Always Be My Baby

Ok I just wanted to say thank you very much to the people who have been kind enough to review me so far - and thanks to the person who told me how I can accept anonymous reviews because I had no idea I couldn't, lol! I appreciate all feedback and help so I am really grateful.

I also wanted to say sorry for not stating clearly enough whether the fic was going to be RR or RJ. The only reason I put both in the summary was because in the other fics I write, I always have to warn whether there's any 'action' between pairs even if they're not the main couple of the story, if you get me. I was just adapting my old habits here but I will change it and just for the record, this fic WILL be RR and not RJ, with MC later on. Hope that's helped!

Oh and I know chapters are quite short at the moment but only because I am writing two other fics at the moment, lol! I will try and make them longer if there's any sort of demand ;) And I can't make asterisks work on here so when you see a line of 'xxx' then that's a change in the story!

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Chapter 2 - New York Calling

Phoebe banged her way into Monica's apartment on Monday evening carrying a basket of fruit and looking happy. Only Monica was there, having come home early from the restaurant.

"Hey Pheebs," Monica called from her bedroom, before she appeared in the doorway.

"Oh my God, how did you know it was me?" Phoebe looked slightly scared until Monica laughed.

"I knew it was you because of the way you closed the door," she explained, coming over to the kitchen area.

"Oh I see, so you're saying I close the door like a girl?" Phoebe sounded quite annoyed at that idea, but Monica shook her head.

"No, you DON'T close it like a girl. That's the difference between you and the guys." The two of them laughed and hugged, before Monica asked what the fruit basket was for.

"Well, this guy in Central Perk gave it to me after he saw me play! I have no idea why, but he seemed to think it was a good idea..." She shrugged and took an apple from the basket. "So what's new with you?"

"Oh, nothing. Nothing's new with me," Monica replied, wandering back over to her room. "Nothing except... I have a date."

Phoebe squealed. "You do? That's so exciting! When?"

"Tomorrow night." Monica bit her lip. "And... I don't have anything to wear."

"Don't worry, you can borrow something from me if you want," Phoebe offered, making Monica turn red.

"I kinda already borrowed something... from Rachel," she said, almost- casually. Noticing the look of surprise crossed with confusion on Phoebe's face, she continued. "She left stuff in her room, so I had a look and well... I like a lot of it! And let's face it, she's not likely to need it any time soon so I thought why not... Please stop looking at me like that."

Phoebe blinked, as if coming out of a trance. "Sorry, I didn't mean to. I just wouldn't have thought you'd want to. I thought you missed her too much."

"I do!" Monica cried. "I miss her like crazy! I wanted to be close to her so I took her clothes! Plus I really do like that skirt..." Now Monica had tears in her eyes and Phoebe jumped up to hug her. "It's ok, I'll be fine. It was Friday night. I'd been doing so well, then I had to go and mention them. Now everyone's depressed because of me."

"I'm not!" Phoebe led Monica over to the sofa and sat her down with a few tissues from the box. "You didn't depress me. We all think about them. We just don't talk about them that much. It was probably a good thing you did."

"Really?" Monica wiped her eyes. "Because I can't help thinking I've made things ten times worse. Especially for Ross, all alone in his flat..."

"But Mon, we're all all alone in our flats," Phoebe reminded her.

"Yeah, I know. Ross just seems alone-er. I saw his face when Rachel was mentioned. It was so sad and I felt terrible."

Phoebe nodded. "I know you do honey, but you know he has to deal with it all in his own time. And he's not been doing so bad. Apparently, some girl at the museum likes him."

Monica's jaw dropped. "Seriously? Since when? Why did nobody tell me?"

"Not sure. He told me this in confidence which I suppose means I'm not meant to tell you, but hey, what the hell, I just did."

"I don't get it. Why wouldn't he want me to know? I'm his sister, I'd be happy for him." Monica reached for another tissue.

"I think he's worried you're still hung up on the idea of him and Rachel. I mean, obviously he is, but he knows you want them to be together and stuff... Maybe he's uncomfortable. Hey, he didn't even say he'd asked this girl out or anything."

Monica sighed. "Oh Pheebs. I'd love nothing more than for Ross to have Rachel back, but even I realised it's never gonna happen. Rachel is with Joey now and she doesn't even live here! Hell, she doesn't even call here! So if Ross wants to date some girl from the museum, that is his choice and nothing to do with me."

"Wow, you're actually beginning to sound like Rachel now, too," Phoebe mused.

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"Rach?"

Rachel didn't hear her name being called at first. She was sitting on the porch, on the cute little swing she'd adored from the moment she saw it, gently swinging to accompany the gentle night breeze. Beside her lay a box of cookies. They weren't half as good as the ones Monica made.

"Rach?"

That time she heard, and turned around to see Joey standing in the doorway, looking worried.

"Oh, hey," she smiled, moving the box so that he could sit down. "Sorry, I was just thinking."

"What about?" he asked, draping his arm around her shoulders.

"I dunno... Stuff." She sighed and picked at the remainder of her cookie. "Joey, do you ever miss the guys?" She couldn't bring herself to look up in case she started crying.

"Of course I miss them! How could I not miss them? Is that why you're upset?"

Rachel shrugged. "Maybe, I don't know. I've just been thinking about them lately and we haven't seen them in a long time, Joe. I feel terrible for not calling Monica in the beginning but I never had a chance, and now I just feel like it'd be weird for me to." She didn't resist when Joey pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"Rach, why didn't you say something before?"

"I didn't want to seem like I was homesick or anything. Or ruin your whole exciting job thing. To be honest I hadn't even thought about them a lot until lately. I'd forced myself to forget and now it's hit me really hard."

"Yeah. So what made you think about them now?"

Rachel felt her heart skip a beat and hoped it didn't betray her. "I'm not sure... I think I had a dream about Phoebe or something..." She didn't want to say Ross in case it hurt Joey, and in case it affected her.

Joey moved and cupped Rachel's face in his hands. "Look, you should tell me when this is bothering you. We should go back and visit next week." He watched her face break into a huge smile and couldn't help mirroring it.

"Really? You're not busy?"

"Well, yeah, but that's not important. It can wait until we've seen the guys. Ok?"

Rachel nodded happily. "Ok." She let him kiss her then, feeling much more relaxed. "Hey, you know what? I think I'm gonna come to bed now." She took him by the hand and led him back inside, knowing that she was going to wash away any dreams of anyone else by showing Joey her true feelings for him.

Rachel and Joey decided that their visit would be a surprise, and that they'd turn up outside Monica's flat without any prior warning. They both knew they might not receive the warmest of welcomes, so Joey booked them into a hotel as a precaution. It scared Rachel to even consider the possibility of Monica not wanting to see her, but it was a risk she was willing to take. It had been far too long and it was starting to hurt far too much.

They were going to fly over on Friday, so on the Wednesday before, Rachel went shopping with a couple of friends she'd made at her new work. They weren't the same as Monica and Phoebe, but then nobody could be, and anyway these girls were perfectly nice, if you ignored the fact that all they ever talked about was fashion and boyfriends. Rachel rarely joined in the conversation, settling for a nod and a smile.

"So Rachel, what are you doing this weekend?" Chloe asked, sipping her iced tea. Chloe was one of Rachel's assistants and about eight years younger, but she seemed nice and was always eager. The fact that they had nothing in common didn't come into it, because it was preferable than having to eat lunch alone, Rachel thought.

"Um, well, I'm going to visit my friends in New York," she replied. "I've meant to do it for ages but I've been so busy and – "

"Are you taking Joey?" Isabel asked excitedly. Isabel worked in the office next to Rachel's and never felt under any obligation to hide the fact she had a crush on Joey from his girlfriend who was always nearby.

Rachel managed to resist the almost-overwhelming urge to roll her eyes, and instead smiled tightly at Isabel. "Yes, yes I am, seeing as he's my boyfriend and all."

Isabel made a frustrated noise. "God, you are so damn lucky! My boyfriend's an asshole."

"Yeah, he really is," Chloe nodded, patting Isabel's back in sympathy. "You're lucky to be with someone you love, Rachel."

Rachel smiled again but the smile never reached her eyes. She knew she was lucky, of course, so she couldn't figure out why she didn't feel it very often. Probably missing my friends, she told herself, sure that everything would be much better once she'd seen the others again.