I'll Be~part 2
The Strands in Your Eyes
Hey all, thanks for the reviews! I had surgery yesterday to have my wisdom teeth removed so I'm kinda in pain. Well, more than kinda. So if I seem kinda outta it, it's probably a combination of the painkillers and very little food, lol. Oh yeah, and me, kill chandler? *bursts out laughing* I don't think I could do that…what would be the point of friends without chandler? I don't even like to watch the episodes from last year that Matthew Perry wasn't really in…lol, me, kill off chandler, jeez, I'd think you'd know me better than that…*clears throat* so newayz, here's the next part : )
"Oh, Chandler," Monica continued to sob into his chest, and he just held her, letting her cry. After a few minutes, she pulled away, wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
"No reason to be sorry," Chandler reassured her with a smile.
"It's good to see you again," she sniffed, wiping her eyes again.
"Yeah, I don't think I've seen you since…" he trailed off, shrugging.
"Bryce's first birthday, I think," Monica finished.
"And Bryce'll be what, four, in October?" he asked and she nodded. "God, it's been way too long."
"So where's Logan?"
"With his mom," Chandler said, looking around. "I think there's other people here who want to talk to you, I should probably let you get to them."
"Yeah, as soon as you walk away that mob's gonna pounce on me," Monica motioned toward a group of people who were watching them.
"Then I'll let you get to everyone else," he turned to leave.
"No! I mean, you don't have to. I don't really feel like trying to make conversation with a bunch of people that I don't really know," she paused, "I probably should, though," she paused once again, sighing, "God, you're not supposed to be a widow at 35."
"Hey," a voice came from behind them.
"Hey," Monica smiled slightly, seeing Ross.
"Rachel's sick, but she sends her condolences and love," he hugged her.
"Thanks."
"Hey, man, long time no see," he said, seeing Chandler.
"Yeah, I know," he paused, "Well, I'll let you talk to everyone else, Mon. I'm sorry about Mitch," he smiled at her sympathetically, leaning in to hug her. "The strands in your eyes, Mon," he whispered in her ear and she smiled slightly, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "Well, I'll catch up with you later," he kissed her cheek. "See-ya, Ross," he added, turning to walk away.
"Bye," Monica and Ross both said at the same time.
"So how you holding up?" Ross asked gently.
Monica shrugged, "You know."
"Hey, if you want me and Rach to take the kids for a while or anything…"
"No, I'm fine."
"Well, Chandler was probably right, I should let you talk to everyone else. I'm sorry about Mitch," he leaned in and hugged her, "love you."
"You, too," she whispered back, watching as he also walked away.
The guys had been right, and as soon as they walked away, more people came up to her, telling her how sorry they were for her loss. Monica was almost relieved when the service started; now she could grieve without talking to people.
It was short and simple, and Monica knew that would have disappointed Mitch. He'd liked everything huge and extravagant.
Monica closed her eyes. "Momma?" Bryce whispered, so she opened them. He leaned in and kissed her, so Monica smiled and kissed his forehead, continuing to let the tears fall.
But one thing hurt her most of all. She knew that part of the reason she was crying was for the wrong reason. Not as far as anyone else knew, but at least as far as she knew, she was crying for all the wrong reasons.
~*~
Monica woke up at the sound of the phone ringing, but didn't even bother to open her eyes. She wanted to be left alone, why couldn't they understand that?
"Mommy!" Bryce came running into her room with the phone, "It's Gramma."
"Thanks, honey," she said and reluctantly took the phone from him, so he left the room. "Hello?"
"Hey, Monica, how are you?"
"Fine," she replied, not really wanting to talk to her mother.
"Well, that's good. Um, I was thinking, and what if your father and I took the kids for a few days? Just to give yourself some time to…" she trailed off.
"No, Mom, I'm fine, really, I am."
"Monica, just let us take them for the weekend or something, just to-"
"Seriously, Mom, I'm fine. Listen, I gotta go, I'll call you later," she hung up the phone before her mother could even respond, throwing it down on the bed.
A second later, the phone rang again and she picked it up, "Look, I said no!'
"Oh, um, sorry."
"Chandler?"
"You were expecting maybe Brad Pitt?"
"Sorry, I thought it was my mom again," she apologized.
"It's okay. Hey, um, Logan's with Julia this weekend, and after seeing you the other day, I realized how long it's been and how much I miss you, so do you wanna have lunch or something tomorrow?"
Monica paused, not sure if she really wanted to go. She really felt like staying home alone in self-pity. But she also hadn't seen Chandler in so long, and she really did miss him.
"Um, Mon?" he asked after a couple minutes of silence, "Look, if you don't feel up to it or whatever, then I completely understand."
"No, um, actually I'd love to go. And my parents had offered to take the kids this weekend, so do you want to have dinner instead? I mean, unless you have other plans," she tried to keep the desperation out of her voice.
"Nope, no other plans," he paused, "So how 'bout tomorrow night at seven?"
"That's fine."
"Great, so I'll pick you up then and we can decide where we want to go."
"Okay, see ya then."
"Bye, Mon."
"Bye," she said as she hung up the phone, sighing. Now she had to call her mom back and ask her to take the kids after having just yelled at her and hung up on her.
She took a deep breath, picking up the phone, "Here goes nothing…"
~*~
"Ashleigh, are you ready? Grandma's gonna be here in a few minutes to pick you up," Monica walked into her daughter's room. Ashleigh didn't answer, but just picked up the bag she had packed and walked past Monica and out the door.
Monica sighed, wondering how long that was going to last. Ashleigh would hardly even speak to her and she had no clue as to why.
The doorbell rang and Monica glanced up at the clock; it was about time. She was already almost half-an-hour late.
"Mom," Bryce came running up the stairs (yeah, I know he's always running, but that's how guys that age are. I went with my best friend to take her little brother, who's that age, trick-or-treating last year and he ran the entire time. And both me and my friend were wearing boots with 2-inch heels. Never, I repeat, NEVER do that. LOL, we ended up barefoot by the time we were coming home. Newayz, back to the fic…) "There's somebody at the door."
"It's probably Grandma, why don't you answer it."
"I did answer it but I'm not s'posed to let strangers in."
"Oh. Well, go get your bag and then come down stairs, Grandma's gonna be here soon."
"Kay," he ran back down the hallway.
"Hey, sorry about that," Monica said as she opened the door.
"No problem," Chandler smiled, "And sorry, I'm kind of early."
"Well, my mom's also kind of late, so we're going to have to wait for her to get here, sorry," she let him in.
"I don't mind," he reassured her with another smile as he walked in.
"Um, you can go sit down in the family room, I'm gonna go make sure that Bryce is ready and then I'll be right back down," Monica said before going back upstairs.
"Hey," Chandler said to Ashleigh, walking into the family room and sitting down on the couch, to which he got no response. "You've grown up a lot since the last time I saw you."
Ashleigh still didn't answer; instead she turned the TV off and left the room. Chandler looked up and saw that Monica was standing in the doorway. He gave her a questioning look, wondering about Ashleigh, but she just shook her head, telling him not to ask, before looking back in the direction that Ashleigh had just run off in.
When she looked back, she realized that Chandler was still watching her, and their eyes met. And as their eyes locked, the past came back in a rush…
To
Be
Continued…
Sooooo, what'd ya think of that part? Just review please, it only takes about 20 or so seconds out of your day and it makes my day much better : )