Yesterday I spent a few hours rewatching the second part of Season 10.

It was amazing.

And today I wrote this.

Enjoy!

Episodes: The One With Phoebe's Wedding (10x12)

Ross had just spent more than half an hour trying to get Chappy do his business. After the dog finally made, Ross returned him to Mike's parents.

He looked for Jessica, the cute girl he'd talked to for a few minutes after the ceremony, but he abandoned the idea of hooking up with her as soon as he spotted Joey introducing himself. Ross smiled in acceptance, amused by the situation.

Same old story, he thought.

As he walked down the road to get home, he realized how much tired he was.

Exhausted.

All the excitement of that long day was fading, by now, and yet he automatically took the steps that lead to Rachel's because he felt the weird urge to see her again before the night was over.

He told himself that it was only because he wanted to know if she got news about Emma, but he could have called Sandra, just as much as Rachel had probably already done.

So that was a well manufactured excuse.

The umpteenth fiasco with Jessica didn't hurt.

Of course, after almost four months of solitude, Ross was feeling the need of finding a new special someone.

The last thing that resembled a potential intimate meeting had turned out to be one of the worst epic fails in Ross's love life, when he had found out he'd worn Rachel's shirt for mistake.

Before that, he had hoped that Charlie could actually be the one, but even that relationship had turned out to be totally wrong and had blown up in his face when she had chosen her former lover, Benjamin Hobart, instead of him.

If he really thought about it, though, Ross didn't feel like he had lost a chance of a lifetime.

Sure, Charlie was one the most sophisticated, intelligent, sexy women he had ever been with. They had so much in common.

But the truth was much more complicated.

It was hard to admit, almost taboo.

He had felt truly desperate after a break up only once.

Devastated for losing the woman he had wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

It all had happened more than six years before.

And the bad memories of that night flashed before his eyes as soon as he found himself in front of the door of said woman, sighing heavily.

He hesitated just a few seconds before getting inside apartment 19.

It had been long since he'd opened that door to find Rachel and Joey kissing; it was all water under the bridge, now.

He could step inside without knocking. He didn't need to be afraid.

That kind of behavior wasn't rude, seeing the weird intimate balance that characterized their gang. They always entered without knocking, was it Monica and Chandler's apartment or Joey and Rachel's.

And as soon as he got in, he was offered the most amazing view of that day.

Rachel, still wearing the bridesmaid dress that made her look like an angel; Her wavy hair not loose anymore, but tied up in a low-key ponytail. She was simply gorgeous.

"Oh, hi!" she greeted him, a bit surprised to see him there.

"Hey, I just wanted to check out on Emma, did you call Sandra?"

"Yes, I just put down the phone, she's already asleep."

"Was she scared by the storm?"

Rachel chuckled, "My mom said that she's played outside in the snow for an hour, she was ecstatic!"

A delighted grin appeared on Ross's face as he pictured his daughter in his mind.

"I'm sorry we missed it…" he stated. "You know what? Maybe we could go and pick her up together, tomorrow. We could go to the park!"

Rachel grinned, "I'm sure she'd love that."

"I'm driving." Ross said, almost harshly.

Rachel chuckled again, "Of course, with all the ice on the roads I really look forward for your super safe drive."

He shook his head with a smirk, knowing that she was probably mocking him.

As he looked at her, walking towards the kitchen counter with incomparable grace, he suddenly remembered how good it had felt to see her walking with her (and Chappy) as they reached their position at Mike and Phoebe's side.

As if she was reading his mind, Rachel said, "You know, in the end it was really good walking down the aisle with you, tonight."

Ross tried to decipher her soothing tone, willing to know if her words had a second meaning.

He opted for the safety of a joke to ease the tension, "Even with Chappy's smell?"

Rachel laughed, "In spite of Chappy's smell." She rectified. "It was good to reach the altar alone with you…sober."

Ross's fit of laughter subsided as he was reminded of when he and Rachel had been involved in their wedding in Vegas.

Of course, the memories were still a blur. He couldn't actually remember all of it.

But he definitely remembered the feeling of being married to her.

Little did he know that he wasn't the only one affected by Phoebe's wedding.

"Listen, Ross…" Rachel was clearly trying to broach a subject. "When you said that thing before…"

"What thing?"

"About us…getting together again…did you mean it?"

Ross sighed.

Did I mean it?

"I'm sorry, that was just one of my silly ideas…I was trying to convince you to choose me as groomsman so that I could be in the wedding."

"Oh…ok." Rachel murmured, trying to act blasé.

But Ross knew her better. He could sense whenever Rachel felt disappointed, especially if it concerned him.

"Well, Rach…" he stepped forward, feeling the urge to get closer to her as he confessed this, his voice taking on a quiet tone. "I can't see how it could be otherwise, seeing that the matter of us is closed, for good."

Rachel turned around with a sudden movement, almost if his words had stabbed her in the back.

"Isn't it?" he asked with a sad smile.

Now it was Rachel's turn to hesitate as she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

"Yes, yes. Sure." She eventually answered, noncommittally.

She cleared her voice and took some distance from him.

"So, uhm…did you get that hot girl's number?" she questioned him, eager to change the subject. Ross noticed that her cheeks were red, as though she was blushing.

He decided to follow her lead, too. "Actually I couldn't." he chuckled. "As soon as Joey got down looking for me, they met. You can probably guess the rest."

"Ouch." She commented.

Ross was confused, "I don't understand why women always fall at his feet. It's that damned How you doin', isn't it?" he asked.

Rachel laughed, thinking about Joey's special catchphrase.

And then, without really thinking about what he was asking, Ross kept talking, "Did he tell you, too?"

Rachel was taken aback by Ross's explicit question.

"Well, over the years, yes, occasionally. Mostly as a joke." She articulated. "But to be honest…I think it's a bit overrated."

Ross raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Really? Why?" he asked, hopeful.

"It's a cliché, you know?" while walking towards Ross, she had her eyes sparkling, as if she was thinking about something in particular. "Sometimes…women prefer more romantic words, not only a cheesy pick up line to hook up."

Ross was incredulous, "I find it hard to believe that." He said, staring at Rachel approaching him and trying not to get lost in her eyes.

"Ross…" her face was now a few inches from his, "The single greatest thing a man ever told me was…that it's always been me."

The power of Rachel's words acted like a bomb in Ross's mind – and heart.

His eyes roamed over her face. That beautiful, perfect face that Ross knew so well.

Her gaze was fixating on him, too.

One of those incredible moments that made Ross believe that there was still hope, for them. That the matter of them wasn't really closed, not for good.

That if only one of them could find the courage to act by following their instinct and not their reason, maybe, maybe…they could happen, again.

Ross's hands were trembling. He was battling the impulse to use them to grab Rachel's waist and drag her to him, to envelope her in the most passionate and desperate kiss ever.

Somehow, he managed to stop.

Oh, it was hard.

"It's nice to be appreciated." He replied, smiling sweetly. "So there's still hope for all the romantic geeks out there?"

Rachel pondered his words without batting an eye.

"Absolutely, yes." Came her serious answer.

And this time, Ross didn't need to wonder if Rachel's words hid a second meaning.

He felt that she meant something else.

That there was still hope for them.

Watching her nodding solemnly, Ross felt his arm moving on his own accord; he looked for Rachel's hand and caressed it tenderly.

"What about you?" she asked.

"About what?" he asked, every coherent thought out of his mind.

"What's the most beautiful thing you've been told?"

Fortunately, Ross didn't need to think clearly to answer, "That I was worth the wait."

Rachel's eyes filled up with unshed tears. Ross could feel her feelings surfacing.

He could feel it, because it was happening to him, too.

And he didn't want nothing more than hold her and kiss her. Tell her how stupid he had been all those years, running from her, from them.

Confessing that he was still in love with her, that he'd never stopped.

But he couldn't.

Because as soon as he closed his eyes to bend over and join his lips with hers, he was assaulted by the memory of what had happened the last time they had thrown caution to the wind to be together.

The result of that enchanted night was an incredible daughter that had come into this world as a miracle, almost managing to get them back together.

But how did that end?

Rachel moved out of his apartment, later she even fell in the arms of his best friend Joey.

A relationship that had lasted not more than a week, sure, but the meaning of which Ross couldn't quite figure out, yet.

No. He didn't want to rush things. He couldn't.

He couldn't allow them to be an us, again.

Not if that meant compromising the fragile balance they had created for their daughter in the last months.

He squeezed Rachel's hand in his, trying to convey in a simple gesture all the reasons she might need.

Rachel smiled in response, squeezing his hand, too.

"Hey, you." She said, with a lovely smile on her face.

Ross's heart almost jumped when he heard Rachel using a greeting that she hadn't uttered in years.

"Hey, you." He returned.

Well, this was easy, he thought.

Rachel might have felt the same, because she chuckled as a tear of joy fell from her eyes.

"Good night, Ross."

She kissed his cheek and left him there.

Ross could only watch her getting inside her bedroom, closing the door behind her with excruciating slowness.

The last glimpse he got of her, was a satisfied smile.