A Friends season 4 Chandler line about love has a new meaning when considering the recently revealed real-life romance between Ross and Rachel’s actors. The cast was notable for having little behind-the-scenes drama, controversies, and dating rumors during its 10-year run until HBO Max’s Friends: The Reunion dished a secret could-be relationship between two core cast members. When reflecting on the early Friends romantic plotlines, it seems some nuances may have been crafted to mirror the real feelings of the cast.

Friends: The Reunion was a way in which fans could truly reconnect to the cast, while also learning more about behind-the-scenes secrets, purposes behind certain plot points, and everything that made Friends the hit show it became. One major point of conversation from the reunion was the revelation that Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green) and David Schwimmer (Ross Geller) actually had strong romantic feelings for one another throughout season 1. Considering Ross is attempting to court Rachel in the first season, their chemistry played off extremely well, especially once their characters finally got together in season 2. Aniston and Schwimmer discussed how they never “crossed that line” of actually hooking up, but had they not been in different relationships or worried about what would happen with the future of the show, the two likely would have been one of the biggest celebrity couples of the 1990s.

Related: Friends: The Biggest Reveals From The Reunion

In light of the almost-relationship between Aniston and Schwimmer, a line from Friends season 4 episode 7, “The One Where Chandler Crosses The Line” when Chandler discusses sacrificing his relationship and happiness has a whole new meaning. In the episode, Chandler kisses Kathy while she’s still dating Joey, causing a rift in the guys’ friendship and giving the episode its title. Chandler and Kathy know what they’ve done is wrong so Chandler tells her they should try to forget it, but she doesn’t believe that’s possible. Chandler then tells her, “We swallow our feelings, even if we’re unhappy forever.” While the line was poignant at the moment, it’s even more meaningful when attributing it to the real-life situation between Rachel and Ross.

Kathy touches Chandler's hair in Friends

The Friends line is heartbreaking because Chandler feels such a deep connection to Kathy, but they can’t continue to act on their feelings considering it could ruin Chandler’s friendship with Joey. Aniston and Schwimmer give similar reasoning as to why they never took things to the next level; had they broken up, the dynamic between Friends' cast could have drastically changed and been looked back on as a much less loving experience, likely also causing strife for the rest of the cast. In this way, the two swallowed their feelings and sacrificed possible happiness to ensure a pleasant experience for their friends and castmates instead. When looking back on the season 4 scene with Chandler and Kathy, certain lines could have been written in reference to the could-have-been relationship between Aniston and Schwimmer.

When explaining their romantic chemistry off-set in the Friends reunion, Aniston and Schwimmer said that the timing was always off and since they knew they still had feelings, they channeled them into their characters Rachel and Ross, who luckily were Friends’ core relationship. Similar to Kathy and Chandler, the two never actually began to date afterward, with David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston both going on to marry (and divorce) other people. Now that the pair is single, fans are running wild supporting a possible relationship, but they may just have to stick to rewatching seasons 2 and 3 of Friends to relive their chemistry.

Next: Friends: A Complete Timeline of Ross & Rachel's Relationship