Chapter 8
Someone like you
Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with friends.
A/N: This one is dedicated to J who had pestered me the last few days to get this up. You better like it and review after all that! Lol xxx
~*~
Even in sleep Phoebe could feel the pain of her battered body washing over her into her dreams and it was enough to jolt her back to consciousness.
She gently opened her eyes and let them adjust to the light of the sun that was beaming through the opened curtains into the room.
She winced out loud as she felt the throbbing pain on her right cheekbone as she flexed her facial muscles, the agony causing tears to descend from her puffy black eyes.
She had absolutely no recollection of getting to the room, or for how long she had been unconscious. All she had was the memory of Tony's contorted face as he raised his hand towards her face, and the force at which she was thrown before her world had gone black. It was all a blank in memory, several lost hours that she would never regain.
Silence enveloped her; the sound of her breath, inhaling and exhaling was all she could hear around her, that and the occasional sound of a floorboard creaking in the distance.
She lay flat on her back just listening for a moment, scared to move and induce more gut wrenching pain within.
The bed was soft beneath her swollen body and for the first time since she had arrived at the house she felt grateful for it for it's presence.
She could take it no longer. She had to see what kind of state she was in. She just prayed it didn't look as bad as it felt.
Every slight movement seemed to be a chore as she removed herself quietly from the bed and positioned herself in front of the wall length mirror to check out the damage that had been done to her.
Her body was naked, and the once perfect pale skin was now tainted with black and blue swellings, in all shapes and sizes. She could count at least 12 markings on her front, and she knew her back was just as bad.
Her hand ran carefully over her stomach, its risen skin painful to the touch, so painful she let out a yelp before she could stop herself.
The minute the sound was out of her mouth she froze like a statue, once again listening intently, but this time to see if she had woken Tony.
After a moment she let out the breath she had been holding and let her hand drop away from her skin.
He must have beaten her and not stopped, despite the fact she had blacked out on his first punch, he had kept hitting, like some kind of unstoppable monster. She couldn't bear to think of what else he had inflicted upon her while she was out.
Still located before the mirror she shut over her eyes and began to let herself drift into a dream world, far, far away from where she was just now. Into a make believe situation of blissful times, where she could escape all reality. She would call it her happy place.
~*~
When Chandler finally awoke at 1pm the first thought that sprang into his mind was the drunken words of his friend Jason, who was lying on the bed situated just a few feet from him, along with a few other bodies of people he didn't recognise, snoring so loudly he was sure the people in the next room were able to hear him.
Tiredness was taking its toll on his body as he felt his eyes close back over and his mind wander back to a few hours previously.
He had laid awake for a good few hours after he had gone to bed, mulling the words of his friend over and over again, trying to understand just what he had meant by them. But still there was no sense to me made of it. All he could think was Jason had met a woman at the nightclub, and he had deemed her perfect enough for himself, if that was even at all possible.
Jason knew just how picky his friend was when it came to girls, so this one had to be special. Either that or she was butt ugly and Jason's idea of a practical joke.
Chandler agreed with himself that the latter was more likely.
After he had come to that conclusion he spent the remainder of his time picturing what this Phoebe would look like, in an ideal world.
He imagined a goddess like woman, with long gold locks of hair, drifting slowly towards him, her eyes as blue as the ocean, sparkling like glitter as the sun shone behind her creating a halo like appearance over her head.
Sleep had finally taken over his body just as her lips met his, and for the first time in his life he gave in and drifted off with ease, a smile of contentment on his peaceful face.
Chandler remained in bed a little longer, tossing and turning until he could finally no longer take the noise of his friends audacious snoring.
He grabbed his clothes from the bottom of the bed and threw them on, huffing and puffing loudly to make his point. But no one even stirred, making him even madder as he stormed off down the hallway into the kitchen.
"Hey! Whoa, you look like shit man!" Ross made his observation and turned his attention back to his cereal and most importantly the science section of the New York Times.
"Thanks buddy. Good morning to you too," Chandler pulled out a chair and threw himself forcefully into it, his mood like a black cloud.
"So what you reading?" Chandler stretched his head over to take a look for himself, but when he saw "science" in huge letters he rolled his eyes and wished he'd never asked. His day was slowly getting worse and he had only been awake a few minutes.
Ross dropped his spoon back into his bowl and started to get a little too enthusiastic looking for Chandler's liking.
"Its fascinating! This guy has just led an expedition to the Gobi desert in Inner Mongolia, and they have found this huge dinosaur bone! It's the skeleton of a 70-foot planting eating reptile! Can you imagine! I mean something that size shouldn't be an herbivore, jeez! And in the desert of all places! I sometimes wonder if these guys don't get things wrong. I mean, at 70-foot long you would think…" Ross' eyes flashed with excitement as he recounted his story to Chandler, who by now had shut off and was singing to himself in his head, something he did often when Ross rambled.
"Good afternoon guys," Rachel and Monica appeared into the kitchen much to Chandlers relief and Ross' disappointment, he hadn't had a chance to finish telling Chandler his theory on the size difference of herbivores and carnivores.
"Hey. What's up? How come you're all dressed up?" The girls sat down at the table looking rather pleased with themselves.
"I have a date!" Monica screamed excitedly, throwing her hands in the air as though it was the first time she had been asked out.
"That's great. Who is he?"
"His name is Joey Tr… em, Tri…something Italian, he's from Queens and I met him on campus this morning when I went down to get milk from the shop! He spent the night here after Dylan's party over on Alpha Delta Laude." Monica beamed as she spoke about her new guy.
"That's cool. So he doesn't go to NYU?" Ross chipped in, slightly concerned as to his sisters welfare. This guy could be anyone for all he knew.
"No, but his best friend does!"
"And he is SO sexy!" Rachel swooned at the memory of him.
Both girls sat with dazed expressions on their faces as they daydreamed, and Chandler gave a little chuckle at them.
"Well I hope you have a great day with Joey something Italian. He sounds like a nice guy." Chandler stood up and patted Monica on the shoulder as he walked around her.
Ross shot him a glare due to his sudden supportiveness towards his sister. He clearly wasn't thrilled with her news, and he believed Chandler should be on his side at all times.
"And what about you Rach? What's your plans for today?" Chandler poured himself a glass of orange and sat back down.
"Jason promised he would take me out into the city this afternoon. The Bloomingdale's sale starts today!" She let out a squeak of excitement and clapped her hands together.
"Eh Rach, sorry to disappoint you, but the last time I saw Jason he was in no fit state to breathe, never mind go shopping. He's still out cold in the bedroom."
Rachel bowed her head in sadness, all 3 sets of her friend's eyes on her, al waiting on the waterworks that normally followed whenever she had been let down.
"I can always go tomorrow," She mumbled quietly, trying to restrain herself from crying, her chin trembling.
"I'll go with you Rachel." Ross looked over at her with puppy dog eyes, his heartbreaking for her, even although the matter was so trivial, it killed him to see her so upset.
Rachel raised her head and after a slight pause she burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"Oh my God Ross, you always know how to cheer me up. I can just imagine you at Bloomies!" her laughter got louder, her body thrown into spasms as she pictured Ross in his "Miami Vice" outlet store suit amongst the quality Armani's.
She wiped her eyes, ridding them of tears of her recent guffawing and exhaled a lung full of air. Never once noticing the look of sad rejection on Ross' face. He had been serious in his suggestion and couldn't understand what was so funny about him accompanying her. He knew she was way out of his league, but did she always have to be so nasty and throw that fact in his face?
"Oh, that was hilarious!" She stood herself up and straightened out her skirt, still chuckling slightly as she started to leave.
"I think im just going to spend the day catching up on my correspondence. If anyone sees Jason when he gets up tell him I'm in my room and to come by," Her eyes sparkled mischievously and she waddled off, flicking her well-groomed hair with her perfectly manicured hand.
Chandler and Monica looked at each other then back at Ross to see how he was holding up.
"You ok buddy?"
"Yeah, im used to it. Rejection from Rachel is nothing new to me these days. Anyway, it's probably for the best, I have a load of studying to do. And yes, I know it's the holidays!" Ross added the last part quickly before they both started to have a go at him.
They all sat in silence again, lost for words, before Chandler gave a cough and caught Monica's attention, nodding his head to the doorway.
"Hi Monica. How you doin'?" Joey stood before her, dressed in jeans, with a black leather biker jacket, a crooked toothy smile spread over his face.
"Uh oh, its Joe cool," Chandler whispered just enough for Ross to hear, causing him to choke on his last spoonful of cereal, unprepared for Chandler's witty comment.
Monica got up from the table, blushing a bright red colour as her brother and Chandler grinned at her. Joey wrapped his arm around her waist, the smile still on his face as he winked at the two guys.
"See you two later," Monica and Joey gave them a wave as they left.
"He's been around the block a few times I bet," Chandler commented as he watched him swagger off.
"Yeah, well he better not be taking my sister around any blocks, or I'll…I'll kick his biker ass." Ross straightened up his back and scrunched up his face in rage, much to Chandler's amusement.
"Ok, Jean-Claude, im going now. I have a few things to do." Ross grunted in acknowledgement but didn't lift his eyes from the paper. If he had he would have seen a look on his friends face that he had never seen before. Nervousness.
He had to speak to Jason to see what the deal was. He couldn't spend another waking moment worrying about what was in store for him. He was no good with girls and the situations that came with them. Surely Jason knew that? So what the hell was he playing at!
Jason was now up and looking semi-alive, sitting on his bed with his head in his hands, trying desperately to get rid of the thumping pain that was trying to break free from his skull.
"Jason, we need to talk. What did you mean last night about Phoebe? Who is she?"
Jason looked up at his friend, just as confused as he was, until a flashback jolted his memory.
"Oh! Phoebe!" He gave a mischievous grin and nodded his head, but stopped when he remembered about his headache.
"Your meeting her tonight, at the alley behind the red eye grill on 42nd and 5th. She's an early birthday present" he laughed heartily at his own private joke.
Chandler had no idea what he meant again, but how bad could it be? All he had to do was meet her. Maybe have a drink, some nice conversation?
"It's not like this girls going to want to sleep with me!" Chandler tried to talk himself around to believing this blind date would be good for him, but at the back of his mind, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself, he had a sinking feeling at the bottom of his stomach. There had to be more to this than met the eye.
~*~
Phoebe crept across the hall, now fully dressed in her work clothes and peeked her head around the kitchen door to see Tony propped up at the bunker.
The minute she saw him she inhaled loudly and retracted her head, but not before he had seen her.
"Phoebe? Get in here." His voice had no emotion to it, so she had no idea what mood to expect when she went in.
She walked slowly in, and waited a good distance away from him; terrified he was going to get too handy with his fists again.
"You're all ready for work I see? Good. I hope you have learnt your lesson from last night, because I don't want it to be a repeat performance. I don't like having to hurt you Phoebe, but until you start behaving it's the way things are going to be. It's for your own good sweetie! Now off you go and make Uncle Tony some rent." His eyes went back down to the newspaper on his knee.
Phoebe gave him a half-hearted nod and slunk back out the door into the hall, tears tracing her cheeks.
Last night she got away with not sleeping with anyone, but tonight she would have to, at any cost. There was no way she could live through another beating. She was trapped between a rock and a hard place as far as she could see.
But she was about to get a surprise, and a very pleasant one at that.
~*~
I've had so many reviews on my last chapter that im still in shock lol
I love you guys. Mwah :o)
You all have different opinions on who I should have save Phoebe, so much so that you have left me confused as to what to do…so I've worked around it, and I think I hopefully can satisfy you all? (Things may change though by the time I get to that part, so I can't promise anything lol)
Anyway, leave me a review, and let me know what you think.
xxxxxxxxxxx
Someone like you
Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with friends.
A/N: This one is dedicated to J who had pestered me the last few days to get this up. You better like it and review after all that! Lol xxx
~*~
Even in sleep Phoebe could feel the pain of her battered body washing over her into her dreams and it was enough to jolt her back to consciousness.
She gently opened her eyes and let them adjust to the light of the sun that was beaming through the opened curtains into the room.
She winced out loud as she felt the throbbing pain on her right cheekbone as she flexed her facial muscles, the agony causing tears to descend from her puffy black eyes.
She had absolutely no recollection of getting to the room, or for how long she had been unconscious. All she had was the memory of Tony's contorted face as he raised his hand towards her face, and the force at which she was thrown before her world had gone black. It was all a blank in memory, several lost hours that she would never regain.
Silence enveloped her; the sound of her breath, inhaling and exhaling was all she could hear around her, that and the occasional sound of a floorboard creaking in the distance.
She lay flat on her back just listening for a moment, scared to move and induce more gut wrenching pain within.
The bed was soft beneath her swollen body and for the first time since she had arrived at the house she felt grateful for it for it's presence.
She could take it no longer. She had to see what kind of state she was in. She just prayed it didn't look as bad as it felt.
Every slight movement seemed to be a chore as she removed herself quietly from the bed and positioned herself in front of the wall length mirror to check out the damage that had been done to her.
Her body was naked, and the once perfect pale skin was now tainted with black and blue swellings, in all shapes and sizes. She could count at least 12 markings on her front, and she knew her back was just as bad.
Her hand ran carefully over her stomach, its risen skin painful to the touch, so painful she let out a yelp before she could stop herself.
The minute the sound was out of her mouth she froze like a statue, once again listening intently, but this time to see if she had woken Tony.
After a moment she let out the breath she had been holding and let her hand drop away from her skin.
He must have beaten her and not stopped, despite the fact she had blacked out on his first punch, he had kept hitting, like some kind of unstoppable monster. She couldn't bear to think of what else he had inflicted upon her while she was out.
Still located before the mirror she shut over her eyes and began to let herself drift into a dream world, far, far away from where she was just now. Into a make believe situation of blissful times, where she could escape all reality. She would call it her happy place.
~*~
When Chandler finally awoke at 1pm the first thought that sprang into his mind was the drunken words of his friend Jason, who was lying on the bed situated just a few feet from him, along with a few other bodies of people he didn't recognise, snoring so loudly he was sure the people in the next room were able to hear him.
Tiredness was taking its toll on his body as he felt his eyes close back over and his mind wander back to a few hours previously.
He had laid awake for a good few hours after he had gone to bed, mulling the words of his friend over and over again, trying to understand just what he had meant by them. But still there was no sense to me made of it. All he could think was Jason had met a woman at the nightclub, and he had deemed her perfect enough for himself, if that was even at all possible.
Jason knew just how picky his friend was when it came to girls, so this one had to be special. Either that or she was butt ugly and Jason's idea of a practical joke.
Chandler agreed with himself that the latter was more likely.
After he had come to that conclusion he spent the remainder of his time picturing what this Phoebe would look like, in an ideal world.
He imagined a goddess like woman, with long gold locks of hair, drifting slowly towards him, her eyes as blue as the ocean, sparkling like glitter as the sun shone behind her creating a halo like appearance over her head.
Sleep had finally taken over his body just as her lips met his, and for the first time in his life he gave in and drifted off with ease, a smile of contentment on his peaceful face.
Chandler remained in bed a little longer, tossing and turning until he could finally no longer take the noise of his friends audacious snoring.
He grabbed his clothes from the bottom of the bed and threw them on, huffing and puffing loudly to make his point. But no one even stirred, making him even madder as he stormed off down the hallway into the kitchen.
"Hey! Whoa, you look like shit man!" Ross made his observation and turned his attention back to his cereal and most importantly the science section of the New York Times.
"Thanks buddy. Good morning to you too," Chandler pulled out a chair and threw himself forcefully into it, his mood like a black cloud.
"So what you reading?" Chandler stretched his head over to take a look for himself, but when he saw "science" in huge letters he rolled his eyes and wished he'd never asked. His day was slowly getting worse and he had only been awake a few minutes.
Ross dropped his spoon back into his bowl and started to get a little too enthusiastic looking for Chandler's liking.
"Its fascinating! This guy has just led an expedition to the Gobi desert in Inner Mongolia, and they have found this huge dinosaur bone! It's the skeleton of a 70-foot planting eating reptile! Can you imagine! I mean something that size shouldn't be an herbivore, jeez! And in the desert of all places! I sometimes wonder if these guys don't get things wrong. I mean, at 70-foot long you would think…" Ross' eyes flashed with excitement as he recounted his story to Chandler, who by now had shut off and was singing to himself in his head, something he did often when Ross rambled.
"Good afternoon guys," Rachel and Monica appeared into the kitchen much to Chandlers relief and Ross' disappointment, he hadn't had a chance to finish telling Chandler his theory on the size difference of herbivores and carnivores.
"Hey. What's up? How come you're all dressed up?" The girls sat down at the table looking rather pleased with themselves.
"I have a date!" Monica screamed excitedly, throwing her hands in the air as though it was the first time she had been asked out.
"That's great. Who is he?"
"His name is Joey Tr… em, Tri…something Italian, he's from Queens and I met him on campus this morning when I went down to get milk from the shop! He spent the night here after Dylan's party over on Alpha Delta Laude." Monica beamed as she spoke about her new guy.
"That's cool. So he doesn't go to NYU?" Ross chipped in, slightly concerned as to his sisters welfare. This guy could be anyone for all he knew.
"No, but his best friend does!"
"And he is SO sexy!" Rachel swooned at the memory of him.
Both girls sat with dazed expressions on their faces as they daydreamed, and Chandler gave a little chuckle at them.
"Well I hope you have a great day with Joey something Italian. He sounds like a nice guy." Chandler stood up and patted Monica on the shoulder as he walked around her.
Ross shot him a glare due to his sudden supportiveness towards his sister. He clearly wasn't thrilled with her news, and he believed Chandler should be on his side at all times.
"And what about you Rach? What's your plans for today?" Chandler poured himself a glass of orange and sat back down.
"Jason promised he would take me out into the city this afternoon. The Bloomingdale's sale starts today!" She let out a squeak of excitement and clapped her hands together.
"Eh Rach, sorry to disappoint you, but the last time I saw Jason he was in no fit state to breathe, never mind go shopping. He's still out cold in the bedroom."
Rachel bowed her head in sadness, all 3 sets of her friend's eyes on her, al waiting on the waterworks that normally followed whenever she had been let down.
"I can always go tomorrow," She mumbled quietly, trying to restrain herself from crying, her chin trembling.
"I'll go with you Rachel." Ross looked over at her with puppy dog eyes, his heartbreaking for her, even although the matter was so trivial, it killed him to see her so upset.
Rachel raised her head and after a slight pause she burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"Oh my God Ross, you always know how to cheer me up. I can just imagine you at Bloomies!" her laughter got louder, her body thrown into spasms as she pictured Ross in his "Miami Vice" outlet store suit amongst the quality Armani's.
She wiped her eyes, ridding them of tears of her recent guffawing and exhaled a lung full of air. Never once noticing the look of sad rejection on Ross' face. He had been serious in his suggestion and couldn't understand what was so funny about him accompanying her. He knew she was way out of his league, but did she always have to be so nasty and throw that fact in his face?
"Oh, that was hilarious!" She stood herself up and straightened out her skirt, still chuckling slightly as she started to leave.
"I think im just going to spend the day catching up on my correspondence. If anyone sees Jason when he gets up tell him I'm in my room and to come by," Her eyes sparkled mischievously and she waddled off, flicking her well-groomed hair with her perfectly manicured hand.
Chandler and Monica looked at each other then back at Ross to see how he was holding up.
"You ok buddy?"
"Yeah, im used to it. Rejection from Rachel is nothing new to me these days. Anyway, it's probably for the best, I have a load of studying to do. And yes, I know it's the holidays!" Ross added the last part quickly before they both started to have a go at him.
They all sat in silence again, lost for words, before Chandler gave a cough and caught Monica's attention, nodding his head to the doorway.
"Hi Monica. How you doin'?" Joey stood before her, dressed in jeans, with a black leather biker jacket, a crooked toothy smile spread over his face.
"Uh oh, its Joe cool," Chandler whispered just enough for Ross to hear, causing him to choke on his last spoonful of cereal, unprepared for Chandler's witty comment.
Monica got up from the table, blushing a bright red colour as her brother and Chandler grinned at her. Joey wrapped his arm around her waist, the smile still on his face as he winked at the two guys.
"See you two later," Monica and Joey gave them a wave as they left.
"He's been around the block a few times I bet," Chandler commented as he watched him swagger off.
"Yeah, well he better not be taking my sister around any blocks, or I'll…I'll kick his biker ass." Ross straightened up his back and scrunched up his face in rage, much to Chandler's amusement.
"Ok, Jean-Claude, im going now. I have a few things to do." Ross grunted in acknowledgement but didn't lift his eyes from the paper. If he had he would have seen a look on his friends face that he had never seen before. Nervousness.
He had to speak to Jason to see what the deal was. He couldn't spend another waking moment worrying about what was in store for him. He was no good with girls and the situations that came with them. Surely Jason knew that? So what the hell was he playing at!
Jason was now up and looking semi-alive, sitting on his bed with his head in his hands, trying desperately to get rid of the thumping pain that was trying to break free from his skull.
"Jason, we need to talk. What did you mean last night about Phoebe? Who is she?"
Jason looked up at his friend, just as confused as he was, until a flashback jolted his memory.
"Oh! Phoebe!" He gave a mischievous grin and nodded his head, but stopped when he remembered about his headache.
"Your meeting her tonight, at the alley behind the red eye grill on 42nd and 5th. She's an early birthday present" he laughed heartily at his own private joke.
Chandler had no idea what he meant again, but how bad could it be? All he had to do was meet her. Maybe have a drink, some nice conversation?
"It's not like this girls going to want to sleep with me!" Chandler tried to talk himself around to believing this blind date would be good for him, but at the back of his mind, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself, he had a sinking feeling at the bottom of his stomach. There had to be more to this than met the eye.
~*~
Phoebe crept across the hall, now fully dressed in her work clothes and peeked her head around the kitchen door to see Tony propped up at the bunker.
The minute she saw him she inhaled loudly and retracted her head, but not before he had seen her.
"Phoebe? Get in here." His voice had no emotion to it, so she had no idea what mood to expect when she went in.
She walked slowly in, and waited a good distance away from him; terrified he was going to get too handy with his fists again.
"You're all ready for work I see? Good. I hope you have learnt your lesson from last night, because I don't want it to be a repeat performance. I don't like having to hurt you Phoebe, but until you start behaving it's the way things are going to be. It's for your own good sweetie! Now off you go and make Uncle Tony some rent." His eyes went back down to the newspaper on his knee.
Phoebe gave him a half-hearted nod and slunk back out the door into the hall, tears tracing her cheeks.
Last night she got away with not sleeping with anyone, but tonight she would have to, at any cost. There was no way she could live through another beating. She was trapped between a rock and a hard place as far as she could see.
But she was about to get a surprise, and a very pleasant one at that.
~*~
I've had so many reviews on my last chapter that im still in shock lol
I love you guys. Mwah :o)
You all have different opinions on who I should have save Phoebe, so much so that you have left me confused as to what to do…so I've worked around it, and I think I hopefully can satisfy you all? (Things may change though by the time I get to that part, so I can't promise anything lol)
Anyway, leave me a review, and let me know what you think.
xxxxxxxxxxx