Someone Like You
Chapter 4
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Thanks to everyone who reviewed: Exintaris, Cindyy, tequilaonice1995, gangsta_gabby_loves_joker, Sere_Bing, Veridissima, and ErinBlueEyes23. I appreciate it mucho! I think I've got this split into 2 more chapters after this. I think. Unless I decide to add some more. Or split it up differently, which I literally just did before posting this.
I will try to update again this week, but I work in retail, and Friday is Black Friday, and I work ri-freaking-diculous hours the rest of the week, so…if I don't, I apologize in advance.
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Fall 1989
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"Dude, you got the beer?" Chandler shouted to Ross, already carrying his duffle bag and a couple of grocery sacks, Monica behind him with a couple more bags, heading up the driveway to the Geller's house. Jack and Judy were out of town for the weekend, so Ross and Monica were having a party there.
"Oh, yea, almost forgot I left the most important part it in the backseat," Ross laughed, slamming the trunk and slinging his duffle bag over his shoulder.
"Ross, keys?" Monica shouted from the front door, setting the bags down.
Ross walked around the car, pulling on the back door handle. When it didn't open, he frowned, reaching into his pockets. "Oh, no," he said, almost panicked, trying the front door on the same side. "No, no, no, no, no," he repeated, running around to the other side of the car.
"Ross?" Monica shouted again.
"Shit! I locked the keys in the trunk!" Ross shouted.
"Don't you have your keys?" Chandler asked Monica, who looked at him, dumbfounded.
"Yes, that's why I asked Ross for his keys," she rolled her eyes at him, walking back down the driveway towards her brother. "I'm going down to the Green's to get the spare," she shouted, to either or both of the boys, taking off down the street in the direction of their house.
"You guys both need to chill about this party," Chandler laughed, walking towards Ross. "If you don't want to have a party while your parents are gone, you could have just said so. Or still could say so."
"No, it's fine, we just don't want our mom to find out about it and freak," Ross explained, heading towards the door with his bag. He set them down by the door, shaking his head as he looked at the grey clouds in the sky. "It would rain while we're locked out…."
Monica came running back down the street as the rain started to fall, hurrying towards where the boys were standing on the porch. "They weren't home," she shook her head.
Ross sighed. "I could call Carol and see if she's left yet? If not, she could grab your keys? Are they just in our room?"
"How's she going to get into your room without your key?" Monica pointed out, Ross sighing. "Besides, if you go over there, they're going to know that Mom and Dad are out of town, and if they see us having a party, they'll tell him."
"Well, if they see us having a party, there's a good chance they'll tell, anyway."
"Well, since they're going to figure this out one way or another, you could go next door and see if they have a wire clothes hanger we could borrow to try to jimmie the lock on your car open," Chandler suggested, both Gellers turning towards him at that suggestion.
Monica shrugged, Ross nodding. "That actually might work."
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Monica stormed up the stairs towards her room, soaked from the rain. They had spent nearly half an hour trying to break into Ross's car (in the rain) with a hanger, she and Ross arguing the entire time while Chandler tried to mediate the battle. Ross had finally succeeded in getting into the car, though all three of them were now soaked and freezing and not in any kind of mood to host a party. But, they also didn't feel like calling everyone and telling them not to show up (another argument that had ensued in the rain), so the party that night was still on.
Chandler followed Monica close behind, heading into her room after her. She slammed the door shut behind them, Chandler dropping his bag on her bed. Monica stormed over to her closet and grabbed her robe, planning on taking a shower to warm up. She peeled off her soaked shirt, jumping as she turned around, Chandler having followed her and standing directly in front of her. Chandler snake his arms around her waist, and Monica leaned into the hug, hoping for warmth, though he was soaked and cold, too. She buried her face in his chest, taking a few deep breaths, trying to calm down. When she pulled back, looking up into the calmness of his eyes, she suddenly found herself completely overwhelmed by another emotion, the disastrous night thus far all but forgotten.
"What?" Chandler asked softly, Monica's demeanor changing as her lips curled into a smile.
Monica shook her head, his arms still around her. "Nothing-I just-I think," she stuttered out, pausing for a moment to pull herself together, scared to say what she had never said to anyone before, but they had both been thinking now for months. "I love you."
Chandler smiled, his heart beating so loudly at that he wasn't sure she would be able to hear his reply over it. "I love you, too."
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Spring 1991
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Chandler stared across his dorm room at Monica, arms folded across her chest, rightfully mad.
"When were you going to tell me?" she repeated through gritted teeth.
Chandler looked down, tears stinging at the backs of his eyes. "It's just an interview. It's not like I have the internship, or a job offer after. It's just an interview," he repeated, trying to feel better about the fact that he hadn't told her, knowing deep down what that reason was.
"Chandler, that's not the point!"
"I know that's not the point!" Chandler cut her off, raising his voice to meet hers. "But my journalism professor suggested I apply for it, and my mom got me an interview over spring break because the company happened to do the marketing for her last book, and," Chandler shrugged, at a loss. "It just-It all just…happened."
Monica looked down at the floor, clearly hurt. "And you didn't tell me any of it," she whispered.
Chandler moved over to where she was standing, taking her hands in his, though she still didn't look up. "I know. I know I should have, I just-I kind of applied on a whim, and then everything else happened, and-"
"What if you get it? Chandler, Los Angeles is on the other side of the country."
Chandler shrugged. "It's just an interview."
Monica looked up, meeting his eye, saying what Chandler had prayed she would leave silent. "You wouldn't have applied for the job if you didn't want it. You clearly weighed the option of moving to LA with staying here-"
"Mon, I haven't gotten interviews for anywhere I've applied for here-"
"That's not the point," Monica shook her head.
"Then what is?" Chandler dropped her hands, clearly exasperated.
Monica closed her eyes. "I can't do this right now," she said quietly, heading for the door.
"Mon, Monica, wait," Chandler followed her. "My flight leaves at 8 tomorrow. I don't want to leave for a week and have you be mad at me the entire time."
Monica turned back towards him, shaking her head. "I just-I can't have this fight right now. I just worked twelve hours, and you have to get up in a matter of hours, and," she shook her head, trying to hold back tears. "I can't do this right now."
"Mon," Chandler pleaded as she again turned to leave.
"I'll see you Thursday when you get back," Monica said quietly, knowing that was when his return flight was for.
"Okay," Chandler breathed out slowly. "I love you."
Monica glanced back at him once more. "I love you, too," she replied, turning to leave, knowing one more moment there and she would break down crying.
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Spring 1990
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"So, you're changing your major?" Monica asked Chandler, sitting on his dorm bed as he sat at his desk, flipping through a notebook.
"No, it's too late to change it completely," he explained. "I'm just adding a minor in advertising. My journalism professor last semester seems to think I have a knack for it," he shrugged.
"Maybe because you do?"
Chandler shrugged again at the suggestion, standing up before sitting beside her on the bed. "What do you want to do for dinner?" he asked, leaning in to kiss her neck.
"Doesn't matter," Monica replied softly before Chandler captured her lips with his own. Monica deepened the intensity of the kiss, pulling him down on top of her as she lay back on his bed. Chandler let his hand wander under her shirt, reaching behind her back to undo her bra as she unbuckled his belt.
"I'm not really hungry," Chandler whispered breathlessly, running his fingertips across first one nipple and then the other, Monica squirming beneath him as she now unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans before pulling them down.
"Me, neither," she replied, Chandler kicking his pants to the ground before going after Monica's shirt. She adjusted her position so he could pull it over her head before again pressing her lips against his, exploring his mouth and tongue with hers as Chandler now undid her pants, pushing them down past her ankles. Monica gasped into his mouth as he pressed the growing bulge in his boxers against her through her panties, grinding slightly against her.
The moment, though, was rudely interrupted at the sound of a key in the door, both of them breaking apart to move under the covers, knowing they didn't have time to redress before Ross entered.
Ross entered, took one look at the discarded clothes in the middle of the floor, and immediately turned back around. "Seriously, guys?" he said as he headed back out the door. "Monica, you have an apartment. Use it," he added, slamming the door shut behind him.
Chandler looked down at Monica, both of them laughing as their eyes met.
"He probably has a point," Monica finally conceded.
"Maybe," Chandler shrugged, bending his neck to kiss her again as he moved back on top of her. "Now, where were we, before we were rudely interrupted..."
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Fall 1991
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Chandler leaned closer to Monica, both of them laughing at a random, drunk guest dancing at the reception. They had been talking for nearly an hour now, reminiscing about college, which they somehow already felt so far removed from. They both talked about work and how much they loved their jobs, avoiding any questioning of if either had started dating other people yet.
"I probably shouldn't ask this," Chandler said softly as a slow song started playing, "but…want to dance?"
Monica smiled. "I probably shouldn't say yes, but I'm going to."
Chandler smiled at that, standing up and offering his hand, which Monica took as they headed onto the dance floor.
Rachel watched the inevitable scene unfold from the across the room from where she was seated at a table with her parents, having known this was going to happen from the moment she saw Chandler walk through the door the night before, and both of their worlds had immediately stopped. She did nothing to stop it, knowing they would probably both be heartbroken all over again when Chandler got on a plane the next morning, but that it was one of those things that just needed to happen.