The Pact, Part Eleven
"Unconscious Desires Revealed"

~Milan, Italy~

Rachel walked into her apartment, and sunk down onto her sofa, determined not to move for at least a week. She was so angry at herself, for allowing herself to give in to her feelings for Ross. He was obviously over her. Why couldn't she get over him?


~London, England~

Ross sat in the taxi, staring blankly out the window. He knew that he was going to have a tough time getting back into Emily's good graces. They had spoken once on the phone, and Emily was not happy with his decision to stay in New York after she had left. But he knew that she could forgive him, given the opportunity.
The only problem was, Ross had to convince her that he no longer had feelings for Rachel.
First, he had to convince himself.

The taxi ride was too short. Before Ross knew it, he found himself standing in front of the flat that he shared with his wife. He sighed heavily, and opened the door.

"Emily? I'm home."

"Hello, Ross," Emily greeted her husband icily.

"Emily," Ross looked at her, and tried to filter through the thousands of thoughts that flodded his brain at that moment.
He had to talk to her, but he wasn't quite sure how much he should tell her. What he needed was some kind of sign.

"Emily, we need to talk."


~Philadelphia, Pennsylvania~

Chandler paid the taxi driver, and picked up his sleeping daughter. He walked into the house, and immediately, he could feel it. Something was different. He put down his suitcase, and wrapped his arms protectively around his daughter, as he walked from room to room, trying to figure out what had changed. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he felt very uncomfortable in the house. He walked into Elaina's room, and flipped on the light. He jumped back, as a figure turned from the window, and faced him.

"Rebecca?"


~London, England~

Emily sat in silence, as Ross revealed the events of the past week to her. He decided that he needed to tell her everything, and let her decide what was best for the two of them.

"So, are you still in love with this Rachel girl, then?" she asked, her voice shaky.

"No, I...I don't know," Ross sighed.

"Ross, I...I don't know what to say. I don't know what you are expecting from me," Emily felt tears lining her eyes, and turned away from Ross.

"I don't know either. I really don't."

"I...I need to think...or something. I think it's best that you not be here right now," Emily looked at Ross, and he nodded.

"Call me on my cell if you need me," Ross said quietly, and left the flat.

In his heart, Ross wasn't sure what he wanted. He knew that he couldn't make the decision, and felt like a jerk for forcing Emily to make the decision for him. It didn't seem right, laying all of this on her. Despite any regrets he may have felt at that moment, he knew that it was too late to take it all back. Emily would decide the fate of their marriage now.


~Philadelphia, Pennsylvania~

"Hello, Chandler," Rebecca said quietly.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to...to talk to you."

Chandler looked at the woman standing before him, and realized that he felt absolutely nothing for her. He hadn't really given her a second thought while in New York. But now she was here, back in his home, and Chandler feared that she was here to try and salvage their marriage. Or worse, that she was here to claim her daughter. Both thoughts made Chandler shudder, as he looked at Rebecca, awaiting an explaination.

"I am getting married," Rebecca finally blurted out.

"Wh-what?"

"Married. I am getting married, and I need to dissolve out marriage."

"You came here to get a divorce." Chandler stated flatly.

"Essentially. I mean, we've been seperated for so long that..."

"Seperated? You make it sound like we agreed to end the marriage. We didn't. You just left, remember?"

"Chandler, I don't want to fight with you. I just want to get this over with, and move on with my life."

"What about Elaina?" Chandler asked slowly.

"What about her? I'm not asking for custody. You've handled her just fine so far, right?"

Chandler sighed, and shook his head. "I should have realized that you wanted nothing to do with her. You haven't so much as looked at her since we got home. How can you just not care like that? She is still your daughter."

"I am moving to California, and I just think that logistically, visitation would be too difficult," Rebecca explained.

"Right. Well, that's fine, because we are moving back to New York," Chandler said cooly.

"Oh. Okay, well, then, I guess we need to get rid of the house and all that."

"I guess we do."


~Milan, Italy~

Rachel dropped her briefcase on the sofa as she walked into her apartment. She had been back in Italy for three weeks, and found that she was totally miserable there without her friends. She had created the illusion of happiness by keeping herself busy over the past few years, but truthfully, she missed New York, and she missed her friends and family. The trip home had cleared a lot of fog in her head. She had come back to Italy, hoping that she could simply get back into her groove. But a week into it, she realized that this was not where she belonged anymore. She requested a transfer back to the New York offices, and found out today that the request was granted. She sat on the sofa, looking up at the ceiling. Everything seemed to be falling back into place. Now all she had to do was forget about Ross, and everything would be perfect. A soft knock on her door awoke her from her daydream. She yawned and stood to answer the door. When she finally opened the door, she was shocked at the sight before her.

"Ross?"

"Hi, Rach," Ross said quietly.

"Wh-what are you doing here?"

"Listening to my heart," Ross said, before reaching for Rachel, and pulling her into a long, passionate kiss.


~New York City, one week later (One month after the reunion)~

"Hi guys!" Monica opened the door, and Elaina ran to greet her, smiling broadly.

"Hey," Chandler walked in and put down his suitcases.

"Were you able to get everything cleared up?" Monica asked, as she pulled out colouring books for Elaina.

"Yeah. I can't believe it took so long. But in a way, I am glad that Rebecca was there. I was able to get some closure."

"Well, I am just happy that you are back. Talking to you on the phone twice a day just wasn't doing it for me."

"Tell me about it," Chandler replied, pulling Monica into a long kiss.

"I, uh, I have some news," Monica said, pulling away from Chandler and sitting at the kitchen table.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Um...I'm not really sure quite how to tell you this," Monica picked up a pear that was sitting in a bowl at the centre of the table, and began to twist the stem nervously.

"Mon, just tell me," Chandler said calmly.

"Okay. I'm uh, pregnant," Monica looked at Chandler, trying to gauge his reaction.

"What?"

"Yeah. I went to the doctor on Tuesday. It's official," Monica put down the pear, and folded her hands on the table.

"Wow. Okay, uh, not that I'm not happy, because, you know, I'd love to have kids with you and all, but I just kind of assumed we'd, you know, date a while first. Monica, that night, you told me you were on the pill. In fact, you insisted that I not use a condom, because you were on the pill."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, you don't have to apologize. You couldn't know that those pills wouldn't work, right?"

Monica looked at Chandler, not wanting to continue this conversation. She had hoped that he wouldn't remember their short conversation before they had made love that night. But she knew that she could recall every detail of that night, down to the letter.

Apparently, so could he.

"Monica? Why are you sorry?"

"I, um, I wasn't technially on the pill that night." Monica said quickly.

"You weren't 'technially' on the pill? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Chandler stood up and backed away from the table, as he felt the heat begin to rise in his face.

"I...I am so, so sorry, Chandler. You have no idea how sorry I am. I just...all of these children were here, and I wanted one so badly, and I saw how great you are with Elaina and..." Monica looked up at Chandler, and immediately realized that she had said way too much.

"Oh my God. You were trying to get pregnant? So, what, all of that crap about falling for me, that was to get me to have sex with you?"

"No, Chandler, I meant everything I said that night," Monica said, panic filling her voice as quickly as it was filling her soul.

"Really? Because you lied to me about being on the pill, so I just kind of assumed that everything out of your mouth that night was a lie." Chandler felt tears stinging his eyes, and began to silently curse himself for getting so upset.

"I swear Chandler, I didn't lie about that. Please believe me."

Chandler glanced over at Elaina, who was busy colouring on the coffee table. He thought for a second, then looked back at Monica.

"You were never attracted to me before. Ten years ago, when I lived across the hall, you never, ever thought about me in that way. You are attracted to me because of Elaina. You are attracted to the fact that I am a father. That's why you wanted to sleep with me. I can't believe I didn't see this," Chandler ran his fingers through his hair, and walked into the living room.

"Chandler, please, it really wasn't like that, I swear. You have no idea how much you mean to me. How much you have always meant to me."

But Chandler wasn't listening, he signed something to Elaina, then picked her up, and carried her to the door.
He picked up his bags, and opened the front door. As he walked out, he turned and looked at Monica sadly.

"I cannot believe I let you break my heart again," he whispered, and walked away.

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Okay, wait! Before you REVIEW, just know that Monica isn't really all evil and coniving, okay? Review, and maybe I'll tell ya more....LOL.