Everything You Want – Chapter Six

xx

Rachel stabbed her fork into the salad, viciously, as soon as the waiter placed it in front of her. "I just don't understand!" she moaned to Chandler, during one of their lunchtime meetings, "How can he just be so 'okay' with everything? And does he have to tell me that ten hundred million thousand times?! I just want to tell him to shut up. And then punch him," she paused a beat, and added with a grunt, "And Emily. Why do I still have to care about him? It would be so much easier if I just hated him. I should hate him! He cheated on me! On our anniversary! If that isn't grounds for hate, I don't know what is."

Chandler half-smiled at her sympathetically from across the booth they were seated in, "Love isn't so easy to turn off," he said seriously, "But," he claimed, " I know one thing. You're not going to end up alone. Even if Ross doesn't end up being your 'one,' you will find someone, I know that much."

Rachel smiled at his sincerity. "When you're being serious, you're not half bad, at the whole, ya'know, comforting thing," she stated.

Chandler couldn't help but smile back, pleased her bad mood seemed to be evaporating, "I know. Just don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Deal," Rachel promised, "Thanks for listening to me rant. I know I'm probably not the most fun lunch buddy. Hell, I'm sick of my own whining."

Chandler smirked, "Well clearly you've never had lunch with Janice. Trust me, this is a walk in the park."

"Thanks," Rachel paused, tilting her head, "I think."

"So," Chandler changed the subject, "What's our game plan for the next few days?"

"If it's okay with you I kinda wanted to focus on breaking Ross," Rachel suggested, "Monica's walls are already coming tumbling down. We're making some progress there, whereas nothing with Ross, and we want to try and balance it so they're both ready for us to 'break up' at the same time, right?"

"Right," Chandler agreed, secretly pleased that Rachel thought Monica was responding to their relationship out of jealousy. It was a little confidence boost. "What did you have in mind, exactly?"

"Well," Rachel smiled slyly, "Think you can swing a guys night with Ross?"

Chandler smirked. "Rach, I really don't think us sitting around watching porn and drinking beer is going to help you in any way."

Rachel wrinkled her nose in disgust, "Is that all guys do when they get together? Don't you ever talk? How do you find out things about one another?"

Chandler shrugged, "We don't really need to plan a whole night for that. You ask a guy 'Dude, how was your date last night,' and he tells you. Or even better, pass him an index card with checkable boxes during TV commercials. You don't need to book an appointment."

"Well that's just sad," Rachel commented, "Guys make me sad."

Chandler shrugged again. "Just because you're the gossip monger of the east village doesn't mean we're sad. As a guy I am perfectly content with our system, thank you very much."

"Well that makes me sad, too," Rachel claimed, spearing another bite of her salad, "Come on, in these past few weeks with me, you must have learned that sharing can be fun! We share almost everything, now!"

"But you're a girl," Chandler complained, "Not shutting up comes easily to you. I don't have to do any work to get you to talk, and when you do, I just nod along. With a guy it'd be like trying to pry a mop out of Monica's hands. It just isn't going to happen."

"Okay," Rachel rolled her eyes, "First, thanks for that. Second, so not the point. The point is you're going to talk to Ross, one way or another. I don't care if you have to sit on the TV and wave your hands like a maniac to get him to pay attention to you."

"Okay, okay," Chandler relented, "I'll corner him after work, or something."

xx

"Hey man," Chandler greeted his bestfriend, when Ross opened the door to his apartment. He waved the six pack of beer that he was carrying and explained, "I was thinking that since Rach and I got together you and I needed to sit down and just talk it out, reaffirm our friendship and all. "

Ross smiled wryly, clearly a little amused by the un-Chandler-like suggestion, "Yeah, sure, dude. Rachel put you up to this?"

"No!" Chandler exclaimed a little too defensively, causing Ross to look at him with an even bigger smirk than before. "Okay, fine, she did," he admitted, seeing his friend's knowing look. It wasn't exactly a lie anyway... "But, for the record, I care, too."

Ross smirked, "Well, since it means so much to you, come on in," he said, with a hint of sarcasm, inviting his friend into the living area of the apartment.

Chandler patted the case he was holding, "Don't worry, after a few of these bad boys, we'll hardly remember Rachel's forcing us to spend quality time together."

Ross laughed. "Good plan," he agreed, as he ushered Chandler towards the comfortable brown leather couch in his living room. Both men sat down awkwardly, staring at the blank TV screen.

Unsure how to start, Chandler passed Ross one of the beers he had brought, and picked at the label of his own. Perhaps if they were both a little buzzed, they would loosen up and this wouldn't be so painfully awkward. "So…" he ventured, eventually, "How are things going with Emily?" 'Yeah, way to go, Chandler,' he chided himself, sarcastically, at the poor attempt at starting a discussion, 'That's spinning the conversation in the right direction. Rachel wants you to talk about her… so you mention the other woman. Smart.'

"Um, pretty good, actually," Ross nodded, "Em's really getting excited about the wedding. She's picked out a wedding dress and everything. I can't believe it… in a few weeks I'm going to be married! Married!"

"Yeah, I know, huh? It's, uh, great being in love, isn't it?" Chandler returned, hinting towards his 'relationship' with Rachel.

Ross either entirely missed the allusion or didn't care. "Yeah, it really is," he smiled, his expression a little faraway. "So, um, how are you and Rachel working out… now that you've been 'out' for a week now?"

Chandler smiled, relieved that the conversation seemed to be heading back in the proper direction; the direction Rachel had asked him to take it. Strangely, Ross was doing all the questioning. Chandler knew enough to know that this was not a good sign. He knew Rachel's feelings were going to be hurt, and he dreaded being the one to tell her. "We're doing good. Great actually," he nodded, "Rachel's having the best time sharing all the gossipy details with the girls. I think that's why she wanted us to do this."

"Yeah," Ross laughed, "I remember, we went through that stage, too, where Rachel told Monica and Phoebe everything. And I mean everything. You should watch out, dude, she could destroy your reputation with women everywhere."

Chandler smirked and shrugged, "Doesn't have all that far down to go, my friend," He smirked seeing an opportunity to spark Ross' jealousy, "Besides, from what Phoebe's hinted at Rachel sharing, there's been no shortfall of comparisons, and I'm gettin' pretty good reviews."

To Chandler's surprise, Ross actually laughed aloud, "Yeah, can you imagine? I wonder what Rachel has to say comparing the two of us? You know, actually, let's not go there. That's weird. Really weird."

"Well, um," Chandler stuttered eventually, cursing himself inside his head for his lack of courage, "we actually haven't, um, you know, yet." He grimaced. "We've done pretty much everything but the main event," he added quickly, seeing the disbelieving look on Ross' face. God he was just digging himself a hole. Why had he said they hadn't had sex in the first place?! "And don't get me wrong it's all been great, she's been great. She's so sexy and just… an amazing woman. I don't know how you let her get away, man," he said, shaking his head at Ross. Now that he had started, he just couldn't seem to shut up, "But… I think she's worried about the finality of crossing that last boundary. Like there's no going back to friendship from there, you know? We'll be an official couple." Great. Just greeeat. Instead of making Ross jealous, he was casting doubt on his 'relationship' with Rachel. Rachel was going to be so proud of his progress.

"Uh, really?" Ross asked surprised, "Seriously? You – You mean, you actually…?" He looked at Chandler wide-eyed, "Was not expecting that! When you came out of her room that morning at breakfast I assumed…"

Chandler looked down at the floor self-consciously, half-wondering if the beer he'd consumed was already making it's way through his system, making him more idiotic than usual. Might as well try to make the best of it now… "Yeah, look, don't take this the wrong way, man…" he said, expecting he knew exactly how Ross would respond, "but I think, secretly, a little tiny part of her is hoping that you'll ride in on your white horse and sweep her off her feet, you know?"

"Re-really?" Ross choked on his beer, "You can't be serious! You guys seemed so happy together. Yeah, okay, I've known about you guys, what? A week? But you just seemed so…"

"Yeah, don't get me wrong, we have an awesome time together, and our feelings are growing for sure. We genuinely care about one another and we've got all this passion and sexual tension that's building up. It's getting to the point where sex won't be an issue," he said boldly, pleased he seemed to be recovering from his glaring blunder with relative ease, "But for the time being, she's in transition. She's getting used to me, and getting used to not being with you. A part of her still wants you, and probably always will."

"I had no idea!" Ross said, flabbergasted, "I- I'm with Emily now, I – I – Rachel's in the past for me, now."

"Calm down," Chandler soothed, "I just thought you should know, before feelings get totally invested, and vows get said, there's some leeway, okay? You still have a shot with Rachel. This thing with her and me… it's mostly physical chemistry at the moment. Part of her wants you, and I know part of you wants her, too. You pined for her for nine years, Ross, I lived with you for four of them during college! Don't tell me you got over that so easily. I'm not trying to impede here," he lied, knowing that's exactly what he was doing, "I just don't want to set myself up for another heartbreak. If you two are going to end up together, in the end, I'm not standing in the middle."

Even the explicit claim that Rachel still loved him did nothing to sway Ross's devotion to Emily. "I - I don't know what to say, man. Look, I'm getting married in three weeks! Of course I'm over Rachel," he insisted, convincingly. Too convincingly not to be serious. He was serious. He had to be.

"Well, okay then," Chandler said, pasting on a false smile, "Good to know."

All he could think, however, was one thought:

Oh crap.

xx

Since Chandler was hanging out with Ross for the evening, Rachel decided she might as well spend the night with Monica. It wasn't all that difficult to convince her to spend the night in doing girly things and painting one another's nails. They hadn't had a proper girls' makeover night in months.

Both girls were sitting on the couch, their feet propped up on the coffee table, diligently painting their toenails various shades of pink, when Phoebe burst into the apartment, a wide grin on her face.

"You guys," the bubbly blonde exclaimed, in her excitement neglecting to notice that her friends were busy mid-polish, "You'll never guess what just happened!" Monica and Rachel both paused mid-task, and looked up at her expectantly. When neither answered, Phoebe griped, "Guess!"

Rachel screwed the cap on the bottle of polish she was holding, as she thought up an answer, "Um… you won the lottery?"

"No."

"You got a new job?" Monica tried, gamely.

"No."

"You found that aromatherapy candle that you've been looking for, that was discontinued?" Monica wondered, the pitch of her voice rising as she got into the spirit of the 'game,' and was overcome with a need to 'win' it.

"No."

"Okay!" Rachel interrupted, "I'm sensing this could be a long game! What happened Pheebs?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes, "You're no fun," she huffed, but answered anyway, too happy to be really upset, "I ran into David! You know, my scientist man! We're meeting up for dinner later tonight! Yay me!"

"Oh, Pheebs," Rachel and Monica chorused, happy for their friend, "That's so great!"

"I know! Hey! What are you doing?" Phoebe accused, finally taking notice of what the other two girls were up to, "Are you doing girly stuff and didn't invite me?"

"Uh…" Rachel hemmed, twisting the bottle she was holding in her hand, nervously, unsure how to answer the question sensitively.

Phoebe quickly voided the need for a suitable answer. "Well, shove over," she said, making shooing gestures, encouraging the other two girls to scoot down the couch, "Make room for Pheebs!"

"Oh!" Phoebe squealed randomly, as she picked out a bright orange polish colour from the array of colourful bottles that Monica and Rachel had laid out on the table, unable to contain her glee, "I'm just so excited!" She grinned wider, tucking a long strand of blonde hair behind her ear, "David is just the best in bed."

"Pheebs!" Monica exclaimed, flushing at her friend's directness.

"What?" Phoebe questioned, unashamed of her forward behaviour, "Like you guys never get excited about a guy being good in bed!" she scoffed, "I mean, that's probably half the reason that Rachel's with Chandler," she laughed, "What other reason is there?"

Rachel blushed furiously, not sure how to answer that question. "Well – I, um, not exactly. Chandler and I have never, actually, well, you know, done that… thing. Yet."

Phoebe looked aghast. So did Monica, but probably for slightly different reasons. "You haven't?" they both exclaimed, their voices dripping curiosity.

"No."

Monica looked suitably relieved at Rachel's answer, but Phoebe only looked more appalled. "Well why not?" she wondered, baffled, "Chandler can be one cute piece of ass when he shuts his mouth."

Rachel shrugged, "No reason, really. We want to take things slow, what with the whole me and Ross fiasco. Rushing into things just seemed like a bad idea."

"What about that first night, after Ross' anniversary party?" Monica wondered quietly, "I – I caught you, I mean, I heard you… being all post-coital and stuff."

Rachel shrugged again. "We spent most of the night just talking and cuddling, and a little bit of kissing. That was a few days after we first got together."

"A few days?! Even more reason why that's inexcusable!" Phoebe insisted, "Don't you have any sympathy? Poor Chandler!"

Rachel couldn't help but laugh aloud at Phoebe's insistence. "I'm sorry. Am I in trouble for not sleeping with my boyfriend?!"

Phoebe smirked, but Monica remained eerily expressionless, as if fighting not to show emotion either way. "No," Phoebe claimed eventually, "But you guys are totally cute! You should just go for it!"

At this Monica made a noticeable choking sound, causing the others to look at her.

"What? You don't think they're cute?" Phoebe demanded.

"They're alright," Monica said indifferently, "I don't know if I'd say 'cute."

"I would!"

"Of course you would!" Monica snipped, "You've been on the 'whoo, go Rachel and Chandler' bandwagon since day one," she claimed, waving her hands in the air as she made the 'whoo' noise.

"Fine," Phoebe rolled her eyes, "You and Pete are cute, too," she added, assuming she had upset Monica's competitive spirit by labelling Chandler and Rachel as more cute than her and Pete, "Better?"

"Sure," Monica drawled, insincerely.

Taking advantage of the situation and Monica's obvious jealousy, Rachel interjected herself back into the conversation, "Actually, on the whole, me, Chandler and a bed issue… he's planning on taking me out tonight," she lied. She and Chandler had made no such plans. "He's hanging with Ross for a bit, but at ten, we're going out to dinner. It was the only reservation left at Tavern on the Green on such short notice," she gushed. The lies were coming only too easily.

"Aww, really?" Phoebe said, "he's taking you there? That's so sweet. You've got all these stories with Chandler being all romantic… and I still can't believe it. He might have a cute ass… but Chandler, romantic?"

"I'd believe it," Monica said, quietly, all signs jealously slipping away, in her defense of Chandler, "I remember one time when he had just moved in, we weren't really friends, yet, hardly even acquaintances. I had just lost my job, and he caught me crying in the hallway. He was really sweet about it; he offered to lend me money, or get me a job in the Fine Foods division of his company. He hardly knew me, other than as Ross' little sister, but he was willing to do whatever it took, just to help me out of a jam."

"Yeah," Rachel claimed, bobbing her head along in agreement, "He does sweet things like that all the time. So yeah, definitely, I think tonight may be the night," she glanced at the clock, realizing it was just over an hour away from when she claimed she and Chandler were going out, and he still had no idea of his new dinner plans. "Actually, um, I kinda miss him already, so, yeah, I think I'm going to go over and say 'hi,' before we go out for dinner," she finished lamely, pleased the others didn't question her motives. Relieved, she slipped out the door, heading to Chandler's.

She was thankful to find him seated in his barcalounger, with Joey and Ross seated on surrounding furniture. Clearly Chandler and Ross had both migrated over from Ross' apartment, to watch the evening's Knicks game on TV with Joey.

Without a word, Rachel breezed up to Chandler, and grabbed him by the cuff of his shirt, and dragged him into his room.

Once the door was safety slammed behind them, Joey turned to Ross, a seedy smile on his face, "Oh ho, Chandler's getting lucky tonight!"

Ross smiled awkwardly at him, making no attempt to comment further, his earlier conversation with Chandler still resonating in his head, making any additional commentary seem inappropriate.

"You're taking me out to dinner tonight," Rachel said, once the door was closed firmly behind them and Chandler was seated on his bed, looking at her curiously, wondering the reason for her abrupt appearance. "Brush off your best suit. You're picking me up at 9:45. Reservations are at ten."

"Whoa," Chandler commented, still a little dazed by the abrupt appearance and rapid-fire sequence of information being presented to him, "It's almost like I really am your boyfriend. You're bossing me around and telling me how to dress. What's next?" After a long pause, during which Rachel smirked at him sarcastically, he asked, "Are you gonna tell me what's going on, here, or are we gonna play twenty questions?"

"I may have accidentally told the girls that you were taking me out to Tavern on the Green at ten, and that we were going to have sex afterward," Rachel said quickly, her words running together.

Chandler understood her perfectly, however. "You did all that by accident?" he gaped at her, baffled, "I think I'm going to have to take you to my 'Learning how to Shut up: 101' class."

Rachel rolled her eyes, "Look, it's not as bad as it sounds. Okay, sure, we'll never get into Tavern on the Green with less than an hour 'til our dinner plans, but we can fake it by going somewhere else, like a Starbucks or something. As for the sex… there are ways of faking that, too."

Chandler couldn't help the wide smirk that seemed to overtake the rest of his features, "You're telling me. Women excel at that. Especially with me."

Rachel only seemed irritated by his snide remark. "Are you just gonna sit there, or what?"

Chandler quickly sobered. He took her hand gently in his, in an effort to get her to calm down a little, "No, no," he countered, "Let me take you out to dinner for real, okay? I want to. Consider it a 'thank you' for being so great about all of this, and helping me out with Monica." He hugged her and kissed her check gently, causing her to stop in her tracks, her worries forgotten, at least for the moment.

"Okay," she agreed, noticeably flushing, a small smile on her face, then nodded to herself and repeated, "Okay."

xx

"You guys!" Rachel exclaimed as she burst into her apartment, flinging open the door loudly, startling both Monica and Phoebe who had resumed painting their nails in her absence. "You have to help me get ready! We're going out in, like, half an hour and I have nothing to wear," she wailed. She was inexplicably nervous about going out with Chandler on an outing where they would likely be perceived as a couple… and not just for the sake of their friends.

"Okay, okay," Phoebe soothed, screwing the cap on the bottle of polish she was holding and standing to comfort Rachel. Monica was much slower to move to Rachel's aid, her movements were almost lethargic, her unwillingness obvious.

"Calm down, we'll find you something," Phoebe rationalized, "You have a closet overflowing with clothes; there must be something worthy of Chandler in there," she said, with a teasing sarcastic lilt, "Anything short and low cut will do."

"Pheebs!" Rachel cried, "I don't want him to think I'm a slut."

"Too late," Monica muttered under her breath, gritting her teeth.

"Okay, fine," Phoebe drawled, as if Rachel was being difficult, "Let's go see what we have to work with," she decided, pulling Rachel toward her room.

After Rachel's bed was piled shoulder high with various outfits, the three girls eventually agreed on a summery royal blue halter dress that looked amazing on Rachel, flattering her figure.

"You look amazing," Monica grudgingly had had to admit to her friend. Her heart had sunk into her stomach when Rachel had stepped into view, swinging the skirt of the dress with a flourish. She knew immediately Chandler was going to love her roommate. She was gorgeous. She shrunk back a little, feeling like she was in high school all over again. Like dumpy, sidekick Monica next to beautiful, flawless Rachel.

In the remaining ten minutes before Chandler was due to show to pick her up, they managed to pick out several complementary silver accessories, including a charm bracelet and a pair of pumps, and apply her makeup, a feat Monica deemed just short of a miracle, when compared to the amount of time her roommate typically took to get ready.

They were just putting the finishing touches on Rachel's makeup, when there was a knock at the door, which Phoebe opened to reveal Chandler. He was dressed nicely. He actually did clean up quite nicely, when he put in a little effort. He looked cute in his grey suit… if he hadn't been Chandler, Phoebe might have even ventured to 'sexy.' She had noticed that Monica, too, had given him an appreciative glance.

There was something different about him, though… something atypical of Chandler, when he went on dates. He wasn't nerve-wracked, like he usually seemed to be on dates… He seemed relaxed and completely at ease. It seemed more like he was going out to a casual dinner with a friend. Perhaps dating Rachel, who was a friend first and foremost, was good for him, Phoebe considered, it look away his jittery edge.

Rachel on the other hand…

Was the polar opposite. It was like Rachel and Chandler had completely switched personalities. Rachel was acting like a nervous teenager going on her first date. She laughed just a little too loudly at Chandler's jokes, fidgeted just a little too much, and straightened her dress just a few too many times, belying how nervous she was.

"Ready to go?" Chandler wondered, a broad grin on his face as he offered his arm to Rachel, who took it with a nod, smiling back at him.

And like a whirlwind, they were gone.

Soon as they were out the door, Phoebe closed it behind them, leaning against it and looking at Monica with wide eyes. "Well," she stated, a hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth, "the way Rachel was acting, Chandler's got a sure thing, tonight."

Monica said nothing, though her eyes screamed, 'don't remind me.' Phoebe, seemed to understand something wasn't quite right with her friend, and said nothing further on the subject.

The truth was, Monica was dreading the waiting game. She needed to know what happened between Rachel and Chandler, but dreaded knowing even more.

A knot in the pit of her stomach, Monica picked up the cordless and punched in Pete's number. Phoebe was leaving to meet David in twenty minutes and she was going to be damned if she was going to be stuck alone, when everyone else had someone.

For tonight, at least, she wouldn't have to be.

Tomorrow… well, that was another story.

xx

Well, look at that, I managed to update twice in one week. So miracles really do happen.

Really, though, it's thanks to all you lovely reviewers, who inspire me 100%. The day after I posted the last chapter, and all the reviews had flooded in, I wrote the majority of this chapter, so that goes to show how much your thoughts and reviews really do motivate me :)

If the semi-speedy update is any indication, my coursework is suffering from not-doing-it-itis. Since I've been pushing everything off to 'later' and now IS later, I have to do it now…. so less updating, unfortunately :( But classes are ending in three weeks. Yes, I realize every time I post a chapter it's like a countdown, but I'm excited for summer :P

Thanks for reading :)