Surprise! It's a day (well, a few hours...) early! :)
Mostly because my FRIENDS over on Twitter are SO wonderful I wanted to give something back! Thank youuuuu so much for all the friendship, and sweetness, and kindness...I could name about 100 people, but I won't. ALL OF YOU!
I hope you enjoy! Comment when you get to the end? :D
Be back again soon!
Saturday, June 19, 1999 – 10:20 PM
Chandler lifted his head and searched for Rachel when he heard her panicked voice, "Oh my God, oh my God!" He stood and walked over to his friend, "What happened? Is he alive? I can't…" she had to stop and take a few calming breaths.
"Rachel," Phoebe said, grabbing her friend's arms, "try and calm down sweetie," she pleaded.
"Calm down?!" Rachel yelled and moved her arms back from her, "We're not finished!" She yelled, tears streaming down her face. She fell into Joey's arms, sobbing into his jacket. Phoebe wrapped as much of her arms as she could around the two of them, and Chandler added his arms around the three of them.
Chandler placed a hand on her back and rubbed it gently when he pulled away, "He's gonna be okay," he said to her, "he has to be."
Joey nodded into her shoulder, "Chandler's right," he said softly, "he has to be okay."
Rachel continued to sob, and Joey continued to hug her tightly, trying his best to comfort her. As she held Joey, she reached for Phoebe's arm and gripped it tightly, "I'm sorry I snapped at you, Pheebs," she barely managed.
Phoebe shook her head, "It's okay," she said, her cheek resting against Rachel's, "We're all scared, Rach," she murmured.
A few minutes passed and Joey finally moved Rachel to sit in one of the lobby chairs, his arms still around her. Phoebe sat down in the chair on the other side.
It was then that Chandler saw her, and his breath caught. She was rushing down the hallway in the most perfect deep red, floor-length dress. Her hair was pinned up with a few long strands hanging down to frame her face.
He bet that her makeup was flawlessly perfect before the news of her hurt brother, she now had streaks of mascara on her face, but she still looked absolutely beautiful.
Damn, why he thought he could ever get over her was beyond him.
Her heels clicked on the floor as she hurried towards the lobby, Richard, dressed in a tuxedo, behind her.
He had no idea what event they were coming from, but Monica was a radiant vision to be seen. He felt his mouth go dry as she approached the group. She grabbed his forearm and Joey's too as he stood again next to Chandler, squeezing them tightly. He placed his hand on top of hers, and she met his eyes.
She licked her lips, "I'm so glad you're here," she whispered, and he nodded once at her. She seemed to remember that there were others around and broke her gaze from him, then looked over at Joey, "I'm so glad you all are here."
Chandler took a step back so that he wouldn't wrap his arms around her like he desperately wanted to, just like she did when he was hurting after his grandmother passed away.
He listened to his friends as Phoebe and Joey explained to the newcomers what information they knew.
Monica hugged each one of them, fighting tears and attempting to stay calm, as only Monica could. She still was level-headed, and that amazed Chandler. How was she so strong?
He didn't know, but he did know she was the glue that held them all together.
When she finally let go of Rachel, she stood in front of Chandler.
He looked down at the floor, then looked into her tear-filled eyes, "He's gonna be okay," he finally managed. It was the only thing he knew, the only thing that gave him any sort of comfort.
He'd told his friends the same thing, he told himself that too. Ross had to be okay. He wasn't going to die, he couldn't. He had a son, he had a family, and it wasn't his time.
Monica shut her eyes and tears rolled down her face. Chandler glanced over at Richard, who had his back to them, talking with Jack and Judy.
He took the opportunity to lift a hand and wipe a tear from her face, "He's gonna be okay," he said again. She couldn't believe after everything they had been through that he was still here for her, and still the sweet, kind, caring man she'd known for the better part of a decade.
She finally looked at him, tears rolling down her face again. She was tired of this tension between them and took a step forward to pull him into her arms.
He shut his eyes and took in the scent of her hair, of her perfume, God, he'd missed it.
"Thank you for paging Richard to get me," she whispered brokenly. She pulled back from the hug way too soon for his liking, but he understood. He didn't know what Richard knew about him, them, but he knew that Richard didn't act the same around him as he did the others.
Chandler sighed, sat down in the lobby chair, and watched Monica as she walked over to her parents and Richard. He then noticed the open back of her gown, revealing her perfectly smooth skin. He let his head fall back against the wall behind him. He pressed his fingers against his eyes as he remembered pressing his lips to the dusting of freckles all over her shoulders and chest, and his entire body ached with the desire to do it again. He groaned as he wondered, yet again, how long it would take to fall out of love with her. He wondered if he could.
About an hour had passed and Chandler lifted his head when he heard a different voice, "Ross Geller's family?"
The man in green scrubs was taken aback when every person in the lobby stood and walked towards him.
He put up a hand, "Whoa, okay, um, who is his family?" He asked.
Chandler stuck his hands in his pockets as he pondered that question. They were all his family.
"We're his parents, and this is his sister," Judy said, her hand on Monica's arm.
"Okay, will you three step over here for me?" He nodded at the crowd of people as he stepped away with the Gellers.
Carol, Susan, Joey, and Phoebe reclaimed their chairs, Richard and Chandler left standing. The two men stood in silence as they watched the doctor talk to the family of three. Chandler tried to gage what the doctor was saying from the look on Monica's face, but Judy moved so that she was blocking her daughter from Chandler's view, and he couldn't move to look at her again with Richard standing right beside him.
Richard broke the silence when he turned to Chandler and held out his hand, "Hey, uh, thanks for calling earlier."
"Yeah, no problem," Chandler replied, placing his hand on Richards for a quick handshake.
Richard stuck his hands in his pockets, "I appreciate you being her friend," he added.
Chandler nodded slowly, "Okay?" He said, a question in his response.
"She told me you guys weren't as close as you used to be," he said. Chandler put his hand on the back of his head in response instead of using any words. He didn't know what to say to that. Richard narrowed his eyes a bit, "She's pretty upset about it. What happened with the two of you?"
Chandler looked away and swallowed nervously, "Uh," he cleared his throat, "nothing." Richard crossed his arms and continued to stare, so Chandler sighed and took a step away from him, "It was a stupid, pointless argument," he finally said, and hoped he would buy it and drop this conversation, "We are okay." It was kind of true, he thought.
They certainly weren't back to the way things were before, he didn't know if they would ever be, but at least she could hug him and not feel too awkward about it.
Although, now standing here with her boyfriend, he felt awkward.
"Well," Richard replied, "something's up. She is still bothered by this argument," he put the last word into quotation marks, "so, I don't know if I buy that, Chandler."
Chandler shook his head, "Really, Richard, it's nothing," he said, waving a hand, "we're fine."
Richard narrowed his eyes again, but nodded slowly, "Maybe she'll tell me eventually," he said, "anyway, thanks for the call. I'm glad you had my pager number."
"No problem," Chandler said, "Monica paged you one time from my phone back when you dated the first time, so that's why I had it."
"Good you remembered," he replied, then looked up when Monica approached them, Jack, and Judy behind her, "what did he say?"
Monica swallowed and glanced up at Chandler, tears in her eyes, then back at her boyfriend, "Uh, well, he said that uh," she stopped when the rest of the crowd stood behind, listening for the update, Monica cleared her throat, "he said that Ross is in critical condition," she finally said, her voice breaking.
Jack placed a hand on Monica's shoulder, signaling to his daughter that he'd take over the update, "He's in critical condition. He's unconscious, he's lost a lot of blood, but the doctor said he's stable as of right now. They had to do surgery on his leg and had to remove his spleen. He has multiple cuts, scrapes, and bruises all over him. He's on a ventilator, but the doctor thinks they'll be able to take him off of it soon." Jack wrapped an arm around his wife's waist, "he said that Ross is very lucky to be alive and that he still has a long road ahead of him."
"A nurse will come and let us go in to see him," Monica added, "but since it's an intensive care unit, only two people at the time."
Everyone nodded their understanding and made their way back to the chairs. A few more minutes passed, and a nurse came and escorted Jack and Judy to Ross's hospital room.
Chandler loosened his tie and took in a deep breath.
He leaned his head against the wall behind him, tuning out the quiet chatter of the people around him as he shut his eyes.
Thursday, May 27, 1999 – 2:30 PM
"Let's go, guys!" Ross said excitedly, his bags in his arms as he entered apartment 20.
Chandler smirked at his college roommate as he looked across the hall from his apartment, both doors open as they prepared to head to the airport for their London trip. He took his wallet out of his back pocket and checked to make sure he had his driver's license and tapped his jacket pocket to make sure, again, that he had his passport.
He looked up again and stared when he saw her standing there, talking to her brother, a smile on her face as she gazed up at Ross.
He missed her, there was not any other way to put it. He missed talking to her, he missed being around her, he missed making her laugh, he missed her cooking, and he missed touching her. Not in a sexual way, but just his hand on her shoulder, or arm, or knee…
He looked away for a second and let out a deep breath. Man, he still had it bad for her.
He hadn't directly spoken to her since his declaration of love. He still didn't know what else there was to say. He knew that she'd come across the hall and knocked on his door a few times, but somehow, he avoided her each time.
When he looked up at her again, she turned her head and looked across the hall from her apartment and her eyes locked with his. Neither of them looked away right away, and he felt his hair stand up on the back of his neck at the intense look she was giving him.
Ross even crossed in front of her, but she didn't blink, neither did Chandler. She felt goosebumps form on her skin and a chill ran through her. She remembered then the look in his eyes as he made love to her in Colorado. It made it that much more wonderful, sensual.
He wanted so much to move around the counter and cross the hall, walk to her, and wrap his arms around her, but he knew he couldn't. Richard would be at her place in minutes to go on the trip with her, and he probably wouldn't like to see Monica in his arms when he got there.
He could tell she had a lot to say, just from the look she was giving him. His grip tightened on his wallet that he still held in his hands as her mouth parted just slightly.
God, how he loved that mouth.
The eye contact only broke when Joey clamped a hand down on Chandler's shoulder, startling him, "You ready man?" He asked, then looked across the hall, "What are you staring at?"
Chandler swallowed and shook his head, glancing up to see that Monica was now busying herself with other tasks too, "Nothing, Joe. You got everything?" He asked.
Joey nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah! Let's go! London Baby!"
He rolled his eyes as a response, then looked down at Joey's empty hands, "Do you know where your passport is?"
Joey laughed and pointed to his room behind him, "Yeah, in my nightstand, don't want to lose that," he said with an obvious chuckle.
Chandler gave him the patented stare until he figured out that he needed his passport to go to a different country. When Joey figured it out, he ran into his room while Chandler pulled his bags up onto his shoulder.
He walked out into the hallway and stopped when Richard rounded the corner. "Hey," Richard said as he approached him.
"Hey Richard," Chandler replied.
Richard held out his hand and the two of them shook hands quickly, "Are we ready? I've got a cab waiting.
Chandler sighed and looked around, "Yeah, I think mostly ready." He leaned down and put his bags down on the floor, "I'm gonna go in and say goodbye to Phoebe and Rachel."
"Ah, right," Richard said and stuck his hands in his jacket pockets as he followed Chandler into apartment 20.
Monica walked out of her bedroom and smiled when she saw Richard, "Hi sweetheart," she said to him, then moved into Richard's arms. Chandler purposely focused on moving around the table to tell Rachel goodbye and not on the couple near the door.
"Bye Rach," Chandler said and hugged his sad friend. She gave him a small smile.
"Bye honey," she replied, "make sure to take a lot of pictures."
Chandler pressed his lips together and studied Rachel's distraught face, "I'm so sorry," he whispered. He knew if Rachel felt a fraction of the heartbreak he was feeling, she was probably miserable. He knew, without a doubt, that Rachel still loved his former college roommate and that Ross still loved her. This whole wedding was a mistake, but he couldn't possibly tell his excited friend that, because it would crush him.
Rachel met Chandler's eyes, nodding at him slowly, "Thanks," she swallowed and grabbed his forearm, glancing over at Richard and Monica, then back to him, "I'm sorry too," she finally said, and pat his cheek affectionately.
He nodded at her and swallowed. He didn't know what she knew, he didn't know what or if Monica told her any of the events that happened between them, but she obviously knew or suspected something. Damn women's intuition. He sighed, then moved away from her and around the couch.
"I hope you have a wonderful time," Phoebe said, wrapping her arms around Chandler's neck and kissing him on the cheek after he hugged her.
"Thanks, Pheebs," he said, smiling at her, "I'm so sorry you can't go, he grabbed her hands, "It's gonna be weird with you not there."
She frowned slightly, "I know, I hate it too," she squeezed his hands, "but, listen, you'll have fun, right?"
Chandler nodded, "I will."
"And you'll cheer up while you're over there?" She asked, her eyebrows raised.
He sighed and looked into her eyes, swallowing nervously. Damn women's intuition again, "I'll try, Pheebs, I promise."
"Somethings up with you," Phoebe insisted, "You've been avoiding us, I haven't figured it out yet, but I will."
He glanced at Monica and Richard again as they stood close to the door, talking to Rachel and Joey.
"I'm gonna be fine," Chandler said to her, then kissed her forehead, "I'll see you in a few days."
"Okay."
He moved away from her and walked towards the door, passing Monica and Richard and walked into the hallway. He put his bags back on his shoulder, and leaned back into apartment 20, "I'm gonna head downstairs," he said to Joey.
Chandler let out a deep breath as he descended the stairs, silently praying to God that he wouldn't have to see the two of them together the entire time.
A few hours later, Chandler leaned his head back against the airplane seat and let out a sigh.
Their flight was delayed for almost 3 hours, and he was irritated and already ready to be off the plane, but they were only 30 minutes in. At least the not-wanting-to-see-the-woman-you-love-with-another-man Gods had favored him and allowed Monica and Richard's seats to be several rows behind him so he wouldn't have to watch her head lay on his shoulder, his arm around her, his kisses to her hair.
He groaned at his thoughts. He had to try and have a good time. He needed to be happy for Ross, and if he could stay far away from Monica and Richard, he thought he could do a pretty good job of pretending that he was happy for Emily and Ross.
He'd been doing it for weeks, so what was different now?
A couple of hours went by, and Chandler woke suddenly when the plane jolted with turbulence. The predictable message came from the flight attendant moments later over the intercom, asking passengers to return to, and stay in their seats and keep their seatbelts buckled.
He sighed and rubbed his face with both hands, then shifted in his seat. He looked over across the aisle at Ben and Ross and smiled when Ben shifted closer to his dad.
He looked to his left then and rolled his eyes at his sleeping roommate, his mouth open, drool running down his chin. Nothing could wake him, Chandler thought, not even turbulence.
He glanced down at his watch. It was almost 9 when they finally left New York, so most of the plane was quiet now. He assumed that the majority of the passengers were sleeping as the plane crossed the ocean. There was very little chatter, and the aisle lights were dimmed.
He put his head back on the seat again and shut his eyes, hoping that he could at least get a little rest before they landed.
He didn't open them again until he felt someone in the previously unoccupied seat to his right. He opened his eyes and saw Monica's beautiful face staring back at him.
"Hey," she said softly.
He sighed, "Hey," he returned, and ran a hand over his face, "what are you doing here?"
"Flying to London," she said, and smiled at her joke, but when he didn't return it, she cleared her throat gently, "can we talk?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Mon…" he said, but she shook her head to stop him.
"Chandler, please?"
He took in a shaky breath and looked around for a second, then shrugged his shoulders, "Well, I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?"
She smirked at him, "One of the reasons I thought this would be a good time," she hit his knee gently, "you can't run away from me."
He chuckled once, "If only I packed my parachute."
Her heart sped up as she made up a mental image of him jumping out of a plane just to avoid her, "I didn't know you were into skydiving," she joked again.
"I'm not, but when it's your only escape route, you do what you have to," he retorted softly with a shrug of his shoulders.
She licked her lips and looked away from him for a second, then sighed and turned towards him again, "Damn, I didn't realize you would go to such extremes to avoid me, Chandler." She tangled her hands together in her lap so that she wouldn't touch him, because she wanted to. She wanted to take his hands and ensure that he wouldn't actually run away from her and avoid this conversation. She looked at him, "Do you hate me that much?"
He shook his head, "Mon, I told you I needed some space. This is the exact opposite of space," he said, gesturing between them. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He shook his head again, "I don't know what you want from me."
"I don't want you to act like this towards me," she replied quickly, and when he still didn't look at her, she continued, "I want our friendship." She paused and took in a shaky breath, "I want us back." She sighed and looked around to make sure everyone around them was still asleep, pleased to find that they were. She didn't want any of their friends to hear this. "I want you in my life," she added softly, then finally met his eyes again, "Let's work on our friendship again, please?"
He rubbed his forehead, "I know what you want," he answered, "but I really can't..." he sighed, "I don't know how to go back to normal."
The only thing that was heard was the quiet hum of the airplane for several seconds between them. She knew she needed to drop this conversation and head back to her seat, with Richard, but there were so many things she wanted to say to him, and she didn't feel like she would get another chance anytime soon.
"Is the reason you don't think we can go back to normal because you think you're in love with me?" She finally asked, breaking the silence. She kept her eyes on her hands.
"Think?" He asked, turning to look at her. He shook his head and turned his head away from her, "Look, you can feel how you want about me, but don't trivialize my feelings for you. They're real. They're very real, and it's not just because we slept together."
"Chandler..."
"Do you honestly think I wanted this to happen? Do you think I wanted all of this awkwardness and weirdness between me and you?" She looked away from him again, "Because I didn't, Monica. I didn't want this," he shook his head, "I wanted me and you, but Richard wanted you and him, so I don't know why you're pushing this so hard with me."
"You're my best friend, Chandler," she responded hotly, "why are you trying to pretend that we weren't friends?"
"Don't you get it?" He asked, then stared into her eyes.
"Get what?"
He groaned, "Damn it, Monica. I don't want to argue about this with you anymore," he said, then looked around again.
"You're in love with me?" She asked him. He met her eyes again and stared at her in disbelief.
"I think you know the answer to that," he said sharply, but in a whisper. His aggravation with her was growing rapidly again.
"Yeah, I guess I do," she retorted, then sighed, "I just don't understand why you're suddenly..."
"No," he said, interrupting her, "it wasn't sudden."
She swallowed and shook her head, "Then, talk to me, Chandler. When did it happen?"
He shifted in his seat and remained silent for a few seconds, "I don't know," he said, a phrase he was using way too often when he talked to her, "it's been a while," he took in a shaky breath, "a few months, I guess."
"After you and Kathy broke up?"
Chandler swallowed and nodded slightly, "Yeah, I guess that's when I started to develop a crush on you." She turned to him more in her seat, thinking that she, too, began to wonder what it would be like to date him after he and Kathy parted ways. But she had talked herself out of it, telling herself that he would never think about her that way, that he liked her only as a friend.
She wondered what her life would be like if she and Chandler had told each other their feelings right after that happened.
He sighed and finally continued, "I kept telling myself that it was just a silly crush, that you'd never be interested in a guy like me, in fact, you had told me that before." She rolled her eyes slightly at him. She did say that before, at the beach, but she thought he was kidding around with her then, because she had said she wouldn't ever have a boyfriend again.
She opened her mouth to argue, but he continued before she could, "When we went to Colorado, and we kissed…" her skin erupted in goosebumps, and she shivered in response. She lifted her hands to rub against her sleeved covered arm as she listened to him, "…it kind of cemented the feelings I have for you. My Mom knew it right away, of course, and my Nana told me that she could really tell that I was in love with you, and I kind of accepted that. She was right, and I needed to stop pretending like it wasn't true." Monica turned her eyes to his.
"How did I not know?" She asked, her voice broken and so soft that it was hard for him to hear.
He chuckled softly and shrugged his shoulders, "Guess I got pretty good at hiding it, which is good."
She furrowed her eyebrows together, "Why, exactly, is that good?"
"Because you don't feel the same way," he said as if it were obvious, "and you're in a relationship with someone else who probably wouldn't like it if you told him how I feel about you."
"No, I don't want to talk about him," she whispered, "this isn't about him."
"Then what is it about?"
She turned her head to him and looked directly into his eyes, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Tell you what?" He questioned, although he thought he knew the answer.
"How you feel about me, Chandler," she said, slightly irritated.
His eyes darted away again, and he swallowed nervously, "I didn't think you would feel the same way," he said honestly, "and you don't, so it wouldn't have mattered anyway." He turned his eyes back to hers and she looked away from him. He could tell by the way she suddenly began to fidget that she was nervous. He leaned forward so he could see her face, "It wouldn't have mattered, right, Mon?" He asked, his voice desperate for an answer.
She licked her lips and turned her head to look at him again, trying to push down the overwhelming urge to kiss him.
Yes, her mind screamed at her, it would have mattered.
God, she felt sick to her stomach, her mind in turmoil and royally screwed up.
"I wish you would've told me sooner," she said to him, instead of answering his question.
His eyes locked with hers, and she felt chill bumps form all over her body again. She didn't know why, but he caused that to happen to her a lot these days.
Or maybe she did know why.
The same thing passed between them earlier in the day, when they were in their apartments, staring at each other from across the hall. The same intense, wanting stare.
Would it be so bad if she just leaned over the armrest and kissed him?
Richard was sleeping, with his noise cancellation headphones, several rows back. Joey, Ross, and Ben were sleeping too, and she knew she could stay quiet enough not to wake them.
No one would know.
And it would most definitely cure the intense desire she had to kiss him again. She wanted to feel his lips on hers, taste his tongue, touch his skin with her fingertips...
Her stomach clenched and her conscience pinged. She shook her head, trying to get her mind off of his mouth. It didn't matter how bad she wanted it, it really, really, wasn't a good idea.
She swallowed, took in a deep breath, and made herself look away, "I'm sorry for everything, Chandler," she whispered, "I'm sorry I've made you hate me."
She looked down at her hands and fought the tears that started to burn the back of her eyes. God, she was sick of all the crying she'd been doing lately.
Chandler looked at the side of her face, his heart broke a little at the sad look on it. He couldn't let her think that he hated her.
He didn't hate her.
He couldn't hate her.
He sighed, licked his lips, and reached for her left hand, holding it tightly in his right. She looked up at him and tears welled up in her eyes, "Monica," he shook his head slowly, "I don't want you to ever think that I hate you," he started, and a tear rolled down her face. He swallowed and resisted the urge to lift his other hand to wipe it away, "I don't hate you," he whispered, "No matter what," he shut his eyes for a moment, then opened them and met hers again, shaking his head, "I could never hate you," he added.
He hadn't let go of her hand, so she turned hers over and intertwined her fingers with his, "I miss you."
He looked at her and she turned to meet his eyes again, "I miss you too," he whispered back, knowing exactly what she meant. It was weird not to see her every day, talk to her, laugh with her.
"Please don't cut me out of your life," she whispered, "please, Chandler."
He shook his head, shut his eyes for a second, and lifted her hand to his mouth, placing a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. "I couldn't do that," he finally replied softly.
A chill ran through her, and she only wanted to feel those soft lips on hers even more.
"I'm just gonna need time," he finally continued in a whisper, "I don't know how to do this."
"Do what?" She asked brokenly.
He shut his eyes again, trying to force himself to say what was on the tip of his tongue. He opened them and looked into her eyes as he squeezed her hand, swallowing nervously as he tried to gain the courage to say the words, "Fall out of love with you."
She lifted her free hand that he wasn't holding and wiped a tear away. She lay her head on his shoulder and shut her eyes, a large part of her wishing she could stay there until they landed, with his hand holding hers. She felt comfortable, safe.
But she knew she couldn't. She had to go back to the man she'd told she would date again.
She reluctantly lifted her head and looked at him, "I should..." she said, gesturing with her head towards her assigned seat.
He swallowed and nodded, "I know," he whispered.
She leaned forward to kiss his cheek and finally let go of his hand as she stood from the seat. Chandler sighed deeply, shut his eyes, and leaned back in his seat.
She made her way down the aisle, thinking about Chandler and their conversation. Him telling her that he did not and could never hate her made her feel a little better about being able to repair their relationship. She wanted that most of all.
Her stomach flipped when she saw that Richard wasn't asleep anymore, instead, he was looking directly at her. She smiled a little at him, but just as she took another step, the plane hit a giant bump in the road and made her stumble forward.
"Whoa, you okay?" He asked, concerned. He stood and helped her sit down.
She nodded at him, even as her stomach turned somersaults, "Honey, are you alright?" Richard asked again, rubbing her arm slightly.
She patted his hand, "Yes, I'm fine," she told him, "shouldn't have had that burger," she chuckled nervously. She wondered, though, if the combination of the conversation with Chandler and how much she wanted to kiss him plus the turbulence had anything to do with it. She'd bet yes, they absolutely did.
She put on a smile as the nausea finally passed. She sighed contentedly, "All better," she smiled at him.
"Are you feeling sick?" He asked.
She waved a hand and buckled her seatbelt, "Just motion sickness. I get it sometimes when I fly, or ride a roller coaster, or on the back of a motorcycle," she chuckled at herself.
"I never knew that about you," he commented, a smile on his face as he crossed his arms. He nudged her with his elbow, "See, I'm still learning new things about you even after all this time."
She smiled at him and shifted a little closer, "So where'd you go?" He asked, adding his glasses back to his face.
She swallowed and her stomach flipped again, "I just had to use the restroom," she said, her voice shaking slightly, "then I saw that Chandler was awake, so I stopped and talked to him for a few minutes."
"Oh, okay," he replied as he nodded at her, "you seem down about something, is everything okay between the two of you?" When she didn't answer right away, he looked away from the newspaper he was reading and over at her.
Monica shifted under the weight of his stare and crossed her legs. Damn, she thought, that was a loaded question. "Yes, everything is fine," she said, smiling at him.
He narrowed his eyes at her just a little, "You two don't seem as chummy as you used to be to me," he noted.
She met his brown eyes and shrugged her shoulders, "We're fine." She hoped he would drop it.
"Is he still having a hard time with losing his grandmother, or something else?"
Monica pressed her lips together and nodded. She was using Nanna as an excuse for him a lot these days.
"Yeah, he misses his grandmother," she said, "they were really close."
He nodded and looked at the paper again, then lifted the armrest between them and wrapped an arm around her, "Well he's probably glad he has you to help him through it," he commented.
Monica nodded and looked down at her hands, "He's a great friend," she twisted them together in her lap, "and if I can help him through this, I'm glad. He'd do the same for me."
"Hmm, I bet," Richard responded. She furrowed her eyebrows together, "It's great you guys are so close," he turned his attention back to his paper, his left arm around her shoulders
"Yeah," Monica pressed her lips together and shut her eyes, then leaned into him, her head against his shoulder. She hoped she and Chandler could continue to be close.
Because he was her best friend.