Always Be My Baby

Hey! I'm Kat and this is my first attempt at a Friends fic, so please bear with me! I have write fics all the time, but this is the first one about the Friends guys that I have dared to post here for everyone to read, so I hope you enjoy it alright!

I just have to point a few things out. The fic is slightly A/U, in that certain things have happened differently to the show, but the basis is still the same with them living in New York and knowing each other the way they do in the programme. It might all be a bit clearer once you read the thing because I am useless at explaining, lol! Oh, as well as that, I'm a huge fan of Friends but I'm not someone who knows every line from every episode and stuff and I haven't got every DVD to check up on times and situations and things to make the fic more realistic, so I'm sorry if anything is wrong or weird! Feel free to correct me if I make an obvious error which isn't part of the story!

Right, also, I can't quite decide when this should take place in the timescale but anyway, Ross and Rachel have already been together but I haven't decided whether to keep their break-up the same as it was on the show or for another reason. Any preference, please let me know! Monica and Chandler are not together yet, but I might change that later in the story depending on how it goes.

Oh and one last thing – I am Scottish, not American, so if anything sounds un-authentic, that'll be why! I take my lead from the show – I have never even been to the US! It means my geography is rubbish too, so sorry! If someone can give me a suitable place that Rachel and Joey might be living which fits in with the story, I'd be grateful!


Chapter 1 – These Miss You Nights

"Ross...Ross!"

Rachel sat bolt upright in bed and felt herself break out into a cold sweat. She rubbed her eyes, adjusting to the darkness the room was bathed in, and tried to calm her breathing. Her heart was racing at a million miles an hour as she collected her confused thoughts. She glanced beside her at the sleeping Joey before climbing out of bed, quietly so as not to wake him.

In the safely of anywhere-but-bedroom, Rachel turned on a lamp and sat in one of the huge, comfy sofas which littered the living room. She couldn't understand it. She was in a relationship with Joey, one of her best friends who took care of her and whom she loved very much, and yet every night for the past week, the only person who had occupied her dreams was Ross. Why would she suddenly start dreaming about a guy she hadn't seen for at least a year? Admittedly she'd had a relationship with him, which had ended a long time ago, but she'd had relationships with a lot of guys before Joey and she wasn't dreaming about any of them.

Perhaps this was her punishment for not keeping in touch as well as she should have, but the two of them had been so busy since their move from New York. Joey was constantly in demand for acting work and Rachel had been building up her own fashion business, so they'd become a little slack with correspondence. That didn't mean Rachel wasn't missing her old friends and indeed, her old life. She missed gossiping with Monica until 3am. She missed laughing at whatever jokes Chandler would come out with. She missed shopping with Phoebe for mad ornaments to decorate her flat with. And she missed talking to Ross about loads of different things.

It had been hard to adjust, but Rachel thought she'd done pretty well, up until now at least. She'd immersed herself in work to make sure she didn't start yearning for home or something, and had noticed Joey doing the same albeit with the minimum fuss. And at least they'd had each other to gossip and laugh and shop and talk. So what if it wasn't the same as it used to be? Nothing could ever stay the same forever, and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. In New York, Rachel had become stuck in a rut. When Joey had got his big break and was told he'd have to move, he had confessed his love for Rachel and asked her to go with him. It may have been impulsive, but it had meant she could start over and do something she really enjoyed.

But if she really enjoyed it, why was she dreaming of her ex-boyfriend and feeling a longing to see all her friends again?

In New York, four friends were laughing together as they watched a movie in Monica's apartment. Friday night was movie night and without exception, Phoebe, Chandler and Monica's brother Ross would come round with a video and lots of food. It had originally begun as a way of coming to terms with the joint departure of Rachel and Joey, two of their greatest friends, but had quickly become a regular fixture in everyone's week. It was something to look forward to after five days of work.

"Hey, do you think that girl's really a terrible actress or is she just putting it on for the part?" Monica wondered aloud, reaching for the bowl of popcorn on the table.

"Well I don't know about you, but when I audition actresses, I'm hoping they're going to be really, really bad."

Monica rolled her eyes at Chandler's sarcastic comment. "You're the one who brought this film, anyway."

"I did not! It was Phoebe, Phoebe made me do it!" Chandler pointed at the slim blonde, who shrugged.

"It looked good on the shelf... Oh, and the guy behind the counter said it was on special discount," she added with a satisfied smile.

"Hmm, I can't think why that might be," Chandler deadpanned. "If she wasn't so hot, I'd have left in protest by now."

Monica crossed her legs. She was sitting in the armchair, while the boys occupied the sofa. Phoebe said she was comfortable enough on the floor, where she'd taken to doing stretches every now and then. "I wonder..." She paused, unsure whether she should risk saying it.

"What, sweetie?" Phoebe asked, her legs straight out in front of her as she reached over to touch her toes, ignoring the stares she was receiving from Chandler and Ross.

Monica cleared her throat. "I was just gonna say, I wonder how Joey's acting is going. I mean, I know sometimes we thought he wasn't very good but hell, he was way better than these people!" Her comment was intended to lighten the tension which had suddenly descended, like it always did when one of the two 'missing' names was mentioned.

"I'm sure it's going great," Ross replied, taking an interest in the cookie he was holding. He didn't like thinking about Joey, because as much as he missed him, Joey also made him think about Rachel, and that hurt like hell. He'd always loved her, since they were in school together, but something hadn't worked between them when they'd finally got together. She may not have been gone a long time, but it had been long enough to confirm in Ross's mind what he'd known deep down all along – he was in love with Rachel, more than she'd ever realise. And then Joey... But Joey was his best friend, and no matter what happened he could never hate Joey. Plus Joey had been able to offer her everything he, Ross, couldn't. A place in the sun, money, a new start, a career... All Ross had ever really had was his heart, and that wasn't enough.

"Yeah, I bet he's doing really well," Phoebe added. "After that other soap opera he did, I heard he'd got loads of offers to do more TV stuff, you know, like comedies and things. Just rumours, though."

"It'd be nice if he'd tell us himself, one day," Chandler spoke up, no trace of his usual humour in his voice. Out of them all, Joey's absence had hit him the hardest. After all, they'd been roommates for so long and without Joey, Chandler had no one to bounce off. He never showed it, because he buried his emotions, but the past year had been so difficult to get through for Chandler, without Joey.

"He will," Monica said hopefully, setting the bowl down on the floor. She didn't have much of an appetite now. "Of course he will. Joey never forgets his friends. He'll be busy, that's all. And so will Rachel." Monica caught Phoebe's eye at this and the two of them smiled sadly as they thought of the missing piece in their jigsaw.

The silence which followed was almost unbearable as each person thought about the two they had lost, until Phoebe broke it. "Hey, I think we should get a pizza. I'm starving."

The others agreed, grateful for the interruption and went back to laughing at the dreadful movie while Phoebe ordered their pizzas. It was so easy to gloss over the pain and act as if nothing had ever happened...

"Rach? You ok?" Joey looked concernedly at her over the coffee and muffins the two of them were having Saturday morning in their spacious kitchen. Since Joey had started making money from his TV work, he'd bought a large house for them both, a motorbike for himself and a shiny Porsche for Rachel. She'd been really touched by that gift, as Joey had wanted the car but decided he should give it to her instead. It was just another token of how much he cared for her.

"Huh?" Rachel was brought back down to earth by Joey's voice. She had been staring absently out of the window, wondering how things were going back in the city. "Oh, yeah, sweetie, I'm fine."

"You sure? Because you don't look all that fine..." Joey reached across to stroke Rachel's cheek, and she recoiled a little without thinking. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing!" Rachel smiled and stood up, collecting their cups to place in the dishwasher. "Honestly, there is nothing wrong with me. Don't you have a meeting to go to?"

Joey came up behind Rachel as she stacked the dishes and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. "If you want, I can cancel and we can stay here instead..."

Rachel turned around and kissed Joey gently. "No, don't be silly. Your meeting is very important, and I have some shopping to do. We can make up for it later, yeah?"

Joey grinned, sliding his hands round to rest on Rachel's hips. "Sure we can." This time he kissed her, and it was a lasting, meaningful kiss. "See ya, babe." His embrace deserted her and he was gone, leaving Rachel alone in the house, wondering about everything.