TOW Misunderstandings Suck - 4

Well folks, here's chapter 4. I'm going to rate this more PG-13 because of a little language, but it's nothing I'm sure you can't handle. And I know it's taking me a while (haha, I'm doing that on purpose!) but I am making progress in explaining the whole incident. Patience is a virtue, my friends. :) Anyway, this chapter will mostly be a flashback to 2003, almost the same time as before, so remember Monica is five months pregnant. And now I guess, on with the show!

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2011...

Monica was still awake, being too consumed with thoughts of That Day to relax enough to go to sleep. She assumed that Chandler was sleeping because he'd rolled over towards her a while ago but had long stopped talking.

~~~

2003... Right before the previous flashback took place...

Monica entered the dressing room just as Phoebe was leaving and smiled at Rachel who was sitting on a chair, just hanging up her cell phone and retying the robe that she was wearing. When Rachel didn't smile back, she realized that something was strange. Where was Phoebe going? And why wasn't Rachel changing into her wedding dress?

"Rach, what's wrong?" she asked, suddenly worried. "You're not having second thoughts about the wedding, are you? And where's Phoebe?"

"I told her I needed to talk to you for a minute," Rachel coolly replied.

Monica was shocked. What was going on? "Why?"

Ross entered at that moment, dragging Chandler in with him, so Rachel didn't answer. Monica and Chandler exchanged a look as Ross and Rachel tried to figure out what to say.

"What's up? Are you going to tell us, or are we just going to stand around here all night?" Chandler asked.

"Well you know, I think it's safe to say that the wedding is effectively ruined now," Ross started. "We're not going to cancel it though, too many people would be too upset. It's too late to make any changes in the wedding party because it would really mess up the ceremony. I really hope you two can make it through the evening."

Rachel continued. "We're leaving tonight for our honeymoon, as you know, and we'll continue to keep this cover up until then. But once we return they'll change. Drastically."

Monica and Chandler stood there, totally confused and lost of any sense of what to say. The other two didn't notice that though, and just stared at the ground as they went on.

"You two really had us fooled, you know. Just how long has this been going on?" Rachel asked, finally looking up at Monica.

"I think we need to talk," she replied, "we have no idea what you're talking about. If we could just..."

Rachel suddenly felt like she was gonna cry. "What? What else do you want to say? You've said enough!"

"I feel that I must emphasize the fact that we have no idea what's going on," said Chandler. "I don't think that we're on the same page."

"Oh the same page? Of course we're not on the same page!" Ross shouted. "We're not even in the same book. Probably not even in the same damn library!"

Rachel nodded in agreement. "Really! I mean, what the hell is wrong with you? Don't you have any sense of morality at all? You couldn't have even picked an earlier time to do your damage?"

Monica had no idea what was going on, but she sensed that it was a problem that wouldn't easily be solved. This was starting to get pretty intense. "Morality? This is involving our morals now?"

"Yeah! It involves you two being sneaky, deceiving, lying, insincere, terrible friends!" Ross said. "And you Monica, well let's just say that I never knew my sister was such a complete bitch!"

Monica gasped, feeling like she'd just been slapped. "Hey," said Chandler, quick to defend her, "that's not all true! Or appropriate!"

"What would you know about something being appropriate! You've ruined what is supposed to be the best day of our life! You've ruined our future too." Rachel exchanged a look with Ross before continuing. "We're changing things up. Earlier we made it sound like we could work things out. But we can't. After today, we don't want to see you anymore. We'll just all move on with our lives."

Chandler could not believe what he was hearing. "You're not serious."

"Another thing you're wrong about," said Rachel as she shook her head.

"Well, there isn't really time now to get into this, but we really need to sit and talk about this," Monica started. "Let's not do this today, but we can continue when you return..."

"Damn it, Monica, listen to us. This is it, the last day that we're going to acknowledge you. You may think that we're being hasty and are overreacting, but what you two did is unforgivable! And, apparently we weren't as close of friends as we thought we were, so maybe this won't break your heart much." That was one of the most difficult things that Ross had ever said, but he knew that they all couldn't go on pretending like some of them obviously had been.

The four stood there silently, all surprised by everything that had just happened. Finally Monica walked towards the door, with Chandler following her. When the reached the hall they turned back to look at Ross and Rachel, who were still watching them and had moved to the doorway.

"Listen," Rachel said, "if you see Phoebe, will you send her back in here? I have to get dressed yet."

Monica just stared at her for a minute before she answered. "Sure. I'm not...are you...we should talk about this!" Their expressions settled that issue for her. "So that's it?" she asked, not believing what she was hearing. A family bond and years of friendships were on the line here but they wouldn't listen or let anything get explained.

(And in case you don't get it, the previous flashback would continue from here.)

~~~

2011...

Monica didn't even realize that she was crying until she felt Chandler's hand on her cheek, wiping the tears away. She smiled and rolled from her back onto her side so she could look at him. "I didn't think you were still awake."

"I was just enjoying the view," he said, smiling. "I bet we were thinking about the same thing."

"Kinda hard not to," she replied, taking his hand and lacing her fingers through his.

Chandler paused for a moment. "How'd it go earlier? Maybe I'm hearing things, but I thought I heard some raised voices." He raised an eyebrow at her.

Monica chuckled. "Well, you are a little nuts, but you weren't hearing things," she said, causing Chandler to laugh. "Let's just say that when Alexis left there was nobody left to be the buffer."

"I'm sorry," said Chandler. "Maybe this was a bad idea, having Rachel here. I mean, we were doing fine here for so long. Now everything's being brought up all over again."

"I know," Monica sighed. "But maybe it's not all that bad. I mean, even though we don't talk anymore, I always wondered how Rachel and Ross were. And what Phoebe and Joey have been doing. Now maybe we can find some of that out."

"Mm-hmm," agreed Chandler. "I noticed you didn't mention your family."

Monica shrugged, a difficult task while lying on her side. "I know. But what am I supposed to do? They never talk to us anymore now that Ugly Duckling Monica and Perfect Prince Ross are feuding."

Chandler kissed her on the nose. "The ugly duckling turned out to be a swan, babe. When was the last time you read that book?" She smiled, but Chandler saw that there were tears starting to form in her eyes and decided it was time to go to bed. "Okay, you know, we really should get some sleep. We don't know when Rachel's flight will be rescheduled for tomorrow, if in fact we do get rid of her then, so we may have another long day with her. My motto is 'Be Prepared,'" holding up two fingers, "and we can't very well be that on a bad night's sleep."

"Ohh," groaned Monica, but grinned at him. "I suppose you're right. But I think what I need more is an experience that will make me forget the day's events. Feel up to the challenge, Boy Scout?"

Chandler scoffed at that. "Challenge? Please. That's not at all a challenge. And I'm hardly a boy, I'm 100% man. Beefsteak." He leaned over and gave Monica a passionate kiss, causing her to have to stop giggling. "There," he said as they pulled away. "Forgotten yet?"

"Forgotten what?" Monica said, grinning at him. He chuckled, and once again moved in to prove his point.

~~~

End Part Four...

Whew! I must say that so far this was the hardest chapter to write. Actually, that's only because of the flashback scene from 2003. That was kinda long, and this is the longest chapter so far. I can't promise they'll all be this length, and I hope you're enjoying my series even though I think it definitely has it's weak moments. I'll try to get the next part done soon!