A/N: So there you go, the very last chapter. You'll notice I changed the year from '88 to '86. It's because both of the kids were five in 1973 plus they've just started college, so they can't be twenty years old. Also Ross is older than them, but that's not important. Thank you so so so much for all those beautiful reviews. You made a guy happy :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Friends or its characters. But I do own Claire. If someone wants that bitch, let me know. I don't like her.
Alone With You, Again.
1986
She opened the box and there it was. She instantly remembered that day. The wedding, the dolls covered in blue paint, Rachel being Rachel, and the poor boy she never got the chance to see again. Would he remember her?
"Monica? Are you still there?" Her mother called from outside. "What could you possibly need from all that garbage? The truck is here!" She mocked her and stuck her tongue out at her. Thank God she was moving out. She put her old wedding dress in the box she was collecting the stuff that would take to her new place and took it outside.
It was wonderful living alone at last. No annoying mother making stupid remarks. No one to judge her compulsive cleaning. But no one to talk to. Damn, it was getting boring.
She had been on her own for almost four months. She had just started culinary school and she couldn't be happier. But after the whole excitement of trying new recipes at home passed she began to feel lonely. She could use a roommate. Sadly, Rachel didn't talk to her anymore because she was busy enjoying her snobby life. She hadn't got closer to Ross. The guy didn't make any friends in college so he secluded himself in his room only getting out to go to class.
She decided to put some adverts on the street and some little places like the new bar close to her place.
For weeks she lived constantly expecting a phone call from someone interested in checking the place. But the phone only seemed to get her mother's calls telling her how wonderfully Ross was doing in college. The bitch never said anything about her son being a hermit, of course. At least she never bothered to visit her. That day she…
*RIIIIING!*
The phone rang and Monica prayed to all gods it wasn't her mother. She picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hi." The voice on the other end belonged to a guy, young apparently. "It's Mr. Geller there?" Wow, nice voice. It had the three "S" she liked: soft, sweet and sexy.
"Um, yes. It's actually a girl. It's me." Damn it, Geller. Stay calm.
The guy on the other side breathed out in relief. "Great. Sorry, I saw the advert and it just said Geller, no Mr. or Mrs. and I tried calling you but always got the wrong number so I decided to look on the book and turned out it was a seven at the end instead of the one on the advert." God, did the guy in the copy place messed up that bad? No wonder why she never received calls asking for the place. Wait, did the guy on the phone had a hint of a British accent? Interesting.
She explained the mistake to the guy and heard him laugh. "So I'm the only one who called?"
"Yeah, the only one." Come check the place, come check the place, come check the place.
"So would it be ok if I go check the place?"
YESSSSSS! "Sure, no problem. I've just finished cleaning so yes.
"Perfect. I'm free right now, can I go?"
"Ok Monica, the guy is walking up the stairs, calm down. It's not the first guy you've ever talked to. But damn he has a nice voice…crap. But what if he looks like that creepy old man?" She felt someone hitting her floor from the apartment below hers as a way of telling her to stop pacing. "Yes, you!...weirdo."
Why wasn't he there yet? And why was she so excited and nervous to meet the guy? She didn't know it, she just had a feeling. She played with her black pigtails like she always did in these situations. Suddenly she heard a knock on the door and a shiver went down her spine. She slowly made her way to the door and asked who was on the other side, just in case.
"It's me, the guy from the phone." From the tone in his voice he was smiling. She tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear and opened the door.
OH MY GOD.
Could he be any cuter? The guy was tall with short brown hair. He had a wide but good looking forehead and below it were the most beautiful eyes she'd ever seen. A mix of light blue and grey. She could have easily got lost in them. His nose was sharp and his lips were thin. He had a lopsided grin on his face which created a little dimple on his cheek, very boyish. He was wearing a pair of khaki pants and a red hooded sweatshirt.
The guy bit his lips uncomfortably and Monica realized she'd been staring at him for too long. "Oh God, sorry. I just…I expected you to be some weirdo…"
The guy chuckled. "That's because you don't know me yet." He said smiling. "I'm the weirdo you're looking for."
His voice sounds sexier in person…dammit Monica. "Ok, um…wanna come in?" She stepped aside to let him in.
A couple of minutes later they were sitting on the couch while she was asking the questions she had written down in her notepad. They were basic lifestyle questions plus the ones she considered essential in order to get a roommate. Apparently he was a pretty clean guy so it wouldn't have been a problem if he moved in. She would train him a little.
Then she moved to the personal questions.
"Good. Are you ok with me asking you some personal stuff?"
He hesitated a second. "Because asking me how many times a week I wash my underwear is not personal?" He said a little confused while smiling referring to one of her previous questions.
Monica couldn't help but chuckle. "I told you, it's essential information. Now we move to the personal stuff, like what's your job?"
He shifted a little. "I'm at college right now, but I don't want to stay in the dorms, you know? I prefer being outside the campus."
"Oh, and what are you studying?"
"Advertising. I wasn't really sure about it at first but now I love it." He smiled at her and she instantly blushed a little.
"Ok." She wrote advertising on her notepad. "And I noticed a little accent. Are you from England?"
He chuckled. "Yes and no. I mean, I was born here, I'm an American citizen but my mom got a job offer in London when I was five years old just after she divorced my dad and I've been living there since then. When I finished high school I told her I wanted to move back here and I did."
"And she agreed just like that?"
"My mother and I have never been really close."
She nodded. "Oh, I see." The story seemed a little familiar. Then she noticed she hadn't asked him the first question on her list. She laughed at her own silliness. He looked at her a little confused and she explained. "Nothing, I just forgot to ask you the most important question."
"Oh, and that would be if I order my t-shirts by color or by the color's alphabetical order?" He teased her and she laughed.
"No, silly. Your Name!"
"Ok, I'm Chandler Bing. Nice to meet you." He extended his hand to her and she slowly shook it while narrowing her eyes and frowning.
Then the door opened and Claire and who must have been Chandler's mom came in. His mom seemed to be really mad about something.
"Come on, Chandler. We have to go. Go grab your coat". He got up quickly and grabbed it. Monica didn't like how she spoke to him.
"Can I come back tomorrow?" he asked.
"No, honey. Now hurry because we got to leave now!"
"But why? Are we going home?"
"No, we're moving out" What? Please no!
"I'm sorry about your divorce Mrs. Bing" said Claire.
"Don't be sorry, dear. We'll be better off without him. I got an amazing job offer in London so we're moving there. He lost custody of Chandler and I had this trip planned for a while now. He finally signed the papers today so we're going now. Come on, Chandler, we are leaving."
She opened the box and there it was. She instantly remembered that day. The wedding, the dolls covered in blue paint, Rachel being Rachel, and the poor boy she never got the chance to see again.
"And your name is…?" He asked.
"I'm Monica. Monica Geller." Then the realization also hit him.
"Can I play with you?"
Chandler turned around and saw her. A beautiful girl his age with black hair and light blue eyes was standing behind him actually asking him to let her play with him. He was speechless. Out of nowhere the Gods smiled at him and not only he found a playmate, he found a beautiful playmate.
"Yeah, sure. Sit". He shifted a little for her to sit beside him and stayed silent. Soon he started to feel uncomfortable. How was he supposed to have a conversation with someone? His parents barely talked to him.
"What's your name?" Asked her. Relief went through him as she was the one who started.
"Yours first"
"Ok, I'm Monica"
He smiled "I like it, it's pretty".
"Really?" He nodded "Thank you". She grinned and blushed. Chandler thought she was really pretty but couldn't find a way of telling her. "Yours?"
"What?"
She smiled at him. "Your name"
Oh God, he had to tell her his name. She was going to laugh at him for having such a stupid name. He had to come up with a cooler one.
"I'm Chandler" Well, so well so far.
She giggled. "That's funny, I like it!"
Did she just say she liked it? Really? "Really?"
She nodded grinning. Her black pigtails shaking.
He definitely recognized her. Her light blue eyes, her black pigtails, her beautiful smile…her obsession with organizing.
"Took you some time to come back, hubby." She was grinning and he also instantly grinned.
THE END