Monica put the dish on the table. "Enjoy."

Ross frowned and poked at the top with his fork. "What is it?"

"Just a noodle casserole basically." With some other ingredients; Monica had been experimenting a bit lately.

"Smells good," Chandler observed as he began scooping some of it onto his plate.

"Indeed it does. You're a very good cook, Monica."

The words made her feel very warm. Monica smiled at Kip, who smiled back before helping himself to the casserole as well.

Ross shrugged his shoulders and took some as well. "This isn't going to be like the time you added cayenne pepper to the broccoli cheese sauce, is it?"

Monica gritted her teeth. That had been a very early failed experiment, and there had been precious few since then. Trust Ross to bring it up at a moment like this. "Shut up and eat it, Ross."

"Yeah, that's a convincing argument." Still, Ross did in fact take a forkful and put it in his mouth.

When there was no immediate complaint, Monica served herself. She took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. Not bad, texture could be better, perhaps a tad less sour cream.

"So Monica," Kip said. "What is it that you do for a living?"

Monica swallowed hastily. "I'm a chef. I work at a restaurant called Iridium."

"Oh! No wonder this is so delicious." Kip grinned easily.

Monica found herself almost giggling in response. Kip was dressed in a tee-shirt and jeans, and while his body wasn't particularly well-defined, he had a relatively flat stomach, which was good enough for Monica. And he had those dreamy eyes, the kind she could get lost in, hidden hints of lighter brown mixed in with the almost-black...

A nudge on her arm from Ross made her realize she was staring. Hastily she scooped up more of the casserole and began chewing. Desperately she cast about for a topic change. "So what's Carol up to?"

"Out book shopping," Ross said with just a hint of wistfulness. "She does that a lot. She can spend hours there."

"I can do that, too," Chandler said somewhat obliviously. "Sometimes I read a whole chapter before deciding to buy a book. Which can be a problem on books like War and Peace."

Monica cocked her head at Ross and gently asked, "Does she seem to be spending more time at the bookstore lately?"

Ross glumly nodded. "I don't know... it's... she used to not mind spending time with me."

Chandler frowned. "I can't believe it's serious. You guys were so hot for each other. Remember the night you did it five times?"

"Five times?" Kip said incredulously. "That's impossible."

Chandler grinned and clapped Ross on the shoulder. "Not for the Rosster."

Ross managed a grin. "Yeah, that was pretty cool."

"Well, those are details I didn't need to know," Monica said testily. She stood up and began clearing the dishes.

Kip stood up as well. "Thanks for dinner, Monica, that was great."

She smiled up at him. "Any time. I mean that, just let me know and I'll fix something."

"Don't you usually work evenings?" Ross asked from where he was still sitting at the table.

Monica paused. That was true, and it was only going to get worse as she worked extra shifts to try and pay for the apartment. "Uh, how about breakfast then? Pop on over and I'll whip something up."

"But," Ross continued relentlessly, "you don't usually get up until noon or so, isn't that right?"

"What are you, my secretary?" Monica exploded. "I can get up and fix him something and go back to sleep, can't I, Mr. I-Can-Manage-Monica's-Schedule-Better-Than-She-Can!"

Ross shrugged it off. "If disrupting your sleep cycle is what you want to do, I'm not going to interfere. But you know, REM sleep is very important."

She clenched her fist and made a huge effort to force it to relax. One of these days she was going to become an only child. She turned to Kip, trying to put the smile back on her face. "I mean it, though. I have orange juice and coffee, and I can make anything else you like."

Kip had been frowning at the exchange between Monica and Ross but he managed a smile now. "You know, I just might take you up on that. All we have in our refrigerator is a bottle opener."

"We're hoping the cold will encourage it to form a colony of missing cutlery from around the world," Chandler said faintly.

Monica blinked at him, realizing that she was fawning all over Kip and had completely ignored him. "You, you too, Chandler. Stop by for breakfast any time you want."

"Yeah, thanks." He took a breath. "Well, must see if the elves have finished assembling my bed yet." Chandler waved and left the apartment, Kip following in his wake.

Ross stood up and began helping her clean up. "So," he said conversationally, "you have the hots for Kip, huh?"

"So," she said in a somewhat acerbic tone, "you and Carol are having problems, huh?"

Ross nodded without malice. "Point taken."

He helped Monica just enough to annoy her; she then shoved him out of the kitchen while she finished up. To her surprise he didn't leave, instead walking around the apartment. "Looks different without Nana's stuff."

"Well, it's not Nana's apartment any more."

"I know, but still. Any plans for the empty room?"

"Keep it empty."

"Ah. Does that mean you're going to get a roommate?"

"It means it'll stay empty until I decide it won't be empty."

"You should get a couch."

"You should stop bothering me."

"I can help you with that."

"By shutting up?"

"By buying you a couch."

Monica stopped in mid-dish and turned to face Ross. "Why would you buy me a couch?"

Ross shrugged. "So people would have a place to sit."

"What do you want in return?"

"Nothing. Can't I just do something nice for you?"

"It would be a first." She didn't really mean that, so she turned backed towards the sink and continued washing. "I don't want your charity, Ross. I can get my own couch."

"Well, okay, how about this: I hate going home sometimes and it's empty and Carol's not there. She won't be there for hours and I sit and stare at the television. So, so maybe instead I can come over here and sit on your couch. If you had one."

Monica thoughtfully rinsed out a cup. "And do what, exactly?"

"Probably sit and stare at your television."

"Why would that be different from what you're doing now?"

"Someone would be here while I was doing it."

Monica sighed. "I work most nights, Ross, you know that."

"Well, maybe I could invite Chandler over, too."

"And Kip?"

"And Kip. You got the hots for him, huh?"

"Suddenly I'm not seeing a couch in my near future."

"Okay, sorry. And maybe we can all hang out on the days you're not working, too."

Monica shut off the faucet. "Well, if a couch were to suddenly appear in my living room, I wouldn't throw it out."

"Cool."

"Here." Monica walked over to her utility drawer, pulled it open, pulled out the spare keys. "You'll need these. That way you can stop bothering me with that annoying intercom sound."

She tossed the keys across the room and Ross caught them. He looked at her with an odd expression, like he didn't know how to react. "Thanks," was what he managed to say.

Monica found herself feeling odd. She had fought Ross tooth and nail for so long that reciprocal generosity seemed out of place.

"So," Ross said awkwardly. "Green?"

"Not in this apartment, ever. White or near-white."

"Hide-a-bed?"

"Not in a million years."

"Pillows to go with it?"

"Let me pick out the pillows."

"New or used?"

"Whatever you can afford, so long as it's clean."

"Okay." Ross tossed the keys in the air, caught them, grinned at her, and left.

Monica walked into the center of the living room, trying to imagine the best place to put the couch. And trying to imagine what it would look like with Kip on it. Sitting next to her.

Feeling strangely satisfied, Monica began picking out possible coffee tables she could put in front of her new couch.

(to be continued)

Author's Notes: Sorry this is so short. I have much more written but it's further on down the road, and I have to bridge the gap, as it were. Expect much more soon.