Simply Complicated~part 2

Back to Good

Thanks so much for the reviews! And no, the kidney rocks/stones thing wasn't on the show, I made that up all by my lonesome. See, told you I was funnier than Letterman : ) Know what? I don't like running in circles. Like in gym, we run around the track. The whole running in circles thing makes me feel like a hamster, running around aimlessly in that little wheel thing. Well, actually, our track is being redone, so we ran around the tennis court today…and that's worse cuz it's like there actually is a cage around you…so it's like…ya know what? You don't care and I'm starting to sound crazy…so shutting up would probably be a good move on my part right now…so here's the next part of the fic : )

Chandler walked into the coffeehouse and sighed, seeing that Joey, Ross, and Phoebe were the only ones there. No Monica. He still wasn't sure that he would be able to be around Monica, especially if Dan was there. Monica had been seeing Dan for the past couple of weeks, going out with him every night, and it was killing Chandler. But he tried to act as normal as possible, knowing that if he avoided her too much, someone might notice, and he really didn't want Ross finding out what had gone on between them.

"So is Monica with Dan again tonight?" Phoebe asked as Chandler sat down, and he immediately regretted coming to the coffeehouse.

"Yeah, I think so," Joey answered.

"Wow, they really hit it off, huh?" Phoebe said, causing Chandler to stand up suddenly, unable to take the conversation. "You okay?" Phoebe asked, seeing the look on Chandler's face.

"Yeah, um, I just, I forgot something that I was supposed to do," he mumbled an excuse, taking off before anyone could question him further. His sweatpants all of a sudden sounded very welcoming at the moment.

Monica and Dan. Dan and Monica. That's not how it was supposed to be. It was supposed to be Monica and Chandler. Chandler and Monica. Their names even sounded better together.

Chandler just sighed, reaching the top of the stairs to his apartment. When he tried to open the door, he realized that it was locked, and that he didn't have his key. Just another thing to add to his oh-so-wonderful day. He walked over to Monica and Rachel's door, hesitating before going in. What if Monica was there? If she was, she would be with Dan. Chandler shook his head, opening the door, praying that Monica wouldn't be home.

"Hey," Rachel said from her place on the couch when he walked in.

"Hey, um, I'm locked out, you have our spare key, right?"

"Yeah, probably. I don't know where though, that's more Monica's thing," Rachel said, lying back down on the couch.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just the flu," Rachel watched as Chandler started looking through the drawers for the key. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?" he replied without looking up at her.

"You've just been acting like something's wrong lately," she paused, and when he didn't answer, she continued. "But maybe it's just the fever. I'm delirious."

"Found it!" Chandler held up a key, purposely avoiding Rachel's question. "Feel better, Rach," he added as he walked toward the door.

"Thanks," she smiled. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yep. Good, great, wonderful," he forced a smile before walking out the door, "Later."

"Bye."

Chandler sighed as he walked out the door. His plan wasn't working; everyone knew that something was wrong with him. Well, everyone except for Monica. She obviously didn't know that something was wrong. If she did, she would know that it had to do with her. And then she'd realize that it was because he still wanted her and that he had been and still was serious about her. And then she'd dump Dan and come back to them and everything would be back to good.

Chandler walked into his apartment and sighed. Real life didn't work like that. Only in chick-flicks and fairytales, and his life sure as hell wasn't a fairytale. If his life were a fairytale, he'd be able to just ride up on a white horse and sweep her off her feet (doesn't he know that the knight in shining armor is supposed to ride up on the white horse, not walk in the back door??? LOL, okay, that was actually an inside joke with my ex-best friend, so no one's gonna get it, so I'll just laugh with myself :-D).

But there was Dan. And all he could think of was the fact that Monica was out with Dan. And thinking about that just lead him to think about what they would be doing after they got back from their date.

He'd never been this jealous. He didn't even know that it was possible to be this jealous. Not even when Joey had been going out with Kathy. Of course, this wasn't just jealousy, he was seriously hurt. But maybe this was more than something that just sitting at home in his sweatpants was going to cure. Maybe that wasn't the answer to his broken heart.

Chandler turned right back around and went out the door, knowing exactly how to make it go away.

~*~

Chandler rolled over and squeezed his eyes shut, willing the pounding in his head to go away. He moaned, the sun through the window that was now shining in his face just making it worse.

"Um, hi."

Chandler froze. He couldn't remember the past night. That really couldn't be good. Forcing himself to open his eyes, Chandler's sight landed on the women in bed next to him. "Hi," he replied, awkwardly, an incredibly awkward silence following.

"Is it horrible that I can't remember your name?" she finally asked, breaking the silence that had filled the room.

Chandler laughed, immediately realizing that wasn't the smartest thing to do and started rubbing his temples. "Only if it's horrible that I can't remember yours."

"Mikala," she smiled slightly at him.

"Chandler," he smiled back, another awkward silence following.

"Look, I don't usually do the whole go to a bar, get drunk, and go home with a guy thing…"

"Me neither. I mean, I don't with a girl," he paused. "Not that I do it with a guy either, I just," Chandler sighed, "I just don't do the whole one-night stand thing, either."

"Oh. Well, um, I should probably go," Mikala moved to get up, quickly getting dressed. As she was about to walk out the door, she turned to face him, "Are we just gonna leave it at this?"

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, I'm just getting out of a relationship…or something to that extent, and…I'm just…I can't right now, you know?"

"All too well," she grinned at him. "Well, I guess I'll see-ya, then," she said uneasily, turning to leave.

"Bye," he replied quietly as she shut the door.

Chandler fell back onto his pillows, burying his head. Turns out that what he'd thought would be the answer to his broken heart had just made it worse. He hadn't even planned on coming home with any one…just getting drunk, making it all go away. But it hadn't.

And now there was even more.

~*~

Chandler sighed, standing outside of Monica's bedroom door. This was it. This was his chance to talk to her. Everyone else was gone. Monica wasn't with Dan. So this was his chance.

Taking a deep breath, Chandler lifted his hand to knock on the door, but just as he did, the door opened. "Bah!"

"Jesus!" Monica gasped.

"Well, no, Chandler, but sorry," he half-smiled at her.

"It's okay," she purposely avoided eye contact with him by walking around him.

"Look, Mon, I think we need to talk…"

Monica stopped, turning slowly to face him, "Actually-"

"So, Mon, what's for supper?" Joey asked as he walked in with everyone else. "You guys so should've come to the movie, by the way."

"Actually, Monica, be glad you didn't come. Just a bunch of explosions, shooting, and nudity. Not the best thing to see right after you've had the flu," she rolled her eyes, sitting down on the couch, " Chandler, you would've loved it."

"It did have a decent story-line, though," Phoebe sat down next to Rachel.

"Phoebs, you made up your own plot as it went, the people behind us had to throw popcorn at you to get you to shut up," (Em-she runs, they kiss…and now they're gonna start throwing stuff at us, lol) Ross said.

"So, Mon, what's for supper?" Joey repeated, no one having even noticed that Chandler and Monica were still standing in the exact same place they'd been in when they came in, and that neither of them had said anything.

"Um, I don't know, I was thinking we could just order pizza," she said, her eyes not leaving Chandler's. She wasn't sure why, but once she had finally made eye contact with him, she couldn't bring herself to break it. "Stay till everyone else leaves, we'll talk then," Monica whispered, tearing her eyes away as she turned to go order the pizza.

Chandler just stared after her. Maybe she'd figured everything out and had dumped Dan and was going to take him back. What other reason could she possibly have to want to talk to him about? She hadn't exactly been on friendly terms with him lately either. So that was the only reason he could think of that she'd want to talk to him about, and it made sense since it was the first time in the past two weeks that she wasn't with Dan. Chandler couldn't help but grin, resisting the urge he had to hop onto the coffee table and do his happy dance.

In a few hours, it would all be back to good.

~*~

"Sorry to leave you guys, but I'm going to bed," Rachel stood up, stifling a yawn.

"Night, Rach."

"Good-night."

"Night," Rachel replied as she walked into her room, leaving Chandler and Monica alone at last.

"Look, Mon-" Chandler started, but Monica cut him off.

"Can I talk first?"

"Sure," Chandler said uneasily.

"Look, I, um," she paused, taking a deep breath, looking up at him, "I'm pregnant."

Chandler's breath caught in his throat. She was pregnant. Which meant that she'd be with Dan forever. She wasn't taking him back; she was letting him go. "Um, congratulations," Chandler mumbled, standing up from the couch and moving to leave.

Realization suddenly hit Monica. Of course he would take it that way. "Chandler, wait," she said softly, and Chandler stopped, still facing away from her. "I, um, I haven't slept with Dan," she practically whispered.

"Wha-what'd you say?" he turned to face her.

"I haven't slept with Dan," she repeated, "Just you. Since London…just you."

"Oh, god, I need to sit down," Chandler reached for the back of the couch, leaning against it. "No, I need to stand up," he stood up, starting to pace. "Oh my god…"

"Chandler," Monica said, but he either didn't hear her or was ignoring her. "Chandler," she repeated, "Just…stop for a minute, okay?"

Chandler stopped pacing, sitting back down on the couch, burying his face in his hands. "How…I mean, we never didn't use protection."

"Nothing always works," Monica said quietly. "Look, you can be involved in this as much as you want or not at all," she started hesitantly, scared to hear his answer, "it's your decision." Chandler didn't reply, didn't even move for the next couple of minutes, and it just scared Monica even more. "Um, Chandler?" Monica finally whispered, not able to take it for much longer.

Chandler looked up at her, "I just…I need some time to think, ya know?"

"Yeah, I know," she continued to whisper, not sure that she'd be able to hold back the tears she knew were threatening if she spoke any louder.

"Okay. I just," Chandler stood up, "I-I need to think about all of this," he added, walking out the door. "I-I'll see you later."

Monica watched the door close slowly behind him. She leaned back into the couch, squeezing her eyes close, scared to death of what Chandler's decision would be. She knew he'd freak out, he was Chandler, that much was expected, but she hadn't thought that he'd have to give it a second thought. Because it was her. Not just some random girl, it was her. Monica. And he was Chandler. She never dreamed he'd have to think twice. But now, she couldn't help but to doubt him.

So much for back to good.

To

Be

Continued…

Okay, so kind of freaky thing…I was trying to decide which fic to work on, and just as I started to write this, the song "I'll Be" came on and I haven't even heard that song on the radio since I started that fic. And then I was trying to decide between Back to Good or something else for the title of this chapter, and the next song that came on was "Back to Good" by matchbox20 and I can't even remember the last time I heard that song. Anywho, I thought it was kinda freaky. But please review…thanks so much : )