The alarm clock shocked Ross into waking up. He looked blearily at the bright red numbers, and as his eyes focussed he made out the time. 6.30.
He ran his hands through his hair, remembering the previous day, remembering the funeral, how Chandler had disappeared without more than a token "goodbye" to Joey, of all people, who could barely remember a message if it was written down on his hand. What if he'd left for good? What if Ross would never see him again? Chandler was his best friend, and he needed him right now... now that Monica was gone, for good this time.
It was too early too call him. Or was it? He needed to know what was going on. Perhaps he should go for a walk first, to clear his head. If he took a walk round Central Park, he could be at Joey's at about 8. That wasn't an obscene time. Perfectly acceptable. And he would have to get washed and dressed first.
Ross prayed that Rachel had managed to dissuade Chandler from leaving, as he was sure that was why Chandler had left the wake so quickly. He wondered what exactly she'd done. He'd been a little worried about the two of them recently-in the past couple of days there had been obvious tension, and he suspected that something had happened between the two of them, something which perhaps made them feel guilty. Maybe it was because of Rachel that Chandler was leaving... maybe he felt bad, liking Rachel when he was engaged to her best friend, and Ross's sister... and Rachel was Ross's ex, and had a child with him. Maybe Chandler thought that Ross would hate him. He could see why, but Ross wouldn't hate him. He'd given up ever thinking there could be anything between him and Rachel now, and it wasn't fair to begrudge Chandler happiness, if Rachel was the right person for him. And, as Monica had left Chandler... why should he feel guilty?
Struggling with his feelings and thoughts on the subject, Ross decided to have a shower, to delay his visit to the appartment even more. He just hoped he wouldn't leave it too late.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rachel awoke to the sounds of gentle taps on her bedroom door. Yawning, she got up and went to open the door, making sure she was decent. She smiled when she saw Chandler outside, a plate of toast in his hand.
"Hey," she said, leaving her room and coming out into the kitchen area. "You made breakfast."
"Sure did," he said, as she smelled the warmth of the fry-up Chandler had prepared. She felt like she hadn't eaten properly in ages, and it wasn't long until the smell enticed Joey from his bedroom aswell.
"Good morning!" he said happily, seeing the bacon frying. "You two seem a lot happier today."
Chandler nodded, serving the breakfast. "I feel a lot happier," he said, winking at Rachel. He was interrupted by Ross opening the door a little hesitantly. He looked up and smiled at his friend. "Hey Ross," he said gently. "Are you ok?"
Ross was a little surprised at the scene in front of him. "Yeah... yeah, I'm good, are you ok man?" he asked, concerned, but he knew he needn't have worried. Chandler seemed a lot happier today than he had been in the past week or so. Everything looked like it might be starting to get back to normal.
Chandler nodded, passing him a plate. "Help yourself," he offered, pointing at the food. "I felt like a little celebration... considering I've decided I'm moving back," he said slowly. Joey and Ross' faces lit up, and Rachel smiled to herself.
"You're staying?" Joey asked excitedly. "You're definitely moving back?"
Chandler laughed. "Definitely," he assured him. "I don't know where I'm gonna go though... I guess I'll have to rent an appartment or something..."
"You can come back here!" Joey said, then looked over to Rachel. "Oh..."
Chandler grinned. "Maybe it will be easier than it seems," he said slyly, shooting a glance at Rachel again, who blushed like a teenage school-girl.
Joey looked at Rachel. "What's going on?" he asked, smiling suddenly. "Did something-"
Before Joey could say anything, the door to the apartment burst open and Phoebe stood at the doorway. Her mascara was smudged and she had obviously been crying. Joey jumped up out of his chair, as did Rachel, and they escorted her into the room, unsure of what had happened. Phoebe seemed to be hyperventilating and couldn't say what was wrong, only sipped at the water Ross offered her.
When she had finally calmed down, she looked up at Rachel, tears forming in her eyes again. "It's Alice," she explained. No one could recall straight away who Alice was, until Rachel suddenly remembered-Frank Jr's wife.
"What about Alice, Pheebs?" she asked gently, as Chandler, Ross and Joey stood around her, stroking her arm and comforting her as best they could.
Phoebe shook her head. "That's just it... no one knows. She's been rushed into hospital...severe bleeding... Frank said she found blood in her underwear, lots of it... doctors think it could be a cyst." Phoebe sobbed, and Rachel hugged her.
"A cyst, hun, that could mean anything. A cyst isn't necessarily a dangerous thing," Rachel said soothingly. "A lot of women her age have similar problems, I promise sweetie." Rachel didn't know for sure, but her mum had had an ovarian cyst and it had been totally benine. She was sure that her mother's doctor had mentioned it happened often in older women.
Phoebe nodded, sniffing. "I know. It's just, you know, I couldn't bear it if someone else close to me..." she couldn't finish, and blew her nose loudly on a handkerchief Chandler handed to her. He straightened up, patted her shoulder, before looking up at Rachel and shrugging. It was obvious that Monica's death had hit Phoebe really hard, only she hadn't let anyone else know. Monica had taken Phoebe in when she was just a girl who lived on the streets. Phoebe felt she owed a lot to Monica, despite what she had done to Chandler, but she hadn't wanted to cause anymore upset than there already was.
"Alice isn't gonna die Pheebs," Joey said bluntly. "She'll be fine, you'll see."
There was silence for a few minutes, broken only by Phoebe blowing her nose in intervals. The other four stood up, and while Ross stayed standing behind Phoebe in case she needed to talk, Chandler, Rachel and Joey all wandered back into the kitchen.
"So, what happened last night?" Joey asked, his eyes sparkling. "Did you two-"
"No."
"Well, did you-"
"No," Rachel said, laughing. "Joey, we talked. That was all."
"Oh." Joey looked crestfallen. "But you're staying? You were persuaded into staying with a talk? That never would have worked with me," he said, chuckling. Chandler grinned, putting an arm round Joey.
"No," he said finally. "It wasn't just the talk that made me decide to stay." Joey's face lit up, as Chandler continued. "I realised I'd miss all of you, too."
"Aww, man, thanks!" Joey exclaimed, then went back over to Phoebe to comfort her. She seemed to be crying more again.
Rachel turned to Chandler, smiling. "We need to talk at some point," she said, placing her hands in his.
Chandler nodded, before turning to clear up the breakfast plates. As Rachel went back to Phoebe briefly, to check she was okay, Chandler smiled to himself. Maybe his life really was getting better now.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Chandler.... Chandler..."
That voice... where was it coming from? Chandler looked around him but all he could see was darkness enveloping him, and he could feel himself falling further and further away from the light above him, closer to the voice... closer to the speaker..."
"Chandler...."
A flash of red passed his eyes, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. Again, all that was around him was the darkness of the night, his feet couldn't feel the floor...
"Why... Chandler... Why?"
"Who are you?" Chandler called, distressed. He had no idea where he was and the voice sounded strange, yet familiar...
"It's me, Chandler... don't you recognise my voice?"
Chandler shook his head. Suddenly he felt a thud, as he landed on a bed. His bed. The bed that he and Monica shared.
"Remember this room, Chandler?"
He looked around him, recognising the walls, furnishings around him. His room, in Monica's appartment. And there, in the corner, was Monica... staring at him, her long dark hair flying wildly around her face, her eyes bloodshot, and her fingernails so long, so uncared for..
"You said you'd always love me Chandler... no matter what happened, no matter how far apart we grew, you'd always love me... I would be the only woman for you..."
"Yeh, well I never expected you to leave me for that big tree, did I?" Chandler spat, tears falling down his face. "You changed, Monica. I didn't love you anymore."
"Oh, but you did," Monica said, walking slowly towards him and pointing her finger at him. "You did still love me. When Rachel told you why I died, you hated her, you wanted to put things right between us but she ruined it..."
"That's not true!"
"... and now Rachel's just a convenience, someone to be with... you've never stopped loving me Chandler, you can't make up your mind! Face it, sweetheart, I'm going to be in your dreams until the day you die!"
The room became unfocussed, and Chandler awoke suddenly, beads of sweat pouring down his face, his breathing ragged, confused. Was Monica right? Would she haunt his dreams forever? Did he still love her?
Sorry if this chapter was a little confusing, and sorry it's taken a while (in my terms) to update. Hope you're still reading though. Please review! Lilian xXx