TOW the Exes
A/N- No your eyes aren't deceiving you, I've actually updated something- yah me! I've been busy working on a few longer ones so hopefully one of those will get posted soon. This fic is a bit of a different tone to the others in this series, it's a bit more angsty but hopefully someone wil enjoy it.
Oh and once again I've had to screw slightly with the timeline… it's after TOW Chandler's Work Laugh, but you have to imagine Rachel hadn't discovered the secret by this point…
"Oh. My. God!"
The only sign that Chandler had heard her was a slight wince. Other than that he remained still, his head down, shoulders slumped as he stared into his beer glass.
"What are you doing here?" Janice asked loudly, walking up to the previously quiet bar.
He half-shrugged, still not turning to face her or making any attempt to speak to her. He let the background music, which had been on repeat for the last several hours fill the silence. Without invitation, she settled her overly large handbag onto the bar's countertop. Stashing her multiple shopping bags under the wooden barstool, she finally took a seat, eyeing her ex critically.
"Why aren't you at work? It's like 3pm on a Thursday? Are you playing hooky?" she cackled.
With a heavy sigh, he reluctantly turned his head, acknowledging her presence at last. She instantly frowned taking in his red-rimmed eyes, grey face and flat lips.
"Are you drunk?" She asked suddenly sounding concerned, "What happened? You didn't get fired did you?"
His brow creased as he studied her for moment, as if confused by the question, before he turned back to his glass. There were another few moments of silence and she thought he wasn't going to answer.
"Yes to the drunk, no to the firing…at least that I'm aware of," he slurred slightly. "It's possible I s'pose, I didn't really go in today."
"That much is pretty obvious," she observed. "So what's going on? Why would you skip work to spend the day at Beef Steak Charlies?"
She watched him swallow as a dark shadow passed across his pale face. "I've decided this is where I come when girls screw me over," he muttered quietly, his voice humorless as his empty eyes remained fixed on his almost-empty beer. He picked it up swishing it around slightly.
"Uh oh," Janice tried to smile to lighten his mood, "someone's having girl trouble. Well, consider it Karma for lying about Yemen." She did her laugh.
His eyes slid over to her confused.
"You faked going all the way to Yemen so you didn't have to break up with me!" she accused. "Ross eventually told me."
"Oh, right," he mumbled, not really caring. His impromptu trip to Yemen seemed a lifetime ago. He raised the glass to his lips, draining it of the last few drops of alcohol it held.
"Are you gonna buy me a drink then?" She teased, gesturing to his glass, "it's not nice to drink alone." He looked at her, frowning again, his troubled eyes fixed on her face as if he was trying to figure something out. "What?" she asked not liking being scrutinized, "You're starting to freak me out here. What is it?"
"You cheated on me," he mused, as if he had only just realized this fact.
"What?" She asked surprised, she hadn't expected him to come out with that. "Chandler, that was ages ago. You told me to give my marriage a chance and I did. You got over that. I mean we've dated since then. Why are you even bringing it up now?"
His blue eyes were lost as he met hers. "You cheated on me," he repeated in a sadder tone. "I didn't come here then but when Kathy cheated on me, I came here."
"Who's Kathy?" she asked trying to keep up.
"Doesn't matter," he dismissed quietly. "Just another person that ripped my heart out and stomped all over it."
Janice studied him critically for another moment as he remained silent, staring into his empty glass that his hands were still wrapped around.
"What's going on, Chandler?" she finally asked.
"You cheated on me; Kathy cheated on me; Becky Ingrass in college cheated on me and now Monica's cheating on me. What did I do? Why does everyone wanna hurt me?" he whispered the last part, his voice cracking in anguish before he swallowed hard. Shaking his head, he ran a hand through his already mussed hair before lifting his beer, sighing heavily when he realized it was empty.
"Monica who?" Janice asked as she watched him signal to the bartender.
"Fred, can I have another? And Janice wants something too…I think?"
The man rolled his eyes, pouring Chandler another before approaching Janice and taking her order. She held back a chuckle as she noticed his 'Simon' name badge.
"So?" Janice asked as she took a sip of her drink.
He blinked slowly, frowning, momentary pausing in his drinking to glance over at her. He raised an eyebrow in query, "'So?'"
"So…who's Monica?" Janice repeated, before a thought suddenly struck her, "Wait! Monica Monica?"
He broke eye contact, looking thoroughly miserable. He contemplated his drink as if the amber liquid held the answers to all his problems. He wished it did.
"You're dating Monica Geller?" she asked again, extremely surprised. She hadn't seen that coming.
"Not anymore," he muttered, swallowing rapidly a couple of times. Janice was alarmed to see his eyes start to fill with what suspiciously looked like tears.
"Monica wouldn't cheat on you," Janice said, sure she was right. "She's been your best friend for like forever, why would she risk getting together with you only to then cheat on you? Nah ah, makes no sense to me."
"Makes perfect sense," he corrected quietly, "everyone decides it's okay to cheat on me; it's like some unspoken rule. They wait just long enough for me to let my guard down and fall in love with them. They wait for me to get to the highest, happiest damn point of my life and then bam! They cut the cord, throw away the parachute and watch with a smile as I crash back to reality.
"I need to stop kidding myself - I'm not boyfriend material, she even said that herself. I'm not enough, never enough and I need to stop pretending and just accept that I was destined to spend this crappy life alone. You know, it's finally starting to sink in. I'm a fast learner, me – you can fool me once, twice and a third time but then after that, oh no…I finally clue in."
Janice sighed before shaking her head. "Rubbish-Shubbish," she insisted. "Get your float off this drunken pity parade, Mister. Lots of people care about you, me included, despite the whole Yemen incident. What about your other friends? What are they saying? If, and I still don't believe it to be true, but if Monica did cheat on you, then surely they'd stick by you? I know without a doubt that Joey definitely would."
He shrugged slightly not committing an answer.
"I still can't believe Ross didn't tell me you're dating his baby sister. Ooh, I bet it didn't go down well," she laughed imagining the scene. "I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that conversation."
"He doesn't know…didn't," Chandler confessed, frowning slightly, not liking the past tense. After spending the best part of the day here trying to get his mind around it, he still couldn't. "I guess he'll never know now."
"What do you mean he doesn't know?"
"It is…was a secret relationship," he said, his heart breaking further at the use of past tense again. It was really over, "I thought it was just to give us time to get used to it before all the others found out but now," he let out a horrible sound, one between a bark of a laugh and a scoff, "it was probably because she was embarrassed by me or something. I would be. Or maybe it was just easier for her to break my heart down the line. If no one knows then there's less drama, less gossip. I can just hide away here and drink away the pain of getting screwed over yet again, screwed over by Monica," his voice caught as raw pain shot through him, almost crippling him. "How could she do this to me?" he whispered
Janice placed a hand on his back, rubbing in soothing circles. He eventually looked up and met her eyes and she was shocked by the agony that filled the usually light and humorous blue eyes.
"I think you need to tell me exactly what's happened," Janice said calmly.
She watched as he tried to compose himself and his thoughts.
"She didn't come over last night," he finally voiced his version of events to the wooden bar surface, his blunt fingers tracing a knot on the edge. "I didn't think much of it. It's hard to sneak over every night, especially with Ross sleeping on the couch. I always miss her when she's not there, I hate sleeping without her in my arms. She was on the late shift too, at least that's what she told me," his voice broke a little, still not able to believe she would lie to him, deceive him. Not Monica. Never Monica. He paused taking a breath as he tried to keep his emotions in check.
"She wasn't?" Janice asked with a wince.
He shook his head, "she was on a date with her ex, not just any ex but the love of her life ex; Richard." Even saying the name felt like a knife twisting in his gut. "Probably getting back together with him, apparently. Isn't that just fricking fantastic?"
Janice sighed, watching as his hand pressed against the counter, his knuckles going white from the force.
"Chandler," she started but he shook his head.
"She deserves to be happy," he said angrily, "she deserves it more than anyone I know, she really does, but why does it have to hurt so damn much? Why can't she be happy with me? Why can't she be as madly in love with me as I am with her? Why does it have to be him?"
Janice placed a manicured hand on his arm, rubbing soothingly as she tried to comfort him further. He looked in so much pain, so broken and vulnerable that she felt so sorry for him. Chandler was a good man, he deserved more than what life gave him.
He downed a large portion of his drink before closing his heavy eyelids and letting the liquor wash through him, numbing the pain.
"Come on," she said gently, standing up and tugging his arm.
He raised an eyebrow and didn't budge.
"Come on," she tried again, hoisting her handbag onto her shoulder and grabbing her shopping. "Sitting in here and drinking yourself stupid is not gonna help you. You're coming with me, Mr Bing."
Too broken down to care any longer, he finished his drink and stood up, stumbling slightly as he followed her out of the restaurant.
Monica frowned at the clock, "has anyone seen Chandler?"
She hadn't been able to sneak over last night, then he hadn't come over for breakfast, which was strange. Then he hadn't called her in his lunch break and he should have already finished work by now. Finished a long time ago.
She was starting to get worried.
The girls shook their heads so she turned to the boys.
"I've not seen him all day," Joey shrugged casually from the couch.
"I saw him briefly," Ross said with a small frown, "but he was running late for work. He was acting kinda strange though."
Before she could get him to elaborate on the 'strange' comment Joey cut in.
"Work? His boss phoned to ask where he was. I covered for him, thought he was pulling another sicky." He shot her a pointed look.
Monica felt her stomach knot. Her gut was telling her something was seriously wrong here. He hadn't spent the day with her and there wasn't any other reason he would fake being ill. Why hadn't he gone to work? Why hadn't he called her?
"Ross, expand on the 'acting strange' thing," she asked concerned, "What exactly happened? What did he say?"
"Well…"
~~Flashback to earlier that morning~~
Ross looked up from his magazine, surprised to find Chandler hurrying out of his bedroom. He was struggling to do up the top button of his shirt, whilst simultaneously trying to shrug on his jacket.
"You're a little late…" he tried commenting only to zip his mouth shut at the glare Chandler shot his way.
"Ya think?" Chandler bit out as he started to knot his tie. "I'm late as I couldn't sleep last night and then ironically I overslept. Whoopdy-fricking-doo."
With a grumble he disappeared into the bathroom and with a roll of his eyes, Ross got up and went to the fridge. He grabbed out a bottle of water and a slice of yesterday's pizza, placing them on the counter ready.
As Chandler reappeared, still muttering to himself, Ross gestured to the items, "a grab and go breakfast for you."
"Thanks man," Chandler reached for the water, taking a few swigs before grabbing the pizza, taking a few bites as he found his shoes and stuffed his feet into them.
"What kept you up?" Ross enquired curious, "I slept fine."
"Eh, I always find it hard to sleep without M-" his brain suddenly caught up with him and he panicked, "M-my pillow."
Ross frowned at him, "Why would you sleep without your pillow?"
"Because…it's, uh, at the p-pillow cleaning place…" Chandler stuttered.
"What?" Ross asked confused.
"Um," the duck chose that exact moment to waddle past him, providing the flash of inspiration he so desperately needed, "the duck peed on it."
"Eeew!" Ross pulled a disgusted face at the poultry, as Chandler sent him a silent apology.
"So," Chandler tried to come up with a change in conversation, "What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be having breakfast across the hall?" he asked, taking another bite of his makeshift breakfast as he grabbed his coat. Maybe he wouldn't be too late after all...
"I'm trying to avoid Rachel," Ross shrugged and Chandler pulled a face. Maybe he'd be very late…
"Look man, I really haven't got time to go into the whole you and Rachel thing right now. I know you thought you were on a break and she didn't…"
Ross rolled his eyes, "It's nothing like that," he protested. "She just keeps wanting to gossip about Monica's love life…as if I wanna hear about that when I'm trying to eat. She's my little sister."
Love life?
"W-what love life?" he suddenly sounded nervous.
What did Rachel know? What did Ross know?
"Don't worry about it, you're already gonna be late remember?" Ross reminded him. "Besides, I'm sure Monica will be dying to tell you the big news later."
"What big news?" Chandler insisted, unmoving, making no attempt to head towards the door.
"Fine, but you have to at least act surprised when she tells you, because she technically hasn't told me yet, so I'm not even meant to know, so you definitely -"
"Ross," Chandler interrupted him, an uneasy feeling starting in his stomach, "What's going on?"
"Monica went out with Richard yesterday," he shrugged casually as Chandler blanched, involuntarily taking a step back.
"What?" he managed to choke out, surely Ross had it wrong? He had to.
"Yeah, they went out on some date yesterday..."
"A date?" He didn't understand.
"Chandler?"
Ross' voice reached him, but only barely, he blinked up at him confused, "Huh?"
"You ok?" Ross asked concerned. "You don't look so good."
No. No he wasn't.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he croaked out, his mind still racing as his body started to go numb. This couldn't be happening. "Richard? You're sure? I mean Richard?"
"Yes Richard, as in her ex Richard, as in the love of her life Richard."
His gut sunk, his heart broke and his mind just couldn't fathom that.
"I know who he is," he said quietly, swallowing hard.
"She's really excited. Apparently they might get back together. Wouldn't that be weird? I wonder what my dad will say."
His gut clenched that little bit tighter. He couldn't do this, couldn't be here listening to this. Casually discussing Monica and Richard over breakfast. It couldn't be true…could it? Maybe. It was Richard. Monica had been madly in love with him, only broke up because he didn't want marriage or kids. Had he changed his mind? Ross was right, Richard had been the love of her love. Could he blame her for choosing Richard over him? Dysfunctional, majorly screwed-up him? It was a no brainer.
He felt confused tears start to press against the back of his eyes. He started to tremble. It all felt so surreal and overwhelming. How was he meant to process this? How was he meant to handle this?
He had to get out of here.
"Chandler?"
"I've gotta go, I'll uh see you later Ross," with that he practically ran from the apartment. He had no destination in mind, he just had to get away from here. Away from her.
Ross kept his confused gaze on the closed door for a moment. That was strange…his eyes swung to Chandler's open bedroom door, clearly spotting the two pillows on his bed. Huh, even stranger.
~~Back to present time~~
"What?!" Monica gasped, her shaky hand coming to her mouth. Chandler thought she had gone back to Richard? That she had chosen her ex over him? That she had cheated on him and broken it off without even telling him? "Oh god," she whispered as the implications started to flood her. "You told Chandler that I…and Richard?"
This was bad. Very bad. She knew Chandler had lots of insecurities and Richard was one of them.
"Yeah?" Ross was confused, shooting a look to Rachel and Phoebe who seemed just as perplexed as he was. "So?"
"Richard?" Joey was up on his feet, coming to stand directly in front of her pissed. "You and Richard?"
"Look, I know it was supposed to be a secret," Ross said, a little worried by her and Joey's reactions, "but I just repeated what Rachel said," he insisted, ignoring the death look Rachel shot him from across the room. "Monica?"
She was whiter than Chandler had been, her eyes wide and disbelieving as she muttered to herself, shaking her head, "No, no, no. This isn't happening."
"Are you with back with Richard?" Joey's tone was hard, cold.
"Joey?" Phoebe asked, confused by his anger. "What's going on?"
"Chandler," Monica whispered, "he thinks I'm back with Richard," her eyes filled with tears as she faced his roommate, knowing he would understand her concern, "Joey, he's spent the day thinking I'm seeing Richard…"
Joey's eyes softened slightly seeing the distress on his friend's face, "And you're not, right?" he asked, needing confirmation.
"No!" she shook her head, her arms coming around to hug herself, desperate for any comfort. "Of course not, I'd never do that to him."
She started to pace frantically muttering to herself.
"Um," Ross frowned, not fully understanding the situation but sensing something bad was happening. Possibly because of him, "So you didn't go on a date?"
"He thinks I went out on a date and I didn't go round last night," Monica continued, lost in her own concerns, "He's going to think it's related. That it's true."
"Monica?" Rachel asked confused but concerned, protective of her roommate. She got up and placing a hand on each shoulder she forced her to stop pacing and guided her to a kitchen chair, "Mon, you need to tell us what's going on. You're freaking us out and we can't help you unless you talk to us."
Monica looked down at the kitchen tabletop, vaguely aware of Phoebe placing a mug in front of her. She latched onto it, her hands seeking it's warmth as she tried to control her racing mind enough to form coherent sentences, "I bumped into Richard yesterday afternoon," her eyes shot up to find Joey's. "It wasn't planned, I just ran into him. He asked how I was and suggested we grabbed a quick coffee and caught up. It only lasted 15 minutes, it was a little awkward and I didn't feel comfortable but thought I owed it to him.
"It certainly wasn't a date and I'm definitely not getting back together with him. If anything it cemented the fact that I'm completely and utterly over him. I mentioned it to Rachel but swore her to secrecy because I was going to tell Chandler when I next saw him alone. I just needed to work out the best way to tell him because I knew he'd take it badly, but not like this. I wanted to tell him last night but my shift overran- there was a problem setting the alarm and…" she sighed, looking down at the table, her hands coming to her head as she felt a headache coming on.
"Monica," Phoebe spoke gently, all the pieces falling into place, "are you and Chandler…?"
She nodded softly, a small smile touching her lips as she thought about their relationship, "I'm completely and utterly in love with him."
"With Chandler?" Rachel asked surprised, "since when? And you," she turned to Joey, "you knew about this already?"
"Um…"
"Look," Monica sighed, "I know you all have questions and I promise to answer them all, but right now we have to find Chandler. He's out there thinking I'm back with Richard."
Realization slowly dawned on her friends.
"This is bad," Joey agreed, "we need to find him and do some damage control."
"Let's split up," Ross suggested, "we'll cover more ground that way."
Everyone nodded as they started to get ready. As Monica did up her coat Ross approached, placing a hesitant hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, Mon, I really didn't know."
"It's ok," she tried to smile, "you didn't know. Just find him and we'll be even."
Ross offered her a smile in return and nodded. He just prayed they would find him and bring him home relatively unscathed.
"Can I stay here tonight?"
"No," Janice said firmly. "Now eat, it will help sober you up."
"I don't wanna sober up," he protested, half-heartedly stabbing a potato with his fork before dropping it back onto the plate. "Why can't I stay here? Please?"
"Because, it would not look good to your current girlfriend if you stayed at your ex girlfriend's."
"She's not my girlfriend anymore," he muttered, wincing at the pain that rippled through him. "I'm not going back there. If you don't let me stay here I'll be homeless. I'll be on the street." Janice rolled her eyes eating some more of her dinner. "Do you want me homeless?" he continued.
"Chandler, eat your food, sober up and then we can get you to Monica's and you can talk to her."
"No to all of the above."
"You have to talk to her," she insisted.
"I'm not ready," he admitted, "and what's the point? It's over. I think I'm giving up on women and relationships and getting those snakes – I'm glad I kept that as plan B."
"Chandler," she sighed heavily, not even asking about the snakes, "You heard it from Ross, who heard it from Rachel. It's second-hand gossip that shouldn't be trusted. Do you trust gossip more than Monica? Do you?" She challenged.
He frowned, a slight pout coming to his lips as he stared at the food in front of him, "No."
"Then you need to grow up and talk to her. You can't just run off to Yemen every time it gets difficult."
"I'm not running away to Yemen," he argued, "Ross had no reason to lie or cover anything up."
"He also had no reason to realize what baloney it was. If he had known you were dating her he wouldn't have believed the gossip. Look, there has been some sort of serious miscommunication or cross wires in this weird version of the telephone game you're playing. You're too close to the situation, if you were standing where I am you would see how ridiculous it all is."
"I don't want it to be true," he muttered, "I really don't but it's not ridiculous. It makes perfect sense. Have you met Richard? He's the big moustache man. He's mature, successful…and a dumb stupid tree."
"Chandler, as great as you are you're a little…insecure. I bet that deep down your biggest fear since you got with Monica is Richard coming back and her falling instantly in love with him again, right?" He didn't do anything to indicate the truth in that statement. "Hell, or maybe you think that she's never truly stopped loving him and praying he would change his mind. Whatever fears you've conjured up in that thick skull of yours aren't reality. I know you and I know Monica. Now shut up and eat up."
Chandler sighed heavily, shaking his head at her words but remaining silent.
"Eat something or I'll take offence," she warned, "I may not be a head chef like your girlfriend but I make a mean sausage hot pot."
Reluctantly, he took a bite of the meal, not really tasting it. It made its way to his empty alcohol-abused stomach and it rebelled strongly. He placed his fork down turning a little green.
"Chandler?"
"I'm just gonna-" he gestured to the bathroom as he clumsily made his way there.
As soon as he was gone she reached for her phone.
"Well it took you long enough!" Janice complained as she answered her front door a little later.
"Janice," Ross forced a smile, "always a pleasure."
She rolled her eyes and opened the door fully, allowing him to enter, "Where are the rest of you?" she frowned.
"Oh, we separated to look for him and I came straight here when I got your message," he shrugged a little as he looked around the familiar living-room. "I, uh, left them a note. Where is he?"
Janice was saved from answering and both grimaced as they heard Chandler in the bathroom.
"Nevermind," Ross muttered as he moved further into the room, perching on the edge of the couch. His eyes fell onto the dinner table set for two. "You two didn't, I mean…" he trailed off not knowing how to complete the awkward question.
"Nooo!" Janice protested loudly, "Get your mind out of the gutter, Geller. I would never do that to him or your sister. You're the last man that I-"
"We, uh," he interrupted quickly, clearing his throat, "we don't need to go down that route. So, uh, how exactly did Chandler end up here…?"
"I rescued him after you told him that ludicrous story. What is wrong with you? Why did you have to go and tell him that? It crushed the little puppy."
Ross pulled a face, finding it hard to imagine Chandler being described as a puppy.
"It's not my fault," he protested. "No one told me they were dating. How was I supposed to know? And how was Rachel supposed to know? They're the ones that kept it a secret…" he said weakly, "technically, technically it's their fault."
Janice raised her eyebrows, clearly unimpressed, as she crossed her legs as a silence fell over them. They stayed silent for a few more moments until Chandler appeared, slumping against the door way. His tired eyes fell onto Ross.
"If you're here to hold my hair back you're too late."
"Shame. Maybe next time," Ross dead-panned, getting up and moving across the room to stand beside him. He grimaced taking in Chandler's worn face. The man looked like he was carrying the world on his shoulders. "Chandler-" he started only to be cut off by Janice.
"Here," she handed her ex-boyfriend a glass of water. "Drink this." He looked at her. "Drink it and then there's an unopened toothbrush in the cabinet. Please use it and the mouthwash."
Rolling his eyes he begrudgingly pushed himself upright and took the glass of water back with him into the bathroom.
Faced with staying alone with Janice, Ross quickly gestured and followed Chandler into the small tiled room. Chandler glanced at him but didn't comment on his presence as he started to brush his teeth. Ross waited, shifting his weight between his feet somewhat uncomfortable.
When he'd got Janice's message he'd been in such a rush to get here…now, he kinda wished he had one of the others with him. The girls were good at this stuff. He didn't really like these sort of conversations…especially not when it was involving his little sister….and not when Chandler was in this sort of mood.
Finally rinsed and water splashed over his face, Chandler turned and faced him, studying his oldest friend.
"What are you doing here, Ross?" he finally questioned.
"I, uh, made a mistake this morning," Ross admitted, "a very big mistake. See, Rachel got it wrong, Monica and Richard aren't back together, they didn't go on a date."
Chandler's brow furrowed in confusion, his expression not changing to sheer joy as Ross hoped it would, "Did Janice tell you to say that?"
"No," Ross argued annoyed, "of course not. No one told me to tell you - it's the truth."
"So, you just made it up out of thin air this morning?" he clearly wasn't believing him, "I wasn't born yesterday, Ross."
Chandler made a move to pass him but Ross blocked his attempt, causing him to roll his eyes.
"Look it was just gossip that Rachel-"
Chandler continued shaking his head, he was tired, felt like crap and right now his heart was too numb to let in any hope,
"Something must have happened," Chandler said gravely. "And I get it ok, it's Richard. So, you don't need to cover for her or try and make me feel better."
"Cover for her? I'm not trying to cover for her," he insisted but his friend still didn't look impressed, which made him all the more frustrated. "What's the matter with you? Monica is going frantic, sick with worry, she's so upset thinking that you'll be hurting over this and…what, you don't care? D-did I misunderstand about this secret relationship? Are you not as serious about this as Monica? Is it completely one-sided? Do you not love her-?"
"Of course I love her!" Chandler exploded angrily, "I love her more than I've ever loved anybody." The aggression made his head pound and he starting pacing, running a hand through his hair as he tried to calm himself, his voice breaking slightly, "I'm completely and utterly in love with her."
"Then what's the problem?" Ross asked gentler, trying to figure his friend out.
Chandler shook his head, sitting on the edge of the bath tub.
"Come on, Ross," he finally spoke, "if she has the choice between me and Richard, it's going to be him every time. I might as well save myself the heart-ache now."
"If you'd asked me yesterday I might have agreed," Ross said almost casually, "but only because I didn't know about the two of you then. Up until yesterday I thought Richard was the love of her life but that all changed today. You should have seen her earlier, Chandler, she's crazy about you man, completely crazy.
"Look, yes she bumped into Richard yesterday but it wasn't prearranged or a date in any way. She spent like 20 minutes with him having a coffee. That was it. She found it awkward, uncomfortable and it made her realize how much she's over him and how happy she is to have you. She doesn't want Richard, Chandler. You're the love of her life now."
Ross watched fascinated as slowly Chandler's whole demeanor changed. The depression that hung over him evaporating into hope. His slumped shoulders rising slightly, a soft smile touching his lips and his eyes became alive.
"Yeah?" Chandler finally asked.
"Yeah," Ross promised, clapping his shoulder. "This is all just a big horrible mistake. Come on, let's get you home and back with my sister…" he pulled a face, "ya know, that's a sentence I never thought I'd say to you."
Chandler actually let out a chuckle, "I know, I never saw it coming either," then a thought occurred to him, "wait, you know about us and you're ok with it? You don't wanna kill me?"
It was Ross' turn to chuckle, "I'd say after the day you've had because of me…we're more than even. And seeing both of you today thinking you've lost the other…I'm never letting you two break up."
A wide smile spread across Chandler's face for the first time today. He didn't want to ever break up either and as he replayed Ross' words from earlier, that he was now the love of Monica's life, he let a little part of him believe that maybe this could be it for life.
"We should head back," Ross said again glancing at his watch as Chandler stood up, stumbling a little.
"Oh, it's gonna hurt in the morning," Chandler muttered.
Before Ross could comment there was a commotion in the hallway and the bathroom door flew open hitting Ross.
"Ouch, son of a-"
"Chandler!" A teary-eyed Monica barged into the room, ignoring Ross, on a direct path to her boyfriend. "Thank god," her hands cupped his cheeks as she studied his face critically before pulling him into a fierce hug. "I was so worried about you,"
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly to him as he borrowed his face in her hair. He clung to her, savoring the feel of her body, letting her familiar scent surround him and sooth his soul. He vowed he'd do everything in his power to ensure this was for life.
"Don't worry about me," Ross commented sarcastically but neither looked as if they had heard him. With a muttered "Whatever," he left quickly, not wanting to be in the room as they made up.
Monica turned her face towards Chandler and he pulled back slightly, their lips finding each other instinctively, caressing and comforting each other. She stroked his hair, his back, his arms, needing to touch and heal as much of him as she could.
"I'm sorry," he murmured as they broke apart but she shook her head, pressing her forehead to his.
"Don't be," she whispered, "I understand and I'm sorry you got hurt by all this Chandler but you have to know I would never leave you for Richard or any man." He closed his eyes as so many feelings rushed through him. "I could never walk away from this, Chandler, I love you too damn much. You're everything to me, you have to know that."
Swallowing hard he pressed his lips to hers again, hoping to communicate what he felt without words. When the kiss ended he hugged her again tightly, "I love you too Mon," he admitted and she couldn't keep the beaming smile from her face.
"Why don't we get out of your ex's bathroom and go home and just be together," she suggested, still ecstatic from his confession. He loved her.
"That sounds like the best plan I've heard all day," Chandler agreed, keeping an arm over her shoulder as she helped to guide him from the bathroom.
They gathered their friends, having to practically tear Joey away from the uneaten food he was tucking into. Both sincerely thanked Janice and left as quickly as possible. Grabbing two cabs, the others all squeezed in one, leaving Monica and Chandler to the other to have a brief moment of privacy.
The couple climbed into the cab, their arms wrapping around each other as Monica rested her head on his chest. She closed her eyes listening to his steady heartbeat. She felt his hands stroking her sides and she smiled.
"What a day," Chandler muttered. "Two exes in two days…let's never do that again."
"Deal," she chuckled.
"So if Pete or Kathy or Fun Bobby turn up at our door tomorrow?"
"We firmly shut the door in their face," Monica confirmed with a smile, snuggling further into his chest. "In fact, I think if anyone knocks at our door tomorrow we're entitled to ignore them. Tomorrow we both call in sick and spend the day in bed together just enjoying being in love. Sound good?"
Chandler looked down at the woman in his arms, tightening his hold on her. Love. They were officially in love. He couldn't believe he'd thought he'd lost her. That his insecurities had allowed him to believe a piece of gossip.
"Sounds perfect," Chandler promised, "just like you. I'm sorry I didn't just come and talk to you; I'm such an idiot."
"My idiot," she replied, looking up at him, her eyes sparkling, "I understand Chandler, I really do. If I'd even thought for one second that Rachel would misinterpret everything so badly and that it would reach you like it did, then I would have told you straight away. I'm sorry you went through everything you did today. And I'm really sorry for not making it clear to you just how much you and this relationship mean to me, because you mean everything to me, everything."
He swallowed, staring into her eyes. It difficult to believe that this amazing woman loved him but the way she was looking at him right now, as if he was the most important person on this planet, he knew it was somehow true. They were in love and through that he would one day find a new confidence and a way to rid himself of his insecurities. Right now though it was time for celebration.
A large smile spread across his face as he slowly leaned forwards, his fingertips lightly brushing her cheek as she tilted her chin up, meeting him half way. Their lips met in a slow deep kiss. When they broke apart, Monica snuggled back into his chest and he placed a kiss on the top of her head.
"Love you," she murmured.
"Love you too, babe."
It may have been the day from hell, but it was finishing pretty damn nicely.
The End
A/N – I got the idea from watching the Vegas episode and wondering what would have happened if Monica and Richard had bumped into each other whilst still a secret. Also, kudos to anyone that's ever written Janice as I found her really hard to do.
Let me know your thoughts - feedback always much appreciated :o)