Thank you Chamucos, m4manju and nameless guests who left a review, you're all awesome and inspiring! To answer Friends Fan question: I have no idea how long it's gonna be, maybe 7 or 8 more? I'll see how the next chapters develop because I write with an initial idea but it usually changes as I'm writing. And I'm sorry for the long wait! The chapter after this one will be extra long to make up for it. ;) enjoy!

CHAPTER 12

"One week to be a married man. How are you feeling?" I ask Chandler as we enjoy a beer in the kitchen while Monica and Phoebe work on the last few wedding details in the living room. Before he can give me an answer the door slams open, startling all of us. Joey appears behind it, sporting a broad smile.

"Are you ready for some HUGE news?" everybody looks at him expectantly. "I'm gonna be the lead in a movie!"

"What! Oh my god!" all of us exclaim, sharing the surprise. We stand up to congratulate him.

"That's amazing news dude!" Chandler says.

"Congratulations man!" I give him a hug. "But tell us more, what is it about? What's your role?"

"I can't reveal much yet, but basically I'm a homosexual whose family rejects his condition and all that stuff." Silence follows, I assume everybody else hasn't expected that either.

"You're gonna play a gay man?" Chandler asks doubtful.

"Yes, why? You don't think I can do it?"

"Yeah! " we all say not at all convinced. "Of course you can." He smiles with pride.

"When do you start filming?" Phoebe asks.

"Filming starts in a couple of months, and it will be here, in the city!"

"This is so exciting! A movie star is gonna be at my wedding!" Monica beams.

"Yeah baby." Joey mutters winking his eye at Monica.

"Or maybe not." Chandler warns.

"I think this deserves a celebration." I suggest, patting Joey's back. "Joey, you choose place this time."

"I'll call Rachel and Marco so they can join us." Monica offers.

(…)

When we arrive at Jupiter, the place Joey chose after we managed to convince him that Strip Clubs weren't very appropriate for the occasion, Rachel and Marco are already sitting at the only booth table available in the bar.

"Congratulations Joey!" they both say as soon as we reach the table.

"Thank you, thank you! I'm so glad you could make it" They exchange hugs and a few words as that I barely hear since I am busy focusing on the Menu trying not to look at them. "I-I'll order. First round it's on me." Joey says with that same smile he has had all day. We all observe as he walks towards the bar but instead of ordering, he introduces himself to two blonde girls sitting at the bar.

"We've lost him." Chandler comments.

"I'll go get him." I offer and immediately walk away from the table, concerned that I may not be able to keep cool with fake Marco right in front of me. I rest my hand on Joey's shoulder and clear my throat to break the conversation "Joey, sorry to disrupt but…aren't you forgetting something?" he looks at me as if I had given him a math problem.

"Oh, Sorry! Girls, this is my friend Ross, he is visiting from London."

"Wow, are you British?" the bleached blonde-haired girl, who doesn't look a day older than twenty one, asks me.

"Ha, no. I'm American, I just live there."

"Cool. You're really cute." She says getting closer, clearly with the intention to keep up the conversation so I immediately turn to Joey.

"Joey…mh…I meant your friends over there. We're waiting for you to celebrate."

"Oh right!" he turns to the girls "I'm sorry I have to go, but, why don't you join us later?" Joey flirty asks.

"Sure!"

We return to the table with two bottles of champagne.

"I'd like to say something." Joey stands up and proceeds once everybody has a full glass in their hands. "I want to thank you all for being with me, not just today, but also in the audience supporting me in every play, or cheering me up after every failed audition. I may not have the most successful career, but I do have the best friends anyone can ask for. I love you all." Everybody exchanges smiles, clearly touched by Joey's moving and unusual words of affection. I raise my glass and proudly look at my friend.

"To Joey!"

"To Joey!" everybody repeats after me and we click our glasses. As I drink the golden liquid, my eyes accidentally cross paths with hers for the first time tonight. She looks beautiful, but what else is new? She then smiles at me and mouths a "how are you?" at which I reply with a "Good" the same way.

(…)

"Now that everybody is present, I would like say something too." Marco says, returning to the table with a second bottle of champagne. "Actually, Rachel and I would like to announce something." My lungs instantly stop breathing, anticipating something I do not want to hear. "Rachel and I are getting married on December first!" the shrieks and congratulating words mix in my frozen mind. I torpidly grab my glass of champagne and bring it to my mouth trying to conceal my disappointment. "So Ross, you're going to have to buy another plane ticket soon" Marco tells me with that mocking smile of his that I cannot stand.

"No, you should move back to NYC altogether! We need you here!" Joey protests. Everybody's eyes fall on me but it is hers which make me the most anxious. She knows the truth and if I lie she will know.

"Actually, he mentioned something to me the other day about moving back, right?" Rachel says, widening her eyes encouraging me to speak. I glance at Marco, whose smile has dissipated.

"Oh my god, really?" Monica exclaims. My mouth stutters at the sudden display of attention.

"It's- it's a possibility…I'd like to be closer to Ben again. but nothing is decided yet-"

"Marco?" a male voice with a thick accent asks. We all turn to look at the stranger standing near our table.

"Ma, non é possibile! Arturo?" Marco suddenly stands up. I have no idea who the person is but I feel deeply grateful that he has arrived on time.

"Si, sono io! Tizio comme stai!?

"Perfetto, tutto perfetto! Però! Que cosa facere lui qui!?"

"Lavoro nella cità ancora! Lui? tre anni fa que non chi guardo? Oddio!"

"Are they talking about seafood?" Chandler comments, staring at their mouths. Rachel clears her throat a few times to catch her boyfriend's attention, which only works after a third attempt.

"Oh sorry, I forgot! Arturo, this is Rachel, my fiancée."

"Oooh! Nice to meet you, Rachel." Arturo, who is a carbon copy of Marco except for his darker hair color, shakes Rachel's hand and kisses her cheek. It isn't long before the conversation returns to Italian and Rachel soon becomes uninterested.

"Anyone feels like dancing?" Monica suggests.

"I do." Says Rachel standing up from her seat. So does the rest. "Honey, I'll be downstairs with the girls if you need me." Rachel tells Marco, but he barely makes eye contact with her.

"Sure okay."

"Ross, are you coming?" she asks me. I glimpse at Marco who seems too busy conversing with his friend to pay me any attention.

"Em…sure,why not."

(…)

"Someone save me!" I scream in my head while I discretely move a step back from the blonde girl who unfortunately managed to find me when I made the mistake of diverting from the group to get another drink. I reply as briefly as possible to her rather intrusive questions but my indifferent attitude doesn't seem to bother her, instead she keeps asking and closing in on me, robbing me of my personal space.

I gently put my hand on the girl's shoulder to keep the distance.

"Kendall, is it Kendall?" she nods, batting her unnaturally long eyelashes at me. "I'm really enjoying your company but someone's waiting for me and I don't want them to get worried. So…"

"You mean, Joey? Don't worry about him; Laura is taking care of him."

"Ha, I'm sure she is."

"Why don't you invite me to a beer? Or we could go to my apartment and have a private party of our own?"

"That…that sounds…tempting but..really I have to- someone is-" I trail back the moment I feel a hand wrapping around my arm.

"Honey! I've been looking for you everywhere." I look at Rachel, completely taken aback. She winks her eye, hinting me to follow her game.

"Oh hi, sorry... I was on my way but…I got interrupted." I glimpse at the young girl, whose facial expression is a mixture of shock and irritation.

"My favorite song is playing! c'mon let's dance." She laces her fingers through mine and pulls me to the crowded dance floor. I follow her without looking back just in case the maniac takes it as an invitation.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I repeat again and again once we are safely surrounded by dancing strangers. "Thank you!" I grab her cheeks and kiss her forehead so enthusiastically that she breaks into laugher.

"You're very welcome! You looked quite desperate there."

"Who wouldn't be. Oh Shit! I forgot my beer on the bar!"

"Do you wanna go back?"

"Oh god no, I'd rather die from thirst than taking the risk of running into that creep again." she chuckles loudly. "Kids these days are scary!" I joke.

"Well, maybe we should dance for a little bit, in case she's lurking around."

"Maybe so." I stop to listen to the song playing and realize it's a slow one and everybody around us is swaying to the music, holding each other closely. I look at her timidly; she instead smiles and with no hesitation wraps her arms around my neck, resting her chin on my shoulder. I cautiously wrap mine around her waist and begin to move in synch with her. "I had no idea Fix You was your favorite song." I talk near her ears for her to hear me above the music, but mostly to keep her close to me while I can.

"It was just a line, but I do like it."

"I wish somebody could fix my life." I say in a chuckle. Rachel lifts her head up and looks at me intrigued.

"What's wrong with your life?"

"Well…you know…I have spent four years away from everybody, building a new life that ended up collapsing…and now I have no idea what to do to with the wreckage."

"…you should probably start by telling everybody about the divorce, what are you waiting for anyway?" she gives me a disapproving look.

"I guess I'll do that after Monica's wedding…I don't want her to worry about me right now. She has enough in her mind."

"You're probably right." She rests her chin on my shoulder again.

"Speaking of weddings…December first, uh? I thought you guys didn't have a date yet." I feel her shrug slightly. I wish I could see her face but breaking the embrace seems unthinkable.

"We didn't…He suggested it yesterday and…I couldn't find a reason not to."

"You don't sound very convinced…"

"I am. It just, it still seems a little…soon." Her hands slid down a little, stroking the back of my neck, which generates goosebumps all over my skin. "But we'll be fine. Monica is a very efficient wedding planner."

"Yeah…" c'mon! tell her now! He doesn't deserve her! What is there to lose, anyway? "Although-"

"You will come, right?" she interrupts "I know it may feel awkward and inappropriate but…I do want you there."

"Then I will be there." I feel her smile against my shoulder as she tightens the embrace. I don't dare to say more, at least not now, I'd rather enjoy this moment, fully and quietly.

The song sadly ends and an up-tempo one comes on. We break apart, just when Marco appears among the crowd. He stares at me but I quickly avoid his eyes as I subtly take a step back.

"Oh, hi honey!" Rachel wraps her arms around his torso and lifts her chin for a kiss. He kisses her, eyes open, giving me his most unfriendly look.

"Hi, where is everybody?"

"Somewhere around here, I guess." She says nonchalantly, oblivious to his apparent concern. "And your friend? Did he leave?"

"Yeah, he just did, Are you ready to go? I am kind of tired."

"Aw, are you? I don't feel like going home yet…Do you mind if I stay a little longer?"

"But I'm taking the car, how are you-"

"Ross can take me home later, right Ross?"

"Emm, sure." He squints at me for a brief second but then fakes a wide smile.

"…alright…don't get home too late though, and wake me up when you arrive, you know…the way I like to be woken up." He says in her ear although loud enough for me to hear it. Then he grabs her ass and invades her mouth with his disgusting tongue. I turn around, feeling sick to my stomach. "Bye honey. Bye Ross, get her home safely alright?" he tells or rather warns me, patting my face a couple of times before leaving.

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PS: My Italian is quite rusty so if there's any Italian among my readers, I hope I didn't make you cringe too much haha