~* Hello all! I hope that everyone's summer is going good. Mine, thus far, is fantastic! Okay, well, I wanted to finish this because I'm going to the beach this week and then San Francisco the week after, and so I won't be back for awhile (unless I can find myself a computer somehow. I'm going to try!). So please tell me what you thought of it, and have a wonderful two weeks!~*

Disclaimer: Oh, right, so I don't really own them, I'm just using them. If I did own them I'd be a millionaire, and I'm really....well, I'm not.

Chandler didn't go home right away. Instead, he walked around the city. It was too soon. He shouldn't have done that. Why had he done that? He shouldn't have. His mind spun with questions that no one but her could answer. Had he screwed everything up forever? Was this fixable? The way that she had just ran from the restaurant. The look in her eyes when she told him it was too soon and ran from him. He wondered if she went straight home either. Did his friends know? He found a bench and sat down in the park. The park, far from it's usual frightening state at night, looked peaceful that night. Maybe it was the start of summer that was contributing to it. He always loved summer, and not only during his years of school. He could see a young college age couple walking out of the park.

"I hate the park at night," the girl said shivering as the boy slipped his arm around her.

"Don't worry I'll keep you safe," he grinned suggestively. She mocked glared at him and pushed him away. It will get so much harder, he wanted to shout at them. It's easy now, but it won't stay easy. Everything will get twisted. Somewhere along the way everything will change. He finally stood up and made his way back to his apartment. He opened the door and dropped the keys into the bowl on the counter and sat down in the Barcalounger and leaned his head back. He sighed and closed his eyes. It was a mess, everything was a mess, including his life at that point. His relationship with Monica was officially in shambles. What was he thinking? She had been upset just earlier about Tom and how much she missed him. Why had he thought that it was a good time to kiss? Hey Mon, I know that you're upset over the death of your husband, but would your tongue like to play hockey with mine? He hit himself in the head. He was an idiot. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot. He stayed like that for awhile, and when he finally opened his eyes, he heard the knock on the door.

"Did you forget your keys again Joe?" He called standing up to let his roommate in. There was no answer. No "Sorry Chandler," from the other side. He glanced out the peephole and to his surprise. It wasn't Joey. It was Monica standing there.

"Monica?"

"Hi Chandler." She bit her bottom lip. She had gone all the way home and not been able to open the door to let herself into her apartment. So she turned back and went to the restaurant, but of course he was gone. It was crazy of her to think that he would have just sat there. So she walked around the park for a little while and then went to his apartment to see if he had gone home.

"What are you doing here?" It came out a little crueler than he had hoped and her face fell. "I didn't mean it like that Monica." He rubbed his hand over his face. Idiot. Idiot.

"I just came to...." She trailed off.

"What?"

"I just...Can I come in?"

"Oh, yeah," he moved aside to let her in and she stood in the middle of the kitchen not moving. She was playing with the strap on her purse. He closed the door behind her and offered a small smile. "Would you like to sit?"

"Sure," she said and took a seat on the chair. She glanced around the familiar apartment.

"Hasn't changed very much," he commented noting her looking around.

"No," at this she offered a smile of her own. "It hasn't." It was funny to her how her life could have changed so dramatically and his was almost exactly the same. Well, not entirely the same. She wasn't across the hall anymore, Phoebe and Rachel were.

"So what did you want to talk about?" His voice shook her out of her reverie and she looked up at him.

"I just...I wanted to apologize." She was apologizing? He had been the idiot.

"Why you? I was the idiot, I shouldn't have kissed you. It was too soon."

"It's been almost a year."

"Yeah, but...."

"I can't grieve forever," she stated matter-of-factly. There was no emotion in her voice but he could see the beginnings of tears in her eyes.

"But Monica, you can grieve for more than a year."

"I shut down and my life passed me by. My daughter still grew up, and life went on. And I don't want to shut down again. I don't want to be like that ever again."

"You don't have to."

"Well, see, if I let you....I've always had a little crush on you Chandler." She had a crush on him? He wanted to be like the cartoon characters and clean his ears to see if he had heard right.

"Really?" Oh God, he sounded like a teenager who was asked out by the head cheerleader.

"Yes really."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"Well, I didn't know that."

"Chandler."

"What?"

"I want to...I guess what I'm trying to say is that...."

"Yes?"

"I would very much like it if we could start to date."

"Slowly."

"Very slowly." Their eyes met each other's and for the first time that night, honest, real, and very large smiles appeared on both their faces.

"I think I can do that."

"You think?" He moved closer to her and cupped her face in his hand.

"Definitely." They kissed softly and this time she didn't pull away and run. This time she stayed put.

After an hour, Monica pulled away from his arms.

"I have to go."

"Why?"

"Because I have to get home to Lydia."

"Right." He gave her one more kiss and helped her to her feet.

"I'll call you later."

"You'd better." He walked to her down to the street and saw her into a cab and then went back up to his apartment whistling the entire way up. His life was coming back together. Albeit with Elmer's glue and tape, but it was coming back together. He laughed softly to himself and opened the door and stepped inside. Yes, life was certainly good now. Most definitely.

~*That's the end folks. Drop me a note saying if you liked it or hated the ending (I'll admit it was a little rushed, I'm supposed to be packing, and I just really wanted to finish it). But please tell me. Thanks!*~