The restaurant was a place where they had been to a lot of times in the past, they had shared some significant times in there, such as one of their first dates, their special valentines night and the big proposal those months ago. The table had candles on it, a vase of roses in the centre and the plates were nicely laid out with serviettes and beautiful cutlery, 'I've always wanted to take stuff from the restaurant home…' Rachel revealed to Ross, 'The stuff is just so lovely here…' She was busy admiring one of the champagne glasses which was crystal clear, 'It's the kind of thing you should say quietly Rach…' he laughed, aware of the waiter standing behind them, waiting for their order. She sniggered, 'Ah well…' They opened up their menus, 'What do you fancy?' he asked her, knowing that she usually stuck to small dishes, nothing too overtop for her healthy diet that she had always stuck to, she wasn't a big eater at all, he had never actually seen her eat a big meal apart from at thanksgivings, she was more of a salad and small portion girl. 'Oh you know me, I'll just have the soup or something with a bread roll…' She told him, closing the menu, 'Oh and of course the champagne…I can only have one though, Remember…' she reminded him, 'Of course sweetheart, I think I'll have the chicken tonight…' He told her, 'Right…I'll order now then'. The waiter was over at the table as soon as Ross gave him a sign to come over, not clicking like Rachel's father would do, but an obvious look of 'We're ready now'.
'What would you like Sir? Madam?' the waiter asked, a pen at the ready with a pad open in his palm, 'It looks like a rather special occasion, may I interest you in tonight's special tasters this evening of wines and other beverages, they're free..' he told them.
Rachel sighed. 'Not for me thank you, I'm pregnant you see, but my fiancé might like to try?' she asked Ross, 'Would you Ross?'
He shook his head, 'If your not, I'm not either…So its just the normal order Sir, I would like the chicken, and my fiancé would like the soup with the bread roll, oh and can you bring us some of that special ice cream for desert for us to share?' he asked, knowing that Rachel adored the ice cream here. 'Certainly Sir.' He nodded, before walking away from the table.
'Thank you baby…' She smiled, 'I love that ice-cream so much…it might not be alcohol, but it's enough.'
'Glad to hear it, shall I fill you a small glass of champagne madam?' Ross asked her, acting rather posh in order to set the mood of tonight, it was going to be very special and romantic, and Rachel already knew that. He always made a special effort.
'Just to think that one year ago today I was sitting on that plane to Paris, leaving you behind…' Rachel reached over to hold his hand, 'Its something that I don't think I'll quite get over, I cant understand why I wanted to even do that to you…leave you like that'. He lifted up his hand to kiss it, 'We all regret things sweetie, I'm just glad that you got off the plane, because this year has been possibly the best year of my whole life…and its all because of you Rach…'
They shared a small kiss, his hands touching her face, 'I never thought we would make it you know, me and you were just so…so stubborn all the time about this relationship, what was wrong with us?'
She shrugged. That was one question she couldn't quite answer, 'I, I don't know sweetie, but I'm just so happy that we finally got it together, I was tired of just messing about…'.
'I know, lets not think about the past, we've got so much to look forward to, the wedding…our new baby on the way, Emma is growing up into a beautiful little girl and both of us are happy at last.'
'When do you want to talk about the wedding? I have a few ideas.' She told him, 'have you?'.
'I've been thinking about it, of course…but no real ideas yet, but its not for me to decide, you're the bride and you deserve to have what you want, not me…its all about you really Rach'.
'Your so sweet Ross, what did I do to deserve you? I have thought about the wedding and I think I want it to be quite a small ceremony, just friends, family and just us saying our vows to one another, I don't want a big due or anything that my mom or dad may want, I just want you there, and the people I love…'
Ross couldn't help but smile, she had changed so much from the way she first was when she had came to Central Perk that day, she was so spoilt back then before she went out on her own to get herself a job and she transformed into what she was today, 'I cant tell you how proud I am of you Rach, Your so different now, You've changed massively…'.
'I have?'
'Yes you have…'
'In what ways?' She asked him.
'In every way, when you first came to the City, you would never have settled for a small wedding, but now you do, and I just really love that.'
'You do? Well. I love you' she told him.
Ross laughed. 'We must tell each other that a hundred times a day, but I do love you too, and I was thinking of proving that to you this evening…'
'Well…I'll look forward to that'.
'You should do as well, I'm going to treat you tonight more than ever because this is a very special night, I have something in treat for you in a few moments, and I want you to stay here…' He asked her.
She nodded along. 'What have you got up your sleeve? Ross trailed off, leaving Rachel in complete suspicion of what he was planning for her, she took a tiny sip from her champagne, she couldn't quite believe that it was a whole year ago already, so much had happened, her mind began to wander back to last year, some things brought a tear to her eye, god she missed her 4 other friends.
'Where did you go?' She asked when he returned to their table, 'I was getting worried…' she joked. Ross laughed, 'You don't need to know where I went, but do me a favour, get up from your chair and come over here…' He asked her, holding out his hand to her.
'Gawd, what is going on?' she asked, knowing that he had definitely done something for her, 'You best not make a show of me Gellar…' she warned, getting up from her chair now, taking hold of his hand.
He walked out into the space in-between the tables, there were only two other tables with people on and they weren't taking any notice of what was going on, 'I wanted you to remember tonight, so I thought I would do this…' He told her, she began to laugh as the excitement of what awaited her kicked in. Just then, she heard music playing in the background, the song was very familiar to her, she saw Ross smiling across from her, 'Care to dance?'. He asked her, holding out his hand ready to take her into his arms, 'I know this is your favourite song so…'
'I can't believe you Ross.'
'Start believing sweetie, and dance with me…' He grabbed onto her hand, pulling her closely into him, rocking from side to side as he stroked her back affectionately, she looked into his eyes, the ceiling lights were reflecting in his eyes, 'I love this song, it reminds me of our first date'.
'That's why I wanted to play it sweetie, I wanted us to remember this night forever like we will always remember the first night we spent together…'
I never dreamed that Id meet somebody like you….
I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you
Oh, I want to fall in love with you
She stroked his neck, 'Thank you for this'.
He smiled, 'Thank you…for you'. He decided it was time to kiss her now, not caring about the people around them, 'I promise you we'll have more anniversaries to come Rach'. He gave her a soft kiss against her lips, brushing his hand through her flowing hair.
The music continued to play, and the night grew longer, leaving the night as only a memory to them both. Something about the atmosphere that night made them realise how much love they actually had, it wasn't love that they knew of in the past with anybody else but it was indeed love as they knew it.
(Ok, the end was a little cliché! But I hope you enjoyed the story, it may seem rushed near the end but I hope it didn't stop you enjoying it? This unfortunately will be the last fanfic for a while, I will be thinking of a new one in a month or so, Thank you for reading!)