I'll Be There For You

Chapter 14: August 1993

Uh….I didn't forget about this one. I'm just going through an anti-Mondler phase that's making it REALY hard to finish this. This chapter has been written for, urm, months (literally…the last time I opened it was October), but I wanted to add to it, but…I really don't see that happening, and seeing as I only have a couple of chapters planned for after this one, I figured I'd might as well post this and get on with it. It's not as long as I intended, but a little update is better than none, right? Right? I'm gonna go with it is….

~.~

August 1993

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"And that one would be your bedroom," Chandler finished the short tour of the apartment to yet another potential roommate. He had been looking for the past month, and the people just kept getting worse and worse. He was about to just pick one before he could see how much weirder these people responding to his ad could get.

"Okay, so what's your building's policy on pets?" the man standing in front of Chandler asked, and Chandler struggled to remember his name. Kevin? Mark? It was one syllable. And there was a "k" somewhere in it. Karl?

"No pets," Chandler shook his head fiercely.

"Well, what about ferrets?" he asked again. "I mean, they're little. You can keep 'em in a cage and just hide 'em in your coat if you take 'em outside. And it's just three or four of 'em," the guy shrugged, and Chandler struggled inwardly not to shove him out of his apartment at that moment.

"No pets," Chandler repeated. "I'm meeting a couple of other guys later this week, but I'll let you know," he forced a smile, walking towards the door.

"Oh, but will you check out the policy about ferrets? Some places have a policy that just applies to cats and dogs," the potential roommate asked as he walked out the door. Chandler just nodded, closing the door behind him. He walked over to the kitchen counter, taking a drink from his glass of water as he pressed the "play" button on the blinking answering machine.

"Hey, Chandler Bing! BING!" the voice of another person he had shown the apartment to earlier in the week rang from the machine. It was Greg, the guy who had enjoyed his name so much, he made a "bing" noise every time he said it. "I was just wondering if you made a decision yet, since I'm looking at a couple other places later this week, but would really love living with you Chandler Bing. BING! If-" Chandler hit the erase button, not needing to hear the end of the message.

"Freak," he mumbled, heading towards the door, deciding to take a break and go over to Monica and Phoebe's. "Hey," he greeted Ross and Phoebe.

"Hey," Ross replied.

"I'm never gonna find a roommate. Ever," he sighed, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Why, nobody good?" Phoebe asked, concerned.

"Well let's see, there was the guy with the ferrets, that's plural. The spitter. Oh-ho, and yes, the guy that enjoyed my name so much he felt the need to make a little noise every time he said it. Nice to meet you, Chandler Bing, Bing! Great apartment Chandler Bing, Bing!"

"So how many more do you have tomorrow?" Ross asked.

"Two. This photographer, who seemed really dull. And this actor guy, who I'm not sure about, because when he called and I answered the phone 'Chandler Bing,' he said 'Whoa-hoa, short message.'"

~.~

"So, we were together for, like, three years, and I haven't really wanted to be with someone like that again," Joey shrugged. "I mean, I want to be with women," Joey grinned suggestively, "but I don't want to like, fall in love and all that stuff again right now, ya know?" Joey paused, turning back to the television. "Oh, they're running again!"

Chandler stared at Baywatch on the television screen, taking the beer that Joey had handed to him from the cooler beside the couch, suddenly glad that Eric, the roommate he had finally decided on, hadn't shown up. Although his sister was a porn star and he was a photographer with models hanging around all the time, he still seemed like a rather dull person. Joey, on the other hand, although this was the longest amount of time he'd spent with him, seemed to be anything but that.

"That's the last one, by the way," Joey added, referring to the beer.

"Oh! I'll go grab some from Monica, then," Chandler moved to stand up.

"She'll be okay with that?" Joey wrinkled his forehead, not understanding whatever the dynamic was between the two from the little interaction he'd had with them so far.

"Yep, I do it all the time," Chandler nodded. "I'll be right back," he added over his shoulder as he walked out the door. "Well, hello," he smiled at Monica as he entered her apartment, to find her leaving the bathroom, wrapped only in a towel.

"Hey," she replied, much less enthusiastically, as Chandler made his way over to her refrigerator.

"Do you have any beers? We're out of beers," he continued.

"Yea, help yourself," Monica added with a sigh.

"You…okay?" Chandler asked slowly off of her tone.

"Phoebe moved out," Monica sighed.

"Right," Chandler nodded, taking a step towards her.

"I don't understand," Monica continued, "I mean, am I so hard to live with? Is this why I don't have a boyfriend?"

"No! You don't have a boyfriend because," Chandler trailed off, unsure of how to answer that, as he moved closer to her. "I…don't know why you don't have a boyfriend. You should have a boyfriend."

"Well, I think so," Monica added, close to tears.

"Oh, come here," Chandler pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. "Listen, you are one of my favorite people. And, the most beautiful woman I've ever known in real life," he added, to which she hugged him tighter, resting her head against his chest. He closed his eyes, trying to keep his breathing steady and hoping she couldn't tell just how fast his heart was beating or how excited he was becoming at their close contact. However, she was wearing only a towel, so it was kind of her fault. And he had been watching Baywatch for the past hour. And drinking beer. Thank god they had run out of beer so he hadn't had anymore. One or two more, and he would probably have said fuck self-control and thrown her down on the couch, ripping that towel right off of her.

Running his hand up and down her back, he tried to slow his breathing. He wanted to kiss her. God, did he want to kiss her. The combination of her hot, wet skin and the smell of her shampoo, and the seeming intimacy of the hug…

God, he wanted to kiss her.

He had promised not to kiss her.

"Umm, this is nice," he finally let slip, and it was too late to take it back.

"I know, it is, isn't it?" Monica replied dreamily, and if he hadn't promised her less than a month ago that he wouldn't kiss her again, he would have without a second thought. But she was upset. Phoebe had moved out, and she was upset. She hadn't been on a date since Kip had left. She didn't need him to kiss her. She needed him to be her friend.

"I mean it, this feels really nice," Chandler continued, having made his decision. "It is a hundred percent cotton?"

"Yea, and I got it on sale, too!" Monica laughed as she pulled back, glad that he had broken the moment with a joke. Though part of her was reveling in the moment, it was probably best that it ended that way before it ended another way.

"Anyway, I should go," Chandler continued. "One of the lifeguards was about to dismantle a nuclear device…"

"Well, if you wanna get a drink later, we can."

"Yea, that sounds great," Chandler smiled as her as he moved to leave. "Oh, and listen, it's gonna be…"

"I know," Monica smiled in return. "Thanks."

~.~

I had originally planned on, well, basically retelling the majority of the flashback episode with more explanations added in, but we all know that episode well and don't need it retold. I just really wanted that scene and why it didn't go further. Anyway, reviews are appreciated, and I will try really REALLY hard to actually finish this…if anyone is even still reading it, haha.