Joey stood there, listening to Chandler sobbing beyond the door and feeling terrible. After a moment's hesitation, Joey unlocked the door and pulled it open.

Chandler fell backwards into his apartment, and they were all startled.

Kneeling down, Joey pushed Carol and Susan away and pulled Chandler into his arms. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Chandler was confused and worried, having hoped that Joey wasn't home. "Did you, did you hear all that?"

Joey nodded and repeated, "I'm sorry. It's my fault. I'm so sorry." He kissed Chandler's cheek and held him close.

Chandler didn't know what to say, but he clung to Joey and his tears subsided.

Susan asked, "What exactly are you sorry about, Joey? Kissing him? Denying it? Telling him it didn't mean anything?"

Joey shrugged and looked uncertain. "I guess... I guess everything. Um, what you guys said in the hall--I was afraid and pretending it wasn't me? Could you tell me some more?"

"Sure, Joey." Carol smiled and glanced at Susan cheerfully. "Come on, why don't we all go sit down in the living room and talk this over?"

"Okay." Joey slowly stood up with Chandler, while Susan shut the door, then they all went to sit on the yellow couch.

Joey kept his arm around Chandler, who sat close and looked adoringly at him. Was his love was returned after all?

Susan cleared her throat and began the discussion, "So, Joey, what do you want to know?"

Joey shrugged. "Um, well... Like, how come you guys were so certain that I wasn't straight? I mean, I didn't know myself, and I'm still really confused."

"Well, that's completely understandable, Joey. It's just, that line you used--I was drunk when I did it, so it didn't mean anything--it's the oldest excuse in the book."

Carol nodded, "Yeah. A lot of times, true feelings come out when you're drunk and uninhibited. Plus, if it was really only the alcohol that made you kiss Chandler, then why'd you purposely avoid getting drunk? It's like you already knew what you'd do if you did get drunk."

Joey sighed. "Yeah, I kissed him at New Year's, you know, and sometimes at parties after that, I thought about kissing him again. I told myself it was just the beer, though."

Susan folded her arms knowingly, "Well, beer can only be blamed so many times before the repetition has to mean something."

"I guess so." He turned to Chandler and confessed, "I-I've never kissed a guy like that before. Not even auditioning for some movie. It was weird and scary, and you were engaged and everything. It was too much."

Chandler hugged him. "I didn't mean to scare you, Joe. I just--God, I wanted you to keep kissing me. And I didn't want to be with Monica anymore. Just you."

"Chandler..." Joey sighed and gazed into his eyes, then he leaned close and kissed him softly.

Chandler responded wholeheartedly.

Then Joey sat back and asked Carol and Susan, "Does this mean I'm gay too?"

Carol answered with a shrug, "Maybe. Or you could be bisexual, and repressing part of your desires. We'd have to do some exploring to figure it out for sure."

Susan added, "We have some books on coming out that might help you guys, and there's always the support groups that we were telling Chandler about today. One thing's certain at least--you're not just two straight friends."

"No, we aren't," Joey admitted. He looked at Chandler and hugged him remorsefully, "I'm sorry I said that stuff to you. That I hurt you and blamed you. I-I never even slept with Amber again. I just couldn't do it, not after our kiss."

"You couldn't?" Chandler was touched, and laid his head on Joey's shoulder. "I mean something to you?"

Joey nodded and wondered whether it was wise to tell Chandler about his other attempts at sleeping with women lately. Maybe later, in private. "You--you mean everything to me, Chandler. If I ever lost you--even as just as a friend--"

"Me too." Chandler sighed and clung to him, remembering happily how he and Joey had discussed their future together. They both wanted to stay in each other's lives no matter what--whether the obstacle was Monica, or the distance from New York to L.A.

Carol and Susan smiled smugly, seeing that their suspicions were right after all; these two were in love. Susan asked, "Do you guys want us to go and leave you two alone?"

"Wait, um..." Joey frowned. "How come I slept with all those girls before? I thought I liked them."

"Sure, you could have genuinely liked them," Carol said. "Or, if you're gay like Chandler, you could have just been that deep in the closet. Chandler's had girlfriends too, and I was married to Ross for years before I came out. It happens."

Susan nodded. "And the fact that you never settled down in a serious relationship could mean something too, Joey. It's like, you had to prove to yourself all the time that you were *so* straight, and you hated any part of you that wasn't. Or you wanted to keep up a macho reputation for other people, but still never have to keep a girl for long."

"Yeah," Carol said. "I mean, you grew up in a Catholic family, Joey, and you knew that your parents would expect you to settle down and get married. This way, you could put things off indefinitely and never have them be suspicious."

Joey considered that. "Yeah, that makes sense, I guess."

Susan shrugged. "Well, you'll know better once you have a chance to do some soul searching. You and Chandler should go to the support groups together. Talk stuff out. It'll be good for both of you. Oh, and maybe you'd like to contact Chandler's dad too."

"Really?" Chandler asked, not entirely convinced despite their earlier efforts to persuade him on that subject.

Susan rolled her eyes. "It doesn't mean that you have to move to Vegas and dress in drag!"

Joey blinked and laughed at the absurd image. "That would be weird, huh?"

"Yeah," Chandler said and kissed Joey again. At least Joey didn't expect him to follow exactly in Mr. Bing's footsteps. Chandler had decided that he wanted to loved and accepted the way he was already.

Carol glanced at her watch. "Oh, we're gonna have to go now. We've already spent way too much time today dragging all the details out of Chandler and arguing our way over here."

Susan got up too. "Yeah, the babysitter's expecting us any minute now. Just call us if you need anything else or want to talk for a bit, okay? Bye."

The guys said goodbye too and waved to them as they left.

Then Chandler asked Joey, "You really didn't sleep with Amber?"

"No. Not last night."

"Then where were you all night?"

"I went back to my boat and thought about you a lot. But I-I still didn't want to think that I could be gay yet. It wasn't until I heard you crying that I realized how much I ached to hold you and kiss you again."

Chandler kissed him and sighed. "Oh, Joe, I love you." But then he grew anxious. "I mean, um--I shouldn't have said that again. I don't want to scare you--"

Joey shook his head and kissed him back. "You're--you're not scaring me. Not anymore." They embraced and leaned back against the couch, kissing each other over and over.

The chick and the duck were pleased to see their owners together at last, and they clucked happily and flapped their wings in celebration.