Off Again Chapter 7: Seven, a friends fanfic

Disclaimer: Is there a brand, spanking new way to do this? No. The characters, other than James and Sarah, don't belong to me.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. They've actually motivated me to write this chapter sooner. As for one review, I don't hate Chandler or Monica – just what the writers did to both of their characters after they were married. Besides, Rachel and Phoebe weren't all that kind to Chandler in the last few of seasons and we've heard at least a couple times that they both thought Monica could do better. So, I don't think it's completely out of character.

Seven

As Leonard escorted her down the aisle, her eyes quickly wandered across the room at the guests in attendance. And just as she had suspected and to her disappointment, Ross wasn't there. Even though Monica had told her that he wasn't showing up until the reception, a part of her still believed that his sister had only said that to minimize the awkwardness between them. Still, another part of her blood boiled, seeing as how he missed their daughter as a flower girl – she figured he would've at least shown up for that.

She couldn't even feign happiness, not even on her big day – and she was supposed to be the emotional one. Anyone who truly knew Rachel Karen Green would have been able to see right through her. And as she approached the altar, she saw her future husband, James. A doctor, it's what I'd always wanted, she unconvincingly mumbled to herself.

In a world without Ross, James was a genuinely great and stand-up guy, the closest thing to "perfect" you could get. He was intelligent, had devastatingly good looks, a chiseled physique and, not that it mattered, a financial security and stability to boot. And to top it all off, he was wonderful with Emma – and she reciprocated. Although Rachel would never let her forget who her father was, she dreaded the day when Emma would ask her those questions. Just a couple weeks ago, she and Ross seemed to reconcile things…

Knock.

Ross ran to open the door, confused. "Rachel, what are you doing here?"

"Is Sarah around?" she inquired.

Before he could even mouth "no," she found her lips pressed up against his, yet the surprising thing was that he didn't seem to be fighting it or pushing her off of him. Instead, he increased the vigor in the kiss, matching – if not, surpassing – her intensity. At this point, rationality was the last and furthest thing from their minds.

Ross broke the kiss, "Seriously, Rach, what are you doing here?"

She didn't know, but she had grown increasingly tired of them being childish and standoffish. "We need to fix this, for Emma's sake. And not necessarily get back together, but so we could at least be in the same room, Ross."

"Right because the two of us making out always fixes things," he retorted half-serious and half-jokingly, drawing a brief chuckle from her. "What about all the things we said that night, Rach…"

"Please, Ross – we've been through a lot worse than that," she confided. "Sure, it still hurts to hear those things from the one you care about most."

Ross cocked an eyebrow, partly because she had said cared not loved. In return, Rachel felt as though she had let a huge secret slip, but before he could mutter another word, their lips and tongues managed to peruse each other. Soon, clothing started to hit the floor – and Ross guided his ex-girlfriend into his bedroom.

His wet lips kissed every inch of her neck, just the way she liked it. Rachel elicited a soft moan, indicating her evident pleasure at the gesture. She loved that Ross would always remember all the little things, and maybe that's what made this time the hardest.

"Are you alright?" he wondered, seemingly hesitant. "And are you sure we should be doing this?"

She put a finger to his lips, telling him – without words – to just continue. As he laid her down on top of his bed while grabbing a condom, he joked, "You know, I've heard these things are only 97 effective."

She smiled, recollecting of how badly he freaked, "Yeah, that's why I've switched to the pill."

And not before long, he was thrusting in and out of her, gently at first and picking up the pace as she repeatedly moaned and whimpered his name into his ear.

It just felt… right.

Several months had passed since their blowout fight.

Rather than quitting, Rachel had eventually gotten a transfer to a Louis Vuitton in New York – and had also found an apartment on her own. And on her way to work, she had seen Ross casually chatting and laughing in the coffee house with another woman, Sarah. She had heard bits and pieces of information about her from Monica – and putting her tinge of jealousy aside, Rachel had to admit this girl was pretty.

However, the thing that tugged at Rachel's heart strings the most was that Ross seemed happy and content; that his eyes were no longer a drab color, but in his eyes glistened, shimmering that shade of brown, which used to exclusively be for her. It hurt to see and know Ross finally moving on – feeling faint, she had to get out of there.

And then she crashed into him.

James.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she apologized.

"No, it's okay," he stated, extending his hand, "I'm James."

"Rachel," she informed, returning his friendly gesture.

"So, what's a beautiful girl like you in a rush for," he teased.

"Well, I was going to get a cup of coffee, but look at the time. I've gotta get to work."

"You know, I don't know you all that well, but I'm not on-call for another hour or so, you don't mind if I walk you to work – or you know whatever, if that's cool with you," the man suggested.

As she was about to reject him, she thought better of that, seeing Ross moving on that she should do the same, too. It was finally time to do the same. "I'd like that, James."

As they walked together, they discussed anything and almost everything, ranging from family to jobs to all of the other introductory stuff at the beginning of every relationship. Rachel felt something in the pit of her stomach that she hadn't felt in some time. Everything about the two seemed to just click.

"So, here we are," Rachel declared as they reached the Louis Vuitton building.

"Ah," he uttered, slightly disappointed that his time with this incredible woman was coming to end, but didn't want that just yet. "Rachel, listen, you're definitely this awesome person – and I'd like to get to know you better and I was wondering if it would be alright if, say, I bought you dinner for Friday night?"

"Yeah," she agreed, handing him a piece of paper with her number on it.

James articulated, beaming a great smile, "Great, I'll call you."

Knowing she should've been more prepared and ready, Rachel tried on several outfits – being and working in fashion definitely had its advantages. She modeled dresses and skirts in front of Emma, who turned out to be her toughest critic. Finally, Rachel settled on a white puffy, vintage skirt and a black top with a single strap that slung over a shoulder. Simple, yet left a lot to the imagination. The little girl gave her a thumb up and a "Mommy's pretty."

Rachel waited for the sitter to take care of Emma as she also waited for James to pick her up for the date. Looking at the mirror in the bathroom, Rachel applied the final touches of makeup.

James arrived, wearing a white, button-down shirt – all of the buttons, except for the top, sleeves rolled up half-way, and a pair of black khaki pants: casual, but not boring. He noticed the little girl, sitting a few feet from the television. "What are you watching?"

"Fairly Oddparents," she did her best to enunciate the words.

Rachel, watching from afar, thought it was adorable he at least attempted to connect to the little girl. She assumed other guys would've been scared off the moment she mentioned she had a daughter – of course, she still had to tell James that Emma was in fact her daughter.

"So, is this is your niece?" he pondered as if the timing couldn't have been any more perfect.

"No," she answered earnestly, yet feared the absolute worst with the following sentence, "Emma's my daughter."

"Oh," he reacted and as he observed her face, changed his tone, "No, there's nothing wrong with it, Rachel. I just didn't think you – it's just that you don't show any signs of, you know – man, I'm an idiot…"

She couldn't help, but suppress a giggle as he continued to apologize, "It's alright. Don't worry about it. There isn't a day that goes by where I regret having my little girl – if anything: Emma manages to brighten up my day when I'm having the worst possible day"

"That's amazing," he digressed from his incoherent rambling, "I don't mean to get too personal, but is the father involved much?"

"Oh, yeah – he's definitely as much as he possibly could, more than any other guy probably would've considering the situation…" Rachel stopped in her tracks, hoping she hadn't disclosed too much information. Oops.

"Ah, what is the situation?"

"Well, it's complicated…"

"Then again, what relationship isn't the slightest bit complicated?"

"Yeah, but you don't know our situation," she paused. "I'll let you know when I'm ready, but for now, trust me when I say it's complicated."

"Alright," he casually noted, satisfied with her explanation.

Just as things started to get awkward, the babysitter arrived to break the building tension between the two adults. "We'll be back before midnight," Rachel enlightened the teenager.

As the days had passed, Rachel had divulged her new beau to the gang to mostly mixed reaction, but the three remaining members were happy that if Ross and Rachel couldn't get it right with each other that they were at least able to be happy with other people. She would've been lying if she said she wasn't surprised when Monica had told her Ross took with the "James news" with indifference. She was expecting to him to show some sort of jealousy, but nothing.

Weeks had passed. Rachel had filled James in on the tangled web that once was "Ross and Rachel," and surprisingly, he was pretty accepting of their situation, saying that all of it was in the past. However, James and Ross never actually met in person, but she was happy. And maybe they had reached that place where she could be happy for him and vice versa like she had convinced herself several years ago while with Joshua.

Things began snowballing as several months had passed – and after nine months, James had proposed to her. It caught her off-guard, but she accepted. At 36, she wasn't getting any younger, yet as the big day got closer and close, the more her case of cold feet grew. Ironically, the person she thought she trusted most for advice was the same person she wasn't on speaking terms with – and that was "putting it lightly."

They lay in bed together. His arms subconsciously – if not, by instinct – were wrapped protectively around her.

What had she just done? No, she knew exactly what she did, but that wasn't how things were supposed to go. Seeing Ross in person again shot her plans straight to hell – it was almost as though she had "forgotten" all about his smoldering looks. Not to mention, how amazing his kissing and other skills were.

She watched as his chest moved up and down, taking in and out each breath. Why did everything have to be so damn complicated between her and Ross?

"Hey you," he softly chimed, running his up and down her back. Damn him for using that phrase they used frequently when they were dating – and for making her body tremble, feeling each gentle stroke brush her back. "How long have you been watching me?"

"Hey," Rachel acknowledged, "eh, a couple minutes."

Realizing the full impact of the situation, both of them shot out of bed. She wrapped a couple of covers around her, grabbing the clothes resting still on the ground.

Rachel confessed, "That. That wasn't supposed to happen."

"Right – right," Ross let those words sink in, slightly disappointed. "You're engaged. Hell, you're getting married in a couple weeks. What were we thinking?"

"I know. Look, Ross – it's my fault," she assertively took responsibility. "So, I've gotta get going…"

As Rachel headed out his apartment door, he slowly watched her walk away – that was all he could do.

Once she was finally out the door, she checked her phone. 4 missed calls, she silently read the phone. Damn, she thought dialing their apartment, but no answer. She left a message, explaining how she had a work problem that required her to stay all night at the office. And despite all that the only thought running through her mind:

As if this wasn't going to muddle things between her and Ross…

Finally, reaching the altar, tears finally brimmed down her delicate cheeks, but for an obviously different reason. Despite his insistence, Rachel thought it was best not to write her own vows. She simply couldn't – obviously, as there would only be one person those vows would've been reserved for.

"Friends and family, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of James and Rachel," Joey proclaimed. "Rachel's been a great friend for several years – and James, he's a great guy and no one could have been a better match for her than him. Now, James, repeat after me."

"I, James," Joey paused, allowing James to respond.

"I, James," he replied.

"Take thee Rachel…"

"Take thee Rachel"

"…as my lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and health until death parts us."

"And now, Rachel, repeat after me," Joey continued, echoing the same phrases with James a few minutes ago. "I, Rachel…"

"I, Rachel,"

"Take thee, James…"

"…as my lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and health until death parts us."

After they placed the rings on each other's fingers, "I now pronounce you husband and wife," Joey decreed, "You may kiss the bride."

And just as Joey finished his sentence, James did as was told, both Rachel and James walked down the aisle in the opposite direction, beginning their lives, together.

As the emcee introduced the newlyweds at the reception, she plastered the fake smile that she had grown accustomed to giving. Suddenly, her smile brightened a bit, seeing Ross sitting at his table. Of course, the smile faded slightly as Sarah took her seat beside him.

Several hours later, the party started to wind down – with the party guests leaving. Chandler and Monica decided to head off, back to Westchester as the twins had fallen asleep. Phoebe and Mike had done the same – so did Joey and Alex.

Guiding her husband in Ross's direction not thinking about the possible uncomfortable moment between the two, Rachel introduced him to her ex, "James, this is Ross – Emma's father."

"Hey," Ross greeted, shaking his hand. "Congratulations, man. You're a very lucky guy."

"Honey, I'll catch up with you later," Rachel revealed.

"Hey Ross," she flashed a genuine smile, the second in the last five minutes. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Are you sure? You're not mad about me missing the actual ceremony," he brought up. "I mean, you had to sit through one of my disastrous weddings."

Rachel joked, "Well, we wouldn't have wanted to take the chance of me saying the wrong name, do we?"

"That is a good point," Ross concurred. "So, I take it…"

She affirmed, knowing what he was going to say, "Yeah…"

"You know if you ever need me around to help you with Emma…"

"I know. I'd be a horrible person if I didn't let you."

"Well," he said, giving her a hug as their tears both began rolling down, knowing full well this would be the final intimate hug shared between them and gently kissing her on the cheek. "Bye, Rach."

"Ross," she interrupted him, stifling back whatever tears hadn't streamed down her face yet. She whispered softly into his ear, "Don't make this more difficult than it already is…"

"Besides, it's not like you're moving away to England – and I'm forbidden from seeing you again."

He chuckled as they broke off the hug while it seemed obvious he didn't want to just yet – but any longer might have made them slightly noticeable. She watched him walk away, presumably to look for Sarah.

Eventually, Joey was also presided for Ross and Sarah's wedding about a year and some months after Rachel's wedding. Rachel had another daughter while Sarah added a son into the fold while Ross and Rachel did as much as they could with Emma.

And yet as cruel as fate had been to Ross and Rachel over the years, they could've easily had a "happily ever after" together – if either of them had capitalized on one of the several missed and squandered opportunities…

A/N II: I would add a epilogue, but there'd really be nothing new, so it's done. Slightly revised because of a mix-up, thanks tini, I really should have double checked that. Anyways, reviews are good, leaving one is better…