Love is...

-Author's Note: Thanks again for all of the reviews...I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter—review it when you're done!!

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Rachel was on a beautiful private island. Her feet were buried in the sand and she was sipping a margarita. The view straight ahead was gorgeous – white sand coming together with crystal clear water and stretching out to the horizon. The sun was a big, blazing orange ball, sinking slowly out of sight beneath the waves. Rachel was in paradise.

Rachel turned her head and saw a gorgeous figure walking towards her, carrying a bottle of suntan lotion. When he reached her, he put the bottle down and kissed her. He kissed her with such passion that she was forced onto her back in the sand. He released her lips and moved to make his mark on her neck. She moaned in pleasure. "Oh...Ross..."

As luck would have it, just as Rachel was about to get "dream lucky", her alarm went off. She groaned as she turned it off and sat in bed, now smiling. Waking up meant that she would soon be seeing him for real. Kissing those lips, looking into those eyes, seeing that smile...

She got out of bed and headed for what she assumed was the bathroom. She wasn't really paying attention to where she was going; she was just letting her feet take her wherever they wanted to go. She took a shower, got dressed and ate breakfast, thoughts of Ross still cluttering her mind. Before she left for work, she scribbled a note to Monica who was sleeping in because she didn't have to work. It said, 'Hey Mon! Date was great – tell you more later. Bring everyone to Central Perk around five, gonna introduce Ross. Love ya! – Rach'

She grabbed her coat and purse and left the apartment.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Ross was still lying in bed – he had nowhere to be, so he just lay there staring at the ceiling replaying each and every moment with Rachel in his head. He kept on trying to convince himself that the previous night had never happened, that it was all just a dream – a really, really good dream. One where you wake up and actually wish that what had happened was true – but no. It didn't work. He would remember the butterflies in his stomach, the ones that didn't stop fluttering until well after he dropped her off; he would remember the feel of her lips on his, how magical that sensation was; he would remember the way her skin glowed in the moonlight, making him feel like he was in the presence of an angel...

No, it couldn't have been a dream – it was too real. He couldn't even create someone that perfect in his imagination.

Ross slowly got out of bed and went to the bathroom, whistling the tune from a love song. He ate breakfast, contemplating his agenda for the day. He had that lunch with Monica to go to, so that was a couple of hours taken care of. Finally he realized – he still needed suits for work! He decided he would drop in on Rachel and get his shopping done...

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Rachel was organizing a clothes rack in the dressing room when someone came up behind her, wrapping their arms around her waist and kissing her neck. She was startled at first, but immediately realized who it was – she could never forget those lips – Ross.

She sighed as she closed her eyes, leaning her head back on his shoulder. She lifted one of her arms and stretched it behind her, rubbing his neck as she started to sway slowly. She had a big smile on her face, but she couldn't help it. Having his arms around her, kissing her – she was drowning in him. "Hey," she whispered softly.

He brought his mouth close to her ear and blew in it softly, giving her goose bumps. "Hey beautiful," he whispered back, "You have to help me."

Rachel turned around in his grasp, wrapping her arms around his neck. She looked into his eyes – those big, beautiful brown eyes... "Help you with what?"

"My work clothes got lost on the way from California. I need suits!" he kissed her nose.

Rachel laughed, "Well, you've come to the right place. Let's get you some clothes!" She grabbed his hand and they headed throughout the store. Rachel would stop every once in a while, pick up a garment, hold it up to Ross, then toss it onto the ever-growing pile that he was currently holding. When the weight became too much, he suggested to Rachel that they make their way back to the dressing rooms to try some of the stuff on. Rachel laughed and took some of the stuff off the top of the pile in an effort to lessen the load for him.

When they reached the dressing rooms again, Rachel got Ross situated and then went to sit outside and wait for him to come out. After a few minutes he called out to her, "Hey Rach! Can you come in here and help me out with the tie?"

Rachel smiled and called back as she got up, "You mean to tell me that you have to wear ties to work every day and you don't even know how to tie them?" She opened the door, closed it behind her and stretched her arms out to start tying it. She stopped, hands still outstretched, when she saw that it was already done. She looked up at Ross and smiled when she saw the goofy grin on his face. Suddenly, she grabbed him by the tie pulling him closer as she kissed him, backing herself into the wall. Their kiss grew from passionate to extremely intense as she put her hands underneath his blazer and slid it off of him. He untucked her shirt and slid his hands underneath, feeling her velvety-soft skin beneath his fingers. He broke the kiss and moved to her neck. Her breathing becoming more and more ragged and uneven as she started to undo is tie.

In the midst of all this fiery passion, both were very aware of where it cold possibly lead, assuming that they weren't interrupted, and neither of them had any doubts.

Under normal circumstances, Rachel wouldn't be in this situation. She wouldn't be in the dressing room of her place of employment, getting steamy with her boyfriend. However, this wasn't normal circumstances. This was different – this was Ross. She didn't think about her actions when she was with him, especially when what she was doing felt right. And this felt right. Hell, everything with him felt right.

He couldn't believe it. He was in a dressing room, at Bloomingdale's, in a very intimate situation with a girl that he had had a crush on since the ninth grade. A girl who, ten years ago, was so out of his league it wasn't even funny. He didn't think she was in his league now, but there he was, unbuttoning her shirt. Life couldn't get any better than this.

Rachel was undoing his belt when the phone rang outside. Both breathing heavily, they stopped what they were doing. Rachel leaned back in frustration, than looked at him apologetically. "I have to get that, I'm the only one here."

Ross smiled and nodded as Rachel buttoned up her shirt and checked herself out in the mirror, making sure everything was in place. She exited the dressing room and answered the phone. "Bloomingdale's, personal shopping. Rachel Green, how can I help you?" There's a pause as Rachel listens to whoever is on the other end of the line. "Yeah Mon, he's here." Ross comes out of the dressing room after changing back into his jeans and sweatshirt. "Sure I'll tell him...See ya." Rachel hangs up the phone and walks over to Ross, hugging him around the middle. "Monica wants you to meet her at her restaurant, Allisandro's, in an hour for your lunch date."

He kissed her nose and put and strand of her behind her ear. "Okay, but before I do that, I need to pay for all of this stuff." He gestures towards the counter that is piled his with clothes. Rachel takes a deep breath and walks over to it. "I hope you get paid on commission..." Rachel looked at him and laughed, then pulled him in for a quick peck on the lips.

Rachel rang up his purchases and gave him a very long, passionate kiss goodbye. When they broke it, both were left breathless as she cleared her throat and straightened out her shirt. back to my place around 4:30 and I'll take you to meet the gang." Ross looked hesitant and Rachel picked up on it. "No, don't worry! They're gonna love you! Plus, we need you to even us out. It's always been three girls and two guys, but with you, we'll have three girls and three guys!"

Ross nodded and laughed. "I'll see you later then."

"Yeah, bye sweetie." Rachel watched him leave with a look of hunger and desire in her eyes. Once he was out of sight, she took a deep breath and went to straighten out the clothes on a mannequin, that didn't really need straightening out. She was just doing it to distract herself from Ross. She knew that she was in serious trouble if she didn't get to a point soon where she could think of something other than Ross for longer than three seconds. But a part of her didn't want to do that. She'd never been with a guy before that took over her mind like Ross did, and she loved that. It made him even more special to her.

Ross walked right by Allisandro's without even realizing it. But he knew exactly why. One name; a name that no matter what happened in the future with them, he would always connect to beauty and perfection. And right now, even if he didn't realize it, he was connecting that name to love. More love that he'd ever know. That one name was Rachel Green.

He backtracked and entered Monica's restaurant. She was already waiting by the door and when she saw him, she greeted him with a hug and took him to her best table, where she sat down opposite him. They talked for two hours, going into great detail about their lives over the past ten years. After two hours, Monica had to get back into the kitchen, so they said their goodbyes and Ross left. When he got outside and looked at his watch, he realized that he had an hour to kill; so he decided that he would take the long way to Rachel's apartment and pick her up some flowers or something.

About two blocks and five minutes from Rachel's apartment, he stopped at a street vendor, buying Rachel a beautiful bouquet of white lilies.

Right at 4:30, Ross knocked on the door to Rachel's apartment. Rachel opened the door to the apartment wearing shorts and a small t-shirt. A simple outfit, but to Ross, it was gorgeous. He handed her the flowers, "These are for you."

She smiled at him, "Thank you, they're beautiful." Taking the flowers in one hand, and him in the other, she dragged him into the apartment. Once he was inside, she closed the door behind him and gave him a kiss.

While arranging the flowers in a vase, she asked him, "So how was lunch with Monica?"

Ross sat down at the kitchen table and watched her. "It was great; we talked for like two hours. I think we're all caught up for now."

"That's great." Rachel stood behind him and massaged his shoulders, and then she bent down and kissed his neck, sending him straight to heaven. "You ready to go meet the guys?"

"If it means that you have to stop doing what you're doing, then no, I don't ever want to go."

Rachel laughed and stood up straight, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the door. "Come on..."

When Ross and Rachel entered Central Perk, Chandler, Joey, Phoebe and Monica were already there. Rachel dragged Ross over to the chair that Monica was sitting in, "Hey guys. I want you to meet Monica's brother and my boyfriend, Ross. Ross, this is Chandler, Phoebe and Joey."

Phoebe turned to look at Ross, "Oooh, YUM!" Rachel laughed and put her arm around Ross, resting her head on his shoulder.

After that first awkward moment, everyone started talking and seemed to hit it off really well. Soon it was the three guys talking and the three girls talking. When Ross got up to go to the bathroom, Chandler said to Rachel, "Congratulations, Rach. He seems like a great guy!"

Rachel got up and hugged Chandler. "Thanks honey. That means a lot to me."

Ross and Rachel left Central Perk and headed back up to her place. When they got inside, Ross put his arms around her waist. Rachel smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, "Well, what did you think of them?"

Ross kissed her hair. "I really like them, especially Chandler. I just hope I get to spend more time with them."

Rachel looked up at him and smiled, "Oh, don't worry. You'll definitely be spending more time with them. I don't see you going anywhere anytime in the near future."

Ross smiled and put a strand of hair behind her ear as he leaned in to kiss her. He broke it and softly ran the back of his hand on her cheek.

Looking deep into her eyes, he whispered, "Me neither."

-Author's Note: Okay, tell me what you guys thought of this chapter...I really love reading all of the reviews...I'm open to any suggestions or tips you may have...I hope you enjoyed! More to come soon...