FRIENDS Til The End

Chapter 3 - The One With The Friends To The Rescue (2 of 2 parts)

                Emma immediately went to where Rachel told her she was. When she saw her, she went and hugged her so tight. After their hug, she didn’t fail to notice that her Mom looked worse than she ever saw her.

                “Mom, what’s going on? Why aren’t you home??”

                They sat down before Rachel answered. “Honey, I know that things have been hard for you and your sister and brother, and I’m really, really sorry.”

                “Mom, you don’t have to worry about us, okay? We’re the ones who are so worried about you and dad. Dad’s been drinking every day since you left. He looks like a mess. And honestly, you look awful, too.” Emma noticed that Rachel looked away as she mentioned Ross. “Mom?” Rachel looked at her looking like she already knew what she’s about to ask. “Are you and Dad getting a divorce?”

                It took Rachel a little while before answering. “Yes.” Emma bowed as she said the word. “Emma, look at me.” When she did, Rachel saw that she was already crying. It hurt her because Emma rarely did this in front of her. Emma’s a lot tougher than she was when she was her age and to see her this vulnerable was one of those things she never wanted to happen. She started to cry, too. “You know that whatever’s happening with your dad and me, we still love you very much, right?”

                Tears just kept rolling from Emma’s eyes as she tried to gather herself. “But, you guys... I mean, why? Nothing’s even going on with you two!”

                “Honey, there’s a lot you don’t see. And it’s not your Dad’s fault, okay? I’ve been thinking about this for a really long time now. It just... doesn’t feel right anymore...”

                “How can this not feel right? Mom, you loved each other so much...”

                “And we still do... very much... But sometimes, love is not the only thing that makes a marriage work, Emma.”

                “Mom, love is the only thing that can make YOUR marriage work. You and Dad have been best friends for a really long time now. You’ve gone through a lot to make things work for you, why give up now?” Emma was starting to cry again.

                Rachel didn’t want this conversation to reach this point but she thought it was the only way she could convince Emma that it’s really not going to work with Ross anymore. She knew that her daughter would hate her for this but she had no other choice.

                “I’m seeing someone else, Em...” Emma just stared at Rachel for what she said. Rachel’s tears kept rolling from her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to happen. To hurt your Dad was the last thing I wanted to do...”

                Emma didn’t talk for a while to let what her mom just told her sink in her mind. She couldn’t believe it. She then started to talk without actually thinking about what she was saying. “With whom?” After taking in what her Mom just told her, Emma couldn’t bring herself to look at her anymore.

                “That doesn’t matter anymo—”

                “It does!” Emma saw that her Mom was startled for her sudden raise of voice but she didn’t care. She realized she had never been this mad. All her life, she looked up to her Mom more than anyone else in the world. She thought she was so strong for starting her life all over again, alone, after everything she got used to when she was young. She never saw her Mom as someone who would ever screw things up. She never saw this coming and it hurt her that she saw wrongly. “Who are you with now?” Emma couldn’t even call Rachel ‘Mom’ anymore.

                Rachel tried all she could to hold back her tears but she just couldn’t. “Emma, you have to underst—”

                “Understand?? You want me to understand? If you’re divorcing Dad because you have problems that you can’t solve anymore, fine! Maybe I’ll try to understand! But this??” Both remained silent for a few seconds. “Who??”

                Rachel decided that Emma wasn’t going to let this go. “It’s Joey.” Rachel had never felt this pain her entire life. That look on her daughter’s face, like she regretted having her as her mother was more painful than anything she had ever felt. “I’m so—”

But Emma didn’t give her any chance to finish her apology. She stood up, left, and never looked back.

Joey’s

                Rachel had been gone for hours and Joey was starting to get worried. Even though this was already happening every day since she moved in, her being gone and not getting back for like a million hours, Joey still hadn’t gotten himself to get used to it. He was starting to dial his phone to call her when there was a sudden doorbell. He went up to get the door. It was Phoebe.

                “Hi.”

                Joey just let her in and didn’t say anything because he knew why she was there. She was going to question him again for what was happening, just like what Chandler did.

                “How’re you doing?” asked Phoebe.

                “I’m fine.”

                “Where’s Rachel?”

                “She went somewhere.” Joey was not in the mood to fight over this stuff right now so he thought that it would be better if he just said his side and let Phoebe go. “Look, I know why you’re here, all right? I appreciate you coming but I’m just so tired of defending ourselves to people who will never understand why we’re doing this.”

                “Can you stop for a while?” Joey did. “I don’t know what went on here before I came but I’m not here to ‘question’ you or whatever you think I’m going to do, okay?”

                “What?”

                “Look, I don’t know what’s going on aside from the fact that everything and everyone seems to be all messed up. But Joey, we have been friends for a really, really long time now. The six of us have been through a lot. I know you and Rachel. And I know that you wouldn’t do something like this.”

                “Something like this?? What are you—”

                “This affair thing... I just can’t picture it. I can’t. I’m sorry, but I know how much Ross loves Rachel. She cannot and will not ever do this to him. And you, too! Something’s not right and I want to help. What’s really going on, Joe?”

                “Phoebe, everything you’ve heard is true.”

                “I don’t believe you.”

                It took Joey a really long time before deciding to speak. He knew that this is not what Rachel told and wanted him to do. But he knew Phoebe too well. She’s not letting this go. And he needed this for himself, too. It was killing him and he didn’t know any other way to continue holding on.