Past & Present
Chapter 1: The Pact
DISCLAIMER: I don't own "Friends" or any of the characters. Hence, I am writing my own version of Season 10 before the lobster obsessed writers mess it up!
THE PREMISE: Rachel must choose between her past and her future. Will tragedy be the result?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here it is, chapter one! We are officially into AU Season 10! A few things I want to explain and a few questions to answer: While I will have scenes featuring the other characters, and events will unfold in their lives, they are still the back-drop to the Joey /Rachel story. However, it is sometimes helpful to work from other POV's in order to tell the story and set the scene. I don't write the other characters as well as J/R, but I'm trying really hard, so bear with me.
This chapter is rather long, but I had to set up a lot of things here. Also, for those who asked – there will be trouble ahead for the happy couple. Everything is about to change. So, please – read and review, let me know if you like it so far and I'll keep going with it! Thanks!
~*~*~*~*~*~
As morning brought more rain to Barbados, Monica and Chandler took their seats at a table in the Paradise Hotel restaurant. They were waiting for the gang to join them at the breakfast buffet before they all checked out and boarded a plane bound for New York.
"I can't believe it's our last morning here," Monica sighed. "It went by so fast." She thanked the waiter who placed a large pot of coffee on the table.
"We're going to have to get a weed eater for your hair when we get home," Chandler replied as he poured himself a cup of coffee. He looked up to see Phoebe and Mike approaching, hand in hand.
"Still sore from getting your ass kicked last night?" Mike smirked as he took his seat opposite Monica.
"Ha! I kicked your ass!"
"Correction," Mike unfolded his napkin calmly. "I was kicking your ass until Chandler had to take over for you." He looked at Chandler. "You, sir, did kick my ass. Somewhat." He paused. "But only because I was tired and let you win." He looked at Monica. "Just admit your defeat and get it over with, Bing."
"How about some mimosas to go with breakfast? Anyone?" Phoebe attempted to change the subject.
Monica responded as if she hadn't heard Phoebe. "You know, my hand is feeling much better. Up for a rematch, Mikey?" She shook her enormous mane of frizz at him. "You and me. One round. Winner take all."
Chandler shifted nervously in his chair. He knew the warning signs all too well. She was going to insist on continuing the competition. "Honey, there isn't time. Our plane leaves in two hours."
Monica looked sullen as her hopes for defeating Mike were crushed. Mike drummed his fingers on the table, apparently lost in thought. Chandler and Phoebe looked at each other uncomfortably.
"Hey, this is an all you can eat breakfast buffet!" Mike exclaimed suddenly.
"Yes, Mike, they're common fixtures in travel accommodations," Chandler replied. "Is this your first buffet? Because I'll be happy to show you the ropes."
Mike interrupted. "All right, Monica. You want a rematch? You've got one. Pancake eating contest." He leaned back in his chair with a satisfied smile.
"Oh, God, Mike – don't wake the beast!" Phoebe pleaded under her breath.
"No – I can do this!" Monica pointed at Mike. "You're on. Whoever gives up first loses."
"You mean, whoever throws up first loses." Mike smiled fiendishly.
"Are you sure you're up to this?" Chandler's voice was hushed. "You said you were feeling a little woozy this morning."
"I was just tired from playing last night. I can take him!"
"I don't doubt that – I saw the home movie of what happened that time you spent your birthday money at Dunkin' Donuts."
"If you can't take the heat, maybe you should get out of the kitchen – Chef Bing", Mike sneered.
"That's Chef Geller to you!" Monica spat.
"Hey!" Chandler looked at Monica with a pained expression.
"It's my professional name!" Monica retorted. Grabbing her plate, she headed for the buffet. "You're going down, piano boy!"
Mike snatched his plate from the table and followed Monica to the buffet. "Bring it on!" he called to her retreating back.
"Shall we join them?" Chandler smiled at Phoebe.
"Yeah. Like there's going to be any food left when they're done." Phoebe rolled her eyes dramatically.
"Hey, you guys," Ross said as he pulled out a chair for Charlie before sitting down beside her. Chandler and Phoebe greeted them warmly.
"Did you sleep well?" Chandler asked as he passed the coffee to Ross.
Ross and Charlie exchanged sheepish glances. "Yes. I - I feel like a new man this morning," Ross answered, carefully avoiding eye contact with Chandler.
"Where are Monica and Mike?" Charlie asked, holding her coffee cup for Ross to fill.
"They're going to have a pancake eating contest," Phoebe replied with a resigned expression.
"What?" Ross' face was incredulous. "He's challenging Monica? About eating? Have you called the paramedics?"
"Hey," Phoebe interrupted, looking at Charlie. "Where's Joey this morning?"
"I don't know," Charlie replied slowly, stirring sweetener into her coffee. "Actually, Joey and I broke up yesterday."
"Aw, what happened? Are you ok?" Phoebe's tone was concerned.
"We just don't have anything in common. He's a great guy, but I need to be with someone who shares more of my interests." She glanced briefly at Ross. He returned her glance with a shy smile.
Chandler, catching and understanding this bit of interaction, shot Phoebe a questioning look. She shrugged her shoulders at him. Chandler turned his attention back to Charlie.
"Is Joey ok? Where is he?" Chandler asked.
"I don't really know. I haven't seen him since we had our talk last yesterday afternoon."
"You mean he didn't come back to the room to get his stuff last night?" Chandler raised his eyebrows.
"No, his things were still there when I got back this morning." Charlie answered.
Ross cleared his throat nervously.
"This morning?" It was Phoebe's turn to shoot a knowing look at Chandler.
"So, uh – where were you last night, that you didn't get back to your room until this morning?" Chandler leaned forward and fixed his gaze on Charlie and Ross, who were both busily adding cream to their coffee.
"Let me get this straight," Phoebe's face revealed her disgust. Her instinct to protect Joey was overcoming politeness. "First you dumped Joey, then you spent last night in another room -" she looked witheringly at Ross –"and Joey's luggage is still right where he left it this morning. And no one has seen him since late yesterday afternoon?"
"Hey, wait a minute," Chandler's voice rose an octave as he suddenly connected the dots. "Where's Rachel?"
~*~*~
A "Do Not Disturb" sign was carefully placed on the door knob of room 1202. The door connecting it to the adjoining room was locked. The phone, long removed from its hook, had ceased to make an annoying sound of protest. The drapes were drawn shut, and the muted sound of a love song drifted from the standard - issue hotel clock radio.
Rachel was sprawled across the bed, her chin resting on her hands, surveying the damage. A slew of plates, bowls, and glasses from room service littered the floor like the aftermath of a disaster.
She turned to look at Joey, who was lying on his back beside her. "I can't believe we did that."
"I can't believe you don't travel with Pepto-Bismol." He placed a hand on his stomach.
"It was all so good, but – don't you think we should have stopped short of the desserts?"
"But the desserts were the best part!" He groaned as he rolled over on the bed.
"The filet mignon and lobster was a nice touch," she continued. "Just like our date." She felt a warm glow of happiness remembering that night when it had all begun to change for them.
"Our first date," he amended.
"You mean our only date?" she corrected.
"No. I mean our first. We are about to have lots of dates. You will need to buy a new appointment book just to keep up with all the dates I'm taking you on." He looked at the dishes on the floor. "We better leave the maid a really good tip for cleaning this up."
"I suppose we had to find some outlet for our " she paused meaningfully "energy." Rachel pulled herself up to a sitting position, checking the clock with a frown. "We have to leave in two hours." She looked sadly into his eyes. "Back to the real world."
"Don't say it like that, like it's the end of everything," he protested, taking her hand in his. "It's just the beginning." He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.
Rachel smiled before sighing. "You need to go back to Charlie's room and get your stuff, and I need to get dressed – that is, if any of my clothes still fit." She gestured to the remains of their all night feast on the floor. "Why don't you bring your bags back here and use my shower? You can get dressed in here." She leaned over and kissed him teasingly before lying down against him. "Unless you'd rather get undressed in here." Her hands seemed to have a mind of their own as the wandered across his chest to his shoulders.
How did I ever live without him, she mused to herself for the hundredth time since he'd come back to her room the night before.
"You already know what I'd rather do. And we already talked about that." He put an arm around her, pulling her closer. "You sure you're ok with this Ross and Charlie thing?" His voice revealed the apprehension he was feeling as he waited for her answer.
"Honestly, like I told you last night, I don't care that they were kissing in the lobby, and I don't care if they went back to Ross' room and slept together. It got you to come back to me, didn't it?" She absently played with a button on his shirt. "You and me are all that matters now. Ross is Emma's father, but he and I are completely over as a couple. I'm fine with him finding someone else." She tilted her face up to his for another kiss. "So stop worrying, ok? If they hadn't gotten together, you would have felt too guilty to be with me. It's all working out for the best."
His eyes searched hers. "You're sure about this? Even with all the history you guys have –"
"History is just history," she interrupted. "It's time to move on to the future – and my future is with you."
He kissed her, feeling satisfied with her answers. He released his last fleeting fear that Ross still held the key to her heart.
"Aren't you going to get your bags?" She questioned when the kiss ended.
He held her tighter, inhaling the fragrance of her hair, reveling in the touch of her skin against his before he answered.
"In a minute. I'm not ready to let go of you yet."
"Then don't let go. Ever." She finished her sentence with another kiss that blotted out all thoughts of Charlie, Ross, luggage, and departure times.
~*~*~*~
The hum of the shower and Joey's off-key rendition of "If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Right" filled the air as Rachel put the finishing touches on her makeup. She studied her reflection in the portable makeup mirror, wondering why the powerful emotions coursing through her didn't show in her face. Other than the dark circles under her eyes – a result of staying up all night, eating and talking with Joey – she looked exactly the same as she had the day before.
Her hands were trembling a little as she put her lipstick back into her makeup case. She couldn't shake her anxiety about everyone finding out. Her dread of their reactions threatened to outweigh her newfound happiness for the moment.
As she finished packing her cosmetics, her mind went over the agreement she and Joey had made somewhere during the long hours of the previous night. They'd spent hours sitting on the floor with a room service tray between them, working out a plan for the days to come.
"We won't make any big formal announcement about it," Joey had suggested.
"Right. No big formal announcements," she had agreed.
"We'll just let everyone notice gradually," he had said as he took his key lime pie from the room service tray. "Maybe they won't notice at all until after we're married."
Rachel raised her eyebrows at the word "marriage".
"Ok, Ok, moving a little fast there, Joe," he had muttered before taking a huge bite of pie. "You know, we do live together. It's not like it's gonna be hard to keep this thing quiet." He chewed meditatively. "Damn, this is some good pie!"
"Oh, I think they'll notice all right," she had said as she helped herself to a bite of his pie. "But maybe Ross and Charlie will keep them distracted. For a little while, anyway." Her heart had overflowed with affection as she removed some whipped cream from the corner of his mouth with her napkin.
Now, as she folded her mirror and put it into her open suitcase on the bed, she could only hope that Charlie would make Ross so happy that he wouldn't go into one of his fits of possessive jealousy. Funny, she thought. She'd hated Charlie so much in the beginning for monopolizing Joey's attention. Now Charlie seemed like a Godsend.
She heard Joey shutting off the water in the bathroom.
"Are you decent?" he called through the door.
"Unfortunately," she answered wryly.
The bathroom door opened and Joey emerged from a cloud of steam, freshly showered and shaved, covered only by the crisp white hotel towel he was holding around his waist.
"Can you get me something to wear from my bag?" A goofy smile crossed his face. "I uh, I gotta have one hand to hold up my towel."
Rachel rolled her eyes as she unzipped his bag, removing a black shirt and jeans from the surprisingly neat contents. She silently passed both items to him. He thanked her and backed into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.
She walked slowly over to the bathroom and leaned against the door. "This reminds me, we need to add one other thing to the pact."
"What's that?"
"No walking around the apartment half naked. Full clothing must be worn at all times during the first week."
"But what about Naked Thursdays?"
"Joey! We never did Naked Thursdays!"
He opened the door, fully dressed this time. "Yeah. That's a shame." He smiled wistfully, as if remembering something that had never happened.
"If all goes well next week, we can start having them soon." Rachel moved her body into his, wrapping her arms around his neck. He chuckled.
"Ok, no partial nudity." He returned her embrace. "Anything else?"
"No, I think that covers it. Should we go over the pact more time?" she asked him as he released her. He walked back into the bathroom to pack his shampoo, shaving items, and toothbrush.
"Rule 1, no big formal announcements," he replied.
"Right. Rule 2, no obvious PDA's."
"Rule 3." He stepped out of the bathroom and looked at her sternly. "No sex for the first week."
She sighed. "No sex until we've spent one week back in the real world and I am sure that this is what I really want and am prepared to deal with the consequences." She recited the words like a child in school repeating a lesson. "Happy now?" She swatted his rear end playfully.
"Which brings us to Rule 4 – no walking around half naked." He looked around the room reluctantly and sighed. "I guess we should call for a luggage cart." She nodded her response.
He made the call quickly, then turned to her. "Ready to face the world?"
"No." She was blinking back tears. "I wish we could stay here forever."
Before he could answer, someone knocked on the door. Joey opened it and let the bellhop in. "That was fast," Joey gave the bellhop a smile he was far from feeling.
As Joey helped to load their bags onto the cart, Rachel quickly rummaged through the bedside table, taking out a matchbook bearing the Paradise Hotel logo and a room service receipt she'd saved from the previous night. No way I'm leaving without a souvenir, she told herself as she hastily stuck these treasures in her purse. She looked up to see Joey holding out his hand to her.
She took it and gave it a grateful squeeze.
"I'll bring you back here someday. I promise." He opened the door. "Same room and everything. Just the two of us."
She nodded, too close to tears to risk speaking.
They crossed the threshold, stepping out into the hall together. A new day had arrived.
