Listen to Your Heart - Chapter Nine

xx

"Uh, um, hi…" Chandler stuttered into the microphone on the intercom, moving to hastily zip up his pants while continuing to press the button that allowed him to talk into the machine. He shot an apologetic glance at Monica. She sighed and immediately set about hunting for her missing clothes, a slight scowl on her face. "What are you guys doing here?" Chandler wondered, "You're two hours early!"

"Are we dear?" the disembodied voice wondered, "You told us to come pick up Michelle at 4:30. Remember?"

"No," he grumbled, his irritation lessening, "You were supposed to pick her up at 6:30!"

"Oh, we're sorry, dear," she apologized not sounding all that bothered. He could hear her and the man accompanying her arguing through the intercom, "Why won't he let us up?" "I don't know! I'm here with you!" "Doesn't he want us to see her?!"

Chandler rolled his eyes; they obviously thought he couldn't hear them. He pressed the buzzer to unlock the front door, explaining, "Come on up, we'll talk about it in the apartment."

"Okay, we're on our way!"

Once the intercom had clicked off, Chandler set in action, running a hand through his mussed hair and heading toward the couch to look for his shirt. Before he could, Monica handed it to him, asking, "So those are Joey's parents?"

"Yeah," he agreed with a grumble, "They're nice people. Just, not, ah, the brightest." He glanced at Monica, quickly evaluating her appearance, "You look good. How about me?"

"You're always cute," she said with a smirk, playing with him.

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly, "You know that's not what I meant, sweetie. Do I look like I've been rolling around on a couch with you?"

"A little," she told him, "It might help if you did your buttons up straight!" Chandler glanced down at the row of buttons on his shirt, not protesting as she helped him undo them.

"You're eager," he joked. Monica smiled at him and ran a hand through his hair, as well, straightening it for him, "Look," he told her, a little nervous of her reaction, "before they come up, you should know they don't know about us, yet. I wasn't really sure how to tell them."

Monica kissed his cheek, "Don't worry about it, honey. We can tell them together. I don't want you to have to do this alone. I'm as much a part of this as you are."

Chandler kissed her on the forehead, "Thanks for understanding."

"They're not your parents, sweetie. Don't worry. I don't think you're embarrassed of me. Trying to tell your ex-in-laws you've in love with," her face brightened at the thought, "someone other than their daughter… totally different."

"Have I told you you're the best girlfriend ever, yet today?"

"You have, but I can't hear that enough!" Their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. Chandler shot her a nervous look, but Monica shooed him towards the door anyway, mouthing reassuringly that it would be okay.

Chandler twisted the knob slowly, hesitantly welcoming in his ex-in-laws, "Hi! Mr. and Mrs. Tribbiani, how are you? Come on in. Oh," he added, gesturing towards Monica, almost as if it were a second thought, "this is Monica."

It was Gloria who replied first, "No need to be so formal, dear. Call us Mom and Dad, like you always have. We're still Michelle's grandparents, you know, we're going to be around you, no matter what happens. We still consider you our son-in-law. It wasn't your fault what happened with Mary Angela. We don't blame you."

"I know," Chandler answered, an embarrassed waver to his voice, "Okay, Mom, Dad, come in, take a seat."

"So this is her, huh?" Joe wondered, staring at Monica appraisingly. "It's nice to meet you," he groused, "You've got big shoes to fill, though, my little Mary Angela was a good girl!"

"Oh Joe!" Gloria complained, "Leave the poor girl alone! I think it's sweet Chandler's finally found someone to make him happy! Michelle needs a Mommy, you know!"

Joe grumbled and shot his wife a look, "Don't you think we should get to know her first, before we inflict her on our beloved little granddaughter?"

"Oh hush, dear," Gloria told him, "Chandler loves Michelle as much as we do. He wouldn't expose his daughter to anyone he didn't think was a positive influence on her, would you dear?"

"No, Mom," Chandler agreed, a little embarrassed. "Monica and Michelle get along great! Michelle loves her!" he informed them.

"Of course she would," Gloria nodded along. "She's a precious soul. So easy to get along with. Where is she by the way?" she wondered, glancing around the apartment.

"She's taking her nap, at the moment," Chandler explained, "Monica and I just got her to sleep less than an hour ago. We weren't expecting you for another two hours."

"That was obvious," Joe grumbled, "Don't you think you could have waited until Michelle wasn't in the next room? What if she woke up?" Chandler and Monica both flushed, embarrassed that Joey's parents obviously caught onto the signs and knew what they had been up to.

"Joe," Gloria said harshly, "He's an adult. Besides you know how Michelle gets when she's napping. An avalanche would be hard pressed to wake her."

"Sorry, sorry," he returned rather insincerely, "But still, Gloria, don't you think it's a little soon? I mean Mary Angela's bed is hardly cold, yet, he's clearly off cavorting with some woman-"

"Joe," Gloria interrupted severely, "Like you have room to talk! This isn't any of our business! If you don't want Chandler to cut us off from Michelle, I advise you stop talking, right now. It's been two years, and Mary Angela left him. Let the poor man live his life. It was our daughter's mistake, not his. I'm sure Monica is lovely. Come here, dear," she gestured to the seat next to where she was sitting at the kitchen table, "Don't let my husband get to you. He just misses Mary Angela, and seeing Michelle always reminds him of her. I think you two make a lovely couple."

Monica obediently listened to the older woman, sliding into the seat she had indicated. Chandler followed Monica, sitting in the chair next to hers. Underneath the table he squeezed her hand supportively.

"I guess it's good that the two of you are here, early," Chandler told them reluctantly, "it gives us a little time to talk, and for you to get to know Monica." He shot a somewhat exasperated look at Joe, daring him to comment. He had known all along his ex-father-in-law would be the difficult one to convince. Gloria was always so warm and friendly the few times he had seen her since Mary Angela had left, often trying to convince him to go on dates and put himself out there. He was extremely grateful for her support now, and knew she was his best shot at getting Joe to see his side.

Gloria nodded warmly, shooting another look at her husband who also nodded halfheartedly.

"I… uh, don't want you to think badly of Monica. Either of you," he glanced at Joe quickly, "She's an amazing woman. She's the most generous woman I've ever met, she bakes the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever tried," he explained in a light-hearted tone, a brief smile lighting his face, before he continued seriously, "and Michelle loves her. I don't want you to think I'm disrespecting your daughter, but it's been two years," his eyes prickled as tears threatened to fall, "I loved her. But I spent two years waiting for her, but I don't want to wait another two. And I don't want to spend the rest of my life alone. Monica is the best thing that could have happened to me at this point in my life."

Monica nodded and squeezed his hand, again, in support, "That goes for me, too. I feel very lucky to be a part of both Chandler and Michelle's lives. We've talked about Mary Angela, and I don't want you to think I'm trying to replace her. Michelle should know her mother. But Chandler and I are both serious about this relationship. It would mean a lot to him – and me, too – to have your blessing."

Gloria smiled at them both, patting Monica's shoulder in a maternal way, "No need to be so formal! You're both adults. Joe and I are both thrilled for you! You deserve this, Chandler. It doesn't matter what we think, does it, Joe?"

"I guess not," he mumbled, clearly not all that pleased his wife had spoken for him, "I suppose she seems like a nice enough girl, Chandler," he told his ex-son-in-law, as if Monica wasn't in the room. Though everyone could tell from his tone that he was being sincere, it was clear from the clouded expression in his eyes that he was still holding on to some resentment. He continued offering an off-handed apology of sorts, "I was real close with Mary Angela. I hate to think of her unhappy. I do want what's best for you, though, Chandler. And if you think this Monica person is it, so be it."

Gloria patted his back, clearly pleased with his decision to play nice. "So," she said with a twinkle in her eye, "Joe here hasn't scared the two of you too much has he?"

"No," Chandler told her, "I'll admit I was a little worried about how you two would react, but… other than that, no. It went better than I expected actually."

Gloria laughed, "When you say 'you two,' you mean old grouchy pants, here, don't you?" Joe grunted in response, "Don't worry, honey. His daughters are more terrified of him than you are! Mary Therese didn't tell us she got pregnant by that boyfriend of hers for almost five months because of him!"

Chandler looked slightly curious, "How are your daughters, by the way? I haven't seen any of them in a while, and Joey rarely mentions any news."

"Oh nothing interesting," Gloria explained, breezing past the topic. "What do any of them matter, when you're in love! You shouldn't be so worried about the others and enjoy Monica, here," she told him, smiling warmly at Monica. Monica smiled back, glad to have her support.

"In, uh, in love?" Chandler asked.

"There's no need to be shy around us, dear. We can see it. It's quite obvious. People who aren't in love don't look at one another the way you two are," she shot a slightly rueful look in Joe's direction, her gossipy tone making her sound like Rachel for a moment, "Don't tell me you kids haven't said it to one another yet?" She peered at both of them, in turn, curiously, daring them to disagree.

"We have," Chandler replied hesitantly, "Just, uh, very recently, actually," he flushed, and Joe made a slight coughing noise, "We just didn't think it was that obvious to the world, is all." Monica nodded in agreement.

"Oh, trust me," Gloria told him knowledgably, "When people are in love it's always obvious. You should see Joey with that sweet little girlfriend of his! So obvious! You're going out with the two of them for dinner tonight, that's what you told me, right, Chandler?"

"Yeah," Chandler answered distractedly, thinking that he had heard a noise from Michelle's room, "We're going to dinner with Joey and Rachel tonight."

Seconds later Chandler was proven right when Michelle burst out of her room, and ran straight for her grandparents, yelling, "Granma! Granpa!" as she bounded towards them. Joe hoisted her up into his lap when she reached him.

"Mishi," Chandler admonished, "You're up early. Are you still tired? You were only napping for an little more than an hour."

"No," Michelle told him defiantly, "I heards you and Granma and Granpa talking. I wanna see thems."

"Hi, sweetie," Joe told her, "How's Grandpa's lucky penny?"

"I's good," she told him proudly, "I's in preschools now," she waved the plush toy she had carried with her from her room, as she continued the conversation in a totally different direction, sharing the story of her day, "Today we wents and got Sarkle and a prezzie for Auntie Rachel! And then we came home and watched Alice and Monica braided my hair!" she told them, turning her head so they could see her hair. Once they had oohed and ahhed sufficiently, she continued, "Then Daddy maked me take a nap 'acause he said I was cranky, and then I waked up and comes to see you!"

"Wow," Gloria told her, "What a busy day!"

"Uh huh," Michelle agreed, wondering, "Did you bring me anything?"

"Michelle," Chandler scolded, "It's not nice to ask people that." She shrugged, a big smile on her face. She knew her grandparents always brought her something. It was tradition.

"We didn't bring it with us, sweetie," Joe told her, "It's at our house. You're coming to stay with us tonight!"

Michelle looked to her father for permission. "He's right, honey, you're staying with them tonight, for a sleepover. Monica and I'll come get you in the morning." Chandler cringed, suddenly wishing he hadn't included Monica in the statement, knowing immediately what Joe would deduce from the statement.

Thankfully, Michelle was distracting him, and he didn't even notice. Chandler thanked his lucky stars for probably the millionth time that he had a daughter.

"I's hungry. Can I have a snack?" She wondered.

Joe immediately moved to lift her off his lap so he could move to get her a snack, but Michelle protested, "No! I wants Monica to gets it, she makes good foods. She makes the bestest cookies, ever!" Chandler and Monica both grinned. Why hadn't they thought to bring out Michelle earlier? If anyone could convince Joe to see their side, it was his 'Lucky Penny.'

Monica stood up, eager to appease Michelle, and prove to Chandlers in-laws how much Michelle loved her. "Of course, sweetie. How does apple slices and peanut butter sound?" she asked in her sweetest most motherly voice, her competitive spirit needing to 'win' their approval.

"Yummy," Michelle rubbed her tummy, "Can I have some choco' chips with them?"

"A few, sweetie," Monica agreed, "We don't want to spoil your dinner, do we? Not when you're going with Grandma and Grandpa, huh?"

"No," Michelle agreed. Gloria looked on impressed. At first Joe had looked put out, after Michelle had rejected his offer to get her snack, but now he was staring at Monica with the same, albeit more grudging, respect as his wife did.

"You're great with her, honey," Gloria told her, "Chandler was right, she adores you!" Monica smiled, touched.

Joe commented as well, with what almost sounded like admiration, "Grandpa's Lucky Penny knows best."

xx

After an additional hour and a half of socializing, Gloria and Joe had finally left with Michelle, promising to take good care of her. She had waved goodbye to her father and Monica, after promises they'd both see her tomorrow. Michelle had insisted on hugging and kissing first her father, then Monica – much to Joe's chagrin – goodbye. He had complained she was acting too much like Michelle's mother. His wife had quieted him with a swift elbow to the rib and they had left, leaving the couple to themselves.

"Wow," Monica groaned as they both flopped, side by side, into the couch, "was so not expecting to have to deal with that. Are they always like that?"

"Yeah," Chandler grinned. "They're usually pretty nice – like Gloria was, but as draining as ever. Joe reacted a lot better than I was expecting, though. I think he likes you, despite the way he was acting. But that may have been more because of his 'Lucky Penny' than anything you did." He laughed.

"Oh shut up, you," Monica grumbled, "You know I hate it when people don't like me!"

"I was just teasing, sweetheart," Chandler informed her, "You did excellent with them. Joe was just wanting to dislike you from the start. But I think you may have swayed him a little!"

"Yeah?" Monica asked, struggling not to sound desperate.

"Yeah," he agreed. "You're very likeable, honey. I love you," he told her quietly.

"I love you, too," she told him, the newness of the phrase was captivating; she didn't think she could ever get tired of the rush of feelings that accompanied it. Quietly, she continued, "I so wish we could have continued what we started earlier. I'm so tired of wanting you," she kissed his jaw lightly, "Do we have time now?"

"No, I'm sorry, baby," he glanced at the clock above the TV, "we've got less than 40 minutes before we have to meet Joey and Rach for dinner, and we still have to get ready. Besides, you know I don't want our first time to be rushed. Tonight, I promise, all night." He smiled.

Monica shivered at the thought, "Deal. I can't wait," she grinned, then paused as she reconsidered, "Can't we call Joey and Rach and cancel? I'm sure they'll understand. I know Rachel will, and Joey's been dying for you to forget what I'm sure he considers your pending petition for Monkhood."

"I want to, so badly, but they're our best friends! I feel bad ditching them for sex! We're strong enough to wait a few hours aren't we?"

"I don't! See, I want you so bad, I've lost all compassion! Besides, who cares about Joey and Rachel? They had sex even before their first date! You know they had sex, that first night we all met for dinner, right? They couldn't possibly understand how I'm feeling right now. I haven't waited this long with a boyfriend, since my first time!"

Chandler looked at her in surprise, "You haven't?"

"You have?" she wondered, suddenly very curious.

"No," he answered sheepishly.

"See? I mean we've already said I love you. Your daughter, who is gone for the night, loves me," she grinned proudly, "There should be nothing stopping us. What do we need best friends for anyway?"

"God, don't tempt me. You don't think I haven't been wanting this as much as you have? It's not my fault I can feel compassion and be extremely hot for my beautiful girlfriend at the same time," he teased, "We've waited three weeks. What's three hours?"

"You're, right," she sighed, "I'm just over eager! Twice now we've been this close," she held her fingers a tiny distance apart, "I just want to finish it right, you know?"

"God, of course I know. Geez, you have no idea how hard it was to stop today. It was like a little piece of my soul was getting pulled away, as unbelievably cheesy as that sounds," he told her self-consciously.

"Nah," she reassured him, stroking his hair, "Not cheesy. I felt it too. If I tore off a little of yours, you got a little of mine."

He squeezed her hand, "Good to know." They both smiled goofily at one another for a moment before Chandler sat up alarmed, "Shit, Mon, we've got less than 40 minutes to get ready and you still have to go home! Are going to be able to get home and back on time?" He stood up quickly, pulling Monica with him, looking at her puzzled when she didn't seem to be in any sort of rush.

She placed a finger over his lips, "Don't worry. I've got it covered." She went in to his room, returning a few moments later with a dress and a pair of heels, "And my makeup bag is in your bathroom."

Chandler looked at her in shock, and scratched his head curiously, "How you get all that stuff in my apartment without me noticing?"

"You're just not very observant, sweetie. Or did you think you always had a pretty little red dress hanging in your closet?"

Chandler shrugged sheepishly, "I didn't even notice it."

Monica laughed at him, "Michelle did. That one is a little girly girl. She zeroed in on my makeup bag in the bathroom in about five minutes, and wanted to know if she could try it out."

Chandler groaned, "Great. Wanting to grow up already. You told her no, right?"

"Of course, sweetie," Monica told him, running a hand through his hair comfortingly.

"I still can't believe you carted all that stuff into my apartment without me noticing!"

"I brought it over the night I slept here, with you, remember?"

"How could I forget," he wondered, enveloping her in his arms, with a smile. "That was a good night. Tonight will be even better," he promised.

"I know it will," she told him, hugging him tighter for a moment. Waving the dress she was still holding, Monica pointed towards the bathroom, "I'm going to go get ready. You need the bathroom before I take it over?"

"Nah, ladies first," he explained, watching as she walked towards the bathroom, her dress swishing behind her.

"Hey, Mon," he called after her, "You're going to look gorgeous in that dress. After tonight's over, I'm going to enjoy unzipping it oh-so-slowly." He grinned with a slight maliciousness.

Monica grinned back with a smile to match his, "I'm counting on it!"

xx

Chandler groaned as he followed Monica, his hand in hers, as the hostess led them into the seating area of the restaurant. He had been right, she did look absolutely gorgeous in her dress. There was no question about that. Watching as she moved gracefully with her swishy dress, he suddenly doubted the intelligence of convincing her that eating dinner with Joey and Rachel was a good idea. He wasn't sure that he'd be able to control himself through an entire dinner. Then again, he was sure Monica wouldn't mind if he was on a little less than perfect behaviour.

"Are you okay," she wondered, as they slid into their booth, across from one another, him next to Joey, her next to Rachel, "You look a little starry-eyed."

"Yeah," he groaned, "Just thinking about how good you look in your dress."

"Yeah?" she asked, "What kinds of things were you thinking?" she wondered, flirting.

"How evil it is for someone to look that gorgeous, and how I'm not sure if I'll be able to restrain myself for the entire night."

"I'm not asking you to," she promised with a wink. A moment later, he felt her stilettoed foot sliding up his leg and fought to push away all indecent thoughts.

It was going to be a long night.

In an effort to distract himself from what Monica's foot was doing to his leg underneath the table, Chandler attempted to start up a conversation with Joey. Monica merely grinned at him wickedly. "Hey, Joe, your parents stopped by earlier. You know, to pick up Michelle. They know about me and Monica," he grimaced slightly at the memory, though, his thoughts thankfully shifted away from Monica's affections for a moment.

Joey looked intrigued and failed to keep his glee at bay, "Oh man! They walked in on you guys!? I know you couldn't have grown the balls to actually tell them! You're almost as scared to tell Pa stuff as I am! Remember when you and Mary Angela had to tell them she was pregnant?" Joey guffawed and slapped his knee at the memory, "So glad I was there for that one!"

Chandler flushed, "Joey! It wasn't that bad. They didn't walk in on us, anyway… exactly."

Joey seemed triumphant, "Exactly? What does that mean?"

"It means we stopped… doing stuff… before they saw!" Chandler snapped, slightly irritated, "What do you think it means?!"

"But you were doing stuff?" Joey glanced sidelong at Monica, nodding appreciatively, "What was that like?" he grinned carnally. Monica heard what he said and kicked him gently under the table, releasing Chandler from her teasing for a few moments.

"Ow! What'cha kicking me for? It's not my fault Chandler's telling me dirty stories!" Monica tilted her head and raised her eyebrow questioning him silently.

Rachel grinned at him and patted his arm, "Is Monica beating you up, baby? Don't worry, I'll kiss it better, later." She winked.

"It wasn't a dirty story, anyway," Chandler complained, "I was just telling him what happened this afternoon after his parents showed up at my apartment!"

Rachel seemed intrigued at the opportunity to gossip, "Did they say anything about us?"

Chandler scratched his head trying to remember, "I think Gloria said you guys made a cute pair… and then later," he grinned evilly at Joey, "that you'd make a good mother to Joey's children!"

Joey's eyes widened comically. "Children! I'm not ready to have a baby!" he screeched, his voice a few pitches higher than usual. He glanced at Rachel, "You didn't tell my Mom you were pregnant did you?! Before me!"

Rachel grinned and laughed, stroking his hair comfortingly. "Chandler's just messing with you, sweetie. Pull your jaw up off the floor and stop leering at his girlfriend and everything'll be fine! You can leer at me, though… if you like," she told him, her voice flirty.

"Yeah, baby!" Joey grinned at her, "Did I tell you that you look magnificent in that dress yet?"

Rachel grinned at him impressed, "Magnificent?"

"Word of the day toilet paper," Joey nodded, in explanation, "Today I got… Magnificent, Splendor, Spontaneous, Decrepit, Lamentable, Obsolescent-"

Chandler interrupted, in awe, "Just how much toilet paper did you use today?" he frowned, "You know what? Don't answer that. Anyway," he continued, with the story he had originally been telling before they had diverged onto a tangent, "Your parents found out about me and Monica… and they're really happy for us. Even your Dad was pretty nice about it… considering."

Joey seemed surprised, "Seriously? Are you sure it was him and not someone who looked like him? I was pretty sure he'd kill ya if you so much as looked at another woman after Angie!"

"I know, right? I was-" Chandler agreed, suddenly pausing and groaning inwardly, when he felt Monica's foot once again begin its ascent up his leg… She had slipped off her shoe underneath the table, and he could feel her stocking covered foot about to-

His attention was suddenly snapped back to Joey, who was calling his name, wondering, "What's up? You suddenly stopped talking, dude… are you okay?"

Chandler flushed out of more than just embarrassment. "I'm fine… I was just, um, finished talking," he stammered out awkwardly, shooting a half-glare, half-I'll-pay-you-back-later stare to Monica who returned a coy smile in response.

Rachel turned to Monica who had been relatively quiet until this point, "How do you feel about that Mon? I know how much you need people to like you…"

"Oh, um, it was good," Monica answered vaguely, making it clear she hadn't really been paying attention; she was busily involved in other endeavors.

"It was good?" Rachel questioned Monica, in shock, "That's all you have to say? Chandler's ex-in-laws don't love you and 'it was good?'"

Monica blushed, but explained rationally to cover her blunder, "Gloria loved me… Joe didn't. What am I going to do about it?"

"That's just so not like you Mon. All that messing around must be going to your head!" Monica flushed deeper, because there was more than a little truth to the statement. If she hadn't been messing around, she would have caught the question.

Teasing, Monica shot back, "Is that why you're such a pushover, then? Too much 'messing around' in high school?"

"Ooh. That was low, Mon," Rachel growled back, her voice light enough to let them know she wasn't really offended.

"Yeah, well," Monica teased, "When the shoe fits…"

"Haha. I'm not like that anymore! My longest relationship lasted longer than any of yours combined! I was with Ross for almost a year!" she frowned, and added, "And Joey and I have been going strong for a month!" Monica and Chandler both sobered at the mention of Ross, while Joey remained happily oblivious. "What's up guys? Is there something wrong with me mentioning Ross?"

"No," Monica sighed, "It's just complicated. He's feeling kinda left out, from, well, this. Us," she gestured around the table, "Because, well, the four of us are always hanging out now. He feels like he's lost Chandler, a second time… and now he's losing me and you, too, Rach," she explained, "I know my brother's an idiot sometimes, but go easy on him?"

"Yeah, okay," Rachel agreed, "I don't mean to flaunt Joey in his face."

"Rach!" Joey gasped indignantly, "He's never walked in on us having sex!"

"Baby," Rachel smirked, "That's not what 'flaunt' means." While sometimes Joey's obliviousness was annoying, most of the time she found it cute. He was like a little kid at heart. She loved his innocence, it made her feel youthful, as well. She loved that their relationship had so much balance; they both had their good and bad points, but they fit well together in spite of those points. Sometimes she felt guilty for the thought, but with Ross she had felt drastically inferior. She knew that was never his intent, but they'd had little in common and he always seemed to view her passions as lesser than his.

"It isn't?" Joey smiled at her goofily, unashamed of his mistake, "What's it mean, then?"

"To show off," Chandler explained, in another futile attempt to ignore his girlfriend's teasing underneath the table.

Joey grinned, "Too bad that's not on my toilet paper, then, huh?"

"Yeah," Chandler drawled, hardly paying attention, "Very disappointing…" Thankfully, he was spared from further commentary when Rachel continued in the previous vein of thought.

"Anyway," Rachel continued, "I never even really considered Ross's feelings in all of this. I was so busy concentrating on me and my relationship… I mean, I understand how he's feeling – look how crazy I went when he flitted off to Vermont with that Emily chick! Thank God, nothing happened with that bitch – but it's been a while… I thought we were moving on, and happy for one another?"

Monica's foot paused, tapping gently against Chandler as she considered what her best friend had said, and he groaned audibly in relief. 'This is nothing short of torture!' he decided.

"I think, actually," Monica explained carefully, "He finally is. You remember Julie? He saw her again on Thursday and I think they really hit it off! They were all cute and flirty with one another, pretending they weren't. But they so were!"

"Julie?" Rachel wondered icily, "As in Julie-Julie?"

"As opposed to Julie-Julie-Julie?" Chandler couldn't resist asking. A look from Monica and a well placed movement of her foot quickly shut him up.

"Of course Julie-Julie. Do you know another Julie?" Monica explained.

"No," Rachel pouted, "I just can't believe he's seeing her again! Are they getting a cat?"

"You're with Joey, now!" Monica told her as if she didn't know, "You're happy with Joey."

"I know," Rachel groaned, "Just does he have to move on with Julie? At least when I moved on I didn't do it with Paolo! How do you think Ross would have liked that? I'm not jealous. I just think it's going to be damn awkward!"

"It's not," Monica told her. "Trust me, she likes you. Especially when you're not with Ross," she explained cheekily.

"Yeah," Chandler agreed, "I was there, trust me, the woman gave 'friendly' a new meaning. How did you ever hate her?"

"It's complicated," Rachel groaned, "And embarrassing! I mean, I spent whole evenings plotting ways to stop her and Ross from having sex!"

"You'll get over it," Monica claimed, "Let Ross and Julie be happy. At least he'll have someone other than us to talk about dinosaur bones with! So really, she's saving our ears a lot of hassle and protecting them from future torture! No more bones!" Chandler groaned at the unwanted mental imagery the word sent flitting through his mind. This was not safe territory, not at all, especially not with what Monica had decided to resume doing under the cover of the table…

"That is true," Rachel agreed, "Why didn't we think of this earlier?"

"Because you were insanely hung up on the man?" Monica guessed. Rachel pouted.

Joey had long since lost interest in his friends' conversation, and had contented himself with the rolls offered, but they were no longer satisfying. His hunger was imminent, "Have you guys even looked at your menus, yet?" he complained, "The waiter'll be here any minute now! Decide what you want!"

Chandler shot him a look, "Yes, Dad." He snatched a menu from the middle of the table where the waiter had left the stack of them, and began to browse it. The girls did the same.

Perusing her menu did not seem to deter Monica in the least. As soon as she snapped open her menu she was back to mercilessly teasing Chandler. He was sure he was about to spontaneously combust, when just as Joey had claimed he would, the waiter converged on them, and began taking orders. Eager to eat, as always, Joey spouted off his order first.

In Chandler's mind it seemed to take forever for everyone to place his or her order. Monica in particular seemed to drag the process out, hemming and hawing over the decision to have soup or salad, as if she knew where his mind was and was playing with him. The moment everyone had finished ordering, Chandler pulled his napkin off his lap, incidentally shifting Monica's foot, and threw it on the table. Hoping the others wouldn't see his obviously flushed face in the dim lighting of the restaurant – romantic, according to Monica - he proceeded to excuse himself, "Going the bathroom guys."

He hardly allowed them a moment to respond, and rushed off to the bathroom, glad to be away from Monica's insanely arousing ministrations. If she had continued tormenting him a second longer he would have thrown her on the table and made love to her right then and there… and well, that would have been embarrassing to say the least.

He slipped into the bathroom, pleased it was a single stall, and a nice one at that. He headed towards the marble sink, intending to splash some water on his face, to cool himself down, but was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. He was about to let loose a girly scream and cower at whoever dared interrupt his business, when he saw Monica's face.

"What are you doing here, baby?" he wondered as she slipped into the large one-room stall with him, shutting the door behind her, and locking it. She dimmed the lights so hardly more than soft shadows were visible. He briefly wondered what they were doing with a dimmer in a bathroom of all places, but thoughts of Monica quickly erased the question from his mind.

He moved towards her, instinctively, his hands settling comfortably on her waist, pausing briefly to admire the beautiful silhouette her dress formed on her, hugging in all the right places, and her feet… encased in those goddamn stilettos… he was sure he'd never loved and hated a shoe so much at the same time in his life.

She licked her lips, her voice thick, "I had to see you. I told them I had to make a phone call to work, because I suddenly remembered an order had to be mailed," she informed him, sliding her hands around his waist, and resting her head on his chest, tucking her head snuggly under his.

"What you were doing to me out there was torture, you know," he told her, his words ghosting across her skin. His lips were so close to her ear. So close.

"Kinda got the picture when you jumped up and fled back here. You liked it, right?" she wondered, slightly insecure, though she already knew the answer to her question.

"Too much, I think," he groaned, the sound deepening as she pulled back, the loss of contact frustrating him. She leaned back against the door. Chandler immediately knew what she wanted, and quickly moved to fulfill the need, sandwiching her between himself and the hardwood of the door.

She moaned lightly, widening her stance to regain stability, though she was in little danger in her position, pressed tightly against the door. Chandler wouldn't let her fall.

Chandler quickly set about applying the kisses she had been waiting for. The forbidden aspect of doing so in such a public space was extremely sensual.

"It's not quite a library, huh, baby?" he whispered, pausing only briefly in his affections to speak, before moving his kisses to her ear, gently following the curve of it.

Monica groaned, "Better. This one's real." She reached her hands up the back of his suit jacket, stroking his back through the material of his shirt.

"Yesss," he told her, groaning as she pressed her body tighter against him, lifting her thigh and wrapping it around him. Taking the action as permission he lifted her, gripping her butt, using his weight against her to press her against the door. She wrapped her legs around him, to further ensure she wouldn't fall, and they both moaned, and began to rock against one another gently.

Once settled they immediately reached to kiss the other. Her hands wandered his clothed body, restlessly, as if searching for bare skin that needed to be caressed. Finding none, she settled on running her fingers through the soft strands of his hair, firmly cradling his head and directing their kiss.

She didn't realize how much she missed his hands running softly over the curves of her body until they no longer were. Both of his hands were occupied, cupping her butt, and holding her in place. As much as she loved his hands, in that moment she wasn't willing to give up the sensuality of the closeness of that position just yet. She contented herself with the feel of him leaning against her, and his soft lips pressed against hers.

"God, sweetie," she told him, when they finally broke away panting. "Yes, like that. I… mmm," she babbled in her pleasure.

"Mmm," he groaned in return, "I love it when you moan. It makes my heart and stomach do flip flops. You sound so incredibly sexy," he told her in a husky voice, "especially when you say my name. I never liked my name. But you make it sound so… good." She smiled and moaned his name loudly and purposefully, pleased when she received the desired response. She briefly hoped no one outside had heard, but reassured herself the door was thick and no one would care.

The thrill of wondering if she had caught the attention of a passerby added a certain excitement to the act. Feeling more daring thanks to the rush of adrenaline, Monica reached to undo the top few buttons of his dress shirt, displeased to find he was wearing a shirt underneath. Undeterred, she gripped his shoulders and leaned to kiss the skin she had exposed.

Chandler groaned, with Monica's lips occupied against his jawline, he couldn't reach to kiss her deliciously bare shoulder, nor could he touch her; his hands were still occupied holding her against the wall. It was tormenting to be able to feel her beneath him, so soft and sexy, and be able to do nothing about it, but wait. He badly needed to make her feel how he was feeling. He wasn't sure how much more anticipation he could take.

After what seemed like an eternity she let up, pressing her lips against his ear, and groaning purposefully, loving how much it excited him. The pleasured expression on his face at the sound was reward enough.

Pleased he was finally able to, Chandler leaned to kiss Monica's freckled shoulder, tracing the hollow of her collarbone along towards her shoulder. He groaned in slight displeasure when he met the spaghetti strap of her dress. He nudged it with his face, moaning in dissatisfaction when it refused to budge. Desperate to remove the barrier, he bit the strap, his teeth grazing gently against her shoulder as he did so. Monica moaned as he dragged the material down her shoulder at an agonizingly slow pace. She sighed as the strap finally slipped from her shoulder, leaving the area soft and bare for him to kiss. Needing more, still, he repeated the action on the other shoulder, satisfied when, without the straps holding it in place, her dress slipped down a few inches exposing more gorgeous skin to adore with his lips.

He pulled back slightly so he could reach to lavish kisses on the area and they both groaned slightly at the loss of contact. When his lips touched her chest, kissing the exposed cleavage, Monica sighed his name reverently, and immediately threaded her fingers through his hair, holding his head against her, so he wouldn't move. She stroked his hair gently letting him feel her appreciation.

When his lips finally returned to hers a few minutes later, Monica decided she was ready for things to progress further. She began to push Chandler's jacket off his shoulders and he responded favourably. When she moved to undo his belt buckle he seemed to freeze, and slowly, almost as if he didn't want to, moved one of his hands to prevent the action, careful to make sure she was still well-balanced against the wall.

Pressing a kiss against her ear, he groaned into it, "Oh, God, please don't hate me." Monica sighed in resignation of what was coming next. "I'm so sorry, baby. You have no idea! I want you so bad. So fucking bad, I'm in actual pain having to do this!"

"I know, baby," she comforted him, "I feel it, too." She stroked his hair. "Don't feel bad. As soon as we get, home. Remember? Only an hour or less left. As soon as we're finished dinner, we'll make our excuses and leave. Okay?"

"God," he sighed, "If you don't, I will. I can't believe I let us do this again! I have zero willpower!"

"Shh," Monica soothed, "It's okay. There were two of us. You aren't the only one with no willpower. We're almost there. Just think of when we get home, okay? I enjoyed this, and I know you did, too. Nothing's lost and we have an amazing memory now."

He nodded, "I just don't want our first time to be in a bathroom, you know? That's not romantic… or sexy. Though this experience has changed my opinion of bathrooms a little," he grinned winningly at her, as he gently lowered her to the floor. She wobbled slightly, as she moved to take a step. Her legs still felt like rubber. Chandler wrapped his arms around her waist, from behind, steadying her as she adjusted the straps of her dress, and straightened her hair.

"Okay," he sighed squeezing her tightly for a moment. "You go out first. I need to calm myself down a little," he explained, releasing her, walking towards the sink to splash a little cool water on his face.

She kissed him one last time and disappeared out the door, smiling at him as she left. He stood in front of the sink for a few moments, and sighed heavily. He grimaced and turned on the water, splashing himself. Deciding he was ready to confront his friends again, he grabbed one of the cloth towelettes and dried his face, before throwing it into the washing bin, and exiting the bathroom.

Trying to seem as innocent as possible, Chandler shuffled back towards their table, and slid into his seat. By the shit-eating grins on Rachel and Joey's faces it was obvious that they both knew what had happened and had been waiting for him to return.

Monica seemed immensely grateful for his return; reassuring her, he squeezed the hand she had laid on the table. He was thankful that Joey and Rachel had waited for him to return, and not decided to double team her. As much as he was dreading the impending conversation, at least his girlfriend hadn't had to brave it alone.

Joey and Rachel exchanged face-splitting grins. It was Joey who finally broached the topic. "Have fun in the bathroom, did you, Chandler? You were in there a while." he questioned, his grin growing larger still.

"And you, Monica," Rachel wondered innocently, "How was calling work? Did the order get sent out?"

Chandler and Monica both flushed and shrugged, mumbling wordlessly. Monica griped his hand tighter in her embarrassment.

"Hey, Chandler," Rachel wondered, "Is that lipstick all over your collar?" Flushing, Chandler glanced down at his shirt searching for the stain, realizing when he did that he had fallen into a trap, unwillingly providing proof for their little theory. Both Joey and Rachel giggled.

"See! I told ya they messed around in the bathroom," Joey told his girlfriend, "it's was so obvious!"

"I believed you, sweetie," Rachel said, pointing at her best friend, "I mean, look at Monica. Can you say guilty conscience three times fast? And to top it off, I think she's got a hickey starting to form right about there," she tapped Monica's neck gently, grinning when Monica's hand flew up to the spot, as if she could feel the change. She blushed a deeper shade of pink.

"I cannot believe you guys had sex in the bathroom!" Joey grinned deviously, "That is so hot!"

"Yeah," Rachel added, impressed, "He's right! That is so unlike you guys! Joey, no problem. Me, maybe… but you, Monica? You're less of a goody goody than I thought!"

Chandler and Monica both looked downward unable to meet their friends' eyes. Finally Monica answered in their defense, "We didn't do it. We just almost did." Blood rushed to her cheeks again, upon admitting it, out loud.

Joey seemed disappointed. "Aww! Well that sucks! Rach and I are planning on going out for lunch tomorrow. You guys are welcome to come with and use the facilities if you want to finish properly!" Rachel laughed.

Monica and Chandler remained in their embarrassed silence for a moment before Chandler explained further, "It's not that we didn't have time..." he paused, not sure how much he wanted to share with their prying friends, "We just didn't want our first time to be, well, next to a toilet, you know?"

"Whoa, whoa, what?!" Joey exclaimed, "First time!?" He looked at Rachel, wondering, "Did he just say they've never had sex before?"

"Sounded like it!" Rachel gasped, staring back incredulously at her boyfriend. Addressing the couple with raised eyebrows, she queried, "You guys cannot be serious!" Seeing their sheepish faces, she looked back to Joey, "They're serious! How is this possible?"

"We always get interrupted and shit happens," Monica explained sourly, "It not like we've taken vows of celibacy or anything!"

"But wow!" both Joey and Rachel gasped. Joey grinned at them evilly, "How bad do you guys want to get home, now, huh? No Michelle, no interruptions, and a nice big soft bed! No toilets in sight!" He and Rachel both laughed. The other couple shot them further sour looks.

"Shut up!" Monica snipped.

Joey raised his hands defensively, "Sorry, sorry. Sounds like someone's a little sexually frustrated, doesn't it, Rach?" He grinned.

Rachel nodded, tilting her chin in Chandler's direction, "And look at the other one! I think he's getting a little… testy, too!" They both burst out laughing, Joey high-fiving Rachel for her quip. Seeing the glares they were receiving, Rachel added, "Lighten up you guys! You can go home soon enough. Look! Here comes the waiter with our food, now!"

xx

Eager for their night together to begin, Monica and Chandler had devoured their meals in a space of less than twenty minutes. Joey and Rachel grinned, amused, as they watched their friends; they took purposefully long, slow bites, savouring their meals, thoroughly enjoying watching Monica and Chandler squirm in their seats. They kept shooting one another glances and Joey and Rachel knew exactly what they wanted. Neither had the courage to make excuses though, after the relentless teasing they had been subjected to earlier.

Joey finally took pity on them, "Go, you guys. We'll foot the bill. Have fun!" Rachel hit him on the arm, pouting, upset he had released them from the teasing.

Chandler returned a quick, courteous, "Thanks, man," and without a second glance back, he and Monica were on their feet, hands clasped and heading for the door.

The thirty seconds it took to hail a cab seemed to take far too long. They settled in the back seat, hurriedly offering the driver Chandler's address, their nerves fluttering in anticipation. All that stood between them and an entire night alone together was a cab ride! Monica cuddled up against Chandler, telling him excitedly, "Finally!"

Chandler rested his head top of hers, "I know! Third time's the charm! Is it weird our friends are back at the restaurant practically rooting us on?"

"Nah, it's sweet," Monica claimed, "that they would care about our happiness like that."

"I feel like a little kid on Christmas morning!" Chandler told her happily.

"I hope you never got this for Christmas when you were a kid!" Monica told him sexily, pressing herself further into his arms.

Chandler shook his head. "I got a lot of weird presents as a kid, with my dysfunctional parents. This is better than any of those presents, though."

Monica nodded, "Should I tie a bow around my head, then, so you can unwrap me?"

"Nah, that dress is wrapping enough. Someone took their time wrapping this present very prettily," he told her running a hand down her side, stroking through the material. "Something tells me I'm really going to enjoy ripping the wrapping off this one!" he explained teasingly.

Monica tilted her head towards him, so he could kiss her lightly. "Don't tell me you're going to want to shake me next?"

"Sweetie, when we get home, the whole world is going to shake," he grinned.

"I'm counting on it," she grinned.

The next ten minutes seemed to drag on for hours. The tension was unbearable, the air around them seeming thick and heavy with strange combination of nervousness and excitement. Monica almost felt drunk on it, and she was sure Chandler did, too. They had remained content with cuddling, occasionally kissing, in the back of the cab, too nervous to do anything more in front of their surly cabdriver.

After a several eternities had passed, they finally reached Chandler's block.

Upon seeing his apartment building sliding into view out the window, Chandler said a silent prayer in thanks and shot a grin at Monica, who smiled back just as widely. "Almost there, baby."

"I know," she answered back, quietly, her tone anxious.

He began counting the bills to pay the driver, not wanting to waste any more time when they got to their destination than they had to. Despite the cabbie's bad mood and less than stellar customer service skills, in his deliriously happy state, Chandler handed him a twenty dollar tip.

The second the cab spun to a halt, the door was opened in a flash and Chandler leapt out of the door, helping Monica out of the cab. As soon as he was able, Chandler wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on top of hers, the soft scent of her shampoo overwhelming his senses. As they walked he feathered kisses on her head every few steps, unable to help himself.

They swiftly entered the building, keyed into the front door and with some difficulty, managed to stumble up the three flights of stairs to his apartment, hindered by their refusal to disentangle themselves from one another.

By the time they reached their floor, they were heavily groping and kissing. Chandler was immensely grateful they ran into none of his neighbours. It would require explaining he didn't have the patience to deal with at that moment. He wrapped his arms around Monica, kissing her neck as they approached his front door.

As Monica dug in her purse for his keys – she had been carrying them for him – he pressed her back against the wall, kissing her. She giggled, "You're making it very hard for me to get the keys, you know! You wanna get inside, don't you?!"

"God, yes," he groaned, tearing his lips away from hers, contenting himself with wrapping his arms around her from behind, and tracing abstract patterns with his fingers on the hips of her dress impatiently.

Finally, Monica held up the key triumphantly. Chandler sighed in relief, taking it from her, and opened the door one-handedly, pulling her through the entryway as soon as it was open and slamming it behind them.

He didn't even bother to flip on the lights. They immediately began backing towards the bedroom, relieved they were home free. Finally there were no more interruptions! Chandler almost considered unplugging the phone just to be sure, but decided that would seem paranoid.

In their haste to get to the bedroom, Chandler tripped on one of Michelle's toys lying on the floor. "Ah, shit," he cursed, "What the hell was that?"

"You stepped on Sparkle," Monica laughed, "Did you break anything?"

"I don't even care," he groaned. "Michelle can kill us later," he told her, kissing her deeply, quieting any response and pulling her into his room. "Us now. Michelle later," he told her.

"Mmm. Deal," she agreed, falling onto his bed, giggling when he crawled on top of her. The feel of his weight pressing her into the soft mattress was a welcome combination of safe and stimulating.

"Love you." The simple but meaningful statement almost brought tears to Monica's eyes. Those words, and the fire in his beautiful blue eyes, were all she needed to know in that moment.

They were in for a long night. Not that she was complaining.

xx

Yes, yes, the next chapter WILL cover the sex, if anyone is interested in that :)

After a nudge, a push and a shove someone (you know who you are :P) has convinced me to take a shot at full on sexy times. So I'm gonna try! If that's the kind of thing that's liable to bother you, I suggest you skip the next chapter. Nothing all too crucial to the plot will be happening. Just fluff and sex, so if you are uncomfortable, I promise you aren't missing anything.

Thank you all for the overwhelming response to the last chapter, also! I was very pleasantly surprised by the huge amount of support! The reviews, each and every one of them was so nice, and really boosted me to get this one done quicker than I would have. I'm done in less than a week, five days even, and it's huge at over 9000 words! That's 3 essays worth of words :P I was wondering if anyone would make a correct guess as to who was at the door, but no one did, boo :( If you were paying close attention it was right there in the chapter :)

Anyway, review this one, too, and let me know what you think. It benefits both of us: Reviews = Happy Kristy, Happy Kristy = Faster Chapters. Sounds logical, no? If not, I was never good at math. I blame that.