Thanks for all the reviews guys. I really appreciate it.

"Happy Birthday Ross," Rachel sung softly. The birthday boy himself smiled when he heard her voice, but buried his head back under bed sheets.

"Come back later."

"Come on Ross you have to get up," she whined as she jumped on top of him. Normally she wouldn't be so affectionate with Ross after her little agreement with Emily, but today was different. It was his birthday after all and she was determined a little bit more time with him.

"Rach I'm tired," he moaned into his pillow. She gave up on waking him and took a spot next to him and propped herself up on her elbow and watched him fall back asleep. After a few minutes she finally lost her patience and huffed.

"It's almost noon Ross now get up," she said as she ripped the bedsheets off him. She blushed to herself when she saw that he was wearing nothing but his boxers. Ross rubbed his eyes a few times before finally looking at her and turned crimson when he noticed she was staring at his chest. He quickly sat up and covered himself himself, a little embarrassed, but Rachel is still in a daze.

"Sorry Rach. I don't sleep with a shirt on," he apologized.

"It's fine." She shook herself out of her trance and left for the kitchen while Ross threw on a shirt. He raised an eyebrow in shock when he saw Rachel carrying a tray of food because he didn't think she knew how to cook or use a stove for that matter. She gave him a beaming smile as she handed a tray that had a tall stack of pancakes and he gave her a grateful look.

"Umm thanks Rach."

"No problem," she said waving it off and she watched as he indulged in the chocolate chip pancakes and waited for his response.

"How do they taste? I know I'm a horrible cook, but I went through 6 batches before they finally came out right," she explained as she gave him a nervous look. Ross finally sat the plate down, looking at Rachel, who eagerly waited for his response.

"Rach they're awesome. I didn't know you could cook," he laughed which earned a him smack on the chest. At this he he tackles her onto the bed and starts tickling her that causes Rachel to go in a fit of giggles and Ross feels like he's in heaven since he hasn't heard her laugh in weeks. He flipped her over and she ends up trapped under him, both of them breathing extremely hard. They stared at each other for a few moments, their heads moving closer together before the phone rang.

Rachel closes her eyes in frustration as she feels Ross body weight lifted off and she watched as he answered the phone. A blush crept onto her cheeks when she the thought about what would have happened if they hadn't been interrupted.

"Hi Emily… yeah you can come up right now. The door is already open… okay love you bye," he said quickly as he slammed the phone down. He turned to see Rachel fixing his bed and his expression softened.

"I'm sorry about that Rach."

"Don't apologize. It's your birthday," she said as she took the tray from him.

"Still I know how Emily gets and I don't want you to be uncomfortable." He followed her into the kitchen where she dumped the dishes into the sink.

"It's fine Ross, it's your birthday," she smiled. She moved past him, but was forced to stop when she felt him grab her hand.

"Just because I'm with Emily doesn't mean I'll just get up and ditch you." She nodded as he squeezed her hand affectionately, but once again their moment of peace was interrupted when Emily strolled through the door. There was a brief second where the two woman just glared at each other before Emily moved to Ross's side.

"Happy Birthday darling," she purred and Rachel made a sound of disgust. Ross kissed Emily's cheek before leaving for the bathroom and both of the women sighed loudly as he disappeared down the hall before Emily turned to Rachel and glared.

"Didn't I tell you to stay away from him," she hissed and at once Rachel turned to red.. She was through with how Emily was making both her and Ross miserable.

"I don't take orders from anyone especially you! I can see Ross anytime I please and that includes his birthday!"

"You really think that after we're married that he's going to want anything to do with you!"

"We've been best friends since we were kids. I'm not going anywhere!"

"Rachel I'm going to be his wife soon which means I can tell him to stay away from people I don't think he needs to be around. You really don't want to get on my bad side."

"Emily listen to me one more time. I'm not scared of you. I don't give a damn if you marry Ross because like it or not I'm always going to be there for him. So you can either suck it up and accept that or there's going to be a lot of problems between us."

"Rachel I'm trying to be civil for Ross's sake and for yours too. You're only going to be hurt when he starts spending less and less time with you."

"Wanna bet?" At this they both took a step towards each other and before either one could speak, Ross appeared before them again. Both women turned, a smile on both of their faces when they see he has a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Rach do you want to join us at the coffee house?" She smiled at his sweet gesture, but shook her head.

"I have errands to do. I'll catch you later." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and smirked at a furious Emily before gliding out the room.

He feels Emily's lips on his cheek, but payed no attention to her, but instead watched as Rachel left. He felt a a certain longing and sadness as he watched the door close behind her.

Emily was... Emily, but Rachel was everything. He was never genuinely happy unless they were together. And he couldn't lie to himself anymore. Emily made him miserable and he knew deep down that he couldn't marry her. They wouldn't work it and it was only matter of time. He belonged with someone like... Rachel. She made him happier than Emily did and Monica had been hinting lately that she would love to be their wedding planner, but he had thought she was joking the whole time. Maybe there had been some truth to it.

He pictured himself waking up to her every morning and surprisingly the thought of it didn't scare him. He didn't freak out when he thought about saying his vows to her or calling her his wife. He could picture their child, a little girl with blonde hair and her eyes and smiled at the thought of having a daughter that was the spinning image of Rachel.

So why wasn't he with her? She was his best friend. She knew him better than any woman would and she loved him and wasn't that the foundation of love? Friendship. What was more perfect that falling in love and marrying your best friend?

He knew what he would have to do. He couldn't deny it. He wanted more from Rachel, and friendship just wasn't enough anymore. He loved her and he wanted her to know it. The only question was when he would talk to Emily.

But that would have to wait until after tonight.

"Emily why the sudden rush to spend time with my sister? I thought you didn't even like her that much," Ross scoffed as she practically dragged him to Chandler and Monica's apartment.

"Stop being silly. You know I adore your sister," Emily said as she gave him a fake smile. To be honest she didn't like Monica either. She was also extremely close to Rachel and it drove her mad. Why were all the Geller's so in love with her? "Besides darling Monica told me Rachel was here too and we all know how much you adore her," Emily added bitterly.

As soon as Ross heard that Rachel was there he picked up the pace and Emily rolled her eyes. They finally arrived at Monica and Chandler's door and Ross opened it with a spare key. They walked in , but it is pitch black. He moved a hand to the light switch and flipped it on and their ears were met with a yell.

"Surprise!"

He blinked in shock a few times to see his friends, family, and a few coworkers there too, but his face lights up when he saw Rachel standing there. He walked toward her and hugged her tightly before spinning her around, causing her to let out a laugh. He heard Emily clear her throat rather loudly before putting her down.

He ignored Emily in her attempt to kiss him and turned his attention to Rachel.

"You planned this," he asked.

"Actually it was me, Mon, and Emily."

Monica shook her head at this and put an arm around Ross and Rachel.

"Rachel's being so modest. Me and Emily helped, but Rachel did pretty much everything."

"Thanks Rach," he said hugging her again, but they are interrupted by his parents.

"Happy birthday sweetheart," his mother gushed as she squeezed his cheeks. Ross hugged his parents and Emily saw this as the perfect opportunity to get on their good side.

"Mr and Mrs. Geller it's so nice to see you again."

An hour later while Emily is distracted, Rachel manages steals Ross away for some private time.

"I can't believe you did all of this Rachel, right to the last detail. You even got the right kind of cake," he exclaimed.

"Red Velvet cake with chocolate frosting," she repeated.

"You're amazing. You know that right?"

"Well after everything you've done for me, it's the least I could do."

"Rach I swear this is the best birthday and it's all because of you." They both smiled as he moved a piece of hair that had fallen into her eyes. She put a hand to his cheek, gazing at him for a while, her desire to kiss him growing stronger by the second.

"Ross!" They turned around to see a furious Emily. She gave them both a look of disbelief before she stormed away. Ross groaned out load while Rachel patted his back soothingly.

"Rach I…"

"You go talk to her. I'll be waiting," Rachel said smiling. He kissed her forehead before taking off after Emily. He followed her all the way outside the apartment door before she finally turned around to look at him with watery eyes. Her hair was coming out of its neat bun and she was mascara was running.

"Ross how could you sneak off with her! You act like she's your girlfriend!"

"Emily I…," Ross started but she interrupted him.

"No I want an answer now. Either me or her."

"This is ridiculous."

"No it's time that you pick Ross. I'm always playing second best to her and I'm sick of it. I want you to pick right now, me or her."

"I'm not doing it Emily."

"Ross if you don't pick someone then we're over." He shook his head at this, wondering if he should just walk away because he really wasn't in the mood to hear her yelling. Especially on his birthday

"No," he said simply.

"What do you mean no," she screeched.

"I mean no."

"If you don't then I'll go tell your precious friends and family what kind of man you really are. The kind that cheats on his girlfriend with woman like her. She's nothing but a bitc.."

"Don't you dare call her that!" In an instant his temper had shot up and his face was red.

"Oh so I see I picked on your precious Rachel. I knew it! I knew you cheated on me with her!"

"I never cheated on you!"

"Don't give me that! I see the way she looks at you and I see the way you look at her! That's why I told her to back off," Emily admitted with a hint of a smirk on her face. At this Ross furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and looked at her suspiciously.

"You what?"

"I told your precious Rachel to stay away from you and she actually believed it. She was so upset, crying and everything," Emily added with a chuckle. He closed his eyes for a second, not wanting to believe that she would do that to him, but he remembered how Rachel's mood had been lately. She would snap at him for every little thing and she would always find an excuse to not be around him. She was miserable and he had spent hours trying to figure out why and now he knew. This... this monster was the reason.

Well you have Emily. Maybe you should spend more time with her.

"Get away from me," he ordered as he watched Emily take a step towards him.

"Ross, darling don't be like that."

"You're sick! I never knew why she had been so strange towards me, but it was all you! She wouldn't look at me, she wouldn't even talk to me and it was all your fault! You're sick!"

"Ross I only did it for us," she pleaded.

"There is no us. We are over," he said gesturing between them and her expression crumpled.

"Ross don't do something so drastic. I love you and I know you love me. I saw the ring you bought." At this he felt even more disgusted with himself. And to think he had almost married this vile woman.

"That was a mistake. I never should have bought it."

"Ross I know you love me." She tugged on his short, desperately trying to convince him that she only did everything out of love.

"You know I don't think I was ever in love with you. I loved you, but I don't know if I was ever in love with you."

"Ross…"

"I pick Rachel."

"What?"

"You asked me to choose and I choose Rachel. It was never you Emily. It was always her and it always will be." The look on Emily's face would have been funny if they weren't having such a serious conversation. He remained motionless as she continued to tug in his shirt.

"You're picking her over me," Emily asked with tears in her eyes.

"You've been suffocating me. You were never like this when we were in London."

"Because I didn't have to compete with her," she screeched. "Its not fair, you always chose her over me. What does she have that I don't?"

"I don't know, but Rachel is my best friend. I love her and I don't think it's fair to either of us to pretend like we're happy when we're not."

"So that's it. After all this time together you're leaving me for her. I love you Ross."

"You made me miserable and it took me until now to realize that Rachel's the only one that can make me happy. I could picture a future with her."

"And you couldn't with me?"

"No because I was always in love with her. The only thing I'm sorry about is that I wasted all this time."

"She doesn't love you. She'll never love you like I do."

At this he shook his head and smiled to himself. "But that's the thing Emily, she does. More than you'll ever know." Emily looked at him with a hurt expression, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Fine. Happy Birthday,"she cried in between sobs. She looked at him one final time before pushing past and leaving him standing there. He felt guilty and at the same time relieved.

After a few more hours Ross and Rachel had finally returned from his party. He had been pretty quiet at first, but Ross finally told Rachel what had taken place he and Emily and he could have swore he saw a hint of a smile when she had found out. She had dragged him to the window so they could watch the beautifully lit up sky.

"Are you sure you're okay," Rachel asked again as he sighed loudly.

"Yeah it's just… I feel so stupid. I was about to marry her," he added sadly.

"You of all people are not stupid. You loved her and you wanted to believe she had a good person."

"Which she wasn't," he added, remembering how miserable she made him.

"I know you're going to be a great husband to someone Ross and she's going to make you happier than Emily ever did." She moved a hand to his shoulder and gave him a small smile.

"Forget about her. I'm glad it's over. I just need to be by myself for awhile," he said sternly. At this Rachel's expression turned to one of hurt and she pouted.

"Oh."

"Except you of course. I always have time for my favorite girl," he said as he put an arm around and gave her a beaming smile and she blushed.

Rachel glanced at her watch and was surprised at long they had been outside talking. She linked their hands together, causing Ross to look at her.

"So it's 11:59. You sure you don't want anything else for your birthday?"

"Actually there is something I want," Ross said staring at her.

"And what is that," she teased.

He took her completely off guard by cupping her cheeks in his hands and swooped down and gave her a soft kiss. She was surprised at first, but did not pull away, but instead wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him even closer to her as they continued to kiss passionately. They stayed like that for quite some time, neither thinking of the consequences, but just focusing on each other.