As Much As I Love You
"I know he's the love of your life."
"Not anymore."
Chandler had a hard time processing exactly how those two little words made him feel. It was as if he saw the sun for the first time, and it was warm and soothing. Inviting him to always feel its radiance. Promising him that he will never be cold again. Those two ubiquitous words changed his life in this very moment; they let him know, that if Richard was no longer the love of her life, it could only mean that he was. Him. Chandler Bing. Monica truly loved him. If he ever had a doubt about that before, it burned up the instant that she shined this new light upon him. He knew, from this moment on, he would never question her love for him again. No matter what they fought about, no matter what shadows tried to creep in and block the glow he now bathed in; he would never doubt her love for him again. A rush of giddy excitement flushed through him. He could barely hold back a smile. It was as if he heard her tell him "I love you" for the first time all over again.
"Really?"
Monica could not believe how just those two little words she spoke changed his entire demeanor. His sullen, self-conscious expression gave way to one of child-like glee. It was as if she told him a secret; revealing some universal truth that told him something about himself, that he did not know. Something that made all that worry, doubt and fear fade from his face. She loved him and no one else. How could he not already know that? Hasn't she been clear enough about how important he is to her? Has she neglected to tell him in some way? He was the only man for her. The only one who loved her exactly how she needed to be loved. How could he not know that?
"Really."
Monica decided to seal the moment with a kiss. She wanted to punctuate this fresh clarity he now seemed to have about them with a public display of their intimacy. She needed them to put their stamp on it. It was a magical moment. It was Las Vegas magic. She wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes as she pulled herself into him, placing a slow, sweet kiss on his lips. She pulled back and let her hands run gently from the back of his head to his shoulders.
As Monica pulled back from her kiss, Chandler held a serious expression before giving way to a small, gentle smile. He wanted to remember this moment forever, as she narrowed her eyes and let a satisfied smile spread across her lips. This was it for him. She was it for him. He never wanted to forget how he felt in this moment.
Monica saw a flash of thoughtfulness on his face as she opened her eyes, but then he relaxed his expression into an easy smile. She let the palms of her hands rub his chest and then danced her fingers along his shoulder as she gave him a reassuring squeeze. Monica knew that, even though Vegas did not will them together, and that this moment did not signify that they belonged to each other in some cosmic way, it did prove they were at their best with each other. That the lucky streak she had on the table was not about Vegas at all, it was about the two of them. The magic belonged to them, not to this city. That as long as they continued to bet on each other, they would always come out on top.
"Let's forget about this going home stuff and celebrate our anniversary." Chandler winced a bit as she reached for his bag and picked it up from the floor. "Okay, this is empty."
He thought for a moment about coming up with some excuse, some funny mix of words that she would no doubt find tiresome. However, he ignored that impulse. This was not the time yet for witticism. He did not want to mar this with some lame, thin falsehood that she would no doubt see through. He owed her the truth. "Yeah, I wanted to make a dramatic scene, but I hate packing."
Monica let out a laugh and nodded. Under normal circumstances she would have probably treated him to a stern glare as punishment for his ruse, but she was too happy to have their fight finally behind them and to have him back. To bask in what felt like some new level of understanding about what they were. This was a sign. A sign that told her that they were in it for the long haul. She thought that she knew that about them already, but here, in this moment, it became so much clearer. London was where they started, New York was where they fell in love, but Las Vegas will always be where they knew that they hit the jackpot with each other. Even if they did not want to say it aloud for fear of jinxing their good fortune.
Chandler grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards him as he allowed a sly smile to spread across his lips. "Hey, maybe we can bring my bag back upstairs to our room, and, you know, make this anniversary official." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her.
Monica turned and smiled back at him. "Okay! Oh, wait. Isn't Joey staying in our room now?"
"Oh. Right." Chandler looked around the casino for a moment. "Maybe we can find him and have him pack up and leave."
"Hmm. I don't know. I mean, he probably already got the entire room smelling all like Joey." Monica bit her lower lip as she looked down, trying to figure out where they could go.
Chandler clapped his hands together. "You know what? Let's just get another room." He knew it was impulsive to book yet another room, but he did not care. This was not going to be like London, where they wasted hours trying to find their own private spot to enjoy each other.
Monica was excited about the prospect of having their own, freshly cleaned room in which to celebrate their anniversary properly. She hesitated for a moment to make sure he was certain that he wanted to do this. "Really?"
"Yeah. Let's get a nice room. Better than the one we already have. It will be like an anniversary do-over. You know you want to celebrate in a brand-new, professionally cleaned room." Monica started to bounce in place on her feet. Not only was a clean room exciting, but the fact that he knew it would make her happy sent waves of adrenaline through her body. Chandler put his hand on her shoulder as if to steady her. "I'll get my stuff, and you get your things from Phoebe's room. I'll go to the front desk and book the room and you meet me at our old room."
"Okay!" Monica smiled widely and leaned into him again, placing a soft kiss on his lips.
Chandler heard a light knock on the door to his room as he was packing his clothes back into his bag. He rushed over and opened it quickly, letting Monica in; greeting her with a kiss. She hugged him but then looked over his shoulder and scrunched up her face. "Yeah, see. It has that Joey smell already. Did you let him eat in here?" Chandler shrugged and offered her a sheepish grin. She let her eyes scan the room and saw his open bag on the bed and twisted her face up. "Hey! Did you unpack? Because I didn't unpack. I was too upset to unpack."
Chandler looked down at his bag. "Uh, yeah but this was supposed to be our room. So, I knew that if we made up, we would probably come here." Monica narrowed her eyes for a moment as he held his breath. She finally relented and nodded her head in approval. Chandler smiled and resumed his packing. "I got us a real good room. It has a king-size bed and a great view!"
Monica rubbed her hands together and smiled. "Oh man. This is going to be the best anniversary do-over ever!"
Chandler unlocked the door with the keycard as they both stepped inside. "Wow!" Monica spun around. "This is so much better than those other two rooms. It even has a little kitchenette!"
"Uh, you know we aren't going to be cooking in here though, right?" Monica shrugged her shoulders and nodded as he tossed his bag on the floor and vaulted himself up onto the bed. "Look at this bed! I've never seen a bed this big!"
Monica began to slowly creep over towards him as she gently placed her bag down on a chair. "You did good Bing. This might call for a nice reward. Oh! I almost forgot!" Monica bent over and reached into the side pocket of her bag. "Look at this!" She pulled out a wad of twenty-dollar bills. "I cashed my chips in. I won three-hundred and fifty dollars! We should go out and have a nice dinner somewhere fancy to celebrate!"
Chandler nodded his head, clearly impressed by her haul. "Wow! That is good. Maybe we have to go downstairs again and see if you still have that hot streak."
Monica bent over seductively as she placed the money back inside the bag. She made sure to keep her back to him as she looked over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes. "You don't know if I'm still hot?" Chandler became flustered for a moment, wondering how he could have possibly said the wrong thing and what he could do to fix it. He began to stammer and Monica smiled as she shook her head. "Chandler. Relax. I was just joking." She kicked off her shoes and climbed up onto the bed next to him, curling up into his side as she let her legs hang over his. She rubbed his chest and placed small kisses along his earlobe, catching it between her teeth gently after each slow kiss.
Chandler shot up suddenly and sprung out of bed, leaving Monica looking slightly perturbed. "Oh! Do-over!"
She pulled herself up on her elbows and watched him scramble off the bed. "What?"
"Do-over anniversary!" He reached into his duffel bag and pulled out two gift-wrapped boxes. He held them up triumphantly as he returned to the bed. "I got Ross to bring your presents!"
A playful smile spread across her lips as Monica sat up. "Oh wow! See! Its Vegas magic! It's a sign that this is going to be the best do-over anniversary ever!"
Chandler slid up next to her and dropped the boxes in front of her as he adopted a serious expression. "No, no. It's our ani-Vegas-ary!"
Monica blushed as she smiled up at him, wrapping her hand around the back of his neck to pull him into another kiss. "I love you."
"You want to open your presents?"
Monica clapped her hands together and rubbed then excitedly. "Okay!" He handed her the first box, and she tore the wrapping paper off haphazardly. She looked over at him and smiled as she recognized the name of the jeweler on the top of the box. She gently opened it and carefully lifted a thin, silver necklace that shone with small diamonds that were embedded throughout the chain. "Oh, it's so nice. I love it. I'm going to wear this to dinner tonight." She then let her eyes fall to the other box. "Is that for me too?"
Chandler chuckled at her false, demure tone. He could sense the childlike excitement she was actually feeling at having another gift to open. He lifted it up and handed it to her. "You know it is."
She let out a loud, excited squeal and snatched the box from his hand, ripping it open wildly. She froze in her motions and looked up at him in shock. "Is this what I think it is?" Chandler could not help but beam with pride as she began to study the box. "Is this the easy to use, one touch keypad, multiple fonts, twenty-seven user friendly template label maker?" She looked up at him again and Chandler shrugged his shoulders. "Oh my god! Look how white and clean it is!" She ripped the box open and took it out. She began to breath heavily and stared at him, her eyes became narrow slits as her passion started to override all of the other emotions she was feeling in that moment. "I can think of a few things I want to use this on right now!" She pushed him down on the bed and climbed on top of him; straddling him as she started to furiously unbutton his pants.
Chandler wrapped his arm around Monica and started to lead her back through the casino. "Well, Phoebe doesn't have a bad idea. We can go back to our room."
Monica spied the craps table she was playing at earlier in the day and bit on her thumbnail. She turned her face up to his. "You know, the other people who were at the table before said it was bad luck to leave a winning streak. Should we play to see if that good luck is still going? Make sure we don't jinx anything?"
Chandler nodded and steered her towards the table. "Sure, but let's not get too crazy with it."
"Oh, totally. I just want to see if we are still on a hot streak. I mean, first I started winning, then when I was rolling the dice, I could not lose!" She gently ran her finger along his chest. "And then we made up. I just think it could be a clear sign that everything is going to be okay."
"Okay, but we don't want to give all our winnings back to the casino."
Monica raised a discerning eyebrow up at him. "Our winnings?"
"I'm just saying, that's how they get you. The house always wins. If you want to leave a winner, we shouldn't get too crazy with what we are gambling with."
Monica exhaled sharply and rolled her eyes. "Stop worrying. What's the worst thing that could happen?"
"That could be a four or a five. It's your call."
Chandler looked up at her. This felt right. She was the one. He knew that. She would always be the one. All he wanted to do is spend the rest of his life making her smile that wonderful smile of hers. It was not even a hard call to make. He just had to look her in the eye and make sure she wanted this too. "I've never loved anyone as much as I love you." It was right there. She was the one. He was marrying this woman tonight.
"It's a four."
Monica felt like she was going to melt into the floor. Was this really happening? Here, still wrapped up in the arms of Las Vegas and all of its magic. Somebody wanted to marry her. He wanted to marry her. She knew he was the man she was supposed to be with, that there would never be another. "I've never loved anyone as much as I love you." She was not just parroting his own lovely sentiment. She meant it. And she knew, she would never love anyone else ever again in the way that she loved this man.
"I think so too."
