Sorry for the wait!

Ross pulled Carol closer to him as the two proceeded to stroll through Central Park. He glanced down at the way their hands were touching and smiled.

"Carol?"

She looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah?"

"Are you excited about school?"

She rolled her eyes. "Is anyone ever excited about school?"

"I mean just like going back and meeting all your friends and stuff again."

"Sure! Yeah, that part should be great. You know, Susan is having a pool party next weekend as a kind of prelude to sophomore year of college. Would you come with me?"

He brushed a stray piece of blond hair out of her eyes. "Aww, honey, I'm sorry, I don't think I can!"

"Aww, but why not?"

"Chandler and his roommate Joey are having a party that weekend at their apartment."

"Cool. Is anyone I know going to be there?"

"Well Chandler and Joey, duh. Monica's going to be there with Phoebe. I'm going and I think Rachel's going too. Also probably a bunch of Joey and Chan's other friends."

Carol paused for a minute as she scrunched her eyebrows together, desperately searching for a name in her head. "Who's Rachel again? Is she the really hot girl that Chip Matthews was going out with in high school?"

Ross shook his head. "Oh no! Rachel just moved here a week ago. Didn't I tell you about her? I went to pick her up from the airport that day."

"Oh yeah!! I remember you talking about her now."

The pair journeyed further up the path when Ross suddenly stopped walking.

"Ross?" Carol called. "ROSS?!"

"Yeah..."

"What happened? Why did we stop?"

He squinted, trying to get a better view of the two people on the bench ahead. "Huh. Nothing, I just think that looks a LOT like my friend! In fact, it IS her!"

"Which friend?"

"Rachel!"

"Oh. Who's she with?"

"Her boyfriend, I guess. I think she said his name's Trevor."

"Oh," Carol replied, nodding along. "You're probably right."

Ross was a little disappointed that he couldn't see the face of Rachel's boyfriend because he was facing the other way. Why did he even care though? He just wanted to make sure his friend was in good hands...right?

New York was very different from California, and he didn't want anyone taking advantage of her in her first week here. He was especially concerned considering how pretty she was.

He could pretty much see Rachel's entire being, and was kind of happy she couldn't see him. He didn't want to intrude on her evening out with Trevor.

Rachel leaned in and planted a sweet kiss on his lips. Trevor put his arm around her and proceeded to return the kiss, this time a little more passionately.

Suddenly, Ross stiffened and stared blankly ahead.

And that was when Carol sensed that something was amiss.

"Hey Rach, you ready to go shopping?" Monica asked, as she and Phoebe walked into her apartment.

"I will be in about a minute and a half!" Rachel replied, walking into the living room and smoothing out her tank top.

"I'm so excited! I'm going shopping with a fashion major!" Phoebe squealed.

The other two laughed and Rachel reminded her, "Well I'm not a fashion major yet!"

"I know. But still."

"So, Ross, how's it going with Carol?" Chandler asked casually.

The guys had come over to his apartment to hang out and for pizza and beers.

"It's going pretty well, actually," he replied.

"So have you two done it yet?" Joey inquired, an immature look plastered on his face.

"What?"

He rolled his eyes. "IT. Ross, SEX!"

"Oh." Ross' voice lowered a bit. "No..."

"Man, how are you alive?" Chandler joked.

"I don't know. But I wouldn't talk if I were you, Mr. I'm-Still-a-Virgin."

"Hey! THAT'S BECAUSE I'M NOT READY YET!" he screamed girlishly.

This time it was Ross' turn to roll his eyes. "Okay man, whatever floats your boat."

"So come on Ross, are you honestly happy with Carol?" Joey repeated.

"Of course, yes! She's so sweet and we get along so well. I definitely sense a connection and you know, the sex part isn't really an issue. I'm sure it'll just happen when we're both ready for it."

"Uh okay...I guess I wouldn't know. I have sex everyday," Joey told him.

"Way to make us feel good about ourselves man," Chandler groaned.

"Hey, you can always get yourself a hooker!"

"So Rach, how's life?" Monica asked, sipping the latte she'd just bought from the Starbucks at the mall.

"Great. I love New York. I mean I miss California a LOT, but New York is such a big change; I guess I really needed it."

"That's true. New York really is different," Phoebe added.

"What about your love life?" Monica asked, wiggling her eyebrows up and down.

"You mean Trevor?"

"Yah."

"It's going SO well. He's so sexy and handsome, and ugh what a sweetheart! This is definitely EONS better than my previous relationship with this guy Ryan, who cheated on me."

"He cheated on you?" Phoebe repeated.

"Yeah Pheebs, don't you remember? I'm pretty sure I told you guys about him."

"You did, Rach," Monica clarified. "But tell us about Mr. Hot and Handsome."

"Well, Mr. Hot and Handsome apparently is living in OBLIVION to how hot and handsome he is. I swear, every time I tell him that, he gets so embarrassed!"

"Aww, that is so adorable!"

"Yep I know." Rachel was practically beaming.

She loved talking about her new boyfriend. Everything was going so perfectly in her life.

Everything.

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