"I was thinking, how about…"
"No Mon, no! None of that French stuff no one can pronounce!" Rachel protested loudly.
"What do you mean? I can pronounce it."
"Well that's because you have dedicated your life to cook things that no one has heard of and can't pronounce because no one has ever heard of them." Chandler said and taking a look at the cookbook. "What is that even? Why not just make cupcakes or brownies. Something people actually eat?"
Monica rolled her eyes and said: "I will make both and you guys are going to enjoy both."
Just after that Phoebe burst into the apartment.
"Is Joey here?" she asked hysterically.
"No…Should he be?" Chandler asked confused.
Phoebe shook her head and sat down beside Rachel.
"Pheebs, are you okay? You have been acting quite… weirdly, is anything alright?" Rachel whispered to Phoebe. "Why are you all of suddenly avoiding Joey?"
Phoebe laughed out loud but it quickly died out when she realized the seriousness of the conversation. "No…No I would not ever avoid Joey. Joey is just… surprising." She started to play with her rings.
"Joey is surprising?" she asked.
"Well you know, it's Joey and Joey is very…Joey."
Rachel and Chandler glanced at each other quickly, none of them being able to understand the situation.
"Ehm…Monica… You got some coffee there?" Phoebe got up from the sofa to get away from Rachel questions.
"Yeah sure." Monica handed her a cup.
Phoebe knew she could not avoid Joey. Joey shined up her whole world and it wasn't fair to Mike. Mike was Mike and Mike is a nice guy and really cute but Joey was Joey. Joey was different even though he could have any girl he ever wanted and girls might just line up to be with him, she wished that regardless of all that, that he was hers and she was his. He would never notice her because she was just a friend.
"Oh, I forgot, I have a client coming soon and I have to go now. Thanks for the coffee!"
She waved goodbye to the other friends and walked out with the cup.
"Is anyone going to tell her she can't take the cup with her?" Monica asked the others.
"Nooo." Both Rachel and Chandler said.
Joey would never see me more as a friend. It's useless to even try to think he would ever see me as more than a friend.
As she was walking towards the stairs she almost collided with Joey.
"Oh my god!" she yelled and dropped the cup crashing it.
"I'm so sorry Pheebs. About your…cup." He looked into her blue eyes. He paused for a bit and said he was sorry again.
"It wasn't mine, it was Monica's" she said and tried to distract herself from him.
"I-I have to talk to y-you." Joey said getting closer to her. "I've been thinking…"
"Oh, thinking! I am so happy for you but tell me tomorrow, I have to leave now! Bye!" she ran down from the stairs almost tripping. "I'm fine! Thank you." And then she was gone.
JOEY'S POV
The whole day he had been thinking of what to say to Phoebe. What she would say and how he would answer. He had been thinking of ways to tell her how Mike was not the right one for her. Just seeing her walk away, tripping on her long skirt, made his heart beat faster. He wished he could have said what he was thinking.
"God, I am so stupid…" He said and started to bang his head towards Monica's and Rachel's door. "I am…so…stupid!"
As soon as he was about to bang his head the third time, Monica opened the door and Joey fell right in.
"You know we never close this door? Right?" Monica asked him.
"I was just ehm… Exercising my head." Joey said and got up. "Just some regular head exercising. Making more room for my thoughts and ideas"
"Oh did you see Phoebe?" Rachel asked him.
Of all people she asks about. I could have seen Ross, why isn't she asking about Ross?
"Uhm, yeah, I did… She seemed to be in a hurry, did you guys know where she went?"
"To work, she said she had a client waiting for her. You know she seems to be acting weird lately." Rachel said. "I'm worried for her."
"You know its Phoebe we are talking about?" Chandler said. "Pheebs is weird."
"Heh, yeah..." Joey said giving a half of a smile.
He noticed his friends looking at him. Rachel was trying to hide her smile, starting to realize what is going on.
"I mean, yeah, she's weird in a cool way."
"You know she seemed to be trying to avoid you." Rachel said.
"Yeah, she asked us if you were here and when I asked her if he, as in you, should be here she just shook her head." Chandler said.
Joey felt a bit shocked.
"B-but why? Why would she avoid me?"
"I don't know, you tell me Joey Tribbiani." Rachel said with a grin.
Joey couldn't start his sentence without Monica coming between.
"Phoebe is probably stressed, she is engaged to Mike and so she has a lot on her mind, I don't think she has any bad intentions towards Joey…"
"I don't see what she sees in that Mike…" Joey mumbled loudly. Too loudly apparently.
"You don't like Mike Joey?" Rachel asked him.
"It's not that I hate him or anything." Joey tried to laugh it off.
Rachel looked at Chandler and then at Monica. She finally understood what was going on.
"Oh my god Joey! You are jealous!"
"WHAT? Nooo, no you have got it all wrong…" Joey said out loud. "This has nothing to do with Mike"
"You just said 'You don't see what she sees in Mike' obviously you feel something about their engagement." Chandler said.
Enagement. That's a stupid word Joey thought. He hated that word, and he hated two other words as well. Those words were Mike and Hannigan.
"I just think they are rushing into this, that's all." Joey said maintaining his cool.
"Says the guy who slept with a girl and he didn't even bother to ask her name." Chandler replied.
Both Monica and Rachel side-eyed Joey. He felt like he had to say something but not everything.
"I care about Phoebe! I don't want her to get hurt."
"Or you just like her and maybe the feeling is mutual." Rachel said.
"Y-you think s-she likes me?" Joey felt his cheeks getting warmer.
Rachel shrugged. "I don't know, maybe it is something for you to find out." Rachel said and took his hand. "And if it is so, it would be awful keep silent about it."
Joey nodded in agreement. "I've been trying to talk to her…But she just… shuts me out."
"Okay, you know what you have to do? Both of you are going to show up at the part, you are going to confront her and these two." Monica gestured at Chandler and Rachel. "These two are going to taste my pastries and discover what they have been missing out!" she said happily. "Everyone wins!"
"Yeah! I'm not gonna let her shut me out! I'm going to talk to her and tell her what I think!"
"Yes, you have too!" Rachel shouted
"We are rooting for you!" Monica said along with Rachel.
"Go for it Joey boy!" Chandler shouts out.
It got quiet and everyone looked at Chandler who had gotten a bit too excited.
"Well you all just said all of the encouraging things, I just… I... Eh, just do it man." Chandler laying his hand on Joey's shoulder. "We support you."
Joey had gotten all excited over his friends' encouragement.
He wasn't going to let anything come between what he was about to tell Phoebe. This weekend would be the weekend he finally opened up to Phoebe. Nothing was going to destroy it, not drunken-Chandler nor Mike Hannigan. Finally he was going to tell Phoebe that he loves her.
PHOEBE'S POV.
Why can't I talk to him like a normal person? What is wrong with me? Why do I have to run away from him? Am I afraid to tell him how I feel? Am I afraid that I will slip on my words and tell him how much I love him? These thoughts were running around in her head. What she would have done differently, what she would have said instead and how calm and cool she could have acted.
I should have just kissed his stupid lips and run away, without the tripping part, that hurts.
She finally met up with Mike at her apartment and they embraced each other with a kiss.
"Where have you been up to?" he asked her. In many ways he reminded him of Joey. Well it was Joey who had set them up in a way.
"Just met with my friends, about the engagement I think Monica could let us be in her apartment but she's having some sort of a party there…"
"Oh, is everyone going to be there?" Mike asked her. Still smiling.
"Who is everyone?" she replied with a smile.
"You know, Monica, Rachel, Ross, Chandler and…"
"Joey…" she finished his sentence and felt a shiver in her back. She bite her under lip hard whenever she got to think of him.
"Yeah, him. Man, you guys seem to be very close. I don't know if I feel safe having him around." He joked.
Phoebe faked laughed. If I could just tell him…
"Maybe he could be the priest or something?" he said with a laugh.
Phoebe felt like this was a perfectly good time for her to just drop dead in any second.
"I know! He could walk you down the aisle…"
Will he ever just shut up? If there's going to be an aisle to walk down of it will be the aisle of hellfire.
"Sounds like a good idea." She said trying to act calm. She got up from the chair and Mike stood up.
"By the way, Monica called; she said something about a party tomorrow. You should go."
"Aren't you coming?"
He shook his head, "Nah, I have things to do and besides, it's all of your friends and stuff, I don't know so many people. I'm not a party type of guy."
The party. Now I remember. Joey will probably be there. I hope I get to talk to him. I can't avoid him for the rest of my life. I must talk to him before its late.
