A/N: Thanks for the lovely reviews so far-to be perfectly honest, I'm not completely sure how it's going to turn out, but lets see anyway. I suppose I know how this chapter will go... keep reading and reviewing please! PS: I realise Ross is Jewish, but I don't know enough about Jewish weddings etc to make this believable. I'm sorry about that. xXx
"I...I was just..." Rachel looked confused, and didn't know where to go. Part of her was thrilled that she'd stopped the wedding, caused a problem and made everyone look at her. But another part of her was scared. She couldn't ruin Ross' wedding. If there was any chance of them being together in the future, she knew she couldn't anger him. This was supposed to be the happiest day of his life.
"I don't have a problem," she said eventually, turning to point down the aisle. "I was just... I needed some fresh air, that was all."
A look of relief washed over Ross' face, and Rachel saw that he really did not want nothing to spoil his day. He really was in love with Emily. And she knew, deep down, that what she wanted more than anything was for Ross to be happy. When you loved someone that much, you didn't want to hurt them.
As people continued to watch her, she walked slowly down the aisle. Monica felt a lump in her throat. Rachel looked so depressed, and Monica couldn't bear to watch her best friend go through hell. She couldn't even begin to imagine how horrible it must be to watch the person you loved the most in the world marry someone else, but she could tell from Rachel's eyes how hurt she was.
"I'll... I'll go check she's ok," Monica said. "Just carry on, don't worry." She picked up her dress and walked quickly down the aisle, following her best friend who obviously needed some comforting.
Ross looked to Emily, who looked a little shocked but seemed happy. "I think we should do what Monica said, just carry on," Ross said, and nodded to the vicar to carry on.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Rachel?" Monica called, searching around the church for her. She didn't have to get very far. She could hear Rachel's sobbing coming from the back of the building, and ran to be with her. Rachel was sitting on a bench, blowing her nose and sobbing into the tissue. Monica handed her a clean one, then sat down next to her and put her arm around her best friend.
"He loves her," Rachel sobbed. She kept repeating this sentence over and over again. Monica didn't know what to do for the best. She loved Rachel and Ross so much, and she couldn't bear to see Ross make a mistake like this, or so she thought, or to see Rachel practically killing herself with all the emotion she was carrying.
"Sweetie, it's Ross. He'll see soon that it's you he wants," she said soothingly, not sure whether to believe this herself.
"See? You are wishing a divorce on him. It would be so much easier if they weren't getting married. I mean, if Emily was only his girlfriend or something..." Rachel couldn't carry on. The tears engulfed her and she sat, rocking herself back and forth while Monica comforted her.
"Come on sweetie. Let's go for a walk or something," Monica suggested, and she helped Rachel to her feet. "Let's just wander around the building. A walk might do you some good."
Rachel looked at Monica disbelievingly, but didn't argue. She didn't have the strength. She felt weary after all the recent crying and just held onto Monica's arm as they began to walk slowly along the path.
As they walked towards the front of the church, Monica heard urgent and angry whispering going on. She took Rachel's hand, as she began to sniff again. "Honey, shush a minute," Monica said, upsetting Rachel further but needing to listen to what sounded like an argument between Ross and Emily. She didn't have a clue what was going on, and suddenly decided that it would be wrong to eavesdrop. She could find out later. Right now, Rachel needed some more comforting, and they carried on walking in the opposite direction.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Back at the hotel, Monica helped Rachel up to her room, realising that she had nowhere to stay that night, but thinking she could sort that out later. Right now, Rachel needed to rest for a while, and Monica wanted to go downstairs and see what was going on for the reception later on. It was being held in the hotel, which had a special room for such occasions.
"Just sleep for a little while, Rache," Monica suggested, and sat with her for a few minutes until Rachel had cried herself to sleep. She was tired out, and Monica hoped that the rest would do her good.
She left the room and went downstairs, to be faced with a surprising scene. Joey and Chandler were talking to an ashen-faced Ross, and Emily was nowhere in sight. Surely the wedding couldn't have finished already?
"Hey," Monica said, walking up to the trio. "What's going on?"
Chandler took Monica to one side. It looked like he was about to laugh but was trying desperately to hold it in. "There was... well, there was a problem," Chandler said, his mouth twitching. Monica wasn't sure what he meant, and cocked her head to one side to look at him enquiringly.
"Well... you know, sometimes you say the wrong thing," Chandler said, now finding it very difficult not to laugh, although he knew that he really shouldn't be. It was a serious problem, in a way. "And.. sometimes that wrong thing can lead to disasterous consequences."
"Chandler," Monica said. "Please, just tell me what happened."
Chandler smirked, then instantly tried to put on a serious face. He coughed. "Well.. they got to the "I take" part," he began. "And the man said 'Ross, repeat after me. I Ross...' and then he said 'I Ross...' but then..." Chandler couldn't help it anymore, and burst out laughing. Joey and Ross looked over at him angrily, and Monica couldn't help but giggle, even though she had no idea what had happened.
"He said Rachel, instead of Emily," Chandler explained. Monica gasped. She could tell why Chandler had been trying not to laugh. Part of her found it hilarious.
"Are they married?" she whispered urgently.
Chandler shook his head. "No, they're not. The vicar asked if he should carry on, and Emily took one look at him and ran off down the aisle. Ross followed her, and they had some sort of argument outside the church, before Emily ran off again. Ross tried to run after her... but, well, it's Ross..."
Monica nodded. Running was not Ross' strong point, although it wasn't as if he was unfit. "Well, I have mixed emotions on this, as you can gather. What's his excuse?" she asked eagerly, wishing she hadn't had to run after Rachel.
"Well... I was surprised, but he's starting to admit that perhaps getting married to Emily wasn't such a good idea. I thought he'd be going on about what a mistake it was, and how of course it's Emily he loves, but... well, he seems to be realising that maybe Emily's not the one for him." Chandler shrugged, and they both looked over at Ross.
"Does he know about Rachel?" she asked urgently. Chandler began to shake his head, but stopped, looking over Monica's shoulder. Monica turned too, and saw Rachel standing in the doorway of the room, staring at Ross.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
In New York, Phoebe was trying to cope with being pregnant with three children and looking after herself. She had completely forgotten about the chick and the duck, and was preparing a sandwich that Joey would have been proud of for herself, when the phone rang. Groaning to herself, she waddled over to the phone and answered it.
"Hello, this is Monica and Rachel's appartment, Phoebe speaking," she said, feeling a sudden urge to eat her sandwich.
"Phoebe? It's Monica," came a voice from the other end.
"Well, hello London!" Phoebe exclaimed. "How was the wedding?"
"What wedding?" Monica asked. "It never happened. It almost happened, but, well, things change."
"Ooh," said Phoebe, intrigued and forgetting momentarily about her sandwich. "Explain."
Monica told her quickly about the wedding, and how Ross had said the wrong name, realising that Phoebe knew about Rachel. "He's in my bedroom at the moment, talking with Rachel," she said. "He seems to have realised he made a mistake, but I'm not sure what's going on. We've heard yelling coming from the room."
Phoebe gasped. "Ooh, I do hope they get together," she said wistfully. "I've always said that they're lobsters, you know. They really are," she ended, walking into the kitchen with the cordless, remembering her unfinished sandwich.
"Yes," Monica remembered. "Well, I'd better go Phoebs, see if I can find out anything else. I'll ring you if and when I do."
"Okay bye bye," said Phoebe, and hung up, before going back to her long-awaited sandwich. She hoped that Joey was sticking to his "no-meat" promise while she was craving it because of the pregnancy.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Joey," Monica whispered, exasperated. "One, you're not supposed to have food in this part of the hotel, and two, you're not supposed to be eating meat, remember?"
Joey looked puzzled. "Well, I figured, we're in London, so it doesn't matter. You can do things that you don't in New York. It's a different country," he explained.
Monica looked at Chandler. "That's true," she admitted, smiling.
"Anyway, what's going on?" Joey asked, getting nearer to the door.
"I can't tell. I haven't heard much," Monica said.
In the room, Rachel was sitting on one bed, facing Ross. She felt a little embarrassed. For the first time in ages, they were having a proper heart-to-heart, about their feelings for one another, and it seemed a little strange, considering Ross had almost married Emily an hour previously.
"Look, Rache," Ross said, taking her hand. "I've always felt something for you, you know that, right? But... I always feel that if we do something about it again.. if something goes wrong, we could stop being friends. For good. I don't want to ruin our friendship. I think it's important."
Rachel nodded. "I know," she said, sighing. "I mean, look what happened last time. We nearly stopped being friends altogether."
"Exactly." Ross watched Rachel. He could tell she was about to cry. "Hey," he said, stroking her arm. "Look, we have a lot to talk about now. I mean, it would be so much more difficult if I had married Emily," he said, and Rachel agreed. "And it means a lot to me that you didn't want to ruin my wedding, because you cared that much for me."
"But you said.. you said you loved her," Rachel said. "I thought, if you loved her, I couldn't spoil the day for you. I couldn't do that to you. I love you. I didn't want you to get hurt." She started crying again, and Ross came and sat next to her and held her. He didn't know what to do. All the signs seemed to be telling him to make a go of it with Rachel again, but he couldn't help but think of the last time they were together, and how things ended. And what about Emily? Just because she had walked out of the wedding, didn't mean he could just forget about her. He still had feelings for her, and he hoped that they could talk, even if it was just to apologise.
And Rachel was confused too. She knew she loved him, but she remembered how it had ended last time too. How Ross had slept with someone else. She knew he wouldn't do it again, and she was sure he wouldn't mistake what she meant by being "on a break" again, but she didn't know if she could ever completely trust him again.
"So," Ross said, breaking the silence. "What do we do?"
Again, I think I'll leave it there. I really need to do some gardening at some point... damn British weather. Anyway, please read and review! ^^ xXx
