A/N: It took me a while, but I finally decided to type one of my ideas out, instead of keeping it in some notebook, and post it on this site. A year ago when I started reading fanfiction, I would have never thought this would happen.
This is a Randler-friendship fic. It's canon, so you Mondler and Lobsters lovers have nothing to worry about. I just love the friendship these two have and all their moments on the show, which are not many. The first fanfic I read, by accident, was a Randler-friendship story. And since then I haven't been able to say goodbye to this site. And that's why I wanted my first story here to be one about these two.
One last thing before the story starts: my first language isn't English. So there will probably be some grammatical and spelling errors. Sorry in advance for that.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters. I only own a DVD box with all the complete episodes :)
The One With The Sleepover
After three long days of traveling, of which half was spent in the air, two planes, too many annoying non-English speaking fellow travelers and barely any sleep, Chandler finally made it over the threshold of apartment 20. And he thought Brooklyn was far. Compared to Yemen, Brooklyn was just a walk to the supermarket.
It's was around 2 a.m. and he was actually glad to see that the only light in the apartment was coming from the streets outside. Meaning his friends were all asleep. Which he was thankful for. He loved his friends, he really did, but right now he didn't have the energy for their excitement. Asking what he had experienced and making fun of him for the ridiculousness of the situation he had gotten himself into. Phoebe would probably write a number one hit about it, while Monica would insist on immediately unpacking his stuff. That all would have to wait until tomorrow when the rest of his belongings would also arrive. He could already see the excitement in Monica's eyes for putting her in charge of reorganizing his stuff.
Right now he just wanted to sleep and therefore didn't bother to turn on the lights, instead immediately heading toward his bedroom, dragging his duffle bag along. As much as he wanted to sleep for the next twenty-four hours, he did have to go to work tomorrow. Apparently, the people at his company don't like it when you go to a foreign country to escape your ex-girlfriend and don't appear at work for two days. So much for sympathy. Like the company would go bankrupt without him there.
Crossing the living room, he was glad to notice that the boys' furniture was still there. That the girls hadn't convinced Joey to switch back, by offering him Knicks tickets or something. Chandler knew it didn't take much to persuade Joey.
Speaking of Joey, he noticed that his bedroom door was still open, meaning he was staying at his one-night stand's place. The one time Joey has the whole apartment for himself, he decides to crash somewhere else. Probably because he thought Chandler wouldn't be there in the morning to tell the girl Joey was a loner. Now Joey had to sneak out very early, to prevent talking to her.
Finally, making it into his room, he abandoned his bag in a corner, soon followed by his jacket and his other clothing, leaving him in only his boxers, clothes scattered on the floor. Again very grateful Monica wasn't there to disapprove of his sloppiness.
His eyes half closed and his mind already in a wonderful dream that didn't include Yemen or ex-girlfriends, he walked over to the right side of the bed and sat down at the edge, loosening his watch. Chandler placed his watch on the nightstand, set his alarm and closed his eyes.
Finally, he could lay down on a bed. Not on an airplane seat sandwiched by two fat sheiks and not on an uncomfortable plastic chair at the airport. He could fall asleep sitting like this. He knew he would regret it in the morning or even after a few seconds when his head would meet the floor. But for now, it felt like the best thing in the world.
Slowly he let himself fall backward-
"Aaahhh!"
Chandler jumped up, startled, now wide awake. He stood next to his bed staring at the person in his bed.
"What are you doing here?'
"I should ask you the same."
"Well, this is my bedroom," he answered, gesturing with his hands around him. "And don't answer a question with a question. Why are you here?"
"Why are you naked?"
"Now you're doing it again! And I am not naked!" Chandler gestured toward his boxers. "Just toss me the T-shirt that's under that pillow." The shirt was tossed toward him and he quickly pulled it over his head, still not receiving an answer. "What are you doing in my bedroom?"
"Well, actually it is-"
"Rach?!" Chandler prompted, now annoyed.
Rachel sighed, still laying under the covers and finally answered the simple question. "Well, Phoebe is staying at our place on the couch and that's where I normally sleep since Joey's old room has this really weird smell. So I needed another place to sleep and that's why I'm here."
Chandler still looked at her confused. "Then why again my bedroom. We also have a couch, two Barcaloungers and, you know, Monica has also a bed made for two people…," he finished with a wink.
"Ugh, seriously Chandler, what is the matter with you?"
Chandler let his shoulders drop. "Let's not go down that road."
"And to answer your earlier question, your furniture isn't really that comfortable, I don't even want to enter Joey's room and this just used to be my room."
"Fine." He walked over to the right side of the bed and waved his hands. "Move over."
"What?" Rachel asked, her eyes half open.
"Move over," he repeated simply. "This is my side of the bed."
Rachel didn't move. "No, the other side is cold and besides, I was here first."
"But this is my bed in my bedroom, so move over or I will spoon you," he threatened.
She eyed him doubtfully. "No, you wouldn't do that. You hate cuddly-sleeping."
"And that's where you are wrong, my friend," he responded as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "See, Janice was a very restless sleeper. And with cuddling, she kept me awake. With Kathy, however, there weren't any problems, because she didn't kick in her sleep. But I don't know about you since we've never shared a bed before." Chandler moved the sheet and before Rachel could move, he lay next to her and wrapped his arms around her, keeping her flushed against his body. "But tonight we could find out," he whispered in her ear.
"Let me go!" she demanded, trying to struggle free from his embrace.
"I thought you were a 'cuddly-sleeper'?" he mocked, not letting go of her.
"I only cuddle with my boyfriends," she sighed, "and this isn't what I call cuddling. You practically have a death grip on me." She struggled some more, only making Chandler laugh. "Since when are you so strong?"
"Well, I thought I'd better use my membership of the gym."
She studied his face, chuckling at how ridiculous the idea was. "Liar."
"Okay, maybe I've only been to the gym twice and you're just really weak," he admitted.
"Hey! I am not that weak! And will you let me go, please?" she pouted.
"Wow, a hot girl begging in my bed," he said proudly.
"Chandler!" she raised her voice, growing impatient.
Chandler's grin only grew more. "And screaming my name," he said dreamily, "this is the best thing that happened to me since Kathy."
"Now let me go or I will kick you," Rachel threatened.
Chandler inhaled deeply. "Fine, if you want to sleep on the cold side of the bed without my protective arms, it is your choice."
"Thank you." Rachel, however, didn't move far. Just far enough so their bodies weren't touching anymore.
Chandler tilted his head, resting it on his hand as he looked down at her, grin planted on his face. "Didn't feel like laying down on the cold side, huh? Wanted to stay close to the warmth of my body. It's a dangerous territory you are in now, within my arms reach," he said, faking seriousness, lowering his voice.
Rachel just rolled her eyes, used to Chandler and his craziness. "I just happen to trust you."
He imitated the sound of a buzzer and said: "Wrong choice!" And he attacked her sides with his hands, tickling her, making her squirm and laugh uncontrollably. Laughing along with her, his much-needed sleep was long-forgotten. This was way more enjoyable than sleeping.
Apparently, Rachel knew that he was ticklish too, probably even more, because she fought back, finding the spots that made him double over. with laughter. Within seconds she had pinned his hands over his head, as she sat on top of him.
She had a devilish smile on her face. "Who is the stronger one now, huh?"
Rachel's triumph was only temporarily, as Chandler flipped them over. "That would be me!" he answered smugly.
With one hand he had her hands pinned over her head, while the other still skimmed over her ticklish parts, both still laughing.
"It surprises me that no one has come in yet, checking where all the noises are coming from," Rachel wondered out loud.
Chandler shrugged, stopping with his teasing. "Nah, they probably just think Joey is having a lady friend over, so they don't even consider it."
She nodded in agreement, suddenly a thought popped into her head. "Imagine they would walk in on us right now…," she left it open for Chandler to finish.
"Yeah, I don't think I will come out of this bedroom alive. Having Ross killed me before we could even explain the situation," he finished serious, while Rachel laughed. "Why are you laughing? Do you not want me in your life anymore?"
"No, honey, my life would be miserable without you," she replied, feigning seriousness, to which Chandler just stuck his tongue out. "I was just picturing Ross as a criminal, trying to kill you, with a panty over his head and all. And his weapon would be boring people to death with dinosaur stories." To that, they both chuckled.
"But could you blame him, really, for killing me. Look in what kind of position his best friend and his ex-girlfriend are," he said gesturing with his free hand between the two of them.
"It is pretty misleading."
Chandler got a mischievous look on his face, his voice very low all of a sudden. "I mean, I could easily take advantage of you, right now." He leaned down, scaring Rachel.
"Cha-Chandler what are you doing?" she stuttered as he looked directly into her eyes. But before she could really start to panic, his lips landed on her forehead and she sighed a breath of relief.
Finally, Chandler let go of her and plopped down beside her, laying on his side, laughing again.
"Would you stop laughing. That was not funny!"
"I would have to disagree. In fact, it was hilarious." Rachel just kept glaring at his smiling face, so he changed the subject. "So, what happened around here, when I was gone? Did you all miss me?" He asked, hopefully.
"Oh, you know, it was like you were never gone. It was a lot quieter, though," she replied with a shrug. Now she was the one grinning. But before he could reply, she continued, now serious. "Monica finally let go of the light switch and rearranged her bedroom, creating more space. She succeeded, although she sleeps in a ball on the floor now. Joey went on dates and stole our food, to put it in his fridge, as usual. And Ross spent his time with that English bimbo," she finished, irritated.
"So, I guess you don't like Emily?" Chandler teased.
Rachel nodded. "And neither do you," she stated, pointing a finger at him.
"And why is that? I have barely met her," he frowned.
"Because everybody already likes her and I have to at least have somebody on my side."
"Okay," he answered, hesitantly. "So, what did you do the last few days, except starting an 'I hate Emily' club?
"Do you think I am obsessed with them?!" she demanded, pointing a finger at him. "That I am not over Ross?!"
Chandler sank into his mattress, startled by Rachel's sudden change of tone. "N-no…," he managed to stutter.
"Because let me tell you, I am over him!" she rambled on, oblivious to Chandler's discomfort. "Besides I happen to like Joshua," she ended in a dreamy voice, making Chandler calm down.
"Isn't the guy married?"
"He is getting divorced," she defended.
"Well, can I give you a piece of advice?" he asked as he made himself comfortable under the covers, as his eyes were pleading him to be closed.
"Oh, no no no," she replied fast, "I am not taking advice from you because you can't give advice. In fact, you are not even allowed to talk to people."
"And yet, somehow, we are talking to each other right now." He only received a glare from her. "But I'm going to say something anyway. If you two get together, please don't rush your relationship. Because there is a possibility that he will go back to his ex."
Rachel shook her head. "No, I heard his story, they're definitely broken up. I know you mean well, honey, but that won't happen."
Chandler sighed. "I'm just warning you. That what I also thought with Janice and we all know how that ended."
"Thank you," she said with a sympathetic smile, after a few seconds of silence.
"See, I'm not at all bad at the advice giving thing, huh?" Chandler stated proudly.
"Only when you've gone through something similar, otherwise you still suck at it."
Chandler was about to argue with that but realized that she was right and he was too tired to continue this discussion. "Yeah," he admitted as he pulled the blanket over Rachel, so only her head was visible. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm tired and I'm going to catch a couple of hours of sleep before I have to be back at work again. And I'm pretty sure you need your beauty sleep too, to be able to seduce Joshua at work tomorrow. So, goodnight," he finished as he made himself comfortable in bed yet again.
"Wait, are you going to let me sleep here? You're not going to kick me out?" she asked, confused.
He didn't mind opening his eyes as he answered. "No, because first, I am too tired, and second, Joey will never make me hear the end of the story where I kicked you out of my bed. Now, shhh."
"Night," Rachel repeated, her own eyes closing, but only for a second. "But, you haven't told me about your trip yet."
Chandler sighed again, opening his eyes again. "No, I haven't and I'm not gonna. So, will you please just go to sleep, or I will take advantage of you and give you and your toes some good lovin'."
"My toes?"
"Oh, yes, that's right, I remember stuff," he said with a teasing smile, only making her blush.
"Okay, but then you have to tell me at lunch tomorrow."
"Fine," he conceded, "but I'm not promising I will be conscious."
"I'll take the risk." Rachel finally laid back down. "Goodnight."
"Night, Rach."
Signs of the morning were making its present. Even with his eyes closed, he sensed that it wasn't dark in his room. Maybe he had forgotten to close the curtains. Another sign of the morning was the annoying sound coming from his alarm and its built-in poking device, poking his shoulder.
No, that wasn't right. He opened his eyes to find Rachel sitting on his bed, poking him and harshly whispering to him to wake up. He wouldn't be surprised if she had opened the curtains too.
He glanced at his other side to look at his alarm, telling him he could have had three more minutes of sleep if he had just kicked Rachel out of bed earlier.
After turning his alarm off, he slowly turned back to Rachel, sitting up a little. "What could possibly be so important that it couldn't wait three more minutes?"
Rachel looked at him confused before shaking her head, choosing to ignore him. "They are all there," she stated, eyes wide as her hand gestured in the direction of the door.
"Who?" he asked while rubbing his eyes.
"Our friends!" she hissed, annoyed.
"After three and a half years of living here, you should have noticed that we eat breakfast together, like, always."
Rachel just threw him an annoyed look. "What are we going to do?!"
"Join them?" he asked sheepishly, getting out of bed and pulling on his bathrobe.
"No, you idiot! They can't see us coming out of this bedroom together!"
"Ah, nothing is better than to start the day with an ego boost," he muttered, looking for some clothes that he had left in his closet, which were not many.
"Chandler!" she hissed again, having a hard time to keep quiet.
He stood still by his door with a hand on the handle. "Look, why don't you think of a solution, while I take a quick shower. I don't have much time since I have to turn in for work a bit earlier today because I have to catch up with some work."
Before she could reply he was out of the door and greeted his oblivious friends.
"So, did you come up with something?" Chandler asked when he returned dressed and ready for work.
Rachel looked up. "Yes!" she exclaimed excitedly. "What if-"
"Yeah, I have a better idea," Chandler interrupted her as he sat down at the edge of the bed, putting his shoes on. "We can just go in there together. They are all there, so Ross won't be able to kill me with all these witnesses. We'll be fine."
"You haven't even heard my plan," she replied, annoyed. She clearly wasn't a morning person. "Besides, your idea is humiliating."
"You're are just full of compliments in the morning, aren't you?" he replied sarcastically as he stood up, grabbed her hand and pulled her off the bed. "Come on, it'll be fun," he said with a smile on his face as he dragged a slightly protesting Rachel toward the door.
Upon opening the door, five faces looked up from their positions in the apartment, each of them showing different reactions. Chandler saw in the corner of his eye that Rachel was smiling now too, also amused by the effect of them walking out of a room, hand in hand, had on their friends.
"Yeah, baby!" Joey was the first to react, apparently very proud of his roommate.
"I knew it!" Phoebe exclaimed, who was sitting next to Joey on the couch.
"Huh?" Chandler asked confused.
Phoebe sighed before she began explaining. "Yesterday my tarot cards predicted that sometime in the next half year, two of my friends would start a great romantic adventure. I never thought it would happen so soon though. Besides, it was so obvious," she dismissed, rolling her eyes.
Chandler and Rachel briefly glanced at each other, confused. "What?" Rachel asked.
"Oh, come on. Did you really expect me to believe that you two went to a beauty parlor together?" she asked unbelievably. "You went on a date!" she exclaimed matter-of-factly.
"So, did you sleep together?" Joey said before somebody else could say something. "How was it?" he asked with a dirty smile, always the one to want to know everything about this subject.
"Yes, we slept together," Chandler explained, enjoying the misinterpretation. "I'm still a little tired," he said as he yawned.
"Yeah, baby!" Joey repeated once again, the biggest smile on his face. While Chandler received a smack on the arm from Rachel.
"Oh!" Phoebe exclaimed excitedly, as suddenly an idea came up. "We have to have a girls' night in! I want to know everything!"
"I didn't even you know you liked him?" Monica finally came out of her shock, ignoring Phoebe. She seemed somewhat upset, defeated. Chandler couldn't understand why. "Since when?"
"Since she saw me half naked, handcuffed in her boss' office," Chandler said in all seriousness. "And before she had those dream about me…"
"Chandler!" Rachel hit him again, but she was grinning, just like him. It certainly was fun.
"So, are you two dating?" The attention was drawn to Ross, who sat next to a relieved and happy looking Emily. Ross, however, finally managed to stop his openmouthed fish impression. He was still shocked though, but at least he could speak again.
"No, we are not dating," Rachel spoke softly.
"So, you just have sex from time to time?" Ross replied angrily, as he stood up, taking a step closer to them. Chandler and Rachel stepped backward, still holding hands. As Ross took another step, Chandler wondered when the next flight to Yemen was, to escape Ross. Maybe Rachel would want to come too. That would make Yemen a lot more bearable.
"Nor are we having sex," Rachel clarified. "We just slept in the same bed together last night. I couldn't sleep in Joey's room and the couch was already occupied, so I went to my old room. When Chandler came in, I was too comfortable to move and he was too tired from barely having any sleep the last few days to kick me out." How fast the expressions of the people in the kitchen changed, was a real miracle to see. The smile on Emily's face faded, while the Gellers looked relieved. Chandler once again wasn't able to decipher the meaning behind Monica's expression. Was she jealous? No, that couldn't be it, right?
Nobody spoke for few moments, so Chandler chose to break the silence. "As much fun as this was, I have to go to work. I don't have time to eat breakfast. I'll grab something at work," he said as he headed for the door. A chorus of goodbyes followed.
"I'll see you at lunch," Rachel reminded him as he stood with one foot out of the door.
"I'll pick you up," he said with a smile. And again five people were looking back and forth between them like they had heard the most unbelievable thing ever. He wasn't really surprised that no one knew they had lunch together at least three times in a week.
"Do you have a lunch date with each other?" Ross said, stunned. No, he wasn't happy anymore.
Well, at least Chandler stood by the door now, so he could escape easily. And that's what he decided to do. "Bye," he said quickly and left the apartment. He could hear all the questions being bombarded at Rachel and he knew for sure she would say something about it at lunch. But right now he didn't feel guilty for her. It was her own fault. She was the one who dragged him to the beauty parlor, after all.