What Could Have Been

Chapter 2

The weekend came pretty soon and they had decided to leave Friday night to get maximum time to have fun.

"Rach, come on, it's two days, how many clothes do you want to carry?" Monica said seeing the size of Rachel's suitcase. Everyone carried a shoulder bag but Rachel always carried extra clothes, shoes, make up and a blanket. Why she needed a blanket was beyond everyone.

"What if I like a guy there and want to impress him and I have to dress up?" Rachel said jokingly but it still hurt Ross to hear her say that.

Monica rolled her eyes and got into her element. She packed the trunk of the car with the luggage, piled everyone into the rental car, made everyone check the checklist to see if they had forgotten anything and then they started on their first road trip together. Everyone was so excited because it was the first trip after Vegas that had been a few years ago.

The first hour of the drive was spent chatting, they were all filled with energy, playing twenty questions, sharing work stories and joking but the energy soon burnt out and the car went silent. Only Ross was awake because he was driving and Rachel was awake who rode shotgun, the rest of them had fallen asleep, Monica and Chandler in the middle aisle and Phoebe and Joey in the back.

"So, it's just you and me now" It was funny how even after so many years of knowing her and everything that they had been through together, Ross still got tongue tied around her.

"Yeah, pretty much" Rachel said finding it adorable how dorky Ross was.

"So, how have you been?" Ross said and immediately wanted to smack his head on the steering wheel.

"We live together Ross, we are not meeting for the first time" Rachel chuckled.

"Well, I will fall asleep if we don't talk and I don't think anyone would want that"

So Rachel talked like she always did with her hand gestures and tone changes and hair flipping and Ross loved listening to her. He didn't care what she was talking about, he just loved watching her talk but he had to, unfortunately, focus on the road.

On the back seat, Phoebe woke up by all the talking but hearing Ross and Rachel talk like they used to when they were still together made her happy. She didn't say anything to let them know she had eavesdropped.  They were everyone's favorite ship and all of the friends wanted them together. They were so perfect for each other that it was crazy. Everyone just wanted them to sort out their issues and be a family.

Then her eyes travelled to Joey who was asleep across her lap. How was it possible to feel so much for Joey? She knew Joey wasn't interested in her romantically and she had herself broken up with Mike recently because he hadn't wanted a future with her but could she get over him? Was it possible that she was over Mike and had feelings for Joey?

She hadn't talked about this to anyone in the group because she had always felt like the sixth wheel which didn't even make sense but she did. Everyone was so closely knit together. Monica was married to Chandler, Ross was her brother, Rachel her childhood friend, Joey her husband's best friend. Then there was Rachel, Monica's best friend, Ross's ex, Joey's former love interest and Chandler thought of her as a sister. Then there was Phoebe, she had no former connections with anyone, she was Monica's roommate and now Joey's, that's it. No wonder she always felt a little out of the place. But this was not the time to pity herself, her friends had never made her feel like that. They had always been there for her and she was grateful for that. She just needed to talk to her friends about the Joey thing and then she would get over him soon. She may even find someone in Atlantic City.

                        ************

After a  three hour drive, Ross pulled up at their hotel around midnight and shook everyone awake. Even Rachel had fallen asleep around an hour ago.