Author's Note: The title of this story is a lyric from 'Jack and Diane' by John Mellencamp. Great song, go listen to it if you haven't yet! The lyric I took is from the chorus, "Oh yeah, life goes on/long after the thrill of living is gone", and it is fitting for this situation because Chandler's life has lost part of its "thrill" after Joey leaves, but it still goes on and he needs to accept it. This is also my first multi-chapter fic. I'm not sure how many it will end up being. Give it a try… here goes!
Joey was gone. He was actually gone. For good this time, not like when he moved out and Eddie moved in. That was short, and he came back. But this time, he was actually gone. Chandler was having a hard time accepting that; his best friend in the entire world had just moved to Toronto because his girlfriend accidentally got pregnant and he needed to be with her. Chandler had worried about things like fighting with Joey, or even thought about when they would go their separate ways. He knew the day would come, but he didn't want it to be like this. Living without Joey was lifeless and depressing. The group wasn't the same with a member missing, everybody agreed on that, but Chandler took it the worst. Joey was his best friend! The person that helped him through everything, in his own little ways. But now he was gone. Most likely for good. It had been a week since he had left now, and Chandler still hadn't left the apartment. The others wanted to help, but there wasn't much that could be done.
The door opened, and Monica and Phoebe walked in.
"Hey Chandler, once Joey's all settled in at his new place we were all gonna take a road trip and go up to visit him. Sound like fun?" Monica asked him with fake enthusiasm. The others had agreed it might make him feel better to see how Joey was doing.
"I need to work." Was Chandler's quiet answer, during which he didn't look up from staring at his feet. Monica looked at Phoebe, who shrugged and looked back at Chandler.
"We'll let you know when we know more about the trip, okay?" Monica called out as she and Phoebe left the apartment. Chandler gave a half-hearted wave of the beer bottle in his hand in acknowledgement.
Out in the hall, Phoebe and Monica conferred with Ross and Rachel, who had been waiting outside. "Still no signs of improvement," Monica told them. "I'm not sure what else we can do…" Rachel took her by the arm and led her back into their apartment.
The days came and went, but Chandler drifted through them all in a kind of a daze, losing all track of when one day ended and another started. One night, he woke up around three a.m. and heard footsteps in the apartment. He jumped to his feet as fast as he could and rushed out into the apartment.
"Joe?" He called out. But it wasn't Joey; it was just Rachel coming to use his bathroom because hers was occupied. Rachel's heart nearly broke at Chandler's crestfallen face when she realized who it was.
"Chandler –" She moved forward to give him a hug, but Chandler just walked back to his bedroom, trying not to show his hurt. But he wasn't fooling Rachel. Her forehead creased as she returned to her own apartment, wondering what there was she could do to help him.
The weekend of the road trip came and went, and Chandler didn't go with them. They couldn't force him. Joey was very hurt when the others showed up without Chandler, but there was nothing they could do. While they were in Toronto, seeing Joey's new life, Chandler sat at home with the chick and the duck, who sat on the floor doing nothing.
"I know, you miss him too, huh? But he has a new chick now. Nothing we can do." He picked up the chick and cuddled it into his chest as the duck began quacking with jealousy. "Alright, fine, get in here." He picked up the duck too, and sat there like that for a few minutes until he realized how sad this was and turned on the TV. Baywatch was on. This just made him even sadder as he realized he couldn't bond with Joey over Baywatch anymore; Joey was probably too busy to even call during it. Just then the phone rang…
Author's Note: Hope you guys liked that, the next chapter will be up shortly, probably even today! It's summer break so I have time on my hands, and I have many ideas so I'll be posting other stories too.