A/n: All different episodes are incorporated into this fic, and it starts with a scene from TOW the Flashback. And then The Pilot. Bare with me. There will be lots of flashbacks in this fic. I hope.

Another feeble attempt at a Chandler/Rachel fic. I seem to be stuck on the first one, so I thought that maybe writing a new one would help get rid of my writer's block. I hope you all enjoy this as much as you did the last one, and please..if you have any suggestions, by all means, let me know.

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, they are the property of Bright, Kauffman, Crane and NBC. I just like playing with them.

Prologue

It was 1993. Twenty-three year old Rachel Green had just graduated from college, and now she was engaged, to a doctor, no less. Barry Farber. He was an orthodontist; Rachel had met him her junior year of college and they had been inseparable since. On the surface, she appeared happy. Inside, she was screaming. She knew he had cheated on her at least three times since they'd been together, but because her being with him made her parents happy, she stayed with him, no matter how much it tore her up inside. Growing up in Long Island, she had learned a thing or two about how to act like a "lady." All she had to do was smile and nod, and she could get anything she wanted.

On this particular night, her friends Joanne and Kiki decided they wanted to do something fun for a change, and after fifteen minutes of prodding and begging, they convinced her to go out with them. The three women piled into Rachel's car and drove to Greenwich Village, a place Rachel hadn't been since high school. Her best friend from high school, Monica Geller, still lived there, last she'd heard. She and Monica had drifted apart after their sophomore year of college, and until now Monica had never crossed her mind. Pulling into a parking space behind a bar, memories of her happy childhood flooded back, and she smiled faintly, before being snapped back to reality by her friends' screeching at her to get out of the car.

It was the last week the bar was going to be open, so it was packed. Monica had heard from the owner that it was going to be turned into a coffee shop. This caused her and her friends (who all lived upstairs) to wonder where exactly they were going to hang out now. Rachel walked into the bar with her friends, not seeing Monica and a dark-haired man standing by the pool table. Monica hadn't noticed her, either.

"Oh, look," Monica said to Chandler Bing, her dark-haired companion, "the pool table's free. Rack 'em up. I'll be back in a minute. Get ready for me to whip your butt." Chandler smirked at her.

"Okay, but after that, we're shootin' some pool," he quipped, and she just laughed as she made her way to the bathroom. Chandler had always been a sarcastic guy, for as long as they'd all known him. He was her brother Ross' roommate in college, and after Monica and Rachel had their falling-out, he and Monica became best friends. As he chalked up his pool cue, he overheard the conversation of three women, one of them stunningly gorgeous, sitting at the next table.

"Well," Joanne began, raising her glass, "I would like to propose a toast to the woman who, in one year from today, will become Mrs. Doctor Barry Farber, DDS." Rachel grinned and held out her hand.

"I think it's time to see the ring again," she said, and the three of them screamed, now holding Chandler's attention even more.

"Oh, isn't it exciting?" Kiki chimed in. "I mean, it's like having a boyfriend for life!" Rachel's smile fell.

"Yeah, I know..." she said, glancing down at the table.

"What?" Joanne asked. Rachel sighed.

"Oh, I don't know," Rachel replied. "I guess it's just the idea of Barry for the rest...of my life. I don't know...I feel like I need to have one last fling, you know? To get it out of my system." Chandler's ears perked, and he didn't even notice when Monica came back.

"Rachel, stop!" Joanne said, shocked to hear this sort of thing come from Rachel.

"You're so bad!" Kiki giggled.

"I'm serious!" Rachel said. "I really, I think I need to just have some...meaningless sex...with the next guy I see." Seeing this as his opportunity to make a move, Chandler flung the white cueball in the direction of the table, startling the women and causing Rachel to look up. Chandler sauntered over, a silly smirk on his face, and picked up the ball.

"I, uh, I seem to have dropped my ball," he said, showing it to her. She just stared at him in disbelief.

"Yeah, so?" Not expecting this, Chandler floundered for a moment before clearing his throat.

"And...now I've picked it up again," he said, walking back to Monica, who saw who he was attempting to hit on.

"Oh, my God, I went to high school with her," Monica said. "Rachel! Rachel Green!" Rachel turned. Monica waved. "Hi!" Rachel nearly squealed as she got up to greet her old friend.

"Monica!" she exclaimed, holding up her ring finger to show Monica her engagement ring, before getting up to hug her. "Monica, look! Hi! What do you think?" Monica studied the ring intently.

"Wow! You can't even see where the Titanic hit it!" Rachel chuckled. They talked for a few minutes before Rachel left to get back to her friends, and then she left the building. Monica had said something to Chandler about how she'd probably never see Rachel again in her life, and then decided to go home herself.

"Yeah, I'm just going to hang around for a bit longer," Chandler said. "See if maybe Mike'll give me some free booze." Monica grinned and hugged him goodnight.

"Well, okay," she said. "See you tomorrow?"

"Sure thing," he replied, grinning. Monica smiled, and then left, walking upstairs.

Back in the car, Rachel couldn't get Chandler out of her head. She didn't know his name, but she just kept thinking about him. She was thinking so much about him that she missed her exit. After getting back on the freeway and dropping her friends off at home, she made a quick decision and drove back to the bar, not expecting him to be there, but she thought that if she didn't take this chance, it would never present itself again.

The door to the bar opened, and she was standing there. Chandler couldn't believe his eyes; was this really happening? Slowly, Rachel entered the room and closed the door behind her, walking towards him. He set his drink on the bar and walked toward her, a smile pasted on his face.

"I can't believe you came back," he said. She smirked.

"Don't say anything," she said, inching toward him, her heart beating hard and fast in her chest. She'd never done something like this before. "I don't want to speak, I don't want to think, I just want you to take me and kiss me and make love to me right here, right now." And with that she hit the jukebox with her fist, as The Byrd's "Time of the Season" began to play. Chandler's hands slipped around her waist and he kissed her slowly, hesitantly, as her hands slipped around his neck, pulling her toward him and deepening the kiss. He lifted her up by her waist and carried her over to the pool table, laying her down on it, as her legs wrapped around his waist.

Skip forward one year.

Monica, Chandler, Ross, Joey, and Phoebe were all sitting around Central Perk, their normal hangout ever since the bar closed down the previous year. Ross's wife had just revealed to him that she was a lesbian, and the divorce had been messy. The four friends were trying their best to comfort him.

"I'll be fine, alright?" Ross snapped. "Really, everyone. I hope she'll be very happy."

"No, you don't," Monica said.

"No, I don't, to hell with her, she left me!" Ross said, sighing dejectedly and leaning his head against the back of the orange couch. Joey chimed in.

"And you never knew she was a lesbian?" he asked. There was a pause before Ross snapped again.

"No, okay! She didn't know, how should I know?"

"Sometimes I wish I was a lesbian..." Chandler said, seemingly out of nowhere. The group stared at him. He looked up. "..Did I say that out loud?" Joey shook his head and looked at Ross.

"Alright, Ross, look," he began. "You're feeling a lot of pain right now. You're angry. You're hurtin'. Can I tell you what the answer is?" He waited for Ross to nod before continuing. "Strip joint! C'mon, you're single! Have some hormones!" The others shook their heads, except for Phoebe, who was touched by Joey's attempt to give advice. She smiled. Ross sighed.

"But I don't want to be single," Ross said. "I just..I just want to be married again." At that moment, a very wet Rachel Green came bursting in the door, wearing a wedding dress. The entire group, as well as the entire restaurant, turned to look at her as she ran for the counter. Monica followed.

"And I just want a million dolllars!" Chandler quipped, gesturing toward the door. He hadn't noticed who it was that had just come through the door, and it didn't hit him until...

"Rachel?!" Monica said, coming up behind her. Chandler's heart leapt into his throat.