I'll Be There For You

Chapter 7

Thanks for all of the well-wishes for our wedding :) I love you guys!

And…you'll be, urm, happy, to know that I can't make it from my lab class (which is off campus—did NOT know that) back to campus in time for my other class, so I'm only taking one class this summer. So, yay for writing time. Boooo for not graduating until May.

Anywho, I'm watching Because I Said So right now, and when I started watching it, I giggled at the fact that I'm pretty sure Matthew Perry was rumored to have dated all three of the sisters in it at some point, haha…Um…I spent, quite literally, all of yesterday with my soon-to-be in-laws, so I'm taking pleasure where I can find it today. Anyway, the fic! Here ya go!

And, um, it's REALLY hard for me not to write some more, um, inappropriate Mondler scenes in here, ha.

Fall 1990

Monica looked up in surprise from the elevator as she reached the guys' floor. When the door opened, Ross, Chandler, Gandalf, and two other guys she recognized by face, not name, were standing there waiting.

"Big plans tonight?" she asked, staying on the elevator as they got on to go down.

"Hell yes!" Gandalf exclaimed, leading the group in. "We're gonna fucking party!" The two younger-looking guys, freshmen from their floor, she presumed, high-fived to that.

"Awesome," she said sarcastically, raising her eyebrows. "You're not coming with me, then?" She looked at Chandler, whose smile soon fell.

"We had plans?" he asked slowly. "You can come with us?" he offered, but got a dirty look from both Gandalf and Ross in return. The younger two, not so subtly checking her out, showed no objection to a hot girl tagging along.

"No, you were going to go with me to look at my grandmother's apartment?" she said, now slightly angry. "Meet the loopy-sounding girl who responded to my ad for a roommate? Ya know, make sure she isn't as crazy as she sounds, and I don't end up chopped up in tiny pieces and buried in Central Park?"

Chandler laughed. "That's not gonna happen anyway, Mon."

"Whatever," she pushed past the boys as the elevator opened. "Have fun," she added, not at all sincerely.

"Shit," Chandler sighed, closing his eyes.

"Dude, she's not even your girlfriend," Gandalf pushed him out of the elevator, the students waiting to get on getting patient. "Let's go get wasted and show these freshmen boys' friends what the word party actually means!"

~.~

Monica sighed heavily as her cab pulled up to her grandmother's building. Her grandmother was currently scouting out retirement villages, heading south for warmer weather. When Monica mentioned she was looking for an apartment sometime in the near future, her grandmother had offered hers. Monica laughed, knowing that, like everywhere else descent, she couldn't afford it. However, it was rent-controlled, and as long as she was subletting it from her grandmother, and as long as she had a roommate, she actually could afford it.

Monica sighed as she got out of the cab, wishing her grandmother was at least in town. Oh, well, she thought, gotta grow up sometime.

"Chandler," she stopped suddenly, seeing him leaning against the wall of the building. "What are you doing?" She looked around, trying not to grin, still slightly peeved at him. "How did you beat me here?"

"I walked," he laughed. "And…Gandalf will get over it," he shrugged. "I'm sorry I forgot I said I'd come with you, though," he added, following her through the door.

"How did you know where this place is?" Monica asked as they walked up the stairs.

"Ross."

"Ah," she stopped at apartment 20. "This is it!" She unlocked the door.

"Holy shit, Mon, how are you going to afford this?" He walked in, looking around. "This place is huge!"

"I know!" she exclaimed, turning on the lights. "And, I'll be…not-so-legally subletting it from her," she shrugged. "Gotta do what ya gotta do."

"What time is that Phoebe girl supposed to come look at it and meet you?" he asked, looking down at his watch.

"Um, any minute now," she looked at the time as well. "Hey, wanna see my room!"

Chandler grinned at her. "Whoa, whoa, whao, I know I blew off the guys for you, but…"

"Jerk!" Monica playfully hit his arm. "No, c'mere!" She pulled him over to the bigger of the two bedrooms.

"Wow, it's like the size of our whole dorm room," Chandler laughed. "Isn't it gonna be weird sleeping in a room where your grandmother has had sex, though?"

"Chandler!" She again hit him. "My grandmother does not have sex," she added. "Old people do not do that." Chandler laughed at her again, prompting another hit.

"Hey, blew off the guys for you," he pointed out, rubbing his arm as they walked back to the living room and Chandler sat down on one of the couches.

"No, you tried to blow me off for them," she corrected him, and he smiled apologetically as the intercom buzzed.

"Oh, that's her!" Monica ran over to the door. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Phoebe!" came a sing-song voice.

"Hey! Come on up!" Monica buzzed her up.

"See, she does not sound capable of being a murderer," Chandler pointed out. "She sounds very sweet."

Monica rolled her eyes, opening the front door just as Phoebe was coming down the hallway.

"Hi!' Phoebe exclaimed, coming into the apartment. "Oh, oh! I like you, you're aura's all bright and turquoise-y!" she exclaimed, hugging Monica. Monica was a bit taken back by the sudden sign of affection, but hugged her back anyway. "Oh," she looked at Chandler. "I like you, too! You're all yellow!" she exclaimed before looking around the apartment.

"Um, thanks?" Chandler looked at the strange girl, not even aware that he had an aura.

"Mother of God!" she continued to look around. "How is this only what you told me every month? Are we killing the people who live here or something," she giggled, walking back to where Monica was, now standing behind the couch.

"No, but, um, not so legally subletting it from my grandmother," she explained. "I hope that's okay."

"Honey, I lived on the streets from the time I was 14, I think illegally subletting an amazing apartment is the least of my worries with the law," she laughed.

"You lived on the streets?" Chandler asked, confused.

"Yea, well, you know, mom killed herself, real dad disappeared, step-dad in jail," she rolled her eyes. "Same old story," she added. "Who are you?'

"Chandler," he reached his hand out to shake hers.

"Nice to meet you," she wrinkled her nose. "Boyfriend Chandler?" she looked at Monica, eyebrows raised.

"Not a boyfriend Chandler," she shook her head.

"Ok, well, very nice to meet you, Not a Boyfriend Chandler," she smiled at him, walking around the apartment again. "This room?" she pointed to the bedroom closest to them, and Monica nodded.

"So, um, what do you do now? Ya know, not on the streets?" Monica asked, following her.

"Oh! I'm a masseuse!" she grinned. "My grandmother found me on the streets and took me in and helped me pay to go to massage therapy school, and now that I'm done paying her back, I figure the least I can do is get out of her hair." She crossed the apartment to look at the bathroom. "So, when can we move in?" she asked excitedly. "I mean, not to be presumptuous or anything."

"Um, it depends on when my grandmother moves, but it probably won't be for a few months," Monica explained. "She's taking her furniture with her, but my parents are letting me have their old living room furniture, so we're good there."

"Oh! I have a kitchen table and some chairs!" Phoebe bounced up and down, pointing to the kitchen. "Oh, this is exactly how I thought it would be!"

Monica couldn't help but smile at Phoebe's excitement. She, of course, wanted her as a roommate. Who could resist her odd charm?

"Well, I actually have a client in half an hour, just right down the street, so I should probably get going," Phoebe sighed, taking one last look around the apartment. "It was so nice meeting you, Monica!" She again hugged her. "And you, too, Not a Boyfriend Chandler," she smiled at him before walking to the door, shouting back, "Can't wait to hear from you again!"

Chandler laughed out loud after she left. "You were afraid of her?" He continued to laugh. "I have a feeling that if she killed a spider, she would mourn it for days."

"Shut up, you can never tell over the phone." S he sat down next to him after turning on the TV. "So, what do you wanna do tonight?"

Chandler shrugged. "Well, since you ruined my plans," he teased her. She made a face, scooting away from him on the couch. "Kidding, Mon," he again moved closer to her, putting his arm on the back of the couch behind her. "I'm good with this," he said, nodding to the screen.

Monica relaxed into his arm, which he then somewhat tightened around her. "I'm good with this, too."

To be continued…

I love writing Phoebe dialogue, haha. I looked up a website about meanings of colors of auras before writing this, and…the website that came up was all about reading people's auras, and…let's just say, there are some, um, INTERESTING people out there…

Now, you review, and then I continue :)