Thanks again for the reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter. I've tried to do some more development.

"Chandler is seeing someone?" Monica asked casually after hearing Joey and Ross going on about it.

"Yea. This woman he met at a bank. They seemed to hit it off," Ross explained. Joey sniggered.

"What's so funny?" Monica asked.

"He's gonna put his money in the bank," Joey chortled.

"That's weird, Joe," Ross commented. Joey stopped laughing. Monica felt a little weird at this thought of Chandler dating someone. She wasn't sure why. They were just friends. He could see anyone he wanted to. As could she. Well, if a decent man existed that is.

"Hello, children," Chandler said, entering the cafe.

"So, how was the big date," Joey asked.

"It was fantastic! We were ourselves completely. No drama whatsoever!" Chandler exclaimed. He plopped down beside Monica, making her wish he hadn't. He noticed her stiffen at his presence, and he briefly wondered that could mean.

"So have you called her?"

"And tell her my feelings? What am I? Nuts?" Chandler scoffed.

"You're an idiot," Ross commented. "Just call her."

"Don't pressure him," Monica said. "If he doesn't want to call her, then he doesn't have to." Chandler looked at her appreciatively.

"See? This is a woman who gets me," Chandler said. Monica blushed on the inside.

"So how did you meet anyway?" Monica asked him nonchalantly.

"I was at the bank. I was trying to deposit my money," Chandler started. Joey began sniggering at this until Ross cut him a glare. "Then, boom! I drop my bank card, and we knock heads as we both went to pick it up."

"She was trying to steal your bank card?" Monica asked. "Sounds like a great catch!"

"No, no, she was trying to get it for me. She thought I didn't notice," Chandler corrected her. Monica made an "ah" face to show she understood.

"You guys!" Phoebe called, coming inside. "Rachel's outside with Barry!" They all spun their heads around to see Rachel and Barry talking animatedly. Ross visibly looked crushed. Monica felt bad for him.

"Look away! Look away!" Phoebe hissed when Rachel turned to come inside.

"So I had a hot date last night," Joey said, making it look like they weren't staring.

"You always have a hot date," Rachel laughed, coming to sit with them.

"I know," Joey winked. Phoebe bristled at this. Who the hell was he dating now?

"Was it the girl from upstairs?" Chandler asked. "Cos yea, she was smokin'."

"No. I'm not calling her back," Joey shrugged.

"Why not?" Phoebe asked.

"She's kind of weird. Wanted me Dine and Dash," Joey said. "I don't do that to my favorite restaurants."

"Sounds like she lives on the wild side," Chandler commented.

"Too wild for me," Joey shook his head.

"So, you're telling Barry no, right?" Ross asked. Rachel didn't hear him as she was distracted by her own thoughts. She was thinking maybe she could get with Barry and then pass the baby off as his. People did that, right?

"Rach?"

"Hmm? Oh, yea. I will. Later. We really had a good time today," Rachel said. She went on about the day she had. Ross was wilting by the minute. Chandler noticed this clearly.

"Can I borrow the phone?" he asked Gunther, who passed it to him. "See? I'm calling her." They all watched as he dialed.

"He'll panic," Joey confirmed. Sure enough, Chandler slammed his thumb on the phone to hang it up, making him drop the phone and swat it in the air a couple of times before successfully grabbing it again.

"That was terrifying," he said.

"What was?"

"Her answering machine! I'm no good at leaving messages."

"Wimp," Monica coughed. He looked over at her. She shrugged in return.

"Dude, you gotta get over that," Joey said.

"I'm not going to leave a message because I end up saying something stupid like indeedy-o," Chandler frowned. Ross gave him a thankful look, showing him that he knew why Chandler had made this particular scene.

"I gotta get going," Ross said. He turned to Rachel. "Break up with him! He's no good for you." Rachel nodded absently, not hearing a word. Monica and Phoebe shared a look. They were going to talk to her as soon as they could.

Later

"Does Rachel seem...odd to you?" Joey asked Chandler. They were back in their apartment, and Chandler was staring at the phone, willing it to ring. He wasn't even sure why he wanted to date this girl when he was thinking about Monica, but he figured maybe he should let that dream die since she was Ross's brother and his best friend. That never ended well.

"I dunno," Chandler replied absently, feeling Joey's stare until he answered.

"She'll call, man," Joey said. "I know it."

"Not after my embarrassing message," Chandler winced. Even Monica had laughed.

"How bad could it have been?" Joey asked, having missed it.

"I pretended to be surprised to get her machine then banged some dishes around and said 'bye bye,'" Chandler told him. Joey started laughing hysterically.

"Dude!" he said, wiping his eyes. "She's not gonna call you back."

"Don't say that!" Chandler shouted. He grabbed his phone and marched over to Monica's.

"What do you want?" she asked when he came in.

"I need to borrow your phone," he said.

"For the record, you are holding a phone," she pointed out.

"Ahuhyuh," Chandler drabbled, making a face. He dialed on her phone, making is ring. "It does work! Thanks." Then he flopped down on the couch, sighing. Monica shook her head at his antics. He was cute when he was flustered.

"Ew, ew, ew!" Phoebe called from the window.

"That peeper again?" Monica asked.

"Yea," she replied. "He's got a telescope now."

"He what?!" Joey asked, outraged. Monica hadn't seen him come in. "Let me see." He took the binoculars from Phoebe, who was feeling hot at his closeness suddenly. Monica was watching her reaction closely. Phoebe was seemingly more odd than usual when Joey was around. Could that mean...?

"You know, I can't do stuff when he's watching," Joey lamented.

"Like what?" Monica asked, curious.

"Like cook naked," Joey said.

"You cook naked?" Phoebe asked. She was really intrigued now. In fact, she was visualizing it.

"All the time," Joey grinned. She and Monica looked at Chandler.

"Don't look at me I had no idea," Chandler said, his face filled with horror. Joey just smirked with pleasure at all the attention he was getting now.

"Has Rachel come back yet?" Ross asked as he entered and hung up his coat.

"Not yet," Monica told him. He gave a frustrated sigh.

"How can she even think about going back with Barry?" he asked.

"I dunno. Cos you're not making a move on her?" Chandler asked.

"How's that phone call coming, Chandler?" Ross snapped at him, making Chandler shrink into the couch, hoping nobody would start on him again.

"Hello!" Rachel called, finally coming home. Ross's head jolted up at the sight of her. Monica wondered how Rachel really couldn't see how much he loved her.

"How did it go? Did he take it hard?" Ross asked.

"It went fine..." Rachel trailed off. Monica saw the floss in her hair.

"Pretty fine I'd say," Monica said, pulling it out.

"Rachel!" Ross yelped.

"What? It's natural to want to be with someone you're familiar with. Like, if Carol came here and wanted you back," Rachel said.

"That is not the same thing!" Ross said, exasperated. He stood to leave.

"Going so soon?" Chandler asked.

"I have...things to do...people to see, and I'm late doing that," he said, storming out. Rachel knew he was upset. She couldn't figure out why. He had asked if he could date her, but then he never asked her on a date, so why did he care so much if she was with someone else? She felt a huge wave of nausea suddenly, so she bolted to the bathroom. Phoebe heard her retching.

"Um, Monica?" Phoebe said, coming over to her. "Is Rachel sick?"

"No, why?"

"I can hear her in there..." Phoebe stopped. Joey and Chandler were watching them.

"Don't you have something better to do?" Monica asked roughly. The jumped up to leave, not wanting to experience the wrath of Monica.

"Did you see the vein?" Joey was whispering as they left.

"Do I really have a vein?" Monica asked Phoebe.

"Oh, yea," Phoebe said, laughing a little. "It's popping out right now."

"Oh, God," Monica said, covering her head.

"Sorry, you guys," Rachel said, coming out of the bathroom. She looked pale.

"Are you okay?" Monica asked her. Rachel debated telling her the truth. She really did. Even Phoebe looked concerned.

"I...I think so. I just need to set up a doctor's appointment. I haven't been feeling the greatest lately," Rachel said. Monica looked at her hard.

"Something you want to tell us, Rach?" Monica prodded.

"Nope. Just unwell. Happens to the best of us," Rachel said, skirting the issue. "So, Phoebs, how's your singing career going?" Monica narrowed her eyes. When Rachel Green changed the subject, there was something up.

"Pretty good actually," Phoebe said. "I've perfected Smelly Cat."

"That's great! I'd love to hear it sometime," Rachel said. "I'm just going to lie down for a while, okay?" She left the other two standing there looking at each other.

"She's hiding something," Monica said. Phoebe nodded.

"Like a baby," Phoebe said, guessing.

"What?! No way," Monica said. Then she thought about it. "Really?"

"I dunno. I was just guessing," Phoebe shrugged. "Her aura looks like it's doubled."

"Phoebs, no way is Rachel pregnant. She would have told me..." Monica trailed off. Would she have though?

"I gotta get going anyway," Phoebe said. She didn't want to run into Joey's date in the hallway. She didn't think she could hold off smacking the girl with her purse on the way by. Another assault charge and she was going to jail.

The Next Day

Monica couldn't help herself. She saw Chandler sitting there staring at his phone, so she crept up behind him quietly.

"Brrrr!" she shrilled into his ear. He leapt forward like a gunshot, grabbing his phone.

"Hello? Hello?!" he said. Then he looked at her. "Satan loves people like you," he told her.

"I couldn't help it," she laughed. "You looked so serious."

"She's not calling, Mon," Chandler said. "I guess I blew it."

"Oh well. There's better girls out there," Monica said. Like me, she wanted to say. Then she wondered why on earth she would think that. They were just friends. Friends, friends, friends!

"I'm sure you're right, but I repel women. There's just something about me," Chandler sighed.

"Oh, don't be so hard on yourself," she said, patting his shoulder. He reveled in her touch. He looked at her then as she worked on making breakfast. Maybe he should take the chance. He could outrun Ross. He was sure of it.

"Hey, Mon?" he asked.

"The peeper's back!" Joey shouted, bursting into the apartment and ruining any chance of Chandler's nerve to ask Monica out.

"What?" Monica asked.

"Yea, get down!" he said.

"I'm not getting down," Monica scoffed. "I live here! This is my apartment!"

"Morning, Mon," Rachel said, coming out of her room.

"And Rachel's apartment!" Monica added in case her friend had heard her. "We shouldn't have to live in fear of peepers!"

"That's right," Rachel chimed in. "Anyhow, I have to go see what Mindy wants." She had been called by her friend last night, and she was freaking out that Mindy knew she was sleeping with Barry. How ironic.

"Good luck," Monica said as she left.

"I'm gonna find out who this guy is," Joey huffed. "Invasion of privacy is rude!" He ran out the door as well. Chandler looked at Monica, who shrugged and laughed.

"Call her again," Monica said.

"I do have some pride, you know. I already left a message," Chandler replied.

"Do you?"

"Not really. Okay here goes." He dialed the number and it rang. "Danielle! Hi! Yes, my phone has been turned off so I didn't know if you'd tried to call me...Okay, I'll hold."

"You'll hold?" Monica asked.

"Yea. She's on the other line and is going to call me back," Chandler said. He felt giddy. Monica rolled her eyes as he danced around.

Later

"Hey, Chandler. Our phone isn't working," Joey said, crashing into Monica's apartment. "I tried to call."

"What? No, no, no!" Chandler said. "I turned it off! How could I have turned it off!"

"Like you said you did," Monica sniggered. He glared at her. "Just pointing out the irony." She held up her hands.

"Aww man," Chandler moaned.

"Just call her again," Phoebe suggested.

"I look like a moron!" Chandler yelled. "I'm not calling her again!"

"Anyway, Mon, I need your phone since the phone Nazi here won't give it over," Joey said. "I'm calling our peeper!"

"You're what?!" Monica asked, afraid suddenly.

"Yea, hi, is this Sidney?" Joey asked. "Yea, stop staring at me and my friends! It's rude! It's...well thank you." He went from outraged to charming within seconds.

"That's disgusting," Phoebe said, watching him look at the window at the girl. "How can he go from defending our privacy to being turned on like that?" It really upset her. It didn't take much for him did it?

"He's Joey," Monica said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Phoebe answered quickly. "I just don't get it."

"Me either, but I don't cry about it," Monica snorted. Phoebe turned away from her then to hide her tears.

"There, it's over," Rachel said, coming inside and slamming the door. "Mindy and I dumped Barry's sorry, cheating ass."

"Good for you!" Monica clapped.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to lie down," Rachel said.

"Did you go see your doctor?" Phoebe asked.

"Not yet. That's tomorrow," Rachel said. She closed her door behind her, resting her back on it. She was definitely pregnant. Nothing seemed to want to stay down, and smells were starting to make her vomit. She was scared. What was she going to do alone in New York as a waitress and living with her best friend while having a baby? She crashed onto her bed, trying not to get ahead of herself. It would all work out. It had to.

The Next Day

"So I'm not seeing Danielle anymore," Chandler said. "Too needy." He wouldn't admit the real reason, that he didn't find her as funny as Monica. She also didn't laugh at his jokes like Monica did.

"Chandler!" Monica hurled a pillow at him. "You're so stupid." Secretly, she felt glad.

"Well I've got a hot date with Sidney," Joey bragged.

"Yes, you've said that already," Phoebe snarked.

"What's with you?" Ross asked.

"Too many cups of coffee," Phoebe lied.

"Where's Rachel anyway?" Ross asked Monica, dropping the conversation with Phoebe as he knew it wouldn't really go anywhere.

"She's out. Didn't say where. I'm worried about her," Monica said.

"Me too. I'll talk to her when I see her," Ross said, getting up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Joey asked.

"Work. Like a normal person," Ross replied. The others looked at each other then laughed. Ross left the cafe shaking his head. He had lied. He was going to find Rachel. He needed to tell her how he felt before some other guy swooped in and took her away again. A man on a mission, he hurried through the streets hoping he'd find her soon, hoping that she would say yes to a date with him despite his taking so long.