Standing at the hallway between Apartments 19 and 20, Monica and Chandler continue talking. They talked at the restaurant, they talked in the cab, they talked as they took the steps to the 5th floor of their building and still talking as if there was no tomorrow.
The door to Apartment 20 opens. Hey, Mon! I thought it was you. I was worried you still weren't home…Oh, Chandler? Rachel looked puzzled.
Oh, thanks, Rachel, be right there! Monica tells Rachel then turns to Chandler again.
So, ahmmm thanks again for tonight.
Oh, it was my pleasure. Chandler playing with his foot, hands in his pockets and smiling at her.
Monica pursed her lips biting the lower left. Chandler swallowed watching her do that. That was hot! His mind screaming.
Good night, Chandler!
Good night, Mon.
Monica turns around but before she could turn the knob open, Chandler held her by the waist and turns her back around to face him pressing his lips softly on hers for what felt like a long moment. Monica stiffened during the first few seconds but Chandler felt like she kissed back when he felt her lips sip his.
Both of them stunned, they parted and went on their way to opposite rooms. After closing the door behind her, Monica stood still for a moment, placing her fingers on her lips trying to figure out what that kiss was all about. It was just one kiss but one that is felt by every part of her being. Oh my God! He is such a good kisser!
At the opposite apartment…
Chandler puts out his tongue and presses it between his lips, still tasting Monica's lips and a bit of her lipstick. He rushed to the bathroom and looks at the mirror looking at the lipstick mark that was left there. I think I'm gonna let it stay there for a while. He says to himself.
He replayed in his mind moments of that evening. It has been a while since he thought of Monica that way. It is a recurring thought actually - something that is always in his subconscious maybe. He is embarrassed to share it with any of his friends or to admit it but he has fantasized about her many times. He doesn't want anybody, especially her, to know that he has this lustful thoughts about her. And those thoughts are most of the time much better than his actual encounters with women.
His thoughts are not just about kissing her or having sex with her, it's mostly about them spending time together, enjoying things together just like the ones they have been doing all these years as friends, but in his fantasies, they were in love. How many times has he thought of telling her but he always gets defeated by his own reasoning. She is Ross' little sister so I can't. She's way too out of my league. I'm not good enough for her. And a thousand more reasons he would come up with just to justify not being with her.
They have always sat together, held hands, or cuddle in a couch but that gaze at the restaurant was the longest he has held with her gazing at him, too. Whenever he would look at her and she looks back, he would automatically panic and look away. He thought holding that gaze would be the most daring he could ever do with her until he dared to kiss her! God, it feels sooo good!
Oh no! Panic attack. What if she doesn't like it? But she didn't slap me or anything so she's probably not mad… Wait, but she kissed me back! Yes, she did! She kissed me back! Or Did she really?
Rachel, Monica and Phoebe were already having breakfast when Chandler arrived the following morning at Apartment 20. He tried his best to act cool as if nothing happened the previous night.
Why don't you sit down and have some breakfast. Rachel told him.
Chandler grabs a chair and obliged sitting next to Rachel and a seat apart from Monica.
Monica looks up and smiles at him. Good, she's not mad! Relief runs through him finally.
Meanwhile, Monica found herself watching him eat. Her focus shifted particularly on his lips. Now she knows how sweet his lips taste. She bit her lips at the memory. Her friends around her didn't know what is keeping her mind occupied that very moment and the night before.
She had very little sleep. She was thinking about that kiss all night and how that kiss brought flashbacks from three years ago when they embraced by the window with only her towel and his clothes separating their bodies. She always liked the feel of his body - the warmth she gets when sitting beside him or when he places her arm around her or when he caresses her head or even a cuddle that lasted for hours until both of them or one of them fell asleep.
She never told anyone but that night, three years ago, she went to bed thinking about how their bodies would feel without their clothes on and what his mouth tasted like. She was embarrassed thinking about him that way and she has always believed Chandler would never like her. She knows Chandler. He breaks up with the pettiest of reasons with a girl and her annoying ways are not petty at all.
At the table, Chandler and Monica looks up at the same time catching each other eyes. Both their eyes traveled down each other's faces and stopped with a long look at each other's mouths. In both their minds, they wonder how long they can stop themselves from reaching out to each other for another taste.