Title: The Open Road

Author: Kaitlyn

Summary: "I've got some beer and the highway's free, and I got you and baby you got me."

Rating: PG-13

(Note: In this world, the whole Mark situation DID happen. The only difference between the real version and my version is that, when Ross called Rachel back that night, Mark was NOT there and Ross did NOT sleep with Chloe. They did work things out.)

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When you are a little girl, you dream about the future. More specifically, you dream about the perfect future. You dream about the perfect life, in the perfect house, with the prefect husband. You map out every minute detail- from how he's going to look, to how you're going to meet him, to how he's going to propose. When you are a little girl, you dream of romantic promises made upon cliffs at dusk on nondescript beaches. You dream of hushed whispers made upon checkered blankets in generically beautiful grassy parks.

When you are a woman, however, and you are standing face-to-face with the key to all of those things, you realize just how much better the most awkward of realities can be than the most idealistic of fantasies. And in that moment, Rachel realized something else, as well.

She no longer wanted that storybook romance. Ross had never been her knight in shining armor, and their relationship had always seemingly fallen short. In looking back over their years together, they might even have appeared to an outsider as incompatible and dysfunctional. They'd fought, and they'd cried, and they'd hurt. But in that moment, for that split second when time stood still for Rachel, she knew that those were the things that bound them together, in the end.

Their love, she considered, was not something pretty to be sat up on a shelf and admired. Their love was not an emotion, but rather an act. It was something that they did every day. It was something they'd been doing, though subconsciously at times, for nearly 4 years. It had been fought for. It had been earned. That was the type of love she wanted to carry her into the next chapter of her life, and she knew that she would never have it with anyone else but him.

So, in an obscure haze of tearful whispers and blissful kisses, she bound herself eternally to the only man she'd ever loved enough to fight for.

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"She's got a way about her

I don't know what it is

But I know that I can't live without her

She's got a way of pleasing

I don't know why it is

But there doesn't have to be a reason anyway"

They had not moved in almost 3 hours. Ever since Rachel's feeble yet firm acceptance at around 4 pm, they'd just laid together on the queen sized bed, listening to music and talking. Neither attempted to make it anything more. No clothes had been discarded, nothing more than sweet kisses had been exchanged. Around 6, laughing and rustling had been heard below them in the kitchen. They did not even acknowledge that their friends were having dinner without them, nor did they move to go tell them the good news.

"She's got a smile that heals me

I don't know what it is

But I have to laugh when she reveals me

She's got a way of talking

I don't know why it is

But it lifts me up when we are walking anywhere"

Currently, Billy Joel's "She's Got A Way" was playing on some unknown Montauk radio station. At one point, Ross began to subconsciously hum along, earning him a wide smile from Rachel and a playful slap on the arm. This encouraged him more than anything else, and he even began to sing the words softly in her ear. She didn't care that they weren't completely on key. She just wrapped her arms more tightly around his back and buried her face more snuggly into his chest.

"Ross, when you were in high school, who did you imagine when you were making out with girls?" This caused him to look down at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, everyone does that from time to time. There's always that one celebrity or whoever that you think about when you're really fooling around with someone else. Who was it for you?" He was still not following.

"Why are you asking me this?" She looked back up at him, smiling to assure him that she had no ulterior motive.

"I don't know- just curious, I guess." He just stared at her for a moment, but then finally cracked a small smile and answered.

"Well, uh, I guess it was you." She furrowed her brow and offered a mixed look of both disbelief and flattery.

"Really?"

"Well, yeah. The whole point behind that 'picturing someone else' thing is that the person who you're picturing is unattainable, and the closest you think you'll ever get to hooking up with them is in your dreams. So...for me, it was you." She looked genuinely touched, and reached up to kiss him softly on the lips.

"You know, I was stupid in high school, Ross. Well, really, EVERYONE'S stupid in high school, but you know what I mean." He nodded.

"Yeah, I do. It's okay, though. You don't have to feel like you owe me an explanation. The important thing is that we're together now. Nothing that's ever happened in the past could upset me as of..." After glancing down at his watch, he continued, "...about 3 hours ago." He smiled and kissed her nose. Just then, there was a knock at the door. This snapped them out of their dream-like state, causing Ross to sit up suddenly on the bed, almost as if he'd been an adolescent who'd just been caught feeling up some girl in his bedroom.

"Yeah?" he called out. He was greeted by his sister's familiar voice. She remained on the other side of the day, but raised her voice a bit as to be heard clearly.

"It's just me. The rest of us are going to take a walk out on the beach. You guys want to come?" Ross glanced over at Rachel to get her opinion. When she nodded in agreement, he assured that they'd be down in a few minutes. After he was sure that she'd left, he got up from the bed and went to put this shoes on.

"So, should we tell me tonight?" she asked, pulling her shirt up over her head and changing into a casual black tank-top.

"Yeah, during the walk." He couldn't help but gawk at her as she changed. Even though he'd seen her naked a countless number of times, it was her casualty about undressing in front of him that appealed to him so much. It was just so sexy, the way she didn't even think of his presence as being a factor anymore. It was comfortable yet intriguing, all at once. He waited for her to change into a pair of army green Capri pants before following her downstairs.

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The night was only slightly chillier than the previous one had been, but the mind-blowing sunset that was occurring as the sextet stepped out onto the sandy beach made up for that. The sky was a canvas sprayed with every conceivable shade of yellow, red and orange, and the sun was one big fireball as it sank slowly into the sea.

The six made their way down the beach towards the tall piers that stood at least a good mile away. The wind was blowing, but only slightly. Still, it ruffled their hair and led Ross to pull his black sweater from over his head and give it to Rachel to wear. She accepted, though it swallowed her and hung loosely around her small frame.

"Hey, do you guys ever think about how different things have become over the past 4 years?" Phoebe asked after several moments of undisturbed silence.

"What do you mean?" Joey inquired.

"Well, I mean, just look at us! Four years ago, we were all just, you know, 6 single, more-or-less unemployed people looking for something to do with our lives. Now, Chandler and Monica are together, Joey's a successful soap opera actor, Ross is working at the museum, Rachel's an assistant buyer at Bloomingdale's, and Ross and Rachel are practically married." At this, Rachel through a secret smile at Ross, who decided to speak up.

"Actually, um, that's something we wanted to talk to you guys about." Everyone knew what was coming. They all stopped walking and turned to face Ross. Monica put her hands over her mouth in attempts at stifling her oncoming sobs.

"Well, this afternoon, while you guys were all out doing your various things, Rachel and I sort of decided something." Everyone was all smiles. Chandler encouraged him.

"And?"

"And...well, as you all obviously know, we've been together for a long time now. We've sort of casually discussed a future together in the past, but never really had the foresight or the courage to..."

"Out with it, man!" Joey yelled. Rachel finished the thought for him.

"We're engaged!" She held up her hand to display the ring for everyone to see. Immediately, the other two girls ran to her side and joined her in a frenzy of giggles and jumping. The guys congregated off to the side, patting Ross on the back and exchanging words of congratulations.

"Good work, man. Was it everything you wanted it to be?" Chandler asked.

"Actually...no. But it doesn't matter. I don't care. It was really simply, but it was perfect. It was just me asking her to be with me for the rest of our lives, and it was her saying yes. That's all I've ever REALLY wanted." They exchanged a few more high fives before regrouping and continuing on their walk.

Ross and Rachel laced fingers and were now walking barefoot at the water's edge with their shoes in their free hands. The others pulled away slightly, knowingly allowing them some personal time together. Ross playfully pushed against her with his shoulder, causing her to nearly lose her balance and fall into the water. He, of course, wrapped his arm around her waist at the last moment to catch her, though. This produced just what he had been hoping for- one of her patented giggles.

"You know," he offered, tightening his grip around her waist, "I don't know if I could ever get enough of you."

"Aw, come on, that's not true. I'm sure there have been plenty of times in the past when you've wanted to get rid of me. Actually, I'm remembering a few times when I'm surprised you didn't try to hire someone to knock me off."

"...that you know of," he teased. Then, his tone got suddenly serious. "But it doesn't matter how frustrated I may get, I've never stayed mad at you for more than a few hours. As soon as I start remembering your smile, or the way you laugh, or the way you walk, or the way you touch my leg and don't even realize it when you're talking to me...I stop being mad, and start wanting to be with you again." Something that Rachel had always noticed and had found so endearing about Ross was that, no matter how eloquent or educated he may be in his everyday life, he always had a way of putting things so simply when it came to them. He continued.

"Like that night when we broke up...I wanted to hate you, Rach. I went to that bar with Chandler and Joey, and when I was explaining what happened, I was so mad at you that I wanted to scream." He looked down at her. Her face was hard to read, but she remained quiet so that he could continue.

"I really wanted to hurt you, I think for the first time ever. Not physically, but I just wanted to do something that would make you feel the same thing I was feeling. I don't think I'd ever felt that bad in my entire life. It was kind of like the feeling I got when I saw you kissing Paulo, only deeper and more painful." He brushed his fingers back and forth over the soft skin at her waist to reassure her that he was not saying these things to hurt her, but only to lead to his point.

"But then I called you. I called you, and I heard your voice, and I forgot about everything, Rachel. I forgot about that pain in the pit of my stomach. I forgot about the way you looked at me- so helpless and tired- when you told me you wanted to 'take a break'. I forgot about wanting to hurt you, and I just imagined you on the other end of the phone, smiling and telling me you were sorry. That's really all it takes from you, Rach. Just one, quick apology, and I'm putty in your hands."

She was crying, now, which he had actually not expected. She cried a lot, but not usually over things like these. He immediately felt guilty, but her expression told him not to. He wiped her cheeks with his thumb and apologized.

"No, no, it's not your fault. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's just everything that's happened today- first the proposal, now you telling me all of this. It doesn't feel real. I don't know if I deserve all of these things."

"Rachel, you deserve everything you want. That's why I want to marry you- because I want to be the person who gives it to you." She smiled simply at him. After all, that's all it took.

"That's the best reason I can think of."

End Chapter.