Ain't No Mountain High

Author: stargirl*

Author's Note: This one's for Monica and Chandler fans mainly, but also for Rachel baby fans. What the hell, everyone will enjoy this. Please read and review. Oh yeah, and I don't own them, I only Matthew Perry in my dreams.

UPDATE: I loved all of your comments! I'm trying to incorporate a lot of the ideas. I'm definitely having more reader participation down the road. Oh, and in my original author's note I stated that I did not own any of the Friends. Well, I recently kidnapped Matthew Perry, and he is now my personal, secret love slave. Haha! You can't have him!

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Chapter Four: Remember the Day I Set You Free
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Monica's hand paused and quivered before it could reach the doorknob. She was afraid to enter her own apartment, their own apartment. She had broken the trust of the person she shared her life with. Although he didn't even know yet, to her it felt like she just didn't belong anymore. What she had been a part of was no longer hers. She took a deep breath as her thin hand rested on the cold metal knob. As always, their door was unlocked. She turned and pushed forward.

"Chandler," Monica called weakly to the empty room. She waited for his head to pop out from the bedroom of the bathroom, but none came. She was alone. Her face red from dried tears and wet from the tears that still came, she slunk onto the couch, clutching her stomach in disgust of herself.

Her soft brunette hair had barely met he pillow when she sat up to the sound of the door opening. Wet from the rain that Monica too had walked through, Chandler burst inside, looking frantically about. Sighting Monica on the couch, he rushed to her side, wrapping his strong arms about her as he stroked her hair. "You're all wet..." he murmured, carefully removing her soaked coat.

This seemingly simple comment turned Monica's heart to glass as it fell to her stomach. He wasn't concerned about where she had been last night. Or who she had possibly been with. His primary motive was the same as it always had been. To take care of her, his wife.

Monica opened her mouth to cry out, but he pressed a firm finger to her mouth and wiped her eyes, taking charge for once. "I was out looking for you," he started painfully, "when suddenly I knew I was in the wrong place. I knew I belonged here, where I somehow knew you would be." Chandler's own eyes shone with wetness as they reflected his worry.

If this is how he reacts to my leaving, how can I possibly tell him what happened? It'll only break his heart... Monica thought. But she knew that despite this, she had to be honest with him. She would lose his trust, but she needed to begin to regain it. Keeping her brief drunken affair a secret would not be the answer to restoring what they had.

This time it was Monica who silenced Chandler with a finger. She held his hand loosely with her own shaking hand as she led him to the couch and sat down next to him. "I have to tell you something..." she said softly, as she looked into his confused eyes. They were the same eyes she had begun to fall in love with three years ago in London. So much had changed because of that one night, and now it was happening again. One night was about to change everything.

"Last night, I ended up at a bar," she began.

"Oh my god..." Chandler muttered. "Are you alright? Nobody tried to hurt you, did they?"

Monica pushed him away as he tried to hold her in his loving embrace. Adultery was the last thing on his mind.

"No," she shook her head slowly. "Listen Chandler, I don't know any other way to tell you this than to just come out and do it. Last night, I ended up sleeping with another man."

The confusion in his eyes turned to pain. "Is this some sort of sick joke, Monica?" he asked. He knew it wasn't. Her hand covering her mouth as her eyebrows knitted up with the tears, she shook her head.

Chandler stood up, his face showed his disbelief. His hand went to his head. He couldn't comprehend what was happening. The woman that he had pledged to be with forever had pledged her body to another last night. "What I am supposed to say in response to that, Monica?" There was no response. Monica collapsed on the couch. She knew that she should go to Chandler, tell him something, but she didn't know what. So she watched as he absorbed the shock. Alone.

No one should be alone.

Finally, Chandler turned back to face Monica. "Why?" he asked simply, his face streaked with hot angry tears.

She shook her head. "It meant nothing. I was..." But she still didn't feel comfortable telling Chandler why she had been so upset the other night. "It's nothing you did, Chandler." She stopped. What could she possibly say that could make the situation more bearable? Nothing.

The uncomfortable silence continued until Chandler finally spoke.

"I'm sorry, Monica, but I have to go." Without a word, Chandler turned and walked out of their apartment. Away from Monica. He didn't know what else to do. What was there to do? It's not as though he prepared what to say in case Monica ever cheated on him. His mind buzzing in angst and anger, Chandler walked alone in the streets. And up above him, in the apartment he had just left, Monica lay on the couch. Alone as well.

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End Chapter Three. Please review! Did it happen the way you expected?