This chapter is dedicated to the memory of James Michael Tyler, aka Gunther. May he rest in peace!


"Guys? Guys! Is everything ready? Where is everybody?" Chandler couldn't help shouting as he barged into Central Perk, his steadily rising anxiety sending him into a near frenzy. "It's half an hour to midnight! Monica is going to be here any minute! WE HAVE TO GET READY!"

How could the time have gotten away from him so fast? One minute he was putting on his tux and the next he was already tearing down the stairs knowing that it was getting late, that he would miss his own wedding …

"Calm down!" That was Ross getting hold of him. "Everything's okay. We were just waiting for you! What took you so long?"

"I don't know! I couldn't find my shoes – or something. Are you sure everything's ready?"

Ross gestured around him. "Of course! Look!"

Chandler had to admit his brother-in-law to be was right. The café was festively decorated with fairy lights, flowers and sparkling garlands, every table tastefully adorned with the centerpieces Monica had chosen, and a beautiful arch wound with flowers set up where the orange couch had been standing before.

"But I still can't believe you're going to get married here," Ross grumbled.

"Ross, we've been over this…"

"I know, I know, the original wedding was cancelled. Except it wasn't! Nobody told me!"

"I know," Chandler sighed. "I know, you never knew it got cancelled, and you turned up and there was nobody there, because everybody else already knew it wouldn't happen on that day ..."

Ross scowled. "I still don't understand why it didn't. You found Monica, didn't you? There still would have been time!"

"We couldn't get married. Not on that day."

"What was wrong with that day? Why did you set that date if it was so terrible?"

Chandler realized he was agitatedly flailing his arms about and forced himself to stand still. "For the thousandth time, we didn't realize until –"

"Look at it this way, Ross." That was Mona suddenly popping up as if out of nowhere and shushing Ross with a finger across his lips. "I wasn't told either. If I had, we wouldn't have gotten together." She smiled sappily at him. "The only good thing happening on that horrible day."

Ross's eyes widened at that and he smiled goofily at Mona, who winked at Chandler as she drew her boyfriend away. Chandler heaved a sigh of relief but started up again when Gunther suddenly popped up next to him holding out some really ludicrous ties. "Which one looks better?"

"Umm…" Chandler winced. "Don't you have – I don't know, a bow tie or something?"

Gunther's face closed. "I used to, but Joey borrowed it last year, so –"

"Speaking of which, where is Joey? Shouldn't he be here?"

Gunther shrugged. "I thought he was," and he airquoted "'helping' in the kitchen."

Just then the door opened and Phoebe came in with some of her musician friends dragging a steel drum and a xylophone to the little stage.

"Hey Pheebs, have you seen Joey?"

"Joey? Oh yes. Yeah, he left." Phoebe retrieved her guitar from behind the counter and started to tune it, only noticing after some time that everybody was gaping at her speechlessly.

"What?"

"He – he left? When? Why?" Chandler croaked. Phoebe frowned.

"Well, some guys came for him. They said he had to come with them."

"What guys? Cops?"

"No! I think they were from DOOL."

"What? What's DOOL?"

"Days of our Lives ..." Ross breathed. "Of course! Joey actually mentioned the stars of the show would be on Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve. But – but that was taped already weeks ago!"

"Not at the party. Live on Time Square on New Year's Eve," said Mona, wincing when everybody stared at her. "I just saw the promo this morning."

"Yay! Joey's going to be on TV!" Phoebe cheered and then looked bewildered when everyone glared at her. "What? That's a good thing!"

"Except he's supposed to marry Monica and me at midnight. How is he going to do that if he's on the show?"

"Well … maybe he could, you know, marry you live from there – " Phoebe tried and then sighed. "Alright, I heard it. Okay, or maybe – he could get away! Maybe we could still try and get him out –"

Ross clutched at his head. "How would you get him out of there? And get him here in – oh god, twenty minutes?!"

Chandler suddenly found that he could no longer stand and sat down at a nearby table while Ross and Phoebe continued their bickering. It was no use, he realized. All was lost. Without Joey to marry them, their beautiful plan was ruined. The wedding would not happen – again. Their second attempt failed too. How many times would they have to try again?

Now, when it was too late, he suddenly wished they had gone through with their wedding the first time. Even though he knew deep down that it would only have made them miserable. At least they would have gotten married and would now start the New Year as a happily married couple.

Married. And happy. How could they ever be happy again?

That thought inevitably had him remember his most miserable time in the past year.

.

Try as he might, Chandler could never forget how horrible it had felt to run away from his wedding. From marriage. From being married to Monica.

From Monica.

And yet he had to do it. From the moment he'd heard the new message on their answering machine that had acted like a wake-up call on him, he'd seen no other option. She had said it loud and clear, with that gleeful enthusiasm that was so her. They would be the Bings! The Bings! That single word had been enough to rip the blindfold from his eyes and shake him out of the illusion he had maintained for a whole year. How could he not have seen it before? They would be the Bings, a truly horrible couple that conducted their marriage like a never-ending war and their relationship like an eternal battlefield. The Bings who kept manipulating and involving everyone into their endless fights, never caring that they were tearing their child apart, screwing him up so bad he would forever be doomed to follow their example and destroy every relationship of his own unfailingly. Even if he didn't turn out as horrible as his parents, how could he even hope for a normal, happy marriage with someone as wonderful as Monica? How could he even think of inflicting someone as damaged as himself on her and condemn her to such a terrible fate?

And the message on their answering machine had only been the beginning. Somehow everything had taken a turn for the worse shortly after that. The rehearsal dinner had been an utter fiasco. Rachel had been nervous and absentminded the whole time and kept running to the restroom what seemed like every half hour. Ross had been insufferable with his idiotic bragging about how he'd given Chandler his "big brother talk" and complaining that no one took him seriously. When it was time for his speech, it turned out that he'd had a few too many and bungled it completely. Phoebe had been unnaturally gloomy and short all evening, snapping at everyone who tried to lighten her mood. His parents had kept arguing and aiming barbs at each other no matter how far they tried to keep them apart. Jack had managed to ruin his new tuxedo after only ten minutes and to deflect attention from him, Judy had amped up her usual criticism of everything to new levels and managed to reduce Monica to a nervous wreck even before the dessert. The whole dinner had been a complete nightmare, which enhanced his dark forebodings even more. The worst thing about it was that there was no chance of getting Monica alone afterward since she was whisked away immediately so they would be separated until the actual ceremony. Which he was now firmly resolved to not let it happen if he could help it.

And he almost couldn't do it. He tore himself up over the note he wasn't even sure he should leave in the first place and then about what to even write until he ended up with a lame 'Tell Monica I'm sorry' when he felt he had left it too late and was bound to get caught if he didn't leave that very second. Not really what he should have written, but then how could he possibly explain his reasons anyway? There were no words. As he crept down the hallway to the stairs, he kept fighting the impulse to turn back, burn the note and try to get some sleep. But his despair was too strong.

For the next few hours, he aimlessly walked the streets, trying to come up with a plan and failing. When the day dawned – his wedding day! – and the streets began to get busier, he started to worry about getting found by Ross and the others and realized he needed to hide. The safest place to hide would probably be the gym – he still had his membership card in his wallet – but to get there he would have to double back and get too close to home while his office, the next best place, was much nearer. He didn't fancy hiding behind the stepper or in the showers all that much either. If he could get to his office before his coworkers arrived, nobody would ever think of looking for him there. As an additional bonus, his assistant had taken the week off.

He was apprehensive of the doorman recognizing and remarking on his early arrival, but it turned out to be someone he didn't know – probably because he usually started work much later than now and had never arrived during this particular guy's shift. Saved again.

He got lucky once more when he got an empty elevator and met nobody on the way to his office. Indeed, the hallways of the company premises seemed completely deserted. So apparently he wasn't the only one only pretending to be busy doing his job – what a great time too to find that out, he reflected wryly.

As he arrived at his office, Chandler let out the breath he'd been holding almost automatically and quickly opened the door to sidle in as fast and unobtrusively as possible. Halfway across the threshold, though, he came to a dead stop, his jaw coming unhinged as he gaped at Monica, who sat in his visitor's chair by the window, arms wrapped around herself and staring at him in total shock.

"Chandler! How – how did you find me?!"

Chandler could only gape at her. "What?!"

"I knew I should have hid at Allessandro's!"

"What? But … why?!" Chandler felt like in a dream. That couldn't be Monica, his girlfriend. His fiancée. His future wife – how could she be here, of all places?

"I thought nobody would think of looking for me here!" Now she started to pace agitatedly around the room and then faced him again. "How did you?"

"I .. I didn't, I just –" Chandler made a huge effort to pull himself together. "Monica, what are you doing? Did you – run?" He only just stopped himself from adding "too".

Her shoulders slumped, and she turned away.

"Yes. I was – I don't know… I guess I panicked."

"You? Today? But it's your wedding day!"

"I know!" When he winced, she cringed. "I know. It all got too much. Everything." When he went to her and held out his arms, she leaned against him, her lips trembling. "It all felt so wrong suddenly. The rehearsal dinner was bad enough, but then I got a stain on my dress when I steamed it again –"

"Nooo!"

"And my mother really laid it on after that. She kept digging at me, and all I could think of was that she was going to be your mother-in-law and that I really shouldn't do that to you – no, really! And then Phoebe started acting all weird. I thought she had gotten drunk, but she wasn't. She kept saying she felt something bad was going to happen. Something catastrophic. It got her all depressed. She also said it was a bad date for a wedding and nobody should get married on a date like that."

"Like what date?"

"Like the emergency call number." Monica closed her eyes. "911. Get it? September 11th."

"But – but you wanted that date. You told me we should get married before our anniversary –"

"I know! Actually, I wanted to have the wedding in May, but it was too early, and this was the only day that worked!" Monica shook her head. "But Phoebe was right. When she mentioned it, I knew I could never stand it. We would have that date on our wedding rings too!"

"Oh. Oh god. You're right." Chandler helplessly patted her back. "So that's when you … took off?"

"No. I considered it but decided it couldn't get any worse. I mean, I really felt I'd hit the absolute bottom and that it had to get better after that, right?"

"But it didn't."

Monica sighed. "When I was in the bathroom, I found a pregnancy test."

"Wha-?! What? You…are you – I mean -?!"

"No! I said I found a pregnancy test not that I took one!" Monica glared at him and Chandler's shoulders slumped with relief.

"I think it's Rachel."

"Rachel? Pregnant? But – why her? Why not Phoebe?"

Monica shook her head. "Phoebe doesn't believe in pregnancy tests anymore. No Western medicine, remember? And Rachel's been weird all day."

"But who -?"

"I don't know!" she shouted, making Chandler wince. "Sorry, but I can't really care about that now. The only thing I could think of was that it was soo typical of her, to find out she's pregnant on my wedding day. I just knew it would all be about her from then on. Again!" She pressed her face against his chest, muffling her next words, but he still caught a plaintive 'sooo unfair!'

And he silently agreed with her. It really wasn't fair.

After a while, Monica calmed again and sniffed.

"Yeah. I couldn't take it anymore. I thought about leaving a note, but couldn't think of what to say, so I just – pulled out. Yeah, I did. I pulled a Monica."

It took him a second to recall her mother's general term for Monica's failures. When she saw him smile commiseratively she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders.

"Alright, what about the others? How are they? Are they very mad at me?"

Chandler winced. "Um … Ah, I don't know."

"What? Didn't they tell you?" When he didn't answer, her eyes narrowed. "Chandler? Why did you come here?"

For a long moment, he debated with himself if he could actually bring himself to come clean for once instead of reverting to his gold standard of evasion and avoidance, and then he pulled himself together.

"I – well, I guess I – 'went all Chandler'."

Monica's eyes widened. "What? Did you – did you - ?"

"Scram? Beat it? Take a powder? Go on a lam? Make like an atom and split –"

"Chandler!"

He nodded, unable to meet her eyes. "Yes. I took off. I actually did leave a note."

"Oh? What did it say?"

He winced. "I don't remember – that I was sorry I guess."

"Sorry? Just sorry? For running from your wedding? OUR wedding?!" Oh lord, now she had her hands on her hips, glaring at him.

"How could you even – how could you do that to me? And why?" Her eyes narrowed again. "Is it that commitment crap again? I thought you were over that! You were so happy yesterday!"

"Yeah. I know. But that was before I realized …"

"What?"

"That we're going to be the Bings!" he blurted out. Monica's face went blank.

"I don't understand –"

"The Bings! That's what you said on our answering machine." Chandler grabbed at his head. "I can't be the Bings! The Bings have horrible marriages! They yell. They fight. And they use the pool boy as a pawn in their sexual games!" He took a deep breath. "Did you see my parents yesterday? That's what we'll be like!"

"That's crap."

"And with your mother as my mother-in-law on top!"

"No!" Monica shouted at him, her eyes blazing. "We won't be like them! And we won't be like my parents either. What you're saying is crap! We're not the Bings!"

"We're not? But you said –"

"I know! I'm sorry, I didn't think. I just needed to make a new message to commemorate the occasion – or something." Monica closed her eyes wearily. "Actually, I kept reworking that message. It just wouldn't get right! I tried everything, 'the Geller-Bings', 'the Bing-Gellers', even 'the Bingalings' …"

"Why not 'the Gellers'?"

Monica's eyes opened wide. "Um, did you hear what I said about my mother?"

"Still better than 'the Bings'," Chandler insisted. Monica shook her head and took hold of his shoulders.

"No. We're not the Gellers. And not the Bings either. No, listen to me! We're us. We're Monica and Chandler. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Mondler," he breathed, smiling goofily.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. Something your brother said one time. Oh, speaking of Ross, shouldn't we –"

Her eyes widened. "Oh my god! What time is it? Do you think they noticed we left?"

Chandler glanced at the clock over the door, noting that it was a quarter to 9 a.m. and suppressing an involuntary shudder. For a moment it had felt as if someone had walked across his grave - but he couldn't care about it now. "It's not too late yet." He hesitated a bit, trying to choose his next words as carefully as possible. "For either options."

"What options?"

"Well – we could go home, put on the tux and the wedding dress – hopefully without mixing them up – and get married. As planned. Or –"

"Or?"

"Not get married." When her expression froze he hastened to add "Not today."

"But –"

"We postpone it. Get married on another day. A better day. One that is special to us."

Monica bit her lip. "But the guests … the hotel … the honeymoon! Oh god, and my mother!"

"We'll think of something. Maybe it'll cost a bit; there'll be cancellation fees I guess. But that doesn't matter. Not to me." He pulled her close. "All that matters to me is you. If you want to get married today, we will. If you don't, we don't. No matter what your mother says. She has no say here. Only you."

When she just stared at him, her eyes shining, he suddenly felt his assertiveness waver.

"Look, I know how much this means to you, all this stuff, the ceremony, the dress, the big celebration – and right now I can't believe I wanted to run away from that. I'm so, so sorr-"

She cut him off. "Let's cancel the wedding."

His breath caught. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Yes!"

"But your dress –"

Monica laughed. "Oh, I will wear it. But now I've got the time to get it properly cleaned!" Her eyes sparkled. "It's as if it was meant to be!"

.

In hindsight, Chandler would always marvel at how easy every problem and issue they had to address regarding the cancelled wedding vanished without any difficulty at all, as if everything was set to arrange itself without anything required from their side.

When they finally returned home to inform their friends and relatives of their decision, it turned out that almost half of the invited wedding guests had quite suddenly cancelled on their own, most of them even without stating any reasonable cause. And most of those that hadn't cancelled seemed to have almost expected the wedding to be postponed or called off and even seemed relieved by their decision. Hardly anyone questioned it – except Ross, of course, who they couldn't reach in time since he'd forgotten to charge his cell phone. He was quite alone in his protests, however. Even the hotel raised no objections. It was almost eerie.

Make that definitely eerie. And very strange and very dark.

It was as if there had been a shadow on that day. Almost everyone seemed to have felt it and acted accordingly. As if something terrible, tragic and world shattering had happened that could not be explained but only sensed. He remembered that it had been Phoebe who had been affected worst of all and yet offered the best explanation that anybody could come up with.

Something happened somewhere near… in another world but very close. Another "real" world as she put it.

"A parallel world?" he had asked while Ross of course scoffed at the whole idea. But Phoebe seemed doubtful.

"Maybe. Definitely a world like ours but where things happen that don't happen here. Because they don't let them happen."

"They? Who are 'they'?" But she couldn't explain further and neither could anybody else.

Of course they could have had their wedding sometime later, some weeks or a month or two, but Chandler almost knew from the start that the final date had been set for them even before he and Monica announced their decision. It just had to be New Year's Eve.

But how ironic was it that their wedding, which was finally to occur at the most perfect time in the most perfect place with all their friends and family attending, was once again doomed and would fail before it could even start?

Why couldn't he have kept Joey on a leash or locked him in his room? Oh, right… because he wasn't a dog. Although he was quite fond of snapping food out of the air with his teeth, come to think of it.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Mona asked anxiously as she sat down beside him. Chandler shrugged wearily.

"Well, do you know someone else who can marry us in – " he glanced at his watch and did a double take, his heart sinking. "- seventeen minutes?"

"Well – maybe some priest – we could try phoning some churches – "

Just then, Gunther ponderously cleared his throat. "Ahm … actually, I .."

"Come on, let's get a phone book! Where's the phone book?"

Chandler felt as if a huge weight was crushing him. It was all his fault. Why couldn't he have kept an eye on Joey? Why had he insisted on the wedding being exactly at midnight?

Dimly, he heard the door open again and Rachel calling out as she came in.

"Guys? Monica sent me to check in. Is everything okay?"

Oh my god. Monica. Who was going to tell her? How could he face her now? Chandler fervently wished he could just run away. Again. But this time it was just not possible.

"Joey's gone!" Ross took it upon him to inform Rachel.

"What? Noooo! But who's going to marry –"

"Ooh, Ross, why don't you do it?"

"Listen, I just wanted to say –" that was Gunther again, trying to make himself heard and failing once more.

"Why me? And how? I can't get ordained that fast!"

Phoebe looked confused. "But you were married three times, don't you know by now –"

"It's not the same!" Ross spat.

"But still …"

"I'LL DO IT!" Gunther shouted at the top of his voice, making all of them hush and stare at him. There was a pause while he fidgeted, blushing fiercely.

"I mean – I got that license. The same Joey had. It's still valid."

Chandler slowly turned around to gape at the café manager, words failing him. He wasn't alone in this, everyone stared at Gunther open-mouthed. Ross looked thunderstruck. Phoebe was the first to recover.

"YAY! We're saved! Oh wow!" She threw her arms around Gunther, who was rapidly turning an alarming shade of puce. "Thank you! Oooh, I know! I'm going to make a song about this!"

Chandler still found it hard to wrap his head around the fact that he'd been miraculously saved again.

"You – you want to marry me? Um, I mean, us? I mean, not that you're not a handsome fellow…I just come with a lot of baggage…you'd deserve better…" Chandler actually had to clap his mouth shut to stop himself babbling in his utter relief.

Gunther only smiled wryly. "I do."

"Oh. Wow." Chandler felt almost giddy with relief. "Thank you – it really means a lot …"

Ross, though, seemed still unhappy. "Are you sure you got the right license?"

"I married my roommate to her boyfriend last month" Gunther replied laconically. "And they're not divorced yet," he added with a sneer which made Ross beat a hasty retreat.

"Alright everybody, let's get ready!" Rachel called out. "Monica's going to be here any – " The strident ringtone from her cell cut her off. Wincing she answered it. And then she winced even harder at the near hysterical outbursts from her caller that didn't let her get a single word in edgewise. Chandler knew who it was at once and cringed in sympathy.

"Yes … I know … but listen, it's okay! It's okay! Just come down, okay? We're waiting for you! Everything is ready!" Rachel rolled her eyes and held her phone away from her ear. "Yes, Chandler's here too, he hasn't taken off!"

"Yet..." Ross muttered darkly. When Chandler's mouth fell open Rachel winked at him. "Just come d- - um, Monica? Monica?"

While she was frowning at her suddenly silent phone, the door of the café was pushed open, and Jack stuck his head in, grinning and waving.

"Hey there, are you ready? Well if not – too bad, 'cause here we come!" As he turned back and beckoned to the wedding party behind him, the others woke from their shock, and everybody started to run to and fro hectically. Phoebe darted to the small stage to pick up her guitar, and Rachel and Mona tried to get everyone in position. Only Chandler remained in place under the arch, gazing fixedly at the door.

The first to come through it were Carole and Susan with Ben between them and waving at him shyly. Joey's parents came next with Mrs. Tribbiani instantly darting glances around the room looking for Joey. They were followed by Rachel's parents, walking stiffly side by side and trying to ignore each other. Then Chandler did a double take when his own parents walked through the door together side by side, smiling at him and seeming perfectly at ease with each other. He had to look twice to make sure they were not holding hands. Instead, they smiled at him as they took their positions to form the impromptu aisle leading from the door to the arch.

And then Monica appeared in the door, flanked by her parents, in her blinding white, gorgeous wedding dress and holding a bouquet of blood red roses in front of her. To Chandler she seemed radiantly happy and apprehensive at the same time, as if she still couldn't quite believe her luck.

Just like him. Could this all be really happening?

As she walked towards him, Phoebe and her friends started playing a rather shaky version of the wedding march. Then she stood before him, deftly relieved from her bouquet by Rachel and reaching out for him as he took her hands in his.

"You look beautiful …"

Behind him Ross coughed. "Um, guys, it's five minutes to midnight –"

Monica's eyes widened in shock. "Oh my god! Is it too late already? Oh, and where's Joey?"

"On TV," Chandler said and looked around. "Um, could someone put it on?"

"What do you mean, on TV -?"

Gunther, who had already been poised to deliver his speech, darted behind the counter and switched on the TV mounted on the wall. From where he stood, Chandler couldn't see it, but Phoebe immediately let out a screech.

"Oooh, there's Joey! No – he's gone – oh, there he is! He's trying to get into the picture! I can see his arm!"

"Forget about Joey!" Chandler told Monica and gestured to Gunther. "Here's the man who's going to marry us."

"Gunther?"

"Yeah. He has the license to marry. And I can't think of anyone better to do this." Chandler grinned at the flustered manager as he rushed back to his place before them. When he started to speak, everyone except Dick Clark fell silent again.

"Dear friends, we have gathered here together to join this man and woman in holy matrimony ..."

"Three minutes," Ross muttered, grunting as Mona elbowed him in the ribs.

".. and before we start with the ceremony, let me say it here that I have never before known anyone more suited for each other in all the time that I've seen them here. They are perfect for each other, and I am so happy to have been given this chance –"

Suddenly Ross's cell went off, which had everybody start and glare at him as he dug it out of his pocket to answer it red-faced.

"This is not a good time – JOEY? What? No!"

Chandler sighed and nudged Gunther to proceed while Ross tried to explain things to Joey. Gunther rallied and bravely carried on.

"- to be of service again …"

"Two minutes!" This time it was Rachel looking anxiously at her watch. From the corner of his eye, Chandler saw Ross press the phone on Phoebe and sidle back to his place behind him. Phoebe slowly walked to the other side, talking to Joey and gesturing around her as she told him what was going on. When Rachel glared at her, she shrugged helplessly, then listened again and held the phone over her head. "Hey, Joey says they've started the countdown!"

Indeed they could hear the shouting from the TV now.

"Seventy-seven!"

"So let's proceed to the vows ..." Gunther said hectically. Ross and Rachel stepped forward, but Chandler held Monica back, shaking his head at them.

"We'll do them together, at the same time."

As Ross and Rachel retreated in a huff and Phoebe urgently relayed the news to Joey, Chandler and Monica stood with joined hands, smiling into each other's eyes.

"I love you," they said together.

"Sixty-four!"

"All this time I've known you, I never realized that what I had been looking for all my life –"

"… was right there beside me all the time, everything I've always wanted without knowing …"

"... all that I had been missing …"

"… was already there when we found each other …"

"… at another wedding far away from here …"

"… and it was so worth the wait."

"So here we are, with our future before us …"

"… and no matter what happens I will always love you …"

"… and be together with you always."

"Forty-four!"

Chandler smiled so broadly he thought he could feel the corners of his mouth touch his ears. "And if we ever feel like running away, we will do it together." Monica laughed out loud at this, and he leaned impulsively forward to kiss her but was held back at the last moment by Gunther's warning cough.

"Thirty-three!"

"So, Monica and Chandler, do you take each other as husband and wife, in sickness and in health, until death parts you?"

"I do." They said it perfectly in chorus and grinned at Gunther, who beamed back at them.

"Yeah you do!" Phoebe shouted and then gestured at the phone. "Um, that was actually Joey."

Gunther nodded at them. "You can now kiss –"

"Wait!" Phoebe screeched. "Joey says, you forgot the rings!"

"Aw, crap –" Rachel started up and hurried over, handing Monica Chandler's ring just as Ross produced Monica's and almost dropped it when he gave it to Chandler.

"Twenty-seven!"

Chandler slid the ring on Monica's finger, feeling her hand tremble in his as he did. His own was shaking a good deal too.

"Twenty-one!"

Then she put the ring on his finger and met his gaze as she did. The feel of the cool metal on his skin was at once strange and yet so familiar, as if it belonged there, always had.

"Seventeen!"

Chandler more sensed than saw Ross urgently beckoning and various people rushing to and fro in preparation for the celebration at the end of the countdown and the start of the New Year while he and Monica were still locked in their gazing at each other.

"Thirteen!"

Slowly they drew close together holding each other's heads in their hands as everyone around them oohed and awed.

Gunther had to clear his throat at length. "Alright, um … by the powers invested in me by the state of New York I now pronounce you - husband and wife!"

"Ten!"

Cheers broke out around them as everybody applauded and crowded in, but Chandler could only gaze into Monica's eyes, repeating softly as if in a dream "husband and wife…"

"Husband and wife," Monica said back at him, laughing and crying at the same time.

"Eight!" Now everybody joined in the countdown.

"Seven!" They both laughed at this, their faces so close together they could feel each other's breath on their skin.

"Six!"

"Five!"

"Four!"

"No, Joey, they're not kissing yet …"

"Three!"

Gunther cleared his throat again. "You may now –"

"Two!"

"- kiss the bride –"

"ONE!"

And he did.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

It felt like the world erupting into multicolored lights around them with people laughing and cheering and fireworks going off, both indoor ones and out on the street. Chandler had his eyes closed, or at least thought he had, but he still saw the flashes of colored light from the fireworks reflected in Monica's eyes, in the tears caught in her lashes, and in her hair and the skin of his hand where his new wedding band shone and glistened, laying a golden sheen on everything. All the dancing lights seemed to slowly form a kind of halo around them or a bubble shimmering in all colors of the rainbow that enclosed them for a long breathless moment, shutting out the world. This was it. This was their perfect moment, come around for them once more, to be lived and enjoyed in that timeless space where nothing was real and yet everything was true and forever. The moment that came on them again and again, never truly leaving them. He realized – once again – that he could perceive all of those moments at the same time from the past, the future and other present times, all the other worlds and their other selves caught in the same moment as they kissed at the start of the New Year.

When the kiss, ended they still held their heads so close together their lips still almost touched, and when he whispered, "Happy New Year, Monica," he could feel his own breath on his cheeks.

"Happy New Year, Chandler," she said almost at the same time, smiling exuberantly with her lashes still wet from her tears.

Then the moment was gone for good, or at least for another year as their friends and families drew together for cheers and congratulations. Glasses of champagne were pressed on them, which they could hardly drink from for all the clinking and toasting required. And then Phoebe pushed through the people around while holding out her phone that she had managed to put on speaker so they could hear Joey yell at the top of his voice: "HUSBAND AND WIFE, HUSBAND AND WIFE, HUSBAND AND WIFE!" over and over. Chandler craned his head to look at the TV and sure enough, there was Joey, trying his utmost to get in front of the camera and waving like crazy while his colleagues and other people in the studio kept pushing him back.

"IT'S OKAY JOEY, THEY'RE MARRIED!" Phoebe yelled into the phone in an effort to get through to him. "Come back here! We're waiting for you!"

Chandler looked down at Monica, mouthing "married" and grinning goofily as he held out his hand for a high five. Monica grinned back as she slapped his hand in return and then started to jump in place, holding her arms over her head and presenting her wedding band.

"I'M MARRIED! I'M MARRIED!"

"Did you hear that Joey?" Phoebe said into the phone. "Get your ass back here! Now!"

Monica was still hopping around and shouting as everybody cheered her on. Chandler grabbed her around the waist and jumped around with her as all the friends and parents formed a circle around them while they laughed and applauded.

Suddenly someone – Carole or Rachel, he wasn't sure – handed Monica her bouquet, shouting that she needed to throw it now. Monica closed her eyes and, after turning around and feigning a few times, sent the bouquet sailing in a magnificent arc across the room. Rachel and Mona both tried to snatch it, but couldn't quite reach, and just before it could land on the floor Phoebe caught it up in what looked like reflex move, only to stare at it in disbelief. Chandler clearly heard her dismayed "Oh no…" as everybody laughed and cheered.

"Phoebe! Pheebs' going to be up next!"

He turned back to Monica who had taken hold of his shoulders, looking at him and speaking to him in a more normal voice but still sounding urgent.

"What was that? Chandler? Get up, Chandler!"

Huh? He'd could have sworn his eyes had been open, but it seemed now that they were closed. And why was he lying down? Had he taken a fall? When he finally got his eyes open, he looked directly into Monica's face as she hovered over him. When he frowned and cleared his throat, she smiled.

"There you are, sleepyhead! Come on, time to get up!"

"Huh? What –"

Monica shook her head at him. "Wow, that must have been some dream. You were muttering and mumbling all the time!"

"Dream …?" Chandler blinked as his surroundings came into focus – their bedroom where the light coming in through the window told him it was morning, the bed he was lying in, the covers, the pillows. And Monica, still in her nightdress but bright and bushytailed as always in the mornings, just as if it was a normal day, not much different from any other day and not the very first day of the New Year and of their marriage too –

Their marriage. The wedding in Central Perk. The celebration with fireworks as they exchanged rings and kissed into the New Year … Had all that been just a dream?

Chandler raised his left hand and let out a sigh of relief as he saw the wedding band on his finger.

"We're married!" he exclaimed. "We really got married!"

Only instead of joyfully agreeing, Monica looked decidedly puzzled.

"Ooookayy… yes, yes, we're married. Why, did you dream that we weren't?" Suddenly, she gasped. "Or that we got divorced?"

"Dream? I – I don't know. Didn't we get married last night? Down in the Perk?"

"What?" At Monica's total surprise Chandler's sense of reality finally reasserted itself, and he sighed deeply.

"You're right, it was a dream. But it felt so real!" Suddenly he laughed out loud. "Can you believe it? I dreamed that Gunther married us because Joey had to be at Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve."

"Gunther?!"

"Yeah. And he did a great job. Got all his lines right and wasn't in a bloody uniform either. It was so great. My parents were there and didn't fight!"

Monica's eyebrows rose at that. "Really? My parents too?"

"Of course, and your mother said it was the best wedding she could wish for!"

"What?" For a short moment, she seemed almost to believe it. Then her eyes narrowed. "Did you dance with her too?"

Chandler winced. "I think you woke me up before we got around to dancing."

"Well, it sounds like a great dream." Monica stretched out beside him and looked at him expectedly. "But why did we get married only last night?"

"Oh ... I don't know – I think we had to cancel the original wedding. Something about the date. It was the wrong day to get married." Chandler frowned as he tried to remember more details that became more elusive with every second that passed.

"The wrong date? What's wrong with May fifteenth?"

"Nothing." Now he frowned. "Didn't we get married in August though?"

Monica clapped her hand on mouth in dismay. "Oh man, I did it again! What is it with that day?"

"Because all your dream weddings take place in May?"

"Maybe," she admitted. "But I couldn't get the planning finished!"

"I know. Well, in my dream the date was September 11th."

Now she looked even more dismayed. "Oh my god. How horrible."

"Yeah. Although nothing really happened. It just felt that way, as if something terrible had." Monica closed her eyes while her fingers wrapped around his hand, squeezing it tightly.

"Anyway, that's when we agreed to cancel it. Or rather postpone it. To New Year's Eve."

"Oh my." Suddenly she winked at him. "Did you take off before your dream wedding too?"

"Well, yeah, actually I did – but so did you."

"What?"

"You hid in my office, and I found you there."

"Your office? Why would I hide in your office? What if your boss had found me there?"

"Well, it was a dream. Only a dream." Chandler reached out and drew her close. "But I'm very glad I found you there. And that we got married, both here and in my dream, and we can now start the new year as a married couple." He grinned. "Thanks to Joey – and to Gunther too!"

.

.


A/N

Before everything else I need to state here that it was not in any way my intention to belittle or trivialize the 9/11 terror attacks or even make it appear like they didn't happen. It's just a fact that they were deliberately left out of most TV shows and movies, to the extent that before their release scenes that featured the twin towers were "scrubbed" or reshot altogether. The same thing happened with the Friends episode TOW the Red Sweater where a whole story arc was rewritten. So we never get to know if it happened in their world or not. When I first got the idea for this chapter and the issue arose of whether or not to mention 9/11 in it, it occurred to me that such a world shattering event was bound to leave its mark on a parallel or in this case fictional world, even if it didn't really happen there. If I in any way hurt or offended any one by this I'm truly sorry, but it was never my intention.

And now it's once again time for thanking everyone who helped me with this chapter and other things. First of all Fictionwriter91 once again for great (and super fast) betareading, plus for another load of much needed punctuation, plus some valuable suggestions and best of all for reaffirming my faith in this chapter. Then as always Oldreruns for all his support and messages (and great tweets), dito to Cynthia Salander, PaperSnowGhost, NaomiGScorcher, CamilleCM, MissRoxy87, Starbuckmeggie, Boris Yeltsin, Simplymondler, Likat1234, Sadie E Mcbride, Matteney, Chrisi2503, Soumi97, SpiralnebulaM31, and all the other people who PMd, reviewed, or simply read my stories and did not give up on me. While I'm not sure if and how much I will write next year, I'm still quite determined to finish this series at least. That's a promise.

Everybody have a great and above all HEALTHY NEW YEAR!