If You're Gone~part 2

Hey! Merci beaucoup for the reviews...and thanks for havin faith in me that I actually know what I'm doing and that I'm not just screwin' with ur heads…hehehe, I could so just be doing that. But I'm not. And I forgot to say that I don't own the characters, so…I don't own them. This part might still leave some things unanswered, but I'll get to whatever it is that's not. Kay? Kay : )

"Chandler," was all Monica could say. Of anyone in the world, he was one she'd least expected to have knocking on her door at midnight.

"Um, surprise?" Chandler said quietly, trying to judge by the look on her face if she was happy to see him or mad. He was dying to break the tension formed by the silence, but, for once in his life, he couldn't think of anything to say. Nothing. Not even a joke.

Monica wasn't sure what to say, wasn't sure what to think. She hadn't even hear from him in three years, and here he was. Soaking wet and standing at her door at midnight.

And she had no idea what to say.

All that Chandler wanted to know was if she was happy to see him or not. She had every reason not to be. Every reason to be pissed at him and slam the door in his face. But from the look on her face, he couldn't tell.

After what seemed like an eternity, Monica finally answered his question in a way he hadn't expected. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Where the hell have you been? I missed you so much," she whispered.

Chandler was completely taken by surprised by her hugging him, that'd been the reaction he'd least expected after he showed up at midnight after not even talking to anyone in three years. "I'm sorry," was all Chandler could finally manage to say, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her back.

"Daddy, I'm sleepy," a small voice said, causing them to pull apart.

"I know, Steph," Chandler picked the little girl up.

"Oh my god, Stephanie! The last time I saw you you were just a baby!" Monica said, looking at her.

"I'm three, I'm not a baby anymore," Stephanie stated and Chandler just laughed in response.

"No, you're not," Monica smiled. "Oh, hey, come in, you guys are soaked," Monica realized that they were still standing in the doorway. "Do you have someplace to stay tonight?"

Chandler sighed. He hated having to ask her for something, and almost felt guilty. Chandler finally just swallowed his pride and looked up at her, "Actually, no. Um, I rented an apartment and it was supposed to be ready today, but I went there and they said next Friday, so…"

"Well you're welcome to stay here."

"If you insist," he grinned at her.

"Only if you tell me why you're here," she grinned back, and then realized something, "and where Jen is."

"Um, that's kind of a long story, but I'll explain it," he smiled, shifting Stephanie, who was practically asleep, in his arms, "but I need to get her to bed."

"Go ahead, I'll be waiting," Monica motioned for him to go and put her to bed.

"Thanks," Chandler picked up his bag in his other hand and turned to go into what had formerly been Rachel's room.

"Judging by the size of that bag I'd guess you're not staying long," Monica more stated than asked.

"I had other bags, but they're in Toronto, so…"

"Did the airline lose them?"

"They're not lost, they're in Toronto," he rolled his eyes and Monica just laughed.

"Go put her to bed."

Chandler obeyed, going into the bedroom and changing Steph out of her wet clothes and into pajamas before putting her to bed before changing his own clothes. He'd thought that she'd been asleep, but as he went to leave, she said something.

"Why are we staying here?"

"Because our apartment isn't going to be ready for a week."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Why?"

"Go to sleep, baby girl," Chandler laughed, kissing her, "Good-night, Steph, I love you."

"Night Daddy, love you."

"Hey," Chandler said softly, closing the door behind her but making sure to leave it open a crack.

"Hey," Monica answered as Chandler sat down next to her on the couch. A thousand questions were running through her head and she had absolutely no idea where to begin. She wanted to know why he was back in New York, where Jen was. And she wanted to know why he'd truthfully left in the first place. She knew that he could've just said the word and Jen would've agreed to stay there. But Chandler wanted to leave. That question could wait, though. There was too much space between them to start there.

"So are you gonna tell me why you show up all of a sudden after not even talking to any of us for three years, or…" Monica finally broke the silence.

"Yeah," Chandler sighed, "and I'm sorry that I haven't called or anything."

"So did you hear that Ross and Rachel are engaged?"

"Yeah, I got Ross's letter," was his only answer.

"Where's Jen?" Monica gave in and asked, dying to know the answer, "Why isn't she here?"

"She left," Chandler looked down, diverting his eyes from Monica's.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I-"

"She left over two years ago," he added, looking back up at Monica.

"Oh," Monica wasn't quite sure what to say to that, "Well, I'm still sorry."

Chandler shrugged, "It was over two years ago, I got over it."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"I don't know," he sighed again, "At first, I guess I just thought that she'd come back, ya know? How could she not come back? How could she not want to even see her daughter?" he looked at Monica, as if asking her for the answer, but didn't stop long enough for her to answer him. "And then she didn't come back. And more time went by, and…I don't know. I'd kind of lost touch with you guys by then so what was I supposed to do? Call you and be like 'Hey, what's up? Oh, by the way, did I mention that Jen left over a year ago? I didn't oh, well, she did,'" Chandler said, his sarcasm getting the better of him.

"So how old was Stephanie when she left?"

"Eight months old."

Monica just looked back at him, "So you've raised her by yourself?"

Chandler just nodded, looking out the window as another bolt of lightening flashed across the sky, the rumble of thunder soon following. "Two seconds till she's out here," he said, looking back at Monica.

Sure enough, as soon as he said that, Stephanie came running out and over to Chandler, crawling up into his lap and clinging to him at the sound of more thunder. "I'm scared."

"It's okay, baby girl," he whispered to her, kissing her hair and rubbing her back as she buried her face in his chest.

Monica just watched him, amazed, wondering if he was seriously the same man she'd known only a few years earlier. He couldn't be. That Chandler was scared to death of commitment, of real life. And this Chandler had been raising a little girl, alone, for the past three years. And there was just something different about him. Although he'd been a little uncomfortable when he first got there, he seemed more self-assured, much more confident.

He'd grown up.

He'd been forced to grow up and face reality, so he did just that. He grew up.

"So where's your apartment?"

"What?" Chandler, who had also been caught up in his thoughts, snapped back to reality.

"You said that you rented an apartment. Where?"

"Oh, um, just right across the street from here, actually." (not ugly naked guy's apartment, just in case u were thinkin that, just in that building…)

Monica smiled, "So you weren't planning on hiding from us or anything?"

Chandler laughed, "No, I just wasn't planning on showing up at midnight."

"So why did you come back?" Monica came back to her question that he'd kind of dodged earlier.

"Lots of reasons. I missed New York…I missed everyone…I missed you," he smiled at her, "I just needed to come home. Although earlier I was pretty sure that someone didn't want me to."

"What do you mean?"

"I almost missed my flight, then it was delayed, then they lost my luggage, my apartment wasn't ready, so…" he shrugged, "too many signs."

"And now?"

"I'm glad I came back, I didn't realize how much I missed you."

Monica just smiled, looking at the little girl now asleep on his lap. "She's cute."

"Yeah, I've always thought so, but then again, I'm a little biased, so," Chandler grinned.

"She looks like you."

Chandler shook his head, "No she doesn't; she looks just like Jen and it's killing me."

"You're right actually," she smiled at him, stifling a yawn.

"Hey, I'm gonna let you get to bed," Chandler said, seeing her yawn.

"Okay," Monica stood up, not going to argue.

"Good-night, Mon," he also stood up, and kissed her on the cheek.

"Night, Chandler."

"Um, Mon?" Chandler asked as she went over to her room.

"Yeah?" Monica turned back to face him.

"Why are you letting me stay here? I mean, I wouldn't have blamed you if you'd slammed the door in my face, I was an asshole! I didn't even call or anything!"

"Because at one point in time you were my best friend," Monica stated, "and maybe you had more important things to do than to call me," she motioned to the child in his arms. "Good-night, Chandler."

"Good-night," he quietly replied, watching her walk into her room, going into the other room a few seconds later.

~*~

"Wake up. Daddy, wake up," Steph shook Chandler. "Daddyyyyy."

"I'm awake, Steph," he mumbled.

"No you're not, your eyes are closed," she said, so he opened his eyes. "I'm hungry."

Chandler looked up at the clock and decided that since it was almost 9 they should probably get up anyway. "Okay," he said, getting out of bed. Stephanie held her arms out to him, so he picked her up. "What do you want to eat?" he asked as they walked out of the room.

"Morning," Monica said, looking up from what she was cooking.

"Morning," Chandler replied, setting Stephanie down. "Whatcha makin?"

"Pancakes."

"Do you have any juice?" Chandler asked and Monica nodded.

"Yeah, I think there's apple juice and orange juice."

"Want some juice, Steph?" Chandler asked and she just nodded, so he poured her a glass of apple juice.

"Can I watch TV?" Stephanie asked and Chandler looked at Monica, who nodded.

"Yeah, sure."

"So, what's up with you?" Chandler asked, sitting down at the table.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we talked about me last night. What's up with you?"

Monica just shrugged, "Nothing really…Um, I guess I'm head chef now," she paused.

"And you and love?"

Monica laughed, "Now that's a short story."

"You seeing anybody?" Chandler asked and Monica shook her head.

"What about you?"

"If you thought your story was short it's nothing compared to mine," he looked over to where Stephanie was sitting on the couch, "Not that I'd even have time or anything."

"Want some pancakes?" Monica held out a plate of them.

"Sure," he took the plate from her and set it on the table. "Steph, want some pancakes?"

"Yeah!" she came running into the kitchen, but stopped when she heard the door open.

"Whatcha makin, Mon, it-" Rachel stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Chandler.

"Hi," he stood up.

"Chandler…" was all Rachel said, walking over to him, "Oh my god," she hugged him.

"Hey, Rach," he hugged her back, "Congratulations, I hear you're engaged."

"Thanks," she said as she pulled away. "What are you…why are you here?"

"Long story," he smiled at her, "I tell you later."

"And this must be Stephanie," she looked at the little girl sitting at the table.

"Hi," Steph smiled at her.

"Hi," she smiled back. "God, she's cute," Rachel looked back to Chandler, who just grinned.

"Hey, Rach, I got the-Chandler," Ross walked in and just looked at him in surprise.

"Good morning!" Joey walked in, in an unusually happy mood, "What's going on?" he asked, realizing that the room had been dead silent until he walked in." Chandler!" he looked at him and ran over to him, throwing his arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Hey, Joe," Chandler laughed.

"Where the hell have you been?" Joey asked.

Stephanie pulled on the back of Chandler shirt, so he turned around. "He said the 'h' word."

Chandler stifled a smile and turned back to Joey. "Sorry," Joey apologized. "So how long are you gonna be here? Where's Jen?"

Chandler just sighed; this is what he'd been dreading. "Look, I'll tell you guys everything later, I just-"

"Chandler!" Phoebe came in, running up to him, just as Joey had done, and hugging him.

"You guys hug a lot," Stephanie said and they all just laughed.

"Where have you been? Why are you back?" Phoebe asked and Chandler sighed once again.

"Okay," he gave in, deciding that he might as well tell them everything, "It's a long story, but here goes nothing," he sighed, sitting back down.

~*~

"Hey," Chandler gently tugged on Stephanie's ponytail, "it's time for you to go to bed."

"Daddyyy," she whined.

"Stephanieeee," he whined back and she just made a face at him.

"C'mon, baby girl."

"10 more minutes?"

"No, it's already past your bedtime."

"Please?"

"Why don't you just let her stay up for 10 more minutes?" Joey asked and Chandler just looked at him.

"Thanks, Joe," he said, then turned back to Stephanie, "Steph."

"Fine," she gave in, "Will you read me a story first?"

"Yeah, I'll be in in a minute."

"Wow, you're good at that, Ben can stall forever," Ross said.

Chandler just smiled, "So can she, she's just really tired," he got up, going to read her a story.

"Chandler?" Rachel said, "Me and Ross-"

"Ross and I," Ross corrected her and Chandler just smiled; some things never change.

"Okay, Ross and I are gonna take off, so I guess we'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah," he smiled at her, "Bye."

"Bye."

"Bye." (Buy fries! LOL, okay, inside joke, you wouldn't get that…)

After Chandler came back out from reading Steph a story and telling her goodnight, every one but Monica was gone.

"Where'd everyone go?" Chandler asked, looking around.

"Home."

"Home," Chandler sighed, sitting down on the couch next to her, "Seattle just wasn't home…"

"Why not?"

Chandler shrugged, "It just wasn't," he said, then turned his attention to the TV, but wasn't really watching it. He was too busy thinking.

That day had gone a lot better than he'd expected it to. Truthfully, he'd expected his friends to be mad at him, not to greet him with a hug. Of course, it could just be that they were so shocked to see him and the next day they could all realize it and be mad at him.

But if that were the case, Monica would've probably realized it by now. But what if she had realized that she was mad at him and just didn't know what to say to him, or didn't want to be rude? What if she was really just trying to come up with a polite way to tell him to leave? What if-

Chandler's thoughts were interrupted by Monica leaning up against him.

And what if they were just so glad to see him that they didn't care that he hadn't so much as called in the past three years.

"So does New York still feel like home?" Monica asked, once again interrupting his thoughts.

Chandler just smiled, "It's starting to," he said, leaning down to kiss her on the forehead.

He was home.

To

Be

Continued…

Does it make sense now? I hope so….please review, I'll try and have the next part up as soon as I can : )