A.N. Thank you for the tremendous reviews!!! You guys are lucky I've been deathly ill for the past three days or you'd be waiting longer for this chapter (it is my last week of summer, after all). Here's the second to last, possibly third to last if I decide on an epilogue, chapter to this story. It skips around between POV a lot, and has a little more action than the previous parts, but I hope you like it just as much! Read, enjoy and review!!!
*Maddy*
Monica walked into the apartment slowly, as if in a trance. Unaware of the living room full of people talking and laughing; Ross and Joey, back from a Rangers game, arguing over the final score. Phoebe and Rachel, pretending to be interested, but engaging in a side conversation about what had happened that week on their new favorite prime time drama. She walked right past them towards her room.
"Hey Mon," they chorused casually. When she didn't answer, they looked at her and knew something was wrong. Her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks tear-stained. Come to think of it… it was nearly five and she should have been home two hours ago.
"Mon?" Rachel asked worriedly. Monica snapped to attention as she went to push open her bedroom door.
"What?"
"Are you… everything okay?" Phoebe asked.
"Fine." And with that the door closed, barring further questions.
Alyse half walked, half skipped into the apartment after getting dropped off by Natalie's mom. She had aced that algebra test, she was going shopping with Monica in a few days, and she had a dance to look forward to, which she was attending with an actual boy, for the first time in her life. Things were looking up.
The apartment seemed quiet, and nothing was cooking for dinner, she noticed as she shrugged out of her corduroy jacket and hung it on the hook.
"Chandler?" she called. No answer. "Hey, you home?" she tried again. His bedroom door opened seconds later, and he emerged. His hair was a mess, his shirt was untucked on one side, and his eyes were bloodshot and swollen.
"Hi," he offered, barely grunting the greeting.
"You look like crap," Alyse said. "Are you sick or something?"
"No. Thanks, though," he said sarcastically. "I'll be in my room."
"Wait… when's Monica coming over?"
Chandler bristled. "She's not."
"What do you mean she's not? It's Thursday, she always comes for dinner Thursday," Alyse asked confusedly.
"She's just not, okay?"
"Did she have other plans or something?" Alyse pushed.
"God, Alyse, I don't know, she's not coming," Chandler snapped. Alyse looked at him, hurt.
"Okay, sorry. Did you guys have a fight or something?" she asked timidly.
Chandler scoffed. "Or something."
"What does that mean?" Alyse asked, a note of panic entering her voice.
"I don't want to talk about it, okay?" he said sharply, returning to his room.
"No, not okay, what does 'or something' mean? Did you break up?" she said, dreading the answer. Monica had become like a sister to her. It was unfair that her stupid brother could do something to take her away just like that.
"I don't know. Maybe," he said, tired and worn enough to tell her the truth.
"Maybe?" she said angrily. "Maybe?"
"Look, it has nothing to do with you-"
"Nothing to do with me? What did you do? Why did you have to screw everything up?" Alyse said, practically spitting the words at him.
"I think we should stop talking before one of us says something we don't mean. I can't talk to you right now," Chandler said, as calmly as possible.
"What did you do? Everything was perfect! She was going to take me dress shopping, and now you ruined it and she'll never want to see me again and I hate you!" Alyse shrieked. Chandler shook his head.
"I'm not doing this with you right now," he said, slamming the door to his room as the tears fell silently down his sister's face.
After the fight (if you could even call it that; she didn't know what it was), she had walked aimlessly around the city for two hours, not wanting to go home. Just wandering around, she'd replayed the conversation in her mind a million times, and every time stung more than the last. She'd never seen him- she'd never seen anyone- as angry as he was. But there was nothing left to say. She had no words left to comfort him with, and he didn't want the ones she had. It was terrible, that feeling; the feeling of helplessness.
Monica heard Rachel crack open the door, but didn't turn from her position on the bed.
"Mon… you wanna talk?"
"No," came the muffled response.
"What happened?"
"I said no," she tried again, about to lose the trademark politeness.
"Okay honey. Well, when you do…"
"I know. Thanks."
"Mon, hey, do you know why Chandler's not answering the phone?" a new voice asked, Joey appearing beside Rachel, who promptly elbowed him as hard as she could in the ribs.
"Ow! What?"
"I don't know," Monica said. "Can you guys just leave me alone for a little bit?"
"Sure, sweetie," Rachel said. Once the door was shut, she punched Joey again.
"What the hell?" he asked, upset.
"Why would you ask her about Chandler? Can't you see how upset she is?"
"It's not necessarily because of him!"
"Oh my god, this is why you're not a woman," Rachel said exasperatedly.
"That and another big difference."
"Look, Alyse, I'm sorry about before, and I'm sure Monica is still planning on taking you-" Chandler began as he walked out of his room an hour later. "Alyse?" he called to an empty apartment. He checked her room, the bathroom, nothing. Then he noticed her backpack, or rather, he didn't notice it. The backpack, along with her coat, was gone.
"Shit."
Two hours later, and Alyse was nowhere. Joey hadn't heard from her. She wasn't at Hannah's or Natalie's, and neither girl had heard from her since that afternoon. She wasn't at the duck pond at Central Park, where she went when she was sad. She wasn't at the coffeehouse, or the pizza place next door. He checked the bus stop and the subway, although she wasn't supposed to use it, with no results. It was getting dark, and he was frantic. Without thinking where to go next, he ended up in the Village, outside Monica's building. He didn't have a choice; his sister was gone.
When he knocked, it was Rachel that answered the door, and her usual friendly demeanor was missing.
"Hi," he said hoarsely.
"Hi. Do you need something?"
"Is Monica around?"
"I really don't think she wants to talk to you right now."
"I'm sure that's true, but this is an emergency," he said importantly. "Rachel… is she home?"
"Yeah, she's home," Monica said, appearing behind her roommate and staring into his eyes. Two seconds into the cold stare, she knew something was wrong.
"What happened?" she asked nervously, leading him inside.
"You haven't heard from my sister, have you?" he asked, his voice cracking.
"No… why?"
"Rach?" he redirected.
"No, I haven't heard from her."
"Chandler, what's going on?" Monica asked again.
"She's gone." Monica and Rachel gaped at him for a moment, letting the words sink in.
"Gone?" Rachel echoed.
"What do you mean, gone?" Monica asked, panicked.
"I mean we fought, I went into my room, came out and her bag and coat were gone and she's nowhere, I mean nowhere, Mon, I looked everywhere, the pond, the coffeehouse, the bus stop, I've been around this city twelve times and I can't-" he rambled loudly. She took his arm and sat with him on the couch. The fight was forgotten, for the moment.
"We're going to find her. It's okay," she said, determined to believe herself.
"What if we don't? She's thirteen years old, it's dark, the streets are dangerous…"
"We will."
"And the police won't let me file a missing persons report until tomorrow… how messed up is that??? A missing kid has a time requirement?"
"Chandler. Look at me. Focus. Did you check her school?"
"No. I forgot about school," Chandler jumped up. "Do you think she's there?"
"I don't know. Rachel, you stay here. Call Joey and have him wait at Chandler's. Call my cell phone if either of you hear anything," Monica said, grabbing her coat and practically running out of the apartment, Chandler at her heels.
The sat on the steps outside Penn Station after checking a half dozen more places she might have gone. Chandler held his head in his hands.
"I can't believe this, this is a nightmare."
"What were you fighting about?" Monica asked quietly.
"What?"
"Before… you said you were fighting."
"You," he said simply. "She loves you, you know."
"I know. I love her too. She's going to come home," she said. "She's going to come home," she repeated rhythmically, taking Chandler's hand and entwining their fingers.
"Monica… I'm so sorry about-" she put a finger to his lips.
"Not now," she said.
"I had no right to talk to you like that, and I'll always hate myself for it."
"Concentrate on finding your sister. We have time for everything else later."
He took her in his arms quickly and awkwardly, hoping with everything in his body that she wouldn't pull away, which is what he deserved. She didn't; instead, she wrapped her arms around him and rocked him back and forth as he broke down, whispering "It's going to be okay."
People passed them, men coming home from work; families off the train for a weekend in the city, maybe skating at Rockefeller Center; young people looking lost; old people, looking tired. Some people saw the couple sitting on the steps, holding each other with everything they had, and wondered what they were crying about. Others could have walked right over them and not noticed a thing.
Minutes, maybe hours later, Monica's pocket rang. She scrambled to answer it.
"Hello? What's up?" and then a sigh of relief, and he knew it was okay. "Thank God. We'll be right there," she said, hanging up. "It was Joey. She came home," she said tearfully, as he hugged her fiercely.
When they got back to Chandler's apartment, Alyse was standing next to the counter. Her hair was falling out of its ponytail, her face was dirty and stained with tears. She was wearing jeans and Chandler's NYU sweatshirt, which was too big for her and made her look even smaller and more vulnerable.
"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Chandler asked, unreasonably quietly. Monica came in behind him quietly as Joey made a quick exit.
"I was getting some air," she replied, fire in her eyes. "And I lost track of time."
"I have been out looking for you for five hours. Do you know what kind of things you can imagine happening to a thirteen year old girl in New York City in five hours?" he asked, his voice now raised.
"I don't want to talk to you right now," she said, turning on her heel for her room.
"The hell you don't!" he yelled. "Turn around."
"What? It worked for you before!" she yelled back.
He shook his head, his eyes tearing up again. "Alyse, I'm sorry I upset you and I'm sorry I shut you out," he said. She took a step closer to him, her own tears falling freely.
"You scared me," she said, her voice wavering.
"I didn't mean to. I handled things wrong, and I'm sorry. But you- you can't do that, Alyse. You can't leave and not tell me where you're going, you can't run away when you get mad at me. I thought- I thought you were gone. You can't do that!"
"I know. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she sobbed, falling into his arms. He stroked her back and held her tightly.
"You have to promise you'll never do that to me again."
"I know, I was just so angry and you wouldn't talk to me and I thought that Monica was gone-"
"She's right here. She's been worried about you," Monica said with a small smile, stepping towards them.
"I thought you guys broke up."
"It was just a fight," she said, hugging Alyse.
"Was it?" Chandler asked, looking into Monica's face.
"It's something we need to talk about. Later," she answered. "I'm going to go home now… you guys need to talk." She made her way to the door, then turned around and looked back at Alyse. "We still on for Monday?" she asked, grinning.
Alyse grinned back, relieved. "If I'm not grounded till I die."
"Which you are," Chandler said. Both girls looked at him in horror. "Everything except the dance and the dress."
"Good call," Monica said as she left them.
"Now what?" Alyse said when she was gone.
"Now, you go take a shower, get into your pajamas, and go to sleep. School in the morning, and nothing after for a long time."
"Okay," she said, turning to her room. "Chandler?"
"What?"
She ran to him and hugged him again, as hard as she could.
"I really am sorry," she said.
"I know you are. Me too. At the end of the day… it's you and me, you know? It's always been you and me."
"It was scary to just be… me," Alyse said, sniffling.
"Yeah. It was," Chandler said, pushing her towards her bedroom.
Sooo what did we think??? Review and let me know!! Love you guys… have a good one. J
