And here it is. The newest chapter. Enjoy.

There I stood in the hallway. Just moments before I was so sure of what I wanted to do. I wanted to do something for me for a change. I wanted to knock on the door in front of me. I wanted to get to know my new neighbor Monica. I wanted…

It's really scary how all your confidence and bravery can evaporate into thin air in the matter of seconds. I was so pathetic back then…who am I kidding. I still am pathetic.

Anyway, back to the hallway. If someone would have seen me there they could have seen how my resolve broke down. My head began to lower, my shoulders slumped…my whole existence seemed to shrink.

The sound of people coming up the stairs jerked Chandler out of his irresolution. That had to be Kip's friends and Chandler really didn't want to still be standing there when Kip opened the door for them. So he chose the easiest way out. Knocking on Monica's door would have been the hardest way, and he didn't want to enrage Kip further with going back into his apartment. That only left the way up the stairs as an escape.

He didn't know how long he stood at the wall surrounding the roof just looking over the city and thinking about his life. But if he considered the pain in his legs from standing too long in the same spot he would guess it had been at least an hour.

"Our last fight was my fault." Ross, Monica's older brother stated after boring Monica for a good part of the afternoon with always the same stories about his problems with his live-in girlfriend Carol. She didn't know how many times she had tried to help him and Carol. But every time it looked like things were finally getting better for those two it all started anew. And now Monica just couldn't find the strength anymore to sympathize with their problems. So she used Ross' rambling to think about her new neighbor.

"She asked me 'What's on the TV?'" Ross explained. "And just to annoy her I said, 'Dust!'"

Monica, startled out of her reverie by that last statement, asked "What's on the TV?" looking over at her entertainment unit, not seeing any of the dirt Ross apparently claimed to have noticed.

Ross who was lazily sitting on the couch replied without looking up "Dust." And took another gulp of the beer he was drinking. If he had looked up he would have seen his sister's face color changing to a deep red. Obvious to the danger he was in he put the bottle down on the table missing the coaster for a good three inches.

That was too much for Monica. She tried to contain her anger. But that just managed to make her voice a menacing hoarse whisper. "Get out." She said to the man before her, still engrossed with a show about Ancient Greek History.

Monica repeated her request, this time sounding even more pissed.

"I said: GET OUT!" She lost the battle for self-control and her anger erupted. An astound Ross let himself be pulled up by his sister and got shoved out of the door before he even knew what was going on.

"And don't come back here before you know how to behave." Monica pointed her finger at a still confused Ross. "There is no dust on my TV or anywhere else inside my apartment."

Ross' face broke out in a big grin when he finally understood his sister's weird behavior. He raised his hands in a calming manner.

"Monica…Monica calm down. I didn't say your TV was dusty. I meant our – mine and Carol's." He saw the redness of Monica's head – before a sign of rage – slowly wander into her ears. An unmistakable sign of embarrassment he recognized from times when she humiliated herself on previous points in her life. "Ok, you know what? I better get going now anyway." He patted his sister on the shoulder and turned around to leave only to almost stumble over a man standing a few feet behind him.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" Ross started to apologize but got interrupted by the stranger.

"No, no, it was my fault. I shouldn't have stood so close behind you."

Before Ross could start a new apology both men's attention got drawn to Monica.

"Chandler, you are back." Monica said. "I went to your apartment to talk to you earlier."

"Oh." Was all Chandler could say. He didn't want to lie to Monica but he couldn't very well say he knew that she had tried to visit him.

"Well, I'm taking off." Ross broke the silence after a few moments. When neither his sister nor the unfamiliar man acknowledged him Ross turned around and left.

Monica and Chandler kept staring at one another till Chandler jumped when he heard a loud whooping coming from the apartment behind him.

"Why don't you come inside for a while?" Monica gestured toward her residence. "Maybe I could make you a coffee and we could talk for a while?"

Chandler threw one more glance over his shoulder at his own door before turning back to Monica with a small smile on his face.

"I would like that."

Monica couldn't resist smiling back when she noticed how his eyes seemed to sparkle even when it was just a small smile like the one he was giving her that moment.

After that Monica and I became the best of friends. At least that's what it felt like for me. She was the first person in my life who never gave me the feeling of being worthless. Instead she treated me with respect and often asked for my opinion.

Of course I never told Kip about Monica and the time we spent together. I simply told him that I had a couple extra courses at college I had to attend to cover for all the time I spent with Monica. And since he usually worked during the afternoon I got away with that lie.

TBC...

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