Hi. I won't even bother explaining myself. Sorry. That's all I really have to say. And uh, hope you like this chapter. Happy new year.
Time should have done Rachel Green good. For the past week, she had done nothing but relax, take care of Emma, making up for lost time with her mother, and relax. The past week had been the least stressful she had in what seemed like a lifetime. She walked into the jungle streets of New York with a positive outlook and a smile on her face. Inside her head, she tried to figure out all the things that could have happened in a week. She thought she had prepared herself well. But, in those million ideas inside her head, she was not prepared for this.
Was it just her, or has this scenario happened, like, a decade ago?
A group of friends were crowded around one, and they were all chatting, laughing, smiling. She entered the room; a silence envelops the coffee house. The bartender with shiny hair stares at her – but instead of being lovesick, he seemed…blank. The group of friends turned to her direction, and Rachel got the same dull looks from them. A slender, dark-haired woman was the first to stand up, just like ten years ago.
"Rachel," she smiled, and hugged her best friend.
"Monica," she trailed off, unable to think of what to say next. Just like the girl in the puffy white wedding dress a long, long time ago. The scenario that she had planned out in her head was a far cry from this. She expected for Monica to shout for not informing her of leaving, she expected for Phoebe to be excited, she expected for Ross to be on the brink of a breakdown right now. But no. Instead, they were chatting and laughing, like normal friends they were.
"Hi Rach," Phoebe, Joey, and Chandler said in unison. Rach sighed in relief. She was already thinking about whether she had time traveled to 1994, and was half-expecting for Monica to say, "Guys, this is Rachel, another Lincoln High survivor." She suddenly felt very uncomfortable under the glare of the bright sunshine, the stare from Gunther, and the fact that Ross was the only one who didn't acknowledge her presence. Why would he anyway?, she reminded herself that he wasn't really Ross.
But then Ross stood up, and Rachel swore she had seen the just-divorced young adult for a fraction of a second there. Nope, he didn't hold an umbrella, but he did possess the same shyness that he had before. He looked well, for a person who had been recently hospitalized and got his whole head messed up, which made her smile inside. She was glad he's well. Heck, she wanted to wrap her arms around him at once and never let him go again. But she couldn't. And she wouldn't. At least not right now.
"Hi," Ross said in his trademark I-have-all-the-problems voice. Like the Ross who remembered her as the clueless spoiled brat who eventually worked for Ralph Lauren, due to her own hard work.
"Hi," she replied. She was still overwhelmed over this major development. It had only been two weeks. Only been two freaking weeks since that fateful nose job fiasco. What on earth happened after that? But then again, a lot could have happened in two weeks, let alone an hour.
Monica and Chandler looked at each other in relief. Ross and Rachel got through greetings without tears or mental breakdowns. Chandler raised an eyebrow at his wife, who nodded. It was time.
"So, Ross, we're gonna leave you to Rachel for a sec," Monica treaded carefully. "Chandler and I have to take care of Westchester." In truth, she and Chandler were going to take the twins from Judy, but they didn't tell Ross about the twins yet. Not after he almost made a fit after he found out that Chandler and Monica were married.
"You married my sister? No, let me rephrase that. You banged my sister? My little sister? In my own freaking wedding? What did we talk about in college you bastard?!"
"Ross, relax. I love Chandler. And please, stop saying bang, it's creeping me out."
"But we had a deal! I want my hundred bucks."
"What deal?" Joey inquired.
"It was college. We were drunk. Obviously, this Ross remembers. We came up with this "No banging of relatives" rule. A hundred bucks penalty," Chandler sighed, fishing for money in his wallet.
Chandler stood up, and nudged Joey in the shoulder. Joey got the idea, and quickly finished the last blueberry muffin before he rose from his seat as well. "Gotta go too buddy," he said to Ross. "Got this audition for an Al Pacino movie." Before Ross could laugh, "And no, I'm not a butt double this time." Still, Ross smiled. Joey was the first one to have the courage to reach out to him – that, he would never forget. "Hope you'll crack your way this time Joe," he joked, and even Joey had to laugh.
"How about you Pheebs?" Monica looked at the blonde intensely. "Isn't Mike coming home today?"
"Mike's coming home to…" Phoebe was about to say "tomorrow," when she saw how Monica looked at her. Oh. "Yes. Mike's coming home today. I guess I better go, since I really want a Buffay-Hannigan baby like right now."
"Ew, too much info Pheebs," Ross quipped. Rachel's eyes widened – a) because it really was too much information, and b) why on earth was Ross making snide remarks to Joey and Phoebe when, just a few days ago, he was screaming about how he hates all of them? Was she the one with retrograde amnesia right now? And that was when she realized that: Everyone left her with Ross. And she was so not ready.
"So, Rachel Karen Green…" Ross trailed off. "Who are you in my past life?"
Yep. Rachel Karen Green was not prepared for this.
The thing was, Ross knew that the lady right in front of him was Rachel Green. He already had a feeling as soon as he saw those wonderful blue eyes a couple of weeks ago, and he had pondered about that thought throughout his recovery period in the hospital. And hours earlier, Monica confirmed it. But that was it. He knew nothing on why they know each other; he didn't know why she cried days earlier, he didn't know why she insisted on taking a walk through Central Park, though the fresh air was nice. Whenever he asked about Rachel, the other five insisted that it was better if he asked Rachel herself.
Rachel needed air. Rachel needed to think. And most of all, Rachel needed moral support. But, right now, despite the fresh park air, or Ross's patient silence, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, and she was kind of pissed at Monica and the others for leaving her in the air and uninformed. This was their plan? To leave her and Ross alone? Right after everything that happened? What the heck.
"What do you want to know?"
They settled on a bench under a shady tree. The summer leaves were beginning to redden, and they were dancing with the wind. And to Ross, nose job or not, Rachel Green was the most beautiful girl on the planet. Ross still called her a girl for he still thought of her as one. The girl who completely ignored his presence since kindergarten. The girl who everyone adored. The girl who completely took him for granted but still, he loved her anyway.
"I want to know why are you talking to me, when fifteen years ago, you practically didn't know I existed. I want to know why you cried in that hospital room. I want to know how our paths crossed together again. I want to know why Monica and the others won't talk about you to me. I want to know why Phoebe keeps teasing me to you. I want to know everything," he said in the most sincere, gentle way he could.
Rachel was kind of relieved that he wasn't all demanding about asking for information, for she was sure she would have ran back to Long Island in tears if he did. The overwhelming sensation has never left her system, and this moment was a make it or break it one. Fight or flight. Sink or swim. Before she could think rationally, she decided to do the brave thing.
"Let me begin by saying that this is probably the longest storybook that you'll ever hear."
"I'm willing to listen."
Rachel sighed. This is it. "Well…I guess it all started in that coffee house, Central Perk. I was about to get married to this douche, Barry Farber, do you remember him?"
"Yeah, he was one of those bastard sons of a doctor that your father keeps setting you up with. He was five, four years older than us right?"
"Yes. Well, five minutes before the wedding began, I ran away, because I realized that I didn't love him. I loved his money. I was more in love with the gravy boat that my sister gave me."
Ross laughed. Typical Rachel. But in a good way.
Hearing Ross laugh gave Rachel a sense of confidence. His laugh gave her more reasons to continue with this. She felt like she was doing something right. She slowly lifted her head from the ground.
"I didn't know anyone in New York, and I was running around for a while, looking like a stupid runaway bride, looking for any place to stay. I was already tired when I reached West Village, and the first establishment I see is Central Perk. And there I found the five people who would change my life for the better – and forever."
Ross nodded. Monica didn't really talk about this earlier, for all them, especially Phoebe, kept repeating "It's not our story to tell."
"Monica let me be her roommate. On my first night there, you admitted that you had a crush on me in high school."
"WHAT?!"
Crap. Shoot. Crap. Crap. Shoot. Why. Why. Why. A jumble of incoherent thoughts entered Ross's mind at once. What the heck. Why. Why would he do that? Was his "real" self stupid or something? Shoot. What did Rachel think of him? Surely she laughed. Why are they still on speaking terms again? Oh shoot. It's the pity. She pitied his real self, which was why she cried at the hospital. That his pitiful, pathetic life was almost over. Dang it. He bit his lip.
"Ross…it was okay. I said I knew, and then we became the best of friends after that. We were even laundry buddies. You taught me how to do laundry. You were there for me when I broke up with an Italian guy. You let me win at poker even though you were the rightful winner because I lost a job at Saks."
Ross heaved a sigh of relief. He was pretty sure they weren't even halfway in the story and he already had a panic attack. He was excruciating.
"But then…"
"But then?"
"Relax. But then...came my birthday. You were assigned to China, to look for some dinosaur bones. I opened my gifts – a grand of total of six, because my family was still pissed at me for "ruining the family name," and all the gifts came from you guys and this weird girl that Joey dated for a week. I got a weird fruit basket from her, which I ended up giving to Joey by the way, a Dr. Seuss book from Joey himself…"
"Are you sure Joey's girlfriend didn't give you green eggs and ham?" Ross joked.
"Shut up," she smiled. But she was secretly glad. He was kind of reacting positively, minus the whole crush thing. This was more than she hoped for. "Chandler got me a stupid Scrabble game, Mon got me a blouse…and you…you…"
"And me?" What the heck did he do, Ross thought.
"You got me this most beautiful brooch that almost resembled my grandmother's own. It was so beautiful. And that…and that was the day that I realized that I had feelings for you too."
