Chandler wrapped them up in the blankets and kept hugging Joey for body warmth. They looked rather silly there, all pink and shivering, with snowflakes in their hair. Nobody could see them from the living room, though, because the statue blocked the view.

Chandler joked, "At least California never gets this cold."

Joey nodded, then finally said, "It's just--it's just that everyone's paired off except me. I don't even have a backup anymore now that Phoebe's got somebody."

"Well, you'll find somebody too. You're a great guy, Joe. You just need to learn how to call girls back and give serious dating a try."

Joey shrugged. "I guess."

"You've got plenty of time, Joe. I mean, in L.A., you'll probably have beautiful models and actresses hanging all over you."

Joey sighed. "Yeah. But I'll miss you guys so much."

"I know." Chandler shrugged. "If I could, I'd get me and Monica to move out to California to join you. But I guess she won't want to leave the restaurant and her family and friends. Especially not with the baby coming."

"Yeah." Joey understood, all too well. "Maybe we'll just have to call each other a lot to keep in touch." He hugged Chandler tightly. "I'll miss you the most."

Chandler smiled, then noticed something. "Hey, you got something in your hair."

"It's snow."

"No, something else. Here." Chandler pulled what looked like a twig out of Joey's hair and showed it to him. Then he laughed, realizing. "Oh, it's mistletoe. The wind must have blown it off the window." He pointed to where Monica had strung up Christmas lights around the window, adding mistletoe and branches of holly here and there.

Joey smiled and asked, "Does it count when it lands in your hair?"

Chandler blinked, then shook his head and chuckled at the idea of a kiss. "It doesn't count when it's two guys."

"Why not? We made Monica and Phoebe kiss once when they walked under some mistletoe."

Chandler shrugged and grinned. "Well, any excuse to see a lesbian kiss."

"Still..." Joey said, "It's Christmas." He leaned in for a kiss and Chandler nearly panicked and pulled away, but then Joey just kissed his cheek innocently.

Chandler felt relieved, but he laughed a little nervously nonetheless. "You know, um, for a second there, I thought--never mind."

Joey sighed and closed his eyes at the feeling of their cheeks pressed together. The warmth of the skin-to-skin contact made him aware of how closely they embraced underneath the blankets. He ran his fingers through Chandler's hair and whispered sadly, "I'll miss you so much."

Chandler wondered why Joey needed to repeat this so many times, but he answered, "I'll miss you too. You're--you're my best friend."

Joey nodded and still held onto him tightly. "You're not gonna start liking Ross more when I'm gone, huh?"

Chandler noticed the strangeness in his voice and he drew back from Joey slowly, meeting his eyes. "Joe, um, what--what are you, uh, saying here?"

Joey glanced away and let go of him quickly. "Nothing."

"Joe, if there's something, something we need to talk about..."

Joey shook his head and coughed. "It's nothing. I--I had too much eggnog. I'm getting all sentimental."

Chandler hesitated, but finally accepted the excuse. "Okay." He shivered now that he was only enjoying the warmth of the blanket, and not Joey's arms. "So let's go back inside and have some more eggnog, okay? Maybe if we bring the mistletoe, we can make Monica and Phoebe kiss again."

Chandler started to get up, but had to lean against the dog statue because one of his legs had fallen asleep.

Joey started to turn and help him, but then, touching him, the temptation was too great, and he pulled Chandler back down to the floor with him. Joey embraced him and kissed him on the lips this time.

Stunned, Chandler blinked and met Joey's eyes, but didn't know what to say now that his suspicions had proven correct after all. Apparently, Monica and Phoebe hadn't seen Chandler starting to stand up, because no one came over to the window to see if he'd disappeared so quickly from view because he'd fallen down.

Joey looked remorseful and whispered, "I'm sorry. It's just, I'm leaving soon. This will be our last Christmas, and then--" He frowned and shrugged sadly, "I just wanted to, once."

Chandler gulped and stammered, "Well, that's--that's once all right. Actually, it's twice if you count the New Year's kiss." He cleared his throat a few times. "So, uh, this--this is new. This--uh, what happened to Rachel?"

Joey shrugged and explained, "I--I was over her already. It's just, tonight, being reminded that they're a family, and you and Monica are gonna have a family, and Phoebe's gonna be next too..."

Chandler thought he understood now. "Oh, so you kissed me because you're lonely?"

"No." Joey shook his head and looked hurt that Chandler could think his motives were that shallow. "No, it's just... when you were in Tulsa all the time, I missed you a lot. You were only home for three days a week, and most of the time that you were here, you and Monica would be busy trying for a baby. I mean, fine, you can have sex and whatever, but when do I get to see you? I'd call you and make plans with you for the weekend, but then you had to check in with her, and sometimes she'd say that she wanted you to be with her. Well then why didn't she call you first?!" Joey looked resentful and jealous. He shrugged. "And she even got to fly to Tulsa sometimes to visit you. If I said I wanted to go too, everyone would look at me weird. I'm a baby, huh? Just 'cause I want to see you? 'Cause you promised that we'd make time for us? And once, when we were talking about Phoebe's birthday dinner, Monica completely forgot that you weren't here. She's your wife, and she just suddenly forgets about you? I'm just your friend and I *never* forgot. I always missed you when you weren't here. That's why, that one time, I thought she was cheating on you with somebody. Like maybe that Jeffrey guy at work who was so funny. Maybe she really did forget about you that much, so I'd need to look out for you."

"Oh." Chandler thought back to the awkward night last December when he had lied and told Joey that he was stuck in Tulsa for the weekend, because he didn't want to have to cancel plans with Joey yet again, because of Monica. So Chandler sneaked home to his wife, but Joey overheard them and mistook Chandler for some guy that Monica was having an affair with. Chandler realized now how apt his words were that night, "It's better that Joey thinks you're cheating on me than that I'm cheating on him."

Joey continued softly, "It--it took me a long time to figure out why I missed you so much. Why I didn't mind it when that real estate lady at Richard's apartment thought we were a gay couple. Why I wanted to think that you missed me the most when you finally quit that job last Christmas. I mean, why should you miss her more? You saw her more than me."

Chandler swallowed and tried to absorb the news that Joey now loved him as more than a friend. "I--I'm sorry, Joe. I'm flattered, really, but--"

Joey covered his mouth to hush him. "I know, I know! That's why I never told you before. But now I'm moving away, so I might as well tell you everything. I'm sorry I kissed you."

Chandler shrugged. "It's okay. I just--um, shouldn't we talk about it some more? Maybe you don't have to move to L.A. Maybe it's just a crush that will go away--"

Joey scoffed. "Like my crush on Rachel went away? It eventually did, but not before some stuff happened that almost wrecked her and Ross's family." Joey shook his head resolutely. "I've learned my lesson. I won't be a home wrecker anymore."

"Home wrecker? Joey, you're not a home wrecker!"

"Then how come I keep liking people when they already have somebody? Like, Kate had a boyfriend when we slept together. And Rachel was having a baby with Ross when I started to like her. And now you're having a baby with Monica."

"Joey, that's not a pattern. You didn't mean for any of that to happen."

Joey remained gloomy. "I turned out like my Dad. Or almost. He had a mistress; I'm always the other man."

"Joey!"

Joey started to get up to leave the balcony, but Chandler blocked his path and made him sit down again. "Wait!"

"Let go!"

"No, listen to me! This isn't your fault."

"It is." He tried to push Chandler away.

"Nothing's gonna happen."

"Let go!"

"Joe--"

Joey suddenly grabbed Chandler and kissed him hard. Instead of pushing Joey away, or even slapping him, Chandler just moaned and returned the kiss with equal passion. He melted into his arms and enjoyed feeling Joey's hot breath in his mouth.

Then Joey broke it off and stared at Chandler with wide eyes, shocked at his actions and at Chandler's unexpected response.

Chandler blinked and felt utterly lost. "Oh my God," he gasped. Chandler had kissed guys a few times when he was drunk or in poorly lit bars, but never had he liked kissing a man so much. Never had he thought he might want to be more than friends with Joey.

Joey felt horrible and more guilty than ever. "I told you I'd do something! That I'd ruin--" He choked up and ran back to the window, crawling inside the apartment again.

Chandler got up and followed after him, but was greeted immediately by Monica, who assumed that Joey was still upset about Ross and Rachel. "Oh, poor Joey! You couldn't cheer him up, could you? Come here, let's get you two warm again." She shut the window to the balcony and pulled Chandler back into the living room.