Faith's Abyss

The sun was a shaft of light down upon the ocean. Rachel awoke in the arms of Ross, both gently swaying in the hammock on the back porch with her flannelled blanket covering them. She smiled to herself and took in a deep breath. She felt so relaxed, so serene. The next step was to get him out of that hammock before Andrea came outside and discovered them.



Too late.



"Oh! I'm sorry!" Andrea said in a both shocked and amazed tone.

That woke Ross up, he immediately blushed. Rachel laughed as Andrea scrambled back inside. Now that Andrea had seen them, she was in no rush. She just lay there next to him with her flannelled blanket over top of them. She felt Ross lean his head down and kiss her on top of her head. She cuddled closer to him and closed her eyes, still half asleep. Finally she looked up and him. Rachel brushed her lips against his and began to sit up. She left the blanket there as she covered herself with a towel that had been out to dry. She sat by Ross' knees.



"Hi." She whispered.



"Hey." He replied. He sat up and proceeded to get dressed. Rachel lay back down upon the hammock and looked towards the ocean. It was a beautiful sunny day. She was happy to go do stuff. She had a credit card to max. She looked back at Ross who was tying his last shoe. She didn't want him to leave.



"Where are you going?" She asked. Ross looked at her.



"I don't know. Around I guess." He smiled.

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The next few days were a huge mixture of shopping, dining, swimming and cuddling up to Ross at night. They were inseparable. Rachel never felt so close to a guy. She had almost forgotten about Jake. And everything wrong in her life. He seemed to just kiss the tears away. He was so sweet, and he cared about her. She knew that everything was going to be fine when he was around. He protected her. And she loved everything about him.

But did she LOVE him? She didn't know that yet.

"Rachel! Hurry up! We're going to miss our flight!" Andrea yelled. Rachel walked sadly out of her room. She had scarlet red cheeks that were tears stained.

"I don't want to go." She said setting all of her luggage by the front door.

"I know honey. Me neither. But Ralph Lauren needs us back. You know we're the best." She joked. Rachel didn't laugh. She was leaving. Two weeks that had started out miserable turned into two weeks she would never ever forget. And the sad thing was, Ross didn't know she was even leaving yet. She hadn't told him because she was so scared to. She liked him so much. And she knew this was going to hurt no matter how she handled it. She picked up the phone and dialed his hotel room.

"Hey sweetie." She said when he groggily picked up. "Did I wake you?" She asked. Ross said no, and that he had been awake for a while.

"I was just going to call you. You left really early this morning. I was going to ask you what you wanted to do today." He said. Rachel bit her bottom lip.

"Okay. Well, please just, meet me on the beach in 15 minute. I need to talk to you." She said before hanging up. She walked into her room to get dressed.

Rachel felt like the biggest piece of crap in the world! How could she do that to him? After all they had done, and seen. All they had experienced together. She couldn't imagine his reaction. She was going to hurt him. And that was the last thing that she wanted to do. She pulled her red Hawaiian dress Ross had bought her two days before and ran a comb through her hair before going out to the hammock and waiting. She looked toward the ocean and walked towards it. Her last day in paradise. She knew this day would come, but she didn't know it would come so fast.

I will remember you,

Will you remember me?

Don't let your love pass you by,

Weep not for the memory



Rachel looked down into the sand and found a yellow lai. She fumbled with it and dusted the sand off of it. Coming down the beach towards her was Ross. She smiled at him, but cried inside. He had a pink lai around his neck and no shoes. His white button op shirt was half unbuttoned, and his pants rolled up a bit. He was barefoot. Rachel made a mental note of everything. She was not going to forget. She wouldn't.



I'm so tired but I can't sleep,

Standing on the edge of something much too deep

It's funny how we feel so much,

But cannot say a word

Though we are screaming in side

But can't be heard



"What's going on?" Ross asked, looked at her pained expression. Rachel fought back tears. Andrea yelled from the porch.

"Come on Rachel! We are going to miss our flight!" And then she disappeared back into the house.

"What? What flight?" Ross asked. Rachel bit her lip.

"Surprise." She said sadly. "Andrea and I leave today." She said simply. "I didn't tell you because, well, I didn't want to hurt you." She said. Ross leaned down and kissed her.



I will remember you,

Will you remember me?

Don't let your love pass you by,

Weep not for the memory.



"I love you Rachel Green." He said. Rachel smiled.

"I love you too, Ross." She said. Both embraced for a long moment. "I'm going to miss you so much." She sobbed. Ross didn't want to make it noticeable, but he was crying too. He wiped his tears away before looked at her. He brushed her hair out of her face and wiped her tears.

"This isn't it sweetie. This isn't goodbye. I promise." He said. Rachel laughed.

"Who are we kidding? I live in California, you live in New York. It's not going to work." She said hysterically. Ross laughed at bit to himself to lighten the mood.



I'm so afraid to love you,

But more afraid to lose

Clinging to a past that doesn't let me chose

Once there was darkness deep down inside

You gave me everything you had, oh, you gave me light



Rachel heard Andrea yell again, and then she looked at her watch.

"I have to go." She said. Rachel pulled the lai over Ross' head. "Don't ever forget about me." She whispered. Ross pulled off his pink one, and after a few minutes of struggling, he put it around her neck.

"That's impossible. I could never forget you Rach. Just, don't forget me either.



I will remember you,

Will you remember me?

Don't let your love pass you by,

Weep not for the memory.

With one more kiss, Rachel watched him walk down the beach.

XOXOElizabethXOXO

More to come! Did you really think that was the end?? LOL