hmm, well, once again this was jsut meant to be a filler chapter, but it turned out to be 800 words longer then it was meant to be! Oh well. I'm sorry if chandler seems a bit...mean in this chapter, but hey...if you were slowly but surely losing your mind, wouldnt YOU be a bit grouchy? Let him be grouchy! He aint jokey chandler in this story, he's angsty chandler! Yummy! Although i love funny chandler too!Okay, i hope to get the next chap up before i go away, but if i dont...SORRY!

once again,i do not own anything bla bla bla, but Matt perry IS locked in my closet!


The next few days passed uneventfully.

Chandler had hoped that was going to be the case when he left Rachel that day, but naturally, he was wrong. The dreams had become more and more persistent as time passed, as if he was approaching a dead line of some sort. Chandler shuddered as he recalled the last dream he had; the night just gone. It had been the most graphic yet; blood spraying everywhere and the man's sick smile haunting Nicole till her last breath. This had been the first time he had seen Nicole actually die and that thought unnerved Chandler more so then usual. The thought of the deadline crossed his mind once again, and he felt that Nicole's death signalled that the time was up; the deadline had been breeched.

Chandler had no idea what that meant; maybe the deadline was his sanity, and that his time was up. He had no idea. All he knew was that he had woken up, screaming bloody murder as Joey attempted to wake him. Chandler recalled the look of absolute terror on Joey's face as Chandler started to hyperventilate, the panic he displayed as he helped Chandler regulate his breathing.

Chandler squeezed his eyes shut as he remembered Joey pressing a tissue against his bleeding nose, and the way he had stroked his hair while he sobbed.

Chandler had been a basket case that night, and it had scared the hell out of his best friend. Joey wanted nothing more then to help Chandler; to comfort him in anyway he could, but Chandler was beyond comfort at this point.

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

"Oh god," Chandler whimpered, cradling his head in his hands. Chandler had tried not sleeping, in an attempt to save himself from Nicole's pain, but he soon found that he didn't need to be sleeping to hear her voice or see her terrified blue eyes.

The flashes of Nicole's anguish had been appearing more and more frequently as of late, and each time they came, they brought along an earth shattering headache.

"You okay man?" Chandler opened his eyes to find Joey watching him with a look of concern covering his face. Joey had looked like that a lot recently. Chandler hated himself for making the normally happy-go-lucky Italian look that way.

"I'm fine." Those two words had become Chandler's mantra over the last couple of days; he would even use them when someone simply looked at him a funny way.

"You sure? You look a bit pale," Joey continued, the look of concern growing deeper. "You got another headache? I don't think getting so many headaches is that good Chan." Chandler didn't respond, choosing instead to close his eyes once again. "But then, having constant nightmares isn't really that good either, is it?"

Once again, Chandler didn't respond, only this time it wasn't because he was being ignorant. He truly had no idea how to answer that question without causing Joey more concern. The fact that Chandler hadn't answered it was bound to do that anyway.

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't," Chandler muttered to himself.

"What?" Chandler opened his eyes slightly and glanced at Joey.

"Nothing, just talking to myself," he said softly.

"Well, at least you are talking to someone," Joey retorted, getting up and making his way over to Chandler. He crouched in front of his friend, brown eyes gazing into blue.

"I think you should see a shrink," Joey said earnestly. Chandler had already started shaking his head, even before the word 'shrink' had come into play. "Don't shake your head; just hear me out! You're having nightmares, getting headaches, and last night you wake up hyperventilation!"

"Hyperventilating," Chandler corrected automatically, by force of habit.

"Whatever, my point is, there is something obviously wrong with you!" Joey exclaimed. Chandler leaned forward, staring Joey directly in the eyes.

"I'm fine," he growled. Joey leaned back, a smug look on his face.

"Really? Last I checked 'fine' didn't mean waking up screaming in the middle of the night!" he shot back. Chandler cocked his head, still staring at Joey intently.

"I'm fine," he snapped, standing up abruptly. He pushed past Joey's crouched figure, and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Joey called after him.

"For a walk! You know, clear my so called crazy head," Chandler yelled over his shoulder as he opened the door.

"Chandler…" Chandler cut Joey off by turning around to look at him.

"Back off Joey," he said calmly. Joey stared at him in surprise. Chandler smiled grimly at him, then turned and walked out the door.

What the hell was he doing? Joey was just trying to help him, he knew that. Chandler also knew that going to see a shrink would probably be a good idea in this situation, but he didn't care. He was not telling anyone about this. End of story.

Chandler glanced at the stairs, frowning. He had intended on going for a walk, that hadn't been a lie. But now that he was actually in the hallway, all his motivation had left him. The splitting headache he had didn't help matters either. He glanced desolately at the door to apartment 19. He could go back in there, but then he would have to face Joey. He wasn't prepared to do that. That left him one choice.

Chandler stared at the door to apartment 20, a deep frown taking over his face.

He was pretty sure that the girls were out all day. Well, he hoped that they were because he wasn't sure if he was ready to face them either.

Monica was still fawning over him like a lost puppy, blissfully and thankfully unaware of his breakdown in Rachel's arms the other day.

Rachel, well, he hadn't seen or spoken to her much since that incident. It was too awkward for him, and he knew that, if she got him alone, the conversation would eventually turn to that incident. They had spent a bit of time together since then, but it had always been with the others. Chandler hadn't spoken to her much during those times, but he had looked up on a few occasions to find her giving him a sad smile.

Chandler rolled his eyes. Please let the girls be out, he pleaded to whoever was listening. He wasn't sure if he could face either of those situations.

Chandler took a deep breath and entered the apartment.