Night Moves

Chapter 14

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Two updates in four days? Between that and this ridiculous heat that just won't go away, it's probably a sign that the world is indeed coming to an end….

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter (Amelia_Lauren, ScandelousScavos, lmrasef, MatTeneyMoNdlerLoVer, speak_now_and_be_fearless, matteney, Veridissima, Mia_Fitzpatrick, dancer_cherrybug, and Exintaris), and, ya know, I would of course appreciate it if you keep it up. :)

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"Judging by that hickey on your shoulder, I'd guess that you and Monica made up last night," Phoebe grinned at Chandler from her spot on the couch as he walked out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist after showering.

Chandler glanced up at Phoebe, and then to the kitchen, where Ross, Rachel, and Joey were eating breakfast, finally shaking his head. "Not exactly," he mumbled in reply to Phoebe, still heading towards the bedroom to get dressed.

"Angry sex? Didn't know you had it in you, Bing," Phoebe continued grinning as Chandler reddened, heading into the bedroom and closing the door behind him.

"So glad we can discuss my sister's sex life over breakfast," Ross grumbled, taking a bite of cereal.

"So glad that without Monica here, you all still show up for food," Chandler added, reappearing seconds later, now dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt.

"How many years have you lived across the hall from Monica?" Joey asked. "You know none of us even buy any kind of breakfast food…."

"Is Monica meeting with Pete?" Rachel asked as Rachel grabbed a cereal bowl and took a seat beside her, and Chandler just nodded. Rachel refrained from making any crack at Ross in comparison to how Chandler was handling the Pete situation, which Chandler took to mean that she and Ross had finally gone to dinner to talk, most likely the night before, and he felt slightly bad for monopolizing the conversation when she'd come over the night before, so he made a mental note to ask her about that later.

"So," Phoebe started, having moved into the kitchen. "Angry sex-"

"On that note," Ross interrupted her, "I'll see you guys later. I really don't need the details," he added before leaving.

Phoebe turned to Chandler expectantly, but he shook his head. "Fine," Phoebe shrugged. "I'll just ask Monica when she gets home."

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Chandler looked up from his spot at the kitchen table where he was sitting, reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee, everyone else having left for the morning. He immediately stood up as Monica slowly appeared from behind the door, her slightly reddened eyes and sad demeanor telling him exactly how the meeting had gone.

"Oh, Mon," he said softly, moving over to where she had stopped after setting her purse on the counter. "I didn't want to be right," he wrapped his arms around her, and her only response was to bury her face in his chest, letting herself fully cry for the first time since leaving the restaurant. "Believe me, I was hoping I was just being a jealous asshole. I didn't want to be right," he whispered, kissing her hair. Monica continued to cry softly as he held her tightly, softly rubbing slow circle on her back.

"I just wanted it so badly to be real," Monica finally pulled back, wiping the tears from her eyes. "It seemed too good to be true, but, god, I've worked for it for so long, and I deserve it!" She paused, sniffling. "I deserve it," she repeated, softer this time, and Chandler squeezed her hands, which were still in his. "The—the kitchen was perfect, and I would get to create my own menu, and it was my kitchen, and—and," she took a deep shaky breath, "it's just not fair," she finished softly. "I'm a good chef! I deserve it!"

Chandler bit his bottom lip, hating seeing her in so much pain. "Hey, um, here's a thought," he finally said softly, still playing with her hands in his. "What if we open a restaurant?"

Monica's eyes shot up to meet his immediately at that. "What?"

"What if we," he motioned between the two of them with his hands, still holding hers, "opened a restaurant."

Monica paused for a moment, thinking that through. "Do you know anything about running a restaurant?" she finally asked.

Chandler shook his head. "No, but you do."

Monica again paused, searching his eyes. "Are you being serious?"

"Completely," he nodded. "You can run the kitchen, and you can teach me enough so that I can do all of the front-end and book-keeping stuff. I'm actually a lot smarter than I look," he added with a grin, and Monica finally cracked a small smile.

"You're being serious."

"Well…yea. I kind of have this large sum of money that would probably be of some assistance in this…."

"Chandler, I can't ask you to do that."

"You're not asking. I'm offering," he corrected her. "Consider it an investment."

"I don't know that I'm worth that much of an investment."

"I do."

Monica's eyes filled with tears, though this time, tears that were accompanied by a smile. "Do you know how many new restaurants fail? How many years it might take to turn a profit? How many restaurant there are in Manhattan?"

Chandler grinned. "Know how many restaurants that are never started succeed? Zero." Monica laughed at that, and Chandler shrugged. "We won't spend all of the money, so even if it fails…we'll be okay. We can move to the suburbs and run an Applebee's franchise or something." Monica laughed even harder at that, leaning in the hug him.

"Are we really going to do this?" she asked, looking up at him.

"We're really gonna do this," he grinned in reply.

"You know it sounds a little crazy, right?" Monica asked. "Like, big, huge, scary crazy."

"If your dreams don't scare you, they're not big enough?"

"Did you peruse through a bunch of motivational posters this morning or something?" Monica laughed.

"Oh, oh, I've got one more! You miss one hundred percent of the shots that you don't take!"

"I think I'm sold, Chandler."

"If you don't ask, the answer is always no."

Monica laughed and shook her head, hugging him again. "I think we might actually pull this off," she said as she pulled back, eyes suddenly lighting up. "Oh, there's going to be so much planning to do! We have to find a location, and decide on a menu, and, oh, I need to find my label maker! And sticky notes! We need to buy some sticky notes-"

"The day I found out you owned a label maker, I probably should have turned and ran in the opposite direction."

"And yet you married me."

"Well, the copious amount of alcohol made me forget about the label maker." Monica smacked at his arm. "This is going to be fun," Chandler laughed.

"You've met me, right?"

"Yep. You are a neurotic, controlling pain-in-the-ass, and the more neurotic and controlling you get in a situation, the more fun it is to mess with you."

Chandler," Monica warned sternly.

Chandler smiled. "Relax. I've been doing it for years. It relaxes you when you get all," he motioned in front of him with his hands, "Monica."

"Really?"

"Yep," he grinned, and Monica couldn't help but smile slightly at that.

"Hey, I'm—I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you. About the whole Pete thing."

Chandler shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I was just being jealous."

"You were right, though."

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that," Chandler laughed. "Can you repeat that sentence?"

"You were right," Monica repeated slowly, shaking her head. "Don't get too used to it." Chandler leaned in, softly kissing her temple. "Can we get started today?"

"There's no time like the present…."

"Okay, seriously, when I go to look at possible locations, I'm going to leave Chandler the Motivation Speaker at home."

"I'm so glad I was drunk enough to marry you in Vegas."

"Charming, romantic, and shouts motivational phrases ad libitum. Back off, ladies, he's mine."

Chandler was the first to crack a smile. "Are we done here?" he asked as he motioned between the two of them. "Because this restaurant isn't going to open itself." Monica rolled her eyes. "Hey, you were very aware of how much of a sarcastic pain-in-the-ass I was before you married me."

"Copious amounts of alcohol-" she began mocking him with a laugh, but he cut her off with a deep kiss. Pulling back, arms still around his neck, she smiled. "Hey."

"Hey," he returned her smile. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Let's do this?" Chandler asked as they pulled away, holding up a hand for a high-five.

Monica high-fived him with a grin. "Let's do this."