Breaking Away Chapter 2: The Aftermath Part 2

Disclaimer: Still don't own any of these characters, and never will.

Premise/Recap: This is set immediately after the Season 9 finale. In the previous chapter, Joey came back and kissed Rachel. She pulled away and said that their relationship would never work because of the effect it would on the rest of the group and Emma. Joey walked away heartbroken.

A/N: Thanks for the positive feedback I've received thus far. Oh and one more thing. When Chandler dances, picture the dance he did when Monica told the others that he was the best sex she'd ever had

Once again Joey walked away from Rachel after being rejected. Joey could hear Rachel's racking sobs echoing from her room, but forced himself to ignore them. She's right, you know. This potential situation with Rachel would be so much worse than Ross hooking up with Charlie. There was Emma to think about to. Joey's inner voice, the Judge Joey as he called it, whispered this in back of Joey's mind. However, though Judge Joey had won many of the inner battles on this trip, it was the other voice, Criminal Joey that won out. The message was simple. She rejected you again. You allowed yourself to hope that maybe it would happen and what did she do? She kicked you in the balls. For the moment, Criminal Joey's voice drowned out Judge Joey. As Joey stepped onto the elevator he considered his options. Though his mind was still a hazy mixture of hurt, pain, and anger, Joey realized that he needed to do something. And that something could not include breaking down into tears like the last time he was rejected. For once that trip his inner voices agreed. The only thing to do would be to get hammered. He considered going back to he and Charlie's room, but the thought of walking in on her and Ross and the resulting confrontation was definitely out of the question. The hotel bar Joey decided. Before he was shut down for the night, Judge Joey had one more thought. You left her sobbing alone in her room. With a violent shake of his head, Joey chased that thought out of his mind.

As the elevator reached the lobby, Joey walked out his head down. He bumped into a body. "Excuse me" Joey mumbled and moved to get by. A hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Joey?" As Joey looked up he realized that the voice belonged to the last person he wanted to see at the moment. Ross. Ross had an anxious expression on his face. Joey thought that he would feel some sort of anger. After all, not only had this guy kissed his ex only hours after he had broken up with her, but he was the reason he wasn't making passionate love to Rachel right now. But Joey only felt a strange sense of weariness. "Hey Ross" he said in a monotone. "You look like some one kicked your dog." Ross said in a voice that was intended to sound casual, but which ended up sounding high-pitched. Despite his weary feeling, a sudden burst of anger rose white-hot in Joey. Criminal Joey had taken the stand. "Well" he said in a voice that sounded surprisingly casual. "I broke up with Charlie a few hours ago." Ross's face whitened and a look of profound regret came into his face. "R-Really" he said. "Yeah. I mean I couldn't really understand the stuff she would talk about. Triassic, Jurassic, Brontosauruses." "Apatosaurus" Ross corrected without thinking." "Yeah whatever, but I liked her. A lot." Ross looked stricken. "I kissed her, Joey" he said, almost in a whisper. "You what?" Joey barked out. However seeing the terrified expression on Ross's face, Joey decided to take pity. "It's-it's just we have so much in common. I don't exactly see very much beautiful paleontologists" "Yeah tell me about it" Joey muttered under his breath. "I like her, but I don't want to risk our friendship over her. I'll break it off." Ross said in an earnest voice. Joey shook his head. "No look man, it's okay. I'm glad it's you and not one of those other creepy diggers." "Paleontologists" Ross corrected him automatically. "Yeah whatever, the point is, it's okay. Go for it." Ross's normally hangdog face lit up. "Really?" "Yeah" Joey confirmed with a small smile. Ross started to move toward the elevator and then stopped, turning around "You want some company?" he asked. "No no" Joey said hurriedly. "I'll be fine. Just do me a favor" "Anything" Ross said. "Don't have sex at 8:00 tomorrow" "Um sure," Ross said with a weird expression on his face. "Because that's when I'll pick up my luggage. It's still in her room. And I've walked in on Chandler and Monica enough times; I don't want to walk in on you guys." "Okay sure." Ross said, heading toward the elevator. "And Joey?" he asked as the doors began to close." Thanks" Joey gave him a thumbs-up which he quickly turned into a thumbs-down when the doors closed. He continued to the bar, reflected that even though he had thought giving Ross his blessing would make him feel better, it actually made him feel worse, seeing Ross's regret and fear that he had jeopardized their friendship. Hypocrite Judge Joey's voice whispered at him. But then the image of Rachel rejecting him again, her voice shaking but steady, determined as she broke his heart into a million pieces once again pierced his brain and Joey no longer felt bad. With renewed haste, he made his way into the bar.

"We rock, we rock, we're the best and we're not afraid to show it!" Monica's chant filled the hallway as she danced in front of Chandler. Chandler grinned. "Yeah we did, but Mon, try and keep it down." "Ha! Did you see the look on Mike's face when you blew that shot past him? Even Phoebe looked upset". Monica crowed, ignoring Chandler "Serves him right, thinking he could take on Team Gellar." "Hey!" said Chandler reflexively "Oh come on honey, Team Bing just sounds wrong." Chandler shook his head. "Okay Mon, not only do you look like Diana Ross, but you're also as loud as her. I don't think the guests are in the mood for a Diana Ross concert at- "he checked his watch "12:04 at night" "Come on baby" Monica said, moving closer to him. "If you let me enjoy my victory-""Our victory" Chandler corrected her. "Our victory" Monica continued "I'll you win in there." jerking her head toward the bedroom. "All hail Team Gellar, the best married ping-pong team in Barbados history" Chandler yelled out dancing down the hallway. Monica looked at his retreating form, shaking her head in pity. As she caught up to him at the door to their room she said "Honey, next time I'm in the mood and you're not-" "Like that has ever happened" Chandler scoffed. "Just do that dance and you won't have a problem" "You mean this dance?" Chandler asked, dancing ever more furiously than before. "Okay, if you want to have sex tonight, stop that right now." Chandler immediately stopped. As Monica opened the door, they both began to kiss. Just as they collapsed onto the bed, there was a loud noise from the room next to theirs. Monica sat up "What was that? It sounded like it came from Rachel's room" "Who cares, who cares" Chandler said hurriedly, reaching in to kiss her again. Seconds later, an even louder noise came from the room. "Stay right there Mr. Bing" said Monica, pointing a finger at Chandler as she moved toward the door.

Monica opened the door and as she did, a very drunk Rachel who was leaning against it, fell into the room. A half-empty bottle of Jack Daniel's tumbled out of her hands and smashed on the carpet. "NOOO!" Monica yelled in horror as she immediately dropped to her knees in front of the rapidly- spreading puddle of whiskey on the floor. "Priorities, Mon, priorities" Chandler quickly said, gesturing to Rachel who was slumped against the bed. Reluctantly Monica went over to her. "Rach, you okay?" "I lost him. I had him and then I lost him again." Rachel said, her eyes closed 'Uh, it's okay Rach. I can get you a new Jack Daniel's. Although losing him on the clean hotel carpet in Monica's hotel room no less wasn't exactly the wisest choice." said Chandler in a reassuring voice. Annoyed, Monica turned to him "Chandler, remember when I told you that sometimes you don't talk in this marriage? Remember that!" "Sorry, sorry bossy lady" Chandler muttered, lying on the bed again. "I heard that" Monica said. "Listen, honey, are you talking about Joey?" she asked Rachel. Miserably Rachel nodded. "He kissed me after I told him I liked him and then I rejected him. Again. My life sucks." "Wait. You like Joey" Chandler asked in disbelief. Rachel nodded. "And you knew about this?" Chandler demanded of Monica. "Chandler, please. Priorities" said Monica in an overly loud voice. "What about Charlie?" Chandler asked. "She kissed the bone man." said Rachel. "Ross?" asked Monica. "Yep, the bone man" Rachel confirmed nodding her heard rapidly. Then she laughed. "The bone man, the bone man" she chanted. "My god, I feel like I walked into one of those teenage soap operas. Like Dawson's Creek." said Chandler in an amazed tone of voice "How do you know about Dawson's Creek" asked Monica. Chandler immediately tried to change the subject "Rach, how deep are your feelings toward Joey?" "This deep" said Rachel holding her hands about an inch apart. No this deep" she quickly corrected herself, unsteadily getting to her feet and holding her hand to her head. From here to the floor." Rachel paused for a moment, wavering slightly on her feet, "I want with him what you guys have. But it doesn't matter. I broke his heart again and this time he's not going to come back" Chandler and Monica exchanged surprised glances. "Rach" said Monica carefully "Do you mean you love him?" Rachel nodded vigorously "I love him like you love your Bing-a-ling." Rachel's face twisted into a smile and she suddenly emitted a machine-gun laugh reminiscent of Janice's. "Oh god, oh god" Chandler moaned, holding his hands to his head. "Only thing worse than Janice is a drunk Janice wannabe" Monica shook her head at Chandler. "Are you going to be okay Rach?" she asked worriedly "No" said Rachel "I won't" Suddenly her face became a sickly green colour. She leaned over and vomited on the bed. With that, she toppled to the floor, passed out. About ten minutes later, Monica passed through the connecting door into Rachel's room where Chandler stood anxiously. "Is she okay?" "I don't know. I've never seen her like this. Not even when she broke up with Ross" "The first or the second time?" asked Chandler. Monica regarded him "Not now okay honey. Be funny tomorrow. Not today. I need to sleep" "Um, well, apparently Rachel has a thing for vomiting on beds." said Chandler in a resigned tone of voice. "You have GOT to be kidding me" said Monica. Wordlessly Chandler shook his head. "Dammit, the floor it is." said Monica, lying on the floor "Night Ms. Ross" said Chandler a few minutes later. "Night Mr. Teenage Soap Opera Fan" said Monica sleepily. In the darkness Chandler shook his head.

In the surprisingly-empty bar, Joey nursed his third glass of Jack Daniel's that night. He stared vacantly into the amber liquid, his mind still going over the heartbreaking events in Rachel's hotel room. "Joey??" said a surprised female voice Joey turned and his mouth fell open when he saw who it was "Janine??"