Anything for Love
Chapter 2: The One with Joey and Phoebe's Christmas
The next morning, Joey woke up before Phoebe. He ordered room service for them and looked out the window at the city below. Everything looked peaceful. It was snowing lightly, giving the city an even more magical feel than usual.
He heard Phoebe stir, and smiled when he looked over to see her sitting up and smiling at him. "Merry Christmas!" she said to him.
"Merry Christmas!" he said in return.
Phoebe climbed out of bed and stood beside him at the window, looking out over the city. "It's
so beautiful! I love Christmas. Though, this year kind of sucks because it's my first Christmas alone since marrying Mike…" Phoebe trailed off. She then took Joey's hand and squeezed it while smiling up at him. "But it sucks a whole lot less since you're here. It also means I'm not alone, so thank you."
Joey squeezed her hand. "It also means I'm not alone, so thank you!"
All of them had been so busy this year that they had previously agreed to exchanged gifts on New Year's Eve instead of Christmas to give them more time to shop for the perfect gifts. Monica was going by reservation only at her restaurant New Year's Eve and taking reservations no later than six so that she could make it to the house with plenty of time to celebrate with her friends before the ball dropped. They were doing the celebration at Chandler's and her house.
Phoebe kissed his cheek. "I have something for you. I don't want to wait for New Year's Eve."
"I have something for you too," Joey informed her. He grinned. "I don't want to wait either."
They both ran to their suitcases and dug into them.
Phoebe then handed Joey a wrapped gift. He handed her one in return.
"My friend wrapped it for me," Joe blushed. "I'm no good at wrapping."
"That's okay. I'm not the best wrapper myself as you can see," Phoebe nodded to her poorly wrapped gift.
Joey shrugged. "The paper is going to get torn off anyway. Do you want to go first?"
"Let's open them together," Phoebe said. "On three."
Joey nodded his agreement, and they counted together. "One. Two. Three!"
They both tore their gifts open.
Joey grinned when he saw a sweater with Duck and Chick sewn on to it. "Is this…?"
Phoebe nodded. "A client of mine is amazing at knitting. I gave her a year's worth of free massages if she would make this based on a picture of Duck and Chick I gave her. She even created her own pattern for it. She's that good!"
Joey teared up. "I miss those guys." His first ones had gone to a farm he couldn't visit them on, as far as he knew. In reality, they had died, but no one wanted him to be sad, so they help up the charade. His second Duck and Chick (the ones on the sweater) he couldn't take to LA with him, and Monica didn't want them in hers and Chandler's house, they had had made a move to a bird sanctuary in New Jersey, which included all kinds of birds. They were apparently very happy there and this farm, you could visit. Joey had visited a couple times, but hadn't gotten down since the last time he saw them, which was the previous year.
"It's funny how a client made my gift, because a friend of mine made yours." Joey nodded toward her gift. "Open it!"
"Okay," Phoebe tore open her present, eager to see what it was. She pulled out a patchwork satchel bag and gasped. It had a grey tabby cat printed on it that took up almost the whole front. Little squiggle lines were coming out around it, indicating an order. Above it were the words "Smelly Cat".
"Turn it around!" Joey said, nodding toward it.
Phoebe did as told, and covered her mouth and laughed when she saw a garbage can printed on the other side with fish bones and other gross looking things popping out from underneath the lid. Above it were the words, "It's not your fault."
She looked at Joey. "Joey, I love it so much! How did you ever find something like this?"
Joey blushed, smiling because he knew he did well. "My friend and her husband have their own printing business. They have t-shirts and satchels like that—almost anything really—that they customize. I know you said you were obsessed with the new satchel bag trend, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have one special made for you. She also wrapped it for you."
"I'm going to change my bags out right now!" Phoebe said.
"Your Santa satchel bag goes better for Christmas," Joey noted, nodding toward her current satchel bag that was red with white fur around it and three black buttons down the front.
"I don't care. You had this made for me, so it's my new favorite!" Phoebe grabbed her old bag and sat down in front of Joey on the floor with it where she began to empty the contents of her old bag. She blushed when she took out the magazine she had bought at the airport with Joey on the cover. "Oops!" She blushed. "I forgot that was in there."
Joey grabbed the magazine from her and grinned. "I do look good on this, don't I?"
Phoebe nodded, her cheeks still red from blushing. "Yes, you do!"
Joey raised an eyebrow at her. "You know I could have gotten a copy for you for free, don't you?"
Phoebe shrugged. "It was worth the money."
Joey looked at the cover again. "It's still trippy to see myself on a magazine cover." He handed it back to her. She tossed the magazine in her suitcase and went back to transferring things to her new bag. "You'll have to thank your friends for me and tell them how much I love it."
"The magazine?" Joey asked; confused.
Phoebe smirked at him. "No, silly, the bag!"
"Oh, that!" Joey laughed. "Sure thing."
Phoebe finished packing her things into her new bag.
"Here. Let me take a photo of you with your new bag," Joey said, taking her camera from where she had it lying on the floor.
She held up her bag and smiled, and he snapped a picture of her with it.
"Now let me get one of you with your sweater," Phoebe said, taking her camera back from him.
Joey grinned as he proudly held his sweater up, and Phoebe snapped a pic of him.
Just then, room service arrived.
Joey got up and opened the door, as usual leaving a handsome tip and signing for the meal. Then, once they were alone again, they ate at the table in their room.
He had ordered bacon, sausage, and waffles for himself, and egg whites, and a cream cheese bagel for her. He had ordered them both coffees and orange juices.
"You're so good at knowing what I like," Phoebe said to him with a smile.
He smiled back. "Well, I have known you for years."
Phoebe nodded. "That is true."
"So, I guess we should call the rest of the gang, huh?" Joey asked.
Phoebe nodded. "Sure. After breakfast."
Though, neither of them was overly excited to call their friends. They were both enjoying their time alone together.
They laughed and joked together over breakfast and enjoyed the beautiful view, seeing as the table was in front of the window.
Joey let Phoebe shower first, and the called up Chandler while she was showering. "Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas, Joe. Sorry I couldn't make it out last night. Phoebe was able to pick you up though, right?"
"Yeah, she was. Are we all getting together today?" Joey asked.
"I'll have to ask Monica what she has planned," Chandler said.
"Merry Christmas Joey!" Monica said from the other line. "I was thinking I could make us all Christmas dinner tonight at my restaurant. We're closed for Christmas, but of course, it being my restaurant, I can open it for a private party."
Joey hesitated. "I was thinking we could keep it to just us."
"We're the private party, Joey," Monica explained.
"Oh! Well then, yes, that sounds fun!" Joey agreed.
"We're going to my parents in a short while for lunch. They agreed to keep the twins overnight for Christmas. I can go straight to the restaurant from there want start cooking. I'm thinking we eat around six-thirty. I already checked with Ross and Rachel and they're down for it," Monica replied.
"Her parents agreed to keep Emma as well, so we won't have to worry about any kids ruining our fun," Chandler piped in.
"Ruining our fun? Nice, Chandler," Monica said.
"Come on! You know I love the kids, but won't it be nice to spend an evening with friends without having to worry about taking care of the children?" Chandler asked her.
"I guess you're right," Monica reluctantly agreed.
"Then we can have a little Christmas fun when we get back home, if you know what I mean," Chandler added, this time in a lower, quieter voice.
Monica giggled. "You know, I'm beginning to see what you mean about more fun with no kids!"
"All right, this is where I get off the phone. I will see you guys tonight at six-thirty!" Joey said.
"Wait. I don't think Phoebe knows yet," Monica said.
"I'll call and tell her," Joey said. He didn't know if Phoebe wanted them to know she spent the night with him or not. The way he figured, it wasn't their business, and they would just make it out to be something it wasn't, so he kept his mouth shut.
"All right thanks. See you tonight! I can't wait," Monica said.
"See you tonight. Me neither. Goodbye for now." Joey hung up and then watched some TV until Phoebe came out of the shower. "Your turn!" she said. "I made sure to leave some warm water for you."
"Thanks!" Joey then informed her of their plans for dinner.
"You didn't tell them I stayed with you last night, did you?" Phoebe asked, worried. She didn't want this turning out to be a scandal, and knowing the others, they'd certainly try to make it into one.
Joey shook his head. "No. I figured it wasn't their business."
Phoebe was relieved. "Thanks!"
"I'm going to go shower quick and get ready, then I figured maybe we could go exploring. I feel like a tourist, I haven't been back in so long." Joey headed for the bathroom.
"Sounds good!" Phoebe agreed.
Joey grabbed his clothes for the day, then went into shower.
Phoebe then sat down in front of the window to read the paper and finish her coffee. She noticed that Joey had also had the coffee made just as she liked it. She smiled to herself. Maybe this Christmas wasn't going to be so bad after all, she thought.
They decided to walk through Central park since it was always so beautiful during the Christmas season.
There was a lot of snow on the ground, so they were both bundled up in their heavy winter coats and boots. They also wore gloves and scarves.
"What should we do first?" Phoebe asked as they walked.
They were passing the carousel, and Joey's eyes lit up. "Can we ride the carousel?"
Phoebe smirked. "I think it's for little kids, Joey."
"Oh. Yeah, I guess you're right," Joey agreed, though he looked a little crestfallen.
"But I don't think they'd turn adults away. I'm sure we're not the only adults to ever ride the carousel!" Phoebe didn't mind. She was sure there were other adults even without kids that rode it. Granted they were probably tourists, but Joey hadn't been in the area in years, so she was willing to do this for him if it made him happy. Besides, the more she looked at it, the more she thought it might be fun.
"Yay!" Joey said happily.
Phoebe insisted on paying this time since Joey had been paying for everything else. Joey was too excited about riding the carousel to protest.
"I'll just ride in the carriage," Phoebe informed him.
"No way! The carriages don't go up and down like the horses do. Besides, we already rode in a carriage last night. It's time to ride a horse!"
Joey was so excited as he climbed onto a dashing looking horse, that Phoebe couldn't resist him. She hopped onto the horse next to him and snapped a picture of him with a huge grin on his face. His excitement was contagious, and once the carousel started moving, she couldn't help but laugh with him as they moved up and down on the fancy horses.
When the ride was over, Joey told Phoebe to sit in the carriage for a second.
"Why?" Phoebe asked.
"Just do it!" Joey said with a mischievous grin.
Phoebe did as told, and Joey took her camera from her. "Act like you're a royal queen in her carriage."
"Oo, oo! I can do that!" Phoebe waved the way the queen would. She loved pretending to be the queen. Her life growing up had been anything but regal, so even to this day, she dreamed of being royal. She held her head high with a serious expression on her face, and Joey snapped a picture of her.
They then left the carousel, and they walked a little further down the pathway. They saw some kids making snow angels.
"Now it's my turn to be a kid. That looks fun. Let's make snow angels!" Phoebe said to Joey, as excited to make snow angels as he was to ride the carousel. "I could never make any as a kid. Ursula would always stomp on them before I could even get a picture!" Ursula was her estranged twin sister who didn't share Phoebe's compassion.
"I promise not to step on yours," Joey promised.
They then made snow angels and laughed at how silly they both felt. However, at the same time, it was fun! They got a few odd looks from the parents of the kids making snow angels, but neither one of them cared.
"Can you please take a picture of me and my friend lying by our snow angels?" Phoebe asked one of the fathers.
"Uh… Sure," the father said. He obviously didn't recognize, Joey. As famous as Joey was, Phoebe was surprised he didn't seem to get recognized. True, he wasn't as famous as George Clooney or Brad Pitt, but still…
Joey and Phoebe laid beside their snow angels, and the man took their picture.
"Thanks!" Phoebe said, once Joey had gotten up and helped her up, and she was able to take the camera back from the man.
The rest of the day, they had a blast. They did Top of the Rock, and then found a nice little restaurant that was open. They had lunch there, and it fit both Joey's non-vegetarian needs and Phoebe's vegetarian needs. They had dessert, and Joey paid for it all, despite Phoebe's protests.
After lunch, they looked at all the shop windows, beautifully decorated for Christmas. They took more pictures, and then they went back through the park. When Phoebe saw children sledding, she wanted to sled, but was bummed they didn't have a sled.
Joey then called out that if anyone was willing to let him and his friend use their sled for a few trips down the hill, he'd pay them fifty dollars.
Needless to say, he had several offers. Some people even asked for his autograph.
Now he gets recognized! Phoebe thought with a smirk. This too felt weird to her. She wasn't used to people asking her friend for autographs.
Joey was polite to his fans and signed a few autographs, as well as posed for a few pictures. He then sledded down the hill with Phoebe twice, but then they left, for they didn't want more people who knew of Joey to start rushing in on him. Joey did, however, pay yet another fifty to the sled owner to take a picture of them on the sled.
Once the picture was taken, the money was given, and Joey had the camera back, he gave the kid his sled back.
Joey and Phoebe then held hands in a friendly manner, and continued to walk the park.
They passed by kids building a snowman, and this time he paid a hundred dollars to the two kids—apiece—to allow him and Phoebe to use their materials to make a snowman of their own. The kids gladly accepted the cash, and watched as Joey and Phoebe built a snowman.
Joey pulled a Dumb & Dumber, and made the carrot and rocks into the male anatomy instead of as a face like he was supposed to.
Phoebe laughed. "Joey! There are children watching!"
But the children were laughing too.
Phoebe shook her head grabbed some more rocks and made a face on the snowman with them, and then took a picture of the snowman despite herself. The kids took a picture of them together with their snowman.
Joey handed them each an extra fifty dollar bill, then with a wish of a Merry Christmas, he bid them ado.
"You sure like to shell out the cash!" Phoebe noted as they headed down the pathway again arm-in-arm.
"I can afford it now. I remember not having much money and how much it sucked. Now that I have it, I like to share the wealth with those I know probably don't have much," Joey replied.
"That's so sweet!" Phoebe was touched at his reasoning. "I guess we should be getting back soon. I'd like to change for dinner."
"All right," Joey agreed. He walked on ahead, assuming Phoebe was right beside him. "However, she grabbed some snow, made it into a ball, and tossed it at him. It hit the back of his head.
He turned around, his mouth dropped open. "I love you, but you're going to pay for that, Phoebes!"
Phoebe as he picked up some snow, made a snowball, and threw it at her.
For the next five minutes, they had a snowball fight, both feeling like kids again and having the time of their lives.
When they finished, Phoebe laughed, and snapped a picture of Joey. "You have snow all in your hair!"
"Do I?" Joey ran a hand over his hair with one hand, and then threw a surprise snowball at Phoebe with the other. It landed on its target, which was right in her hair. "Now so do you!"
Phoebe gasped, and Joey snatched he camera from her and took a picture.
Phoebe smiled. "All right, we really have to get back now. Dinner's in an hour, and you know Monica will blow a gasket if we're late!"
"I know that's right!" Joey agreed. He wrapped an arm around her. "It was a really fun day today. We got lots of nice pictures to remember it by. I'm glad."
"Me too," Phoebe said. "Though, a couple times we could have lost the camera if one of the people who took a picture for us decided to run off with the camera and sell it to a tabloid."
"I guess I'm a bad celebrity. I never think of stuff like that. If you can even call me a celebrity. I was on one soap, a couple of plays, and three movies," Joey said modestly. "There were the guest appearances too, but no one really counts those."
Phoebe rested her head on his shoulder. "I'd say you're a celebrity in your own right. After all, you were on the cover of a magazine. But to me, you'll always just be Joey, my dearest and best friend."
Joey smiled at her. "And you'll always be my Phoebe. My dearest and best friend."
Phoebe smiled contently up at him and they walked arm-in-arm the rest of the way back to the hotel. His Phoebe. Phoebe grinned to herself. She kind of liked the sound of that!
Hugs were given when Phoebe and Joey arrived at Chez Monica. Monica was of course already there, as was Chandler.
Chandler hugged Joey tight. "I missed you, Man!"
"I missed to too, Buddy!" Joey said as they two men pat each other's backs and then released their hug so that Joey could hug Monica and Chandler could hug Phoebe.
"We missed you! I'm so glad you're back. Are you here to stay?" Monica asked Joey.
Joey nodded. "That's the plan."
"How are you holding up, Phoebes?" Chandler asked. He knew her first Christmas being separated from Mike couldn't be easy on her.
"I'm fine. Mike and I clearly weren't meant to be, so…"
Monica hugged her. "I'm sorry I've been so busy lately. I'm thinking of letting my sous-chef take over for a week after the New Year. I could use the break. We can spend time together then."
Chandler laughed. "She'll be lucky if she can stay away for a day, let alone a week!"
Monica shot him a look. "I can to stay away! My sous-chef is almost as good as me, and he knows all my recopies to a T. I know my restaurant will be in good hands with him."
Ross and Rachel arrived then.
"Joey!" Rachel hugged Joey. "Look at you, you're Mister Big shot now!" She held him back to take a look at him, and then hugged him tightly again.
Joey smiled big. "Hey, Rach! I sure missed you!"
"I sure missed you too!" Rachel gave him one last squeeze before releasing him.
Ross then gave him a big hug. "Good to see you again! It's been too long, Tribbiani!"
Joey hugged him. "I know, I missed you all too, but I'm back now, so all is good." He grinned as he and Ross broke apart.
Joey's eyes fell upon Rachel's left ring finger. "So you're still together, then! I was thinking you guys divorced and no one wanted to tell me."
Rachel elbowed him. "Now why would you think that?"
"Well, Ross track record speaks for itself," Joey stated.
He and Chandler both laughed and high-fived.
Ross shot them a look.
"Men are pigs," Rachel said, unamused.
"Even our friends," Monica agreed with a nod.
"They're lucky they're cute!" Phoebe said. "Especially you," she then said to Joey, gently pinching his cheeks.
Joey grinned at her.
Ross, Rachel, Monica, and Chandler all cast glances at each other, but they went un-noticed by Joey and Phoebe.
Ross and Rachel had gotten married two years prior. Joey had gone to the wedding and been a co-best man with Chandler. Joey may have ben joking, but deep down, he hadn't been that sure Ross and Rachel were still together. He didn't heard from them as much as he heard from the others. He had thought that maybe they had divorced and were too embarrassed to tell him. Instead, it was Phoebe who was getting divorced. His friends never ceased to surprise him.
They all sat down at a big round table by the fireplace. It was nice and warm, and the table was set immaculately.
Joey helped Phoebe into a chair and sat down next to her.
"You two aren't even a couple, and he holds your chair out for you. Chandler and I have been married for four years and he still doesn't do that for me," Monica griped.
"Nor does Ross for me," Rachel said, eyeballing Ross, who was already sitting while she was still standing.
Ross coughed. "Sorry." He stood up to pull her chair out for her, but Rachel did it herself.
"Yeah, too little too late, Buddy," Rachel said to him, though she wasn't really angry. She knew that that was just Ross for you.
"I was going to pull your chair out for you, but I know you still have stuff to do in the kitchen," Chandler said to Monica.
Monica smirked. "Right. You can help me bring the food in instead."
"I walked right into that one," Chandler grumbled as he got up to help her.
A moment later, they each had their own plate covered by a silver top.
Once Monica and Chandler were sitting down with them, they all unveiled their meals. It was a couple nice slices of ham, green beans, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. There was also dinner rolls with butter. To drink was the best red wine Monica had on house, and ice waters as well. For Phoebe, Monica had substituted the ham for a vegetarian lasagna.
"And Joey, as you may notice, I made you a double portion," Monica informed Joey.
Joey smiled big and pat his stomach. "You're the best Mon!"
Phoebe coughed loudly.
Joey turned serious and looked at Phoebe. "After you of course, Phoebes."
Phoebe smiled. "That's better."
They all enjoyed their meal as they got caught up.
"Emma said the cutest thing today! She told me her cold was all better and she wondered if she would catch a warm now!" Rachel said.
Monica and Ross both laughed.
"Isn't she cute?" Ross asked.
"Yeah, well, Jack and Erica tried sticking peanuts up each other's noses yesterday. I had to pry the peanuts out. Thankfully, their nostril holes are still so tiny it wasn't anything a pair of tweezers couldn't fix!" Chandler bragged.
"What? You didn't tell me about that!" Monica said.
Chandler blushed. "Oops! Well I got the peanuts out!"
Monica rolled her eyes. "I swear, sometimes I think I need a babysitter for him too!"
The others laughed.
"Let me get a picture of you all!" Phoebe said. She stood up and took a picture of the group, and then Rachel offered to take one with Phoebe in it.
Rachel did so, then handed Phoebe her camera back. "You never used to be the type to take pictures," she noted.
Phoebe shrugged. "It's a new phase I guess. I figured it might be nice now that we have Joey back." She smiled lovingly at Joey, who smiled just as lovingly back at her.
Phoebe set the camera back on the table. "Do you need help clearing the dishes?" she asked Monica.
Monica nodded. "That would be great, thanks!" She glanced at Chandler. "Take note, Chandler."
Chandler just shrugged. "I would, but I need time to digest my food," he rubbed his stomach.
"He could win an award for the number of excuses he's able to come up with to get out of things," Monica muttered to Phoebe.
"Will there be dessert?" Joey asked.
Monica smiled. "Obviously! The sooner the plates are cleared, the sooner we eat it!"
Joey quickly got up and helped with the rest of the dishes.
Once the three of them were gone, Rachel grabbed Phoebe's camera and started looking through her pictures.
"Isn't that an invasion of privacy?" Ross asked her.
Rachel shrugged. "They're only pictures. I doubt she took nude photos," she teased. "I just want to see what has given her the picture taking bug lately." As she scrolled through them, she realized that most of them were with Joey. "Look at this—she and Joey appear to have spend Christmas together! They're both in their pajamas, and they're opening gifts."
"Let me see that!" Ross said.
Chandler scooted over too.
"So now you don't care bout privacy," Rachel said to Ross with a smirk.
"I personally have never minded butting into other people's business," Chandler stated.
They continued scrolling through the pictures and saw them on the carousel, sledding, building a snowman, snow covered… There were even random shots of them by the decorated shops.
"Do you think they're a couple?" Rachel asked.
Chandler nodded. "I don't think so. Joey would have told me."
"She's coming back," Ross whispered.
Rachel quickly placed the camera back where she had found it.
Phoebe came out with two desserts, one for her and one for Joey. Joey gave Chandler one, and placed one at Monica's spot. Finally, Monica came out and gave Ross and Rachel theirs. It was cherries jubilee, and they all thoroughly enjoyed it.
"Nice bag, Phoebes. That's so cool! Where'd you get it?" Monica asked, noticing Phoebe's bag for the first time.
Phoebe held it up to show them all better. "Thanks! Joey had it special made for me."
They all admired it. Rachel, Chandler, and Ross looked at each other.
Chandler nodded at Joey. He was wearing the sweater Phoebe had given him. "Is that Chick and Duck?"
"Chick and Duck number two!" Joey informed him. Joey then snickered. "Number two!"
"I had I special made for him," Phoebe explained.
More looks were exchanged by the others.
The rest of their night together went nicely. They reminisced, they joked and laughed, and they caught each other up on their current lives.
Ross and Rachel were the first to get up.
"I guess we better be leaving. I decided I don't want Emma to not be with us Christmas night—especially when she's getting over a cold. We're going to go get her and take her home," Rachel explained.
"And Monica and I have to clean the place up, then head home for some us time, if you know what I mean," Chandler said, wriggling his eyebrows.
Monica smirked. "If it gets you to help me clean up, I'm all for it!"
So, after hugs and more Merry Christmases and well wishes, they left except for Monica and Chandler who disappeared into the kitchen.
"Well, that was fun!" Phoebe said.
"Except for the fact that all they wanted to do was talk about the kids. Well, not all they talked about, but enough," Joey said.
Phoebe nodded. "I never thought I'd see the day where I don't feel like I relate to them anymore. It feels like—"
"They've grown up and we've stayed the same," Joey finished for her.
Phoebe nodded. "Exactly! Gosh, I'm not even ready to go back yet."
"How about we check out Rockefeller Center and go ice skating?" Joey suggested. "Then we can get room service again and warm up back at the room with hot chocolate and maybe another movie."
Phoebe smiled. "That sounds really perfect."
"Then let's go." Joey took her hand, and together they headed back out into the snow, ready to begin another Christmas adventure together.
"You know, this is a lot harder than it looks!" Phoebe said as she tried to skate around the rink. She was very wobbly, and had to keep hanging on to the rails of the rink sides.
"Look at all these kids whizzing around the rink! Why is this so hard for us?" Joey grumbled. He tried to skate past Phoebe, but almost slipped. He caught himself.
"Maybe we're over thinking it," Phoebe suggested.
Joey nodded. "I think we are. Let's just try skating normal, like everyone else is, and not worry about falling. Maybe then we'll actually do good."
"Do well," Phoebe corrected him.
"That's what I said," Joey insisted.
Phoebe didn't even bother to try to explain. She knew it would just make both their heads hurt. Instead, she tried to do just as Joey said, and skate really fast. It was a wrong move. She started to fall.
Joey tried to catch her, but that just caused him to fall too, and they both fell face down.
"Okay, ow," Phoebe said.
Joey crawled over to her and tried to help her up, but he ended up slipping back down and landing on top of her.
They both laughed.
"I guess skating isn't our thing, huh?" Joey asked her.
Phoebe smiled. "No, I guess not."
Carefully, they both got up.
"Take my hand. Maybe we can make it out of here alive yet!" Joey teased.
Phoebe took his hand, and slowly they skated toward the entrance.
They returned their skates and got their boots back on. They then checked out the tree. It was beautiful, and the only tree either of them had that year.
"The Rockefeller Center tree will officially be our Christmas tree since we didn't have one in our room," Phoebe said.
Joey grinned. "Cool! I never had a Christmas tree this big before!"
Phoebe laughed. "There's no presents under it though. That sucks!"
"There's mistletoe," Joey said as he found a piece of mistletoe someone had left on the ground. He picked it up and held it over him and Phoebe with a Cheshire cat grin, wriggling his eyebrows up and down suggestively.
Phoebe smiled. "I suppose we have to keep all the traditions."
"It's a tradition that goes way back, so I'd hate to be the ones to break it," Joey said simply.
Phoebe, still smiling, moved closer to him, and he moved closer to her. Soon, they were kissing.'
Joey dropped the mistletoe and wrapped his arms around her waist as they continued to kiss while The Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Christmas Cannon" played in the background from the skating rink. The snow was still falling lightly, and to both of them, it was the perfect moment.
Joey spoke first after the kiss. "Well that was better than presents!" He smiled.
Phoebe smiled too, and gently twirled a strand of her hair. "Yeah, it was!" She started to shiver then. The temperature was dropping.
Joey rubbed her arms. "Are you cold?"
She nodded. "Nothing some hot chocolate with extra whipped cream and marshmallows back at the room can't help!"
"And popcorn!" Joey added.
"Does room service have that?" Phoebe asked as they walked back to the hotel.
"I always keep some packs with me. I have some in my suitcase, and the room has a microwave," Joey explained.
"Oh. Okay, well that sounds good too!" Phoebe agreed.
"And maybe some pudding. For some reason I'm craving pudding. I know they have that. I could almost go for a pizza too. Yeah. A pizza sounds great!" Joey said, licking his lips in anticipation.
Phoebe looked at him funny. "Joey, we just had that huge mean at Monica's."
Joey looked at her funny in return. "Are you forgetting who I am?"
Phoebe laughed. "Very true!"
"Besides, that was two hours ago. It only takes me ten minutes to digest." Joey said as they continued to walk, now arm-in-arm.
Phoebe shook her head in disbelief. She smiled, and rested her head on his shoulder.
Neither one of them mentioned the kiss any more. Neither one really knew what to make of it, so for now, they were pretending that neither of them felt anything other than friendship when they kissed, even though deep down, they both felt something more even if they didn't want to admit it yet.
When they got back to the hotel, they both got ready for bed, then had the same routine as the night before. They pigged out, used the bathroom one last time, then watched a movie in bed and chatted until they were both falling asleep.
Joey turned off the TV and lights, and kissed Phoebe's forehead. She had once again fallen asleep before him. "Goodnight, Phoebs. Merry Christmas." He then closed his eyes, thinking, as he drifted off to sleep, of his and Phoebe's kiss by the tree and, how it had made his heart race.