I haven't forgotten about this story! I'm just trying to finish off some of my other shorter ones so I can focus more on my longer term ones. Hope you enjoy!

Phoebe peered into Monica's apartment before going inside. She was making sure that Rachel wasn't in there.

"Hey, sweetie," Monica said, seeing her there. "Are you okay?"

"Is Rach here?"

"No."

"Then I'm great," Phoebe beamed, coming in. Monica chuckled.

"Is she playing Fashion Police again?" she asked, eyeing Phoebe's outfit.

"No. She and Ross saw Joey and I kissing earlier," Phoebe answered casually.

"What?!"

"Yea. I know she's going to confront me, and I'm not ready for that," Phoebe said, collapsing onto the couch.

"Well, she can't be that mad about it. It's your business, not hers," Monica reassured her. This was a good distraction for her own thoughts. She wanted a reprieve from thinking about Chandler 24/7.

"It's not that I'm ashamed or anything. I just didn't want to hear her judgments," Phoebe went on. Monica nodded. Rachel could be a little judgy at times. Ross too.

"You've been together so long now, though. I think it won't be as bad as you think."

"I hope so."

"Hey, guys," Rachel said, coming in then as though summoned. Phoebe flinched openly. Rachel breezed over to them and sat on the arm of the chair.

"Hey," Monica replied. "I, um, saw that you got the apartment."

"Oh, God. You saw?!" Rachel grimaced.

"Chandler too."

"Chandler?! Oh no," Rachel cried, hiding her face behind her hands. This was too embarrassing.

"I think he washed his eyes with acid, though, so you're good," Monica teased.

"I really wanted that apartment," Rachel started, but Monica held up her hand.

"I don't need an explanation. I'm just happy you got it."

"Thanks."

"I gotta go," Phoebe said, getting up. The anticipation of Rachel confronting her was too much to take. Monica gave her a sympathetic look as she passed. Rachel waited a second before going after her.

"Rach," Monica started.

"I'll deal with you later," Rachel cut her off. She caught Phoebe in the hallway.

"Oh, it's following me," Phoebe whimpered. Rachel dismissed the "it" comment, although it was hard.

"Are you dating Joey? Or are you just having a fling? Not many know this, but Joey is fragile. If you're not serious about him, please don't hurt him," Rachel finished. Phoebe gaped at her.

"I would never hurt Joey. Ever. And yes, it is serious. We've been dating since your wedding."

"Since my wed-! You know what, I don't care," Rachel said, breathing in deeply. How the hell had she missed something that big for almost two years?!

"I'm sorry. We were scared to tell anyone in case it didn't last."

"So, others do know then. Just not me or Ross."

"They found out. We didn't tell them. If we had it our way, nobody would know at all," Phoebe said.

"I get it. I do. I'm just a little hurt that you guys were afraid to tell us, your friends," Rachel commented.

"Sometimes your friends are harder to tell," Phoebe replied. Rachel crossed her arms and looked down before looking back up.

"Well, I hope you're happy together," she finally said.

"We really are, Rachel."

"Good," she sniffed. Then she turned and went back inside Monica's apartment. Phoebe stood there feeling guilty and bad for letting them know sooner. She hoped Rachel wouldn't be too mad at her for long.

Monica & Rachel

Monica flinched when Rachel slammed her door.

"You knew?" she asked. Monica nodded. Rachel came and fell onto the couch, sighing loudly.

"If it helps, I found out, she didn't tell me," Monica said quickly.

"That's what she said too. I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm so mad!"

"I was hurt too," Monica said. "But I had to accept that she has the right to her own secrets."

"Don't we all?" Rachel asked. "Like you and the whole Chandler thing. How is that going by the way?"

"Not great," Monica admitted.

"I'll try to let this go, but it'll be hard," Rachel sighed. She did feel hurt that Phoebe couldn't trust her, but she knew she had to let it go before their friendship was affected by it.

A Week Later

"Honey, what is wrong with chipping in?" Rachel asked as she arranged the pillows on the couch. Ross was growling about something to do with giving money to someone. Apparently he had been accosted in the hallway by the President. Rachel was still trying to piece it all together. She was stuck on the fact of why the President was even in their apartment building.

"It's the principle. We just moved in here. Why would we give money to someone who never did any maintenance for us?" Ross demanded.

"Because it's a nice thing to do?" Rachel said, giving him a look.

"I'm not backing down," Ross argued. He grabbed the cardboard from their moving boxes and stormed out.

"Okay," Rachel sighed. Sometimes Ross could be so hard headed over something so incredibly stupid. She was trying not to think about Phoebe and Joey. Since everyone knew now, they were being openly affectionate with one another. Rachel bristled inside a little at this, and she didn't even know why. It wasn't even the fact they were together that bothered her, it was the fact that they had hidden it for so long. Rachel prided herself on knowing the goings on in their gang, and this was twice now that her friends had secrets that she didn't figure out until they told her. Did they really not trust her?

"Sweetie?" Ross asked, breaking into her thoughts.

"Yea?"

"I went out to put the cardboard away, and this little kid just spit on me. Can you get me a towel?"

"Oh, ew! Yes, I'll get it," Rachel said, hurrying. She gagged a little at the sight of the spit wad on Ross's pants. He wiped it away quickly.

"That's it," he snapped. "I will not be treated this way because I won't pay up. You know what I'm going to do?"

"Pay up?" Rachel asked hopefully.

"No! I'm going to throw a party to show how cool we are," Ross answered aggressively. Rachel refrained from rolling her eyes.

"I don't think one party is going to make you cool, honey," she said instead.

"Watch me," he said, making a face at her. Then he went out to get supplies for his party. Rachel sighed. She wondered when she should step in and start doing damage control.

Phoebe & Joey

"Why are we going over there again?" Joey asked.

"Because. We need to show that they are our friends and we do like them," Phoebe answered.

"I didn't know they weren't our friends and we didn't like them," Joey said, puzzled.

"They are, and we do, but I don't want them to think that they aren't and we don't," Phoebe told him. Joey blinked at her a few times. This was seriously hurting his head.

"Okay," he said finally. He didn't want to make it more confusing than it already was. He knew they had found out about him and Phoebe, and he was glad everyone finally knew, but he didn't understand why Ross and Rachel would think they hated them.

"Oh, wow," Phoebe said, looking around as they came inside. "Monica said Ross was having a party, but this is really epic!" After walking around and chatting with people, she soon discovered it wasn't Ross's party. No sooner did she find that out when Ross's head poked out of his apartment.

"Phoebe!" he shouted. "Joey!"

"Uh oh," Phoebe said, pulling Joey over to him. They went inside, and Ross glared at them. Joey noticed that his apartment had a lot of chairs and snacks, and Rachel was sitting on a chair with a party hat on looking like she'd rather be dead.

"What were you two doing out there?!" Ross demanded.

"We...we thought it was your party," Phoebe said nervously. This was already going bad. She needed them to be happy right now.

"Turns out it's for some handyman," Joey added, nodding. "Ooohh chips." He reached for the bag. Ross smacked his hand away.

"You don't get chips because you went to Howard's party."

"Oh, Ross, come on," Rachel said finally. "Let's just go. It can't be that bad." She stood and walked past them all. Phoebe waited for her to say something about her and Joey, but it didn't come. Perhaps she was finally over it.

Ross reluctantly followed his wife out into the crowd. He got booed instantly. Phoebe and Joey flanked them, giving some protection from the spitting kid.

"I don't get it," Ross said, looking at Rachel. "You live with me, but they're not booing you."

"I'm just prettier," Rachel dismissed.

"Hey, Rachel!" Steve said, coming up to them. "Thanks again. You're a peach."

"Oho, stop," Rachel said to Steve, giving him a sharp look. He left quickly.

"Why are you a peach?" Ross asked, already knowing the answer. Rachel bit her lip and looked at the ceiling.

"No reason," she answered.

"You chipped in, didn't you?!" Ross yelped.

"I'm sorry! I just want to live in a building where people don't call you a moneyhogging loser!" Rachel snapped. "So yes, I paid up."

"I can't believe you. My own wife," Ross started.

Everyone was staring at them now. Rachel didn't even care.

"You're damn right, your own wife. I don't care what you think. Howard obviously was a well liked man, and I like to be liked too, so if giving him money gets me liked, then that's what I'm going to do!" she finished. Everyone muttered at this.

"Um, Rach," Phoebe said. "That's not a good reason to give someone money."

"Shut up, liar," Rachel growled. "I'm still mad at the two of you, so I don't want to hear it!"

"Let's go inside now," Ross suggested, tugging on her arm.

"Great idea, Ross! They'll gossip less about us when we go inside," Rachel said sarcastically.

"I think we're gonna go..." Phoebe tried.

"I don't care, Phoebe. You do whatever makes you happy," Rachel told her. She stormed inside then, and Ross followed her. Phoebe and Joey stood there shocked.

"She's really mad," Joey noted.

"Yea," Phoebe agreed. "I guess we should have just told everyone."

"No, no. We did nothing wrong, Phoebs. She'll get over it," Joey reassured her. He took her hand and pulled her along. "Let's go get some lunch, huh?"

"Okay."

A Week Later

Chandler was all jumpy inside. He hadn't gotten a chance to be alone with Monica since he had attempted to talk to her about their almost kiss. Maybe it was a sign from the universe. He didn't know. He kept catching himself daydreaming about her, though, and he didn't know what it meant. Did he have feelings again? Did he want to tell her? It was like three years ago all over again. He got a call from Rachel that interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey," she said. "Are you busy?"

"No, why?"

"We just bought a couch, and we need a hand getting it to our apartment."

"Sure. I'll come."

"Thanks!"

Chandler wondered if Rachel knew he sucked at heavy lifting. If anyone, she should have called Joey, or even Monica, before him.

Phoebe & Monica

Phoebe raced into Monica's apartment, panting.

"Hide me!" she shouted. Monica looked up from her book, puzzled.

"From what?"

A banging on her door interrupted Phoebe's answer. She flung herself onto the floor behind Monica's couch.

"What did you do?" Monica hissed. Phoebe lifted her head a little to answer.

"I found a police badge and was using it," she hissed back.

"Oh my God," Monica groaned.

"Police! Open up!" the voice outside the door called.

"Phoebe!" Monica cried.

"You'll do better in prison than me!" Phoebe argued. The man started banging again.

"Coming!" Monica shouted. She answered the door. "Hello?"

"Are you Phoebe Buffay?" he demanded. She quivered a little. He was really intimidating.

"Um, no?" she said. "But she's right over there behind the couch."

"MONICA!" Phoebe screeched, her head popping up. The officer came in a few steps, making Monica stumble backwards. Phoebe scrambled to her feet and came forward.

"All right, you can arrest me, but this won't stick! I have a very good lawyer," she said. "He'll make you look like a complete jackass!"

"Well, I don't like looking like a jackass," the cop mused. "Tell you what, how about I tell them I came by and you weren't here?"

"That would be perfect," Phoebe said, nodding vigorously.

"Okay. Since you're not going to jail tonight, would you have dinner with me? Ever since you flashed my badge at me, I can't stop thinking about you."

"Oh...oh..." Phoebe said, wringing her hands.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm...I'm kind of with someone," she answered.

"Oh, that's too bad," the cop said, looking a little down.

"I'll go," Monica said suddenly. Once he stopped being intimidating, he was kind of cute. He looked at her.

"Seriously?"

"Yea! Monica is a great date! She even puts out," Phoebe told him.

"Phoebe!"

"Well," the cop laughed. "I'll settle for just dinner, if that's okay."

"That's fine," Monica agreed, shooting Phoebe a look. She didn't see the harm in it. It was just one date. Chandler wasn't ready to date again anyway, and she felt it wouldn't be fair if she just let life pass her by while she waited. Besides, she always wanted to date a cop.

"I'm Gary," he said to Monica. "I'll pick you up in a few hours?"

"Okay," she smiled. Once he was gone, Phoebe grabbed her hands and jumped up and down with her. Then she stopped abruptly.

"What about Chandler?" she asked.

"It's one date," Monica dismissed. "I'm not in love with the guy, and I doubt it'll go farther than that. Plus, it's a free meal."

"He's a little bit yummy," Phoebe nodded.

"Not that kind of free meal," Monica said, exasperated.

"Right," Phoebe said coyly. Monica went to her room to find something to wear. She still couldn't get the thought of Chandler out of her mind. Then, all the thoughts came pouring in. He might not even like her back. He might never want to date again. It might not even work even if they did start dating. What was the harm of one date? She shook her head after a while. Chandler probably wouldn't even care anyway.

Chandler, Ross, & Rachel

"Chandler?" Ross asked skeptically. "You called Chandler? The next best thing would be Monica."

"I'm sorry. I just figured he could do it," Rachel defended herself.

"He's totally right. Monica has me beat," Chandler told her, smirking. They were surveying the couch at the bottom of the stairs. "And why didn't you have it delivered again?"

"Don't even get him started," Rachel interrupted before Ross could open his mouth. "We've already had this fight."

"Anyway," Ross said, giving her a look. "I've drawn a diagram of how to do this."

"Well, don't you think a lot of yourself?" Chandler commented, looking at it.

"That's my arm!" Ross snapped, yanking the paper back. Rachel sniggered behind her hand.

"Let's just do this," Ross glared at them. Chandler flexed his arms and stretched his back before picking up his end. He could tell that Rachel barely had a hold of it, letting him and Ross take the brunt of the weight.

"PIVOT!" Ross starting shouting. "PIVOT! PIVOOOOOT!"

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UUUUUP!" Chandler roared back, letting his end down with a thud. Ross lost his end too as he couldn't hold it on his own. Rachel was examining her nails at the bottom of the stairs, her end in the air above her head.

"Okay, this isn't working," Ross said.

"You THINK?" Chandler commented.

"Let's just start again," Ross said, trying to move it. He only succeeded in making it settle onto the stairs further. It wouldn't budge.

"Funny it didn't work," Rachel mused. "You had a little drawing and everything."

"Oh, maybe it was because I didn't understand what pivot meant," Chandler threw in. They couldn't resist ribbing Ross. He was such an easy target.

"Maybe if you-" Ross started.

"Enough," Rachel stopped him. "Chandler, thank you for helping, but it appears we need professional help."

"Don't I know it," Chandler muttered. Rachel pretended not to hear that part. She pulled out her phone to call Monica, which she now realized she should have done in the first place.

"Oh, hey Phoebe," Rachel said. Things were still a little awkward between them. "Where's Monica? On a date?! Really?"

Chandler felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. Monica was on a date?!

"Okay, well, thanks anyway," Rachel finished, hanging up.

"Mon's on a date?" Ross asked, frowning. "I didn't know she was seeing anyone."

"She just met him today. A cop apparently. Oh well. Okay, I'm going to call the furniture store and hire the movers."

"No!" Ross shouted, leaping down the stairs and falling into a heap on the floor. Chandler knew where he wasn't needed. He stumbled his way home. He sat in his apartment and stared at the door. He heard her come home, heard the laughing, and he knew it was her date with her. Was he going to go inside? He went to the door and pressed his face against it, listening. He didn't go in. They said goodnight. When he heard Monica's door close, he made his decision. He yanked open his door and ran after the cop.

"Hey!" he shouted as he caught him. "Hey, you!"

"Yes?" Gary asked, confused.

"You went on a date with Monica," Chandler accused.

"I did..." Gary trailed off. "And?"

"Just...don't, okay? I...I really like her, like REALLY like her, but I haven't told her yet. I already lost her to a guy once before, and then that guy died so she wasn't ready to date, and then I was with someone else and was getting married, and then that girl dumped me at the altar...I have come to the conclusion that I should be with Monica, but I still didn't think she was ready since Richard died. Seeing her on a date with you has made me realize that perhaps she is ready. So please, just go away. Don't date her," Chandler finished in a rush. Gary stared at him, incredulous.

"Wow," he said, laughing. "You're crazy."

"Crazy about Monica, yes," Chandler nodded.

"Look, I don't think it's any of your business, but I will not be seeing Monica anymore," Gary said.

"Because of what I said?"

"No, and by the way, you should really work on that speech. I got lost in it," Gary snorted. "No, it's because we didn't click. She's lovely, but she's not my type. There will be no future dates."

"Okay," Chandler said, feeling dizzy and elated. "Okay. Good. That's g-g-good."

"Good night, weirdo," Gary said, going down the stairs again. Chandler went back to his apartment, grinning. Monica was still single. He had time to make his move. He was going to plan it just right. She'd be blown away. He just hoped she would say yes.

Bet I had a bunch of you scared Monica was going to start seeing Gary didn't I? Hehe I'm not that mean. Thanks for reading!