No, I haven't given up on this story yet. I'm just having trouble with the chapter where Joey reconciles with Janice.

After Janice's departure, Chandler put his head upon Joey's shoulder and sadly grieved the loss of his soulmate. Joey kissed him and stroked his head tenderly, knowing that it would take some time for Chandler to get over Janice again, but he was quite willing to help Chandler through that difficult period. Hopefully, because he and Chandler were in love now, Chandler wouldn't be nearly as devastated as last time, and he wouldn't panic about dying alone once more.

While Joey and Chandler embraced on the couch, the chick and the duck, who had timidly witnessed all the shouting and fighting from a corner of the living room, approached them curiously, even quacking and clucking with concern.

Joey hushed them, "Guys, come on. Not now."

Still the birds hung around and flapped their wings, sensing that something was wrong and that they shouldn't leave Chandler's side, just like when he broke up with Kathy a couple of weeks ago and wouldn't change out of his sweatpants. They had followed him around for days, all through Phase One.

"It's okay," Joey told the birds, "I got him." Turning back to Chandler, Joey smiled softly and realized that there was another meaning to those words. "I got him," he whispered, gazing at Chandler with love in his eyes. Now Chandler was his, his and no one else's. It was a wonderful feeling.

Joey mentally kicked himself for having been too dense to figure out how he felt about Chandler before now. He realized that the emotions had been there for a long time, just underneath the surface and disguised by friendship. Chandler was far more special to him than a mere friend or roommate, and Joey loved him intensely. He felt so lucky and happy to know that Chandler returned his feelings and wasn't afraid of him. No more would Chandler shyly turn away from his kisses. No more would he run from Joey's arms and hide in his bedroom. They would be together now. Raising Chandler's face to his, Joey kissed his lips gently and explored how warm and soft they were.

Unfortunately, there came a sudden knock on their door, startling them both. Monica asked from outside, "Hey, are you guys still watching that free porn?"

"Um, yeah, yeah!" Joey answered, glancing at Chandler worriedly. "Uh, don't come in!"

"Okay." Monica sounded slightly creeped out, wondering what kind of kinky porn they must be watching now. She was glad that apparently they still had the TV on mute.

Rachel groaned. "Ugh, I knew it. You guys are such perverts! How can you just sit there and watch porn all day?"

"Because it's free!" Joey answered, hoping they would go away soon.

Chandler said nothing, feeling anxious and unsettled as he clung to Joey tightly.

Monica said, "Fine, but don't stay like that too long! Remember that time when you boys wouldn't move from your chairs for days? You were like zombies!"

"Yeah!" Rachel chimed in, sounding annoyed. "And you were so lazy, too, sending all your delivery food over to our place so that we'd let them in for you. Well, don't try doing that again, 'cause neither of us are even going to be home tonight."

"That's right. We've both got dates!"

"Yeah, so there! See you tomorrow." Then Monica and Rachel went into their apartment together to change their clothes for their dates with Devon and Geoffrey.

Hearing the girls leave the hallway, Joey sighed with relief and gently let go of Chandler. Then he got up and quickly locked the front door again, just to make sure that no one else would drop by and bother them tonight.

Chandler meanwhile lay down on the couch and curled up in fetal position. So much had changed in just one day. Joey had kissed him, he'd broken up with Janice, and now they were hiding from their other friends, whom he'd forgotten all about during his crisis. Chandler wasn't sure what he wanted to tell their friends about what had happened. How could they even explain it all?

Just then, Joey returned and knelt down in front of Chandler, kissing him again. "So, uh, it's almost dinner time, you know? You want me to make you something?"

He shrugged and felt too depressed to eat. "Nah."

"You sure?" Joey knew how upset Chandler was and really wanted to soothe and take care of him. He offered, "I could heat up some leftovers, or, hey, we could bake another loaf in the breadmaker! Ooh, that would be great with all the jam we got. Remember how much fun we had the other night, huh? Remember?"

Chandler recalled how they had playfully thrown flour at each other in the kitchen, and how later, when he took a shower, he had fantasized about Joey joining him and washing him clean. That was definitely a pleasant memory. Chandler nodded and smiled faintly, "Yeah, I remember."

Pleased, Joey kissed him fondly and caressed his cheek before going to the kitchen to begin making dinner. He left Chandler in the immediate company of the chick and the duck, who still attempted to lend any nonverbal support that they could.

---

Meanwhile, Janice was quite distraught about the breakup too, and she hurried over to Phoebe's apartment, looking for a shoulder to cry on.

When Phoebe saw Janice sobbing, she immediately hugged her and pulled her inside. "Oh, Janice, what happened?"

"It's Chandler! Chandler and Joey." That sent Janice into another burst of tears. She moaned and couldn't believe that things had turned out this disastrous way, when she had been so optimistic just a few hours ago.

"What do you mean?" Phoebe asked. "Were they fighting about you?" She knew that Joey was not fond of Janice, and this weekend in particular, he had seemed very angry about Janice kicking him out after dinner.

Her mascara running, Janice loudly and miserably blew her nose into her handkerchief.

Phoebe sat her down on the couch and rocked Janice comfortingly in her arms.

In the next bedroom, Phoebe's grandmother Frances woke up from her nap and stood in the doorway, concerned by all the fuss in the living room. "What's wrong? Are you all right, dear?"

Janice remained incoherent, so Phoebe answered her grandma, "I don't know what happened, but her aura's all murky."

Frances nodded in agreement. "You think so too? Maybe it would help if I made some tea to calm her."

"Thank you." While Frances went to the kitchen, Phoebe held onto Janice and wiped away some of the make up from her face, whispering, "Shh, it's okay, honey. It's okay. Just tell me what happened."

Janice managed to compose herself a little, but she answered, "I-I can't. Not--not now." She glanced toward the kitchen and felt it was too personal and humiliating to explain the whole breakup in front of Phoebe's grandmother.

Phoebe took the hint and suggested, "Well, how about we go over to your apartment, okay?"

Janice nodded, so Phoebe got up from the couch and told her grandmother not to bother about the tea, because they were leaving now.

"You are, dear?"

"Yeah. You can go back to your nap, Grandma, and we'll sort this all out at Janice's place instead."

"Oh, all right."

Phoebe put her arm around Janice and started to lead her to the door. "Oh, where's Ruthie now? Should we go pick her up from daycare?"

Janice gasped and felt horribly guilty. "Oh, Ruthie! I forgot about her. I-I left her with a babysitter so I could go see Chandler and Joey today." She started crying anew. "Oh my God, I can't believe I forgot about my baby!"

"Oh, it's okay," Phoebe reassured her. "You're upset, that's all. We'll go pick her up now."

In the cab, Phoebe brushed the hair from Janice's face and tried to make small talk to distract her.

"So, um, I had my sonogram today, and guess what? I'm having triplets."

"Triplets?" Janice looked at her in surprise.

"Yeah, those stupid doctors! First they tell me that the chances of me getting pregnant are really sucky, and then they say that I've got triplets. Anyway, I told Frank and Alice about it, and they want the triplets, but I'm afraid they won't have enough money. Frank even thinks that he should drop out of college to get a job."

"He's in college?"

"Refrigerator college."

"Oh."

"Anyway, I've been trying to come up with ideas to make money so that Frank can stay in school. I was gonna ask Chandler if he could give me any kind of insider trading info."

Janice got upset at the mention of Chandler again, and Phoebe apologized and tried to soothe her. Luckily, they soon reached their stop and went in to retrieve Ruthie from the babysitter.

Meanwhile, Ross arrived at Phoebe's apartment, depressed about Emily going back to England. In fact, he even told Emily he loved her, only to find out over the phone that she already had a boyfriend named Colin. He need someone to confide his troubles in.

Frances answered the door and told Ross that Phoebe wasn't home. "She went to her friend Janice's apartment."

"Her too?" Ross was frustrated. "Monica and Rachel are out on dates, and Joey and Chandler aren't home. Where am I supposed to go now, Carol and Susan's?"

"Well, you could stay and have tea with me," Frances offered. "It will clear up your aura."

Ross was skeptical, but decided that he was desperate enough for comfort that he'd even let France do a psychic reading on him, if it would help him know what to do about Emily.

---

Of course, Joey and Chandler really were home, but they were hiding from their friends. After Joey made dinner for Chandler, they lounged on the couch, talking and kissing. Joey did his best to take care of Chandler and soothe his pain. When Ross tried knocking on the door, they quickly hushed and waited for him to give up and leave.

Then they got up and retreated into Joey's bedroom, to talk freely. They lay on the bed, and Joey even let Chandler hold Hugsy for comfort.

Chandler sighed and tried not to miss Janice, but it was hard. Still, he knew it was for the best, because he couldn't bear ending up like his parents did.

Joey curled up around him and kissed him gently.

With a sigh, Chandler started talking about his father's letters again. "I-I never read them before. I never knew. He apologized for a lot of stuff, and I just ignored him."

"Well, do you--do you want to call him, or visit him in Vegas?"

"I don't know. I mean, I still have trouble even talking to my mom."

"Yeah." Joey was pensive. "I'm not sure how I'm gonna talk to my parents. It was weird enough finding out about my dad's mistress."

"Do you think we should tell the gang too? We can't hide from them forever."

"Well, we have to tell them that you broke up with Janice at least. If you want, I could say I'm staying home to take care of you. And we can read those Godfather books like we said, and cook stuff, and everything."

"Yeah." He wondered if Janice was telling Phoebe about what happened.

---

At home at last, Janice told Phoebe about her breakup with Chandler.

"And just when the guy admits that he loves Chandler, he refuses to share! He says I gotta go, or else!"

"Wow," Phoebe said. "But I think that could be because he hates you, and he's jealous."

"No kidding! And he thinks that I'm a cheater and Chandler shouldn't trust me! The nerve!"

"Oh, honey! You should have told me this stuff before. I could have helped talk Joey into a threesome, I bet." And maybe every now and then it could be a foursome, including Phoebe.

Janice sighed. "Maybe, but I promised Chandler I wouldn't. He got very panicky and kept talking about finding a psychiatrist to cure him of his gay dreams."

"And yet one kiss changed his mind? Joey's a good kisser, but I think Chandler's rushing things."

"Well, he said he didn't want to break up with me, but those letters from his dad convinced him. Apparently his parents had a three-way too, but they broke up because of jealousy and bitter fights. He's afraid that we'll end up just like them, so he said we should stop before it's too late."

"Yeah, Chandler does tend to think fatalistically. He kept thinking he was doomed to die alone."

"If only I could somehow try to convince him that he's wrong! But Joey kept arguing with me, and Chandler couldn't take the bickering."

"Well, I can understand why he would be shocked. I was very upset when I found out that I had a birthmom, and she abandoned me too. Maybe he needs some time to deal with that."

"But how long? And what am I gonna do without him?"

"You've still got me, Janice." She hugged her close and kissed her. "I might not be your soulmate, but I still care about you."

"Thanks." She cried against Phoebe's shoulder.

---

Meanwhile, Rachel's date with Geoffrey started well, because this time her name was spelled correctly on the list, so the bouncer let them into Joshua's club. It was a very hip, trendy night-club crowded full of stylish people. Geoffrey got them some drinks while Rachel glanced around for Joshua, hoping to make him jealous. Before she could spot him, though, Geoff pulled her onto the dance floor, and she decided to do some sexy moves and just hope that she could attract Joshua's attention, wherever he might be. She was wearing a hot dress that really showed off her figure.

When they took breaks from dancing, Geoff would try to chat with her despite the loud music, but she wasn't really paying attention to him. Later that night, Geoffrey got rather drunk and aggressive, even picking fights with some other guys in the club because they apparently insulted his favorite rugby team.

Joshua came to her rescue and had him kicked out club, so maybe Rachel's plan had worked after all. He put his arm around her protectively, and offered to take her home. She accepted and asked where he had been all night.

Monica spent a wonderful third date at Devon's apartment, while Ross went home and tried not to fret about Emily. Luckily, she finally called him again and said that she broke up with Colin for him.

"I've never had a long-distance relationship before, but if you want to try, I-I think you're worth it. I love you."

"Thank you!" Ross was certainly delighted.

With these happy developments in their lives, the friends certainly did not expect to discover that Chandler had experienced a traumatic breakup the same night.