The day had been hectic. Chandler almost lost The Ring – as much as he loved Phoebe, what was he thinking when he assigned her the task of taking care of it? Everything turned out fine in the end though. He'd showed the ring to his friends, everybody knew what was going to happen because he was too excited to keep it a secret.

Yeah, he was asking Monica to marry him and he was thrilled about it.

Is this real life, really?

Monica had gotten home late that night, she had been busy all day long, which gave him enough time to look for the perfect ring, plus extra time to share the news, and, last but not least, hide the piece of jewelry. Monica and her obsessive cleaning was a risk to the hiding part of it, she would be able to find it depending on where he decided was a safe spot, so he got lucky that he had so much time to think about the perfect place. It wouldn't be hidden for so long though; in a couple of days he would finally propose.

Chandler was giddy, the realization of what he was about to do sinking in so deep he wanted to take a walk in the middle of nowhere whilst smoking a hundred packs of cigarettes. He couldn't let his excitement shine through, so he was waiting for Monica to come back from her shower and using the mean time to control himself.

He thought about his previous serious relationships, and almost snorted loudly for remembering they lasted less than six months, both combined. It was ridiculous, really. Although it wasn't truly his fault that everything went to hell – well, maybe with Kathy it was a little his fault – the ending of these two commitments only solidified his beliefs that he would die alone; love just wasn't something in store for him after all.

Funny though, he was so ready to declare his love for those two women, while it had been difficult to do the same with Monica. He knew all along it wasn't that he didn't love her – hell, he sometimes believed he fell in love with her the first night they slept together. It was just that with Monica everything needed to be taken more seriously. They had handled their relationship very carefully since the beginning because they knew that, above all, they were friends. Not only would they wreck the group's dynamics if anything bad happened between them, they would also risk losing each other, and that definitely couldn't happen.

Chandler smiled to himself. Monica had actually been his second friend ever. He felt he got lucky when he met Ross and they hit it off, but then Monica came along, being part of a trio that soon became a quartet with Carol that afterwards became a different quartet with Phoebe until they had that little family made of six people. Monica was there from the very beginning. He knew all those things were rushing through her head when they first got together too, and he knew she was being as careful with him because of all those things. They loved each other beyond the romantic thing. They truly loved each other as a whole; they knew each other very well, and all of these things only made their commitment more life-changing.

She came back from the bathroom, so visibly tired it almost broke his heart.

"Hey, honey… you're pretty beat, huh?", he grimaced.

"Yeah… I just need some sleep." She had changed into her pajamas, crawling into bed next to him, giving him a quick kiss on the lips and turning the lamp off. "Night."

Chandler rolled to his side, turning the lamp on. He then began kissing her cheeks, softly, trailing to her ears, nibbling on her earlobes.

Monica all but purred, "Hmmm… Honey?"

"Shhhh. You don't need to do anything, just keep your eyes shut and enjoy."

She complied.

Chandler used his hand to touch her face, rubbing her skin with his thumbs while he alternated between nuzzling her face and nipping her earlobes. He moved his hand down, massaging her neck, then her cleavage, getting to her breasts and cupping one of them, lightly pinching her nipple through the fabric of her pajamas.

"Hmmmm", Monica sighed heavily, the low sounds coming from her mouth and her hard nipples showing him he was doing a good job. He put his hand under her shirt, caressing her stomach, going up a little to cup her breasts again, catching a nipple between his fingers.

He kissed her jawline while his hand travelled south. He passed through the waistband of her pajama pants, touching her mound over her panties. Monica shifted a little, opening her legs to better his access. A groan escaped his own lips at how much she trusted him with her body. His hand got under her panties, and his fingers played around with her labia, opening them carefully to find her clit. He used his thumb to rub the bud while his other fingers played with her entrance. When he noticed she was wet enough, he allowed himself to enter her with his fingers, one by one, his thumb never leaving her clit.

Pleasuring her felt so good, it was amazing; he loved this woman so much he couldn't believe it. Chandler just wanted to give the world to her. He wanted to be there for her. He wanted to be a better version of himself every day because she deserved the best. He was actually looking forward to spending the rest of his life with Monica. It was a sure thing. She had been waiting for him to ask.

He kept touching her; at that point her moans were a little louder than you would expect from such a tired person, but he was more than okay with that reaction. She moved her own hand to reach for his face, pulling him closer to her so that she could kiss him. They kissed, long and good, his fingers never stopping their little work. When they broke apart, she opened her eyes to look at him. She looked like she was close, face scrunched in pleasure, hand still resting on his face. She's so unbelievably stunning, he almost said. He felt like he could probably come like a teenage boy just by looking at her.

"I…" He sighed, then opened the biggest, happiest smile in the world "I love you so much."

The words seemed to hit her, and that was it. She came hard on his hand, her own gripping on his shirt for dear life as she twitched a little and opened her mouth, silent gasps coming out of it.

Chandler kissed Monica's forehead, then brushed her parted lips.

"Night, Monica."

She looked completely spent, head resting on his chest, eyes not even opening anymore, but she made an effort to speak "Goodnight, Chandler. I love you."

I know, he thought, happiness spreading through his body. He reached for the lamp, turning it off for good this time. He held his future fiancée, his wife-to-be, in his arms while they both slept safe and sound.