Chapter 14 : The First Night

After a few more kisses on the bridge, alone, Chandler caressed Monica's cheeks with the back of his hands as they were looking deeply in each other's eyes and asked : "What do you wanna do now?"

Monica's eyes lighted up and she smiled : "Oh, I could kiss you all night..." Chandler chuckled and leaned on for another kiss but Monica continued, putting a finger on Chandler's lips : "But! Don't forget we have a big day tomorrow... My brother won't be happy if I'm grumpy for his wedding preparations because I'm tired... because I didn't get enough sleep, too busy kissing his best friend!"

Chandler winced, hearing Monica mentionning her brother. Shoot. He forgot about him. How would he react? Monica was right, they'd better be good tonight... but it was gonna be hard, she was so beautiful even though she hadn't make any effort to look good for tonight. She was at her best: beautiful just being herself.

Chandler nodded and offered his arm: "You're right. Can I take you back to your hotel room?"

Monica took his arm and kissed him tenderly before answering: "Of course." She leaned her head on his shoulder as they were walking back to the hotel.

When they entered the hall, a receptionist who was there smiled seeing the cute couple and couldn't help but saying happily to Chandler: "Hey, it worked!"

Monica lifted her head up to look curiously at Chandler and she saw him blush as he nodded to the receptionist.

They started climbing the stairs and Monica asked him quietly: "What was that?"

Chandler seemed uneasy: "Uhm, see... I would have prefered to do all this alone... this plan... but I couldn't. The staff here really helped me. They wrote the cards, they put everything in your room, and they even covered for me when you called them on the phone... So... They know me quite well and they know how I wanted to surprise you and... well... I guess they're happy it worked. It's also their success after all."

Monica smiled and shook her head: "I can't believe you did all this... And when I think I was afraid this mysterious guy was a freak, a murderer!"

Chandler bit his lips and admitted: "Yeah I really thought you wouldn't come tonight... Hey, there is your room already!"

Monica was disappointed to find herself in front of her door, this was the end of their night already? How could she keep him close to her after what she said earlier about taking it slow because of her brother's wedding (why had she said such a stupid thing anyway?)? She had an idea...

"But... Chandler... Where are you gonna sleep? Joey clearly doesn't want to share your room!"

Chandler really seemed to have forgotten about that issue, as his shoulders sagged and he looked up, closing his eyes: "Shoot!"

Monica fiddled with his jacket's zipper, saying: "You know... Two people can totally fit in my bed..."

Chandler looked down at Monica, who was still busy playing with his jacket's zipper: "What about the whole I-don't-want-to-be-grumpy-tired-at-my-brother's-wedding-preparations?"

"If you think about it, I can't be grumpy as I will have spent the night with you!" She looked up at him and as their eyes locked, she couldn't think of anything else but wanting to kiss him again.

Chandler's heartbeat fastened, looking into her beautiful eyes, full of love and lust. Everything was still very new, he had a hard time believing it was real. Was he going to spend the night with Monica, in her bed?

His mouth suddenly dry, he whispered: "If you say so..." before leaning on and capturing Monica's lips, who were already on their way to his mouth.

Opening her door with one hand, Monica dragged Chandler in her room with her other hand firmly gripping his jacket, while they were still kissing hard, exploring each other's mouth.0

They walked in the room, not breaking the kiss and Monica pushed lightly Chandler so he would be sat on the bed, but Chandler yelled against her lips: "Ouch! That hurts!"

"Oh my God, your flowers! I'm sorry! You've probably sat on a thorn!"

"I knew I shouldn't have given you roses!"

Monica laughed as Chandler got up, rubbing his sore butt. Monica went in the bathroom and came back with a glass of water.

"Now that I know you're the one who gave me these flowers, I can put them in the water, I don't want them to die. Oh shoot... you've crushed two of them very badly, I'm gonna have to throw them away..."

Watching her examining attentively the roses, Chandler said sarcastically: "Oh yeah, sure, care more about these poor flowers than my butt!"

Monica bit her lips, trying not to smile too widely. "Did you buy them yourself? Or was it a purchase from your little helpers here at the hotel?"

"I bought them."

These words warmed her heart, happy he made that effort for her.

"Now I wish I hadn't, though", he pouted, which made Monica chuckle.

She came back in front of him and put her hands on his bottom, stroking it gently: "Now, let's take care of your butt..."

Chandler smiled shyly and felt his cheeks getting red, a little bit embarrassed to be touched this way by Monica. His not-really-just-friend-anymore-but-not-really-already-girlfriend-either Monica. He grabbed her hands and kept them in his own hands, now putting them between their bodys, playing with her fingers.

"I'm gonna sound... corny maybe... but... what about just cuddling tonight?"

Monica smiled: "Cuddling and kissing then?"

Chandler agreed with a boyish smile: "Cuddling and kissing sounds good."

Monica stood on tiptoe to reach Chandler's lips and kissed him gently and slowly before saying : "Since we have to be good tonight, then I'm going to grab my PJ's... what are you going to wear?"

"Well, my PJ's are in my room... where I can't go, for obvious reasons", replied Chandler, rolling his eyes. That made Monica chuckle and she gave him a quick kiss. "I have a t-shirt underneath, will you be okay if I keep it or will the cleanliness freak Monica be mad because I wore it all day?"

"Cleanliness freak Monica won't care but girlfriend Monica would love it if you'd take it away..." Monica answered in a suggestive voice, running her fingers up on his chest, which made Chandler gulp. She called herself his "girlfriend", had he heard right?

After another kiss, Monica went to the bathroom to change whereas Chandler was left dumbstruck by everything that happened. It was so easy! They were already totally comfortable with each other's, and Monica was constantly kissing him and touching him.

Monica can't take her hands off me. That's right!

Alone in the room, Chandler blinked and shook his head. It was incredible.

Monica's voice brought him back to reality : "I'm going to come out, are you presentable?"

Chandler panicked and looked everywhere around him : "Oh... Uhm... No! No! Wait!"

He didn't want to undress in front of her for the first time casually. He wanted it to be special, but he hadn't think this through, earlier he hadn't imagine he was going to spend the night in her bed.

He undressed quickly, keeping only his boxers, and climbed under the blankets. "Ready!"

Monica came out of the bathroom and had a satisfied smile, seeing Chandler was shirtless. "So, I see you listened to girlfriend-Monica", she said, joining him in the bed.

Again, Chandler's heart skipped a beat, hearing Monica's words. He tried to hide his nervosity: "Well... I don't want to disappoint her."

Monica slowly shook her head, a small smile on her lips, and whispered : "You won't".

She then stroke his right cheek with her left hand and came closer to him for a long and gentle kiss. After that she contently put her head on Chandler's bare chest and closed her eyes, ready to sleep.

Chandler, for his part, couldn't close his eyes. He stared at the ceiling, reliving the evening. He still couldn't believe how smoothly everything went tonight. He was now in bed, holding Monica in his arms. Monica! And the weirdest part was... it wasn't feel weird at all. It felt normal.

Just to be sure it was real, Chandler gave Monica a squeeze and kissed her hair. He couldn't see her smile, but he felt her squeezing him back in response.