Disclaimer: I don't own Friends or anything that has to do with it. I owe thanks to Marta Kauffman, Kevin S. Bright, and David Crane.

They Could Be

By: Ross-Rachel-Emma-Friends

Chapter 1 Afterwards

It was three weeks after Ross had slept with the copying lady Chloe and Rachel had never found out about it. The two of them were now together and Ross was planning a proposal even though he was planning to wait about a year. He just wanted to make it perfect even though guilt was running through him. It pained him every night. A lot more than Monica being annoyed about he and Rachel living in her apartment. She had gotten so mad she'd suggested that Rachel move out.

"Mon!" Rachel called from in her bedroom. "Is Ross home yet?"

"No!" Monica yelled back. "Ross is not home yet and if you find out why don't you just come out and wait for him."

"No," Rachel answered tentatively. "I'm in my sex dress and I've scattered the bed with flowers and the candles are lit and there's champagne already out. I don't want it to spill while I'm out there."

"Then don't come-" began Monica, but Ross entered all of a sudden and he nodded to Monica who said, "Hi Ross," but Ross only nodded back again and headed towards Rachel's bedroom where Rachel was waiting for him.

"Hi Ross," Rachel whispered towards Ross. "How was work?"

"Fine," Ross responded dully. "You know, the normal way it should be. Except no one was really listening to my lecture."

"Of course they weren't," Rachel began, but after realizing what she said, closed her mouth and pretended that she hadn't said anything. "Sorry," she added quickly. "Except they are kind of-"

Ross stopped Rachel from saying anymore and there was silence for a little while. Except before the two knew what was happening there was a scream from outside their room and they rushed out to see tears pouring down Monica's face. Ross's son Ben had been brought over by Phoebe after Ross had left him with her and he had accidentally torn the curtains and ruined the apartment in just a matter of moments after Monica had gone to use the bathroom.

"What's wrong with you?" Monica was screaming at Ben. "You destroyed my apartment! I'm practically broke too and now this is going to cost me a fortune!"

"Monica..." Ross began, but his voice trailed off as Monica, ignoring him continued to scream at Ben.

"You're the worst son anyone could wish for! How could anyone want kids? Why does anyone want kids? Look what they do when you don't teach them anything! Look!"

The screaming seemed to go on for hours and Phoebe was staring dumbstruck at what had happened. "I should have kept a better eye on him. Monica, don't blame him, it's my fault. Please don't hurt him. He's too young to understand."

"He's a toddler!" Monica snapped and charged into her bedroom slamming the door behind him.

Rachel, who had tossed on a bathrobe before leaving her bedroom hadn't tied it and her dress was beginning to show.

"Rach." Phoebe pointed and Rachel put her bathrobe back on before adding a quick apology.

"Ben," Ross began, trying to sound stern even though he was hurt. "Aunt Monica was just upset about the whole thing, because she's a neat freak. Do you promise not to destroy the place ever again? To try and be more careful? I know that you can be, Ben and you're usually good at home."

"Sorry," Ben said quietly. "I didn't know. Aunt Monica is mean."

"Aunt Monica isn't mean," Ross said calmly. "She's just low on money and this is hard for her."

"Aunt Monica is mean," Ben repeated.

"No..."

"Yes!"

"Ben..."

"Daddy..."

"Ugh! What's the point?" Ross stood up and sighed. "I'll be leaving, Rach. Make sure to save a condom, because I'll come over tomorrow to have sex and I'll leave him with Carol and Susan. Sorry, Pheebs. Probably my fault."

"Whatever," Phoebe said. "No one cares about Phoebe's feelings. They're like a mixture in a pot and no one even seems to notice."

"People notice," Rachel pointed out.

"No one notices," Phoebe argued back. "Anyway, Joey promised that he'd take me out on a date. I told him that I didn't want to go, but he seems like he could be a good date."

"Yeah, except do you want your baby's first words to be 'How you doin'?'," Ross asked carrying Ben out the door.

"I don't really care!" Phoebe called after Ross. "Only you care!"

There was silence and Rachel shrugged. "I think that you should go, Pheebs. I'll try to talk to Monica and maybe I can make her feel better. Go. It's a mess in here and I'll try to clean it up as best I can."

"Good luck." Phoebe smiled and left. Leaving Rachel knowing that she had a huge task ahead of her to try and make the house as normal as possible.

Chapter 2 will be up soon! Hope that you liked it. It may not be that good for a first. R&R please!!!

~Ross-Rachel-Emma-Friends