A.N. Here's chapter 12 J Hope you guys are all having a great summer so far, and that you're enjoying weather as beautiful as I am (which, I'm afraid, is my only excuse for the amount of time it's taken for me to write this.) It's a little short, but I needed to wrap up their year and move to the rest of the story. Hope you like it!
Maddy.
There are moments in life where you are faced with an unfamiliar feeling, one that you know in your heart, in your very bones, will in time become as natural to you as breathing. You savor these moments, because although the idea of this feeling becoming familiar excites you, you can't help reveling in the newness of it, and the selfish desire to keep the moment fresh, pure, yours.
For Monica, one of those moments was waking up in Chandler's embrace. She'd never slept with a guy before, literally as well as sexually, and it was strange, the closeness of it, the crushing of her small arms with his strong ones, and the rise and fall of his chest beneath her cheek. She was awake for several minutes, but didn't open her eyes until she felt him stir.
His right arm loosened around her waist slightly, then held her tighter, and she twisted in his grasp to rest her chin on his shoulder and study his face, his eyes blinking and adjusting to the sunlight streaming in through the open window.
"Morning," he said in a raspy voice that sounded foreign to her, his morning voice that she'd never heard before. She smiled a little.
"I've dreamed this," was her reply.
"Waking up with me?"
"Yeah. It's weird, but I've dreamed this more than I've dreamed about what comes before it."
He grinned. "Speaking of which… you still okay?"
She nodded. "Thank you."
"Thank me?" he asked incredulously.
"For being so great and… gentle… and for being all the things you are."
He kissed her on the nose. "Thank you for being all the things you are, too. Are you… I mean, does it hurt?"
She shook her head. "Not anymore."
"Good."
"I hate to end this… I mean, really, really hate to… but, Rachel should be home any minute," she said reluctantly. He nodded and kissed her again, softly.
"I just thought of something," he said, wincing.
"Hm?" she asked, kissing his cheek, then his neck and shoulder.
"I have to go home now and see your brother, with whom I share a room, and who knows I didn't come home last night, and who can probably deduce what that means."
She grimaced. "Think you can avoid him for the next four days? I mean, then its summer, and you can find a new roommate for next year."
He laughed. "Ugh, time to face the music." He got out of bed, dressing in his clothes from the night before, and she pulled on jeans and a shirt and walked him downstairs to the door.
"Bye," she said. "I can't stop smiling. You did this to me," she accused.
"I have no problem taking credit for something as beautiful as your smile." They kissed and he tugged on her ear playfully when they parted.
"Bye babe. Good luck with your final this morning," he said.
"Thanks. You too, call me when you're done."
And, as luck (or lack thereof) would have it, they exchanged a final kiss at the exact moment Rachel turned the corner from the parking lot, suitcase in hand, and stood gaping as Chandler walked away. She practically sprinted to her friend, still standing at the door, and caught her by the elbow.
"Hi!" Monica exclaimed.
"Uh, hi!" Rachel said, slapping her shoulder.
"What's up?"
"What's up? Chandler just left our room, that's what's up!"
"Oh. You saw that, huh?" Monica asked sheepishly.
"Yes! Does that mean…?" Monica nodded. "And you…?"
"Yes," she said, suppressing a grin.
"Okay, when's your final?"
"Eleven thirty."
"That gives you an hour to go upstairs with me and tell me every single detail of last night and this morning. Come on!" Rachel shouted, already halfway up the stairs. Monica laughed and followed her friend quickly.
Chandler entered the room he shared with Ross cautiously, and found him sitting at his desk, obviously engaged in some last minute cramming. Ross looked up briefly when he walked in and mumbled hello in greeting.
"Hey Ross," Chandler said nervously, kicking off his shoes and changing into his robe to go take a shower. "Still studying?"
"Last test of the year," Ross nodded.
"I'm gonna go jump in the shower," said Chandler.
"Okay."
He stopped halfway to the door and turned to Ross again. "Are we not going to talk about this?"
"Talk about what? To the best of my knowledge you obviously got in late last night, were careful not to disturb me by changing out of your clothes, woke up very early this morning and ran some errands, arriving back now."
Chandler nodded quickly. "That does sound accurate."
"Good," Ross said. He sighed. "Listen, Chandler, I don't wanna hate you. So from now on you're just a considerately quiet roommate who wakes up unusually early. Okay?"
"Okay," he said.
Ross nodded, and looked back at his work, and Chandler headed down the hall to the shower. His friendship with Ross seemed to be in tact, he had just spent the night with the girl he was completely in love with, and he only had one test standing in between him and four months of summer. Life was looking up.
Four days later, Ross and Monica's belongings were stacked in the trunk, tied to the top of the car and filling the backseat. Rachel's dad had come to pick her up from school, renting a van to accommodate her many possessions, and she had left with him several hours ago. Ross had run across campus to say goodbye to Carol, who he had been just on the verge of reuniting with, and Chandler was helping Monica shove the last of her stuff in the car.
"I can't believe you guys managed to fit everything," Chandler marveled.
Monica nodded. "Ross barely had anything except books and dinosaur crap, and most of my stuff's in my Grandma's guest room." Monica and Ross's grandmother had a two bedroom apartment in the Village, and had generously offered to house some of their larger possessions for the summer.
"Nothing like free storage," Chandler said, trying to keep the conversation light. His weak attempt at humor did nothing to wipe the frown off his girlfriend's face.
"Hey," he said gently, closing the gap between them with two steps. "Don't be sad. You promised."
She shook her head defiantly. "I promised I wouldn't cry. I never promised not to be sad." Her eyes filled with tears.
He smiled. "But, see, now you're crying."
"I'm not crying," she sniffled. "Whatever, I have allergies."
He caressed her cheek and carelessly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"You promised you wouldn't cry, and what did I promise you?"
She wiped the back of her hand across her cheek quickly. "That we'd talk every day and that this summer would fly by."
"That's right."
"But you can't make promises about time," she complained. "You don't control time."
He gathered her in his arms in a tight hug. "I can tell when you're really upset because you get whiny and argumentative," he told her.
She sighed. "I just hate this. I wish I could stay here with you."
"You would miss your family and friends too much, and you know it. And you'd be bored. All of which doesn't matter, because your mother would never let you."
"I know," she said. She tightened her arms around his neck.
"I love you," he whispered into her ear.
"I love you too," she said. "And you'll visit?"
"As much as I possibly can. And you'll come here."
"Are you kidding? I can hardly wait to meet the woman who made you," she said, in reference to the fact that Chandler would be spending the summer interning at the publishing house that represented his mom, living with her in a very over priced, highly pretentious Upper East Side apartment.
"She can't wait to meet you either."
"What have you told her about me?" she asked coyly, leaning back in his embrace.
"That you're Ross's sister, which was an immediate plus. My mom pretty much loves Ross," Chandler paused to reflect this fact, "Which is actually a little weird."
Monica rolled her eyes. "She can join the club."
"I also told her that you're smart and funny and beautiful."
She nudged him playfully. "You did not."
"Yes I did!"
"I find it hard to believe that you said all those words at one time to the woman who I've only heard monosyllabic grunts from your end of many phone conversations."
He smiled. "Okay, fine. But I did send her your picture, and I told her how great you were."
"You're very sweet," she said. She kissed him, softly at first, but with growing urgency. He welcomed her tongue in his mouth and caressed it gently with his own, eliciting a soft moan from her lips, muffled against his. They kissed passionately for several moments, interrupted by a disgusted Ross clearing his throat.
They pulled apart reluctantly.
"I should wear a bell or something so you know when I'm coming. I can only take so much of that."
Monica stuck her tongue out at him immaturely and clung to the back of Chandler's shirt as he gave his best friend a good-bye hug.
"Drive safely," he said.
"I will. Say hi to your mom for me. I'll talk to you soon."
"Okay. Hey, keep an eye on this one for me, will ya?" chandler asked, teasingly jerking his thumb behind him in Monica's direction.
"I've been doing that long before you came around," Ross teased back before settling in the driver's seat.
Chandler turned to face Monica slowly, preparing himself for the tears that would no doubt be falling from her dark blue eyes, but she surprised him. Her eyes were red-rimmed, but she wasn't crying, and she took a deep breath.
"Okay. Goodbye," she said bravely. She searched his face, and saw the beginnings of a tear in the corner of his right eye, which she swiftly wiped away.
"Hey. None of that," she reprimanded.
"I was so busy worrying about you crying, I forgot to make sure I didn't," he whispered. She hugged him fiercely.
"I love you," she said.
"I love you too. We're gonna be fine, you know that, right?"
"I know," she said. "I know."
They kissed sweetly, and he opened the door for her to climb in.
"Bye you two," he said, waving as Ross pulled the car into drive.
"Bye!" Ross shouted. Monica waved, and offered him a smile, which he matched readily. He watched them until the little blue car was out of sight and repeated his own words in his head: "We're gonna be fine." He scarcely believed himself, until he remembered her soft "I know," her quiet confidence, her faith in them. And then he knew, too.
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