In bed, Joey asked Chandler if he'd mind it if Joey still went out on dates with girls.

Chandler blinked and glanced at him questioningly. "Wh-what are we, a couple now?"

"No," Joey shook his head, "I meant--I meant that it means I have less time to be your sex buddy, that's all."

"Oh," Chandler smiled and shrugged. "Nah, I'm okay. I'm used to being alone at night. You go on, have your fun. I mean, as long as you're still using protection with them."

"Of course! Always. I don't want to get anybody pregnant."

Chandler laughed, "Or become a poster boy for VD again!"

Joey pouted and just said, "It's okay if you date girls, too."

Chandler looked vexed and rolled his eyes. "I never stopped *trying* to get dates, Joey!"

"Oh, I didn't know. It's just, you've been with me all these nights."

"Yes, but unlike you, the rest of us don't snag a girl every time we try." He lay back and sighed. "I really miss girls, you know?"

"Yeah?" Joey leaned nearer to listen.

Chandler nodded. Contrary to many people's assumptions about him, he was not gay. Not completely. Now that he'd been with Joey, Chandler had decided that he must be bisexual, with a stronger desire for women. But in a pinch, Joey would do.

Chandler confided to his buddy, "I mean, we have fun, Joe, but it's not the same as being with a girl. They're so soft and pretty and great in bed."

"I know," Joey agreed.

"Yeah, you know!" Chandler laughed. "You're so lucky to get so many hot girls, Joe. I wish I could get half as many. I wish--" he sighed wistfully. "Even one would do. Just a girlfriend again, like Janice or Kathy. You wouldn't know about it, Joe, but it's really nice when you're in love."

Joey shrugged. "I was in love once."

"What?"

"Yeah, remember Kate Miller?"

"Oh," Chandler remembered now. "The complicated one. The actress who hated you one minute and loved you the next. You know, you really surprised me there, Joe. You don't usually go for smart, deep girls. Maybe you're maturing."

"Maybe."

"If she hadn't moved to L.A. for that job, do you think you'd still be with her now?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe, maybe, maybe!" Chandler teased.

"Talk, talk, talk!" Joey finally hushed him with a kiss, and pulled him close again.

Chandler breathlessly realized that Joey was in the mood for sex, and he cheerfully went along.

***

So Joey went back to dating women. He actually liked being with Chandler more, because he was so different from the women he'd been with, but Joey had noticed a tendency of his to start acting like a housewife again, asking Chandler when he'd be home and lying awake at night watching Chandler sleep. Being with women would make him feel more like his usual self. He'd be macho and strong instead of clingy and sentimental.

Still, when Joey was done having sex with some hot date, he'd often lie there staring at wall between their rooms. He missed sleeping with Chandler. Not just the sex, but the sleeping next to him. He also missed waking up together and sometimes having a morning make-out session, if not more.

It was silly to feel this way. Joey still slept with Chandler, just not on the nights that either of them had a date.

One night, after his date fell asleep, Joey went to Chandler's bedroom and woke him up.

"J-Joe?"

"You wanna do it?"

"Now?" Chandler frowned. "What about your date?"

"She's asleep."

"But won't she--?"

Joey cut off further argument with a kiss. He loved kissing Chandler. He could kiss him all day, and it wouldn't even matter if they had sex or not.

As they made out and started getting naked, Joey's date suddenly burst into the room, furious.

"I knew I heard something! Joey, do you have another girl in here?"

"No," he said truthfully, while Chandler tried to hide under the covers.

She saw the movement. "You told me your roommate was a guy!" she continued, coming further into the room and pulling the covers off. She gasped. "It is a guy!"

"Yep!" Joey didn't care in the least what she thought.

"Ohhhh!" she ran out, offended, and quickly got dressed. They heard her bang out of the apartment pretty fast.

"Joey, I'm so sorry--" Chandler began.

"What for? It just saves me the trouble of breaking up with her in the morning."

Chandler realized how true that was and laughed. Joey just kissed him again and made love to him. It was the first time that they'd slept together in Chandler's room, and Chandler didn't even mind not being in Monica's bed anymore. Joey was good in any bed.

***

After Monica and Rachel switched the apartments back, Joey and Chandler got used to their old rooms again and settled into a comfortable routine. Unless Chandler managed to come home with a date, Joey would always sleep him, in whichever bed was convenient. Even if Joey had his own date, he would wait until she fell asleep, and then come into Chandler's room like before.

Chandler was amused and flattered by Joey's constant craving for him. "You really are a slut, aren't you, Joe? All those girls you get, and you still want more from me."

Joey shrugged. "Girls are fun once, maybe. You're fun all the time."

Chandler smiled and joked, "If you like me so much, you should let me roll you over and screw you."

"Okay."

Chandler blinked. "Wh-what?"

Joey nodded. "You know how to do it doggie style, right?"

Chandler was too stunned for words.

Joey kissed him and explained with a shrug, "It's like you said. I'm really a slut, you know?"

"I-I guess."

Joey had to make Chandler snap out of his astounded daze before they could get to having any sex that night.

***

Some nights Joey's date would sleep through the noisy activities in the next bedroom, and some nights the girl would wake up and discover them, usually being shocked and storming out of the apartment. But occasionally, just occasionally, the girl who discovered them together would be actually be turned on, and would be bold enough to suggest a threesome. Chandler found this shocking at first, but still very stimulating.

"Wow," Chandler remarked to Joey after the first time it happened. "I-I guess Chloe from the Xerox place wasn't our last chance to have a threesome."

Joey shrugged and curled up close to Chandler, trying to hide the jealousy he felt about Chandler enjoying the girl so much. He was starting to realize that he was falling in love with Chandler. If only Chandler would show some sign of feeling the same way! Joey wished he could say something, without sounding like some clinging housewife. He didn't want to just be sex buddies anymore. He didn't want to just be fun.

When Joey tried to cut back on dating, Chandler immediately noticed.

"Joe, you're not getting any girls lately. What's the matter?"

He shrugged. "I, um, I thought I'd take a break from them. Between you and them, I'm worn out."

"Aw, Joe, why didn't you say so? You don't have to sleep with me so much. I may be your pathetic roommate who rarely ever has a date, but that doesn't mean you have to take pity on me every night and spoil your fun."

Joey sighed and frowned. "It's--it's just more fun with you."

"What?"

"Yeah, I-I like you. I even let you f--" He saw Chandler wince at the word, so he used the euphemism that Chandler liked, "--Bing me."

Chandler still shook his head. "Yeah, but Joey, you *must* miss the girls."

"I've had girls. After a while, they're all the same."

Chandler looked incredulous, and somewhat resentful. "That's just because you've had so many of them! Fine, Joe, you get your rest for a while, but then go on and get some hot dates. I'll worry about you if all you have is me."

Joey gave up. He hoped that Chandler would see them as a couple someday. He hoped that, given enough time, Chandler would stop moaning about missing girls or confiding his secret crush on Monica, and just look at Joey differently.

***

One night, Joey came into Chandler's room again and crawled into the bed. He kissed Chandler awake and in the meantime, slid off his boxers.

"Joe?" He blinked sleepily. "Come on, you had plenty of fun with that girl already. Don't wear yourself out."

"No, I want you." He pulled off Chandler's shirt as well. "Come on, wake up."

Chandler sighed. "All right, all right."

Joey kissed him. "You wanna Bing me?"

Chandler laughed, then shrugged. "Nah, maybe... maybe, you do me this time."

"Really?" Joey asked. "It's--it's not just cause you're too tired?"

"No," Chandler shook his head. "I think I have to be awake for this, you know, since it's the first time." He smiled and remembered their first night together. "Come on, Joe, I want it all night."

Joey happily kissed him and got the condoms and lubricant from the night-stand.

As he made love to Chandler, Joey whispered, "You really like me, huh?"

"Yeah," he answered softly, his eyes closed.

"Tell me how much you like me, Chandler."

"Joey, look at what I'm letting you do to me!"

"Tell me." He needed to hear that he was loved.

Chandler shrugged. "We're friends, we're sleeping together, we're--Ohhh!"

Joey paused and prompted, "Chandler?"

He sighed and opened his eyes again. "Joe... you know I wouldn't let another guy do this, right?"

"Right." Joey settled for that and resumed his lovemaking.

In this aspect, at least, they were faithful to each other. Chandler was the only guy for him, and vice versa.