Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Friends!

"Yeah well, fine, Ross! I don't need you and your stupid jealousy anyway!
I
have had it!" Rachel dissolved into tears as she sank to the floor. "I
have had it,"
she mumbled again. Ross walked cautiously over to her, sank to the floor
beside her, and
wrapped his arms around her. Rachel was almost drawn into Ross's comfort,
when she
stood up abruptly and said steadily, "You know what, Ross? I can't do this
anymore. I
can't be around someone who isn't even happy for me when I get a job
promotion! Just
because some guy got the job for me?! Some random guy? You know what?
Maybe he
does like me! Maybe he's in love with me! But that never meant that I
would've
accepted his offer! God, Ross! You know what, you are so insecure! I
can't even look at
you right now! Goodbye!" Rachel stormed out of her and Monica's apartment, and blindly walked out into the hall. She leaned heavily against the wall, and fresh sobs
escaped her. Ross walked out of the apartment, tentatively shutting the
door behind him.
"Rach-"he began. But Rachel cut him off with, "No, Ross. No.
It's over."
"What?!" Ross walked directly into her face, demanding an answer. Instead,
she
smacked him across the face and ran down the stairs.
Ross glared toward the direction of the stairs before turning back to his
sister's
apartment. "Bitch" he mumbled before slamming the door.
Rachel ran out of the building, not knowing where to turn, not knowing whom
to turn to.
Where was Monica? Where was anyone to comfort her now, when she needed it
the
most? She had been so stupid to listen to Ross all this time. She now
wished they had
never met. Not having anywhere else to go, she ran in the direction of
Central Perk.

Back at the girls' apartment, the door opened abruptly, interrupting Ross's
thoughts. Joey had come in search of food. "Hey, Ross!" Joey greeted Ross
with
enthusiasm. Seeing the look Ross wore and the red mark across his face,
Joey
knew something was up. "What's the matter, Ross?" Ross glared at Joey for
a
minute, thinking how lucky Joey was to have such an easy life. "Nothing,
Joey.
Just don't even worry about it."
Joey was reluctant to leave Ross, but didn't want to be in the face of his
red-hot
anger. He opened the door to his own apartment; where Chandler was busy
watching Wheel of Fortune. "THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS 'THE UNITED
STATES OF 'PMERICA'! BUY A VOWEL, GENIUS!" Chandler screamed at
their TV. "Hey Chandler, what's up with Ross?" "What do you mean, Jo?"
Chandler asked, now interested in what Joey had to say. "Well, he seems
pretty
mad about something over there. You should see him" Joey replied.
Chandler
got out of his chair and made his way toward Monica and Rachel's apartment,

mumbling "Well, I'm gonna." Chandler opened the door of the next-door
apartment, and saw Ross sitting in one of the chairs, brooding. "Hey man,
what's
up? Joey said there was something weird going on." Ross paused,
contemplating
how to tell his best friend. He sighed and said flatly, "Rachel and I
broke up."
Chandler paused, frowning. "Wow, I...are you OK?" "Well, not really,
Chandler. My girlfriend just slapped me across the face, and I'm alone.
You
figure it out," Ross snapped. "Where's Rachel?" was the next thing out of
Chandler's mouth. "What?" Ross asked, annoyed. "Where's Rachel?" he
repeated urgently. "Well, I don't know. She ran down the stairs about 20
minutes
ago and-" "Thanks man, I'll talk to you later" Chandler said, rushing out
of the
apartment. He hurried down the stairs, praying Rachel would be all right
until he
got to her. He rushed out of the building, looking around for her. Not
seeing her,
he rushed to Central Perk, figuring she might be there.
Rachel sat alone in Central Perk, not drinking the cold coffee she held.
All she
wanted at that moment was someone to comfort her, someone to turn to. The
door to Central Perk opened suddenly, and Chandler looked around wildly for

Rachel. Not seeing her on his first glance of the coffeehouse, he rushed
to the
bar. "Is Rachel here? Is she here? Is she?" Chandler wildly asked Gunther.

"Calm down, Chandler" Gunther advised. "She's on the couch, and she's
pretty
upset." "Thanks, Gunther." Chandler took a few deep breaths to calm
himself.
No reason to make her more upset, he told himself. Just act like you're
here for
some coffee. "Can I get a coffee?" he asked Gunther before making his way
over
to the couch. He walked slowly, so as not to surprise Rachel. He cleared
his
throat loudly and sat down at the small table. His efforts seemed to have
worked,
because Rachel's tears were gone, and all that was left was an air of
despondency.
"Oh Chandler, hi," Rachel said softly as she spotted him. "Oh hey, Rach.
I didn't
see ya." He paused to take his coffee from the waitress. "You look
kinda...upset. Is everything OK?" he asked Rachel as nonchalantly as
possible. "Oh.
Well, everything's fine, I guess. It's just..." She sighed heavily before
continuing. "Me
and Ross broke up." "Oh, I'm sorry. Are you...I mean, are you gonna be OK?"

Chandler asked with concern in his voice. "Yeah, I guess. I mean,
eventually. After the
shock wears off." Chandler noted the helplessness in her voice, and
silently cursed Ross.
He moved to the couch, bringing his coffee with him. "Hey look, Rach. I
know it seems
like Ross was the greatest guy you could ever ask for. But the truth is,
there are a million
better guys out there. And he's gonna really care about you. You're
gonna find
someone so much better, Rach. I promise." Rachel gave an odd look to
Chandler. No
jokes, no stupid comments. Was he really trying to make her feel better?
Chandler? She
studied his face. It seemed sweet and sincere enough. "Well...thanks,
Chandler. That's
sweet." She paused, and then said, "You know, you're the last person I'd
expect to be
saying all this. I mean, you're...Chandler." Chandler paused and said,
"Thanks" with a
strong note of sarcasm in his voice. "Well, no offense, sweety. It's
just...you were never
this...sweet and kind. You should bring out that side more often." Chandler
smiled
again and said, "Yeah well, I care about you, Rach. As he moved
instinctively closer to
her, he mumbled, "More than you'll ever know." "Hm?" Rachel mumbled. "Oh,

nothing", Chandler replied. "Nothing at all." They paused for a moment
before
embracing each other. They both sighed contentedly, before breaking apart,
ready to face
the dawn again.
A/N: Ok, I know this has been done a bunch of times and it's really
clichéd. But please don't flame, cause it took about an hour to write.
Ok, R & R please!