"Sounds like you were on a break to me," Chandler shrugged, "I don't get what her problem is, I mean, I've see that copy house girl and, whoa."

"I know! And she won't get over it! It's been what, like two months!"

"Two months, huh? And you're still arguing about it?"

"Yeah, she won't let it go. Well at least I now have you on my side, Kip secretly on my side, although I think he's secretly on Rach's side too, along with Pheebs, actually I think all of my friends are secretly on both of our sides."

"Wow. You have great friends."

"Eh, they're really not all that bad." Ross took a sip of his coffee, "hey, you wanna meet them? They're all right upstairs, I'm sure they're all just hanging out up at Mon's!"

Chandler set down his coffee cup, "eh, I donno. I mean, I would feel weird there and all. I mean, from what it sounds like you guys are really close."

"Oh, come on! Like you don't have any friends."

Chandler looked at him, "well," he said slowly.

"Oh my god."

"I sorta tuned out from my friends after I broke up with my girlfriend, I really didn't like them anyways."

"Oh, wow. That makes me wanna be your friend all over again."

"Hilarious," Chandler deadpanned, "okay, why not, I'll meet your friends. And I betcha within ten seconds, they'll hate me!"

"How long ago did you break up with your girlfriend?"

"Eh, about a year and a half."

"And you're still like this?"

"Ross, she cheated on me with another guy, who I just happen to run into all the time. My dad was gay and now has a show in Las Vegas called Viva Las Gay-gas. My mom is a slut, and stuck me living with my brother who just happens to be a fifteen-year-old boy. I'm gonna be like this for a long time."

"Good point," Ross commented, putting down his coffee and standing up.

Ross led Chandler up to apartment number twenty, both talking and laughing about their times in college, mostly about Chandler's flock of seagulls haircut, but still about college and their time as roommates.

"Hey!" Ross greeted everyone, pushing open the door without even bothering to knock. Chandler just shrugged, apparently nobody locked their doors anymore. "Okay everyone, this is Chandler, he was my roommate in college."

"Hi everyone," Chandler held up his hand looking around the room at all of their faces.

"Okay so there's Kip, he's my roommate now," he motioned to the only other guy in the room, "and there's Phoebe, and you already know Rachel. Hey guys? Where's Mon?"

"I told you already! The flowers have to face the headboard!" Monica walked out of her room, her arms flying up into the air like a mad woman.

"Hey Mon, I want you to meet my old college roommate,"

Monica looked up and over at Ross, recognizing the man that stood with him. "Chandler," she whispered, not sure if she wanted to even believe it was him.

"Hey, Monica," he whispered back, holding up his hand in an awkward wave again.

"Monica! I'm sorry," Richard came out of her room, dressed in a robe, "oh my god."

"That's it, kill me now," Chandler mumbled, half amused, half waiting for someone to come and beat him a top the head with a baseball bat.

"You three know each other?" Ross asked, the rest of the group looking between the three.

"Yeah, I guess," Chandler mumbled, "I met Monica at the conferences," he turned to face her, "and your Ross's little sister, damn! Why didn't you tell me!"

"Well, ah, that might have been because I didn't know that you knew Ross."

"Well, that explains it," he mumbled, "and Richard, my good buddy here, Richard who I love to death. You remember that girlfriend I told you about, right, Ross?"

"Yeah, Kathy or something."

"Well meet the infamous girlfriend stealer!"

Ross paused for a second, then it clicked. He gasped, "no! Richard!"

"Must we tell this story to every person we meet, Chandler?" Richard asked from across the room, annoyed by the current situation.

"Umm," Chandler paused in mock thought, "yes."

"Am I the only one who is totally lost?" Phoebe asked the remainder of the group. Kip and Rachel nodded, then they turned their attention back to the four.

"And I still can't believe you did something like that, Richard!" Monica hit him across the chest again, "that is so mean!"

"You make me sound like some sort of bully!"

"Richard, you do realize that the only reason she continued to go out with me when you came along was that she lived in my apartment. She didn't want to be kicked out! Talk about kicking someone in the nuts!"

"No kidding man!" Ross patted him on the back, showing his support.

Chandler sighed, and turned back to face Ross, trying to keep back all of his bottled emotions and not kill Richard. "Look, man, it was great seeing you again, and meeting all of your friends. We should do it again sometime, I think it's just best that I leave."

Ross nodded, "I'll give you a call sometime, we can hang out with that roommate of yours, Joey or whatever."

"Sure, whatever," Chandler nodded, "it will be like guys night in, or whatever. I'll give you a call, kay?" He turned to face everyone else, avoiding eye contact with both Monica and Richard, "it was nice meeting all of you, see ya around." He turned and made his way towards the door, feeling all of their eyes staring at the back of his skull.

Monica ran over to him, putting her hand on his shoulder, "no, wait, you shouldn't have to go."

He shook his head, offering a slight smile, "if I don't go, I'm gonna kill your boyfriend. Do you really want that?"

Monica paused for a moment, now just pleading with him with her eyes. "You don't have to,"

"Yes," he cut her off, "yes, I do. Landon's probably doing something illegal by now anyways." He smiled faintly, "bye, Monica," he opened the door and walked through it, closing it before she could say another word.

She put her hand up over her mouth, trying to justify in her mind what she had just done. He didn't have to leave, she didn't want him to leave. "He didn't have to leave," she whispered to no one really.

"What the hell was that about!" Richard yelled, throwing his arms into the air.

"I can't believe you cheated, Richard! That's awful!" Rachel was the first to lash out at him, throwing a pillow across the room and hitting him in the head.

"Yeah, the poor guy. Has his brother to think about," Phoebe mumbled, taking pity on Chandler, "and when he thinks he's found love to only have it ripped away from him when he thinks he still has it. That's horrible!"

"Yeah, I agree man," Kip sighed, "even with my standards, if their dating another guy who does not know that their girlfriend is cheating, or they're married, their off limits."

"Look, can we get back to the real problem here!" Richard glared at the three, "Monica! You ran after that guy like some lovesick puppy! I can't believe you! And you three sit here talking about cheating, well at least I didn't do it right in front of Chandler!"

"He didn't have to go!" Monica yelled back, tears filling her eyes. She didn't know why she was getting so emotional about the whole thing, it really shouldn't have bothered her, but for some reason, it just had gotten under her skin. "I can't believe you made him leave!"

"He left on his own, Mon," Ross explained, putting a hand on his sister's arm, "and as much as I hate to say it, Richard did not make him leave."

"Yes, yes he did! Do you realize why he left! He was uncomfortable! Richard made him uncomfortable! And you know why! Because this was the guy that stole his girlfriend away! And I don't wanna be with a person who would do that to another person! I mean, how do I know that you're not still seeing this Kathy girl now!"

Richard darted his eyes, avoiding contact with anyone in the room. He cleared his throat, "Mon, Mon, you have to calm down."

Rachel gasped, "oh my god! That girl! She wasn't your niece was she!" She pointed her finger at him, standing up slowly, "you told me that girl was your niece you were having lunch with that day! And when I saw you later on the subway with! And at the store!"

Monica covered her face with her hands, "oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," she mumbled over and over again, becoming hysterical. "I thought you loved me?"

"Well I do! But,"

Kip cut him off before he could say another word, punching him square in the face. "I can't believe you man!" He yelled at him, watching as Monica ran into her room, slamming the door behind her.

"Get out! Get out of my apartment!" Rachel screamed, her finger now pointed at the door, "get out!"

Richard covered his nose with his hands, "wait,"

"What don't you understand about get out! You bastard!" Phoebe screamed, running over to the door, and opening it for him. "GET OUT!"

Chandler sat in his chair lazily, his coat and tie thrown haphazardly behind him, and a full beer enclosed in his hand. Just seeing him again made him so angry, especially with someone like her. He didn't deserve her, she seemed so nice, so pleasant, so wonderful. She was driving him crazy, and he had only talked to her for a few minutes, and yet, she had been the only thing on his mind since the day he had met her.

In fact, he silently thanked God that Landon had suddenly decided to become a nice person and stay late to help her out. Or else he wouldn't have had the pleasure of meeting her. Then again, his spirits where once again crushed by the harsh reality that was Richard, but still, she was incredible. He would never wish that he hadn't met her, not in a million years.

"Yo man, pizza's here!" Joey chimed in, walking into the apartment, Landon behind him. The three of them had been living off take out for quite sometime now. It seemed that all of them were horrible cooks, and it was just easier for them to order food then to pretend to like the food they had made.

"Eh," Chandler mumbled, "toss me a slice."

"What's with him?" Landon asked, walking over to his brother and waving his hand in his face, "it's like he's dead or something. Cool!"

Chandler gave him the death glare, "I'm fine."

"He's totally crushing on someone," Joey garbled through the pizza in his mouth. "Ooh! Ooh! I bet it's that teacher girl we saw you talkin' too, isn't it!"

"Oh, yeah! Ms. Geller!"

"You knew her last name was Geller! Why couldn't you have told me!"

Landon gave him a look, "why did it matter? She's hot, therefore, clearly not interested in you."

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny. She's the little sister of my old college roommate, Ross Geller!"

"Oh! You mean you used to room with Mr. Geller the science teacher! That is like wrong, dude! He's a total loser!"

"Hey! Hey! That's one of my friends you're talking about there!" Chandler looked over at Joey, "and by the way, me, you, and Ross are all hanging out together sometime."

"Really? Science dork? I don't think so, Chandler."

"Oh come on! He's not that bad really! And besides, I promised him we could all hang out!"

"Why'd you do such a thing!"

"Because I was desperate to get out of there!" Chandler confessed, tossing his arms into the air.

"And why would that be?" Landon asked, hoping to get some really good dirt to use as blackmail for later. He never missed an opportunity to obtain new blackmail–he had a field day with the whole third nipple fiasco.

"It was nothing," Chandler mumbled, "I'm fine. Nothing happened. I'm fine."

"When you say 'I'm fine' more then once, it generally means that your not fine," Joey shrugged, taking out another slice of pizza.

"Good point," Landon agreed, walking over and taking another slice of pizza as well. Chandler was starting to regret their whole bonding time he had put them through. Now they were ganging up on him, and he could no longer use the excuse that he was the oldest, therefore he was the smartest.

"Just give me a slice of pizza," Chandler mumbled, motioning for someone to hand him a slice, not willing to get out of his chair.

"Whatever, man, get your own," Joey laughed.

Knock, knock.

"Got it," Landon said, walking over and opening the door. "What's," he stared in awe at the person out in the hall, completely forgetting what came after the 'what's' in his greeting. "Oh my god! Ms. Geller!"

Chandler turned his head, his attention now fully held. "If you kidding, I swear I am going to kill you, Landon. I do hold that power, and no court is gonna rule against me."

"No, dude! He's not joking!" Joey smiled brightly, almost jumping up and down in excitement.

"You wanna, wanna, wanna come in?" Landon asked shakily, holding open the door as wide as it would go.

Monica nodded slowly, stepping inside. "Can I speak with Chandler, alone?"

"Sure!" Joey yelled, grabbing Landon by his arm and the pizza in his other hand and ran into the nearest room, then gave Chandler a thumbs up sign before proceeding to slam the door behind them.

Chandler pushed himself out of his chair for the first time in a couple of hours, and walked towards her. She stood in the kitchen, moving her hands uncertainly, and switching her weight from foot to foot. "I look like hell, don't I?" She mumbled, self-consciously fiddling with a piece of her hair.

He shook his head, "no, you could never look bad," he said truthfully. "What's up?"

She wiped her eyes, trying to stop the tears before they fell all the way down her face, "Richard," she paused, trying to keep her composure but she was slowly losing it. "He, he, he's still with Kathy."

Chandler watched her as she began to break down, not sure if he should grab her and hold her, or if he should say something. He didn't know what to make of the situation"€ all he knew was that it was taking an act of God to stop him from holding her in his arms.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know who else to turn to, I just, I just, I didn't know. And I found out after you left, and somethings were said, and I didn't know who to turn too!" She ran over to him, putting her arms around his waist, "I know that I just met you, but, but,"

Chandler smiled faintly, putting his arms around her frail body, and rubbed her back softly, "I've been there, and none of your friends have," he finished for her. She nodded, crying softly into his chest. Chandler just held her, rocking her slowly back and forth, trying to calm her down, even just a little. "Do your friends know you're here?"

She pulled herself away from him, dabbing her eyes with a tissue she held in her hand. "No," she mumbled, "none of them know where I am."

He smiled faintly, "you wanna head back, or do you wanna stick around here for a little while?" He grabbed her the box of Kleenex to his right, holding it up in front of his face.

She shrugged, "they're gonna be so pissed at me," she mumbled, half-laughing.

"So, you wanna throw caution to the wind and stick around here to tell me what happened?" He questioned hopefully, "oh! I know exactly what we need!" He jumped a little, running over to his freezer and pulling out two things of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, "I went through like twenty of these last time, now I'm well prepared, y'know, just in case."

Monica smiled, "just in case some crazy girl you barely know shows up with a sob story."

"Of course! How else do you expect me to meet women?" He laughed softly, pulling out two spoons and handing her a carton. "So you wanna tell me what happened?"

"What about your brother and that other guy with the pizza?" She asked, grabbing the carton from his hand and opening it up. It was brand new.

"Eh, Joey and Landon? They'll be fine. They have the pizza."

"Good point," she laughed, "okay, I'll tell you." She smiled, digging into her ice cream, her tears almost completely forgotten.

"All right, continue."

"Well, I found out that Richard is a lying bastard,"

"I already knew that one," Chandler interrupted and Monica gave him a look, "but this was your first time, so I'll let you continue without interruptions!"

"Anyways, he's still with Kathy, if that makes you feel any better." She dug into the ice cream harder, as if trying to kill it with her spoon. "So when I found that out, we kinda broke up, and I locked myself in my room, and then I stuck out, and now I'm here!"

"Well, if you want, you can join my 'I hate Richard' club, so far we only have one member, but I was looking into expanding."

"Hell, we might have a couple more members too. Kip punched him in the nose, and my friends kicked him out of the apartment. In his underwear. I'm really hoping they took pictures."

Chandler laughed, "now why didn't I think of that!"

Monica smiled, "because you're just not very smart," she teased.

"Ow,"

"Deal with it."

"You know what, you're mean when you have ice cream."

"I'm sorry, it must be the cookie dough that's doing this to me. How can you ever forgive me?"

"Well," Chandler laughed, "it's okay. You should have seen me when I broke up with Kathy. Didn't come out of my sweatpants for weeks."

"Sweatpants?"

"Yeah, you know, it's a three step process."

Monica looked at him, "care to elaborate?"

Chandler rolled his eyes, "you know, first step is the sweatpants, then after that step two is going to a strip club and getting unbelievably drunk, which in turn leads to step three, imaging yourself with other women."

Monica laughed, "you actually do all of that!"

"Uh, yeah. Talk to your guy friends, it's how we all do it. They'll tell you, first step: comfort zone, i.e. my sweatpants, second step: strip club, and third step: imagining yourself with other women."

"Men are idiots."

"Did you happen to forget you're in an apartment filled with men?"

Monica shrugged, "eh, no court would side with you especially since I can work the whole depressed and vulnerable angle." Chandler gave her a look, waiting for a better answer. "And I'm a fast runner."

He smiled, taking another huge scoop of his ice cream. "So, you're my old roommates little sister, what are the chances of that?"

"Apparently possible, but I wasn't gonna say anything. Might ruin our luck."

"It's funny, I heard so much about you in college, and then the one time I go to visit you guys at Thanksgiving, you didn't come home that year."

Monica shrugged, "I know, it was a bad year all around. But I guess now I get to meet the infamous Chandler, without my parents interfering." She sighed, "they are gonna be so angry that another relationship didn't work out. You'd think after Ross married a lesbian that they might have a problem with marriage, but no."

"I still can't believe Carol was a lesbian, that's hilarious!"

"Yeah, it does make a good story, doesn't it?"

"So your parents are really," he made the motion of him ringing an imaginary person's neck, "y'know?"

Monica nodded, "it's crazy. They favor Ross so much more then me, and he's the one that goes off and marries lesbians!"

"Well, hey, if it's any consolation, I think you're great."

"What?"

"No, no, I mean it. You're pretty, you're smart, you're funny, you have a lot going for you. You shouldn't worry so much, I'm sure there's someone out there for everyone."

Monica raised her eyebrows, "you've had a lot of time to think that load of bullshit out, haven't you?"

Chandler shrugged, "yeah, I have," he smiled a little, "I was in my sweatpants for over two weeks after Kathy, I had to think about something. Especially after we ran out of ice cream."

"Dude! Can we come out now!" Joey whined from behind the door, apparently the pizza had run out, "we've been in here for like twenty minutes!"

Monica raised up her wrist, stealing a glance at her watch, "oh my god, I've been here that long! Their gonna freak!"

"Yeah, Joe, Landon, Come on out!" Chandler called back, grabbing his coat off the floor, and Monica's from the hook. "Come on, I'll walk you back," he offered, handing her the coat.

Monica smiled, "really, you don't have to. I mean, it's a pretty long walk, and we really just met, I'll be fine."

"Nah, come on, we losers gotta stick together."

"You mean, us members of the 'I Hate Richard' Club gotta stick together," she teased.

"I should really start up a club, I mean, we have what like six members so far? I mean, I'm sure Joey would join in a heartbeat, and that would make seven! That's totally enough for a club!"

"Well it seems like you two have had some fun out here," Joey said with mock seriousness, "how come you didn't invite us out for ice cream, man! We were dying in there!"

"Hey! You guys got the pizza, we were left to our own devices."

Joey gave him a look, "well, whatever." He looked over at Monica, "by the way, I'm Joey, we met before, right?"

"Yeah," she smiled timidly, "I'm Monica, it's nice to see you again, Joey."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Ms. Geller?" Landon asked, trying to pull himself back into the conversation.

"Course, Landon! Second hour!"

"Don't stay out too late," Joey teased, noting that both parties had their coats on, "I'll wait up for you."

"Translates into, I want details," Chandler interpreted for Monica.

She laughed, "well I gotta run you guys. It was nice seeing you all again!" She waved, and her and Chandler walked out of the apartment.

"Damn, how does he get so lucky!" Joey cursed, "she's so hot!"

"Ah, dude, she's my teacher."

"Yeah, so? I know you think she's hot. It's okay, I had a crush on like ten of my teachers in high school."

"Really? So it's not weird?"

"No man! She's hot!"

"I know!"

"You know, you didn't have to do this," Monica reminded him as they both walked hurriedly through the city. The brisk late fall temperatures where starting a bit early this year, but the leaves were a colorful array that made up for the bitter cold.

Chandler rubbed his hands together, before sticking them back in his front coat pockets, "would you rather me leave you here?" He teased, "it's getting kinda dark out, New York City streets,"

"Oh shut up," Monica rolled her eyes, her too shoving her hands into her coat pockets, wishing she had the foresight to at least bring a pair of gloves, if not a warmer coat.

"So, Monica, seeing as how we're stuck together for at least the next twenty minutes, tell me about yourself."

She smiled faintly, "well, I went to Lincoln High, up in Long Island, where I spent the majority of my days being ridiculed terribly, and then after graduating left for the city at my first possible chance and went to this great little culinary school here."

"Lincoln High is really that bad, huh?" Chandler mumbled, remembering some of Ross's horror stories from back in college. "I see he did finally hook up with that Rachel girl, though. Couldn't stop talking about her in college, I really started to hate that girl after awhile."

Monica chuckled, "I take it you fell victim to one of their arguments. The school has been plagued by them during after hours since they hired Rachel a couple of years ago. Hell, even during hours."

"Well, I did meet your parents once, so that's over with," Chandler teased, "I think they disliked me for some reason though. Wouldn't leave me unsupervised, kept asking me the strangest questions, hell, I didn't wanna go back there!" He paused for a moment, then added, "now, I might reconsider, seeing as how I could have an excuse to come and bug you," he teased.

Monica smiled, "trust me, if you were visiting and I happened to be there, we would both be cornered by my parents and could continue our complete misery on another field."

"Ah, we're the misery gang! Don't get in our way, or we'll drag you down with us!"

Monica laughed, "you're a complete idiot, you know that right?"

"Eh, it works for me."

"So, Chandler, now that you know a little about me, let's hear about you. I've only heard a couple of things about you from my brother, but, well, you know, it's Ross."

"Good point," Chandler laughed, "well, my parents have an interesting relationship to say the least, making my childhood full of fond memories of Christmas's spent with butlers and maids paid to be there, and birthday parties gone pornographic due to my mother and her current flame."

"I'm sorry," Monica mumbled, not sure how to respond to something like that. "It must have really sucked."

Chandler shrugged, "eh, it could have been worse. At least we now know that misery isn't something new for me, huh?"

"But still, that must have been awful," Monica looked at him sadly, "so I take it your parents are divorced."

"To say the least," he chucked, "saying they absolutely despise each other would be an understatement."

"What happened?"

Chandler shrugged, "maybe another time, huh?" He looked at her sadly, as much as he wanted to open up to her, he knew he shouldn't. Because she was going to leave him like all the rest. Eventually that's what it all came down too.

"I'm sorry, we really just met, I must be pressing too much!"

Chandler shook his head, "no, don't be sorry."

She shook her head, "no, Chandler, I am sorry."

"Your stubborn, did Ross ever tell you that?" He changed the subject smoothly, making a little jab at her so that she would go off on that.

"I prefer strong willed!"

Chandler chucked, "I take it you've had this argument before," he teased, she glared at him. "Sorry," he smiled, "so, you're a teacher now, how's that working out for ya?"

"I've learned more then the students have learned, does that tell you anything?"

"Learning? In a school? What is this madness?"

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny."

"Seriously, what have you learned from your students?"

"Important life lessons such as, don't give freshmen fire, and never leave the room while your students are armed with raw eggs."

"You gotta be kidding me," he chuckled, "they pulled my egg routine! I can't believe people are still using that!"

"Hilarious," she deadpanned, "you're a real funny guy, aren't you Chandler Bing?"

"I'd like to think so," he said with mock seriousness.

Monica stopped, turning to face her apartment building. She exhaled quietly, smiling at how she could already see her breath so early in the year. "Well, I guess this is it," she sighed.

"Yea, guess so," Chandler mumbled, trying to come up with anything interesting to say whatsoever.

Monica looked at him hesitantly, "unless you wanna come up?" She asked softly, Chandler looked at her, his mouth open in surprise. "Y'know, my friends are gonna be there, all of us could hang out together or something."

He smiled faintly and nodded, "I've love that," he lied. Hang out. With friends. As friends. Only he could be so lucky.

Monica smiled, "alright then, let's face the beasts!"

"You certainly love your friends, don't you?"

"Eh, they're okay."

"Well I certainly can't wait to be your best friend!"

She chucked, "doesn't everybody?"

He laughed, following her up the couple fights of stairs joking and laughing. They talked like they had known each other forever, although, they had known of each other for quite some time now, it was just the matter of meeting each other. But the laughter stopped as soon as they appeared at her doorway. She could hear her friends inside, apparently having found out about her disappearance.

"You can't hide from them forever," Chandler tired to encourage her, "don't worry, they won't be mad at you. They'll just be glad your safe."

She shrugged, "I could get new friends," she teased.

He smiled in amusement, "you're quite the character, Ms. Geller," he mused, pushing open the door for her. Did no one lock their doors in New York anymore?

"I'm back!" Monica called into the apartment, as her friends all rushed towards the doorway. Kip jumped over the couch, Monica visibly winced at this but shook it off as due to the fact that he was concerned, Rachel fell out of her chair, jumped back up with an 'I'm okay!' and ran over, Ross ran out of her bedroom, slipped taking Phoebe down with him. Needless to say, they were quite the sight.

"So this is what they mean by a Kodak moment!" Chandler announced, watching as the scene unfolded.

"Aw, they were concerned," Monica cooed, her voice reeking sarcasm.

"Isn't just the cutest thing," Rachel said angrily, holding her hand to her butt in an attempt to stop the throbbing pain that was now shooting through it.

"Sis! Where have you been!"

Monica pointed behind her, "at Chandler's," she said slowly, "sorry, we lost track of time."

"It was the first official meeting of the 'I hate Richard' club. We voted on some serious issues, and decided to go against all who dare wear mustaches!" Chandler laughed hesitantly at his own joke, trying to break the ice.

"Thanks for taking care of her, man," Ross directed at Chandler, "even if your activities were questionable."

"What's questionable about hating Richard?" Monica asked, pulling off her coat and hanging it on the rack. She walked into the apartment, taking a seat on the couch, "it's actually quite normal after a break up like that."

Rachel walked over to her friend, pulling her in a warm hug, "I am so sorry, Mon! I should have said something! He said that was his niece!"

"It's okay, Rach, you didn't know. And besides, I'm gonna be okay."

Phoebe rushed over to the couch, joining the hug, "I'm so sorry, Monica! I should have kicked his ass!"

"Well, I did punch him," Kip offered, taking a seat on the oversized chair.

"Hey! If anyone gets to kick Richard's ass, it's me!" Ross declared, taking a seat on the armrest on the oversized chair.

Chandler stood in the background, not sure what he should do. Monica had invited him to quote "hang out" with her and her friends, but they were all so close. How could he get in the middle of that? It was probably best that he left, they'd never notice anyways. He smiled faintly, he'd done his job, Monica was home safe. So he turned and made his way back out the door.

"Hey Chandler, it's okay, come on over!" Monica called him over, noticing that he was starting to leave. "There's some room on the couch, or you could sit on the floor."

He offered a small smile, "you guys sure? I mean, I wouldn't want to intrude."

"No way, man! Come on over!" Kip waved him over, "here, you take the chair. I'll sit on the floor, no use putting guests on the floor."

Chandler held up his hand, "no, it's no problem, you don't have to move." He took of his black coat, resting it on the backs of one of the mismatched chairs surrounding the kitchen table. Then he made his way over, taking a seat on the floor and resting his back against the entertainment center.

"So, you're Ross's old roommate, huh?" Rachel started off the conversation, "I bet you two reeked a lot of havoc during college."

"To say the least," Chandler said with mock seriousness, "I mean that Ross, what a wild child!"

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny, man," Ross glared at him.

"Actually, we did go to a lot of parties," Chandler explained, "I think Ross met Carol at one of them, he was kinda drunk and I was kinda busy."

"You sound like a great friend!" Monica teased, remembering their conversation from earlier.

Chandler smiled, "I guess we're just made for each other, huh?" He teased, "seeing as how we are both really crappy friends!"

"Did we miss something?" Rachel asked, looking between the two.

"No, no, it was stupid. We were just making stupid jokes on the way home," Monica explained.

"Okay," Rachel said slowly.

"So, Pheebs, how's your relationship going with that guy you met the other day in the coffee house?" Kip asked, changing the subject, not wanting to know anymore about the stupid jokes.

She smiled, "well, we're gonna go out tomorrow night!"

"What's his name again?"

"Joey, Joey Tribbiani, he's an actor," she giggled, "can you believe it! I'm gonna go out with Mac from Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E.!"

Rachel blinked a couple of times, "Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E.? As in like the food, Mac and Cheese?"

"Nah, it's some TV show he was on," Chandler explained for her. Everyone turned and looked at him, "what?"

"How'd you know that?" Phoebe asked, "oh my god! You're like physic or something aren't you! Okay! Okay! Tell me what I'm thinking right, right, right now!"

Chandler shook his head, "no, no," he tired to keep down a laugh, "Joey's my roommate. He seems strangely proud of that TV show, but my reaction was to the food too, so you know."

"Wow, you know like everybody don't you?" Kip asked, becoming slightly annoyed by this new comer. He was too close to Monica for his liking.

"Eh, small world," he mused.

"I still can't believe you're Joey's roommate! I've heard so much about you!" Phoebe exclaimed happily, "you have like a little brother or something!"

"Yeah, Landon, my mom dumped him on me a couple years ago. And I told you that this morning, remember?"

"Oh, do you guys like not get along or something?" Ross asked, ignoring Chandler's last comment. He pushed himself out of his chair, and made his way into the kitchen.

"Well, it's like the typical sibling stuff, plus the fact that I'm a lot older and his primary care giver, so, in fewer words, he hates my guts doubly."

"Ooh, ouch man, that must suck," Ross said grabbing out a beer from the fridge.

"Oh, come on, he can't hate you!" Rachel reasoned, "I mean, sure I might have not gotten along with my sisters growing up, but I didn't hate them!"

"Umm, Rach," Monica held up her hand, "you kinda did. I think you're exact words were, 'oh my god I hate my sisters'. That makes it pretty clear."

"But still! It's not the same, Chandler's taking care of his brother!"

"Umm, Rachel, right?" He asked motioning over to Monica's blonde friend, "did you like your parents growing up?"

"No! Of course not! Every kid hates their," she paused, "oh."

"There it is!"

Chandler smiled as he watched the long time friends laugh and talk with each other, saying things here and there when needed. It was a nice break from the usual torment of his apartment, not that he disliked Joey or Landon, well, maybe Landon a little, but Joey, he loved that guy. It was just that everything in that apartment had a memory stuck to it. Places she had sat and talked with him for hours on end, often feeding him those lies about how crazy she was for him. Places they had made out, eaten, hell, his bedroom was a room of nightmares remembering all those nights they had spent together.

This was just nice for a change. Not having to think about her for even a moment. Just laughing and having a good time with some new friends.

His eyes caught Monica's, they seemed a little brighter now, but she still didn't have her sparkle back. She was still hurting, and no matter how hard she tried to cover it up with laughter and smiles, her eyes always gave her away.

Her eyes met his, and she offered a small smile. Chandler smiled back, hoping that his face was turning red. He sighed heavily, maybe just a bit over dramatic, but a sigh none the less. "Well, I gotta get heading back." He pushed himself off the floor, taking a look down at his watch. It was nearly midnight. He was gonna have a hell of a lot of questions to answer when he got home.

"Chandler, you got money for a cab?" Monica asked, remembering that they had walked all of the way here.

Chandler looked like a deer caught in headlights. Why he had never thought of a cab was beyond him. He reached in his pockets, and just as he suspected, lint. He knew better then to check his wallet, he knew very well it contained buttons and a condom. No use showing that to the world. "Umm," he mumbled, "it's okay! I'll just walk!"

"Oh my God, are you stupid or something!" Rachel yelled out, "it's like midnight, you know who's wake and walking around the city at midnight!"

"Yeah, man, it's like a good half hour walk to your apartment from here," Ross agreed, "why don't you just crash over at my place?"

"No, really, that's okay. It's no biggie, I'm gonna get like fifty questions already from the peanut gallery. Let's not add fuel to the fire, okay?" He offered a smile to everyone, walking over and grabbing his coat form the kitchen, ignoring their protests.

"Chandler! This is stupid! Just call up your roommate and brother and tell them your crashing over at my place!" Ross yelled at him, "anyone who's up and walking around outside at this hour is up to no good."

"No, maybe they're all just trying to walk home from a night at a friend's apartment," Chandler offered one of his infamous sarcastic comments. "And besides man, I've seen your apartment, where the hell am I supposed to sleep?"

Kip looked at Ross, "he's got a point, y'know. I mean, we don't exactly have a couch or anything. We have a couple of chairs. Not exactly great sleeping material."

"How about you just sleep on our couch?" Monica offered, "I've slept on it loads of times, although, the majority of which I was drunk, but I still woke up feeling fine," she paused, "minus the couple hangovers from hell."

Chandler smiled, "really, Monica, that's okay. I mean, we just met like today? Are you really sure you would want a stranger staying over in your apartment? For all you know I could be like a cereal killer or something."

Phoebe laughed, "hell no! You couldn't carry off the cereal killer look if you wanted too!"

"Do you know many cereal killers, Pheebs?" Kip asked, giving her a look.

"I was killed by one once!" Phoebe exclaimed.

Chandler's eyes bulged, "and this happened, in your, I don't know, past life or something?"

Phoebe rolled her yes, "umm, yeah, what did you think I was talking about? I mean, it's not like I'm a ghost or anything!" She made wavy arm motions and what where supposedly spooky noises.

"Alrighty then, this has been fun," Chandler pulled on his coat, and made his way back towards the door.

"Chandler, wait!" Monica yelled out to him, "don't go!"

He stopped, his hand in midair, "but, I don't,"

"You wouldn't be intruding, I just don't want to see you get hurt, okay? And besides, now we can have our second official meeting of the IHR club."

"IHR club?"

"I hate Richard, of course!"

He laughed, "oh! Why didn't I think of that!"

"Well, if past actions, or even almost actions, have anything to do with it, you're an idiot," Ross stated jokingly.

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny man," Chandler looked back over at Monica, "so what do ya say, ice cream or shots?"

"Hmm, let's decide that later," she smiled, "now you better call your apartment, tell them what's going on, and then come back over here and hang out with us some more!"

He smiled faintly, taking off his coat again. "Alright then," he said.

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