A/N - Again, thanks for your reviews. This chapter is a little shorter than the others, but it's better than the last one, I think. Okay... Let's see what's goin' on...

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There You Are

Chapter Five

"Joey?" Monica said quietly when she saw who had answered the door. He looked just as shocked as she felt.

"Monica?" he said, staring at her. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I, um... I'm supposed to be meeting someone. Chandler Bing. This is apartment fourteen, right?" she asked, looking at the number on the door again.

"Yeah. Yeah, it is. Chandler's here. Um... Come in, I guess," he said, motioning for her to enter the apartment.

"Hey, Monica," Chandler smiled when he saw her enter the living room, followed by Joey. "I see you two have met."

"Yeah, we've met all right," Joey said quietly.

It was then that Chandler noticed how pale Monica looked. "Monica? Are you okay?" he asked worriedly as he guided her over to a recliner.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said after a brief pause. "Just fine," she lied.

Chandler looked from Monica to Joey, noticing that they both seemed a little out of it. "Do you two know each other?" he asked. He knew that there was a pretty good chance that Joey knew every woman within a hundred mile radius. The thought that Monica might be one of Joey's many conquests had never crossed his mind - until now.

"You could say that," Joey answered nervously.

"Monica? What's going on?" Chandler asked.

She looked up at him, then at Joey, then back to Chandler. "Joey is, um... He's Emily's father," she said quietly.

Chandler's eyes widened and he took a step back so he could fall into the other recliner. "Oh boy," he said quietly. "Oh boy," he repeated, putting his head in his hands. After a few seconds of unnerving silence, he looked up at Joey and then over at Monica, opening his mouth to speak. It was then that he realized he had absolutely no idea what to say.

Joey decided to break the silence. "Emily? A girl?" he asked simply.

"Yeah. A girl," Monica answered. After another brief lull in the conversation, she spoke again. "Maybe I should just go. I had no idea you would be here," she said, looking at Joey. She touched Chandler's arm lightly as she started to speak to him. "And you probably need some time to take this in, Chandler."

"I, um... No. I mean... I don't know," Chandler stuttered. "Maybe I should go. Because I'm not sure I can stop myself from doing what I'm thinking about doing to you, Joey," he said, glaring at his friend. "And, believe me, what I'm thinking about would not be good for your career. Actors shouldn't have broken noses and black eyes."

"Chandler, don't," Monica said quietly. "Don't do anything stupid. You'll regret it later."

"Did you regret it?" Joey asked, referring to their little fling.

"Do I regret having my baby?" she said. "Absolutely not," she answered firmly. "Do I regret making a foolish decision that altered the way I thought my life would go? Sometimes, yeah."

"Maybe she wouldn't regret it if the father of her baby hadn't thrown his hands up and taken absolutely no responsibility for what he'd done," Chandler said, glaring at Joey. "Maybe the father of her baby should have done something to support his kid. Maybe I always knew you were gonna do something stupid like this. It was bound to happen someday," Chandler said angrily.

"Excuse me, Mr. Know-It-All, but I don't think this is any of your business," Joey retorted.

"Oh yeah? Well, unlike you, I've seen your little girl. No. I've seen Monica's little girl. And what are people going to tell her one day when she asks about her father? 'Oh, sorry, kid. Your dad was the love 'em and leave 'em type and he didn't care to stick around to help your mother out. He was a big baby himself when you were born.'"

"Guys, I'm leaving," Monica interrupted, standing up to leave. "I can't listen to this," she said as she walked toward the door.

"No, Monica, don't go," Chandler called, following after her.

"I have to," she replied. "I can't do this right now... Call me tonight," she called as she exited the apartment.

Chandler turned back to face Joey. "I'd run, if I were you. In any other situation, you could probably beat me to death before I could get in a punch. But, right now, I am so disgusted with you that one clenched fist in your face would knock you out for a good hour or so."

"Don't be stupid. I -"

"Stupid?! You wanna talk about stupid?! Okay, let's talk about stupid. Hey, Joe, how stupid was it for you to tell that amazing woman that you didn't want to have anything to do with her or her baby? How stupid was it for you to act like the biggest baby in the world and run away when things got tough? How stupid was it for you to not take responsibility for what you did to her life? Huh? Is that enough? I could go on, if you want. Because, trust me, you've done a lot of stupid things."

"I'm sorry, okay? Is that what you want me to say?" Joey asked. "That wasn't supposed to happen. It was a mistake."

"A mistake? That beautiful little girl was a mistake? Choose your words carefully, Joe, because I'm not too happy with you right now," Chandler replied angrily.

"And I'm supposed to care what you think of me? It's my life, not yours. What would you do, Chandler? What would you say if a woman came to you weeks after your little fling was over and told you that she was pregnant? Huh? Would you stick around? Would you be happy about it?" Joey retorted.

"I would freak out about it, but -"

"See? You would have freaked out. That's what happened," Joey interrupted.

"But," Chandler continued, "I wouldn't tell her that I never wanted to see her or the baby. I would own up to my actions, Joey. This was over four years ago. Do you have any idea what Monica and her daughter have been through because of you?"

"I don't know... I never really thought about it," Joey admitted.

"Well, maybe you should have thought about it," Chandler said angrily before walking out the door of the apartment.

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A/N - Yes, Joey is the father. I didn't think I could do it, but I did. I almost made Joey the father of Monica's baby in another one of my stories, but I chickened out. That one was awful, by the way. Anyway... Please let me know what you thought.