Hello everybody!

At the end of "Close Encounters" I revealed that I wanted to write a cycle of Roschel One Shots (which I'm doing) and a cycle of AUs in Barbados.

Well, you can't fight the Muse, so in the last few days I decided to write the first AU about the episodes of Friends I dislike the most.

Whatever you make up, whatever you write, I do think it will always be far better than the original episodes…

So I gave it a shot (the first one of two shots, to be accurate).

I hope you like it, all the Roschel fans will probably enjoy this.

I also got to tell you that you'll find a few references to other Friends epic moments, tell me at the end if you catch those ;)

"So, shall we?" Charlie asked Joey.

"Yeah." Joey replied, taking Charlie's arm under his.

After a round of goodbyes and good nights among the four of them, Ross and Rachel stared at Charlie and Joey walking away, both secretly feeling abandoned by their respective crushes.

Rachel was almost heading for her room, when Ross stopped her, "So, what were you talking about with Joey before?"

"What?" she asked, not catching his question.

"It looked like you were having an important conversation…"

"Oh…no, it doesn't matter, it was…nothing."

Ross knew very well how to recognize a lying Rachel, but he didn't want to encourage her to talk if she didn't feel like it.

At the same time, he wasn't tired at all and he didn't enjoy the idea of being alone that night. Once again, he scrutinized his companion, noticing that she seemed to be as dejected as he was.

"Would you like something to drink?" he proposed.

If Ross knew something about Rachel it was that when she was upset, she liked drinking her worries away with a friend.

"I'd love to!" immediately came the response, letting Ross know how much he still could read her like an open book.

He grinned slyly as they walked downstairs, heading off to the hotel bar.

A couple of Margaritas were enough to help Ross and Rachel getting into a more comfortable conversation.

"So, Ross…why did you want me to keep you company tonight?"

Ross was impressed about the fact that Rachel, too, seemed to have realized that he didn't want to be alone.

"I'm not sure this is the right place or time to tell you about this."

"Come on, what's missing? A wonderful view, the ocean breeze, drinks?"

Ross chuckled, noticing that she really wanted him to spill his guts.

"Well…Actually it's about Charlie."

"What about her?"

"I don't know, it's just…Maybe I'm just a bit jealous because she's dating Joey."

Rachel couldn't help but agree with him.

"I know how you feel." She confessed, maybe because she was drinking too much. "I kind of have the same problem."

"What do you mean? Do you like Charlie, too?" they both chuckled.

"Of course, not. It's this…colleague of mine." She conveniently invented. "I can't make a move on him because he already has a girlfriend and…I don't know if I really have the guts to tell him how I feel. We are very close friends."

Ross squeezed his eyes, sure that something about what Rachel had just said did not add up.

"Who's this guy?" he was afraid to find out that she was still involved with Gavin, the man she had kissed in front of his eyes the night of her birthday party.

"Just some guy. You don't know him." Rachel returned, trying to keep a straight face not to let Ross understand that she was lying.

Rachel was sure that Ross couldn't handle the truth at that moment.

"Well, if your feelings are strong, maybe you should just tell him. But if you think this is only a crush, the attraction may wear off with time."

Rachel pondered Ross's words and considered her situation. Was she falling in love with Joey? Or was she just willing to be with him, maybe because it had been so much since she had last been with a man?

If she thought about it, the last time she'd slept with a guy, it was the man she was talking to right now. And that was an unforgettable memory that she would always cherish.

She knew that it was perfectly normal to feel a bit horny after so many months of chastity, but it was only after talking with Ross about this that she reconsidered everything. Her dream about Joey, her attitude towards him…maybe it was just a way of her body to talk to her.

Rachel came back to her senses, "Well, what about you? Is it only attraction with Charlie or is it something more?"

"I really don't know." Ross admitted. "There are times I think we would be a nice couple, because we have so much in common. But it's always so hard to judge another woman other than…"

Ross stopped before he could say something very compromising.

"Other than who?" Rachel wondered, afraid that she already knew the answer.

Ross's eyes roamed over her face, and then he smiled. "Well, let's just say that when it comes to consider women, my benchmark is always one woman, and it's very high."

Rachel blushed, not knowing if it was for Ross's answer or for the second Margarita that was by now almost over.

Ross knew that he didn't need to say the name out loud; they both knew very well that he was referring to Rachel.

He coughed, feeling emotionally exposed, "Anyway, I'm glad that I'm here with you tonight. I really didn't want to be alone."

Rachel smiled confidently, "You know what? I'm happy too. It's been a long time since we've done something together, just the two of us."

Ross took her hand in his, "Well, that's what friends are for. And ex-husbands!"

They chuckled in delight, still holding hands.

THE MORNING AFTER

Chandler burst into Ross's room without knocking at the door.

"Today's the big day, man! Are you ready for your speech?" he yelled.

Ross was still in bed, startled by Chandler's sudden entrance.

"Yeah, I'm very excited!" he replied, nervously.

"Well, I see that you still got to get dressed, so…See you downstairs for breakfast?"

"Ok, give me ten minutes and I'll be right there. Are the others around?"

"Monica woke up at dawn, still waiting for Pheebs and Joey to show up. Oh, just another thing, have you seen Rachel? Monica was looking for her, but she didn't answer when she knocked on her door."

Ross seemed to be thinking about it, "No, actually I haven't seen her since yesterday night."

Chandler nodded and closed the door behind himself, leaving Ross alone again.

A few seconds later, a dark blonde woman peeked out from under the sheets.

"Do you think he knew I was here?" Rachel gasped.

Ross was sitting in his bed, still in disbelief for what had happened.

Rachel was lying on her half, her elbows leaning on the cushion to support her as she looked at him.

"Ok, should we talk about…this?" Ross asked, hesitantly.

"I don't know…" Rachel answered. "Do you want to?"

"Well, we'd better." Came Ross's response.

Ross observed her reaction as she wiggled her eyebrow at him.

"Chandler was right, though. I got to get ready for my speech, it's very important to me…so I think I should…focus on that." He was trying to convince more himself than Rachel, who was nodding in agreement.

"But…later…we really need to talk about this."

"Right, ok." She laughed nervously.

"So, can we…postpone our…conversation?" he questioned her.

"Of course. You know where to find me." She laughed in reply.

They stared intently at each other, both wondering whether or not they should kiss before saying goodbye.

When Rachel leaned slowly towards him, Ross did the same.

Again, they were interrupted by someone at the door, this time knocking - fortunately.

Rachel hid under the sheets and Ross covered her as he said, "Come in!"

"Hey-yy…" Joey noticed immediately that Ross was naked. "What's going on?"

"Uhm...it was too hot in here. My air conditioner was broken."

Joey didn't look very convinced, but he shrugged, "Well…Chandler told me to meet you downstairs, I just wanted to wish you good luck for your speech."

"Couldn't you wait after breakfast?" he snapped, in classic Ross style.

Joey thought about it and smile, "Oh, right! Well, I'll be waiting downstairs with Charlie."

Joey exited the room and Rachel got out from her hiding place.

"I'd better get out of here before Monica and Phoebe come through that door, too."

"Fourth time's the charm." Ross quipped.

Rachel smiled at him with sparkles in her eyes, then she collected her dress of the night before – thinking how lucky they had been that it was hidden under Ross's shirt – and she went straight to the bathroom.

Ross stood up and started to get dressed.

Though he knew that his mind should be set on his imminent speech, his thoughts were only of one person.

Rachel.

He needed to talk with Chandler...

Rachel caught sight of Monica who was walking in front of the buffet table, so she immediately joined her. She was anxious to talk with her about the night before; she really needed her advice.

"Hi!" she greeted her.

"Hey, Rach! Did you hear about Phoebe and Mike? They are back together!"

"What?! How?" Rachel asked in disbelief.

"Because of our meddling! Listen, David told Chandler that he was planning to propose, so I spoke to Phoebe and found out that she was still in love with Mike but she was going to accept for the wrong reasons."

"Then what happened?"

"I called Mike and ordered him to call Phoebe. He did something better, he came here!"

Rachel was astonished both for Monica's behavior AND Mike's response to her directive.

"He proposed to Phoebe, but she said no."

Rachel now was confused, "Then how come they are back together?"

"Because she told Mike that she didn't need a proposal right now, she only wanted to know that they had a future. So they got back together and David flew home."

"Wow…That must have been one hell of a flight."

"I know!" Monica screamed with her typical catch phrase. "So we were at dinner and…"

Rachel now was impatient to change topic, "Listen, Mon, I'm super glad about Phoebe and I'm happy for her, but now I really need to tell you something that will blow your mind."

Monica was curious but also preoccupied, "Oh my God…please tell me that this isn't about Joey!" she grumped.

"No, it's worse. Incredible, but worse." She made a hesitant smile. "Last night…I slept with Ross."

Monica's eyes grew comically wide, "What?! Really? Oh My God! This is so great!" she was grinning from ear to ear.

Rachel didn't understand her reaction, "Mon, I don't get it. Why didn't you want me to make a move with Joey but sleeping with Ross is a great thing?"

"Are you kidding?" she chuckled "It's you and Ross! You were together, you have a daughter, and you were married! This is unbelievable, how did this happen? Was it just a one night thing or are you getting back together?"

Rachel was disoriented by all those questions, "I don't know…it was so sudden…we went out for a drink, we were both sad about Joey and Charlie…"

"Oh God, did you tell Ross about Joey?"

"Yeah, right!" Rachel scoffed her. "We just spoke, and he was so cute and kind. He said some things about us…he's still so affectionate, you know?"

Monica noticed that her friend's lips were turning into the sweetest smile as she recollected those memories.

"And then one thing lead to another and...When we got back upstairs we ended up in bed together."

"This means that you still have feelings for Ross? What about Joey?"

Rachel just shrugged, "I don't know…I had this conversation with Ross and I realized that you were right, I only had a stupid crush on him, that was just some attraction that went out of control. And when I found myself in Ross's arms again…Well, whatever it was, it just disappeared."

Monica smiled in response to Rachel's explanation. "I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am…but you know, this is going to have consequences, Rachel. You and Ross have a daughter, you must talk this through."

"Yeah, and we will, but now he's got this speech to think about, he didn't need distractions."

Monica began to walk again, taking some bacon and eggs for her plate.

"So what's going to happen? Are you guys seriously starting over? No more we-were-on-a-break, no-we-weren't, failed proposals, kissing on balconies and going back living with Joey to avoid solving problems?"

"God, Monica, chill out!" Rachel returned. "I told you, I don't know, yet!"

"Well, you need to figure this out, and soon."

Rachel nodded, "You're right. And you know, I think the fact that this thing happened here in Barbados of all places is…a sign."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when we went to your parents 35th anniversary? How Ross and I pretended to be married because your mother asked us to?"

"Yeah." She commented sternly.

"Well, some people wanted to know details about the fake wedding and we made them up. And I said that we had gotten married on a cliff in Barbados, at sunset."

Monica was getting emotional even if that was a lie, "Oh, that's so romantic!"

Rachel thought about that night and she felt a very familiar lump in her throat. She also remembered how Ross had finally told her the sweet proposal that he had imagined when they were going out. The roller coaster of emotions that she had felt that night was still very impressed inside her mind.

"You know what? I think I do. I want to get back with your brother."

Monica's eyes filled immediately with tears. She didn't notice Ross passing right beside her.

"Mon? Are you ok?" he asked, worried about her.

Rachel stared at Monica, her eyes wide open in terror.

"Nothing, it's just…I'm really excited for your speech!" she answered after a few seconds of hesitation.

Ross smiled and hugged Monica by putting an arm on her shoulders, "Really? You're so sweet!" he kissed her cheek and moved away.

He was looking for Chandler, who was walking around the beverage section of the room.

He immediately approached him, whispering. "I need to talk to you about something."

"If this is still about your speech, I'm so sorry, Ross."

"No, no…listen; when you came to my room before I…I wasn't alone."

Chandler was surprised, "What do you mean?"

"Well, there was…someone…hiding under the sheets." He almost murmured.

Chandler smiled at the realization, "Of course there was someone! Now I understand why you were so weird…and I must say – this really is a relief, man."

Ross just glared at his consideration.

"Well, who was it? That cute receptionist that checked us in?"

"No…" Ross intentionally prolonged the vowel.

"O God, it was Charlie, wasn't she? Please tell me you didn't sleep with Charlie!" Chandler scolded him.

"No!" came Ross's response. "Why are you all so sure that I could steal my friend's girlfriend?"

Ross sighed and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and got as close to Chandler as he could. "It's Rachel." He mouthed.

"Who?" Chandler didn't understand.

"Rachel!" Ross whispered as loud as he could.

"RACHEL?!" Chandler yelled.

All the people in the room turned their heads towards Chandler, and so did Rachel.

"Oh, hi sweetie! I was looking for you and…there you are!" he tried to fixed his previous reaction. All he got was a glare from said woman; Monica watched him hard and just rolled her eyes.

Ross put a hand on his forehead, then he dragged Chandler in a secluded area of the room.

"Did you guys have…?" Chandler asked.

"Yes." Ross informed his best friend, knowing that the topic of him and Rachel having sex was important to the other members of the gang at least as much as it was for the two of them.

"How did this happened?" Chandler was grinning like an idiot, so happy for that news.

"I really don't know…we went out, we drank something…we were feeling a bit depressed about our respective love lives…then we got back to my room, one thing lead to another and…last thing I know is that this morning I woke up with Rachel sleeping by my side."

"Ross, this is huge! What does this mean, are you getting back together?"

Ross shook his head, "I don't know. I mean, we didn't actually have a chance to talk about it. I bought some time; I thought we needed to…clear up our minds. I don't want her to feel under pressure…"

"Oh, of course, this is very neat. Because you don't put pressure to your daughter's mother to convince her to finally go steady seeing that YOU SLEPT TOGETHER FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME!" Chandler almost screamed, trying to put some sense into Ross's mind.

Ross glared at him, "Actually that was just the three-hundredth time!" he specified.

Chandler looked badly at him, clearly wondering if Ross had kept count.

"And anyway, I just wanted to keep a low profile, giving her time to understand what it is that she really wants. Just yesterday she was feeling sad about this guy."

"What guy?"

"I don't know, she said a colleague. That's why I don't want to rush her into anything, last time I did, it didn't turn out well."

"And what do YOU want?"

"If it were for me, I'd ask her to start things up again this very day."

"Weren't you attracted to Charlie?" Chandler questioned him.

"Who's Charlie?" Ross sincerely asked. "Oh, Charlie!" he suddenly remembered.

Chandler grinned to himself, shaking his head. "You are a hopeless case." He chuckled. "I mean…every time, every-single-time that you start liking another woman, all Rachel has to do is just wave in your direction and here you are, immediately ready to go back to her!"

"It's called being in love, Chandler." He said quietly.

"I know." Chandler patted his back.

"So, what does all this mean?"

"It means that you've been in love with her since you were 15, Ross. It's your love for Rachel that defines who you are."

Ross nodded in agreement.

"You think I have to be totally honest with her?"

"For God's sake, yes." He immediately replied. "You can't behave immaturely anymore, you are parents. You have to talk and you must decide if you both want to start things over."

"And…what do you think?" Ross asked him, almost afraid for his response. Chandler's opinion was very important to him.

Chandler smiled, "I think this could be awesome. We all would be happy for this."

"Even Joey?" Ross wondered.

Chandler nodded slowly. "I think so. And even if he wasn't, he would come to terms with this."

"In a very real way we can bring the Mesozoic era into the 21st century." Ross concluded his speech and smiled to the audience. "Thank you."

All the people in the room stood up to applaud. Ross looked flattered and surprised by this reaction, he felt somehow proud of himself.

All his friends moved closer to congratulate him.

A man with a bow tie and a curious smile on his face shook hands with him, "I thought…it was wonderful!"

Ross was a bit taken aback, "Oh…"

"I'm Jarvis Overblau, Cornell." He sighed. "I mean…the ideas you put forth and…and from someone so…young…and…"

The man sighed again and smiled at Ross blissfully. The paleontologist replied with a frozen smile and realized that this man didn't want just to congratulate.

"Ok…Well thank you…" he chuckled with nervousness, trying to pull his hand away.

The man finally let go and walked away.

"So, what did you guys think?" Ross asked, secretly hoping to hear Rachel's thoughts about this.

All his other friends expressed their opinions, then they walked away discreetly.

Rachel was the last to answer, she waited for them to be alone. "You were great."

Ross could distinguish pride in Rachel's expression.

"You really think so?" he gasped in disbelief.

Rachel nodded, her eyes filled with unshed tears. She didn't know why, but she was getting emotional.

"I can't believe you actually liked this."

"What's new? It's not the first time that I come listening to you talking about dinosaurs stuff." She taunted him.

"Yeah, but the last time you came, we were still together."

Rachel nodded, looking at him intently. They didn't say anything, but a thousand words wouldn't keep up with the look of understanding that they shared.

Rachel didn't miss the real meaning behind that sentence. Something was really changing and they needed to figure out what it was.

Charlie entered her room, finding Joey sitting and wearing a diving mask. He could be so silly at times.

"Hey!" he said, standing up and taking the mask off.

"Hey!"

"So, should we go snorkeling when it stops raining? Some kid told me that there's a sea turtle that chases you if you blow bubbles in its face!"

Charlie shook her head, "I'm sorry, Joey, I can't. I'm running a discussion group all afternoon."

He looked a bit disappointed. "Oh…well, that's ok, I'll find someone else to do it, maybe I'll ask Chandler."

He noticed that Charlie looked really sorry.

"I feel so bad…I haven't seen you this whole trip and I know that last night I was so busy…"

"Don't worry about it, I was fine! I had so much fun with Rachel, but I felt bad for you, stuck in that room, working on Ross's speech…"

Charlie made a face, "Actually…it turned out to be a lot of fun!"

Joey was astonished. "Oh…Oh, well…At least we're both having fun!"

Charlie sighed, "Yeah…"

An awkward moment of silence passed between them

"Is it weird that it's not with each other?"

Joey responded at once, "Yeah, a little bit, yeah."

Charlie sat down on the bed, "I think we need to talk."

"Yeah…I think we do." Joey sighed, with folded arms. "About what?" he naively asked.

"Hi!" Rachel opened her door with a surprised expression.

Ross had another round table in the afternoon and as the keynote speaker, he couldn't miss it. But he had promised to come and see her right after that.

So she was bewildered to see Joey, instead.

"Hey…" he said, looking downhearted.

"What's going on?" she asked him.

"Uh…Charlie and I broke up."

"Oh My God…" she murmured.

She didn't know what to say. If she thought about it, this was weird.

Only the day before, a news like that could have made her the happiest girl in the whole world. But today, she was uncertain. She just needed to figure out why.

"Why?" she asked, trying to understand better.

"She said that we don't have anything in common."

Rachel nodded in comprehension.

"She said that she's looking for someone more like her…"

Rachel gasped, terrified. Now she knew why Joey and Charlie splitting up bothered her. She wasn't uncertain because she felt something for Joey, at all.

She was afraid that Charlie might chase after Ross!

Now she had her answer.

She'd never had feelings for Joey, just pure lust.

She had to tell Ross that she still loved him. That she was finally in that place.

She just needed to find him.

"Joey, I'm sorry about Charlie, but I promise. You're going to find another woman, someone you can share your life with." She gave him a kiss on his cheek.

"I know. Thank you, Rachel."

"Listen, the guys were heading for the play room. I heard they were talking about a ping pong match, why don't you join them?"

Joey smiled, "Yeah, that's a good idea. Why, aren't you coming?"

Rachel shook her head, "I've got something very important to do."

Joey nodded and left the room, leaving Rachel alone with a newfound self-confidence.

Charlie and Ross walked out after a two-hour long group discussion.

"Ross, I must warn you, as the keynote speaker, the others might want to throw you right into the pool."

Ross smiled at that thought, "Thanks for the warning…Ok, I think I gotta go."

He was anxious to get upstairs and find Rachel.

"Ross…" Charlie stopped him, grabbing his arm. "I kind of need to talk to you."

"Oh, ok…About what?"

"I wanted to tell you that Joey and I broke up." She informed him.

Ross was amazed by that news, "How come?"

Suddenly, he felt very bad for Joey.

"I just realized that we were too different, you know? We shouldn't have gotten together in the first place."

"Well, maybe you are right, but…Joey is so great, and I'm sad if this is hurting him."

"I can't help it, I think I've started to have feelings for…someone else." She admitted.

"Can I ask…who?" Ross was afraid that he already knew the answer.

"I think you know, Ross." She almost purred.

Ross felt her proximity and started to have chills.

He started to think about…everything. But mostly about the night before…

"There are times I think we would be a nice couple, because we have so much in common. But it's always so hard to judge another woman other than…"

Ross stopped before he could say something very compromising.

"Other than who?"

Ross's eyes roamed over her face, and then he smiled. "Well, let's just say that when it comes to consider women, my benchmark is always one woman, and it's very high."

Ross smiled to himself, finally ready to admit something that he'd known all time long.

"What?" Charlie asked.

"Charlie…had you told me this yesterday, I might have embraced you with open arms. I would have told you, let's do this, let's get together. But today…I've just realized that I still have feelings for someone else."

"Can I ask who?" Charlie repeated his former words.

"It's Rachel." He announced, glad to say this out loud.

Charlie's eyes went down to the floor. But she looked back at him when Ross caressed her arm.

"Hey…I'm sorry, Charlie. But I don't see any woman in my life other than Rachel."

Charlie caught with a glimpse a female figure dashing across the room behind Ross, looking a bit worried when she noticed the two of them together.

Ross didn't know that Rachel was right behind him when Charlie asked, "Is she important to your life?

Ross nodded, with a dreamy expression on his face.

"She's always been one of my best friends…she's also my sister's best friend." Ross kept listing the relationships he shared with Rachel. "She's been my girlfriend. And she's also been my wife, at some point. She's the mother of my child."

Charlie nodded, glancing at Rachel who was listening carefully to Ross's words, too surprised to think of stopping him or acknowledge him of her presence.

"She's been many things to me…it doesn't matter whether we're together or apart, she'll always be the woman of my life. She's my everything."

Ross eventually felt someone gasping behind him. Charlie made a slight nod to point at the woman who had just crumbled into tears in front of her, too overwhelmed by Ross's words.

The man turned around slowly, worried to find out that Rachel had listened to every word he'd just said.

When she looked at him with tears in her eyes, Ross thought that it was over. That his intention not to put any pressure on her had just vanished.

But Rachel approached him, putting her tiny hands on his face. As an automatic response, Ross's hands went to her waist.

Charlie silently walked away, but she was still too enamored by the scene not to look at them.

"Do you really think that?" Rachel asked, her voice broken for the emotion.

"Every word. I've always felt this way, Rach. If I never told you, it's just because I'm the biggest idiot on this planet."

Rachel chuckled. "Ok…Ok…" she sighed. "Well, now let's get serious…Because this is where I want to be, ok? No more messing around, I don't want to mess this up again!"

"Me neither, ok? We are… we're done being stupid." Ross agreed.

"You and me, alright? This is it."

"This is it." Ross thought those were the best words he'd ever heard in his entire life.

Rachel smiled, as happy as she could be.

"And I promise you…I will never ask you to take another break, EVER."

They both chuckled at that, and Ross took advantage of her joke to ask, "So, you eventually admit that we were on a break?"

"If you admit that you cheated on me."

Ross nodded, getting serious again. "I do. And I beg you from the bottom of my heart to find the strength to forgive me for what I did, Rachel…"

Rachel nodded, tears in her eyes. "I already did, Ross. I forgave you years ago, I was ready to start things up again when we were at the beach. I told you that I still loved you, and I meant it, and writing that stupid letter is the worst idea I've ever had."

Ross was almost crying, too.

"I flew to London to prevent you from getting married to another woman; even then I wanted to tell you…But I couldn't… I –"

"You forgave me…" Ross interrupted her, a tender smile on his face.

Rachel simply nodded back with conviction.

"So, we put everything behind…and we start again? Really?"

Rachel smiled. "There's nothing I want more. For us. For Emma."

Ross thought about their child, waiting for them back in New York, not knowing what incredible surprise awaited her.

He finally kissed Rachel, trying to convey everything he was feeling when their lips touched. After a few seconds of bliss, he leaned his forehead on Rachel's.

"There's one last thing I got to tell you."

"What?" she whispered, still recovering from their kiss.

"I love you. Always have, and always will."

Rachel smiled tenderly, "Same here, honey."

They both sighed as they hugged.

"Same here."