Monica hoofed it down the sidewalk, knowing she was going to be at least a few minutes late and she loathed being late.

She squinted into the shadows cast by the noon-day sun toward the place she was meeting Chandler for lunch, stopping in the crowd of people near the corner preparing to cross the street. She stood on her tip toes and craned her neck, trying to look beyond the throngs of people before her.

She spotted him right outside the pizza joint he'd insisted they go to and she'd reluctantly agreed. She was trying to steer clear of pizza and anything that would add extra pounds before Ross and Emily's wedding, but she said she'd meet him there anyway.

A little grin crossed her face as she glanced toward the traffic sign, waiting for the "walk" word to light up. She knew she'd hear a lot of gloating from him because he'd gotten there first, but she didn't care. They'd just taken their apartment back from him and Joey not too long ago, so she decided she'd let him enjoy a couple small victories, for a little while anyway.

She turned again toward Chandler and saw that he was now talking to a woman who had her back turned toward the street. Monica furrowed her brow as the sign changed and the light turned green. The people around her bumped into her as they moved to cross the street, but Monica barely felt them. Her eyes were fixed on the woman who had just glanced over her shoulder as Chandler looked to the ground and shoved his hands deep into his pants pockets.

Kathy.

After a moment Monica closed her dropped jaw, her mouth forming a thin line. She could almost feel steam coming out of her ears as she took a small step closer to the edge of the sidewalk to get a better look at the couple. She could feel blood coursing through her in an adrenaline rush she honestly didn't expect. She had a great desire to do one of two things - go over there and give that woman hell for hurting Chandler or pull him away and tell him never to speak to her again. Maybe both.

Quickly she glanced up at the crosswalk sign, only to see that she'd missed her opportunity to cross the street. Monica stomped her foot, fighting the urge to yell over the traffic and the commotion of the lunch crowd to make her presence known to him. Instead she waited, with very little patience, and watched. She felt more and more sorry for her friend as each moment passed. She was sure Kathy was the last person on Earth he wanted to see.

She was, wasn't she?

Gnawing on her thumbnail Monica watched as Kathy continually looked from Chandler to the sidewalk behind her. She could tell her friend was doing his best to keep a pleasant smile on his face. Finally Kathy seemed to look directly at him, talking with her hands and taking a step closer to him. He kept his hands buried in his pockets as his expression eventually turned into a frown. He looked to the ground for a long moment as Kathy continued to stand there, seemingly expecting something from him. Monica had no idea why, but she caught herself holding her breath.

Finally Chandler looked up at his ex-girlfriend and said something, his hands never leaving his pockets. When he was finished Kathy nodded and they both looked down. Monica watched anxiously as Kathy hugged him briefly and walked quickly away past the restaurant and down the crowded sidewalk. Monica's eyes followed her as she shot daggers into the back of the woman's head until she lost her in the NYC crowd.

The "walk" sign came back on and this time Monica was pulled along with the crowd, her eyes now locked back on her friend. She saw him take a deep breath and let it out slowly, taking his hands out of his pockets and stretching his fingers. His palms were facing the sidewalk and his eyes were closed. Monica's heart ached for him as she prepared herself for a heartbroken Chandler once she finally reached him down the block.

She took a few deep breaths as she made her way to him, a sympathetic expression on her face.

"Hey there," she said, plastering on a smile as best she could.

He turned in her direction and, to her great surprise, clapped his hands together and had a genuine smile on his face.

"Hey!" he said, dramatically pulling back the sleeve of his suit jacket to check his watch. "Would you look at that, I do believe you are late, Miss Geller."

She blinked back in surprise. He was acting as though nothing had happened at all and her face must have betrayed her confusion.

"What?" he asked, looking down at his watch. "I have 12:05. You're late."

She relaxed and smiled. His eyes looked a little watery, but that was the only outward sign that he had run into his old girlfriend less than a minute earlier.

"Maybe your watch is off," she said, snapping back into teasing him with ease and a healthy dose of relief.

"Oh, no," he said as they walked toward the pizza parlor and he opened the door for her. "No, no, no! Admit it, you're late!"

"OK, OK," she said, spotting a small open table in the back and walking quickly over to claim it, Chandler on her heels. "Maybe I was a little late."

"If you'd moved like that you could have been on time," he mused jovially.

"You win one time and you get all…" she waved her hand at him as she sat down.

"You admit I won!" he said in surprise, a self-pleased smile on his face as he slapped his hand on the back of the empty chair in front of him.

"I'm hungry," she said, sitting back in her seat and crossing her arms. Then she gestured to the front counter. "Go order our pizza."

"What? Why do I have to…" he started in a huff, waving his arms "you can't just order me around, ya know."

"Yeah I can," she said, pointing at the front counter again.

"You're just sassy 'cause you lost!" he said with a smirk, but at the classic Geller glare she shot him he jumped back a little and put his hands up in surrender, grinning all the way to the order window.

She shook her head as she watched him walk away. She was stunned he was being so calm. If she'd randomly run into any of her ex-boyfriends just a couple months after they broke up, she knew she'd be a mess. Yet here he was, acting like himself, and she knew him well enough to know he wasn't putting on a front, and that really surprised her. Chandler was nothing if not predictable. He should be heading into phase one again right about now.

Chandler walked back with their ticket number in hand and sat down across from her.

"Got the meat lovers, since you're so hungry," he said, with a wink. She grimaced.

"What?"

"Oh, I shouldn't be having pizza at all," she said, chastising herself. "If I'm going to fit into my bridesmaid's dress I should eat leaves and figs from here to London."

"Sorry. They don't have leaf and fig pizza," he said, giving her his lopsided grin and taking a swig from one of the two soda cans he'd bought for them, leaving her with the diet pop.

She grinned and pulled the can to her, fiddling with the tab.

"I still can't believe my brother is getting married again, can you?" she asked, finally cracking open the can. He shook his head.

"He's crazy," he said, looking away from her as he took another sip. She looked at him sharply.

"You think so?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"God, yes," he said, rolling his can between his palms and shaking his head. "I mean, come on. They met, like, 20 minutes ago. She never even mentioned there was another guy when she was seeing him at first and that was, what? Last week?"

Monica squished up her nose. While she loved the romance of it all, there was a nagging part of her that agreed with him.

"Have you talked to him about it?" she asked.

"No," he said, blinking back in surprise at the question. "Why would he care what I think? Seriously, Mon, I'm probably the last person anyone should take relationship advice from, especially Ross."

She nodded and he frowned at her.

"Well, there was the incident with 'the list,'" she conceded, "and, ya know, the whole 'Chloe' thing."

"I didn't tell him to sleep with her!"

"Yeah, but you told him not to tell Rachel!"

He bobbed his head around, reluctantly agreeing.

"Look," he sighed as the food runner brought out their pizza. He nodded at him and continued as she cut both of them a slice, putting Chandler's on his plate first. "It really doesn't matter what anyone says to him. He's 'in love' and you can't tell anyone anything when they are 'in love.'"

She pursed her lips.

"People do stupid things when they are 'in love,'" he said, using a mocking tone meant to mimic air quotes. "Believe me."

Monica took a bite of her pizza, eyeing him closely. He was concentrating on his food, but seemed just a touch nervous now. She was wondering if his run-in with Kathy might have anything to do with it, and hoping beyond hope he wasn't going to do anything stupid himself.

She was dying to know about the encounter on the sidewalk. What she'd said, what he'd said. He'd been very much 'in love' with her and if he was so much as thinking about getting back together with her…

Monica cleared her throat. She knew it was none of her business, and he'd be mortified, but she had to know.

"Chandler, I, ah…" she started. He raised his eyebrows expectantly. She wiped her hands on her napkin and tucked her hair nervously behind her ear then started talking fast.

"I know it's none of my business, but you're, ya know, my friend and, um, really when has the fact that it's not my business stopped me anyway…"

She saw the pensive look come into his face and she knew he suspected where she was eventually going with this.

…so I'm going to make it my business and I…well, I'm sorry but, I…did I see you, um, talking to…ah, Kathy outside before?"

His eyes grew wide and he dropped down his pizza slice, his hands balled into loose fists on either side of it as his forearms rested on the table.

"You saw that?" he sighed heavily, his eyes dropping from hers.

"Yeah," she said, concerned, as she reached out her hand and put it over one of his. She could feel he was trembling just a little and her heart went out to him. "Are you OK?"

Chandler took a deep breath before he answered and, just like before, she held her breath. She didn't know why seeing him in pain made her heart hurt so much, but it did. She felt tears in the back of her eyes.

He let it out slowly then grinned a little sadly as he put his hand over hers and looked back at her.

"Mon, I'm fine," he said.

"Really?" she asked skeptically, cocking her head to the side and studying him.

"Y…yes," he said, trying his best to be convincing. He squeezed her hand.

"Are you sure?" she asked, as she looked at his hand wrapped over hers, suddenly noticing how long his fingers were and how perfectly her small hand fit snuggly into his.

"I'm sure," he said, grinning at her, "but thank you."

"OK," she said quietly with a small smile as their hands broke apart, unconvinced he was fine. She cleared her throat again as he picked up his pizza and took another bite. She did the same, neither saying anything for a moment or two.

"She and Nick broke up," he said, obliterating the silence. Monica gasped and Chandler nodded.

"What?!" she said, eyes wide and her heart instantly speeding up.

"Yeah," he continued, "and, ah, she wanted to know if we could get a drink sometime."

At that Monica felt like her heart stopped.

"No!" she said in her head, though she actually also said it out loud without meaning to.

"Excuse me?" he said with a little surprised chuckle.

"I mean…" she started, her face feeling hot as she tried to cover her embarrassment and her own reaction to this news. "'Noooo.'"

"Yeah, well…" he said with a shrug and another bite of pizza. Monica could feel her heartbeat in her ears.

"You're not going to are you?" she asked with more passion than she meant to. His mouth full of food he mumbled something she couldn't make out and she waved a hand at him, then picked up a plastic fork and knife.

"It's a terrible idea," she said as she concentrated on forcefully cutting her half-finished pizza slice into little, tiny bites.

"What is?" he said, wiping his mouth and curiously watching her perfectly cut bites take shape.

"Seeing her, Chandler," she said emphatically, pointing her plastic knife at him. He sat back quickly in his seat, eyeing the relatively harmless utensil in her hand. "Remember when I…I tried that whole 'friends with Richard' idea? See how that worked out? Getting over him was the hardest thing I ever did and one of the reasons was running into him at the video store and..."

"I know, Mon, I…" he started when she finally took a deep breath. She barely noticed.

"…I ended up as broken hearted as the first time. She broke your heart? How can you even think about getting back together…she cheated on you! She…she…"

"I'm not!" Chandler said quickly, trying to get a word in edgewise. When she kept speaking he tried again and this time she finally looked up at him.

"You're…not?" she asked, stunned.

"No," he said quietly. "I'm not."

She breathed a silent sigh of relief as he looked over both shoulders, as if to check if anyone was around to hear them who would care.

"I'm not going to say I wasn't tempted…"

Monica rolled her eyes and looked as though she was going to start talking again when he put up his hand to stop her.

"Look," he sighed. "If this had been a year or two ago, I would have jumped at the chance. I know that. I was…scared of ending up alone. Crazy snake man and all…"

She smiled at that.

"But, ya know, I…I don't want to go back to her. Just like I knew I didn't want to go back to Janice. 'Course there were a whole bunch of reasons why I didn't want that," he said with a grin and she giggled softly.

"What I mean is I...I don't want to be with a woman when I don't know if she really wants to be with me," he said with a self-assured nod she'd not seen before, "and, I mean, I'd always wonder if Kathy just wanted the Chan-love or she wanted to actually be with me."

Monica smirked at him, but also marveled at this mature train of thought that was coming from him.

"So, you know, I've…I've decided that if I am going to be alone I'll do it on my own and not be alone while I'm with someone," he finished quietly, then looked at her somewhat sheepishly. "Does that make sense?"

"Perfect sense," she said after a moment. He smiled at her. She looked down briefly then looked back up at him, determined to tell him what she really believed was true.

"Chandler, you're not going to end up alone," she said.

"Now, where have I heard that before?" he teased with his lopsided grin.

"I mean it," she said, cocking her head to the side, her voice shaking just a little as she added. "Who wouldn't want you?"

"Ha!" he exclaimed, not at all catching the quiver in her voice. "That would be most of the women in the tri-state area."

"Oh, stop," she said, feeling relief that his self-deprecating humor had saved her and masked her own insecurities in that moment. She shook her head with a grin. As they finished off their first slices Chandler dished up the next round.

"Hey, Mon," he asked as he placed the pizza on her paper plate.

"Hum?"

"Could you, ah, keep this all between us?" he asked. She raised her eyebrows and he sighed, continuing. "I just don't need everyone to know I ran into Kathy today, OK? All the questions and the explanations, I just don't want to deal with it from all them..."

She nodded.

"No, sure, I get it," she said, with another wave of her hand. "Sometimes living in the fishbowl of our friends can be a bit overwhelming…"

"Exactly!" he said, nodding in agreement. "I just want to keep, ya know, a clear head about it and I…I really don't need anyone bugging me..."

"I understand," she said, giving him a reassuring smile. "Just, promise me that you will talk to me if you need to, OK?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure, " he said, picking up his pizza, taking a bite and giving her a pizza sauce smile.

"Thanks, Mon," he mumbled with a wink.

"You're welcome," she said, smiling as she took a big bite, feeling surprisingly giddy knowing Kathy was where she belonged - firmly in his past.

NOTE: Getting closer! :)

This chapter, to me, laid some foundation for what happened after London, at least that was part of what I was trying to do. Thank you all for your reviews of this fic. I truly appreciate them all very much! So glad you are enjoying it!