this is just a collection of shorter fics, all based on songs. okay!
You Are In Love | Taylor Swift
Chandler looked across the room to Monica. She was talking to Rachel, no doubt trying to calm her down about Ross saying her name instead of his new wife's. The sides of Chandler's mouth curled up slightly, thinking about the night before. He never thought that it would ever happen: it was a literal dream come true. Or, dreams, rather - he had woken up many times in the past ten years from dreams of him and Monica. When he was in college, the dreams were mostly physical - he would wake up sweaty and unsatisfied, but every morning he would chalk it up to just wanting a girlfriend, his mind using Monica to symbolize something greater. As they became closer friends, however, the dreams had become more intimate, often consisting of the two of them having normal conversations while they simply lied in bed together. Sometimes the dreams were the first time they were ever together; others, they were already in love, already in sync. But none of the dreams even compared to the real thing.
The room was heavy and dark with the tension that Ross had brought on with his blunder. Even with the newlywed train wrecks, Chandler still found a reason to be happy, and that reason had just looked back at him.
His smile grew wider, mirroring hers. Rachel was oblivious to Monica's happy expression, too wrapped up in the stress of her and Ross. Chandler saw that Rachel was walking away from Monica towards Joey, obviously not satisfied with whatever Monica had said to her.
Monica turned back to Chandler as he started his way over to her.
"Hey," he said, barely above a whisper.
"Hey." Her eyes were stuck on his like magnets - his eyes pulled hers in and there was no way she would be able to pull away unless something physically moved her.
"So Ross really screwed this one up, huh?" Chandler asked, trying his hardest to sound casual. He wasn't sure how to approach the subject of him "definitely coming over later".
Monica smiled at him before taking his hand in hers. She silently pulled him upstairs into the bathroom that Emily had not locked herself in. Chandler smiled when he realized where she was taking him. He locked the bathroom door behind them, and he instantly cupped Monica's face to pull her closer to him. She was quickly pushing off his jacket and unbuttoning his shirt, not bothering to push his shirt off his 's hands moved from Monica's face to the back of her head to her waist. Monica moved her hands to undo Chandler's dress pants when they heard a knock on the door.
"Occupied," Chandler said, a little grateful for the moment to catch his breath. He and Monica waited, staring at each other, not wanting to make a noise until they knew the person had left.
"It's Joey," he said through the door.
"Of course it is," Chandler whispered, leaning his forehead on Monica's.
"Let me in!" Joey yelled, knocking on the door again. A smirk started to form on Monica's face, and she started to run her fingernails slowly down Chandler's bare chest. She stood on her toes to kiss his mouth all too quickly before moving to nibble on his ear, to kiss his neck. It took everything he had not to make a noise, and Monica could tell.
"Not a good time, Joe," Chandler finally got out when Joey tried opening the door himself.
"Dude, we're roommates! I've seen you take a shit before!" Monica stopped teasing him: she was trying to stifle a laugh by burying her face in Chandler's chest.
"That doesn't mean I like it." Chandler couldn't wait anymore - he pulled Monica's face back to his, working his hands back down to the skirt of her dress, beginning to hike it up slowly.
"Fine," Joey finally conceded. "I just wanted to tell you I'm going back to the hotel with that bridesmaid."
"'Kay, see ya' later, man," Chandler responded while Monica moved her kisses to his neck. They both heard Joey go back downstairs, and they were kissing again.
"Chandler?" Monica asked in between breaths, moving right back to unbutton his slacks.
"In my right pocket," he responded, knowing exactly what she meant. She slid her hand into the pocket and pulled out the small tinfoil package. She quickly ripped it open and yanked Chandler's pants down, but she soon changed her pace as she slowly rolled it on him. He moaned into her kisses, pulling her dress up over her hips. His hands grazing her ass as he did, he felt that she was going commando and moaned again.
"You're gonna' kill me, Mon," he whispered in her ear. She smiled as a response while he pushed himself into her. She wasn't sure before if this was just going to be a "London thing" or if it should carry back to New York, but in that moment - and the few that followed - she knew she didn't want this to end anytime soon.
After they both caught their breath and composed themselves, Chandler grabbed Monica's hand before she could reach the door handle, turning her to face him. He pulled her into a kiss - not hot and hungry like their previous kisses had been, but soft, slow, and gentle. He separated from her and rested his forehead on hers, not ready to let her go yet.
"Want to go back to the hotel?" she asked bluntly. Chandler exhaled with a smile, amused at how forward she was being. Their eyes still locked, Chandler took her hand, and the two of them left the party without one word.
The Watham's house was not far from their hotel, so they walked back in a comfortable silence - still hand-in-hand with no intention of letting go.
Chandler felt kind of bad for leaving the party - for leaving Ross - like they had, but then he focused back on Monica's fingers and how they were intertwined with his and all the guilt drifted from his mind.
Monica was always surprised at how comfortable she was with Chandler, at how she never felt awkward when they weren't talking. She was especially surprised at how comfortable Chandler was with the silences: with anyone else, he would be cracking jokes, trying to make the other person laugh. But with Monica, he knew he had nothing to prove.
Monica's free hand moved to Chandler's arm, holding him closer to her. He smiled at himself and wondered how the hell he had gotten so damn lucky, even if only for the weekend.
They got back to the hotel and headed straight for Chandler's room, knowing that if Joey wasn't there when they got there then he probably wouldn't be for the rest of the night. Luckily, when Chandler opened the door, his room was dark and empty. Monica threw her bag on the chair by the door, kicked off her heals, and turned to Chandler. She was suddenly very nervous, suddenly very aware that she was sober in Chandler's hotel room.
Noticing her newly rosy cheeks, Chandler reached for Monica, pulling her into him by her waist. She looked up at him, her smile growing wider.
"You know," he started, brushing a strand of loose hair behind her ear, "if we're gonna' go again, I think I'm going to need some kind of nourishment. I didn't get to eat anything at the party." Monica smiled knowingly at him.
"Room service?" she suggested, breaking from his embrace to get the menu from the bedside drawer. "Oh! Breakfast served all day!" She pointed out excitedly. Chandler smiled at her and dialed the front desk on the hotel phone.
"Hi, I'd like to order room service," he said, sitting down on the bed. He looked to Monica to silently ask her what she wanted.
"Waffles." She whispered so softly from the other side of the bed that she was practically mouthing the word.
"Yeah, can I have two plates of waffles, two coffees, and a bowl of strawberries?" He decided to take a note from Joey, causing Monica to laugh quietly. "Great, thanks." He hung up the phone. "He said about ten minutes."
"That's fast," Monica noted.
"Yeah, I don't think there are too many people calling the kitchen at-" he looked to the clock on the bedside table- "twelve o' eight," he chuckled.
"Well, they're all missing out on 24-hour waffles," Monica said as she moved over to Chandler's duffle bag on the floor.
"What are you doing?" he asked curiously.
"Looking for something to change into," she replied matter-of-factly. Chandler smiled at how casual she was about it, like she done it a million times before.
"Everything inside the bag is clean." She nodded and pulled out a pair of light blue and white striped boxers and a Yankees T-shirt. Facing away from Chandler, she peeled off her dress so she was standing naked in front of him.
"Wow, Mon, give a guy some warning first," he joked through the fact that he quickly lost all his breath. She stepped out of the red silk and turned her head and smiled at him. Monica pulled on the clothes as Chandler shed his. When Monica turned back around, they were both wearing just a pair of boxers and a T-shirt. Chandler was almost speechless when Monica started to walk towards the bed: he had seen her wear gowns and sun dresses and skimpy pieces, but for some reason, he just couldn't get over her wearing his clothes. Monica noticed him staring, but decided not to say anything and just enjoy the moment. Chandler finally moved to meet Monica at the head of the bed, their backs against the wall and their shoulders lightly touching.
"What do you think is going to happen with Ross and Rachel?" Monica asked, keeping her gaze on her hands in her lap.
"Honestly?" Monica looked up to see he was staring at her - she nodded. "I don't think anything'll happen. Ross cares too much to not do everything in his power to save this marriage." Monica nodded again, agreeing.
Chandler noticed the necklace that still hung from her neck, the clasp now fallen to the front. He reached out to undo it, Monica's eyes following his hands as he did. Just the small brush of his fingers on the back of her neck as he removed the necklace drove her crazy.
There was a knock on the door, and Monica looked over in panic.
"Do you think that's Joey?" she asked.
"Sweetie, Joey has a key. If he wanted to, he would just walk in." Monica sighed in relief, and smiled at the term of endearment. It was already so natural for them to use words like 'honey' and 'sweetheart' and 'babe', but this time it felt different to Monica - like it meant more.
"Room service," the man called on the other side of the door. Chandler picked up his wallet from the bedside table, took out a five, and answered the door, swapping the cart in the bellhop's hand for the bill.
"Honey, dinner's ready," Chandler said in a sing-songy voice. He placed a plate of waffles in front of Monica, but she immediately put it back on the tray.
"What?" Chandler asked, confused at her action. Monica didn't answer right away: she was embarrassed and she didn't want Chandler to think she was weird. "What?" he asked again, laughing a little.
"It's just…" she sighed. "If you eat in bed, you get crumbs in the sheets and then you're sleeping on food and everything is dirty - you, your sheets, your clothes - and-"
"Okay, shh" Chandler cut her off, smiling. "We don't have to eat in bed. We can…" he thought for a moment to come up with a solution. "We can eat in Joey's bed. No one's going to be sleeping in that tonight." Monica's face lit up.
"Really?" She got up from the bed to stand in front of him. "You don't think I'm crazy or anything?"
"Well, yeah, but for other reasons." He smiled, pecked her lips, then pulled her over to Joey's bed. The two sat down across from each other, sitting cross-legged with their plates in the middle. They talked while they finished their waffles, when they drank their coffee, and as they fed each other strawberries. They only ever stopped talking when they made each other laugh so hard that they weren't making any noise.
"I can't believe that," Monica laughed right before Chandler guided the last strawberry in her mouth, half-heartedly trying to get her to stop laughing at him.
"I swear!" He laughed with her, putting the bowl full of strawberry stems back on the rolling cart. "Lindsay Becker from college, that girl from right when I moved into the building, Janice, Kathy, and then you." The way he nonchalantly said 'you' made Monica smile, like it was so ordinary, like they had been doing it all along.
"What about all those girls you would date and then break up with for something stupid, like Big Head or Supposably?" she asked, still not fully convinced that Chandler had only ever slept with five women.
"Nope, just those five," he admitted, shocked at himself for being so good-natured about this. If this had been any other situation, if he were with anyone else right now, then admitting that he had only been with five women in all his thirty years would have been enough to make him crawl back into that hole of self-pity. But with Monica, he didn't care if she knew because he had always wanted her to be the end of that list. "Your turn." He instantly noticed Monica tense up, and he raised an eyebrow.
"What? How many?" Chandler asked, a smile still plastered on his face. "I told you mine!" Monica rolled her eyes as she inhaled.
"Okay, okay." Monica held up her fist, ready to count off her former lovers. "Dennis Reynolds, Davie Lynn-"
"You slept with a guy named Davie?" Chandler asked in disbelief.
"Shut up! Okay, um, Allan McDeere, Steve Miles, Paul the Wine Guy, Ethan, Richard, and Pete." Chandler raised his eyebrows at the end of her list.
"Aren't you forgetting someone?"
"Oh, yeah, and this guy in a club when I was in college. That was something…"
"Hey!" Chandler leaned towards her with a mischievous grin, his hands out, moving right to her sides to tickle her. She fell backwards and squirmed underneath him, fighting her laughs to catch her breath.
"Oh, right, right right," she finally got out as he slowed his tickles. "I forgot you!" She exaggerated her words, and with the strong sarcasm, Chandler smirked and began to tickle her again. He only got a few moments of her laughing until she grabbed his hands in hers and flipped them so he was underneath her. She kept his hands down by intertwining her fingers with his and gripping his hands tightly. Her laugh turned into a small grin and his faded altogether, his mouth dropping open and his eyebrows lifting.
"You are freakishly strong," he said, genuinely impressed.
"I know," she shrugged. With his hands still pinned to either side of his head, Monica leaned down to lightly kiss Chandler. It was barely a kiss, in Chandler's opinion: her mouth had just barely touched his before she pulled away, their noses brushing. Chandler tried to lean up to meet her lips again, but she pulled back just as far as he pushed.
"You're mean, you know," he whispered, not needing to make his voice any louder.
"And you're cute when you're upset." She smiled into another kiss, a longer, harder kiss than the one before. Chandler was thankful when she let go of his hands, needing them to wrap around her and bring her closer to him.
Monica kept wondering how this could possibly be real. She just couldn't believe that after all this time forming such a great bond with the person she now can call her best friend, that it was just so easy to transform into something more. There were moments that she caught herself worrying that she was dreaming, until she reminded herself that she's usually woken up by her body's stupid inability to keep her excitement contained, even in her dream world.
Monica woke up in Chandler's arms, her head on his shoulder, and she wanted to stay there forever. Nothing had ever really felt so right - she wondered if he felt it too.
The sun was just coming up, and she was grateful for the natural wake up call because neither of them had actually bothered to set one up the night before.
After a couple minutes, she felt him stir underneath her and tighten his hold on her. She looked up to see his eyes fluttering open, and she leaned up to kiss him before he was fully awake.
"Good morning," he smiled.
"Morning." She put her head gently back on his chest and closed her eyes, not wanting to go back to sleep but wanting to savor this moment.
"Hey, can I tell you something?" Chandler asked quietly.
"Yeah, of course." Monica propped herself on her shoulder so she could turn to look at him.
"You know you're my best friend, right?"
"Yeah, I know," she answered seriously. She wasn't sure where this was going - if he was going to say that he he wanted more than that, like she knew she did, or if he wanted to stay just best friends, which she knew she did not.
"Okay, good." he smiled.
"What that's it?" Monica asked. "that's what you wanted to tell me?" She sat up, not angry but definitely a little bit confused.
"Yeah," he sat up to face her. "I don't... I don't know what's going to happen when we get back home, but I just want you to know that no matter what, you're never going to lose me." He took her hands in his. "You're way too important to me, Mon."
She grinned and quickly leaned over to kiss him - passionately, tenderly, all the while smiling. She pressed her forehead to his, catching a glint of a smile on his face.
"You're my best friend, too." They leaned in to kiss each other again, both knowing that this wasn't a "just London" thing.
"And you know," Monica said when they finally pulled away. "I've been sitting here completely naked for the past two minutes, and you haven't said one joke."
"I didn't know I could!" Chandler quipped, and Monica laughed and shook her head at him.
She gave him a quick kiss before she got up to put her dress back on - she forgot that the silk was just haphazardly discarded on the floor, and she was kicking herself a little for not at least laying it over the chair.
"Are you leaving?" Chandler asked, quickly pulling on a pair of boxers before going over to her.
"Yeah, I think I have to," she said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "We have to leave for airport in a few hours."
"Well then leave in a few hours," Chandler suggested. He wrapped his arms around her, just content in holding her.
"Chandler..."
"Fine, go," he said. "But I'm not happy about this." He leaned in to kiss her again before she left. And for the first time in 36 hours, Chandler was excited to get home.
...
Chandler and Joey opened the door to Monica and Rachel's apartment after a light knock, not bothering the wait for an answer.
"Morning, guys," Phoebe said from the table. Monica was making pancakes for everyone at the stove. Joey sat down next to Phoebe, but Chandler remained standing, content to just watch Monica cook. He noticed, though, after a minute, that she hadn't so much as looked at him since they got here. Once he was sure Phoebe and Joey were engrossed enough in their conversations, Chandler leaned closer to her and whispered a small "hey" in her ear. Monica quickly looked back to Joey and Phoebe to make sure they weren't listening before she responded.
"You were supposed to come over last night," she whispered, a hint of disappointment in her voice. Chandlers instantly felt guilty: she wasn't even mad at him, she was just let down. He touched her elbow to silently tell her to follow him across the room. In the alcove next to the window, they would be able to talk more than if they were standing right next to their friends.
"I'm sorry I didn't come over, but I have a reason," Chandler promised. "I was in my room waiting for Joey to go to bed, but he was in the living room watching TV for so long, so I went out to see what he was doing and there was an all-night Baywatch marathon on!" Chandler quickly realized his excitement for the situation was not going to be shared.
"You didn't come over for Baywatch?" Monica was in disbelief. He would have rather watch episodes he's already seen of other women in bathing suits than be with her, even if she were naked.
"Mon, I'm so sorry-"
"You didn't even call to tell me you couldn't leave!" She was trying her hardest to keep her voice down, but her whisper-yelling was starting to reach normal-yelling levels.
"Monica, sweetie, I know, I'm so sorry. I really am." And he was - he was so worried that he had already done something to mess up the best thing to ever happen to him. It had been just over two weeks since that first night in London, and he already ruined it.
"Well, I hope there's more Baywatch tonight for you to watch because I'm definitely not going to be entertaining you." Monica walked away before Chandler had a chance to respond. She walked right to the stove to make sure everything was turned off before she grabbed her coat. "Alright guys," she said to mostly Phoebe and Joey. "I have to go to work. Remember to scrape the food into the trash, Joe. Don't just leave it in the sink."
"I've only done that, like, one time," he said.
"Honey, you do that every time." Monica slapped him on the shoulder before leaving her apartment.
Chandler couldn't believe she just walked out. She didn't even give him a chance to try to make it up to her - he didn't even get to tell her that during the whole marathon with Joey, he was wishing she was there with him, even if they were only watching TV. He wanted to tell her that every moment he wasn't spending with her was another moment where he wasn't as happy as he should be.
"Yeah, I have to go too, guys," Chandler quickly said as he rushed out the door. Once it was just the two of them, Phoebe turned to Joey.
"I think they're doing it," she said plainly.
"We share a wall," Joey replied. "They're definitely doing it."
Chandler raced down the stairs of the building, hoping to catch Monica before she got too far away. He got onto the sidewalk and turned in the direction of her restaurant, spotting her a half a block ahead of him. He ran to her, yelling her name as he got closer. She turned around at his voice, more confused than anything, seeing him rush towards her and almost knock her down.
"Whoa, there, speedy," she said, trying to steady him. He was a little out of breath, but he ignored it.
"Mon, I really am so sorry, I should have called or really just come over. I mean, it's not hard to lie to Joey about what I'm doing, it wouldn't have been that difficult. I don't even know why I didn't because I really wanted to see you last night."
Monica felt her lips curling up into a small grin. "Even more than you wanted to see Yasmine Bleeth?" she asked hopefully.
"Honey, if the entire cast of Baywatch stood naked in front of me, I would only be thinking of you," he promised, and he meant it. Monica was the only one he would ever need, she's the only one he will ever love.
"Yeah?" Her small grin had widened, and his mouth quickly spread to match.
"Of course." Monica leaned up to kiss him, and he quickly responded by wrapping his arms around her waist. They soon released after being bumped into, realizing they were still in the middle of Bedford.
"We're okay?" he asked, as if the kiss wasn't proof enough.
"Yeah, we're okay." She kissed him quickly one more time. "I have to go to work, though."
"Right, right, go. I'll see you tonight?"
"Yeah." She smiled and turned to walk to work. Chandler checked his watch quickly before taking a few fast steps to meet back up with Monica. Without saying anything, he laced his fingers through hers. Playing it off like nothing, he looked ahead and started whistling when she turned to look at him. She was in awe that this funny, cute, smart, amazing person wanted to be with her so badly. "Don't you have to go to work?" she laughed.
"Nah, they won't miss me." And he knew, if he left, he'd miss her.
As a thanks for walking her to work, Monica had insisted that she was going to take Chandler out for lunch. She met him in his office, happy that they would be able to be a normal couple for an afternoon.
Monica knocked on his office door, pushing it open as she did.
"Hey," Chandler stood up to greet her.
"Ready to go?" she asked.
"I just need to drop off these papers at HR, but I'll be right back?" He walked over to her to give her a quick kiss before heading out his office door with a stack of papers.
As Monica waited for Chandler, she wandered around his office a little bit. She looked out his window, admiring his view of SoHo, then she quickly glanced over his desk. She noticed a framed picture of her on it, right next to his computer. Completely surprised at it, she picked up the picture to examine it more. It was a candid photo of her laughing, and - by the look of her hair - she would have guessed it was taken four or five years before. She didn't remember the picture being taken; it looked like it was on her balcony on a clear day. She vaguely recalled a day where Rachel was taking pictures, right when she moved into their apartment, but she couldn't remember the exact moment or the exact thing that had made her laugh this hard.
Chandler walked back into his office, picking up his briefcase from the chair next to the door. "Ready?" he asked.
"You have a picture of me?" Monica turned to him with a small grin.
"Yeah, I like to look at your face sometimes when I'm bored or overworked or, ya know, always… is that okay?" Chandler asked, moving towards her. Monica laughed lightly at him, nodding.
"Of course…" Monica looked him in the eyes, looking for any hint of sarcasm, but she found none. "When is this picture even from?"
"Well," Chandler said, less embarrassed than he was a minute ago. "Rachel took it one day when we were all hanging out on the balcony. I had just said something obviously hilarious," Monica rolled her eyes, holding her smile, "and Rachel just took the picture at a perfect time, I guess." Monica just stared at him in disbelief.
"How long have you had this here?" Chandler looked down sheepishly, not wanting to admit to her just how long it had been. "C'mon, Chandler."
"Okay, okay. I brought it in right around the time it was taken…" by the end of his answer, he had mumbled the words so softly that he was hoping Monica hadn't heard him.
"You've had this in here for four years?"
"Well, five, really. That's not helping, but the answer is yes." Chandler was nervous at how Monica would react, but the cat was out of the bag and now he had to deal with it.
"Why?" Chandler moved towards her and took her hands in his.
"Because... because even back then, looking at your smile made me really happy," he spoke slowly, focusing on his hands, but quickly looking back up at her. Clapping his hands together, he squeaked out a "Ready for lunch?" He didn't wait a moment before he turned around and started to leave his office.
"Chandler, Chandler!" she laughed, reaching out for his hands. "That's really sweet."
"No, it's not, it's weird and creepy and you can just leave now because I'm going to blow my brains out any second." The smile on his face covered up the embarrassment in his voice. Monica merely pulled him to her, giving him a small kiss.
"So, where do you want to go for lunch?"
...
It was the end of a long week: Chandler and Monica had been out with Chandler's boss and his wife twice, Ross had gone out with Janice, and Monica had to lie to Rachel more than she ever had to in one week. The two of them had been especially drained, and in order to cheer Monica up, Chandler had decided to try to have a romantic night alone with her. Joey had a big date right after work, so Chandler spent all afternoon setting up candles in his apartment, buying flowers and nice wine, researching the best take out place within delivery distance.
When Monica walked into his apartment, she couldn't believe it: Chandler was standing in the middle of his living room, in his pajamas, basking in the glow of the candles that covered every ledge. The speakers were playing Wonderful Tonight, and the wine was chilling in a tub on the counter. On his face was the hint of a smile that he reserved just for her.
"Chandler..." Monica was in awe that he would do something like this. Never in all the years she had known him did Monica ever see Chandler act like this with any other girlfriend. She had never seen him be so romantic and thoughtful and caring.
"I just thought that you've had kind of a hard week, so I wanted to do something nice to, you know, cheer you up." He started moving towards her, happy he decided to put his pajamas on because Monica had come over in hers, like he knew she most likely would. She had taken an extreme liking to the Yankees shirt she had worn the second night in London, first only wearing it when she was over, then "accidentally" taking it back to her place and wearing it regularly.
"Are you just the cutest thing?" Monica smiled as she moved towards him.
"I may just be!" Monica moved over to him and slipped her arms around his neck. She gave him a small kiss before resting her head on his chest. Chander's arms wrapped tightly around her waist, and he placed a light kiss on the top of her head. The two swayed to the music as it changed to Billy Joel's Just The Way You Are to The Way You Look Tonight: neither of them ever wanted to let go.
"Hey, Mon," Chandler whispered. Monica lifted her head to meet his gaze to tell him to continue. "I love you."
"I love you too."