Hi! I don't know if people still visit this website, I haven't been here myself in almost 10 years… but the other day I watched the Reunion again and I felt the need to write a little something. Anybody else still can't believe that Jen and David admitted having crushes on each other? (Once a Jenvid, always a Jenvid).
I don't remember if fanfics about real people are allowed on this website, if they aren't I'll delete it in a few days, so enjoy it in the meantime. If you're an old reader who used to leave me reviews back when I wrote R fics: hiiii! so glad to see you here too! Please, don't judge my writing too harshly, I'm VERY rusty. If you're a new reader: hiii! Nice to meet you and I hope you enjoy this one-shot.
Disclaimer: I think there's no need for me to say this but I'm still gonna say it just in case: everything you'll read here is made up (except for the obvious references).
Friday, April 2nd, 2021
"Can we watch another episode of your show?" His daughter Cloe asked as she climbed onto his bed after having done her nightly routine. Normally she would sleep in her own bedroom, but ever since they had started watching Friends together, she had developed the habit of falling asleep next to him, which he couldn't and wouldn't complain about; he only had a few more years before she became a teenager and started refusing to spend quality time with him.
Her question had been more of a polite command than a query, so he immediately switched on HBO on his TV and scrolled through the list of episodes. They were on season 2 and, as luck would have it, tonight's episode was TOW Ross finds out, the one episode he intentionally skipped whenever he came across it because of all the memories associated with it. He couldn't do that this time though, so he swallowed hard and watched it.
A smile drew on his lips every time his daughter roared with laughter at one of the jokes; It amazed him how an almost 30 year-old show was capable of making the younger generations laugh considering how much the world had changed. He watched her from the corner of his eyes as Ross and Rachel's fight and subsequent kiss came on. To his surprise, she didn't cover her eyes or made a sound of disgust as she usually did whenever there was a romantic kiss on a show or movie.
"Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"Was she your girlfriend before you met mom?" She asked through a yawn as the credits rolled in.
"Who? Rachel? You know we're just acting, right?"
"I know that, dad," she replied, a bit annoyed. "I meant the actress."
David cleared his throat, switching off the TV.
"No, she was never my girlfriend. Jen is just a very good friend of mine."
"That's sad…" she mumbled as she turned on her side.
He frowned, amused by her reaction.
"Why is it sad?"
"Because you looked very happy with her."
"But that's not us, those you've seen there were Ross and Rachel."
"I wasn't talking about the show, I was talking about the pictures you have with her. You look very happy together in them."
He scoffed, taken aback.
"Which pictures are you talking about?"
"The ones you keep at grandma's in a shoe box inside your closet."
His jaw dropped a little.
"You've been going through my stuff?"
Cleo shrugged a shoulder.
"Grandma doesn't allow electronics in the house…, I get bored."
"Well, I… don't remember those pictures but no, she was never my girlfriend," At least not officially, he thought to himself. "She is one of my dear friends, though. And we always had a lot of fun together."
She seemed pleased with his answer since she didn't ask any further questions.
"Okay." She lifted her head to kiss his cheek. "Goodnight, dad."
"Goodnight, sweetheart," he kissed her forehead before reaching for the light.
He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling through the darkness as he tried to recall the contents of those pictures his daughter had found. He had no recollections whatsoever. Luckily, he wouldn't have to wait long to see them since he was visiting his parents the following morning for breakfast.
Saturday, April 3rd, 2021
"Dad, I'm hungry."
David turned off his mic and turned to his girl.
"Sweetie, I'm on a very important zoom call. How about you go grab my phone and order some take out?" he suggested.
Her eyes lit up.
"Can I order anything?"
"Anything you'll eat. I don't want to find a bunch of leftovers afterwards," he warned.
"Okay."
"Hey, aren't you going to introduce us to this young lady?" Matt chimed in.
David smiled shyly, turning his mic back on.
"Guys, this is my daughter Cleo. Honey, these are my old friends. You know them, right? From the show?"
The girl nodded as she waved at them.
"What? That's your daughter? I thought she was still a baby," Lisa said perplexed.
"Did he just call us old?" Matthew complained, making everyone laugh.
"May I say she looks nothing like you?" Matt pointed out jokingly.
David chuckled, nodding.
"Thankfully. And yeah, she's not a baby anymore, she's actually turning double digits next month," he said, looking at her proudly.
"Wow, that's quite a milestone," Courteney added smiling at the young girl, who rested her head on her father's shoulder out of shyness. "Are you going to do something special to celebrate it?"
While his daughter told them about her upcoming birthday party, he couldn't help but glance at Jennifer, who hadn't said a word, but the broad, beaming smile on her lips spoke volumes.
"Dad, I'm hungry," Cleo repeated in a whisper.
"My phone is charging in my room, go get it," he whispered back, tapping her waist.
His daughter kissed his cheek before running away.
Lisa, Court and Jennifer let out an "awww" all at once, making him blush. He wiggled his head in return.
"Alright, alright, where were we?"
(…)
"Hey, Jen, can you hold on a second?" David asked as he watched the last of his other friends sign off.
Jennifer lifted her head and sweetly smiled at the camera.
"What's up?"
"I wanted to run something by you."
"Sure, what is it?" She asked, placing her elbows on the table as she rested her chin on top of her hands.
David cleared his throat as he checked one more time that they were alone in the call. He then grabbed the stack of polaroid photos he had retrieved from his parents' house that morning. There were a few of the whole cast but mostly of the two of them either being silly or cuddling. Judging by their looks and hairstyles, most of the photos had been taken within the first three years of the show.
He smiled when he spotted one photo where she was lying on the floor, laughing hysterically. He remembered that moment perfectly; she had been trying to say his full name several times but tripped over her tongue each time, which had them in fits of laughter. From that day on, she started calling him Schwimmy, or Schwimster, or a combination of both as an inside joke. He loved it.
Another photo caught his attention, in it they were looking into each other's eyes so intensely that it almost looked like they were about to kiss. He couldn't believe they got away with the whole thing, it was so obvious how smitten they had been back then.
"David?"
He snapped out of his trance.
"Sorry. Uh… Well, I- I was going through the questions they'll ask us at the Reunion and I… I think we should be honest this time."
Jennifer tilted her head, confused.
"About what?"
He met her eyes through the screen.
"About us. And our history."
There was a short silence.
"Oh," Her lips remained in an O-shape as she lowered her forearms to the table.
"Of course we wouldn't tell the whole truth…" he continued, "That's for us to keep. But I think it would be nice to share a little bit of it with the rest of the world." He watched her lack of reaction with concern. "Although if you don't want to that's totally fine," he hurriedly added.
Jennifer stuttered, trying to find the right words.
"It's not that I don't want to… it's just… why now?" She asked, frowning with confusion; after all, they hadn't talked about their past in nearly two decades.
David shrugged.
"I don't know… it feels like the right time. Not only for the fans, but for our friends too. We've hidden it from them for so long."
She leaned back on her chair as she ran a hand through the back of her hair, pondering his words. He could tell she hadn't expected him to suggest such a thing, especially when he had always been the one to quickly shoot down any rumors about a possible relationship.
"And how would we…?" she trailed off.
"Well… I don't know. We could… say we developed a crush on each other early on."
"Which is true…"
"…but that we didn't act on it because of our particular circumstances."
"Which is not true," she emphasized, tilting her head.
He smiled briefly.
"Oh, I could mention what I told you about kissing for the first time in front of the cameras."
David pressed his lips, nodding as he recalled the one line that finally made him gather the courage to kiss her.
"That'd be beautiful. And we could say the timing wasn't right for us and that we lived our love through Ross and Rachel."
Jennifer pursed her lips, feeling emotional. She hesitated for a moment.
"Wait, but wouldn't that put the spotlight on us and away from the actual reunion?"
"It'll certainly bring some headlines… but I don't think it will be that big of a deal."
They remained quiet for a moment, thinking.
"We could do it… and then ask the rest if they're comfortable with it and if they aren't we'll ask the director to cut it out of the special," Jennifer suggested, opening her hands.
"That sounds fair."
"Good. Ok… we can do that."
He inhaled, suddenly feeling nervous.
"Are you absolutely sure you wanna do this?" She asked him, arching an eyebrow.
"Yeah… yeah. You?"
"If you are, I am."
"Great."
"Great then."
A short silence followed.
"So… see you in two days, Schwimmy," she said shrugging her shoulders and scrunching her nose in excitement.
"See you in two days, Jenny" he repeated before she disappeared from his screen.
He let out a deep sigh; they were actually telling the world they had feelings for each other at some point.
Sunday, June 22nd, 2003
"Jen," he said, surprised to see her standing outside his door at 3am on a Sunday. She was leaning sideways on the doorframe as if she couldn't support her own weight. "What are you doing here?"
Jennifer pushed her hand against the wooden post to stand straight; she touched her forehead, feeling slightly dizzy. She frowned as she tried to remember why she had gone all the way to his house.
"I don't know…"
"Are you…" David narrowed his eyes. "Are you high?"
Jennifer chuckled, stepping into the house.
"So high I could touch the moon," she murmured before throwing her arms around his neck.
David rolled his eyes as he grabbed her waist so she wouldn't stumble. He guided her inside and closed the front door.
"I can't believe you're smoking pot again!"
Jennifer groaned against his chest.
"Don't patronize me."
"I'm not patronizing you. I'm mad that you're doing this to yourself after what happened the last time."
"It wasn't that bad."
He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away so he could look at her. Her eyes were clearly bloodshot.
"Jen, you got so sick you threw up all over my living room, even on Carla!"
She brought a hand to her mouth, mortified.
"I did that?" She got on her tiptoes and looked over his shoulder before walking around him to head for the living room. "Where's Carla? I need to apologize."
"She isn't here."
Jennifer stopped in her tracks before turning around slowly as to not lose her balance.
"She isn't here anymore," he didn't need to say more for her to understand the true meaning of his words.
The effects of the drug seemed to fade away for a moment as sympathy flooded her eyes.
"I'm sorry…" she mumbled.
He lowered his gaze, then sighed.
"Why are you here, Jen?"
She licked her lips, looking everywhere else before meeting his eyes.
"I sleepwalked again," she confessed. "I ended up out in the yard this time, the alarms went off… I got scared." She shrugged her shoulders, her bottom lip trembling a little. "I smoked a joint to calm down but it had the oposite effect… and I didn't want to be by myself with my thoughts."
He frowned.
"Where's Brad?"
"Out of town."
David took a deep breath, looking at her from across the hall. He seemed to be out of town a lot lately.
"C'mon," he murmured, offering his hand, which she held tightly.
He led her to his bedroom and into his en-suite bathroom and handed her a couple of towels.
"Here, take a cold shower while I get you something to eat."
"I'm not hungry."
"I don't care, you need to put something in your stomach to sober up."
He closed the door behind himself and rested the back of his head against it as he exhaled. He still couldn't believe she had shown up at his door high as a kite a second time around. He waited until he heard the water running before heading to the kitchen. A few minutes later he returned with a bowl full of freshly-cut fruit.
"Jen?" He asked, knocking on the door.
She opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body and her wet hair loose on her shoulders.
"I don't have any clean clothes," she lamented as if she had just found out all her clothes had burnt in a fire.
"Uh… I'll see what I've got."
He handed her the bowl of fruit and walked to his closet. Last time he borrowed a nightgown from Carla's side of the closet but she had taken every single one of her belongings with her after their break-up so he had no choice but to lend her one if his T-shirts. He grabbed a navy blue one.
"This will have to do."
She left the bowl of fruit on the bedside table to grab the T-shirt. His eyes darted away when she casually dropped the towel to put it on. He swallowed hard as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly; he had seen her naked before and even had changed in front of each other countless times but this time felt different, as if he was invading her privacy. She was married and they had stopped being… whatever they had been, a long time ago, it felt wrong.
Once dressed, she grabbed the bowl again, got in his bed and continued eating the fruit. If she hadn't been hungry before, she was definitely starving now. David dried the water that had dripped onto the floor with the towel she had used and then turned the TV on; there was a rerun of some old show, good enough to fill the silence.
He got on the other side of the bed and patiently waited for her to finish. He had no idea what to do next. Let her sleep in his bed? Offer her the guest room like last time? Drive her back home? He immediately ruled out the latter; she had told him she didn't want to be by herself and no matter how uncomfortable the situation was, he would never leave her alone.
"How are you feeling?" He asked when she left the empty bowl on the bedside table.
"A bit better," She said, giving him a soft smile before she rested her cheek on his shoulder. He turned his attention to the TV in an attempt to ignore her closeness.
"What… do you want to do? Do you… Do you want me to take you somewhere…?"
She shook her head.
"I want to stay here."
"Okay…" he murmured, looking down to meet her eyes. "But we have an early day tomorrow, so we should try to sleep," he added.
"That's fine," she murmured as she snuggled against his side and closed her eyes.
He froze for a moment, overwhelmed by the warmth of her body. He cleared his throat as he switched off the light; he left the TV on just to have something to distract himself with and slid down to a lying position. She readjusted against him, releasing his left arm that had ended up stuck under her. He lifted it up, unsure of where to put it. He placed it softly around her shoulders. He heard her sigh as she rested her extended hand against his stomach; his heart raced. He squeezed his eyes tightly, cursing himself for still feeling the way he did about her.
"Are you uncomfortable?" She asked in a murmur.
"No, why?"
"You feel tense."
"I-… I guess I'm not use to this anymore," he explained in a murmur.
"Don't you miss it?"
Did he miss being with her? Of course he did. He would be lying if he said he didn't regret some of the choices he had made in the past. They were young and embarking in an exciting new show when it all started… as much as he liked her, his job was a priority at the time and he didn't want to risk it, and even though they agreed to keep it a secret, and it worked for a while, she eventually got tired of hiding.
He vividly remembered the day she told him she had met a new guy, Tate. It was a Friday and she showed up at his house after her third date with him. She squarely told him he had kissed her that night. It stung, a lot. He didn't know how to handle the situation so he asked her if she had liked it. She tilted her head, her eyes watering. She told him she was ready to dump him on the spot if he was willing to make their relationship official. He should've said yes. He should've taken her hand and proposed to her right then and there, even with no ring. But he made the stupidest decision of his life instead. Out of fear. A stupid and unfounded fear, since no one ever had told them they couldn't date.
That night marked the end of them as more than friends.
After that, they avoided each other for a while, but the crew and their friends started to notice the change in their behavior and the awkwardness around them, so one morning he walked up to her dressing room with two cups of coffee and the intention to mend their friendship. Fortunately, it worked out.
And now, 8 years later, she was "Jennifer Aniston" a household name and a rising movie star who was married to none other than Brad Pitt. The tabloids called them "The Golden Couple" and their relationship was the cover of numerous magazines every other month. Did it make him jealous? A little, but he knew he wouldn't be able to handle the pressure they were constantly under.
"Yeah, sometimes," he answered after a beat as he stroked her arm with his fingertips.
"Me too."
He held his breath when her hand traveled up his chest and rested on the curve of his neck. Her thumb grazed his skin, triggering goosebumps.
"I sometimes wish we had given us a change…" she added with a hint of nostalgia in her voice.
"C'mon, you don't mean that."
She groaned, lifting her head.
"Why do you always underestimate what we had?"
"Because you're happily married. It's the drug talking."
She turned on her stomach to face him.
"First of all, I'm not that drugged. Second of all, I'm married. That's it."
He frowned.
"What do you mean? Did something happened?"
She exhaled as she returned to her previous position.
"Not really… it's just that, living with him is not as idyllic as they've put it. Don't get me wrong, I love him, very much so, but he drives me crazy sometimes… That's when he's in town because lately I feel like I'm a long-distance relationship," she exhaled. "I wish I felt as peaceful and safe with him as I do when I'm with you… Besides, you're not obsessed with marble sculptures to the point of making your house look like a freaking museum."
He let out a genuine chuckle.
"You say that because you don't know about my obsession with three-dimensional paintings," he remarked making reference to the most recent episode they had filmed where Phoebe gave Rachel a painting with a woman popping out of the frame.
Her laughter put a smile on his face. He lifted his hand to her head and caressed her hair tenderly.
"Have you told him how you feel?"
"No."
"You should. If you love him and want your marriage to work out you need to tell him what bothers you. And ask him if there's something you do that bothers him."
She remained quiet for a moment, pondering his words.
"I guess you're right," she murmured.
He twisted his neck and pressed his lips to her forehead to plant a small kiss. He froze when he felt her lift her face. He wasn't sure what her intention had been so he stayed put in case he had misinterpreted her movement. But then she moved again, and his lips traced the length of her nose as she slowly moved upwards. Their lips touched and every coherent thought dissipated from his brain as chills ran up and down his spine. At first it was just a tentative brush, but when he instinctively opened his mouth, she dove in mercilessly. Her lips felt so good, so familiar that he lost himself in them.
"God, I missed this," she muttered against his mouth before kissing him harder.
Her voice brought him back to reality, and guilt soon washed over him. He grabbed her shoulders and turned his face away, breaking the kiss.
"We'd better stop before we do something you may regret later," he told her, pushing her away gently as he avoided her eyes, because he knew that if he looked at her he would not be able to restrain himself. He got off the bed immediately.
"I'm gonna go sleep in the guest room. I'll see you in the morning," he stated before leaving his own bedroom.
He heard her call his name several times, but he refused to look back.
He swallowed the lump in his throat as he remembered the last time he had had a chance with her. He knew he had done the right thing, and she had apologized in the morning for her behavior, but he couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he had let it happen, if he had told her he still had feelings for her.
Monday, April 5th, 2021
"And cut! Let's have a 15 minute break!" The director yelled at the top of his lungs.
David walked up to the cameramen, curious to see how the initial encounter had turned out. When he returned to the stage a couple of minutes later, Jennifer was nowhere to be found. He hadn't been able to talk to her one to one yet, since they had been asked not to see one another until the filming started to make the reunion more realistic. The conversation in Monica's living room was coming up next and he wanted to make sure she was still on board with the plan.
"Hey, have you seen Jen?" He asked Matthew, who was chatting with a crew member.
"I think she went that way," Matthew answered, pointing to Monica's fake closet.
He immediately knew where she had gone. He knocked on her dressing room's door, which was slightly open.
"Come in!"
"Hey."
He was greeted by a genuine smile as he peeked through the open door.
"Hi," her high-pitched voice was proof of how emotional she was.
"You ok?"
"Yeah, just a bit mushy, you know," she said as she dried a small tear with a tissue.
He closed the door and took seat next to her on the couch.
"What a roller coaster of emotions, huh?"
"Tell me about it," she snorted as she put the crumpled up tissue inside the pocket of her jeans.
"Hey," he patted her knee. "I wanted to ask you if you're still on board with what we talked about the other day."
She nodded, meeting his eyes as she gave a shrug.
"Yeah. Why not? It'll be fun to watch everyone's reactions."
He smiled.
"Okay. Good. Also… I brought you something," he said as he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket.
Jennifer lifted her eyebrows with anticipation. She gasped when she saw the polaroid photos.
"Look at us!" She exclaimed as she eagerly took the stack of photos from his hands.
David couldn't help the goofy smile that watching her observe the pictures put on his face.
"We look like babies!" She commented, biting her bottom lip as she stared at a photo of the six of them, taken in Courtney's dressing room.
"I know, right?"
"Can I keep them?" She asked, pressing the photos to her chest as she made puppy dog eyes.
"As long as you make me a copy…" he replied, tilting his head.
"You betcha." She returned her attention to the pictures. "Ugh, that Rachel haircut is still ugly to this day," she mumbled, shaking her head as she moved on to another photo.
David chuckled. The rest of the photos were of them; he noticed how her expression softened and her head tilted to a side as she observed each carefully. She pursed her lips at one.
"Don't we look adorable?" She murmured, lifting a photo where she was sitting across his lap and his arms were around her. "Who took all these pictures?" She asked amazed.
"I think we used the timer."
"Ah, that explains the weird angles."
"Do you remember this one?" He asked, picking out the one where she was lying on the floor laughing.
"Of course, Schwimmy-Schwimster."
He chuckled.
"I remember all of them."
"All of them? Even this one?" He asked, referring to a selfie she had taken. In it he was hugging her from behind, his hands on her stomach underneath her T-shirt. A T-shirt he had removed himself right after that photo was taken.
"Even that one," she murmured, sticking out her tongue.
He smiled; he swore she had blushed a little bit. They continued seeing and commenting the rest of the photos, laughing and sharing small details they remembered.
"5 minutes!" They heard the director's assistant yell.
They stood up at the same time but neither of them headed for the door. Jennifer gave the photos back to him.
"Thanks for this, I loved it."
"I'll make some copies and send them to you," he said as he tucked them back in the inside pocket of his jacket.
She gave him a grateful smile.
"By the way, can you believe how much time we spent in here?" He commented as he took in his surroundings for the first time since he had entered. "It feels so tiny now."
"I know, it's insane. I have so many precious memories that happened right here."
"A lot of memories and a lot of kisses," he pointed out, arching an eyebrow.
"Mmh…" she agreed. "Some of the best."
"You know…" he initiated, turning to her. "I think we should kiss, for old times' sake."
Jennifer let out a chuckle, thinking he was joking. He opened his arms invitingly.
"Are you serious?" She asked, amused.
"I think we owe it to the room."
She raised her eyebrows.
"Well, if we owe it to the room…" she trailed off as she took a step forward, wrapped her arms around his neck, got on her tiptoes and boldly pressed her lips to his.
David smiled briefly as he encircled her waist with his arms, bringing her closer to his body. He caught her bottom lip between his and sucked softly, savoring the taste of her mouth. They pulled away after a few seconds and licked their lips at the same time as they shared a knowing smile.
"Still a great kisser, Schwimmer," she told him, patting his chest before she left the dressing room.
He turned around and watched her go, a goofy smile lingering on his face.
Wednesday, April 7th 2021
The three-day taping of the special went by in a flash. Visiting the sets and reminiscing about those ten years of their lives had been moving and fun. There were gasps of surprise, mostly out of camera, when he brought up his former crush on Jennifer, which became louder the moment Jennifer confirmed that the feelings had been mutual. The reaction was such that the director had to stop the filming to check with them if they were okay with it becoming public. They acted naturally about it and he even joked with the crew, saying he didn't think it would be such a big deal.
The reaction was even bigger that night when they filmed the interview with James Corden in front of an audience. He almost couldn't get his words out but he felt deep relief afterwards, as if an invisible weigh had been lifted off his shoulders.
David glanced at his watch; it was late and the wrap-up party was coming to an end. His parents had just left and Cleo was starting to feel drowsy and had asked to go home several times. He returned to his table and cleared his throat to catch his friends' attention.
"Guys, I'm afraid to say this but… I gotta go. If anyone needs a ride…" he offered.
To his surprise, Jennifer raised her hand while she finished her drink.
"I'm coming with you, if you don't mind" she gathered her things and stood up. "I don't want to bother my driver this late at night."
He nodded.
"Who else thinks these two are sneaking out to hook up?" Matt jokingly said, raising his hand. The rest of their friends followed suit.
Jennifer rolled her eyes, smiling, while David stared at him discreetly pointing at his daughter who was standing next to him.
"Hook… up Jen's new electric car, of course," Matt quickly added. "Next time don't buy an electric car if you don't know how to charge it," he told her before taking another sip of his wine.
Jennifer chuckled, shaking her head. Everybody stood up to say goodbye and made the promise to meet up for dinner soon.
Jennifer took off her heels as soon as she got in the car and moaned, relieved.
"So, where to?" David asked as he started the car.
"You don't know my address?" She pretended to be offended.
"I've only been there once. You'll have to invite me over more often to learn it."
"You know you're always welcome."
"Am I?"
"Of course!" Her high-pitched answer told him she meant it. "Just don't come over on Sunday mornings 'cause that's when I usually have my goddess' circle with the girls and you don't quite fit in the picture."
He laughed loudly.
"Got it."
She entered the address on the screen.
"There you go."
"Thanks."
As he pulled out of the parking lot, he noticed through the rearview mirror that his daughter was already fast asleep.
"What a day, huh?" He commented as they reached the intersection.
"A dream. But let's not talk about it or I'll start crying again," she said, half-laughing.
David smiled.
"Just one thing… Did the girls know about us?"
Her answer didn't come right away.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because their reaction was… I don't know, tame?"
Jennifer bit her bottom lip.
"They did know."
He opened his mouth; even though he had suspected it, having her confirmation left him dumbfounded.
"Why didn't you tell me back then?"
She shrugged her shoulders.
"Because I thought it'd make you more self-conscious. Besides, I didn't tell them. They asked me if there was something going on and I simply didn't deny it. You really never ever told the guys?"
"No," he asserted. "We never talked about that stuff."
Jennifer pursed her lips.
"That's sad. But anyway… now everybody knows."
They remained silent for a few minutes.
"If we could turn back time, would you… would you change anything?" He asked, looking her way briefly.
He heard her inhale as she thought about his question.
"No," she said in a murmur. "Because if we had stayed together you wouldn't have had that precious kid of yours."
Her answer felt like a knife to his heart, not only because she was right, there was nothing in the world he would change his daughter for, but also because he was aware of her fertility problems. It broke his heart knowing that that long-time dream would never become true for her.
"Would you change anything?" She returned the question.
"I can't answer that question now, can I?"
She chuckled.
"But," he continued, "in an alternative universe… I would have proposed to you that day you showed up at my house after your date with Tate. I regretted my decision for so long… you have no idea."
He felt her eyes on him, but didn't dare to look back.
"Well, that would've saved me from a lot of shit, honestly."
They shared a laugh, which later became a sigh. They remained quiet for the rest of the ride.
"Are we home yet?" Cleo muttered stretching out in the backseat as the car stopped inside Jennifer's driveway.
"Look who woke up," David said. "Not yet, honey. We're dropping Jennifer off."
Jennifer got off the car barefoot, carrying her heels in one hand, and opened the door to the backseat to say goodbye to Cloe. David observed them with a sweet smile on his lips; they had only known each other personally for the last three days, but they had managed to create a beautiful bond. It didn't surprise him though, Jennifer was great with kids.
He accompanied her to her front door, not ready to say goodbye yet.
"Well…" she murmured, her eyes shining with emerging tears.
He opened his arms for her and she immediately walked into them, melting into his body. He wrapped her in his arms and gave her a squeeze, burying his face in her hair as he used to do. The smell of her hair inundated his nostrils, making him feel at home.
"It was so nice to see you after all this time," he told her, stroking her back.
"It really was. Thanks for the ride, by the way" she said as she pulled back.
"No problem."
"Call me when you're in town, okay?" she told him, pointing a finger at him after drying a tear.
He gave her a smile.
"I will."
"Goodnight, Schwimmy," she planted a kiss on his cheek before opening the door.
"Goodnight to you too," he murmured.
He returned to the car, touching with his fingers the tingling sensation her kiss had left on his skin. He got in the car, but forgot he was supposed to start it, he could only think of her and how alive he had felt those three days he had got to spend with her again. He wanted more. He wanted so much more.
"Dad, you like her," his daughter stated, breaking his train of thought.
He frowned, staring at nothing with eyes wide opened as realization hit him.
"I do. A lot."
"Did you tell her?"
He shook his head.
"Then go tell her," he frowned, impressed by his daughter's attitude.
"Right now?"
"We're still here," she said with a shrug.
He nodded again as he took off the seatbelt. He walked up to her front door, his heart pounding harder the closer he got. He pressed the doorbell before he could chicken out.
"You're still single, right?" He asked as soon as she opened the door.
Jennifer arched an eyebrow, amused by the sudden question.
"Are you asking on behalf of a tabloid?" She joked, but he didn't laugh, he was determined to ask her out.
"I know we can't change the past, but we can change the present. Do you- Do you think it would be okay if I asked you out? Sometime? Maybe?" He didn't mean to sound like Ross, but he was so nervous it came out that way.
He relaxed as soon as he saw a genuine smile appeared on her face.
"I'd love that."
He wanted to jump, and dance, and scream, all at once. He smiled instead.
"Okay, then. I promise I won't take as long as Ross did," he hurriedly said.
She laughed, tilting her head.
"I hope so."
They said goodbye a second time and he walked back to the car, this time sure that he had made the right decision.