A/N: So this starts when Rachel tells Ross they should take a break but without the whole Chloe and Mark thing. I'm still not sure where this will lead but for right now they will probably break up at least for a little while. Please read and review! :)

"No. A break from us."

Rachel's words kept repeating in Ross's head as he left her a apartment. A break from us...from us...break from us. How could she want to take a break? So what if their relationship hadn't been like it was before she had met Mark and got a new job? Just thinking Mark's name made Ross jealous. And angry. And mad.

Ross kept thinking about it the whole time he walked to his apartment. He had briefly thought about going to hang out with Joey, Chandler, and Chloe, the girl from the copy place. But he decided against it. Who knows what stupid thing he could do if he hung out with them? Instead when he got home he took a shower and climbed into bed and fell asleep instantly.


Rachel had watched Ross leave. He had looked so sad and heart broken. But she knew she had done the right thing. Ross's jealousy about Mark was a little ridiculous. Mark was just a friend and a coworker. She never once thought about dating Mark. Sure he was good looking but her heart belonged to Ross. Or at least it had.

She was just about to head for the shower and then to bed when the phone rang. "Hello?"

"Oh, hi. It's Mark," said Mark on the other end.

Rachel was a bit disappointed. She had hoped it would be Ross calling to apologize. "Oh."

Mark could sense the disappointment. "What? Is it my breath?"

"No. Sorry, I just thought you were somebody else. Hi!" Rachel laid down on the couch. All of a sudden she was very tired.

"Hi. Well, look, I was just gonna leave a message. Isn't tonight your big anniversary dinner?" asked Mark.

"Yeah, well, ummm..." She trailed off. She couldn't say why she had broken up with Ross. Then Mark asked if he could come over. "I'm sorry but that wouldn't be a good idea, Mark. Look, I need to go. It's been a long day and I'm tired. Goodbye, Mark." And she hung up and headed for the shower. After a long hot shower she put on her pajamas and crawled into bed falling asleep instantly.


The next morning when Rachel came out of the bathroom she found Monica in the kitchen making some kind of fruit drink.

"Hey," said Monica as she added some fruit to the blender.

"Hey," said Rachel hoping she didn't sound sad.

Luckily Monica didn't notice. "How was the the big anniversary dinner?" she asked.

"Well, we never actually got to dinner."

"Ohh, nice."

Rachel shook her head. "No, we kinda broke up instead." Barely twelve hours later and she hated admitting it.

"What?" exclaimed Monica accidently hitting the power button on the blender resulting in a mess everywhere.

Rachel looked up. "God, Monica it's on the ceiling."

"That's okay this is more important than fruit," Monica paused angrily looking at the ceiling, "on my ceiling! You broke up?"

Rachel shrugged. "Yeah, but it's okay because when Ross left, Mark called."

Monica groaned. "Oh no!" She sat down at the table and motioned for Rachel to do the same.

"Relax, Mon, nothing happened. He asked to come over but I said no." Rachel felt tears sting her eyes. "I just want to know what's bothering Ross."

"Well what did he say last night?" asked Monica still glancing at the fruit mixture on her ceiling. She really needed to clean it right away.

Rachel sighed. "He said he felt like he never had a girlfriend anymore because I work too much. Then he asked if it had anything to do with Mark."

Monica wasn't sure how to put it. In a way she could see Rachel's side but she also understood Ross's side. "Honey, think about it from Ross's side. Lately you've been working late and blowing off dates you two planned. And that makes him feel unwanted. And then you say you're with Mark and he feels like you don't want to be his girlfriend."

Rachel groaned. Of course it all came down to Ross being jealous. But she was at a new job doing what she loved. Couldn't he be happy for her? She cleared her throat. "I-I guess I don't understand."

"Okay, think of it this way. Say Ross had to work late at the museum but he had to work late with a hot coworker. And instead of going out with you he's working late with her," explained Monica. "How would you feel?"

"I-I, well, I'd probably be jealous," said Rachel after thinking about it for a minute. Suddenly, it became clear. Of course Ross was jealous and he had a right to be. She should've been spending less time at work and more letting Ross know that he was the one she wanted.

As she got ready for work a few minutes later she called Ross to tell him that she was coming over before work so they could talk. She just hoped he would understand.