Episode: The One Where Joey Speaks French (10x13)

When Ross left Rachel's apartment, he went straight to the Coffee House to take an infusion to go.

He felt really tired for the long days spent at the hospital, but most of all he was still upset for his last conversation with Rachel. Even if he was exhausted, Ross was pretty sure that sleep would elude him that night.

As soon as Ross arrived, he found Joey sitting on the orange couch. He silently smiled at his friend, who was eating a muffin on his own.

Good old Joey.

He ordered his blueberry infusion to go, making sure to speak out so that Joey would notice that he was there.

"Hey!" the actor greeted him when he heard his voice.

"Hey. Everything ok?"

Joey nodded, throwing another piece of muffin in his mouth. "It is now!"

"How did the audition go?" Ross wondered, sitting next to him.

"Uhm, not so good. Phoebe thinks that my French accent was too sophisticated, they needed someone with a less perfect inflection."

"Oh, I'm sorry man." Ross tried to comfort him.

"Ah, it's okay, Ross. Or should I say… Bleh de puf, Ross!"

Ross squeezed his eyes. He made a mental note to ask Phoebe about the real motives of Joey's exclusion at the audition, because the fool wasn't obviously speaking a word of real French.

"So, how's Dr. Green?" Joey inquired him.

Ross nodded, "Getting better, the man is a rock. Truth is, I'm the one who's a bit tired tonight…" he stretched out and massaged his neck, closing his eyes for a couple of seconds.

"Tough day, uh?"

"You have no idea."

"So, how's Rachel? Is she home yet?"

"Yeah, she's upstairs with Emma, they are both asleep. She was tired, but fine. And I must say that she took the whole heart attack issue very well, she was a wonderful daughter to her father."

Joey smiled, noticing that Ross's eyes were almost sparkling while saying this.

"Rachel was at the hospital almost all the time, in contrast to Jill and Amy that visited their old man for less than thirty minutes."

Joey scoffed, "Those two are unbelievable. Probably the only hot girls I've ever despised."

"I know! I mean, even Sandra was there a few times. She also made up some excuses to visit Leonard more than once. She made me think, you know? They ain't together anymore and yet somehow they still care about each other in spite of the divorce."

Ross's eyes were lost in the air in front of himself, but Joey caught his dreamy expression. He could sense that his friend was thinking hard about something and he was trying to hide it.

Joey squeezed his eyes and stared intently at Ross, trying to figure out what that could be.

He suddenly snapped his fingers, "You and Rachel had sex!" he screamed, his mouth opened in surprise.

"What? No, we didn't!" Ross yelled back.

Joey giggled, "You totally did it!"

"No way! She was worn out and distressed about her father, there was no chance that I could take advantage of her in such condition!"

Joey smiled, "So there was a chance of something to happen?"

Ross just glared at him, sighing for his own choice of words.

"Come on, tell me!"

Ross looked hard at him, "Joe, don't take this personally, but…I don't feel comfortable talking about this…especially with you…"

Joey was a bit taken aback by Ross's revelation, but he knew he had this coming.

Maybe it was time to clarify a few things with his friend, making him understand that his crush on Rachel was over.

"Ross, I know that Rachel and I going out made you lose your trust in me, but you gotta believe me. Whatever it was that I felt, it's gone. I'm totally, totally over her."

Ross listened to his friend's confession, trying not to make him notice how much he truly needed to hear those words.

"We love each other as friends, she's like a sister to me."

Ross waited for Joey to complete his speech. That was the sincerest they had been since they had last talked about Rachel in Ross's apartment, the day after the disastrous double date involving Mexican food.

"We probably needed to go down that road to realize how wrong it felt. That we aren't meant for each other."

Ross nodded, "My head knows that, it's just that…it's still hard for me not to close my eyes and see you two kissing, Joe."

Joey nodded back, feeling guilty for what his best friend had been through.

"I'm not going to say that I'm angry at you…you had the right to do whatever you want; it's not like I own Rachel or anything. It's just that sometimes I start thinking about it and…it's not easy, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." Joey agreed.

"And it certainly isn't easy for me to talk about my relationship with Rachel with you. God, that wouldn't be easy with a headshrinker either!"

Ross adverted his eyes, staring at the rest of the muffin on the table.

Joey chuckled, trying to stay serious, "But we used to, all the time! Before any of this happened, you always came to me and Chandler, asking for advice. Well, Chandler isn't here now, but I am. And I'm still your friend, right?" Joey asked him, a bit worried for the answer he might get.

Ross turned his head to look back at him, a serious expression on his face. He thought a couple of seconds, then his lips turned into a smile. "Yeah, one of the best."

Joey patted him as they both recognized these words as a monumental moment in their renovated friendship.

"So…" Joey took a piece of his muffin. "Tell me what happened."

"Well…we were at Leonard's house, Rachel was upset for the long day and she asked me to stay with her for the night because she didn't want to be alone. I misunderstood her real intention and accepted, I just wanted to keep her company. And then I don't know what happened but she literally jumped on me."

"Wow!" Joey shouted out.

"I know!" Ross said, sounding like his sister. "Anyway, I tried to…resist her."

"What do you mean that you tried? Did you kiss?" Joey asked, a hopeful tone in his voice.

"No, I felt that would be like…taking advantage of her. She was so vulnerable. I didn't want her to regret it later."

Joey smiled to himself. He knew that Rachel had never regretted anything that had ever happened with Ross. Emma was living proof of that. And he honestly thought that this incident didn't look much different.

"What happened then?"

"I was the one with regrets."

"Well…"

They laughed together for Joey's remark.

"This morning we had an argument while we were back at the hospital. She said she felt embarrassed because I didn't accept to sleep with her, that I made her feel stupid. I've never refused her advances before, as you know."

Joey smiled. He knew his friend enough to be certain of one fact: he would do anything to make Rachel happy. Not to sleep with her might have cost him. A lot.

"But I was afraid of the repercussions that a single one-night stand would cause. I mean, we all know what happened last time we gave up to temptations."

"Well, I've been listening to the repercussions of your last bonus night crying in the other room during the last year."

Ross smiled, thinking about Emma. "Anyway, I told her that sex was off the table."

"Wow…and you believe that?"

Ross shook his head, "Well, I thought so. Then I took her home, and she kind of excused herself for what she said to me before. She came back to her senses and agreed that I was right, that sleeping together wasn't probably the best idea."

"Smart." Joey established.

"Yeah, but that was when I started to change my mind. We talked about the past, nice moments we had while we were together…until she told me something unexpected, that I didn't understand."

"What?"

"She said that with us…it's never off the table."

A huge grin appeared on Joey's face as he nodded to himself. That was the moment of truth, he had finally understood everything.

"What?" Ross prodded him to explain.

Joey shook rapidly his head, "Nothing, I just realized the real reason behind the failure of the short Joey and Rachel saga."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that she still has feelings for you. It's pretty obvious, Ross."

"Not so obvious."

"Come on, first she asks you to go with her to visit her father, then she threw herself in your arms, she wants to sleep with you…and then she tells you that you're never off the table, that means something!"

"I know, but…she didn't ask me to get back together, she never asked anything!"

"Did you?"

"No!" Ross replied, adamant.

"So it's true that you don't love her anymore?"

"No!" Ross answered so fast that he didn't have time to think about his response.

A few seconds passed, with the two friends looking at each other in silence.

"Well, you have your answer."

Ross was starting to feel bad, "So you're telling me that I'm the reason you guys didn't stick together? That I am the real cause of the failure of Rachel's relationships with any other man?"

Joey tried to reassure him, "No…when Rachel and I dated we never spoke about you. We just tried and it didn't work out. But if I think about it, there was never that…sparkle…that has always existed between you two. The same thing that is still there today, which is the reason why you will always be Ross and Rachel. It's inevitable."

Ross pondered his friend's words. It made sense, even if he didn't want to admit this.

"That's one of the reasons she never really let herself go with me. I think, subconsciously she still has deep feelings for you and she'll always have."

"Hey, you learned what 'subconsciously' means!" Ross noticed with happiness.

Joey chuckled. "Seriously, Ross. She probably felt that a relationship with me would put you two off the table forever. That's why she didn't enjoy the Joey lovin'."

Ross suddenly remembered how he had felt when he had dated Jill. How he could only think of Rachel, especially when her sister kissed him.

I realize if anything were to happen with me and Jill then nothing could ever happen with us!

I don't know if anything is going to happen with us, again.

Ever.

But I don't want to know that it never could.

So that was how Rachel had felt with Joey? That was why she had decided not to give a real chance to their relationship? Because she was secretly harboring hopes to get back together with him, one day?

As he still secretly did?

"Do you really believe everything you just said?" Ross asked his friend.

Joey shrugged, "Well, it's a theory."

"A brilliant theory. I would have never thought about it."

Joey shook his head, "You are the Doctor, Ross."

They both chuckled together, watching the waitress approaching Ross with his infusion. He thanked her and took another intense look at Joey, still trying to internalize his words.

"I'd better go now; I have to work tomorrow."

He stood up, ready to leave.

"Ok. Ross!" Joey called him.

"Yeah."

"Tell me the truth. If you could go back, after what I said to you…would you still say no to Rachel?"

Ross thought about it. The first thing to appear in the back of his mind were Rachel's beautiful eyes looking at him as they hadn't for such a long time.

He remembered how great it felt to hold her close to him, even if he was just to try to calm her down.

He gazed back at Joey.

"Ask me again when I don't remember that I haven't had sex in four months."

Joey smiled, watching his friend go away.