~Chapter 3~

The four friends, Kendall, James, Logan, and Carlos had finally found the coffee house. With no hesitation, Carlos pushed open the doors, happily walking in. James promptly noticed a brunette sitting by the window. Completely forgetting that they had been planning to get coffee, he strolled up to her with a slight swagger and flashed a pearly white smile.

"Hi." James greeted her in a smooth voice, "I'm James."

Soon the two of them were deep in a conversation, while Kendall rolled his eyes and walked up to the counter. The barista, he noticed, had possibly the brightest blonde hair he had ever seen. Not to mention his skin tone was darker than his hair. Shaking it off he gave the man his order, Logan and Carlos doing the same.

Meanwhile, Chandler noticed a man suavely walking up to a hot brunette by the window and couldn't help but elbow Joey, a smirk on his face.

"You've got some competition Joe."

Joey frowned, hardly pleased with the turn of events. "Well obviously, since he's still talking to her, he had to work harder than me." He replied, attempting to hide how threatened he felt.

Rachel gave a smile, "They're all pretty easy on the eyes, wouldn't you say Mon?"

Joey's frown deepened and Ross looked thoughtful, but Chandler just shrugged, shaking his head. "Makes no difference to me, whether or not there's someone better available I get turned down so..."

"Now come on Chandler, that's not true!" Monica protested.

Keeping his arm over the back of the couch and around her shoulders, he turned to face her. "Oh really. Lets see, the two women who have actually dated me were either obnoxious and clingy, cheated on me, or both." He nodded his head then counted off on his fingers. "First there was Janice, absolutely obnoxious, was convinced we were meant to be together, and had the ability to make a break up sound like a marriage proposal. Then there was Kathy, who cheated on me when I was sure I was in love with her so, if my dating record is of any indication, I only get girls who I can't stand, or can't stand me."

"Aw Chandler." Phoebe cooed sympathetically.

Finally James joined his friends at the counter, smiling as wide as the Cheshire Cat. "I just got that girl's number. Her name's Catherine."

"Bravo James." Logan said with a hint of sarcasm, picking up his coffee mug.

Kendall rolled his eyes, but gave a slight smile, glad to see a bit of positivity within the four of them.

Rachel snuck a glance at the four attractive young men at the counter. "Hey Mon, you don't have a date tonight, right?"

"Gee thanks for reminding me Rach." Monica replied sardonically, turning to face her.

"No! I meant you should go up to one of those guys and get his number."

"Oh, yeah. That's a great idea Rach." Monica said, already rising to her feet.

No one noticed the smile on Chandler's face falter briefly before steadying once more, only this time slightly strained.

Monica gave one last smile to her friends before casually making her way over to the four young men at the counter, her friends' gazes following her. At that moment the tall blonde turned around, startling.

Kendall grabbed his coffee mug and turned around. He was completely unprepared for a beautiful young woman to be standing about two inches from him. Unable to control himself, he jumped slightly, consequently spilling his coffee on her.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry!" Kendall said, distressed.

Logan spun around at Kendall's cry, also startled to see the beautiful woman in front of them. He took in the situation in a glance, grabbing a pile of napkins and handing them to Kendall.

"Thanks Logan." Kendall said, blotting at the hot liquid with fervor. "I'm so sorry." He apologized again, "and coffee is so hard to get out!"

"It's fine, I'll be able to get it out." Monica said with a smile, a hint of pride in her voice.

"Are you sure? I'll replace it if you can't." Kendall said looking distressed.

"Naw, it's fine. I'll get it out. Maybe I'll show you at dinner tonight?" Monica said.

This surprised Kendall, but he gave her a smile. "I'd love to. Should I pick you up, say, around 7:00ish?"

"That'd be wonderful. Here's my number." Monica said, quickly jotting her number down on a napkin. She started to walk back to her friends before blushing, realizing she hadn't gotten his name.

Kendall's eyes widened when he realized he hadn't given his name, or gotten hers.

"Wait." He called hurriedly, a bit of red creeping over his face. "I don't believe I got your name. I'm Kendall Knight." He added, extending his hand.

Monica smiled as she turned back to him. "It's nice to meet you Kendall, I'm Monica Geller."

"The pleasure's mine...and that's a beautiful name."

Monica couldn't help but blush at the compliment. "Thank you. I guess, uhm, I'll see you tonight."

"I look forward to it."

Monica gave Kendall once last smile before turning and reclaiming her seat next to Chandler. He gave a slight sigh as he wrapped his arm over her shoulders once more, waiting for the questions that would be asked. He desperately hoped he could avoid the post-date questioning session; he wasn't sure if he could take hearing how well it went. At the same time, guilt flooded through him as he realized he was hoping for his best-friends disappointment and taking yet another blow to her self-esteem...but he couldn't help it. His crush had been growing stronger through the past months. If it were anybody else, they might admit to themselves that they were secretly in love, but it was Chandler. The idea of being in love had a direct correlation to the pain of heartbreak and betrayal; in his mind, that was all that could come from love.