Mason Park - Chapter Seven
"Chandler?" Rachel knocked on his apartment door a few times before calling him again. "Chandler?" She said a little louder. When she got no response for the second time, she let herself in.
"Chandler?" She yelled, glancing toward the open bathroom door and around the living room. His coat was lying just outside of his slightly open bedroom door and she walked over to pick it up. She folded it over her arm and pushed his door open quietly.
He was lying sideways across his bed, fully clothed, the sheets twisted around him. His t-shirt and hair were soaked with sweat and his jeans were wrinkled.
Rachel set his jacket down on a chair next to the door and walked over to his bed, sitting down next to him. "Chandler." She placed her hand on his damp shoulder and shook him gently. "Chandler, wake up."
He began to toss and turn, his arms unconsciously pulling the sheets tighter around him. His hand reached out and gently found it's way around Rachel's waist, pulling her down to him. Rachel laughed and struggled to free herself. "Chandler, come on, get up."
His tossing became more aggressive when she pulled away from him and she began to worry. "Chandler." She yelled, shaking his shoulder harder. She began to panic and ran out of the room, heading over to Monica's apartment.
She burst through the door and found Monica and Ross sitting at the kitchen table eating soup. "You guys. I can't wake Chandler up!" She yelled.
Monica put her spoon down and whipped her mouth with her napkin. "What?"
"Come on!" Rachel grabbed Ross and Monica's hands and dragged them over to Chandler's room.
"He won't wake up!" She shoved them in the room and looked worriedly down at Chandler who's breathing was now becoming labored.
"Ross, get some water." Monica ordered, immediately taking over the situation. Ross ran out of the room and to the kitchen, quickly filling a glass with water.
"Here." He handed the glass to Monica and she didn't even think twice about getting Chandler's bed all wet before splashing the entire glass of water on his face.
He shot out of bed, water dripping off of his face and onto his carpet. "What the hell?!" He yelled, not quite sure what had just happened. He spotted the glass in Monica's hand and looked at her like she was crazy. "What is the matter with you?" He screamed, his arms flailing around in a comical fashion.
"Well, you wouldn't wake up. What did you want me to do?" Monica laughed at Chandler's frenzied state and set the glass down on his nightstand.
Chandler whipped the water from his face with his shirt and upon noticing it was already soaking wet, took it off and threw it to a corner of the room.
"Hey, you put it in your hamper, not on your floor." Monica scolded, waving a hand toward his discarded shirt.
"Go ahead." Chandler smiled. "Now, if it's not too much trouble, might I ask what you are all doing in my room?"
"Well, I came over here to see if you wanted to go to a movie or something tonight. You wouldn't wake up. I went and got Monica and Ross. Monica threw water at you." Rachel summed it up and put her hands behind her back proudly.
"Okay, well, I can't do anything tonight, I'm going over to Ashley's again, but thanks anyway. Now can I get dressed?" He asked, motioning to his bare chest.
"I'm all for it, man." Ross pated Chandler on the back as he walked out of his room, followed closely by Rachel and Monica.
It was a short walk from his apartment to Ashley's, but the cold wind made it unbearable. He was three quarters of the way there and had been walking for ten minutes already.
His hands were buried deep inside each of their respective coat pockets and he had a scarf wrapped tight around his neck, nothing was enough to hide from the harsh cold.
In an odd way, it was just like life. No matter how far away he got or how hard he tried to bury himself, there would always be somebody there to "help" him along the way, nobody would let him do anything for himself.
He finally reached Ashley's building and stabbed her intercom button with his finger. A few seconds later, she answered.
"Hello?" She asked.
"Hey. It's me. It's very cold." Chandler laughed and started bouncing up and down. He didn't know why, but he got a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach that always got him excited when he was around her.
Ashley laughed and buzzed him in. A quick 30 seconds later and he was knocking on her door.
She opened the door with a smile on her face and he greeted her with a quick kiss on the lips. She rubbed her hand on his cheek but gasped and stepped backward when she felt how cold it was. "Chandler, you're freezing!" She grabbed the front of his coat and pulled him inside.
"No shit." Chandler laughed and rubbed his arms with his hands.
"Don't swear. Now sit down, I'll be right back with a blanket and some coffee." She shoved him down on the couch and ran to a nearby closet.
After digging around for a few minutes, she produced a blanket and thew it at him before walking into the kitchen. Chandler roughly caught the blanket and set it next to him on the couch.
She came back out of the kitchen with a coffee cup in each hand, one of which she handed to Chandler before taking a seat on a chair across from him. He took a few sips of coffee and cleared his throat, leering down into the cup in his hands.
"So, I guess we should talk about this." Ashley set her cup down and leaned forward on her elbows.
"What?" Chandler asked, looking up at her quickly.
"Chandler.."
"I know, I know. I just--it's not fair!"
"Life isn't--"
"I know, you don't have to tell me. I get it. Why can't you just wait a while?" He asked, also leaning forward to match her pose.
"I can't Chandler, I've already got this whole thing planned out. I've got an apartment waiting that's completely furnished, I've got friends out there, and I've got lots of people waiting."
Chandler sat back and picked at the buttons on his coat. A thought suddenly struck him and a smile crossed his face. This is too perfect.
"I wanna come with you!" He said, enthusiasm dripping from his voice.
"What? Chandler do you really think that's a good idea?" Ashley said, shaking her head and knitting her brow in concern.
"Yea! It's perfect!" Chandler jumped off of the couch, his arms flailing around. "I've been thinking about getting out of here for a while anyway but I didn't know where to go, and I didn't want to go some place where I didn't know anybody. But I'd know you!" Chandler started to bounce up and down and moved around the room.
"What about your friends. You can't just leave them." Ashley stood up and walked over to him.
"Well they don't mean much to me when I can't remember anything that they've done for the past four years anyway. I don't want to just ditch them all together, but I can't be around them everyday and listen to them talk about things that I have no clue about. I just want to get away long enough for me to get most of my memory back."
"Well, I guess you could come. But it's not really giving them much warning. I mean, I'm leaving on Thursday. That's two days, Chandler. And you don't have anything packed or a plane ticket."
"I can get a ticket within a matter of minutes and I don't have much to pack anyway. Don't worry. This is going to be so awesome!" Chandler started jumping up and down again and Ashley put her hands on his shoulders.
"Don't get too carried away there, buddy." She smiled and patted his back. A sharp ding came from the kitchen and Ashley turned toward it. "Dinner's done!" Both her and Chandler raced to the kitchen, pushing each other out of the way as they got closer to the door.
Chandler walked into his apartment and threw his keys on the table with a smile on his face that had been there since he left Ashley's.
He hung his coat and turned to head back out the door.
Everybody was over at Monica's and he figured now was as good a time as any to tell them the news.
He pushed the door open and with every step he took inside, his smile got a little smaller. He knew they were going to disapprove of his decision, not matter what excuse he came up with for it. They would be concerned, they would be mad, sad, confused...but they would get over it.
They were all sitting around the coffee table, including Tom and Mike, so engrossed in a board game that they hadn't noticed his arrival yet.
He cleared his throat and clasped his hands behind his back, nervously rubbing them together.
They all stopped and turned their heads toward him, finally acknowledging his presence. "Oh, hey Chandler. What's up?" Phoebe was the first to greet him, but quickly focused her attention back on the board and rolled the dice.
"Chandler! Man, it's great to see that you're okay. I'm so sorry I couldn't get here any sooner, you know how parents are." Mike laughed and stood to give him a 'manly' hug.
"Yea, it's great to be okay." Chandler smiled and took a seat next to Rachel on the couch, instantly sinking back into it and trying to hide. Rachel noticed this and turned toward him.
"Something wrong?" She asked.
"Um, well, actually, I have some news." He stood back up and rubbed his hands together again.
"Is this good news or bad news?" Monica asked nervously, setting her cards down on the table.
"Well, it depends what you think of it."
"Well, what is it?" Ross asked.
Chandler took a deep breath and spread his arms wide. "I'm moving." His smile instantly reappeared just at the thought of the thrill that his journey would bring him.
Everybody glanced at each other before looking back to him. "What do you mean you're moving? Like, to a new apartment or what?" Rachel asked.
"I'm moving to Los Angeles, with Ashley." Chandler continued to smile and buried his hands in his pockets.
Phoebe laughed uneasily. "Are you kidding? You can't move to California, especially with a woman that you barely know."
"Well, you see, that's just the thing. I barely know any of you guys anymore, but Ashley's different. I-I can't explain it."
"Well you better try! You can't just move, Chandler!" Ross yelled, standing up and throwing his cards down.
"What good do you think this is going to do?!" Monica screamed, also standing up beside Ross. The brother and sister pair set off everybody else, yelling all sorts of things at him. This is just what he had expected, they wouldn't like it.
Of course they wouldn't, why would they?
Chandler involuntarily stepped back and put his hands out in front of him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Quit yelling! Everybody, just stop! This is my decision and I'll go if I want to. I don't have to give you a reason! It's not like I'm trying to get away from you guys, but I just need some change. I need some time away! You guys have no idea what this is like for me, you never will! My life was perfect before that damn accident, which I can't even remember, and now it's all...this!" He waved his arms in front of him to emphasize his point.
"This is all so twisted, I have no idea what's going on! I can't remember one fucking thing from the past god knows how long, and it's just too hard to be around you guys everyday! I need to get away, I need time to get my memory back, and if you guys can't support me in this, then you can't support me in anything else." Chandler finished quietly and stormed out of the apartment and out of the building.
okay, that wasn't so bad. It could have been worse, they could have beaten me with a lead pipe. They'll get over it, they'll calm down, they'll understand. And if they don't? Screw 'em. No, okay, I didn't mean that. Just, shut up, Chandler, stop talking.
Chandler walked for two hours that night, randomly visiting all of his and Monica's favorites spots and remembering, for the very last time.
to be continued...
Okay, this chapter is longer than what I have left to update. So that means it's probably gonna be a while before I can update again, unless a get a major amount of reviews. My goal is to get 100 by the time I'm done with this story. But that's all on you guys. I really shouldn't have made this chapter so long, but I felt bad for making you guys wait so long. So that means that you owe me reviews!
Wanna hear something sad? Two people that I know have died in the past month. My great aunt and a senior from my high school, I've had enough of this death crap.
Well, I must go, please review!!!!