Disclaimer: Friends is still not mine. I'm trying though, believe me.

A/N: Ah, you reviewers are incredible! (And for those of you reading who also reviewed Start of the Future- thank you also!) Hope your summers are going well!

So, I'm departing tomorrow for a two-week vacation, thus updates will not be happening for quite a while, since I'll have no way to really write while I'm gone. However, to try and compensate, I'm leaving you all with a long-ish update that will hopefully tide you over. And, let me remind you before you begin reading chapter: this is an AU fic, so just the fact that Ross and Rachel went to prom together changed a lot of stuff that didn't just affect them. Some characters are going to be represented in a different way... but all will be explained. You'll understand who I mean when you're done :)

XXX

There was an unfamiliar car parked in the driveway when Rachel pulled up, the sun having set during her trip to Long Island. Her mind was racing with possibilities: was it a distant relative? Was it a house-call doctor? Had her mother found a new man and they were getting married and she wanted to tell her daughters in person and that was her future step-father's car?

Alright, Rach, you're being ridiculous, Rachel thought to herself, calming her nerves as she pulled the key out of the ignition and got out of the car.

Her mother never left her messages at the dorm. The only time she'd ever done it before was when Leonard Green had had his fatal heart attack.

Please be fine, please be fine, Rachel wished as she opened the large front door and entered the foyer. A maid, who had been dusting off to one side, turned in a surprised whirl towards the newcomer.

"Hi," Rachel greeted. The maid was new; she didn't know her name. "Um, I'm Rachel Green."

"Hello," the maid responded, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. "I'm Gwen."

"Oh. Nice to meet you," Rachel nodded, glancing around the foyer for any sign of her mother or a mystery man or hospital bag or burglar or anything that would explain the message on the machine in her dorm or the strange car parked in the driveway. "Is my mother around?"

Gwen seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at those words, having been confused before by the woman who had stumbled into the house unannounced. "Yes, she's in the sitting room."

"Thanks," Rachel said, and, as she passed Gwen, asked, "Uh, is someone in there with her?"

"I think so," the maid replied, considering. "Yes, a young man showed up about half an hour ago, and Mrs. Green seemed very pleased to have him come."

"Oh great, she's marrying a younger man," Rachel mumbled to herself, putting a hand to her forehead momentarily. "Thank you very much, Gwen," she finally said, and then walked through the hallway that led to the sitting room.

"Rachel, darling! You came!" Sandra said enthusiastically as she spotted her daughter entering the room. She stood and glided over to Rachel, giving her a quick hug before sitting back down.

Rachel shot her mother a polite smile before turning her attention to the man sitting in one of the armchairs. He looked familiar…

"Dear, you remember Barry Farber, don't you?" Sandra asked pleasantly, looking back and forth between her daughter and her guest.

"We went to camp together," Barry said as he stood and awkwardly shook Rachel's hand. "I was at your father's funeral."

"Oh, right! Barry, of course!" Rachel realized, also remembering how she had found this man to be fake a bit smarmy.

"Barry is studying to become a dentist," Sandra informed.

"Actually, an orthodontist," Barry corrected. Rachel nodded in false interest, still standing while Barry and her mother had returned to their seats.

"Please, darling, sit, sit!" Sandra commanded in a lighthearted tone Rachel hadn't heard her use in years. "Dinner will be served soon, and this is the perfect time for you two to catch up!"

"Um, Mom, can I speak with you for a second?" Rachel questioned through gritted teeth, keeping the fake smile plastered on her face. This was why her mother had left a cryptic message at her dorm, making her fear the worst? She had worried herself for this?

"Well, dear, we have company, if you hadn't noticed. It would be quite rude-"

"Mom," Rachel interrupted in a hard voice. "Please."

"Alright. Make yourself comfortable, Barry."

"Thanks, Mrs. Green," Barry replied with a grin, shooting another appraising look towards the younger woman in the room. "I will."

Rachel stalked out of the sitting room and into her father's old study. She took a quick glance around the room and noticed that practically everything was where it had been when he'd still been alive. His desk was still in the same spot with the same green lamp sitting atop it, his bookshelves were still filled with literature of every type, and the chairs were still set about the study in the same way. It was like time had stood at a standstill.

Sandra shut the door behind her, and then placed her hands on her hips as she turned towards her daughter. "Rachel, what is going on?"

"What is going on?" Rachel repeated, annoyed. "What is going on? Mother, you leave me a mysterious message on my answering machine, which is weird enough in itself since you hate leaving messages, and so I rush home from the city because I'm thinking that something horrible has or is going to happen, and I get here to find that I went through almost an hour of traffic to have dinner with you and a guy I barely knew as a kid?"

"Well, I'm sorry if the message spooked you, but I wanted you to come home. I don't get to see you girls that much anymore," Sandra said as she placed a hand on her daughter's upper arm. "And Barry is home visiting his parents, and I thought it would be nice if the three of us had dinner together. He's one of your oldest friends-"

"Uh, he's not exactly on my Christmas card list," Rachel pointed out. "I never considered him a friend, even when we were at camp."

Saying those words made Rachel wonder about what her real friends were doing now. God, she hadn't even left Monica a note or anything to tell her where she had gone. And Ross… oh, they were supposed to watch a movie together tonight! She hated disappointing her boyfriend, but at this rate she'd never be home in time…

"Well, you're both adults now. Maybe you can become friends now. Maybe… more," Sandra added.

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "More?"

"Dear, you're nearly done with college. Now I understand before now that you've wanted to have fun, but I really think you need to start planning your future."

"Planning my future?"

"Yes," Sandra nodded, wandering over to the dusty bookshelves. "What are you going to do after graduation?"

Rachel considered. She'd been so wrapped up in her newfound relationship with Ross that she hadn't had much time to think about her future. "Well, I'm majoring in fashion. I'll probably get a job involving that."

Sandra looked nearly scandalized. "A job? Darling, jobs are fine for some people. But you have the chance to get complete financial security."

"How?" Rachel asked. This was certainly news to her.

"If you'd just consider looking at one of the men from our circle…"

Oh. Rachel suddenly knew exactly what her mother meant, and she wasn't liking the suggestion one bit. "I am not going to marry the son of one of your snooty rich friends just so I won't have to work."

"So you want to work?" Sandra inquired in a knowing tone.

If Rachel were being completely honest with herself, she'd admit that she wasn't exactly looking forward to joining the real world by way of a job. But she'd never let her mother know that.

"Yes. In fact, I was offered a paying internship by Bloomingdales to help in sales," Rachel shot back.

It wasn't entirely a lie. There was an internship at Bloomingdales in sales. The only problem was that there were at least ten other people vying for the spot from colleges all over the northeastern seaboard, including Rachel herself, and they wouldn't find out who got it until early springtime.

"Even so, dear, you aren't going to want to work forever, are you? What about a husband, a family? Wouldn't you want to be home to raise your children?"

Rachel could not figure out what had gotten into her mother to make her ask all these probing questions. A husband? Children? She wasn't even sure she wanted children! "I don't know! I guess I do, someday." She paused. "Mom, what is this all about? Why can't you accept my choices?"

"Because I don't want you to have to struggle in life, Rachel," Sandra said honestly. "And I know Barry, or someone like him who's already secured a bright and promising future, will make sure you're taken care of."

Rachel shook her head. "But I don't want to marry any of them! I'm twenty-one!" God, why couldn't her mother hear her?

"When I was twenty-one, I was practically engaged to your father," Sandra told her, and Rachel's curiosity peaked a bit as she noted the slightly bitter undertone in her mother's voice. "And right now, you don't even have a boyfriend!"

"Yes, I do!"

In the silence that followed this sudden declaration, Rachel's eyes bulged and her mouth formed a small 'O'. She had not meant to mention Ross. She had made a very conscious effort to not bring him up in any sort of conversations she'd had with her mother lately. But she was so riled up; she never could have stopped those words from firing out of her mouth.

It wasn't that she was afraid her mother wouldn't like him, no, Sandra had known Ross practically his entire life, since she was friends with Jack and Judy Gellar. However, what Rachel was concerned about was how her mother would feel about her daughter dating him. As much as Sandra liked the Gellars, they still weren't as high up in the social and economic ladders as the Greens were. Ross was just starting to work on his career, and definitely wouldn't have as many openings and connections to help him along faster than someone like Barry.

Sandra looked slightly taken aback, and had moved a hand up to her throat. "You do have a boyfriend? Why haven't you mentioned him before now?"

"It's… it's new," Rachel said. "Very new. And he's… important to me. I didn't want to jinx anything."

"Well?" Sandra watched her daughter expectantly. "Who is it?"

Rachel took a slow breath. "Ross. Ross Gellar."

Sandra's face turned to surprise again. "Oh," was all she said.

At this point, Rachel wanted nothing more than to get out of there as quickly as possible. "Do you see now why I don't want to be here, eating dinner with you and Barry? I already have a boyfriend, one I care very much about, and I am not looking for a new one."

"Rachel…," Sandra started again, in a pleading tone that made her daughter want to roll her eyes. "You know how much I adore Ross. But he's just graduated, and trying to get on his feet. What does he do? Something with dinosaurs…"

"He's a paleontologist," Rachel corrected huffily. "And he's is going to be getting his PhD in a few years! Barry just graduated too, didn't he? What's so different about him?"

"Well, dear, his parents have made sure he's… taken care of," Sandra said.

Fuming now, Rachel just shook her head. "You know what Mom? I'm done with this conversation. I'm dating Ross whether you like it or not, which you should like, because you already know his family and what a sweet guy he is. I'm not going to have dinner with Barry, because I'm not interested." She turned and headed towards the door. With one hand on the knob, she twisted her head back towards Sandra. "I'm going to leave now, because otherwise I may say or do something that I'll regret."

"Rachel, please," Sandra pleaded, stepping towards her daughter. "Just hear what I'm saying, sweetheart…"

"No. I'm sick of you meddling in my life. At least when Dad was alive you were too busy fighting with him all the time to pay much attention to me." Rachel turned the knob and opened the door. "I'll call you when I've cooled off. Goodnight."

She rushed out of the room, feeling proud, and also a little ashamed of herself. She'd finally stood up for herself against her mother. She just hoped that Sandra would get the hint to start backing off.

"Pulling the old 'walk in, see the guy, and leave' trick?" a voice asked, and Rachel whipped around as she was heading down the driveway towards her car to see Barry, shadowed in the darkness of the late evening.

"I'm sorry, Barry, but I think my mother may have led you to believe that I was looking for someone," Rachel said, fumbling with her key chain to find the key to her car.

"So this date was really that bad? We didn't even have a drink," Barry pressed, sending her a smile he must have thought was charming, but Rachel found to be creepy.

"No. It's just, I actually have a boyfriend."

Barry's eyes seemed to flash, but Rachel wasn't sure if it was a trick of the outside lights. "Why's he so special?" he questioned.

Rachel could not believe all the interrogation she was receiving this evening. She certainly was on the brink of outright hating Barry Farber, her mother just a step behind (but only because the woman had given her life). "If you must know, I have been falling in love with him since he took me to my senior prom after my boyfriend bailed to cheat on me." She felt a blush sweep across her cheeks, and was glad the darkness hid it. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to leave before someone loses an eye."

"I guess I'll see you around," Barry called to her as Rachel got in the driver's seat of her car and started the engine.

She took one last look back at the house and saw the light in her father's study shut off. Her glance roamed over to the man standing awkwardly in her driveway, still smirking a little.

A shiver went down her spine, and somehow Rachel knew this evening was just the tip of the iceberg.

XXX

Ross blinked a few times, trying to keep himself focused on what was in front of him. He was currently skimming over some files for work, but his attention kept straying from the text in front of him to other thoughts.

Thoughts such as his sister and best friend, who seemed to be growing closer as each day passed. He wondered what their future would be; he wasn't against them getting married. It would actually be sort of cool, since then he'd be related to Chandler. Plus, he was comforted in the fact that he knew beyond a doubt that Monica would be in good hands.

He also kept considering Joey and Phoebe. Though neither had ties to anybody else in the group prior to Joey moving in with Chandler, they both fit in as well as if they had been along for the entire ride so far. He was slowly beginning to count both of them as people he could always depend on.

But the one main thing his mind kept drifting to was Rachel. He couldn't help it; she was intoxicating. When she wasn't around he found himself missing her, and when she was around he felt as if he couldn't get enough of her.

Was this what real, true love felt like? Ross couldn't be sure, but if it was, he didn't mind it at all.

A knock on his apartment door allowed him to finally put his work papers down and out of his mind without feeling guilty as he went to unlock the door.

As he caught sight of who was on the other side through the peephole, he hurried to undo the large deadbolt and swiftly pulled the door open to allow entrance to just the person he had been wanting to see all night.

"I thought you weren't coming," Ross said as he stepped back so Rachel could get inside. "So I had started to go over some stuff from work, but we can still watch the movie…"

He trailed off as he noticed his girlfriend's hunched posture and distressed look. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked gently as he pushed some hair behind her ear.

"It was just…" Rachel brought her head up so she could take in his face. "Just a crappy evening," she finished. "I needed to see you. I'm sorry I broke our date."

"It's fine," Ross insisted, letting his hands rest at the curve of her hips. "And you can always come and see me. It definitely brightens up my day."

"Thanks, Ross," she mumbled out, letting him envelop her in a comforting hug. When she pulled back, she kissed his cheek. "Just seeing you is making me feel better."

"That's actually one of my super powers," Ross joked, smiling. "It's how I get all of my girls." At Rachel's eye-roll, Ross shrugged. "Well, it's how I got you."

"Right," Rachel nodded.

Ross leaned his head down and gave her a soft kiss. He was pulling back as Rachel threw her arms around his neck and brought his lips back to meet hers again. This went on for some time, until Ross breathlessly asked, "Uh, do you want to stay? Tonight?"

Rachel looked torn. "Ross, we haven't…," she trailed off, and he understood what she meant, "since we first got together." Although it had been just over a week ago, it almost seemed months to both.

"I'm sorry, you're right, I shouldn't have suggested it," Ross began, backing off and waving his hands. "You want to go slow, and I'm totally disrespecting that…" He glanced back at her. "Let me walk you home."

Waiting a beat, Rachel mulled over her choices. Only one seemed very appealing at the moment.

"I'll stay," she said with a grin, taking his hand in hers.

XXX

October flew by, as did Ross' twenty-third birthday, which they threw a small party for just after he had sent in his application to NYU's graduate school program so he could pursue his PhD the following fall. The six friends also celebrated Phoebe's birthday just after Ross's by taking her out to a fancy restaurant. Joey and Chandler threw a costume party on Halloween at their apartment and invited nearly everyone they knew, and somehow only ended up with three pieces of broken furniture by midnight of November first.

Mid-terms came and went, and when they were finally over with, Rachel and Monica were able to relax and prepare for the upcoming holiday season.

Jack and Judy Gellar were going to be spending Thanksgiving in Florida, where Nana was finalizing contracts on her new condominium. Since neither Ross nor Monica could afford plane tickets to join them, they were going to stay in New York, and, with permission from Nana, were going to eat in her apartment. Soon Phoebe and Joey were invited to join the siblings, and just after them Chandler was added to the group when he found that his mother was going to be traveling and his father was to host the first annual 'Dresses Only Thanksgiving Dinner' in Las Vegas.

Rachel had been unsure about what to do herself. On the one hand, she wanted to spend the holiday having fun and eating Monica's amazing cooking at her grandmother's awesome apartment. But on the other hand, her mother's sister always had a large soiree on Thanksgiving, and after celebrating with the Gellars the past few years, Sandra had begun pestering her daughter about when she was going to return.

Of course, Rachel hadn't truly spoken to the elder Green woman since their fight in the early fall, save for a few quick, stilted conversations over the telephone.

Having Thanksgiving with the gang won out.

"Guess who's a lesbian?" Chandler asked in way of greeting as he entered Central Perk and approached his friends the day before the holiday.

"Normal people usually opt to words such as 'hello' or 'hey' when they see people they know. Why can't you stick to those?" Monica questioned as her boyfriend sat beside her on the orange couch.

Joey, on the other hand, looked excited. He leaned forward on the chair he was sitting on. "Who's a lesbian? Who's a lesbian!"

Chandler shook his head. "You guys will never believe this."

"Is it Rachel or Monica?" Phoebe looked back and forth between said women suspiciously from her place on Monica's right side.

"No!" Chandler shouted, and then paused. "Though that is a pretty nice image."

Monica hit him on the chest just as Rachel leaned over from the armchair to slap him upside the head.

"Just tell us who it is!" Joey cried anxiously.

"Well, it's-" he started, and then stopped. "Wait, where's Ross?"

"Bathroom," Rachel answered.

"Okay, we've got to wait for him before I say it," Chandler said. "His reaction is most important."

"Oooh, is it Ross?" Phoebe sent Rachel a sympathetic glance.

"Is what Ross?" the man they were speaking of inquired as he took his spot back on the armchair with Rachel on his lap.

"Shut up so Chandler can tell us who the lesbian is!" Joey interjected. "Dude, give me her number after this."

"Okay, get this. The lesbian is… Carol."

Monica and Rachel gasped. Ross, however, began laughing.

"Yeah, right," he chuckled out. "Yeah, okay, 'hey, Ross, your ex-girlfriend is a lesbian!'. Sure. Man, Chandler, you're really losing your touch if you have to resort to this kind of stuff."

"I'm not joking!" Chandler said defiantly. "I ran into Linda Hoyle earlier today, and she told me! She said Carol realized it right after graduation!"

"Who is Linda Hoyle?" Phoebe asked.

"Carol's old roommate," Monica clarified for her. "That girl was always honest, even if it hurt. She couldn't tell a lie; something about Pinocchio and her nose being big enough or something. She must be serious."

Everyone turned towards Ross.

"Of course I dated the gay one," he finally proclaimed miserably, and buried his head in Rachel's hair.

"Wow," Rachel said. "I can't believe I was actually jealous of her at one time."

"I always knew there was something off about her," Monica chimed in.

Phoebe looked thoughtful. "I should set her up with my friend Joyce."

"Hey, Ross," Joey said, getting his attention. "Do you still have her number?"

"Joey!" all except Ross groaned out.

Chandler glanced around at the quiet group. "So… how 'bout that Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, huh? Heard that's kind of a big deal," he said cheerfully, filling the silence.

He was met with five pairs of rolling eyes.

XXX

"Rachel? What are you doing?" Monica questioned carefully as she came out of the bathroom and stepped over to the small kitchen area in her grandmother's apartment.

Rachel sheepishly pulled her hand back from the cook book she had been peering at. "I was just looking!"

"What did I tell you about touching things while I'm cooking?"

Letting out a long and loud sigh, Rachel said in a bored tone, "Don't go near any of Monica's creations, dishes, or cook books when she's in the middle of cooking."

Monica smiled sweetly. "That's my girl. I swear, you're almost as bad as Chandler."

"What was that?" Chandler called as he heard his name from his spot on Nana's old, blue couch. He was flipping back and forth between the parade and the football game with Ross and Phoebe.

"Nothing, dear," Monica cooed back at him, and then brandished her ladle at Rachel. "You have to understand, Rach, we live in a dorm. There is practically nowhere for me to express my major! This is one of the only chances I get all year! I don't want anything to get messed up. Now, I love you, but get out of the kitchen before I beat you with this ladle."

"I'm going, I'm going," the dark-blonde mumbled, and she made her way into the living room. "God, she won't even let me make dessert," she informed the others.

"Uh, Rach, the last dessert you made ended up giving your dog food poisoning," Ross pointed out. "Remember? Le Poo ate most of it before it was even served?" He leaned towards Chandler and whispered, "That dog definitely saved a few lives that night."

Rachel chose not to respond to his story, and instead began a discussion with Phoebe about past lives.

"Hey, Joey, did you check on the pies?" Monica asked as the Italian entered the apartment.

Joey looked guilty as he shrugged. "Uh, yeah. I checked on the… pie."

"There was more than one in there," Monica said slowly.

"Really?" Joey's voice rose in pitch slightly. "Uh, no, I only saw one…"

"Joey! Did you eat the second pie?"

"No!" Joey looked about the room franticly. "Uh, uh, Chandler did!"

"Stop mentioning my name back there!" Chandler called out. "I can still hear you!"

He shook his head and tuned out Monica as she began berating their friend in the kitchen. Phoebe was explaining to Rachel about one of her past lives that she remembered. Ross was sitting quietly, looking thoughtful as he went back and forth between watching the parade on the television and stealing a glance at his girlfriend.

Chandler grinned to himself suddenly, for the first time in a long while feeling completely content with his life. It seemed as if everything was really coming together, and having four great friends and a loving girlfriend made his future seem just a little better as each day passed.

"Chandler? Did you disrupt the order of ingredients I had strategically placed out on the counter?" Monica asked, and Chandler could tell by the way her voice rose in fake-niceness that she was mad.

"Uh…" he uttered, and then said, "I made them into a turkey shape?" Chandler avoided eye contact and tried to get himself to really focus on the parade as his girlfriend shot daggers at him.

Okay, so he had four great friends and a loving girlfriend who didn't like his jokes. It was still better than most.

An hour later the six were sitting down for their first big holiday dinner together.

As Monica finally took a load off and sat at the head of one of the two tables that had been pushed together to accommodate the six friends, Phoebe tapped her raised wine glass, and the others quieted down.

"Alright, quiet, quiet!" she instructed. "Okay, I'd like to propose a toast to Monica for making this amazing Thanksgiving meal. Even though I don't eat turkey, since I'm a vegetarian and could never imagine taking a bite out of something that at one time had been a living, breathing animal with blood running through it's veins and internal organs-"

"To Monica!" Ross interrupted quickly, and everyone half-heartedly chorused the toast, slightly disgusted by Phoebe's graphic words.

Joey glanced around at the group. "You know, I'm really thankful for all of this today. Especially this turkey, even though it's kinda small, don't you think? I mean I could eat this thing by myself!"

"Hey! We should go around in a circle and everyone can say something they're thankful for today," Phoebe suggested, and the others murmured their consent.

Monica beamed at the group. "I'm thankful for great family and friends, and the fact that I'm almost done with college."

Chandler, to her left, went next. "Well, I'm not the mushy type, but I'm thankful for you guys, and for a great girlfriend." He leaned over to kiss Monica lightly. "Who's very hot."

Joey gave Chandler a small clap at his last statement, and then said, "I'm thankful for my family, my friends, all of the things I have, and thongs."

"Well, I'm thankful for all of the possessions I have and how lucky I am to not be living on the streets anymore," Phoebe added after everyone had chuckled at Joey's 'thong' comment.

"I guess I'm just thankful for everything in my life, the good and the bad," Ross stated, shyly smiling at Rachel and lacing their fingers on top of the table.

Rachel let her eyes drift over all of those present at the table with her. "I'm thankful for being in my last year of college, for all of the things that I have, for new beginnings," she aimed that towards Ross, "and that I know I'll always be able to count on all of you."

Chandler raised his wine glass. "To friends."

"To friends," they all replied, clinking their glasses together in the center of the table.

And they all knew: this was forever.

XXX

In the words of Rachel: Au revoir!