A.N. Hello readers! Chapter 8 has reared it's (hopefully not so ugly) head. It skips to about six months later, and the next one will skip even more (I have a chronological timeline for everything and the only way to make it work in under 2,294,290 chapters is to jump around, sorry). BUT… this one is SUPER LONG! And it's kind of like a bunch of disjointed scenes. I sorta went with a different approach. I guess that's all you need to know! Please keep reviewing, your comments help me a lot J
Xoxo,
Maddy
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with anything that makes money
Chandler had run all the way from West 89th and was now attacking the stairs of his apartment two at a time. Ever since Monica had decided to move back indefinitely and started working again, they'd been on opposite schedules so that at least one of them could be home with Faith as much as possible. And today, on Wednesdays, he worked till 5, and her dinner shift started at 5:30.
"Hey, hey hey hey hey, sorry I'm late," he said breathlessly as he bursted into the apartment.
"It's okay," she said as she took his briefcase and replaced it with Faith, now six months old and crawling like a fiend, grabbed her purse from the counter and breezed past him through the door before he was all the way through it.
"Dinner's in the fridge, I'll be home around eleven, Faith hasn't eaten," she called behind her.
"Bye!" He stood in the doorframe and watched her rapidly retreating figure, her dark hair flying behind her as she hurried down the stairs he just ran up. When she was out of view, he turned to his daughter.
"Hello, sweet pea," he told her. "I hope you're hungry." Faith grinned in response.
As Chandler was getting around to feeding Faith, Phoebe came in.
"Hey, did Mon leave?"
"Yeah," he answered.
"Damn… did she tell you if she picked up my jacket when she went to the dry cleaners?"
"No… I was late, so the exchange was pretty limited," Chandler admitted. "I feel like I haven't seen her in days."
The truth was, since they had slept together for the first time six months ago, things had been sort of strange between the two of them. They weren't exactly dating, but they were definitely more than friends, seeing as he spent most nights in her bed instead of his. Well, he did, before their schedules became so conflicted. Sometimes it was really hard not to disturb that difficult balance that they somehow held between being best friends and lovers, but they had managed pretty well, and had also managed to keep their newfound "relationship" hidden from their friends. From Monica's point of view, she wasn't ready to risk everything in a real relationship with him, and therefore didn't have the answers to the questions she knew would be asked. And from his, he wanted to respect her wishes, and he didn't mind not having to reveal to her brother that he was sleeping with his sister in a pretty casual way. They were constantly redrawing boundaries, but as they stood, they were not seeing other people, but were very careful not to use the word "exclusive", and their friendship was basically exactly the same as it was before, with a few added bonuses.
Phoebe, clearly not interested in helping Chandler feed, bathe and watch Baby Mozart with Faith, made a quick exit, telling him she'd be around if she was needed.
As Chandler gently poured water over Faith's back in the bathtub, he marveled at how his life had changed so much in just six months. He could now say without a shadow of a doubt that Jaime leaving him (which he could now talk about, after a forceful discussion on Monica's part about five months ago) was one of the best things that could have happened to him. If she hadn't, there's no way he would be as involved with his daughter as he was, and he couldn't imagine not being the one she cried for (although on occasion, she was beginning to prefer Monica). He stared down at his little girl, at her curly baby hair and bright blue eyes that Monica once said crinkled when she smiled the exact same way his did. She was perfect, and she was his; she'd always be his little girl. The idea that there could be someone in the world that he was so tied to, so bound with, excited and calmed him at the same time.
"Faithy, I think you're about bath-ed out for the night. Unless the California Raisin was the look you were going for. I must say, it does become you," Chandler joked, lifting her up and wrapping her in the towel that had been a present from Rachel. It had a little hood with a duck's head on it, and Faith was pretty much obessed with it. He got the baby to sleep without much problem (Monica must have taken her to the park, he concluded) and settled down to watch TV and go over some work stuff, but fell asleep within about forty seconds. It had been a long day.
He woke up to someone kissing his cheek. "Mon?" he mumbled, still sleeping.
"Hey. You fell asleep on the couch again," she whispered, pushing his hair back from his forehead. He snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her down agianst his side.
"No I didn't," he said yawning.
"Okay," she said rolling her eyes. "How was your night?"
"Good, we ate and bathed and slept. How was work? I'm really sorry I was late," he apologized, kissing her temple.
"It wasn't a big deal, I made it on time. Work was fine, I guess," she said. "I would have rather been here with you guys."
"I feel like I haven't seen you in days," he said.
"You haven't," she pointed out. "Aside from the frantic game of Pass-The-Baby."
"Mon, you're a life-saver. We'd be lost without you, and I don't know what to say or how to thank you for everything you're doing for us. Putting your life on hold, just to-"
"On hold?" she asked incredulously. "I'm pretty sure it's moving forward," she said shyly. He pecked her cheek.
"I sorta missed ya," he told her.
"Eh," she said with a shrug. "Haven't really thought about it." He shifted so he had her trapped beneath him and began tickling her as she squirmed and tried to keep her squeals as quiet as she could.
"Stop. Stop! Please, I'm begging you," she said through laughter.
"Take it back?"
"I take it back, I take it back," she begged. He stopped, but then posed as if ready to start again.
"And you missed me."
"Of course I missed you," she said, looping her arms around his neck. He laid his forehead on hers.
"You do realize we haven't had sex in five nights?" he asked her. She thought about it for a second, and then laughed.
"That's gotta be our record," she agreed. He kissed her passionately.
"You're not too tired?" she asked, surprised. He laughed.
"Are you kidding? Are you?"
"Are you kidding?" she replied with a sexy smile. He brushed a stray lock of hair from her face.
"You're so incredibly beautiful," he said softly. "Have I told you that?"
"Not today," she said with a grin, and they proceeded to made love right there on the couch.
She woke up in her own bed the next morning, and upon furthur observation realized that Chandler was lying next to her. She struggled to remember moving from the couch to the bed the night before, and when she couldn't, realized that he must have brought her in while she was sleeping. A smile played at the corner of her lips, one that she tried to supress with everything that she had in her. This was not a good time to get too happy. When she got too happy, things changed, and everything was just fine the way it was.
He stumbled out of the bedroom twenty minutes later, and ran his hand through his messy hair as he watched Monica flip pancakes with one hand and bounce Faith up and down, sticky hands clapping, with her other.
"He's leaving, on that midnight train to Georgia," her clear voice rang out as she twirled Faith around the kitchen once. "He said he's going back to find, going back to find, a simpler place in time, oh yes I'm gonna be right by his side-"
"I'll be with him! (I know you will)…" Chandler chimed in with high soprano tones. She jumped about three feet then burst into laughter.
"Don't stop, you were rockin that one," he said with a smile, taking Faith and kissing her head. Monica shrugged.
"She likes a little Motown in the morning, what can I tell ya. Get in the shower, breakfast's almost ready," she ordered.
"Sure, but one thing first," he said, setting Faith in her playpen in the living room.
"What?" she asked as he came toward her and suddenly grabbed her around the waist and dipped her, giving her a soft kiss on the lips. When he brought her back up, she was giggling.
"We said we wouldn't do that kind of thing in front of the baby," she admonished. "It'll confuse her."
"She won't tell, she can't talk yet," he teased. "That was for last night, by the way. And because…" he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and grabbed the spatula from her hands, using it as a microphone. "I know you wanna leave me, but I refuse to let you go-" he sang loudly, wiggling his hips.
"Shut up," she said laughing, shooing him into the bathroom as he hummed the rest of the song. Phoebe and Joey walked into the apartment, arguing about who used the last clean towel.
"I use only one towel per week, so it was obviously you, a multi towel user, who screwed the system up," Joey said.
"First of all, that's disgusting, and second of all, good morning," Monica greeted them, handing them each a plate of pancakes.
"Hey Mon, I knew something smelled good," Joey said, thanking her for the food with a kiss on the cheek.
"Phoebs, I have your coat, I'm sorry I didn't bring it over last night over work but I got kinda… distracted," she finished, handing Phoebe the cellophane wrapped jacket she picked up for her the day before.
"No problem. What were you doing?"
"Nothing. I don't know. Syrup?" she said uncomfortably.
"Sure, thanks," they chorused.
"Mon, do you remember what happened to my shirt last night-" Chandler asked, exiting the bathroom in a towel. "Oh, uh hey guys," he stammered, seeing Joey and Phoebe.
"I, um, hung it up in your room after I got the stain out," Monica covered quickly.
"Okay! Great! Thanks! I'll get dressed then," he said, hurrying into his room.
"Oh, wait a second," Joey said, squirming and reaching into the couch cushion beneath him. "Here's a shirt," he said proudly, pulling it out. Monica grabbed it from him.
"Ugh, he's such a mess, leaving everything all over," she said nervously.
"Well, luckily he has you to clean up after him and raise his child," Phoebe said, rolling her eyes. Monica smiled uncomfortably. Things were getting complicated.
A few days later, Rachel was in town on a visit and bringing the remainder of Monica's stuff from Boston. The two of them were hanging out in the apartment with Faith.
"She got so much bigger from Thanksgiving!" Rachel gushed.
"Yeah, she's growing so fast," Monica agreed, smoothing Faith's hair.
"She's beautiful."
"And so well-behaved. She's such an easy baby," Monica said.
"And what's going on with you and the baby's dad?"
"No new developments," Monica answered, her cheeks flushing.
"You're blushing. You love him," Rachel teased.
"No, no no no no. I do not love him. We're having fun, that's it."
"Okay. Whatever you say. So, how much fun are you having?" Rachel asked slyly.
"A lot," Monica admitted. "We're just… we're in a really good place right now, in friendship and in… the other stuff."
"Good. I'm happy for you. I just think that you're going to get to a place where one or both of you wants more than… than whatever you're doing right now."
"Maybe we will. I'm just not projecting," Monica said as Chandler walked in the door.
"Not projecting what?" he asked.
"Nothing. We're going out to dinner with everyone at seven," she told him.
"Hi Rach!" he said, kissing her on the cheek and loosening his tie. "Seven? Do I need to wear a jacket?"
"No, just a nice shirt. Your mom's taking the baby."
"Great. Thanks for arranging that, I'll bring her over," he said, taking Faith from Monica's lap and giving her a hug. "Hey baby. Have a good day with the girls?" Faith grabbed his nose. "I think that's a yes."
"We had a good day," Monica agreed.
"Good. Hey, can I talk to you for a second? Rachel, could you hang out with her for a minute, would you mind?" he asked, passing Faith back.
"Would I mind? Look at her little fingers!" Rachel squealed. Monica laughed and followed Chandler to his room. Once they were inside, he pushed her against the door and kissed her passionately. She put her hands on the sides of his face and responded eagerly.
"I… couldn't stop thinking about… you… today," he said in between kisses. She moaned and pulled him closer, tightening her arms around his neck. He started walking her over to his bed, but she pushed him away.
"We can't," she said breathlessly. "Rachel."
"She'll understand," he said, reaching for her again. They kissed several more times before Monica sighed and broke away again. "Not now," she repeated. "You have to get dressed and get Faith to your mom's. It's nearly six." He groaned.
"Fine. But later on, you better be ready," he joked. She rolled her eyes.
"I'll try to prepare myself," she said sarcastically, kissing him quickly before she walked out of the room, back to Rachel and Faith.
"And then, he stuck his head in the freezer and got his cheek stuck to the side," Joey finished, roaring with laughter as he regaled Chandler, Monica, Rachel, Ross, Carol and Phoebe with his favorite story about how Chandler accidentally ate a jalepeno pepper while they waited for their entrees. Chandler nodded along good naturedly.
"Dude… jalepenos aren't even that hot," Ross said, trying not to laugh.
"I have sensitive taste buds!" Chandler defended himself. Monica, to his right, laughed and placed her arm around his shoulder. "It could have happened to anyone," she reassured him.
"Not anyone I know," Rachel joked. "It's really great to see you guys again. I always have such a good time when I'm here," she added.
"We're glad you could make it," Monica said warmly, smiling at her friend.
"Yeah, we have a great time when you come too," Ross added.
"I'd have a better time if you agreed to just sleep with me already, but whatever," Joey said with a mock sigh. Phoebe elbowed him.
"Not gonna happen," Rachel said, rolling her eyes. "But, I did want to tell you guys something."
"You'll sleep with Chandler? No fair!" Joey teased. Chandler smiled briefly and Rachel looked at Monica uncomfortably.
"Shut up, Joey," she said. "As I was saying… I'm moving to New York in a few weeks!" The group congratulated her excitedly.
"Oh my god! This is so great! Where are you gonna live?" Monica asked. She tried to ignore Chandler's hand that came to rest on her upper thigh, but it was becoming increasingly difficult as he started to massage her leg.
"I don't know yet, I'm still working on that," she admitted.
"Well, I guess this is as good a time as any to tell you guys I'm moving downtown," Joey said, raising his left hand.
"What? You're moving out??? How could you not tell me?" Phoebe asked, annoyed.
"I just decided a few days ago! I'm making a lot of money now with the show and all, and I found a really nice place closer to work. I'm sorry Phoebs," he said. "But now Rachel can move in!"
"Really? Rach, you want to live with me?" Phoebe asked excitedly.
"Uh… YEAH!" Rachel said grinning. "This is gonna be awesome!"
"It so is!" Monica agreed, discreetly reaching under the table and firmly taking Chandler's hand off her leg. He smiled a secret smile and put it back, slightly higher. She shook her head and laughed.
"What's so funny?" Ross asked. Monica felt Chandler, spooked, remove his hand quickly.
"Oh, Chandler was just had his hand-" she started, trying to freak him out.
"Touching some gum under the table. Gross," he finished, kicking her ankle.
"Yeah. Gross. Go wash your hands," she said meaningfully.
"Okay…" he said, getting up from the table. A few seconds later she excused herself, saying she had to go to the bathroom. She snuck up behind Chandler in the mens room, locking the door behind her.
"You, sir, were being very fresh out there," she said, wrapping her arms around him from the back.
"Mon, what are you-"
"I think you need to be taught a lesson, don't you?" she said. He grinned.
"I think you may be right," he said, backing her up against the counter. "How much time you think we have?"
"I'd say, oh, about six minutes," she estimated, checking her watch.
"We better stop talking, then," he said, leaning in and kissing her.
That's it for now. HOW LONG WAS THAT… some kind of personal record, I'm not gonna lie. Review. A lot. Please. Thank you J
