Chadron
Thanks once again for all the reviews! Not much to say in this AN other than:
Anhonestmoose - I realise it may seem a bit quickly, but believe me he is not over her just yet ;)
mercury3120 - Thanks for pointing it out, I actually had a doubt whether it was complainT or just complain. I'm from Chile, therefore my first language isn't english... so if anyone sees some kind of mistake like this and think it's worth mentioning, please do so :)
That's all, now read and enjoy!
Chapter 3: Meeting Again
"So, Chandler, do you like it here so far?" Phoebe, Joey's roommate, asked.
"Yeah, it's ok... better than what I thought it would be," he said as he cut his meat.
"Chandler, you still haven't explained to me why you actually moved here," Joey said. This seemed like an interrogatory, Chandler wished they would just stop asking and would talk about anything else, though he understood they were curious to know more about him since they had only met him a few days ago.
"I told you I just wanted a change of view," he explained, not really in the mood to tell them the truth, nor ready to talk about it to somebody else.
"Just like that?" Phoebe wondered. "I don't know, it seems weird someone would move from New York, a huge city, to Chadron, this really small place"
"Well, now you do"
"C'mon, man, we are your friends, you can talk to us,"Joey insisted and Chandler sighed.
"Come on, Joey, stop asking, he will tell us in his own time," Phoebe said in Chandler's defense as she started picking up the dishes.
"Thanks, Pheebs"
"Hey, tonight we have this thing at Ross's place," Joey said, finally changing the topic. "Do you want to come?"
"Who is Ross? And no thanks, I think I'm going to pass"
"Ross is this guy Phoebe met a few weeks ago while working, she massaged him a few times and they became friends, he is a pretty nice guy," Joey explained. "But come on Chandler, you could use meeting new people, it will help you feel more comfortable here"
"Joey is right, Chandler, just come with us, you will have a good time and if you don't you are free to go home at any time you like"
"Oh, thanks for the permission mom," this caused both Phoebe and Joey to laugh. "Fine, but seriously, the minute I want to leave I will"
"I bet you will end up not wanting to leave anyway, there are some hot chicks there," Joey said, grinning.
Chandler laughed. "Right, because that's all we need to have a good time"
"Of course!" The worse part was, Joey was being serious.
--
"I dont want to go!" Chandler whinned.
"Don't be such a baby, Chandler," Antonella said, hands on hips.
"But I've told you I hate crowded places," he said. "Plus, I would much rather stay here with you... alone," he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, seductively kissing her neck. Antonella smiled.
"Believe me I would too," she said as she kissed him on the cheek. "But she is my friend, I can't not go to her birthday"
"Yes you can, you just stay here and that's it"
"Come on Chandler, don't make this harder for me, please?" she begged as she gave him those begging eyes he couldn't resist.
"Ok, ok, let's go"
"Thank you sweetie!" she said happily as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him quickly on the lips.
--
"Phoebe, hi! Come in," a tall guy said as he kissed her cheek.
"Hi, Ross," Phoebe replied as she entered with Joey and Chandler following. "I brought Joey as I told you," Ross and Joey shook hands. "And this is our friend Chandler," she said as she pointed at Chandler who was silently looking around.
"Hi, nice to meet you, are you new around here?"
"Yeah," Chandler wondered how was it possible that everyone knew everyone around, because they immediately noticed he was new... Or maybe it was just too obvious.
"Well, welcome"
"Thanks"
"Feel at home, there's drinks over there, food over there and you can sit over there," Ross said while poiting at each place. "I'll see if everyone else is doing ok, see you guys around"
"Bye Ross," Phoebe said.
"I never pictured Ross hosting a party," Joey commented.
"Yeah, me neither, but he seems to be doing a pretty good job"
"To my surprise, yeah," Joey said and seconds later he spotted a hot girl. "See you guys later!"
Phoebe laughed and shook her head. "How can you live with him?" Chandler asked.
"Ah, you get used to it... eventually," Phoebe replied.
"It must take a while"
"Yeah, but it's worth it, in the end Joey is a pretty good guy," Phoebe said and smiled. "Oh, I see some friends there, feel at home Chandler, really, I'll be over there if you need anything"
"Ok, go ahead," he said as he walked over to a couch and sat down.
--
Chandler sighed. "I'm bored, your friends are boring"
Antonella smiled. "They are not! It's not their fault you don't enjoy funny parties"
Chandler made a face. "If this is what you call funny, we have a huge problem!"
Antonella playfully hit his arm. "Watch your mouth Bing, or you may get in big trouble"
Chandler faked a scared face. "Oh really? What are you going to do to me?"
She grinned. "You'll see," she said in a threatening tone.
"Uh, so I better watch out."
"You betcha," she said and smiled.
A few minutes later Chandler stood up. "Ok, I'm bored, let's dance"
Antonella looked at him. "Always so romantic to ask for such things"
Chandler laughed. "Better say yes before I change my mind"
"Oh, you wouldn't change your mind about that," she smiled. "Let's dance"
Antonella stood up and took his hand as they walked over to the dance area. As a slow song started playing they got closer to each other, holding their bodies tightly. "I love you, Anto," Chandler whispered into her ear.
"I love you too," she said as she leaned over to kiss him on the lips.
--
"The guy whose friend is all over Rachel, the waitress?" He quickly turned his head as he heard a woman's voice.
"Friends now, yeah," he replied shortly.
"Monica, from the restaurant?" she said, thinking he just didn't remember who she was.
"Yeah, yeah, I know"
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I interrupt you?"
"No, I was just... listening to the music," Chandler said, not wanting to explain the real reason why he had been so "lost", but suddenly realised there was no music on at the moment. "... In my head," he added later, prefering to look like an idiot than explaining he was having flashbacks.
Monica laughed. "Woman don't usually go near you or what?" Chandler decided not to answer. Monica cleared her throat. "So, what brings you here?" she asked.
"Joey and Phoebe," he replied shortly. "You?" he asked, trying to be polite more than actually being interested in knowing the answer. When he had last saw her, he had been thinking about her for a while and he felt really guilty, he didn't want that to happen again.
"You know Ross?" Chandler nodded. "He's my brother."
"Oh, really? That's nice"
"Yeah," Monica felt uncomfortable, she realised he really didn't want her by his side. "Well, I'm going to go, just wanted to say hi," she said as she stood up.
"No, wait," Chandler said, now feeling guilty for not treating her well when all she wanted was to be friendly towards him.
"What?"
"We have barely talked," he said. "So, are you close with your brother?" Chandler asked, trying to start a conversation so she would stay.
Monica returned and sat down next to him again. "Yeah, at least we are now. When we were young we wouldn't stop fighting over anything, but now we get along quite well. What about you, do you have any siblings?"
"No, I'm an only child," he explained.
"How do you get along with your parents?" she wondered, it must be boring to be an only child.
"I barely see them," he said, not feeling like talking about that either.
"Oh, how come?"
"Just... work keeps them busy, it has always been like that"
"That sucks," Monica said.
"Yeah... well, at first it did, after a while you just get used to it."
"Yeah, I don't know if I would rather keep seeing my mother or not see her often"
"Why?"
"Well, let's just say we don't have the best relationship. Ross is like the perfect son, and I'm the daughter she wished she never had," she explained sadly.
"I'm sure it's not like that," Chandler offered.
"Believe me it is. If you only saw her one minute with me you would realise what I'm talking about." She said, but decided to change the subject. "So what are you doing here? Working somewhere?"
"Actually, I'm not working right now, and I don't know if I will any time soon"
"Why?"
"Well, I don't know if they actually have a place for me to work here"
"What do you do?"
"I mainly work with the WENUS"
Monica bursted out laughing "The what?!" she asked surprised.
Chandler chuckled, it wasn't the first time he had gotten this reaction. "The Weekly Estimated Net Usage Statistics"
--
"I work as a store manager, what about you?"
Chandler prepeared himself for her reaction. "I work with the WENUS"
She looked serious. "Chandler! We barely know each other, how can you already start making comments like that?!" she asked in an angry tone.
"I-well, you see, th-the WENUS..." and as he tried to explain she started laughing like crazy.
"Gotcha! Yeah, I know, the Weekly Estimated Net Usage Statistics," she said, which left Chandler with his mouth open. She was the first person in the whole world he knew who understood what it meant without working in his company.
He smiled. "You really got me"
She grinned. "I know... You should have seen your face"
--
"Had you been in Nebraska before?" Monica asked him.
"Yeah, I went to Lexington once"
"Anything to do with your WENUS?"
Chandler laughed. "No, just vacation, I came with my wife to--" he suddenly stopped.
"Your wife?" she looked dissapointed and her eyes immediately wondered to his hand but saw no ring.
"I..."
"You are married?"
"No, actually I..."
"Where is she if you moved here? You got divorced?"
Each question was making it worse, each question was making him feel worse, he had to get out of there, run away from all the questions she was shooting, he needed to be alone.
"I have to go," he suddenly said and immediately got up. "If you see Phoebe or Joey tell them I left already," and with that he took his coat and left as fast as possible, leaving Monica as confused as ever.
*
"Where's Chandler?" Phoebe asked Joey while scanning the room.
"I don't know, maybe he got bored and left."
"And he didn't even tell us?" Just then Monica appeared.
"Hi, I'm Monica, Ross's sister... Just wanted to let you know that Chandler left a few minutes ago," she said, feeling a bit guilty.
"Nice to meet you, Monica," Phoebe said, Joey just waved shyly, remembering she was the Monica from the restaurant. "Was he bored?"
"I don't know, we were talking and I mentioned something, he freaked out and just left."
"What did you tell him?"
"We were talking and he suddenly mentioned his wife, and I asked where she was and then he left."
"He is married?" Phoebe asked, confused.
"It seemed that way, or divorced, I don't know, he didn't have a ring on his finger."
"That's weird, he never mentioned anything to me about it," Joey said.
"Neither to me," Phoebe said.
"You think she cheated on him, they got divorced and that's why he hasn't talked about her all this time?"
"Joey!" Phoebe said. "Have a little heart," she said, finding the comment a little mean.
"Fine, sorry," he apologized, wondering what was the whole mystery with Chandler. Phoebe and Monica were doing the exact same thing.
*
Chandler layed on his bed, looking up at the ceiling.
"I miss you," he whispered to the silent night, as tears started running down his cheeks. "Everything would be so much easier if you were still here," he said as he closed his eyes tightly.
--
"I thought I was never going to find you," Chandler said breathless, he had ran over 25 blocks to find her.
"Relax honey," Antonella said as she placed her hand on his cheek. "I just needed sometime alone to think"
"I'm sorry," Chandler said. "I'm sorry, I promise I'll never make you mad again, but please don't leave me"
Antonella smiled. "Chandler, please relax, I'm never going to leave you, ever..."
--
"You promised," he said angrily, as if anyone could hear him. "You promised you would never leave me! Then why did you?!" he yelled angrily into the night, though deep inside he knew it hadn't been her fault.
To Be Continued...
That's it for part 3. And I swear I had never written so many chapters in such short period, but I guess I'm kind of inspired. Anyway, please keep reviewing or the inspiration may go away! :) I hope you liked it.
Thanks once again for all the reviews! Not much to say in this AN other than:
Anhonestmoose - I realise it may seem a bit quickly, but believe me he is not over her just yet ;)
mercury3120 - Thanks for pointing it out, I actually had a doubt whether it was complainT or just complain. I'm from Chile, therefore my first language isn't english... so if anyone sees some kind of mistake like this and think it's worth mentioning, please do so :)
That's all, now read and enjoy!
Chapter 3: Meeting Again
"So, Chandler, do you like it here so far?" Phoebe, Joey's roommate, asked.
"Yeah, it's ok... better than what I thought it would be," he said as he cut his meat.
"Chandler, you still haven't explained to me why you actually moved here," Joey said. This seemed like an interrogatory, Chandler wished they would just stop asking and would talk about anything else, though he understood they were curious to know more about him since they had only met him a few days ago.
"I told you I just wanted a change of view," he explained, not really in the mood to tell them the truth, nor ready to talk about it to somebody else.
"Just like that?" Phoebe wondered. "I don't know, it seems weird someone would move from New York, a huge city, to Chadron, this really small place"
"Well, now you do"
"C'mon, man, we are your friends, you can talk to us,"Joey insisted and Chandler sighed.
"Come on, Joey, stop asking, he will tell us in his own time," Phoebe said in Chandler's defense as she started picking up the dishes.
"Thanks, Pheebs"
"Hey, tonight we have this thing at Ross's place," Joey said, finally changing the topic. "Do you want to come?"
"Who is Ross? And no thanks, I think I'm going to pass"
"Ross is this guy Phoebe met a few weeks ago while working, she massaged him a few times and they became friends, he is a pretty nice guy," Joey explained. "But come on Chandler, you could use meeting new people, it will help you feel more comfortable here"
"Joey is right, Chandler, just come with us, you will have a good time and if you don't you are free to go home at any time you like"
"Oh, thanks for the permission mom," this caused both Phoebe and Joey to laugh. "Fine, but seriously, the minute I want to leave I will"
"I bet you will end up not wanting to leave anyway, there are some hot chicks there," Joey said, grinning.
Chandler laughed. "Right, because that's all we need to have a good time"
"Of course!" The worse part was, Joey was being serious.
--
"I dont want to go!" Chandler whinned.
"Don't be such a baby, Chandler," Antonella said, hands on hips.
"But I've told you I hate crowded places," he said. "Plus, I would much rather stay here with you... alone," he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, seductively kissing her neck. Antonella smiled.
"Believe me I would too," she said as she kissed him on the cheek. "But she is my friend, I can't not go to her birthday"
"Yes you can, you just stay here and that's it"
"Come on Chandler, don't make this harder for me, please?" she begged as she gave him those begging eyes he couldn't resist.
"Ok, ok, let's go"
"Thank you sweetie!" she said happily as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him quickly on the lips.
--
"Phoebe, hi! Come in," a tall guy said as he kissed her cheek.
"Hi, Ross," Phoebe replied as she entered with Joey and Chandler following. "I brought Joey as I told you," Ross and Joey shook hands. "And this is our friend Chandler," she said as she pointed at Chandler who was silently looking around.
"Hi, nice to meet you, are you new around here?"
"Yeah," Chandler wondered how was it possible that everyone knew everyone around, because they immediately noticed he was new... Or maybe it was just too obvious.
"Well, welcome"
"Thanks"
"Feel at home, there's drinks over there, food over there and you can sit over there," Ross said while poiting at each place. "I'll see if everyone else is doing ok, see you guys around"
"Bye Ross," Phoebe said.
"I never pictured Ross hosting a party," Joey commented.
"Yeah, me neither, but he seems to be doing a pretty good job"
"To my surprise, yeah," Joey said and seconds later he spotted a hot girl. "See you guys later!"
Phoebe laughed and shook her head. "How can you live with him?" Chandler asked.
"Ah, you get used to it... eventually," Phoebe replied.
"It must take a while"
"Yeah, but it's worth it, in the end Joey is a pretty good guy," Phoebe said and smiled. "Oh, I see some friends there, feel at home Chandler, really, I'll be over there if you need anything"
"Ok, go ahead," he said as he walked over to a couch and sat down.
--
Chandler sighed. "I'm bored, your friends are boring"
Antonella smiled. "They are not! It's not their fault you don't enjoy funny parties"
Chandler made a face. "If this is what you call funny, we have a huge problem!"
Antonella playfully hit his arm. "Watch your mouth Bing, or you may get in big trouble"
Chandler faked a scared face. "Oh really? What are you going to do to me?"
She grinned. "You'll see," she said in a threatening tone.
"Uh, so I better watch out."
"You betcha," she said and smiled.
A few minutes later Chandler stood up. "Ok, I'm bored, let's dance"
Antonella looked at him. "Always so romantic to ask for such things"
Chandler laughed. "Better say yes before I change my mind"
"Oh, you wouldn't change your mind about that," she smiled. "Let's dance"
Antonella stood up and took his hand as they walked over to the dance area. As a slow song started playing they got closer to each other, holding their bodies tightly. "I love you, Anto," Chandler whispered into her ear.
"I love you too," she said as she leaned over to kiss him on the lips.
--
"The guy whose friend is all over Rachel, the waitress?" He quickly turned his head as he heard a woman's voice.
"Friends now, yeah," he replied shortly.
"Monica, from the restaurant?" she said, thinking he just didn't remember who she was.
"Yeah, yeah, I know"
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I interrupt you?"
"No, I was just... listening to the music," Chandler said, not wanting to explain the real reason why he had been so "lost", but suddenly realised there was no music on at the moment. "... In my head," he added later, prefering to look like an idiot than explaining he was having flashbacks.
Monica laughed. "Woman don't usually go near you or what?" Chandler decided not to answer. Monica cleared her throat. "So, what brings you here?" she asked.
"Joey and Phoebe," he replied shortly. "You?" he asked, trying to be polite more than actually being interested in knowing the answer. When he had last saw her, he had been thinking about her for a while and he felt really guilty, he didn't want that to happen again.
"You know Ross?" Chandler nodded. "He's my brother."
"Oh, really? That's nice"
"Yeah," Monica felt uncomfortable, she realised he really didn't want her by his side. "Well, I'm going to go, just wanted to say hi," she said as she stood up.
"No, wait," Chandler said, now feeling guilty for not treating her well when all she wanted was to be friendly towards him.
"What?"
"We have barely talked," he said. "So, are you close with your brother?" Chandler asked, trying to start a conversation so she would stay.
Monica returned and sat down next to him again. "Yeah, at least we are now. When we were young we wouldn't stop fighting over anything, but now we get along quite well. What about you, do you have any siblings?"
"No, I'm an only child," he explained.
"How do you get along with your parents?" she wondered, it must be boring to be an only child.
"I barely see them," he said, not feeling like talking about that either.
"Oh, how come?"
"Just... work keeps them busy, it has always been like that"
"That sucks," Monica said.
"Yeah... well, at first it did, after a while you just get used to it."
"Yeah, I don't know if I would rather keep seeing my mother or not see her often"
"Why?"
"Well, let's just say we don't have the best relationship. Ross is like the perfect son, and I'm the daughter she wished she never had," she explained sadly.
"I'm sure it's not like that," Chandler offered.
"Believe me it is. If you only saw her one minute with me you would realise what I'm talking about." She said, but decided to change the subject. "So what are you doing here? Working somewhere?"
"Actually, I'm not working right now, and I don't know if I will any time soon"
"Why?"
"Well, I don't know if they actually have a place for me to work here"
"What do you do?"
"I mainly work with the WENUS"
Monica bursted out laughing "The what?!" she asked surprised.
Chandler chuckled, it wasn't the first time he had gotten this reaction. "The Weekly Estimated Net Usage Statistics"
--
"I work as a store manager, what about you?"
Chandler prepeared himself for her reaction. "I work with the WENUS"
She looked serious. "Chandler! We barely know each other, how can you already start making comments like that?!" she asked in an angry tone.
"I-well, you see, th-the WENUS..." and as he tried to explain she started laughing like crazy.
"Gotcha! Yeah, I know, the Weekly Estimated Net Usage Statistics," she said, which left Chandler with his mouth open. She was the first person in the whole world he knew who understood what it meant without working in his company.
He smiled. "You really got me"
She grinned. "I know... You should have seen your face"
--
"Had you been in Nebraska before?" Monica asked him.
"Yeah, I went to Lexington once"
"Anything to do with your WENUS?"
Chandler laughed. "No, just vacation, I came with my wife to--" he suddenly stopped.
"Your wife?" she looked dissapointed and her eyes immediately wondered to his hand but saw no ring.
"I..."
"You are married?"
"No, actually I..."
"Where is she if you moved here? You got divorced?"
Each question was making it worse, each question was making him feel worse, he had to get out of there, run away from all the questions she was shooting, he needed to be alone.
"I have to go," he suddenly said and immediately got up. "If you see Phoebe or Joey tell them I left already," and with that he took his coat and left as fast as possible, leaving Monica as confused as ever.
*
"Where's Chandler?" Phoebe asked Joey while scanning the room.
"I don't know, maybe he got bored and left."
"And he didn't even tell us?" Just then Monica appeared.
"Hi, I'm Monica, Ross's sister... Just wanted to let you know that Chandler left a few minutes ago," she said, feeling a bit guilty.
"Nice to meet you, Monica," Phoebe said, Joey just waved shyly, remembering she was the Monica from the restaurant. "Was he bored?"
"I don't know, we were talking and I mentioned something, he freaked out and just left."
"What did you tell him?"
"We were talking and he suddenly mentioned his wife, and I asked where she was and then he left."
"He is married?" Phoebe asked, confused.
"It seemed that way, or divorced, I don't know, he didn't have a ring on his finger."
"That's weird, he never mentioned anything to me about it," Joey said.
"Neither to me," Phoebe said.
"You think she cheated on him, they got divorced and that's why he hasn't talked about her all this time?"
"Joey!" Phoebe said. "Have a little heart," she said, finding the comment a little mean.
"Fine, sorry," he apologized, wondering what was the whole mystery with Chandler. Phoebe and Monica were doing the exact same thing.
*
Chandler layed on his bed, looking up at the ceiling.
"I miss you," he whispered to the silent night, as tears started running down his cheeks. "Everything would be so much easier if you were still here," he said as he closed his eyes tightly.
--
"I thought I was never going to find you," Chandler said breathless, he had ran over 25 blocks to find her.
"Relax honey," Antonella said as she placed her hand on his cheek. "I just needed sometime alone to think"
"I'm sorry," Chandler said. "I'm sorry, I promise I'll never make you mad again, but please don't leave me"
Antonella smiled. "Chandler, please relax, I'm never going to leave you, ever..."
--
"You promised," he said angrily, as if anyone could hear him. "You promised you would never leave me! Then why did you?!" he yelled angrily into the night, though deep inside he knew it hadn't been her fault.
To Be Continued...
That's it for part 3. And I swear I had never written so many chapters in such short period, but I guess I'm kind of inspired. Anyway, please keep reviewing or the inspiration may go away! :) I hope you liked it.
