~Hey! Thanks so much for reviewing! This chapter is definitely a PG-13....but the entire story isn't just this chapter, so um....you've been warned.~



Monica didn't even know where to begin to find Chandler after he had run from her house like that. He had to be staying in a hotel somewhere, the problem was where? Could she just start calling hotels up one by one and ask if they had a Chandler Bing staying there. But what if he had gone home? What if he had run back to wherever it was that he had come from? She had never really thanked him. Not really and truly thanked him for what he had done that ten years previous. At the very least she wanted to find him and say that she was so grateful towards him. For doing what he did.

For saving her.

Ten Years before:

As quietly as she possibly could, Monica snuck into the house.

"Please be asleep," she begged silently. "Please, please be asleep." She had been out with Chandler again. She knew that Ross didn't approve of her dating his college roommate, but she also knew that she didn't really care. But if her mother or stepfather, Ron, found out, things would be bad. Her mother, who thought that everything she did was wrong, everything that her brother did was right, would kill her if she knew.

Well, it seemed that she was safe, at least for the night. There was no movement from the house. Tiptoeing up the stairs, a voice cut through the air.

"Getting home late?" It was Ron. Inwardly, she groaned to herself and prayed that he wasn't angry with her.

"Hi Ron, sorry, I lost track of time. I was studying with Rachel." She hoped that he would buy that. She knew that it was probable that he wouldn't.

"Uh-huh." Oh shit, she was in for it now. Reaching out, he grabbed her arm. "Where were you? Who were you with?" It occurred to her that she should run, but where would she run to?

"I was with Rachel...." she tried it again.

"Liar."

"No! I....was..." He grabbed her by both shoulders and shook her.

"Liar." Hot tears sprung in her eyes.

"Please let go of me, Ron, you're hurting me," she begged. He stopped shaking and pulled her up off of the stairs.

"You know Monica, you are a gorgeous girl," he breathed into her hair. The stench of whiskey was overwhelming. "Maybe we can forget about this if we make a little deal." His hand ran up over her sweater and she cringed.

"Please, Ron. No." It didn't matter, and she knew that. He pulled her roughly by the arm and tried to yell, but his calloused hand clamped over her mouth. What would it matter if she yelled anyway? If her mother wasn't passed out from the copious amounts of alcohol she had imbibed, she would either ignore it, or she would call Monica a liar, and Ron would still sneak into her bedroom later that night. And Ross who was home for the weekend? Ross would think it was Ron and her mother being sick and twisted, he would turn on his headphones and drown them out. Ron found a scarf of Monica's lying on the floor and tied it around her mouth.

"Don't yell, now," he said, with a smile on his face that she would remember for the rest of her life. He laid her on the bed, and she squeezed her eyes shut and prayed that he would be quick.

When he was gone, and she laid with rivets of tears flowing down her face, she made up her mind. She needing to run. The only problem was figuring out where to go.

Her father? He lived in California, and she could go there. But how would she get there? And she needed to leave now. Right away.

The only place she could think of popped into her mind.

Chandler's.

Ross wasn't there, and it was close. She grabbed a bag from the closet and began to throw her sweaters and jeans into it. Once that was done, she grabbed her favorite book from off the shelf. A worn and well-loved copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, and threw that into the bag as well. Glancing around her room, she realized that this may be the last time that she ever stepped foot in there. She reached over onto her shelves and grabbed a framed picture of her and her brother and father, and the snowglobe of New York City that her father had given her when he left. Then she ran out the door. To find Chandler. So that he could save her, make her feel safe. Make her feel beautiful and not simply used.



Tap on my window knock on my door
I want to make you feel beautiful
I know I tend to get insecure
It doesn't matter anymore

Present:

Monica had never figured out how Ron knew that she had gone to Chandler's. She knew that it had to have been Ross, but somehow didn't want to believe that he would betray her like that. But it had to be him. There was no other way that Ron could have known. The memories were coming back now. It was as if seeing Chandler had opened a floodgate that refused to be shut now. She remembered coming to his room soaking wet. She remembered him pulling her close. And she remembered how the whole story had spilled out.

Ten Years Before:

"What happened?" She knew that he would ask, but she didn't want to tell him. This question caused a whole new slew of tears.

"Seriously Monica," Chandler was holding her now, and getting scared. She wasn't talking, just sobbing uncontrollably. "What happened?"

"Ron...he....raped..." Saying the word just sent her into convulsions. Saying the word sent Chandler into a rage.

"He touched you? I'm going to kill him," Chandler kept repeating this over and over again. And Monica became even more terrified.

"Please, please don't do anything....I don't.....not for me....."

"I would do anything for you," he told her lifting her chin up so that she looked straight into his eyes. "Anything." He didn't say anything else, he simply held her in his arms until she had stopped quivering.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked a little later after they had been lying there for quite some time. He had fallen asleep and only woke up when he heard her sobbing into her pillow.

"Fine," it was an automatic response.

"Are you?"

"I'm fine Chandler. I'm going to be okay." So he stopped pushing. She said that she would be okay, and that was easier to take than her world was falling apart around her. So he chose the easy route. And they had fallen back into restless sleeps.

The second time they were awoken was from a pounding on the door.

"Monica!" It was Ron. Monica clung to Chandler, horrified.

"How did he find me?" She asked. Chandler shrugged.

"We won't let him in," he assured her. But that was a promise that he wasn't able to keep when the door flew open. Ron came flying over to the bed and grabbed Monica by her arm and pulled her up. She winced in pain as his fingers dug into her skin.

"Come on," he told her pulling her towards the door.

"No!" Later, both Monica and Chandler were at a loss as to who actually said those words. But Monica reached her hand out for Chandler to take.

"I'm not going with you," she said to Ron summoning all her courage. Slapping her hard across the face, Ron hissed.

"Slut." That was it, Chandler wasn't about to allow Ron to treat her like that. Wasn't going to let him take her.

"Let her go," Chandler said standing up straight and still coming about three inches short of Ron. He gently took Monica's hand."She's staying here with me." Ron simply tightened his grip, causing Monica to cry out in pain. Chandler let go of her hand and stepped in between Ron and Monica. Ron let go of Monica briefly and she moved away and slipped down to the floor covering her head with her hands and rocking back and forth. Chandler, who had never been an extremely violent man, wanted nothing more than to kill this man standing in front of him. He settled for simply punching him.

As blood poured out of Ron's nose, he turned to Monica who was still huddled on the floor.

"Don't come home. You aren't welcome," he told her and then turned and slammed the door behind him. Monica didn't move, she just sat and sobbed into her hands. Chandler came over to where she was, and gently placed a hand on her back. She flinched, but then threw herself into his arms.

"What do I do now?" She sobbed. "What do I do?"

"It's okay," he told her again and again as she kept repeating her question. "I'm here. Nothing's going to hurt you again. I'm here. It's okay. I'm here."


It's not always rainbows and butterflies
It's compromise that moves us along
My heart is full and my door's always open
You can come anytime you want

~* So I lied, the last part of the song will be in the third chapter....that is if everyone is still interested in the story, so let me know. Leave a review. Thanks! ~*