July 28, 2011

Author's Note: Ah, so they go to the beach. Fun chapter :D

The Montauk trip is going to span two chapters – it's way too long to write in one.

Challenge – in this chapter – the gang plays twenty questions – can you figure it out before they do? :P Let me know if you can – cause I am curious (and by which question! :D)! I was going to offer a reward (such as write a story based on a prompt about anything Friends) – but I realized that wouldn't be feasible since the answer is somewhere on the page! :P

Thanks for all the lovely reviews guys! And yeah – I did feel sorry for Ross too – it's been a bummer year for him with the Emily thing going on and the Janice thing.

Please review – especially all you people who haven't done so yet (which are a lot of you!)! It only takes a second of your time and you don't even need to write your name! I want to know what your thoughts are! :3


Trysts – Chapter 12

(Chandler's POV)

It's three in the afternoon – and I had just gotten back from work about an hour ago. I am packing three days worth of clothing – since we all agreed to take the day off on Monday so that we could spend more time at Montauk.

I finally close my suitcase with a thud, and walk outside my room. Joey is busy making sandwiches at the kitchen counter – bread and all sorts of condiments, vegetables and meats are scattered practically on every visible surface.

"Hey, Joe – are you done packing yet?"

"Doing that right now – twenty sandwiches!" Joey waves his butter knife in the air at me.

"Really, it's as if we are going to starve you up there," I remark sarcastically. (Twenty sandwiches!)

"Oh no, that's just for the drive over there," Joey replies with all seriousness.

"And what about the other things?" I ask out of curiosity. (I am almost too scared to ask - well, last time he did bring a paper bag!)

"Swimming trunks, some condoms, my sandwiches, a shovel, a towel – yeah I am pretty much set!" Joey takes a minute to think.

"How about clothes?" I look pointedly at him.

"What?"

"You know – the things you wear everyday!"

Joey stops to think and his eyes widen in realization.

"Oh my god! I forgot my underwear – thanks Chandler," Joey puts down the bread and knife and dashes off towards his room. (Some things never change!)

Just as Joey closes his door, the front door to my apartment swings open and Monica walks in. She wordlessly moves over to me and kisses me as if we hadn't kissed in a week. (Not that I am complaining!)

And in the midst of said kissing – I feel her dragging me to my room. She kicks the door shut and pushes me down on to the bed. (Ah, she probably just finished packing – which is why she's so turned on right now.)

Oh well, we do have half an hour left – anyways.


"Where are Monica and Chandler?" Ross glances briefly at his watch.

"Yeah, they are fifteen minutes late!" Phoebe is starting to look worried.

"Joey, have you seen them?" Rachel turns to Joey.

"I saw Chandler while I was making sandwiches, and then I went into my room go get my underwear – and he was gone!" Joey has a very strained look on his face.

"Really, gone?" Ross looks sceptically at Joey.

"Actually, come to think of it – I heard some interesting noises coming from Chandler's room," Joey continues on.

"Speak no more Joey, speak no more!" The significance of Joey's statement turns Ross's sceptical look into a horrified one.

"Oh look, here they come now," Phoebe points at the apartment entrance.

Monica and Chandler are holding one suitcase apiece and their unoccupied hands are entwined together. Both of them look quite dishevelled – Chandler more so than Monica. Matching grins adorn both their faces.

"Sorry we are late," Chandler apologizes on behalf of Monica and himself.

"Oh that's alright, it's not like we were going to leave without you guys," Rachel grins.

"Yeah, you see we were busy doing the laundry," Monica tries to explain.

"So that's what you kids are calling it these days," Phoebe smirks.

Ross is starting to look rather uncomfortable.

"Guys, let's go, we are twenty minutes behind schedule!"

"When were you Monica?" Joey looks at Ross in disbelief.

"Oh shut up, Joey," Monica looks at Joey irritably while Chandler and she place their luggage at the back of the van that Ross had managed to borrow for the weekend.

"I call shotgun!" Rachel calls out as she runs to the front seat.

"Damn it! I wanted shotgun!" Joey slumps dejectedly.


(Monica's POV)

Chandler and I are sitting at the back seat of the van – cuddling quite contentedly together. (One thing that I was surprised to learn about Chandler during the last few months – is that he's a very affectionate person!) Phoebe is in the driver's seat – after Ross got unanimously voted out earlier for driving ten miles below the legal speed limit.

"Let's play twenty questions!" Rachel suddenly exclaims.

"Okay, Rach!" Joey – who had somehow managed to finish all his sandwiches – and was now currently very bored.

"Oh yeah!" Phoebe exclaims behind the driver's seat.

"Phoebs, you might want to concentrate on the driving," Ross's tone has a concerned edge to it.

"Oh no problem," Phoebe blows off Ross's concern.

"Ooh! I got one! It's a thing!" Joey squirms excitedly in his seat.

"Let me guess – a sandwich," Chandler remarks rather dryly.

"No, no – but a very good guess, nevertheless!" Joey's voice takes on a dreamy tone. (He just had sandwiches!)

"Are my ears deceiving me Joey, or was that a four syllable word you just used?" (I don't know if Chandler is being sarcastic – or in awe.)

"Word of the day toilet paper, man – I learn so much!" Joey replies rather happily.

"Ah I see," Was Chandler's witty remark back. (See, I can be sarcastic too!)

"Is it living?" Ross asks the first question.

"Nope."

"Can one touch it?" Rachel eagerly fires off the next question.

"Yes."

"Is it something that you would eat?" Chandler presents question number three.

"I wouldn't," Joey exclaims.

"Gee, something that Joey wouldn't eat," Chandler mutters to himself.

"That crosses out soap and candles," I whisper in Chandler's ear.

"Right," Chandler replies back to me.

"Is it something that any of us own?" Phoebe asks the next question.

"Yes, at least one of you guys has one."

"Is it made out of wood?" Rachel inquires.

"It can be."

"Is it larger than my TV?" I finally ask a question to Joey.

"Yeah, I think so," Joey thinks about it for a second.

"Is it smaller than an average fridge?" Ross tries to narrow down the size.

"Yup,"

"Is it used for entertainment?" Rachel has a sudden inspiration.

"Definitely, Rach!"

"Hmm... entertainment," Chandler murmurs thoughtfully to himself.

"And it can be made out of wood, is relatively large..." I think along with Chandler. (Could be electronic!)

"Does it use electricity, Joey?" Ross beats me to asking my question. (Damn it!)

"You can use it with and without," Joey answers rather cryptically. (There goes that idea!)

"Joey's actually thought of a good one, this time!" Chandler remarks to me.

"Yeah he did," I reply back. (Chandler's right – I am stumped!)

The only sounds that can be heard after that was Joey's happy humming and the motor of the car as everyone else – Chandler and I included sat back to ponder on Joey's mystery object.

"Oh, oh! Can you buy it at Wal-Mart?" Phoebe suddenly perks up.

"Phoebs, you can buy everything at Wal-Mart," Ross replies with a grin.

"Really? Bet you can't!" Phoebe exclaims.

"I thought you weren't taking any more bets," Joey looks at Phoebe with a hurt expression.

"Oh right, I will deal with you another day, Ross Geller," Phoebe sighs.

"And to answer your question, Phoebs – yes you can."

"Okay, so we have ten questions left," Chandler looks at his fingers.

"Is it something that the person who owns it uses every day?" Phoebe asks another question.

Joey thinks for awhile.

"Yeah, the person who owns this particular object uses it almost every day."

"Oho! So one of us owns it!" Chandler exclaims loudly.

"Damn it! I gave it away!" Joey looks frustrated with himself.

"And, it can be wooden, relatively large, can be electronic, entertainment, the person who has it among us who has it uses it almost every day – " Rachel starts listing.

"It's... it's... a guitar!" Chandler practically yells out his answer – while completely disrupting Rachel's train of thought.

"Chandler! I was going to say that!" Rachel exclaims unhappily.

"Well, it's not my fault that I said it first!" Chandler defends himself.

"Yeah it is!"

"Nuh uh!"

"It's all your fault!"

"No it isn't!" (I shake my head at their childish argument.)

"Wait you don't even know if you guys are right!" Ross breaks up the fight.

"Yeah, it's a guitar," Joey replies sheepishly.

"Good job," I whisper to Chandler. (Yay! He won!)

"You aren't pissed that I won? Even Rachel's pissed!" He looks at me oddly.

"Nope, I like a guy that can win some, it's sexy," I whisper into his ear.

"Thanks, Mon," He whispers back and quickly kisses me on the cheek.

"Hey guys, we are almost here!" Phoebe's voice totally ruins the moment.


(Chandler's POV)

"Wow, this house is sure a lot nicer than the previous one," I remark to Monica, upstairs in the largest bedroom that the house has to offer.

"Yeah, for one thing – all the sand is outside!" Monica exclaims while pointing at all the sand outside the house from the window.

"Yeah, and the weather forecast promised sunny weather – unlike all the drenching we got last time," I point out another improvement.

I find it pretty ironic that the last time we were here – Monica had been busy turning me down as decent "boyfriend material" and now we are together. Funny how things work out sometimes.

"I think we should probably go downstairs – and help out with dinner – if we want to eat anything tonight," Monica starts heading for the door.

"Alright," I agree and follow her out the door.

There are enough bedrooms in the house for everyone else to have their own room, and there is a relatively large kitchen and living room downstairs. The delicious aroma of food wafts up the stairs and gets stronger as we get closer to the kitchen where we find Ross, Phoebe and Joey making spaghetti and a large salad.

"Where's Rachel?" I look all around the kitchen.

"Oh, she decided to go take a walk – you know how clumsy she is in the kitchen!" Phoebe replies back while chopping some tomatoes.

"No, I don't know," I reply back. (Rachel surely can't be that bad!)

Monica takes over the salad making from her brother – while Joey lazily stirs the pot in front of him.

"Let's just say that we aren't having eggs this weekend," Ross sits down at the dining table – now relieved of his salad making duties. (Okay, maybe she is that clumsy – I mean look at her stint at Central Perk as a waitress!)

A vision of Rachel somehow managing to break all the eggs appears in my mind and I grin.

Rachel comes back shortly and we all sit to a dinner of salad and Joey's famous spaghetti. We talk about everything that's happened today – including the stuff at work – boring as usual for me (which a lot of Tetris and web-surfing was a sure cure), a new recipe for Monica's restaurant (very happy for her), a big client for Rachel (yay for Rach), a brand new dinosaur fossil for Ross's museum (how we yawned), Phoebe's new massage client with interesting pimples all over his back (how grossly fascinating) – and finally a leisurely day of nothing for Joey. (He did let slip that he prank-called me today – pretending to be a woman desperately in love with me!)

After dinner – Monica and I sneak upstairs – seeking some alone-time.

"So what do you want to do?" Monica asks me when we are both sitting on the bed.

"I dunno – what do boyfriends and girlfriends do together when they are in a beach house?" I reply with a question.

"Well..." Monica starts to think.

"How about we play poker – strip poker!" I suggest.

"We did that last time too but with another game," Monica looks at me.

"Yeah, but how about just the two of us," I try and coax her into agreeing.

"Why do I have a feeling that you just want to get me naked?" Monica grins at me.

"Guilty," I plead.

"Tsk, tsk, Chandler," She shakes her head.

"It works both ways, y'know!" I exclaim.

"Alright, fine," She concedes.

I get off the bed and quickly shuffle through my suitcase to find a deck of cards that I'd brought with me. I find it in a small pocket – and I return to Monica. I deal. The first round goes by fast – and I win with a pair of kings.

"The pants should go first," I look at her up and down.

"Aw... Chandler! What about the socks!" She complains.

"No, definitely lose the pants," I grin evilly.

So I watch her reluctantly remove her pants with exaggerated difficulty and I admire the beauty of her shapely legs. She sits back on the bed with her legs spread wide open – with a teasing grin on her face. (She's trying to make me pay, isn't she?)

The second round was a bit more interesting – she won with a full-house with nines – crushing my measly triple threes.

"Chandler, the shirt," she tugs at my shirt.

"What about my socks?" I look pointedly at her.

"You didn't let me take mine off – so the shirt goes!" She demands with a playful smirk.

"Alright, so the shirt goes!" I slowly unbutton my shirt and I watch her eyes track the progress of my fingers. I notice a rather hungry expression in her eyes. When I reach the last button, I slowly remove the shirt from my torso and lightly spin it around my head – reminiscent of a certain scarf dance that I had done for her last week before lightly tossing it off the bed.

I love how her eyes are completely fixated on my now-naked torso.

Third round goes by – and I lose again – this time she got a flush! She grins at me dangerously – and I have no clue what that means.

"Your belt," she says simply.

"You do realize that thing is holding up my pants!" I give her teasing look.

"Hmm... I am wondering why your girlfriend would want you take off your belt," she replies jokingly.

"I wonder too," I playfully smile at her while I unbuckle the belt from around my waist and push it off the bed.

I deal again. The fourth round ends in a win for me – full house aces and it's my turn to exact my revenge.

"Your shirt," I grin.

"My shirt?" She pretends to play dumb.

"Let me take that off for you," I reply with a smirk.

"You wouldn't!" She replies in mock horror.

"I believe I would!" I reply confidently.

I reach over and slowly and expertly undo every button of her shirt – while leaving butterfly kisses to freshly revealed skin. I think at this point – our little game of strip poker is pretty much over.

When I had finally removed the shirt – to our horror – Monica and I hear the door start to open.

My heart races insanely fast.

"Oh my god!" Monica whispers to me and I cover up her nakedness with my body – and turn my head around to see Joey enter the room.

"Hey, I was wondering if you guys wanted to play a game of strip poker."

(Damn it! Why don't these doors have locks?)


(Monica's POV)

The sun is out today, and Chandler and I are spread out on our beach towels – at the beach, in the sand while watching Joey dig a hole. The scene eerily feels like the one from more than two years prior – yet it's not quite the same.

Chandler is lying beside me, in a pair of shorts and a shirt. He burns easily so before heading out – I made sure he had some sunscreen on.

"Hey guys, what do you think of my hole?" Joey calls out while shovelling out another shovelful of sand.

"It's a real work of art, Joe," Chandler replies with his usual rapier wit.

"It's a nice hole, Joey," I compliment Joey.

Joey beams at our comments and immediately goes back to work.

"You know what happened next last time, right," I whisper to Chandler.

"Oh, that is something I would never forget – even when I am old and mentally dysfunctional!" Chandler remarks with a grin.

"You know, it really does feel like déjà vu – this entire scene," I whisper to Chandler.

"Yeah it does," Chandler whispers back while rolling over to face me.

"All the sand, the people on the beach, Joey and his hole..."

"Minus the water and the jellyfish," Chandler replies knowingly.

"Let's totally forget about the latter two," I shiver at the thought.

"Okay, it's forgotten!" Chandler grins.

"And when you offered your canned goods in the case of a nuclear holocaust – sorry that I turned you down," I smile apologetically.

"Oh you still remember that?" Chandler looks surprised.

"Oh yeah," I move over to snuggle against him.

The screeches of seagulls fill the air – accompanied by soothing crashes of the waves on the beach. It's so peaceful here - and made even better that I am beside someone that I love dearly – more than anything in the world.

"Mon," Chandler whispers in my ear.

"Yes Chandler?" I reach for his arms.

"Do you think I am decent boyfriend material?" (Oh that question again!)

"Nope," I reply teasingly.

He looks hurt.

"You aren't decent, Chandler – you are the best," I whisper and he closes the small gap between us to kiss me.

"Oh no! My hole!" Joey's dismayed shouts causes us to break off from our kiss and watch as an enormous wave completely submerge Joey's hard work.

(You know, there's something with Joey and very bad timing!)