AN: Thanks for the reviews. I managed to update a day sooner than usual, so enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: The characters from Friends do not belong to me.


Monica opened the door and saw Ross was not alone. The woman standing next to him looked strangely familiar. She just couldn't put her finger on where she knew her from.

"Hi Ross, Ben…" Monica said trailing off, unsure how to respond to this stranger.

"Hey Mon. This is Rachel Farber. Don't you remember her?" Ross introduced Rachel, who stood next to him uncomfortably. It finally clicked in Monica's mind. How could she forget Rachel?

"Actually, I'm Rachel Green again. It's great to see you after so long," Rachel greeted. She held out her hand for Monica to shake.

"Rachel! Oh my god, it's been forever!" Monica exclaimed stepping through the doorway and giving her a hug. Rachel sighed with relief knowing Monica was happy to see her instead of angry they drifted apart.

"I'm sorry I didn't contact you sooner," Rachel apologised.

"Don't worry about it. Wow, I didn't recognise you at first. You look so great!" Monica disclosed.

"You look great too," Rachel replied. Ross just stood there with Ben in the stroller, happily observing the friends reconnect.

"Come on in you guys," Monica said, noticing they were still standing in the hall. Monica then led them inside. Ross gave Rachel a reassuring smile before they followed.

Rachel immediately noticed the company of two men and a woman sitting in Monica's living room watching the television. They all turned their heads to look at who was arriving. They were shocked to notice Ross had brought a woman with him.

"Hey guys," Ross greeted his three friends. "This is Rachel Green, she's my new roommate. Rachel this is Chandler…" Ross gestured to Chandler.

"Nice to meet you," Chandler greeted with a friendly smile.

"That's Joey…" Ross introduced, pointing at Joey.

"Hey, how you do-" Joey began as he looked Rachel up and down, flashing her a charming smile. But he was soon interrupted.

"Don't even think about it Joe!" Monica shouted from the kitchen. Joey frowned in disappointment. Rachel didn't understand what all of that was about, but soon Ross directed her attention to a familiar face. "You remember Phoebe," Ross said, motioning to Phoebe.

"I do! It's very nice to meet all of you," Rachel said.

Soon Ross let Ben had woken up and Ross let him out of his stroller to see the others. Monica invited Rachel to sit at the kitchen table with her. Rachel accepted her offer and they began to catch up on the time they had spent apart. Rachel filled Monica in about Barry and her terrible time being his wife, while Monica listened.

Monica fully began to understand why they lost touch. She was a little angry with Rachel when Ross told her he gave Rachel her phone number, and she didn't ever call. But listening to the story Rachel told and seeing the look in her eyes made her rethink things.

Monica couldn't stay mad at Rachel. She was happy to have her best friend come back and that outweighed any anger she felt.

Eventually Phoebe joined their conversation. The three women got along well. At a few points in the conversation Rachel would lose herself thinking how wonderful these people were. They completely accepted her and welcomed her. These were the friends she'd been looking for.

Then Monica began cooking for the six of them, and Ben of course, leaving Phoebe and Rachel to get to know each other. The two of them really hit it off, and before they knew time flew by and dinner was served.

"Ross you sit there, Joey there and Chandler there," Monica directed, as she pointed to the seats for the guys to sit in. Chandler just snickered at Monica's take-charge attitude. Joey sat where he was told and impatiently waited for his food.

Monica put bowls and plates of food on the table as Ross helped Ben into his booster chair. Rachel sat there smiling she had a feeling she would have many good times with these people.

…..

After a conversation filled dinner, Ross and Rachel had to take Ben home for bed. As the two left, Monica and Rachel agreed to have lunch together sometime soon.

By the time they reached the door of their apartment Ben was fast asleep in his stroller. He was very tired from his busy day. Ross lifted his sleeping son from his stroller and carried him to his crib, which was set up in the spare bedroom.

When Ross returned from tucking Ben in for the night he walked back into the living room. Rachel was picking up a few of her bags to clean up Ross' living room.

"Do you want some help?" Ross asked. Rachel's head snapped up to look at him, his voice had come out of nowhere.

"Oh, um, that'd be great," Rachel replied. The two of them moved Rachel's bags off to the side of the room, under Ross' window. Rachel figured she would unpack when they got her bedroom set up.

When they were finished they both flopped on the couch in exhaustion.

"I was thinking I should get a job," Rachel said, out of the blue.

"That's great Rach. What do you think you want to do?" Ross asked.

"I've always wanted to work in fashion," Rachel admitted. "I just don't know where to begin."

"Well, the paper is always a good place. If not you can search for an opening on the internet. And if all else fails you can always go drop off your resume places and see if they're hiring," Ross explained.

"Thanks Ross," Rachel said.

"Don't mention it," Ross responded. Then a question crossed her mind from when he mentioned the internet.

"Ross, could I check my email on your computer?" Rachel asked. She had noticed the computer in Ross' bedroom the previous night. Talking to Monica about her past had reminded her of her friend, which of whom she needed to respond to.

"Yeah go ahead," Ross responded. "I'm going to sleep now, so goodnight," Ross added.

"Okay. Thank you. I'll see you in the morning," Rachel said.

Rachel got up and quietly walked to Ross' bedroom. She tried not to wake Ben as she passed his bedroom door. She sat down at Ross' desk and turned on the computer. After waiting for it to turn on she opened her email. As she suspected there was a message from her friend.

Hi,

I hope everything's okay. I'm just worried that you haven't contacted me yet, usually you reply within hours.

Please let me know what's going on. We can talk about your decision to leave your husband. Plus I have a new roommate that I want to tell you about. She's that girl I met that I liked back in high school. Anyways, email me back.

Rachel found it odd that her friend is divorced from a lesbian, and now has a new roommate just like Ross. Rachel found it strange that she was talking to these two people who were going through the same events. It was a big coincidence.

Rachel answered her friend back.

I'm really sorry I didn't email you sooner!

I've been busy figuring out this divorce with Barry. My father is really mad at my decision to leave him but I don't care about what he thinks. I'm so much happier already and it's only been a couple of days since I left Barry.

Don't worry about me I'm doing fine. I found a high school friend and he has let me live with him. Looks like we both have new roommates. So, what's this girl like that you're living with?

Rachel logged off after sending the email. She stood up from the chair, deciding she needed to talk to Ross. This coincidence between her friend and Ross was really bothering her. But then she stopped to think, how would she do this?

Should she come right out and say it? Should she just try and get more information from Ross and see if the two had more things in common?

Rachel changed into her pyjamas. Then she tread softly in the direction of Ross' living room.

She was in the hallway between the two bedrooms when she heard a soft voice.

"Mommy?" Ben's sweet little voice called when he noticed Rachel in the hall. Ben began to whimper.

Rachel didn't know what to do but she walked into his room. It was dark, the only light came from the streetlights that shone through the curtained window. Ben stood in his crib, watching her come closer. As soon as Rachel was within a few feet of his crib he held out his hands to her.

Rachel hesitantly lifted Ben over the side of his crib and held him in her arms. Ben snuggled against her shoulder as he hugged her neck with his small arms. Rachel rocked him gently trying to get him to fall back asleep.

She tried to stay confident as she rocked Ben, unsure of herself around babies. But, Ben began to go limp in her arms and his breathing became slower as he nodded off.

Ross had heard Ben crying on the baby monitor he had in the living room. He got up from the couch and headed towards the bedrooms. The sight he saw when he walked into the hallway and looked through the door amazed him.

Rachel stood, with her back to him, in the middle of the room slowly swaying side to side with Ben in her arms. Ross just stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe, and watched the sweet moment unfold.

Rachel inhaled quickly when she slowly turned in a circle and saw Ross standing behind her. She wondered how long he'd been observing her. Rachel gave him a nervous look when Ben completely fell asleep in her arms. She didn't exactly know how to put him back in his crib.

Ross held his hands out; Rachel knew he was asking if she wanted him to take Ben. Rachel nodded and Ross stepped towards her.

Rachel carefully handed Ben to Ross. Ben stirred a little but he didn't wake up. Ross kissed him on the top of his head and then walked to the side of the crib. He gently placed him in his bed and covered him with his blanket. Rachel smiled as she watched Ross lean over the side of the crib and kiss Ben's forehead.

As soon as he stood up straight, Ross motioned for Rachel to follow him. The two exited Ben's room into the hallway. Ross turned to her with a smile across his face.

"Thank you for doing that. He must miss his mom. Carol is the one that looks after him most," Ross explained in a whisper.

"It wasn't a problem," Rachel whispered.

"We should get to bed," Ross suggested.

"Okay. Goodnight Ross," Rachel replied, as she lost the nerve to talk to him.

"See you tomorrow," Ross responded. Rachel crept back to her bedroom. She immediately climbed under the blankets.

There was a thought she just couldn't stop from repeating. Ross had mentioned that his ex-wife was named Carol. Rachel remembered back to the first text message she had received from her friend.

I don't know what's going on. Carol has been spending a lot of time at the gym and she's really distant at home. I just don't understand.

Carol

Rachel's heart began to pound against her ribs as her breathing sped up. Was it possible that Ross could be the friend she was emailing?

Rachel tried to get her facts straight. They were both divorced from a lesbian. Both their ex-wife's names were Carol, and now both Ross and her friend had new roommates. Not just any roommates, both of them had roommates they used to know back in high school.

Rachel was almost certain Ross was her mystery friend. Everything added up, it would be too much of a coincidence if they weren't the same person.

Immediately Rachel decided to go talk to Ross. She knew she needed to confront him right away about this. Rachel quickly tiptoed into the living room. The room was lit only by the glow of the moonlight. Everything was so calm and quiet. The only sounds came from her bare feet on the hardwood floor and Ross' steady breathing.

Rachel crept around the couch and stood opposite Ross on the other side of the coffee table. She gazed at him as he lay on his back sprawled over the couch. One of his feet was on the floor, while the other rested on the arm of the couch. He had an arm behind his head . Rachel felt bad for making him sleep on the couch.

The moonlight hit his face and Rachel could see the calm expression he wore. His lips were slightly parted and his hair was dishevelled. He looked so peaceful.

Rachel decided to leave him be, he looked too comfortable. Plus she had no idea how to even begin to tell him what she had discovered.

She returned to her room and just lay down with her hands behind her head. She couldn't help but think about how much she enjoyed being here.

Rachel had never expected to like spending time with a baby like Ben as much as she did. She was having a great time getting to know him. The truth was she really loved Ben; he was such a sweet little boy.

Her thoughts made her proud of herself. Never could she have imagined liking the feeling of being a mother figure. She supposed she had never admitted to herself she wanted kids because of the life they would be raised in. But Ben had definitely made her rethink things.

Rachel glanced at the table beside her and noticed a picture of Ben and Ross. Ross held Ben in his arms; he was so small and wrapped in a blanket. The look on Ross' face was so touching as he gazed down at his son with love clearly written in his eyes.

Rachel realized that she really did like Ross. He was so kind and so considerate of her, especially when he had stopped their kiss in order to protect her. He respected all those around him. She loved that even though he was sad about his divorce he made good light of it by helping her through her own divorce. He was a caring father, brother and friend.

Rachel's mind jumped to a part of her friend's email.

Plus I have a new roommate that I want to tell you about. She's that girl I met that I liked back in high school.

If the guy she was talking to was Ross that meant that Ross liked her back in high school. If he liked her back then could that mean he still liked her now?

The prospect of that fact being true made Rachel very elated. She realized that she didn't just like Ross she was falling for him; she was in love with him.

The way he looked at her made her melt. The way he took her in and helped her get back on her feet made her like him even more. Rachel's heart was pounding again, this time with the anticipation building inside of her.

Rachel decided that she would confront Ross about the emails, and even if it wasn't him emailing her she would still tell him how she felt. Either way Ross was still a great guy, but she was almost certain it was him emailing her. How could it not be?

For once in her life Rachel fell asleep content. Finally she was making her own decisions and living the life she wanted to live. It was just a matter of confronting the man who could possibly be the one true love she'd been missing.