Disclaimer: I don't own Friends.

A/N: These reviews are great! I'm so happy you people are enjoying this! And don't you just love how I've already written a lot of it, so updates are close together? I know it's easier for me. I'm really trying hard to finish up my Rachel fic, but I've decided not to work on it until this weekend, when I can watch the episode and go from there.

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Rachel rubbed her eyes as sunlight suddenly blinded her vision. She sat up slowly, wondering where she was. Then she remembered: Monica's living room.

A few feet away, Monica was slumped sideways against a cushion, while Chandler slept soundly in the big armchair. Ross and Carol were suspiciously missing.

The group had been eating pizza and watching a movie, and then Chandler had whipped out a flask filled with… some sort of alcohol, and things had started to get really interesting. Rachel knew she hadn't been drunk, but she had gotten a bit tipsy, and now she had a headache.

Pots and pans were clanking in the kitchen, so Rachel stood slowly to investigate. She stopped outside the door, however, when she heard low voices. Ross and Carol.

"What are you saying, Ross?"

"I'm saying… things are changing. Can you pass me those eggs?"

"Changing? The only thing I see changing around here is you."

Rachel heard sizzling and the scent of bacon wafted through the crevices of the swinging door separating her from them. She'd always been nosy, and this time wasn't any different.

"What does that mean?" Ross sounded indignant.

Footsteps started pacing, then stopped. "I mean you, Ross. You and Rachel. I know you two are friends, but you spend so much time together-"

"Are you insinuating that I'm cheating on you?"

Rachel made an annoyed face, and wanted to march in there and tell Carol she wasn't cheating with Ross. She didn't though.

"No, Ross, I'm insinuating that you've had a thing for Rachel for as long as I've known you, and probably longer! I ignored it for as long as I could, but it's just so glaringly obvious! And I think she might like you too."

The nice bacon smell was starting to turn burnt.

"That's-that's…crazy!"

"I can't compete with her, Ross! I mean she's your best friend!"

"Exactly! She's my best friend-"

"And I don't even fit into your little group. There isn't any room for me. There never has been."

Rachel thought the silence was deathly, and glanced at Monica and Chandler, who were both still dead to the world. How can they still be asleep!

"What are you saying?"

Footsteps taking tentative steps forward. "I'm saying that I'm done trying to fit into your group, Ross." Breathing. "I'm done."

Silence again. Quick steps started though, and Rachel heard them fast approaching. She panicked, and dove onto the couch, nearly kicking Monica in the process. Rachel kept one eye open slightly, and saw Carol rushing up the stairs. Moments later, she returned with a bag slung over her shoulder, but exited through the front door. A car started, and she heard it back out of the driveway.

Rachel waited a few minutes. She didn't want to make it seem as if she heard everything, even though she had. Finally she counted three-hundred-and-sixty Mississippi's, figuring that was a good amount of time.

Ross was standing by the stove, a spatula in one hand and a towel slung over his shoulder. Monica was the cook of the family, but he still could make a few things. He looked up when Rachel entered.

"Carol…uh…," he began. Sure, he'd been planning on breaking up with her, but the fact that it had happened was still a blow to his heart. She'd been the first woman, other than Rachel, whom he'd really let himself love.

Rachel opened her arms slowly and let Ross walk into them. She rested her head on his shoulder, and he let his arms circle her back.

She didn't really know why she felt something like relief in the pit of her stomach.

XXX

The rest of the summer passed by quickly. Rachel spent almost every day working in her father's doctors' office, because as boring as it was, it was something to do, plus it gave her some extra cash, since she didn't want to be dependant on her parents forever. When she wasn't there, she was with the Gellers. Leo and Sandra kept fighting, her sisters kept flaking, and she was left to herself most of the time.

Monica spent two weeks in the city with her grandmother while she took a cooking class. Rachel, Ross and Chandler all visited her one day, and the four went out to a fancy dinner. She worked at the senior center when she had spare time to earn some money.

Chandler went back and forth between his mother and father's houses, until one day, towards the end of the summer, Charles Bing declared that he was moving to Vegas. Chandler didn't mind that much. He was interning at a nearby company that did data reconfiguration and statistical factoring. No one really ever asked him what that meant, but they all knew it wasn't really something he wanted to do. He made the trip to the Geller's home at least three times a week.

Ross traveled to the city four days a week to help at the museum. He'd been tipped off by a fellow worker that they were considering hiring him after he graduated. He'd bounced back from the break-up with Carol surprisingly well.

"How come you get that side?" Ross asked Chandler as they moved their stuff into their new dorm room towards the end of August. They were seniors now, which meant they got the better rooms of NYU.

"Because," Chandler reasoned, "you took too long at the car."

"It's not my fault Monica insisted I help carry her stuff to her room, which is two blocks down, by the way."

Chandler was about to retort, but stopped when he saw something in the hallway. "Uh… look over here, Ross!" He began waving his arms.

Ross made a "what?" gesture with his hands, then glanced outside their room. Carol was walking down the hallway with another girl.

"I tried to stop you," Chandler said as he came up behind his friend and patted his shoulder.

"No, it's fine," Ross said, going back to emptying his boxes of stuff. "I'm over her."

"Really?" Chandler asked.

Ross nodded. "Yeah, I've got some… prospects."

Chandler scoffed. "You? Prospects? More like you've got your eye on a certain best friend of your sister."

"Puh." Ross rolled his eyes. "…Maybe."

The two went back to their separate sides. Chandler glanced outside the window. "Only two blocks, huh? Interesting."

XXX

Rachel smiled up at Ross as they stood outside of her dorm room. They'd gone out for pizza by themselves, since Chandler and Monica were missing. The school year had been in session for a month already, but Rachel still felt like she was on summer vacation.

"So thanks for the pizza," Rachel said, getting out her keys from her purse. "It was fun."

"Yeah," Ross agreed, a step behind her. "We never really hang out, just us, anymore."

"Well you're too busy making sure your best friend doesn't hit on your sister," Rachel teased lightly, opening the door. "You wanna come in?"

Ross shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, it's a Saturday night and I've got nothing better to do. Plus, it's always a good sign if the girl invites you into her dorm room." He waggled his eyebrows jokingly.

"Please, I'm not that easy," Rachel replied. "There has to be a little more than just pizza to seduce me."

"I'll remember that," Ross said, only half-joking. The two stood in the middle of the room, staring at each other, and Ross knew it was one of those moments that could turn into something more.

She broke eye contact first, however, and cleared her throat. "Oh, I have a message," Rachel pointed out, and walked over to the answering machine.

Ross was too busy pouting quietly over another of his missed chances with Rachel to listen to the message.

"You have one new message," the computerized voice told them. "First message: 'Rachel, dear, it's your mother,'" Sandra's voice filled the room, sounding anxious. "'I'm at the hospital. Your father had some sort of heart attack at home. I couldn't get in touch with Jill either, but Amy is here with me. We're not sure of his condition.'"

By now Rachel felt herself shaking. Ross had stood, his eyes wide, and had placed a hand on her shoulder.

"'We're at Emmanuel Hospital. I'm not sure when we'll get home, but call there first, the maid is there.'"

The answering machine beeped. "End of message."

Rachel sat down slowly in a chair by the small table Monica had set up. Ross was at a loss for words. She stood again quickly, grabbing her purse.

"I've gotta, uh, gotta go," Rachel said shakily.

Ross nodded. "I'm going with you."

"No, it's uh, it's okay," she replied, sounding dazed. Her eyes were filling with tears.

"No, Rach, I'm going with you. Plus you shouldn't take a cab alone."

"Yeah, oh-okay," Rachel agreed, not even noticing Ross's bad reasoning.

"I'll leave a note for Mon," he said, already jotting down a few words.

Rachel was at the door. "Ross, what if-"

"Let's go," Ross said firmly, taking her hand and leading her outside.

XXX