And I Feel Home
by Tina
Wow, glad to hear from all the opinions on the reviews! I like it when you guys come and tell me stuff you felt/thought about it, it's really great! Even when it's sort of negative. I do have a lot of things to say about it and I ask you to please read this before you move on to the fic, it's very important to the way you'll read this from now on.
Yup, Rachel is selfish and yup, Ross switched girlfriends too fast. You see... I'm trying to present you an honest story. Forget the Rachel you know now, this is the person I imagine her to be back then. BUT I am changing that, of course, as the story moves along. You're just gonna have to bear with me because for now I'm dealing with the bitchy Rachel I was presented to while watching the show! ;) I'm sticking to those characters as much as I can. Which also explains Ross! He is just madly in love with her, a boyish kind of crush! From my point of view, he's still much too imature to deal with it, hence the way he ended things with Carol just to be with Rachel.
I hope you guys understand I'm not throwing this out there because I feel like it. Sure, I do feel like it (lol), but there's a lot more behind this. As I said, I'm trying to be as honest as I can! However, Ross' part will be really shallow, at least for now. Simply because I'm choosing to view this through Rachel's eyes (as much as I can, anyway).
And yes, I know it's going rather fast, but if I don't rush a bit (the rush actually also represents their imaturity to do things out of impulse like that!) I will write this forever! And I got tons of ideas for the following chapters, so beware! Hope you still keep following the story! It's all being thought through!!! If you need a little help picturing these characters, please watch those episodes with flashbacks. Those are my characters, not the ones from the "actual" show.
----------------------------------------
"You and Pete broke up? Wow, why?"
"It just wasn't working out..." Rachel paused, looked at her watch and tilted her head. "And also..." she trailled off.
Monica got curiosity in her eyes and Rachel almost imediately regret her last words. Or... maybe not. Rachel giggled as Monica glowed with an intrigued smile and moved to sit next to her on the bed.
"What- also what??"
"Nothing..."
But Rachel's smile invited insistance.
"No, c'mon, Rachel, tell me, what is it?"
"Oh, Mon..."
Monica gasped.
"It's someone else, isn't it? Who is it?"
"No one"
"Oh my God! Please tell me it's not Chip!"
"Ew, no, why would I do that?"
"Because you've done it, like a million times before!"
Putting those memories aside was the best decision.
"No, it's not him, okay?"
"But it is someone, isn't it?"
Rachel blushed.
"Well..."
"Hah, I knew it! Who is it?"
"God, Monica..."
"Rachel, please! Aren't I your best friend?"
Rachel shot her a look.
"This is so unfair...! I just... I wish I could tell you, Mon, but we're keeping it as a secret, for now"
"Why?"
"We have our reasons..."
"Do I know him?"
Rachel smiled.
"Very well, I suppose"
"You suppose? Hmmmm.. is it Jack Mitchell?"
"Nope"
"Is it Justin Lambert?"
"Ew, why would I go out with him?"
"His dad runs a studio"
Interesting.
"Really?" Rachel snapped out of it. "Oh, whatever. It's not him and, Monica, forget it, I won't tell you. You'll know about it soon, though, hopefully."
"Okay, okay...!"
"Where's Ross?"
"He left really early this morning, but mom said he'll be back. I don't see a point, but whatever. Mom's making him this special dinner." Monica rolled her eyes "Like they don't have food down at the university!"
"It's not a long ride though, is it?"
"About an hour and a half. But still, if you're there, just stay there!"
"Maybe he had something important to do there."
"Yeah, but why did he have to come back?"
"Maybe he has something to do here."
"Then why didn't he do it yesterday or this morning?"
"Maybe it had to be done after the thing he had to do at uni."
Monica kept looking at Rachel.
"Do you know something I don't?"
Ooops!
Rachel laughed.
"Of course not"
"Mom?? Dad?? I'm back!"
Monica and Rachel heard Ross' voice clearily, even though the bedroom door was closed.
"Well, there he is."
"Hm, I'm kind of hungry. Can you make me one of those famous Monica sanduiches, please?"
Rachel flashed her best friend a charming smile.
"Okay"
---------------------------------
In the kitchen, Judy was making coffee, Ross was grabbing something to eat and Jack was making a week worth of newspaper crosswords, as he did every sunday. He was finishing up the wendsday issue when Monica and Rachel entered. "Eight letters, atomic element number 71... ends in ium."
Ross and Rachel exchanged smiles.
"Ross?"
"What, dad?"
"Atomic element number 71"
He looked down, embarassed.
"Lutetium"
"That's my boy"
Monica went to make Rachel's sanduich. Rachel stood unsure for a while and then sat down on the table, right across from Ross, who was standing behind Jack. Jack had the newspaper sheet close to his eyes, covering his face. Ross and Rachel looked at each other, oblivious to everyone else.
She smiled and made him an adoring questioning sign with her right hand. He nodded, smiling wider than her. She the gestured towards Jack and Judy, silently asking him whether they should tell them. He, once again, nodded.
"Mom, dad... I uh... I got something to tell you guys. Hm, actually..." He looked at Rachel. "Rachel and I have something to tell you"
Monica also turned to watch. Judy poured the coffee she had just made into a mug and handed it to Jack, who put the paper down.
"What is it?"
Ross approached Rachel's chair and she stood up. He carefully took her hand on his. Rachel had never seen anyone act to shy before.
"Hm... Rachel and I, we're kind of" he looked at her and both smiled at each other "we're dating!"
Gasps.
"I mean-" he continued "We haven't really been on a date yet, but..."
"Oh wow! Is this- is this true?" Judy asked Rachel with a smile on her face.
Rachel hugged Ross by his waist and surprised herself with the way she could still stretch her smile wider.
"Yes"
Judy hugged them both.
"Oh, this is so great for you kids!" Then she pulled away "Wait, what about Carol?"
"That's what I was doing this morning"
"You just broke up with her this morning?"
"Yeah"
"Isn't it a bit sudden, son?"
Rachel almost stopped breathing. But Judy quickly turned her atention to Rachel and stroked her hair.
"You know what, forget it. If this was any other girl, this would apply. But it's Rachel... She's family already, you know what you're doing"
"I do" Ross hugged Rachel tighter.
"Then I'm glad" Judy kept on stroking Rachel's hair. "I'm sure you're gonna make my son very happy, Rachel. And you're family already! How perfect is that! Right, Jack?"
"Does that mean we can stop paying for that therapist we've been sending him to since that prom night?"
Ross' look was panicked.
"Dad!"
"Jack, one must know when to keep his mouth shut!"
"Oh, right"
Rachel chuckled.
"What, what is it?"
Ross looked down at her.
"Nothing"
"Here's an idea" Judy began "Why don't you kids go catch a movie or something and when you come back we can all have dinner together?"
Ross looked at Rachel, searching her aproval, despite the humiliation of having his mother set him up on a first date with his own girlfriend.
"Sounds good to me"
"Great"
"Rachel, dear, what would you like to have?"
Rachel had to shift her weight from one side to the other while still cuddling with Ross to ease her excitment.
"Anything's fine, Judy"
"Oh, come on, dear! I want to make something special for you!"
Judy looked at her with such tenderness Rachel was melting in Ross' arms.
"Hm, okay then...! I like that chicken satay you make"
"Chicken satay it is!"
"So, what do you wanna watch?"
Rachel looked up at Ross' gorgeous brown eyes and pondered. Pete was never one to go to the movies, he didn't really enjoy public places such at that. She missed watching every film that came out with a guy, never caring if it was good or bad. If it was bad, after all, they'd have other things to do in the darkness of the movie theater.
But then again, that guy was now Ross. Weird.
"Hm, I don't know. Any good movies out there?"
"There's that one with Madonna" for the first time in minutes, Rachel heard Monica's voice.
She finally shifted her atention to her best friend. The expression she wore was unreadable to Rachel. If anything, it looked lost. Distant, confused.
"But we were supposed to see that together, next weekend!"
Monica chuckled.
"That's- that's fine"
"Are you sure?"
Monica shrugged.
"Yeah, sure"
Rachel nodded, making herself a mental note. She'd have to talk to Monica, alone, about this when she came back.
"Okay"
Ross unwrapped his arms around her and she did the same.
"You ready to go?"
"I'll just go get my coat"
Ross planted a shy kiss on her hair and she left the kitchen, hearing faded whispery voices once she was out. They were excited, happy whispers.
------------------------------------------
"Yes, two tickets for that, the five o'clock session"
Ross paid the cashier and retrieved his tickets.
"Thank you"
He turned to face Rachel.
"It starts in about ten minutes. Do you wanna go in or...?"
Rachel looked around.
"Yeah, let's"
Ross took her hand and they went inside. Once they were in the room, they looked around for seats. There were still many vacant ones, but it was getting crowded quickly.
"How's there?" he asked her as he pointed to two empty seats right in the middle.
"Fine"
With little difficulty, they made their way there and sat down.
"Oh, uh, would you like some popcorn or anything?"
"No, I'm fine. Thanks"
"Hm, gum?"
"Maybe later" short silence. "If I have it now, I might get hungry"
"I can get you something to eat"
"No, it's okay. Don't want to ruin dinner"
Ross smiled at her and got her hand again. He looked down at them, playing with her fingers.
"I told you my parents would be happy"
Rachel smiled back.
"Hm, how was it with Carol?"
"It was- it was... weird. She wasn't expecting it and quite frankly neither was I" Rachel put her other hand on top of his, to ensure him he'd done the right thing. Convince him, more likely. He looked up at her and for a while they just looked into each other's eyes. "But it was worth it"
Ross leaned closer and kissed her. She took one of her hands from the little bun their hands had created and rested it behind his neck, stroking his hair as they kissed. Their second kiss. Much more interesting than the first. Before Rachel knew it, she had already opened her mouth for him, naturally.
Very interesting.
They pulled away and he smiled in a new way, like a little boy. Rachel chuckled.
"What?"
"Nothing, I just... never thought I'd ever kiss Rachel Green like that!"
"Right.."
She noticed how nervous he looked.
"You don't need to think about it now"
Their looks were this time serious.
"Hm, weren't you dating this other guy? Pete, I think he was called"
"Yeah, Pete Carney. We broke up." She hesitated. "About a week ago"
"Oh." He was silent for a couple of seconds. "That's uh... recent?"
Rachel felt fear on his voice. He probably thought he was just a rebound thing. She couldn't let that ruin what they had now! She wouldn't.
She stroked his forearm tenderly.
"Hey... It's not what you're thinking. I want this. You have no idea how much I want this."
He nodded, smiling in satisfaction and leaned closer to kiss her one more time.
--------------------------------------
I had plans to write more, but it doesn't seem relevant anymore. So I should stop now and not screw up with my story line! :) Again, gotta say reviews are very much welcome! Next chapter should be posted tomorrow, as I'm really into this fic now! Woo :) R&R all the way, baby ;) Plans going wild inside my head. And don't worry, people, I have it all figured out. Development is something I always insist on exploring! :) At least try, anyway! I'm really-really satisfied with this fic, I must say :) So believe me, I know what I'm doing!
by Tina
Wow, glad to hear from all the opinions on the reviews! I like it when you guys come and tell me stuff you felt/thought about it, it's really great! Even when it's sort of negative. I do have a lot of things to say about it and I ask you to please read this before you move on to the fic, it's very important to the way you'll read this from now on.
Yup, Rachel is selfish and yup, Ross switched girlfriends too fast. You see... I'm trying to present you an honest story. Forget the Rachel you know now, this is the person I imagine her to be back then. BUT I am changing that, of course, as the story moves along. You're just gonna have to bear with me because for now I'm dealing with the bitchy Rachel I was presented to while watching the show! ;) I'm sticking to those characters as much as I can. Which also explains Ross! He is just madly in love with her, a boyish kind of crush! From my point of view, he's still much too imature to deal with it, hence the way he ended things with Carol just to be with Rachel.
I hope you guys understand I'm not throwing this out there because I feel like it. Sure, I do feel like it (lol), but there's a lot more behind this. As I said, I'm trying to be as honest as I can! However, Ross' part will be really shallow, at least for now. Simply because I'm choosing to view this through Rachel's eyes (as much as I can, anyway).
And yes, I know it's going rather fast, but if I don't rush a bit (the rush actually also represents their imaturity to do things out of impulse like that!) I will write this forever! And I got tons of ideas for the following chapters, so beware! Hope you still keep following the story! It's all being thought through!!! If you need a little help picturing these characters, please watch those episodes with flashbacks. Those are my characters, not the ones from the "actual" show.
----------------------------------------
"You and Pete broke up? Wow, why?"
"It just wasn't working out..." Rachel paused, looked at her watch and tilted her head. "And also..." she trailled off.
Monica got curiosity in her eyes and Rachel almost imediately regret her last words. Or... maybe not. Rachel giggled as Monica glowed with an intrigued smile and moved to sit next to her on the bed.
"What- also what??"
"Nothing..."
But Rachel's smile invited insistance.
"No, c'mon, Rachel, tell me, what is it?"
"Oh, Mon..."
Monica gasped.
"It's someone else, isn't it? Who is it?"
"No one"
"Oh my God! Please tell me it's not Chip!"
"Ew, no, why would I do that?"
"Because you've done it, like a million times before!"
Putting those memories aside was the best decision.
"No, it's not him, okay?"
"But it is someone, isn't it?"
Rachel blushed.
"Well..."
"Hah, I knew it! Who is it?"
"God, Monica..."
"Rachel, please! Aren't I your best friend?"
Rachel shot her a look.
"This is so unfair...! I just... I wish I could tell you, Mon, but we're keeping it as a secret, for now"
"Why?"
"We have our reasons..."
"Do I know him?"
Rachel smiled.
"Very well, I suppose"
"You suppose? Hmmmm.. is it Jack Mitchell?"
"Nope"
"Is it Justin Lambert?"
"Ew, why would I go out with him?"
"His dad runs a studio"
Interesting.
"Really?" Rachel snapped out of it. "Oh, whatever. It's not him and, Monica, forget it, I won't tell you. You'll know about it soon, though, hopefully."
"Okay, okay...!"
"Where's Ross?"
"He left really early this morning, but mom said he'll be back. I don't see a point, but whatever. Mom's making him this special dinner." Monica rolled her eyes "Like they don't have food down at the university!"
"It's not a long ride though, is it?"
"About an hour and a half. But still, if you're there, just stay there!"
"Maybe he had something important to do there."
"Yeah, but why did he have to come back?"
"Maybe he has something to do here."
"Then why didn't he do it yesterday or this morning?"
"Maybe it had to be done after the thing he had to do at uni."
Monica kept looking at Rachel.
"Do you know something I don't?"
Ooops!
Rachel laughed.
"Of course not"
"Mom?? Dad?? I'm back!"
Monica and Rachel heard Ross' voice clearily, even though the bedroom door was closed.
"Well, there he is."
"Hm, I'm kind of hungry. Can you make me one of those famous Monica sanduiches, please?"
Rachel flashed her best friend a charming smile.
"Okay"
---------------------------------
In the kitchen, Judy was making coffee, Ross was grabbing something to eat and Jack was making a week worth of newspaper crosswords, as he did every sunday. He was finishing up the wendsday issue when Monica and Rachel entered. "Eight letters, atomic element number 71... ends in ium."
Ross and Rachel exchanged smiles.
"Ross?"
"What, dad?"
"Atomic element number 71"
He looked down, embarassed.
"Lutetium"
"That's my boy"
Monica went to make Rachel's sanduich. Rachel stood unsure for a while and then sat down on the table, right across from Ross, who was standing behind Jack. Jack had the newspaper sheet close to his eyes, covering his face. Ross and Rachel looked at each other, oblivious to everyone else.
She smiled and made him an adoring questioning sign with her right hand. He nodded, smiling wider than her. She the gestured towards Jack and Judy, silently asking him whether they should tell them. He, once again, nodded.
"Mom, dad... I uh... I got something to tell you guys. Hm, actually..." He looked at Rachel. "Rachel and I have something to tell you"
Monica also turned to watch. Judy poured the coffee she had just made into a mug and handed it to Jack, who put the paper down.
"What is it?"
Ross approached Rachel's chair and she stood up. He carefully took her hand on his. Rachel had never seen anyone act to shy before.
"Hm... Rachel and I, we're kind of" he looked at her and both smiled at each other "we're dating!"
Gasps.
"I mean-" he continued "We haven't really been on a date yet, but..."
"Oh wow! Is this- is this true?" Judy asked Rachel with a smile on her face.
Rachel hugged Ross by his waist and surprised herself with the way she could still stretch her smile wider.
"Yes"
Judy hugged them both.
"Oh, this is so great for you kids!" Then she pulled away "Wait, what about Carol?"
"That's what I was doing this morning"
"You just broke up with her this morning?"
"Yeah"
"Isn't it a bit sudden, son?"
Rachel almost stopped breathing. But Judy quickly turned her atention to Rachel and stroked her hair.
"You know what, forget it. If this was any other girl, this would apply. But it's Rachel... She's family already, you know what you're doing"
"I do" Ross hugged Rachel tighter.
"Then I'm glad" Judy kept on stroking Rachel's hair. "I'm sure you're gonna make my son very happy, Rachel. And you're family already! How perfect is that! Right, Jack?"
"Does that mean we can stop paying for that therapist we've been sending him to since that prom night?"
Ross' look was panicked.
"Dad!"
"Jack, one must know when to keep his mouth shut!"
"Oh, right"
Rachel chuckled.
"What, what is it?"
Ross looked down at her.
"Nothing"
"Here's an idea" Judy began "Why don't you kids go catch a movie or something and when you come back we can all have dinner together?"
Ross looked at Rachel, searching her aproval, despite the humiliation of having his mother set him up on a first date with his own girlfriend.
"Sounds good to me"
"Great"
"Rachel, dear, what would you like to have?"
Rachel had to shift her weight from one side to the other while still cuddling with Ross to ease her excitment.
"Anything's fine, Judy"
"Oh, come on, dear! I want to make something special for you!"
Judy looked at her with such tenderness Rachel was melting in Ross' arms.
"Hm, okay then...! I like that chicken satay you make"
"Chicken satay it is!"
"So, what do you wanna watch?"
Rachel looked up at Ross' gorgeous brown eyes and pondered. Pete was never one to go to the movies, he didn't really enjoy public places such at that. She missed watching every film that came out with a guy, never caring if it was good or bad. If it was bad, after all, they'd have other things to do in the darkness of the movie theater.
But then again, that guy was now Ross. Weird.
"Hm, I don't know. Any good movies out there?"
"There's that one with Madonna" for the first time in minutes, Rachel heard Monica's voice.
She finally shifted her atention to her best friend. The expression she wore was unreadable to Rachel. If anything, it looked lost. Distant, confused.
"But we were supposed to see that together, next weekend!"
Monica chuckled.
"That's- that's fine"
"Are you sure?"
Monica shrugged.
"Yeah, sure"
Rachel nodded, making herself a mental note. She'd have to talk to Monica, alone, about this when she came back.
"Okay"
Ross unwrapped his arms around her and she did the same.
"You ready to go?"
"I'll just go get my coat"
Ross planted a shy kiss on her hair and she left the kitchen, hearing faded whispery voices once she was out. They were excited, happy whispers.
------------------------------------------
"Yes, two tickets for that, the five o'clock session"
Ross paid the cashier and retrieved his tickets.
"Thank you"
He turned to face Rachel.
"It starts in about ten minutes. Do you wanna go in or...?"
Rachel looked around.
"Yeah, let's"
Ross took her hand and they went inside. Once they were in the room, they looked around for seats. There were still many vacant ones, but it was getting crowded quickly.
"How's there?" he asked her as he pointed to two empty seats right in the middle.
"Fine"
With little difficulty, they made their way there and sat down.
"Oh, uh, would you like some popcorn or anything?"
"No, I'm fine. Thanks"
"Hm, gum?"
"Maybe later" short silence. "If I have it now, I might get hungry"
"I can get you something to eat"
"No, it's okay. Don't want to ruin dinner"
Ross smiled at her and got her hand again. He looked down at them, playing with her fingers.
"I told you my parents would be happy"
Rachel smiled back.
"Hm, how was it with Carol?"
"It was- it was... weird. She wasn't expecting it and quite frankly neither was I" Rachel put her other hand on top of his, to ensure him he'd done the right thing. Convince him, more likely. He looked up at her and for a while they just looked into each other's eyes. "But it was worth it"
Ross leaned closer and kissed her. She took one of her hands from the little bun their hands had created and rested it behind his neck, stroking his hair as they kissed. Their second kiss. Much more interesting than the first. Before Rachel knew it, she had already opened her mouth for him, naturally.
Very interesting.
They pulled away and he smiled in a new way, like a little boy. Rachel chuckled.
"What?"
"Nothing, I just... never thought I'd ever kiss Rachel Green like that!"
"Right.."
She noticed how nervous he looked.
"You don't need to think about it now"
Their looks were this time serious.
"Hm, weren't you dating this other guy? Pete, I think he was called"
"Yeah, Pete Carney. We broke up." She hesitated. "About a week ago"
"Oh." He was silent for a couple of seconds. "That's uh... recent?"
Rachel felt fear on his voice. He probably thought he was just a rebound thing. She couldn't let that ruin what they had now! She wouldn't.
She stroked his forearm tenderly.
"Hey... It's not what you're thinking. I want this. You have no idea how much I want this."
He nodded, smiling in satisfaction and leaned closer to kiss her one more time.
--------------------------------------
I had plans to write more, but it doesn't seem relevant anymore. So I should stop now and not screw up with my story line! :) Again, gotta say reviews are very much welcome! Next chapter should be posted tomorrow, as I'm really into this fic now! Woo :) R&R all the way, baby ;) Plans going wild inside my head. And don't worry, people, I have it all figured out. Development is something I always insist on exploring! :) At least try, anyway! I'm really-really satisfied with this fic, I must say :) So believe me, I know what I'm doing!