A.N.  HI!!!  Sorry this took forever, I had a slight case of writer's block, and was kind of dreading writing this part because, although it's integral to the plot, it's kind of boring (in my opinion, I hope that you disagree).  It's not super long, but it gets the job done.  This is the last of what I consider the "building up" chapters; now the REAL story can start!!  So read and enjoy and please please please review!!! Love you guys, as always J

~Maddy~

"Popcorn or candy?" Chandler asked as they made their way from the ticket taker to the concession stand.  Alyse looked at him with her eyebrows raised.

            "Do you have to ask?"

            "Both," he agreed.  "What time's the movie start again?"

            "8:30," she reminded him before turning to the concession stand employee and giving him their rather lengthy order.  While she was deciding between plain and peanut M&Ms, his gaze fell upon two women walking into the movie theater.  The one with the darker hair and the bright blue eyes that he could see from all the way over there was laughing, and her friend playfully punched her shoulder.  The brunette's smile was infectuous, and a slow smile spread across his own face as he watched her.  She was beautiful.

            "Chandler?  Chandler," Alyse elbowed him in the side. 

            "Ow, what?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

            "What kind of drink do you want?"

            "I don't care," he replied, his eyes still on the woman.

            "What are you looking at?" she asked, trying to follow his gaze. 

            "Nothing, here, let's go," he said, paying the guy behind the counter and helping Alyse carry their snacks. 

            "Hey, that's Monica!" Alyse exclaimed, once she saw who Chandler had been staring at.

            "You know her?" he asked incredulously.

            "Yeah, that's Joey's friend, from yesterday," she said.  "Let's go say hi."

            Typical, was Chandler's only thought as his sister dragged him by the hand over to the two women.  Of course, the one woman he's looked at like that in God knows how long, of course Joey had gotten to her first.

            "Hi," Alyse said as they approached.  Recognition flashed in Monica's blue eyes and she grinned.

            "Hi Alyse," she greeted.  "This is my friend Rachel."  Rachel smiled and said hello.

            "This is my brother," Alyse offered, gesturing to Chandler.  He rolled his eyes.

            "Yes, and some people even call me by name.  I'm Chandler," he said sarcastically, offering his hand, which Monica shook and laughed.

            "Chandler, this is so funny, I've heard so much about you from Joey," she said.

            "Uh-oh," he joked. 

            "Oh, you're Joey's friend…" Rachel said, amused.

            "Yup," Chandler said, looking at her strangely.

            "Well, Joey's made Monica a very happy person lately, hasn't he Mon?" Rachel asked slyly, obviously referring to something private, because Monica blushed and shoved her.

            "Shut up, Rach," she muttered.  "Well, it was really nice to meet you Chandler.  I'm sure I'll see you again soon."

            "Nice meeting you too," he said.  "Come on, Alyse."         

            "Bye Monica!"

            "Bye Alyse!  Great seeing you."

            "Hey, thanks for the geography tip.  I got a hundred on the quiz, and I was the only one who got that one right, and-"

            "Come on, Alyse, let's let them get to their movie," Chandler cut in, grabbing his sister's arm and smiling at Monica apologetically. 

            "So he's… cute," Rachel commented smiling, observing her friend watching Chandler walk away.

            "Yeah.  Come on, let's go," she said, snapping back to reality.  She noticed Rachel smiling at her knowingly.  "What?"

            "You're a little slut, you know that?" Rachel joked as they walked.

            "What are you talking about?"

            "Oh, my boyfriend's best friend is oh-so-handsome and charming…" Rachel mocked.

            "Shut up, that's not what I'm thinking at all," Monica defended herself.

            "Sure."

            "And Joey's not my boyfriend," she added.

            "Okay, okay.  Wrong on all counts," Rachel surrendered, holding her hands up.

            The next day was Saturday.  After dropping Alyse off at a friend's, Chandler headed over to Joey's for lunch bearing gifts:  2 pizzas.

            Chandler tossed the crust from his second slice back into the box as Joey happily munched on his fifth. 

            "So where's Alyse today?" he asked, a speck of tomato sauce adorning the corner of his upper lip.

            "She had a school project to do at this girl Natalie's house."

            "Is Natalie the one with the hot single mom?"

            "No, that's Hannah.  And by the way, still off limits."  Joey made a face.

            "Come on, dude… when she picked up Alyse here last weekend she was totally checking me out."

            "First of all, no she wasn't, second of all, she's ten years older than you, and third of all, Alyse would never forgive you.  And fourth of all, you're seeing someone already.  Speaking of which, I met her last night at the movies," Chandler said, trying to sound casual.

            "Really?  You met Nicole?" Joey asked.  Chandler looked at him strangely. 

            "Her name is Monica."

            "Ohhh, you met Monica…" Joey trailed off sheepishly.

            "Yeah, Alyse introduced us.  She seems really nice."

            "She is, and how hot is she?  Like off the charts, right?" 

            "Hotter than Nicole?" Chandler expertly joked his way out of an awkward situation.

            "Eh, different hot.  Monica's classy hot, where Nicole is like… slutty hot."

            "I'm sure she's a charmer.  So, have Monica and Nicole been acquainted?"

            Joey laughed.  "Yeah right.  It's not a big deal… Monica and I just started going out two weeks ago, and we never said it was exclusive."

            "And Nicole…?"

            "Nicole's got kind of a jealous streak.  And she can get kinda… frisky.  As in violent.  I don't think it would be in anyone's best interest for her to know."

            "Nicole sounds super!" Chandler said sarcastically.

            "Yeah, she's pretty cool," Joey agreed earnestly.  "What did Monica say about me?"

            "Nothing, really, we just made small talk for a couple minutes.  Alyse did most of the talking.  She seems to really like her."

            "Yeah, they did get along well the other day."

            "She seems really very nice," Chandler said.  Joey eyed him suspiciously.

            "Yeah, you said that."

            "Well, she, uh, she does."  Joey broke out in a grin.

            "Do you have a crush on Monica?" he asked, almost shouting.  Chandler jumped up.

            "No!  No I don't.  How awkward and wrong would that be, me having a crush on your girl- your- the girl you're dating casually," he finally finished, gesturing defensively.

            "Not close to as wrong as the fact that you haven't even looked at a woman in about a year," Joey argued.  "And dude, as hot as she is, I would totally back off if you said you liked her.  That's how desperate your situation is."

            "I'm not desperate, I'm just not in the dating place," Chandler said.

            "Okay.  Whatever.  All I'm saying is, if you like her, just say the word.  I can't promise she'll go out with you, because she's way out of your league-" Joey began.  Chandler rolled his eyes.  "What, we both know that's true.  But if you think you might be- well, you know I'd do that for you." 

            Chandler looked at his friend.  "Thanks, man, but really, it's okay."

            "As long as you're sure…" Joey said, the topic already forgotten as he grabbed his sixth slice.

            Joey called around ten that night, when Alyse was getting ready for bed.  She grabbed the phone before Chandler could get to it. 

            "I think it's Natalie," she explained.  "Hello?  Oh.  Hi.  Yeah, hang on.  What?  Natalie's mom's pretty, I guess, in a really 'mom' kind of way…" she said, confused.  Chandler grabbed the phone.

            "Hey Joe, what's up?" he asked, rolling his eyes at Alyse. 

            "Night Chandler," she said, kissing him on the cheek. 

            "Night Lyse," he replied, ruffling her hair.  He watched her bare feet pad across the apartment to her bedroom.

            "Chandler?  Hey man, listen, two things.  First, I had a date with Monica tonight, and she's having this party on Saturday for her roomate's birthday, and she wanted me to invite you."

            "Joey, you didn't say anything about-"

            "No, no, I was surprised too.  She just said that she thought you were nice and funny and to tell you to come, because it'll be fun."

            "Okay… I'll see what Alyse is doing."

            "Cool.  Okay, and the second thing is, I decided to break up with Monica, okay, bye now."

            "Joey!  Wait a minute."

            "What?"

            "I told you I didn't want you to do that for me," Chandler said.

            "I know, I'm not.  Really.  I just don't think it's going to work out, and I don't want to lead her on, because like you said, she's 'nice'," Joey teased.

            "Joey… I'm going to tell you one more time.  Please do not, do not, do this because you think I want her."

            "I'm going to tell you something, okay?  Listen.  I like Monica, and I like you, and I saw something in you that I haven't seen for a while today.  So call it what you want, but you feel something about this girl.  And what I feel about her is mostly just friendship and great sex.  And, I have Nicole anyway, who is really more on my level about, well, pretty much everything.  So, I'm breaking up with her tomorrow, and I don't care what you say, and you can do or not do whatever you want about it.  Goodnight, Chandler."

            Chandler sighed.  "Whatever you want.  Goodnight."

            Unbeknownst to either of them, upon hanging up the phone they both had the same thought:  now, there were no more excuses.

As you can probably tell, the C&Mness is really about to kick in!  So review if you want more.  THANKS!