… to two of my favorite writers, Tina Chavez (the author of the best fanfic ever (The Baggage Gift)) and to Hamilkm whose stories always seem full of hope.

She woke up and rolled onto her back. Taking in a deep breath her eyes slowly opened. Rachel lifted her arms and stretched, trying to wring the awkwardness of sleep out of them. It took almost everything she had to lift herself to vertical and remove the afghan that had been placed over her to keep her warm. She scanned the apartment so as to orient herself in space and time. The phone had already rung 5 times before she gave it a thought and answering it. "Hello." She said, in the middle of an extended yawn.

"Good morning sleepyhead, how are you doing this morning?" the caller answered. "It's 8:30 in the morning. You are going to be late for work."

"Damn! I'll have to call in and tell them I'll be late! Monica, Thanks for the wakeup call, how did you know I was here?" she asked, yawning again.

"Ross told me." She replied. "He spent the night on our couch. He told me that you were tired from packing and he wanted to give you your space."

Memories of the last evening started coming back to her. The emotional and thought proving talk had totally drained her. She had been emotionally and physically exhausted and had fallen asleep on the couch after Ross had left the apartment.

"Monica, is Ross there right now?"

"No, he brought a change of clothes and left for work a half hour ago. Why, is something wrong?"

"No, nothings wrong. Monica, when you were talking to Ross last night … did he seem at all angry about anything?" she asked.

"No, not at all." Monica replied. "He was a little down but that should be expected with all that you two have been through lately. Why would he be angry?"

"Oh, no reason. I was just curious. Did he say anything about what we talked about last night?"

"Rachel, I love you both very much. I don't want to get in between the two of you, especially while you are fighting!" Monica replied, exasperated. "Please don't ask me to spy on my brother!"

"Monica, we are not fighting and I'm not asking you to spy on him. I was just curious, OK? We had a very open and honest talk last night. It was difficult but very refreshing to talk so openly."

"Great, I'm happy for you. What did you talk about?" Monica asked.

"Many, many things Monica. I know we share a lot but please don't ask me go into detail at this moment. It's too much to ask of me right now, after all I just woke up."

"Rachel, I'm not trying to pry. I was just curious. I noticed something with Ross last night and I was hoping we could discuss it. After you are fully awake why don't you come on over and get some breakfast?"

"Sure Mon. I'll be right over. Goodbye."

Rachel called into work to tell them she would be late She then threw some cold water on her face to clear her head. It took Rachel only 10 minutes to walk the short distance to Monica and Chandler's apartment.. Entering the apartment, Monica greeted her with a very nice breakfast. Knowing that Rachel would have to run off to work soon, she quickly struck up a conversation. She was curious about something and it was eating at her. "Rachel, have you noticed anything strange about Ross lately?"

"Strange? Monica, what do you mean? You are going to have to be a little more specific." She said.

"Well, While Ross was over here last night he was acting a little weird, not at all like his normal self."

"Monica you know very well that your brother can be very weird. That's one of the things I like about him. What was he doing that was so weird?" Rachel asked.

"Well, Ross can be very sensitive and nice but last night he was so very nice to me. He helped me make dinner and breakfast this morning. He even cleaned everything up without me having to ask him to. Then on his way out he hugged me in the most loving embrace and whispered into my ear how much he loved me and appreciated me and that he could not have asked for a more perfect sister. I was speechless. I just couldn't come up with a response to that. I just stood there dumbfounded until he left. Rachel, what happened last night? What have you done with my brother? Is he dying or something?" Monica joked.

"Monica, I don't know what has happened to Ross but I can tell you that he was very much like that last night with me. As bad as things could have gotten between us he was so very sweet and kind to me. He said so many wonderful things. As much as he tried to keep the fact that he lied to me he finally convinced me to sign the divorce papers. I don't know what to make of it. All I know is that I like it."

"Me to." Monica replied. "Why do you think that he wanted you to sign? I thought he wanted to stay married to you. You saw how resistant he was to the annulment and the divorce."

"I don't know Monica but something has changed. I'm just as curious as you are."

"Rachel, do you remember before when you asked me if Ross was angry last night? Why would he be angry?" She asked.

"Mon, I did something last night that might upset him. In his current state of mind I really don't know how he will react."

"Why, what did you do?" Monica queried.

"Could we talk about this later? Rachel pleaded. I promise that we will discuss it.

"OK, sure." Monica replied.

"Would you mind if I crashed here until the weekend? I don't feel like lugging all my stuff from Ross's apartment down to Phoebe's right now. I still have some clothes over at his apartment I could use until the weekend." Rachel asked.

"Of course you can Rachel. You are like a sister to me. Well you actually were my sister while you were married to Ross." Monica joked.

At that moment Rachel felt a tinge of guilt. Monica had actually been her sister-in-law for the time that they were married. It had not even occurred to her that when you marry a person, you marry a family. The Geller's were a family that she would not have minded being a part of. But the happenings of the past had prevented that possible outcome from occurring … and now she was alone. Rachel had had her opportunities to be with other men since the time that Ross had destroyed their relationship and lost her trust with Chloe, but none had worked out, for one reason or another.

"Monica." Rachel was retrospective and was picking her words very carefully. "Ross and I have had our problems, as you well know. But last night he opened up and for a change was very honest with me. He told me things that I couldn't believe and couldn't accept at that moment. I don't believe he said those things to get back with me. I'm just going to take it easy with him. The best thing I can do is be his friend … just like we used to be …"

The weekend had arrived and the day of reckoning was upon her. Rachel was moving.

Ross had eaten breakfast and was in the bathroom shaving when he was startled by a knock at the door. Without thinking Ross instinctively dropped his razor and proceeded to his front door. Rachel was dressed down that morning. It was moving day and there was no reason to primp. It didn't matter to him what she looked like, she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

"Hi Rach. Today's the big day, huh?"

Rachel laughed and put on a happy face. Half his face was covered in shaving cream. "It sure is" She replied but inside she was perplexed at how happy he appeared to be to be losing her as a roommate.

"Rachel, have you eaten breakfast yet?"

"Not really, I had a slice of toast and glass of juice at Monica's" She replied.

"Would you like anything to eat or drink?" He asked.

"Sure, how about some coffee."

"Of course." I'll brew some coffee while I finish shaving." Ross replied as he ran into the kitchen. After finishing his shave, dressing and sharing a cup of coffee, Ross proceeded to help Rachel move the remainder of her belongings to Phoebe's place, all the while seeming genuinely supportive and happy for her. When finished, Ross gave her a gentle hug and told her to call him if she needed anything else. After his departure, Rachel decided to call Monica to let her know that she was not going to be staying at her place another night.

"Hello."

"Monica, I just wanted to let you know that I won't be back tonight. Ross helped me move the rest of my stuff to Phoebe's and there's no reason to impose on you another night."

"Rachel, you never impose. You give me the opportunity to be the hostess again. You remember how I enjoy being the hostess, don't you?"

"How could I forget" Rachel replied. "But with all my stuff here I really need to get settled in."

"How did the move go?" Monica asked.

"It was great. Ross was a big help. I wouldn't have gotten done today without it." She replied. "He has changed Monica, and I would like to know why."

"Rachel." Monica replied. "I invited Ross over for dinner tonight. I'll try to have a heart-to-heart with him while he's over."

"Your not going to spy on your brother are you?" Rachel joked.

"Not at all. I'm just as concerned as you are about him." Monica replied. "Good night Rachel."

The dinner had been consumed and the bottle was empty. Laughter filled the air of the apartment as the two siblings reminisced about their past, about the stupid things they did to torment each other at a younger age. It was getting late and a clean-up was in order. As the brother and sister worked to clean the mess they had made she decided it was time …

"So Ross, how are you feeling?

"I'm fine Monica. I appreciate your concern for my well-being. Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing." Monica replied. "It's just that we've noticed that you've been acting a little differently the last few days. We're concerned about you."

"Wow, do you know how special I feel that I have friends who care so much for me? He asked.

"You're not upset that I, I might be prying into your personal life?" She asked.

"no, I feel so blessed to have two fantastic women who care so much about me."

"How did you know that she and I talked?" Monica asked.

"I didn't." He replied. "I've been spending a lot of time with Rachel the last week and I could sense that she was a little uncomfortable. The time I spend with her is special. I don't want her to feel uncomfortable around me."

"So then what's up with you?" She asked. "You've been acting differently from the norm."

"Is that a crime?" He asked.

"Ross! There's no reason to ask me that. You know how much we care about you."

Ross believed every word she said. He was happy to know that he had friends watching over him but uneasy that he had caused them such concern.

"Alright then. I don't want you and Rachel to be worried about me. While I appreciate your concern I never meant for you to worry about me. Please ask me any question that will ease your mind and I will tell you the truth." He somewhat slightly joked.

Monica thought for a few moments and carefully choosing her words she began. "Rachel and I have noticed a change in you. Then you are over at my place being so helpful and nice to me. What's going on with you? Remember, you promised to be truthful."

"I promise to be truthful with you from now on." Ross replied. "Monica, some changes are forced upon us. The really important ones come from within. The changes you see in me happened because I felt compelled to change."

"Why did you feel that you needed to change?" Monica asked.

"My marriage to Rachel triggered it. Being married to her, even after a drunken wedding caused me to rethink everything. I resisted getting a divorce and I lied to her about it. I felt as low as I did when I slept with Chloe. I did a lot of introspective soul-searching through my past feelings and decisions. I didn't like what I learned about myself."

"So what did you learn?" She asked.

"I found that I had thought myself to be the center of the universe. I had to have what I wanted irregardless of other people's feelings. I've done so many things I'm not proud of I've lost count. I betrayed Julie to be with Rachel. I made a list of Rachel's good and bad points and hurt her in the process. I slept with Chloe and killed my best chance for happiness. I hurt Emily by saying Rachel's name at our wedding. I hurt Rachel by agreeing to Emily's demand that I not see her. My best attempts at being happy had hurt the people I care so much about. Instead of being happy I had made myself miserable and the casualties littered my wake." After a short pause he continued "… and I, I love Rachel so very much. So much so that I realize that I have to let her go."

"I was not brought into this world to hurt people. The mistakes of the past were not others, they were mine. If I were to continue down this path others will end up getting hurt. If I don't try to better myself then I will be guilty of far more than I have done to date. I know you share a lot with Rachel. I'm not going to ask you to keep this from her or anyone else. I'll leave it to you to decide what to tell who … I trust you; I trust you with everything."

"Wow." Is all that Monica could muster at that moment.

After a short pause Ross smiled at his sister, gently squeezing her hand. He then lifted himself from the chair and proceeded to finish cleaning the table for her. "Stop, you don't have to do that." Monica blurted out.

"Yes, I do." He replied.

"So what are you going to do?" She asked.

"I'm going to transform myself." Ross replied.

"What, how … are you going to do that?" She asked.

"I am going to be everything I could have been to you, to Rachel, to everyone else in the world. I'm not going to put on a cape and fly around like a superhero. I'm going to be a gentlemen. I'm going put others before myself."

"Ross, you already are a gentleman, you don't need to work on that." Monica replied.

"Monica, I know I can get a bit anal at times, what with my tendencies to correct others and all but do you really know what a gentleman is , in the truest sense of the word?"

"How did I know that you were going to ask me that? And yes, you can be very anal about these things. OK, please tell me. What is a gentlemen?"

"Quite simply it is a man trying to make everyone around him as comfortable as possible, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week." He replied. "I have been humbled by this whole experience. When I was younger I thought I knew everything. I received a PhD by the time I was 25. I spent a lot of my time convincing everyone around me how smart I was. Now I am over 30 and have found that I had it wrong all along. I really know nothing. I cannot erase the sins of the past but I can try to avoid them from happening in the future."

Ross finished the dishes and had cleaned the table with a washcloth, all the time Monica just sat there with nothing left to say. As he gathered his jacket he turned to her, bent over and kissed her on the top of her head. "I love you." He said as he headed to the door. At that moment the apartment door flew open and Chandler and Joey entered. Ross barely had enough time to avoid being knocked over by the two.

In a few moments the two buddies finally noticed their friend heading toward the door. "Hey Ross. How are you? We haven't seen you in a while." Joey asked.

"I'm fine." Ross replied as he took hold of Joey with his left arm and Chandler with his right. Crushing them into his chest in a big bear hug he whispered "I love you."

Releasing the pair, he exited the apartment.

Please review. I already have ideas for chapter 3.