Hi! third story! *yay* :)

ok this is going to take place as if friends had never happened. Ross and Chandler never met which means Monica and Chandler never met. I'm not really sure on what year this is set in... Also the first chapter does not have a lot Mondler, later chapters will..

please follow and review :)

She walked into a somewhat crowded coffee shop. She wouldn't have believed someone if they had told her 'Monica Geller, you are going to be dating Dr. Richard Burke, your eye doctor, when you're older.' She would have laughed in their face. But here she was, 26 years old, dating a man the same age as her father. People would ask her why she was dating him. And honestly she didn't know. He was great. Very nice and charming, but she didn't feel right about him. Yes, she loved him, and she knew he loved her, but she felt as though they didn't connect. He wasn't her soulmate.

She looked down at her hand and sighed. She knew saying yes to his proposal wasn't right, but she had felt obligated considering the fact that he had done it in front of her parents.

"Excuse me, miss? Are you going to order?" The man with incredibly light hair behind the counter asked.

"Hm? Oh yes, sorry. I want a regular black coffee and 2 blueberry muffins." She said. The man nodded his head and started to make her order. She stepped over to the side so the next person behind her could order. She stepped over a little to far and bumped into someone. "Oh I'm sorry!" She said apologizing to the man.

He looked over at her, a little dumbfounded. He realized he was staring at her, making her uncomfortable, and shook it away. "Oh, uh, no you're fine. I was in your way." He shifted his position and looked down at his coffee mug he was holding.

"Miss?" The man behind the counter said. He handed her a cup of coffee and a paper bag. Monica thanked him and looked back a the guy she bumped into.

He was still looking at his mug as he spoke. "So I was wondering if sometime you would," he had looked up a little before he stopped talking. "Oh. Nevermind. I gotta go." He put his mug down and took off for the front door.

Monica was confused. She shook off the awkwardness and left the coffee shop. As she walked towards Richard's, she thought about his proposal the night before. He had looked at her and then over to her parents, both of which were teary eyed, and he had gotten down from his chair and knelt onto one knee.

She wanted to tell him to get up. She wanted him to stop and to not say anything. She wanted to run from the restaurant and to never look back. It wasn't because she was afraid of marriage. She had actually wanted to be married and have a family, it was because she didn't want to marry him. Yes, he was a great man and very romantic, she loved him, but she wasn't in love with him.

She arrived at his apartment and climbed the stairs to his floor. She never knocked on his door but today she did. Richard open his apartment door, confused on why she was knocking.

"You know you don't have to knock, sweetheart." He leaned down and kissed her cheek.

"I know." She said. "Here, I got these for you." She handed him the bag and the coffee. He took them from her and set them onto the coffee table. He started to come towards her for a hug but she stopped him. "Oh. Richard. We, we need to talk."

"Okay. What about?" He asked.

"The engagement." She said walking passed him to sit down.

"oh?" He questioned. He went over to the couch and sat down, turning to face her.

She sat and played with the ring he had given her the night before. "Well, This is very difficult for me to say." Richard looked at her with an ever so slight confused and nervous look. She inhaled sharply and mustered as much strength as she could. She began to speak, hesitantly. "I don't want to marry you. Don't get me wrong, honey, I love you, but, I'm not in love with you." She slipped off the ring from her delicate shaking hand and put it into Richard's large hands. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the hurt in his face. "I'm sorry," she whispered horsely. Soft tears fell from her eyes and trickled down her face, slowly. She wiped them away with her sleeve and stood up.

"I'll let myself out." She said. She had caught a glimpse of Richard before she left his apartment. His usually happy eyes were lowered and glazed over. A single tear rolled down his cheek and he sat very rigid. He had a sad frown and his hand was open with the ring sitting in the middle of his palm.

Monica tried to stay strong but lost it when she went down the stairs. She walked onto the street and toward her apartment. She was looking down when she had bumped into someone, again.

She sniffed, trying to contain herself long enough to say sorry. "Sorry." She muttered. She looked up and was shocked to see the same guy she had bumped in the coffee house.

"Wow! Twice in one day." he exclaimed. Monica smiled but it soon dropped. "I know I don't really know you, but, are you okay?" He asked.

"Oh, yeah." She said looking back down. She wiped the rest of her tears.

"You're crying. That doesn't seem to be 'okay' to me." He said.

She shook her head. "No it's not. I don't want to burden you with my problems though."

"I don't really mind." He spoke sympathetically. "What's your name?"

"Monica Geller. And yours?"

"Chandler Bing." He stuck out his hand. She mimicked him and they shook hands. "Well, Monica, would you like to join me for lunch?"

Lunch sound good. She nodded along and they walked side by side to a little diner.

*well there's the first chapter! Did you like it? Please leave a review and tell me what you thought. :)