Hi everybody!

This is the last chapter before the wedding day.

I felt that Ross and Rachel still had one little topic to solve before getting married.

I hope you enjoy it, as usual sorry for any typos and obvious grammar mistakes.

"And if any man or woman has reason why these two should not be joined, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Joey's voice sounded calm and soothing.

Ross's smile on the contrary turned into an expression of horror when Rachel began to shake her head with anxiety.

"Rach…what…"

"I'm sorry Ross, I can't do this, I'm so sorry…"

"Rachel?"

"You should have told me the truth about everything…about Emily…"

"How do you know about that – Rachel!"

Ross tried to run after his fiancée, but Rachel was literally dashing off. He tried to reach her, but she seemed farther and farther away.

Ross stopped his frantic run and turned around in time to see Monica exchanging some money with Joey.

"What? I knew she wouldn't go through with the wedding!"

Ross's tears began to stream down his face. His world was turning upside down. When he heard Dr. Green's noxious cackle, he had to put his hands over his ears to protect himself from that pain. Amy and Jill were laughing at him along with their father and soon friends and relatives encircled him and pointed at him, all roaring with laughter.

"Nooooo!"

Ross suddenly woke up. He touched his wet chest and scrutinized his surroundings. He was lying in the bed of his hotel bedroom. Chandler was still sound asleep on the couch; he had not noticed anything.

Ross tried to calm down with slow breaths and remembered that it was the night before his wedding. Rachel was in the next room with Monica, Emma was in Sandra's bedroom. All their close relatives were already there, all peacefully asleep in their bedrooms. In addition, they were waiting for the other guests to arrive the following day.

What was that nightmare about? And why now?

He needed to talk to her.

Rachel felt someone gently touching her arm and whispering her name in the middle of the night.

"Rachel."

"Mmm…"

"Rach…wake up, honey."

"Mon, it's too soon to get ready, the wedding is at sunset."

Ross smiled to himself, feeling already better after that terrible nightmare.

"Sweetie, it's me. I need to talk to you."

Rachel opened her eyes immediately when she realized that it was Ross's voice calling her.

"What? Something wrong with Emma? Or Ben?" she asked, preoccupied.

Ross sighed, feeling a surge of respect for his future bride, "No, no…I just…I just wanna talk."

Rachel looked at Monica still asleep in her same bed.

"Ross, the bride and the groom aren't supposed to see each other until the ceremony, it's bad luck." She replied with a groggy voice.

"Please." He took her hand and squeezed it.

Rachel felt his urgency, so she smiled at him.

Ross and Rachel were walking on the sea shore in front of the hotel. It was 4 a.m., so there was nobody out but them.

She was waiting for him to reveal the reason why he had brought her down there.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"I had a nightmare."

Rachel nodded, inviting him to go on.

"We were getting married and…you ran away."

Rachel smiled, "Are you sure that this was your nightmare and not Barry's?"

She tried to make him smile, and she saw a little hint of a curve on his lips, but he still seemed very serious.

"Honey, it was just a dream. I have no intention to run, I promise." She chuckled.

"I know that. That's not why I woke you up…"

"Oh…" Rachel was surprised. "Why then?"

Ross took both her hands, "It would take me a lifetime to explain to you what putting that ring on your finger really means to me."

"I know what you mean. It was hard writing the vows for me too."

"There's so much history between us…"

"I know Ross, but you don't have to explain it all to show me how you fee-"

"Yes, I have to!" he interrupted her. "If nothing else that nightmare made me understand that you deserve to know a few things that I never really explained to you."

"Ok…" she agreed.

Ross sighed and waited a few of seconds. He knew that the things he was going to say would hurt her in many ways.

"The night that we broke up…" Rachel grimaced in surprise when she heard him mention that day among any other "Remember what you said to me when I told you - this can't be it?"

Rachel nodded quickly, feeling a couple of tears forming at the corner of her eyes, "I told you, how come it is."

Ross nodded too. "You were so sure that we were over, Rach. I was so ashamed of myself, I was…destroyed by what I had done. So, I began to use that stupid excuse of us being on a break because I didn't want you to see how devastated I was. Losing you…" Ross shook his head, "I simply couldn't live like that."

Rachel frowned, still staring at him without uttering a word.

"And then, when I finally decided to try and move on…you realized that you still cared about me..." he caressed her cheek and she closed her eyes.

"I know that statistically your timing was always awful, like saying that you were over me when you were drunk, or balding my girlfriend, but…"

Rachel chuckled between the tears.

"I don't think you actually know how much that night at the sea meant to me, Rach…When you confessed that you still loved me, it was like…waking up after a long cold winter. I came to your room that night because I wanted to start things over so damn much…and if I could go back in time, there would be no letters, nor breaks. I would tell that Ross to go to hell and stop being such an ass, because I was so in love with you. I still can't believe what an idiot I was!"

"Ross…" Rachel tried to speak.

"No, wait, I'm not over yet."

"Ok…" she smiled, wiping away some tears.

"I owe you an explanation for Emily, too."

"No, you don't." she replied, boldly.

"Yes, I do."

Rachel averted her gaze from his eyes, looking at the sea.

"When I was with her, I thought I was a better version of myself. I was funnier; audacious…I thought she was amazing. In the beginning, we had so much fun together, I can't deny that."

Rachel scoffed; she remembered very well the day that Ross had come back from Vermont, confessing how great Emily was.

Ross moved Rachel's face so that she could look at him, "Rachel, that man was just a different version of me trying to become someone else to get over you. I thought we were over; I could not imagine that you were suffering so much for my decision to marry her. I wish you had told me sooner."

Rachel smiled sadly, "Ross, what person is so selfish to ruin her best friend's happiness, above all if she's in love with him?"

"Don't you ever wonder what would have happened had you clearly told me that you still loved me before the wedding?"

Rachel shook her head and put her tiny delicate fingers on his face, "I don't need to. Because even if I never expressed my feelings out loud, I think that you realized everything by yourself."

Ross smiled, "I, Ross…take thee, Rachel."

"Exactly my point." Rachel waved her hand in the air.

"Are you ready to know what really happened with that lapse?" he asked her.

"More than anything. You've always said that it didn't mean anything." She smiled.

"Another example of me being a stubborn pain in the ass."

Rachel laughed along with him.

"Ok, let's go back to the start. I knew I would be missing you in London. Sure, I would miss Phoebe, but she was physically unable to come. I would also miss Ben and Carol, but we had agreed that Ben was too young to make such a long trip only for a couple of days. But when you told me that you wouldn't come…I couldn't stand it, I was so angry at you."

"Ross, I couldn't watch you getting married with someone else, I simply couldn't."

"Yeah, but you said that you had work to do. Even if that was the less convincing lie I've ever heard in my life, I decided to believe it, because I couldn't dig deeper. I didn't want to. God knows, I wish I had."

"I know…"

"Later…when I saw you there, with your brown leather jacket, your straight golden hair, your lovely smile…and those incredible gorgeous blue eyes…I couldn't believe it, I was ecstatic, Rach." Ross said this last sentence and then caressed her face tenderly. Rachel's eyes were shiny for the tears.

"But even if you were smiling on the surface, your eyes were concealing your real feelings. I've always known you better than anyone else, Rachel. I knew there was something else. At first, I decided to ignore it when you said…"

"…Congratulations." She interrupted him.

Ross and Rachel slowly let go from the hug and looked intently at one another.

When she wiped away a few tears from her eyes, Ross noticed that gesture.

"Are you ok?" he asked her.

"Yeah, just tired for the long trip."

Ross smiled, still holding her left hand.

"Are you sure you are going to be all right? Don't tell me you're still upset about Joshua?" he wondered, still not convinced.

Rachel tried to smile. This was her chance. Ross was asking if she was all right.

Did she have the guts to tell him the truth? Or was she supposed to lie only because she didn't want to spoil his wedding day?

Maybe she could demonstrate once last time that she was too selfish to let him go, that she loved him more than anything in this world and that he needed to realize this before making the greatest mistake of his life and marrying a woman he'd known for a few weeks?

"Yeah…I don't know…It's just…Sometimes you think that everything has changed forever…but in the end you realize that…it can't be it."

Ross stared at her in astonishment, "What did you just say?"

He recognized the words they both had used the night of their terrible breakup. What was Rachel trying to tell him?

Rachel opened her mouth to answer, when she was interrupted.

"Rachel!" Monica shouted, appearing behind her brother.

Both Ross and Rachel were startled by her arrival. Rachel felt guilty for what she had just said as she hugged her best friend and greeted her.

"I'm so glad you're here!" Monica told her in a high squeaky voice. "Ross, the guests are coming, I think it's time to start."

Ross smiled back at his sister, shaking his head. He tried to free his mind from any possible thought that wasn't focused on his bride.

"Right, I'll see you after the wedding, guys. Whish me luck."

"Good luck, honey." Monica hugged him again.

"See ya." Rachel murmured, trying to hold on the tears.

Ross felt a lump in his throat and the urge to swallow. He squeezed Rachel's hand one last time and walked past the two of them.

"So? Did you tell him?" Monica asked Rachel, worried that she might have ruined the wedding.

Rachel didn't need to wonder why Monica knew about her intentions. Phoebe had certainly called her for help.

"At first I couldn't." Rachel shook her head. "But you came right in time to stop me from doing something I would regret."

Monica sighed and held her friend, trying to comfort her.

"Rachel…when Monica interrupted us…you wanted to tell me?"

"No…I was just being selfish, trying to make you understand how I really felt about you. But Ross, I was sure that you were ready to get married, I wouldn't have said anything else."

"Well, your words did the trick, because from then on, whenever I tried to imagine my bride walking down the aisle, I couldn't picture her as Emily. It was always you."

"What?" Rachel asked, almost shocked.

Ross smiled, almost sorry, "I swear. The first bridesmaid walked towards me, then Joey was talking ridiculously with Phoebe at the telephone…and while he was approaching me, I kept looking at you sitting in front of me, Rach. All I could think about was – What am I doing? Why is Rachel sitting there? She's the one coming down the aisle in a few minutes, isn't she?"

Rachel opened her mouth in disbelief, a silent tear rolling down her cheek, "Why have you never told me this, you…complete…IDIOT?!" she pushed him back with rage.

Ross shook his head, "I never told this ANYONE! I was so ashamed, when Emily showed up in front of me, I couldn't think about anything else but you. The minister was talking and saying Emily's name, and all I heard in my head was yours…I was like in a trance!"

Ross tried to make his point clear by waving his hands in the air from left to right.

"When Emily was speaking, I heard YOUR voice instead! And her face was YOUR face!"

"So, let me get this straight. Was there ever a time that you got married and you weren't drunk or schizophrenic?" Rachel wondered sarcastically.

Ross tried to smile, "Rachel, I'm not telling you this to pick up a fight with you…"

"Then why…why after all this time?"

"I thought it wasn't important before, but the nightmare I had tonight made me realize it was."

Rachel scoffed, "Not important? Ross, do you have any idea how I felt when you married Emily? That woman almost drove us apart forever, she wanted to cut me out of your life! She made you miserable after she noticed that you might still have feelings for me! And after seven years you are finally telling me you kind of realized that you were marrying the wrong woman…and you did it anyway?!"

"Rach…"

"No, Ross, don't Rach me! God, you should have stopped that damned wedding! You said MY name!"

Ross nodded, "Yes, I did. Just think about this, have you ever heard me ONCE telling you or the guys that I regretted doing it?"

"You kept telling Emily that you were sorry!" she shouted back.

"That's what I told HER because I was a coward, not what I really thought! I said your name, it slipped out of my mouth and then…" Ross ran his hands through his hair. "Everything went on in such a hurry…the dinner at her parents' house, Emily running away…Rach, what was I supposed to do? I was in a foreign country, with people hating me for what I had done. I came back to my senses, I believed I was in love with Emily back then. Besides, I had been the one to propose to Emily in the first place, I felt I owed it to her."

Rachel shook her head, "But you told me that it didn't mean anything Ross…you lied to me."

"I didn't know that you still loved me, Rach. That's why I chose to fight for my wedding, I put away all the feelings or whatever the hell it was I felt for you, was that it?"

Rachel nodded, recognizing the words she'd told him the night of their first kiss at Central Perk almost ten years before.

"And you've gotten pretty damn good at it…" They both smiled at the memory, with Rachel caressing Ross's chest. "But you bailed on us, Ross…"

"And THAT is what I am really regretful for." He replied, stroking her hair.

Rachel nodded sadly, now she was calmer than before.

"Why didn't you tell me all of this when I told you that I still loved you back in New York?"

Ross shook his head again, "I honestly don't know. You asked me to forget about it and we both realized that I was really married to Emily at that point. She was feeling humiliated, I thought she deserved better than me asking for a divorce after a few weeks. That was also the time when the idea of getting divorced twice before my thirties became a real torment in my head."

"Yeah. You probably did the right thing by the way. She became the Wicked Witch of the West when she asked you to erase me from your friends list."

"Big mistake. Big. Huge!" Ross chuckled.

Rachel grinned at him, "Ohhh…Someone has been watching romcoms!"

"I'd do anything for you. In the end, I got divorced for you, Rach."

"You really ended your wedding because of me?"

"Which wedding?" they both laughed. "Yes, of course I did. It was a matter of trust; Emily was sure that something had happened between you and me. But even if she wasn't right, it didn't matter. She couldn't ask me to live without you, Rach."

Rachel kissed him tenderly and leaned her forehead over his.

"Ross, all the time we have wasted not being together." She complained. "I thought our divorce had been a huge missed opportunity, and later the birth of Emma, but this…oh…you still had feelings for me even when you were with Emily."

"I've always had feelings for you. They never disappeared. You are the only true constant in my life that never faltered, even when we were not together. You are the strongest person I know, you forgave my mistakes and you've always loved me for who I am, warts and all. And we both know we could make a long list of my flaws."

"Big. Huge!" Rachel tried to laugh, but she was too emotional not to cry.

"The night that you got off that plane, you turned me into a better person. Each passing day I'm more and more thankful for having you into my life. Because you are the best part of me. I needed you to know this. I'm going to love you more than anything in this world for the rest of my life."

Rachel was sobbing, with her hands on Ross's face, "Ok, you should have saved something for your vows." she laughed, between the tears.

"This was my vow. Here and now. I know we are getting married tomorrow. But this moment defines who we are….and WE are what really matters."

"So what are you going to say tomorrow?" she asked.

"I'll blabber something about how beautiful and perfect you are, the apple of my eye, how I've loved you since I was 15 and that we were meant to be, making people laugh by saying that we were definitely not on a break. Stuff like that."

Rachel laughed, "Stuff like that, uh?" she pinched him.

"Ouch!"

"Ross…I can't wait to get back home to start our life together as husband and wife, with Emma, Ben and our little baby." She confessed.

"Me too, sweetie."

Rachel moved over to him and embraced Ross in her arms. They stood quiet for a couple of minutes, listening to the sound of the waves breaking on the shore.

"Rach?"

"Mmm?"

"What about your vows?" Ross asked, curious.

"Haven't written a word, I've got to make it up tomorrow." She replied, without moving her head from under his chin. She felt his chest trembling when Ross started to laugh.

"I love you so much."

Rachel lifted her head and contemplated her husband-to-be, "Well, I got off the plane, you know."

Ross smiled tenderly at her, "Always five better words than I love you." they both smiled.

He took her face in his hands and pressed his mouth against hers in a soft lingering kiss that soon became more passionate. Rachel's hands automatically positioned themselves around Ross's waist as they had a thousand times before.

They didn't know that they weren't secluded anymore, because someone was looking. Their two best friends were watching the couple from a few hundred feet distance.

"You found them?" Chandler asked his wife, a cellphone pressed on his year.

Monica nodded and moved her arm to point at Ross and Rachel, who were still hugging tenderly in front of the ocean.

"Good. Joe, cancel backup, we found them. She didn't run, and Ross isn't trying to kill himself. They sneaked out together." After a couple of seconds, Chandler continued. "No, I won't bring you a sandwich, it's almost 5 in the morning!" he shouted as he ended the call.

Chandler put his arm around Monica's shoulders and observed his two friends, "Maybe we were just worrying too much. They are two grown-ups; you know?"

Monica stared at him with incredulity, "Who, three divorces and run-away-bride?"

Chandler laughed at her, she was mentioning one of the best jokes she ever made and turning it into in an even funnier one.

"You think everything's going to be all right?" Chandler asked her.

Monica thought about her previous conversation with her brother and Rachel.

She nodded with conviction, "Yeah, don't worry. This wedding is going to be perfect."

Monica sighed and walked towards the hotel. Chandler noticed that she was deep in thought.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just a bit annoyed that this ceremony is going to put ours even lower in the final rank."

"Our wedding was awesome, Mon."

"Oh, come on, Phoebe and Mike had snow and Ross and Rachel now have the ocean!"

"All because they had you…" Chandler stroke her cheek.

Monica grinned, "They did have me. I'm the best wedding planner ever!"

"Of course you are, honey."

Chandler smiled, relieved that he had been able to cheer up his wife as usual.

Author's Note

I know, this chapter was a bit hazardous maybe, but I can't stand the fact that the writers never explained why Ross said Rachel's name at the altar.

They dismissed it with a pointless "it didn't mean anything", which is ABSURD!

I'm pretty sure that deep inside Ross had always feelings for Rachel, that's why he said her name. Of course, the flashback memory is something I whish had happened and that might have explained why he had realized he still had those feelings.

I also had an idea about Rachel realizing that Ross had been the one to propose to go to Greece with her to make something happen between them to have an excuse to break off his wedding, and also to reveal his true feelings, but I felt it was a bit too much. When Emily showed up to the airport in London and Ross saw her, he looked genuinely desolated and I think he decided to follow her because he actually thought that he was in love with Emily at that time.