Me again! So, here it is...told ya I had another one! Now, I had to try really hard not to make this more smutty, because I feel like all of my stories are getting that way, and I'm not sure if everybody likes to read smut all the time, :-/. So, I kept this one rated T. There could possibly be another chapter to this, (you'll see when you get to the end) but if there it is, it would probably change to M. So, if you want another chapter with the new steamy rating, let me know! :)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Let me know your thoughts. :)

P.S. I know I keep saying this, but I do PROMISE that it's coming soon, the big one is just about there. Hang with me! :)

The next day, Chandler shook his head in disbelief as he entered his apartment, then shut the door behind him.

He had tried to go into apartment 19, but found the door locked as Rachel and Monica weren't home. And Joey wasn't home. And Phoebe wasn't around, and Ross wasn't either.

Nobody.

He guessed that birthday 29 really wasn't all that important anyway, but somehow, he still felt as if his heart was ripped out and stomped on.

Particularly because not even Monica, the person that he made out with yesterday in the hall, had come by to say happy birthday, or not even hello.

He knew it was a long shot that she'd want another kiss, but he had hoped she would. Because God, he wanted another one. He didn't, however, think that she would completely ignore him.

Not today.

To be fair, she and Phoebe had a big catering job that she had mentioned a few days ago. Monica said it would take up most of the day, and Rachel volunteered to waitress at the affair since very pregnant Phoebe wouldn't be as helpful as she normally would. The three women were already gone when he'd left for work, and he assumed that since Monica and Rachel weren't home, they were still working.

It didn't sting any less.

He didn't recall Joey mentioning a date, but that didn't mean he wasn't on a date. He knew that his roommate didn't have an audition, because Joey always bragged about such situations.

Ross had started dating Emily, and Chandler assumed that she was in town for the week.

He groaned and loosened his necktie, sighing deeply as he flopped down on the yellow couch in front of the big picture window.

Maybe he should go out to a bar, meet a woman, tell her it was his birthday and hope she would reward him with a kiss.

He was sure it wouldn't be as good as the one he got yesterday, but at least he wouldn't be alone on his birthday.

He rubbed a hand over his face, then let his head fall back as he stared at the ceiling.

His cell phone rang from its position in his pocket. He lifted his head, and flipped it open without even checking to see who it was calling him, "Hello?" He let his head fall back on the couch again and squeezed his eyes shut, "Thank you, Mom."

Chandler shot up when his apartment door opened. He blinked as he looked around, not even sure how much time had passed. He looked down at his wrist as he had done about 50 times that day, only to remember that his watch strap broke in half last week and he wasn't wearing a watch.

"Hey," he said to Rachel.

"Hey Chandler," She replied and let out a sigh as she walked to his refrigerator, "do you guys have any bottled water? We are out."

Chandler stood from his couch and nodded, "Yeah, sure, help yourself."

She smiled at him as she retrieved one and stood in the kitchen as she took a long sip.

"So how did the catering thing go?" Chandler asked.

Rachel groaned, "Oh, it was a nightmare. So many people to serve and we needed about 4 or 5 more people to help with the job. Pheebs did the best she could, but she couldn't really do much and I know she was exhausted. And Monica was trying to help me with waitressing, but she was having to cook too," she sighed and shook her head, "we got through it, but barely. I think all three of us are going straight to bed."

Chandler stuck his hands in his pockets, "Wow, sounds like you might," he said with a small chuckle.

She smiled at him, "I am going to take a nice, long, hot shower, and then crawl into my bed. Thanks for the water."

"Yeah, sure," he said nonchalantly and watched her as she waved at him and turned to leave his apartment.

Alone again.

And from what Rachel had just told him, he'd be alone the rest of the night.

He loved having the bigger, nicer apartment that he and Joey had won from the girls, but tonight, he didn't. It just felt empty, hollow.

"Happy birthday, Chandler," he mumbled to himself.

As he took a glass down from the cabinet, he went through a list of women he could call that would possibly come over just to keep him company just so he wouldn't be alone on his fucking birthday.

The only logical name that he knew he could call and with no hesitation, she would come over, was Janice.

God, he just wasn't in the mood for that laugh, or that over-the-top personality. Not tonight.

He downed the first drink he made and went ahead and made himself another as his mind drifted off, yet again, to the make out session he had with Monica last night.

He enjoyed every single second of it. She tasted so good, her mouth soft, and her perfect body felt so good molded against his. He wanted it again, no, he craved it again.

He gave a moment's thought as to whether or not he should go over there, but he finally decided against it. If she was as tired as Rachel said they all were, she was probably cranky and would just turn him away anyway, and he really didn't want that kind of rejection on his birthday.

"You're just pathetic," he said to nobody, then downed the rest of his second drink. He poured a third, then made his way back over to the Barcalounger and grabbed the remote. Surely he could find something on TV to watch until his birthday ticked away and tomorrow got here.

"Oh good, late night porn," he said, and put the remote and his drink down as he unbuttoned his pants and a few buttons of his dress shirt. He propped his legs up in the chair. At least something would get his blood flowing and endorphins rushing tonight.

He faintly heard a knock on his door not even five minutes later. He quickly buttoned his pants and grabbed the remote to power off the TV. He buttoned two buttons of his dress shirt as the knock happened again and he made his way to the door.

He opened it to find Monica's big blue eyes staring at him, "Hi," she said, a smile stretched across her face.

"Hey," he replied, and stuck his hands in his pockets, "you knocked, really?"

My God, he was handsome, she thought.

She bit her bottom lip for a second as she thought about those soft lips on hers yesterday.

She shrugged her shoulder, "I thought you might have had a girl in here and I didn't want to disturb you if you did."

He chuckled at that, "No, no girl. Nobody but me is here, actually."

To his surprise, she smiled at that as a typhoon sized wave of relief went all through her body. That was just the situation she wanted: Chandler, alone.

"Ok, good. Then can you go sit on the couch, maybe? And shut your eyes?"

"What? Why?"

"Just do it, please," she said, her head slightly turned.

He stared at her for another second and swore his mouth watered as he thought of kissing her again.

"Ok, fine," he said as casually as he could, then went to sit on the couch as instructed. With his eyes closed, he heard her apartment door shut, then she sat something down and he heard his apartment door shut too. He felt her sit down next to him moments later, and good gracious, she smelled absolutely wonderful, and he instantly knew that she was fresh out of the shower.

Monica grinned as she put the tray down on the coffee table in front of him, then put her hand on his knee, "Ok, open them!" She said excitedly.

Chandler opened his eyes and felt his mouth fall open from shock. On the plastic tray in front of him was a single yellow cupcake with chocolate icing and a candle burning on top. A small, perfectly wrapped box was on the right corner, two VHS tapes ribboned together in the left corner. A grilled cheese sandwich was in the middle of the tray, along with a Yoo-hoo, his favorite box of candy and a bag of ready to microwave popcorn.

"Happy birthday, Chandler!" She said, her arms open, her voice louder than before.

He turned to her, mouth agape, "Wow, Mon, I don't even know what to say," he said, his voice full of emotion.

She grinned even bigger like she did anytime someone liked her work, "You didn't think I forgot about your birthday, did you?"

He smirked at her and ran a hand through his hair, "Uh, well…""Chandler," she scolded lightly, then put her hand back on his knee, "you're my best friend. I could never forget your birthday."

He grinned at that, "You did all of this for me?"

"Of course I did," she said sweetly, "I wanted to make you your favorite meal, but with the catering job running long I didn't have time and…"He put his hand on top of hers, and she shivered in response. He looked into her eyes, and she wondered for a second if he was going to lean forward and kiss her, but he didn't.

Of course he didn't, she thought. He probably wanted to forget about last night, pretend it didn't happen, and keep their friendship intact. He'd hesitated with the same premise last night before he kissed her, and she would bet a freshly baked cookie that he was still thinking the same thing.

Now, she just needed to figure out a way to get her mind off of it.

"Mon, this is perfect," he said, "and who says grilled cheese isn't my favorite meal?"

"Really?" She smiled at him again.

"It's in the top five, easy," he said, then turned his eyes away from hers again, briefly wondering if they were going to talk about last night.

She smiled and picked up the cupcake, "Ok, birthday boy, make a wish!"

He squeezed his eyes shut and paused for a few seconds, then took in a deep, dramatic breath and blew out the one candle.

She chuckled at him, "I think you got all of them."

"Wanted to make sure my wish would come true." He licked his lips as he turned to her, and she stared at him for several long, quiet seconds.

She cleared her throat and carefully put the cupcake back in its place. She reached over, taking the box from the tray, "Open your gift," she suggested, and held it out for him.

"You didn't have to get me anything."

She rolled her eyes at the predictable response from him, "Chandler, I know I didn't have to. But it's your birthday," she said, and moved the box closer to him, "and you get gifts on your birthday."

He chuckled at that and nodded once as he took the box from her, his fingertips brushing hers lightly as he did so.

He opened the wrapping paper slowly and then lifted the lid of the box, his eyes lighting up, "Oh my God, seriously?" He pulled the watch out of the box and stared at it, "I can't believe you got me this," he said, a smile on his face.

"You said yours broke last week and I thought you could use a new one," she grinned.

"I can't tell you how many times I've looked at my bare wrist for the time these last few days," he smiled as he put it on his left wrist and looked at her again, "this is so sweet of you."

"I'm glad you like it," she whispered.

"I do, it's perfect. Thank you." He said, then leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek. When he pulled away, he didn't move very far from her.

"You should um," she cleared her throat nervously, "you should eat your grilled cheese before it gets too cold."

He looked down at her lips, then moved further away from her, surprised that she didn't kiss him, and he didn't lean forward and kiss her.

"Right, grilled cheese," he said, then looked down at his new watch again as he picked up the sandwich. She watched as he took a few bites, then grabbed the chocolatey drink off of the tray and took a big swallow, "This is absolutely amazing," he said to her.

She smiled, "Yeah? Good."

He picked up the perfect cupcake and peeled the wrapper off of the bottom of it, then took a big, satisfying bite of it.

She giggled at him as he swallowed the bite, and he turned to her and tilted his head, "What are you laughing at?"

She lifted a hand and wiped some icing off of the side of his mouth, "You had icing on your face."

He looked down at her icing covered finger as she lifted it to her mouth and licked the sweet, chocolate icing off of it.

Good God Almighty, was she trying to kill him? He shifted in his seat because he was suddenly, majorly turned on and he thought if she looked down at his pants, she would know it immediately.

He chuckled nervously and felt heat come to his face. He needed to say something, anything to cover up the embarrassment he felt, "Oh yeah, well, it's delicious."

She grinned again and he stared at the shining smile that he'd always admired. It had the power to light up the room, and even more so because she didn't know it.

"I'm glad you like it. I wanted you to have something special."

She yawned then and shut her eyes as he finished most of the cupcake, then turned to her, "You have the last bite," he said, and she leaned up as he fed it to her.

Her lips grazed his fingers, and he felt his heart skip a beat in response as his pants suddenly felt even tighter.

She finished chewing and nodded at him approvingly, "Thank you for sharing," she said.

He turned to her on the couch and tried desperately to ignore the overwhelming urge he had to lay her down and kiss her.

He took her hand in his and squeezed it, "Mon, thank you, again," he said softly, "I don't even know how to explain to you how much this meant to me."

"Oh, you're welcome," she replied sweetly.

He smiled at her and moved an inch closer to her, "Aren't you going to ask me what I wished for?" He said, and her breath caught when her eyes caught his.

She swallowed and took in a quick shaky breath, "If you tell me, it might not come true," she said, barely loud enough for him to hear.

He moved his head even closer, and felt his fingers pull on her hand, "I think in this case, it might come true."

The corner of her mouth turned up in a smile, and just as it did yesterday, her pulse quickened with how close he was to her.

"What did you wish for, Chandler?" She asked in a soft, breathless whisper.

He grinned at her and moved his other hand to cup her face, his thumb gently caressed her cheek, "I wished for a birthday kiss," he murmured.

"You did huh?" She teased him, her voice soft, then looked down at his lips.

"Yeah," he confirmed, "will you uh," he moved even closer to her, "will you make my wish come true?"

She smiled just slightly again and nodded once, but just as his lips touched hers, she moved backward. His hand fell from her face, and she smiled again at the lost look on his face.

He let out a soft groan, "Mon," he said with a sigh.

She licked her lips and made the decision in that very second. She was tired of this, tired of this new, undeniable tension between them, and she didn't want to worry about anything else.

She lifted her leg over his lap and he gasped in surprise but grabbed her waist to steady her.

"What are you doing?" He questioned stupidly, because he already knew the answer.

She smiled at him and locked her hands behind his neck, "Granting your wish," she said, "because birthday wishes are important."

"Oh yeah?" He said, then leaned up to kiss her, but she moved away again, "My God, Geller, you are such a tease," he told her, and smiled when she smiled.

"You need to have patience," she said to him.

He groaned, "It's getting pretty thin."

She moved her bottom half over him and his grip tightened on her waist, "I promise you'll be rewarded."

"When?" He grunted.

"Why don't you tell me how you would like to be kissed?"

He chuckled sarcastically, "Am I dreaming right now?" She bit her bottom lip and lifted her eyebrows. He narrowed his eyes at her just a bit and moved one of his hands to the back of her head. He pulled her down so that he could whisper in her ear, "Long," he kissed her earlobe, "and deep," he kissed below her ear, "and with your mouth."

The laugh that escaped her lips then was more of a whimper, and she moved her head back to his face and planted her lips on his.

She was slightly surprised when he didn't kiss her back as urgently as she was trying to kiss him, but instead slowed the process way down. He buried his fingers in her hair and opened his mouth, then so did she, and he moaned when he deepened the kiss.

He pressed herself against him fully, and her hands finally left their position from behind his neck to rest on his shoulders. She slid her hands to the open part of his shirt and slipped her left one beneath it, mostly because she wanted to feel his skin. His skin was hot beneath her fingertips and she let out a little moan at the thought that he was as on fire as she was.

She felt his hand that was on her waist slide around to the small of her back, his fingers dancing just under the hem of her shirt.

His tongue dueled with hers, and he took his time and explored every inch of her mouth. God, she tasted so good.

She finally pulled back, and he knew it was because she needed to catch her breath, because so did he.

"God you're good at that," Chandler murmured, then pressed his lips to her chin.

She smiled at him, "Hm, so better than just 'ok'?"

He grinned back at her, "I think I might need another just to make sure," without waiting for a response, he leaned up and pressed another kiss to her lips, then immediately deepened it when she opened her mouth again.

She moaned and couldn't stop her body from reacting to him anymore. She whimpered when he broke the kiss and looked down to avoid her eyes.

"Sorry," he whispered, and she smiled at the adorable blush that flushed his face.

"What on earth are you sorry for?" She wanted to know.

He swallowed and finally looked up at her, "Uh, well," he let out a nervous chuckle, "that's not exactly a bunching of our clothes under your thigh."

She grinned at him and he groaned when she purposely moved her legs to cause even more discomfort, "I know what that is," she told him, and pressed herself against him to kiss him again.

"Mon," he warned as he pulled away from her mouth, his hands returned to her waist, "it's only getting worse."

She smirked at him, and she felt her whole body tingle as she thought of what else they could do tonight.

God, how she desperately wanted to do that.

She moved her hands to the front of his shirt and slid them down his torso, then rested on his belt buckle, "Chandler," she said as she moved close to his mouth again, "do you want me?"

"Fuck, yes," he groaned, his voice low and husky. She felt as if she was about to melt into a puddle. The desire in his eyes, his touch, and his taste all were making her senses go into complete overdrive. "I think that's fairly obvious, right?" To his surprise, she didn't smile. She only ran her hand over him, and he groaned with impatience. "Mon…" he murmured, and good gracious how she loved to hear her name.

She lifted one of her hands to the back of his head as he gripped her waist and suddenly moved them so that she was flat on her back on the couch.

He broke the kiss and lightly kissed her jawline, then moved to kiss her neck. She moved her head around to allow him to explore her skin as she began to unbutton his shirt.

He moved to kiss the hollow of her throat, but stopped and lifted his head to look into her eyes, silently questioning her if she wanted to continue.

"Yes," she whispered, then lifted a hand to cup his face.

He muttered something she didn't understand, mostly because her heart was racing so fast that she couldn't focus on anything else but what he was doing to her. He planted his lips back onto hers, then gave her another deep, breath taking kiss.

She moaned when he broke the kiss again but didn't protest too much when he began to pull up her shirt. He placed his mouth on her belly and made his way up when he suddenly heard the handle on the door move.

"Aw man," Joey said with a groan and sigh.

"Shit," Chandler whispered, "Joey," he muttered simply. It took her lust filled mind and body a second to catch up, but when she did, she sat up quickly and moved her legs off of the side of the couch. Chandler sat down again in front of the tray again as Monica pulled down her shirt and Chandler fastened two buttons and crossed his legs just as the door flew open.

Monica tried desperately to act as normal as her heart raced and her body ached from the event that was cut tragically short. She moved a hand to her hair and tried to brush it down some.

"Hey Joe," Chandler managed.

"Hey," he said, then hung up his jacket behind the door, "what's up?"

Chandler glanced over at Monica. They were lucky it was only Joey, and not one of their other friends. Ross, Rachel, or Phoebe would have known exactly what was going on. He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair, then used it to point to the tray in front of him, "Oh, uh, Monica gave me a birthday gift."

Joey smiled for a second and then a panicked look came over his face.

Chandler expected such a look. He had been friends with Joey for five years now, and the man had never once remembered his birthday until someone else mentioned it.

"So, I uh," he put his hand on the back of his head, "I got you," the duo on the couch glanced at each other and smiled, then looked back at Joey, "uh, this…" he pat each of his pockets, but came up empty and walked over to him, then threw his arms around his roommate.

Monica giggled, "The classic birthday hug," she said, smiling at Chandler as he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah! Happy birthday, I love you, man!"

"Thanks Joey," Chandler said, and pat his friends' back

Joey put his hands on his hips and pointed to the tapes on the tray, "Oh a movie night? What are we watching?"

Monica looked away from Joey and rubbed a finger against her temple. She glanced at Chandler, and he sighed and licked his lips, "I don't know if we're…"

Joey gasped, "Die Hard? That's only like, the best movie!"

Chandler frowned as he realized now that he wouldn't be able to get away from Joey long enough to finish that wonderful, perfect thing that was happening between him and Monica.

Monica chuckled at their friend and grabbed Chandler's hand, "Why don't you and Joe watch them? I'm pretty beat, I think I want to go to bed," she said.

Chandler let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding in, and turned his hand to interlace their fingers, "You sure? It was supposed to be our movie night."

"Yes, I'm sure," she replied, and smiled at him, "he will enjoy the movie more than I would anyway."

He stared at her, deep into her eyes and something passed between them that he couldn't quite explain.

He cleared his throat and broke eye contact with her. He had finally got the rest of his body to calm down and since they weren't going to be able to finish, he didn't need to get himself all hot and bothered again by staring at her.

"Ok," he finally said softly, and looked up at Joey as he grabbed the movie and rushed to put it in the VCR.

Monica glanced over at him again and smiled, then finally let go of his hand, "I'm gonna go," she said, then stood from the couch. He watched her walk around the coffee table and found himself somewhat in a trance for several seconds.

"Dude, come on!" Joey said, plopping down in a Barcalounger with beer on the table between them, "It's starting!"

"Just a sec," Chandler said, and stood quickly and jogged a couple of steps to catch Monica's hand. She stepped out into the hall and he followed her, then shut the apartment door most of the way behind them.

She smiled at him, and he smiled back, then let out a breath as relief ran through him, "Leave it to us to get interrupted, huh?"

She squeezed his hand, "Of course we did," she chuckled softly.

She looked into his eyes, and she was sure she saw what she thought was regret in them, "Chandler, we can just…"

"Chandler!" They heard Joey yell from inside the apartment.

Chandler rolled his eyes at Joey, ignored him and put his hands on Monica's hips,

"We can just what?" He wanted to know.

She smiled and looked down at his hands on her, then put hers on top of his, "Forget what happened and just go back to…" He stopped her, his finger on her lips.

"I don't want to forget," he responded, then rubbed his finger over her lip. He moved his hand to cup her face.

"Chandler!" Joey called from inside the apartment again.

"I guess you better get back in there," she whispered softly, a small smile on her face, "you wouldn't want to miss the first part of the movie you've seen a hundred times."

Chandler groaned, because he wanted to stay with her all night long, "I guess so," he whispered, "I'd rather stay out here with you," he said, then winked at her.

"He's going to come look for you soon," she told him, then tried to stifle a yawn, but failed.

"You should get some sleep," he said, then rubbed her cheek, "sleepy girl."

She nodded in agreement, and he rubbed her cheek again, "Thank you Mon," he said and stepped closer to her, "for everything."

She grinned at him and put her body all the way against his, "You're welcome," she answered softly, "happy birthday, Chandler."

He smiled again, "Best birthday ever," he chuckled once and stopped just before his lips touched hers, "well, almost."

She giggled as he pressed his lips to hers and pulled her even closer. He wanted to deepen the kiss because the taste of her mouth was his new favorite thing, but he knew he didn't have the time.

He pulled backwards and took a couple of steps towards her door, opening it for her, "Goodnight, Mon," he said softly.

She smiled and stepped up to him, then gave him a quick kiss again, "Goodnight Chandler."

He watched her as she walked into her apartment, then turned and looked at him one more time before she shut the door.

He didn't know how long he stood there, staring at his old apartment door, wanting so badly to go in there and finish what they'd started earlier, but it was long enough to make Joey come to the door and stand in it, his arms open, "Are you ever coming to watch this movie?"

Chandler licked his lips, sighed, and nodded once and followed his roommate back into their apartment, "Yeah, let's go."

He sat down in the other recliner and tried, really hard, to pay attention to it. His mind was right where it belonged, he decided.

On her.

Monica Geller.