Ah, here we go, another chapter up in record time (for the non-exam time school year that is). Thanks agian to all of you guys who reviewed, I promise one of these days I'll give you guys a shout out, I'm just too lazy right now.

Anyways, this fic is starting to build up conflicts and such and is almost reaching it's dramatic climax. And I actually, shock, shock, do have an idea of where I am going with the story! Ah! Ah! Take that!

So yeah, those are my comments. I'm done now.

"What?" She breathed out, not being able to come up with any other words to say. "You're talking crazy, Phoebe. Kip, he-he-he, just can't. It's just not true."

"Monica, it makes sense," Phoebe said seriously, "He punched Richard for you for Christ's sake."

"He did that because he's my friend."

"No, Mon," Ross said slowly, "Phoebe's right, now that I think about it, it does make sense. Why else would he be so angry about you spending time with Chandler?"

"What do you mean, Ross? Chandler is just a friend, we just get each other, that's all! I don't see why everyone thinks that I'm somehow in love with the guy! I've only known him for what, a couple of weeks? A month even?"

"I don't think he sees that, Monica," Phoebe placed her hand on Monica's shoulder, "He knows that if you fall for Chandler, he can't compete."

"And why not?"

"You went to Chandler when you were upset, you didn't want him to leave, you two have many known each other for a couple of hours combined yet you talk like old friends!? Monica, what isn't there!"

"Phoebe you just talking crazy. You said it yourself, it's probably not even relevant anymore."

"I never said that."

"Well, you agreed."

"Monica,"

"Whatever, I'm done talking about it. Let's just move on, okay!" Monica crossed her arms and turned her head to face the window of the taxi. "Look, we're here anyways, let's just not talk about that anymore. You're just talking crazy."

Ross sighed, "Just let it go, Pheebs, she's not going to accept it and you can't make her." He consoled the blonde, placing his hand on her knee.

Phoebe turned and whispered to him, "But I know it's true."

Ross nodded slowly, "She'll get it sooner or later." He whispered back to her, as he slid out of the cab behind Monica.

"How much do we owe you?" Monica asked, trying to think of anything besides the subjects of Kip and love.

"Twenty-five," the elderly cab driver croaked out hoarsely. "Plus a tip, don't you try and scam me out of it lady, 'cause I may be old, but I ain't stupid."

"Here," Monica handed him thirty, "Is that sufficient enough?"

"Eh," he shrugged, "It will do. I mean, I guess my family just won't eat tonight," he shot her the best puppy dog eyes he could muster.

Monica did her best not to laugh at the man, "Hate to break it to you, but I'm not dumb either."

He muttered something about youth today, then inched slowly away from the corner and into traffic again.

"So where are they?" Monica asked, putting her hands on her hips and looking around her, "Do you see them anywhere?"

"They should be here, we were kinda late," Ross shrugged.

"Hey! Ross!" Chandler yelled out. He was standing next to the ticket booth, Joey smiling coyly at Phoebe and waving awkwardly in her direction, and Landon standing behind him trying to act as cool as possible. Apparently spending an evening with his big brother and several of his teachers wasn't exactly cool.

"Sorry we're late, dude!" Ross, Monica, and Phoebe walked over, "Monica was late coming back from work."

"It's okay, man. We were late too," he said intentionally leaving out the reason of why they were late. Landon would have killed him if he told all of his teachers about his temper tantrum earlier when he heard that he had to come with them in exchange for going to the party.

Phoebe walked over to Joey and planted a friendly kiss on his lips, "Glad to see me?"

"Always," Joey chuckled, "Who wouldn't be?"

"Ah, Joe, if you wouldn't mind moving your flirting session inside, or we're gonna miss the movie," Chandler commented, "And I can see one very upset teenager if we don't see the movie."

"Whatever," Landon breathed out, crossing his arms.

"Well, Landon! I'm glad you decided to join us!" Monica smiled, "How much did Chandler pay you, anyways?"

"No, no, I wanted to come," Landon blurted out, obviously being sarcastic.

"And that's why during the early developmental years, he should not have been with me," Chandler commented.

"Yea, you're right man. We don't need two overly sarcastic and bitter people walking around, do we?" Ross nodded in agreement, "I think you're the only one who could pull off that lifestyle so effortlessly."

"I had years of practice."

Monica chucked at the banter, "Alright, alright, now we're really late for the movie!"

"Hey! You see! It wasn't our faults!" Joey proclaimed, pointing at Chandler accusingly, "Ha! Ha! Take that!"

"Come on, Joe, you win," Chandler said dryly, waving everyone in behind him.

"Ha! Ha!"

"That's enough now, Joe."

The movie was a bust, letting out around seven, only two and a half-hours, but still it felt like an eternity. Landon wasn't going to be happy about that, but Chandler would deal with that later. They stood outside on the street corner, as Ross attempted to flag down a cab, which wasn't really working too well. Landon stood next to him, looking at him like he was crazy. Joey and Phoebe stood just a little ways away, engaging in a series of friendly kisses and laughter. No doubt they were talking dirty, somehow, when done in public, it was always really amusing. Chandler never really understood that.

Then he stood with Monica, just a few feet away from Ross, but thankfully enough distance from the overly happy couple.

"Sorry the movie sucked, I heard it was good," Monica said softly, almost apologetically.

"Nah, this way I got to torture Landon just a little extra."

"Cause hanging out with his brother and his teachers wasn't torture enough," Monica mused, a smile breaking her lips.

Chandler nodded and smiled, "So how have you been holding up?" He asked softly, not wanting the others to intrude.

She shrugged, "Been lower, I guess."

"Heard that you had a visitor during one of your classes, not that I have any idea who it was or anything, but I heard it was pretty ruff for you."

"Yeah, he came, even had the nerve to bring me flowers. Like that was going to make me want to forgive him. You know? Make it all better." Monica sighed slowly, "Hey, you wanna get a cup of coffee or something. I could use another meeting of the IHR club."

Chandler nodded, "Hey! Ross! Can you bring Landon to your apartment and let him hang out there for a little while?"

Landon's eyes got big as he started to make big 'no' motions behind Ross.

"Why? Whats up?"

"I was just going to get some coffee with Monica, and I don't want him being home alone this late."

"I'm fifteen, Chandler! I can take care of myself!"

"I'd feel better if there was an adult there. Besides, you can work on getting a better grade in Science, god knows you need help."

Ross smiled and turned to face him, "Yeah, it will be fun," he said slowly, "We'll do science," he did a long, slow, obvious wink at Landon who did nothing but hold up a thumbs up sign at Ross.

Chandler chuckled at this, "Don't worry, Landon. You won't just be hanging out with your teacher, he has a roommate, Skip, or Kip, or something."

"It's Kip," Monica corrected him.

"Yeah, Kip! I promise we won't be long at all. Besides, remember our deal!"

"Fine, whatever." Landon rolled his eyes again, "I'll hang out with Mr. Geller."

"Call me Ross," then he paused, "At least while we're out of class. When in class, if you could go back to calling me Mr. Geller, that'd be great."

"Way to relate, Ross!" Monica gave him a thumbs up sign, and a fake smile.

Joey walked over, hand in hand with Phoebe and wearing a sly grin on his face. "Yeah, so, we're gonna take off, and all. Have fun, you know, at whatever you guys are doing."

"Joey, Joey," Phoebe cut him off, "Enough words, they got the picture."

"Gotcha." He gave them a small and quick wave, "See ya!" He called as they both turned and walked down the street towards Phoebe's apartment.

"Ten bucks says he's getting lucky tonight," Chandler whispered in Monica's ear.

Monica smiled and chuckled, she stood up on her tiptoes and whispered back to him, "Sadly enough, it's not even the first official date."

"Oh, well, you don't know Joey. It doesn't even have to be a date."

"I can see why you don't have any friends," Monica teased, no longer whispering.

"Oh, thanks, and who might you be?"

"An acquaintance."

"Well, coming out of Monica and Chandler land," Ross announced loudly, "Me and Landon are heading out now, later dude."

"Wow, you finally got a cab, Ross, I'm so proud!" Chandler teased, "It took you what, fifteen minutes? And how long have you lived in New York?"

Ross shot him an annoyed glare, "Anyways, when should I expect you back? Nine? Ten?"

"Ten at the latest. School night."

Monica nodded in agreement, "I'm already in enough shit with the principal, thanks."

"Is that because of,"

Monica nodded, "News travels fast, I mean, you even knew about it. No doubt from Landon, but still."

He nodded, "Well, thanks again, Ross. I'll see you in a couple of hours, kay?"

"Alright, later."

"Later," Chandler held up his hand and gave the best fake smile that he could mange to Landon, who was mouthing 'I hate you' back at him.

Monica laughed as she playfully hit him, "I can't believe you actually stuck your brother with mine! He is so gonna hate you!"

"Ow," he teased, "Besides, this is way more fun for me. I mean, come on, I may be acting like a parent, but I'm still his big brother! Doing stuff like that comes with the territory."

Monica smiled, "Well, how 'bout we go to Central Perk? Have you ever been there? It's about half way between our two buildings."

"Yeah, I've been there a couple of times," he said quietly, "It's a nice place." He looked back up at her, and plastered another smile on his face. "Let's go, then, it's a good walk from here," he held out his arm, "Milady," he joked.

"Kind sir," she mused back, linking her arm in his as they started off on a slow walk down the street.

"So, the Richard thing, how have you been holding up?" He asked again, now that they were alone. Sometimes it was better to talk with only one person who wasn't focused on something else entirely, like making out.

She shrugged, "Well, I was doing alright, I mean, all things considered. I must say, I am doing better then what I thought I might have. For one thing, I match."

"Congratulations."

"Thank-you," she smiled, "But, on the other hand," she continued, "I just want to curl up in a ball and cry some more. Then I think, why should I cry over him? Y'know?"

He nodded, "But you have to be strong, you have a job you can't skip out on."

"What about you, you had a brother."

He shrugged, "Yeah, but still. He went to school a lot of the day, and was in bed by ten. That left a lot of time for me to sit there and have my own little pity party."

She nodded, "Yeah, I guess your right."

They walked in a comfortable silence for a while, each conjuring up what they wanted to say to the other, but neither ever saying anything. But it didn't bother them really, the silence was a nice change from their hectic lives.

"Here we are," Chandler breathed out as they walked in front of Central Perk, "It looks warm inside."

Monica nodded, "Let's take that orange couch, that's where I usually like to sit, anyways. But I always feel weird sitting there all by myself, like I'm taking up room that other people with bigger parties could use."

"You think too much, you know that right?" Chandler laughed, as they walked into the cozy coffeehouse.

"Oh shut up. At least I think of others."

"Sure, you keep thinking that," he mused, taking off his coat and hanging it on the coat rack besides the door. Then he turned to Monica and helped her take her coat off, and then hung it on the rack. "How 'bout you get the couch, and I'll get the drinks, kay?"

"Are you sure? I can buy my own you know!"

Chandler shook his head, "No, no, it's no problem." He got employee benefits, all the coffee he wanted was completely free, and walking up the counter and hearing his schedule recited to him by Gunther didn't exactly sound appealing. He'd rather not publicize that he worked at a coffeehouse.

"Alright," she said slowly, "I'll get the couch." She eyed him suspiciously as she maneuvered her way to the side of the coffeehouse, and eventually on to the couch.

"What do you want?" He asked loudly enough for her to hear.

"Can I get some of their apple cider?" She asked hopefully, it was still pretty early in the season for apple cider, but then again, they were already advertising for Christmas, so it was worth a shot.

"Sure, no prob," he offered another smile, and then made his way up to the counter. "Hey Gunther, can I get an apple cider, and a regular coffee for here?"

"Alright, remember you're working the morning shift tomorrow, y'know, no y'know tonight, cause y'know you're working and all."

Chandler gave him an odd look, "You know, they should just not let you talk some days."

Gunther glared at him, "Y'know I could fire you, right?"

"Yeah, but you love me so much, and you know my situation, so you wouldn't. At least not today anyways. Maybe tomorrow when you find out what I did with the coffee beans today."

Gunther handed him his drinks, "What did you do with the coffee beans?"

Chandler chuckled, "Oh, this is gonna bug you, isn't it?"

"What did you do with the coffee beans?"

Chandler just walked away laughing, of course he hadn't done anything with the coffee beans, it was just more fun watching Gunther try and find something that wasn't there. At least this way, he got entertainment for about the next week or so. Then he'd have to do something else.

"Here you go," Chandler handed Monica her cider, as he took a seat next to her on the couch.

"What we're you two talking about up there? The blonde guy seemed kinda PO-ed at you." Monica asked, taking a sip of her cider.

"Oh? Gunther? I just like messing with him."

"You know him personally? Wow. You must come here a lot." She shook her head a little, but then just returned back to her cider. "So, now that we're here, I have not gotten to know a lot about you. I mean, we talk about me all the time. Not that it's boring or anything, cause let's face it, I'm awesome, but you know, I'd like to know more about you."

"Wow, so modest."

"Like that! Why are you so sarcastic, Chandler?"

He shrugged, "I guess it started when I was little, after my parents got divorced. My psychiatrist called it my defense mechanism, then I kicked the guy in the shins. I haven't seen him since."

"So are you going to tell me why your parents divorce was so horrible in the first place?"

Chandler sighed, "I haven't even told Landon yet. He was just a baby when it all happened. Hell, he hasn't even met our dad yet."

"That's horrible!"

"Well, it's not like he even makes attempts to come and visit us. I mean, he lives out in Las Vegas, filthy rich, and doesn't even bother sending me a dime. Hell, doesn't take responsibility for his fifteen year old son." Chandler shook his head back and forth, "But then again, I don't know if I want Landon knowing someone like that."

"What about your mom? I mean, I remember you talking about her briefly, but doesn't she even care about her sons?"

"She was the one that dumped Landon on me, left for France or something maybe five or six years back. I really don't know why she dumped him on me, I guess he just didn't want to see my dad again, so she had no choice."

"And she never came back?"

He shrugged, "Who knows? I haven't heard from her except one letter declaring me his temporary legal guardian."

"That must have been hard," she commented, "I mean, you couldn't have been much over twenty, and, if memory serves me, all I wanted to do at twenty was get drunk and have fun while doing it."

Chandler nodded, smiling faintly, "I was sober for about the first two weeks, then I decided the hell with it, and got drunk. Quite liberating actually. And Landon learned an important life lesson. People with major hangovers are not your friends."

Monica chuckled, "Oh, god, I remember. Coming to your crappy job with the biggest hangover known to mankind, and getting pissed off at everything and everyone."

"Then you'd just go at it again that night," Chandler continued. "We're idiots."

"I know! And this morning, oh God, it was awful! I think I drank about enough coffee to fill the Atlantic Ocean. Maybe even the Pacific Ocean too."

"Well I drank my body weight in coffee this morning. Followed by enough aspirin to make anyone act off in the afternoon." He paused, then added with a smirk, "How bout for old times sake we get drunk again tonight?"

"Nice try, the principal is gonna kill me if I mess up even once after the whole Richard fiasco. It seems, the topic was quite popular among the students today."

"Oh, so I was told! Landon told me and Joey all about it this afternoon. Although, he used the terms 'chick' and 'dude' instead of 'my teacher' and 'the evil man'."

Monica smiled, "We really should start calling him that."

"We'll spread it around the city, might as well start a fad while we're at it."

"Oh God, now that would be wonderful." She glanced down at her watch, "You said you'd pick up Landon around ten, right?"

Chandler nodded, and she showed him her watch: 9:30. It would take him at least a half-hour to get to Ross's apartment, get Landon, and get back to their apartment. "Eh, Landon's a big boy. He can stay at Ross's right? He doesn't need me."

Monica shook her head and chuckled, "Come on, I'll come with you for reinforcements. Landon's gonna be pissed at you." She teased, as she began to collect her things.

"When is he not?"

"Maybe when you don't dump him off with his science teachers, or hell, make him spend and entire night with his teachers."

"But, that would ruin my fun, now wouldn't it?"

Monica smiled, "You right, and that is so much more important."

"Glad to know you're catching on."

Please Review.
Updates will be up soon.