Chapter 17: Aftermath

AN: So, I've finished re-vamping the previous chapters and here the first new chapter, which I'm surprised to say is the first update in two and a half years! I can't believe its been that long. I hope someone out there will still remember this story and I'm so sorry for the exceptionally long delay. It was always my intention to finish this story and I'll make sure to do so. Thanks for any continued support!

Monica Bing sighed tiredly as she closed her eyes, her head resting against her husband-of-less-than-24-hours' shoulder. The gentle motion of the plane was lulling her to sleep. Chandler had an arm wrapped loosely around her, his head resting on hers. The plane had just taken off and was still climbing higher, but Chandler was already fast asleep beside her. They hadn't really gotten any sleep the night before. Monica was tired, but happy to remain awake for a few moments, reveling in all that had happened. She couldn't believe they had made it to this point. They were married, finally, and on their honeymoon. Two weeks of sand and sun.

She was almost overwhelmed with everything that had happened the previous day. As if getting married wasn't enough, now she had her family back too. She wanted badly to get to know them again, to feel like she belonged with them again, but now that the shock was wearing off and reality was setting in, she realized just how complicated the situation had become. She couldn't just go back to the way things had once been. As much as she missed her father and brother, she didn't feel like she could handle seeing her mother again, not for a long time, so any family get-together was out of the question. When would she actually see her family? She sighed tiredly and yawned. She had a lot to sort out and was actually glad everything had happened when it did, because it gave her a two week buffer period where she didn't have to do anything about it. She now had time to decide exactly what she wanted to do. She yawned again and snuggled closer to Chandler, smiling at the knowledge that he would support any decision she made.

xxxxx

Phoebe rested her chin on her hands as she stared across the table at her boyfriend. It was the day after the wedding and Monica and Chandler had left early that morning for their honeymoon, leaving Phoebe and Joey alone at home. "So, what are we going to do?" She asked.

Joey looked up. "You mean for lunch?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "No, about Monica's family."

Joey scowled. "I don't like them."

Phoebe almost laughed. "You only met them once."

"I don't care. It's not right. They can't just swoop in here and expect to take her away from us. I'm not going to let that happen."

"I don't think that's going to happen, Joe."

"You bet your ass that it' not going to happen."

This time Phoebe did laugh. "No, I mean I don't think that's why they're here. I think they honestly didn't know the truth and now they want to get to know her again. I'm telling you, Joe, aura doesn't lie. Monica wants to see them again and we have to support her on that."

Joey huffed. "Fine, but I still don't like it. I mean if they thought she ran away, why didn't they look for her?"

"Who says they didn't? I mean we lived on the street for a year after she left home. The only way they would have found us is if they happened to come across us and New York is a big city."

"Yeah, okay. I guess you're right. I just don't want her to get hurt."

Phoebe smiled. "Me neither, and we'll make sure that doesn't happen, but I think we need to give this a chance. They seemed like good people."

Joey nodded. "They did seem nice. But if I ever bump into her mother, I don't care if she's a woman, I'm going to kick her ass."

"Get in line."

xxxxx

Rachel yawned sleepily and blinked her eyes against the light as she slowly began to wake up. The curtain was open and she could see it was very bright out. She groaned and rolled over, reaching up for the alarm clock, which told her it was early afternoon. The realization that she was in Ross's room at his parent's house momentarily confused her before she remembered the recent events.

Rachel looked up from her magazine at the sound of the buzzer by the door going off. She smiled as she hopped up and pushed the button. "Hello?"

"Hey Rach, it's me." Ross's voice filtered through the system.

"Come on up." She said as buzzed him up. After Monica had disappeared they had grown close while working together to find her. They had been friends almost two years before finally giving up and getting together. They'd been together for a year now and were starting to talk about moving in together. Rachel smiled as she glanced around her small studio apartment. They both had small places and decided to find a bigger apartment to share. She couldn't wait to get out of this place. She had been ecstatic at her choice when she had moved away from home for school, but the novelty had long since worn off and she craved a better place. She had graduated the year before after a two-year fashion program and was working entry level at Bloomingdale's, but it was a start. The door opened and Ross stepped in, bags in hand.

"Ooooh, what did you get us this time?"

Ross smiled. "Hello to you, too."

Rachel laughed and rolled her eyes as she kissed him hello and took the bags from his hands. "Chinese!" She exclaimed as she started pulling containers out. "Great, I'm starved."

"Hey, did you hear back about that apartment?" Ross asked as he pulled two plates down from the cupboard.

Rachel shook her head. "We didn't get it."

"Damn, that was a really nice place."

"Yeah, I know. Why is this so hard?"

Ross laughed and kissed the side of her head as he stepped by her. "Rach, sweetie, we've only been looking for a couple weeks."

"I know, but I just really want to live with you."

Ross smiled. "Me, too."

"So," Rachel said as they settled down at the table to eat. "How was your meeting?"

Ross nodded. "It was pretty good. They liked some of my ideas. Oh, and I bumped into my old roommate on the way there."

"Chandy?"

Ross snorted. "Chandler, but close enough. Yeah, he's getting married on Saturday. He invited us."

Rachel smiled. "Sounds nice, I haven't gotten to meet your college friends."

xxxxx

Ross held on tightly to Rachel's hand as he watched the limo carrying his sister, former roommate and bridal party away for pictures. He was still in shock at what had happened. He had almost given up hope that he would ever see his sister again. And what were the odds that she would marry Chandler? He felt Rachel pull closer to him, wrapping an arm around his. "So, we have a couple hours before the reception."

Ross turned to face her. "Yeah."

Rachel leaned up to kiss his cheek. "You okay?"

Ross shrugged as he tried to play it off. "Yeah, just surprised is all."

Rachel sighed. "Hey, its okay to talk to me."

Ross broke out of his trance. "I know, I'm sorry. I'm just in shock."

"Do you think she was telling the truth?"

Ross hesitated and closed his eyes for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I really do. And you know what that means."

Rachel nodded. "That your mom lied."

Ross nodded. "She lied to everyone. Monica, me, my dad…"

Rachel hesitated. "Are you sure your dad didn't know?"

Ross set his jaw and nodded. "There's no way he would have let this happen." He pulled away and threw his arms around to make his point. "I knew something was weird when I got home. I knew my sister would never run away, and even if she did get in a fight with mom and run away, she would have come back. She would have at least contacted us, or you. There was no reason for her to stay away from you. I can't believe my mother did something like this. And she acted so hurt and innocent."

"Ross, you have to calm down," Rachel stepped forward and took his hand. "You're making a scene." She led him around the building to the car, where he slumped against it in defeat. "I don't know what to do about her. I mean she's my mother, but she was so horrible to my sister, her daughter. How could she have done this? There's got to be some explanation."

Rachel sighed. "I hope so, Ross. I really hope so, but we don't have to deal with this right away. You're moms away for the weekend, right? That gives us some time."

Ross nodded. "How could she have kicked out her own daughter?"

Rachel shrugged. "Well, she was always really mean to Monica."

Ross looked down. "She was, wasn't she?"

Rachel nodded, even though he wasn't looking at her. "I have so many memories of her at my house crying because of something your mom said or did. Monica stopped talking about it as much when we got older, but that doesn't mean it still wasn't happening."

"She always favored me, and I loved it." Ross said quietly. "I thought it was great. I never thought about how horrible it must have been for Monica. And I never thought anything was wrong with my mom. I feel like my family is about to fall apart." Ross trailed off, emotions getting to him. Rachel didn't hesitate before she pulled him in close, wrapping her arms firmly around his neck and allowing him to simply hold her for a few minutes.

Ross finally pulled away, kissing her forehead as he did so. "Thanks."

Rachel smiled. "That's what I'm here for."

"How much time to we have?" He said suddenly.

"Why?"

"Because we have to go pick up my dad."

xxxxx

Jack felt himself lurch awake at the sound of banging at the front door. He blinked a few times and realized he must have dosed off in front of the television. He got to his feet and hurried over to the front door. He swung it open and was surprised to see his son and his girlfriend on the other side. He looked at them, confused.

"Sorry, dad. I don't have my house keys with me."

"That's fine, son. Hi Rachel." He greeted, as he motioned for them to come in. "What have I done to deserve a surprise visit?"

His son seemed hesitant about something. "Dad, maybe we should all go sit down."

Jack allowed himself to be led back to the couch and flipped off the television. "Is everything okay?"

Ross shook his head. "Not really." He paused. "We found Monica."

Jack jumped at his daughter's name. "Really? Is she okay? Where is she?"

"She's fine, actually she's really good. She lives in the city."

"Well, lets go see her," Jack exclaimed.

Ross held a hand up. "It's a little more complicated than that."

Jack shook his head. "Why?" His son shook his head and it didn't go unnoticed that Rachel reached over to take his hand. "What's going on?"

"I bumped into Chandler last week, remember him? He was my roommate at NYU. I don't think you ever actually met him. Anyway, he told he was getting married, and that's where we were today."

"And you found Monica at the wedding? She was there?"

Rachel almost laughed at this and Ross even allowed himself a small smile. "Yeah, dad, she was there. She was who he was marrying."

"What! My little Harmonica got married? And didn't bother to invite her family? It was bad enough that she took off, but-"

"Dad, don't go there right now. There's a whole other side to the story, believe me."

"So your sister married your old roommate?"

Ross smiled. "Yeah, what are the odds, right? We were as surprised as you. We didn't know until well into the ceremony. And afterwards Chandler actually approached us to do introductions, but when she saw us she freaked out and took off. We caught up to her and talked for a while, and…" Ross trailed off for a second, trying to decide what to say. He breathed out. "Dad, you're not going to like what I'm about to tell you."

Jack felt a chill run through his spine, suddenly wondering whether he wanted to hear it or not. He remained silent, allowing his son to continue when he was ready.

"Remember after Monica left and mom told us she stole money and jewelry?"

Jack nodded.

"Did mom ever account for that stuff?"

Jack shook his head. "I don't know what you mean."

"Did she ever tell you how much money or what jewelry?"

Jack thought back for a moment. "Not that I can remember. I don remember asking what jewelry she took, but your mother wouldn't be specific."

Ross scoffed and shook his head. "Figures."

"What's that?" Jack asked, wanting to know what was going on.

"Monica didn't run away, dad. Mom kicked her out."

The force of his son's words took Jack aback. "I hardly believe that."

"I don't want to believe it either, dad, but its true. Mom told her to leave. She told her…she told her we went away because we knew what was going on and we all wanted her to leave. She only gave her an hour to pack. She even called her an accident."

"Oh, I don't know…"

"Do you think I would make this up?" There were tears in his son's eyes. "Why would I say these things about my own mother if I didn't think they were true? You should have seen her dad. It was like she was broken. She thought we all hated her. She thought she wasn't good enough for us. She was so…it was like she had given up hope with us. When we talked to her, it was like she was scared of us, scared of what we might say to her. You can't fake that."

Jack hesitated.

"It's true," Rachel spoke up for the first time. "She definitely wasn't lying."

Jack sighed and closed his eyes for a few moments. "I knew she and your mother had problems, but I thought it was just mother-daughter stuff. I never would have thought she was capable of something like this. I don't know what to think and I don't know what to do."

"You don't have to know what to think right now, dad, but you should come with us to see your daughter. It would mean a lot to her."

Jack nodded. "Of course."

Ross glanced at his watch. "How soon can you be ready? Cause we have to leave soon if we're going to get there on time."

xxxxx

A few hours later Jack was pulled from his trance at a hand on his shoulder. "We're home, dad."

Ross was concerned about his father, who hadn't said a word all the way home. "Is it okay if we stay here tonight?" Ross asked. "It's really late and we've already made the drive three times today."

Jack nodded. "Of course you can stay."

The three made their way into the house and sat around the kitchen table with hot chocolate.

Jack broke the silence first. "I can't believe my little girl is married."

Ross smiled. "I can't believe it either."

"I liked that boy." Jack stated. "Chandler, was it? He seemed like a good man."

"He's a great guy," Ross offered.

Rachel nodded along with the conversation. "He seemed to really love her a lot."

"Well, she deserves to be happy after everything that's happened to her," Jack said. "And you're right, Ross. She's not making this up." He sighed heavily. "I don't know what I'm going to do about your mother."

Ross nodded. "I've been thinking the same thing."