*New York, 1998*

When Monica finally was able to get to sleep it was a restless one. She woke up to the sound of voices outside Chandler's bedroom. She looked at the clock, 8:00am. She rolled out of bed and went into the living room where she found Chandler and his friend from a few weeks earlier talking over coffee.

"Oh, hey Mon.I hope me and Joey didn't wake you up" Chandler said as he noticed Monica enter the room.

"Oh no, don't worry about it, I was only half asleep anyway." Monica said as she went to poor herself a cup.

"Monica, I'm sorry about what happened last night, I hope you're alright," Joey offered his sympathy.

"Yeah, thanks, I'm just a little shaken up," Monica said with a small smile.

"Uh, listen.Joey just stopped by to pick me up for work, but if you don't want to be by yourself I can stay behind today," Chandler offered, silently hoping she would say yes.

"Oh, noI couldn't ask you to do that," Monica said, "After all you've already done."

"It's not like Chandler does much at work anyway," Joey said with a small smirk.

"Thanks Joe," Chandler said giving Joey a look, "No, really Monica, it wouldn't be a problem."

"Well, actually I think I'm just going to give my brother a call and see if I can stay with him until I find a place," Monica said thoughtfully.

"Oh, so you'll be moving then?" Chandler asked somewhat disappointed.

"Yeah, I just won't feel safe in that apartment anymore, ya know?"

"Yeah, sure," Chandler said nodding his head in understanding.

"Well, Chandler, if we're gonna go, we should get going now," Joey said taking the final sips of his coffee.

"Uh, actually you go ahead Joe, I think I'm going to take the day off," Chandler said loosening his tie.

"But Chandler, we have that thing today" Joey said raising his eyebrows, not wanting to mention in front of Monica their follow-up meeting that was scheduled that morning, standard procedure after any assignment.

"Chandler, don't stay on my behalf, especially if you have something important to do." Monica said, not wanting Chandler to get in trouble at work just because of her.

"No Monica, it's okay, really. Besides," he said looking at Joey, "after that thing that they had me do yesterday, when that thing almost happened, they owe me. I'll just call in for the meeting." Chandler said, raising his eyebrows the same way Joey had.

Joey just nodded his head, knowing he wasn't going to win this one with Chandler. It wasn't his problem if Chandler didn't want to show up for work. Besides, Chandler was right. Their assignment had almost gotten botched last night, and if it weren't for Chandler's quick thinking and unusual sense of enjoyment he got out of jumping from second story windows, then the agency would no doubt be in the middle of a lot of heat at that moment. "All right, suit yourself, I guess I'll talk to you during the meeting, I'll tell them to set up a conference line." Joey said, grabbing his briefcase.

"Thanks Joe, see ya later," Chandler said taking another sip of his coffee as he watched Joey exit the apartment with a final wave of his hand.

Monica waited until Joey left the apartment and was out of hearing-range, "Thanks Chandler," she said with a small smile.

"Oh, it's really not a big deal," he said, smiling back.

"Your friend seemed to think so," she said motioning to the door Joey had just exited from.

"Yeah, well, Joey thinks it's a big deal if they run out of paper crowns at Burger King," Chandler said with a small chuckle.

"So you two work together then?" Monica asked, taking another sip from the mug.

"Yeah, we've worked together for a couple of years now," Chandler replied.

"What is it that you do, anyway?" Monica asked.

"Uh." Chandler began, no one had ever asked him before, everyone he knew he knew from work, and they all knew what he did, "well.I work with this company." Chandler said, avoiding eye contact.

"You work with a company?" Monica asked a little amused, "what company?"

"Uh, that one company, in the building," Chandler said, stumbling for some sort of decent answer, "you know, with the computers,"

"So you work with computers?" Monica asked, wondering why he was so reluctant with the subject.

"Yes!" Chandler said triumphantly, that seemed like a normal job, "I work with computers, I.uh, I'm a data processor!" Chandler remembered one of the guys he went to college with had planned on being a data processor. Why he wanted to be one was above and beyond Chandler; it sounded like a boring job to him. Of course compared to Chandler's job, just about anything was boring.

"Oh, okay," Monica said with a small giggle, she wasn't quite sure why he was acting so weird, but it was almost cute.

"Yeah, so what do you do?" Chandler asked. Monica went on to tell Chandler that she was a chef at a small restaurant that Chandler had never heard of. They sat there the rest of the morning and talked about all the things they didn't already know about each other. When Monica asked about his family Chandler lied and said that he was an only child and that his parents had retired in Europe. Fortunately they didn't spend too much time talking about Chandler's family life. Chandler found it was really easy to talk to Monica.

"Listen, Monica, you don't have to stay with your brother" Chandler started.'wait a minute,' he thought, 'what am I doing?'

"What do you mean?" Monica asked

"Well, I don't mind you staying here, until you find a new place and everything," Chandler offered, 'what are you doing?!!' he asked himself again, Chandler knew he was only setting himself up for trouble.

"Wow, umm.are you sure?" Monica asked.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I just figure it will be easier. I have the spare room and everything, so all you have to do is push the bed across the hall, ya know?" Chandler asked, attempting to make his offer sound more genuine in practicality.

"Yeah, I suppose that would be easier." Monica said, nodding her head slowly. "But, I mean are you sure? I don't want to be a burden or anything." Monica said.

"No, really, it wouldn't be a problem, I was gonna start looking for a roommate anyway." Chandler added quickly.

"Well, I guess it could work out." Monica said, considering Chandler's offer. "I mean, it would only be until I found a new place." She added. "And I wasn't exactly looking forward to living with my brother again."

"So, yeah?" Chandler asked

"Yeah, why not?" Monica said, feeling that this was probably the best and easiest option.

*****

"You asked her to move in with you!" Joey asked later that night in Chandler's apartment.

"Well, I didn't mean to, it just kind of happened." Chandler explained, somewhat frustrated with himself.

"Dude, you so want her!" Joey said. "Where is she now anyway?"

"She's at the police station filling out a report," Chandler explained. "And I don't want her, I just.I just, I don't know, she's nice." Chandler tried to explain.

"Chandler, you know its okay to have feelings for her, I mean they aren't going to come and get her just because you have a crush on her." Joey said, knowing that he had just crossed a line.

"Hey, you don't know what you're talking about, okay? You don't know what it's like." Chandler said, angry with Joey for even mentioning the subject.

"Chandler what we do is dangerous, not just for us, but for the people we care about too, but that doesn't mean we should stop caring about them." Joey started. "You're right, I don't know what it's like, to lose a family the way you did, but I do know what it's like to worry about the people I care about." Joey tried to reason.

"Still, Monica..she just..I don't want her to get involved." Chandler said.

"So you invited her to live with you?" Joey asked. "Listen Chandler, I think its pretty clear that you feel at least somewhat attracted to this woman, okay," Joey started.

"Joey, I don't." Chandler started to interrupt.

"I'm not finished," Joey said holding up his hand and silencing Chandler, "Like I said, its clear that you're attracted to her, and maybe that scares you a little bit. But Chandler, you cant live your life like this, if you like her, go for it."

"And then what?" Chandler said standing up, "What happens if I start to care about her, huh?"

"I think you already do care about her," Joey said, also standing up. "And you know what? I think that scares you, not because you're afraid she'll get hurt, but because you're afraid you'll get hurt."

Chandler continued to stand as he contemplated Joey's words. Was he really afraid of something as simple as a relationship with a woman? He had managed to convince himself that the reason he didn't date was because he wouldn't be able to bare it if that girl got hurt, maybe that was apart of it, but maybe the real reason was that he couldn't bare it if he got hurt. Either way the situation sucked.

"Listen, Chandler, I know you've been through a lot," Joey continued, watching Chandler think as he nervously ran his hand through his hair "but you can't let what happened then hinder your life now."

"So what, am I just supposed to forget?" Chandler asked, his voice softer than normal.

"No, you don't forget, but remembering doesn't mean you have to let it rule your life." Joey said. For the first time Joey caught a small glimpse of the battle that Chandler fought with himself on a daily basis.

Before Chandler could respond Monica walked in the door. "Hey, how's it going?" She asked casually as she walked through the door.

"Hey Monica," Chandler greeted her, happy for the sudden interruption in the difficult conversation.

"So, Joey, did Chandler tell you I'm moving in?" Monica asked.

"Yeah, he briefly mentioned it," Joey said giving Chandler a look.

"What's going on?" Monica asked, noticing the looks Chandler and Joey were exchanging.

"Nothing, Joey's just." Chandler paused, searching for an excuse, "hungry. Say listen, why don't we order a pizza?" Chandler suggested.

"Umsure," Monica said. She noticed that Chandler and Joey always seemed to be hiding more than what was on the surface, but she wasn't sure what. She decided to ignore it, for now.

*****

That week Monica and Chandler were busy moving all of her furniture and necessities across the hall. Before Chandler knew it, his apartment had become their apartment. The practically empty spare room that had served as his "office" was now Monica's bedroom. They had gotten the last of her boxes that she didn't need packed away in storage and headed back to Chandler's apartment. It was a Saturday night and they had planned on going out afterwards, but they were both wiped after moving most of the big stuff that day, so they decided to stay in.

"Chandler, I can't thank you enough for letting me stay here until I find a place of my own," Monica said for about the hundredth time.

"Really," Chandler started, "It's not a problem." Chandler gave her an up and down, she looked gorgeous, despite the fact that she was in jeans and a sweatshirt. Her hair was put up in a loose twist, and strands of hair fell against her face in just the right places. "Say, since we're not going out, how 'bout a drink?" Chandler asked, already moving to make himself some vodka and cranberry juice.

"Sure, why not" Monica said. She needed something to relax, she was all tense after spending the last couple of days moving.

"What's your poison?" Chandler asked.

"Scotch on the rocks with a twist," Monica replied. She was looking forward to living with Chandler, even if it was only temporary. There was something about the way he smiled at her, like he could see right to her soul.

By eleven they were both loaded, each having more than their share of scotch, vodka, and beer. They were laughing hysterically at her brother's misfortune. Monica had told Chandler how her brother, Ross, had not only married a lesbian, but had gotten her pregnant right before she left him for her lesbian lover. Any other time Chandler would have felt bad for the guy, but at the moment he happened to think the situation was overly entertaining. He was lying across his chair and Monica was laying half on and half off the couch. He got up and went over to the couch and lay down right next to her.

"See," Chandler explained, "that's why getting married is a bad idea,"

"It is?" Monica asked, looking over at him.

"Yeah, you never know what kind of skeletons somebody's got in the closet." He said sort of insightfully.

"Well, not everyone is secretly gay," Monica said giggling a little bit.

"No, well, I hope not.but still, you never know what somebody's hiding." Chandler said leaning in towards her, trying to make his point.

"So you're saying you never want to get married?" Monica asked, also leaning in.

"No, I don't think I would be very good in a marriage." Chandler said softly.

"And why is that?" Monica questioned.

"Well, everybody's got secrets to hide, even me." Chandler said looking into Monica's deep eyes.

"So you've got skeleton's in your closet too?" Monica said.

"Everybody does," Chandler said.

"Well, what if you fall in love?" Monica asked moving in a little bit closer, suddenly very aware of her pounding heart.

"Then I'm in trouble," Chandler said thinking that if they were any closer then she'd be able to hear is shallow breathing. That's when he decided that if he didn't kiss her he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. He leaned in and softly brushed his lips against hers. He took in her sweet scent and leaned back, searching her eyes for some sort of reaction.

Monica didn't bother waiting for Chandler to move in a second time, she pushed him back and found his lips with hers. Monica could feel Chandler's tongue push inside her mouth and she gratefully accepted it. They sat there for many minutes that way, their lips entangled with one another. Finally Monica raised herself off of him and grabbed him by the hand as she started to lead him into her new bedroom. Chandler followed, eager to continue their kiss. As they undressed each other in the darkness Chandler began to speak in between kisses.

"You know this changes things," He said, his hands roaming her body beneath her sweatshirt.

"I hope so," Monica said while kissing his neck.

"Good," Chandler said after successfully removing her sweatshirt. He pulled back, taking her in, locking his eyes with hers. He leaned in and kissed her, softly this time, suddenly aware of how nervous he was. Monica wasn't as nervous and grabbed the back of his head, pulling him closer to her. Monica stopped quickly, only to close her bedroom door behind them.