The One With The Whirlwind Interruption

Continued from: 'TOW The Door To The Past'

By: Jana~

*****~*****

--I put the teakettle on the stove, thinking tea would help warm us up a little, although seeing him shirtless did that a bit already.

I shook those thoughts from my head. I needed to focus. I needed to be sure things were going to work with us before I let my emotions carry me too far.

Ok, here goes…

"Before?" I started, "At the park?" He nodded. "I was going to say, before we got wet…"

He nodded again, and stared at me, and I started to lose my nerve. What if I tell him where I stand, and he doesn't want the added stipulations? I could lose him again. I don't think I can handle losing him again.

But, can I really afford to NOT tell him how I feel? If I don't tell him, and we get back together, as time goes on… I could lose him later on just as easily. But, later will be harder. Better if I know now.

"Maybe we should, sit down?" he asked, dragging my thoughts away from my worry.

I nodded, gesturing for him to take a seat on the couch. Gentlemanly, he waited for me to sit, then sat beside me, but a little closer than I was comfortable with. I inched away, needing to keep my head about me if I was ever going to finish what I was trying to say, knowing the closer I was to him, the harder it would be to do that.

"I have missed you so much, Chandler," I forced my voice to say the words, "But…"

My heart was in my throat. This could be a new beginning, or the absolute end, and knowing that made it difficult for me to continue.

You have to do this, I reminded myself, taking a deep breath. You have to do this.

"If we get back together," I told him, "I'm gonna need you to give one hundred percent. No bailing cause you're scared," I added. "If you're scared, we work on it together."

He seemed to be contemplating what I said, trying to understand what I meant, but before I could open my mouth to clarify it for him, he spoke up.

"Does… that mean…?"

I nodded, smiling at the boyish look on his face. "I want to try again," I whispered. "For us."

He inched towards me, his lips on mine in the blink of an eye, and he as quickly wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer to his body.

His lips were so soft and perfect, I could've sat there kissing him all night long. He's a good kisser, I've thought so, from the moment my lips met his back in London, the night before Ross' wedding to Emily, but I didn't realize how much I missed his kisses till they were gone.

Things were heating up, I could feel it, and I was beyond certain he could too. I couldn't stop the moan that escaped as his lips moved to nip at my neck… I was on fire.

I could hear his rapid breathing in my ear, and I knew where the night was headed.

"Monica? Is this too much too fast?" he asked in a whisper, and I swallowed in an attempt to wet my dry throat before answering.

"Probably," I replied, my voice cracked, "But I don't care."

His lips were on mine again, the kiss passionate, and I soon felt his hands inch under my tight fitting top. His cold hands felt strangely pleasurable as they came in contact with my warm skin, and I grew more excited as I anticipated his next move.

We were ripped out of the moment by the sudden exclamation…

"Oh, I'm sorry. Apparently, I've opened the door to the past!"

Chandler jumped away from me, as if burned, and we both looked over at our blond-headed interrupter.

"Hi, Pheebs," he muttered sheepishly, turning at least two shades of red. "How are you?"

Phoebe scoffed. "Oh, look at you! All shy and trying to be formal!"

She marched over to him and he stood in response to her approach, smiling as she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

"I haven't seen you in months!" she exclaimed, pulling back, her hands on his shoulders. "What have you been up to?" she asked, "Besides playing tonsil tennis with Monica."

"Work mostly. You?"

"Well, I have this new massage client, and he is so funny! The other day, during his massage, he--" She stopped abruptly, then shook her head. "Sorry. We can catch up later." She looked over at me and smiled. "I'm sure you guys want to get back to what I, moments before, interrupted, am I right?"

"We-- We were just--" Chandler stammered, looking for the right words to say, and Phoebe chuckled.

"Hey, really, it's fine. K? I always knew you'd come back!"

I scowled at her admission as she started for the door.

"Phoebe? You what?" How--?"

"I'm psychic, remember?" she reminded, an assured smile on her face.

"You never told me--"

"I told you not to give up hope." She made a gesture that seemed to say she had proven her point with that statement.

I wasn't about to argue with her, so I just smiled as she turned to leave.

"Chandler. Coffeehouse, tomorrow? So we can catch up?"

"Sure," he agreed with a smile, and she did a little hop before walking out the door.

"Well, that went… well," he stammered, turning to look at me.

"Were you expecting it to not?"

He shrugged, "I guess I kinda figured that-- that everyone would maybe, well, hate me."

"Why?"

"For… hurting you," he admitted with hesitance, and I smiled.

"Some were upset with you. Some more than others, but no one hates you."

He nodded. "I'm guessing Ross was the most upset. Him being your brother and all."

I looked down at my lap as I nodded. "It's cause I'm his little sister."

"Yeah…"

The awkwardness was back, and I was at a loss for what to say next. Would it always be like this?

"Is it always going to be like this, do you think?" I asked. "Awkward and such?"

He shook his head. "No. I don't think so. A few days maybe? A week? But, it'll slowly dissipate."

His words put me at ease. Not to mention his smile. He held out his arms to me and I snuggled in to his warm chest as we together sat back on the couch, holding each other as we got comfortable.

The passionate moment was gone with Phoebe's whirlwind appearance, but what took its place was nice. Familiarity and tender affection. Sitting in each other's embrace, the TV off, no one in the room but us, enjoying each other's company in virtual silence.

"How do we do this?" I asked after several minutes of silence. "I mean, do we start over? Pick up where we left off? What do we--? How do we--?"

He kissed the top of my head, and even though I couldn't see his face, I knew he was smiling at my nervous babblings.

"Well, I was thinking," he began, "I am an hour away by train, and I really don't want to be that far away from you. So, why don't I move in to Rachel's old room? It's still a guestroom, right?"

I grew near giddy at his suggestion. He would be as close as he could be, physically, without actually being in my bed. It would be easier to work on the relationship that way.

I nodded. "Yeah, actually, it is."

"So, does that sound good?" he asked. "I don't want to rush you."

"I think it sounds perfect. Can you get out of your lease?"

"I didn't sign one," he informed. "I'm just there month to month."

This caused me to smile. It might not have been the reason, but the fact that he didn't sign a lease, it led me to believe that somehow, in some way, he knew he would be coming back to me.

"When can you move in?" I asked.

"This weekend?" he suggested in the form of a question. "Joey would probably help, do you think Ross might as well?"

"I think he'd better," I joked, and Chandler chuckled.

I felt him pull me tighter to him, and I sighed contentedly. It felt so good to have him holding me again. Better than in my dreams.

If this is a dream, I never want to wake up.

"Why didn't Rachel move back in with you?" he asked suddenly.

"We talked about it a few times," I explained. "She figured you would eventually come back, and she didn't want to move all her stuff, just to be moving it right back again. Plus, she likes living with Joey. And she knew he wouldn't be able to afford the place on his own as well as I could afford this place on my own."

"Makes sense," he muttered softly. "Seems like everyone knew I would eventually be back but Ross."

"Don't take it too personally, Chandler. He's my big brother, and therefore overly protective of me. Besides," I added, "Ross is, well, Ross."

TO BE CONTINUED…