Hello everybody!

2020 is finally over, and I've got great expectations for the new year, maybe because it's going to be very hard to live through something worse than 2020, really.

My God, what a terrible, terrible year we've been through.

At least, I've got the joy of the birth of my second child, which was the greatest gift.

Btw, this chapter is set in season 5. Whenever I watch the tag scene of this episode, with the guys jumping on Rachel to help Monica putting drops in her eyes, I can't help but notice two things. First, Ross is the one laying on her. Second, he pats amicably her belly, which is a kind gesture, but also very intimate. I don't think Chandler would have done that.

So, I wonder, was that tender slap an act in the heat of the moment, a brilliant delivery by David Schwimmer, or something written in the script to help us see Ross and Rachel getting a in a more comfortable mood around each other on the road to Vegas?

Episode: The One With Joey's Big Break (5x22)

Rachel couldn't notice, but the guys were all around her. They had practically surrounded her at key positions.

"Hey Rach, can you pass me the TV Guide?" Ross asked her.

"Yep."

As she moved to get it, Monica yelled: "GO!"

All at once, Ross who was sitting next to Rachel tackled her off the couch. Phoebe jumped to the floor to help him block her. Chandler helped Ross push Rachel onto the floor by jumping over the back of the couch.

"What?! Stop it! Stop it! Oh my God!"

Phoebe was the one who grabbed Rachel's head to hold it still and opened Rachel's eyes as Monica jumped onto Chandler's back to administer the medicine.

All the screams Rachel was shouting were useless, because her friends were so committed to follow Monica's plan that they weren't even hearing her.

"Okay! Okay! Okay!" Monica finally yelled, succeeding in getting the eye drops in Rachel's eyes. That was the sign that they had won the battle, so they could climb off of Rachel.

"We'll see you in about 3 to 4 hours!" Monica concluded as Chandler clapped his hands in satisfaction.

While his sister said this, Ross was so delighted that at first, he sighed heavily for the sudden physical effort, then he bended again on Rachel and gave her a friendly pat on her perfectly flat abdomen, causing her to moan in surprise.

"Oh!" Rachel groaned, still trying to recover on the floor.

She was incredulous for how fast her friends have been.

And now, she was incredulous for the stupidest thing: feeling bereft because she missed the touch of Ross's hands on her arms. And her belly.

THREE HOURS AND A HALF LATER

"Hey" Ross popped up in the apartment.

"Hi" Monica greeted her brother with a huge grin on her face, he was evidently coming back as she had requested.

Phoebe was still there, watching a movie with Chandler.

"So, are we ready for the drops?"

"Rachel is closed in her bedroom; she doesn't want to come out." Monica told him.

Ross smiled to himself, "Let me try. Where's the vial?"

Monica stood up and gave the tiny bottle to her brother, "Here, but if she doesn't cooperate do not waste it. It's the third one that I have to buy."

Ross chuckled, "Ok, I'll give it a shot."

§

Rachel was lying on her bed, running one hand through her long strands. She had been thoughtful for the last three hours, still reliving the moment when the guys had attacked her, with Ross pressing himself gently over her.

Every time she recalled his weight distributed on her arms, stomach and legs, she couldn't help but get nervous.

And this was a type of tension that she could distinguish very well, only she wasn't sure she quite like the idea of having those kinds of feelings for Ross, again.

She had decided to erase that part of her past, to give a shot to them being friends, and to be fair it was working quite well.

So, why did she keep blushing when she remembered that little moment when Ross had patted her abdomen?

Ok, Rachel, let's take a look at this.

The man she had dated last was Danny. But in their relationship, they hadn't gone further than sharing a few kisses.

Before, the last boyfriend she had slept with had been Joshua. Wow, that had been the only man she had slept with, after Ross. Not so many times, to be fair. And even those few times hadn't been so memorable, to be completely honest.

So, what, this was her body reacting physically to Ross's proximity? Just because he had been so close to her before, like he hadn't been in a while? Well, they had been together for a year, maybe her skin was…accustomed, to Ross's hands, in a way. And oh, she loved those hands, so much.

Here you go, Rachel.

She couldn't lie to herself. She still missed Ross. She had been sure to be out of love with him after the whole Emily's ordeal, but after the divorce she had felt a huge relief.

She knew very well that the night she had suggested not to call Emily back she had had a very personal aim: she did not want the nightmare to start again. She couldn't afford the pain to resurface, the risk of losing Ross, to disappear from his life.

But maybe, only maybe…she was also a little bit…jealous?

KNOCK. KNOCK.

Rachel almost jumped on her bed.

"Hey, it's me!"

Ross's voice came from outside.

"What do you want?" she yelled; her voice laced with impatience.

"Just talk." Ross replied with a sing-song voice, like he was speaking with a child.

Rachel knew her roommate's strategy better, "Where's Monica?".

"She's in the kitchen, I promise." Ross reassured her.

Rachel slowly opened the door, looking at him in askance. She let him enter only to reclose the door behind him as fast as she could.

Ross chuckled, "Rachel, come on!"

"Hey, how would you feel if I tackled you and put a spider on your face?"

Ross was quiet for a couple of seconds, "Point made."

Rachel shook her head, "I can't help it, I HATE having things in my eyes!" she waved her arms in the air.

"Rach, listen, there are two ways we can solve this. First, you stay close in here for hours, and as soon as you come out for dinner or…for the bathroom, we jump on you and we start this over again, with Monica squishing drops in your eyes."

She scoffed, not so fond of the hard way.

"Or…we do this the easy way, and we do it now, you and I."

She shook her head, "Ross, we can't do it, I will dodge the drops immediately. Monica has already wasted two vials because of my stupid instinctive reactions." She quoted her friend, imitating her voice.

Ross nodded almost solemnly, "You're an adult. You can control yourself."

"Ya think?" she asked, almost amused.

"Trust me. Let's do this, I'll be so smooth that you won't even notice."

Maybe it was for the tone of his voice, but Rachel decided to trust him.

"Ok, let's give it a shot." She smiled tenderly at him.

Ross grinned in reply. He followed Rachel with a lovingly stare as she lied on the bed, putting her arms at the sides of her belly.

Ross took one of the cushions and put it behind her neck.

"Now try and relax. Let me do my magic." He said, his voice almost a whisper.

Rachel felt Ross's hands on her face. Again, that soft touch she had fallen in love with.

She relaxed immediately, feeling the tension in the muscles of her body disappearing.

"Now try not to move." Ross ordered her.

Rachel shook her head, sure that she would do the opposite as soon as the vial would be over her face.

Ross opened her left eye with his right hand, as delicately as he could. Then he moved his face closer to Rachel's, beginning to blow gently on it. He kept blowing on her lips, on her nose, on her cheeks, on her other eye.

"What are you doing?" she asked, too weirded out by his behavior to notice what he was doing with his left hand.

"Shhh." He hushed her.

He kept blowing for another couple of seconds, and when he decided that she was enough relaxed, he suddenly let the drops fall inside her left eye.

Rachel was caught by surprise and she immediately close it, feeling the warmness of the medicine starting to permeate her eye socket.

Ross smiled to himself, "Now turn your eye. Keep it close a few seconds more."

She felt the drops spreading and this caused her smile to spread on her face, too.

She finally opened her eyes and saw Ross's smiling face.

"How did you do that?"

"I used this approach with Ben when he had pinkeye. It was the only way to put drops in his eyes."

"Thank you, Ross."

"From now on you will let me put them, I can count on it?" Ross questioned her.

"Yes, I promise."

They stood up from the bed.

"Then I'm keeping these." Ross put the vial in his pocket.

"You don't trust me?" Rachel wondered.

"Not on things about me touching your eyes with my fingers, no." Ross elaborated.

Rachel laughed along, "Point made."

Ross suddenly noticed something he hadn't thought about.

"Wow."

"What?"

"It seems like a million years since I've last been in this room. This kind of reminds of…nothing."

"No, come on!" Rachel walked from her side of the bed and approached Ross on the other side of the room, stretching her shirt fast.

"Oh, a silly memory…I was thinking of that night when I came here to help you getting ready for that party because you had a bruised rib and we ended up at the hospital anyway."

"Yeah…" Rachel smiled sadly, remembering part of a past that she still tried to forget at times.

"I had put the best make-up ever on you, that night!" Ross reminded her.

Rachel smiled, "Actually…Well, no harm in telling you now, Ross…I looked like a drag queen that night."

"What? No way!"

"Well…let's just say you have still a lot of studying if you want to become a make-up artist."

"If you say so." He smiled childishly.

"Anyway, that was a completely different situation, we had recently broken up, we still had strong feelings for each other."

"Yeah…ancient times." Ross agreed.

Rachel nodded slowly. She felt this was a good time to ask.

"Listen, Ross." She moved closer to him. "Before, in the living room…When you guys put the drops in my eye – "

"You mean when we caught you by surprise and helped Monica to put the drops in your eye?"

Rachel chuckled, "Exactly. Well, you kind of…" she tried to mimic the act. "…laid me down and…"

Ross was terrified by her words. "I'm sorry, Rachel…this was Monica's idea…When we arranged the plan and decided who should keep you still, Monica thought I was the only one suitable. She'd rather had me do it than Chandler, you know? And she was afraid Phoebe wasn't strong enough."

"Oh, so Monica was the one asking you to do it?"

"Yes…Well…Maybe I would have volunteered, you know…not to waste the chance."

They shared a knowing smile. And Rachel felt butterflies in her stomach as soon as she saw the small dimples that appeared in his cheeks when he smiled like that.

"I'm glad it was you. And I'm glad Joey wasn't around. He would have volunteered."

The burst out laughing until Rachel eventually sighed.

"Can you believe it's been a year since Monica and Chandler have gotten together?"

"Yeah…it reminds me of the fact that 12 months ago I was making arrangements for London."

Rachel noticed that Ross's face had darkened a bit.

"Is that regret or nostalgia?"

Ross shook his head, "Relief."

Rachel looked at him with curiosity, "I don't miss Emily, I'm completely, completely over her. In fact, I wanted to thank you again for suggesting me not to call her when she left me that message."

"You're more than welcome."

"It would have been a colossal error in judgment to call her back. I would have ruined my existence again for my stupid fear of being alone. Just like when I asked her to marry me."

"What?!" Rachel almost yelled in surprise.

Realizing he had definitely said too much, Ross tried and let it go, "Nothing."

"What did you mean?"

Too late, he couldn't take that back. Ross sighed, feeling that maybe this was a good time to take this weight off from his chest. "After a whole year I've finally come to the conclusion that asking Emily to marry me was hasty and stupid after just a few weeks. We were in tune with each other, but we were too different to work as a couple in the long run. I should have realized that I was doing it only because I was afraid to be left alone, again."

Rachel nodded in comprehension, understanding that the situation was even more complex than she would have thought.

"So, you really don't miss Emily?"

"Absolutely, no. Divorcing from her hasn't been easy, but it has been one of the smartest choices I've ever made in my life. Especially, after what she asked me to do."

"Why, changing apartment and selling furniture isn't something that a wife normally asks her newlywed husband?"

"I could have done that; I was doing that. What I couldn't cope with, was not having you in my life anymore. But you know this, Rachel."

"Oh." She murmured.

Of course, she knew. She was there. She had seen. She had been a huge problem in that marriage, even without being the real problem. Just being a name had been enough.

Ross suddenly put his hands on her shoulders, "Rachel… I will always want you in my life. And if you must be in my life only as my best friend, then I'll take you as that."

Feeling grateful and honored, she smiled with tears at the corner of her eyes. She let Ross enveloping her in a sweet embrace.

"Thank you for everything, Ross."

"You're welcome."

He kissed her hair before letting her go.

Rachel sniffed and watched him walked towards the door.

"Ehy, Ross?"

He turned back, hopeful.

"Yeah?"

Rachel felt a lump in her throat as soon as she saw Ross staring at her like that.

Why, why couldn't she be honest with herself just for once?

Why couldn't she give herself another chance to love and be loved by this man, the only man she had ever truly cared about?

"Let's see you in 4 hours, then." She reminded him.

Ross smiled, maybe only a little bit disappointed. "Sure." He smiled, showing her the vial.

"Bye." Rachel whispered.

"See ya."

Ross came out of the bedroom with the sweetest grin on his face.

"Ehy, why so happy? Did you make it?" Monica asked him.

Ross nodded, without speaking.

"She really let you do it?" Phoebe wondered, incredulous.

"Did you get what you got inside there for?" Monica inquired him.

Ross thought about this for a few seconds. He recalled his conversation with Rachel and the tender hug they had shared. He remembered her beautiful eyes watching at him with a newfound joy in them. And then, he stared at the vial secured his hand. Rachel had trusted him with that task. None of her friends could touch her eyes. None of them, but him.

"Yes, I think I did." Ross answered his sister.

Monica smiled, "How did you do that?"

"With Rachel you just need to give her good motivation, then she usually does what you ask her."

Monica noticed that her brother's smile was contagious. He had a different look on his face. Kind of dreamy, tender, like the one he used to have when Rachel had first gotten into the City and he was fallen in love with her. That kind of look he had never showed with Emily. She wondered if something was going on with those two, but she was immediately interrupted because Ross was going away with the vial.

"Ehy, the drops!"

"I'll take care of it." Ross stated quietly.

He smiled reassuringly at his sister, who just looked delightfully at him as he closed the door.

Monica and Phoebe shared a gaze of understanding.

"20 bucks that they sleep together in less than a month." Phoebe bet.

"You're on!" Monica shook her hand vigorously.

She couldn't help but think that Ross and Rachel were the stupidest persons in the whole world. Because everyone knew that they belonged together.

Everyone, but them.