:It was a pretty hard day on Friday full of mixed emotions. It was my uncle's funeral and it was really sad. Then, after, the mood sort of changes doesn't it? Everyone gathers around talking, drinking…drinking a lot… lol I watched the husbands of two of my cousins get hammered together…haha. Anyway, I think it helped with the grieving side of things and I just feel so much better in myself now.
Here is part 8. Enjoy and PLEASE review!!! I would like to dedicate this chapter to the seven astronauts of the Columbia space shuttle disaster.
TOW The Reunion PART EIGHTMonica woke up to find Chandler kissing her softly on the lips. She snuggled under the blankets letting his arms wrap around his body. "What time is it?" she murmured.
"6am," Chandler muttered, kissing her neck, "Sorry I woke you…but I couldn't help kissing you." he smiled at her.
"Wow…" Monica sighed, smiling tenderly at him, "I can't believe you're lying next to me."
"Start believing this right now." Chandler joked, "From the couch we somehow managed to get in your bedroom and in here. Not sure how I was able to stop kissing you during those movements but oh well."
Monica laughed. "Did Phoebe hear us?" she asked.
"Not sure…" Chandler murmured, "I can't really remember the last time I saw her…a lot has happened since then." He smiled mischievously and started to kiss her again.
"How the hell are we going to explain this later?" Monica asked, giggling.
"We don't tell them…" Chandler smiled at her suggestively.
"You mean, keep it a secret?" Monica asked, grinning.
"For now…" Chandler chuckled, smiling. He leaned in to kiss her passionately.
Monica playfully hit Chandler on the arm. "Not now…" she warned, "We've got to work out how to get you out of here and in the next room without waking Phoebe."
"awww Mon," Chandler moaned, "Ten more minutes…please?" he looked at her with pleading eyes.
Monica badly wanted Chandler to stay but they had to be careful. "No…" she said sternly, "You've got to go."
"Ok," Chandler pouted, smiling knowingly, "Maybe later." He got out of the bed and pulled his clothes on. He opened the door slowly.
"Careful…" Monica whispered, trying not to laugh.
Chandler nodded and peeked out into the living room. Phoebe was in a deep sleep on the couch. He started to tiptoe across the floor to the other bedroom door, almost tripping over a magazine. "Whoa!" he exclaimed. Regaining his balance, he glanced over at Phoebe. She was still asleep. Breathing a sigh of relief, he opened his bedroom door and walked inside.
*****
After breakfast, Rachel started to pack her suitcases. She realised last night that she'd had enough of New York and just wanted to go back to Barry and her friends in Florida. She was pleased that she had sorted things out with Monica but she didn't want to share their friendship with a hippy girl off the streets. She wrinkled her nose as she thought of Phoebe and her dirty clothes with germs all over them.
She saw Ross' tie on her bed and picked it up thoughtfully. She felt a pang of guilt that she was going to leave without saying goodbye to him but she knew that if she saw him again, she would never leave the city. She had sensed the bond between the two of them get more cosier and she had found herself wanting to be with him more as the days went by.
"I'm married." She told herself sternly as she continued to stuff her clothes in her cases, "So Barry isn't perfect but he's security. We're married…you shouldn't be having these thoughts Rach…this isn't you."
"What isn't you?" an amused sounding voice said behind her. She snapped her head around to see Ross standing before her trying not to laugh.
"Oh I was just talking to myself." Rachel laughed uncomfortably, wondering how much of her ramblings Ross had heard.
"So I see." Ross commented dryly. He glanced at Rachel's suitcases and frowned. "Are you leaving?" he asked quietly.
Rachel sighed. "I'm sorry Ross." She replied, "but I need to go back to Barry now."
"Don't go." Ross pleaded, "Just a few more days." He walked closer to Rachel and took her hands. "I don't want you to go." He said sincerely.
Rachel swallowed hard. "Ross, don't do this." She begged, the strain coming out of her voice. "I'm married…I have a whole different life now. I need to go home."
Ross stepped back and eyed Rachel coolly. "Fine." He said stiffly. "Go home… back to Barry and your so called 'marriage.' See if I care." He left the room.
Rachel threw a shirt into a bag, angry that Ross was putting her in this kind of position. She retrieved her passport out of a drawer and stuffed it into her coat pocket. She was going home…and as soon as possible.
****
Joey stared at the tombstone over the grave and his eyes watered full of tears. The engraving said, A short but happy life that will never be forgotten. RIP Michael 'Kip' Granger 1969 – 1995
Joey wished he hadn't come to see it. It just brought back all the pain again. It was why he didn't attend the funeral…it was too hard. Kip's parents had invited him. They didn't blame him for Kip's death, but he did. He hated himself everyday for what happened and he couldn't face seeing the two people who had lost their son… especially if they knew the whole truth.
His eyes closed as once again he remembered Kip alive and well…
~~~~~L.A Four weeks ago~~~~
"Awoohoo!" Kip shrieked, pointing to an article he had just read in the newspaper.
"What?" Joey asked, walking over to see what all the fuss was about.
"There's a party going on at the Four Seasons tonight!" Kip exclaimed, "Do you think you'll be able to get us in?" he looked at Joey hopefully.
Joey grinned. "They don't call me Dr. Drake Ramoray for nothing!"
"Yeah baby!" Kip shouted, "We are so going to that gig!" he glanced at the article again. "It starts at 9pm, there's time for us to get hammered before we go."
"Well I don't know about that," Joey said worriedly, "They don't take too kindly to people who just turn up drunk."
"Oh come on Joey!" Kip said in disbelief, "We can't go to a showbiz party sober."
"Well we're not driving." Joey said firmly.
"Yeah whatever," Kip murmured. He got up from the table and pranced around the room. "We're partying tonight!" he yelled.
~~~~Present~~~~~
"Partying tonight." Joey repeated softly to himself. He knelt down by the grave and started to sob into his hands.
"Oh my god," he heard someone murmur behind him. Through his tears, Joey looked up to see a young woman gazing at him.
"You're…you're Joey Tribbiani!" the woman whispered, awestruck.
Joey wiped his eyes and stood up. "Yeah that's me." He muttered.
The woman's eyes lit up and she smiled. "I'm Rachel Green." She said. She held out her hand and Joey shook it. She glanced at Kip's grave and her smile faded. She looked back at Joey, confused. "At the moment, I should be jumping for joy that I've finally met you," she said, "but…but what are you doing by my friend's grave? Did you know him?"
Joey swallowed hard. He hadn't counted on meeting one of Kip's old friends. Rachel Green. He remembered that name…"Um…yes." He admitted, "I knew Kip."
Rachel's eyes widened. "When did you meet him?" she asked.
"In Chicago five years ago." Joey replied quietly, "We were roommates for three years until I became famous and moved to L.A."
"Wow!" Rachel exclaimed, "I had no idea…I haven't spoke to Kip since we left college." She paused and looked sadly at the grave before turning to Joey again. "I guess you hadn't seen him for a while either then?"
"Um…yeah that's right." Joey lied. "I hadn't seen him for…for two years."
"You were crying when I first arrived here." Rachel said softly, "You two must have been close."
"Yes…we were." Joey said quietly. "We had the greatest time as roommates." He chuckled.
Rachel laughed a little. "If you knew Kip like I did, I'm not too surprised about that."
Joey nodded and looked at the grave. They were both silent for a while before Rachel cleared her throat, "I'm sorry I must go." She said quietly, "I've got a plane to catch. I just wanted to come by here to pay my last respects." She turned to go, then hesitated and turned back. She pulled a pen and paper from her bag and started to write on it. She handed the piece of paper to Joey. "There's my home phone number." She explained, "If you ever need to talk you can call me anytime."
"Thank you." Joey said quietly. He stuffed the piece of paper in his pocket and turned away.
Rachel walked away from the grave, leaving Joey. She couldn't believe the soap star, Joey Tribbiani, had been roommates with Kip and that he would fly from L.A to pay his last respects to him. She got into the waiting cab and looked at the driver. "JFK Airport please." She said quietly.
*****
Later that same day, Chandler burst into his and Monica's apartment with a huge smile on his face. "Guess what!" he said to Phoebe, who was lying on the couch with blankets all over her.
"What?" Phoebe croaked.
"I've got a job!" Chandler ran over to the couch and did a little dance around it.
"That's great!" Phoebe strained to shout. She sneezed a few times and blew her nose.
Chandler stopped dancing and looked at her, concerned. "Cold still here huh?" he said sympathetically.
Phoebe nodded. "Yeah," she said pathetically and then she smiled. "Never mind that though…you've got a job!"
Chandler grinned and started to dance again. "I know!" he exclaimed.
"So what will you be doing?"
"I'm going to be charge of data transfer and…"
"Wait…wait!" Phoebe interrupted, lifting her hand up to stall Chandler. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about. Well done for getting the job and we'll just leave it at that."
Chandler smiled knowingly. "Ok."
The apartment door opened and Monica walked in with several bags of shopping. "Hey," she said, putting the bags on the kitchen table.
Chandler went over to kiss her and then stopped just in time, remembering that Phoebe was in the room. He smiled mischievously at Monica and gestured to the bags. "So Mon, what did you get?" he asked.
"Oh just some food for dinner tonight." Monica replied, smiling.
"Uh huh…and um what are we having for dinner tonight?" Chandler asked, "Something hot?" he flashed a grin at Monica.
"Maybe…" Monica said, trying not to giggle. "Depends if I feel like it or not." She glanced at Phoebe, who was staring at the two of them curiously. "What would you like Pheebs?"
"Well I don't know about you two, but I would like a doctor!" Phoebe croaked. She stood up and wrapped a coat around herself. "I'm going now." She said.
"Are you sure Pheebs?" Monica asked worriedly, "It's cold out…maybe I should call the doctor out to here."
"No, I need some fresh air." Phoebe insisted. She walked over to the apartment door and opened it. "I'll be back soon." She left.
Chandler glanced over at Monica and smiled. He walked over to her quickly and pulled her in for a kiss. Monica returned it immediately and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
Their lips still locked together in a kiss Chandler and Monica walked and fell on the top of the kitchen table, where they knocked over several bags on to the floor. They turned to glance at the bags as peppers and potatoes rolled around. Giggling loudly, they continued to kiss passionately pulling desperately at each other's clothes.
"I'm not cooking with those potatoes." Monica murmured in mid kiss.
"No…" Chandler murmured back.
The phone started to ring and they groaned in dismay. "Ignore it…ignore it!" Chandler exclaimed.
"What…if…it's…an emergency?" Monica whispered, kissing Chandler with every word she said.
The machine beeped and Ross' voice was heard clearly. "*Hey Mon,*" he said, "*You're obviously busy right now so…*"
Monica and Chandler giggled loudly at Ross' innocent theory.
"*…Rachel's gone home and…*"
"Rachel's gone home?" Chandler whispered in shock, looking up from Monica and staring at the machine.
"I don't know but…later…later." Monica whispered, pulling his head down again.
****
After leaving a message on Monica's answering machine, Ross raced out of the hotel desperately looking for Rachel. He couldn't let her leave on bad circumstances like that. After what happened to Kip, Ross knew that life was too short for arguments. He called for a cab and leaped in it hoping that he wasn't too late. He gazed out of the window, hoping to find Rachel walking along the streets. He looked out of the other window and, seeing a glimpse of something, he widened his eyes. He couldn't believe what he was seeing…
END OF PART EIGHT
:Noooo…it's not Kip. Lol… I hope I'm doing the R&R parts ok; it's not really my territory. Chandler and Monica stuff is what I write.