Friends Will Be Friends
by Tina
- - -
This is a repost of a story that I once called my last. I have been too busy and really not in the right mood to "create", so I'll just be posting this one 'cause it's old and I've taken it out of here a long time ago, so chances are a lot of you haven't read it yet. I've even changed the title to throw you off. Plus, I will be changing a few things. Well, probably a lot, specially towards the end, 'cause the original was kinda cheesy! So anyway... I just reread this a while ago and it surprised me a little. I guess this story is simply very important to me. I started it before the show ended and I ended up predicting a few things. But for this repost I'm gonna incorporate things of the actual show and how it ended. So, anyway, here we go. Whatever you need to know the story will tell you. Oh, only one thing you should know: Ross and Rachel did not sleep together before she left for Paris. In consequence to that, he didn't ask her to stay and she so moved there. In the original story she moved to Italy, but alright, let's switch that to Paris. I'll shut up now.
One laaaast thing... It's not really a Ross and Rachel story. Of course there will be a lot of that in here, but it's mostly a Rachel story. So she will be my main point of focus, not her relationship with Ross.
---
It was a typical parisian day for Rachel. After dropping five-years-old Emma at pre-school, she drove to the Louis Vuitton office, where she spent most of her morning working on a presentation and dealing with reports handed by her subordinates earlier that week. In the afternoon she had a meeting with a team of designers and they looked over sketches, photographs and videos - mostly runway footage - for hours, which simply flew by. Rachel sighed contentedly as she gathered around her things, yet again going over how great Paris had been for her over the last three years, in her head.
She was out just in time to pick up her daughter, she would take the rest of her work to finish at home. She parked her car outside and entered. From the doorway she spotted her child, dirty blonde hair and blue eyes like her own, milky white skin and pouty cherry lips that would not shut up. Rachel mused on how her little girl had adjusted well, funnily babbling with her friends in perfect French, one that Rachel knew that she would never nail herself. Well, she supposed it was easier for kids, anyway. Her eyes found her mother's and the little girl darted to her feet.
"Mom!!" She ran to her mother's open arms.
"Hey, sweetie. How was your day?" She kissed the top of her head.
"Great! Madam Coulignon even hung my picture on the board, look!"
She pointed to a colorful set of pictures hung on a board. Though Rachel could not make out which one of them was Emma's, she still beamed proudly at her child.
"Really? Wow, sweetie, that's great! Now, come on, go say goodbye to your friends and get your things so we can go."
"OK!"
She ran to get her things and Rachel watched her, smiling. It was one of those days when her eyes were so wide, so aware of how lucky she was. Her daughter was perfect. She had been her strength, her reason for living since her birth. However, ever since they had moved from New York, Emma had been so much more than that. She was her companion, her best friend. Her everything.
They stopped by their usual take out on the way home and after dinner Emma watched some TV while Rachel finished work. When Emma's bedtime approached, Rachel read her a story and tucked her in. By herself all alone in her beautiful flat at such early hours of the night, she finally welcomed the familiar gloom, the loneliness of single motherhood, of a foreigner immersed in such a different culture.
She cracked up a bottle of fine wine - eh, a little dull by now - and took it to the balcony, a book in her other hand.
She took a seat and opened her book where she had left it off. The picture she was using to hold the page caught her attention, though, as it did every night. It was a picture from the gang, back in '96. They were all at Central Perk, where they were just chilling. Another regular day in the best time of her life. She sighed and stared at it.
Phoebe was holding her guitar and smiling so widely. Rachel tried to remember some of the lyrics to her songs and couldn't help but chuckle out loud. She had even taught Emma some of them, the little girl's favorite had always been "Smelly cat". Last she had heard Phoebe was good, still happily married to Mike and slightly going crazy with her little girls, Rain, who had been conceived right after Rachel moved, and Summer, born only a few months ago. She had had the pleasure of meeting Rain, whose name had been a strong suggestion from Rachel herself, during a visit about a year ago, yet she had only seen pictures of Summer.
Continuing scanning the picture in her hand, Rachel now focused on Joey, on the background slightly distracted by something else. Rachel followed his stare and noticed she was looking at a woman's breast. Again, she failed to hold back a giggle. Oh God, Joey... She hadn't seen him in so long. Well, OK, she saw him a lot, but that was on TV, like everybody else in the world. He'd finally had his big break and was now a regular in a big TV show, which had made Rachel finally surrender to Emma's pleas for cable TV. However, she hadn't seen him in person since she had moved to France. Unfortunately, during all of her visits to the States Joey had been too busy in Los Angeles. As far as she knew, he remained unattached.
Rachel smiled when she noticed Chandler and Monica in the photograph. Back then they were still nothing but good friends, yet he had his arm around her and both were smiling widely. God, how she missed them. Of course she also missed the others, but Monica... She was like a sister to her. She used to run to Monica to tell her everything and now... Well, of course they still spoke and they were still very good friends, but... It just wasn't the same. Rachel sighed and felt comfort in remembering how well they were. Their marriage was steady and strong and their twins Jack and Erica were both healthy and as perfect as she always expected Monica's kids to be.
Her heart finally melted when she saw Ross in the picture. '96... That sure had been a great year. She smiled sweetly and focused on his arms around her and how happy she looked. How happy she was. She closed her eyes and startled up when she felt a pair of big hands covering her eyes.
"Shh, calm down. Guess who?" A man's voice asked.
Rachel quietly squealed, overwhelmed.
"Oh my God!"
The hands disappeared and Rachel opened her eyes. The man revealed himself from behind her.
"Surprise!"
He leaned forward and kissed her lightly. She pulled away quickly, laughing and pushing him away a little.
"Ross!"
"Don't worry, Emma is sleeping like a rock, I just checked on her."
"What are you doing here?"
"Surprising you!"
She smiled so widely she thought her lips would tear up.
"You sure are."
She took his face in her hands and kissed him deeply, pouring in it all the longing she had been feeling until just a few seconds before.
"You know, I should have never given you my key." She joked, still cupping his face.
"What, and miss my surprise visits? You wouldn't dare."
She kept smiling at him, knowing he was right.
"How long are you gonna be here for?"
She took her foot off the other chair so that he could sit next to her.
"Four days, starting tomorrow. Then I gotta head off to a digging site in Norway."
"Just four days?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry."
Rachel smiled a little again.
"That's OK, Emma's still gonna love that."
"And you?" He asked with a charming smile on his face.
"Ehhh!" She replied jokingly, as if not making a big deal out of it.
Ross laughed and Rachel kept smiling at him. She couldn't resist his charm. She came closer again and kissed him softly.
"How's the French going?" He asked her softly.
She chuckled and enjoyed the joke opportunity. She leaned closer again and kissed him deeply, sliding her tongue softly into his mouth to play with his. After a few blissful seconds, they broke.
"Hm, you tell me..."
He chuckled.
"I never questioned that one, you know that." They smiled at each other.
"Well, my French is better, I guess. Emma's is still way ahead of mine though... You should listen to hear, it's so cute."
"Oh, it's the genes." He joked, beaming with pride.
"Shut up." She told him with a playful smile.
He chuckled and she kept looking at him for a while, smiling.
"Hey..." She started softly.
"What?"
"Do you realize my contract expires within a month?"
"Oh my God, really?"
She nodded, smiling.
"Wow. I can't say time flew by, but... Oh, wow! I've been waiting for this for a while now, you know..." He said as he put his hand on hers and played with the engagement ring he had given her a few months before. "So you're... you're really coming back, right?"
She smiled
"Of course, sweetie. God, I mean... I really love it here and so does Emma, but... It's just not "home", you know? I just can't wait to go back to New York and see everybody and just take hold of my life there again, you know?"
"I know. I can't wait for that either." He kissed her hand. "I really admire what you did, you know? It takes a lot of guts to do what you did. Specially twice."
She nodded.
"But as it turns out the second time didn't get me half what the first one did."
He nodded, gratefully acknowledging her remark.
"Okay, so, when exactly are you moving back? We gotta make all the arrangements. You're staying with me, right?"
"Oh, Ross, I don't know...!" She said, now getting a little serious.
Ross looked at her, a bit upset.
"Rachel, come on. You're moving back now, there's no need for us to keep this as a secret anymore. We've been doing it for too long now, that's enough. We're engaged already! How much more commited could we be? I assume you wanna invite the others to the wedding."
Rachel kept looking at him in silence.
"OK, I'll stay with you. But could we not tell them about us at least until I get settled down properly?"
He sighed in frustration.
"Rachel-"
"Honey..." She cut him, putting her arms around him. "It's just too much at once. It won't take long, I promise. We've been discrete about this for two years now, what's a few weeks more next to that, huh? It doesn't mean that I don't care, you know that."
He looked at her and her truthful eyes won him over.
"OK, but how about Emma? Can we at least tell her?"
"Oh, no, we can't tell Emma, nuh-uh."
"Why not?"
"'Cause she's a big talker, she'll tell everyone." Rachel said, earning a chuckle from Ross. "I'm telling you! She doesn't lie, but man, the minute she hears something she has to tell everyone about it."
"I wonder who she got that from."
Rachel shot him a look.
"Don't start."
Ross smiled at her and pulled her into another kiss. They took their time in it, enjoying each other's presence, each other's warmth and the fuzzy sensation that soon turned into heat. They broke and kept their faces close to each other's, their eyes closed as the feeling kept going.
"Hm, I've missed you." He whispered.
She smiled and stood up.
"I've missed you too."
She offered him a hand, a suggestive look on her face. She didn't need to say anything else. Ross smiled and took her hand and the bottle of wine.
"French style, nice."
She chuckled.
---
The next morning, Rachel woke up alone in bed. She took a deep breath and stretched out lazily, satisfied. Oh God, she had really needed that previous night. She wrapped a robe around herself quickly and entered the kitchen to find Ross already in there with Emma in his arms. She smiled.
"Good morning." She greeted them with a big smile on her face.
Both Ross and Emma turned to look at Rachel. Ross smiled adoringly at her and Emma grinned toothily.
"Daddy's here, mommy!!"
"Yeah, sweetie, I know."
"He's taking me do to whatever I want today! Can you come too?"
"Oh, is he?" Rachel asked with a childish excitement. Emma nodded quickly and Ross smiled, watching their child's satisfaction. "Well, I don't know if I can, but I'll try, OK? How's that?"
"Mmm'kay...!" Emma's tone turned to a bummed down one, she knew what that meant.
"Hey, you little munchkin, I swear I'll try!" She kissed Emma's cheeks in a playful way, making her giggle. "Have you had breakfast yet?"
"Oui!" The little girl answered.
"OK, so go get ready, I'll be in right after you."
"OK."
Ross put her down and she ran off. Both Ross and Rachel watched her leave.
"She gets more beautiful by the second, doesn't she?" Ross asked, melting down for his little princess.
"She does...!" Rachel agreed.
"Soooo..." he turned to look at Rachel. "Good morning."
He handed her a cup of coffee and kissed her cheek.
"Aw, thanks."
"So, what are you doing today?"
"Same as everyday... In at nine, out at three."
"That's not so bad."
"Ah, they let me finish my work at home because of Emma. Don't get fooled, I'm usually still working till dinner time."
"Oh."
Rachel nodded, smiling.
"You know, Emma doesn't have to go to school today."
"What?"
"It's not always her daddy's around. How bad would it be missing a few days out of pre-school, huh? Besides, you don't have anything planned to do when Emma's there and I'm working, do you?"
"Well, I was planning on picking up hot models and partying at an expensive hotel, but I guess that can wait."
Rachel giggled.
"Well, there you go, then."
"Mama!!" Emma yelled out from her room, with a french accent.
"That's me." Rachel said, as Ross chuckled. "Here." She opened a drawer and picked up a cellphone from inside, handing it to him. "Take this. I got it to leave it with Emma's babysitters when they go out. I'll call you guys later and see where you are so we can all do something together, OK?"
"I'll be waiting."
---
A few weeks later, Rachel entered a somewhat fancy bar by herself. The host approached and she talked to him briefly. He walked her to a table, where a lot of people were drinking, talking and having a good time. They looked up at her.
"Hi, guys."
"Oh, look who's here, it's the leaving girl!" An attractive woman with remarkable cheekbones said with a French accent.
Rachel smiled weakly at them.
"Hello to you too, Sofie."
They pulled up a chair for her and she took a seat.
"Hey, Rach."
"Got everything packed yet?" A man with a british accent asked.
"Pretty much. Most of it has already been shipped, so there was not much left to be packed."
"So there's no backing away now, huh?"
"I guess not."
"Wow, I can't believe we're gonna part ways now, Rachel... It's been three years. Remember how we got here and started together at the same time?"
Rachel nodded.
"Yeah, I do. But it's just... I've loved the past three years, yeah, but... That is my home, you know?"
"Ah, not me. I'm staying, this is home to me, now."
"Oh, it's different for you, Kim... You've married an french guy, you have made a home here."
"So did you get a job there yet?" Sofie asked.
"Oh yeah, when I told them about my decision of going back to New York they offered me a position in the New York office. And I know it's kind of the same and I really wanna do this, but, oh, I'm gonna miss you guys."
"Us too, honey. But you know, our lives are here, Green. After so long away from home I really can't see myself going back. I'm used to this, you know..." The british man said.
"Oh, c'mon, it's not like that you guys. So what we've been away for a while. How much can things have changed?"
"You'll be surprised." Sofie started. "I remember when I was a teenager and my parents sent me off to Australia for a year to lean English... And I'm talking about a lousy year here. When I came back, whoa, it felt like everything had changed!"
Rachel looked at Sofie and shook her head, waving her off.
"Some things never change. And, don't get me wrong, I love you guys and I love this place... but I can't wait to go back."
"How's Emma taking this?"
"She's pretty excited, actually. She'll get to see her daddy everyday and so far that's all she really cares about."
"Do I hear the wedding bells finally approaching?"
Rachel chuckled
"We'll see."
"It's about damn time!"
Rachel laughed.
"And you guys didn't catch half the show!"
Sofie rolled her eyes and raised her glass.
"I'll drink to that!"
Rachel shot her a playful look.
---
Well, OK, this is only the start. Good thing about this story is that I'll probably have new chapters up very regularly, considering they're pretty much done, I just have to work on them a little. Reviews are very much appreciated and, yeah, I hope you guys like it :) Thanks for reading!