Hello! This chapter is a bit longer, so I hope you enjoy it!
For the guest who reviewed this story: Thank you so much for letting me know you're enjoying reading this. I never wrote Roschel because I honestly don't ship them that much and can't relate to their relationship as much as I do with mondler, so it would be harder for me to write them. But this story kind of contains some Roschel since I tried to write their friendship developing :D
For someone else, it might have seemed like a regular Friday night. However, when Ross spotted Monica on the living room couch, watching a sitcom without her usual batch of cookies, he knew something was wrong with his sister.
Despite their occasional fights, he loved his little sister and cared about her. Decided to know what was wrong with Monica, Ross sat next to her, trying to avoid the M&M's bag by her side.
"Hey, Mon. What's up?" He asked with a worried tone.
Monica looked at her brother sitting next to her. She knew he knew something was wrong with her, but she didn't feel like talking about it with him.
"Nothing's wrong; what makes you think that?"
"It's Friday night, and you did not make chocolate chip cookies."
On any other occasion, Monica would make up an excuse or try to convince Ross she was okay. However, Monica was feeling down and really wanted to talk about the subject bothering her. But she had no friends she could confide in except for Rachel, who was the reason she was feeling down, so talking to her was not an option.
Monica looked at Ross for a second, making up her mind. She knew he cared about her, and she knew that she could trust him since the day two weeks ago when he had lunch with her. Monica had started to see him as more than her older brother and realized he was also her friend. Their parents weren't home, so she decided that maybe it would not be such a bad idea to talk about her worries.
"I think Rachel is not my friend anymore," She said. It was the first time she had said it out loud.
"Whaat?! That's crazy; why would she not be your friend anymore? Did you two have a fight or something?"
"No, but she doesn't hang out with me as much as she used to since she has a new boyfriend. And since she made those new cheerleader friends, she started to have lunch with them without me."
It felt good to finally let out what had been going on in her mind.
Ross didn't know what to say, so he wrapped his arm protectively around Monica's shoulder. He did not like Rachel's new boyfriend, and somehow he now disliked him even more.
"I am sure she's still your friend. She will see that the new guy she's dating is not perfect and will dump him and hang out with you again soon," – He said, trying to comfort his sister and get some hope for himself.
"You only say that because you want her to break up with Liam."
"Whaa… whaa…What? Why do you say that?"
"Oh, c'mon. Your crush on Rachel is so obvious that even a dinosaur would notice."
"Technically, dinosaurs are extinct for over…," Ross started. "Okay, fine; I have a crush on her," He admitted, seeing the look on Monica's face.
"Look at us. Bonding over our life ruined by Rachel. We sure are from the same family," Monica pointed.
"But now, for real, I don't think Rachel would stop being your friend just because she made new ones. You should invite her to do something together," Ross said sincerely. "Wait! Why don't you invite her to spend Halloween with you?" he suggested.
Monica's face lightened up with a smile. She would never admit it, but her brother actually gave her some good advice, and he did comfort her.
"You're right. I will do it," Monica said in a determined tone. "And you're dead if you tell about this to anyone else," She added, trying to sound intimidating.
"I won't, don't worry. But please don't tell Rachel about what I said too."
Monica chuckled at Ross's worried tone.
"I won't," She answered honestly. "So, do you feel like baking some cookies?"
The next day, Monica invited Rachel to hang out at her house, which was something they had not done in a while. Surprisingly, Rachel agreed and met her after lunch. Both girls were in the living room, sorting Halloween decorations from the boxes Monica parent's brought from the garage, when Monica decided to bring up the Halloween theme.
"So, Rach, do you want to come to trick or treat with Ross and me on Halloween?" Monica asked hopefully, just like Ross had suggested.
Rachel looked down, suddenly mesmerized by the orange garland in her hands.
"Don't you think we are too old to go trick or treat?"
"What are you saying, Rach? You didn't say that last year," Ross added, suddenly interested in the conversation.
Monica shot a glare at him, knowing that Ross only wanted to go to the party to be with Rachel.
"Or not… maybe we should go trick or treat," He said, slightly disappointed.
Later that evening, Rachel had already gone home, and Monica and Ross had finished dinner when Monica tried to talk again with him.
"So, you really want to go to the party?"
"Well…"
"Ohh… c'mon. Trick or treat is way more fun. Plus, you get a LOT of free candy."
Ross looked at Monica, knowing how excited she was about the holiday.
"What about this: I'll go trick or treat with you, and then we go to the party."
The agreement sounded reasonable. Monica would get her free candy, although not as much as she wanted, and she would also get the chance to enter her best friend's world, even if only for a night.
"But you can't be dressed as some kind of edible item," Ross stated before they closed the deal.
"As long as you don't dress up as something dinosaur-related."
"C'mon, Ross; We're gonna be late!" Monica yelled from downstairs, with her pumpkin-shaped bucket already in her hand.
A few moments later, Ross appeared at the top of the stairs wearing his Halloween costume.
"What the hell are you dressed up as?" Monica asked, looking at his brown costume with metal accessories on the head.
"I'm dressed up as Spud-Nik!" Ross exclaimed proudly, as if it was an obvious thing.
"Sorry, is that a nerd word for doody?" Monica asked.
"It's a potato! A combination of a potato and the Russian satellite Sputnik!" He yelled, pointing to the metal wires on his head.
"Ohh, I see, you're a space doody. If I knew this, I would never ask you to not dress up as a dinosaur."
"Like you have much to talk about. Why are you dressed up as a racoon?"
"I'm a cat!" Monica said, adjusting her ruffled skirt. "Cats are cute, and being dressed as something cute increases the chance of getting nicer candies! Now, shut up and let's go before it's too late!"
A few hours later, Monica and Ross stood outside the house, at the address Rachel had given them for the party, with their buckets full of candies. They entered the crowded place, where people were dancing to loud music with drinks in their hands. Both brother and sister looked around, searching for the same person.
"Monica!" Rachel exclaimed as she spotted them in the middle of the crowd. She walked to them, followed by her boyfriend, and hugged Monica.
"You're such a cute cat!" She exclaimed excitedly.
"Hey! You look nice too," Ross interrupted, catching Rachel's attention. She looked over at him with a confused look.
"He's a space doody," Monica informed her friend. Both girls and Liam laughed, ignoring Ross.
"I think I will look around," Ross said with his usual annoyed tone. He had hoped to spend some time with Rachel, but now it seemed like it would not happen. Not only her stupid boyfriend was around, but they were also making fun of his genius costume.
Meanwhile, Monica danced with Rachel, with a drink in their hands, laughing like they were hanging out together. When the music finished, Monica looked around for Rachel, only to spot her slightly apart from her, kissing Liam.
She was finally having fun with her best friend; why did he have to show up and ruin it? Monica looked around and saw that most of Rachel's new friends, and some other pretty girls she didn't know, were dancing with some guy. Maybe if she was also with someone besides her brother, she could be more like Rachel.
She spotted a boy dressed up as a grim reaper who was alone. She ran to him, forgetting to be careful to not bump against other people. Almost out of breath, she reached the boy and stopped right in front of him.
"Hey, I'm Monica," She said, still regaining her breath. The boy looked at her strangely before answering. "I'm Henry."
"How many people have died after dancing with you?" Monica asked, hoping she had sounded flirty.
However, Henry did not get her joke because he looked around for someone and excused himself.
Monica looked down, disappointed. Maybe she would never be as good with boys as Rachel.
"You might not be a good flirter, but I like your costume."
Monica turned around to see who belonged the voice behind her, and he saw a blonde guy that she had seen several times in the hallways at school. Not that she wanted to notice him, but because he was hard to miss. She considered herself thin around him.
"I'm Will, by the way," He said with a smile.
"Monica," She introduced herself.
They chatted until Monica spotted Ross a few meters away, looking crestfallen.
"Sorry, that's my brother. I'll be right back," She told Will. She then walked to Ross, but Will followed her.
"Hey bro, what's wrong?" Monica said jokingly. Ross usually got upset over small things, and maybe it was nothing serious.
"I hate Rachel," He whined.
Monica immediately realized that he must have seen Rachel and Liam kissing or dancing glued together.
"I think it's time to go home".