Morning arrived and Chandler reluctantly got out of his bed, knowing that he had to face Monica today. He slowly strolled over to the kitchen, where he made some coffee, some of Monica's coffee. He sighed, cause he knew it was stupid to get all emotional over something trivial as a brand of coffee. He couldn't help it though, every single thing in this apartment still remembered him of his ex-girlfriend.
As he waited for the water to boil, he threw a quick glance at Phoebe. She was still peacefully asleep on the couch and she actually looked rather adorable, in his opinion. Slowly, as in not to wake her up, he tiptoed over to the sofa and continued to watch her sleep. He felt nothing but gratitude towards her, for everything she'd done. He couldn't believe she'd actually neglected her job, in order to decorate his stupid room.
" Thanks, Pheebs, you're an angel," he commented silently, while smiling. He really wondered why she was doing all this stuff for him. He'd really thought she didn't like him anymore. Ever since he'd started to date Monica, she always seemed to insult him or degrade him in some way. But now… now she'd gone right back to being the Phoebe from before. A good friend, who you could always count on, no matter what.
" Hmmm… Chandler, what time is it?" she suddenly interrupted his musings, when she woke up.
" Uhm… 6 am, I'm sorry, did I wake you?"
" Uhm… I don't mean to be rude, but yeah you kinda did. Why are you like hovering over me?"
Chandler only blushed, then replied: " Oh no reason, you just looked very… serene, is all."
" Oh, yeah I know, so why are you up this early? I thought you were on leave?"
" Yeah, yeah, I am. It's just… today I'm meeting Monica at the park. I uh… I couldn't really catch any sleep anymore."
" Really, you're meeting her today? Why? Why would you even want to see her, after what she did to you?" Phoebe asked, suddenly wide awake.
" Because… she really wanted to talk to me and part of me still cares about her," he explained calmly, while attending to the coffee.
His friend only sighed, then said: " I think you're making a big mistake, Chandler. You really shouldn't be with her right now. It will only hurt you more in the end."
" I know that… I do know that, but then again: I actually would kind of like to hear what she has to say about the whole Richard-thing. I mean: maybe she is capable of feeling some remorse."
" Yeah maybe…. Hey, can I have some coffee?"
" Sure, I'll pour you some," Chandler retorted, as he poured some revitalizing beverage in a cup, then handed it to her.
" There you go."
" Thanks, I needed that," his blonde friend stated, ardently sipping the coffee.
" Listen, I'm sorry for waking you, I didn't mean to," he began, only to get cut off.
" Will you stop apologizing? It's starting to annoy me, you know. It's perfectly fine that you woke me, today I've got to get back to work anyway."
" Oh, oh yeah of course… I'm still sorry though."
" Okay that's it, now I'm really forced to take action," Phoebe commented, lifting herself from the chair and heading towards her friend in quick strides.
" What do you mea… ouch!" Chandler brought out, when he felt her pulling at his earlobe.
" What did I just tell you, Chandler Bing? Stop apologizing, it's getting on my nerves! You have nothing to be sorry for, do you understand me?"
" If I say yes, will you let go off me?"
" Sure."
" Then: yes, I understand, I understand perfectly," he muttered swiftly.
" Good boy, that's all I wanted to hear. Now, tell me: where is my breakfast?"
" I beg your pardon?"
" My breakfast, where is it? You know, I get very cranky when I don't get anything to eat in the morning," Phoebe explained, gesturing to the stove.
" I, I don't know how to prepare breakfast… Monica always kept herself busy with that," Chandler declared helplessly, right before bursting into tears, for what seemed like the gazilionth time that week.
" Oh, god, I didn't mean to… Chandler, I'm sorry. Here, sit down," the blonde tried desperately, pulling up a chair.
The man in question then did exactly what he was told, weakly letting himself sink into his seat.
" I can cook something, if you want. It won't be very good, but I can try," Phoebe offered, rubbing his upper arm up and down.
" I… I'd like that," her friend managed to utter between sobs.
" Yeah, you sure about that? I should warn you, though: last time I served a meal, everyone kept barfing."
" Really? Well, that really gets the appetite going," Chandler stated, when he'd somewhat regained his composure.
" Yeah, amazingly enough, I'm not that good at cooking. I don't really know why, since I excel in practically every other level. So anyway… breakfast?"
" No, no I think I'm gonna pass after that funny story you just told me. I'm not really in a vomiting type of mood. I'll just eat a sandwich."
" Did somebody just say sandwich?" came a voice, from within the doorway.
Chandler sighed, then raised his hand and admitted: " Yes, yes I did."
" Oh, well what kind of sandwich is it? A meatball sub, cause I just love munching on one of those little babies?" Joey inquired excitedly.
" No, Joe, it's not meatball sub-hour just yet. That's always after nap time, remember?"
" Oh right, well it was worth a shot, see ya," he muttered, before heading back out.
" Okay, he has really got to stop paying us these random visits, it's kind of starting to creep me out. I mean: I love him, I really do, but it's pretty scary when the first thing you get in the morning, is a jumpy guy asking for food," Phoebe commented.
" Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more, but ever since we don't live together anymore, he just kind of started feeling this need to see me whenever, wherever, you know."
" Oh, he misses you, that's so sweet!" the blonde exclaimed, while making herself a sandwich.
" Yeah, well it's not that sweet anymore, when he suddenly comes by your office, to ask you if you can still drink the orange juice, if it's just a teeny tiny day past its expiration date," her friend declared, on a slightly annoyed tone.
Phoebe chuckled, then said: " No, I guess it's not. So, Chandler, you want to go do something fun tonight? I'm off early, since I'm still officially mourning the loss of my mom."
" Fun, hmm, I don't think I know the meaning of that word anymore," Chandler stated matter-of-factly, while tapping his finger against his chin.
" Oh, come on, Mr. grumpy, get over yourself and go play in the hay!"
" I don't wanna, now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go back to my very busy schedule of brooding and sulking and brooding… and… ooh that's right: more brooding," he announced, as he rose back up from the table an started making his way back to his bedroom.
" Noo, Chandler, get your depressed ass back here. I won't tolerate all this gloominess!" Phoebe yelled, standing up to follow him.
" Well, tough luck, I'm depressed, I'm gloomy, deal with it," her friend brought out coldly, right before walking into his room and slamming the door shut behind him.