A/N: First of all: I intend for this story to be a Rhoebe, if you will.
Disclaimer: ahum, me= ordinary middle-class girl, who likes to write about Friends for entertainment purposes. Bright, Kauffman and Crane: Wealthy, talented people, who actually own Friends. The difference is in that, peeps: I don't and will never own Friends. On with the story:
" I really thought she'd stay," Ross muttered quietly, still not believing Rachel had actually decided on boarding the plane, after all they'd been through together, both in the past twenty-four hours, as in the past ten years. She was supposed to be his lobster, his true love, his one and only, but now it seemed she'd always meant more to him, than he'd ever meant to her.
" I know," Phoebe brought out softly, as she embraced him and stroked his back. After a while of intense hugging, they slowly released one another.
" Please, can you just… get me out of here?" he begged, as he just stared ahead into space with lifeless eyes.
" Sure, come on," his blonde friend replied, as she lead the way back to the cab. Once they'd gotten in, there was the clear presence of a long silence, as Phoebe didn't really know what to say and Ross was still too devastated to actually open his mouth.
" Do you think she ever even loved me at all?" he then asked suddenly, successfully breaking the uncomfortable silence.
Phoebe sighed loudly, then replied: " Of course, Ross. Of course she loved you at one time. Heck, I think she still loves you, she just didn't know how to deal with that confession of yours earlier, cause the whole thing was so rushed. She had a plane to catch, you know."
" I guess so… but all of that doesn't make me feel any better about the whole thing," her friend whined, focusing his gaze on the dashboard.
The feisty blonde sighed again, then hurriedly pulled over at a random gas station, so she could tend to the obviously depressed Ross' needs. She really did feel sorry for him. Rachel had no right to treat him like this. They were lobsters, for god's sake!
" Hey, I know that you won't believe me right now, but it'll get better."
" Right and Santa Clause is real, folks!" the paleontologist stated sarcastically, while slamming his hand down on the dashboard.
" Oh, okay Mr. gloomy, be like that. I don't care, it's your life that's getting screwed up by all the negative thinking, not mine," Phoebe suddenly brought out rather cruelly, effectively getting her friend even more miserable.
" So, you also believe my life is turning into one big mess, then?" Ross asked on a serious tone, as he slowly turned toward her, allowing her to see just how close he was to bursting out into tears.
" Oh, no, no I don't, Ross. Oh, oh damn it, I didn't mean it like that. I just… all I'm saying is…" She then halted her sentence for a brief second, to let out a bitter, humorless chuckle.
" Actually, I don't really know where I'm getting at either. I mean: I can hardly offer you a solution, Ross. I don't know why Rachel didn't want to come back with you and I don't know what else you could possibly try to get her to return from Paris, right now. I don't have any solutions whatsoever. Sometimes, life just sucks and there's nothing anybody could EVER do about that. I learned that the hard way: try my mom's suicide, pimps, mugging and so on… you know what I'm talking about… well... you don't really," she rambled suddenly, her face taking on an equal empty expression.
Her friend only sighed in response, then quietly asked: " So life just sucks? Is that really the bottom line of it all, Pheebs? Because if that's the case, I don't see any point in living such a sucky life anymore."
Seeing the utterly emotionless look on his face, Phoebe quickly felt sorry for him. Guided by her feelings of guilt, she quickly made up something that sounded a little more beneficiary.
" Oh no, that's not the bottom line, at all. As stupid and depressing as my whole story may have sounded, I was actually intending on going to a happier place with it, in the end: the place where everything's perfect again and where you get up in the morning with the sun shining out of your butt and rainbows flowing from your mouth, and babbling brooks and more of the really good stuff."
" Oh?" Ross uttered, not really getting where she was going with all of this. It was true that Phoebe was a little difficult to follow sometimes, especially when you hadn't really been listening to her in the first place, due to a gut wrenching ache slowly spreading itself from your stomach, right up to your heart.
" Yeah, Ross, you know, as cliché as it may sound: after every down, comes an up. You know, in a way life's just like: ' The sound of music' . You know: at first the kids don't like the nanny and neither does the dad, but then… when they really get to know her, oh then… then they grow to love her. And even though… even though, she has to leave for them to realize that, it's still rewarding to her, cause she gets her happy ending in the end," the blonde went on explaining, baffling her friend with her whole musical analogy.
" Eh, you do know that's not exactly true right? The movie does end with the Nazis chasing them."
" Oh yeah… right, well that's just it, every up is also directly followed by a down."
Ross's only reaction to that statement, was a loud groan, as he smashed his head back against the headrest.
" But, Ross, hey, listen to me: you just remember this, no matter how deep you fall, you can always… always climb back up. You just have to look at me, to get the ultimate evidence of that: I used to live out on the streets without any hope, not having a single friend to ease my burden. Then I met Monica and through her, all of you guys. I got a job and I put my life back on the tracks and look at me now: I'm married, for crying out loud!" Phoebe put extra emphasis on the last sentence, to really try to get her friend to feel better.
" Yeah… but you're very different from me. You have a more positive attitude to things."
" Oh, that's so not true. Come on! What happened to red Ross or the Ross-a-tron? Get your act together, Geller! Come on, Ross caaan!" the blonde blurted out, hereby nearly scaring the paleontologist.
" So, what are you like my motivational coach now?" he asked bitterly, though a light smile was also discernable from his features. Phoebe always did have the special ability to make him laugh.
" Sure, I can be anything," his friend stated confidently.
" Pheebs can!" Ross suddenly sang, effectively causing her to burst out into giggles.
" Okay, you really should stick to playing the keyboard. Your singing is awful!"
" I know… I know, but you liked: " The Sound", eh?" the paleontologist asked, involuntarily making his tone a little flirty.
" Yeah, you know you really do have some talents, Ross. You don't need Rachel, to make your life complete. I'm sure you two could be contented, just being friends one day."
At the mere mention of Rachel's name, Ross's face fell again, as he flipped around and stared into the nothingness.
" I… I think I'm going to the restroom, I really have to go and we stopped at a gas station anyways," he then announced casually, while opening up his door.
" Oh… okay, see you soon," Phoebe retorted in surprise.
" Yeah… soon," her friend whispered dejectedly, before heading out of the car.
F.R.I.E.N.D.S. F.R.I.E.N.D.S. F.R.I.E.N.D.S. F.R.I.E.N.D.S. F.R.I.E.N.D.S. F.R.I.E.N.D.S. F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
Phoebe sighed loudly in annoyance, then looked at her watch for the gazilionth time. It had been more than an hour and Ross still hadn't returned. She'd even had the time to take a nap, while he was away and now she was beginning to get quite worried. Not wasting any more time, she finally hoisted herself out of the cab and walked right into the public restroom. Not feeling any shame whatsoever regarding entering the men's room, she swiftly threw the battered gray door open and was both shocked and disappointed at what she saw.
" Oh no, please tell me you didn't!"
A/N: Damn, guess we've got ourselves a merry little cliffhanger! What did Ross do? You'll find out in chapter 2, meanwhile: please review.