Ok I'm here for chapter 4. I seriously didn't notice that my last chapter was short, but when I went on the site, I realized. Oops…I was just in a rush at the end because, well long story short, my bro is an ass. In the words of Chandler, "Could he be anymore annoying? But whose isn't? This chapter will definitely be longer. Before, I was just really trying to get my ideas down, but now I realize that maybe that isn't the brightest idea. Hey, I'm still pretty new at this, so I'm entitled to mistakes, right? Enjoy! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They belong to their creators and those NBC people.
Keeping himself from thinking about Monica seemed to become increasingly difficult with each passing day. Every time he closed his eyes, her face appeared in his mind. It was a feeling unlike any other he had ever experienced, which scared him even more. Even Kathy, the woman whom he had given his heart to, didn't make him feel like Monica did. However, he refused to say anything to her, in fear of letting out the feelings that he kept locked up tight within his soul. He felt that if he let out his feelings, he would just be hurt again. Whenever he did speak with her, he would avoid looking at her, and was beginning to suspect that she wondered why he acted so strangely around her.
"I hate her!" he screamed to himself, even though he knew that, in reality, he hated himself, and loved her. He wasn't supposed to feel like this; he wasn't supposed to fall in love again. "Love hurts you; love ruins you!" he brain reminded him, over and over again, like a broken record. Yet, he was still falling for Monica. Each day he fell farther down into the pit, which is love. He hated that he felt like that, yet he loved the feeling he got while admiring her from afar.
A few weeks later, Monica greeted Chandler with a small smile, when she entered his apartment to begin working. He felt as if he could not breath when she smiled at him; it touched him in a way he never knew possible. He then received an overwhelming desire to hold her in his arms. "I gotta get out of here," he decided, as he walked briskly into his room.
Chandler laid down on his bed, trying to get rid of the feelings that had overtaken him.
"Hey Chandler, aren't you getting up?" Joey asked, as he knocked on Chandler's bedroom door a few minutes later.
"Yeah, Joe, one minute," Chandler replied, as he slowly got out of bed. The last thing he wanted to do was have Joey even more suspicious of his feelings towards Monica. Even though Joey was not the brightest of people, he was aware that Chandler felt something towards Monica. "The last thing I need is to have someone meddle in my life," Chandler growled to himself, as he downed a shot of vodka, allowing the warmness to permeate through his body. Taking a deep breath, he left his room, and calmly made his way towards the dinning room. "I hope I don't see her," he lied to himself, knowing that, in reality, he wanted to see her.
"Chandler," Joey greeted the next day as he threw a pile of mail on the desk in front of him, "Mail's here."
"Thanks," Chandler said distractedly.
"Hey," Joey said, reading his mail, "You're invited to a ballroom dance. Gonna go?"
"Yeah, sure," Chandler said sarcastically, still engrossed in the work in front of him.
"Come on, please go!" Joey begged, "You never do anything anymore."
Chandler shook his head, "It's not like I even have anyone to take."
"You can ask Monica," Joey suggested. Immediately Chandler knew what Joey was up to.
"No way. Besides, she hates me."
"How do you know that?"
"Have you seen me around her? I don't even look at her."
"Well, now's your change to make things right."
Chandler relented against his own judgement; "I guess I should make an appearance at something this year." Immediately after those words slipped from his mouth, he heard voices in his head, screaming at him, telling him what a horrible mistake he was making. However, at the time he heard one voice over the rest—his heart.
The next day, Chandler found himself making his way towards the kitchen many times, but after seeing Monica, he would lose his nerve and leave. He filled a glass with scotch, and after gulping it down, he made his way back towards the kitchen. Again, he felt that he was losing his nerve, but before he could leave, Monica noticed him standing there.
"Can I help you sir?" she questioned, surprised at his appearance so early in the afternoon. Usually he was at work at that time, or at least working in his office in the apartment.
Hesitantly, he said, "Uhh, yes…I have a request."
"Ok…?" Monica pressed.
"Well, you see, I don't have many lady friends. Actually to tell you the truth, I have none," Chandler chucked nervously, "And you see there's this ball-type thing coming up and I was wondering if you would maybe—care to join me?" he spat out, almost chocking on the last four words of his request.
Surprised at his question, Monica stared blankly at him. He decided that he should explain more, "If you don't wanna go, it's ok. I'm not going to fire you or anything. And I know I haven't been very friendly, but I've just been…" he hesitated, searching for a plausible excuse, "Stressed. I can even pay for your dress and jewelry and anything you wan…"
Monica cut him off, "No that's not necessary,"
Chandler's heart sank at those words, and he swallowed hard, knowing that he'd been hurt, yet again.
Monica finished her sentence, "I can buy my own clothes. And I would love to go with you."
Chandler's eyes opened wide at her response. "Did I hear her correctly?" he wondered to himself. But looking at her, smiling at him, he knew that she was serious.
"He asked you to go with him?" Rachel asked, shocked.
"That's right," Monica
stated.
"I am so jealous! Oh my God we've got to get you a dress, and do your
hair, and…"
Monica cut her off, "Relax, it's not for another month."
"Only a month left? That's not enough time!"
"He even offered to pay for my clothes."
"Oh my God!" Rachel squealed.
"But I declined that," Monica said, squashing Rachel's happiness.
"W..w…what?! Why?!"
"Because, I don't need anything to be bought for me. I mean, I have money."
Rachel raised her eyebrows at Monica's statement, "Ok so I don't, but still…I don't want him to buy things for me."
"You don't turn down free things. Haven't you learned anything from me?"
"Absolutely not," Monica joked as Rachel frowned.
"So," Rachel began seriously, "I thought he was nasty to you. Why'd you say yes?"
"Well, I felt bad for him. He's gone through a lot, and he said he had no one else to take."
"Maybe he likes you," Rachel suggested.
Quickly Monica answered, "I highly doubt that."
It was the afternoon before the ball. Monica was wearing her dress, looking at herself in the mirror, with Rachel behind her, doing her hair.
"You nervous?" Rachel questioned.
"Yes. I mean, what if they think that I'm trash because I'm like poor?"
"How would they find out?"
"I dunno," Monica paused and then began, "Ya know, I doubt the he'll actually even talk to me much, since, he doesn't at work."
"Well maybe it'll be different, since you two are out of the work environment."
"I wouldn't get my hopes up," Monica said bitterly, "What do I call him?
"What?"
"What do I call him? Do I call him Mr. Bing or Chandler?"
"Chandler, I guess."
Panicked Monica cried out, "Oh my God, I should've never agreed to this!"
"Don't worry," Rachel consoled, "It'll be fine."
"I sure hope so," Monica replied uneasily.
Chandler looked in the mirror as he licked his lips nervously.
"Why did I ever listen to Joey?" he questioned himself as he straightened his bowtie. Chandler was afraid that spending more time with Monica would make his feelings for her even stronger. Just the fact that she accepted his invitation made his head spin.
"Looking good," Joey complimented as Chandler entered the living room.
Trying to suppress his anxiety, he nervously answered, "Thanks."
"Nervous, huh?" Joey caught on immediately.
"No," Chandler lied, looking down at his shoes.
"Uh-huh," Joey answered, unconvinced.
"It's just," Chandler confided, "I haven't gone anywhere with a woman for a long time."
"I see. Well, just be nicer than you usually are to her. That ought to work," Joey advised, "Otherwise, she'll smack you across the face and leave you all alone in front of everyone."
Chandler swallowed hard, his apprehension growing stronger with every word Joey uttered.
"But don't worry 'bout it, man."
Chandler nodded uneasily, and left to go pick up Monica.
When Chandler arrived at Monica's apartment, he knocked lightly on the door. After a moment of waiting, a blond haired woman opened it.
"Oh you must be…" she paused for a moment, wondering what to call him, "Mr. Bing."
He nodded, and she gestured for him to enter the apartment. After a moment, Rachel explained further, "She'll be out in a minute. I'm her roommate, Rachel, by the way."
Chandler just nodded and looked around. The apartment seemed very hospitable, even though it wasn't big compared to what Chandler was used to. He grew up in a rich family, with a large suburban home. However, he liked the look to the apartment—it made him feel slightly more at ease.
"You have a nice apartment here," Chandler complimented after a minute of silence.
"Thanks, although I have nothing to do with what it looks like. Monica decorated it before I came to live here, and I don't dare touch a thing. If I did, I think she would slit my throat while I was sleeping or something."
Chandler smiled slightly at her joke, and then Monica stepped into the living room.
"Wow," Chandler breathed as his eyes wondered from her dark hair piled on top of her hair down to her perfectly fitting red, sparkling dress, "You like great."
Monica smiled broadly, "Thanks. You look good, too," she complimented.
He smiled and suggested, "Shall we go?" as his anxiety lightened slightly.
Monica nodded, "Sure." With that, Chandler held her door open for her and then followed her.
Ok, there's chapter 4. I think that it's longer, is it not? Please, read and review. I'm leaving it a sort of a, cliff hanger, I guess you could say. Next chapter will contain Monica and Chandler at the dance. Please review, so that I know this is worth continuing. Thanks. :) Oh and btw, catnamedzane, if you're still reading this, I have to agree--you were indeed correct about "she" being Kathy. Well, it was either her or Janice, and although Janice also broke Chandler heart on the "real show", she's just too damn annoying to use. Ok, well I think she's funny, in very, very small doses. "Oh…My…God, it's chaaaandler Bing!" On that note, hopefully chapter 5 will be up soon.