Hey, thanks for all the reviews. Here's the next chapter, please read and review!
Enjoy!!!
Doing Things Properly
"Chandler….Chandler wait up…" Ross called after him as he and Joey followed him.
"Leave me alone, Ross…" He replied not even bothering to stop or slowly his pace as he walked towards his car.
"Just tell us what's going on?" Joey pleaded. "Tell us what happened?"
"Go ask her!" Chandler replied, opening his car door and getting in.
"Chandler, we're your friends….let us help." Ross managed to get a hand on the door to stop him from closing it.
Chandler looked up at them waiting for him to reply.
"Just leave me alone…" He mumbled, managing to close the car door before driving off.
"What the hell is going on??" Ross asked Joey.
"I don't know…" He replied, turning to back the house. "But I'm going to find out."
Ross was right behind him and when they got back into the house, they saw Monica sat crying in Rachel's arms.
"Mon, what happened?" Ross asked softly, knelling down beside the couch.
She just shook her head, not being able to speak through her tears.
"Ross…" Rachel whispered, giving him a look telling him not to bother.
Ross sighed and backed off, knowing she'd probably wouldn't have told him anyway. They all sat there, silently listening to Monica cry, waiting for her to calm down enough to talk to them.
After 20 minutes, Ross couldn't stand it no more and got up.
"I'm going to make some coffee…I'll be right back…"
Rachel, Phoebe and Joey looked at him and all nodded slightly but no one spoke. He went into the kitchen and put the coffee on, before picking up the phone. He dialled the number he knew off by heart before, slowly closing the kitchen door so no one could hear him.
"Chandler, its me….pick up the phone….I know you're on, man…I just want to talk…" Ross sighed in defeat, knowing Chandler was probably there listening to the answering machine. "Alright, okay…I get it… you don't want to talk right now but we're all worried, man…for you and Mon…she's been crying her eyes out since you left….we need to know what's going on…we just want to help…so just give one of us a call or something…. Just let us know your okay…See you soon….I hope."
He hung up them phone and start and stared at it for a moment, hoping Chandler would call him back straight away but he never. He sighed and grabbed the coffees before going back into the other room.
"Where's Monica gone?" He asked, seeing she had wasn't there.
"She said she wanted to be alone…she's upstairs…" Rachel told him.
"Did she tell you guys anything?"
"No…She just kept saying she didn't mean to hurt him…" Phoebe said.
"Well, I tried calling Chandler but there was answer."
"I wondered what happened…They seemed to be getting on, okay."
"Monica obviously did something…" Joey claimed, causing them all to look at him.
"What?" Ross asked.
"Oh come on, you saw everything… her begging for forgiveness…him leaving."
"Yeah but that could mean anything…"
"I think there's someone else."
"Joe, they're divorced… Chandler's been dating Kathy…they thought she might pregnant…" Rachel started. "I don't think Chandler would be this upset if Monica got a new boyfriend."
"I didn't mean now, I meant then…" He explained. "What if Monica broke it off with Chandler because of someone else and he's only found out now."
"No, they both said there was no one else…" Phoebe reminded him.
"Well, Monica's not going to admit it to us, is she."
They all thought about it for a moment, wondering whether what Joey was saying could be true.
"No, Joe…I don't believe it…" Ross shook his head. "I think there's a lot more then what they're telling us…I think this argument is just part of it."
"I'm with Ross, there's got to be more their divorce then them just drifting apart." Rachel said.
"But what?" Phoebe asked but no one had an answer.
XxXxX
Chandler pressed play on his answer machine once he had got home and listened to Ross' message. He reached for the phone and dialled half of the numbers to Ross' cell phone before hanging up. He sighed and sat down on a kitchen chair and dropped his head down in his hands. He didn't know what to do. After everything that had happened over the last year, Chandler never thought he could feel so hurt but finding out that Monica had lied and kept things from him broke his heart all over again and this time he didn't know how to put it back together again. He knew that Monica was hurting and probably wasn't thinking about what she doing at the time but he was hurting too. Her actions made it seem to him that she thought he didn't deserve to have memories of their baby and that's why she kept it all from him. He understood it might have been harder for her because she had actually carried the child inside of her but he was so looking forwards to becoming a father again…to watch the woman he loves carry his child…for Jack and Erica to have a little brother or sister…. He thought she understood that… he thought that no matter what came their way, they'd get through it together…But he was beginning to think that she didn't know him at all and the worse thing of all…their kiss the other day had made him realise that he was still in love with her.
XxXxX
Monica stood by the window, waiting… It was Chandler's turned to pick the kids up from school. It was Wednesday, so he would normally bring them home and they would all have dinner together then watch a movie or play a game or something. Since their argument she hadn't seen or heard from him but today was the first time he wouldn't be able to avoid her or not take his calls. She just needed to talk to him, to explain everything. She had always regretted keeping the baby's stuff from him but had always planned on telling him…she just didn't know how to… but she certainly didn't want him to find out like this.
She looked up when she heard an engine and she saw a car pulling into her driveway but was disappointed when she it was Joey's car and not Chandler's. She sighed and walked towards the door and opened it as Jack and Erica ran in.
"Hey, guys… did you have a good day?" She asked them.
"Uh-huh…I did a painting!" Jack held it up for her.
"Oh that's great, honey….Why don't you guys go up to your rooms and play…I want to talk to your uncle…." She told them.
"Okay…thanks, Uncle Joey…" They both said as they headed upstairs.
"It's okay, guys…" Joey replied before looking at Monica. "What's up?"
"Where's Chandler?" She asked.
"He had to work…" Joey told her.
"Yeah right, Chandler never works on Wednesdays…." Monica replied. "He's avoiding me isn't he?"
"All I know is that he asked me to pick the kids up and drop them off…" Joey sighed. "He won't tell me anything else…I was hoping you would."
"Joey, I'm sorry but this is between me and Chandler."
"But I want to help." He whined slightly.
"I know you do but you can't."
"Okay, fine… but you do know that no matter what I'll be here for both of you."
"I know, thank you but like I said, its something for us to deal with on our own."
"Okay, well I better get going."
"Yeah, thanks for bringing the kids home."
"No problem…." He leaned forwards and kissed her cheek. "I'll see you later….Remember what I said."
"Yeah, I will…" She nodded, following him towards the front door. "Actually, Joe, there is one thing you can."
"What?"
"Watch the twins for me for a few hours."
Joey frowned slightly "Now?"
"Yes, everything is done for their dinner… you'd just need to take it out in an hour." She told him. "There's plenty there for you….it's lasagne."
He looked at his watch. "Yeah, okay…I did have a date tonight but I can cancel…"
"Oh, no you don't have too…" She told him. "I can find someone else…or do it another time."
"No, its okay." He assured her. "I said I wanted to help…and I do… plus I get lasagne."
She smiled and hugged him tightly. "Thanks Joe…."
"No problem…."
"Okay, bye… I'll be back as soon as I can." She stated, pulling her coat on.
XxXxX
Chandler sat staring at the TV screen but he wasn't actually watching the movie that was playing. He was startled by the door bell ringing out loudly. He hesitated slightly before standing up and walking over to open it. He sighed loudly when he saw Monica stood there.
"Before you slam the door on me… I just want to talk."
"There's nothing to talk about." He mumbled.
"You said that you only wanted to talk to me about the kids…" She started. "And I want to talk about our baby."
"Mon…" He started.
"Chandler, please…this has gone on for to long…we need to talk about this properly."
He sighed and stepped back to let her in. "Fine, come in."
He turned and head back into living room. "Want a drink?"
"No, I'm fine." She said, following him and taking a seat.
"So…." He started, sitting next to her.
"Chandler, I'm so sorry… I don't know why I kept it from you." She turned in her seat to face him fully. "At the time I thought I was doing the right thing but then after everything was over, I kept putting it off…then it was getting harder and harder to tell you."
"But why did you kept it from me?" He asked. "Did you think I didn't deserve to know?"
"No." She claimed quickly. "Not at all….I was scared."
He frowned slightly. "Of what?"
"I don't really know, a lot of things…" She sighed.
"Yeah but like what?" He softened his voice slightly, moving closer to her and brushing his fingertips across the back of her hand.
"Of you hating me." She muttered, looking down at their hands.
"What?"
"I couldn't protect your baby… I lost them…" She looked up, tears lining her eyes.
"Mon, it wasn't your fault…" He insisted. "No one could have done anything."
"Maybe if I had taken better care of myself…."
"No, Mon….no…" He told her. "There's not point in thinking about that."
"Why are you being so nice to me?" She asked.
"What?"
"I've hurt and lied to you…" She said, not being able to stop the tears anymore as they fell down her face. "And there was no need…I thought you blamed me and hated me…and I thought I didn't deserve to have the memories….and if I thought that…then you would to."
"Mon, I never ever thought that…it didn't even cross my mind." He assured.
"I know…" She cried. "But at the time, there was so many things going through my head…I wasn't thinking straight."
He put his arms around her and held her. "I know….I'm sorry."
She pulled back to look at him. "Why?"
"For not trying harder to be there for you." He replied.
"You don't need to be sorry." She said, lying her head back on his chest.
He tightened his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head. "We've got to start doing things properly now, Mon….we got to sort this out."
"I know." She nodded.
"I'm sorry for not doing it sooner." He added.
"Me too."
"Maybe we would have stayed together." He whispered and when he did, she moved to look at him as he continued. "Do you think it was a mistake breaking up?"
"I don't….I don't know…" She stuttered, not expecting him to ask that; not sure what she thought about it. She did miss him holding her, kissing her, making love to her…. But it was so long since she had been with a man intimately and put it down to that.
He looked down at her, gently rubbing his thumb across her cheek. "We were so good together."
"I know." She managed to whisper.
He slowly leaned, giving her chance to stop him if she wanted but she didn't, instead she moved closer to him, letting their lips meet. After a few seconds he pulled back but only slightly.
"I still love you, Mon…so much…and I know that we've been through a lot… and we handle it all wrong but things are different now…I'm stronger…I can be here for you more…" He told her. "We can be happy together again…I know we can….I know I can make you happy."
She looked back at him but she couldn't speak…she didn't know how to reply… she didn't know what she really felt about it…all she knew was that she needed him.
His heart sunk when she stood up but instead of heading for the door, she reached for his hand, pulling him up too. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down and kissed him passionately. When she pulled back she couldn't help but smile at his dazed look. He leant back down to kiss her again but she slowly back up, still holding his hand. He couldn't help but when smile as she lead him to his bedroom.
XxXxX
Later, Chandler rolled over stretching his arm but it just fell down on the cool bed sheet. He frowned slightly, forcing his eyes open slightly and saw he was alone.
"Mon?" He called out but got no reply. He glanced at the alarm clock next to the bed and groaned slightly when he saw it was 1am. He yawned as he sat up and rubbed his tired eyes. He pulled on his boxers as he stood up.
"Monica?" He called out as he left the bedroom but he still couldn't find her. He sighed and dropped onto the couch when he realised she had left.
TBC
Please review and let me know what you think.
