Chadron

As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed, it's greatly appreciated. I know I didn't write this chapter in a while, but I was full with tests and didn't have much time to do so, let's hope it doesn't happen again.

Exintaris - Thanks for the correction, I've always been confused about that and I normally get it wrong, so thanks for telling me, and I hope I remember it from now on. And no, there was no reference to Monica's boyfriend until the last chapter.

Oh, and if anyone is willing to help me with html codes I would appreciate it. I tried to work with them on the last fanfic but nothing came out, so I don't know what to do.

Nothing else to say, other than: enjoy!

Chapter 5: A Promise is a Promise

"So... Lately I haven't seen much of you," Jack, Monica's boyfriend, said to her as they watched a movie.

"Yeah, I know, lately the restaurant has been really busy," she explained.

"It's not only that."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, since you met those friends of yours you haven't paid much attention to me."

Monica looked at him, "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that you're leaving me a little out," he said.

"Well, but they are my friends, I have the right to hang out with them, right?" Monica asked, feeling that his 'excuse' was stupid.

"Just as much right as I have to hang out with you," Jack replied.

"Well, we are hanging out right now, aren't we?"

"Right, after not seeing each other for like 3 days!"

"I told you I've been busy," Monica repeated.

"When was the last time you saw them?"

"Yesterday..."

Jack nodded, "Exactly my point."

"But what do you want me to do? Stop seeing them just to see you?"

"No, I don't want you to stop seeing them, but as a priority I think you should try and see me more often."

"If it's so important to you, then why don't you come and hang out with us?" Monica asked.

"Because I don't like them," he said, "That Phoebe girl is a freak, and Joey is just way too dumb."

"Sorry if my friends aren't good enough for you," Monica said, irritated, "But they are good enough for me. Inspite of their weirdness and whatever you see in them, they are good people, too bad you can't see that," Monica stood up.

"Look, I don't care who your friends are, I'm just asking for a little cooperation here so that we can see each other more often!"

"If it's so important to you, I don't see why you can't sacrifice being with them to be with me."

"Why should I be the one to change?!" Jack asked, mad.

"Because you are the one interested in seeing me more often!"

"Oh, so you are not interested in seeing *me* more often?"

"Well, I..." Monica sighed, "Yes I am, but I'm not interested in not seeing my friends!"

"I'm not asking you to stop, ok? All I'm asking is for you to at least show on time instead of an hour later because you were having too much fun with them!"

"Ugh, look, I'm too tired for this, I told you I'm not going to stop seeing them, not even a little bit, so if you want things to change, you will have to start hanging out with them!" Monica replied, angry at him for not liking her friends.

"I won't, I won't start hanging out with some freaks," he said.

"Then you will have to get used to this."

"I won't."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"Nothing, I'm not going to get used to anything, because this is over!" Jack said, as he stood up and picked up his coat.

"Wh-what?"

"What you heard, Monica."

"You are going to end things just because of this?!"

"I don't see what's the big deal," he said sarcastically, "if you can't even arrange your schedule to see me more often, you won't mind not seeing me at all."

"Fine. You know what? Do whatever you want!" She yelled, knowing it really wasn't fine.

"And that's what I will do!" he headed towards the door and opened it, "Good bye, Monica."

She didn't reply as he closed the door behind him. She sat down on the couch and stared at the TV screen, still not believing what had just happened.

*

The next day Chandler walked down the main street, looking around at the stores and enjoying the warm day. Every now and then he said hi to people he had seen more than once around Chadron.

--

Chandler looked around, trying to find Antonella through the crowded beach. Suddenly, he felt her hands cover his eyes.

"Guess who," she whispered into his ear.

"Umm, lemme guess..." he said as he took her hands away from his eyes and turned around, kissing her shortly on the lips, "Where have you been? I was looking for you."

"I noticed," she said, "I told you I was going to be near the lifeguard."

Chandler looked around, "I can see like 3 of them at once."

"You just had to use your brain, I was going to be near the hottest one... I need to provide some good bodies to my sight."

Chandler looked at his shirtless self, "What? Am I not good enough for you?" he said as he pointed at himself.

She looked at him, "Umm, you could work out a little more, couldn't hurt to have some nice abs," she said jokingly.

"Hey, you said you liked my stomach," he faked a sad look, "I guess I'm going to have to start working out to make my wife happy."

"No, no, I don't want you to be Mr. Muscle Head."

He laughed, "Fine, you miss it, I was actually going to do it."

She smiled, "I appreciate it, but I like you just the way you are."

"And I love you just the way you are."

She grinned and kissed his cheek, "Love, that's it."

--

"Hey Rach, is Monica in there?" Chandler asked the waitress he had seen more than once already.

"Yeah, she's in there, but let me warn you she is not in her best mood, so you better be careful," she said.

"What's wrong?"

Rachel shrugged, "I don't know, she says it's nothing everytime I ask her what's wrong."

"Ok, thanks," he said as he entered the kitchen, wondering what was wrong with her. "Mon? Hi."

Monica turned around when he heard his voice, she had a sad look, as well as a tired one. "Hi..." she said softly.

"Mon, what's wrong?" he wondered.

"Nothing, why?"

He chuckled, "Why? Because look at you!"

"Gee, thanks Chandler."

"Sorry," he said gently as he took her hands and walked her over to the corner of the kitchen, "C'mon, tell me what's wrong."

She looked up at him and as she was going to tell him about the fight her eyes got teary and she looked away. "It's nothing, really."

He took her coat from the hanger and looked at another chef who was passing by, "Monica is going to be gone for the rest of the day," he told her.

"What? No Chandler, I have to work," Monica complained.

"Shh, you're coming with me."

"But--"

"But nothing, you're doing what I'm telling you." Monica silently obyed as she took off her chef hat and put on her coat.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"To my place, we are going to talk." She nodded, thankful to him for being such a good friend.

*

Monica and Chandler entered his house after a silence walk. They both took off their coats and walked to the living room where they sat down on the couch.

"So tell me, what's going on?"

"Nothing..." Monica said, but Chandler gave her a look which told her he didn't believe her at all. "I... broke up with Jack, my boyfriend," she explained quietly.

"What? Why?"

"He..." she took a deep breath, trying to control herself, "He asked me to stop spending as much time with you guys, because he thought I was leaving him aside. To that I said no, because for a long time I hadn't had any friends like you guys, I mean, there's Rachel, who I love, but she is always busy with something else, y'know? She always has something else to do, or someone else to be with, so when I met Phoebe and Joey I thought I finally had people I could spend a lot of time with and have fun as well."

"Did you explain this to him?" Chandler asked.

"Yeah... well, kinda. All I said was that I liked spending time with all of you, but he knows my friendship with Rachel isn't as good as it could be because of what I told you before."

"And he still didn't care?"

"Yeah. He said he didn't care who I hang out with, he just wanted me to have him as a priority and see him more often."

"What did you say to that?"

"I told him that if he cared that much, he should make an effort and hang out with us as well, but since he doesn't like Phoebe and Joey, he said he wouldn't do it and that I was the one who had to change.

"Then, we kept fighting over the same thing, over who should be the one to change so that we could spend more time together, and when he realised I wasn't, by any chance, going to change how many hours I saw them, he said he wasn't going to get used to it, so it was over." Monica finished telling Chandler, tears running down her cheeks as she sobbed quietly.

Chandler hugged her, "Shh, relax. Look, I see where he is coming from, I mean, if I were your boyfriend I would like to spend as much time with you as possible, but at the same time I would be willing to spend time with people I don't like just to be with you, because you're definately worth it," he said. Monica looked up at him and smiled slightly. He ran his thumb accross her cheek to dry the few tears which were still running down her cheeks.

"Thanks, Chandler."

"On the other hand," he continued, "If he means so much to you to be crying right now, why didn't you accept to spend more time with him?"

Monica broke the hug and sat straight, looking down at her hands as she started to play with them. "I... I guess that's because I'm not crying because I broke up with him per se."

He frowned. "How's that?"

"I wasn't in love with him or anything," she explained quietly, a bit embarrassed of what she was going to say. "It's just... When you see that someone is not willing to spend sometime with people he doesn't like, you wonder if you are really worth that little."

"Oh Mon, c'mon, don't be ridicoulus," he said as he took her hands in his, "Not because he wasn't willing to do it it means you are not worth even a little bit, it just means he is a jerk, because you're worth that and so much more," he placed his hand under her chin and lifted it so their eyes would meet, Monica looked back into his blue eyes, "Seriously, don't think things like that, because they are not true at all," he said softly, Monica just nodded slowly, lost in his eyes.

They were quiet for a few minutes, just staring into their eyes, until Chandler broke the silence, "What do you say if we watch a movie?" Monica nodded quickly, wondering what that had been about.

*

As the movie ended, Monica looked at the clock hanging on the wall. "I should get going," she said, although she didn't feel like getting up from Chandler arms. They were comfortably sitting on the couch, Chandler's arms tightly wrapped around hers, with their heads close together.

"Oh... ok," he said, but didn't move.

Monica turned her head to look at him and their eyes met again, their lips inches apart. "Thanks for everything Chandler, really. I needed someone to talk to about this," she thanked him as she placed a hand on his cheek, still looking into his eyes.

Chandler closed his eyes slightly when she placed her hand on his cheek, "You're welcome. Just like you are always here for me, I want you to know that I'll always be here for you," he whispered and she nodded.

"I know," she smiled at him, one side of her mind telling her to lean over and kiss those lips she had wondered for so long how it would feel to touch them with her own, but the other side telling her it would be totally innapropiate.

Chandler pulled her just a little closer with his arms and soon enough their lips met for the first time. Monica moved the hand which was still resting on his cheek, down to his chest. Chandler let his body carry him, without paying attention to what his mind was telling him. He gently pushed her down to the couch as he kept kissing her eagerly. Suddenly he stopped and immediately got up.

"I-I can't do this," he said, regret in his voice, "I'm sorry, I can't do this."

Monica looked at him, "Chandler, relax, I--"

"I need you to leave, please," he said as he walked over to the main door and opened it, "Please leave, Monica," he said firmly.

"Chandler, please don't..."

Chandler just looked at her, begging her to leave with his eyes. Monica grabbed her purse and coat and walked out, with her head down. Chandler quickly closed the door and leaned against it.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," he said out loud, but this time it wasn't meant for Monica.

--

"You know how before we started dating you told me this story about you kissing a girl at a bar?" Antonella asked Chandler as they laid together in bed, he nodded, "Well, let me tell you I got *so* jealous."

Chandler grinned, "Really?"

She laughed at how happy that comment had made him, "You shouldn't be so proud."

"Why not?"

"Because, it's not good to make people jealous."

"It is good when you didn't do it on purpose."

She laughed, "But I guess you learned your lesson, right?"

"What's that?" he wondered.

"That if I got jealous back then when we weren't even dating, you shouldn't even try to kiss someone else now that we are married."

He laughed at this, "How can you even think I would do that?" he kissed her neck, "Why would I even need to kiss someone else?"

"Temptation?" she offered.

He shook his head, "No way. I won't, never."

"Promise?" she asked seriously.

"I swear," he said and kissed her on the lips.

--

"I'm really sorry," Chandler continued as he slid down the door and sat on the floor, "It will never happen again, I swear, and this time I won't break my promise," he said, feeling as guilty as ever.

To Be Cotinued....

That's it for Chapter 5. I hope you guys liked it, please review and let me know what you think about it! Again I will have a week full of tests, but I hope I have time to continue this one, it all depends on the reviews! ;)