Well, I did some gardening... not that you can tell, there are so many weeds in my garden it's unbelievable... and then I got diverted by this fic again. Thank you so much for your reviews so far. You know how to make a girl happy. ^^ Please keep reading and reviewing. xXx
"They've been in there ages," Chandler muttered, breaking the silence that had fallen on the trio. "Shouldn't we see what's happening?"
"I don't think they'd like that," Monica said wisely. "They need to talk. Let them talk. We can find out everything afterwards. We just need to be patient."
Chandler and Joey nodded, but they both were obviously bored. Chandler really wanted to talk to Monica about the night previously, and he knew that they didn't have long before their flights back to New York. Ross was supposed to be going to Greece, but he guessed that that wasn't going to happen now. He wasn't sure what Ross would do, or if Rachel had a ticket to get back to America either. Maybe they would both go to Greece.
Back in the room, Rachel and Ross were still holding onto each other. They were both afraid that if they let go again, one of them would slip away, just as before. But Ross still had mixed feelings. He loved Rachel, sure, and he had done for the past ten years or so, but he still had feelings for Emily, and deep down he knew that Emily deserved an explanation at least. He needed to know what Emily wanted to do now, although he suspected it wouldn't involve him anymore.
Sighing, he gently pulled away from Rachel, and pushed some hair from out of her eyes. "Rache," Ross said quietly. "We really do need to talk now, you know. But... I gotta talk to Emily too. You can understand that, right?"
Rachel nodded sadly. "Yeah, I understand," she replied, sighing aswell. "But I'll be here, waiting for you. I love you Ross."
Ross smiled, and kissed Rachel's forehead. "I love you too, Rache," he said. "If only it were this simple."
Rachel looked up. "Why can't it be?" she asked reasonably. "I mean, Emily's in England now. She doesn't want to marry you. She can stay here, she'll be fine. And I can go to Greece with you and we can talk, properly," she suggested, looking deep into Ross' eyes. "It's the perfect idea, Ross."
She was stunned when Ross shook his head. "I can't do that Rache," he said. "I'm a man of morals. Perhaps it would be good for us if we went to Greece and talked it through. Me and Emily have talking to do too, y'know. I just... I can't take you on my honeymoon. It's wrong."
He stood up and pulled her up too. "Look, I'm pretty certain that nothing will happen between me and Emily. But if she wants to try again... well, I mean, I ruined her life. I embarrassed her in front of all her family and friends. It's only fair that we try it her way for a while, if that's what she wants."
"But it's not what you want, Ross," Rachel complained. Ross was silent for a few seconds, and Rachel looked up at him. "Or is it? Does this make you feel big and clever, Ross? Two women, possibly, are fighting over you, and it makes you feel really good doesn't it?" she asked accusingly. Ross grabbed her hand.
"No, Rache, it doesn't. But you have to understand, I'm very, very confused right now. I don't know what I think about Emily anymore. But I know I owe it to her to try and sort out this mess. You have to understand Rache. I'm sorry I can't promise you anything."
Rachel started crying again, and ran out of the room, straight into Chandler. He caught her in his arms and she collapsed onto him, sobbing. Ross walked slowly out behind her, and Monica gave him a "look."
"What the hell happened?" she asked, dragging him aside. "I thought you two were sorting things out. You've just made it worse, or so it seems."
"Monica," Ross began. He looked back at Rachel, who was choking on her tears, and Chandler and Joey were doing their best to comfort her. "I owe it to Emily to talk with her. I can't promise Rachel anything. I love Rachel so much, but I have to talk to Emily first. It's not fair to just leave her in the lurch, if she wants to try and patch things up."
"But you'd rather be with Rachel," Monica said. "You'd be killing yourself married to Emily, knowing that you could have had more with Rachel."
"I know," he admitted. "But look what happened before. We nearly became deadly enemies..."
"Because you cheated on her," Monica said automatically.
"True. But we never talked it through. We broke up too easily. It could happen again Monica, and you know it. I have to be sure what I want. And I can only be sure once I've talked to Emily. Please try and make Rachel see sense. And please keep telling her how much I love her." Ross looked like he was about to cry himself. Monica hugged him, realising that Ross felt he had to do the right thing, and then let him walk off, to try and find his "almost-wife."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Luckily there was room on the plane for Rachel, but the cost was so extreme that Monica decided to help out and pay for it. She knew how much Rachel had paid to get to London, and it seemed that it could all possibly be a lost cause.
Chandler told Monica in an undertone that Ross had eventually found Emily, and they had talked for ages, although he could hear a lot of shouting on Emily's part. He deduced from the conversation that they had decided to fly to Greece together, and talk there, although he was pretty sure all that was going to happen was an apology from Ross.
Monica tried to explain this to Rachel, but Rachel had lost all hope in ever making things right with Ross. She was angry at herself for even coming to London, for realising her true feelings for Ross. On the plane, she sat with an old English man who managed to spend the entire flight reading the paper, and cried herself to sleep.
Chandler sat on one side of Monica, and Joey sat on the other side. None of them were talking, having been affected by the days happenings, but Chandler suddenly realised that he and Monica desperately needed to talk. He decided it would have to wait until they were back in New York.
"So," he said finally, breaking the silence. "Who really expected that to work out?"
Monica and Joey shrugged. "I dunno," Monica admitted. "If he gets back with Emily... well, he's a fool, that's all I can say."
Joey nodded. "He's got Rachel, eager to be with him, and he loves her, yet he's willing to do whatever Emily wants him to do because he made an idiot of her. Man, he's brave," Joey finished. "I could never commit to a girl I didn't love."
"Joey, you never commit to anyone," Monia pointed out.
"Ha. Well, neither does Chandler you know," Joey said, not wanting to be the only one with the "non-commiting" tag. "He runs as soon as he even thinks of the word "commitment."
Chandler was not pleased with the way this conversation was going. He knew that Monica knew he had commitment problems, but he didn't want them shouted about in front of her. He really thought that what he and Monica had was special-they were friends, but they were also obviously attracted to one another-not unlike Ross and Rachel.
But then look what happened to them, he thought sadly, turning round to watch the sleeping Rachel. Her eyes looked swollen from all her crying, and her mouth was twisted into a look of misery. He didn't know what to say to her to help. For once, he was at a loss for words.
"I'm sure Chandler could commit. If he found the right person," Monica said innocently, turning to look at Chandler. "Couldn't you Chandler?"
"I...erm... Sure, of course I could," he said, and Monica grinned, mouthing to him when Joey wasn't looking: "You'd better."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Phoebe was sitting in the apartment watching a nature programme. It was the only decent thing she could find. It was about ducks, and ducklings, and how maternal the mother duck was.
Something in the programme jogged her memory. "The chick and the duck!" she exclaimed, trying to jump up but failing miserably. Grabbing the arms of the chair, she heaved herself up, and made her way over to Chandler's apartment.
She found the duck looking forlornly into its feeding tray, and the chick, which was now on its way into the hen stage, sitting on the sofa, apparently asleep. For a minute she was worried it was dead, but when she poked it, it bit her sharply.
"Ow," she muttered, and quickly poured some food into the trays, and then changed the water. The duck, happy to be acknowledged, ate gratefully, and then proceeded to try and turn the TV on, something which Joey had been trying to train him to do for ages.
Phoebe laughed to herself, sat down next to the chick and turned on the TV. The duck seemed happy now that it had company, and fluttered up to sit with her.
"Phoebe?"
"In here," she called, recognising Chandler's voice.
The door opened and Chandler and Joey dragged in some heavy suitcases from the corridor. "Hey Pheebs," they said in unison.
"Hey! Hows..." she stopped as she saw Monica walk in slowly, seeming to help Rachel in with her. Her hair looked messed up, her eyes were swollen and Phoebe presumed something terrible had happened.
"Rachel... what's wrong?" she asked gently, getting up and waddling over to hug her friend.
Monica shook her head at Phoebe, but Rachel looked up and smiled sadly. "It doesn't matter," she said. "It just doesn't matter. He's with Emily, in Greece... I hope they're very happy together. I hope they stay there. We'll have fun, just the five of us, without him," she said bitterly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go shower," she finished, and loosened Monica's grip on her shoulder, before walking sadly out of the apartment into her own. Phoebe looked from Monica to Chandler, but they both shrugged.
"He's gone to Greece, but we don't think they're together," Chandler said. "I think we'd better explain what happened."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Rachel?"
Monica poked her head round Rachel's bedroom door. "Rache, we got a phone call from Greece."
Rachel looked up. "And?" she asked monotonously.
"They're coming back today. Well, Emily's going to London. Ross is coming back here. It appears that they sorted out their differences, but neither of them want to be together."
Rachel looked more awake suddenly. "Are you serious?" she asked, a little too excitedly, Monica thought.
"Yes..." she said, unsure of herself.
"Oh but wait, you know what?" Rachel said suddenly. "I just realised, I need to go talk to Barry, cos, you know, I'm not too sure of my feelings for him, and I don't want to "make a mistake with Ross" just in case what Barry and I have is more special," she said bitterly, and turned her back to Monica.
Monica sighed. "Rachel, you know why he did what he did," she said, coming to sit next to her, but Rachel appeared stubborn.
"Rachel, he had to! It wasn't fair on Emily to just leave her in the lurch. He never planned on getting back with her. They just had to sort things out," Monica said desperately. She was getting a little upset herself.
"I think that Ross and I are going to have to talk about this," Rachel said quietly. "I don't need you sticking up for him as well. I will make do with his pleading."
Monica was a little shocked. Could Rachel not see what a horrible situation Ross was in? She suddenly felt angry with her friend.
"OK," Monica said bluntly, and stood up. "But maybe, Rache, just maybe, he won't want to be with you either? Ever considered that?" She realised that Rachel thought she had the upper hand now, and could make him beg for her forgiveness.
Rachel ignored her. Deep down, she knew that what she was thinking was wrong. She still loved Ross, but something inside her wanted revenge, for the fact that he had abandoned her to go on holiday with someone else, leaving her not knowing what was going to happen. He hadn't even rung, except to say that he was coming home.
"Look," Monica tried again, more gently. "I know that what he did was unfair to you. But please, Rachel, understand that he's having a tough time too." She couldn't say anything else, and left Rachel to think for a while, and closed the door behind her.
Chandler was sitting in the kitchen, and looked up as Monica came out. "How is she?" he asked, although he'd heard Monica's shouting and guessed that their predictions about how she was feeling were right.
Monica shrugged. "I feel like I'm caught in the middle here," she said, looking as if she might fall over. "I don't know what to do. I feel like I'm the bad guy in Rachel's eyes." Chandler got up and immediately went to her side, to steady her.
"Hey," he said gently, sitting her down on the couch and sitting beside her. "You're a great person, you know that? Just always remember, I have good taste," he said, grinning at her. She laughed, and he drew her close so he could kiss her. In the past couple of weeks, they had been with each other all the time, although they hadn't slept together since London. They knew that they had partly done that because they were drunk. They wanted to take things a little slower now.
He let her head rest on his shoulder, and he stroked her arm as they listened sadly to Rachel's sobs from the next room. Neither of them had any idea what would happen now.
And another chapter ends. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope it wasn't too rushed, but please, review. *points to submit review button.* Go on. You know you want to. ^^ (and remember how quickly I'm updating!!)
