Unanswered Prayers
Disclaimer… I don't own the song or the Friends characters!
Wow… Friends... tonight was the filming of the series finale! OMG, can you believe it? Eek! '(
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"Come on, Mon," Chandler whined. "This if a fine present for Rachel. We've been shopping all day. She's just gonna return it anyway."
"Yeah, true," Monica agreed. "But I want to at least get her something she might think twice about returning."
"This is part of that competitive thing, isn't it?" Chandler groaned. "Please, let's just go. It's getting packed here. I don't like this mall anyway."
"You don't like any mall," she told him. "Okay, we'll go," she said. "I think this is good for Rachel anyway."
"Finally," he sighed. "It's a Friday and it's like four, all these damn teenagers are starting to show up."
Monica laughed and slipped her arm around him. "If someone didn't know better they'd think you were the grumpiest person on Earth."
"Chandler?" a woman's voice rang out. Both Monica and Chandler turned around and found themselves face to face with Kathy.
"Kathy?" Chandler asked. Kathy smiled.
"That's me," she said with a smile. "How've you been?"
"Oh, great," he said. "You?"
"I've been okay," she said with a smile.
"You remember Monica, right? Monica, you remember Kathy?" he asked them both. They both nodded and smiled politely.
"Yeah, of course," Kathy said. "The one who made you so good in bed," she said with a laugh.
"Uhhhhhh," Chandler said. Monica looked at him and laughed. She had almost forgotten about that drawing she had made and the lesson she had given him. She briefly wondered if that had benefited her in the long run.
"You always did have a way with words," Kathy joked to Chandler. He smiled.
"Yeah," Chandler said with a laugh. Kathy looked at Monica, and she smiled and shrugged. Chandler remembered how he'd been so crazy about Kathy back then. He had almost ruined the second most important relationship in his life, and at the time, probably the most important relationship in his life, his friendship with Joey, over Kathy. He still couldn't believe that he had done that. Risked Joey for Kathy. Kissed her while Joey was going out with her. Spent that Thanksgiving in that damn box because of her. What had been so captivating about her?
He couldn't help but remember how badly he had wanted her. Stabbing Joey in the back for her. Sure, Joey was cheating on her, too, but still, what he had done wasn't the best of things to do to your best friend. Not to mention he had run down the street like an idiot, chasing after he just to say hello. He had been, like, obsessed with her. And what happened in the end? She had cheated on him. He had been sure that if he could just get her, even if that meant hurting Joey, they would fall in love and have a great relationship, maybe she would even be the one to break him of his commitment fear. The whole time he was in love with her while Joey had her, he had prayed that something would happen between her and Joey so that he could get her. He'd prayed that she would become his. He seriously thought that if that had happened, he would never ask anyone for anything ever again.
But it hadn't happened. Well, it had, he had gotten her in the end. But he didn't get to keep her like he had thought. She had ended up hurting him, possibly making his fear of commitment worse, not better. She hadn't been the perfect woman that he thought she was. In his dreams she never would have cheated on him. She would have been perfect, just like he always had pictured her being. But she really wasn't that angel he had thought she was before they got together. It was funny, really. He had thought that Kathy was this perfect angel and spent forever wanting her, and she hurt him. But Monica, the one he ended up with by accident for the most part was the angel, the one that never hurt him. It's like there was always a plan, that's why he couldn't be with Kathy.
"It's been so long since I've seen you," Kathy interrupted his thoughts.
"Yeah, since, well... since we broke up."
"Which was what? Wow, six, seven years ago?" she said, thinking about it in her head.
"Yeah, something like that," Chandler said. "Seems like a long time ago, huh?"
"It really does. We had some good times, though," she thought with a laugh. "Like, remember when..." she trailed off, not sure what to fill in the blank there. "I gave you a hair cut?"
"Uh, yeah," Chandler said. "That was an, umm, great hair cut."
"And remember when..." she trailed off again. She had thought for sure she could think of something. "When you spent Thanksgiving in a box?"
"Yeah. Not too fun," Chandler said. "And when we... uh, sat in the canoe?" Chandler said, not being able to think of anything to say.
"Yeah," Kathy said with a fake smile. "Good times, huh?" She looked at Monica and Chandler, Monica still having her arm around Chandler's waist, and Chandler playing with her hair. "So are you two, like... dating? I mean, I'm sure you're not, but it just looks like it... but I know you two have always just had a closeness. But are you?"
"Well, I guess, kinda," Monica said with a laugh.
"Kinda?" Kathy questioned. Chandler held up his left hand which contained his wedding ring. "Wow. Married?" she asked. "I guess congratulations are in order. How long?"
"Almost three years," Chandler told her.
"Wow," Kathy said. "I mean, I never would have thought. How long have you been together?"
"Almost six years," Monica said.
"So you two got together around the time we broke up," Kathy said. "Wow." She looked at Monica and smiled. "Guess teaching him all those bedroom tricks before wasn't such a bad idea, huh?" she said with a smile.
Monica smiled. "Guess not," she said with a small giggle.
"Well, I better get going," Kathy said. "It was nice to see you guys again," she added before walking off in the direction she had come from.
Chandler looked at Monica and smiled. He realized how thankful he was that he hadn't gotten his wishes with Kathy. If he'd ended up getting his wish that they'd be happy together forever, he never would have gotten Monica. At the time he'd thought there was nothing he wanted more than Kathy, and that was all he wished for. It really was true that the greatest gifts were unanswered prayers. If his prayers for being with Kathy had been answered, he never would have gotten Monica, who he wouldn't give up for anything. The feelings he had for Monica were a thousand times greater than any he had ever had for Kathy. When Kathy had cheated on him, he had been so hurt. He thought that everything he had been praying for and hoping for had just been some joke, that God, if there was one, had just heard his requests and laughed. But he realized now that there must have been some plan for him. His prayers couldn't be answered because the plan for him was to end up with Monica. And that was just fine with him. Now he had so much that he was thankful for in his life.
Monica looked at him and smiled back.
"I love you, you know that?" Chandler said to Monica. She smiled.
"I kinda had a feeling," she teased, kissing him quickly on the lips. "That was weird seeing Kathy."
"Yeah," Chandler agreed. "We really didn't even have much to talk about," he said with a laugh. "I mean, at the time I had thought it was such a serious relationship, and now I run into her and can't even remember anything we did. I think I've been spoiled with you," he joked, taking her hand in his.
"Yeah, I tend to do that to people," Monica joked, squeezing his hand as they started to walk out of the mall.
"How long were Kathy and I even together?" Chandler wondered. "Less than two months? It wasn't very long."
"You don't even remember?" Monica asked, surprised. "I mean, you were really in love with her, I thought you would have remembered."
"Yeah, well, then some other woman came along and I didn't really remember anything about any of those previous women anymore."
Monica smiled. "You are talking about me, aren't you?" she asked just to be sure. Chandler laughed.
"Yes, Mon," he said.
"Okay. Good," she said, leaning in to kiss him. "Was Kathy the last one you slept with other than me?" she asked.
"Yeah," he realized. "Wow, so it's been just you for like six years."
"Six years..." Monica repeated. "Can you believe that? I mean, it seems like it was just our one year anniversary in Vegas."
"I know," he said. He thought about that then laughed. "That sure was interesting," he said.
"Yeah," Monica laughed. "I mean, we went from fighting to nearly getting married."
"Imagine if we had gone through with that," he thought with a laugh. "Hey, you know, everyone says I'm was one with commitment issues. But I had to propose to you three times before you married me!"
"Okay, the first time, you weren't serious. The second time I said yes, but then Ross and Rachel messed it up, and we both chickened out when the moment was gone."
"Excuses, excuses," Chandler joked. She lightly hit him with her elbow.
"We got here, didn't we?" she pointed out.
"Yeah, sure did," Chandler said with a laugh.
"You've impressed me," she told him. "Never really freaked out much."
"Ehh, there were a few times," he said.
"Yeah, but who was the one who suggested we move in together? Who was the one who technically proposed? Who was the one who was calmer about the idea of having a baby?"
"Who's the one who had to propose because he was sorry after getting into a fight with you because he was scared of commitment? And who was the one who tried to run out on our wedding?"
"And who was the one who thought I was pregnant when we got married and didn't freak out?"
"Fine, just keep making me look good," Chandler said. "I try to disagree, but no, you come up with another example."
"I love you," she said with a smile, stopping to turn in his arms. "And I'm glad Kathy cheated on you," she added.
"You know what I love most about you?" Chandler asked. "That you're so compassionate," he said sarcastically.
"Yeah, I know, but had she not cheated on you who knows what may have happened. You might have ended up marrying her."
"Nah," Chandler said. "She wasn't the one I was supposed to end up with," he told Monica, kissing her on top of the head.
"How'd I get so lucky to be the one that fate paired you with?" she asked with a smile.
"You know how much I swore I loved Kathy that whole time?"
"Mmmhmm."
"You know that's like 1/1000th of the way I feel for you, right?"
Monica looked at him and smiled. "Wow, that was really... wow." She smiled at him again and rested her head on his shoulder. "You're so amazing," she said.
"I love you," he whispered in her ear.
"Yeah, and you're okay, too," she joked, biting her lip to keep from laughing.
"You're lucky I love you," he told her, poking her playfully in the side.
She smiled and looked into his eyes. "Yeah. I am."
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So just while I was writing this, there was a story on the local news about the end of Friends. They showed clips from the pilot and recent episodes. Awwww sniff. The reality is setting in now! Heh.