March 1996-May 1996

Just like that, it was suddenly over. He kept reading the script wondering if maybe he was reading it wrong. He was supposed to fall down an elevator shaft. He was being killed off. It could not be right, he had worked so hard for this moment. This was supposed to be his moment and now it was ending. He felt nauseous as he kept reading. It was the same over and over, the words did not change. He had to talk to someone. It was all so wrong.

As soon he got to work the next day, he found Chuck standing by some other producers. He stormed over to him, not sure what to say. He couldn't use force to get what he wanted as he had done so many times in the past but this was his career. His life.

"You're killing me off," Joey said.

Chuck looked at Joey and simply nodded as he motioned for Joey to follow him. He followed Chuck until they were by his trailer. Joey kept running his fingers through his hair, not sure whether to scream or cry or punch something.

"Alright, your interview?" Chuck asked.

He had given his first interview ever to Soap Opera's Digest. He thought it had gone well. He had talked about his character, his love of the show.

"What was wrong with it?"

"You said you change your lines or the lines the writers give you to make 'em better. Kinda bit the hand, Joe."

"I'll apologize."

"It's not just that. In the two months you've been here, how many extras have you slept with?"

"I thought was allowed," Joey said. He had enjoyed his time, of course, and he had hooked up with many of the extras. He didn't think that was a bad thing.

"I've gotten complaints about you and-and-last month you came to work after you had gotten into some fight and-you're a liability. There are rumors about you and I got a letter. Is it true you raped a girl?"

"What?" Joey asked, his heart dropping to his stomach.

"I got an anonymous tip that you've had legal issues and that you had raped a girl and that you'd been arrested for drunk driving twice and you have mob connections. I can't keep you on. Sorry, man," Chuck said, patting him on the shoulder before walking off. Joey could feel his world starting to collapse. Had Monique said something? Although he wasn't sure that was likely. This could not be happening, it could not be ending. He walked back to his trailer and wanted to just break. He was being fired. He had been so close, so very close and it had been snatched quicker than he had been able to get it.

Joey could feel his world starting to collapse. Had Monique said something? Although he wasn't sure that was likely. This could not be happening, it could not be ending. He walked back to his trailer and wanted to just break. He was being fired. He had been so close, so very close and it had been snatched quicker than he had been able to get it.

Shooting that scene was painful, packing up his trailer, leaving the set, he had no clue what to do. He walked home, dropped off his stuff and just sat. He wanted to speak to no one. He also wanted to figure out who had leaked that anonymous tip. Who had told Chuck about his arrests? Monique really didn't seem like the culprit. Who else could it have been? He needed to leave his apartment. He couldn't stay in the palace so he left, he left and took a cab out to Jersey towards one of Tony's newest sites which was in a restaurant. He walked in and saw Christopher sitting with a guy who looked strangely familiar, Eddie. Christopher knew Chandler's new roommate? He watched as Eddie handed Christopher some money and Christopher seemed to be slipping him a vial of something. Eddie got up and noticed Joey staring at them.

"Joe...hey, Chris, this is my roommate's ex roommate. How you doin' buddy?" Eddie asked.

"What did you just sell him? Wait, are you doing this shit out in the open?" Joey asked.

"Don't worry about, Hollywood," Christopher said.

"Are you selling this shit to Chandler, I swear to G-d," Joey said.

"Don't worry about it buddy, he's not touching this shit. Don't get your panties all in a twist," Eddie said, patting him on the back before walking off.

Joey walked over and plopped down next to Christopher as Christopher quickly pocketed whatever cash he had.

"What are you selling?" Joey asked.

"None of your business, what's up your ass?" Christopher asked.

"I got fired. They killed me of Days of Our Lives. I fell down an elevator shaft. Some shit wrote an anonymous letter to the producers telling 'em that I'm some kinda thug. You have any idea who could have done that?"

"No clue, why are you asking me?"

"This was my dream job and it just...I can't-I wanted this so bad and I thought I finally got it and-"

"Dude, you sound like a girl, what's wrong with you?"

Joey shook his head, Christopher had never been the type of friend he could confide in.

"Yeah, why bother? Where's Tony?"

"Backroom."

Joey got up and walked towards the back of the restaurant where he noticed a small office. Tony was sitting behind a desk. He walked in and sat across from him.

"What's up kid?"

"Got killed off Days."

"That's rough."

"I don't think this is worth it anymore," Joey said, sadly. It didn't seem worth it. Maybe he could go back to Tony. He had been at this so long and every success he had seemed rather fleeting.

"Hey, I could put you on maintenance, you can start tomorrow. You're always welcome back here."

"I don't know. I'll think about it. I mean, I was good at it."

He just wasn't sure what the point was in this whole acting thing. He had gotten so close so many times and before he knew it, it had been snatched away from him and who knew when that next break would even come.

He didn't watch it when it aired, stayed inside his apartment although he should have known the other five would be at his place the moment it aired. What had they done? Had they taken time off work to head to his apartment? They all came in as soon as he opened the door and fell back down onto his couch.

"Joey, what happened?" Chandler asked.

"I died," Joey said.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Monica asked.

"Aren't you guys supposed to be at work?" Joey asked.

"Joe," Monica said.

"I'm a liability. They said someone sent an anonymous letter detailing my arrests and other stuff and then the article for Soap Opera's Digest and….I'm high risk. You guys didn't send a letter, did you?" Joey asked, although knowing that would never be the case and looking the faces of the other five, that was quickly confirmed to be a dumb question.

"Joe, I'm a soap opera stalker fan, you really think I'd try to get you fired?" Rachel asked.

"No, no and I know you didn't do it….I just-"

"Do you think Monique did it?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know, it doesn't even matter. It was my big break. This was everything to me and now…it took me so long to get this break and….shit," Joey said.

"You know, you're always welcome back home," Chandler said.

"Don't you have a new roommate?" Joey asked.

"Ehhhh, it's temporary," Chandler said.

"Thanks, man," Joey said.

That made him feel almost worse. Despite everything they had gone through, Chandler still would welcome him back. He wanted to cry again, the others remained with him until Chandler and Ross soon had to leave for work. Rachel and Phoebe were the only ones with flexible schedules so they remained with him and Monica was now unemployed so she stayed with him. They watched television and tried to make him feel better but nothing was working. He would have to start all over. He hated starting all over. He hated auditioning. He hated being on the bottom again and that idea haunted him that maybe someone had sabotaged him. He wished he knew who or maybe he didn't, he'd probably kill that person.

By the beginning of April, the money had run out and he had no choice. He had to move back in with Chandler and he had heard Chandler was trying to get rid of Eddie but he needed to talk with his old friend first. He wanted to find out what how much influence Eddie had on Chandler. Standing in his old apartment, staring at his friend, his brother, Joey knew he needed to start.

"Will you take me back?" Joey asked.

"You wanna move back?"

Yes, Chandler had said he was welcome back home but he needed to make sure that it was okay.

"Well...I can't afford the palace anymore and I...I can't afford to pay my half of the rent or the utilities. So it will be like when we first started living together," Joey said.

"Perfect."

"Just...I'm really sorry. I...I don't...I wasn't...I didn't mean..I don't want you to feel like I abandoned you. You're my brother, you mean a lot to me."

"Thanks...I missed you, Joe."

"Same here...so wait, if I move back...what about-" Joey said motioning towards his room which was now Eddie's.

"I have a plan," Chandler said, "I want him out. So let's move him out."

"Okay. You know….I am sorry and Eddie….I-Eddie-" Joey wondered if he should admit that he knew Eddie had bought hard drugs from Christopher.

"I know. I like you living here."

"Good," Joey said as the two men stared at each other and Joey pulled Chandler into a hug. It felt good to hug him and he figured maybe he wouldn't say anything.

"So am I your sugar daddy again?" Chandler asked which made Joey laugh.

"I should never have told you that."

"I'm glad you did but um….the drugs that Eddie does? I don't do that. I've never done that. I-I just want you to know. I mean, I tried an LSD tablet once when I was little...but I-those words like-like heroin and cocaine and-and-they scare me. I don't do those drugs. Believe me," Chandler said.

"I do. Let's pack up Eddie," Joey said finding it a little odd that Chandler felt the need to tell him that. Had Chandler read his mind? He wanted to press further but they had packing to do so Joey went to work, helping Chandler pack Eddie's stuff up and through the packing, he noticed tons of hard drugs, syringes and other things. He took those boxes out of the apartment and put them in the hall. He had contemplated throwing them away but he didn't care about Eddie. As he walked back into the apartment, he noticed Chandler carrying a large box into his room.

"Where are you taking that box?" Joey asked.

"Oh, that asshole stole some of my things. This is my stuff," Chandler said walking into his bedroom. That seemed a little strange but instead, he continued to pack up Eddie's stuff and soon all his stuff was downstairs and Joey moved his stuff back in and soon, Joey was officially back home.

And unemployed.

He had no money and was back where he started. He spent his time in Central Perk or at a bar down the street. Sometimes Christopher would join him, sometimes Kristi or Phoebe. A lot of times, it was Christopher. He would go to Rudy's or Sparks and spend hours there, just drinking.

"So you happy you're back with your sugar daddy?" Christopher asked over drinks at Rudy's. It was now April and he had been unemployed for awhile.

"He's not my sugar daddy," Joey said.

Christopher laughed as Eddie stormed into the bar and up to their table. He sat down, glaring at Joey.

"I want my pills back, asshole," Eddie said.

"What?" Joey asked.

"When you threw all my crap out of my apartment-" Eddie said.

"It was never your apartment," Joey said.

"It wasn't yours. You don't pay jack shit for it," Eddie said.

"Maybe so but my sugar daddy loves me more than he ever loved you," Joey said, grinning at Eddie.

"You're not hearing me, I want the pills. Your sugar daddy is a drug addict," Eddie said.

"You take that back," Joey said. Though he knew Eddie was telling the truth but he would not give Eddie the satisfaction of letting him know that.

"No, hey, I gave him the first bottle out of the kindness of my heart-"

"Well, that's the first lie, what heart?" Joey asked.

"You want me to punch you in the face?" Eddie asked.

"You wanna try?"Joey asked.

"I want my pills," Eddie said, "or I'm coming after him."

"Alright, how much does he owe you?" Joey asked, resigning himself. He knew where the drugs were, he knew Chandler had taken them but he and Chandler were still repairing their friendship and he was pretty sure some of those pills were now gone. He did silently kick himself for not asking more questions when Chandler had brought that box into his room, but they had had to move fast. There had been no time to ask questions.

"What?" Christopher asked.

"What?" Eddie asked.

"Look, a drug addict stole your box of pills. You know you're not getting them all back anyway. I have some money saved that I was gonna actually contribute to rent but I'll pay you instead to get you off his back. I'll take care of him."

"Three grand," Eddie said.

"Seriously?" Joey asked.

"Yep," Eddie said.

"That's about all I have," Joey said.

"Wait, dude, seriously, you don't have to do that," Christopher said.

"I kinda do. Check or cash?" Joey asked. "I'd say check, they won't let me withdraw three grand in cash."

"Fine, check," Eddie said.

Joey let out a sigh as he grabbed his checkbook and wrote a check for three thousand dollars and handed it to Eddie. It was all he had left.

"I'll buy this next round," Christopher said.

"Thanks, Chris," Joey said. He could feel his heart drop. He knew Eddie was right, he knew he was saving Chandler and he couldn't say a word.

He just wanted to strangle Chandler but he also wanted to start crying as well, this was not good. He couldn't tell anyone either. He couldn't tell Chandler, he still was saying he had no drugs. Monica would freak out, Rachel would cry. He wasn't sure how Ross or Phoebe would react. He would have to keep this to himself.

After drinks with Eddie and Christopher, Joey walked back to his apartment. Chandler still would not be home so he walked into Chandler's room and began looking and he found the cardboard box with empty prescription pads and bottles of pills. He couldn't dump them all out, Chandler would know. He took one bottle, unscrewed the top and walked into the bathroom flushing them all down the toilet. He'd have to keep an eye on his friend. He had not done that with Shane. He had let Shane fall, he had made that promise and it was a promise he would keep.

He kept watch. He couldn't get any acting auditions but he could still keep track of Chandler. He told Chandler nothing about the three grand. It didn't matter. Every single day, he would dump a bottle of pills down the toilet. He said nothing. He had briefly contemplated asking Richard for advice, Richard was Monica's boyfriend and was an eye doctor but he thought against it thinking that maybe Richard would tell Monica. He just so badly wanted to tell someone as he watched his friend get thinner and thinner.

It was Ross who caught him coming out of Chandler's room during Rachel's birthday party that May. Her parents had divorced and now they were having two separate parties. Chandler was getting wasted and Joey had thought maybe he could dump a bottle. He walked into Chandler's room and grabbed the box. As he opened it, he noticed some scribblings on one of the prescription pads. Was Chandler forging the prescriptions? Joey ripped the pieces of paper off the pad and stuffed them in his pocket, he thought about getting rid of the whole pad but he was pretty sure Chandler would ask questions. As he walked towards the bathroom, Ross suddenly appeared beside him.

"Joe, you alright?" Ross asked.

"Uhhhh…" Joey said, before looking over at Chandler who had lined up several shot glasses on the counter and was pouring whiskey into all of them. He shot another one back. "Can I show you something?" Joey asked, motioning towards the bathroom. Maybe he could tell Ross.

"Um, no...I'm good," Ross said.

"Not that," Joey walked into the bathroom and Ross followed him in, closing the door behind him.

"What?" Ross asked.

Joey let out a long drawn out sigh. Maybe confiding in Ross was the best thing he could do.

"Look, I don't know….I've only been around for a few years and I don't know him like you do or Monica or….well, but I know...I've been around this and-well-a buddy of mine passed away from this-well-"

"What are you saying?" Ross asked.

Joey reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of Oxycontin and handed it to Ross. He looked at Ross' face to gauge his expression.

"These were in his room. He has a lot of them. Now-" Joey grabbed the bottle from Ross and opened it, pouring all the pills in the toilet and flushing, "he has one less."

"Wow, Joe-"

"Look, he's got a problem, don't worry, I got it."

"We all got it. You're flushing 'em?" Ross asked.

"Yep."

"Thanks. We've dealt with this before. Monica and I, in college….we'll just have to watch him and make sure he doesn't die."

"Oh, he's not gonna die. I'll kill him before he kills himself," Joey said.

Ross opened his mouth and shut it, giving him a look. Joey grinned, he knew what he said and he said it that way on purpose. He didn't tell Ross about the three grand or the prescriptions.

"Alright, well….let's go see the rest of the party. We gotta keep Rachel's dad in the apartment and you and I have been in here together for enough time that it's actually now bordering on creepy."

Joey laughed as the two walked out of the bathroom together. Chandler noticed them and let out a laugh as he held up another shot glass.

"What the hell were you two doing in there?" Chandler asked.

"Oh, Ross had to show me something," Joey said.

"Wh-why did I have to show you something?" Ross asked.

"What? I'm not showing you anything. Don't be creepy," Joey said as he patted Ross on the back and walked off. He liked knowing that Ross knew. He liked that he wouldn't be doing this alone.

Although, he thought working for Chandler might help him keep an even closer eye on him. He needed money and Chandler had gotten him a job doing random crap at his company but he had no clue what he was supposed to be doing. It was strange and Chandler was also strange at work. Really strange.

"Dude, what is up with you?" Joey asked as he sat across from Chandler in his office, eating his sandwich. It was lunchtime and he had hoped to eat with his friend but instead Chandler was at his desk, staring at the computer while eating his sandwich.

"What?" Chandler asked, his mouth full of food.

"Have lunch with me. I thought this was gonna be fun."

"I have about ten pages of data to analyze and also I'm kinda rethinking you working here 'cause I'm looking at what you did and I have to redo that because you can't-you clearly don't know what you're doing."

"I told you that. Work Chandler is weird."

"You're weird. Butt munch. Seriously, Joey….did you take a single math course in school? Like any math course. Kindergarten through twelfth?'

"As a matter of fact, I did."

"Okay, what's 9 plus 12."

"Bite me jackoff."

"Crap," Chandler muttered.

"Sorry, man….I was too busy getting laid in high school."

"I got laid in high school," Chandler said.

"You went to an all boys school. Who did you have sex with?"

"You don't know me."

Joey laughed as he looked around Chandler's office. It was a pretty cool office. Chandler was an executive, making six figures. It was clear he was good at his job although it seemed like a horribly boring job.

"You knew this before you told me to take the job. I'm not a numbers guy...or an English guy," Joey said.

"You're smart in your own way. I mean, you're smart enough to con the same guy not once but twice into letting you move into an apartment you clearly can not afford," Chandler said, grinning at him. Joey shook his head, knowing Chandler was messing with him.

"I'm a fucking genius," Joey said.

"Turd."

"Hey, hey….you know, you really can only blame yourself now. You've gone too far."

"I know," Chandler said, glancing at a spreadsheet and squinting at it, "seriously, Joe, addition. They teach it in schools."

Chandler grabbed a highlighter off his desk and began furiously highlighting some sort of information that Joey had attempted to put on a spreadsheet.

"Okay, okay so how did you even get involved in accounting?" Joey asked.

"I'm not an accountant," Chandler said, looking at him.

"Oh. What are we doing?"

"Data reconfiguration and statistical analysis."

"What?"

"Okay….data-"

"Numbers," Joey said.

"Right, reconfiguration."

"You lost me. Just how did you get involved in that thing you just said," Joey said.

"I got into it because I needed a job," Chandler said."I kinda vanished for seven months before Ross' wedding and Monica yelled at me and I needed a job and I found this one and fortunately for you, I've always been good with math and numbers."

"But you quit once. Would you wanna do something else? What else would you wanna do?"

"Batman. I'd love to be Batman."

"Wouldn't we all."

"How did you get into acting?" Chandler asked.

"Went with Kristi to an audition and apparently a couple producers told her I would be good in commercials. Figured it would be a great way to get out of waste management and construction. G-d, if my old colleagues could see me here now," Joey mused, imagining himself inviting Christopher to the office. "Why don't you quit though? This is not you."

"I don't know. I hate it but….I'm good at it. Shit, Joe what's five plus six?" Chandler asked, throwing his hands up in the air.

"I'm not an accountant," Joey said.

"Neither am I."

Joey laughed as Chandler continued working. He wanted to know more, he wanted to keep pressing. He was bored looking at numbers and he apparently was not good at it.

"Can I ask you something else?" Joey asked.

"What?" Chandler asked.

He kept thinking maybe this could be a moment that he could press. He thought of Rachel's birthday, he thought of the pills. Chandler had gotten wasted. He thought of the three grand he had used to paid Eddie to leave them alone and not go after his friend.

"So...Rachel's party last week? That was fun."

"Yeah, it was. Two parties. Ours was so much better than Monica's."

"Definitely. You drank a lot though."

Chandler looked up at him, his eyes suddenly seemed to suddenly go dark. Joey wondered if he should keep pushing. He wasn't going to say anything about the pills, he would still keep it quiet.

"Seriously? I gave you fucking job that you're incompetent at and I'm paying for you to live and you're gonna be on me about drinking," Chandler said, suddenly getting angry. It was a strange reaction but Joey wasn't too nervous by it.

"Ross was telling me about college and how you had taken too many pills-"

"'Cause Mon cut off my toe."

"I know but-"

"I'm fine, Joe. I am not an alcoholic. I am not a drug addict and I'd really like to not discuss it at work because I'm looking at your WENUS numbers and you cannot give this to my bosses so I'm gonna have to do my reports and yours. So I suggest you don't piss me off."

"Okay."

Joey remained quiet as Chandler continued looking at random papers. He knew he'd have no choice but to keep pushing and he would. He kept thinking about Shane, he was thinking of him more and more about how he could have stepped in, how he could have stopped it and this time he would. He would stop it. He had no choice.

Eventually, he also had no choice but to stop working with Chandler. Chandler desperately wanted him to quit because it became more and more obvious Joey had no clue what he was doing which ended up causing Chandler's workload to double so Joey happily quit and went about the summer trying to audition for things, anything. Although it was soon turning into a summer of auditions with no jobs which was making everything even worse.