Chandler left Monica briefly to pick up a few things from work, while she wrapped a blanket around herself and turned on the television. She seemed pretty content, that is, until Joey walked in.
"Hey Mon," he greeted her, heading straight towards the refrigerator.
"Hi," she said nervously.
He looked up for a moment. "Where's Chandler?"
"He went to work for awhile," she said, her voice quavering.
Joey looked at her closely. "Are you okay?" Monica nodded silently. "You sure?" she just nodded again. He seemed to be moving closer to her with every word, and she wanted nothing more than to hide in a corner. "Mon?" Joey asked. She looked at him with a scared expression on her face. "What is it?" he asked.
She jumped off the couch and backed up towards the wall. "Don't come any closer," she warned.
He looked at her questioningly. "I'm not going to hurt you," Her expression didn't change. "Monica?" he asked, coming a little closer.
Her voice shook. "Stay away from me," He was now one, maybe two feet away from her.
"Mon, I-,"
Just then, Chandler came into the apartment. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Monica was backed up against the wall; she was shaking and looked frightened, and Joey was only a few feet away from her. "What's going on?" he asked. He looked at Joey. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Oh, I-I…," Joey began in an attempt to explain himself.
"Hitting on her," Chandler exclaimed. "Do you really think-,"
"No I wasn't! I-," Joey said nervously, his eyes darting back and forth between Monica and Chandler.
"Chandler-," Monica said, tugging on the sleeve of his shirt.
"Sweetie, it's okay," Chandler said.
"No, no, he-," Monica tried again, tears pooling in her eyes.
"Joey, I think you should go," Chandler said angrily. Joey just shook his head in disgust and walked out of the apartment. Chandler turned back to Monica, who was still shaking and silently crying. He pulled her into a tight hug. "Mon, honey, it's gonna be-,"
"He didn't do anything," she whispered.
Chandler pulled away from her, surprised. "What?"
She shook her head, causing more tears to fall. "He didn't…I just-I freaked out. Which is weird, because it-it's Joey and-and I should have known he wouldn't do anything…I don't know why-,"
Chandler tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "It's okay, Mon. It's okay,"
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Don't be," he said softly, holding her close.
"God, I feel so bad about what happened at breakfast," Phoebe said. She, Ross, and Rachel were in Ross's apartment, which had recently been deemed their new hangout. Monica and Rachel's apartment was still under construction, and Chandler and Joey's apartment was simply out of the question. Phoebe's apartment was further away and smaller, so Ross's apartment received the title.
"You feel bad?" Rachel asked. "It was my fault!"
"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself," Ross said, coming back from the kitchen carrying coffee. Rachel and Phoebe received their cups with gratitude, and they sat there in silence until Joey burst in, clearly upset.
"Oh my god, what's wrong?" Rachel asked.
"I-I-," he began, trying to catch his breath.
"Here, sit down," Ross offered. "I'll get you some coffee,"
Joey shook his head. "No, that's okay,"
"What happened?" Phoebe asked, concerned.
"I-I didn't do anything! I was just…just talking to her!"
"What are you talking about?" asked Rachel.
"I was talking to Monica and she freaked out and then Chandler saw her…and thought I was trying to-to-,"
"But you weren't?" Phoebe clarified.
"No, no, of course not! But Chandler asked me to leave,"
"Wow, they're both still really shaken up about this, aren't they?" Ross asked.
"Okay, it's not something you can forget about just like that!" Rachel exclaimed.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I just-,"
"Are you still mad at Chandler?" Phoebe asked.
Ross looked at her for a minute, wondering how she had figured out that he was mad at Chandler when he hadn't said anything. "For-for what? For sleeping with my sister and then letting her get-,"
"It's not his fault!" Joey exclaimed.
"We really need to stop arguing, okay?" Rachel said. "This is stupid! We keep coming back to the same thing all the time!"
"Yeah, yeah, okay," Ross said, his voice quieter than it had been before. "I'm sorry,"
"Are you gonna be okay?" Chandler asked after a moment.
"Yeah," Monica said. "I'm sorry," she whispered again.
"It's okay. We'll talk to him,"
She nodded, leaning in and kissing him softly. "Thank you,"
"You're welcome," he said, offering her a small smile.
"Can I take a shower?" she asked, her voice soft.
"Yeah, of course. Do you need help?" he asked carefully, as he wasn't trying to offend her.
"No, I can do it,"
He smiled at her again before kissing her forehead. "I'll be right here, okay?"
"Okay," she nodded, disappearing into the bathroom. She got the water running and slowly began to undress. Tears sprang to her eyes when she saw her reflection in the mirror. She looked at herself for a few minutes, not believing that the person staring back at her was…her.
Then she stepped in the shower and began to scrub as hard as she could.
Rachel paused before knocking on Joey and Chandler's door. She didn't know why; maybe she just needed a moment to remember why they were there, or maybe she was realizing that she was actually afraid of her best friend. It could have been both, or neither, but she hesitated nonetheless.
What was really strange was that she was even knocking in the first place. She had barged into this apartment more times than you would think were humanly possible. But here she was, ready to knock.
"Uh, Rach?" Ross asked, his voice bringing her back to reality.
"Yeah, sorry. Yeah," she stuttered and, pushing all those other thoughts aside, she knocked.
There was no answer at first and Rachel turned to Phoebe, Joey, and Ross, who were behind her and gave them a questioning look. They shrugged in response and she knocked again.
This time, Chandler opened the door. "Hey guys. Sorry, I fell asleep for a minute,"
"Can we come in?" Phoebe inquired.
"Oh, yeah, of course,"
They filed in and Ross began. "Look, we just want to- where's Monica?" The four of them looked around the room in confusion.
"She's in the shower," Chandler explained.
Joey looked at his watch. "How long has she been in there?"
Chandler looked at his own watch. "Wow, like an hour,"
"Think she fell asleep?" Phoebe asked. They all looked at her. "It happens more than you think!"
"Yeah, you know what, I'll be right back," Chandler said, going over to the bathroom. He wasn't surprised to find it locked, and he knocked softly. "Mon, honey, can I come in?"
The voice that answered him was cold, hard, and bitter. It sounded nothing like Monica. "No,"
"Sweetie, you've been in there for like, an hour,"
"So?" she asked, and this time her voice was totally different. It was weak-sounding and quiet.
"Mon, please can I come in?" After a minute or so, the door unlocked and Chandler went in. He looked at her in question when he saw her scars bleeding freely. "Sweetie?" he asked.
"I can't get clean," she whispered to him tearfully.
I'm almost done with the next chapter, and will be putting it up soon.
...Please Review...