Thank you for all the lovely reviews so far, especially as I'm finding this fic such a challenge. It really helps when I see that people are seeming to like it. Please continue reading, and thanks especially to Friendsfan2000 whose fics are helping me a little with this. ^^
Silence fell upon the room, but, unlike previous times, this was not an awkward silence, but a pleasant one. Chandler was lounging on the couch, reading a book that Ross had leant him and which he was surprised to find was quite interesting. Joey and Phoebe were playing chess-well, their own improved version of chess-and Ross and Rachel were watching over Emma as she drifted off to sleep in Rachel's room. Chandler had only been in New York for one night and already he felt at home. He was starting to realise that perhaps it wasn't a bad idea to consider moving back. Maybe it had been one of the worst decisions of his life.
Joey broke the comfortable quietness with a question that Chandler knew was coming. "When are you seeing Candy then?" he asked eagerly, as Phoebe was thinking about her next move.
"Joey, can the horse move diagonal?" she asked him before Chandler had a chance to reply.
"Err... no, I don't think so Phoebs. That castle thing moves diagonal though... or is it the knight?"
"Joey," Chandler said, grinning. "The horse IS the knight. The other thing is the bishop."
"Oh yeah," Joey said, pretending to know that anyway. "Yeah Phoebs, the BISHOP moves diagonal." He turned to look at Chandler, and raised his eyebrows as if questioning Phoebe's sanity. Chandler hid a chuckle.
"Anyway, you never answered my question. When you seeing her? IF you really are," Joey said, wondering if Chandler had possibly made it up. He had no idea how Chandler could get a girl that hot.
"I called her this morning, Joe," he said."I'm picking her up in an hour or so, and we're going to that Italian restaurant a few blocks away."
Phoebe looked up, surprised. "Isn't that the place Monica was head chef of at one point?" she asked.
Chandler looked a little shocked, but shrugged. "Possibly. How should I know Phoebs? She was probably never working there anyway... probably seeing that big Tree behind my back..."
"Chandler, don't," Phoebe said, shaking her head. "You don't know that she ever cheated on you. She just got cold feet. It happens to a lot of people."
"What, so you forgive her now?" Chandler asked accusingly.
"No, no, of course not," Phoebe replied soothingly. "It's just, it does happen. But the way she did it.. leaving you so embarrassingly... in front of all those people.."
"Yeh alright Phoebs," Chandler said, not wanting to be reminded. "You don't have to remind me."
"Sorry," Phoebs said, before looking back to the board. She grinned in delight, and moved a pawn four spaces to the left, before yelling "Chess!" triumphantly at Joey, who pulled a face before retiring to the kitchen. Chandler tried, and failed, not to laugh at his "weird friends."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You seem, uh, awfully quiet Rache," Ross said, noting how Rachel's mood seemed to have worsened since Chandler had returned, instead of improving like everyone elses. "Is anything, erm, wrong?"
Rachel shook her head, gazing at her little girl. "No, Ross, I'm fine. Chandler's home. I'm... happy," she said, though Ross didn't think she sounded sure.
"Come on Rache, what's wrong? You know you can tell me anything. We're... parents," he said, smiling at her. She looked up at him, and wished she could tell him. But how could she tell him something that she couldn't put into words? She didn't know what she was feeling. She had no idea. Just everytime she thought of Chandler and that ditzy waitress... it made her skin crawl.
"I..."
Ross looked at her inquisitively. "Would I be completely wrong if I guessed it had something to do with Chandler and that... uh, Candy?"
"No!" Rachel said, a little too quickly. "I just... I think he's making a mistake, that's all. I mean, she's a waitress-"
"You were a waitress," Ross reminded her.
"...she's blonde..."
"What's wrong with blondes?"
"... she hasn't got any idea how to serve coffee..."
"Neither did you."
"Ross!" Rachel said, annoyed. "You were supposed to be listening. Not making me realise that I'm being completely idiotic and that Candy is actually a really nice girl, really witty and just... perfect for Chandler," she spat.
"Hey, hey," Ross said, holding her for a moment. "Rachel, do you have a thing for Chandler?"
"Of course not," she scorned, but she blushed a little. "Well... maybe. It's just... I don't know, when Monica left him I felt this.. thing between us, and it seemed so totally inappropriate. I mean, his fiancée was my best friend and then there was the whole Emma thing with us..."
"Yeah, but there was never any feelings between us. We were just drunk," Ross said, but his voice sounded a little hopeful, as if wanting Rachel to contradict him.
"Yeah, I know," she said, crushing him, but he didn't let himself worry about it. Any romantic feelings he'd had for Rachel were long gone. They were no good together. As friends, they were great, but as a couple, they argued, bickered and fought 25 hours a day. "But it still didn't feel right," Rachel continued. "Especially as he'd just lost Monica. And now, I don't know what I feel. And he's got this Candy now."
"He's never even been out with her," Ross reminded her. "But, Rache, you've got to think carefully before you do anything. He might still be hurting from Monica, and as you were her best friend he might think it weird too. I think you've got to establish how he feels."
Rachel nodded. It was all good advice but it seemed to go in one ear and out the other. "Right. You're right," she said. She looked down and saw Emma was asleep. "Shall we go out and spend time with our friends?" she asked. Without waiting for a reply, she got up and left her bedroom. Ross stroked Emma's forehead before doing the same.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The intercom buzzed, and Phoebe looked at Joey, surprised. "Hey, who could that be?" she asked, confused.
Joey shrugged and turned to Chandler, who was still engrossed in his book, before getting up and going over. He pressed the button and said "Yes?" with a question in his voice, still not working out who it could be.
Rachel and Ross entered the room just as a woman's voice answered "Hey, it's Candy. Can you let me up? Is Chandler there?"
Chandler stood up suddenly, dropping the book. He nodded at Joey.
"Yeah, he's here. Come on up," Joey said, and let her in.
"I thought you were going to pick her up?" Phoebe asked, a sly tone to her voice. "She seems... keen."
Rachel couldn't help but smile to herself. This was keen. Chandler was put off by keen-ness. Maybe this wouldn't work out at all.
"Yeah, great, isn't it?" Chandler grinned, pacing up and down the edge of the carpet. "A hot young woman, eager to spend an evening with lil old me!"
Rachel's heart sank. "I-I gotta check on Emma," she said, before rushing back into her bedroom. Chandler looked at Ross, confused.
"Weren't you just in there?" he asked, puzzled.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rachel sat, listening to the conversation going on in the next room in agony. Candy was so clever. She didn't have a brain the size of a pea. Just goes to show, you can't judge a book by its cover, she thought glumly. If she'd only tried to get to know Candy, perhaps they would get on really well.
She felt confused, and not for the first time in the past few days. Chandler was Monica's boyfriend. He was going to marry her. But consequences... had changed things. For reasons? Maybe she was destined to be with Chandler. Why else was the marriage stopped? They'd been perfect for each other. Monica even admitted that she'd made a mistake leaving him. Perhaps it was fate for her to be with him.
She stopped herself, shaking her head. Where were all these feelings coming from? Had they grown over the years? Or had they suddenly emerged, not wanting to be ignored? She wasn't sure, and she was quite scared. She'd never thought of Chandler in this way... except once, just before he left New York. She'd felt a sudden rush of warmth for this little-boy-lost character who she'd come to get to know well in the year before that. When Monica left him, she took him under her wing, and he didn't complain. It felt right to both of them.
So maybe she needed to explain to him how she felt. But what about Candy? He really seemed to like Candy. But maybe, once he'd heard about her, and what she felt, he could make an informed decision. Without realising what she was doing, she got up and went into the main room, just as she saw Chandler and Candy leaving through the door. She sighed, wishing she'd been a few seconds earlier.
"Rache? You ok?" Joey asked, concerned about his friend. Her face looked pale but her eyes were red from the few tears that she'd cried, unnoticed, earlier.
She looked Joey straight in the eye, and smiled as widely as possible. "I'm great Joe," she said. "Never better. I just... needed to tell Chandler something."
"Well, you could still catch him, he left like ten seconds ago," Phoebe said, getting up to stretch.
Rachel shook her head. "No," she said, before muttering quietly "It can wait till tomorrow."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Finally I completed this chapter. It was taking me longer than the others, for some reason. Anyway, please read and review. Lilian xXx