All right. Thank you so much for the reviews, guys. When I posted something I thought was absolutely horrible, you guys liked it :D It's weird that way. But anyway: Thanks !
Disclaimer; I do not own Friends.
Picking Up the Pieces
Chapter 5.
Ashley was gonna spend the night at Ben's for the first time since they'd become friends.
She was so excited.
She'd known him and his mommies for two months now, and they've become really close.
She got ready and everything was perfect when Rachel dropped her off, sending her a kiss when she buzzed the door.
Rachel followed her with her eyes until she was out of sight and then she drove home.
She wasn't walking with a crutch anymore and yesterday, doctor Pick had taken off her sling, because her hand had gotten better. Her bruises were also getting better. She was almost able to run again now.
When she got home, she decided she wanted to go have fun this night. She figured she needed to celebrate for a bit. Barry wouldn't let her, she knew that, but she would insist. She was able to.
--
When the clock showed 8, Rachel came out of the bedroom in a short black skirt and a tight white, almost see through spaghetti strap. She figured that if she needed to go out, she could at least look presentable and be able to turn heads.
"I'm going out." she told Barry.
"What?"
"I'm going out to have fun for once."
"Really?" Barry exclaimed, "Then I wanna come with you."
"No, you can't." Rachel said.
"Why?"
"Because you have to stay home if Ashley calls. If she doesn't want to spend the night at Bens anyways, then you'll need to pick her up. I'll be home around 1 or 2… Bye."
And before Barry could protest, Rachel was out the door.
That one would earn her smacks.
--
The bar was full of people and there was a disgusting smell of mixed alcohol and vomit.
Rachel wrinkled her nose and walked up to get a beer.
When she'd ordered one, she sat down and looked around. She just needed to let herself have fun tonight. Get loose and relax. She finally had a night away from Barry and his yelling. It was her turn to do what he always did.
She looked around for cute guys to have an irresponsible flirt with, but she couldn't find one who was her taste.
She considered just going home, until a guy shot himself into a seat next to her.
She turned around to look at him, and was surprised when she found him to be actually cute.
"Hi." she smiled.
"Hey…"
He liked what he saw, she could tell.
"Why are you hiding?"
"My psycho ex." the guy explained, "Apparently she wants to get back together."
Rachel giggled, "You want to get out of here then?"
"What do you mean?"
"We could take a drink in another place?" she suggested.
He looked at her – up and down, and just nodded.
He had more than just a drink in mind – she could tell. And she had no problem with that, she just had to stop before it got too far. But she didn't want to tell him already. She didn't want to tell him she was married and had a kid. She could use that as an excuse when she'd have to leave him hanging later.
--
They entered another bar, which was in a much better shape, Rachel could tell. She smiled at the guy and he smiled back.
"What would you like to drink?" he asked, pointing to an open spot between people at the end of the bar.
"A dry martini, I think." Rachel smiled and followed him.
They sat down and ordered.
When their drinks had arrived, she'd gotten his name and knew quite much about him.
She liked him.
He looked sort of European. But she wasn't quite sure. Maybe it was just his parents.
He was product of much staring and talking between much younger girls than herself in this bar, she could see, and she knew he knew it too. And because of that she couldn't figure out why he'd rather spend the night talking to her.
They clicked.
It was quite scary, actually. But Rachel liked the feeling and she didn't want this night to end just yet.
Suddenly she casually looked at her watch and realized that it was 11:30.
She knew she'd told Barry she'd be home at 2 – latest, but she was sure he'd appreciate her home before. And to tell the truth, she knew that this guy was getting drunk and she didn't want to lead him on longer.
"I'm going home!" Rachel told him through the high sounds.
"Okay." the guy smiled, "I'll follow you out."
She smiled at him and soon they were on the cold, silent Manhattan street.
"So?" he said, "Do you think that maybe we could do this like, on a real date?"
Rachel's heart broke at his happy face. She knew she was going to disappoint him, "Sorry." she said, "I wasn't really looking for anything to happen with you."
"Why? You're married or something?" he paused, "'Cause that's okay?"
"No, I'm just not interested." she lied, very aware of the fact that he was too drunk to understand a word of what she was saying, "I'm sorry I lead you on. I- I just liked you I guess, and wanted to have some harmless fun."
"I want to have fun too." the guy said, "I'm not married either." he whispered in her ear, like it was some big secret.
"Okay!?" Rachel exclaimed, "Lucky for you!"
"Yes, I think so." he said, "'Cause that way, I'm able to hook up with beautiful women like you. Beautiful women who also are hot."
Rachel just looked down, not really knowing how the respond to that. How could she not throw herself at him? Barry never told her she was beautiful, of course it had some affect on her.
"And what you really wanted…" he continued, "Was to have a one-night stand to just have some fun, but now you're too scared and are about to back out. I don't know why, but you don't get a lot of dates and guys." he paused again and looked at her shocked face, "I understand women," he explained, "It's one of my gifts. But anyway, if you back out now, are you sure you wont regret it, in the morning?"
Rachel looked at him in a couple of seconds, but then she leaned in and kissed him.
--
Rachel looked at the ceiling and sighed.
She couldn't believe she'd actually done that.
She'd slept with a totally unfamiliar guy and cheated on Barry.
She turned around to look at him.
He was adorable. Just that kind of guy she would be able to enjoy life with. Not a guy to have kids with, but a guy to live with.
She sat up in the bed and looked around in the unfamiliar bedroom to find a watch. She'd patiently waited till he'd fallen asleep – been pretending herself – and now she was sure. She just needed to get out of there and go home.
She finally found a watch and saw that it was 2:47.
She was really late.
Barry would kill her.
And another thing he would also kill her for – which was much more serious – was if he ever found out about this.
He would probably not KILL her, but he'd kill the guy, and beat her.
Barry was violent. She knew that.
Rachel got dressed and fumbled through the apartment after her jacket and purse. He had thrown it behind them after ripping it off her. She found a notepad and a pen on the desk and scribbled a short note down for him.
She was Rachel after all – she felt bad for leaving him like that.
She also explained to him that it wasn't in her nature at all to do stuff like this.
She sighed and placed the note a place that she was sure he'd find it.
After she was done, she locked open the door and hurried out of the apartment building.
She was just hoping that Joey would be okay, because she kinda liked him.
Okay, hmm, not happy with this chapter, but more happy with it than with the last, sooo.. anyway. You're thinking ´what? This is a Lobster-story!' , and yeah, it is. We just need a few bumps in the road before. I promise it'll be Lobster in the end. And uh also, leave me a review. Thanks, Stessa,. And one more thing; I don't really like my summary, so if one of you have a billiant idea, please tell me, 'cause I think what I wrote is terrible. Thanks.