Title: A One Time Thing

Author: Kristin (tini243 at gmx.de)

Summary: What had happened if anything had happened after "TOW Ross's step forward"?

A/N:
Thanks to Stephanie for being such a great betareader. Thanks to Laura - my muse.
And as always, thanks to Kerstin and Jan.

A One Time Thing

She couldn't sleep. For about four hours she had tossed and turned without really getting anywhere near being able to fall asleep.

The fantasies that kept her company during those hours weren't exactly helping either.

Fantasies of her and Joey, naked on some bed, intertwined in a passionate embrace…

It was torture. Her raging hormones and the things her fantasies did to her had her blood boiling and her body humming with unspent sexual energy. She just knew she had to do something about it or it would drive her crazy. Of course she had tried to take care of that herself, but touching herself only got her so far. Just some sort of relief wasn't what she needed. She needed to feel the stubbly skin of a man's face scratching over hers, she needed strong hands on her body and the feeling of a firm male body on top of her. She needed to hear a labored breath that wasn't her own and more than everything else, she needed to feel someone inside of her. And wherever she tried to divert her thoughts to, it always came back to that someone having to be Joey.

Everything she wanted out of this seemed to have his name on it. One great night… if living with him was good for one thing, than it was knowing without any doubt that it would be great. The walls in this apartment were thin after all. Someone who knows what he's doing… same category. No strings attached… check, he was Joey after all. Someone she felt comfortable with… hell yeah, he was Joey. She couldn't think of one single man she felt more at ease with.

It was actually perfect.

Yeah, it was bad and wrong, but with what she was going through, she had contemplated going over to Chandler and asking him.

What would be the big deal if it was Joey? Surely they could handle this, they were friends. The longer she thought about this, the more she convinced herself that she should do this.

When she went out into the living room to sneak into Joey's bedroom, she found him sitting on the lounger, flipping through the channels.

"Couldn't sleep either?" he asked when he noticed her.

"Yeah. I'm kinda… restless."

To her surprise he held a hand out to her and when she took it, he pulled her to him and she sat down onto his lap.

"Is it really that bad?" he asked with honest concern.

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep and shuddering breath.

"Joey you're a guy. Have you never felt as if you're going to do yourself bodily harm if you didn't do it, like, right now?"

"Sure, but as you said, I'm a guy."

"Well, obviously I'm not, but I'm right there. And sitting on your lap like this? … not helping the situation at all."

"So, you really wanna do it?"

She shook her head and tried to stand up. "This is so embarrassing," she muttered but before she could take a step away from him, he pulled her to him again. Before she could even think about what was happening, he roughly ran his hand up her pajama pants covered leg and stopped only and inch from her crotch.

Seeing her wide eyed look he smiled a little. "Would you really feel comfortable with me touching you like this?"

"Yeah," she replied, her breath ragged as if she had just run, "... but only if you wouldn't stop there."

"My bed or yours?" he asked after seemingly contemplating her answer for a while.

The answer was easy. His bed was the one for the one night stands, for the meaningless sex.

"Yours."

"Okay," he said and then looked as if he remembered something. "I just need a few minutes. It's kinda messy in there."

"Sure," she affirmed, "I have to go to the bathroom first anyway… freshen up, you know."

"I know." Smiling somewhat uncomfortably, she turned around and headed for the bathroom.

……………

Joey almost raced to his bedroom, hastily throwing the porno magazines that laid strewn around on his bed into his closet and straightened out the bed sheets. He had tried to get her out of his head after what she had told him, but even looking at naked girls hadn't brought him anywhere. He had given up on the magazines after the girls started to look like Rachel.

The second he was done removing all the evidence of his activities of the past four hours, he heard Rachel's voice from the bedroom door.

"Knock, knock."

He spun around and saw her standing there, insecure, slightly nervous and obviously embarrassed. Although he normally knew how to handle these types of situations, he was a bit unsure how to proceed now.

"Look Rach, you can get out of this whenever you want, you just say one word…"

"Stop talking Joe," she said with a shaking voice that didn't lend that command much authority. But he knew why she had said it. If they wanted to go through with that, thinking and talking about it wouldn't help. This wasn't about rational thought, this was about basic needs. He knew enough about this to not belittle what she was going through, to be determined to help her, to satisfy the hunger she felt.

He stepped closer to her and without further ado he started to kiss her, deeply and passionate. Everything that needed to be said had been said. If she wanted him to stop, she knew he would, he had to trust that she knew that.

But right now, with the way she kissed him back, he had some doubts she would want to.

In fact, with the way she untied his bathrobe and pushed him towards the bed, he started to be convinced that there would be no stopping taking place in the next thirty minutes.

The urgency of what she felt was palpable in everything she did, in every sound she made. It was unmistakably clear when she impatiently drew his hand away as he was bringing it between her legs, softly stroking her.

"Not now, Joey. Later… please…"

Sensing what she was getting at, he wasted no more time and gently eased himself inside her, urged on by her heels digging into his back and by the relieved moans from Rachel.

When he started to move, every one of his careful thrusts was accompanied by her soft cries, by her rocking her hips against him.

He tried to hold back somehow, to be gentle, careful. She was pregnant after all. Although if reading all her baby books had taught him that having sex was usually not dangerous for her or the baby, he felt like it couldn't be bad to be a bit cautious.

Her nails where digging into the skin of his neck and the bittersweet pain of feeling that, the wonder at seeing Rachel underneath him, his friend Rachel, writhing in unbridled ecstasy, the feeling of being inside of her, of smelling her, tasting her… it started to become too much, it started to make him lose control.

To his surprise, his control completely slipped right in the moment he heard her moan his name.

"Oh my God… Joey… yeah… ahh…"

Trying to draw it out had been an uphill battle from the beginning, but he managed it at least long enough for her to cry out his name in an astoundingly powerful release. Or at least that was what he hoped it was. Because even after he had come back from his own orgasmic high, she was still shaking and twitching as if she had been electrocuted.

"You… okay?" he panted.

It took her an alarmingly long time to come up with an answer to that.

"Never… I've never been better. God… pregnancy sex is amazing."

He drew away from her and plopped down beside her, staring at the ceiling. When she didn't say anything for the longest time, totally uncommon for a woman, he turned to her and put his hand on her upper arm, gently rubbing it.

"You sure you okay, Rach?"

She turned around to him and when he saw an ear splitting grin on her face, he smiled relieved.

"You are really good at this, Joey."

"Wow, Rach. How can you say that? I don't mean to sound like a jerk but that was just the tip of the iceberg. You didn't even let me do most of the stuff I'm good at."

"I know. But I have seen a few icebergs in my life and I kinda think I can judge them by their tips by now. And you… you're great. Of course I know you don't need me to tell you that."

"Can't hear it often enough. Besides, it means something to me that you're saying it. I was kinda worried I would be hurting you, or… you know… the baby."

"I'm fine Joey. We both are. But… what about you?"

It was an odd question to ask, but it actually gave him pause for a while, trying to find words for what he was feeling.

"I don't know, I'm feeling a bit… I honestly don't know. I mean, I thought it would be weird, it would feel like doing something bad. But if felt… it never felt like that for me. Being with someone I know as good as I know you… it was just… wonderful."

Not understanding what he had said wrong, he saw the smile vanish from Rachel's face and sadness and sorrow taking its place.

"Oh my God!"

"What is it, Rach?"

"I think we made a big… a really big mistake. I… I made the mistake, I should've known that."

He still had no clue what was going on.

"What are you talking about?"

"I should've known that you've never been with someone you really cared about, with someone who means something to you. It's like I stepped into uncharted territory and trust me, I shouldn't have been the first woman to go there."

While he puzzled about her confusing statement he still softly stroked her arm. And then it hit him. He didn't want that to be a one time thing, he didn't want to stop touching her, he didn't want everything to be back to how it was before. The realization knocked the breath out of him and a painful sting in his heart made him gasp.

He drew his hand away slowly and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Joey I'm so endlessly sorry, I hadn't thought about that… I wish… I wish I had."

After a few moments he opened his eyes again. "So you're breaking up with me?", he asked, trying to make it seem like a joke by smiling, what ended up looking like painful grimacing.

"Joey honey, I don't wanna lose…"

With a quick movement he pressed his fingers lightly against her lips. "Hey, you can't. Okay? Ever."

"I am so sorry," she whispered, close to tears.

"Rach, please, don't be sorry. This was… I'm glad it happened. I guess I know now what you guys are talking about all the time. Don't be sorry."

With that he took her into his arms and drew her close to him.

The feeling of her naked body against his suddenly felt like torture. Becoming aware of the fact that she was enjoying it, of the way she was trying to snuggle even closer was almost physically painful.

"I just need to figure out how to let you go," he murmured and wondered at how small and broken his voice sounded.

"You don't need to," she answered and relief and happiness washed through him. He wouldn't need to let her go. "At least not for another couple of hours."

If only this hadn't hurt that much.

…………….

It was five hours later when Rachel had the impression that he had finally fallen asleep.

Her own lack of tiredness surprised her only a bit since what happened between them in the past few hours had her so stirred up, there was no way she could fall asleep. It had been a memorable night. Joey had let her see more than just the 'tip of the iceberg' in those hours and combined with the feelings that he hadn't even tried to hide from her, it had showed her how much this man would've to give if he would ever find the woman who he would want to give it to. Too bad it could never be her.

She studied his face for a while, immensely tempted to touch it, to trace its clear lines with her fingers. Just when she was about to turn around and leave, he opened his eyes and looked at her lucidly. She should've known. He hadn't been sleeping. They looked at each other for a while, out of things to say, just trying to convey their feelings through their eyes.

"Go," Joey finally rasped. The right corner of his mouth twitched lightly in a futile attempt at an encouraging smile.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, nodded, turned around and left. After all, this had been the plan.

………….

She came into the coffee house after work and everybody was already there. It was no wonder that Gunther had asked her a few weeks ago if anyone of them even went to work. They hung out there all the time. She heavily plopped into the armchair that Joey had obligingly vacated for her, favored him with a thankful smile and greeted everyone.

Phoebe looked at her quizzically.

"You're glowing."

"I'm feeling fine," she answered evasively.

"What about the… you know… the Evander-Hollyfiel-problem?" Monica asked.

The guys – apart from Joey – looked puzzled.

"I found a… solution for that. I'm feeling great."

"What kind of solution?" Phoebe continued pestering her, "Because lemme tell ya, I tried a lot of stuff."

"Pheebs, I don't wanna talk about it, okay? Let's just say I did something that felt all sorts of great and it helped me with my… problem."

Phoebe nodded, not satisfied with the answer but obviously getting the point that further questioning wouldn't get her any more answers.

Suddenly Joey jumped up and all but ran out of the coffeehouse. Everybody stared after him until both Monica and Phoebe turned to Rachel, shrieking almost in unison: "You slept with Joey, didn't you?"

Rachel brought her hand to her forehead and massaged it slightly.

"What?" Chandler asked in an almost comically high pitched voice.

"Yeah I did. And before you start, I know it was a mistake. I mean, it was a great night, but I'm afraid I did hurt his feelings. I wasn't expecting that it could mean more to him than to me."

Chandler stood up wordlessly and left. Ross, as was to be expected, stared at her with an open mouth but when he noticed that Chandler was gone, he left too.

…………..

After looking in both apartments, Chandler found Joey on the little ballcourt behind the house, shooting hoops. Or to be more precise, angrily throwing a ball in the general direction of the basket. Joey acknowledged Chandler's presence with a short look to the side and continued with what he was doing.

"How you doin' Joe?" Chandler asked after having watched him for a while.

"Great," he answered in a clipped tone, throwing the ball away from him even harder than before.

"I think the ball might disagree."

Joey caught the ball that came bouncing back and glared at it. "What does the stupid ball know?" he finally said and threw it again.

"We know about you and Rachel," Chandler admitted finally, tired of watching.

Joey spun around. "Did she tell you?"

"No, the girls knew it the moment you ran out of the coffeehouse."

Joey picked up the ball again, obviously trying to appear as if it didn't concern him. "What else do you know?"

"Nothing. I left as soon as it was out. I had a feeling she'd hurt you."

Joey still avoided looking at him directly but his attitude seemed not as angry as it was before.

"It's not her fault okay?"

"From what I've gathered it was her idea."

This finally made him turn around to him and leave the ball in peace. He took a step into Chandler's direction and looked at him seriously.

"Chandler, remember that time before you hooked up with Monica? When you were on a dry spell for over four months? When you were starting to go crazy?"

Chandler squirmed uncomfortably at the memory. "I tried to forget about that."

"But you should be able to empathize with Rachel."

"Well, I didn't sleep with you," Chandler quipped.

Joey snorted dismissively. "Yeah, you slept with Monica."

"Not because I needed to," Chandler retorted quickly, wincing at the defensive sound of his voice. It would be a lie to say that he hadn't needed it badly. Having Monica in his bed had felt like a Godsend in more ways than one.

"Because she needed to?" Joey asked with raised eyebrows.

Again, this was closer to the truth than Chandler cared to admit. Having their friends know about every detail of their relationship clearly had its drawbacks. Although he would never expected Joey of all people to use this to make a point.

"Joey, this is not the point. Neither of us was getting hurt."

He turned around and picked the ball up, starting throwing it again.

"Like I said, it's not her fault. She belongs with Ross, she's carrying his baby, I knew all that. It was not like she lied to me beforehand, I knew what I was getting myself into."

"Then why didn't you say no?"

Joey caught the ball and looked down at his feet, as if he would find the answer there.

"Because she needed me and I wanted to be there for her. I thought it was better it was me than some stranger. Or better than the likes of Paolo or something."

Chandler shook his head and smiled a bit. This was so typical Joey. This had been his only reason, his concern for someone else. For someone who seemed so immature and self centered sometimes, he had a knack for making the biggest sacrifices for them.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. So… are you gonna be alright?"

"I guess so, sometime, yeah," he shrugged dejectedly and then looked at him again with a self deprecating lopsided grin. "I'm Joey, it never takes me longer than a shower to get over someone, right?"

"I never said that."

"Yeah."

He continued throwing the ball again for a while until Chandler had almost the impression the conversation was over. Then he suddenly let the ball drop and turned to him with a questioning, confused and vulnerable look in his eyes. "It was just so… different. That's what I can't get over. It was like it happened on a completely different level. Like it wasn't just sex, you know? Does this sound crazy?"

Hearing him say this made Chandler smile again. Looked like Joey had finally found out what the difference between 'having sex' and 'making love' was.

"This sounds about right. It's supposed to be like that, I guess. Just sex… is great. Although I never really had that much of that. But being with someone who you're close with, that's a totally different thing."

"Just my luck I found that out with the one woman I can't have."

"Hey guys."

Both Chandler and Joey turned around when they heard the greeting from Ross who slowly walked around the fence of the ballcourt.

"How long have you been here?" Chandler asked carefully, trying to find out what Ross had overheard.

"Long enough. Chan, can I talk to Joey for a sec… alone?"

"Of course, I'm gonna look what Mon is up to. See you guys around and… try to stay civil, okay?"

Joey looked after Chandler until he had vanished from his sight. He turned his attention to Ross who stood before him with an unreadable expression.

"Ross, before you start yelling at me, let me tell you one thing. I wasn't trying to take her away from you. I didn't. I'm sure if you weren't with Mona right now, you had been the first one she had come to with this. And…"

Ross shook his head with a sad smile and held his hand up. "Stop it Joe, I'm not mad at you. I mean… yeah, it's weird, but… I think you did the right thing. When you said before that she could've ended up with another Paolo… I was sorta glad she chose you."

At seeing the look of surprise on Joey's face, Ross couldn't hide a smile.

"Really?" Joey asked unbelievingly.

"Yeah, I mean… it was just a one time thing, right?"

Joey cleared his throat for a few times and took a deep breath before replying, "Yeah Ross, just a one time thing."

A/N2: In a way, I think this could be a stand-alone story. For everyone who is curious how this might have been progressed, I wrote a few more chapters to conclude the storyline, but everyone who thinks it's good the way it is, don't read further.

Thanks for the reviews.