"What in the hell is going on?" Joey asked a still stunned Rachel as he made his way across the courtyard, adding with a little squeak. "Did you see that?!"

"You saw it, too?!" she asked, breathless, trying to get over the shock. The look on Monica's face as she left with Chandler was almost crazed, almost like she'd consumed some sort of love potion. Rachel had never seen a look on her face like that before.

"I didn't see them, Felicity did!" he continued. "She asked me how long they'd been dating and I said 'how long who had been dating' and she nodded to them dancing. I was just about to tell her she was nuts when she pointed at them leaving together. Did you see anything?"

Rachel took a quick gulp of her drink, sucking in as much alcohol as she could before she answered in the affirmative.

"I saw them dancing and then (she took a deep breath) they were kissing," she said, gesturing with her hand for emphasis. "I mean full-on, making-out, playing-tonsil-tennis kissing!"

"Oh my God!"

"I know!" Rachel said, as Joey put his hands on his hips.

"What does this mean?!" he asked. "Are they…are they together now or something?"

"No," Rachel said in a long breath, giving him a very skeptical look, then she squished up her face. "Chandler and Monica?"

"Hey, you're the one who saw them making out," Joey said, pointing to her. Rachel froze, letting exactly what she'd witnessed finally sink in for a minute.

"Where do you think they went?" Joey asked, then his eyes grew wide as he suspected where they might be going. "Do you think they…they…"

Rachel shook her head.

"I've got her key," she said.

"Yeah, but Chandler's got a key, too," he said, nervously running his hand over the back of his hair, "and two beds."

Rachel had no idea what that had to do with anything, but she made quick work of the reminder of her drink, finally slamming her drained glass, with barely melted ice cubes, on a passing waiter's tray with a thud.

"Well," she said, pulling Joey's jacket sleeve, "there's only one way to find out. Come on!"

###

Monica put her small purse down on the table in his hotel room and slowly turned to him as Chandler slammed the extra lock closed on the door. Exhaling slowly, she smiled at him.

For a moment he was stunned, almost not believing she was standing right in front of him, a gentle smile on her face he'd never seen before. A smile seemingly meant only for him.

Monica swallowed hard as she watched him start to walk toward her. He looked so incredibly handsome in his tuxedo, and she fleetingly wondered if she would have thought that even if her heart wasn't beating wildly in anticipation of reenacting the night before.

Chandler raised his hand and cupped her face. Her skin jumped at his touch.

"God, you look…gorgeous," he said softly, looking into her eyes with a desire that she could only imagine was matched in hers. He gently kissed her lips as her hands moved to unbutton his vest. He brought his other hand to her face and traced her jawline with his thumbs.

"You are so, so beautiful," he whispered, kissing her chin. She sucked in her breath as he moved his mouth to her neck when she lolled her head to the side for him.

She undid the few buttons on his vest and pushed off his jacket. He pulled her closer as it fell to the floor, his lips never leaving her neck. Monica locked her arms around him, holding on tight, barely able to keep herself standing her legs were shaking so much.

"Chandler, oh God…" she moaned, shudder after shudder rippling through her. "Ohhh, your…lips are perfect. Every…touch. Perfect…"

He turned her around towards the bed, lifting his head and changing to the other side of her neck as he slowly brought down the spaghetti straps of her loose-fitting, custom-fit red bridesmaid dress. She fell back to sit on the comforter, one palm down on the top of the bed behind her to steady herself.

"Joey's bed?" she asked in a whisper, wrapping one hand around the back of his neck to pull him to her again.

"He hasn't used it," he said, before his lips briefly met with hers again, then he smirked at her. "Might as well give it a good workout."

"Hum…it might get jealous if we didn't," she said, throwing her head back as he worked his way from her collarbone to the valley between her breasts, pulling her dress down along with him.

"Exactly," he murmured, bringing her dress down to her waist. Then he froze and looked up at her, his eyes wide and a little dazed.

"You're not wearing…"

She grinned, her face turning crimson. Monica herself almost couldn't believe the next words that fell out of her mouth, but something about her saying them to Chandler made her feel…safe.

"I'm not wearing anything," she said, giving him a cheeky grin as his eyes almost bugged out of his head. She watched a fine sheen of sweat break across his forehead. She reached down and lifted his face to hers, pulling his head up towards her once again.

"I've been turned on since last night," she whispered, watching his eyes darken as she spoke. "I wanted to feel it all day. I wanted to feel you all day…"

Her face felt like it was on fire but her eyes were blazing as they looked into his, and he was sure he was going to explode right then and there. Chandler crawled over top of her, a look of dumbfounded awe on his face as she fell back onto the bed, beaming up at him, soaking in the now radiating light shining from his eyes. She half-gasped in surprise when his lips took hers again, kissing the breath right out of her as his hands roamed almost every part of her body they could reach.

She quickly pulled on his tie and loosened it, working on the buttons of his shirt next as his mouth continued to cover hers. The hunger she thought had been fueled by alcohol and depression the night before instead was growing stronger with each deep kiss, soft caress, throaty moan.

When she finally freed him of his shirt and tie her fingertips dug into his bare shoulders, running forcefully down his back and back up again. Chandler shuddered and groaned as her fingers sunk into his flesh, then he reached one hand under her dress as his mouth made its way slowly down her chest. When he touched her Monica's head flew back on the bed, her back arching into him as a deep, but loud moan escaped her open lips.

###

"Oh my God, what was that?!" Rachel asked as she grabbed Joey's arm before he could put the key in the hotel room door. Joey, having heard the same howl from Monica, turned his wide eyes to Rachel.

"Chandler?!" he asked, completely flummoxed. "Chandler made a woman do that?!"

"Chandler made Monica do that!" she whispered hotly, her face fixed in shock. "It's like we've been dropped into some twisted version of 'The Twilight Zone!'"

They both turned their heads back towards the door as more moans, from both parties, spilled out into the hall just loud enough to be heard.

"Yeah, baby," Joey said, a proud little smirk for his roommate gracing his lips.

"Joey!" Rachel whispered. "We can't stand here and listen to…to them…to any more of this!"

He made a very disappointed face in her direction as she pulled his arm toward Monica's hotel room. Once there Rachel closed the door and spun to him, launching into a hundred questions Joey had no hope of answering any more than she did.

"How long do you think this has been going on? Have they been hiding it from us? Do you think they're in love? Oh my God, Joey!" she said, slapping his arm twice to express her point more forcefully. "This is unbelievable!"

"I know!" he said, rubbing his arm, then shook his head, "and I don't know! He's never said anything about it to me and, believe me, I think he'd say something about it! I know I would…"

Rachel rolled her eyes at him and pointed in the direction of the guys' room.

"Do you know what this means?" she asked, mostly rhetorically. "I mean this…this changes everything!"

Joey shrugged his shoulders.

"What changes?" he said as dismissively as he could. "I mean, so Monica and Chandler are 'doing it.' What does that change, really?"

Rachel threw up her hands in exasperation, her gossip-loving mind ready to spread the news of Monica and Chandler's hook-up far and wide. She hurried over to the phone by the bed and dialed New York.

"Rachel…" Joey started as he reached for the phone, but she pulled away from him.

"Shh!" she demanded, then she said, "Pheebs!" Joey stepped back and shook his head.

"Hey!" Phoebe said, then added with a sympathetic voice. "How are you doing? You doing OK?"

"Yeah, yeah," Rachel said with a wave of her hand, excitement sweeping through her voice, her own heartbreak forgotten for the moment. "Phoebe, the wildest thing has happened, you're not gonna believe it…"

###

Monica rolled over, her blurry eyes looking at the clock on the nightstand. She groaned a little as she felt him shift next to her, wrapping his arms a little tighter around her.

"What time is it?" he mumbled in a ragged, sleepy voice that even in her exhausted state made her heart inexplicably begin to race.

"Almost 3," she whispered quietly, and he pulled her closer. Chandler sighed, both content and apprehensive at the same time, something inside telling him their magical time together was coming to an end. He was proven right as she moved out of his arms and turned to face him, her eyes glistening in the dark.

"I better go," she whispered, cupping his chin between her thumb and forefinger. "Rachel's probably already wondering where I am and the plane leaves at…

"… 9:45," he finished for her, his eyes searching hers. "I know. I'm sure Joey will be back to pack soon, too."

Monica gently scrapped her fingernails over his chin, suddenly at a loss for words. She lifted her mouth to his and kissed him gently. He kissed her back, just as softly, cupping her face in his palm.

"Chandler," she whispered when their lips pulled apart, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. "These last two nights have been…have been…"

She shook her head and he held his breath, waiting, heart in his throat.

"So incredible," she breathed. "Thank you…"

He briefly furrowed his brow in confusion, then tried to smile a little.

"Yeah, they…they were," he whispered back, his heart sinking further each second as she began to inch away from him.

As she moved out of his embrace all she could think was how much she wanted to stay in it, how much she wanted this dream to continue. Tears stung her eyes as she reached down to pick up her dress.

"What happens now?" he asked, his voice cutting through the quiet room. The softness in his tone made her heart melt. She pulled on her dress to buy time to gather her composure before she turned back to him.

"You said Rachel knows," he said, raising an eyebrow to her in the dark, "and if she knows, you know everyone else knows."

"I know," she said with a sigh, sitting back down on the bed. He took her hand in his.

"So…what do we tell them?" he finally asked, gently squeezing her hand. Her eyes locked with his as she contemplated her answer, but she failed to come to any conclusions.

"I don't know," she said truthfully. They continued to look at one another, neither quite ready to break the spell that had been cast over them for the past 24-plus hours. Finally Chandler smiled at her.

"Go back and try to get some rest," he said softly. "We'll, ah, we'll figure it out when we're back home."

"Yeah?" she said, the wisp of a hopeful smile tugging at her lips.

"Yeah," he said with his little grin, doing his best to reassure both of them.

She leaned across the bed, cupped his cheek and they kissed. It was brief, but full of the passion that had exploded between them.

"I'll see you in a few hours," she said as she pulled back, already missing him.

"Yeah," he nodded, trying to soak in every angle of her face. "Goodnight, Mon."

He smiled and she smiled back.

"Goodnight," she said. She slid out of bed and with one last look back at him, closed the door behind her.

Chandler laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, anxiety beginning to creep into his heart as he wondered how they were going to make whatever was happening between them work under the intense scrutiny of their friends in New York.

Monica walked a few doors down to her room, digging out the second room key she had stashed in her purse, silently praying that Rachel would be fast asleep when she entered.

Thankfully, she was. Monica quickly changed out of her red dress, holding it close to her for a moment, reliving everything she'd felt while she was wearing it. Suddenly a feeling of sadness overwhelmed her, knowing the beautiful, romantic bubble she'd lived in with him for the past two days had burst. In the harsh light of day, she knew they'd have a lot of questions thrown their way.

And as she gently laid down on her side of the bed, her eyes remained wide open as she wondered what the answers would be.

NOTE: I have no idea where this is all coming from, but it's just a-comin'! And now I have a pretty good idea of where it's going. Attempting not to make it too angsty, though…

Attempting ;)