A/N: Thanks for the reviews! To make up for the last chapter being so short, I made this one really long. There is at least one more chapter after this.

Ross

It was too late to call his lawyer, too late to do anything - Ross knew that. But he was up, pacing his room, wishing he could do something. It was after midnight, and he was bored. Rachel was in her room, packing and making lists of what she would do after she left Joshua. Monica, Phoebe, and Chandler, he assumed, were asleep in their rooms, but Joey was MIA.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow they all left the house on the beach, all went back to their lives.

The next morning, Ross went downstairs to find everyone eating breakfast quietly. Something had changed about the group. It was like there was something in the air, something on everybody's mind. Well, everybody's probably upset because we're going home today. It was a sad thought. They'd all become close again over the past two days, and none of the six wanted to leave.

Ross hoped they would all stay more in touch than they had for the past eight years. Had it really been eight years? It didn't seem that long. They were still best friends. But all of their outside lives had changed so drastically that Ross wasn't sure they could ever stay together. He, himself, had been married, and was now getting divorced. Monica had had a baby, gotten married, and gotten divorced. Glancing at his sister, he vowed to talk to her more. She had drifted most of them all. For the past few years, she'd seemed depressed, distant, sad.

And Rachel - Rachel had gone through hell. Her dream life had turned into a nightmare. Ross still couldn't believe Rachel had let her husband beat her. Wasn't she furious and terrified? But she would get help - Ross was seeing to that. Even if she didn't want it, Ross would help her. It hurt him so much to see her like this - the woman he'd once loved, the woman he still did.

Joey and Phoebe hadn't seemed to change much at all, with the exception that Joey was a TV star and Phoebe was an accomplished businesswoman. Ross smiled as he remembered their former lives - Joey, a seemingly failed actor, and Phoebe, a ditzy masseuse-slash-guitarist. Ross hadn't talked much to Chandler over the course of the weekend, hadn't gotten into the specifics of his life. Chandler seemed the same - same job, same city, same apparent commitment-phobic lifestyle. But something had changed Chandler. Ross wasn't sure of the details, but something had happened that had made him different.

The six spent the day packing and cleaning and talking. They all planned to go to the airport after lunch - their flights ranged in times from 2:00 to six.

At lunch, Phoebe cleared her throat. "Um - Joey and I have an announcement." The two of them shared a glance, and suddenly it clicked in Ross's mind...

"We're getting married," Joey exclaimed. Okay, not quite what I was expecting.

"What?" Rachel cried.

"Really?" Chandler said.

"Yeah! We've always had that pact, you know, and we've kept in touch and... things have happened," Phoebe said, grinning guiltily.

"So we're gettin' married!" Joey cried. Everybody hugged them and congratulated them. They were both so thrilled. Ross just hoped their marriage didn't turn out like his, Monica's, and Rachel's had. He didn't think it would. They were perfect for each other.

Before long, they were all at the airport, and it was time to say good-bye. Rachel's flight was first. After everybody hugged her, Ross pulled her aside.

"I'm coming out to New York on Wednesday," he said quietly, noticing the other four struggling to hear the conversation. "Remember what we discussed. Tomorrow while he's at work, you pack your things and take the kids to your mom's. If it gets bad - leave tonight. Don't take stuff, just go. Don not let him touch you. You call me no matter what happens, okay?"

"Okay," Rachel whispered, her eyes brimming with tears. "Thank you, Ross." She leaned up and kissed him tenderly. The kiss held for several seconds, and both clutched each other. "Bye."

Phoebe left next. She and Joey had a very physical good-bye, and Ross, Monica and Chandler left them to it. When Joey walked back to the group a few minutes later, looking dejected, he moaned, "I can't believe she's gone!"

"Isn't she flying out to California on Friday?" Chandler said.

''Yeah, but that's five days! I don't know if I can wait that long to see her again." Chandler rolled his eyes, and Ross chuckled. Joey left thirty minutes later.

Then Ross had to go. He hugged Chandler and then turned to his sister. "You take care of yourself, okay, little sis? If you need anything, you promise you'll call me?"

"Of course," Monica said, squeezing her brother. "But I think I'll be okay now." Ross kissed his sister, picked up his bag, and headed to the gate for international flights. He was going back to London for a few days, and he would end it officially with Emily. Then he was coming home to New York.

Chandler

Chandler and Monica stood near the gate to Chandler's commuter flight to LaGuardia. He glanced at his watch, and at that moment, a voice came over the loudspeakers, announcing that his flight was boarding rows 1-10.

"I guess you have to go," Monica said.

"Yeah."

"So this is good-bye." Monica's voice was soft and melancholy.

"But you're coming up in a week or so, right?" Chandler asked hopefully.

"Yes."

"So then - call me." They hugged each other tightly. Chandler wished he never had to let go - wished she could stay in his arms forever. Monica moved her face to look at him, and they kissed softly. Chandler kept his arms around her, unwilling to let go of her. He never wanted to let her go again, never wanted to feel the pain of loving something so much and watching it walk away - or walking away from it. He'd gone through that once with Monica.

"Bye," she whispered.

"Bye," he said, and forced himself to take a step away. He walked away and handed his ticket to the woman at the gate. He turned and looked at Monica before he stepped out of sight. She was standing with her arms crossed, looking sad. Chandler smiled weakly at her, and she smiled back. Then he left.

An hour later, he unlocked the door to his apartment. Home, sweet, home, he thought. Well, sort of. He'd moved there just a few months ago, and boxes were still out everywhere. He dropped down onto the couch and turned on the TV. But he couldn't concentrate. All he could think about was Monica and Cassie. His family. That's what they were now.

For the rest of the week, Chandler went through the motions, just as he had been for eight years. On the outside, he seemed the same - sarcastic and slightly cynical, a hard worker, the quiet, introspective, mysterious man he'd become. But inside, an emotional hurricane was tormenting him. The daughter he never knew he had. The woman he'd never gotten to keep. The woman who'd pulled him on an emotional roller coaster for eight years, driving him to the brink of destruction and the pain of loneliness without ever knowing it.

And now - was she his? Chandler wasn't sure. How could he ever trust her again, after keeping a secret as big as the child they shared for so long? That was simple. He was in love with her. The love that had harbored inside him for over ten years, the secret anguish that kept him from loving another, all of the passions had been stirred up again over one short weekend.

Before he knew it, it was the next weekend. Fantastic, Chandler thought. A whole weekend with no work to distract him. He needed a distraction desperately, but had no friends to turn to. Before, when a long, lonely weekend would stretch in front of him, he would go to a bar and drink until he wound up in bed with a woman or was throwing up in the bathroom, the latter more common. But he couldn't do that anymore.

He was spacing in front of the television when the phone rang. "Chandler Bing," he answered. That was the way he answered every telephone call, that brisk, impersonal way. Because it would always be work. How long had it been since a friend or a woman had called him?

"Hi, it's Monica," Monica said. Chandler sat straight up.

"Hi! What's up?" The words came automatically. That causal, friendly greeting that you could only say with friends, the one his lips had not uttered for so long, felt unnatural and yet perfect.

"Um, I - I lost my job," she said, sounding small.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," Chandler said, feeling horribly sad for her. He had never lost a job - he'd been at the same one for over ten years, moving slowly up the corporate ladder, but still - it must be terrible. "What - what happened?"

"Cassie broke her ankle playing soccer yesterday while I was at work. When they called me, I ran right out, and kind of left the stove on. There was a small fire, and nobody was hurt or anything, but they - they fired me," Monica said. Chandler winced.

"Harsh," was his lame reply. Monica chuckled dryly.

"Yeah." Chandler knew Monica must be horrified, desperate, and humiliated, but he wasn't sure what else to say. He felt like his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth. "So I can't - I can't come to New York."

Chandler's stomach flopped. "What? Why not?"

"I don't have the money to get a place in the city now - I kind of, um, didn't have any insurance," Monica admitted. "They took Cass to the hospital in an ambulance, and I sort of dipped into my savings. And it's going to be really tough to get a job without the recommendation I was going to get from my manager. But Danny said we could move in with him, he's got a house on the base. Just until I get back on my feet and all. I can't come to the city." Monica was talking quickly. "I mean, I know it's going to be weird to live with my ex-husband and his girlfriend all, but we're still on okay terms. It'll be good for Cassie to be with her fa - Danny - more, and his house is really big so we won't have to see each other much. I really don't have any other choices."

Until that moment, Chandler had been had been shocked, at a loss for words. But suddenly a thought popped into his head, and before he could consider it, he blurted out, "Come live with me."

There was silence on the other end of the phone. "What?"

"Come live with me," Chandler repeated slowly, his brain still working overtime.

"No, I heard you - are you serious?"

"Yes," Chandler said.

"You want me to come live with you."

"You and Cassie."

"That would - be amazing, but I can't... can't impose..." Monica stammered.

"It wouldn't be imposing. I have a two-bedroom apartment. It's not that big, but it's in a good area... come on, Mon, you and I both know you really don't want to live with Danny," Chandler said. He was serious, so sure, about all of it. It made so much sense.

"Wouldn't it be weird?" Monica said after a pause.

"Weirder than you living with Danny?" Chandler pointed out.

"I guess not," Monica said, and Chandler could tell she was smiling.

"So come on. Bring Cassie and move to New York. It's close to New Jersey, so Cassie can still see Danny, and I can... I can get to know you guys."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure." He'd never been more sure of anything.

"All right." For a second Chandler thought he'd heard wrong. Had Monica just agreed to move in with him? Okay, it wasn't like she was moving in moving in, but still, it was a start. He resisted the urge to get up and dance. "Chandler?"

"Yeah? Okay, so this is great! Come whenever!"

"The new school year starts in two weeks, and I don't want Cassie to have to switch schools in the middle of the year. Is that too soon?"

"No," Chandler said. "That's perfect."

"Okay. So I'm - I'm moving in with you."

"Yeah." Chandler grinned. This was the beginning. His new life had begun.

A/N: Whew! Long chapter. I hope you liked it. I'm still working on the next part of the story, so my apologies if it takes a few extra days.