Spotlights on [Ross and Rachel]

Stay

Ross' hands were shaking from the rage that pulsed through his veins. He couldn't think straight.

Rachel was leaving. She was moving to Paris.

The past 24 hours have been an evil tournament, leaving Ross exhausted. He didn't know what to think anymore, but what he did know was that he was heading towards a complete nightmare.

Yesterday he had fallen asleep with Rachel's body in his arms, giving him so much hope. He truly believed that she would stay. For him. For them.
However, this morning his dreams were crushed. She was still leaving, considering their night together as the 'perfect way to say goodbye.'

Her belongings were gathered in cartoon boxes, ready to be shipped across the Atlantic.
And it wasn't her stuff only. Her belongings were accompanied by the ones that belonged to one very special little girl.

Emma.

Ross couldn't accept the fact that his daughter, the little girl that he loved more than life itself, was moving away from him. It was already bad enough that Rachel was leaving.

The emotional pain felt physical. Ross had never experienced such a level of pain before in his life. He felt like his heart was going to collapse any second. It was beating fast, dangerously fast. Blood was rushing to his head, making his cheeks grow warm, but at the same time, making him feel light-headed. Everything around him was spinning, his vision was blurry.

The only thing he could think about was Rachel and Emma and the dreadful moment he thought he never had to go through.

But here he was, walking towards Rachel's apartment, minutes away from having his final goodbye with his daughter.

The crystal clear blue eyes that were a replica of the mother's, would soon be miles away from him. Soon, he would no longer hear his daughter's animated laughter filling a room, or her soft snorings escaping from her strawberry pink lips.

He would no longer feel her small hands garb his own for comfort, nor be smothered with wet kisses every time he would envelop her in his embrace.

He would no longer be able to protect her.

The only way he would be able to listen to her incomprehensible baby blabbering was through the phone, and that thought terrified him. It made his stomach turn into thousands of insoluble knots.

His biggest fear was that she was going to forget who he was. She was still a baby after all.

But Rachel wouldn't allow that to happen, right?

Rachel.

Ross wanted to be mad at her. He wanted to hate her, but he couldn't. It was simply impossible. In the end, he was the one that had encouraged her to take the job.
But the way her eyes had lighted up when she had made her final decision, broke his heart into millions of pieces. It made him regret his decision of letting her go. And thinking back at the moment made his heart shatter even more. Ross was sure that it would haunt him in his sleep, for the rest of his life.

He would never forget the moment when he realized that he no longer was the source of her happiness.

But despite the unbearable pain, Ross wanted to be supportive. Years ago, he had made the biggest mistake of his life, and he was now determent not to repeat it.

...

Ross was currently walking across the crowded street of New York. The sound of fleeting cars made him feel dizzy. The drivers of the passing cars were shouting and honking at his ruthless behaviour, but he couldn't care less about it.