Monica plopped down on her couch, put her feet up on the coffee table and smiled triumphantly.
Ross was going after Emily. She knew he was in love with her, and she'd talked him into confessing as much to his English girlfriend. There was something about Emily and Ross that seemed sweet, and despite the distance, less complicated than his previous relationships. It felt unplanned, in-the-moment and very romantic. Honestly, it was something Monica thought she might be uncomfortable with if it ever actually happened to her, but she liked to think about it anyway.
She felt a little bad for Rachel, but she seemed to be moving on with Joshua, and of course there was the fact that Ross was living out her ultimate fantasy. Meet someone from a foreign land and fall madly, hopelessly in love.
It seemed she'd been fantasizing a lot lately about falling in love again. About meeting a tall, dark handsome stranger with bedroom eyes and a slow, seductive smile that would sweep her off her feet. Or maybe he didn't have to be a stranger.
It had been a long, long time since she'd been in love. It had been a long, long time since she felt the way she knew her brother was feeling now. Oh, she couldn't wait to hear how it went at the airport…
"Hey, dreamy girl," she heard Chandler say from the kitchen. She jerked her head in his direction. "Didn't you hear me come in?"
"Hey," she said, sitting up straight and absentmindedly fluffing up her hair. He was smirking at her.
"Good Will Humping is about the start again," he said as he grabbed a YooHoo out of the fridge. Monica squished up her nose in disgust.
"So?"
"So?" Chandler said, looking at her, confused. "You said you wanted to catch the beginning next time."
"Really, Chandler, I'd think you would know sarcasm when you heard it," she said shaking her head as she stood up and walked toward him.
"Oh," he said, blinking back in mild surprise as he twisted the cap off the bottle.
"Seriously, how much porn can you watch in one day?" she asked, crossing her arms in front of her. He frowned.
"Is that a trick question?"
"You've had it on all morning."
"Yes, and it will stay on…forever," he said with a swig of his YooHoo. Monica rolled her eyes.
"Look, I may never find a woman again," he said, waving his arms for emphasis. "Porn may be all I ever have."
"Well, that's just…"
"Pathetic?"
"Yes," she said, putting her hand on her hip and cocking her head to the side, "among other things. Sad, lonely, creepy…"
"All in my wheelhouse," he said with a nod.
"That's not true," she said, shaking her head a little.
"Sure it is," he shrugged. "Look, I've tried the romance thing, the love thing, it didn't work out, ya know? I've learned to stay in my zone."
"So you don't believe in love anymore?" she said, it was her turn to blink back in surprise. He let out an exasperated sigh and gestured toward the door with both hands.
"Seriously. Mon. Good Will Humping," he whined. "Starting now."
"Chandler…"
"Monica…"
They stared at each other a couple moments, her not sure what answer (denial?) she was expecting (hoping?) to hear. He'd been doing so well. He seemed to be over Kathy and, at least currently, free of Janice. She knew there must be some lingering resentment toward Kathy in him, and she felt bad about that for his sake, but it was nothing love wouldn't heal. The right love…
She swallowed hard as she looked deep into his eyes. She thought she could still see a hint of pain in them.
"Are you OK?" he suddenly asked, furrowing his brow. She took a step back, her face turning pink.
"What? Me?" she said, feeling instantly caught off guard by the question. "I'm…I'm fine. Why…why would you ask me that?"
"I dunno," he said, studying her. "You just have this, I don't know, this…look on your face."
He snapped his fingers and pointed at her with a grin.
"Hey, are you seeing someone?" he asked, excitedly.
"What? No!" she said emphatically, gently slapping his finger away from her. "No! Of course not!"
"Really?" he asked, taking a step back, looking more than a little confused. "Huh…"
"Huh, what?" she asked, her face turning beet-red now as her heart started to pound.
"Nothing, nothing, I just thought I saw…" he started, then cleared his throat as his eyes widened, his face a cross between embarrassment and amusement. "Oh God did I, uh, interrupt you, um…ah, ya know, just now?"
He grimaced and, after a moment she gasped.
"Chandler!" she said, throwing her fists down to her sides. "No! Geez! Look, you've just been…been watching too much porn!"
She let out a disgusted grunt and shot a glare at him, which made him chuckle.
"Now that's just ridiculous," he said with a grin as he made his way toward the door. "In any event, I'm sorry for the interruption."
"No, you're not," she said, walking past him to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. He raised his eyebrows at her.
"Come on," she said, aggravated with him but somehow genuinely curious about how Good Will Humping started. "That porn isn't going to watch itself."
"That'd be kinda hot," he joked, practically giddy.
"Get out of here," she said as she opened the door, trying unsuccessfully to suppress a grin as she followed him out the door.
###
"Monica, what are you doin'?" Joey asked the minute Ross ran out the door to fly to London.
"Yeah," Chandler said as his eyes followed her back across the room and she sat back down on the barcalounger.
"What?" she said, looking from one man to the other. Chandler leaned toward her in his chair, a concerned look on his face.
"London," Chandler said, looking at her like she was crazy. "You just told him to go all the way to London to get his heart broken. He could have saved some serious money and just done that here!"
"Oh, I did not," Monica said with a little grin, her head swimming with romantic fantasies. What was a little trans-Atlantic flight when true love was on the line?
"Monica, there is another guy in her life," Chandler said. "What if…what if this Collin guy turns out to be…to be…"
"Her boyfriend…her husband…her stalker," Joey said.
"He's…it's not, it's not going to turn out that way," she said, shaking her head as Chandler turned to Joey with a look of disbelief. "I'm right, you'll see."
###
"Hey," Chandler said as he a Joey walked into the girls' apartment later that day.
"Hi," Monica said, flatly, from the chair facing away from the door. She didn't bother to get up or even turn around. The two had done nothing but give her a hard time and make her feel like the ultimate romantic fool before she'd stormed out of their place and back across the hall hours earlier.
"Look, we're sorry, Mon," Joey said as he took a seat on the ottoman at the far end of the coffee table, "but ya gotta admit, you were talking a little crazy before…"
Chandler widened his eyes at him and waved his hand as if to say "shut up." Monica's shoulders slumped in her chair. Maybe they were right. Maybe she was trying so hard to make Ross and Emily work because she wanted to live a romance vicariously through them. Maybe she was just feeling lonely.
"Hey, hey," Chandler said as he sat on the arm of the chair she was sitting on and smoothed her hair a couple times with the palm of his hand. He let out a sigh. "Have you heard from him?"
"No," she said, a slight pout on her lips. Then she half shrugged before she started picking at the lint on the seat of the chair. "Look, I know, it seems a little dramatic but I really think…I think I'm right."
Chandler and Joey cast a glance of doubt between the two of them.
"Or maybe I'm an idiot," she said hotly, but her tone betrayed how defeated she really felt as she cast her eyes on her lap.
"You're not an idiot," Chandler said as he scooted down onto the chair. She made room for him as he wrapped his arm around her and she settled into his side. His hand tightened around her shoulder and he kissed the top of her head.
"I'm sorry we gave you such a hard time," he whispered.
"Yeah," Joey added, with a nod.
Monica looked up at Chandler and smiled a little at him.
"That's OK," she said softly as she fit her head into the crook of his arm once again and sighed. He tightened his hand again and she relaxed into his embrace, breathing him in as Joey started talking about yet another porn film he'd seen earlier in the afternoon.
Monica was barely listening. She felt like she could fall asleep, cuddled up close with her best friend on the oversized chair. There was something about being in Chandler's arms that had always soothed her, whether it was a quick hug or a prolonged embrace, she never failed to come away feeling a little calmer.
"Oh, oh," she suddenly heard Phoebe say as she came bursting into the apartment. "I did it, I did it. I figured out a way to make money…"
###
Monica felt his fingers glide gently through her hair. She tilted her head back, moaning a little as a lazy, hazy smile came to her lips.
"Hey there, dreamy girl," he said softly, his blue eyes roaming her face.
"Hey," she breathed as she shifted her body to face him more fully in the chair they were sharing in her apartment.
"What are you daydreaming about?" he asked, his voice softer than she'd ever heard it. She smiled fully at him and ran her fingertips along the light stubble on his chin.
"You," she whispered just soft enough for him to hear.
"Oh yeah?" he said gently, a smile playing on his lips. She nodded and burrowed even further into his side.
"I like being tucked against you like this," she said in a breathy exhale, closing her eyes and laying her head on his chest. She heard his chuckle reverberate under his shirt. The hand that was in her hair made its way up and down her arm, pulling her closer against him with each stroke. Then she felt his other hand cup her face.
"Mon?" he whispered. She could feel his hot breath against her mouth
"Hum…" she murmured, her eyes still closed against his chest.
The next thing she knew his lips were on hers, gentle at first, barely a touch. She tried to open her eyes, but she couldn't before his grip tightened and his lips crashed harder onto hers. She moaned deep inside, pushing her now-open mouth up against his, one hand clutching the side of his shirt in her fist, the other pushing into his lap as she lifted herself up to press more fully against him. He moved his arms around her, his lips never leaving hers, pulling her against his chest.
Monica arched against him on the oversized chair as her hands flew to his hair. She kissed him deeper until she heard him moan. She smiled into the kiss as their breathing became shallow.
Chandler lifted his mouth from hers and moved to her neck as she threw her head back over the arm rest.
"Ohhh," she moaned, her body throbbing for him. "Oh, God…"
He ran his hand slowly along her torso then cupped her bra in his palm as she gasped.
"I want you now," she heard him almost growl against her ear in a voice she almost didn't recognize as his. Her whole body lurched in response to him.
"Yes, yes," she breathed as she started to rock against him as he held her firm, bathing her collarbone in soft, succulent kisses. "I want you…too. Oh, I want you…"
"Mon?" she heard him say.
"Yeah," she responded, still in the throes of passion.
"Mon?" he said more forcefully. "Monica?"
"Wha…"
"Mon, hey wake up," he said, and she felt something poking her shoulder.
"Monica!"
"What?!" she said as her eyes shot open. It took a moment for her to focus, but when she finally did she found Chandler kneeling beside the pushed back barcalounger in his apartment, in exactly the same place she'd started watching a movie with him more than an hour ago. She had an afghan twisted around her. Chandler gave her his lopsided grin.
"You feel asleep a while ago," he said.
"I did?" she said, taking a quick scan around and deducing that her current state would support that assertion.
"Yeah," he said with a mischievous grin, flicking some rouge strands of hair away from her face, "and you were, um, dreaming pretty hot and heavy. For a minute there I thought maybe I should leave you alone with, ah, you."
He cracked a smile and Monica just stared at him, mortified as it suddenly came back in a flash that the man she was dreaming so specifically about was right in front of her.
"Oh…God," she moaned, pulling the afghan over her head to hide her burning-red face.
"That sounds familiar," he quipped, with a chuckle.
"Stop! Please," she demanded, though it came out muffled under the cover, which just made him laugh harder.
"Chandler!" she warned. He stood up as she peeked out from under the covers, her embarrassment at a fever pitch. "Would you stop!?"
"OK, OK," he said, putting his hands up in mock surrender. "Hey, don't worry about it. It's probably a product of too much porn, right?"
"Gee, ya think?" she said, as she slowly sat up on the chair. He nodded, an amused look still lingering on his face.
"That and your, um, overactive imagination in the romance department," he said with a roll of his eyes. That made her smile.
"I was right, though," she pointed out, her breathing starting to become even again as she threw a sideways glance at him. Emily was currently waiting for Ross at his apartment, having flown back from England to tell him she loved him, too.
"You were right," he conceded as he plopped down in the other chair. "So, who was he?"
"Who was who?" she said, rearranging the blanket around her.
"Your dream man," he said with his crooked grin. She glanced over at him briefly, her face turning pink.
"Ah, I, um, I dunno," she said quickly. "Didn't see his face."
"Uh huh," he said, picking up the remote again and un-pausing the movie.
"Strong arms, though," she said, as unbeknownst to him her eyes flickered over his outstretched body on the chair. "Great kisser, too."
"OK, OK, enough," he said, squirming a little.
"You asked," she said with a giggle.
"And I'm sorry I did," he said, shaking his head and turning up the volume on the TV. "Let's just finish the movie, shall we?"
She giggled a little louder as he crossed his arms, trying his best to ignore her. She cast him a sly glance he didn't see and smiled to herself.
And for the first time she wondered what it would be like if it wasn't just a dream after all...
NOTE: Another update?! This one a little more on the romantic side, too, on the tail end of Valentine's Day. Happy Mondler lovin' to you all! :)