TOW The Plan Went Wrong
What if Monica hadn't been in the apartment and proposed to Chandler during the Finale? What would have happened? Here's our version:
We love feedback so would greatly appreciate it if you could get back to us at matt_deserves_an_emmy@hotmail.com
"I'm so sorry man," Joey said. Chandler walked dejectedly into his apartment and silently made his way to the bedroom. "Its over, isn't it?" He said, his hands resting either side of the bedroom door and his head down. "She didn't say that Chandler. Maybe she just needs to think things through, then she'll come back and everything will be ok" Joey said this, as much in hope than anything else. Chandler sighed, already resigned to the fact that he had lost the only thing in the world that mattered to him. "Let's look at this Joe. Who would you want to be with? A doctor with a moustache who wants to marry you and have kids or some stupid jerk who has spent the last two weeks convincing you that he hates marriage?" "Look man, Mon loves you. You'll work this out - you just need to go to her parents and tell her the truth" Joey looked at Chandler, who turned around slowly. When Joey saw his face, Chandler had tears in his eyes. "You tried to tell her and she didn't believe you. Why should she believe me?" Joey walked over to Chandler who had his head in his hands. "Because she loves you," he said simply. "Not enough, though. She doesn't love me more than her fantasy of getting married to the perfect guy or having Kids. To her I'm not her perfect guy, I'm a compromise" Joey was shocked at what he just heard "that's rubbish Chandler. She loves you more than anyone I've ever seen" "More than Richard?" Chandler said immediately. Joey was silent, he didn't know what to say to try and convince him that he was the perfect guy, but Chandler continued "you see, that's the problem. With Richard she was truly happy, He was her perfect guy until the whole baby thing came up. Then there was me, some guy who she does love on some level but she's always been looking for some thing else, something more that I've been too afraid to give her. Whatever I do, she will never be truly happy with me but she can be with him". Joey looked directly into Chandler's eyes that were red with tears "You sound like you are making excuses for this to end". Chandler looked back at him and said quietly "All I want is for her to be happy, with...or without me" Chandler walked back towards the bedroom quickly and pulled out a suitcase. Joey stood at the door "what are you doing?" "What does it look like? I'm leaving" "wha...wh...Why?" Joey suddenly realised the consequences of the past few days. Chandler spoke slowly and quietly, as though he was whispering "Because I can't be around her if we aren't together - I can't see her get married to someone else, see another man kiss her and have children with her. I just can't" Joey reasoned with him, although inside he was panicking at losing his best friend "that's not true. Look at Ross and Rachel - they got through it and they're alright." Chandler looked at the floor, carrying his hurriedly packed case and answered "But I'm not Ross or Rachel...I'm me... and that's the problem" Chandler walked over to the door. Just before he turned the handle, he stopped and looked back. "I'm sorry" Joey now understood that Chandler was serious about going and not just blowing hot air "But you can't go, what about...the chick and the duck?" he said out of desperation. "You look after them for me, they seem to prefer you to me anyway" Chandler smiled weakly. "Well where are you going? I'm not going to let you leave me without telling me where you'll be" "I don't know Joe. Let me just work things out and I'll call you in a few days ok?" By this point, Joey was crying but noticed something in Chandler's right hand "Is that your passport?" Chandler looked at it then back at Joey "As I said, I don't know. Look man, I'm sorry you got caught up in all of this. Thanks for trying" and with that Chandler left, leaving Joey standing in the middle of the apartment alone.
Chandler was crying as he walked down the apartment steps. In the space of an hour he had lost the two most important things in his life - his girlfriend who he had thought was his soul-mate and his best friend who he had grown to consider more of the brother he never had. It was true what he had told Joey, he felt that he couldn't compete with Richard in Monica's affections. It was also true that he didn't have a clue what he was going to do next. Unlike the rest of the gang, his entire life was wrapped up in New York and in them - he didn't have a family to confide in and he didn't care about his job at all. His friends were the nearest things that he ever had to having a family and he had just lost all of that. Once again, he was on his own. He reached the apartment door and walked through it for what he believed would be the last time. He walked down the street in Greenwich Village and hailed a cab.
Joey sat, doing nothing, on the couch in the apartment. It had been an hour since Chandler had left and he still couldn't comprehend what had happened. He heard footsteps outside the door and the handle began to turn slowly. He stood up immediately hoping that Chandler had changed his mind and come back, that he would say that it had all been a big mistake, that things would return to normal. But it was only Phoebe. "Hey Joey, what ya doing?" she said brightly. Joey didn't say anything, he couldn't. Phoebe noticed that he had been crying. "Oh my god, What's happened?" Joey swallowed, "Chandler's gone". Phoebe visibly relaxed "Oh big woo-hooey, don't tell me he's actually gone to work for once. I'm telling you..." "No, I mean he's gone, he's left for good" Joey cut through Phoebes words, as his own voice started to break with tears. Phoebe looked shocked "What are you talking about?" "He's packed all of his things and he's gone. He said that Mon would never be happy with him and that she's better off with Richard" "Richard? What's he got to do with this?" Joey sat Phoebe down and told her the whole story. It seemed unbelievable as he recounted what had happened. Phoebe looked stunned "but I mean...where's he gone?" "That's it. I don't know. He doesn't know. He said he'll call but I don't think he will" "But...he...I...they've argued before and it's never been like this" "You didn't see him Pheebs, I've never seen him like that before. He had completely given up hope of Monica ever wanting to be with him" Phoebe stared at the ground "Do you know Monica's parents number?" Joey shook his head. "It wouldn't do any good even if I did, she said that she didn't want anyone to call her" "yes, but she wasn't expecting this to happen was she? She doesn't know that Chandler knew what was going on with Richard. Quick, find her address book".
Meanwhile Chandler had reached his office block, drafted a resignation letter and given it to Doug's secretary who barely registered his presence. This was it, he thought to himself. I'm going to leave. He knew that what he was doing was stupid, impulsive and he was 100% sure that he would regret it later, but he just felt he had to get out. He walked out of the imposing, characterless tower block where he considered that he had wasted his life for 10 years and started to wander down the street. As he walked, it dawned on him just what his actions would mean; that he had no friends, no-where to sleep, and nothing to live for. He reached the George Washington Bridge and then it struck him just how far and for how long he had been walking. He felt cold as he had forgotten in the rush to leave to take his coat - this made him think of the way he left Joey, and he regretted not saying more to explain and not saying good bye. As he began walking by the side of the road, the icy wind blew sharply in his face, nearly knocking him backward into the oncoming surge of traffic. He stopped and looked down at the Hudson below, its great swirling waters seemed like they were dancing and inviting him to join in. He forgot how freezing he felt as he concentrated on watching the water below. Suddenly he understood why so many people threw themselves off bridges just to end it all. Before all this happened he thought that people who killed themselves were cowards unable to face up to the world, but here he was feeling the same sense of despondency and heartache that lead them to it. He couldn't think of any way out of this - he wanted something to stop the pain he was feeling and he couldn't yet see a time when he would move on and get over it, and in a funny way, he didn't want to get over it, not yet. Without knowing what to do, he just stood there thinking...
Monica climbed the stairs to the apartment. She felt a little annoyed at Phoebe for calling her back "urgently" and not telling her what it was about. But more importantly, she still felt confused about Chandler. It wasn't that she ever seriously considered Richard's proposal, but her problem lay in where her relationship with Chandler was going. She wanted to be his wife, she wanted him to be the father of her children, but he obviously didn't want the same thing. Another issue was that she couldn't understand his behaviour recently, Whenever they had talked about the future before, he had always said that he wanted the same things "when we're both ready". But now she believed that he said those things just to placate her, and that he really didn't want to commit to her for life. She needed to sort all this out in her head, and Phoebe calling didn't help. She reached the apartment door and walked in. Sitting there was the entire group minus Chandler, looking very down and worried, they looked up quickly then at each other. The apartment was in complete and tortuous silence as she took off her coat. "Hey what's going on? And where's Chandler?" Phoebe stood up "I didn't want to tell you over the phone Monica..." Phoebe hesitated, and Monica realised that something serious had happened. "Tell me what? Is it Chandler?" the group looked at each other awkwardly. "Mon, I'm not sure how to tell you this, but Chandler's gone. He's packed up his things and he left, I'm so sorry" Phoebe's words stung in Monica's ears. "Wha...what do you mean? He couldn't have left, where does he have to go?" Monica began dreading what the answer was going to be; "He knows about Richard" She went pale at this and blurted out "What do you mean Richard?" "He knows that Richard asked you to marry him, and he thought that you would say yes so..." "But that's ridiculous, why didn't you try and stop him?" Monica was shouting at this point, She knew that it wasn't their fault, that it was all hers, but she needed someone to blame. "Mon, I did try but he wouldn't listen, he said you would be happier with Richard, that you really loved him, I tried to tell him Mon, I really did" Joey was in tears again. Mon could tell from everyone's eyes that there was something else she didn't know. "There's something else isn't there?" She said simply, not wanting to hear the answer. Ross stood up "Look Mon, you have a right to know but Chandler made us all keep it a secret from you, but with everything that's happened..." "What? What is it?" Rachel turned around "He was going to ask you to marry him. He's been planning it for weeks, he just thought that by telling you he hated marriage, it would surprise you when he did propose" Joey continued "He was going to ask you the night that Richard walked into the restaurant, he's bought the ring and everything. He was so excited about it Mon..." Joey trailed off not sure what he was going to say next. He looked at Mon, who had closed her eyes, with tears rolling down her face "Oh my god, what have I done? Do you have any idea where he's gone?" the others shook their heads "He was really upset when he went, Monica, he just packed his suitcase straight away and went without saying good bye or anything. I know he did have his passport with him though," Joey suddenly remembered. Mon was still in shock from the whole situation "he was going to propose to me, I don't believe it, I've been so stupid, I should have just waited for him". Rachel, hating seeing Monica this upset, had a brain wave "If he took his passport, maybe he went to the airport or something, he could still be there - its difficult to get a flight without booking in the holiday season. You could go and find him, tell him how you feel" "But he's left me, what if he's realised that he doesn't love me anymore?" and with that, Mon broke down completely.
Chandler sat in the airport departure lounge, not quite remembering how he got there. He had stood on the bridge for a while and thought about a lot of things, none of which made any real sense to him. He knew that he had to try and get away for a while, just to sort out his head, to try and get through this. But he didn't have a clue where to go. In desperation, he had gone to the airport to find a last minute flight to somewhere, the destination he didn't really care about. All he wanted now was a place that he could be alone with his thoughts and figure out what to do next. He stared blankly at the ticket in his hand, a one way flight to Seattle and sighed heavily. He had never even been there and wondered why he just didn't go home and sort this out, but he knew why.
He felt angry, but it wasn't at Monica, or even Richard, which surprised him, He was angry with himself. Why didn't he just propose to Mon when he had the chance? Why did he keep putting it off until it was too late? What was he going to do now? Why was he going to Seattle in the middle of winter? He realised that he couldn't think straight, that he had so much to think about that it was sending him over the edge. As he went to the bar to get something extremely alcoholic, his flight was called. He had second thoughts about going, about leaving everything he had ever known in his adult life, but he knew that he had burned all his bridges in New York. As if he were a zombie, he gave up his ticket and bordered the flight. As the engines of his plane started up he suddenly panicked, he didn't want to leave, he wanted to sort things out with Mon, he could handle just being friends with her, it was better than losing her all together. What was he doing by going? What would it achieve? But he sadly realised that it was too late, and instead of dissecting the past, he numbly looked out into the newly fallen snow on the runway.
Unbeknown to him, the others had just arrived at JFK airport. They had bundled into two taxis and driven straight there. They weren't even sure that he would be there, but they had to try. It was their only hope of finding him again. During the journey, Monica had been crying uncontrollably into Rachel's arms, she blamed herself for everything that had happened. Rachel had done her best to comfort her, by telling her it was all one big misunderstanding and that Chandler would be at the airport waiting for her. But inside, Rachel wasn't so sure. She had watched Chandler over the past two years mature and change himself so that Monica would love him like he loved her. He was practically a different person to the boy that she had met properly nearly 6 years ago. But if it was true what Joey said, and he believed that Monica didn't want him, then she knew, from experience, the chances of him being content with a simple friendship were incredibly slim. She just hoped for Monica's, and Joey's sanity that he would be there, but the heavy feeling in her heart told her otherwise.
As soon as the cabs stopped Monica had run out into the departure lounge and looked for him, she looked at the flight board, but knowing that she didn't have a clue which flight he could be on, if at all, she started to cry all over again. Ross and Joey were looking around for tall brown-haired men in the room and asking any attendants if they had seen him, but without a picture it was impossible. They sat down heavily on the brown plastic chairs, realising that their chances of finding him were becoming smaller and smaller by the second. They sat in silence and looked on, as the girls tried to calm Monica down. Phoebe looked over to them in desperation but they shook their heads. No one said that they had seen him. Ross said quietly more to himself than anyone else "I can't believe this has happened". He knew that he should be at Monica's side through all this, but it was more complicated than that, because Chandler had practically become a brother to him as well. He was the one who had known Chandler the longest, and as he had first introduced Monica and Chandler all those years ago, he felt responsible for what had happened. He looked at Rachel who was trying to help Monica from collapsing in hysterics and thought how their story had been so much simpler than this. Through out all the banal rows and retaliations, he never felt like he would lose Rachel even as a friend, but what was happening here was different - he was about to lose one of the most important people in his life. As Ross looked through the window, he noticed that the snow was becoming heavier and that the winds were picking up, he hoped that, if Chandler was in the air right now, that he wouldn't be in danger.
Chandler had sat back in his seat as the plane took off wishing desperately that he had got off it. He knew he would regret leaving, but he didn't reckon that he would regret it quite this much. He decided not to think about the events of the past few days but rather sort out what he would do when he got there. But inevitably, his mind drifted back to Monica and the rest of his friends. He wondered whether Mon had made up her mind yet what she was going to do, despite himself, he hoped that she was going to be really happy with Richard. At least she was marrying a good man he thought; someone who loved her for herself and would take care of her forever. The thought of their wedding made him feel sick in the pit of his stomach and he put on the headphones and tried listening to some music to calm him down. The plane started to dip violently and then come back up - it did this several times and Chandler grabbed onto the seat. He hated planes at the best of times, and this wasn't the best of times by any stretch of the imagination. He closed his eyes and tried praying but all he could think of was Monica. He would give anything to be back with her right now but it was too late. The captain tannoyed the plane "Due to severe weather conditions, we have taken the decision to return to JFK airport. Please fasten your safety belts. We are doing everything to ensure that this will be a safe landing as possible. Thank you for your co-operation".
Chandler breathed a sigh of relief; he was going back to New York after all. The plane dipped a few more times and then gradually came back down to the ground. As the wheels touched the runway, Chandler felt light-headed and then nervous as he thought of the gang. What would they say to him? What would he say to Monica? He decided to sort that out when he got back home. He wondered idly whether the whole storm thing had been a sign that he should stay in New York, but he shook it off almost immediately. He put it down to pure coincidence and good luck. Luck that he hadn't had in what seemed like such a long time. He almost ran off the plane when the door opened and after waiting for his case, ran straight out to the taxi rank. He was just about to open the door when he heard a shout and looking up saw Monica run towards him. "Chandler! I thought you had gone but you're here, you're here!" Suddenly his heart lifted with hope that maybe it wasn't over and he dropped his bag and ran to her nearly slipping on the snow that had built up "Monica! What are you doing here? How did you know? Look I'm sorry..." "I came to tell you something Chandler, I turned Richard down," Chandler looked genuinely shocked to hear that, despite everything that he wanted. It had never seriously entered his head that she would turn him down. "You what? But..." "no buts. You were wrong I don't love him, I love you. You're the one who makes me happy not him. I'm so sorry for the crazy way I've been acting lately..." "No it's me, I'm the one..." They both began laughing at their insistence to apologise to each other, and then looked at each other for a long time "so, are we ok?" Monica asked after what seemed an eternity to her. "Oh I think we'll make it. It's something to tell the grandchildren after all" Monica looked at Chandler who was grinning at her and smiled back. After everything that had happened over the past couple of days, she finally felt like the luckiest woman alive.
THE END
Bonnie and Sally
What if Monica hadn't been in the apartment and proposed to Chandler during the Finale? What would have happened? Here's our version:
We love feedback so would greatly appreciate it if you could get back to us at matt_deserves_an_emmy@hotmail.com
"I'm so sorry man," Joey said. Chandler walked dejectedly into his apartment and silently made his way to the bedroom. "Its over, isn't it?" He said, his hands resting either side of the bedroom door and his head down. "She didn't say that Chandler. Maybe she just needs to think things through, then she'll come back and everything will be ok" Joey said this, as much in hope than anything else. Chandler sighed, already resigned to the fact that he had lost the only thing in the world that mattered to him. "Let's look at this Joe. Who would you want to be with? A doctor with a moustache who wants to marry you and have kids or some stupid jerk who has spent the last two weeks convincing you that he hates marriage?" "Look man, Mon loves you. You'll work this out - you just need to go to her parents and tell her the truth" Joey looked at Chandler, who turned around slowly. When Joey saw his face, Chandler had tears in his eyes. "You tried to tell her and she didn't believe you. Why should she believe me?" Joey walked over to Chandler who had his head in his hands. "Because she loves you," he said simply. "Not enough, though. She doesn't love me more than her fantasy of getting married to the perfect guy or having Kids. To her I'm not her perfect guy, I'm a compromise" Joey was shocked at what he just heard "that's rubbish Chandler. She loves you more than anyone I've ever seen" "More than Richard?" Chandler said immediately. Joey was silent, he didn't know what to say to try and convince him that he was the perfect guy, but Chandler continued "you see, that's the problem. With Richard she was truly happy, He was her perfect guy until the whole baby thing came up. Then there was me, some guy who she does love on some level but she's always been looking for some thing else, something more that I've been too afraid to give her. Whatever I do, she will never be truly happy with me but she can be with him". Joey looked directly into Chandler's eyes that were red with tears "You sound like you are making excuses for this to end". Chandler looked back at him and said quietly "All I want is for her to be happy, with...or without me" Chandler walked back towards the bedroom quickly and pulled out a suitcase. Joey stood at the door "what are you doing?" "What does it look like? I'm leaving" "wha...wh...Why?" Joey suddenly realised the consequences of the past few days. Chandler spoke slowly and quietly, as though he was whispering "Because I can't be around her if we aren't together - I can't see her get married to someone else, see another man kiss her and have children with her. I just can't" Joey reasoned with him, although inside he was panicking at losing his best friend "that's not true. Look at Ross and Rachel - they got through it and they're alright." Chandler looked at the floor, carrying his hurriedly packed case and answered "But I'm not Ross or Rachel...I'm me... and that's the problem" Chandler walked over to the door. Just before he turned the handle, he stopped and looked back. "I'm sorry" Joey now understood that Chandler was serious about going and not just blowing hot air "But you can't go, what about...the chick and the duck?" he said out of desperation. "You look after them for me, they seem to prefer you to me anyway" Chandler smiled weakly. "Well where are you going? I'm not going to let you leave me without telling me where you'll be" "I don't know Joe. Let me just work things out and I'll call you in a few days ok?" By this point, Joey was crying but noticed something in Chandler's right hand "Is that your passport?" Chandler looked at it then back at Joey "As I said, I don't know. Look man, I'm sorry you got caught up in all of this. Thanks for trying" and with that Chandler left, leaving Joey standing in the middle of the apartment alone.
Chandler was crying as he walked down the apartment steps. In the space of an hour he had lost the two most important things in his life - his girlfriend who he had thought was his soul-mate and his best friend who he had grown to consider more of the brother he never had. It was true what he had told Joey, he felt that he couldn't compete with Richard in Monica's affections. It was also true that he didn't have a clue what he was going to do next. Unlike the rest of the gang, his entire life was wrapped up in New York and in them - he didn't have a family to confide in and he didn't care about his job at all. His friends were the nearest things that he ever had to having a family and he had just lost all of that. Once again, he was on his own. He reached the apartment door and walked through it for what he believed would be the last time. He walked down the street in Greenwich Village and hailed a cab.
Joey sat, doing nothing, on the couch in the apartment. It had been an hour since Chandler had left and he still couldn't comprehend what had happened. He heard footsteps outside the door and the handle began to turn slowly. He stood up immediately hoping that Chandler had changed his mind and come back, that he would say that it had all been a big mistake, that things would return to normal. But it was only Phoebe. "Hey Joey, what ya doing?" she said brightly. Joey didn't say anything, he couldn't. Phoebe noticed that he had been crying. "Oh my god, What's happened?" Joey swallowed, "Chandler's gone". Phoebe visibly relaxed "Oh big woo-hooey, don't tell me he's actually gone to work for once. I'm telling you..." "No, I mean he's gone, he's left for good" Joey cut through Phoebes words, as his own voice started to break with tears. Phoebe looked shocked "What are you talking about?" "He's packed all of his things and he's gone. He said that Mon would never be happy with him and that she's better off with Richard" "Richard? What's he got to do with this?" Joey sat Phoebe down and told her the whole story. It seemed unbelievable as he recounted what had happened. Phoebe looked stunned "but I mean...where's he gone?" "That's it. I don't know. He doesn't know. He said he'll call but I don't think he will" "But...he...I...they've argued before and it's never been like this" "You didn't see him Pheebs, I've never seen him like that before. He had completely given up hope of Monica ever wanting to be with him" Phoebe stared at the ground "Do you know Monica's parents number?" Joey shook his head. "It wouldn't do any good even if I did, she said that she didn't want anyone to call her" "yes, but she wasn't expecting this to happen was she? She doesn't know that Chandler knew what was going on with Richard. Quick, find her address book".
Meanwhile Chandler had reached his office block, drafted a resignation letter and given it to Doug's secretary who barely registered his presence. This was it, he thought to himself. I'm going to leave. He knew that what he was doing was stupid, impulsive and he was 100% sure that he would regret it later, but he just felt he had to get out. He walked out of the imposing, characterless tower block where he considered that he had wasted his life for 10 years and started to wander down the street. As he walked, it dawned on him just what his actions would mean; that he had no friends, no-where to sleep, and nothing to live for. He reached the George Washington Bridge and then it struck him just how far and for how long he had been walking. He felt cold as he had forgotten in the rush to leave to take his coat - this made him think of the way he left Joey, and he regretted not saying more to explain and not saying good bye. As he began walking by the side of the road, the icy wind blew sharply in his face, nearly knocking him backward into the oncoming surge of traffic. He stopped and looked down at the Hudson below, its great swirling waters seemed like they were dancing and inviting him to join in. He forgot how freezing he felt as he concentrated on watching the water below. Suddenly he understood why so many people threw themselves off bridges just to end it all. Before all this happened he thought that people who killed themselves were cowards unable to face up to the world, but here he was feeling the same sense of despondency and heartache that lead them to it. He couldn't think of any way out of this - he wanted something to stop the pain he was feeling and he couldn't yet see a time when he would move on and get over it, and in a funny way, he didn't want to get over it, not yet. Without knowing what to do, he just stood there thinking...
Monica climbed the stairs to the apartment. She felt a little annoyed at Phoebe for calling her back "urgently" and not telling her what it was about. But more importantly, she still felt confused about Chandler. It wasn't that she ever seriously considered Richard's proposal, but her problem lay in where her relationship with Chandler was going. She wanted to be his wife, she wanted him to be the father of her children, but he obviously didn't want the same thing. Another issue was that she couldn't understand his behaviour recently, Whenever they had talked about the future before, he had always said that he wanted the same things "when we're both ready". But now she believed that he said those things just to placate her, and that he really didn't want to commit to her for life. She needed to sort all this out in her head, and Phoebe calling didn't help. She reached the apartment door and walked in. Sitting there was the entire group minus Chandler, looking very down and worried, they looked up quickly then at each other. The apartment was in complete and tortuous silence as she took off her coat. "Hey what's going on? And where's Chandler?" Phoebe stood up "I didn't want to tell you over the phone Monica..." Phoebe hesitated, and Monica realised that something serious had happened. "Tell me what? Is it Chandler?" the group looked at each other awkwardly. "Mon, I'm not sure how to tell you this, but Chandler's gone. He's packed up his things and he left, I'm so sorry" Phoebe's words stung in Monica's ears. "Wha...what do you mean? He couldn't have left, where does he have to go?" Monica began dreading what the answer was going to be; "He knows about Richard" She went pale at this and blurted out "What do you mean Richard?" "He knows that Richard asked you to marry him, and he thought that you would say yes so..." "But that's ridiculous, why didn't you try and stop him?" Monica was shouting at this point, She knew that it wasn't their fault, that it was all hers, but she needed someone to blame. "Mon, I did try but he wouldn't listen, he said you would be happier with Richard, that you really loved him, I tried to tell him Mon, I really did" Joey was in tears again. Mon could tell from everyone's eyes that there was something else she didn't know. "There's something else isn't there?" She said simply, not wanting to hear the answer. Ross stood up "Look Mon, you have a right to know but Chandler made us all keep it a secret from you, but with everything that's happened..." "What? What is it?" Rachel turned around "He was going to ask you to marry him. He's been planning it for weeks, he just thought that by telling you he hated marriage, it would surprise you when he did propose" Joey continued "He was going to ask you the night that Richard walked into the restaurant, he's bought the ring and everything. He was so excited about it Mon..." Joey trailed off not sure what he was going to say next. He looked at Mon, who had closed her eyes, with tears rolling down her face "Oh my god, what have I done? Do you have any idea where he's gone?" the others shook their heads "He was really upset when he went, Monica, he just packed his suitcase straight away and went without saying good bye or anything. I know he did have his passport with him though," Joey suddenly remembered. Mon was still in shock from the whole situation "he was going to propose to me, I don't believe it, I've been so stupid, I should have just waited for him". Rachel, hating seeing Monica this upset, had a brain wave "If he took his passport, maybe he went to the airport or something, he could still be there - its difficult to get a flight without booking in the holiday season. You could go and find him, tell him how you feel" "But he's left me, what if he's realised that he doesn't love me anymore?" and with that, Mon broke down completely.
Chandler sat in the airport departure lounge, not quite remembering how he got there. He had stood on the bridge for a while and thought about a lot of things, none of which made any real sense to him. He knew that he had to try and get away for a while, just to sort out his head, to try and get through this. But he didn't have a clue where to go. In desperation, he had gone to the airport to find a last minute flight to somewhere, the destination he didn't really care about. All he wanted now was a place that he could be alone with his thoughts and figure out what to do next. He stared blankly at the ticket in his hand, a one way flight to Seattle and sighed heavily. He had never even been there and wondered why he just didn't go home and sort this out, but he knew why.
He felt angry, but it wasn't at Monica, or even Richard, which surprised him, He was angry with himself. Why didn't he just propose to Mon when he had the chance? Why did he keep putting it off until it was too late? What was he going to do now? Why was he going to Seattle in the middle of winter? He realised that he couldn't think straight, that he had so much to think about that it was sending him over the edge. As he went to the bar to get something extremely alcoholic, his flight was called. He had second thoughts about going, about leaving everything he had ever known in his adult life, but he knew that he had burned all his bridges in New York. As if he were a zombie, he gave up his ticket and bordered the flight. As the engines of his plane started up he suddenly panicked, he didn't want to leave, he wanted to sort things out with Mon, he could handle just being friends with her, it was better than losing her all together. What was he doing by going? What would it achieve? But he sadly realised that it was too late, and instead of dissecting the past, he numbly looked out into the newly fallen snow on the runway.
Unbeknown to him, the others had just arrived at JFK airport. They had bundled into two taxis and driven straight there. They weren't even sure that he would be there, but they had to try. It was their only hope of finding him again. During the journey, Monica had been crying uncontrollably into Rachel's arms, she blamed herself for everything that had happened. Rachel had done her best to comfort her, by telling her it was all one big misunderstanding and that Chandler would be at the airport waiting for her. But inside, Rachel wasn't so sure. She had watched Chandler over the past two years mature and change himself so that Monica would love him like he loved her. He was practically a different person to the boy that she had met properly nearly 6 years ago. But if it was true what Joey said, and he believed that Monica didn't want him, then she knew, from experience, the chances of him being content with a simple friendship were incredibly slim. She just hoped for Monica's, and Joey's sanity that he would be there, but the heavy feeling in her heart told her otherwise.
As soon as the cabs stopped Monica had run out into the departure lounge and looked for him, she looked at the flight board, but knowing that she didn't have a clue which flight he could be on, if at all, she started to cry all over again. Ross and Joey were looking around for tall brown-haired men in the room and asking any attendants if they had seen him, but without a picture it was impossible. They sat down heavily on the brown plastic chairs, realising that their chances of finding him were becoming smaller and smaller by the second. They sat in silence and looked on, as the girls tried to calm Monica down. Phoebe looked over to them in desperation but they shook their heads. No one said that they had seen him. Ross said quietly more to himself than anyone else "I can't believe this has happened". He knew that he should be at Monica's side through all this, but it was more complicated than that, because Chandler had practically become a brother to him as well. He was the one who had known Chandler the longest, and as he had first introduced Monica and Chandler all those years ago, he felt responsible for what had happened. He looked at Rachel who was trying to help Monica from collapsing in hysterics and thought how their story had been so much simpler than this. Through out all the banal rows and retaliations, he never felt like he would lose Rachel even as a friend, but what was happening here was different - he was about to lose one of the most important people in his life. As Ross looked through the window, he noticed that the snow was becoming heavier and that the winds were picking up, he hoped that, if Chandler was in the air right now, that he wouldn't be in danger.
Chandler had sat back in his seat as the plane took off wishing desperately that he had got off it. He knew he would regret leaving, but he didn't reckon that he would regret it quite this much. He decided not to think about the events of the past few days but rather sort out what he would do when he got there. But inevitably, his mind drifted back to Monica and the rest of his friends. He wondered whether Mon had made up her mind yet what she was going to do, despite himself, he hoped that she was going to be really happy with Richard. At least she was marrying a good man he thought; someone who loved her for herself and would take care of her forever. The thought of their wedding made him feel sick in the pit of his stomach and he put on the headphones and tried listening to some music to calm him down. The plane started to dip violently and then come back up - it did this several times and Chandler grabbed onto the seat. He hated planes at the best of times, and this wasn't the best of times by any stretch of the imagination. He closed his eyes and tried praying but all he could think of was Monica. He would give anything to be back with her right now but it was too late. The captain tannoyed the plane "Due to severe weather conditions, we have taken the decision to return to JFK airport. Please fasten your safety belts. We are doing everything to ensure that this will be a safe landing as possible. Thank you for your co-operation".
Chandler breathed a sigh of relief; he was going back to New York after all. The plane dipped a few more times and then gradually came back down to the ground. As the wheels touched the runway, Chandler felt light-headed and then nervous as he thought of the gang. What would they say to him? What would he say to Monica? He decided to sort that out when he got back home. He wondered idly whether the whole storm thing had been a sign that he should stay in New York, but he shook it off almost immediately. He put it down to pure coincidence and good luck. Luck that he hadn't had in what seemed like such a long time. He almost ran off the plane when the door opened and after waiting for his case, ran straight out to the taxi rank. He was just about to open the door when he heard a shout and looking up saw Monica run towards him. "Chandler! I thought you had gone but you're here, you're here!" Suddenly his heart lifted with hope that maybe it wasn't over and he dropped his bag and ran to her nearly slipping on the snow that had built up "Monica! What are you doing here? How did you know? Look I'm sorry..." "I came to tell you something Chandler, I turned Richard down," Chandler looked genuinely shocked to hear that, despite everything that he wanted. It had never seriously entered his head that she would turn him down. "You what? But..." "no buts. You were wrong I don't love him, I love you. You're the one who makes me happy not him. I'm so sorry for the crazy way I've been acting lately..." "No it's me, I'm the one..." They both began laughing at their insistence to apologise to each other, and then looked at each other for a long time "so, are we ok?" Monica asked after what seemed an eternity to her. "Oh I think we'll make it. It's something to tell the grandchildren after all" Monica looked at Chandler who was grinning at her and smiled back. After everything that had happened over the past couple of days, she finally felt like the luckiest woman alive.
THE END
Bonnie and Sally