Channie felt like she couldn't breathe. Ben was going to propose to her. Ben wanted to marry her. What was WRONG with her?! She walked the streets, not even caring where she ended up. He had promised to take it slow. He had promised. She found herself outside of Leslie's place of work, so she went inside. She saw her sister happily working in the kitchen, and after a moment she caught Leslie's attention.

"Hey!" Leslie exclaimed, coming out to see her. "What are you doing here?"

"I...I don't know," Channie admitted.

"Are you okay?" Leslie asked, concerned now. Her sister's face was troubled.

"I don't know."

"Why don't you tell me what happened," Leslie suggested, guiding Channie to a empty table. She sat across from her.

"Ben is going to propose to me," Channie blurted out.

"Oh my God! Really?!" Leslie squealed, making the other patrons turn and stare at them.

"Shhh! Not so loud!" Channie hissed.

"Sorry," Leslie said, lowering her voice. "How did you find out?"

"I found the ring."

"This is so exciting!"

"No, it's not. I yelled at him," Channie said sadly. "He's never going to ask again."

"W-what? Why did you yell at him?"

"I'm not ready, Les. I told him I wanted to go slow. Marriage is the opposite of that," Channie sighed, shoving her face into her hands.

"I'm sure he'll understand," Leslie said reassuringly, rubbing her shoulder.

"I don't think he will. I've spent more time setting rules and pushing him away than letting things happen naturally," Channie responded. "I'm sure I've killed the relationship now."

"Don't jump to conclusions."

"Too late."

"I'm done here in an hour. Why don't you go home and wait for me, and we'll do something to take your mind off of it."

"All right."

"Don't overthink it," Leslie ordered as they both stood up.

"I'll try," Channie smiled grimly.

Jack

He felt disappointed, and he wasn't really sure why. Lucy wasn't the right girl for him, he knew that. Why did he feel so bad about it then? He tried to focus on people's orders, but he dropped the ball a few times and got yelled at by one person for mixing up his coffee. Gunther was giving him "The Look" over the counter, and Jack knew he had to figure his shit out or else he'd probably lose his job too.

"Hey," Chandler said, coming in with Monica. Jack groaned inwardly. Now was so not the time for his parents to find out what had happened.

"I missed you," Monica said, hugging Jack tightly.

"Coffee?" Jack asked, tilting his head in Gunther's direction.

"Huh? Oh! Yes, please," Monica nodded.

"Just water," Chandler said. Jack brought both to them.

"Are you okay?" Monica asked.

"Just fine," he lied.

"Is it Erica? Was Robbie really cheating on her?!" Monica pressed, her voice getting amped.

"No, no. Turns out my ex girlfriend was hitting him up for a date. He turned her down," Jack said.

"Oh no," Chandler groaned. "Ex girlfriend?"

"Yea."

"I never liked her," Monica declared.

"Thanks," Jack said sarcastically.

"What? She was rude and, and...she said my shoes made my ankles look fat once."

"You're ankles are lovely, dear," Chandler said, right on cue. He won a pat on the arm in return from his wife.

"Well, it's over, so you don't have to put up with her anymore," Jack said. "Sorry, I gotta keep working." He left his parents watching him as he approached the newest customer who entered the Perk.

Phoebe

She had decided to surprise her nieces and nephew by showing up at their apartment and make dinner. Channie surprised her when she came back early.

"Oh!" she shrieked, startled to see her aunt in the kitchen fighting with some sort of sauce and swearing at it.

"Hi," Phoebe said brightly. "Sorry you had to witness that."

"I guess Leslie didn't get her cooking skills from you," Channie said, laughing.

"No, probably not. How are you?" Phoebe asked, giving her niece a big hug.

"I'm okay."

"Your aura says otherwise," Phoebe said, looking around Channie's head. Channie put her hand to her scalp absently.

"Just feeling confused."

"Yup. I thought so," Phoebe nodded. "Tell me about it."

"Ben wants to propose to me."

"Oh God. He really does take after his father," Phoebe snorted. She saw Channie's face then. "Oh, sorry. I mean, awwww!"

"I told him off and ran away," Channie winced.

"Sounds just like all the women Ross proposed to," Phoebe muttered.

"Aunt Rachel stayed," Channie pointed out, confused.

"Not the first time," Phoebe laughed loudly.

"What?"

"This is about you, dear," Phoebe said, changing the subject. "So? Do you want to marry him?"

"No? Yes? I don't know," Channie sighed, sitting down hard on the kitchen chair. Phoebe sat beside her.

"What does your heart want?"

"I love him, I really do. I just don't know if I'm ready for marriage."

"So tell him that."

"I asked him to take things slow."

"Well, his father wasn't a good listener either. Really, Channie, you gotta give Ben credit for being who he is with a father role model like Ross," Phoebe said, wrinkling her nose.

"So what do I tell him?"

"Just be honest. He'll either stick around or run off."

"I want him to stick around..."

"Then let's hope he's better at not jumping to conclusions than his father," Phoebe nodded. Leslie came in then, and she squealed in delight at the sight of her aunt. They all started chatting about different memories. Channie felt a little better, but she still didn't know what to say to Ben.

Erica

"Oh, hey," Erica said, seeing Emma come out of her apartment while she was going into hers.

"Hey," Emma replied.

"Big date?" Erica asked.

"Oh, no. I'm just going to meet some friends for a movie."

"Sounds fun."

"You?"

"Robbie is coming over. I want to try to cook something for him," Erica said, gesturing to the bag in her hands.

"Good luck," Emma smiled. Erica went inside finally and found her parents already there.

"What did I say about the key privilege?" Erica demanded.

"To not come in uninvited," Chandler answered in a monotone voice.

"And what do you call this?" Erica asked.

"We just wanted to say hi. You weren't here, and we didn't want to sit in the hall," Monica explained. "We just saw your brother."

"Yea, he's a mess," Erica said, putting the bag down.

"Watcha got there?" Monica asked, peeking into it.

"Nothing," Erica answered.

"Cooking for Robbie?" Monica questioned, pulling out a spice.

"Going to try to."

"I'm so glad he's not cheating on you."

"Where did you hear that?! Did Jack tell you?" Erica asked, angry.

"Gunther overheard you and Jack fighting about it," Monica answered.

"There is just no privacy around here is there?" Erica said, disgruntled.

"Sorry," Chandler apologized.

"Can you guys go now? Robbie is due in two hours, and I have to perfect this before he gets here," Erica said.

"Of course," Monica nodded.

"See you later," Chandler said, kissing Erica's cheek. They waved at her as they left. Erica sighed. It was time to cook.

Ben

Frank was surprised to see him, and frankly, Ben was surprised he even went to Frank for answers.

"What's up?" Frank asked.

"Have you seen Channie?"

"Nope."

"Okay, look. She saw that I was going to propose to her, and she freaked. What should I do?" Ben asked. Frank stood there frozen, holding a can of beans just away from the shelf ledge.

"Um, I don't know," Frank answered honestly.

"Should I give her space?"

"Probably. She can get explosive."

"I think I ruined it," Ben moaned. "I knew I shouldn't have done this."

"Well, give her some time. She might come around again," Frank suggested.

"I hope so. I can't imagine my life without her," Ben sighed. He leaned against the shelves, disorganizing Frank's work. Frank tried not to dwell on it. The fact that Ben was coming to him for advice was a miracle in itself.

"You want me to talk to her?"

"No, no. Just...let me know when she's not so mad," Ben said.

"I can do that," Frank agreed.

"Thanks, man," Ben said, clapping Frank's shoulder before leaving. Frank stared after him. It all felt so strange.

Joey

"Joey!" Rachel called, catching up with him. Joey was walking to his next job.

"Oh, hey, Rach," Joey smiled. Then he frowned. "You okay?"

"You were right! Emma has a crush!"

"I knew it!" Joey exclaimed. "Chandler owes me five bucks."

"It's Frank!"

"Frank Jr. Jr.?" Joey asked, surprised.

"Uh huh," Rachel nodded, looking smug. "I was there at Emma's work and saw her giving him the look. She likes him."

"I'm sure she doesn't want you broadcasting that around," Joey frowned.

"So keep it between us then," Rachel winked.

"You telling Ross?"

"Are you kidding? He'd case the place for hours just to intimidate Frank and make him scared. I'm leaving Ross out of it."

"Sounds like a plan."

"You gotta tell me if anything happens," Rachel begged.

"All right, all right. Simmer down," Joey said. Rachel bounced up and down.

"This is so exciting!"

"Rach..."

"Okay, okay. I'm finished," Rachel said, putting on her serious face.

"I'll see you later. I'm late," Joey told her.

"Emma likes Frank! Emma likes Frank!" Rachel sang as she skipped off. Joey just shook his head. Some things just never changed.