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TOW The Reunion

Part 14

Phoebe's eyes widened in utter disbelief and she sat down heavily on the couch. "You're…you're getting married?" she shrieked.

Chandler and Monica exchanged amused glances and nodded.

"Oh my god, that's so great you guys!" Phoebe stood up and flung her arms around the couple. "When did you decide this?"

"Last night," Monica told her, smiling happily, "We wanted you to be the first to know."

"Well I'm honoured," Phoebe told her, grinning. "Now, listen to my news!" She sat back down again and stared eagerly at her friends.

"Fire away Pheebs!" Chandler gestured for her to continue.

"When I was shopping with Julie yesterday I came across this aromatherapy store and I got to chatting with the owner. Her name is Denise and it turns out she wants to expand the business and make it twice as big! However, she needs someone to help her with it…" she paused and smiled keenly.

"Pheebs, you're not saying Denise asked you?" Chandler cried out.

"Yes!" Phoebe clapped her hands in excitement, "Denise said I'm just who she's been looking for! We're going to set up the new business together – she'll be investing most of the money of course – but I'll be able to handle the day-to-day running of it all!"

"Oh Pheebs… I'm so happy for you!" Monica said, giving her a huge hug.

"I know, and there's something else!" Phoebe said excitedly, "Denise's roommate is moving to Australia so she's got a spare room! I can move in next week!"

"That's terrific Phoebe, but we'll miss you." Chandler said, smiling sadly.

"It's only two blocks from here so I can still see you both all the time," Phoebe assured him, "Oh I'm so excited!"

"Wow, everything is happening all at once," Monica said in awe, "Rachel's divorcing Barry, Chandler and I are getting married, Joey Tribbiani in our apartment last night…"

"What?!" Phoebe looked wildly around the room, "You mean the soap star, Joey Tribbiani was here?!"

Chandler exchanged an awkward glance with Monica, "Yeah, Pheebs about that...we've got something to tell you."

"You may want to stay sitting down for this," Monica suggested helpfully, "This story may come as a shock to you."

"Has this got anything to do with Ross' awful mood last night?" Phoebe inquired, frowning.

"Yeah, you came home to a rather unpleasant atmosphere last night," Chandler explained, wincing. "You see, it's like this…"

****

"Are you seeing your friends today?" Julie asked, coming out of the hotel bathroom suite.

Ross sat up in bed and shook his head silently. "Not after what happened last night," he said darkly, "I can't believe those guys are supporting Joey."

Julie sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Ross, you can't be mad forever," she said gently, "I understand how you feel, and I know you miss your friend a lot but nothing can bring him back. He died in an accident; you can't go around blaming the guy who tried to save his life."

"Oh yeah, leaping through the window of a moving car is really saving someone's life," Ross said sarcastically, "…and then running away from the scene…very brave."

Julie shrugged, "Some people do weird things when they panic." She said.

"Look, nothing you can say can change my mind about that guy," Ross said sharply, "As far as I'm concerned, Joey killed my best friend and I will never, ever forgive him for that." He climbed out of the bed and stormed to the bathroom.

Julie sighed deeply and looked down at her feet. She was seeing a side to her boyfriend that she didn't like. He was angry, refusing to grieve for a friend he was obviously very close to. Since they had started dating a year ago, Ross had never talked much about his past. She had never realised that strong feelings about the past ran deep inside him, and, no matter what, Julie was going to bring those feelings to the surface to help him grieve…before it was too late.

She walked into the bathroom and saw Ross leaning his hands against the sink, his head bowed low.

"Talk to me Ross," she said timidly, "I know you're hurting."

Ross looked up and she was shocked to see the tears forming in his eyes. "I…I don't know if I should talk about Kip," he said quietly.

"Of course you should!" Julie encouraged, "He was your best friend…you're allowed to talk about him whenever you want."

"Ok," Ross nodded slowly and walked past Julie back into the bedroom. He sat down and stayed silent for a while.

"Take your time," Julie softly, standing in front of him.

"Kip and I were like brothers," Ross began, "And Chandler was like the little brother, we were like the three musketeers, you know?"

Julie nodded.

"If either of us had a problem, we were there for each other. Although, in the end, Chandler turned to my sister for advice so it was just Kip and I."

"What did you used to talk about?" Julie asked gently.

"Women mostly," Ross said, giving a little laugh, "During our sophomore year, I kind of had a crush on…um…" he paused and looked at Julie uncomfortably.

"Rachel?" Julie asked, smiling wryly.

"It was a long time ago," Ross assured her, "but yeah, I had a crush on her. She was popular and way out of my league. I used to talk to Kip about her a lot."

"What did he used to say?"

"Well, Kip was quite close with Rachel back then…they kind of had a bond there I think…I never did get my head around it. Anyway, Kip used to just get really uncomfortable whenever I talked about her. Despite the fact Kip probably knew Rachel better than even Monica did he couldn't seem to offer me any advice on how to approach her."

"Maybe he didn't want to get caught in the middle of something complicated," Julie suggested, "You were both his friends, so he didn't want to get involved."

"Maybe…" Ross murmured, "Anyway, it kinda caused friction in the end. I just couldn't understand why Kip wasn't helping me more…he just wanted to change the subject all the time. In our final year at college we ended up having this massive fight."

"Oh no," Julie sighed, "What happened?"

"It was nothing really, we made it up after…but the fight didn't make sense at all," Ross frowned and shook his head, "To this day I still don't know what it was really about. Kip accused me of being a coward, he said me keeping quiet from Rachel about my 'crush' was stopping other people from getting the green light and making a move. Then he said it was too late now because Rachel had just announced she was marrying Barry. I just don't know who he was talking about…who wanted to date Rachel? Who was it too late for to make a move?"

Julie sighed and sat down on the bed, "You really don't know?" she asked.

Ross turned to her and a look of confusion spread over his face, "No, that's just it," he said, "Even though we made up after, things were never the same between Kip and I again. He started to get really resentful towards me and avoided me whenever he could. Then we graduated and, well, you know the rest." He sighed unhappily, "To this day, I regret the way things ended with Kip. When I got that letter from Chandler telling me Kip was dead, I just felt guilty for not patching things up with him properly before it was too late."

"Ross, you can't feel guilty for the rest of your life," Julie comforted, "Friends drift apart sometimes…its part of growing up and moving on."

"Maybe, but it still doesn't make it right…and the way we fell out was just confusing. Then again, Kip could be a confusing guy sometimes…he never revealed his feelings about anything really."

"Ross, think about it," Julie pressured, "You mentioned this…this bond he had with Rachel…maybe that meant to Kip more than you think."

Ross widened his eyes, "Well, sure they were close but…but they were close like Chandler and Monica were close. They were best friends."

Julie shook her head and frowned, "I'm not going to say anything more about it," she told him, "You knew Kip…I didn't. Maybe I'm just getting things wrong, but it seems to me that Kip did care about something other than partying and joking around all the time. Think about it." She stood up and grabbed her bag. "I'm going to visit your sister and Chandler at their apartment, where they're meeting Joey and Rachel to go see the cops. Are you coming?"

"No," he mumbled, "I'm just gonna stay here a while…get my head straight about some stuff."

"Ok," Julie bent down to give him a quick kiss on the lips and opened the door. "I'll see you later sweetie." She left the room.

****

"Chandler and Monica sitting in a tree…K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Phoebe whispered in Chandler's ear. Chandler grinned and nudged her, shaking his head warningly at the same time. Phoebe just grinned back and continued to hum her song.

Rachel glanced at Phoebe and hummed along to the tune. "Who is being referred to Phoebe?" she asked.

Phoebe smiled secretly and shifted her position slightly – being squashed between Rachel and Chandler in the back of a cab wasn't the most comfortable of situations, and she was sure Rachel was still jealous of her moving 'into' the group of friends. Monica was sitting up front. Julie and Joey were in another cab just behind. The two sets of passengers were on the way to the cops.

"Oh nobody really," she replied, "I just like the tune."

"Really," Chandler commented grimly.

"I still don't understand why you couldn't have let me travel with Joey and Julie," Phoebe complained now, "There would have been more room!"

"I told you before, I'm not having you babble excitedly to Joey about 'Days Of Our Lives' just before he's about to make a statement to the police," Chandler told her firmly, "He doesn't need that right now."

"I don't think any of us need this right now," Rachel said sadly, "In an ideal world, Kip would still be alive."

Monica turned around from her front seat and smiled sympathetically at her. "I know Rachel," she said softly, "I think we all wish that."

Chandler reached his hand across Phoebe's lap to grasp Rachel's hand gently. "As soon as this is all over, we'll have a proper gathering…just for the people who knew and loved Kip. We can have a few drinks, and have a laugh about the fun we used to have with him."

Rachel smiled gratefully at Chandler, "Thank you." She whispered.

"Wow, this Kip really meant something to you guys!" Phoebe said, awestruck, "I mean, from what I can see, you guys seemed to just function around him during college."

"Hey, we had lives too!" Chandler said hotly, "Kip wasn't the only guy who knew how to have fun!"

"What makes you think Kip had fun?" Rachel asked, craning her head forward to see Chandler's face.

Chandler paled. "Of course he had fun," he told her, laughing in disbelief, "He was the life and soul of the party."

"That's what you think," Rachel said dully, looking away from him.

"I don't understand. Kip was the happiest guy in the world," Monica rambled, "Why are you making him look bad?"

"I'm not making him look bad!" Rachel exploded, turning her head away from the window. Her cheeks reddened angrily. "I'm just saying that maybe you didn't know Kip as well as you thought!"

"Ok, ok Rach," Monica said, holding her hands up, eyes wide. "I'm sorry. Don't get upset."

"Wow, looks like Chandler and Monica has missed something," Phoebe said, glancing at Rachel.

"Yeah, what is it about Kip that you know that we don't?" Chandler questioned, frowning.

"I don't want to talk about this right now," Rachel replied, "Let's just get Joey through this, ok?"

"Ok, whatever you say Rachel." Chandler agreed, exchanging an anxious glance with Monica.

****

Detective Sergeant Mike Hinman had been on his way for an early lunch when a colleague of his approached him about the six young individuals standing out in the lobby of the NYPD.

"What do they want George?" he asked wearily.

"I don't know, but one of them looks quite distressed," his colleague told him, "I think he wants to make a statement about something."

"Ok, bring them to Interview Room 4," Mike said.

A few minutes later, Joey entered the room. Mike gestured for him to sit down at the interrogation table. He studied Joey for a minute, taking in his youthful, but tired looking face. This kid looked like he had been through a rough time lately.

"So, what can I do for you Joey?" Mike asked him now.

"Um…well, I…I've come to make a statement," Joey stuttered, shifting nervously around in his seat. "I should have done it days ago really."

"Ok," Mike nodded, frowning, "Have you done anything illegal?"

"It depends on your point of view really," Joey replied, smiling wanly.

"Well maybe if you told what you've done then maybe I can get a point of view," Mike said, beginning to feel impatient.

"You…you may be aware of a car crash that happened in Beverly Hills six weeks ago?" Joey offered.

 "A lot of car crashes happen in Beverly Hills," Mike pointed out, "Which one are you talking about?"

"A twenty six year old man was killed after he lost control of the car he was driving. The coroner's report indicated drunk-driving was the cause." Joey swallowed hard.

Mike snapped his fingers. "There was a meeting about that a while ago," he realised, "Some kid stole a car and…and the owner of it turned out to be…" he paused and studied Joey closely. "The actor Joey Tribbiani's." he uttered.

Joey nodded miserably.

"That's your surname?" Mike burst out, "It was your car?"

Joey nodded again, looking down at his hands which were placed flat down on the table.

"Where the hell have you been?" Mike demanded, "My colleagues back in L.A have been searching for you for weeks! It has been difficult because of all the 'hush-hush keeping it out of the papers' garbage, you have wasted so much of our time. All we wanted was proof of ownership of the car, what have you been doing?"

"I…I was scared," Joey said quietly.

"Scared of what?" Mike stared at Joey, confused about his behaviour. When he had read Michael Kip Granger's case in the files two weeks ago, it had been so strange. How had the guy got hold of the actor's car – with no sign of forced entry – and driven it down an embankment at 3am? His eyes widened. Was the car ever stolen in the first place? He looked at Joey again, and for the first time he saw behind the tired eyes a look of guilt. "Is there something you want to tell me Joey?" he asked slowly.

"Yeah, I think there is," Joey replied, staring at Mike with his now readable eyes.

****

The rest of the group were standing around the lobby, sipping the coffee Julie had got from a nearby machine.

"What do you think is happening in there?" Monica asked Chandler worriedly.

"I don't know…he's been in there a long time," Chandler murmured. He squeezed Monica's hand as a sign of reassurance.

On the other side of the room, Rachel watched this moment thoughtfully. Monica and Chandler were looking suspiciously close…she knew that they had always been like that back in college but neither of them had seen each other for five years until Kip's funeral. If anyone was to walk in now and see them standing like they were – Chandler holding Monica's hand gently and Monica leaning her head against his shoulder – they looked like…a couple.

Rachel shook her head, almost laughing to herself. The idea of Chandler and Monica having a relationship without telling anyone was, in her mind, ridiculous. Someone would have worked it out by now. Hell, Phoebe the ragamuffin lived with them and she hadn't said a word. The trauma of Kip's sudden death, her confused feelings for Ross, and in a weird way, Joey too, was affecting her common sense. Still, they do look awfully close over there…

 ****

Joey walked out of the interrogation room, feeling like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders…and another one replacing it. The confession about his involvement in Kip's death was finally out in the open, but he had been arrested. Mike had had no choice. He had lied about his knowledge of the whereabouts of his car on the night of Kip's death, he had left the scene of an accident that he had been involved in which was a criminal offence, and he had let Kip drive drunk in his car in the first place when they had first left the party. After reading Joey his rights, Mike was letting him go home on bail and he was expected to get himself a lawyer.

Even to a normal guy, all of it would have been too overwhelming to cope with…but Joey lived in the public eye, he was famous, that was even worse. The press were already going crazy about his sudden decision to quit Days of Our Lives…what were they going to say now?

Soap Star Arrested…left friend to die while drunk…

Those were what the headlines were going to be…

…and his life was going to be hell.

End of Part 14

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