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Joey was grateful when he saw Ross and Rachel coming down the stairs with Phoebe and Mike behind them. Once again, Chandler was up early with the twins and since Monica had joined them, a tense atmosphere settled over the three of them. Joey hated it, they barely said good morning to each other.
"Mon, you have him trained well…" Rachel giggled when she saw Chandler poking half heartily at his cereal.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, before he wouldn't be up for another few hours…." Rachel explained, sitting down and reaching for the coffee. "Now he's up early and not making any sarcastic comments about it."
"I couldn't sleep…" Chandler mumbled, not looking up.
"What's wrong?" Ross asked him, for what seemed like the tenth time since they had arrived.
"I told you, nothing!"
"How come one minute you're tired and the next you can't sleep…." Ross questioned. "Y'know talking will help…."
"Ross for the last time there's nothing wrong!" Chandler snapped, standing up.
"Oh, you're right…. you're Mr Smiley…" Ross replied sarcastically.
"Everyone just calm down…" Monica sighed. "Erica wouldn't sleep last night…. Chandler couldn't get back to sleep after that."
"Oh…"
Chandler shot Monica a mixed look, half thanking her for coming up with a believable excuse but the other side of him just wanted to tell them what was going on.
"I'm sorry, man…" Ross said quietly. "I'm worried about you guys."
"Us?" Monica repeated she almost seemed shocked by his comment. "Why?"
"Well, with Chandler turning up on his own…. And he's been acting different…" Ross stuttered, glancing at the others as they backed him up. "And so have you…."
Monica smiled reassuringly. "You don't need to worry…I told you, Chandler didn't want to stay alone at the house while I was in Vermont and the kids are kind of tiring…. But everything is okay, honestly, isn't it Honey?"
Chandler stared at her for a minute, wondering how she found it so easy to lie to her friends' face like that. Maybe it should be her, trying to make it big in the acting world instead of Joey.
"Oh, yeah…yeah everything is great." Chandler managed to stutter; also noticing she called him 'Honey' for the first time since she had found out.
"If you're sure…" Joey replied, obviously convinced.
"Yeah, if guys need any help with the twins, let us know." Ross offered.
"Maybe you could go out one night together, just the two of you." Phoebe suggested.
"Yeah, maybe…" Monica's smiled fluttered slightly.
"So, are we all okay, now?" Joey looked at the others. "Because I want to get to the beach."
"Okay, Joe…" Monica laughed slightly. "We won't be long."
"I think I'm going to skip it, today…" Chandler said quietly.
"What?! Why?!" Joey exclaimed. He thought once everyone had turned up, everything would go back to normal. It hadn't because everyone was worried about Monica and Chandler. After her speech, Joey thought they were all just overreacting but now Chandler wanted to stay alone.
"Yeah, I'm not feeling to good…" He muttered.
"What's wrong?" Phoebe questioned, placing her hand on his forehead. "Wow, you're quite warm."
"Yeah, I think I might try getting some sleep."
Rachel looked at Monica, who seemed more interested in eating her breakfast, then her own husband.
"Do you want someone to stay here?" She offered after waiting for Monica to.
"Nah, I'll be fine once I get some sleep." He gave her a small smile.
"Do you want us to take the twins?" Monica asked.
"Yeah, they liked the beach the other day." Chandler looked to the floor when she glanced at him quickly.
"Okay…if you get them ready, I'll take a shower." She said simply, standing up and heading for the bathroom, while Chandler picked up Jack and Erica silently and walked into their bedroom.
"I don't get it." Joey broke the silence that took over the rest of them.
"Get what?" Mike asked.
"One minute, I think they're fine, that we're just imagining the problems then the next they act as if they don't even know each other."
"Some differently isn't right…" Phoebe sighed.
"She said she was in Vermont." Rachel whisper, they all turned to look at her.
"Yeah, on her chef thingy…" Ross shrugged.
"On the phone she said she was going to New Jersey."
"Are you sure?" Phoebe asked after a few seconds.
"Yes, I remember because I made a joke about the time she and Chandler went there when they were secretly dating."
"Why would she lie about something like that?" Mike questioned.
"I don't know…" Ross replied. "But I don't like it."
"They're breaking up, aren't they?" Joey said quietly.
"It looks that way." Rachel mumbled.
They all looked around at each other, not sure what to say or do.
"Look, we don't know anything." Ross knew they all needed reassuring, even himself. "Why don't we just see if Mon will talk later and if not, we'll talk to both of them later. Make them tell us, what's going on."
"Yeah, yeah…" Joey nodded.
"And we'll get them through this!" Rachel added.
"Yeah because they're Monica and Chandler…they belong together." Phoebe stated.
They looked at each other, silently agreeing that they would do anything to get their best friends back together. They all moved away, getting ready to head out for the day. When they returned they saw Monica already sat on the couch with the twins and Emma.
"You ready, Mon?" Rachel asked.
"Yeps, lets get going." She stood up and placed Erica and Jack in their stroller.
"You going to check on Chandler first?"
"No, he's already asleep." She told them. "He'll be fine once he's had a few hours of sleep."
"Yeah I bet it was hard looking these guys on his own while you were away." Joey said. "Where did you go again?"
"Umm, New Jersey…" She stuttered, she saw them all staring at her. "What?"
"Nothing, nothing…" Ross said quickly. "Let's get going before we wake Chandler up."
Once the door closed behind them, Chandler walked out. He heard everything they had said, he notice Monica's slip up about where she went. Now they both were going to be for some interrogation. He sighed, he wanted to tell them everything, get it out before they found some other way. He only agreed to go along with Monica's plan about keeping to a secrete for the time being because he didn't want to hurt this friends but now they were so worried about what was going on that none of them were having a good time.
He dropped down on the couch and pulled out his cell phone, he scrolled through the numbered he had store, looking for the right one.
"Hi, can I speak to Sarah Hawthe, please?" He said once someone had picked, he waited for a while as the call was put through. "Hey, its Chandler… yeah I know I was meant to meet you yesterday but I'm in L.A visiting friends, sorry…. I'll drop by as soon as I get back…"
Ross silently closed the door; he had held open a few centimetres. He leaned against it in shock. Wondering what was going on, Chandler was making secrete phone calls to some women?
He slowly made his way back the way he had come. He returned because Emma wanted her teddy bear. His mind deep in thoughts, he didn't even notice that he caught up with the rest of them.
"Hey, where's the bear?" Rachel questioned.
"What? Oh, sorry couldn't find it…" He said quickly.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine…" He flashed her a fake smile.
"Was Chandler up?" Joey asked, dropping back to walk with the two.
"Umm…."
"Ross, what is it?" Rachel demanded she had enough of people keeping things themselves.
Ross glanced at Monica who was slightly ahead of them, talking to Phoebe and Mike. "I'll tell you later."
Both Rachel and Joey followed his glaze, realising that he had found something out and didn't want his sister to overhear. They nodded and the three continued to walk in silence, Ross thinking about what he was going to do and Rachel and Joey, dreading the news he was going to tell them.
Once they had reached the beach and Monica started to apply sun block to Jack and Erica, Ross pulled the others to one side.
"She never said anything to us…" Phoebe told them. "I didn't want to push her or anything…"
"I think I know what's going on." Ross sighed. "Chandler was up when I went back…. He was on the phone."
"Who was he talking to?" Rachel questioned.
"Some women called, Sarah…" He admitted. "He told her he was sorry for not meeting with her yesterday and that he would go straight around when he gets back."
The others stared at him, shocked.
"Well, that doesn't mean anything…" Joey said slowly.
"I think it means a lot!" Ross glared at him. "God, I'm going to kill him."
"All this time we were feeling sorry for him…" Rachel commented. "I can't believe he would do this!"
"Do you think Mon knows?" Phoebe asked.
"I think so." Ross nodded. "I think they're trying to cover it up for now. Maybe they didn't want to ruing the first time we've all been together since they moved."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Rachel agreed.
"You sure about this?" Joey asked, unconvinced his best friend would cheat on his wife, the women he loved more then life itself.
"Well, it makes sense…" Rachel started. "He's had that guilty look on his face since he'd arrived and he has been trying to make it up to Mon…"
"Maybe they're trying to get back together." Joey said hopefully.
"Do you really think they'll be able to manage it?" Phoebe bit her lip, concerned.
"All I know that if he's done anything to hurt my little sister…I'm going to kick his ass…" Ross stated, stalking off towards Monica.
"Hey, Ross…" Monica grinned at him. "Erica keeps saying 'Da'… I know she was going to be a Daddy's girl from the first time I saw him hold her."
"Yeah…" Ross gave her a small smile. "Mon, can I talk…"
"I mean, I was worried about how Chandler would be around, what with all his commitment issues and all but he's a great father…they both love him so much!"
"Yeah, that's great…" He sighed; deciding now might not be the best time.
XxXxX
Each of them tried to talk to Monica about what they suspected but none of them could get the words to form into a sentence. Once they returned, they saw Chandler lying on couch watching TV.
"Hey, did you have a good time?" He asked, when he saw them.
"Yeah, it was fine…" Rachel said, refusing to look at him.
"That's good…"
"Here, take Erica." Monica placed her on his stomach, causing him to wince. "She's been asking for you all day."
"Oh right…" Chandler glanced up at his wife but she walked off again, heading into their room. He sat up, hugging his daughter closer to him as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He just wanted everything to go back to normal but he knew it couldn't and it was his entire fault.
Everyone was quiet that evening as they ate. Chandler could feel everyone's eyes on him and he wondered whether Monica had told them what was going on. He wondered if they hated him now to. He looked up and caught Joey's eye but he quickly look back down at his food. Chandler sighed and turned his attention to his own plate, he had only had a few mouthfuls and he already couldn't eat no more; not with everyone watching his every move.
He slight relieved when his cell phone started to ring in his pocket, breaking the uncomfortable silence. He pulled it out of his pocket as he stood up, hesitating slightly when he saw the caller's ID. He shot Monica a look before answering.
"Hey, Sarah…" He saw Ross glare at him, he differently knew then.
"Who the hell does he think he is?!" Ross hissed to Rachel, who shushed him.
"Already?" Chandler spoke in the phone; panic rose inside him and his throat went dry. "Well, can't you tell me now? Yeah, yeah okay…I'll be there tomorrow…"
When turned back around after putting the phone down, he saw them all staring at him.
"I guess that was her…" Monica asked, looking down at her plate.
"Yeah…. She needs to talk to me." Chandler told her quietly.
"Can't it wait? We agreed we would let this bother us whilst we were here…we agreed we would forget it!"
"No, Mon…you agreed." Chandler told her. "I've gotta get back."
"What was that meant to mean?!"
"We don't talk to each other any more we talk at each other." He replied, sadly. "Its best if I go."
"Why actually?"
"Because I'm scared that if I stay then something will happen and that will be the end of us." He admitted. "I knew I know what's going to happen, I can't sit and wait to find out."
"And running away is going to help you?!" Ross asked spitefully.
"Sarah holds the key to my future…" Chandler said, looking directly at Monica. "I'll go pack my things…"
"Are you taking the twins with you?" Monica called after him.
"Don't you want them to stay here with you?" He stopped and looked back at her.
"I've got their whole life to be with them…." She mumbled.
Chandler was silently for a few seconds, tears formed in his eyes.
"I guess, I haven't then…"
TBC
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