CHAPTER 10

He tossed and turned for the tenth time in the past half an hour.

"Can't sleep, uh?" Rachel murmured. Ross sighed frustrated. He lied on his back and stared at the ceiling through the darkness of the room.

"No...you?"

"I was…until you decided to roll around on the bed." Rachel turned on the bedside table lamp and sat up on the bed, resting her back on the headboard. Ross followed suit.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up…" Ross said in a sweet voice, passing an arm around her shoulders and bringing her closer to kiss her temple. She gladly welcomed his arms and rested her head on his shoulder.

"it's okay."

"How can I make it up to you?" Rachel looked up at him amused.

"You don't need to make anything up to me."

"Are you sure? I mean, I've just woken you up in the middle of the night…I'm surprised you haven't slapped me or yelled at me yet."

"Heyy"

"What, Am I lying? You're the worst when somebody interrupts your sleeping."

"Who in the world likes to be awaken in the middle of the night, no one!" she said defensively. "My reaction's only normal."

"Normal…" He chuckled, recalling the many times she had been awaken by their friends' rooster and she almost knocked down their door with her own hands.

"Do you want me to get mad?" She arched an eyebrow.

"Oh no no no no." He quickly added, sliding his arm down to her waist and slightly pushing her towards him. "Come here." He murmured, Rachel obeyed and sat on his stretched out legs, facing him. "So? What can I do for you? You can request anything you want." He said as he tenderly caressed her smooth locks of hair.

"Anything? mmh…that's interesting." She gave him a wicked smile as her arms formed a circle around his neck.

"Yes, but something that doesn't involve a lot of physical effort, if possible, you left me exhausted." She smiled knowingly.

"Okay, I have something." He nodded slightly, encouraging her to speak "Would you come with me to a work event I have next Friday?" she bit her lip unconsciously, dreading his answer.

"As your date?"

"Not necessarily…I just want to go with somebody so I don't die of boredom."

"I could be your date for a day."

"That means you're coming?" She smiled, feeling too happy all of a sudden. "I mean, I gotta warn you, it is going to be boring as hell. It's a dinner party my boss has organized to try to transact business with some big international company…"

"It doesn't matter, I wanna go with you." She smiled widely, wanting to squeeze him in her arms.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Is there anything else the miss want?"

"mmmh…Do you have some strength left for a kiss?"

"Always." He smiled. She clasped his face in her hands and they melted in a slow, tender kiss.

"Wanna go for a walk?" Ross asked, stealing a few more pecks from her lips.

"What, now? It's almost five in the morning."

"I know, but it usually helps me fall asleep…"

"There is no other way to make you fall asleep?" She asked incredulous. Ross shrugged.

"I rarely have problems falling asleep…"

"So, why can't you sleep tonight?" Rachel asked curious, he hesitated for a moment.

"I don't know…I'm pretty exhausted though." She smiled perfectly aware of the reason behind his exhaustion. "Do you have any tricks to fall asleep faster?"

"Counting sheep?"

"Never worked for me."

"Um…you could turn on the tv and watch the Discovery Channel." She teased. Ross stared at her. "What? It is very effective with me…"

"Why don't you tell me some fashion stories of yours, I'm sure that'll knock me down right away." He returned the teasing. Rachel slapped his arm slightly.

"Oh, You know what I used to do when I was a kid and couldn't fall asleep? I would move my pillow to the foot of the bed and sleep there. I dozed off right away." Ross arched an eyebrow, looking at her in doubt. "What? I'm serious, I slept like a baby every time I did that."

"I'm sorry but how is changing your lying position gonna make any difference?"

"I don't know, but it always worked." Ross chuckled. "And you know what, I'm gonna try it now." She firmly said, a little annoyed by his doubts. She grabbed her pillow and crawled to the foot of the bed. She pulled out the covers and placed the pillow at the end of mattress and lied on her side. "Could you turn off the light please?"

"Sure." He did as told and lied on his side of the bed, not sure what else to do. "Rach?" he called her name after a couple of minutes in silence.

"What" she answered in a murmur.

"I'm sorry, I thought you would be asleep already." He joked.

"I would if your stinky feet weren't so close to me." He playfully slid one of his feet closer and brushed her shoulder and neck with it. "ew! Ross!" She slapped it away while Ross laughed loudly. "Can you let me sleep, please? it is very late and I'm tired." he went silent, taken aback by her serious tone of voice.

"Alright..."

Another five minutes went by. Ross tried to sleep again, having the same luck as before.

"Rach?" He murmured again. "Rachel." He sat up and carefully crawled to the foot of the bed. "Rach are you awake?" Rachel pressed her lips in a hard line, trying not to laugh. "Rach I think I heard a rat in the room!" He whispered to prove her, but he got not response. After a moment of hesitation he grabbed his pillow and lied next to her, his head on the foot of the bed. Rachel smiled proudly.

"Feeling sleepy?"

"I knew you weren't sleeping." She laughed.

"no yet, but I was close."

"Well, I'm still widely awake and I think I'm gonna go for the walk cause you're tired and I don't want to bother you anymore…"

"Wait, I know something that'll help you fall asleep." She got up from the bed and turned on the lamp again. Ross gave her a suspicious look. She returned to her side of the bed and sat down, bending her knees. "Come here" she demanded. "lie on your back and rest your head here." She said pointing at her lap. He did as he was told. "Close your eyes."

"What are you gonna do?" he asked, closing his eyes as he was ordered.

"I'm gonna help you relax, I think you are a little uneasy and that's why you can sleep." She placed her middle and index fingers on his temples and began to massage them very softly. "What are you uneasy about?" she asked in a low voice. Ross hesitated for a moment.

"I don't know…I…I guess I don't want to go back to reality. This weekend has been perfect."

"I know…I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but I would like to stay for a while." She ran her fingertips from his temples to his jaw, drawing small invisible circles. His lips parted a bit, which let her know he was enjoying her massage.

"You know…" He said, his voice slower as sleep began to take over him. "I just remember you used to do this when…"

"When we were together." She finished his sentence, a nostalgic smile covering her face. "Yup, you loved it. Whenever you were nervous or tense about something I would give you a facial massage and you ended up falling asleep on me. Every time! Even once at your office before a presentation, you almost fell out of your chair." She chuckled at the memory. He smiled, feeling too lazy to laugh.

"Do you miss it?" he asked.

"What?"

"us…being together." He asked almost in a murmur. Rachel looked up at the ceiling, her fingers rubbing his temples again, of course she did. It had been the best time of her life, despite all their fights and their horrible break-up. She definitely missed it.

"Sometimes." She lied a little "…Do you?" She asked, but all she got for an answer was a soft snore. She looked down and noticed he was fast asleep. She smiled. He had not changed at all. After a few minutes observing his adorable face as he slept, she kissed his lips lightly and moved away, careful not to wake him up. She lied next to him, lacing her fingers with his, she fell asleep.

…..

"Rach, you okay?"

"What?"

"Where were you?"

"I'm sorry, I just remember something….what did you say?"

"I brought the annulment papers for you to sign."

"Oh…right." She grabbed the papers and slowly took seat on the couch. She looked at them with concern. "Did you sign them already?"

"Yes…you seem shocked." He pointed out.

"I didn't think you would have them ready so soon."

"That's what you wanted…isn't it?"

"Yes…yes, of course." Her voice faded a little. Many things were going through her mind, she didn't know why out of the blue she was afraid to sign those papers. Did she want to stay married? Her mind yelled no, she knew it was stupid to feel upset about a marriage that was never real, but for some reason she felt that if she signed those papers it would be like erasing those past days, as going back to point zero, back to being just friends before Vegas ever happened.

"Rach, your hand is trembling…" He indicated with concern. "Are you really okay?"

"Yeah, yes, as I told you I'm a little stressed."

"If you want you can sign those later…"

"No, I'll do it right now." She grabbed the pen and signed as fast as she could, trying to ignore her inner voice. As soon as she returned the papers, a feeling of emptiness invaded her. Ross whispered a thank you and put them back on his briefcase.

"oh…we have an appointment tomorrow in the morning to testify before the judge. Do you think you'll be able to make it?"

"What time?"

"Ten thirty."

"Yeah, I guess I can get away for a couple of hours."

"Perfect. So I'll see you tomorrow." He said, making his way to the door. She followed him.

"Ross wait." They stopped near the door.

"Yes?"

"What happened to all that…'I don't want three divorces'?" he chuckled softly.

"I was being irrational…I can't force you to stay married with me…it's stupid. Plus it's an annulment so technically it is two divorces one annulment." She smiled, unable to share a laugh.

"So you're doing this for me?"

"Yeah…we've had enough arguments about this already, I don't want it to spoil our friendship again."

"Thank you." She said, not truly feeling it.

"And you were right, what if I finally meet the woman I wanna marry and spend the rest of my life with, if we stay married it would be too complicated." Those words felt like heavy stones crushing against her chest. Her throat began to constrict and she knew it wouldn't be long until tears began to appear in her eyes so she opened the door and forced a smile.

"I'm glad you see sense at last…I'll meet tomorrow at your office, so we can go together."

"Okay, see you then. Take care." She winced at the feeling of his lips on her forehead. She looked down and mutter a bye as he left the apartment.

….

"You've been awfully quiet at dinner tonight. Are you alright?" Monica asked as she finished washing the dishes. Rachel was still sitting at the table. Her hand holding a glass of water and her look lost somewhere ahead of her. "Rachel!"

"What!" she exclaimed altered.

"Geez, what happened this evening? You looked as if you've been run over by a truck."

"nothing I'm just tired, too much work I guess."

"Well I hope you have some time now, because I gotta tell you something very important."

…..

This story will be over soon. Reviews?