Author's Note: I was going to wait to post this until Wednesday, but this chapter's pretty short, so you get to read it early.

Rachel hesitated as she stared at the entrance to the building. This was it. She had actually done it. She had traveled all the way to London on a whim to tell Ross she loved him. Her mind buzzed with excitement–or maybe that was sleep deprivation. She hadn't slept at all on the six hour flight and jet lag was hitting her hard.

But how could she sleep when she had such an important moment ahead of her? What would Ross say when she told him? She could only hope that he would realize what he had with Emily was just a brief infatuation and that he would want to be with Rachel again.

But what if he didn't? What if he wanted to marry Emily anyway? The warning words of Phoebe and the man on the plane ran once again through her mind.

If you go, you're just going to mess with his head and ruin his wedding.

You say you love this man, and yet you're about to ruin the happiest day of his life.

It's too late. You missed your chance.

You are a horrible, horrible person.

She could still turn back. She could still go home and Ross would never know she was here. Or she could walk inside and simply attend the wedding as his friend. Or…

To hell with Phoebe and the man on the plane. They didn't know what they were talking about. They didn't know how special her relationship with Ross was. He had loved her since they were teenagers. If they still had the chance to be together, she was sure he would want to know.

Rachel took a deep breath, steeled herself, and marched into the building. No turning back now.

Most of the hallways and doors were blocked off by piles of crumbled brick and construction equipment. Why did Emily want to get married in this dump? Thankfully, this gave Rachel fewer chances to get lost in the winding halls. She kept walking until she heard noise from behind a great arched door. She could hear several loud voices behind it, and she was sure one of them was Ross's.

She gripped the door handle with confidence and pulled it open. The room quickly fell silent as the loud squeal of the ancient door hinges rang out over the room. All eyes turned to Rachel.

She stared back at them. Everyone looked so… angry. Upset. What was going on here?

"Rach?" said Ross finally in a surprisingly gentle tone, though still somewhat red in the face. "What are you doing here?"

You're about to ruin the happiest day of his life, the memory of the plane man said to her again.

Rachel may not know why everyone had been yelling, but she did know this: Ross was not having the happiest day of his life.

"I just came…" said Rachel, her voice breaking slightly. "I just came… to tell you that I love you."

A deafening silence followed that could have lasted ten seconds or ten years.

"You… what?" asked Ross, bewilderment evident on his face.

"I still love you," said Rachel again, more confidently this time. "I just… I wanted you to know that before you marry Emily."

Ross put his head in his hands and took a deep breath in. He mumbled something, but she couldn't catch it.

"Rachel, I don't understand," he said finally, lowering his hands. "You broke up with me. You told me we aren't getting back together. You told me you had moved on, and that I should too."

"Well… yeah," Rachel admitted quietly. "I thought that I had. I really did! But then Phoebe told me I was still in love with you, and I realized she was right, and I just… I couldn't let you get married without knowing."

"Couldn't let me?" Ross repeated, the anger starting to return to his tone. "Rachel, I'm getting married to Emily today. I'm not–I can't entertain the idea of you and me anymore. Don't you get that? I mean, why would you do this to me again? Why do you only ever tell me you love me when I'm with someone else? First Julie, then Bonnie, now this… Don't you want me to be happy?"

"Of course I want you to be happy!" Rachel shouted back. This was not going at all how she had planned. "I just want you to be happy with me!"

"The wedding hasn't even started yet and it's already a disaster," she heard Jack say quietly to Judy.

"Well, it's better than sleeping with a stoner for attention," Judy muttered back.

"How could you possibly be turning this on me?" Monica shouted.

"I am not high!" Chandler yelled.

"This is all my fault!" wailed Joey, smacking his forehead with his palm.

Rachel didn't know what any of them were talking about, but all at once the room erupted into argument again. Monica shouted at her parents while Chandler spoke urgently with Joey. Ross turned to face Rachel again.

"Rachel, I don't know what you were thinking, but I cannot do this right now. I simply cannot. I am going to get married to Emily."

Rachel didn't know what to say to that. Phoebe was right, this was a terrible idea. She felt tears springing to her eyes. Don't cry now, please don't cry now…

What had she been thinking? Of course Ross wasn't going to take her back! And on his wedding day of all days! She tried to muster up something to say, something to explain to him why she had done what she had done, but before she got the chance she was interrupted by the door swinging open. Once again, everyone fell silent as they looked at the newcomer.

An older gentleman stood in the doorway, dressed in a suit and tie. "I'm sorry to interrupt," he said uncertainly, "but Miss Waltham is ready to begin the ceremony."

Ross turned to look at Rachel. "I have to get married now," he rasped.

"Joey, there's a girl on the phone for you." Mrs. Waltham slapped her cellular phone against Joey's chest.

"Oh, great!" said Joey, taking Mrs. Waltham's arm and bringing the phone to his ear as they began to walk down the aisle. "Hello?"

"Joey, it's Phoebe. Did you stop Rachel?"

"Uh… not exactly," Joey muttered guiltily.

"Oh no! Joey, you said you were going to handle it! What happened?"

"I was going to handle it!" Joey insisted. "I was guarding the door, but I heard fighting, so I left, and she got in while I was distracted."

"Who was fighting?"

"Ross and Chandler. See, Ross is pretty mad because Chandler slept with Monica last night."

"What?" Phoebe shouted. Joey had to hold the phone away to avoid ear damage. "Man, I am missing everything! Is the wedding still happening?"

"Yeah, it's barely even started."

"Oh–you mean it's happening right now?"

"Yeah. I'm still just walking down the aisle. And now… I'm at the front with Ross."

Joey held up the phone for Ross. "It's Phoebe!" he told him.

Ross just glared back.

"He looks pretty mad. I'd better go."

Ross stood with his hands folded in front of him, trying to push all of today's events out of his mind. He had thought Chandler's betrayal with Monica was the worst that could happen today, but now he knew he was wrong. How could Rachel do this to him? How could she come to London to tell him that she still loved him, that she wanted him back, when he had finally moved on and found happiness with someone else?

This is your big moment, Ross, he told himself. Stop thinking about Rachel. It doesn't matter that she loves you. You love Emily. You're going to marry Emily.

Joey was holding a cell phone in his face. Unbelievable. Did none of his friends have any respect for his wedding?

Monica and Chandler were walking down the aisle. Ross clenched his jaw as he saw them together, arm in arm with their heads close as they talked quietly to each other. Couldn't anyone walk down the aisle silently?

Ross wished he had thought to change the marching order so that Chandler walked with Mrs. Waltham instead of Monica. He couldn't look at the two of them without remembering this morning. What was Chandler thinking? The disrespect to Ross, and on his wedding day–

Ross's train of thought was cut short as Monica and Chandler parted and took their places on opposite sides of them. Emily was beginning to walk down the aisle, but that wasn't what caught his attention.

It was the woman sitting at the very back of the audience, right in front of where Emily was walking. Rachel.

Ross couldn't believe she had the gall to attend his wedding after waltzing in to try and wreck it. Why would she want to be here? Why would she want to watch this? Was she going to stand up and object when the minister asked?

He just couldn't fathom it. He just couldn't understand Rachel Green. Why did she want him at all the wrong moments and reject him at all the right ones?

His mind was swimming so much that he barely even registered that Emily was now standing with him, that the minister was talking.

Breathe, Ross, breathe, he told himself, trying to focus on Emily's face. It's almost your turn to talk. Focus.

As the minister launched into the vows, Ross was grateful that they had chosen not to write their own. In this state he would certainly never remember what to say.

He barely heard his own words as he parroted back the words the minister gave him. Breathe. Relax–don't look too tense! Don't forget to smile! Just don't think about Chandler, about Monica, about–

Emily was looking at him strangely. She didn't look happy anymore. In fact, she looked rather angry. Ross looked to the minister, who looked at a loss for words.

What just happened? Frantically, Ross tried to recall the last few moments, bringing his own words back to his mind.

I take thee… Rachel.

Oh.

Well, crap.

Author's Note: So despite everything, the wedding still happens in about the same way. I debated whether to include this chapter as opposed to just summarizing it later, but in the end I decided to keep it. Hopefully it still made for an interesting read.

Thank you to JukeboxJulia for beta reading!