Love Actually

"To me, you are perfect."

(Mark, Love Actually)

The world was a confusing place to Chandler Bing. One second he was on the top of the world, and then, BOOM, he's right back where he started. Right at rock bottom. Sure, getting fired wasn't exactly on this 'to-do list', but what could he do? Besides beg for work, he was already doing that.

To make matters worse, his loving mother had dumped his kid brother on him years ago, something about going to Europe for a couple of months. The funny thing was, she never came back. Sure, she wrote a very impersonal letter telling both of them that she had met someone in Paris and she was going to stay there. Unfortunately for Chandler, that meant his brother would be sticking around forever and ever. Another thing that was never on his 'to-do' list.

And then there was the matter of his love life. He thought he had met the girl of his dreams with Kathy, and she in turn had found the man of her dreams. The only problem was, Chandler wasn't that guy. It was some rich eye doctor, twice her age, named Richard, Richard something. He really didn't care to remember. In fact, he would have rather drank both of them away, but with Landon around, he found that kinda hard to do. He was playing 'Father' now instead of his more preferred role as 'much, much older, independent, big brother'. Make that 'drunk and distant big brother'.

So there he was, stuck working as a waiter in a local coffee place, 'Central Perk'. He used to hang out there all the time, but now, instead of drinking coffee, he was serving it. Strangely enough, he had become quite found of the 'spit in the coffee' routine. Well, okay so it wasn't strange to him really, especially when serving it to his best buddy Richard. The man had to nerve to try and make small talk with him once, what kind of idiot tries to make small talk with the ex-boyfriend of the girl your currently dating, who, strangely enough, cheated on her last boyfriend to be with the current love interest without losing her apartment. Funny how that works.

Man, though, did Richard deserve that coffee. And Chandler was pretty sure he got the message straight, seeing as how Richard didn't come into Central Perk anymore. Either that of he was probably too whisking some other girl away from her loving boyfriend and making his life hell.

And that's when he realized, he was as pathetic as they come.

"Chandler!" Landon yelled, walking through the apartment in search of his brother. "Chandler! I need a ride to school! I'm gonna be late again!"

"I'm coming," Chandler mumbled, half-asleep. He had worked the night shift at Central Perk last night, and the repercussions were starting to show. The other half of his day wasn't much better, he was still job hunting, and still not finding anything.

"When did you get home last night?" Landon asked, eyeing his brother somewhat amused. Chandler's lack of sleep was starting to show in his dress, hair, and face.

Chandler shot him the death glare, "I had to close last night," he mumbled, "now come on, we gotta get you to school!" He tried to sound as energetic as possible, running across the apartment grabbing his keys and a cup of coffee.

"Whatever," Landon muttered, following Chandler out the door.

Chandler tired his best not to roll his eyes at his brother's attempt to sound 'cool'. Landon was fifteen, an age where your image mattered and Landon had made damn sure of it that he had a 'cool' image. He wore baggy jeans and a graphic t-shit that was more of an advertisement for Coke to Chandler more then an image. His shaggy brown hair curled up in traditional seventies fashion, and he sported a rather cheap rite aid brand cologne. The funny thing was, Landon was better with the girls then Chandler was. Even at fifteen and looking like a moron. Then again, all the teenagers looked like morons, so it must have attracted the teenage girls somehow. How, he'll never know.

Plopping down in Chandler's sad excuse for a car, Landon immanently grabbed out his CD player from his backpack, ready to listen to the mix of the day. Chandler held up his hand, motioning for Landon to stop.

"What?" He asked, annoyed that his brother had stopped him from listening to his CD.

Chandler started up the car, "look, we need to talk."

"Whatever."

"Look, Landon, you know we are in some financial stress right now, okay?" Chandler sighed, pulling out into traffic and headed towards Landon's school just on the outskirts of the city.

"Yeah, so?"

"I'm gonna have to find a roommate for us, okay? I've cut down as many expenses as I can and it's still not enough. So, until we find a roommate, things are gonna be really tight."

"Whatda mean a roommate! You want me to live with someone I've never met before in my life!"

"Well, yes, that's sorta the plan. But there will be a lot of interviews, and of course I'll ask your approval and all,"

"Look! We wouldn't be in this position if you hadn't gotten fired! So your acting like it's both our faults, when it really your fault!"

Chandler was taken aback, "what? Since when have I been acting like it's both our faults! And I'm trying the best I can to keep things normal, but you know what, things change!"

"Whatever," Landon muttered bitterly, taking out his headphones again and sticking them on, blasting the music into his ears.

Chandler gripped the steering wheel tighter, trying his best not to knock the boy upside the head. Since when had this been his fault. It wasn't like he asked to be fired, or he asked to have his brother move in with him. In fact, if they were really blaming things on people, their mom was to blame. She was the one who left them for some French guy, and the reason why Chandler had sudden found himself 'acting parental unit' for Landon. He was late to work almost every single day and always had to leave early for this and that. That was the reason why he was fired, he was too busy taking care of everything else.

Chandler pulled up at Landon's school another fifteen minutes later, stopping the car to let him out.

"Look, I'll be here at four to pick you up, that's when my shift gets done, okay?"

Landon raised his hand up to show that he heard Chandler, but didn't bother to respond in any verbal manner.

"And you'll be on your own for dinner tonight, I've got that conference with your teachers tonight! Okay!"

Another hand gesture.

"And the world is going blow up in twenty seconds!"

Another hand gesture, although this one seemed more obscene then the others. Chandler chucked to himself, he was the big brother after all, annoying his brother came with the territory.

"So, Joey,"

"Tribbiani," the Italian man finished. He was in his mid twenties, probably the same age as Chandler, and looked every bit the part of an Italian. Dark hair, dark eyes, tanned skin, the works.

"So what do you do, Joey?"

"I'm an actor," he said proudly, "ever seen 'Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E.'?"

"You mean like the food, yeah, it's like the best food next to pizza!" Chandler said with a smile, hoping to have actually found someone who shared his fascination with the food.

Joey smiled, "totally man! But I was talking about the TV show."

"Oh, no, sorry. But talk to my brother, he watches so much TV it's insane."

"Okay, but well, I play Mac," he said proudly, "the man character."

"Oh, really?" Chandler nodded, trying to act as though he cared. "So, do you like the Knicks?"

"Yeah the Knicks rule!"

"And what are your feelings about living with a fifteen year old boy?"

"What?"

"Sorry, my brother's living with me right now, I kinda have to ask if you mind," Chandler said sheepishly, hoping that the guy wouldn't turn down the apartment like all the others had upon hearing they'd be living with a teenager and his older brother.

"Sure, no prob. I've always wanted a brother," Joey smiled, "I had seven sisters."

"Seven!"

"Yeah, and you better not lay one finger on any one of 'em!"

Chandler raised his hands, "totally not what I was thinking," he lied.

"Ah, Rach, I'm dying here!" Monica Geller moaned, walking into the staff lounge and promptly plopping herself down on the nearest chair. It was her first day at the school, she was teaching a cooking class that was new to the school. Her best friend, Rachel Green was the one that convinced her to take the job, she had been teaching a fashion class there for a couple of years now.

"Oh, sweetie, it's your first day, everyone says that," Rachel said, not really looking up from her magazine though.

"Coming from the girl that teaches fashion! They have weapons in my class!"

Rachel looked up from her magazine, amused. "You're scared of your students, aren't you?"

"Well you would be too if you gave a bunch of immature freshman fire and said go!"

"What's this I hear about fire?" Phoebe Buffay, the world history teacher, walked into the teacher's lounge, amused by the conversation.

"I hate that class," Monica mumbled, "never again will they cook, even if it's the last thing I do."

"And what are they suppose to do then, Miss Geller? Worship you for an hour each day?" Phoebe teased her friend, knowing that it was her first day.

"They'll make rice krispies until the end of time!" Monica laughed, her day getting a little better now. Teaching might have been scary, but at least she was with her friends here.

"Have fun explaining that lesson plan," Rachel laughed, looking back down at her magazine.

"So, other then the fire problem, how's your first day going?" Phoebe asked excitedly, taking a seat next to Monica on the couch.

"Fine, I guess, I have seniors next, maybe they'll be okay with fire," she mumbled her thoughts out loud, "but I do like this better then working at that restaurant. At least this way I work with people who actually like me, and don't lock me in the freezer."

"Yeah, yeah, good point," Rachel agreed, "we don't have a freezer here that we could lock you in."

"Hey, where's Ross?" Monica asked, looking around the teacher's lounge for her brother. He taught a science class here as well, although he wasn't as popular as some of the other teachers.

"Probably fighting with some student over a grade again," Rachel said flipping another page in her magazine. "They think they can walk all over him, but they really don't know how stubborn he is."

Monica nodded, "yeah, you guys were totally not on a break," she said knowing what incident Rachel was referring too.

"I know!"

Chandler drove up to the high school, just a little before four in the afternoon, looking for his brother. Joey sat shotgun, happily singing along to 'American Pie' on the radio. The two had ended up spending the majority of the day together, really hitting it off. Chandler silently prayed that Landon wouldn't mind Joey, especially since he had already told the guy he could move in.

"Where the hell is that kid!" Chandler yelled, annoyed to see no sign of his brother.

"I donno, didn't you say his school got over like an hour ago?"

"Yea, and I told him I'd be here at four," Chandler mumbled, turning off the car and getting out. "Look, I'm gonna go look for him inside, he's probably still mad at me. You just wait here, okay?"

Joey nodded, "alright man!"

Chandler walked steadily into the building, the thought playing in the back of his mind that Landon had gotten a ride home from one of his annoying friends and was just trying to piss him off. Whatever his grand scheme was, it was working.

"Oh wow, Chandler!" A voice yelled from behind him, as a tall dark haired man ran up behind him, "Chandler Bing! I knew it! It's me,"

"Ross! I haven't seen you since, since," Chandler thought back, "well since college!" It was his old college roommate, Ross Geller, the last person he would have ever thought to see.

"How have you been?"

"Can't complain, much," Chandler sighed, "how are things? You still married to Carol?"

"Nah, she turned out to be a lesbian, and I'm not... and apparently it's not a mix and match situation," he mumbled in a very Ross-like fashion.

Chandler winced, "oh, I'm sorry man, lesbian? That must be ruff."

Ross shrugged, "so, what are you doing here anyways?"

"I'm trying to find my brother, my mom dumped him with me a couple of years ago when she met some French guy or something." Chandler shrugged, "what about you?"

"I'm teaching here now," Ross paused, "by the way, is your brother Landon Bing?"

"How many Bing's with strange first names do you know, Ross?"

"Ah, good point."

"Well, have you seen him? He was supposed to meet me at four, but ah, I can't find him."

"Always a problem," Ross commented, "but no, I haven't seen him."

Chandler shrugged, "thanks anyways man, but I gotta run. I have to go kill him, and I better do it before five so I can make the news!"

"Hey, we should hang out sometime, you know, maybe you could come over for dinner or something at my sister's. That's what we normally do anyways."

"You hang out with your sister? That's kinda weird."

"Eh, we have a lot of the same friends, there's Kip, Phoebe, and Rachel,"

"Wait, hang on a sec, Rachel as in, Rachel Rachel?"

Ross nodded, "what? I mean, we used to date, but then we were on a break,"

"We were so not on a break Ross Geller!" A very angry looking blonde woman stormed down the hallway, hearing just the last part of their conversation.

"Ah, Rachel, so kind of you to join us," Ross tired to act as normal as possible. "This is Chandler Bing, my old roommate from college, and Chandler this is Rachel."

"Pleasure," Rachel hissed, giving Chandler a quick look before returning back to Ross. "I can't believe you won't just admit it! You cheated on me!"

"We were so on a break!"

"Were not!"

"Were too!"

"Were not!"

"Were too!"

"Look guys, I gotta run. But it was nice meeting you, Rachel, and Ross, I'll be in touch," Chandler slowly backed away from the arguing couple who really didn't seem to notice his disappearance.

With a heavy sigh, he continued on his search running through the hallways like a madman. His major problem: They all looked alike. He stopped in the middle of the hallway, looking down at his watch, 4:19. If he didn't find his brother in the next five minutes, he was probably just wasting his time.

"Excuse me, can I help you?"

"What?" Chandler whirled around to see a rather attractive brunette woman standing behind him, a holding a pile of papers in her hand.

"You look kinda lost, is there anything I can do to help?" She repeated herself.

Chandler smiled, "I'm looking for a student, Landon Bing. He was supposed to meet me outside at four, but he's not there and I think me might be kinda mad at me for, well you know, breathing, but I'm getting kinda ticked here."

"Oh," the woman exclaimed, "I'm so sorry, this is my fault! Hi, I'm one of his teachers, you can just call me Monica, but I caught him in the hallway and him and some of his friends were helping me out!" She said at about a hundred miles an hour.

Chandler stood there with an amused grin on his face, "first of all, slow down, breathe," he teased. "And Landon? Willingly helping someone out?" Chandler said in disbelief, "what were you offering him?" He asked, half wanting to know and the other half making a joke. He knew very well that his little brother would never help someone out of the goodness of his heart.

Monica shrugged, "no, I just saw a bunch of them hanging out, and I asked them if they wouldn't mind helping me clean out the ovens."

"Ovens?"

"I teach a cooking class," she explained.

"Oh, well that would make sense," Chandler said uncomfortably. "So are they still in there, I take it?"

"Well no, actually, they just left."

"Oh, well then. I probably should get going then," Chandler mumbled, not really wanting to leave. There was something about this girl, something special. Not to mention she was hot.

"Right."

"I guess I'll see you at the conferences tonight," he tired to make small talk with her.

"Yea, I'll be looking for you." She flashed him another dazzling smile.

"By the way, my name's Chandler," he held out his hand, finally introducing himself. She smiled, taking his hand and shaking it.

"It's nice to meet you, Chandler."

"You too."

"Come on, man! We've been out there like fifteen minutes waiting for you!" Joey ran down the hallway towards him, Landon in tow. He walked up besides Chandler, noticing the pretty brunette he was talking to. "Hey how you doin'?"

Monica smiled, "I'm fine, thanks. Well, you better run, Chandler, it was nice meeting you though." She turned and walked back down the hallway, towards her classroom.

"You too, Monica," Chandler called after her retreating figure.

Joey smirked, "dude!"

"Dude what? I was just talking with one of Landon's teachers, she was telling me why he was so late."

"You like my teacher!" Landon teased, "that's hilarious!"

"I do not!"

"Do too!"

"Oh my god, I'm not doing that."

"Are too!"

Well I've been working on this story just on my computer and I figured why not just post it? I haven't had the pleasure of having four in-progress fics at once before! lol.

Anyways, feedback would be agian appericated a lot (again), because well, yeah, it just always is.