A.N.  Man are you guys gonna love me… a quick update (for me, anyway), and it's LONG!  Haha… I know you can't believe it.  OKAYYYY here's where it gets interesting, so read and please review if you want me to continue!!!  (btw, this one is longer than the previous chapters and probably longer than the future ones, but I couldn't find a good place to cut it, so I just sort of left it as a 2 parter J  ENJOY!

Xoxo, MADDY.

            Monica walked into the dark apartment and quietly hung her coat and purse on the hook. 

            "How'd it go?" a voice asked from the darkness of the living room, in the vicinity of the sofa.  Monica jumped and gasped, startled, then hit the light switch to reveal Rachel, who had apparantly fallen asleep on the couch.

            "God, Rach, you scared the shit out of me," Monica breathed, going to join her friend on the couch.  She collapsed with a sigh and Rachel stroked her hair affectionately.

            "So the break up was bad?"

            Monica laughed.  "No, actually, it wasn't bad at all.  It didn't go exactly as planned, though."

            "But you did it, right?  Don't tell me you changed your mind.  God, he's so wrong for you, Mon," Rachel complained.

            "I know.  I didn't change my mind, he just beat me to it."

            "Wait a minute… he broke up with you?"

            "Yup."

            "Shut up!  What'd he say?" Rachel asked, ever the gossip queen.

            "Well, I sat down and said that I really needed to talk to him, and then he said he did too and that before I said anything else, he had to tell me he didn't think things were going to work out between us," Monica relayed.

            "Oh my gosh, what did you say?  Talk about the easy way out," Rachel mused.

            "No way, I wasn't going to let him think he was breaking up with me.  I told him that he wasn't allowed to break up with me because I was breaking up with him.  And then we laughed, had dinner, and went to the movies, then he walked me home, and that was that."

            "You broke up at 7:30 and stayed out with him till 1?" Rachel asked incredulously.

            "Is it one?  Gosh.  Yeah, I mean, we're gonna stay friends.  He's really nice, and funny, he just wasn't right for me.  We still get along."

            "That's gotta be the healthiest break up story I've ever heard in my life," Rachel said.

            "Yeah, that's me.  I guess by break-up number seven thousand thirty one, you kinda get the hang of it," Monica joked. 

            "Aw, sweetie, don't say that.  You made the right decision.  He was cute, but… man was he dumb."

            Monica laughed.  "Plus, I think he was seeing somebody else."

            "Please, I'm sure he was seeing everyone else." 

            "Yeah.  Anyway, he's still coming to the party on Saturday."

            "Good, that will be fun," Rachel said.  Then she eyed Monica slyly.  "Is Chandler coming?"

            "I don't know.  Maybe," Monica replied, evading eye contact.  "I'm beat.  Goodnight Rach," she said before heading to her room.

            "Night Mon," Rachel said with a grin.

            "I don't know about this, man," Chandler said for the eight thousandth time as he checked his reflection. 

            "Shut up, dude, it's gonna be great.  Monica and Rachel throw awesome parties," Joey said.  "Come on, we're gonna be late, and I can't go late and leave early."

            "Why are you leaving early?  If you're leaving early, I'm leaving early," Chandler said, panicked.

            "Uh, I have to meet Nicole after, at like ten.  You can't come.  Just see how it goes, okay, if you wanna go, you can go whenever you want."

            "Okay, okay.  Do I look okay, is this okay?" Chandler asked nervously, gesturing to his khaki pants and navy blue oxford shirt.

            "You look great, let's go," Joey said impatiently, pulling Chandler towards the door.

            "Okay, one second," he said, knocking on his sister's door and opening it to reveal Alyse, Natalie and Hannah lying on the bed.

            "Ow-ow!" Alyse cat-called playfully.  "Lookin' good, stud."

            "Everything matches?  We're good?" Chandler teased.  Alyse and her friends nodded in agreement.

            "Okay, guys, I'm leaving now.  There's money for pizza or Chinese or whatever on the counter, and the movies Alyse picked up are next to the TV.  Don't leave-"

            "Don't leave the apartment, make sure the door's locked, and don't open it for anyone, I know, I know," Alyse finished the instructions rolling her eyes at her giggling friends.

            "Okay.  I shouldn't be home too late, but you might be sleeping.  You have my cell number if you need me."

            "Oh my god, go!" Alyse exclaimed.  He held up his hands in defeat and left her room.

            "It's like he's never been out of the apartment before, I swear to god," she complained to Natalie and Hannah. 

            "Yeah… but your brother is so cute!" Hannah giggled.

            "Ew, shut up!" Alyse groaned.

            "No, seriously Alyse, he totally is.  He doesn't have a girlfriend?" Natalie asked.

            "No, but I think he likes this girl who's party it is tonight.  I hope it works out."

            "So here's hoping he comes home late," Natalie added with a twinkle in her eye.

            "Ewww!" Alyse and Hannah chorused.

            Chandler and Joey knocked on the door to Monica and Rachel's apartment.  After a few moments, the door swung open to reveal the party in full swing, with at least forty people talking, laughing and dancing inside.  Monica smiled and greeted them warmly.

            "Hey guys, I'm so glad you could make it," she said, taking their coats as Joey gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek.             

            "Wow, great apartment," Chandler said, because it was the only thing he could think to say.  He couldn't take his eyes off her, she looked amazing in a dark blue dress that matched her eyes perfectly and hugged her body in all the right places.  Her hair was swept back from her face and held with tiny bobby pins.  The total effect was mesmerizing.

            She laughed.  "Thanks.  I'll go put these away," she said, gesturing to the coats in her hands, "and I'll be right back.  Food's over there, just have a good time!" she said, walking away.

            Both Joey and Chandler's eyes lingered on her as she walked away.

            "Man, the things I do for you," Joey joked.

            "Hey, I told you-"

            "Man, relax I'm joking… we've gotta loosen you up," Joey said, leading him over to Rachel and the wet bar.

            "Happy birthday Rach," Joey said as they approached.

            "Hey!  Thanks, I'm glad you guys could make it.  Did you see Mon?"

            "Yup.  Just long enough for me to seriously re-evaluate the end of our relationship," he joked.  Rachel smiled wryly.

            "I'm sure you've got a Roladex full of other names to re-evaluate.  Let's leave her alone, shall we?" Rachel said back evenly, her playful tone only thinly hiding a protective threat.

            "Don't worry, I'll keep my hands to myself," Joey agreed, and moved closer to Rachel.  "Does that go for you, too?" he asked suggestively.  She laughed and punched him in the shoulder.

            "Why don't you go mingle, and I'll introduce Chandler around," she said, grabbing him by the forearm and leading him towards the living room.

            "So, happy birthday, Rachel, is it?" Chandler joked.  "Thanks for inviting me."

            "I didn't invite you, Monica did," she pointed out.  "And I have to admit, you seem like a much better match than your friend over there."  Chandler's mouth went dry, and he gulped down the beer that Rachel was holding out to him.

            "What does that mean?  Did she say- something?"

            "No, nothing," Rachel admitted.  Chandler's face fell.  "But, she never talks about the ones she really likes," she finished with a sly grin.  Monica entered the kitchen and smiled at them, re-filling her cup across the room. 

            "But I didn't say anything.  Enjoy the party!" Rachel called over her shoulder, leaving Monica and Chandler alone in the kitchen.

            "So… what were  you and Rachel talking about?" Monica asked suspiciously.  He cleared his throat nervously.

            "Oh, nothing really.  You look great, can I say that?" he asked.

            She laughed.  "Sure.  You clean up well, too."  A gaze lasted a second longer than it should have.

            "Great apartment," he stammered.

            "Yeah, you said that," she replied smiling.  "How's your sister doing?"

            "Good, Alyse is good.  She's home with a couple friends.  A little upset that I was invited instead of her, but she'll get over it," he said grinning.  Monica laughed.

            "Tell her next time," she said.

            Three hours later, the two of them hadn't stopped talking for more than a bathroom break or a drink refill.  They had left the party for the balcony about an hour ago, and she sat on the ladder to the fire escape, while he stood next to her, leaning against the balcony ledge and staring out into the city, blanketed by night.  The city was so odd at night; it was at once lonely and crowded, quiet and screaming. 

            It was the strangest thing; after talking to her for three hours, he felt like he had known her his entire life.  Like there wasn't anything he couldn't tell her.

            "What are you thinking about?" she asked quietly.  He didn't want to tell her what he was thinking about, so he went with the previous thought.

            "I'm thinking about how weird this city is at night," he said.  "How you can feel so alone while feeling so…"

            "Crowded in?" she finished.  He looked at her, surprised.

            "That's the exact word I was thinking," he said.  She shrugged.

            "Great minds think alike, I guess," she said absently.  "Hey, can I ask you a personal question?"

            He laughed.  "Sure.  God knows I've asked you enough."

            They had discussed her family (mother, disapproving of all things Monica; father, kind but distant; brother, the golden child, enemy of her youth but closest ally of her adulthood).  They had discussed her job (waitress-recently-turned-chef), where everyone hated her.  They had discussed her relationships with men (all doomed).  Where she went to school (NYU) and how she liked it (hated it the first year, loved it the next three).  He guessed it was her turn.

            "Okay.  I was just wondering, Joey said you've been taking care of Alyse forever, but didn't really go into details."

            "Details?  Yeah, I guess our lives are pretty boring.  Ya know, work, school, the occasional soccer game…" he joked.

            "You know what I mean," she said, shoving him playfully.

            "Yeah, I do.  Okay, you want the long version or the short?"

            "The long, of course," she said, looking up at him with a smile.  "I've got time."

            "Okay.  Well, after my mom divorced my dad-"

            "Because he sleeping with your poolboy," she clarified.

            "Right, thank you, for that," he said grinning.  She could even make the pain of that seem duller.  "After that, she remarried when I was about 17."

            "Was that hard," she asked, twisting a fallen strand of hair.

            "It would have been, but he was a great guy, and he made my mom happy.  His name was Mike.  I mean, it wasn't like he was trying to be my dad, you know?  He was just there for my mom, and our relationship was more of friendship than anyone else.  I left for college barely a year later, and when I was 18, my mom got pregnant, even though she was forty three and no one expected it."

            "Surprise!" Monica said wryly.

            "Surprise is right.  Try explaining that to your college roomates.  Anyway, so Alyse was born my sophomore year.  And I didn't really get to know her that well, because I was at school during the year and then on the summers I came to the city to intern and stuff.  She was three when I graduated.  I remember she had on this little pink sundress that had iced tea all over the front of it," he said nostalgically.  Monica smiled in spite of herself.

            "And then, I came here and started working.  And a year later, my mom and Michael left Alyse with the nanny and took a vacation in Jamaica to celebrate their fifth anniversary.  On the way back, the plane crashed," he said with very little emotion.  Monica reached out and held his arm.  "It was a long time ago.  It was sad, but it happened.  And I got to benefit from having this amazing person as a constant presence in my life.  I'd be seeing her Christmas and birthdays otherwise, not even knowing her, you know?"

            "I think," she began.  "I think that yours is the most selfless, most heroic story I've ever heard."

            "I bet you say that to all the guys who come to your parties and make you listen to their sob stories," he said, trying to lighten the mood with a joke.

            "Don't do that," she said seriously.  To his surprise, she stood and kissed him on the cheek gently.  "You're amazing, okay?  Don't do that."    

            He gazed into her eyes and felt his own mist with the complicated feelings of finally meeting someone who saw into his soul.  He leaned in slowly, savoring the moment, watching her as she closed her eyes slightly in preperation.  And then Joey stuck his head out the window.

            "Hey, man, I'm taking off- oh, sorry!" he said, ducking back inside.

            "No, it's okay!  Come back, we were just talking!" Chandler called, the moment broken.  Joey stuck his head back out.

            "You sure?" he asked.    Monica, flushed and embarassed, moved away from Chandler.

            "Positive.  I'll walk you out," she said, making her way inside.

            "No, it's fine, stay.  Thanks for inviting me.  I'll see ya later," Joey said, kissing her cheek.  So she stayed.

            The almost-kiss never happened that night. They carefully avoided it, talked around it.  They continued talking until everyone had left and Rachel had said goodnight.  He helped her clean up, and then finally, at 1:30 in the morning, he remembered Alyse and knew he better be getting home.

            "Thanks again for inviting me.  I'm sorry I monopolized you the entire party," he said as she walked him to the door.

            "I'm glad you came.  And I'm glad you monopolized me," she said.  She took a deep breath.  "Look, before, outside…"

            "You don't have to say anything," he said quickly.

            "No, I want to.  I really, really wanted that to happen.  But… I don't know, I just broke up with your best friend like, forty eight hours ago.  I think its-"

            "Soon.  Too soon.  You're right," he said, brushing a piece of hair from her face reassuringly.  "It's fine.  I'm gonna wait."

            She grinned.  "Wait for what?" she asked.

            "Wait till it's not too soon," he said softly, kissing her cheek.  He left the apartment and headed home with a feeling he'd never felt before.  A confidence he'd lost forever ago.  And with a sense of hope.

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