Hey guys! Sorry it took so long for me to update! I've been a bit busy this past week...okay, that aint really true. I was only prettybusy, but i also had a wonderful case of writers block, which then turned into sudden inspiration. Unfortunately, the inspiration came for the chapter after this, and naturally i couldnt post that first, because...well, you wouldnt really get confused, but it would annoy me! So here it is, my long ass chapter that took me forever to write! Oh, and btw, once again, i have to stress that there is NO romantic aspect in this story, and there wont be...unless i have a sudden change of heart. But if i do, it wont be between chan/mon or chan/joey...ah, heck, there aint gonna be no romantic aspect, and thats final! Thanks for all the reviews, and i hopefully will post the next chapter in a couple of hours (i have to type it up first) but if i dont...well, there wont be another chapter for over a week, cause i am going away! Cheers!


"I have AIDS," Tom Hanks declared. Rachel sighed dramatically.

"Oh, it's so sad!" she exclaimed. "Please tell me he doesn't die!"

"You've never seen Philadelphia before?" Monica asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise. Rachel shook her head, engrossed in the movie.

"Does he die?" Chandler asked after a moment. He was stretched out on the couch, his feet resting on Monica's lap. The two girls had been secretly pampering him all day. Well, they thought they were being secretive. To Chandler, it was blatantly obvious. He wasn't sure if Monica knew about the dreams, but he was certain that she at least knew something was wrong with him. Although he found it unlikely that Rachel, the queen of gossip, would be able to keep this little fact to herself.

There was also the chance that Joey had told Monica. Chandler knew that Joey was good at keeping secrets, but he may have needed assistance with this, and Monica was usually the go to girl. It was possible that even Ross and Phoebe were aware of his dreams as well. Chandler sighed inwardly. It was impossible to keep a secret when it came to this group. Although, he had kept the 'kissing the guy in Atlanta' incident a secret, with the exception of Ross knowing. Unless Ross had told someone, but if that was the case, he would have known. No one could resist taking their revenge and ridiculing him for once.

"You've never seen Philadelphia before?" Monica asked once again, snapping Chandler back to the land of living. She seemed quite a bit more surprised that he hadn't seen it. Rachel was sometimes ignorant of movies that critics had raved about, preferring instead to watch corny comedies and cheesy romance films.

"Well, I was a guy in his early 20's when it came out. What do you think I was more likely to watch, a movie with big explosions and even bigger breasts, or some Tom Hanks movie?" Chandler questioned with a slight smirk on his face. Monica rolled her eyes, then laughed.

"Point taken," she muttered, gently pushing his legs off of her lap. "Anyone want to come watch a movie with me?" she asked, standing up slowly. Chandler stretched his legs out once again.

"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't we already doing that?" he said, poking her in the backside with his foot. Monica smacked him playfully on the leg.

"I mean at the cinema! This movie is far too depressing, I need a good laugh," she explained. "So, any takers? Rach?"

"No, no, no! I have to watch this movie!" Rachel exclaimed, sounding almost frantic. Monica smiled, then glanced at Chandler.

"Well, you know I love a good laugh, but as much as that sounds appealing, I think someone better be here to consol Rachel when it finishes," Chandler said to Monica.

"Why would I need consoling?" Rachel asked in horror. "He dies, doesn't he!"

"Maybe Phoebe or Joey will go with you?" Chandler suggested, after staring at Rachel for a moment. She pouted, returning to the movie.

"Yeah, I'll ask them," Monica murmured, picking up her purse. "Will you two be okay here?" Chandler rolled his eyes as she looked pointedly at him. Back to the pampering, he thought to himself.

"Yes Monica, the 29 and 28 year olds will be alright all by our lonesome," he said sourly. Monica rolled her eyes once again. She had been doing that a lot today, mostly because of something he had said. That was the price she had to pay for being over protective.

"Okay, I'm just checking!" she insisted, glancing at Rachel. "Enjoy the movie, Rach."

"Bye Monica," Rachel said distractedly, still engrossed in the movie. Monica leaned forward and planted a chaste kiss on Chandler's forehead.

"I'll see you later," she said softly, then turned and walked away.

"Bye Mon," Chandler called as the door shut behind her. He frowned, touching the place on his forehead where she had kissed him.

"She's really worried about you," Rachel explained Monica's behaviour. "In case you hadn't noticed, we all are."

"I'm fine," Chandler grumbled, laying his head back tiredly. He wanted to watch the movie, but the lack of sleep was really catching up on him. Rachel tore herself away from the movie to watch him stretch out even further.

"Tired?" she questioned in a soft voice.

"You have no idea," Chandler groaned, suppressing a yawn. Rachel raised her eyebrow.

"Hmm, I wonder why that is," she said sarcastically.

"I'm fine!" Chandler insisted, a bit louder then he had intended. Rachel raised her hands defensively, turning back to the movie.

"Whatever you say," she muttered. Chandler sighed, glancing at the TV. Tom Hanks didn't seem that interesting to him anymore. He wanted to sleep. He needed to sleep. But he knew that if he did, Nicole would die once more. He didn't want to see that, but he knew he didn't really have a choice. The body does what the body wants, he thought as his eyes closed against his will. He could feel Rachel's eyes boring into him, but he didn't care. It wasn't long before sleep overtook him.

"Tough break toots," he lifted the knife up high, its blade dripping with her blood. Nicole squeezed her eyes shut as the knife came plunging down. She couldn't, wouldn't watch as this man murdered her. Although she was dying, she was still aware enough to know what the man was doing to her. She had always considered murderers and rapists to be the lowest form of scum that this Earth could offer, but now that she was being subjected to one of their crimes, she believed it more then ever.

The blade penetrated her chest with a sickening thud, and came with more pain then Nicole had ever thought was possible. She screamed as loud as she could muster, which turned out as a choked gasp. The blade had pierced her lung, and she could feel both her oxygen and her life slipping away.

Something warm was running down her chin, and her throat was burning and bubbling with a thick liquid. She was coughing up blood, she realised.

"Help me," Nicole whispered pitifully. "Help me."

"Chandler?" a voice called frantically.

"Help me!" Chandler screamed, gasping for breath.

"Chandler!" The voice yelled. Chandler opened his eyes to find Rachel peering down at him in a way that would have been comical, had the situation not been so serious.

"Rach?" Chandler whispered, clutching at his chest. He could still feel the blade in him. In Nicole, he chastised himself. He winced as a sharp pain shot through his head.

"Its okay honey, you had another dream," Rachel soothed, smoothing back his sweat soaked hair. Chandler frowned in confusion. His throat was burning and bubbling with a thick liquid. Chandler's confusion turned to horror as he realised what was going on. He sat up so fast that he caused Rachel to fall to the floor.

"Chandler, what is it?" she gasped. He covered his mouth, coughing violently. She stared at the blood in his hand, a look of surprise on her face.

"Blood…oh my god Rachel, there's something wrong!" he exclaimed, terrified.

"Shh, its okay sweetie, your nose is just bleeding," she reassured Chandler, handing him a tissue. "The blood probably ran down the back of your throat."

Chandler stared at her, silently cursing himself for overreacting so much. Rachel smiled a comforting smile, taking his tissue-filled hand and guiding it up to his nose.

Chandler bit his lip. He had been so sure for a second there that he was dying.

"Shit," he muttered, turning his head away as tears sprung to his eyes. Rachel ran her hand through his hair once again, then gently turned his head back to face her.

"You're alright Chandler," she whispered. A sob unwillingly escaped his throat, and he squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to stop the tears. Rachel wrapped her arms around his shoulders, not caring about getting blood on her clothes. "You're fine sweetie," she continued to console him in a soft voice. "Whatever happened in the dream is not real." Chandler buried his face into her shoulder, and the sobs continued to come. Rachel's heart broke at each sob, and she continued to whisper what she hoped were soothing words in his ear. It was all she could do not to cry herself.

Chandler pulled away abruptly, an embarrassed look on his face.

"I-I have to go," he stammered, standing up hastily.

"What? Chandler, no you don't," Rachel pleaded. "Don't go, talk to me. Please!"

"I'm fine," he muttered, grabbing his jacket. Rachel stood up behind him.

"No, you're not Chandler! You can repeat it as much as you want, but we both know that you are not fine!" she exclaimed. Chandler turned to face her, and enraged look on his face.

"What do you want from me Rachel!" he hissed at her.

"I want you to trust me!" she screamed. Chandler stared at her in shock. Rachel cleared her throat uncertainly, then continued in a quieter voice. "I want you to tell me what is going on with you, what your dreams are about. But most of all, I just want you to be alright."

Chandler and Rachel stared at each other for a long time, Rachel waiting for Chandler to speak, and Chandler waiting to see which one would break the tension-filled silence. Rachel was the first to crack.

"I want to help you Chandler, but you have to trust me," she said softly. "I hate seeing you like this, and I just need you to talk to me."

"I can't," Chandler whispered after a beat. "I'm sorry Rach, but I can't." Rachel nodded desolately, a single tear falling down her cheek.

"Promise me that when you can, you will come to me." It sounded almost like an order, but Chandler nodded anyway.

"Of course," he promised, knowing full well that she would never find out. "Please don't tell the others. It will just worry them more."

"I promise," she assured him. Chandler nodded again, his hand on the doorknob. He opened the door slowly.

"I'm sorry about your shirt," he said, smiling slightly. Rachel glanced down at her soiled shirt.

"It's okay, blood comes out," she reassured him, mirroring his smile. "You might want to get another tissue though; your nose is still bleeding a bit."

"Okay. See you later," Chandler closed the door quickly behind him, staring dejectedly at his feet as he slid down the wood until he was sitting on the cold floor.

"Bye," Rachel said quietly to the closed door. She sighed, then turned around and walked back to the couch. Tom Hanks was talking to Antonio Banderas on the TV screen, but Rachel found she didn't care anymore.

She sat down on the couch and picked up the remote, switching off both the movie and the TV. She carelessly threw the remote onto the floor, then covered her face with her hands and started to cry; loud, heaving sobs.

Chandler listened to her cry, his ear pressed up against the door. Her sobs were faint to him, but the fact that he could hear her at all told him how loudly she was crying.

He pressed his palm against his forehead, groaning loudly. Nicole's pain, his pain, whichever one it was, it had become his friend's pain too. Chandler groaned again.

His head hurt.