AN: Thanks for input so far. Although this is primarily a Ross and Emily story the hints about Monica and Chandler will be there and yes, you will get very early Rachel and Joey, why not?

2 Central Perk

All the friends except Ross were at Central Perk, moodily sipping coffee. No-one had spoken for a while. They were all thinking about Ross. From today his life would change, more than they had ever expected, and so would theirs. Of course, things would have changed a bit anyway, with him getting married. He'd want more one to one time with Emily and although they would probably have joined in with gang, it would have been different. They had been prepared for that. That was normal for a married man. In fact if there weren't some changes there'd probably be something wrong.

Now because of the wedding vows and because of the airport scene, Ross was left bargaining for Emily to forgive him. She hadn't done it without setting her terms and those terms were unbearable. If Ross wasn't allowed to see Rachel, then he would end up seeing a lot less of the rest of them too. It was going to be bad enough with him living a ridiculously long way away. They hung out together. They would have to choose between them if Ross wasn't going to break his condition, and since it wasn't Rachel's fault that any of this had happened, they had had to choose Rachel. At least he had Emily. Rachel had no-one. Of course that would change, but still they couldn't favour Ross over her. It wasn't fair. They shouldn't have had to choose at all.

She's probably landed by now,' Phoebe said at last. No-one needed to know who she' was.

Well, come on, guys,' Monica said, trying to lighten the mood. Things will get better for Ross now. They can work out their problems. You know it wasn't working with her over there and him over here. Married people have to be together.' Chandler, who was sitting right next to her, just looked at her. And after all it's better than if he went to live in London with her.' Monica was at least grateful that that hadn't happened. If it hadn't been for Ben, he probably would be living over there and goodness knows when she'd ever see her brother again. Her parents would have been upset too and she knew that to them, the fact that she was still in New York would not be a consolation.

He might as well be living in London,' Rachel said, thinking of the ban.

Yeah,' Joey said, thinking how far away Ross was living now.

Look if he's happy,' Monica said, It's good. In the long run.' They would all get used to it. Once upon a time, they hadn't been a group of six inseparable friends. The world had existed perfectly well then. We have to want what's best for him.'

If it is what's best,' Phoebe said.

If he's happy,' Chandler said.

Yeah,' said Joey, clearly doubting it. Rachel picked up her magazine and started flicking through it. She tried to study it more carefully but for once she just couldn't get interested in what she was seeing.

Chandler sighed and opened the newspaper.

Oh that mad man's still running around,' he said.

What mad man?' Joey asked.

There's a man running around yelling at women telling them to subject themselves to their husbands,' Chandler said. He goes up to married women and starts shouting at them telling them that they have to obey their husbands. No arguing.'

Gee,' Monica said sarcastically, Why haven't they given him a medal?' Chandler gave her a surreptitious wink.

Could he get a medal?' Joey frowned. Chandler ignored him and went on,

The police arrested him for breach of the peace but now he's out there again.'

He's just shouting at women?' Phoebe asked.

Yeah. Married women.'

That's not very nice,' Phoebe said.

He's pretty smelly too, so the paper says,' Chandler said.

He must have some kind of mental illness,' Monica said. Chandler had put his newspaper down and underneath it his hand was on her knee and she was enjoying it very much.

Hm,' Phoebe said, He sounds like a tortured soul' She had drifted off. The others wondered whether there was a song in this and if so if they would have to hear it.

Maybe he was married to someone like Emily,' Rachel said. And he got pushed over the edge.'

I thought we were changing the subject,' Monica said uncomfortably. It was going to be awkward if they were all expecting her to take sides against her sister in law. Of course she liked Rachel better, Rachel was her friend from school, but Emily was now family and she'd have to get along with her. And it wasn't that she didn't like Emily, even though she didn't like what she was doing now.

Yes, let's,' Rachel said. She pretended to read her magazine and the others talked around her. It wasn't so bad for them, they weren't the ones who were labelled the problem. They weren't the ones who minded so much that Ross had chosen to love another and put her first.

Rachel was sick of thinking about Emily. Emily had signalled the end of all her hopes, hopes she hadn't realised she'd still had until Emily turned up. Perfect Emily who had had Ross rush headlong in love with her and propose without a second thought after a matter of weeks. How could Emily mean so much after such a short time? Rachel had thought she would win after all. She had had false spurts of happiness – when he said her name, when he asked her to come along on the honeymoon – but these had been dashed because Emily came first.

Of course, part of her said, Emily has to come first, because she's his wife, one part of her mind said. That wife should be me, Rachel thought with the other side of her mind. She had finally told Ross how she felt over Monica's objections. So what if it was wrong to tell a married man that you were in love with him? This wasn't a married man, this was Ross, and Emily wasn't there. Ross had turned Rachel down. Again part of her said, that was right he couldn't be unfaithful to his wife, even in thought, Ross always wants to do the right thing even if he doesn't quite manage it. The other part of her was crushed. It was wrong, he couldn't be saying that to her. He'd loved her since the ninth grade, how could he stop?