~Thanks so much for the reviews, they totally made my day. Here's the next chapter, which I'm writing instead of studying astronomy, but you know, you'll have that, right? Please review again and enjoy!~
Disclaimer: Sadly, they are not mine.
It's about you
It's about you
And when I get this feeling
It's hard for me to come back down
And when I get this feeling
It's hard for me
The blood was pounding in his ears as he stood outside Richard's apartment. He didn't know what he would say to him if he was home. He wasn't sure what he would do if he was there, but he knew that he had to do something. Raising his hand to knock, he wasn't sure if he wanted someone to answer or not. But the door swung open revealing Richard.
"Chandler? What are you doing here?" Richard asked trying to paste on a fake smile.
"There's some things I need to know," he said walking into the apartment despite the fact that Richard hadn't invited him.
"What's that?"
"Were you, are you, cheating on Monica?" Richard's face showed for an instant a sign of guilt, and then quickly returned back to normal.
"No! What would make you think that?" Richard fought to keep his voice even, but it cracked a little, giving him away.
"The green bra," Chandler said trying desperately to keep his anger in check. "It's not Rachel's, and we both know that Monica does not wear bright green, so whose is it?"
"How do you know what kind of underwear Monica has?" Richard asked.
"I live across from her! I'm her best friend, I know that she's not the bright green kind of person, so who is it Richard? Who are you doing instead of my friend?"
"Don't you want her to be more than a friend Chandler? Aren't you just a little bit happy that I screwed up?" Richard retaliated. Chandler clenched his fists.
"This isn't about me. It's not about you, it's about Monica." Still he had to think about what Richard had said. Was he, subconsciously, at least a tiny bit happy about the fact that this would mean two things? Firstly, that Monica would need someone to fall back on, and he was completely ready to be that person, and the second of which was that Richard would be out of the picture? Was he really a little pleased with the way things were unfolding? And did that make him a terrible person? Or simply human? Simply just a man who was in love with his best friend and finally seeing an opportunity to win her.
"Right," Richard finally looked defeated as he sunk to the couch. "I know I messed up okay? But it was only once. And I…I don't know. I don't know what was going on in my head. I'm sorry. I'm more sorry than you can imagine. Does Monica know?" Chandler had a hard time believing that Richard had only done it once. He had a hard time buying that when he knew that if that had been true then Richard could have certainly held off until he was in his own apartment. Why do it in Monica's? Why risk it? Did he want to get caught? Did he want her to find out that way?
"No, but you are going to tell her." Richard looked up at him in shock.
"What?"
"You are going to tell her that you've cheated on her."
"I can't do that…"
"Why not?"
"Because….it would hurt her so much. I won't do it again Chandler, I swear to you. I know now, I know that I could lose her. I can't lose her. You have to promise not to say anything to her. I'll make things better. I'll be better." Richard's eyes implored him to take his side, to help him out. Chandler wasn't in the least worried about Richard. His only concern was for Monica. He would do what he thought was best for her.
A million things ran through his mind.
She was happy with Richard.
He cheated on her.
He swore he'd never do it again.
He was probably lying about having done it only once, so what made Chandler think that he wasn't lying about this. Especially when Chandler knew that if he was in his position he would do everything that he could to keep Monica as his.
Everyone deserved a second chance.
Not when Richard's second chance was going to take his only chance.
So where did that leave him? Did he tell her or didn't he? Did he possibly break her heart or let it get worse where she might become even more broken-hearted? Which did he choose? What did he do? Should he call Rachel? Ask her opinion? Or was this something that he had to decide all on his own?
"Chandler, please?" Richard was practically begging. Chandler ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Richard knew that he was fighting an internal battle. He knew that he almost had him.
"Richard…if I find out that you've done it before or you've done it again, I'm going to tell her. I'm going to tell her everything that I know," he finally said. He couldn't break her heart. He couldn't do that. Even if that meant giving away his chance and giving it to Richard. Even if he had to watch her be happy with Richard instead of with him. Because he had been right. It wasn't about him. It was about Monica. And she was the only person that mattered. She was the only thing that he should have considered. Chandler just hoped that he was making the right decision.
"So….that means you won't tell her?"
"No, I guess not. Don't mess this up, Richard."
"I won't," he promised Chandler. "I promise."
"It was a one-time thing?"
"Yes, I swear."
"And you won't do it again?"
"No, I promise. She's the most important thing in the world to me." Yeah, Chandler wanted to say, she's the most important thing in the world to me too. And it broke his heart. It broke his heart to walk away from Richard and know that he was giving up his dream for Richard. For Monica to be happy, despite the fact that it wasn't with him.
Richard shut the door behind Chandler and exhaled a huge sigh of relief. He hadn't expected Chandler to believe him when he had said that it was a one time thing. Who said that you couldn't have your cake and eat it too? He could have Monica and his little fling and no one would be the wiser.
It would work out perfectly.
"Hey, he's gone," Richard called lighting a cigar. The bedroom door opened and a little blonde came out. The complete opposite of Monica. Chandler had been right. Monica would never have worn bright green underwear. It wasn't her style. Monica was more elegant, more classy. And that was his type certainly, but that didn't mean that he hadn't wanted to experiment. After all, he had been married for so long that he had never had the time to sow his wild oats. That's all that he was doing. And when he was done, he fully intended to settle down with Monica and be faithful. The blonde smiled at him and ran her hand over his leg.
"Who was that?"
"No one," Richard assured her. "Don't worry about it." He leaned over to kiss her. His life was perfect. Everything was perfect.
Or at least it was, until a voice interrupted them.
"I forgot my gloves sorry….." Chandler said coming back into the apartment. "One time thing right? Tell her Richard, or I tell her. You have until Friday." Reaching over and grabbing his gloves, he slammed the door shut and Richard buried his head in his hands.
Cause I could be
That everything you need
I know this could be
That freefall back to me
"Should we….should we…." Chandler struggled as he took breaths in between the kisses. "Should we be doing this?" Monica finally stopped and looked at him. Her reaction was shocking to say the least, instead of answering, she just buried her head into her hands and her body began to convulse with sobs.
"Mon, please…don't cry. I'm sorry. I want to. I really do. But you know, you just broke up with Richard and you're sick. But that kiss. That kiss was amazing," he told her gently as he ran a hand over her back. "And I for one am very glad that you had the foresight to brush your teeth." (AN: hahaha, SFGrl, I had to. I just had to. You're right. Who wants to make out with someone who just puked?) Looking up, she smiled slightly, and he was thrilled that he had been the one to make her smile at least slightly.
"Chandler, you don't deserve this. You deserve someone so much better. You must want someone so much more together and not so unstable."
"Honey," he said running a hand over her cheek. "I've wanted no one but you for years. I just don't want to be the rebound guy. I want you. And I will wait as long as you have to." She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his sweater and he felt her body rack with sobs until finally they subsided and then he just held her.
"I just…Richard….I trusted….I can't….not yet…." She wasn't forming coherent sentences, but he understood exactly what she was saying.
"I know honey." He didn't know what to do to make things better for her.
"I feel terrible," she finally said after a little while. He laughed slightly.
"You were in the hospital last night. Of course you feel terrible. Let's put on the movie and I'll sit over on the chair and you can lay here on the couch." Standing up, he walked over to the television and placed a movie in and came back and sat down on the chair.
"Chandler," she spoke up from the couch.
"Yes?"
"You don't have to do that."
"Do what?"
"Sit on the chair."
"I want to sit on the chair."
"Okay. I was just saying. You don't have to. You can sit here."
"Where?" She knew that he knew exactly what he was talking about.
"On the couch." Grinning cheekily, he teasingly laughed.
"Next to you?"
"Stop being such a child."
"I'm not being a child."
"Yes you are."
"No I'm not."
"Chandler!" She threw her hands in the air exasperated, but laughing. His plan had worked. He had made her laugh. And it sounded to him like the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. Getting back up, he walked over to the couch.
"Here? You mean here?"
"Yes, I mean there. You don't have to sit all the way across the room from me." This one she said as coyly as she could manage under the circumstances. "I mean, do I smell or something?"
"Yes, that's it exactly. We didn't want to tell you, but you know, now that it's out there. Yes, you are very smelly." Laughing, she pulled him down on the couch and they settled next to one another. He planted a kiss on her forehead.
"It's going to be okay now, Mon. I promise." And for the first time in 48 hours, she actually believed him. And she knew that it couldn't last. This feeling of actually peace.
It just couldn't.
~Dum, dum, dum. That's me trying to be suspenseful. Okay please review once again! Cause it's freaking wonderful when you do! And tell me if you still want me to keep going. Okay, I'm done begging….wait no I'm not. Please press the little button! Thanks!~
