Okay, so even though I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the ending of this story, I'm going to keep writing it to see where it goes. Reviews are deeply appreciated. Okay, you can read now. :)

November 1, 2001. Thursday.

Rachel woke up from the Halloween party the night before thinking about Ross kissing Mona. Her mind then went to thinking about Ross kissing her. She wondered if Ross really wanted to be with Mona instead of her.

~.~

Monica was drinking a cup of coffee at the kitchen table. Memories of the night before were flooding her mind.

Monica remembered whispering into Richard's ear, telling him to sneak over later.

She remembered dressing up in a sexy tank top and a thong just for him.

She remembered Richard's lips on hers, kissing her like he used to.

Then the memory of them being fully naked with each other and almost having sex came to her. Monica had started to cry and sent him away.

Monica grabbed a sheet off the bed and wrapped it around her. "Richard you need to go. Don't try to call me. I just think we should stay far away from each other for now on. This was a horrible, horrible idea. You should have stopped me! No, I should have stopped me. Just, please, leave.

Richard gathered up his clothes and got dressed quickly. Once he was dressed, he started walking towards the door. Monica joined him.

"Alright. Well, bye, Monica."

Monica looked down. "Goodbye, Richard."

Monica looked at the ring on her left hand. The jewels were sparkling at her as if to ask why she would even risk losing the one man who she's ever felt truly herself with. She was drunk. People do stupid things when they're drunk all the time. Still, Monica never thought she would be the person to do something so stupid. Monica sipped her coffee quietly, drowning into her own personal pool of guilt.

November 8, 2001. Thursday.

Ross walked into Joey and Rachel's apartment to see Rachel sitting at the kitchen counter. She was looking in the newspaper for available apartments.

"Hey, Rach," Ross said. "Are you, uh, looking for another apartment?"

Rachel looked up at Ross. "Well, yeah. With this baby on the way, I want to have a good apartment, you know. An apartment where my baby won't have to see random girls every morning."

Ross started to laugh then a thought came to him. "Well, you know, there is a vacancy in my building."

"Really?"

Ross nodded. "Yeah. I, uh, have a spare bedroom. This is also our baby."

Rachel put her hands on her hips and sat up a little straighter. "Don't you think that will be weird?"

"No. Why would it be? We'll make it work. Rach, please. With Carol I wasn't there during the pregnancy as much as I wanted to be. But this, this is our baby. Please, Rachel."

Rachel took Ross's hand in hers and took a deep breath. "Okay."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Ross jumped up and took Rachel into a giant hug when Joey walked in.

Joey saw the two hugging. "Hey, what's going on with you two?"

Rachel took herself out of Ross's arms. She went to stand by Joey. "Joey, you know I love living with you but with the baby coming and everything I don't want to affect your life like that. So… I'm moving in with Ross."

Joey threw his hands up. "What? Why?"

"Well," Rachel murmured as she looked toward Ross.

Ross saw Rachel's desperate "help me" look and jumped in. "Because, Joey, this is our baby and we both think it makes more sense for us to be living together."

Joey looked at both Ross and Rachel. "Oh, okay. When are you moving out?"

Rachel looked toward Ross again. "Saturday?"

Ross nodded. "Sure."

Joey took both Rachel and Ross into a hug. "Congratulations." Ross and Rachel smiled at each other.

November 15, 2001. Thursday.

Monica was walking around Central Park while looking at the trees. She was thinking about all of her memories with Chandler.

She thought about their first kiss. She had been so drunk then and Chandler had been all too willing. She had kissed him and something electric sparked. Monica had been kissing one of her best friends but it didn't feel gross. It felt like something she should have started doing a long time ago.

Monica's mind then went to her first kiss with Richard. Who would have ever thought that Monica would kiss Dr. Burke, the man she had known her whole life? Who would ever think they'd fall in love? No one ever thought that, but they did. Monica remembered the surprising tension between them. She then remembered the even more surprising flow of chemistry between them as they kissed.

Monica collapsed onto the grass beneath a tree. She lay there for hours, memories of the two main men in her life rushing through her mind.

November 18, 2001. Sunday.

Ross walked into Rachel's room with a tray of cereal and a blueberry muffin. He sat it down quietly on Rachel's nightstand then tried to tiptoe out of her room.

Rachel rubbed her eyes then saw Ross walking away. "Ross? Can you sit with me?"

Ross turned around and walked over to her. He sat next to Rachel on her bed.

Rachel sat up. "Thank you for supporting me right now. It means a lot to me."

"Thank you for, uh, letting me."

Ross put his hands on Rachel's stomach then let his eyes wander all over her body. Rachel's blush deepened when Ross finally looked into her eyes.

Time stopped.

Their breathing quickened.

Their eyes froze in a stare.

Then Ross kissed her. Rachel leaned back onto her bed, pulling Ross on top of her. They were kissing each other when they heard someone stomp their foot. Ross quickly got off Rachel but Rachel stayed frozen in the sheets.

"Mona?" Ross ran out of the room while Rachel lay on her bed, breathless.

November 22, 2001. Thursday.

Monica was cooking the Thanksgiving dinner while Phoebe helped with the mashed potatoes. Joey was sitting on the couch watching the football game. Ross and Rachel walked into the apartment together, still feeling awkward about that Sunday morning.

Monica glanced up and looked at Rachel. "Hey, Rach, do you remember Will from high school?"

Rachel looked up in deep concentration. "Um, I don't know. Was he the guy who was in Ross's club or whatever it was?"

Ross immediately joined into the conversation. "No, no. There was no club. We were just good friends."

Monica rolls her eyes. "Anyway, I asked because he's coming here today for Thanksgiving dinner."

Ross smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah. I ran into him at the grocery store yesterday. He's lost a ton of weight after being on this diet for years. Trust me, Rachel, after today, you'll remember him."

Rachel smiled. "Alright, then."

Minutes later, Will walked into the apartment. He walked right past Rachel to hug Monica and shake hands with Ross.

Monica turned around from her cooking and clapped her hands once. "Everyone, this is Will. Will, this is everyone. That's Phoebe, Joey, and Rachel. You remember her from high school, don't you?"

Will nodded with a strange expression in his eyes that Rachel didn't notice.

~.~

During dinner, Rachel took one whiff of the turkey and ran out of the apartment to Joey's where the poultry smell couldn't reach her. Ross quickly followed to hold back her hair.

Phoebe looked around at the food on the table. "Monica, where are the mashed potatoes I helped make?"

Monica put down her fork. "I gave them to Joey to store in his oven so he could keep them warm."

Joey's eyes widened. "Oh yeah. I probably should have warmed the oven…"

Joey got up and Phoebe followed him. There was a strong possibility that Joey had eaten them.

Monica smiled at Will as he reached for the peas. He had really gotten in shape since high school.

Will noticed Monica smiling at him but didn't mention it. He instead went to another topic of conversation. "That's a nice wedding ring."

Monica looked down at her left hand. "Thanks."

"Where's your husband?"

Monica looked toward the balcony. Something she often did when she thought about Chandler. It reminded her of the many times he asked to go on the balcony. Monica then forced her attention back to Will before she could start tearing up. "He's, uh, fighting in the war."

Monica sniffled and wiped away a tear threatening to fall from her eye. Will noticed the change in Monica's mood and took her hand. "That must be really hard for you. You must miss him a lot."

Monica looked at her hand then at Will's intense gaze. "It is."

Will then slid closer to Monica knowing something very important about vulnerable women. They were often lonely. "How long has he been stationed?"

Monica leaned back a little. "Almost two months."

"Oh." Will leaned into Monica a little more when the phone rang. Monica immediately jumped up out of her chair and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

Chandler's voice rang out from the other end of the phone. "Hey, Mon! I guess I should say Happy Thanksgiving!"

Monica's heart almost burst out of her chest when she heard Chandler's usual complaining over the pioneer holiday. "Yeah, Happy Thanksgiving."

Will looked up at Monica. "Who's Chandler?"

Monica tried to cover the mouthpiece of the phone. "Chandler's my husband."

Chandler furrowed his eyebrows when he heard Monica. Didn't he know everyone she knew? "Who's with you over there, Mon?"

Monica's eyes widened when she heard his jealous tone. "Um, Will. He went to high school with Ross and I. Ross probably mentioned him to you in college."

Chandler couldn't recollect anything about Will. "Are you two alone?"

"Yes but-"

"Where's everyone else?"

Monica sighed. "Rachel got sick so Ross is with her at Joey's. Phoebe and Joey are also there warming up some potatoes."

Chandler scratched his head. "Uh huh, okay. So is Will, like, your date for this evening?"

"What? No. I ran into him at the store yesterday and he told me he had nowhere to go so I invited him here. That's all, Chandler. Really."
"Okay, fine. I love you."

Monica's voice softened. "I love you, too. Are you gonna call on Christmas Eve?"

Chandler nodded, a habit of his to do over the phone. "Yeah. Tell the guys I said hi."
"I will. Bye."

"Bye." Chandler hung up the phone, not fully convinced about Will.

November 23, 2001. Friday.

Rachel knocked on Ross's bedroom door early in the morning.

"Come in," Ross said.

Rachel opened the door then walked over to Ross. She sat down on his bed and cleared her throat. "How have you been? You know, since you and Mona?"

Ross sat up. "I've been okay. She isn't the first girl I've broken up with because of you."

Rachel crossed her arms. "What?"

Ross exhaled. "Julie, Bonnie…"

Rachel giggled nervously. "Oh."

The two sat in awkward silence until Rachel couldn't take it anymore. "And, you know, we ended up getting together two of those three times. We could try to go for the perfect record."

Ross looked at Rachel questioningly. Rachel blinked back.

"Well," Rachel said.

Ross continued to think of pros and cons. Rachel bit her lip.

*to be continued