Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You

Chapter 2: August 2007

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Well, hello, again! Sorry for the delay…Life has been taking up lots of time :) I'm taking anatomy and physiology this summer before starting grad school in the fall, and, let me tell you, I forgot how time-consuming summer classes are… But, starting next week, I will be working less, so I should be able to, depending on time spent studying, update a little more frequently.

Thanks for the reviews so far, and keep it up, please! As I said, this whole Ross/Rachel thing is new for me :)

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Rachel rushed up the stairs in front of the courthouse, taking them two-at-a-time in her three-inch heels, hating that she was running ten minutes late. She had been back for only a few days, and it was taking some adjustment to reacquaint herself with exactly how long it took to get from Point A to Point B in Manhattan. That, and Phoebe was watching Emma while Rachel met Ross for mediation, and Phoebe had been running late, making Rachel, in turn, run late.

And Rachel really hated running late.

More so, though, because she knew Ross would have been not only on time, but would have been early, and it would be driving him crazy that she was late. She rushed through the front doors and through security, pausing at the elevators. They were still eight floors up, though, and since she was only going to the third floor, she turned back towards the stairwell she had just passed by.

Ross wouldn't admit it, but he knew the sound of Rachel Green rushing down a hallway in heels. There were many times over the years that sound would have drove him crazy, caused him to look up in anticipation, but today he would not give her the satisfaction.

So, he didn't.

"Hey," Rachel greeted Ross, slightly out of breath, as she took a seat beside him on the bench he was seated on.

"Hey," Ross replied, not so much as glancing up from the paper he was grading. "They're running half an hour late," he pointed at the door.

"Great, so I'm early!" Rachel clapped her hands together.

"Not quite," Ross shook his head, looking up at her.

"Right," Rachel nodded, still smiling, still sure she could make things go back to how they had been three years earlier if she kept ignoring Ross's current demeanor towards her. "So, Emma went on a tour of her new school yesterday and met the Kindergarten teachers," Rachel continued on.

"She told me yesterday when I called," Ross again didn't look up.

"Right," Rachel nodded. "What school did Ben decide on for this fall? That Junior/Senior High combined school, or-"

"You really don't have to do this," Ross finally looked up at Rachel, cutting her off.

Rachel looked at him, slightly confused. "Do what? Make small talk? Communicate? Care about your life?"

Ross looked back down, thinking that through. "Just the first one."

"Well, it's hard not to do that and still do the other two," Rachel huffed slightly, looking down as she played with her nails. "You know," she glanced over at Ross, who was still grading papers, "even with everything we've been through over the years, I never thought we would get to this. I never thought we would end up right here."

Ross paused, still looking down. He nodded slightly. "Yea, well, there have been a lot of things that have happened in the past few years that I never thought would happen, so," he shrugged slightly, leaving it at that.

"Ross-"

"Don't, okay?" he looked up at her. "I don't want to fight anymore. I don't know that I can fight with your anymore."

Rachel nodded, smirking slightly. "At least we're on the same page about one thing…."