HEARTACHE - Chapter 3
Ross arrived home really tired, all he wanted was to get into his bed and shout his bedroom door to the world. He had had an awful day, first he arrived late to his first class, but just on time before his student left the room, so he had to stand the pissed look on everyone's faces for a whole hour, and everything got worst on his next class when he realized he had left the papers for that class on his coffee table. After that horrible morning, his boss had gone to see him to tell him he had a couple of grades he needed to fill within the next two weeks or his entire first year class would fail. And as a cherry on the top of that day's cake, he had run into Mona, his two-years-ago ex-girlfriend who kept on asking how things were with Rachel and the baby, if they had getting together and if they had plans of getting married anytime soon, cause she was about to. "Great!" was all he could say, marrying Rachel would have made a lot of sense two years ago, it looked like everything was ready for them to get back together and finally stayed that way for the rest of their lifes, but once again he had screwed everything and that was probably the reason why he was going to be alone for the rest of his life, cause he was tired of trying to find a girl who was as good for him as Rachel was, there wasn't any, and although Charlie was great, and they had a lot of things in common, there wasn't anything else, anything special at all. He didn't wake up every morning with a smile on his face just because he was with her, she wasn't in every single one of his thoughts since he woke up until he went to sleep and then again in his dreams like Rachel used to be. No, Charlie wasn't that girl, but it was easier for him to be with her than to be on his own, specially in such a hard point of his life, where he already had given up on the hope of spend the rest of his life with the one person he was sure was his soul mate by his side.
He walked into his room to get a towel, he was gonna take a streamly hot shower and then go straight to bed. Lately he had been getting use to take a lot of really hot showers, it helped him to feel alive, the hot water burning his skin sensation made him feel something else, something new, something beside the heartache he felt everyday.
Before Ross could actually get into the shower there was a knock on the door. He looked through the peephole and saw Rachel standing in the hallway. "Great, the one thing that was missing today" he thought as he opened the door
"Hey Rach" he greeted with the best fake smile he could give her "come in"
"Hey Ross" said Rachel entering to the apartment
"Where's Emma?" he asked, realizing Rachel was there by herself
"She's at Monica's. I didn't want to bring her cause I kind of need to talk to you about something, and it may take a while. Do you have time?"
"Of course, of course. I was about to take a shower, but it's ok, it can wait" he said smiling as she sat on the big brown couch
"Thanks" she said, looking down
"Hey, hey!!.. what happened? Why do you have that look on your face? Is it everything ok?" asked Ross sitting next to her on the couch
"Yeah, everything is ok. I just. I just need to talk to you about something, and it's kind of a big deal"
"Whoa!, the last time you needed to talk to me about something was because you and Joey were together" joked Ross, trying to cover how nervous he was for whatever Rachel had to say to him "you two aren't planning on getting married, are you?, cause I can tell you, getting married after dating just a couple of weeks. not a good idea, you may end up saying another person's name on the altar. Believe me, it can happen"
Rachel laugh a little, this kind of things were one of the many things that made her loving him so much, the way he joked to make her feel more comfortable when she was feeling a little stressed. "No Ross, that's not it. It had to do with me and Emma. and with Joey a little bit"
"Ok" he said lying his back on the back of the couch "shoot"
"Well. first of all. Joey and I broke up this morning."
"Really?" interrupted Ross, trying not to sound too cheered by the news "so I suppose you came to ask me if you and Emma can move back here.. Right"
"The truth is." tried to explain Rachel
"Of course you can!!" interrupted Ross once again "I'd be more than happy to have you both back here. not that I'm happy that you and Joe broke up or anything. I'm just saying."
"ROSS!!" yelled Rachel, making Ross stopped talking "could you please hear me out before rushing into your own conclusions?"
"Yes. I'm. I'm sorry Rach. please go on" apologized Ross
"Thank you. as I was saying, Joey and I broke up, but it wasn't an awful break up or anything, we both agreed it was the best thing to do. We are too good as friends to go down that road, you know. it would be just too complicated"
"Yeah, I know, fell in love with a friend is complicated like that" said Ross, looking nervously at his hands, trying to avoid her gaze
"But I don't think I was in love with Joey, otherwise it wouldn't have felt so weird"
"Probably. I guess" said Ross not really knowing how to replied. He wasn't if this was the right moment to talk about being in love with a friend, cause that would imply to talk to her about his feelings, and although she wasn't with Joey anymore she was still his best friend's ex-girlfriend, and he was with Charlie. But he was sure that wasn't everything Rachel needed to tell him, she was still very tense "Was. was that everything you needed to tell me?"
Rachel looked at him and remembered how he had acted that day when Joey, Charlie and her were there eating his 'fajitas', the hurt look on his face and the tears, and felt like she couldn't do it, the guy was already broken because of her, telling him was she was about to would kill him, now wasn't the best moment to do it, maybe after he had healed a little "Yeah, that was pretty much it. I. I just needed to talk about this with a friend" she replied smiling, knowing that one day not to far away she would have to tell him, but not just now.
*~*
"She's leaving?" asked Monica amazed to Joey as the both of them, plus Phoebe were on her apartment talking about what had happened that morning, while Emma was asleep on Rachel's ex-bedroom "Where?"
"LA" replied Joey "apparently she received a job offer she couldn't refuse"
"But she CAN'T live, what about Emma? What about Ross?" asked this time Phoebe
"She told me she wanna take Emma with her, that's why she went to talk to Ross now" answered Joey "I have no idea why she's doing this"
"I do" said Phoebe with a contemplative look on her face "the first time she tried to rebuild her life she run away from everything she had, I guess she's trying to do the same thing"
"Yeah Phoebs, but that was 10 years ago, she wasn't leaving a whole life behind" refuted Monica
"She wasn't? Monica, remember she had a guy on the altar. But this time is much harder, I agree with you on that, cause the first time she didn't lose much, her parents ended up supporting her, and she wasn't complete on her own, she had us. Now she could lose Ross, forever. And also she'll be on a completely different State, just her and her daughter"
"Ross would never allow that" protested Monica "Rachel can't be so selfish!, cause it's not just her this time, Emma is in the middle of all this, she can't take the little girl away from his daddy, that would kill Ross"
"Maybe there's something we could do" suggested Joey
"What do you mean Joe?" asked Phoebe
"I mean.. she said she wasn't gonna leave before Phoeb's wedding, so that would give us like two months to make her and Ross get back together. I think that's the only chance we have for her to stay"
"That sounds like a HELL of a idea!!" screamed Monica really excited "but, are you sure this is what you want honey?" she asked concerned "after all, is still Rachel"
"I know, but I want her to be happy, and I don't want her to leave. And after all, they are still 'Ross and Rachel', we all know they belong together" replied Joey, as cheered as he could
"Then we are coming in!!" said Phoebe as Chandler entered to the apartment
"You are coming in where Phoebs?" he asked as he placed his briefcase on the table
"Chandler?, are you gonna leave that there?" asked Monica with a reproving tone
"Hey honey, I'm happy to see you too" said Chandler taking his briefcase once again and entering to their bedroom. Once he came out to the living room he joined the rest of the gang on the living room and looked at Phoebe "well?" he asked
"Well what?" answered Phoebe lost
"When I came in you said you guys were coming in. where?" he asked curious
"You know curiosity killed the cat, right Chandler?" replied seriously Phoebe
"What cat?" asked Joey
"It's an expression Joe" explained Monica
"Yeah, but what does have a cat to do with making Ross and Rachel get back together?" replied Joey
"You are gonna what?!" asked Chandler
Monica gave Joey a killer look before tried to explain her husband everything that had happened and why they were planning to do all this "but you have to promise me you are gonna keep your mouth shout!!" she demanded once she had finished
"Mon, what did I told you about butting in people's life?"
"I know, but the last time I did it, it worked out really well" she said taking Phoebe's hand and pointing at her engagement ring
"I have to agree with her on this one" said Phoebe
"Are you ok with all this Joe?" Chandler was worried about his best friend, he knew how much Joey loved Rachel
"Yeah, actually it was kind of my idea"
"Really Joe?"
"I love her man, but I want her to be happy, happy like she was when she was with Ross, remember? And, I know she still has feelings for him, that's one of the reasons why she's doing all this" explained Joey
"Then if you are all on this, I guess I'll have to join you. and don't worry Mon, I won't say a thing"
"YAY! The 4 of us never do anything all together. This is going to be so much fun!!" exclaimed Phoebe as the four friends joined on a group hug
"Hang on" said Monica breaking the hug "we may have a problem here"
"What'ya mean hun'?
"Rachel went to talk about this with Ross. there's a tiny chance that after that conversation he's not gonna want to see her ever again. you know how awful those guy's fights are"
"Nah, I don't think that's going to be a problem" replied Chandler who had approached to the window and was looking through to Ross' apartment "they are saying their goodbyes with a hug. I don't think Rachel told him anything"
"GREAT!!" yelled Monica and everyone gave her a weird look "I'm sorry"
TO BE CONTINUE...
Ross arrived home really tired, all he wanted was to get into his bed and shout his bedroom door to the world. He had had an awful day, first he arrived late to his first class, but just on time before his student left the room, so he had to stand the pissed look on everyone's faces for a whole hour, and everything got worst on his next class when he realized he had left the papers for that class on his coffee table. After that horrible morning, his boss had gone to see him to tell him he had a couple of grades he needed to fill within the next two weeks or his entire first year class would fail. And as a cherry on the top of that day's cake, he had run into Mona, his two-years-ago ex-girlfriend who kept on asking how things were with Rachel and the baby, if they had getting together and if they had plans of getting married anytime soon, cause she was about to. "Great!" was all he could say, marrying Rachel would have made a lot of sense two years ago, it looked like everything was ready for them to get back together and finally stayed that way for the rest of their lifes, but once again he had screwed everything and that was probably the reason why he was going to be alone for the rest of his life, cause he was tired of trying to find a girl who was as good for him as Rachel was, there wasn't any, and although Charlie was great, and they had a lot of things in common, there wasn't anything else, anything special at all. He didn't wake up every morning with a smile on his face just because he was with her, she wasn't in every single one of his thoughts since he woke up until he went to sleep and then again in his dreams like Rachel used to be. No, Charlie wasn't that girl, but it was easier for him to be with her than to be on his own, specially in such a hard point of his life, where he already had given up on the hope of spend the rest of his life with the one person he was sure was his soul mate by his side.
He walked into his room to get a towel, he was gonna take a streamly hot shower and then go straight to bed. Lately he had been getting use to take a lot of really hot showers, it helped him to feel alive, the hot water burning his skin sensation made him feel something else, something new, something beside the heartache he felt everyday.
Before Ross could actually get into the shower there was a knock on the door. He looked through the peephole and saw Rachel standing in the hallway. "Great, the one thing that was missing today" he thought as he opened the door
"Hey Rach" he greeted with the best fake smile he could give her "come in"
"Hey Ross" said Rachel entering to the apartment
"Where's Emma?" he asked, realizing Rachel was there by herself
"She's at Monica's. I didn't want to bring her cause I kind of need to talk to you about something, and it may take a while. Do you have time?"
"Of course, of course. I was about to take a shower, but it's ok, it can wait" he said smiling as she sat on the big brown couch
"Thanks" she said, looking down
"Hey, hey!!.. what happened? Why do you have that look on your face? Is it everything ok?" asked Ross sitting next to her on the couch
"Yeah, everything is ok. I just. I just need to talk to you about something, and it's kind of a big deal"
"Whoa!, the last time you needed to talk to me about something was because you and Joey were together" joked Ross, trying to cover how nervous he was for whatever Rachel had to say to him "you two aren't planning on getting married, are you?, cause I can tell you, getting married after dating just a couple of weeks. not a good idea, you may end up saying another person's name on the altar. Believe me, it can happen"
Rachel laugh a little, this kind of things were one of the many things that made her loving him so much, the way he joked to make her feel more comfortable when she was feeling a little stressed. "No Ross, that's not it. It had to do with me and Emma. and with Joey a little bit"
"Ok" he said lying his back on the back of the couch "shoot"
"Well. first of all. Joey and I broke up this morning."
"Really?" interrupted Ross, trying not to sound too cheered by the news "so I suppose you came to ask me if you and Emma can move back here.. Right"
"The truth is." tried to explain Rachel
"Of course you can!!" interrupted Ross once again "I'd be more than happy to have you both back here. not that I'm happy that you and Joe broke up or anything. I'm just saying."
"ROSS!!" yelled Rachel, making Ross stopped talking "could you please hear me out before rushing into your own conclusions?"
"Yes. I'm. I'm sorry Rach. please go on" apologized Ross
"Thank you. as I was saying, Joey and I broke up, but it wasn't an awful break up or anything, we both agreed it was the best thing to do. We are too good as friends to go down that road, you know. it would be just too complicated"
"Yeah, I know, fell in love with a friend is complicated like that" said Ross, looking nervously at his hands, trying to avoid her gaze
"But I don't think I was in love with Joey, otherwise it wouldn't have felt so weird"
"Probably. I guess" said Ross not really knowing how to replied. He wasn't if this was the right moment to talk about being in love with a friend, cause that would imply to talk to her about his feelings, and although she wasn't with Joey anymore she was still his best friend's ex-girlfriend, and he was with Charlie. But he was sure that wasn't everything Rachel needed to tell him, she was still very tense "Was. was that everything you needed to tell me?"
Rachel looked at him and remembered how he had acted that day when Joey, Charlie and her were there eating his 'fajitas', the hurt look on his face and the tears, and felt like she couldn't do it, the guy was already broken because of her, telling him was she was about to would kill him, now wasn't the best moment to do it, maybe after he had healed a little "Yeah, that was pretty much it. I. I just needed to talk about this with a friend" she replied smiling, knowing that one day not to far away she would have to tell him, but not just now.
*~*
"She's leaving?" asked Monica amazed to Joey as the both of them, plus Phoebe were on her apartment talking about what had happened that morning, while Emma was asleep on Rachel's ex-bedroom "Where?"
"LA" replied Joey "apparently she received a job offer she couldn't refuse"
"But she CAN'T live, what about Emma? What about Ross?" asked this time Phoebe
"She told me she wanna take Emma with her, that's why she went to talk to Ross now" answered Joey "I have no idea why she's doing this"
"I do" said Phoebe with a contemplative look on her face "the first time she tried to rebuild her life she run away from everything she had, I guess she's trying to do the same thing"
"Yeah Phoebs, but that was 10 years ago, she wasn't leaving a whole life behind" refuted Monica
"She wasn't? Monica, remember she had a guy on the altar. But this time is much harder, I agree with you on that, cause the first time she didn't lose much, her parents ended up supporting her, and she wasn't complete on her own, she had us. Now she could lose Ross, forever. And also she'll be on a completely different State, just her and her daughter"
"Ross would never allow that" protested Monica "Rachel can't be so selfish!, cause it's not just her this time, Emma is in the middle of all this, she can't take the little girl away from his daddy, that would kill Ross"
"Maybe there's something we could do" suggested Joey
"What do you mean Joe?" asked Phoebe
"I mean.. she said she wasn't gonna leave before Phoeb's wedding, so that would give us like two months to make her and Ross get back together. I think that's the only chance we have for her to stay"
"That sounds like a HELL of a idea!!" screamed Monica really excited "but, are you sure this is what you want honey?" she asked concerned "after all, is still Rachel"
"I know, but I want her to be happy, and I don't want her to leave. And after all, they are still 'Ross and Rachel', we all know they belong together" replied Joey, as cheered as he could
"Then we are coming in!!" said Phoebe as Chandler entered to the apartment
"You are coming in where Phoebs?" he asked as he placed his briefcase on the table
"Chandler?, are you gonna leave that there?" asked Monica with a reproving tone
"Hey honey, I'm happy to see you too" said Chandler taking his briefcase once again and entering to their bedroom. Once he came out to the living room he joined the rest of the gang on the living room and looked at Phoebe "well?" he asked
"Well what?" answered Phoebe lost
"When I came in you said you guys were coming in. where?" he asked curious
"You know curiosity killed the cat, right Chandler?" replied seriously Phoebe
"What cat?" asked Joey
"It's an expression Joe" explained Monica
"Yeah, but what does have a cat to do with making Ross and Rachel get back together?" replied Joey
"You are gonna what?!" asked Chandler
Monica gave Joey a killer look before tried to explain her husband everything that had happened and why they were planning to do all this "but you have to promise me you are gonna keep your mouth shout!!" she demanded once she had finished
"Mon, what did I told you about butting in people's life?"
"I know, but the last time I did it, it worked out really well" she said taking Phoebe's hand and pointing at her engagement ring
"I have to agree with her on this one" said Phoebe
"Are you ok with all this Joe?" Chandler was worried about his best friend, he knew how much Joey loved Rachel
"Yeah, actually it was kind of my idea"
"Really Joe?"
"I love her man, but I want her to be happy, happy like she was when she was with Ross, remember? And, I know she still has feelings for him, that's one of the reasons why she's doing all this" explained Joey
"Then if you are all on this, I guess I'll have to join you. and don't worry Mon, I won't say a thing"
"YAY! The 4 of us never do anything all together. This is going to be so much fun!!" exclaimed Phoebe as the four friends joined on a group hug
"Hang on" said Monica breaking the hug "we may have a problem here"
"What'ya mean hun'?
"Rachel went to talk about this with Ross. there's a tiny chance that after that conversation he's not gonna want to see her ever again. you know how awful those guy's fights are"
"Nah, I don't think that's going to be a problem" replied Chandler who had approached to the window and was looking through to Ross' apartment "they are saying their goodbyes with a hug. I don't think Rachel told him anything"
"GREAT!!" yelled Monica and everyone gave her a weird look "I'm sorry"
TO BE CONTINUE...