by Tina
---------------------------
January 2nd. Rachel still hadn't found the will to get out of the house or even call anyone. In fact, she just left her bed in cases of extreme necessity. Her matress, pillows and blankets seemed to be the only source of understanding she had the last couple of days.
She was so lonely.
She tried so hard to understand his reasons to break up with her. She could see his point, but not accept it. Why couldn't they work things out together? They could work on their relationship, on themselves. Be more mature, grow up... together.
He hadn't called. That was news to her... She wanted to call but... what would she say? "Take me back, please"?
She rolled over and cried some more. It amused her how she still had tears left to cry. She couldn't help it.
What was he up to that moment? Was he suffering as much?
"Rachel, telephone!!!" her mother yelled out.
"Who is it?" it took all of her strengh to shout back. If she didn't have to know, she wouldn't have done it. She just couldn't stand Mindy's phonecalls anymore...
"It's Monica!"
Rachel moved closer to her nightstand and picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey Rach" Monica's voice was so friendly simpathetic.
"Hey"
"How are you?"
Rachel sighed and tears rolled down her cheek.
"Not great... You?"
"I- I'm okay"
"How's it going with Chandler?"
Rachel could just sense Monica's guilt for being happy.
"You know, it's going..."
"That's great for you, Mon"
"Thanks..."
A quick silence followed.
"He's a mess too, you know?"
Rachel couldn't help but sob.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, he's barely left his room since you broke up" Rachel stayed in silence, left alone with her tears. "Mind hm, mind if I ask what happened?"
Rachel painfully laughed through her tears.
"Hah, what happened? That's- that's a funny question, Monica..." she brushed her tears away. "Nothing happened. He just said we're not prepared for this and that his feelings for me are not mature enough, I don't know..."
"I'm so sorry, Rach..."
Rachel looked down.
"Yeah... me too."
Silence.
"Hey, I got something that might chear you up"
"What?"
"Mom and dad are not splitting up"
"Really? That's- that's great, Mon... What happened?"
"As it turns out, dad really was on a business trip"
Rachel chuckled.
"And your brother wouldn't believe me"
The memory of that night stung.
"Yeah, it was just that mom got mad because dad wouldn't be here for the Geller New Years party and she had to call it off and they just had a little fight... but then Chandler was here and his parents are divorced and he's all paranoid, you know?"
"So.. blame it on Chandler then?"
"Blame it on Chandler"
Silence fell again. Monica could hear Rachel's soft sobs.
"Hey... It's gonna be ok, Rach..."
------------------------------------------------
January 5th. Rachel parked her car in front of the Gellers' residense, ready to say goodbye to Monica.
"Hey, come in, I'll make you a sanduich"
"Ah, no, thanks, Monica, I'm just gonna go."
"He's not home"
"Still..."
"C'mon, I'll make it just the way you like it, with the 'moister' and everything"
Rachel smiled.
"My mouth surrenders me."
Monica smiled back.
As the girls exited the car, Rachel wondered. It was getting late...
"So... where's Ross?"
"He and Chandler are out with this friend of theirs from college. Gandalf is his nick name" Monica giggled.
Rachel remembered Ross' stories about his friend Gandalf and how much fun they had together. So that's what he was doing just five days after their break-up?
"Oh... nice"
They reached the door and Monica opened it.
"Mom, we're home!!"
They went into the kitchen and found Judy and Jack in there.
"Hey" Monica greeted her parents. They greeted her back.
"Goodnight" Rachel stood there, uncomfortable.
"Rachel, darling" Judy approached her "I was crushed when I heard about you and my son..."
Rachel held back the tears and just nodded.
"Mom!" Monica quietly scolded her.
Judy looked down from Rachel and walked away.
"Where is your brother?" she asked Monica, who started gathering the ingredients for Rachel's sanduich.
"Out with Chandler and that Gandalf guy"
"Who would name their child Gandalf??" Jack interrupted. Rachel couldn't help but smile.
"It's not his name, dad. It's his nickname, you know, from 'Lord of the Rings'. Aparently this guy likes to party a lot and the boys think of him as a party wizard or something, I don't know."
"My son is out partying with a boy named Gandalf?" Judy asked credulously.
"It's not his name!" Monica repeated, exasperatedly.
"Well kids, I'm off to bed now. You have a good night" Jack stated, getting up. "You coming up, Judy?"
"Yes. Goodnight, kids"
They all said their goodnights and Jack and Judy left. Rachel wandered around for a few more seconds before sitting down. She sighed. She looked at Monica. Despite the fact she was Ross' brother, Rachel knew she could tell Monica anything.
"I'm worried"
"Why?"
"Has Chandler ever told you about this Gandalf guy and the partying they do?"
"Not in details, why?"
"Believe it or not, they can get pretty wild...! Once they ended up on fishing boat to Nova Scotia"
"Really?"
"Yeah"
"Why didn't Chandler tell me?"
"Do you need an answer, really?"
"Oh, the bastard!"
Rachel couldn't help but chuckle.
"Hm, Mon... I know this may sound... pathetic, but... Could you... please... just call me when he gets home? Just wanna make sure he's okay"
Monica smiled at Rachel.
"Of course"
"Thanks"
-------------------------------------------
Sunday, January 7th. School was just about to start the next day for everyone. Ross, Chandler and Galdalf, who was also crashing with the Gellers for the weekend, were going back early that day. But Monica convinced them to stick around for longer. Ross didn't have enough strengh to fight the idea or even care about their relationship.
"Hey, Rach" Monica greeted her once again over the phone.
"Hey, Mon"
"Wanna come over?"
"Yes and no"
"You're gonna have to see him again eventually.."
"I know.."
"It's been a week. He's leaving in just a few hours, c'mon. You don't have to talk to him if you don't want to"
Rachel sighed.
"Yeah, ok, I'll be right over"
Ding-Dong.
Rachel was well expecting Monica to open the door. Instead, she almost froze at the sight of Ross.
"Oh, hey"
"Hi" she politely answered. "Hm, is Monica there?"
"Yeah, sure, come in"
"Thanks"
She walked by him.
"I think she's in the kitchen"
"Okay"
On her way there, she ran into an unknown guy. She startled.
"Scared ya?"
"Little bit"
The guy looked up at Ross.
"Not gonna introduce us?"
"Rach, this is Gandalf, Gandalf, this is Rachel"
"Oh, so you're the famous Rachel"
Rachel looked down and Ross sighed. He hated putting her in such position.
"Gandalf, cut it off"
"Fine"
Ross saw as Rachel made her way into the kitchen and then came back, lost.
"Not there?"
"No"
She leaned against the doorway and looked down at the floor. Slowly her eyes couldn't stand the urge to find his. They looked at each other for a while, silent.
"O-kay, as much as I enjoy this glorious tension, I'll leave you two alone" Gandalf said before he left.
Ross chuckled and Rachel took that as a good sign. She allowed herself to smile.
"Rach?"
"Yeah?"
"Can we... can we talk?"
She smiled a different smile.
"Sure"
-------------------------------------------------
I'm mean like that. But I'm on fire, so you should be expecting next chapter very soon! Reviews?? ;)