by Tina
Rachel was knelt down on the sand next to Flávia and their daughters at the beach. Flávia's girls - Katie and Lisa - were surrounded by toys and looked as if were trying to built a sand castle. Ella, on the other hand, was head to toe covered in sand and looked more concerned about burrying her legs. Her mother looked at her and laughed.
"Ella, what are you doing? You're covered in sand now!"
The little girl looked up at her mother with her chocolate brown eyes and giggled.
"I know!"
Rachel brushed some sand off her cheeks and shook her head, still smiling. Flávia looked at her, suspetious. There was something different, a new glow in Rachel's expression. For the time being, however, she decided not to bring it up.
Closer to the street, Ross and Flávia's husband, Hugh, were having a beer and chatting.
"Boy, Geller, only you to get me off work on a tuesday to hang out at the beach"
"Good use of time though, don't you think?"
Hugh chuckled.
"Sure"
Ross watched Mike playing soccer with Hugh and Flávia's seven years old son, Gabriel, and then shifted his sight to Rachel and Ella. That's all he wanted: to look over and see his family beside him. He was filled with a sense of whole, he was complete. There was nothing else in this world he could ask for, it seemed.
But... What if it... was taken away, again?
He remembered all the pain he went through the last time Rachel left him. It was almost unbereable. But at least it was a process. Their marriege fell apart in phases. In a way, he could see it coming.
But now... if she left him again, he knew it would hurt even more.
After years of craving for his past, he finally got what he wanted the most about it: Rachel's love and their kids. Whenever they were together now, it seemed as if she'd never left him and they were still the same old happy family they would be by now if nothing had got in the way.
But that's not what things were like. Things did get in the way. The previous two years had been real.
There were things to deal with... Things he seemed to forget whenever Rachel came up to him. She seduced him in a way that cleared his mind. Sometimes, he thought that even if she left him it still would've been worth it. Some other times, however, he wondered if he could put himself over that hell again.
Asking her where this was going scared him to death, though. The simple thought of ending what they finally had again was heart breaking. If he was indeed going to be hurt, would he prefer to post pone it? Risk getting even more involved and hurt himself even deeper? Was this just a fling for her? Damn, they were too old for flings! They had so much history for that. Kids, for God's sake!
God, he'd gladly give way more than just a penny for her thoughts.
Rachel looked at Flávia, who spotted her never ending smile once again.
"You're not working now, right?"
"No, not right now. Everybody I had seems to no longer need classes." Flávia chuckled "Being such a good teacher sucks, my students don't need me anymore...!"
Rachel smiled brighter.
"I do"
Flávia looked confused.
"What?"
Rachel looked over to be sure no one, including Ella, could hear them.
"I want you to be my Portuguese teacher again, Flávia"
Flávia just looked even more confused.
"I thought- I thought you were leaving sunday"
Rachel quickly looked at Ross and then back at Flávia.
"I might... not"
Flávia smiled widely.
"Are you telling me...?" she trailled off and Rachel smiled. After a shy nod from Rachel, Flávia practicly squealed "Oh, this is so great!"
"I know...!" Rachel melted, feeling glad she had finally opened up with someone.
"When did this happen?"
"After Petrópolis..."
"Liked my suggestion?" Flávia winked.
"Thank you so much", Rachel smiled.
"So, hey, what have you guys decided? You're gonna stay longer to figure this out or...?"
"Actually..." Rachel sighed "We haven't really talked about it"
"What?" Flávia was back to confused.
"I just don't wanna give him hopes, you know? And I don't want pressure, I just wanna have these next few days to make up my mind"
"Rachel, hm... You do realise this is a decision you should make together, right?"
Rachel looked down.
"I know, but..." she sighed. "I'm just really, really scared to let him down again. I swear I'm gonna try, but I just don't..." she trailled off, not really knowing how to explain herself. Was it that selfish? Yeah, maybe it was. She couldn't help it.
"So you just... what, you kissed or...?"
"We slept together" Flávia just looked at her. "Twice" Flávia still just kept on watching her. "And, hm, we said I love yous..."
"I don't.." Flávia trailled off, not knowing what to say. "Oh, Rachel, sweetie.. You must talk to him. If you want to make this work, stay, I give you all the thumbs up you need. But do it the right way, think things over, talk things over. You went through a lot, you need a clean start. You really must work out the past and present if you want a future!" Rachel nodded and Flávia smiled. "That sounded kinda nice, huh? Past, present, future...! I should write it down!"
Rachel chuckled, Flávia was so adorable.
"You're right. Yeah, I'll do the right thing, believe me. I guess this" she looked around "would not be bad after all"
"Just give it a chance"
Rachel smiled.
At night, Ross called a nanny to watch the kids so he and Rachel could go out. Rachel was trying to convince Ella she would be right back while Ross was finishing getting dressed.
"But mommy, why can't I go?"
"Sweetie, I told you, we're gonna come home late, way past your bedtime"
"I've been up past my bedtime before!"
"When?!"
Ella's cheeks turned pink.
"Please, mommy!"
Rachel looked at her with simpathy.
"I'm sorry, baby"
"You said you would be right back, then why did you say you were coming late now?"
Rachel chuckled at her daughter's arguments.
"You're not gonna suck me into this, Ella. Bottonline is, you're gonna go to bed soon and when you wake up I'll be here, okay? Just like I would if I hadn't gone out"
Ella sighed, tired of reasoning, and sat down on the couch. At that moment, Ross entered the room.
"You ready?"
"Yeah, do you think this is appropriate?"
He looked at her properly and had trouble regaigning his breath. She was wearing a knee long black dress, classic yet provocative, with a slit up one leg.
"Yes, yes, very- hm, very nice"
She smiled and turned to kiss their kids goodbye.
"Daddy, can I come too?"
Rachel chuckled one last time.
When they arrived the concert hall, they reached a table for six. Another couple was already there, sixty year olds who Ross greeted in Portuguese. Rachel politely said hello. They sat down next to each other.
"So, what's the deal here?"
"Well, you see, the museum gives away a bunch of money for cultural events and stuff, so they send us tickets for most of them"
"Been partying much lately?" she asked with a joking tone, smiling at him in a flirty way.
"Actually, I usually give my part to my secretary"
Rachel tilted her head and smiled brighter.
"You lie"
Ross chuckled.
"Right, I forgot to tell you I've turned into a party animal" He pointed around the fancy hall, filled with mostly adult (aparently married) couples "See how wild we get?"
Rachel laughed.
A waiter approached.
"Boa noite. Querem alguma coisa para beber?"
Before Ross had time to think, Rachel turned to him.
"Uma garrafa de vinho tinto, por favor. O melhor que tiver."
The waiter left and Rachel looked back at Ross, who had a bewilred look on his face. She just grinned and wrapped one arm around him.
Soon, the lights faded and the show began. Ross wrapped one arm around her aswell and she leaned back on him, resting her head on his chest and closing her eyes.
"Bem que se quis depois de tudo ainda ser feliz, mas já não há caminho pra voltar. O que é que a vida fez da nossa vida? O que é que a gente não faz por amor?"
Ross lowered his lips to her ears and whispered the meaning of the song for her. He had to, it was so... them.
"We really wanted, after all that's happened, to still be happy, but there's no way back now. And what did life make of our lives? And what won't we do for love?"
"Mas tanto faz, já me esqueci de te esquecer porque o teu desejo é o meu melhor prazer e o meu destino é querer sempre mais. A minha estrada corre pro teu mar..."
"But whatever, I've forgotten to forget you, because your wish is my greatest pleasure and my destiny is to want always more. My road runs to your sea."
"Agora vem pra perto vem, vem depressa vem sem fim dentro de mim que eu quero sentir o teu corpo pesando sobre o meu. Vem meu amor vem pra mim, me abraça devagar, me beija e me faz esquecer..."
"Now come closer" he pulled her closer and she giggled "hurry, endlessly, to me 'cause I wanna feel your body weighing above mine. Come to me, hold me slowly, kiss me and make me forget..."
Rachel smiled and finally opened her eyes. He was looking at her, both smiling.
"It sounds cuter in Portuguese" he blushed. He wanted it to be special...!
"I know" she nodded.
He lowered his head and kissed her.
It had to be worth it...
Here we go :) Keep leaving me reviews telling me what you think, not just about the fic itself, but their decisions and stuff. I wanna make sure this seems believeable! :) See ya next chap! Hopefully, soon!
To the brazilians... I do understand it'd be very unlikely for Marisa Monte to open a show singing "Bem que se quis" (that's the song we had there ;)), but I just had to! I was between her, Gil, Chico Buarque, Maria Rita and Rita Lee. But Marisa won. Marisa always wins :)
Song written by Pino Daniele and Nelson Motta :) Performed by Marisa Monte :) Damn, even Ross and Rachel went to a Marisa concert and I haven't! haha