Disclaimer: I don't own Friends.

A/N: Wonderful reviews! I get all giddy when I see I have a few waiting in my inbox :)

About the ages with the Green girls (ha, "However you say it, it still sounds like you're talking about green people,"-Ross. I obviously watch too much Friends if I know that off the top of my head.), um, anyway, I'm almost certain Rachel is the oldest, but now I'm realizing that I think Jill is the youngest. But in this story, she's the middle. What's done is done, though. I hope I didn't confuse any of you.

Also, all of my focus is going into this story now, since I've finished all the other works in progress! Except, I do have a new idea for another Friends fic... but it can wait.

XXX

Winter melted into spring, life went on, and soon Ross found himself preparing for graduation.

After their little chat walking to the pizza place months before, Rachel had tried dating a few times, but each guy had been a bust. Ross had only gone out twice, and both times it had really only been for the hell of going on a date. Chandler and Monica were glad to have their relationship out in the open, and with each passing day Ross found his sister and best friend falling even more in love with each other.

Ross' grandmother had informed them of an apartment that was empty across the hall from hers, and with help from Nana and Jack and Judy, he and Chandler had bought the apartment, and planned to move in a few days after they left NYU.

Graduation was a day away. Ross could hardly believe the fact as he and Chandler tried on their gowns, modeling them for the girls.

"Is it weird that I find that gown really sexy?" Monica whispered to Rachel as the two sat on Ross's bed. Neither were moving out for another two days.

Rachel just chuckled and rolled her eyes. "So are you guys nervous?" she asked of the men, who were practicing moving their tassels from one side to the other.

Ross shrugged. "Not really. I've been ready to graduate for months."

"Then how come just last week you were bawling over the fact that you'd never be coming back ever again?" Chandler questioned with a smirk.

Glaring at his best friend, Ross waved it off to the girls. "Whatever," he dismissed. There was a knock at the door, and Monica stood to open it.

"Ross!" Judy gushed as she entered the dorm room with her husband, completely bowling over her daughter. She hugged her son tightly. "I can't believe you're graduating from college tomorrow."

"Yes, son, this is such a big event," Jack nodded, clapping a hand on Ross's shoulder.

"Hey Mom, Dad," Monica said, still standing by the door.

The two Gellers finally noticed the other three people in the room. Judy nodded to each in turn. "Chandler, Rachel, Monica."

Monica approached and got an unenthusiastic kiss on the cheek. The young woman just rolled her eyes at Rachel.

"We're on our way to Nana's," Jack informed the kids. They were staying overnight in the apartment so they could spend the day with their children.

Ross and Chandler removed their gowns as Jack and Judy praised their son a bit more. Finally, Monica couldn't take it anymore.

"So Chandler and I have to get going," she announced to the room, grabbing her boyfriend's hand. Monica had told her parents a few months prior that she was dating her brother's best friend.

Rachel eyed them, but shrugged it off and waved good-bye. With them gone, she was starting to feel like an intruder in the family, though she'd never be considered one anyway. She suddenly became extremely aware that she was sitting comfortably on their son's bed.

"Rachel, how is your mother?" Judy asked conversationally. "We haven't seen her at the club lately."

"Oh, um, okay," she replied. "She's just been…sorting things out."

Honestly, Rachel had no idea what was going on with her mother. She didn't speak with Sandra that often. She loved her mom, but sometimes spending more than three hours with her could take its toll. She wondered if Sandra missed her husband.

"Actually, mom, Rachel I were gonna get an early dinner," Ross cut in, seeing his friend was uncomfortable. "You guys can come if you want."

Judy's eyes widened slightly, and she looked between her son and his friend for a moment before replying, "No, your father and I need to get settled at Nana's. You two seem to go out together often."

Jack wasn't as subtle as his wife. "Are you dating? Because it's okay if you are. We've always liked you better than his old girlfriend Carol," he confided to Rachel.

Ross spluttered. "We're-we're not dating, Dad." Rachel just blushed.

"Oh," Jack said, sounding a little disappointed.

"Well, we better get going," Judy said, still smiling at the two.

Rachel stood to accept the hug Judy offered. It wasn't anything big; just a motherly hug from someone she'd known for almost her entire life. But still, to Rachel, it meant a lot. Judy embraced her son, also. Jack waved to them both and left to get the car.

The woman looked at them once more, now that Rachel had moved to stand beside Ross. She admired the two. "You'd make a handsome couple," she said as her parting words.

Rachel stood still for what seemed like hours after Judy exited. Ross didn't move either, until finally he let out a chuckle that broke the ice. "Let's go find Monica and Chandler," he said easily, grabbing her jacket for her. "Maybe they'll want to have dinner with us."

He helped her slip into the jacket, and then opened the door for her. Rachel thought about what Judy and Jack had said. These days, any word that concerned she and Ross as a couple confused her even more.

XXX

"You really didn't have to pay," Ross repeated for what seemed like the millionth time as they left an upscale restaurant Rachel had insisted on going to.

Rachel just shook her head. "Ross, you are graduating from college tomorrow. This is part of the celebration. Did you think I was actually going to make you pay? You need to think about your future now," she said with a smile.

Ross wished to tell her he wanted a future with her, but, alas, he didn't. Instead, he replied, "Alright. But you know next year when you're graduating I'm going to return the favor and take you out. In fact, since your birthday is only a week away, I'm going to take you out then."

Bumping against him with a smile, Rachel shrugged in response. She was excited; she was turning twenty-one. Monica had told her to keep her calendar open for the upcoming weekend; she had a slightly-early birthday surprise for her friend.

She waited a beat, her mind drifting to what Ross's parents had been talking about earlier in the dorm. "Ross?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you think your parents thought we were dating?"

Ross was caught off-guard, not expecting this question. "Uh, I, uh, I don't know," he stuttered out. "You know how it is; a guy and a girl are friends and everyone thinks it's more."

"Monica and Chandler started out as friends."

Rachel didn't know why she pointed that out. In fact, she had no idea why she was even asking him these questions. What answer was she searching for? She didn't even know. But for some reason, she was sick of skirting around this issue. Every time someone mentioned them as a couple, she or Ross would laugh it off.

Her father had always been wary of the young man.

They spent a lot of time together.

Carol had broken up with Ross because she was jealous of Rachel.

One of her dates had picked her up at her dorm room, and Ross had been there, getting ready to leave after stopping in to pick something up he'd left. The guy had been immediately jealous of Ross.

But why? Had they been flirting? Rachel knew she was a flirt, and sometimes she felt she was especially like that with her best friend's brother.

Once in awhile, she wanted to be able to float out of her body so she could actually watch them for a time.

Rachel was done laughing, and she had a feeling Ross was getting tired of it too.

Ross seemed to be considering how to phrase his next question. "Do you think we're like Monica and Chandler?"

Breathing deeply, Rachel realized they had stopped walking, and the late-spring breeze passing by them made her hair fly one way. Ross was staring at her. She wondered why it was warmer than it should be.

"I-I don't know. Maybe…we are?"

Ross was about to reply, his face a mixture of hope and cowardice, when a voice called out, "Ross!"

The whole moment broken, he turned and squinted down the darkening street. Rachel followed his gaze. Carol came into view.

Of course.

Rachel felt like she couldn't breathe. She was starting to understand just what exactly she was feeling for her friend- a feeling that had just hit her like a ton of bricks- and before they could say anything, his ex-girlfriend shows up. Just her luck. She needed to get out of there; she couldn't see Carol right now.

"I'm gonna go, uh, in there," she waved vaguely to a coffee shop a few stores ahead. Ross nodded, watching her with a look she couldn't decipher.

She left quickly. Ross looked after her, not sure what just happened. Had Rachel just almost told him that she liked him?

"Ross!" Carol called again. She was walking with a few friends, but waved them on. She stopped in front of her ex-boyfriend.

Ross hadn't seen her in months. Ironic she showed up right at the moment his life could've changed forever.

"Hey, Carol," he greeted slowly, putting a smile on his face for her benefit.

"How've you been?" she asked kindly.

He shrugged. "Okay. You?"

"Kind of nervous about tomorrow," she confided. "Are you walking alone?"

Ross almost told her no, he was walking with the girl of his dreams who was a minute away from telling him something that was going to probably make him the happiest man in the world. Instead, he just said, "Uh, I'm just meeting someone in the, uh, coffee shop."

"Oh." She looked around nervously. "Can we talk for a minute?"

"Uh, sure," Ross said. He didn't want Rachel to think he'd abandoned her in favor of his former girlfriend, but he also didn't want to be rude to Carol.

She led him to a bench and they sat down, the sun making it's way to the west. "Listen, Ross," Carol began, not able to meet his eyes. "Last summer…"

When she didn't continue, Ross prodded, "We broke up?"

"Yeah," Carol said, now raising her eyes to his. "Last summer we broke up, but I think I was a little too hasty in my decision."

Ross' eyes grew twice their normal size. He had an idea of where this was going.

"I was feeling insecure, I guess. But we've spent so long apart, I've come to find that I've missed you. A lot." Carol placed her hand on his arm. "I was thinking maybe we could-"

"Look, Carol," Ross cut in, "I missed you too. But I've…I've moved on." He didn't want to sound like an ass, but he still felt like one. "We've been broken up for a year, and we haven't seen each other in months, and there's just…a lot going on right now."

"You've moved on?" she repeated slowly. "Like…you're dating someone?"

Ross sighed. "Sort of. I might be. I'm not sure yet."

Carol peered into his eyes. "Is it…"

"Yeah, uh, it is," Ross confirmed, knowing she meant Rachel.

"Oh," Carol said softly, removing her hand from his arm. "That's great, Ross," she finally decided. "There's always been something between you two."

"I'm sorry." It was the only thing Ross could say.

"No, it's uh, okay. I hope you two…figure everything out."

Carol stood from the bench, looking past his face to the sidewalk. "Good luck, Ross," she said as her last words.

Ross let out a breath, and sat at the bench for a few more minutes. He definitely hadn't seen that coming. He stood slowly, and made his way over to the coffee shop. Rachel was standing with a frozen drink, and when she saw him, she looked at him with those bright blue eyes that Ross found he could never quite take his gaze from.

He wanted to continue their earlier conversation. He wanted to tell her that everything with Carol was definitely over, and that he'd been in love with her since high school. He wanted to tell her how he felt; how he wanted to hold her, and kiss her, and make love to her, because she was the only woman he'd ever even considered spending the rest of his life with.

But in true Ross and Rachel fashion, he approached her, told her Carol just wanted to say good-bye before graduation, asked what kind of drink she got, and that was it. Neither mentioned their earlier talk.

The words were out now, though. It was just up to them to figure out what to do.

XXX