Thanks for the reviews, everyone! This chapter is shorter, but in the upcoming chapters, the story will truly unfold and it will be more exciting. I promise. lol. ;)

Enjoy, and leave me a review if you are feeling kind. :)

Dear Diary,

Well, this is it. I don't really know what 'it' is, but I have a feeling that this is it. And this is something confusing. This is love.

I just spent the entire night talking with Chandler. I don't love him; that would be too...sudden. And you know how I liked him before? Well, that seems like puppy-love now, a crush. Now I really feel like I know him. I feel like he knows me.

We had this talk...and he almost slipped up and said that I was fat. Normally, this would have, like, killed me. But I heard it once and I can hear it again. And he apologized, too, because he was just like letting his heart wear on his shoulder and that was only what he thought. If he says he doesn't like 'fat girls', then I'll become someone whose not one. I'll be beautiful. Just wait.

I really think I can do it, lose the weight, I mean. For once, I can really picture myself skinny. And in my mind, I'm beautiful.

One thing really struck me about Chandler the other night: he's not like the other guys. He's not cocky or assured. He's not stupid and wanting to get laid. He's lonely and scared, just like me. He's afraid of the world and he's afraid of himself, he's wary of his actions and he covers up himself in a series of facades.

Is it so wrong to say that I love that?

-Monica

----

Chandler stared at the winding road ahead, wondering if he should reveal to Ross that Monica was at the same party they had just went to. He glanced over at his sleeping friend and Julie, wasted from an excess of alcohol. Ross, in all his older brother protectiveness, probably wouldn't understand.

Gripping the wheel with a strange sense of fear, Chandler saw beyond the windshield that rain was starting to fall. Drops upon drops crashed down on the car, obstructing his already blinded view.

'Ross would probably kill me if he knew I was so much as talking to his little sister.' He thought back to their 'rule'.

"Okay, dude, here it is. You don't touch my girlfriends, I don't touch yours. The same goes for moms, sisters, aunts, grandmothers-"

"Ross, grandmothers? Seriously?" Chandler had retorted during their jaded conference.

"Well, you never know," shrugged Ross. "All I'm saying is that these rules are...binding. For an eternity. Deal?"

"Whatever."

Eternity. That word seemed to ring in his ears. As Ross snored lightly and Julie, deep in slumber, hummed a nonexistent tune to herself, Chandler pulled onto campus.

It wasn't like he wanted to start anything with Ross's sister; she just seemed like a nice girl. Monica was the first person in ages that he had carried on a true conversation with. Most conversations included sarcasm, biting wit, and anger to cover up the truth. But with her, Chandler felt like he could be himself.

Leaving the car and quietly closing the door, Chandler surveyed Ross and Julie. They looked cute together, Ross obviously felt comfortable around her, and well, what more was there?

Friendship?

Trust?

Underneath it all, Chandler was sure they felt lonely. He bounded up the back staircase and entered their room, tossing his coat on the ground. It had been a fun night, but Chandler was starting to realize, in the midst of it, how shallow he could be sometimes.

'This is why you don't have a girlfriend. You're sarcastic, a liar, and sometimes downright mean.' Flopping down on his bed face first, Chandler buried his head in the pillow, wallowing in his loneliness.

In spite of it all, he began to wonder what Monica was thinking and if she was lonely, too.
----

One Month Later

"Hey, is this Chandler?" Monica's voice shook slightly as it reverberated over the phone.

"Yeah. Who is this?"

"It's Monica. Monica Geller, you know, Ross's sister?" She bit her nails, scratching at her pillow case in anxiousness.

"Yeah." Chandler thought back to that day, a month ago, when they had spent time together at the party. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much. I was just sitting here, catching up on my contacts," she smiled. Monica had debated on calling him for at least three days. Finally, she got up the courage to call him and see what he was doing.

She sounded more confident than last time, Chandler noted. He wondered what this change brought. "That sounds like fun."

She twirled the cord around her delicately plump pinky finger. "Yeah. It's loads of fun."

Chandler sensed sarcasm from her, something he didn't know Monica had inside. "Well, I guess school is almost over. Have you been looking at colleges?"

"Eh, some. I haven't really decided yet, though." She smiled to herself, knowing full well she would attend the same college as Ross and Chandler did.

"That's cool."

"Yeah. It's cool."

The line fell silent, and Monica blushed a furious red upon realizing that she had momentarily run out of things to say.

'Oh my God, Monica, just freakin' say something!' She gripped the pillowcase and crafted a lie up on the spot.

"So, I'm going to be around the campus next weekend. I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out or something because I'm just going to be around and bored."

Chandler thought to himself. Did he really want to pursue Monica? She wasn't exactly his type, but did he even have a type? Maybe this was his chance to make a friend, not a girlfriend. Perhaps she could help him in some way, aide him in being a better person.

He never revealed this to Monica, but he admired her personality, her charm, her sheer innocence.

All of these were things Chandler had lost long ago.

'Shit,' Monica thought. 'He doesn't want to and is thinking of a way to get out of it. Maybe I'll make up another lie.'

"Sure," Chandler came back to his senses. "That sounds great. I'll call you before next weekend, okay?"

Monica jumped off her bed. "Yeah! That sounds great!" She looked down at her body, determined to lose at least five in the next week. In the past month, she had lost another twenty five pounds, lowering her total to 155 lbs. The urge to rid of the food was becoming stronger now; Monica couldn't deny this. Yet a part of her didn't want to stop.

A part of her wondered if she'd be able to.

"So I'll call you," Chandler continued, wrapping up the conversation. "I mean, I wouldn't want you to be bored or lonely or anything."

She smiled. "That's nice, Chandler. So I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."

"See ya."

She hung up the phone, feeling content. Now, if only for a while, she had someone else to be lonely with.
----

I know that it was really short, but I had time to update a fic that could have a short chapter placed in it...and, well, Beautiful just came to mind. I'm sure everyone is just surprised I updated something, lol.

I will post the final chapter of When we get there, my R/R Valentine's fic for the Everlasting Love contest over at F-B, within the week. It's done, I just have to post it. :)

Please review!

Mel