Disclaimer – I don't own friends or Joey, I just wrote this story.

Chapter Five –

Goodbye. It was a word he'd grown to detest. It meant that things were changing, that lives were going in different directions. It meant it was time to reminisce, to remember what had come to pass and to dream of what could have been or what could be. It meant terrible things to Joey and it was a word he'd had to use too many times in his life.

He'd had done all he could to continue to recall the torturous times he'd had when Rachel was the love of his life, but it wasn't her day, it was a Hailey's. Rachel had shown him love but Hailey, Hailey had let him live in love, had shown him how to experience it how it was meant to be experienced. Hailey had returned his love. It was her day. He'd already begun and he'd have to continue, he had to remember that love that Hailey had lived with him.

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Joey walked onto the set ready for another day at work. He was excited for the filming to begin today as he was shooting his first romantic story line on the show. His show consisted of five main characters, all with equal airtime, all male and all single and searching for the perfect life. His character was completely unlike him. He was an asocial man who didn't know how attractive he was. He was hopeless around woman but constantly seemed to draw them to him. He had no moves and did not understand them but seem to be the most sexually active character of the group.

During his time on the show his character had had many one-night stands but before any relationship with a woman could begin his character had ended the romance. Today though his character was falling for a woman. It was not meant to last, the person playing his love interest had only signed on for six episodes, but it was enough.

"Ah there you are Joey," the producer called from the other side of the set.

Albert, the producer, walked over to him and greeted him warmly.

"Joey meet the woman who will playing Sam, your love interest," he said before looking over Joey's shoulder and calling, "Hailey can you come over here for a moment?"

"Hailey?" Joey asked, his eyes going wide.

Albert gave him an odd look before turning his attention back to the woman who was making her way towards them.

"Joey meet Hailey Cole," he said smiling at the pair.

His body went rigid as an incredibly awkward feeling washed over him.

He had no idea what to do. He more than knew this woman but no one knew that fact. After the night of the pie eating contest he had not seen or heard from her for over a month except of course for the occasional glimpse on E, and then at an awards show they had both attended they had met again. It had been an awkward meeting also, not as much so as this one, but it was awkward.

Their tables were near each other and therefore they had found themselves stealing glances at the other for the majority of the night. At times their eyes had connected and they had shared brief smiles before looking away with slightly red cheeks. The whole night they had been preoccupied with each other but neither of them had found the courage to get up and talk to the other. Hailey hadn't because she was embarrassed about how she had left things with Joey, and Joey because he was unsure if it was appropriate given the way she had left him.

They had both ended up leaving the event as soon as it was finished, boycotting any and all after-parties. When Joey had arrived back at his apartment he had only been slightly surprised to find her standing at his door. She had murmured his name as if she was going to begin an apologetic sentence, but any apologies that were in the making had been abruptly cut off by Joey's lips crashing into hers.

That had been the end of the awkward moments between them. A relationship had begun. It was not a normal relationship by any means. At first it had consisted of one thing, sex. When she was in town she would come to him and that would be all. She would leave the next morning and nobody would have even an inkling of an idea that they were together the previous night. As time progressed they began to get to know each other more. Instead of her sneaking out of his apartment in the middle of the night, she began to stay and they had the most amazing talks.

They learnt everything about each other, he had told her all about Rachel and how he was before that and she had told him about her last boyfriend, the boyfriend who had made her fear men, who had beaten her and treated her as a prize not a human being. When Hailey had told Joey these things he had found himself walking towards his bedroom door, still clad in his underwear, ready to hunt this guy down and kick his ass, as Ross would say. She had stopped him and their very casual and very secret relationship had continued.

Joey looked at Hailey with wide eyes and noticed that she was staring at him, her blue eyes apologizing silently.

"Actually we've already met," she said to Albert rather softly, "It was a charity thing about eight months ago."

"Hmm, that's nice," said Albert in a board voice. He then walked off to join another conversation.

"Look, Joey…" she began but Joey cut her off.

"Hailey, it's," he stopped and closed his eyes for a moment. "It's not a problem," Joey said softly and abruptly walked away.

That secret relationship had ended exactly a month ago to the day. She had returned from a two-week stay in New York early and went straight to his apartment. When she arrived she hadn't instantly run into his arms as was usual when they were reunited after a time apart, she hadn't even looked him in the eye, she had just quietly told him that she was ending whatever it was they had going on. Joey hadn't even been able to respond. He had just stood across the room from her shocked. She had walked up to him after she finished her speech and silently placed a delicate kiss on his cheek and then she had left. He hadn't seen her since, not in magazines, not on the television, and now here she was, working with him on his television show, playing his love interest, it was going to be awkward.

The day progressed and Joey worked hard to keep away from her. As soon as it was possible he left the studio and drove back to his apartment. On the drive he entertained the thoughts of running back to New York, running away from Hailey in the same way that he had run away from Rachel. When he walked through the door the first thing he saw was her sitting calmly on his couch and he realized that running away was not an option this time, he had to face his problems and he had to do it then.

"I let myself in," she said stating the obvious. She looked at him with pain etched across her features, her eyes voicing more apologies then her mouth ever could.

"Hailey…" He wanted to walk over to her, to stroke her cheek in the way that he used to, to kiss her in the way he dreamed of doing every night, but he didn't, he stayed exactly where he was, standing at the doorway, looking at the angel sitting on his couch. "What are you doing here?" he finally asked in a soft, pained voice.

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Back in the present day Joey had finally reached his destination.

He remembered the answer to that question but more so the absolute shock he had felt when the words tumbled from her lips. He had been barely able to breathe and had had to fight to stay standing. He smiled at that thought now, he had been horrified but those words that she had spoken had brought about the best thing in his life.

Joey looked down at what he had been walking towards and knelt down in the long grass before it. He looked at the white marble and ran his fingers across two of the words etched in the stone… Loving Mother.

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Hailey looked at Joey from her position on the couch. Her hands twisted in her lap and she looked anywhere but at his face.

"Joey I'm pregnant."

A week later Joey found himself at the doctor's office hearing his baby's heart beat for the first time. The rhythmic beats turned his heart to mush and he found himself gripping Hailey's hand and leaning down to kiss her. What he hadn't expected was for her to pull away from him. He looked at her with confusion but she just looked away.

They left the office not long after with the first picture of their child in hand and he drove them back to his apartment.

"Us having a baby doesn't change anything Joey, I want things to stay like they are," she said once inside the apartment.

"But why? We're having a baby together, in six months time we could be a family."

"Joey I don't want to be with you because you think having a baby with me means you have to commit, I…" she trailed off not quite ready to complete that train of thought.

"Is that what you think? Hailey the baby isn't the reason I want to be with you," he said alarmed.

"Then what is Joey? Because before you never expressed any interest in anything outside of the bedroom," she asked softly.

"Why did you end it?" Joey questioned, eyes narrowed.

"That's none of your business," she snapped.

"Tell me why you ended it Hailey," Joey demanded, his voice rising.

"Because I fell in love with you," she yelled back.

"So you ended it? That doesn't make any sense."

"What did you want me to do? Keep sleeping with you? Keep sneaking around with you? I couldn't do that Joe, I just couldn't. It was killing me to think I was feeling all of those things for you and to you I was just a fricken sex buddy. I was protecting myself." The intensity of the pain in her eyes and in her voice as she said this caught Joey off guard.

"Hailey," he said softly, "I fell in love with you too, you were never a fricken sex buddy. I just didn't think you were ready after your last relationship, that's why I never said anything."

For a length of time Joey and Hailey simply stood there, a body length apart, staring at each other while the admissions they had just made sunk in.

"So you… you love me," said Hailey not shifting her gaze.

"An… And you love me," he stumbled over his words. "We love each other."

"Well that's interesting," she said lightly.

"Interesting… hmm yeah. Can I kiss you now?"

She didn't reply with words, but simply smiled the smile that made him go weak at the knees. He moved forward and captured her lips with his and for the first time in over a month saw stars where there was usually just darkness.

"Joey!"

The voice startled them and pulled them from their embrace. He spun around quickly and saw Gina and Michael standing in his doorway.

"Oh my god, your Hailey Cole," exclaimed Gina. "Joey why are you kissing Hailey Cole? Big fan of yours by the way."

"Well that's good," said Hailey lightly, her eyes twinkling, "You are going to be my babies aunt, so I guess it's good you like me."

The chaos that followed that comment was enormous. Needless to say there had been a lot of punching, congratulations and questions involved.

Two weeks later Joey knelt in front of Hailey and slid a beautiful diamond ring onto her finger and ten days after that a close up photograph of Hailey's hand had appeared in People magazine, right next to a picture of Joey and Hailey sitting across from each other at a Burger King booth, holding hands.

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Present day Joey continued to kneel on the ground as these memories flashed through his mind. He moved his hand along to the next phrase that was etched into the white marble… Loving Wife.

A/N: Well that's another chapter done. I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review. They are much appreciated. Flames are of course accepted and any constructive criticism is welcomed.