Hi, this chapter is going to be very long, but I also hope is going to be funny.
It involves all six of them and it also has some references to the show "Joey".
I thought about splitting it into 2 parts, but in the end I decided that it was a better idea to have a parallel between girls and boys.
And since it's a bit long it might have more typos and mistakes, I'll check up on them. So forgive me, as usual. Hope you enjoy!
Oh, I must tell you that I had an idea for a different Roschel one shot, I hope I'm going to put it down in the next days, because I need to take it out of my system.
But I won't abandon this fiction, I promise!
"Joey, this apartment is amazing!" Ross exclaimed.
"I know, and the greatest thing is the fact that I have a Jacuzzi in front of my house and the hottest neighbor right outside my backyard!"
"So, you finally got the best of both worlds!" Chandler laughed, patting Joey on his back.
Ross chuckled and looked at the three of them, together for the first time after months.
He'd been missing moments like these. He loved his life, and he loved his family more than anything. But he really missed spending time alone with the guys, just like that.
"So, what did you plan for tonight?" Ross asked his friend.
"Is that even a question? L.A. has the best strip clubs, in the country, man!" Joey replied.
Ross and Chandler exchanged a meaningful look.
"Joey, we really can't. I promised Rachel we wouldn't involve women or strippers in this bachelor party. And come on, we're too old for that anyway!"
"No, we aren't!" Joey interrupted him. "I'm not getting married and I went to a strip club yesterday night for God's sake!"
Chandler thought that his friend would never grow up. "Well, then you shouldn't feel like going tonight, wouldn't you?"
"But it's Ross's bachelor party! Come on, Ross! Rachel is at 3000 miles away; she will never know!"
"But I will, Joey! I don't want to have any secrets with her, everything's been perfect since we got back together. I'm not going to spoil it."
Chandler knew what Ross and Rachel had been through a month before, Joey had been informed by his friend during a long phone call, but seeing that he wasn't in New York, it was difficult for him to understand the dramatic situation that had almost driven Ross and Rachel to annul their wedding.
Joey walked towards the fridge and took three beers out of it, then he sighed, "So, what should we do? Spending the night at home, playing Truth or Dare like a bunch of silly little girls?"
They both looked at Chandler, who walked a few steps back, "Don't stare at me like that, I already spilled the guts at this game the last time we played!"
Ross smiled, "You know, actually that seems like a very good idea, it's gonna be fun! Why don't you ask your nephew to come and play with us?"
Joey sniggered, "Fine, so the bachelorette party can finally begin!"
In the meantime, a pregnant Phoebe was holding a sleeping Erica in her arms while Monica was putting Jack in his own crib.
Ben and Emma were watching Robin Hood together in Joey's room. Whenever he wasn't in town, Monica and Chandler used his bedroom as a private cinema because Joey had put a TV and a Dolby Surround system in there.
That night was supposed to be spent to celebrate Rachel's Bachelorette Party, but Carol had asked her to keep Ben because Susan was sick, so they had decided to go to Monica's. Their wild evening had turned out to be a sleepover with a Disney movie Marathon.
"So, Pheebs, did you enjoy Aladdin?"
"Immensely, you know, I never watched Disney movies when I was a kid. Now I can finally be a normal mother who knows all those stupid silly songs like, A whole new world, Hakuna Matata…It's kind of cool!"
Monica laughed, "Well, I think you're going to love to sing those songs to your son."
"Did you and Mike pick a name, yet?" Rachel asked her.
Phoebe was still swinging with Erica in her hands, "Not yet, it's really hard to choose a name for a baby that you actually got to keep!"
Rachel laughed and sighed, thinking about the evening that they were spending at home, thinking about their children.
"Everything's ok, hon?"
"Yeah…I was just…expecting something more…transgressive, you know?"
"Well, Erica and Jack are asleep, we could ask my mother to come here and watch over Emma and Ben. I mean, we deserve it! We are young, it's your bachelorette party! It's your last night as a single woman, your last chance to do something really crazy!"
"Or…Or…You know something really transgressive?" Phoebe interrupted her. "We could stay home and play Truth or dare!"
Monica and Rachel shared a knowing look. Another weird idea coming from the queen of eccentricity. But with a pregnant Phoebe who wouldn't even drink, and the idea of the guys spending Ross's bachelor party at the other part of the United States, the truth was that maybe Rachel and Monica weren't really in the mood for going out. Maybe they were just missing their husband and fiancé.
"Well, this could be fun. But I want some wine!" Rachel asked Monica.
"Ok, so, I got the right to ask the first question because I'm the guest of honor tonight." Ross said, taking a handful of nachos from the bowl on the table.
"And the question is for… Joey."
"Oh, God." He sighed. Michael grinned, ready to find out something interesting about his uncle.
"You told us that you slept with Alex and that you decided to stay friends after that. Is it true that you don't feel anything for her?"
Michael watched intently at his uncle, he really wanted to know what he would answer. He was sure that something was going on between Joey and Alex, but he was too stubborn to admit it.
Joey stared at Ross. He loved Alex, she was a great friend and definitely a very hot girl, but the night they had spent together had been just something they should have never done. Or not? When he thought seriously about it, he wasn't sure of anything, because Alex was amazing. She knew him so well and most importantly, she made him feel good with himself. Joey pondered his possibilities and, seeing that Michael was there, he decided not to answer.
"Dare! I pick Dare!"
Ross and Chandler chuckled, "Michael, I leave Joey to you!"
"Ok! Joey, I dare you to go out and knock at Alex' door…"
"No problem with that…" Joey laughed.
"Naked."
Chandler and Ross shared a knowing look and laughed to themselves. Michael had chosen a pretty humiliating penalty. Joey seemed a little scared.
"Oh, come on Joey, don't tell me you are shy." Chandler quipped.
"Hey, I am an actor! I've never felt shy in my entire life and I have no problem with some nudity!" he replied.
"Well…" Michael waved his hand and pointed at the door.
Two minutes later Alex was opening her door. Joey was in front of her, completely naked.
"Hello…" she murmured.
"Hi."
"Weren't you supposed to have that bachelor party tonight?" she wondered, trying to avoid looking at his legs while she was blushing.
"Yeah. We are playing Truth or dare."
"Oh, everything's ok, then." She chuckled.
Alex closed the door and Joey went back to the apartment, with the other men who were laughing like crazy. He dressed up again.
"Laugh as much as you want, Michael. But your turn will come."
"Oh, but didn't they tell you? I'm not involved in the game! I can only decide your penalties, Joey!" he replied, grinning.
"Oh, yeah? Then my next question is for Chandler."
"Why me? Ross was the one who asked you the spicy question!"
"Well, you are the one who was laughing harder! So, take this! Before getting together with Monica…have you ever felt something for Rachel or Phoebe?"
Chandler coughed and waited a couple of seconds, while Ross looked at him with curiosity.
"Which ones are Rachel and Phoebe, I don't remember." Michael asked.
"Rachel is my fiancé and Monica is Chandler's wife, who's also my sister. Phoebe is our best friend; bus she's not related to anyone of us."
"Well, I'll answer that." Chandler eventually spoke. "You remember the night of Rachel's birthday, when we had two parties because there were both Sandra and Leonard?"
"Yeah. That's when I kissed Sandra to distract her…" Joey smiled to himself while Ross looked at him with disgust.
"Ross, you remember that at a certain point you found me and Rachel hugging because she was very upset by all those fights between her parents?" Ross nodded. "Well, that evening I felt for the first time that not only Rachel was my friend, but she was also the sister I never had. And that's something I've never felt with Monica. I know that in the first two years that she was in the city I used to make sexual jokes about Rachel too, about her body and beauty, but that was just me being…me. With Monica I've always had a certain level of intimacy that I've never shared with the other girls. I've always felt something, even if I've never admitted before London. And Pheebs…well she's my best friend, she's always been the crazy one of the group and I love doing weird things with her. She's my counterpart, I also chose Monica's ring with her! And I couldn't live without Phoebe in my life, but…she's Phoebe, you know what I mean."
Ross nodded, smiling to himself for all the lovely words Chandler had just said. Joey was really satisfied by his friend answer.
"Which reminds me of something…" Chandler looked at Ross. "Janice once asked us who of the six of us had slept with the six of us and back then the answer was none of us. Then she asked if any of us ever…almost…"
Joey started to smile and so did Chandler, but Ross wasn't. "I…I don't know what you are talking about…"
"Come on, we all had something to hide! Joey got naked in front of Monica when he moved in with me! We are sure that you got nervous for something that almost happened with Phoebe!" Chandler kept talking.
Ross closed his eyes and sighed, blushing "All right, all right!"
Joey and Michael smiled and shared a handshake.
"It all happened the night that I found out that Carol was a lesbian. I went to the bar and Phoebe was already there waiting for us to arrive…she tried to console me, one thing lead to another and…we started to kiss…"
"Yeah, baby…" Joey said.
"37, Joey. You are 37!" Chandler said.
"Anyway…we couldn't go through with it, hopefully. We realized we were doing a very stupid thing and we stopped. If you guys had arrived a few seconds before, you would have found us lying together on a pool table!"
"I knew it!" Chandler screamed.
"Please, guys, this is something very personal, Monica and Rachel don't know about it."
"Didn't you say that you don't have secrets with Rachel anymore?" Joey mocked him and Ross glared at him.
Hardly the guys knew that back in New York, Rachel was asking Phoebe the very same thing.
"Phoebe…I noticed the look you shared with Ross that day, it was like you were trying to hide something…"
"But you were doing it too!" Phoebe protested.
"It's not the same, I only had a fantasy about Chandler when I met him here with Monica, it was just a stupid dream, and Monica knows everything about it!"
Phoebe snorted, "Dare! I want a dare!"
Monica laughed.
"Noo! Come on Pheebs, I promise I won't get mad at you! It must be something way in the past, isn't it?"
Phoebe thought about it and smiled to herself. "All right, I'll tell you. But you don't have to be judgmental and most of all I don't want you to get mad at Ross because of this!"
"I swear!" Rachel nodded.
"Ok, it happened the night he found out that Carol was a lesbian. Ross was very upset and vulnerable; I was trying to make him feel better. And…we almost did it on the pool table."
"What?!" Monica and Rachel exclaimed. Monica burst out laughing and Rachel grinned. She couldn't believe her ears.
"You and Ross?! That's so gross!" Monica exclaimed.
"Yeah, I know…I'm so so sorry, Rachel! I didn't want you to find out, ever! I wanted to take this secret to the grave! However, this was a lifetime ago, you weren't even back in Ross's life, you were still engaged to Barry! The bottom line is, we couldn't make it, that felt so wrong!"
"I can't believe you and Ross almost had sex!"
"Me neither." Phoebe agreed with Monica.
Rachel shook her head. "Why, was he so bad back then?"
"Oh no, he was sooo good!" Rachel smiled at her, proud of her boyfriend, "I think we could have gone through with it, but…we were just too much friends to go for it, you know?"
"Yeah…" Rachel thought about Joey, "I know what you mean. Oh, and this is why you knew that Ross was kind of sexy and could be really smooth that night we were talking about the guys when we were spying on George Stephanopoulos!"
Phoebe nodded, "Uh-Uh, I had kissed him, so I knew what you were talking about even before you. Anyway, I'm glad we didn't make such a mistake, it would have ruined our friendship. Oh, Rach, are you mad at me?"
Rachel smiled, "Honey, no! It's been ages, nothing ever happened between you and Ross, I wasn't even there! But this doesn't mean that I can't use this story to have some fun with Ross when he comes back…"
"Rach, you promised!" Monica reminded her.
"I know, I know, I just want to pretend that I'm angry about the fact he didn't tell me this secret, but I'm not, I swear. It's just a funny memory from the past."
Monica sighed in exasperation. You are never too much careful when it comes to Ross and Rachel's relationship, she thought.
"Ok, Monica's turn!" Phoebe screamed.
"Ok, but after this one I'm going to check on the kids." Rachel said.
Phoebe nodded, stroking her belly, "I've always wondered…before the proposal…were you really so upset and confused to think about going back with Richard?"
Monica sighed heavily and Rachel stared at her seriously.
"Wow. That's a tough one, Pheebs."
"Well…there's always a dare if you don't feel like answer…" she said, feeling a bit uncomfortable for the question she had just asked.
"Well…I must admit I had a few hours in which I had doubts. I didn't decide to actually break up with Chandler, but I wanted to take some time for myself to think. Richard was important to me, he was the very first love of my life, I can't forget about that. And in that moment he was ready to get back together and have babies with me. His words had shaken me, I needed time to sort things out."
Rachel and Phoebe nodded, remembering the situation created by Chandler's absurd plan.
"But…as soon as Joey told me that Chandler had only been planning to surprise me…I understood that I didn't need to think about anything. I was in doubt only because I was worried about losing Chandler. I hadn't been in love with Richard in a while, and that was also the moment I finally understood that Chandler and I would last forever."
"Oh, Mon, you two are the sweetest." Phoebe murmured, wiping away a tear from her eye.
"Pheebs!" Rachel smiled, caressing her leg.
"Hormones!" she explained.
"She's right, though. You and Chandler are so lucky. You found each other and never let go." Rachel said, with a tiny hint of envy in her statement.
Monica shook her head and stroke Rachel's hair, "The journey isn't as important as the final destination. When two people are soulmates, they always find their way back to each other. Don't they, Pheebs?"
"Sure, if they are lobsters." Phoebe smiled, "And if they have a friend with an inherited cab that drives them to the airport to prevent one of them from leaving the country."
Rachel began to smile, "Thank you, guys. I'm going to check on my children now."
"Ok, ok, my turn!" Ross jumped from the couch, "Joey, kind of the same question. Did you and Phoebe ever sleep together? Truth or dare?"
Chandler was curious, too. But Joey smiled to himself, "That's an easy question, Ross. And the answer is no, in spite of what you guys might think. We've kissed a few times, but those were always friendship kisses. In the first years, when we first met, our relationship was tender and we kind of like each other, but it never became anything more. We've always loved each other too much as friends to deepen the bond that we share. And I am so happy that she's finally found Mike, he's so good for her."
"Well, that's…unexpected. I was pretty sure that you and Phoebe had slept together at some point." Ross admitted.
"Honestly? Me too." Chandler agreed.
Joey smiled, "Sorry, guys."
"Ok, talking about sex…I've got another question for our groom-to-be." Chandler said.
"Shoot." Ross replied, crossing his arms on his chest.
"I remember vividly the night that Rachel came to town. You were complaining about the fact that you had been involved with your wife for four years. Later you confessed us that Carol had been the first woman you'd slept with. Even if you weren't totally truthful, because you'd also slept with Mrs. Altman, the librarian."
Michael almost choked, "What?! You slept with your high school librarian?! How old were you?"
"Sixteen, I'm afraid." Ross coughed. "Chandler, can you ask me your question?"
Chandler laughed, "Well, it seems to me that for a man who'd slept with only one lesbian woman and with an octogenarian librarian until he was 26, after that you had many relationships."
Joey nodded, "You know what? That's true! I mean, Julie, Bonnie, Emily, Mona, Elizabeth, Charlie…Mmm I feel like I'm missing someone…"
Chandler squeezed his eyes and sighed, closing his left hand in a fist.
"Rachel!" Ross exclaimed.
"Oh, yeah!" Joey smiled, oblivious to his naive dumbness.
"Ok, here's the question. Which is the best sex you ever had? And I swear, I'm not going to tell Monica, so Rachel won't find out."
Ross smiled to himself, he didn't need to think about it.
"That's no question, Chandler. That's just an affirmation. It's Rachel."
Michael smiled and looked intently at his uncle, trying to find any sign of resent in that response, but Joey was smiling lovingly at his best friend.
Chandler nodded, "Ok, but you are talking about what time that you two were together?"
Ross chuckled, "Every time. I mean…it's not just the fact that we've been together countless times, it's the intimacy that we share, the mutual knowledge and understanding, the stuff we like…it's never been just sex with Rachel, it's always been love. Even when we weren't together as a couple."
Ross suddenly remembered what had happened when Rachel was pregnant and late for having Emma.
"This is insane, I'm not gonna make love to you just so that you'll go into labor."
"Make love? What are you a girl?"
Ross had tried to ease the tension by making a joke, "Always a great way to get in a man's pants."
Later Rachel had tried to entice him but he had rejected her advances.
"Okay enough! This is, this is not going to happen!"
"Come on Ross! I'm miserable here! Come on! You started this, now you finish it! Come on wuss, make love to me."
"Y'know what?"
"What?!"
"Forget it."
Ross was angry at her. She'd called him wuss; she had belittled his feelings by saying that he shouldn't say that they would make love and that he should probably talk about having sex with her. Then he had listened to her stupid remarks for another minute, he'd also accepted her stupid mimicking of his breathing, but then he hadn't been able to control himself anymore and he had jumped over her to kiss her.
"What are you doing?!"
"I'm getting that baby out of you!"
And when they had finally kissed, almost one year after the night they had spent together, it had felt like the right thing to do. Of course, Ross wasn't expecting for Rachel's water to break in a few seconds. They had stood up, ready to run to the hospital. They had reached the door and they had exchanged another amazing kiss, trying to convey all their feelings in that moment of joy, knowing that soon they would see their daughter.
And that was another example of how much he'd always cared for her.
Always love, never sex.
"Ok, enough with the sappiness. I've got a good one for Chandler!" Joey derided his friend.
"Oh no…"
"So, the kids?" Monica asked.
"I've put them under the covers; they were both asleep. They were so sweet, lying together on the couch…" Rachel smiled, thinking about Ben and Emma.
"Ben loves his sister very much, doesn't he?"
"Yeah…and he can't wait to have another brother, he keeps asking."
"Isn't it weird that that you and Ross have been trying to have another baby for a while and you aren't pregnant yet, but when you used an old condom on a one night stand you ended up waiting for Emma?"
"Phoebe!" Monica shouted.
Rachel looked at her friend in disbelief, but she reminded herself that the hormones were probably inspiring most of her bad remarks.
"Well…actually I hadn't really thought about it…what can I say, sometimes it's not so easy to get pregnant." She answered.
Phoebe mentally slapped herself for her stupidity, especially when she noticed Monica's expression at Rachel's statement.
"I'm sorry guys, please…forgive me, both of you."
"It's okay, Pheebs." Monica replied.
"And hey…you want to know something? I'm almost done with my menstrual cycle this month, so who knows, this could be our chance…"
"Really?" Phoebe exclaimed, enthusiastic. "You mean that Ross could come back from L.A. and find out the good news?"
"That's the hope…" Rachel confessed.
"Wow, this is so romantic!" Monica murmured. "I could be an aunt again!"
"Ok, let's not keep our hopes too high, let's move on with the game now!" Rachel grinned, clapping her hands together.
"All right! We've got a good one for you!" Monica smiled towards Phoebe. "We want to know if it's true that you and Ross didn't have sex the night that you got married in Vegas!"
Rachel chuckled, "Oh, that's so funny!"
"Why?" Phoebe asked.
"Because we don't remember! We were so drunk…that we actually don't know! The truth is that when we got up the morning after we knew that we had laughed a lot. Ross was naked but we weren't sure of what had happened the previous night, so we agreed that we probably didn't have sex."
"But he was naked!" Phoebe exclaimed.
"Though I wasn't! Later when I got home I started to remember little details and for what I can recall, after getting married in the Chapel, we went to Pizza Hut to eat something, then we found some grapes and got back to my room. I fed Ross on the bed, then we got under the sheets to…consummate the wedding…"
Monica and Phoebe exchanged an amused look.
"Then all I remember is that I awoke the morning after. I think that all the alcohol we drank that night really tore us out."
"Wow…I really thought you were hiding something hotter from us!" Phoebe confessed.
"Nope, sorry girls." Rachel smiled.
"Oh, I've got one, I've got one!" Monica screamed, waving her hand.
"But it's your turn!" Rachel protested.
"Come on, it's still about this!"
Rachel scoffed.
"If you could turn back time…would you still file for divorce?"
Rachel was surprised by Monica's question and she stared back at her with a knowing look. She was silently asking her if she was really supposed to answer.
"Come on, Rach…answer me. We are too old to ask for dare, anyway."
"Ok, but then the game becomes Truth or Truth!"
The three friends started to laugh together.
"Ok…truth is…obviously…if I came back today, knowing what I know…Maybe I would not sign those divorce papers. You know how much I love your brother; this is where we were supposed to end. But when we got married in Vegas…that was a very complicated moment in our relationship, you know? It was only because of Phoebe if Ross realized how much he still loved me…"
Phoebe bowed and smiled, and Monica shook her head.
"I was in a very different place, I didn't know what I wanted at that time, I thought it wasn't the right moment to get back with him, I was still worried about our past. He had divorced Emily a few months before! That wasn't a marriage, that was a mistake, and even if the idea had been mine, the major cause of that wedding had been the high quantity of alcohol in our bodies. And the fact of getting married in Vegas like that, without a ceremony, without our families and friends, without our perfect day…I couldn't accept it. I mean…it's Ross!"
Monica and Phoebe had tears in their eyes.
"We deserve the wedding that we're planning now. Like a dream. With all of you, guys. And then I often think that if we'd decided to stay together back then, who knows…maybe Emma wouldn't be here today. Or maybe things would be different and Emma wouldn't be Emma. She wasn't planned at all, she was conceived in the most unconventional way and yet she is so perfect. I don't know if you can understand this, but she has messed up our lives and since I got pregnant Ross and I started to get closer again…it was meant to be that way."
Phoebe sniffed her nose and Monica laughed between the tears.
"So you are telling me that if you could come back in time, you would divorce anyway."
Rachel smiled, "Yeah. I guess so. Knowing that Ross and I would end up together one way or another, I would."
"Rach, you are such an amazing woman." Monica admitted. "My brother is so lucky."
Phoebe kept crying, "Yeah, I don't know what I'd do to have your strength."
"Another batch of hormones?" Rachel asked her.
"Totally!" Phoebe replied.
Rachel laughed, "Okay, now it's Monica's turn!"
"All right! Please nothing that's going to make us cry…"
Rachel grinned mischievously. "I want to know…back in London… had you found Joey in that bedroom…you would have really slept with him?"
"Uhhh…saucy!" Phoebe exclaimed.
Monica chuckled, "Ok, that's fair. From Vegas to London. All right, I guess my answer will be…yes. I think I would have."
Rachel and Phoebe exchanged a look, then Rachel shouted, "Damnit!"
"What?"
"I owe Phoebe 20 bucks!"
Monica giggled, "It's no secret, you all knew that I was looking for Joey that night!"
"Yes, but I was sure that you wouldn't have slept with him!"
"Well, I'm sorry but that would be a lie…I was sad and drunk, I was looking for solace. The difference is that if I had slept with Joey, that would have been a one-night stand, nothing more. With Chandler everything was different because…we were meant to be. Sleeping together was like our destiny, it was the beginning of something that was already there. How many times during the years had we joked about dating each other if we were to end up alone at 40? Or when we were at the sea, and he was trying to convince me that he could be boyfriend material?"
"Oh, yeah…" Rachel remembered.
"I've always seen Chandler as something more than a friend, he was a confidant. And you know more than anyone how much I liked him when we were young and he was Ross's roommate at college."
"Well, this doesn't change the fact that you would have slept with Tribbiani." Phoebe laughed.
"No, you're right. But if you were glad of the fact that you didn't had sex with Ross, believe me…I'm super glad that Chandler was in that room that night!"
"Hey, it's Phoebe's turn!" Rachel interrupted them.
"Yeah!" Monica shouted, almost bothered. "And I have a difficult question for you!"
"Shoot."
"If Mike hadn't come back to Barbados…you would have said yes to David? You would have married him?"
Phoebe sighed and thought about it, "Yes."
"I knew it!" Monica screamed.
"Well, I loved David, he was the only man I've ever really loved before meeting Mike. I've missed him so much all those years when he was working in Minsk."
"That's why you dated all those men?" Rachel asked, ironically.
Phoebe glared at her, "Yeah, that was my way of coping with his absence."
Rachel and Monica looked at each other, giggling silently.
"Anyway, when I met Mike I found someone that was so compatible with me. We both love music, he knows all my eccentricities and accepts them, he met all of you and I love the fact that he likes you for what you are, with all your faults. And let's admit it, you are far from perfect guys!"
Again, Monica and Rachel stared at each other, ignoring Phoebe's attitude. That was Phoebe, after all.
"Mike is my soul mate, and I'm glad I ended up with him. But if he hadn't come back, I think I would have said yes to David. I loved him, I was so worried back then that I would not find another boyfriend after Mike, I would have probably married him even only for gratitude."
"Wow…thank God I called Mike!" Monica finally said. "Oh, and I've got a good one for Rachel, too!"
"Okay…"
"I'm pretty sure you talked about it with my brother, but I'd like you to tell us, too. You mentioned that on your first date with Joey, you kept slapping him away and he couldn't open your bra…"
Phoebe chuckled, "I still can't believe that he couldn't open your bra!"
"It's not that I had melded its clasps together!" Rachel protested.
"But on your second date why did you realize that you couldn't have sex? Only because it felt wrong or…because of something else?" Monica asked.
"Mon…" Rachel smiled. "I think you already know the answer to that question…Anyway, you are right, I kept thinking about that other second date."
"So…it's true, isn't it?"
"It is." Rachel admitted.
"What…will you update me, too?"
Monica smiled, "Do you remember Ross and Rachel's second date?"
"Oh…The Planetarium." Phoebe murmured.
"Exactly."
"So, that second night with Joey you were expecting to…"
"Yes." Rachel interrupted Monica.
"And yet you couldn't…"
"Nope." This time, Rachel interrupted Phoebe.
"So you realized that you really weren't meant for each other."
"Yeah…truth is, I'm only meant to be with one person, and it's your stupid brother."
Monica took Rachel's hand and Phoebe felt again the tears starting to form at the corner of her eyes.
Rachel shrugged and shook her head. "I can't help it, guys. He's the only man I've ever really loved. And even if I've realized this a little later than he did, I'm so in love with him. And that's the only conclusive truth you're going to obtain from me in this game."
"Ok, Chandler. Here's a question for you. Do you think that you are going to tell the kids that they were adopted?"
Ross stared at Joey in disbelief, that was a huge serious question, he was so surprised that Joey had even thought about it.
"Your children were adopted?" Michael asked.
"Yes, Monica and I had some trouble in conceiving. We have twins, Jack and Erica." Chandler smiled while explaining to Michael, who nodded in answer.
Chandler pondered his words, "Well…Monica and I spoke about it a few times, but it's still so soon to even think about it, I mean, the kids are only one-year-old. Anyway, we think that we will tell them the truth as soon as they are old enough. They deserve to know the fact that they had an incredible mother who gave birth to them and decided to give them to another couple not because she didn't love them, but because she thought that we would make them happier than she ever could."
"Wow…" Joey was almost crying. "Would you adopt me too, Chan?"
Ross patted on Chandler's back, "Those are some incredible words, man."
"I know."
"All Monica's stuff, isn't it?" Ross asked.
"Little bit, yes."
"Ok, another tough one for Ross!" Joey kept talking. "I remember the night that you told us that your wedding with Emily was over. We were all having dinner together, she called us, and when we pretended that Rachel wasn't there, Emily insulted her. Then, you saw her walking away to her bedroom, she was sad and speechless. And that was when you decided to stand up for Rach."
Ross tried to remember that night.
When Ross had put Emily on speakerphone, all the guys in the room but Rachel had said hello to her.
"Hello everyone. So, who am I saying hello too?"
Joey had decided to help his friend in his own way, "Well uh, I don't know about who's here, but I can tell you for damn sure who's not here and that's Rachel!"
Emily had laughed, "Well, I should hope not. Ross knows better than that by now."
Rachel, feeling upset and humiliated, had waved her hands in disgust and started to head for her room.
And that had been the moment of truth for Ross. The moment he had come to the realization that he couldn't actually do this to her. And that he couldn't live without her.
"Y'know what? Uh, Rachel IS here…"
Rachel had stopped walking and had turned around, with incredulity on her face.
"She's there?!" Emily had screamed.
"Oh yeah, there-there she is!" Chandler had tried to make a joke to ease the tension.
"Yeah, yeah, she's here." Ross had admitted, knowing too well that this would be the beginning of another argument and probably a very bad one.
"Well, I want to know if you think that you behaved like that…maybe unconsciously…to destroy your wedding because you were actually trying to get out of it."
Ross stared at Joey with a questioning look.
"I mean…you were trying to keep it together, but Emily was becoming more a weight than a wife and she was forcing you not to see Rachel anymore!"
Chandler was really curious to know if Ross would answer to that. "I've got a very good dare ready for you, man." He told his friend.
"No, I won't need it. I've never actually thought about it…I've always considered the end of my second wedding as a lack of trust because Emily couldn't have faith in me anymore. Trust is so important to me; Rachel knows it too. That's why we've been apart for so many years, I've lost her trust when I cheated on her and it was so difficult to rebuild the foundation of our relationship. But with Emily…I lost her trust for such a stupid reason…"
"Saying the name of your ex at the altar? What is stupid about that reason?" Chandler asked.
"What? You said the name of an ex-girlfriend the day of your wedding?" Michael asked, starting to giggle.
"Not A girlfriend." Joey explained to his nephew.
"You said Rachel's name when you were getting married to this…Emily woman?"
Ross nodded and Michael chuckled. Chandler and Joey looked at the boy in amusement. Michael was really having the time of his life.
"Anyway, I've never thought about that night and that phone call. But I guess that Joey is right, that evening I took Rachel's side because when I saw how painful she was, walking away from us like that…I couldn't stand it. Maybe at that time I wasn't IN love with her because I thought I was in love with Emily, but she was still my best friend and…oh my god, you know what? Actually, I WAS still in love with her."
"What do you mean?" Joey asked.
"The day that Phoebe had Frank's triplets, Rachel came to me to confess that she still loved me."
"What?" Chandler screamed.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Joey wondered.
"Because at that time it was surreal…I was married to Emily, and she knew that. She asked me not to consider that confession as a threat, she only wanted me to know. But when she said those words, I realized that being married was an obstacle between us, because she was finally confessing that she still loved me and here I was, involved with another woman! And I really wanted to tell her that I still felt something for her, but I couldn't, because I wanted to save my marriage with a wife that I didn't even know how to reach, because she was avoiding all my phone calls!"
"Uhm…Ross, after saying the wrong name at the altar you were expecting a wonderful honeymoon?" Michael asked. Ross just glared at him. Michael was starting to like his uncle's friends very much.
"Anyway, that night when I saw Rachel suffering like that, I realized two things. First, I couldn't stay with Emily anymore. I didn't feel anything for her, not even attraction, because if she was so mean and petty to get angry at Rachel who had done anything to jeopardize our relationship, then she didn't deserve all the effort I was making to save it. And let's say it, if our marriage was falling apart it was all my fault, not Rachel's!"
"Words of wisdom." Chandler remarked.
"Second, I understood that I couldn't live without Rachel in my life, come on! And I know that the end of my marriage had a few consequences…Like getting depressed and mad…"
"Getting angry over a sandwich…" Chandler reminded him.
"Getting stuck in a pair of leather trousers…" Joey remembered.
"Dude, you do have some weird history!" Michael exclaimed.
"You have no idea…now you know why I don't need dares in this game, Michael. I can totally discredit myself on my own. And yes, Joey, I think I probably unconsciously sabotaged my wedding with Emily on purpose, that night."
"Thanks man…"
"Oh, you're welcome. Now I want you to tell me if you have any regrets about moving to L.A."
Chandler stared at Ross. That was a very dangerous question, especially to ask in front of Michael.
"Wow…that's a nice way to get back at me!"
"You made me talk about Emily, you know how much I hate that!" Ross explained.
"Well, Joe, if that can help…we really miss you back home. I know you're doing great here, and I know it's a tough question, but I'd like to know what you think because it would help a lot to be sure that you are happy about your decision." Chandler told his best bud.
Joey thought about it and looked at his nephew. Michael was smiling and waiting for an answer. Joey remembered the last year. The first troubles in finding jobs and friends, but the happiness of reconstructing his relationship with his sister and Michael. The way he could talk with Alex about everything. His role in DeepPowder and the main stream movie that he had just started to act in, Captured. The weird conversations with his friend Zach. The meetings in Bobbie's office. Yeah, he definitely loved Los Angeles.
"Guys, I miss you every day, very much. You can't rebuild in a few months what you struggled to create in more than ten years. We are more than friends, we are family. But I'm not regretful and I'm glad that I came here. I found something very different in Los Angeles. I have new friends, a new life. Ross, I was so jealous of what you had with Monica, but now I have rebuilt that kind of connection with my sister Gina and I also got the chance to know Michael here, who is a little genius." Joey patted his nephew on the back and he started to smile.
"My career is getting better every day, with some twist that I wasn't expecting, and I'm so happy about it. I mean, I am finally the big star in a huge movie! And about my everyday life...you know what? I think it was supposed to be like this…"
"What do you mean?" Ross asked him.
"Well, Chandler and Monica moved out of the city with the kids, Phoebe got married and now she's going to have the baby…you and Rachel got together again and now you are moving, too…I came here last year, but if I didn't, I probably would have done it now, you know?"
Ross and Chandler nodded.
"Otherwise you could have become like Mr. Heckles!" Chandler noticed.
"Ahah, very funny…" Joey continued. "But believe me guys, I'm happy here. Really."
"Good." Ross smiled. "That's all I wanted to know, Joe."
"And now let's go back to business…You mentioned Janice, before, Chandler. I want to know if you ever regretted those months you spent with her, you know when you got together after you found each other on that chatroom."
Chandler was speechless. How could he answer that question?
Of course his friends were waiting for an answer and he surely had it in his mind.
The truth was that he didn't regret his relationship with Janice. Even if now he couldn't stand her, there had been a time when he actually loved that woman. Janice had been his first true love. That relationship had changed him, in many ways. When Chandler thought about it, he realized that if Janice hadn't got back with her husband maybe he wouldn't had broken up with her, because he was really in love, back then.
She had taught him how to be a good boyfriend, he had matured a lot with her and the one with Janice had been his first long term relationship with a woman. He owed it to Janice, she had meant a lot to him.
But he couldn't confess these feelings to his best friends, especially to Joey. And he didn't want to lie to them.
"Dare, I want a dare!"
Joey grinned and Ross clapped his hands.
"Well, I dare you…to call Janice!"
"No, no, no!" he screamed.
"That's your dare, Chan-Chan Man!"
"And you can't hang up the phone until she's said at least one time…"
Both Ross and Joey shouted, "Oh – My – God!"
Michael didn't understand their conversation, but seeing his uncle laughing like that was enough to realize that those three had a very deep bond and a special connection. You could see it in the way they knew one another.
"Ok! But you are mean!"
Chandler took his cellphone and found Janice's number in his contacts list. He waited for her to answer and put the call in speakerphone so that all the guys could listen to her.
"Hello?"
"Uhm…hi…Janice? This is Chandler…"
"Chandler? Ah ahahahhah" Janice erupted in her usual nasal laugh, and Chandler made a repulsed grimace.
"I just wanted to…you know…"
Then Chandler had a great idea, the best way to get back at Ross and Joey for obliging him to make that call. "I am here with Joey and Ross! They really wanted to say hi!"
"Wow, hi guys! That's so sweet! How you doing?"
"Fine…"
"Hi Janice…"
They replied, not very happy for the turn of events of that call.
"Well, you know, Ross and Rachel are getting married in a month!"
"Wow, really? That's so cool, I thought you guys were just friends and weren't in that place anymore…maybe having a little girl together changed your perspective, uh?"
Janice laughed again and Michael put his hands over his ears not to hear it.
"Anyway, I'm very glad for you two, guys. I've always thought you are meant for each other, really."
Ross and Chandler exchanged a look and smiled. This was one of the reasons Chandler wasn't answering the question and was making that call. Janice was one crazy woman, but she was also a very sweet person. "Well, thank you, Janice. Really." Ross thanked her sincerely.
"Anyway, Joey is a bit shy, Janice but…he really wanted to ask you to come and visit him in Los Angeles to have another Joey and Janice's DAY OF FUN!" Chandler suddenly said.
"What?!" Joey screamed.
"OH – MY – GOD! I'm definitely coming, Joey! That could be just amazing! Can I bring the kids and Sid, too?"
Joey sent a glare that could kill to Chandler, "Of course you can, Janice! I'm looking forward for you all to come here!"
"Fine, then I'll ask Chandler your number and we'll be in touch! Have a nice evening you guys!"
"Thank you Janice!" they all replied.
Chandler was grinning and Ross was laughing. Joey wanted to cry, "So, who's turn is it?"
"I think it's time for your question, Joe." Ross answered.
"Oh, just wait for Chandler's turn again. After this, his kids are going to grow up without a father."