Easy Lover – Dream of keeping hold of

A/N: Yay, okay, I'm supposed to be random in here! *bounce* I'm not sure what to say though. =/ Um, yeah, I keep forgetting to point out that you're only seeing Chandler's POV in this fanfic at the moment. More things will be explained as the fic progresses. Hopefully, you'll trust me and stick with it. *shrug* Anyway, I must stop talking so I can get back to my 'happy birthday' smilie husband! Happy birthday! Please read and review, thank you! :)

Disclaimer: I had a dream that I owned the characters in this fic. Then, I woke up and realized that…I don't. Wow, that was a good story, wasn't it?

Chandler smiled as he walked down the corridor. It was the beginning of the day and he was happy, for a change. And why shouldn't he be? After all, he was finally acting in a movie that had great potential. Perhaps, after this movie, his career as an actor would take off. Maybe then Monica would do more than just consider dating him. Still, for now, that was enough. The fact she had said those few words still made his mind spin, even two weeks later. Her words should not have weighted so much in his mind, but he couldn't help the excitement he felt when he thought back upon them. He had been living the past few months trying to get her to notice him. Now she did!

When he entered the studio, Chandler noticed Joey standing in the corner, staring at a group of technical staffers gathered on the other side of the room. Chandler approached Joey, but he just nodded hello and turned away. Chandler raised his eyebrows.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing," he answered distractedly.

"Uh, okay."

Chandler studied him for a few moments, and watched as Joey's eyes followed the blonde haired woman who had strayed from the group.

"Are you staring at Phoebe?"

Joey looked up, startled. "No! Definitely not."

Chandler gave him an unconvinced look.

"Ok," he looked down sheepishly, "Maybe I am."

"Oh yeah, she's hot."

"Uh huh…very."

"So? You're Joey. Why don't you ask her?"

"Well, first thing, she's the producer. If I break her heart, I could get the ultimate ass-kicking."

"True…"

"And second, well, I already asked."

"And…"

"And," Joey looked away and mumbled, "She said no."

"What? I thought I heard you say 'she said no'."

"Dude, not so loud!"

"Are you…are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious! Why would I joke about something like this?!"

"I don't know. Did she tell you why she said no?"

"She said it would be weird." Joey shook his head, "I'll work on her, though."

Joey began to walk towards Phoebe, when Chandler called to him.

"Wait! What about getting your ass kicked if you dump her?"

Joey turned around. "I just won't dump her."

Chandler was taken aback by Joey's words. Was this the same Joey who, just a few weeks ago, had informed Chandler that he had never been in a relationship that lasted longer than a month? Was he serious?

Chandler didn't have long to contemplate that, though. The room was filling up quickly. The first phase of the movie was slowly drawing to a close. Soon they would begin filming. Things were getting stricter. However, Chandler embraced every opportunity. Each time the director told him to redo a scene, he complied without complaint. It was so amazing to be doing what he loved, for a change. For all the pain and suffering he had endured in the past, and was sure he would be subjected to in the future, the feeling of satisfaction this movie gave him felt like his life's reward.

When the work for the day was finished, Chandler stood next to Rachel, sipping from a water bottle. Chandler watched as Joey approached Phoebe and began to immediately flirt with her. He wanted to laugh at Joey's failure to seduce this woman. He knew it was terrible to think of his friend's situation in this way, but it was satisfying to see the 'ladies man' unable to win over this extremely independent woman.

"Come on, Chandler," Rachel urged, tugging on his shirtsleeve and leaving him no room to argue."

Rachel led him over to the corner where Joey and Phoebe were congregated. Chandler was mildly surprised to see Phoebe flirt back.

"Hey Joey!" Rachel called.

Chandler could have sworn he heard Joey curse on his breath. "Hey Rach. Chandler..."

Chandler bit his lip and shrugged.

Rachel smiled at Phoebe. "Hi Phoebe."

"Hey Rachel. Long day today?"

"Of course," Rachel smiled. "Well, how about we all go out and get some drinks tonight?"

"Oh, that sounds great. I could sure use a break!"

Chandler attempted to escape, as the two women engaged in conversation, but stopped when he saw Ross staring at the group. Chandler pretended not to see, but, out of the corner of his eye, struggled to look at Ross. Slowly and nervously, Ross approached the small group.

"Hey, um, Phoebe," he began, "Did you get those shoots set yet?"

"Yup, everything's all set."

"Okay, great. Thanks."

Ross turned away, but before he could leave, Phoebe tapped his shoulder.

"Ross, we're all going out for some drinks tonight. Would you like to come with?"

"Uh, well," he looked around at the rest of the group, whom, after a moment, began to nod their heads in agreement, "Sure!"

"Great."

"Look, uh," he snuck a glance behind him, where Monica was reading over the script, "Do you think Monica could come along."

The others looked reluctant to agree, but Chandler immediately answered, "Sure!"

"Great, thanks. I'm just gonna wrap up here and then I'll be set."

"Okay," Phoebe agreed, "Great."

Once Ross walked away from the group, Joey and Rachel shot Chandler scolding looks. He smiled innocently in return.

"Don't worry about it," Phoebe assured them, "She won't be much of a downer. She might sit in the corner for a while without doing much of anything, but by the end of the night, I'm sure she'll go home with one of the waiters."

"Really?" Rachel asked.

Chandler felt insulted by her words. Maybe Monica was a bit standoffish, but Phoebe didn't have to spread rumors about her! He remembered how, the first time they spoke in the warehouse, she had jumped at the thought of rumors spreading. She obviously was forced to deal with that a lot. He ignored the voice in his head that told him they were true.

"Well, a lot of the time, rumors aren't true. This time, they are."

"How do you know that?!" Chandler shot back.

She shrugged, oblivious to his anger. "I'm friends with Ross. He tells me a lot."

"Yeah?" Rachel asked anxiously, "What else did he tell me?"

"That you're a gossip," Phoebe joked, "He also said that he thought you were pretty."

Rachel blushed, "Really?"

"Of course! I don't lie…anymore."

"What else did he s –"

She stopped talking when she saw Ross returning to the group. Chandler noticed Monica a few paces behind her brother and felt his heart rate speed up.

"You ready?" Joey asked the group.

"Yup!" Rachel and Phoebe answered simultaneously.

"Great. Let's get out of here!"

The group, minus Monica, sat at a table in the dimly lit nightclub. They chatted lightly as they waited for the waiter to take their drink orders. After he came, however, Phoebe directed her attention to a few tables behind them. Monica was sitting there, alone, stirring a straw in a glass of water.

"What's with her?"

Ross sighed. "I don't know. She's gotten a little…closed off. Don't get me wrong. She's a great person. She just can't," he paused, searching for the right word, "Doesn't make an effort to befriend people anymore. I try to get her to go out more, but it's not often that she agrees. I was surprised she said yes about tonight. She didn't used to be like that…"

The conversation again turned to another topic. However, Chandler continued to sneak looks at her. When he was around her, she seemed like such a warm person. However, what everyone else said was the opposite.

As the rest of the group got up to start dancing, Chandler stayed back. He watched Monica carefully. She looked lonely. Remembering the night she had taken care of him when he had been drunk, he cautiously advanced towards her. She looked up at him, and said hello, before looking down at her glass once more. He sat down across from her.

"I'm drinking a soda today," he informed her, "I don't want a repeat of last time I went out for drinks."

She chuckled.

"You look bored."

"No, I'm fine."

"Why don't you come dance?"

"No, that's okay. I'm not in the mood."

"Well, if you…don't mind me asking, why did you agree to come tonight?"

"I was tired of my brother bitching at me about never going out with, uh, friends."

"Oh. I see. Yeah, my friends get like that, too."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. But I wasn't kidding before when I said they were really great."

"I'm sure they are."

Chandler studied her closer. "Are you sure you're okay? You look upset about something?"

She shrugged. "It's been a hard year."

"I can imagine. Want to talk about it?"

Monica's eyes were still on her glass of water. "Not really."

"Okay… but if you don't want to talk, then you have to dance with me."

"No way."

Chandler mocked insult. "Why not?! Am I that hideous?"

She laughed and finally looked at him. "I told you, I'm just not in the mood."

He was determined to get her up to dance. He could tell she wanted to, but was being too stubborn to give in.

"Come on. I won't give up till you dance."

"No way."

"Please."

"No, Chandler."

He tugged at her arm and gave her a sad, puppy-dog look. She laughed and looked away.

"One dance."

"N –"

"Pleeeaaassse."

She laughed. "Okay, okay. If it means that much to you."

He brought her to her feet. "It does, it really does."

They went on the dance floor and picked a less crowded spot in the far corner and began to dance. Monica burst out laughing.

"What?!"

"You cannot dance."

"Thanks a lot."

She hit his chest lightly. "No, don't worry about it. It's funny."

He stopped dancing. "Way to make me self-conscious."

Monica giggled. "Don't stop! I was just kidding."

"No you weren't."

"No, I wasn't. But come on. You're the one who made me go dance! Now dance!"

He smiled and slowly began to move again.

"That's better."

"Thank you."

Monica seemed to be talking to him even more than she normally did. Momentarily, he wondered how much he could get out her that night. A friendship? More? However, as he watched her laugh and tuck a strand of dark hair behind her ear, he knew he couldn't think about that. It would just make him nervous. He wanted to make as much of this night as he possibly could, without screwing it up, like he usually did.

A few dances later, a slow song came over the loudspeakers. Chandler smiled sheepishly and shrugged. She smiled back and slowly they began o dance. At first, they stood a bit away from each other without speaking, feeling slightly awkward. However, after a minute, Monica moved closer to Chandler and he began to talk again. 

"So, what are you doing this weekend?"

"Uh, working."

He blushed. "Right. Me too."

She chuckled.

"You know, you're really beautiful."

The words came out so suddenly, he wasn't even aware he was saying them until they had already come out. He half expected her to slap him. However, she smiled and even blushed slightly.

"Thanks."

He felt her move closer to him. Now, he was close enough that he could smell the scent of her shampoo. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, Monica was staring up into his eyes. He looked back. That was the first time they had made true eye contact. He was in awe. For a split second, he could see an ocean in her blue eyes. Was the famous Monica Geller really lost, just like him?

"Thanks for making me dance with you," she whispered.

"Thanks for dancing with me. I finally don't look like a pathetic loser, dancing alone."

He expected her to laugh, but she just mumbled, "You're not a pathetic loser," into his shirt.

Chandler bit his lip. She looked up at him again. Her face was calm. She moved in closer to him. Their bodies were touching now; noses merely centimeters apart. He could feel his heart thumping loudly in his chest, against the bass of the club music. Simultaneously, they moved even closer. Before Chandler could register what was going on, her lips were pressed against his. He put his hands on her face and the kiss intensified.

All too soon, the song ended. Monica jumped away from him, upon noticing Rachel, Joey, Phoebe, and Ross gaping at them. She took in a shaky breath, before walking swiftly off the dance floor.

A/N: Okay, so I guess I'm gonna start pimping my new site *nervous*. Okay, it's not perfect yet… the fanfiction script I used has quite a few bugs. However, I hope you'll stick with us and join. It's called Mondlerifics and it's a Chandler and Monica fanfiction archive. I co-own it with Monnie (penname: Monnie Geller). Mondlerifics.slip-away.net is the url (for a link, you can check out my bio) Yeah, please submit your fics. Woot! Okay, I'm done the pimpage. I would surely appreciate some reviews, if you want to, thanks! :)