Disclaimer: I do not own Friends or the characters from the series.

Fate

Phoebe had a complicated relationship with that invisible force, that slippery concept most referred to as Fate.

2001

The whole ordeal was just… unfortunate. Phoebe had no other word for it.

That is, she was ecstatic her two friends were getting married and settling down together!

But for Chandler to… run away from Monica on their wedding day?

A groom should be anxious to get married. Ecstatic. Overjoyed.

At least a good groom should.

She knew she wanted her groom to do so. Oh, no doubt about it! Her groom should jump through hoops! Phoebe might be a bit complicated, but any man with some sense to him should look at it as a puzzle, a great mystery, and a chance of a lifetime!

And, and Monica was great too.

She was. She had her moments, but overall, she was way, miles above Chandler's league.

So he should not be the one running away from her.

But whatever. As long as they're happy.

/

Phoebe had a lot of internal demons to fight on that wedding day.

Everything just screamed 'off' and 'against-fate'. The groom ran away, Joey almost missed the wedding (problematic, as he was performing the ceremony), and instead of getting excited about Monica getting married and focusing on that the group worried she was pregnant.

Before Joey walked in to perform the ceremony, the wedding was more funny than it was romantic.

Fitting, as it was Chandler's wedding. That sentence, 'more funny than romantic' practically described him.

Even when Joey did walk in, he did so wearing his soldier uniform from his film.

He grinned at everyone as he walked forward, shooing away Father Kalebasous.

"Dearly beloved, I'm sorry I'm a little late. You may be confused by this now," he nodded to his costume, "but you won't be Memorial Day weekend 2002," and he winked. "Well, let's get started before the groom takes off again. Huh?"

Stupid, beautiful Joey.

Monica was, as expected, shocked, and a bit horrified. She looked around herself.

Joey continued smoothly, unaware of the uncomfortableness he had created. "We are gathered here today, to join this man and this woman in the bonds of holy matrimony. I've known Monica and Chandler for a long time, and I can not imagine two people more perfect for each other," that seemed to soften Monica as she appeared less upset and returned Chandler's besotted smile. "And now, as I've left my notes in my dressing room, we shall proceed to the vows. Monica?"

But when she took the vows from Rachel, her eyes widened to her friends. "He took off?"

"Go on, go on," Rachel urged her.

She turned around and looked at Chandler again. "Chandler, for so long I… I wondered if I would ever find my prince, my soul mate."

'Don't we all, Monica…' Phoebe thought to herself. 'Don't we all.'

"Then three years ago, at another wedding, I turned to a friend for comfort. And instead, I found everything that I'd ever been looking for my whole life. And now… here we are… with our future before us…and I only want to spend it with you - my prince, my soul mate, my friend."

Everyone smiled at that and looked emotional, and Phoebe was too… but the internal demons were back.

Was he her soulmate?

But then, at Chandler's adoring gaze and at his eyes, filled with emotion and devotion, Phoebe had to admit that even if they weren't soulmates, they loved each other.

She was even more convinced of their love when Chandler spoke his vows from his heart and didn't read from his page.

"Monica I thought this was going to be the most difficult thing I ever had to do. But when I saw you walking down that aisle I realized how simple it was," his eyes glinted at her fondly. "I love you. Any surprises that come our way, it's okay, because I will always love you. You are the person I was meant to spend the rest of my life with. You wanna know if I'm sure?" And then they kissed, and it was passionate and sincere and out of place, but for a change, Phoebe saw their connection, saw their spark.

'It is not forced,' she told herself firmly.

Besides, Monica and Chandler deserve at least one day when their relationship was regarded as meant to be and the hight of romance, and it made sense for that day to be their wedding day.

2002

When you live a life that is as hard as Phoebe's life has been, well, you need to believe in something; otherwise, you'll lose hope quite quickly from all the crappy things this world had to offer.

By the time she met Monica, who was her first introduction to the gang, her father had left their family, her mother had killed herself, she was living in the streets most of her childhood, and during her teen years, she had countless people abuse her and give her crap. She was even at one point a criminal.

Not to mention all the crap that went on without her knowing - like how her mother wasn't even her mother - there was another woman who was her biological mother, and that woman left them too. Another example was how both her biological parents knew her mom Lily killed herself but still kept away...

Ursula was a fine example to someone who had lost hope. To star in adult films, to deny the few family members she had left…

Phoebe refused to be like that. She would be a happy person, no matter what.

Now fate… Fate was an interesting concept indeed. There was no denying that sometimes unexplained things happened. That some things are meant to happen and some don't. Extremists to the other side, like Ross, they missed out on something too, by seeing the world as purely scientific, there was no denying that.

Ross and Rachel were an example.

Life kept throwing them together. First high school, then Rachel seeking out Ross' sister exactly when said sister helped her brother heal from his failed marriage (his first failed marriage that is) and so the two met again. Their on-again-off-again just screamed 'Fate' because what was that force that pushed them together when reason seemed to not be on their side?

As for the other so-called "big" couple in their group, well… Monica settled.

Right? That must be it, she settled.

That is - she was quite happy, yeah yeah, she was happy alright, but she had the potential to be exceptionally happy, to be with her soul-mate!

/

Phoebe introduced Monica to Don, a man she herself went out with but couldn't help but feel he was Monica's soulmate. It was from a good place, too - she wanted to date Don, she had no reason to throw him at another woman, let alone a taken woman who already had someone.

And at first the two of them really hit it off, and honestly, if they would have met before Monica and Chandler started hooking up, well…

Then maybe there would have never been a Monica and Chandler.

What a horrible thought to have.

But was it false?

/

Monica realized what Phoebe did, or rather, what she was trying to do, and cut it off, probably telling Chandler he was the one for her and that she loved no one else.

And she apparently let it all slide as didn't talk to Phoebe about it.

But the next time she saw Chandler, he didn't let it slide.

Surprising, that. She never took him as someone who would confront others. He always seemed too awkward for that.

She walked into their apartment and found him sitting at the kitchen table, writing on his computer.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Hey," he answered. Then he finished writing something and stood up slowly, moving to lean on the counter.

She took out orange juice from the fridge just to have something to do and then turned around to face him, juice in hand. "What's up?"

"Not much. I just thought maybe we can talk about the whole Don thing."

"Oh-kay."

That was unexpected. She was sure Chandler's reaction to the whole thing would be a sarcastic one-liner and some self-deprecating humor.

And it was his reaction... in the first 24 hours.

Now it seemed like Chandler had some different reactions.

She nodded. "I'm listening."

He shifted in place, playing with his tie. "Well, Phoebe, this is not very easy for me."

Clearly.

He kept fidgeting and his eyes kept moving from the window to the door to the couch, any place but on Phoebe herself.

"But still, I have to do this."

Then his eyes moved to her in question, perhaps to see if she was alright with what he said.

He was yet to say anything, so naturally, she was fine.

"Anyway, well, let's not beat around the bush," and his blue eyes met hers for the first time. "Don't do this again."

"What?"

And she wasn't playing dumb, she was just surprised.

Chandler was quiet, his eyes were serious, and his tone stern.

So yeah, she was surprised.

He narrowed his eyes, perhaps in confusion, and then repeated his words, this time with even more gravity. "Don't do this again. Don't set up my wife with other guys."

It was fair to say that she was puzzled, and that she didn't have much to say.

She couldn't deny her intentions, as he was there the whole time and saw that it was exactly what she did - she set his wife up with another guy.

She couldn't shift blame either, because, well, she was the only one at fault.

"Alright," she finally said, "I'm… I'm sorry."

He still appeared confused as he shrugged and looked away. "S'fine."

Then he simply walked away, quite crudely may she add.

But, well, she probably deserved it.

She watched his retreating form as he sat on the couch, his back to her, and wasn't he just full of surprises that day. Confronting her, standing his grounds, walking in the midst of conversations…

Well, if she was fair, any other man she knew would probably do all that and more if she tried to set their wife up with someone.

But Chandler was not like any other man she knew.

"I gotta say, I didn't think you had it in you to say something."

Maybe she was impulsive when she said that (probably) because when he turned his head back to her, he was irritated. There was no other word for that.

He regarded her silently, his jaw tight and his eyebrows furrowed. Then he returned his gaze to the turned-off TV, effectively breaking eye contact again. "She's my wife. You tried to set her up with someone else. Of course, I'll say something."

Phoebe opened her mouth, intent on saying something, and then closed it, having nothing to say.

He looked back at her again, and the irritation was gone, and was replaced with weariness. "Look, can I… can you leave me alone, please? This has been a horrible week, even without a handsome British guy flirting with my wife."

"Of course," but now she was worried.

She cannot have Chandler resent her! It would strain their relationship and impact the entire group!

And the group was… was her life.

No, no, this was just a horrible miscalculation. How could she know he'll suddenly decide to stand his ground?

"Chandler," she walked forward so he can see her face, "I'm truly sorry. I am. I… I don't know what I was thinking."

What was she thinking? Any man, Chandler or not, will not be alright with what she did. Any person, really.

He looked up at her, his eyes scanning her face. "Then why did you do it?"

She hugged herself. "I don't… know. Sometimes I do things without thinking them through too much. Now that I do think about it, it was a dumb thing to do. I just had this stupid idea, you know, I saw him and he was clearly not very good for me and one thing led to another. It really was stupid."

Bless his heart, he was a forgiving soul. Or maybe he just really hated confrontations.

Either way, his eyes softened and his jaw relaxed. "Alright," he nodded slowly, "as long as you realize how wrong it was."

"I do now," she said immediately, "she's your wife, not a doll for me to play with and test out my theories on."

His eyes never left her face as he nodded. Then he looked down and traced the line on the fabric of his pants with his finger. "Just out of curiosity… you truly don't believe me and her are soulmates?"

Deflecting was always the best answer. "Do you?"

He shrugged. "I've never met someone more fitted to me, someone that balances me out as much as she does. When she's stressed out I calm her, and when I need to get up and do something she pushes me to do it," he seemed to answer himself, thinking out loud really, with Phoebe there as a bystander. "And… and… well, I'm pretty sure I've loved her way before I even knew I do. Way long before we got together, that's for sure."

"Really?"

He nodded slowly, and seemed to discover his words were true while he said them. "I really didn't know, though. I wasn't like Ross, y'know, pining. But honestly, for years, if you would have asked me who the perfect woman was, I would have said without hesitation - Monica." He was picking at the hem of his sweatshirt, a fond little smile playing on his lips.

And perhaps what pained her the most was how sincere he was about it.

She gave him a bright, fake smile, and cooed. "Ohhh Chandler, that's so sweet!"

He looked up to smile at her, and she knew she was forgiven… for now.

Good. She really did not need him angry with her.

"Again, I'm sorry," she said.

He nodded. "I suppose… no harm done in the end. As long as… as long as you don't do it again."

She nodded as well and gave him a smile. "I'm glad Monica has you as a husband. You clearly love her so much. I'm sorry my foolishness hurt you."

"It's alright, Pheebs."

/

Was there such thing as a half-sided soulmate?

No, no, no. A soulmate was a perfect match, 50% was not perfect!

But, well, maybe Monica was perfect for him.

And maybe he did balance her out.

Argh! That's why she disliked this couple! They always made her so confused.

A few weeks later she was reading tea-leaves and bragging to her friends how good she was at that (and she was! Back in the day, she made a good dime over that ability) and her tea leaves said she'll meet a guy, and real soon!

And indeed, there was a guy - a decent looking guy she kept bumping into.

So she went out with him, and he was a total and complete creep, and kept making suggestive innuendoes.

/

The next day she went to the drycleaners with Monica. They were walking the street, and Phoebe thought deeply and hard about her grim situation as she kept a light conversation with Monica. It was a skill she had - she was an incredible multitasker.

Fate kept letting her down - and couples who seemingly went against fate like Monica and Chandler had it all perfect and worked smoothly.

"Oh there it is," she noticed her dry cleaners.

Monica looked at it with confusion. "That's not your regular dry cleaners."

"I know, but that creep that I went on that date with goes there so I have to find a new one. I also have to find a new video store, a new bank, a new adult bookstore, a new grocery store…"

"What?!"

Crap. She was more and more impulsive these days… "A new grocery store. The universe said I was going to meet a nice guy and that's what they gave me?" She looked up, half jokingly but a part of her was genuinely frustrated, "when I get up there I'm going to kick some ass."

"Don't worry Phoebe, you're gonna meet someone. If I can meet a great guy, so can you."

And again, with the honesty.

Chandler truly loved Monica.

And now, she could again see that Monica truly loved Chandler.

And Phoebe couldn't understand any of it. And she hated not understanding.

Maybe Monica tried to cheer her up with what she said, but it failed miserably.

She wanted a soulmate! She didn't want to settle like Monica!

Bitter pride filled her chest, but she swallowed it down and grinned smoothly at Monica. "Yeah, we both can. And we both will."

And she didn't break Chandler's promise with that - she was truly never going to introduce other men to Monica.

That didn't mean Monica couldn't do that for herself.

/

Parker was a big flop.

He started out really promising, truly promising - their meeting was cute, his words were charming and the way he looked at her was it.

But then her friends mocked her, and it wasn't it anymore.

Because a soulmates' spark was meant to shine so bright that everyone else envied them. Wished to be them. Wished to have what they have.

If everyone else really pitied her rather than envied her, than it was not it.

Not to mention how they were right about him.

He was annoying as hell.

Phoebe had a complicated relationship with that invisible force, that slippery concept most referred to as Fate.

She used to believe in it with all her heart, but lately, she's been having some heretical thoughts.

But perhaps that was the thing about fate - it was unexpected that way, did not work the way you wanted it to and, well, it did its thing.

Maybe that was why you were meant to believe in it.

A/N

I'm sorry this took a while... but writing Phoebe is hard! In hindsight, I would much rather write it from Chandler's POV and just be sarcastic instead :P

Anyway, yeah. It's also hard because I pretty much disagree with everything she does or thinks, so there's that too.

In my head, Chandler and Phoebe's conversation is canon BTW - Or the idea of it, anyway. It makes perfect sense for Chandler to talk to Pheobe and tell her to back off. If Friends wasn't a sitcom we'd see it too. Come on, for Phoebe to set Monica up with another guy? And for Chandler to... let it slide?

No way.

Anyways, enough about that. Mondler moved on from that so I will too ;)

I'm thinking about finishing this one up with one more chapter (an epilogue). What do you guys think?

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the amazing feedback! It was truly what made me want to update. So keep it up :)

RicardianScholar Clark-Weasley - thank you so much! You have no idea how right you are - I originally wanted to include their debate (Ross and Phoebe's) over evolution because it felt like it sat well with my attempt to show how she sees the world, and well, she was a bit hypocritical there too, wasn't she? She clearly has some very... distinct views. And thank you so much, truly, for saying she's in-character and that it is well-written, as it is all I aspire to! Characterization is the most important thing to me, honestly. So I appreciate it. As for Phoebe having a nastier side, well... said side became clearer and clearer as the seasons passed. I read somewhere that the writers just liked how funny snidey-pregnant-Phoebe was and decided to keep it even after she gave birth.

Egorg90 - thank you! I'm glad you like it and that you agree with my analysis. Hopefully, you liked this chapter too :)

helllofellowfriends - Oh my god thank you! I'm so glad you like both the concept and my depiction of Mondler! I kinda squealed when I read your review, so it's quite mutual ;)

Guest - thank you so much! Let me know what you thought of this one!

Ysabel - thank you! And yes, don't worry about Phoebe, she is alright in the end... and she will be in this fic as well :) And yes, Mondler were always quieter than Ross and Rachel, but that just made them stand out more in my opinion.

Oldreruns - ahh, thank you! I'm so glad you like my analysis! Yes, I do think it's all about the drama - or lack of it thereof. Besides, well, we should all keep in mind how while we saw all the sweet moments Mondler shared, the rest of the group didn't - unlike with Ross and Rachel, who had all their kisses, all their get-togethers and breakups in front of everyone, and even things they didn't do in front of everyone they still discussed with everyone (fantasies in 3x01, the whole Mark thing, fights etc). So yeah, it makes sense for Phoebe to feel left-out with Mondler, because unlike with Ross and Rachel, she is! And she should be, haha
A couple's relationship is theirs to have XD So anyway, thank you for reviewing. Hope you liked this one as well!