Hi guys!

This chapter includes one of my favorite moments of season ten: the end of the stupid Roey relationship. I wanted to expand one of my previous Roschel one shots ("The One With Ross's Tan – Postscript") with another scene that happens before Joey and Rachel's first date. You will also find the whole other ficlet with a few slight changes in order to adjust the plot and make it fit after this.

Forgive me if you already read that one when I first posted it.

Enjoy!

Episode: The One With Ross's Tan (10x03)

"Oh, what are we gonna do? I don't wanna see her!" Monica complained.

"Ugh, let's just cut her out." Phoebe suggested to Monica.

"What?"

"Cut her out of our lives! Just ignore her calls and dodge her 'till she gets the point." Phoebe explained what she meant.

"Oh. I guess we could try that, but…it seems so harsh." She addressed herself to Chandler, "Have you ever done that?"

"No. Had it done to me, though." He kept turning the pages of the newspaper he was reading, clearly with bad memories resurfacing in his mind. "Feels good." He stated sarcastically.

Ross came back, a satisfied expression on his face.

"Hey, I booked an appointment." He announced.

"Good for you!" Monica smiled. "Now excuse us, but Phoebe and I have something very important to do."

"Oh yeah? What is that?" Ross wondered.

"Wait for someone's phone calls and avoid them." Chandler immediately sold them out.

"Whose calls?" Ross asked.

"Amanda."

Ross blinked fast at her, "You mean Amanda Buffamonteezi?"

Monica and Phoebe nodded in response.

"You're totally excused." Ross rolled his eyes.

Chandler grinned and followed his wife and friend out of the café.

Ross heard the three of them saying hello to Rachel as she was entering.

"Hey." Ross greeted her.

"Hi. I'm coming back from my mother's house, Emma's there." She informed him.

Ross knew that usually Emma didn't stay at Sandra's on Wednesdays, thus he guessed the reason.

"So, tonight is the big night?" he asked Rachel, trying not to sound too upset.

Rachel was caught by surprise by his question, "Uhm, yeah. First date." She evasively replied.

She certainly wasn't expecting Ross to ask something about her date with Joey, but at the same time, it looked like Rachel wasn't really fine. Like she was somewhat anxious. Tense.

"Is something wrong?" he gently asked her.

"No, no…" Rachel didn't want to talk about this, especially with Ross, but…she needed to let out some of these feelings. Maybe she would feel better.

"It's just that…I don't know, I'm a bit nervous. After so many years of friendship it's not easy to cross that line and turn it into something…romantic…and…I don't know why I'm talking about this with you, I'm sorry, Ross."

He shook his head, "Hey, I'm the one who asked, aren't I?"

And he was sincere. It was still hard to think about Rachel and Joey together. But he wanted to be a good friend to them. And the best way to try and move on was to demonstrate to both of them – and to himself – that he could be supportive.

Rachel wasn't totally convinced, but she followed her first instinct and kept talking.

"It's not just the change in our friendship. Even if now we can go out together without being afraid of getting caught, it almost seems like the whole thing is not that…interesting…anymore." She confessed.

Ross wasn't sure he had understood her well, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know…" Rachel sighed, putting her fingers through her long strands. "This thing is really huge and it's starting to scare me. It's going fast. Tonight, we're going out together and…our lives are going to change…forever." Rachel elaborated her thoughts.

Ross was still shattered by the sudden discovery that Rachel reciprocated Joey's feelings. Finding the two of them kissing in their apartment had been a real nightmare. But he did want to be understanding.

"Maybe I'm the last person that should give you advice, but if there's something I've come to learn about you is that if you are meant to be with someone, you understand it immediately."

Rachel was hanging on his words like they were a magic spell.

"Something clicks for you, you need just one night, one moment, to realize that you want to be with a man. Well, at least that's how it worked for us…" he stated, leaving Rachel speechless.

She thought about them. When they were still a couple.

Their first date, with that ridiculous unexpected ending – Ross touching her butt while she kept laughing at him – and most of all their second date. With that equally unexpected ending, but so romantic and unforgettable.

Don't go there! Rachel silently yelled to herself, shaking her head.

"Anyway, I can give you this piece of advice. Be yourself as much as you can. Joey knows you better than anyone, much better than I knew you when we first started going out years ago."

Rachel nodded.

"Was I that different back then?" she wondered; her voice weary by the years that have passed.

"Not so much." Ross shook his head, smiling at her. "Maybe less determined and more naïve. But you were the same funny, adorable, silly Rachel."

She smiled wryly at him, waiting for Ross to go on.

"Back then you had been in town for a few months. Today we all know you much better and this could be relevant for you and Joe. Like Mon and Chan, they got together after years and…that was it." Ross grinned delightfully.

Rachel was very impressed by Ross's attitude. She flashed an incredulous smile at him.

"What?"

"Nothing…it's just that…I'd never thought we could talk about this so…quietly. Actually, I believed…"

"You thought I would disappear from your life and we wouldn't see each other anymore?" Ross inquired her, sounding a bit disappointed.

"No, I knew that you and Joey talked this through, and we were very glad about your last decision to accept this relationship, but…If I must be honest, your resolution shocks me."

"Why?" Ross asked, feeling almost dejected.

"Well, you know…because it's us." She pointed at both of them. "And if you consent to Joey and I going out…well, it's like closing that door forever…I mean, if everything goes well."

Ross tried to smile; he waved his hand in the air. "What must be will be." He quoted Romeo and Juliet. "I already told Joey, you couldn't find a better person, if you must end up with somebody else."

Rachel nodded. "Thank you, Ross. I really needed to hear that."

"You're welcome. I guess now we're even."

"Even?" Rachel asked.

"You came to London and you didn't tell me that you still loved me because you didn't want to ruin your best friend's wedding." He took a few seconds for a deep sigh. "So, I won't get in the way of you and Joey because I want my best friend to be happy."

Rachel's eyes roamed over Ross's face.

"Seriously, Rach. I love you, and your happiness is the most important thing, to me. It'll always be."

This was the last straw for Rachel.

She had been feeling nervous for her first date with Joey. Now, she also felt insecure and doubtful. Ross's words were freezing her.

I have a date with Joey!

Since the disastrous Mexican dinner at Ross's, Joey and Rachel hadn't shared displays of affections other than a few kisses. And a couple of days with no physical contact had been enough to turn down the flame that had ignited the first few hours at the Barbados.

Rachel had begun to consider the whole thing from a new perspective. The fact that they were doing everything in secret, the fact that Rachel's feelings had been repressed for so long…maybe those were the real reasons that had made everything much more exciting than the whole thing actually ever was.

Now that she and Joey could live their relationship out in the open, it looked like all the feelings that Rachel had felt for him were diminishing at sight.

And why in hell was she so nervous?!

"Ok, I'd better go, now." Ross intervened after a few seconds of silence.

"Yeah." Rachel was incredibly happy that he wasn't expecting an answer to his previous speech. "Plans with Charlie for tonight?"

"She's out of town for a lecture. But I've booked an appointment to this tanning place where Monica goes."

Rachel laughed, feeling some of her anxiousness leaving her, "Careful." She warned him.

"Don't worry, Rachel. Those places are dummy-proof. And I have a PhD."

Rachel smiled at him, "Ok, Ross. See ya later, then."

"Right. Tell your mother I'll call Emma to say goodnight."

She was grateful to hear that. "Ok…And…Hey, Ross?" she stopped him before he could leave.

"Yeah?"

"What should I wear tonight?" she asked him mischievously, obviously trying to make fun of him.

Ross got serious and glared at her, "I'm understanding, but let's not get carried away."

He knew that he'd told this very same sentence to Joey, once. But Rachel couldn't know.

They both share a good laugh and Ross left the café, while Rachel stood there, her eyes following his figure until she could spot him outside.

She couldn't lie to herself; she was uncertain.

For the first time since she had started having feelings for Joey, she wondered if she was doing the right thing.

Was she really ready to close that door, forever?

If things with Joey would go well, then…

No more Ross and Rachel.

Being with Joey meant saying goodbye to Ross. For good.

Rachel was worried. She shouldn't have these kinds of thoughts. She was a free woman, and she also had Ross's blessing.

So why was she feeling like that?

An adult conversation with Ross was enough to raise doubt in her mind?

She would always have those butterflies in the stomach every time she was alone with Ross, like the first time she had realized that she was in love with him?

Rachel, enough. Calm down. Go out. Have fun.

Everything will be all right.

THE FOLLOWING AFTERNOON

"I do not know what's wrong with us, I mean, we have kissed before and that's been great!"

Rachel was telling Monica and Chandler what had happened with Joey the night before.

"But this time it was leading somewhere, and I was very aware of the fact that it was Joey touching me."

She opened the bottle of water and drank.

"Well, you guys have been friends forever. Remember the first time that you kissed Ross?"

Rachel was taken aback for a moment at the mentioning of her former boyfriend.

"How weird that was? You couldn't stop laughing? You got through that."

Rachel looked thoughtful for a few seconds. She was nodding in understanding, but she didn't want her best friend to read through her because her mind was going in a very different direction.

The situation with Ross was similar, true. But at the same time, it was completely different.

Yes, with Ross she was nervous because they were crossing a line and she knew it was a big thing. With Joey it wasn't like that. She was feeling weird because Joey was the one touching her, and she wasn't appreciating the idea. Not because it wasn't feeling good, but because it was Joey. It was like a bad sensation. Her instinctive reaction to slap Joey had been crazy, but probably unconscious. Maybe for the first time she didn't want to be kissed by Joey, because the kiss would lead to something more.

And she didn't want that.

Again, that conversation with Ross came to her mind.

§

"Well, you know…because it's us. And if you consent to Joey and I going out…well, it's like closing that door forever…I mean, if everything goes well."

"What must be will be."

§

But after a few seconds of indecision, Rachel cleared up her mind and decided that she needed to move on.

"Ok, that's true. That's true, we can do this." She closed the bottle and put it on the table. "You're right, you're right, we can do this. We're just gonna power through!"

Joey walked in, looking for Chandler.

"Hey, uh, Chandler can I talk to you for a second…" he pointed to the hall.

Rachel anticipated her friend's answer "No need!" she yelled to Joey. "Problem solved; we are powering through."

She grabbed his hand and pulled him back to their apartment.

Of course, she wasn't the bit least convinced about what she was doing.

But she needed to try and do something to give a chance to that relationship.

Otherwise she would never move on from Ross.

THAT NIGHT

Rachel came out of her bedroom to take a glass of water.

Joey was sitting on the yellow couch; the ice-bucket was still on his sore spot.

"Hey, is it getting better?" she asked him.

"A little…Hey, Rach, would you help me getting to my bedroom? I think I'd rather lying down on my bed for a while."

"Oh, sure!" she replied.

She walked towards Joey and helped him to stand up, then she put her left arm under his and Joey put his right one on her shoulders.

"Oh, God, I do hope THIS is still going to work or I am in serious trouble."

Rachel sighed, "Again, I'm so sorry, Joey."

"Don't worry, Rach…" he said, falling on his bed with a thud.

"Goodnight, Joe."

"'Night."

Rachel closed Joey's bedroom door behind her, then she walked towards the counter to drink her glass of water.

She was heading for her own bedroom, when she heard somebody knocking softly at the door.

She wasn't expecting any visitors, so when she opened the door, she was very surprised to find out that Ross had been the one knocking.

"Hi!" she said, a bit concerned about his sudden appearance. "Are we starting to knock before entering, now? Since when?" she asked, smiling at him and trying so hard not to laugh out loud at his brown tan.

"Well…I'm feeling a little uncomfortable now that you and Joey are together…you know, since…I mean, after I saw you…"

"Oh…" Rachel nodded in comprehension and Ross coughed to ease the tension.

Rachel understood his predicament. A few days ago, Ross had found the two of them making out after opening that door as he always did. They were kissing passionately, and he had been silent for a couple of minutes before starting to babble out weird sentences to try and convince them that he was fine.

There was no doubt that he was still feeling bad about what had happened and the fact that he was now knocking at that door was a clear sign of the fact that he wasn't ready to see them kissing or hugging, in spite of what he had said to her the day before.

Rachel suddenly felt a huge pang of regret and guilt in her stomach.

Not more than a few minutes before she'd broken up with Joey, if you can consider a few kisses and hugs exchanged during a week a relationship. But was she ready to tell Ross?

"So, why are you here so late?" she asked him.

"Well…" Ross was starting to talk, but his attention was caught for a moment by something else.

Rachel was underdressed. She was wearing a light pink tank top and a pair of grey tight trousers. He couldn't help but notice that she wasn't wearing a bra, which wasn't unusual for Rachel before going to bed, but tonight this was a detail that Ross didn't really want to ponder about. He tried to look away from Rachel and his eyes fell on Joey's bedroom door. Rachel noticed Ross looking elsewhere after blushing. She smiled to herself. She could still read his silent signs of embarrassment better than anyone.

"Wait a minute…" Ross realized, "Weren't you and Joey supposed to go out again tonight?"

Rachel just shrugged, "Joey is already sleeping. Ross, what's the matter, why are you here?"

"Oh, yes…Tomorrow I have this date with Charlie, and…" Ross waved his hand over his face.

Rachel stifled a laugh.

"You think you can help me, I don't know with some makeup, like some foundation cream or some skin corrector?"

"I think the only one who can help you is Michael Jackson's surgeon, Ross."

Ross glared at her and turned around to walk out the door, "All right, I'll ask Monica!"

Rachel chuckled, "No, Ross! I was kidding, please! I'll help you!" she dragged him from the entrance to the living room and Ross followed her.

"Thank you…if Charlie sees me like that, I'm afraid there won't even be time for a fourth divorce. She's going to break up with me because either she thinks that I'm a racist making a prank on her or a perfect idiot!"

Rachel giggled, "I think the second option is more likely to happen…anyway, Monica and Pheebs were busy tonight, they had a dinner with Amanda."

"Amanda? The Amanda who used to live here? I thought they were joking when they told me about her, yesterday."

Rachel was now in her bathroom, looking for some makeup to help Ross with.

"Did you know her?" she asked.

"I did…God, Amanda was the worst!" Ross exclaimed.

"That's what Phoebe said too!" Rachel laughed.

"Anyway, she used to live in this apartment before Chandler. Needless to say, we were all so much happier when Chandler became Monica's neighbor when Amanda left."

Rachel came out of the bathroom with a few products in her hands, "It's been a while, isn't it? Sometimes I don't think about it, but I've been living in this building for ten years, too! God, time flies…"

Ross nodded, "I know…So, you can do something for me?"

"Like a miracle? For that, I'd need a magic wand!" Rachel laughed at him and Ross smiled, shaking his head.

"How in hell did you got yourself THIS tanned?"

"Well, let's just say that I won't count mississippily anymore in my entire life…"

Rachel stared at him questioningly, but Ross was looking elsewhere again to avoid her gaze. Rachel, though, had learned not to wonder about Ross's weirdness too much. He was the smartest man she knew, and yet he was so funny and clumsy to get involved in such crazy situations.

"Ok, let's try some of these. Maybe I can lighten up you face."

They both sat on the couch and Rachel started to use one of her creams with a sponge. Ross's eyes were closed, and they were both in silence.

She couldn't help but notice that they were sitting on the same spot where she and Joey had tried to move forward with their relationship the night before.

The same spot where they had understood that they were nothing more than friends just moments before.

"Sandra called me, before. Emma wanted me to say goodnight." Ross told her.

"Yeah…she still can't sleep well if she doesn't hear your voice before sleeping." Rachel stated, noticing that Ross was smiling delightfully.

"So, why was she there again, if Joey is already in bed? Were you busy at work?" he asked, always with his eyes closed.

Rachel kept sponging his face, "Well, I did have a second date with Joey tonight."

Ross didn't say anything, but he noticed the discomfort in her voice. So, after a few seconds, he asked, "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

Rachel sighed, "Let's just say…that sometimes things don't work out the way you'd thought they would."

Ross opened his eyes at once, startling Rachel. He was brought back to five years before, when Rachel had said the exact same words to him after splitting up with Joshua.

§

"What happened?" he had asked her, concerned.

"Uh, well, I think, I think he broke up with me."

"Noo. Why?"

"Well, apparently he scares easy." Rachel had answered, almost sarcastically.

"Oh, Rachel, I'm-I'm sorry." Ross had said, sincerely.

"It's okay. Sometimes, things don't work out the way you'd thought they would."

The look in Rachel's eyes had meant all and nothing. Ross knew that there was something in there that he couldn't really fathom. She was feeling bad for Joshua, but was he the real reason of her sadness?

"Come here." Ross had told her. And he had hugged her, trying to soothe her the best he could.

"Oh, hey, don't you have to go pick up Emily?" Rachel had said, breaking the hug.

"Yeah." He'd murmured, still not convinced about leaving Rachel alone.

"Yeah."

"You okay?" he had asked her once again, trying to make her confess something.

"Yeah! I got my girls." Rachel had claimed, feigning a smile to make Ross sure that she would be fine.

Ross then had left to pick up Emily, but he had wondered if Rachel was really fine.

§

Looking at this memory in perspective, knowing that after the wedding in London she had confessed that she still loved him, now he knew that Rachel wasn't fine. She was suffering because he was getting married to another woman.

That was the reason why NOW Ross immediately realized that Rachel had broken up with Joey. And that wasn't the ONLY thing that was bothering her.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Rachel shook her head and shrugged, "It just didn't work out…our relationship…if you can call one week with two dates a relationship…it just blew even before starting!"

"Rach, I'm so sorry…"

Rachel squeezed her eyes suspiciously at him, "You really are?"

"Well…I can't say I was your number one fan, and egoistically yes, I am probably glad that it's over because it was so hard to accept the idea of you and Joey together…but I thought I made myself clear when we talked yesterday." He reminded her of their conversation.

Rachel lifted her arm and started to sponge Ross's face again, so he closed his eyes.

"Well, sometimes you think that you can find the right chemistry with someone, but after going out with them you realize that things just don't click."

Ross remembered his words from their last meeting.

§

"Something clicks for you, you need just one night, one moment, to realize that you want to be with a man. Well, at least that's how it worked for us…"

§

"We also talked with Chandler before." Rachel continued. "He said that when he and Monica started to be together, all they could think about was that it felt right. That it felt like…they couldn't believe they hadn't been doing it the whole time. You know what Joey and I were thinking, instead?"

"What?"

"Why are we doing this, again?"

Ross opened his eyes again and gazed intently at Rachel. He smiled and the small dimples that Rachel loved so much appeared on his cheeks.

"What?" she asked him, smiling too. Whenever she saw that expression on Ross's face, it was so difficult for her not to smile in answer.

In the meantime, Joey was feeling a little better and he was thirsty, too. He tried to stand up from the bed and realized with relief that he could walk properly again. When he opened the door, he noticed Ross and Rachel sitting on the couch. When he saw that she was putting makeup on him, he smiled to himself and got ready to have fun of him, but when he heard what their conversation was about, he decided that he didn't want to interrupt them because he really wanted to know what they would say. He stood up close to his door, leaving it open just a bit to be able to listen to their conversation.

"Nothing, there's just this thing that came back to my mind. I know I shouldn't tell you because it may be self-defeating but…remember our first date? Whenever I tried to kiss you and you kept laughing because you were nervous? Maybe that is what's happening with Joey, you just need a little time to get accustomed to each other…"

Joey felt a huge wave of gratitude for Ross. There he was, in front of the woman he'd always loved. Maybe that he still loved, even if he still kept whining about not being in that place. And yet he was trying to convince her to give his friend another chance. Ross was a true friend, surely much better than he had been when he'd started making out with Rachel without telling him.

Rachel shook her head and smiled at the man in front of her, "Ross, it's not the same thing. It's completely different. Believe me, I've been thinking about this the whole day. Back then I was nervous because I knew that after the kissing, we would make a big step that would lead us to something…amazing. Because, I mean, it was US." Rachel smiled softly and Ross was secretly thrilled by the fact that she had spent the day reminiscing about their first date.

"But today, with Joey…it was weird. When things got serious, it felt like I was with a brother. It felt totally wrong. I don't know if you can understand this, just think about kissing Monica!"

"Eww, Dude!"

Rachel chuckled.

And she finally knew that all the doubts she had experienced during the last two days had been facts. She had just told Ross all the reasons why she hadn't been able to start a relationship with Joey, and she wasn't even bummed about it.

Joey wasn't hurt by Rachel words. He only understood that even if Ross had taken his side, Rachel wasn't willing to give him a second chance because she had realized that she didn't feel anything for him but a deep affection. And if he thought about it, he couldn't blame her. She was his best friend; she was like another sister to him. It had felt so weird trying to take off her bra, seeing her so horny and trying to jump on the chair with him.

"Rachel are you really sure of this? Because the intimacy level on our first date was a disaster, but on our second date…well it went…better…" Ross swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. He was looking at her almost with sparkles in his eyes. The same that were shining in his eyes the night they had slept together for the first time at the Museum.

Rachel nodded again, "I know, but to be fair, tonight Joey and I had our second date."

"Oh, yeah…" Ross remembered, nodding slowly in understanding.

They both kept nodding and Rachel began to sponge Ross's face again, but this time he didn't lose eye contact with her. Thoughts of that night at the Planetarium were evidently resurfacing in their minds.

You were worth the wait, and I don't just mean tonight.

Ross sighed, as he did whenever that memory came back. Always together with the stupid mistake that had changed his life.

Joey was looking at them from his bedroom and he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Ross and Rachel hadn't been Ross and Rachel for years.

And yet, you put them in a room together, let them talk without other friends around and with a little bit of honesty and here they are.

Lobsters, again, if you want.

That was the moment when Joey decided that those two were destined to get back together sooner or later and that if he could do anything to help them, he would.

'If I ever get the chance to do something to convince Ross that this is the right thing to do, I will. I'll make them become a couple again. I owe them. And Emma deserves a happy family. Maybe I can do it even without making Ross too much aware…'

Ross was still looking at Rachel; he couldn't believe how beautiful she still was after all those years. It looked like giving birth had made her even more bewitching.

"You know…it's all in the past now, but maybe it's better to have lost a boyfriend who can't count to five."

Ross chuckled together with her, and when he noticed Rachel's hair falling in front of her face, he couldn't resist the impulse to lift his arm to put the lock behind her ear.

She was surprised by this lovely gesture and she stared at him.

"Maybe you are right…" he murmured, still keeping his hand on her face.

They both realized that the situation was getting too much engaging, but neither of them was ready to get rid of the other.

"Would you like to come and take Emma with me tomorrow?" Rachel asked him.

"Of course…you know, I'd love to spend some quality time together, only the three of us…and we could organize a huge birthday party for her, with the guys, my parents and yours, too!"

Rachel scoffed, "I doubt my parents and sisters will come to town only for a one-year-old baby birthday, but we could try to invite them…Oh, I could buy a cake in that place in New Jersey's, Carino's! They make those beautiful desserts in different shapes and they put a photo on them in icing!"

"That's great! And hey, listen, I'd like to make a video of her first birthday with messages from all our friends and then we can save it for her to watch it when she turns 18!"

"Wow, Ross, that's a wonderful idea! How did you come up with it?" Rachel asked, marveled.

"I don't know…I mean, since we got together, I've always thought that we could do it for our kids. I had this idea of a video as a time capsule, with lovely birthday wishes to watch all together, maybe before going to college…"

Rachel smiled and realized that Ross was talking about Emma, but in his vision, he had a clear view of a united family, maybe with other children.

Joey was so emotional that he could have cried. What more did those two need to get back together? Ross was clearly foreseeing a future with Rachel and Emma in it. And Rachel wasn't denying it.

'Well, surely your getting in the way at the hospital when Emma was born didn't help, you jerk!' the little voice in his head said.

"Oh, shut up!" he whispered to himself.

"Well, I must admit, this was one of your best ideas, I'm impressed, Dr. Geller."

"Thanks." He replied, pleased with himself.

"Ok, listen, I think this one might work." Rachel stopped sponging his face. "I think it might lighten your brown tan a little bit, maybe tomorrow I can help you put it on. But Ross, it won't be enough…I'm pretty sure you'll have to explain Charlie what happened and just hope she is very comprehensive or very self-ironic."

Ross had almost forgotten about Charlie, "Oh…well I hope so too, otherwise I'm going to be single again tomorrow. Ok, I think I'm going to take off. Thank you very much, Rach…"

He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and stood up.

"Oh, no problem, honey! And thanks for the talk, I really needed that…you cheered me up."

Ross turned around and looked at her, nodding and smiling, "Don't worry about Joey, I'm sure it's going to be fine. You're such good friends, you love each other, you're going to get through this. And hey, we got through our break, didn't we?"

Rachel changed her expression and looked at him askance, "You want me to bring the right make up tomorrow, don't you?"

Ross nodded faster, "I just meant that when you really love someone it's difficult to cut them out of your life."

"Yeah…it's hard to stay friends after the end of a relationship as passionate as the one we had, but it's very important."

"Well, I know that I could have never let you out of my life. And Emily knows something about that."

Rachel looked at him grateful, "I know…Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Say 11-ish?"

"Always the morning person, Rach?"

"And don't ever forget about it…" Rachel teased him.

"How could I? I'll bring you some breakfast. Blueberry muffin and chamomile tea?"

"See? That's why I love you." Rachel smiled at him.

Ross winked at her, "And don't ever forget about it."

Rachel chuckled and looked at Ross who stared at her a few other seconds before actually closing the door behind himself.

Ross stood in front of the door a couple of minutes, waiting for his heart to stop beating so fast.

He hadn't felt this way in a long time. Tonight, all the feelings he had promised himself to set apart were screaming to come to the surface again.

Would he ever be able to forget about this woman? Could he actually lie to himself and believe that he would live a life without hoping that one day he would get together with Rachel again?

He sighed deeply. Now he didn't have time for this. Rachel was still trying to reconcile with the decision of breaking up with Joey, and he had a girlfriend, Charlie. And Charlie was an amazing, beautiful, smart woman. She deserved his total attention. She deserved a real chance with him.

Inside the apartment, Rachel was still standing in the middle of the room, smiling. She couldn't help but feeling happy for that unexpected visit. She had broken up with Joey, she should feel terrible, and yet those conversations with Ross had made her realize a few things. For example, that he was still the most amazing man that she'd ever met. That she had left him only for one reason, and that maybe, after so many years, that reason was becoming a long-gone memory that could be tagged as a mistake. That she missed him, oh so much. She missed moments like those, when they would talk and have fun and remember the past and think about their future.

Because Ross wasn't her boyfriend, but he was Emma's father.

And she wouldn't say that out loud, but maybe he was still her lobster.

Joey kept looking at Rachel from his bedroom. She wasn't moving and she was still smiling.

And he hadn't missed Ross's remarks, neither the way his eyes hadn't left Rachel's until the door had closed. Joey finally understood the true reason of the ending of his relationship with Rachel.

Yes, they weren't sexually compatible and yes, they were too much friends to have a love interest for each other. But the truth was that Rachel was still in love with another man.

God, even if they had got together, he would have never had a chance. Rachel had been lying to herself for so much, pretending not to love Ross anymore. But maybe she was finally realizing this.

Joey followed Rachel while she took her makeup and put it back in the bathroom, then she went back to her bedroom. He was finally free to get out of his room to drink.

He walked outside towards the counter and took a glass of water.

'Let's see how long Charlie does last.' He thought.

"It's time that we all get over this 7-year-break once and for all…" he smiled to himself.