"Dr. Burke?"

Monica knew her brother of all people wouldn't accept this relationship, but honestly, she didn't care. Richard was everything she was looking for in a man. "Well for your information he happens to be one of the brightest, most sophisticated, sexiest men I've ever been with."

"Dr. Burke is sexy?" Ross looked at her in disbelief. He couldn't wrap his head around his little sister going out with a man as old as their father. Rolling his eyes as Phoebe and Rachel agreed with Monica.

Chandler looked up at Monica from his chair biting his cheek. "You're going on a date with one of Ross's dinosaurs?" he said bitterly.

"Oh please, it's not that bad" Monica rolled her eyes. "I'd rather not hear all your jokes about his age, please. I should get going anyway" she tucked her hair behind her ear as she left the apartment.

"Have fun Mon" Rachel called after her but she was already gone. "She must be really excited about this date" Rachel smiled at Phoebe.

"If she wasn't going to date him I certainly would" Phoebe chuckled.

"Oh great, we're still talking about this?" Chandler quipped, annoyed with this topic already. He's spent the past few days trying to get past his thoughts about Monica. It was becoming harder though and now that she was dating an apparently sexy older man? He can't even compete with that. Of course, he knew that it would never go anywhere past his personal musings but it would be a lot easier if she was single.

"Why are you so bothered by it you haven't even met him yet" Rachel pointed out.

"I...Just want what's best for Monica that's all. And if Ross says he's too old for her then I'm on his side on this" he almost rolled his eyes at himself with the lame excuse.

"Thank you! I mean we almost grew up with this man. He's my dad's best friend, it's weird!" Ross continued to rant. "My baby sister going out with a guy more than twice her age? It's not going to end well at all. I mean can any of you see her actually marrying him?" Ross looked around the room when no one replied.

"Ross…" Chandler ultimately sighed "We have to support her. It's her choice" he mumbled into his Chinese take-out.

"I thought you agreed with me," Ross protested.

"I do. I don't like it any more than you do-" for a completely different reason he thought to himself "but if she's happy then she's happy. And if it ends badly then we support her through that too." Chandler looked up at him with sincerity in his eyes. Monica's happiness should be the only thing that matters and he hoped Ross was mature enough to see that.

"Wow Chandler. That was actually sweet" Phoebe said, surprised.

"I have my moments," he mumbled, looking back at the TV. He just wanted the conversation about Monica's boyfriend to be over and he figured it would be now that Ross and Rachel were leaving for their long-awaited date. He could tell Ross still wasn't comfortable with Monica and Richard but it didn't seem to matter with Rachel to distract him. Maybe he should call Janice. Someone who was always available for him when he got desperate enough and now that Monica was dating he definitely felt desperate. He shook his head slightly not even wanting to go down that road. Chandler looked over at his friend Joey and was happy he had at least one constant he could count on.

"Pheebs, can you grab me a beer?" Joey finally looked away from the TV.

"You two are going to have to get out of the chairs sometime" Phoebe pointed out handing Joey and Chandler a new beer from the fridge.

"Don't expect that to happen anytime soon" Chandler chuckled as Joey offered his hand out for a low five which he gladly reciprocated.

Monica put the last box into the truck for Joey helping him move to his new apartment uptown. "You're going to be ok?" she asked Joey for the hundredth time that day.

"Yeah...It'll be hard to adjust at first but I'm excited to be on my own you know?" he chuckled slightly awkwardly as he scratched the back of his neck. "Thanks for helping me pack and everything guys but I can take it from here. I'll see everyone at the coffee house later" Joey smiled sincerely. It was hard leaving Chandler but he definitely felt like he needed to be on his own for once.

Monica went back up the steps to their floor and looked at the door to apartment 19 having a feeling she knew what was on the other side. She stepped forward and knocked gently "Chandler?" Silence. "Can we talk?" she tried again. Monica heard a faint "it's open" before walking into the apartment. Seeing him sitting on the couch resting his arms on his knees and his eyes looked red.

"Hey Mon, what's up?" Chandler put on a small smile for her. He knew it was a redundant question but it was worth a shot delaying the conversation about Joey moving out as much as he could.

Figures. He wasn't a guy who liked talking about his emotions if he could help it. "Are you okay here alone?" she asked hesitantly.

"Oh of course. Yeah totally" he said dismissively.

Monica grabbed the pint of ice cream in their fridge along with two spoons before sitting by him on the couch. "I've never lived on my own" she admitted, laying her legs across his lap. "It just seems…"

"Lonely?" Chandler suggested as he took a bite of the ice cream.

"Yeah" she sighed sympathetically. "I bet he'll miss you and come back before you know it."

"Well I'd hate to tell you I told you so but everyone is moving on with their lives and things are changing already. He gently took off her shoes so she'd be more comfortable.

"What? Things are not changing. I mean yeah Joey has a new apartment but he's still your best friend. You'll see him every day at my place and the coffee shop…really what's changed?"

"You also have a new boyfriend," Chandler mumbled into his ice cream.

"We just started going out, it might not go anywhere" Monica tried to hide her blush behind the ice cream container.

He tilted his head slightly with a small smile watching her. "You really like him don't you?"

She sighed with a smile, handing him the ice cream. "He's just really sweet and I'm finally in a relationship where the guy is mature and it seems like there's actually a possibility of a future you know?"

"Yeah totally. You know me, I'm always in relationships with the possibility of a future. Let's see there's…" he trailed off.

Monica chuckled, shaking her head slightly. "You're going to find someone, Chandler I promise. You just need self-confidence. What's one thing about yourself that you like?"

Chandler thought about an answer "I like my sense of humor" he said honestly.

Monica looked at him skeptically. "Um- Anything else?"

"You don't like my jokes?" he frowned.

"I do but other girls...it's not important. What about your other qualities? Your loyalty, great smile, really sweet…"

Chandler smiled at her compliments trying not to blush as he felt his cheeks heating up. "I didn't know you thought those things about me."

"Of course. You're my friend for a reason" she said like it was obvious. "Don't you think that stuff about us?"

Chandler swallowed thickly as his heart raced "Y-yeah of course. I mean I know Rachel is nice and everything...Phoebe is great. You're obviously perfect cause you're so caring and funny and obviously beautiful anyone would be lucky to have you as a...friend. " he rambled nervously.

"What?" Monica laughed softly.

"Nothing...It's been a long day I should go," he said quickly, putting the ice cream down and going to his room, inadvertently pushing her legs off. "Goodnight!" He called from behind his door.

Monica looked at his door confused. "Goodnight? I guess" shaking her head as she got up and walked to the door. She noticed the half-drunken beer next to an untouched bottle that Chandler had left out as if Joey would come back for it. "Oh Chandler," she sighed, shaking her head and going back to her own apartment worried about her friend.

Chandler hit his palm against his forehead repeatedly "Idiot" he grumbled.