Chapter 13: Another Point of View

Ross stared in shock as he watched Monica, his long lost sister, flee the room. He didn't know what to do. He hadn't seen her in so long. Three years ago he and his father had returned home from a vacation to find Monica gone. His mother had been distraught, saying she and Monica had fought and Monica had taken off. Ross had been looking for her for years, and had begun to lose hope.

Twenty-year old Ross Gellar, hopped out of the taxi he and his father had taken home from the airport and grabbed his bags from the trunk. His dad grabbed his bags and the two of them made their way up the driveway of the large, suburban house.

"We're home!" his father called out cheerfully, as he opened the door and dropped his bags in the front hall.

"Oh, my boys are finally home," Judy said, walking in. She gave Jack a kiss and Ross a hug. "I missed you two."

"I missed you, too, mom," Ross said, returning the hug.

"Where's my little Harmonica?" Jack said, loudly.

Judy seemed to hesitate. "She's not here."

"Well, where is she?" Jack asked.

"I don't know."

"When will she be home?" Ross asked. He was eager to see Monica, as the two of them hadn't parted on the greatest of terms. Monica had been upset that she wasn't allowed to go on the trip. Judy had put in that it was a trip for Ross, so he could see Egypt. Monica had said she didn't care about where they went; she just wanted to be a part of a family vacation. Ross was never sure why Judy had been so against Monica going. He had had no problem with her going, but when push came to shove, he went along with his mother's opinion and told her to stay.

"I don't know if she will ever come home," Judy said.

"What?" Jack asked.

Judy sighed, and appeared to be fighting back tears. "We had a fight, a week ago. It was over nothing. She got upset because I asked her to run some errands for me. She said some stuff to me, said she hated me, hated us. She left. She took a bag of clothes and other stuff. She also took a fair amount of money from my purse and some of my jewelry. I haven't seen or heard from her since." Judy broke off, her body shaking softly, her face in her hands.

Jack stepped in, and pulled her into a hug. "Don't worry, she'll be back."

Ross stood silently for a few minutes. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

Judy paused for a second, her face still against Jack's shoulder. "I thought she would have been home by now. I didn't want to worry you. I just wanted you to have a good vacation…" Judy trailed off, sobbing into Jack's shoulder.

Ross hadn't known what else to say. He had comforted his mother and had spent the next day calling her friends to see if any of them had heard from her. They hadn't. He called Rachel, who wasn't home. He remembered Monica saying she was away for a month, in Florida.

The next week Ross had drove to Rachel's house, and was relieved to find her home.

"Ross, what a surprise," Rachel said as she answered the door and was surprised to find her best friend's brother on the other side of the door.

"Hi Rachel, can we talk?"

"Sure," Rachel said. "Come on in."

Ross allowed Rachel to lead his into the kitchen and the two of them say down on either end of the table.

"What's up?" Rachel asked.

Ross sighed. "Have you heard from Monica lately?"

Rachel shook her head. "Not since before I left, why, did something happen?" Rachel asked, suddenly concerned at the look on Ross' face.

Ross was silent, not sure of what to say.

"Ross," Rachel said, a sense of urgency in her voice. "What's wrong?"

Ross sighed again. "She's gone."

"Who, Monica?"

Ross nodded.

"Where did she go?"

Ross shook his head. "I don't know. I got home a week ago. My mom said they had a fight and she took off. No one has seen or heard from her since."

"Oh my God," Rachel said. "That's awful. Where could she have gone?"

"I have no idea. I've called all of her friends and all of our relatives. No one knows where she is."

"Well, we have to find her," Rachel cried out. "Where else could she be?"

Ross shook his head. "I don't know where else to look. It's like she disappeared."

Rachel felt tears spring to her eyes. "We have to find her," she repeated. "We can't give up."

"We won't," Ross said, walking around the table to give her a hug. "We won't."

They searched for three years, and still never found her, until one day…

Ross and Rachel entered the wedding hall, and sat down near the back. Ross recognized a few people, from college, but didn't approach any of them. He would have plenty of time to catch up with old friends later. He had hoped to talk to Chandler before the ceremony, but it had taken longer to get there than he had originally thought. He hadn't seen or talked to Chandler since they had graduated. They had promised to remain friends, but the time had just flown by so quickly. Neither of them had made the initiative to contact the other.

He had been surprised when he had bumped into Chandler while walking down the sidewalk. He had been in a hurry as he was running late for a meeting. They had only had a minute or two to talk, and he had been surprised to hear Chandler was getting married. He had agreed to come, but that was about it. They hadn't been able to say anything more.

Ross smiled as he saw Chandler standing at the altar. He was surprised to see Chandler so calm about getting married. He remembered his friend as being very commitment phobic.

"Is that your friend?" Rachel asked from beside him.

Ross nodded. "That's Chandler."

"He's cute," Rachel said.

Ross looked over at her. "Cuter than me?" He asked, jokingly.

Rachel smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Well…"

"Fine," Ross said, letting go of her hand and turning away from her slightly. "Fine," he repeated. "Go, run off with my friend, see what I care," he said, still joking.

Rachel rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around Ross's neck, pulling him around to face her. She planted a kiss on his lips. "Don't be an idiot," she said.

Ross laughed. "I love you," he said.

Rachel laughed as well. "I love you, too."

They were cut off by the sound of music starting and they watched as the maid of Honor and Best man walked, arm in arm, down the aisle.

They stood with the rest of the church and watched as the bride walked down the aisle. She walked alone and the veil covering her face hid her features.

Ross and Rachel sat quietly as the priest began the ceremony and eventually asked Chandler to say his vows. Ross was impressed by the maturity he heard in Chandler's voice as he voiced his emotions. Ross was startled slightly at the sound of his sister's name, but didn't have enough time to dwell on it, as the priest motioned for her vows.

He felt Rachel jump beside him as a very familiar voice rang out from the bride's mouth. He turned to Rachel, who was staring at him in shock. They made eye contact, both knowing exactly what the other was thinking.

"It can't be her, can it?" Rachel whispered softly.

Ross shook his head. "I don't know. It sure as hell sounds like her, though."

They watched silently as the couple exchanged rings and were pronounced husband and wife. They watched as Chandler stepped forward and gently lifted the veil covering her face, erasing all doubt that this was, in fact, the Monica they were looking for.

The couple kissed and walked back down the aisle together, the Best Man and Maid of Honor following. Ross and Rachel were almost the last people to leave the hall. They didn't know what to do. Should they approach Monica?

Rachel stopped Ross and pulled him over to the side of the room. "What should we do?" she asked.

Ross shook his head. "I don't know. It's her, right, you saw it too."

Rachel nodded. "It's definitely her," she paused. "Do you think we should go say hi, or just leave?"

"Well, I want to talk to her."

"Me, too," Rachel said, nodding, "but I'm beginning to think she doesn't want to see us."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she ran away three years ago. We haven't heard from her since then and now she got married, and didn't bother inviting either of us. Maybe she just doesn't care about us. Maybe she never did."

Before Ross could answer, he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to come face to face with Chandler and Monica. He watched as Monica looked up at him, and shock appeared in her eyes. She seemed to hesitate for a few seconds. Ross would have said something, but Rachel's words were still going through his mind.

Before anyone could say anything, Monica stepped back and took off out of the room. Ross watched Chandler stare after her for a few seconds before turning back to Ross and taking off after her.

Ross and Rachel stood in shock for the better part of a minute, before; they too, went after the bride.