Jack was sitting on the couch holding a bag of peas to his brow where the handle of the frying pan had clipped him on its way past. He had never seen his twin so freaked out like that over a date before. Had she not been on a date before? Dates were super easy. In fact, Jack was waiting for Lucy to come over right now. He was working on a sudoku puzzle when the door was flung open.

"Jack!" Leslie shouted, making him jump, startled. He dropped his book and pen. Yes, he did his puzzles in pen much to Erica's chagrin. It made it that he had to be very sure of his answer, and he liked that feeling.

"What? What?!" Jack said, whipping his head around.

"You'll never guess what just...oh," Leslie stopped, seeing his head. "What happened? Are you all right?"

"Just a little sibling war. Everything's fine," Jack replied. She came around the couch and sat beside him.

"Are you sure? It looks painful," she said, biting her lip. She wanted to touch it so badly in that affectionate way people in a relationship did with one another, but they weren't in a relationship, so it would be weird.

"What will I never guess?" Jack prompted, feeling uncomfortable with her gaze suddenly.

"Your mom let me join as a chef at Javu!" she shrieked.

"Wow! That's awesome," Jack said. "Congratulations." She hugged him tightly.

"I feel so honored," she said. She almost felt like crying as it was such an emotional moment.

"Hello," Lucy said, coming in. "What's going on?" She felt a little unnerved to see her boyfriend in the arms of another woman.

"Les here was just telling me the new job she got," Jack said, pushing her off. "She's very excited."

"SO excited!" Leslie added for good measure. She blushed, knowing what that must have looked like to Lucy, but then again, she didn't really care too much.

"That's great!" Lucy said. She joined them, placing herself in between Leslie and Jack, giving Leslie the all too familiar look of "back the fork off."

"Well, I wanted to share my news, and I did," Leslie said. "Everyone seems to be out tonight. Anyway, I'll, uh, see you around." She got up and left quickly before Lucy could kiss Jack in front of her.

"See ya," Jack said as she shut the door behind her. Leslie felt different tears forming in her throat. Joey stuck his head out into the hall for the 20th time that night since Emma had left. He was suspicious of any sound. He saw her standing there.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

"Oh, nothing," Leslie hiccuped, smiling weakly.

"I heard from Mon that you are gonna be working for her now," Joey said, trying to cheer her up.

"Yes, yes!" she said. "I'm so happy."

"Lucy in there?" Joey asked, gesturing.

"Yes," she nodded miserably.

"Come on," Joey said, opening the door wider. "I've got the Joey special. You can have some." She stifled a laugh. She knew from her Aunt Phoebe what the Joey Special meant. Two pizzas.

"You do eat more than just pizza, right?" Leslie asked hesitantly as she walked into his apartment.

"Of course!" he answered indignantly.

"Just wondered," she said.

Emma

The date with Chad was going amazingly well. So well that Emma felt this guy could possibly be The One. They were on their walk now, and she noticed that Chad seemed anxious, looking at his watch.

"Are you bored with me already?" she asked, half laughing.

"No. I'm just worried your dad is gonna pound me if I bring you home late," he answered.

"Who, Uncle Joey? He's not my dad. He's not even my real uncle. He's just best friends with my dad," Emma scoffed.

"Yea, but he's big and scary," Chad pointed out. "I don't feel like dying before I get to take you on another date."

"There's gonna be another date?" she asked, feeling elated.

"Well, yea," Chad said, smiling. "If you want."

"I definitely want," Emma responded quickly.

"Good," he said, squeezing her hand.

Monica & Chandler

Monica kept checking her phone that evening. She even peeked at it once while Chandler was trying to get her going, which earned her a joke about modern phone sex, which almost killed the mood.

"I'm just saying," Chandler said when she glared at him. "I'm right here. Why are you looking at your phone?"

"I thought I heard a text come in," she replied as if that was the most logical explanation ever.

"Why would you even want to talk to your daughter while we're trying to have sex?" Chandler asked, confused.

"It's a girl thing," she shrugged. "And I would have stopped to talk to her. I'm not disgusting." She really wanted to know how the date was going.

"Are we doing this or not?" he asked. She looked at her phone out of the corner of her eye. "Monica!"

"All right, all right, all right," she huffed, flipping it over so she wouldn't see it light up. She did her very best to shove all thoughts of Erica's date out of her head whilst they finished.

"Still got it," Chandler said, smirking to himself. Monica didn't answer. She was checking her phone. "Really? You can't even wait five minutes?"

"She hasn't written!" Monica said.

"That's because unlike you, she's putting all her attention on her man instead of someone else via the cell phone," Chandler scolded.

"I just..."

"...really want to know," Chandler finished. "I know. Mon, she'll write when she's done."

"I know," Monica echoed.

Channie

"Hey, Mom," Channie said. She had decided to do this over the phone instead of in person. She was a little afraid of her mother's reaction.

"Hi!" Alice cried. "How are you? How is the job hunting going?"

"Oh, it's going," Channie replied. "Listen, um..."

"Your father is so proud of you! He used to think you guys would end up like him."

"There's nothing wrong with him."

"I know. He just feels he didn't live up to his potential," Alice said.

"He's great at what he does," Channie insisted.

"Yes, well. Anyway. What is it you want to tell me?"

"I...I have a boyfriend," Channie said, ripping the bandaid off. "We've been together for six and a half months." She waited for the explosion.

"Oh!" Alice exclaimed. "Oh that's wonderful!"

"It is. It really is," Channie agreed. She was surprised her mother wasn't more upset about finding out now rather than earlier.

"When you're ready, we'd love to meet him," Alice said. Channie felt like she was missing something.

"You're not mad that I have dated him this long without telling you?" she asked, incredulous.

"No, dear. I understand. You wanted to be sure. Anyway, invite him to a family dinner sometime."

"I...I will," Channie agreed. They hung up without too much further conversation. She sat there stunned after. Her mother couldn't possibly understand why she was making sure Ben was a solid thing before introducing them. Channie hadn't told anyone about the boy she had loved who had almost destroyed her, not even Ben.

Erica

She felt like she was in a dream. Dinner had gone so well. Robbie was the gentleman her mother would be so proud of. They talked about their childhoods, their parents, and their dreams. They laughed at each other's jokes. Erica felt that this guy sitting across from her was going to be the person she was spending the rest of her life with. She flinched again when her phone buzzed in her pocket once more.

"Your mom really wants to know how this date is going, huh?" Robbie asked, smiling.

"How do you know it's my mom?" she asked coyly. "Perhaps it's all the other men interested in dating me."

"Well," Robbie said dramatically. "Then if that's the case, I'd better up my game a little."

"And how are you going to do that?" she asked, resting her chin on her palm, looking at him.

"You'll have to just wait and see," he winked. He so badly wanted to kiss her then. She was just so beautiful. He resisted. This wasn't how he imagined kissing her for the first time, in a restaurant with people watching.

"Okay," she said, going a bit red in the face. Her phone buzzed again.

"You better get it or else she's gonna think I kidnapped you or something," Robbie teased. Erica blushed even more as she sent a quick reply to her mother telling her things were fine and for the love of God stop texting her.

Frank

He was exhausted. His shift wasn't too bad. Nobody tried to accidentally kill him tonight. His feet were sore and his head was pounding, but all in all, it was a great time without his bully around. Frank propped his feet up on the back of the couch while lying on his back.

"Oh yea," he muttered. "Blood flow." His feet tingled with pain, but he was starting to feel his legs again.

"Hey," Leslie said, coming in. "What are you doing?"

"They say if you elevate your feet they won't pulse so badly," Frank answered.

"I can give them a rub for you," Leslie offered.

"All right."

"Where's Channie?" Leslie asked, moving to stand behind the couch and starting to rub Frank's feet.

"Out I think," Frank shrugged.

"Oh. She's out a lot," Leslie noted. Frank cringed. He didn't think Channie had gotten to telling Leslie yet. He knew his mother had been told from the text messages he had been getting all afternoon.

"So you got the job," Frank said, changing the subject. Leslie beamed.

"I still can't believe it!" she squealed.

"I don't mind taste testing just so you know," Frank said.

"Got it," Leslie said, nodding. Her phone bleeped then, causing her to check it.

"Secret boyfriend?" Frank asked, teasing.

"No," Leslie sighed. "Just Uncle Joey."

"What does he want?"

"Giving me an update on Emma and her date. They're still not back yet and it's almost 11."

"Emma's on a date?" Frank asked, trying to sound casual. Mentally he was beginning to stress out. How could she be on a date? He was so sure she knew he was into her. Didn't she? He had mentioned it, right? Maybe not.

"Yea," Leslie went on, oblivious to Frank's change in demeanor. "Some guy named Chad."

"Ch-Chad?" Frank spluttered, yanking his feet away and struggling into a sitting position. "Chad?!"

"Yea," Leslie said, giving him a strange look.

"She can't date Chad," Frank said firmly.

"She can date whoever she wants, Frank. It's a free country," Leslie scoffed.

"Not Chad," Frank said, getting up.

"Where are you going?" Leslie called. The door slammed in response.

Joey

He had his ear pressed up against the door as hard as he could get it. He had heard them talking and then go quiet. He knew what that meant.

"I'll see you later," Emma was saying as she opened the door. Panicked, Joey allowed himself to be pushed up against the wall by the door.

"I'll call you," Chad's voice said. Joey made a face. What a line. How many times had he used that himself? Emma gave a giggle and then closed the door. Then she saw Joey.

"Oh my God!" she shrieked, startled. "What are you doing?!"

"I was getting a beer," Joey shrugged, showing her. He had managed to get one before she saw him. "Not my fault you almost careened the door into me."

"Are you still using word of the day toilet paper?" Emma demanded.

"Possibly," Joey bowed his head. It had been a gag gift from Chandler years ago, but then it kind of became a tradition.

"Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were spying on me," Emma went on. She turned to go to her room.

"Pfft. Yea, sure," Joey scoffed. "Cos I don't have better things to do with my time." She ignored him, slamming her door. Joey went to go catch the kid down the hall, since he was five minutes past curfew. When he opened the door, however, he came face to face with Frank.

"Whoa!" Joey yelped.

"Is Emma here?" Frank demanded.

"In her room. Why?" Joey asked.

"I need to talk to her," Frank insisted.

"It's about the date isn't it?" Joey pressed.

"How did you know?" Frank asked, surprised.

"Look, I'm more intuitive than people think," Joey started.

"Word of the day toilet paper?" Frank asked.

"Yea," Joey agreed, getting off track. Then he shook his head. "Look, Frank, you can't just attack her for dating someone. Trust me, it won't get you any points."

"Whatever do you mean?" Frank asked.

"Oh come on," Joey said. "I know you like Emma. Just like Leslie likes..." he trailed off. Frank looked at him curiously. "Nevermind. The point is, I know you like Emma. You can't just get all up in her face about dating Tag."

"Chad," Frank corrected.

"Tag, Chad, whatever," Joey dismissed. The kid kind of reminded him of Tag anyway. Doofusy looking. "Anyway, just trust me on this one, okay? Don't confront her about it."

"How can you be so sure?" Frank asked.

"I have three best friends that are girls. Trust me, I know," Joey nodded somberly. The wind had left Frank's sails by now anyway.

"Okay," he agreed. "I'll let it go."

"Good," Joey said, clapping him on the shoulder. "See ya." He shut the door in Frank's face.

Erica

They were walking back to her apartment when Frank rushed past them on the stairs.

"Frank?" Erica called, confused. What was he doing here? Frank didn't answer. "Weird."

"Maybe it wasn't him," Robbie offered.

"Maybe," Erica echoed. They were at her door now.

"So," Robbie said, fiddling with his hands.

"So," Erica repeated.

"Tonight was really great," Robbie said, smiling.

"It was," Erica agreed. This was it, she thought. He was so going to kiss her. He had that look in his eye. Then...

"Whoa, geez," Jack said, opening the door and seeing them there. "Gross alert. Dude, not cool." Erica felt like she was going to explode.

"Just saying good night, Jack," Robbie said. He was embarrassed too.

"Okay, cool," Jack said. "Erica, a moment?" He pulled her inside.

"Bye," Robbie called. Erica waved at him before the door shut.

"What?" Erica hissed when they were inside.

"So, how'd your date go?" Jack asked. Erica blinked at him in disbelief. Then she shoved him hard into the couch, making him fall backwards and land heavily on the floor on the other side. She stomped to her room.

"Good talk," Jack said, wincing. He knew Erica was super pissed at him, but he didn't want Robbie kissing her until he was sure they were going to at least date for a while. Nobody was going to kiss his sister then never have anything to do with her again. Not on his watch.

Channie

"This was fun," Ben said. He was dropping her off after their last minute date.

"It was," Channie agreed. She had told him about telling her mom about him, but she didn't mention the other part.

"What's wrong?" Ben asked.

"Nothing," she said quickly.

"I can tell there's something wrong," Ben pushed.

"Okay, fine. Mom wants you to come for dinner," Channie caved.

"I'd love to," Ben said, feeling excited.

"You say that now, but you might feel differently after meeting them," Channie said.

"I doubt it. You're parents sound great whenever you talk about them," Ben responded.

"Awww," Channie said. "You're cute."

"I try," Ben smiled. They were at the door now.

"Good night," she said, receiving a kiss in return.

"Frank?" Leslie asked, opening the door. "Oh! Wow. Channie. So sorry...wait, Ben?" She stared at Ben, confused.

"Oh, right," Channie said. "Leslie, I'm dating Ben."

"You're dating Ben," Leslie repeated. "Since when?"

"Haha," Ben laughed. "Ben since when."

"Shut up," Channie said, smacking him.

"Seriously. When?" Leslie asked again.

"Six and a half months ago," Channie replied, wincing.

"Well thanks for telling me," Leslie said, turning and leaving.

"I'll fix it," Channie said to Ben, who was still chuckling to himself.

"I know you will. I'll call you," Ben added before leaving. Then Channie went to talk to her sister about why she had kept it all a secret. It took some convincing, but eventually Leslie came around. Channie was very grateful her sister wasn't one to hold grudges very long. She went to bed feeling relieved that her secret was now out. Now, if only she could tell Ben that she loved him.