Hey everyone! Thanks so much for the kindness and love, two of my favorite things! I'm glad you're enjoying my silliness!
I'm *still* not completely finished with this story, but I'm way of ahead of what I posted so far, so not to worry. I won't leave you hanging for a while!
This chapter is slightly longer than the last two. I'm trying to keep them at a certain word count, but I didn't want to end this one weirdly...so, there's about 1,000 extra words. I hope they're not tooooo long. ;)
(Lots of more words to go, by the way!)
Anyway, enjoy! Show me more love when you get to the end with review? :)
Thursday, April 29, 1999- 4:12 P.M.
"Hey, Mom," Chandler said, stepping up to his mother and planting a kiss on her cheek. He stepped back and put a hand on the small of Monica's back as she stepped forward, "Do you remember Monica?" He asked.
"Of course I do, hi sweetheart," Nora said, stepping up and kissing Monica's cheek too, "you are a great friend. Thanks for doing this for Chandler. My mother will be thrilled."
Monica smiled at her and glanced up at Chandler, "Oh, it's no problem. It's what friends are for, right?"
Nora smiled, nodding in agreement, "You make sure that he owes you a giant favor after this," she said, and the trio laughed together. "Come on in, I'll give you a quick tour."
Monica followed Nora deeper into the house, as Chandler headed up the stairs with their luggage, "Wow, this is absolutely beautiful," she told her.
Nora nodded, "Yes, it is a gorgeous house. It was my mother's dream for a lot of years." She held open the swinging door and allowed Monica to walk in first, "This is the kitchen."
"God, I think I could do some damage in here." She looked around, envy stinging every part of her.
Nora smiled, "Oh yes, you're a chef, right?"
"Yes," she said, "and the kitchen in my apartment is so small," she added, chuckling softly.
"But she still makes amazing meals," Chandler said, walking in behind them.
She smiled at him, "Well, thank you Chandler."
He shrugged a shoulder, "You do."
Nora lifted an eyebrow at the exchange, "You know, I gotta say…" Chandler and Monica turned their heads to look at her, "You two really would make a cute couple."
"That's such a Mom thing to say," Chandler replied, chuckling nervously, "we're just friends."
He desperately wanted to look at her face and see what she thought about that statement, but he was sure that would give it away.
His medium crush on her.
He cleared his throat, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "So, where's Nanna?" Chandler asked.
"She's resting," Nora said, looking down at her watch, "but it's time to wake her. Let's finish the tour and I'll wake her up."
Chandler followed the two women, smiling as Monica admired the beautiful house his grandmother had built several years ago. It was one of his all-time favorite places.
Several moments later, they finished the tour on the top floor. Nora placed a hand on Monica's, "And here are the two rooms you both can use."
Monica nodded and peeked inside both rooms, "I'll take this one," she stepped into the one on the left, and Chandler smiled.
"Why?" He questioned.
"Because it's slightly bigger, Bing. And I called shotgun."
He chuckled lightly and looked down at the floor, "Mon, you're doing me a favor," he said gently, "You can have any room you want in here."
Nora lifted an eyebrow as she stared at the side of her son's face.
Monica chuckled and hit him lightly on the arm, then turned back to Nora, "How many rooms does this place have?"
"Six bedrooms, five baths."
"You're living here too, right, Mom?"
Nora nodded, "Yes, for right now. Your grandmother asked me to."
"How is she, really?" Chandler asked, a look of concern on his face.
"She's doing alright, I guess." Nora sighed, "Stubborn, but you know, that's just her."
"Ah, is that where you get it from?" Monica asked, then nudged Chandler with her elbow.
He chuckled again, "I think I got a triple dose."
Nora's eyes grew big, "Excuse me?"
Chandler nodded, "From Nanna, from you, and from Dad. That's three."
Nora patted his face, "You're lucky you're so handsome." She pinched his cheek as she walked away from them, "You make yourselves at home. I'm going to wake her."
Chandler nodded, "Okay. We'll be down in a second."
Monica smiled at him and rubbed her hands over her arms. Chandler looked over at her, "Are you cold?" He asked.
She shook her head, "No, I'm fine."
"You sure? I could get you my jacket," He pointed to his assigned room behind him, but she grabbed his hand to stop him.
"No, I'm fine," she said sweetly, "thank you, though." She tilted her head back and looked up at the tall ceiling, "This is one beautiful place, Chandler."
He nodded in agreement, "Yeah, it is. Hey, you know, the six of us could come back and take a vacation here. Maybe do some skiing."
Monica smiled bigger, "Oh, yeah! We should do that!" She smiled as she thought of the six of them together, but her smile faded a bit, "It would be fun, but only if we can keep the drama down."
He nodded, "Ah, the Ross and Rachel saga," he smirked at her, "those two have lost a commonsense gene somewhere along the way." They walked together and turned to head down the stairs.
Monica chuckled and nodded in agreement, "That's so true. I get so sick of them pretending that they don't have feelings for each other, when clearly, they do."
He stopped with her at the top of the staircase, "Do you think they'll ever…" He paused and ran a hand through his hair, "…figure it out?"
She shrugged, "I don't know. I hope so." She looked into his eyes for a long, quiet moment, and he stared back at her, "What do you think?" She asked softly.
He took a step closer to her, now completely invading her personal space, "I think if you really love each other like they do, that it's inevitable."
She nodded slowly, "Yeah," she said softly, and something passed between them as he continued to stare at her. She felt chills cover her entire body at the intensity in his gorgeous blue eyes, while he felt the urge to just blurt out everything he felt for her at once.
"Mon…" He started and took even another step closer to her.
"Yeah?" She asked, still gazing up into his eyes. She felt her pulse quicken at how close he was, his body nearly touching hers. What were they doing?
She didn't know, but excitement she felt about him looking at her like this and moving himself in a perfect position to kiss her confused the hell out of her, because she wanted it, bad.
He put his hand on her hip, but just as he opened his mouth to tell her he desperately wanted to kiss her, another voice was heard from the living room, "Where's my Chandy?" Nanna yelled, her voice loud, even from a distance.
He sighed, then squeezed her hip and dropped his hand as he stepped back and smiled at her. "Come on, time to meet my Grandmother."
She let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. What was that? What was that want she felt within her?
"Okay," She finally said and tried to move past the nervousness and disappointment.
The duo walked downstairs just as Nora helped her mother into her favorite chair. As soon as she saw him, the older woman's face lit up with joy, "Chandler! My baby!"
Monica thought the smile on her friend's face was adorable as he stooped down to her and leaned forward to kiss her cheek.
"Hey Nanna," Chandler said. She held his hands tightly, "it's so good to see you."
"You live too far away," she looked up at him with those sad, brown eyes that always broke his heart. He sighed and squeezed her hands.
He sighed and tilted his head. Monica was sure he got this guilt trip every time she saw him, "I know, I'm sorry, but we're here now!"
"Where is your bride?" She asked, looking around the room.
Monica stepped forward as Chandler dropped his grandmother's hands and put one of his on the small of Monica's back.
"Sweetheart, this is Josie Tyler, my Grandmother."
She hit Chandler on his arm, making him wince, "She calls me Nanna, she's family!"
Monica smiled as she took the old lady's hand, "Nanna, this is Monica," Chandler stepped back so Monica could move closer to her.
"It's so nice to finally meet you," Monica said sweetly.
"Oh," Josie said, cupping Monica's face with both of her hands, "You are so beautiful! A face of an angel!"
Monica smiled as she pulled her into a hug.
A moment later, Monica stood to her full form again, but Nanna didn't let go of her hands, "Aw, sweetie," she said, squeezing Monica's hands, "You have the most gorgeous blue eyes like my Chandy!"
Monica grinned at her and glanced backward at the said blue eyes. Chandler scratched the back of his head nervously. "Now stand next to your husband and let me look at the two of you."
Nanna finally let go of her hands and Monica stepped back to Chandler. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, "Aw look at that!" She squealed with excitement. She turned and took Nora's hand, "Sweetheart, look at your handsome son and his beautiful wife."
Chandler pressed his lips together and felt his pulse quicken, but he was reassured when Monica wrapped her arm around him too and squeezed his hip.
Nora placed her hand on Chandler's shoulder, "Yes, I know, she is very beautiful, right, Chandler?"
He looked at his mother and grandmother, then at Monica, who looked away and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as a blush flushed her cheeks, "Yes, she is," Chandler finally said, "inside and out."
"Aw, honey," she leaned up and kissed his cheek, "thank you."
"My sweeties!" Nanna said, then motioned for them to sit on the couch. Chandler let Monica sit down first and put his arm on the back of the couch when he sat down next to her. Nora followed and sat on the loveseat next to them.
Chandler smiled as Monica settled close next to him, "So, tell me, are you feeling okay, Nanna?"
"No no no, I don't want to talk about me," Nanna replied, waving her hand, "I want to know more about your relationship! How did you meet her?"
Chandler sighed at the non-answer he got regarding her health, but looked over at Monica and smiled, "Well, um, I have known her for a long time," he said, "her older brother and I were college roommates. I first met Monica when Ross invited me over to his house for Thanksgiving our freshmen year."
Monica felt a blush take over her cheeks, "Yeah, but we weren't that great of friends at first," she said with a chuckle.
He smiled, "I was an idiot back then," he said, his standard retort for the way he acted back in his college days, "and we didn't become friends until I moved into the apartment across the hall from her."
"We really grew closer and closer over the years," Monica said with a smile.
He nodded and continued, "And then I uh," he cleared his throat, "I finally got the courage to ask her out on a date and we um…"
Monica grinned, "We've been inseparable ever since," she interrupted, finishing his thought for him.
"Tell me about your first kiss," Nanna said, and the dreamy, nostalgic look on her face hadn't changed.
Monica smiled when Chandler looked at her, "After our first date he told me that he wanted to take a walk, and it was a little chilly. I told him that I was cold, and he took off his suit jacket and when he put it on me, he held the open sides of it and pulled me against his body, then leaned down and kissed me."
Chandler grinned and felt goosebumps form on his arms. God, that sounded perfect, he thought.
"Oh, how sweet!" Nora said.
Monica nodded, "It was perfect," she said, adopting that dreamy face his grandmother had on hers. Chandler looked over at her and nodded, then looked back at his grandmother.
"So now you know our love story," he said with a smile.
"No, we're not done," Nanna said, shaking her head, "now tell me how you asked this beautiful woman to be your bride."
He chuckled anxiously as the three women in the room looked at him, waiting for his story to start. He glanced at Monica for any sort of help, but her wide eyes told him she didn't have any idea how to get out of it either.
"Uh, well," he started, then cleared his throat. He looked at Monica again, this time held her stare for a few seconds to buy himself more time. He smiled at her as an idea came to him, then grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers together, he finally continued, "I drove her up to Vermont in the fall during an air balloon festival." Monica grinned at him and looked down at her legs as she blushed.
"Oh, how sweet darling!" Nora said.
Chandler smiled, "Yeah, I paid the guy to take us up and while she was looking out at the gorgeous view of the trees and the bright blue sky, I pulled the ring out of my pocket, and I asked her…" he trailed off, then looked around at the three pairs of eyes that were staring at him, "well, I don't remember word for word," he said with an incredibly nervous chuckle.
"Well I do," Monica sat up, then squeezed his hand, "he said, 'I don't think we get many chances for love in life, but I know now that I don't need any more chances.'" She looked at Chandler as she continued, "'You make me smile in a special kind of way, I think about you and I get butterflies in my stomach and I fall deeper in love with you every single day.'" She smiled bigger and finally tore her eyes away from his intense stare, "Then he opened up the ring box and said, 'Monica, will you marry me?'"
"Chandler, that is so beautiful!" Nanna exclaimed.
Chandler smiled at the three women staring at him with adoring eyes. He moved his and Monica's intertwined hands to his lap and topped them with his free hand, "Well, thank God she said yes."
She smiled, "Aw babe, there was no way I'd say no!"
He smiled back at her and leaned over to kiss her cheek. She met his eyes again and there it was…that feeling again.
She made herself look away, and everyone in the room looked over at Nora as her cell phone began to ring, "I'm sorry, this is about the party tomorrow. Will you all excuse me?" They all bobbed their heads and watched as she stood and walked out of the living room.
He was proud of himself, and of Monica, for coming up with such a love story spontaneously. They probably should have talked about such things on the plane, he thought too little too late.
"Now that I know how you met and fell and love and all about your first kiss and your engagement, I want to see you kiss," Nanna proclaimed, smiling brightly at them.
Chandler and Monica looked at each other, "Uh, why?" He asked, chuckling a little.
"Because I can tell when two people kiss the level of their love and passion for one another. It's a gift," Nanna smiled and pointed at them with her cane, "so come on now, kiss your wife."
Monica squeezed his hand and he looked at her, his eyes wide with disbelief, "Uh, well, um..." he stammered, "No, Nanna, we don't like kissing in front of..."
It wouldn't work. He already knew telling her that the two of them didn't like kissing in front of her wouldn't get them out of it.
"I don't care what you don't like, dear," she said. Chandler sighed at the phrase he'd heard a million times when he was young. Any time he started to say, 'I don't like' or 'I don't want', his grandmother would shut it down immediately.
He braved a look at Monica, and it relaxed him a little that she seemed amused. He sighed, leaned over, and quickly pressed his lips against hers. A friendly, quick peck.
He turned back to his grandmother, a smile plastered on his face, but it quickly dissipated when he saw the sour look on her face.
"That's all?" Nanna asked.
Chandler turned his head, confused, "what?"
"Give her a real kiss!" Nanna exclaimed, causing Chandler to jump just slightly.
He chuckled nervously and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, "Oh, no, Nanna, we don't do that in front of other people."
"I'm not 'people', I am your family. And I didn't get to go to the wedding, and I didn't get to meet her until well after you were married, and I want to see you kiss her!"
Chandler chuckled in disbelief, shaking his head, "Nanna, no, we're not going to..." he stopped speaking when Monica placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Honey," he turned to look at her, "just kiss me. I know you're shy about doing it in front of people, but it's okay. It'll make your grandmother happy." She squeezed his shoulder to emphasize the last word.
He turned his head back to look at his grandmother again, who had a smile on her face as if she just won first prize at the county fair.
"Okay," he said with a sigh. It wasn't that he didn't want to kiss her, because God knows, he did. But he wished they were alone, perhaps even walking together in the park, where she was cold, and he would put his jacket on her and then he'd kiss her.
Not here, with his grandmother staring at them, waiting on the make-out to start.
Being the gentleman he was, he didn't want to force himself on her when she was doing him this giant favor, one that he didn't know how he could ever repay her for.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and turned, one of her legs now on the couch.
After several moments, he cupped her face again, deciding that if they were going to do this, he was going to give it his all. He then slid his left hand back so that it rested on her neck as he pulled her to his lips again.
She let herself sink into the kiss, opening her mouth and moving her body even closer to his.
Chandler tried desperately to ignore the spark that went off inside of him as his tongue finally found hers. Every nerve in his body felt as if they were exploding like fireworks.
He didn't want to take advantage of this, but he never wanted it to end. She tasted so good.
He'd kissed her before, a few friendly pecks here and there a drunken make-out kiss that he didn't even remember. But this was wonderfully different.
He slid his hand up and into her hair, and he swore he heard her moan in the back of her throat.
Good God almighty, he felt as if he was floating in the air, with no intention of coming back down to earth. He needed to pull back, needed to stop this show, but she only tightened her grip on him and he was completely fine with not stopping, ever.
He turned his head to make sure that he tasted every single inch. He swore he heard her moan again and he had to bring himself out of the haze and remind his hands not to start roaming over the rest of her body.
He finally managed to pull backward, but only because he was quickly running out of air. When he braved opening his eyes, he looked down at her swollen, thoroughly kissed lips and found them still parted, her eyes still closed.
He moved his hand from her hair and brushed it down where his hand was tangled up inside of it. Her eyes finally fluttered open, and she smiled and moved her hand to wipe some lipstick from his lips.
Chandler smirked at her and turned his swimming head back to his grandmother, "There, how was that?" He asked, taking a deep breath to try to relocate some oxygen back to his deprived brain.
He was sure that his heart was about to beat right out of his chest as it slammed against his ribcage.
But it was fake, he reminded himself.
He glanced over at Monica again and she smiled and squeezed his knee reassuringly.
She smiled at the fake married couple, all of her dentures showing, "Oh, that's what I wanted to see. So much love!"
Chandler grinned and turned to Monica, who moved her leg back off the couch to sit upright. She smiled at him and he smiled back as he sat back and put his arm behind her along the length of the couch again.
A few hours later, Monica and Chandler climbed the stairs, heading towards the guest bedrooms.
"She's fantastic," Monica said, smiling at Chandler. He nodded at her.
"Yeah, she's one of my favorite people," he replied.
"I loved hearing all of her stories," Monica said, "she had such an interesting childhood." He nodded at her, and they stopped in the hallway in front of the adjoining rooms, "How do you think we did pretending to be a married couple?"
"Oh, great," he said, and smiled at her, "the whole love story part really helped to sell it, I think."
She giggled, "Yeah, oh, and how did you know I love air balloons?"
He scoffed lightly, "Monica, honey, I think we learned from the whole apartment game last month that I know a whole lot about you."
She rolled her eyes at him, but continued to smile, "Yeah, well, I didn't know you knew that. And that proposal you came up with," she sighed dreamily, "that just sounded amazing."
He chuckled, "Well, I'm glad my imagination was clicking. Your proposal speech was pretty good too."
"Thanks," she grinned at him, "it's kind of what I imagine some man will say to me one day. In my crazy wedding fantasy moments." He thought the blush that covered her face was adorable. "Anyway, I'm glad we pulled it off."
He nodded, "Nanna really loves you; I can tell," he stuck his hands in his pockets to try and prevent himself from taking her hands.
"She loves you too," Monica replied, "she lit up when she saw you."
Chandler smiled at that, "Well, I'm her favorite grandson."
"You're her only grandchild," Monica pointed out, turning her head slightly. He chuckled again.
"Yeah, true." He licked his lips and wondered if they were going to talk about the make-out session but frowned when she turned and walked away from him.
Monica walked into the room where their overnight bags were and picked hers up, "I hope you sleep well," she said, and squeezed his arm.
"Thanks, you too. In your bigger-than-mine room." She wrinkled up her nose at him and chuckled.
"Good night, Chandler," she said.
"Goodnight." Before she got too far away from him, he took his hand out of his pocket and grabbed hers before he lost his nerve, "Wait, um..." he started. She lifted an eyebrow at him, waiting on him to continue, "I just wanted to apologize to you," he finally said.
She furrowed her eyebrows together, "You want to apologize? For what?"
He chuckled once, "For that weird 'I want to see you kiss' thing. I had no idea she would do something like that," he said softly, shrugging his shoulders once, "I know it made you extremely uncomfortable, and that bothers me."
Monica smiled, "Chandler..."
He cut her off as he continued, his voice rising slightly as he thought about it more, "Nanna always has been, 'if you love someone, you gotta show it type', but I never thought she would demand that I make out with my wife in front of her."
"Chandler..."
"It was awkward," he said, shaking his head, "you didn't agree to do that. I told you it wouldn't be anything but just sitting next to me and maybe hold hands."
"Well, I..."
"I mean, honestly," he took his hands out of his pockets as he became more animated, "who wants to just sit there and watch someone make out like that?" She grabbed one of his hands and put her overnight bag down on the floor before taking his other hand too.
"Calm down," she said softly, "it's okay."
He shook his head and swallowed, "It's not."
She smiled at him, "It is. She loves you and wants to make sure you're happy in your marriage. Yes, it was a little weird, but it's okay."
"I'm sorry," he said again.
"Chandler, it's okay," she reiterated, squeezing his hands, "What's a little kiss between friends?"
Chandler took in and let out a breath, "you didn't sign up for that though."
She shrugged a shoulder, "life is full of surprises. And your grandmother is great, and if that made her happy, then I'm okay. Besides, the kiss wasn't bad."
He lifted an eyebrow at her, his pulse quickened a little more at the smile on her face, "Oh yeah?"
She blushed, then dropped his hands, "It wasn't," she said, "In fact, it was kind of good. You're a good kisser."
He wondered then if she felt the same spark he did. What would she say if he asked her out on a date? What would she do if he leaned down and kissed her again right this second?
Now he knew his small crush on her was turning into a big crush. Deep, cavernous feelings were working their way to the surface, and he didn't know how to stop it.
He didn't know if he had ever felt this way before, maybe with Dana, he guessed, but the others: Janice, Kathy...nothing like this.
He cared for them, sure, but they didn't make him feel this way. Only her.
Chandler snapped himself out of it and chuckled in disbelief. He'd never been told he was a good kisser before, "Well, you're pretty damn good yourself, Mon. And anytime you want a reminder..."
She laughed and hit him playfully on the arm, "Go to bed."
He placed his hand on her arm, "Thank you, again. You don't know how much this means to me."
She smiled and his whole world stopped when she moved towards him, but turned her head and kissed his cheek, "What are friends for?"
He smiled at her again, "Goodnight Mon."
"Night, Chandler."