Welcome, Mr and Mrs Geller

The Honeymoon suite had been especially prepared and Monica and Chandler were speechless as they were escorted into the rooms. The centrepiece was:

Welcome Mr and Mrs Geller

'You like it?' the hotel staffer asked with a worried frown. Married couples were usually gushing, though sometimes silent and dreamy eyed. There had been one or two who had already had their first marital tiff, but these two, just stood together, silently.

'Oh, we love it,' Chandler said.

'Yeah,' Monica said. But the staffer wasn't altogether sure that they did in fact love it. However, there wasn't much that could be done about it and the staffer shut the door on them.

Monica and Chandler stared at the sign. Then the hearts. Then the flowers. Then the red bedspread. Then the sign.

'I guess you're going to be the one wearing the pants in this relationship,' Chandler said, with a smile.

'What relationship?' Monica asked. She had felt so audacious, going to the airport, making sure that everyone else was fooled into thinking that she was leaving alone, and flying off to Athens. She had begun to have reservations on the way to the honeymoon hotel, which she had attributed to travel sickness, an explanation Chandler had accepted.

'Hey, you're not dumping me already?' Chandler asked. His tone was joking but his eyes were not. 'You haven't gotten bored with me?' He put his hands on her shoulders. Looking at him, there was no way she could even pretend that this was the answer.

'I couldn't be bored with you.'

'Did I do something wrong?'

'Nothing, you've done nothing wrong.'

'Sure I didn't take up too much room on the arm rest?'

'Sure.' She broke away from his embrace because it was easier to put her thoughts into words. 'It's just this,' she said, unable to come up with anything. She swept her arm around to match her words. Somehow, it was enough for him to understand.

'It's a big thing, going on a honeymoon when we've only just got together,' Chandler said, 'Especially when no-one expects us to be on it together,' Monica said. 'They don't excpet us to be together at all - anywhere! What are they going to say?'

'There's no use worrying about that now. They've got to find out before they can say anything. Why don't we just enjoy it as a holiday? The holiday is yours, it was given to you.'

'Ross…' Monica said, remembering that she hadn't given her brother a thought since London. How was he faring? Did he even have a wife any more?

'Forget him,' Chandler said, 'If he hadn't given away the tickets, it would have gone to waste. So you've taken holiday, and you've invited someone you wanted along, since Rachel didn't take up her side of it. Though I hope I'd win a contest against her on this one.'

'Rachel…' Monica said. She hadn't given her best friend a thought either.

'Forget Rachel,' Chandler said. Then Monica remembered Phoebe, due to give birth at any time soon - needless to say, she hadn't given her a thought.

'And Phoebe…'

'Forget Phoebe.' This was too much for Monica.

'We can't forget all our friends. You're going to say forget Joey next.'

'No I'm not,' Chandler said, 'What does Joey need to be remembered for? He's been having a great time. What I'm saying, I know it's a big thing for us to be here, not just here in a honeymoon suite in a foreign country. It's you and me, Mon. Is it a good idea at all? Here's our chance to find out. We don't have to get carried away with all this.' He swept his arm around to indicate the decorations. 'Let's just be two people, trying something new. We don't have to do anything we don't want. Maybe - ' He didn't like to say this, but it had to be said, 'We might think this is all a bad idea. We can work all that out in peace and quiet.'

'Until we get back and everyone finds out about us,' Monica said, but she was already sounding a little more at ease. Things would be right between herself and Chandler, even if the romance didn't work out.

'We'll solve that problem if we need to,' Chandler said. 'But why worry about that if we don't need to?' She knew what he meant. He meant that if things didn't work out, he would find some way to return without making it known that they had been together. It could then just be their secret. But she found herself thinking that they certainly didn't need to worry about that yet. Chandler added, 'If it make you more comfortable - and it would make me more comfortable anyway - we could get rid of all this wedding decoration.'

'Yes,' Monica said, 'We can tidy it away.'

'And then it will just be a hotel room.'

'With one bed.'

'If that's a problem, we don't have to do anything,' he said, with a grin.

'It won't be a problem,' Monica said firmly. What on earth were they here for? 'Let's get rid of the decoration and then…'