A/N: Thank you, thank you, and oh yeah, thank you! You guys never fail to amaze me :) Here's the next chapter. I hope you like it as much as the last one.

My next update will be the final chapter of 'Forever and a Day', and you can expect it by the end of the week.

If It's Love

Chapter 7

February 1994

"Guess who just got promoted?" Monica entered her apartment, practically beaming. All, except Ross, were present.

"Ooh, ooh!" Phoebe exclaimed as Chandler and Joey exchanged a wary glance. "Is it your friend Hillary?"

"No..." Monica shook her head, waiting patiently for Phoebe to finish her 'guessing' routine.

"Oh," Phoebe frowned. "Is it that hot guy Gerard?"

"Pheebs, I think we should let Monica contin-" Joey started to say but was cut off by Phoebe.

"Oh, I know, I know! That guy with the hairpiece!" she exclaimed, the glare that Monica directed at her going unnoticed. "Wait, what's his name? Oooh, Ryan!"

From the look on Monica's face, Chandler knew that there was a major, imminent threat to Phoebe's life. To prevent things from turning into a bloody affair, he stood up and wrapped his arms around Monica. "Congratulations, Mon!"

"Oh, it's you..." Phoebe muttered, disappointed, but this time, she was quick to notice that her good friend looked like she might murder her any moment now. "Oh, it's you!" she exclaimed with much more enthusiasm and joined the hug. "Congratulations!"

Her happy exterior returning, Monica smiled widely. "Yeah, I'm the new head lunch-chef. Look, they even gave me a beeper!" She extracted a beeper from her purse and showed it to her friends proudly.

"Oh, cool! Show me," Joey said as he borrowed it from her. "Man, I've gotta get one of these."

"I'm also in charge of purchasing," continued Monica, "and I even have my own little desk now!"

"I'm so proud of you," Chandler murmured, kissing the side of her head. When Phoebe shot him a suspicious glance, he extricated himself from Monica quickly. "I... uh, you know, I mean, as a friend. I'm so proud of you as a friend." He patted Monica's arm awkwardly and returned to his seat.

Phoebe's frown cleared slowly, and she hugged Monica again. "I'm really happy for you," she smiled and pulled back. "I've gotta get going, though. I have a date."

"Oh, yeah? Who is it?" Monica asked.

"This guy I met on the subway. Usually, I don't date guys I meet on the subway," she shrugged, "but, y'know, it's Valentine's Day. So I thought, why not?"

"Good for you, Pheebs," Monica smiled.

"Yeah." Phoebe frowned again, looking worried. "Are you going to be okay, though? I mean, you're going to be alone on Valentine's Day."

"Nah, I'll be fine," Monica waved it off. "I have Chandler for company," she smiled at him, her eyebrows raised suggestively.

"Oh, yeah, that's right," Joey nodded, raising his own eyebrows, earning an unamused look from both Monica and Chandler.

"Okay then." Phoebe smiled, oblivious. "Once again, congratulations, Mon." She went to the door and waved at the three of them before letting herself out.

"So, you have Chandler for company, huh?" Joey smirked at Monica. "You sure you don't want my company?"

"I'm sure," Monica nodded, watching as he shrunk back into his chair on noticing the look on Chandler's face. "Besides, how could Joey Tribbiani possibly be dateless on Valentine's Day?"

Joey shrugged. "Remember that 'Days of Our Lives' audition I was telling you guys about? That's tomorrow."

"Oh, good luck! So you have some practicing to do?" Monica asked.

"Yeah." Joey nodded. "Dr. Drake Ramoray is scheduled to perform a biopsy tomorrow," he smiled. When the other two nodded, impressed, he continued, "Man, it's going to be so weird. I'm gonna have to pretend like I'm slicing up some dead guy," he shuddered with a look of disgust on his face.

"That's an autopsy, Joe," Chandler explained patiently. "I don't think they'll appreciate it very much if you slice up some guy during a biopsy." He turned to Monica. "I thank the Lord every day that Joey is not a real doctor." Monica nodded in agreement.

"Oh," Joey's brows furrowed in confusion. "Then what's a biopsy?"

"Read your script, Joey." Monica patted his knee. "I think you'll be fine."

"Yeah, okay. Besides, I've gotta let you two get to your Valentine's Day celebration." He got up from his seat and went to the door. He stopped abruptly after a few paces and turned to look at the couple again. "By the way, when are you two going to tell the others about your relationship, again?"

"What?" they asked him simultaneously.

"'Cause if you guys don't, then I'm gonna. Tribbianis are not good with secrets, and this has been going on for a year now." He glared at them. "My head will explode if I have to keep it in any longer."

"Joey," Monica got up from her seat with a patronizing smile and placed a soothing hand on his shoulder. "First of all, this is not a relationship. Second of all, it's only been eleven months. And thirdly," she removed her hand from his shoulder, the smile vanishing from her lips. "Unless you want to be castrated or lobotomized," her gaze hardened, "keep this a secret."

Joey didn't know what those words meant, but he sure as hell didn't like the sound of them. By now, he knew Monica well enough to know that she seldom welched on her promises.

"Castration or secret, Joe?" Monica prompted again.

From the eleven months of interactions, he'd also learned that Monica can be really scary if she wanted to be. "Secret," he replied meekly.

Her smile returned. She patted his head maternally. "Good choice." Joey quietly went out the door. When She turned to the living room, she was faced with a very scared-looking Chandler. "What?" she innocently asked, making her way back to him and claiming a seat on his lap.

"Lobotomy or castration? You're easily the scariest woman I've ever met," he told her, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"You know I'd never do any such thing," she pecked him on the lips. "I'm the gentlest woman you would ever meet."

"Well, you had no problem with amputating my toe," he glanced down at his right foot pointedly.

She chuckled, shaking her head. "You know that was totally unintentional-"

"That's what you say."

"And I've made up for it innumerable times in the last eleven months. And, I would never, ever perform lobotomy or castration on you." She smiled and leaned in to kiss him again, hooking her arms around his neck. She pulled back a moment later, looking thoughtful. "Maybe I could perform a lobotomy on you and make you my personal sex slave."

"I already am your personal sex slave." With his hand on her nape, he brought her lips to his again. "Happy Valentine's Day."

"Happy Valentine's," she smiled as she met his lips in a lingering kiss.

He pulled away slowly, his fingers playing with the topmost button on her shirt. "Hey, we could move this to the balcony, you know, to celebrate the spirit of St. Valentine's," he cocked a meaningful eyebrow.

"Balcony?" She pulled back to look at him, frowning.

"Yeah," he shrugged sheepishly. "It's kind of my ultimate fantasy."

"Having sex on the balcony is your ultimate fantasy?" she confirmed skeptically.

"You don't know! It could be nice!" he defended.

"Sweetie, it's freezing out there. I don't think you'll be able to, y'know... do it," she explained, trying not to laugh out loud at his strange idea. "Besides, for all we know, the cute naked guy could be spying on us."

"I've been looking at that guy lately, and he's anything but cute," he argued, missing the point.

"Okay, so he's not cute anymore, but he could still spy on us," she rationalized. "Do you really want some voyeuristic ugly naked guy to spy on us?"

"We could do it under a blanket," he murmured, kissing her softly. "Besides, it might be romantic in the moonlight."

The kisses were getting steamier, and her resolve was slowly melting into a puddle of goo, but she pulled away from him reluctantly. "Chandler, I'm on my period."

This was the last response he had expected. "Uh... wha- what?"

"I'm on my period," she repeated.

"Oh," he said thoughtfully, counting by touching his thumb to the tips of his fingers and nodding slowly. "Yeah, that's correct."

"You know my menstrual cycle?" She gave him a strange look. "I don't know whether that's sweet or... creepy."

"Nah," he laughed. "Joey and I keep track to escape your PMS-induced crabbiness."

"Still, creepy."

"Trust me, it's very sweet," he kissed her again. "So I guess it's going to be a night of rest for Mr. Big, then."

"Yeah," she nodded, suddenly looking distracted.

"What?"

"Nothing," she shrugged, her fingers rising to fiddle shirt's collar. "It's just..." she met his eyes again. "You can sleep with me here tonight. If you want."

"Like, stay over?" His pulse picked up a dangerous pace. "But we don't do that."

"I know," she nodded, not knowing he was feeling the same way she did at that moment. "Just for tonight?" she asked tentatively, the nervousness in her voice unmistakable.

Hope reared its ugly head. He wanted to blurt out 'I love you', but he kept quiet, gazing at her. After several seconds, he forced himself to regain his composure. "Just for tonight, huh?" he tilted his head to one side, smiling at her. "Now where have I heard that before?"

She giggled, pushing his back against the chair as she leaned in to kiss him, making him momentarily forget his reality.

A small part of his brain reminded him, though. Hope, they say, is a fool's dream.

~.~

He slipped in beside her later that night, pulling her closer to him, spooning her.

"Oh, good, you're here," she murmured sleepily, turning around in his arms. "I missed you," she whispered, her breath tickling his chin.

"Hmm," he sighed contentedly and brushed his lips against her forehead. "What would you do without me?" he asked, putting a slight spin on her usual rhetorical question.

"Ditto, Chandler," she chuckled, pressing her face into the crook of his neck. She breathed in slowly and spoke again. "Honestly, I don't know. I guess you're my knight in shining... sweater vest."

He laughed lightly. "And you're the peanut butter to my jelly."

She slid up a few inches on the bed, to his level. "You're the best thing in my life," she told him earnestly, feeling more vulnerable than she had ever felt in her life.

He stared back at her for a moment but nodded slowly. "Ditto, Mon," he whispered back, all pretense of humor gone.

She laid her head on his chest and felt his heart hammer against her cheek. "Good night, Chandler."

"Good night, Monica."

She loved the way his tongue caressed her name. She loved that his arms hugged her to him tightly, like he was protecting her from a monster under the bed. She loved how he always leaned in to kiss her first before she could stand on her toes to kiss him.

Things were changing slowly but surely. She could sense it, she could feel it, and yet, she could do nothing about it.

She just didn't know whether they were changing for better or for worse.

~.~

"Yes, it's a malignant tumor, Dr. Carey. We'll have to amputate the leg before the tumor metastasizes."

"Whoa, whoa! Amputate the leg?! Who's the poor guy?" Chandler asked Joey as he entered his apartment the next morning.

Joey had been practicing a scene in front of a video camera. He switched it off and turned to look at his friend. "Actually, it's a girl. Robin." He watched as Chandler retrieved a bottle of water from the fridge. "So, how did the celebration go? Had a long, hot night of passionate lovemaking?"

"You really don't read my mother's books?"

"No..." Joey shook his head, looking defensive.

Chandler stared at him, skeptical, but eventually replied. "No, not a long night of passionate lovemaking. Just a pleasant night of sleeping together. Literally."

Joey frowned, but his brow cleared a second later. "Oh, yeah, it's her time of the month."

Chandler shrugged, proceeding to take a sip of his water.

"Hey, have you told your girlfriend that you're in love with her?"

The water came out of his nostrils. He coughed severely, wiping at his nose with the back of his hand until his cough subsided. "What?" he asked, incredulous. Were his emotions so transparent? If they were, how could Joey figure it out, despite not being the brightest crayon in the box, while Monica couldn't?

Or was she choosing not to?

"Dude, it's been eleven months. You're now practically married to this woman."

"Joey," he took a deep breath to calm himself. "Do you, maybe, sometimes feel that I'm an adult who's capable of taking care of his own life, without others interfering in it?"

Joey thought this over for a moment and shook his head, "No."

"Oh," Chandler nodded, making his way to his room. "That's funny, 'cause sometimes I feel like I should have picked the 'ferrets' guy instead," he muttered, opening his bedroom door.

"Okay, look," Joey spoke again, raising his hands in a gesture of peace.

"What?" he snapped.

"I'm sorry. I may have been a little out of line," Joey said, still holding his hands up.

Chandler relaxed a little bit. "Yeah, that's okay."

Joey lowered his hands slowly. "But you may wanna tell her before she finds herself a new boyfriend."

"All right, that's it." Chandler closed the door back again, slamming it shut. With his hands on his hips, he glowered at Joey. "Castration or lobotomy?"

~.~

Once Chandler had explained what those words meant, Joey had chosen to keep his mouth shut, promising never to speak about this thing between his two friends.

Chandler stepped out of his office building that evening, glancing up at the sky. Uncharacteristic of February, the lowering evening sky appeared ominous with dark, moisture-laden clouds blotting out the sunlight. "Freezing cold and rain. Perfect," he muttered to himself, pulling his coat closer around him. Fifteen blocks to the subway, but he wasn't sure whether he'd make it there before it started to rain. Maybe if he walked a little faster.

Monica would be home by now, and there was nothing more he wanted than to lay down beside her under the blanket, her warmth lulling him to sleep, given how perfect the cool, rainy night would be for a night in.

He picked up his pace when it started to drizzle, wondering whether he should just take a cab. Closing his eyes for a moment when the raindrops hit his face, he bumped into another man coming from the opposite direction. He grunted from the force of the collision and gasped out, "Sorry, I'm so sorr-" His mouth, however, failed to do its function once he opened his eyes.

"Chandler?"

This was the face he had thought and hoped he would never see in his life again. Funny, the things that life threw at him.

An instinctive possessiveness over Monica overtook his senses. If she'd been there with him, he would have pulled her tightly against him, never to let go.

"Kip."

That was the second he decided that tonight will be the night he'd tell Monica that he loved her.

~.~.~

A/N: I was actually gonna write a more conclusive end for this chapter, but I figured that you guys might like a cliffhanger even better :p