His eyes lingered on her admiring the way her fingers tucked her hair behind her ear, the way she chewed on her bottom lip and tapped her pencil on her notepad as she concentrated on reading her work. His own lips curled into a smile when she looked up at him with a furrowed brow.
"Were you watching me working?" she asked.
"No."
"I think you were, Chandler," she smirked and narrowed her eyes.
Chandler rolled his eyes and sat upright in his desk chair. She was laying on his bed on her stomach with her legs in the air. It made him feel warm inside to know that she was comfortable enough with him to lay on his bed. She was in his University room and she had chosen to sit on his bed rather than her brothers. This was something she did every time she came over.
"Can I grab a Diet Coke?" she asked, leaning over his bed to reach for his mini fridge. He nodded and she took two and passed him one. "What you working on?"
"Oh… uh, just stuff for my practical writing class."
"Can I have a read?" she asked, sitting up on the bed and stretching her arm over his shoulder. Chandler was quick to move the paper away from her. "Oh, come on, Chandler. I'm sure you aren't that bad," she teased "Don't make me come over there and kick your ass."
He shrugged her arm away but instead of accepting that he didn't want her to see it and leaving him alone, she jumped off the bed and tackled him out of his chair. Once he was on the floor and vulnerable, she climbed on top of him sitting on his stomach to keep him pinned down.
"That's right, I'm stronger than I look," she grinned as she snatched the paper from his fist, "Hey," she skimmed the words, "these are song lyrics. You don't write songs in your class, you write stories. You lied!"
"Well, it's embarrassing," he grimaced.
Monica ignored him and read the lyrics through properly this time.
"These are good," she commented, "Who is it about?"
"What?" he choked.
"Who is it about? It's obviously about a girl."
"What makes you think that?"
"Hmm," she got off him and sat back down on the bed, "oh, I honestly don't know. It's not like the lyrics make it blatantly obvious or anything," she said, sarcasm engulfing her voice. "The way you describe her makes you sound like you're desperately in love with her."
"I'm just desperate," he quipped.
"Tell me who it is."
"It's no one. It's just a song. The girl doesn't exist." he felt his cheeks growing hot.
"Like I believe that."
"Monica. No."
"Chandler, yes," she dragged the last syllable of his name out, "please," she pouted.
"No," he laughed, "You are not getting me this way," he said and grabbed the paper from her hand, "Get back to work."
"Hey, you're my friend, you can trust me."
"I'm your friend?"
"Duh, I spend almost every day in this room, you think I'd do that if you and I weren't friends?"
Chandler scratched the back of his neck, "I just thought you came here to see Ross all the time."
"Please," she scoffed, "I can go a long time without seeing my brother and be perfectly fine. I come here all the time to see you. Ross is hardly ever here."
They shared a smile.
"I'm still not telling you."
"Dammit!"
/week later/
Chandler had asked Ross if he could tell him something a good ten minutes ago and now he sat opposite him with a scared look on his face. He had thought he'd gained enough courage to confess to his friend but now that he was face-to-face with him, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
"Chandler?"
Chandler rubbed his sweaty hands over his jeans and gulped.
"I thought you wanted to tell me something."
"I do. It's just harder than I thought. Now I see why they confess the way they do in church."
Ross laughed, "Come on, it can't be that bad. What are you in love with me or something?"
"Not you," Chandler blurted out.
Ross' laugh stopped and he narrowed his eyes at Chandler. "What?"
Chandler's eyes widened and he leaned back in his seat away from Ross for fear of him striking out when he realised.
"What you're in love with someone? Who? Why did you need to tell me this?"
"Well-"
"Oh my God, is it Rachel? You're in love with Rachel!" exclaimed Ross, standing up.
"What? No!"
Chandler's panicked eyes looked around the room for an escape route. The only option was the door; if he jumped out of the window it would kill him, though that sounded less painful to him than having to face 'Red Ross'.
"Then who?"
Chandler sank in his chair as Ross' eyes widened and he moved closer to him, towering over him.
"Monica? My sister?!"
When Chandler didn't respond, Ross knew he was right.
"My sister? You're in love with my sister! That's crazy."
Chandler shook his head, "It's really not. I've liked her for a while and now my feelings have gotten a bit… well… stronger."
"My sister?"
Chandler nodded and Ross sat back down opposite him.
"My sister." he repeated.
The room fell silent and Chandler watched Ross, warily.
"I guess she couldn't find a better guy than my best friend, huh?" Ross broke the intense silence.
Chandler's eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly.
"Go for it, Chandler. Ask her out if you want. But I swear, if you hurt her, I'll kick your ass."
Chandler stifled his laugh knowing that if he laughed in that moment Ross would take back everything he had said about Monica.
"I should ask her out?"
"Well, yeah, if you really do love her like you say you do."
/month later/
"It's that simple?"
"Yes, it's that simple. Now, come on!"
Chandler was shoved by Ross towards her. She was surrounded by her friends and he felt sick to his stomach at the idea of walking up to her. He looked her up and down from her round sunglasses, leather jacket and burgundy tank top to her high-waisted jeans and black boots. She wouldn't fancy him in a million years.
"Go!" Ross urged him with a whisper and another shove. He tripped over his own feet and crashed into her back.
He heard her shriek and watched her wobble into the side of her friend. "Chandler?" she asked and narrowed her eyes, "What are you doing?"
"Sorry!" he exclaimed and held out his hands to help her regain her balance but lowered them quickly as her friend helped her instead.
"What's wrong?" she said and grabbed the bottle of beer he was holding before he could drop it. "Are you drunk?"
"What? No! I just – uhm – I just –"
"What's up?" she smirked and he watched her tongue play with the cocktail stick she held between her teeth. She placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head. Chandler grew hotter and hotter at the feeling of her friends' eyes piercing through him.
"Can I talk to you? Like... alone?"
She looked from him to her friends then back to him and nodded. She walked past him and stood in the corner of the yard where he would normally stop to smoke. Smoking didn't sound like that bad of an idea to him at that moment in time so he pulled out his box of cigarettes and slipped one into his mouth, lighting it. Monica leaned back against the wall and removed her sunglasses to shoot him a glare.
"Sorry," he muttered and she rolled her eyes.
"Nice party," she commented choosing to ignore the smoke he blew into her face. "I didn't know your mom's place was so big."
He shrugged and took another drag of his cigarette.
"My mom's extravagant, what can I say."
"What did you want to say?"
Now it was her turn to eye him up and down and he suddenly felt self-conscious in his cardigan.
She raised an eyebrow when he didn't respond.
"Oh," he started "Well... okay, Ross sort of, well, forced me into this."
"Into talking to me? You talk to me all the time."
"Not about this sort of stuff," he puffed on his cigarette again, "look, I know we, you know, are very different people. Like you're... well, you know, and I'm me-"
"Chandler, honey, where are you going with this?" she grinned, "because I really have a party to get back to."
He rubbed his nape, "I wanted to ask you on a date," he finally said.
He watched as she stood up straight from the wall and took a step closer to him. She reached up and moved his arm down from where he was still rubbing at his neck but just as quickly dropped it. The feeling of anxiety dropped a level when he saw a sincere look in her eyes.
"You really get nervous, huh?"
He shrugged. His body stiffened as she took the cigarette from his mouth and held it in front of his face.
"I'll go on a date with you under one condition,"
He nodded.
"You stop smoking."
His shoulders dropped and he looked her dead in the eyes.
"I thought Monica Geller was a badass. Smoking is badass."
She stifled a laugh and flicked the cigarette to the side, "Monica Geller is a badass and don't you forget it," she winked, "but she's a badass who doesn't want lung cancer and doesn't want anyone she dates to get it either. Understand?"
Chandler's breathing shallowed when he realised how close she had gotten to him. He slowly nodded and she stepped back with a smug smile.
"So?" she said.
"So, what?"
She raised her eyebrows waiting for him to realise.
"Oh! Monica, will you go on a date with me?"
She bit her lip and looked him over once more, "Go on then," she smiled.
"So, we have a date?" He asked wanting confirmation.
She reached out and played with one of his cardigan buttons and nodded, "I guess we do. Now, I'm going to get back to that party," she patted him on the chest and strutted away.
He turned and watched her hips sway as she walked back up to her friends. He swallowed and moved to stand back with his friend by the drinks.
"So, how did it go? Oh God, my little sister didn't embarrass you too much, did she?"
"Ross, your little sister actually just agreed to go on a date with me" said Chandler smugly and grabbed a beer.
"Seriously? She actually said yes? Well, good luck hitting that," laughed Ross, gaining a dirty look from Chandler and a 'dude, that's your sister'. "I've had a lot of beers, I don't know!" Ross shrugged and gulped down another bottle.
"Yeah, maybe my mother shouldn't have said it was okay for a bunch of 19 and 20-year-olds to invade her drinks cabinet."
"You can tell her the Scotch is to-die-for," said Monica who had appeared out of nowhere and was leaning in front of Chandler to grab the bottle of Scotch. "Know how I like it?" she wiggled the bottle and her empty glass at him.
"On the rocks with a twist. I know you better than you think," he smiled shyly and took the items, making her drink.
"Good," was all Monica said as she took the drink from his hands making sure to run her fingers over his before she walked back up to her friends.
"Hey, if Monica said yes to me maybe Rachel will say yes to you?" Chandler gestured to the brunette who he had made Monica fall into earlier.
"I doubt it, she wouldn't go for me," scoffed Ross. "I'd have better luck with Phoebe. I heard she puts out easy."
"Dude."
"Seriously, I've had too much to drink" said Ross and tried to focus his eyes on the bottle he was holding.
Chandler rolled his eyes before looking at Monica and watching as she laughed with her friends. Happiness flowed through him like oxygen through his veins and he mentally jumped up and down with glee.
