Ross walked into his apartment and found Emily packing her things. "Emily, I'm sorry." She turned around and walked up to him and hugged him. "Don't be. It was a mistake rushing into things. There is no way we could have really loved each other after only a few short months."
"I know. But Emily you have to understand that I care for you."
" I know you do. I hated you when you first told me earlier today. But after I had time to think, I think I feel the same way. This just wasn't meant to be." Ross was in shock of how well she was taking it. He remembered how it felt when Rachel broke up with him and then he remembered how he felt when Emily had to leave back to England and he thought it was over. He was sad when she left, yes, but none of it compared to the pain and shock and devastation he endured after what happened with Rachel. Ross put his arms around Emily and hugged her tighter and kissed her head. "Ross. Before I go, there is something that I need to know."
"What is it?"
"Did you ever cheat on me with Rachel?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Emily I'm not one to cheat. I made that horrible mistake once and I didn't even know I was doing it. I didn't put myself into any temptation with anyone after that." She breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay."
"You're a wonderful woman, Emily. You're sweet and kind and funny and I'm really going to miss you."
"I will miss you too Ross. But it's for the best. The way you feel about Rachel is the way I feel about Colin. We should fix things with the people that we are truly meant to be with instead of pretending that we don 't need them." Ross helped Emily pack the rest of her things and went with her to the airport and they said their goodbyes and he stood at the window watching her plane take off. He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Chandler." You alright man?"
"Yeah. I just hate to lose her. I wish we could still be friends."
"You can be."
"No. We talked about that. She said it would be too hard for the both of us and she knows Colin wouldn't like it. I don't want to put her relationship in danger with Colin. I don't want her to have to bear the pain that I had to when Rachel found out about Chloe." Chandler patted Ross on the back and the two walked out the door to the cab waiting for them.
Rachel was standing out on the balcony alone looking up at the night sky. Monica walked out onto the patio and put her arm around Rachel. "Rachel? You know I love you right?"
"Yeah. Why? Whats goin on?"
"Nothing. But you made a choice and Ross ended his marriage for you."
"I know I already feel guilty enough so what are you doing?"
"Whoa wait I didn't mean that. I meant, that he did all of that for you. Rachel he has been in love with you for a very long time and it crushed him when you broke up with him. Both times. And you couldn't decide so you kept leading him on and then crushing him. You just can't do that to a person. I hope that this is really what you want because I cannot see you do this to my brother again." Rachel turned to Monica and hugged her. "You have nothing to worry about. I love Ross. I will never forget what he did but I am willing to look past that because I believe that he loves me. And I love him more than I have ever loved any man. And I hope to one day call you my sister-in-law." Monica smiled and turned to find Ross standing in the doorway. Monica cleared her throat. "I'm going to Chandler's. Be back later." She passed her brother on the way to the door and Ross went out onto the balcony. "Hi." Ross took the first step.
"Hi."
"It's over with Emily."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm not. And Emily's not either."
"How?"
"Because Emily was a rebound off of you. I thought I loved her but I didn't. I cared for her a lot, but I never loved her. I never loved anyone more than I loved you."
"And Emily? I can't help but to feel horrible."
"Don't. After I told her she was mad, but then realized that the way she feels about Colin is the same as I feel for you. And she never really loved me either."
"So she is going back for Colin?"
"Yes." Ross leaned in to kiss Rachel but she pulled back. She looked into his eyes and just then they heard a loud thunder above them, then saw a bright light shoot across the sky. They continued to look into eachother's eyes and within a few seconds it began to pour on them. Rachel looked up at the sky then back at Ross. "I broke up with you for a reason..." He put his fingers to her lips to quiet her. "I made a mistake, I know." Before he could go on she took his fingers off of her mouth. "Let me finish." Ross let down his hand and listened. " I broke up with you for a reason, and it was a good one. But,I handled things all wrong. I can't believe I said we should take a break. I didn't mean it. I loved you and I still do. I need you to believe me when I tell you that I love you and accept that one of the things about me is that sometimes I say things I don't mean when I feel threatened or hurt or scared."
"I understand that. But I never meant to hurt you. I would NEVER want to hurt you. Ever. I was looking out for myself and it was wrong. I know I made a mistake. I made the biggest mistake of my life risking something so beautiful. I will always try to protect you, never hurt you. Do you trust me?"
"I do."
"You're the one for me, Rach. I love you. I always have. I never want to let you go again, I want to hear you say those two short words again someday soon, because I never want to wake up next to anyone but you." Rachel started to cry. Ross could always tell when she was crying, even when it was raining as hard as it was. He brushed the tears away from her face and kissed her. They both sank into it, much like their first kiss in front of Central Perk. She pulled back and looked him in the face. "This is forever?" Ross kissed her forehead and took her hand. "This is forever." They kissed again out on the balcony under the rain and lights of the New York skyline.