Chapter 12
AN: Thank you to all who has reviewed this story! I'm proud to say that I have reached 100 reviews! I feel so loved. Anyway, here's the next chapter.
Rachel finished explaining the situation to Joey, who hadn't said a word since she began her explanation. Rachel stayed silent, waiting for Joey to say something. His reaction almost frightened her. She had expected him to freak out and do something wild, but instead he stayed perfectly still, next to no emotion on his face, one lone tear trickling down his cheek.
Rachel was surprised, to say the least. The Joey she knew was free-living and immature and would never let anyone see him cry. He had always had a gleam of mischief and happiness in his eyes, but that all seemed to be gone. Rachel took this time to study his face. It appeared that he had finally grown up, only much too fast. He had aged noticeably and you could read pain and hurt in his eyes.
She watched as his eyes finally seemed to focus and he looked her right in the eye, allowing her to look right into them. She almost had to look away at the intensity she could see. He suddenly let out a shuddering breath and his position changed to an awkward one. He cleared his throat.
"C-can I, uh, give you a hug?" He asked timidly.
Rachel smiled. She said nothing, only stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. He immediately wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her in close. It was then that it hit her. Everything she had been through. All the hurt and lies and pain. She had no defense against the stream of tears that inevitably ran down her face. Joey seemed to understand and reacted only by pulling her in closer. Her held her while she cried out all of the emotion that was flooding through her senses.
Chandler looked up as he heard Phoebe's voice behind him. He and Monica were sitting in Central Perk having a coffee and had expected Phoebe and Mike. He smiled and greeted them as they sat down.
"Hey guys," Phoebe said. "Sorry we're late, but we left late."
Monica laughed lightly. She was so glad to be back home, with her friends and family. She unconsciously leaned closer to Chandler, who had his arm resting on her shoulders. He squeezed her shoulder gently. She felt so happy. She not only had back her freedom, but she had him. Monica had missed him so much over the past few years that she had often cried herself to sleep. He had been so good to her since she got back. He was so patient and loving.
"Are Holly and Anna at Ross'?" Chandler asked. He and Monica had dropped Samantha and Alyssa off earlier.
Mike nodded. "They were excited to get to play with their cousins." He paused. "Samantha seems to be doing really well."
Monica nodded. "I know. I'm so glad. I was so worried that she was going to be terrified of people for the rest of her life, especially men, but she's adapting well. She even slept alone last night, with no problems."
"She's probably adapting well because she's so young. Hopefully, when she grows up, she'll barely remember this." Chandler said.
Phoebe nodded and smiled. Words were not strong enough to describe how happy she was right now. Her two best friends were not dead, as she had thought, she was happily married to a man who she knew loved her just as much as she loved him and all of her friends seemed to be happy, except Joey who had yet to come home. Phoebe felt Mike's hand slid into her own and she smiled again. She was so lucky. They had two beautiful children and, although they hadn't told anyone yet, were beginning to start trying again. She didn't think life could get any better.
Rachel finally felt the tears begin to subside. She didn't know how long they had been standing there, but she didn't care. She felt Joey gently leading her over to the couch and sat her down. He sat down beside her, never taking his arms off of her. He sat back and pulled her with him. She leaned against him, her head on his shoulder. They sat like this for some time before Rachel finally took a deep breath and sat forward. Joey leaned forward as well, rubbing his hand over her back comfortingly. She looked up at him and he offered her a smile, which she returned.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
He looked confused. "For what?"
"For breaking down," she said. "It just never really hit me until now, everything that happened."
"It was an incredible story," he said.
"Yeah, you should try lining it," Rachel said, not meaning to sound as defensive as she ended up sounding.
"I'm sorry," Joey immediately said, pulling his hand back quickly.
"Oh, Joey, I'm sorry," Rachel said. "I didn't mean to sound like that. It's just been a really hard couple weeks."
"What's making it so hard?"
Rachel sighed. What wasn't? "Well, first of all, my daughter doesn't even know who I am and has a new mom. And don't get me wrong, I'm glad that Ross is happy and I'm glad that Emma has had a mother figure in her life, I just, I don't know. I kinda feel like it's not fair."
"It's not fair," Joey said, cutting in. "Everything you went through isn't fair. You're a good person, Rachel, you didn't deserve this. Neither did Monica. You have no idea how much we missed you guys."
Rachel
smiled.
"What else is up?"
Rachel hesitated. "Well, don't get me wrong, because I don't mean this in a bad way, but I'm just…I don't know, kinda jealous."
"Of who?"
"Monica," Rachel whispered quietly.
"Why?"
"She's just…so lucky. I mean we were both gone the same amount of time and now we're back and she has everything: Chandler, two daughters… everything. And I have nothing." Rachel finished quietly.
"Don't say that," Joey told her.
"Why not? I don't have anything. I have no one; I don't even have anywhere to live. I've been sleeping here for the past two weeks, but now you're back and I will have nowhere to stay." Rachel trailed off once again in tears.
Joey didn't hesitate before wrapping his arms around her. "You can stay here," he whispered.
"No I can't. I don't want to get in the way of you life."
"Believe me, you're not in the way. I don't have much of a life anyway."
"Are you kidding me? Joey you're a movie star! I'm so proud of you: you finally made it."
"That doesn't mean anything, Rach. It's not what I thought it would be." He paused. "I would love for you to be my roommate again."
"Joey, movie stars don't have roommates."
"I don't care." Joey replied firmly. "I won't take no for an answer."
"Okay," Rachel relented. "Thank-you," she whispered as she looked up, meeting his eyes. Before she knew what she was doing she felt herself leaning forward, leaning towards him. He did the same and they met in a gentle kiss. Joey pulled away after a few seconds and smiled at her. He squeezed her hand gently and stood up, holding his hand out to her.
"Wanna go down and get a coffee?"
Rachel smiled and nodded.
She didn't know what it was at the time, but something made Monica turn around. She looked back and saw someone she hadn't seen in years. The last member of the gang to re-unite with.
"Oh my God," she said quietly and jumped up. She hurried over to Joey, who was traveling towards her. She threw her arms around his neck, and hugged him tightly.
"Hey Mon," Joey said. "I missed you. I can't believe you're really here, that you're really alive."
"I missed you, too, Joey."
They broke the hug and Monica sat back down beside Chandler. Rachel and Joey sat down on the other end of the couch.
It was almost like old times, a group of them sitting in Central Perk, drinking coffee, no other cares in the world. Only there were more members the gang now, and they had cares, lots of them. But still, it was nice. They all felt it, just a carefree time, each happy to be with each other.
AN: Sorry it was so short, but I'm having trouble figuring out where I want to go with this. In my last chapter I asked for anyone to tell me what they want to see in this story and I think some of you misunderstood. I simply meant (and still mean) that if anyone notices something I have missed or something they want to see happen to let me know. I am very willing to take suggestions/requests. For example if you want to see a certain moment/scene between any characters, let me know. Thanks.