repeated, releasing herself from his arms.

He saw Rachel at the end of the aisle, she had her cases still with her and she looked full of jetlag, yet radiant.

"Hi Ross…"

He didn't say anything, he just looked completely in shock.

"Hi Emily, how are you". She said politely, the least she could do was be polite to his fiancé, before she went ahead and told him what could cancel the wedding completely.

"Rachel…what are you doing here?" He asked, still surprised.

"Long story…listen, I was hoping I could talk with you".

Emily stood with her arms now folded.

"Alone?" Rachel added, suggesting Emily left them for a moment, she felt like such a bitch but it had to be done.

So Emily left them, "I need to get ready anyway…I have a wedding to be ready for". She said, brushing past Rachel.

Rachel knew that comment was aimed directly at her, even though her and Emily had never really exchanged one word to each other before, they had never quite saw eye to eye.

Ross walked slowly towards her, saying nothing, instead he gave her a long embrace which left Rachel feeling sure she had made the right decision.

She felt as though she could sink into his arms and stay there forever, closing her eyes she imagined what it would be like if he did decide to call of the wedding and be with her too.

Ross let her go, just as she was sinking into her own thoughts.

He held her hand, "What made you come?". He asked her.

Where was she to start?

"I…I…knew you wanted me here, and I wanted to be here too…I'm so sorry the way we left things back home, I really felt like I had disappointed you, and I didn't want that".

Ross smiled, "I cant say I wasn't upset about you not being here, but a part of me did sort of understand why..". She hadn't expected him to go down that direction with things, she hadn't expected him to understand at all, but this made it easier for her to come out and say what she wanted to say.

"That's exactly why I'm here Ross….listen, I don't want you to hate me for what I came for…but I just have to tell you".

Ross squeezed her hand reassuringly, whatever she had to say was obviously important and he respected that.

"I just had to tell you that…the reason why I couldn't't..".

Oh just get it out, She told herself.

"I couldn't't come to the wedding, well I thought that I couldn't't come…because, well…its you".

Ross stared at her, as though he knew what she was going to say.

"Then, why are you here Rach?".

"I'm here…because I realised I should be here, in fact…I had to be here to tell you how I feel about you Ross…I don't know how else to put it, besides tell you that I still love you".

The words just seemed to pour out from her mouth, finally she could say it.

His eyes seemed to widen, and he looked as though he was about to speak but nothing came out.

"Is that okay?". She spoke again.

He let go of her hand.

She put them back by her side.

Then he spoke.

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"So wait a minute, you just let her go and tell Ross? Why didn't't you stop her?". Monica yelled at them.

Both Joey and Chandler knew they had done absolutely nothing to stop her, "There was no stopping her Monica, she wouldn't't have listened. She wanted to tell him, really…it's not up to us to stop her".

"Oh really? Well, its up to me because I don't want to see my brother hurt yet again…he'll probably end up cancelling the wedding, hurting Emily…and then he will be alone again".

"How do you know he doesn't't want to be with Rachel?" Chandler asked.

"Because, he's marrying Emily!" She yelled again.

Neither of the guys said anything.

"Well, there's nothing we can do now but wait and see if she has told him..".

"Told him what?" They heard someone say, It was Emily standing right behind them in her wedding dress.

Monica tried to sway the conversation, "Emily you look--".

"I knew it, she's came to tell him she loves him hasn't she?" Emily guessed, "I shouldn't't have left the church when she came…this wedding just isn't meant to be, is it?". She began to sob now, Monica tried her best to comfort her.

"You don't know that, Rachel might have decided not to tell him. We don't know".

"When we saw her before, she looked like she was going to definitely tell him though…"Joey said.

Monica threw him a look, "Your not helping Joey".

"So you have seen her? And you didn't't try and stop her ruining all this?" Emily asked both of them.

"No no…" Chandler began, but he realised there was nothing he could say.

"My family are going to be here soon, and my fiancé is downstairs talking to his ex who is probably trying to talk him out of this…". Emily cried.

"She wont be talking him out of marrying you, she's just…she's in love with him, and she wants him to know". Monica tried to explain.

"Well it's terribly selfish if you ask me" Emily said.

A phone began to ring from inside the room, "I'll get it…it'll no doubt be Phoebe checking that we talked Rachel out of it…actually, come to think of it. I wont answer it". Joey decided, knowing that Phoebe would be pretty mad with him.

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Rachel remained in the same spot she had stood 15 minutes ago, but Ross had moved several times from his spot, he was actually pacing the floor.

"Ross…I don't want you to not marry Emily…that's not why I came".

"So why did you tell me that?".

Rachel gulped, before answering. "I wanted to tell you Ross, and I know this is pretty bad timing and I wish I could help that but I cant…when you left for London, Phoebe somehow made me see that I was kidding myself…I was living a lie because Ross, I still feel the same way I felt about you when we're together…and I know it's your wedding day and you love Emily--".

"Emily, Emily.." He said to himself, possibly reminding himself that he had a fiancée, who he did care a lot for, but did he love her?

"…You do love her, right?" Rachel asked him.

"Of course I love her. Why else would I be marrying her?". Ross shouted.

"Because it makes it easier for you to stay with her, instead of her coming back and forth from London…or maybe because…".

"Rach, its because I love her". He told her.

Rachel stepped back from him, "Ok…well then tell me this Ross, why are you stood here with me when Emily is preparing for the most important day of her life? And you are stood here with me…".

"I'm stood here with you because you've just told me that you love me, I cant just walk away, can I?".

Rachel tilted her head, "You can Ross, I don't want you to end things with Emily, but I do love you…so so much". At this, she began to cry.

"--And if you don't love me, then it wont make a difference to me…I will just head back home and go on like I did before, but I need to know your not marrying Emily for all the wrong reasons…".

Ross looked shell shocked, "I'm marrying her for the right reasons, and it doesn't' matter how I feel about you, because I do love Emily, and I don't want to hurt her".

"So you do feel something for me Ross, please just say it". She said to him, grabbing for his hand again, "I love you".

"Why did you have to leave this till now Rach, I was there all those years after we broke up…and now that I could finally be happy with somebody else, your telling me this…do you really want me to have yet another failed marriage?".

"I think you need to ask yourself that Ross, because if you marry Emily and you have your doubts…then it wont last long, but if you don't marry her…then you wont have another marriage to fail".

"I don't have my doubts, because I care for Emily a lot, and I think we could be really happy together".

He noticed that Rachel's eyes were beginning to fill up again, "Well then--". She began, looking at him then to the floor, "Congratulations".

Before he could say anything, she was on her way out of the church.

He just stood there, wondering when things got so complicated, even when he did try and make something work, something always intervened.

He began running out of the church after her, "Rach.." He called after her, "Wait..".

She kept walking away, down a bricked road, she had no clue where she was walking to but it didn't't matter.

"Rach please..".

She kept walking, she had told herself on the way here that if he didn't't react by telling her that he felt the same, then she wouldn't't bother him again as he obviously didn't't feel the same.

"Rach…" He shouted again, his voice was getting closer as she began to slow down.

As he was running, he realised what he was doing. He was running after her, when actually he should be getting ready for his wedding which was only 40 minutes away, and that's when it hit him.

"Ok Rach, I love you…Okay?" She heard him shout.

He stood still, hoping that it was enough to make her stop.

She did stop, but she didn't turn around. He couldn't't mean this, she told herself.

"Rach….please just turn around".

He was out of breath, but he felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, he had said it finally.

She turned around slowly, he was only a few metres away but he seemed to far.

"There…I said it, are you happy?". He laughed.

Happy? She asked herself, she didn't know how she felt.

Part of her hadn't expected him to actually be honest with her, but now he had been the most honest he had ever been with her.

Then he began to walk towards her, and this time she didn't turn around and walk away.

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"Emily, I'm telling you now…my brother isn't going to walk out on you, he's not like that…ok?". Monica tried to reassure her, but she herself wasn't so confident as she hadn't seen Ross for over an hour, and she knew herself what Ross and Rachel were like.

"I'm going to the church" Emily said, "I need to speak to him".

Monica got up to go with her, "No, I need to go on my own". Emily told her.

"But the wedding is starting in 20 minutes, we should all go down there surely.." Monica told her.

"Wedding…what wedding?" Emily said, but she didn't look at all upset or angry, she looked calm and collected as she walked downstairs in her white gown, her mascara had run from the crying, and her face looked so pale.

"What's going to happen now?" Joey asked.

"I don't know, but I really don't think this wedding is on, Where did Chandler go?" Monica asked, opening his hotel room door to see if he was there.

She went inside, "Monica I'm going to go downstairs…see if there are guests arriving, I'll have to entertain them or something…" Joey said.

Before Monica could stop him, he had gone.

"Oh, the poor guests" She joked "Chandler, are you in the bathroom?" She asked him.

"Yeah, one minute..".

She looked at the bed that she had woken up in this morning, today hadn't gave her much chance to even think about what had happened last night with Chandler.

She had never imagined what happened last night to happen with Chandler of all guys, but she had been pleasantly surprised, but she wasn't sure if it was just a one off, or whether it would continue.

"Where'd Joey and Emily go?" Chandler asked her, coming out of the bathroom.

"Emily has gone to find Ross, and Joey has gone to entertain the guests…".

Chandler laughed, "What a day this is turning out to be…we better go down, the wedding is starting in ten minutes".

"I don't think there is a wedding". Monica told him.

Chandler didn't argue, he knew she was probably right.

"Whilst we have time alone, I just wanted to thank you for last night.."Monica told him.

Chandler smiled, "That's ok, I had a pretty good time myself so thank you…".

Monica smiled shyly, "I was wondering if you umm..wanted to--"

"..Do it again?" Chandler finished for her.

She nodded embarrassingly.

"Oh yeah" Chandler nodded, "we'd be crazy not to , I mean…we might as well whilst we're still here".

"We'll call it a London thing…" Monica said, "So, see you tonight?"

"Yep". Chandler nodded, looking at her in a way he had never looked at her before, she smiled back at him. "Would it be inappropriate if I kissed you now?".

Chandler laughed, "Its never inappropriate Monica"

She went to kiss him, but he stopped her. "But, can I kiss you first?".

She laughed, "That'd be ok with me".

So he did.

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Emily hurried down the flight of stairs, running past her parents who were obviously concerned and confused. "Emily darling what's going on.." They shouted after her, but she did'nt answer because she did'nt quite know herself.

She got outside the hotel, and across the road by the Church was Ross, and her.

They looked deep in conversation, Emily began to run quickly towards them, not quite sure of why she was going over there, or what she was even going to do.

"Rach, I would be lying if I told you I had ever stopped loving you…I mean, have you?" Ross asked her.

She shook her head, "I haven't Ross, and I know its your wedding…and whatever decision you make, it wont change how I feel…because I understand you have to be loyal to Emily…but you also have to stay true to yourself". At this, she squeezed his hand and she had a huge urge to reach for his face and kiss him.

"I…I.." Ross stammered for a moment, trying to make a decision. He felt pretty embarrassed, because Rachel obviously now knew that this whole engagement with Emily was just another mistake he had made in his life.

"Oh no…Emily" Rachel told him, seeing the bride run towards them.

"Emily before you say anything--" Rachel began to speak, but Emily's hand met with her face first, causing her to fall to the floor.

"Emily…what are you doing?" Ross asked her, "Rach…are you okay?", he said kneeling down to her, she certainly wasn't ok as her right cheek was bright red.

"It's ok…". She said, trying her best to get up, with Ross' help.

Emily remained standing there, she looked rather surprised at herself.

"What did you do that for?" Ross asked her.

"How can you stand here and ask me that when your supposed to be over there marrying me now…but your not, your standing here with her…probably planning a getaway are you?" Emily sneered over at Rachel who had her hand on her cheek.

"Listen, I'm sorry…but Rachel came out of the blue, and I lost track of time…". Ross tried his best to explain.

"So what did you both have to talk about?" Emily asked them,

Rachel looked to the floor, feeling pretty terrible. She had deserved the slap, she had possibly ruined the whole wedding, so she did'nt blame her.

"Well Rachel came…because she had to--".

"You know what? I don't care Ross, I really don't. You proposed to me…and my family are here, so are yours…now come on, you do want to marry me don't you?".

Ross looked to Rachel, who was trying her best not to engage any eye contact with either him or Emily.

"Emily, I care for you…a whole lot. And I proposed to you. Because I thought marrying you was the best thing for us…".

"What are you saying Ross?". She yelled.

"I'm saying that…--"

"You don't want to go through with this do you?" Emily cut in, "Your really going to stand me up on our wedding day because of this bimbo?!" She yelled again, looking at Rachel.

"Bimbo?!" Rachel yelled back. She was hardly a bimbo.

Ross drew his arm by Rachel, to stop her from getting defensive.

"Emily, we need to talk…".

She folded her arms, and looked behind her to see her parents.

"Alone" Ross finished, hinting to Rachel that the least she could do was leave them for a few moments, so she walked away from the situation, avoiding Emily's parents who must have guessed by now that it was all her fault.

She saw Monica outside the hotel, "Rachel.." She shouted, running towards her, "what's going on?".

Rachel shrugged, "He's talking with Emily..".

Monica looked confused, "No. I mean, with you…have you told him?".

She nodded, "I did."

She knew that Monica did'nt agree with her choice of action, but quite frankly she didn't care, before Monica could even begin arguing with her, Rachel had gone back into the hotel, straight to the bar.

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Ross felt ashamed, here he was with the woman he should be married to by now, trying his best to explain why he was ditching their plans.

Emily was now sat on a bench outside, with both her legs and arms crossed with a that feeling in her throat she had before she was physically sick, he couldn't't be saying these words to her.

"I found myself doubting whether this was the right decision to make a few weeks ago…believe it or not, and it wasn't anything to do with you…it's to do with me, and my own issues". He began to explain.

"Why lie to me Ross? Just say that it's because of Rachel why you don't want to marry me…and really you never did want to marry me. You just used me a stepping stone to get over her and--".

He kneeled down beside her, forcing her to hold his hand as he spoke. "I never ever used you Emily, and I never would do that. it's just that, when I proposed to you…it was because it was the only thing we could have done to save our relationship…because we rarely saw each other, and I don't know….maybe I thought marriage was the right thing to do for both of us and I kept telling myself that for weeks…and then there's Rachel.."

Emily pushed his hand away at the mention of his name, "I don't want to hear this. I think you should just leave me now…". She asked him.

"I do care for you Emily…".

"If you cared for me, you would never have asked me to marry you if you never really meant it..". She shouted at him.

"I did want to marry you….and I probably would have married you if Rachel hadn't of shown up, but she's made me realise that this whole thing was a mistake…".

"You know what Ross? I'm not going to let you call the shots on our wedding…your not standing me up, because you know what…I'm standing you up instead. I'm not marrying you".

Ross moved back, "Ok…fine. But be honest with me, did you really think this would ever last?".

Emily stood up now, "When I first met you, we had so much fun…and I really thought it would just be for that two weeks…and then when you proposed, and I said yes…everything seemed to change, and not for the better…I guess we were both putting on false smiles everyday to each other because not once did I tell myself that I was doing the right thing".

Ross was shocked, but he was glad she was being honest.

"…but all that, it doesn't mean I'm not completely heartbroken right now…and completely ashamed". She reminded him, "but I was kidding myself to even think I could ever come first place in your heart…because it's always going to be Rachel…I just wish you could have told me before we did all this..".

"Emily, I wish I could have told myself….and I know Rachel was wrong to burst in today and change everything…but surely you can understand..".

For a moment, he thought she was going to hit him.

But she began to cry.

"Why did we do this?".

He began to feel quite guilty, he had made a girl cry…something he had only done once in his lifetime, to Rachel…and that had sunk his heart completely.

"Listen, I think we know that we rushed into this…but I do care for you…".

"You've said that twice now, you care for me…but you never loved me, and you never will…marrying me would have been so wrong Ross, I just wish you could have worked this out earlier…before waiting till today of all days, when all my family are here..". She cried again.

His heart felt choked, even though he knew this was the right thing to do, he wished he did'nt have to hurt her like he was doing now.

"I'm sorry". he told her, they were the only words left to say to her. But even saying an apology didn't make him feel any better about himself, or about the situation.

"Leave me alone..". She asked him, turning her face away, tears now flowing down her face as she spoke, he wished he could hug her but he realised he had no right to even touch her now as he was the reason she needed a hug.

He began to turn away, afraid of what would happen now when he walked back to where Emily's parents were worriedly waiting, even his own parents made him quite afraid, how they would react to the news that he would have yet another failed marriage, well not quite a marriage seeing as he hadn't gone through with it.

"--Ross wait…". Emily called after him, her voice was shaking from the upset.

He stopped.

"…I hope this decision is the right one this time". She said, and for a moment Ross saw the girl he had fallen for those 6 weeks ago.

Why was she being so understanding?

"…and you can have this back". She said, taking off her engagement ring before throwing it at him. That was more like the reaction he expected.

He didn't pick up the ring, he didn't see the point in keeping it.

He walked away then, and for a moment he thought he was going to break down and cry, but he kept it together…now he had to explain to the guests why there would be no wedding, and he certainly wasn't accepting any good word, especially from Emily's parents.He saw most of the guests waiting outside the church, including Chandler and Joey, but Monica and Rachel weren't't in sight.

"What's going on Gellar.." He heard Emily's father ask, he was stood with his partner who was giving flirty looks Ross' way.

"Umm, there is no wedding Sir. Emily will explain it better than me but it's over..".

"Your telling me you've left my daughter on her wedding day?" He yelled.

Ross wasn't going to defend himself, he just nodded and apologised, not that it would make much of a difference.

"I thought you were a good guy…obviously I was wrong. Anybody who hurts my daughter has me to deal with…you know that--". He warned him, moving close to Ross' face as though he was about to punch him out, flat.

"Dad don't!" Emily shouted, she had followed Ross back over to the church, her face was patch and her eyes were swollen from the crying. "Don't punch him…I don't want a scene".

"Your telling me your letting him get away with this?" Her dad asked her, looking at her as though she were stupid.

"…There's nobody more upset and angry than me Dad, but for once in my life I have realised I was making a huge mistake before I actually made it…"

"But its your wedding day!". Don't you think I know that? Oh come on. I'm not going to stand here and give any more attention to this utter mess..". She cried.

Ross didn't know what to say, his parents had now joined the crowd of people. "Son, what's going on?" His father asked him.

"The wedding's off Dad...". he said.

"Its off?!" His mother and father both chorused.

Ross didn't think it was possible to feel more ashamed than he did right now, but he knew this decision was the right one and even though he knew Emily was pretty broken right now, he knew she felt the same way and understood why he was doing this.

He wondered where Rachel had gotten to, she had probably hidden away somewhere with embarrassment, he felt like joining her.

"I don't know what's gone on but surely this can be fixed.." Jack said, looking ever so disappointed with his son.

"Its all your son's doing, my Emily is up in her hotel room now...heartbroken because of him...you should be ashamed of him". Emily's father interrupted, pointing his finger at Jack.

"Ashamed? Its you who should be ashamed, not wanting to pay hardly a thing for your own daughters wedding!" Judy yelled back.

"Well you'll be paying the whole lot now...seeing as it was your son who cancelled this wedding". Emily's dad said to them.

"I don't think standing outside here arguing is going to change anything!" Ross said to them, "and nobody will be paying a penny...I'll fix everything...as Emily's dad said, it is all because of me why this wedding is off…". he said, knowing it wasn't completely his doing, as if Rachel hadn't of arrived he would probably be married by now, but no way did he blame her, he was glad she had came otherwise he would have made yet another mistake in his life.

He scurried away, wanting to get as far away from these people as soon as possible, he felt like shit, how could he do this? He knew the answer, but it didn't take away the fact that he had walked out on Emily.

Rachel had always said that leaving Barry was the best thing she had ever done, maybe he would be able to say the same…he wondered where Rachel had gotten to, because all he wanted to do was run away with her and forget the rest of the world.

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Rachel sat at the bar, a glass of dirty martini in her hand, which Ross guessed wasn't her first glass. "Ross.." She said, getting up quickly. "What's happened?".

He walked over to her, "Its over".

"Over? You told her everything?…Oh Ross". She felt so happy inside, but it would have been totally inappropriate of her to even think about kissing him, so instead she put her hand on the back of his neck. "You did the right thing…". she assured him.

He didn't look too sure about it, "Right?" She asked him, "because Ross…this is such a huge decision to walk away, please make sure this is what you want because I know what I want..".

Ross put his finger on her lips, "I know what I want Rach…and its you, it always has been…you and I both know that, but we have wasted so much time…".

Hearing him say these words made her feel like self combusting, but she just smiled at him longingly as he stroked her face.

"Your really sure?"

"I've never been so sure about something in my entire life…but I'm just feeling a bit.--"

"Guilty?…I know the feeling, remember…I've been there Ross.".

He nodded, "So you have".

"Shall we go somewhere private? I don't feel comfortable down here…with all of Emily's family here, and I don't think Emily wants to see me of all people..".

He took her hand and they began to walk upstairs, "I think we should catch an early flight home..". Ross suggested, "I don't see the point in staying here now…".

"Where are the guys?". She asked.

"Outside I think…they can stay here, I'm not going to cut their trip short because of what's happened…but me and you can go home"..

She smiled up at him, "Oh I'm so sorry Ross, I've ruined everything…Emily must hate me".

"Probably…but she seemed more understanding than I had expected".

"Really?"

He nodded, "but that's not to say she wished us all the best or anything Rach.." he joked, "I just cant believe its came to this".

"But your happy about it right?".

"Mixed emotions right now.." He told her.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. But Ross…I know I said it before but. I…I really do…love you". She told him, now she didn't feel so ashamed about kissing him as they were upstairs, away from everybody's stare.

She reached his face, and kissed his lips, something they hadn't done for years, yet it felt so natural like they had been doing it everyday.

"I love you too Rach, and believe me…I know this is what I want, because we're doing it all for the right reasons…".

She nodded agreeingly.

"So….what do you think of London?" He asked her.

"Well. To be honest, I didn't do a lot of sightseeing on the way here because I was so shook up…but it seems like a pretty lovely city" she said.

"Yeah, it is. Shame we cant stay longer, but I don't think it's a good idea to stay here whilst Emily's family are here…if you know what I mean". he said.

"What are you going to do about your honeymoon?".

He shrugged, "well Emily has the tickets anyway, so I guess she'll do what she wants with them….otherwise I would have gave them to the guys, but only two of them would have been able to go…I'd take you but that would be completely..--".

"Inappropriate!" she said.

He laughed, "completely".

They reached Ross and Emily's honeymoon suite, "You know what…I'll just wait outside, I don't feel right going inside there…". She said.

"Oh…ok. I only need to pack my things, and then try and book a flight for us…but I might be long, why don't you go and find Monica and ask to go in her room then?". he suggested.

"yeah, that's what I'll do. Its just that…well it wouldn't be right". she said, even though she only wanted to be with him right now, every minute counted…but she didn't feel that room was her place to be in.

"I'll just meet you downstairs then, in about an hour?".

Ross opened the door, "Yeah, ok sweetie..". He said.

Rachel smiled as they said goodbye, as bad as she felt about the situation, she realised that without realising they were already back where they were.

Back in love.

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I will really appreciate any comment, whether it be criticism or praise as I welcome either.

I understand that some of you may find that Ross acts slightly out of character in this story, but it was what I personally feel he would have done in this situation.

This isn't really a serious fic of mine, it's just an experiment really of mine as I wanted to explore other alternatives to what actually happened on screen of these episodes.