AN: New update for you guys! I know that it's long periods between updates, but the next few chapters might be hard for me to write. Plus I'm also struggling with whether or not I'm going to have Rachel come to Monica's side when everything comes out at school. Anyway PLZ R&R!
Disclaimer: See first chapter.
Chapter 16
Chandler shot up in bed on Monday morning when his alarm went off very loudly. He slowly climbed out of bed and walked across the room to shut off the annoying instrument. He went to take a quick shower and got ready and packed up his duffel bag. He peeked into Monica's room to tell her that he was leaving early, but she didn't even stir. He slowly walked downstairs and saw Terry coming from his bedroom.
"Why are you up so early?" Terry asked him.
"Day before the first game; there's always an early morning practice."
"You need breakfast so take these," Terry handed him a small bottle of orange juice and a package of mini muffins.
"Thanks," Chandler headed for the garage.
"Does Monica know that you're leaving early?" Terry called.
"I told her a few minutes ago. I'm just not sure if she heard me."
Chandler pulled out of the driveway as Terry started to rouse the other three out of their rooms. Joey and Phoebe stumbled to their bathrooms while it took a minute for Monica to become fully awake.
"Was Chandler just in here too?" she looked around.
"He tried to tell you that he had to leave for early morning practice."
"I've never been this tired," Monica yawned. "Or nauseous."
"It's just your body getting used to everything."
"I know," she mumbled. "I just hope that I can get through the day."
"Well go ahead and start getting ready," Terry started to leave her room. "I hope you don't mind taking Joey and Phoebe to school."
"No, I don't mind." Monica slowly went into the bathroom as Terry went back downstairs.
Monica finally made her way downstairs and saw Joey and Phoebe finishing their breakfast. She slumped at the table as Terry brought some dry toast and orange juice over to her.
"Did you take your prenatal vitamin?" he asked her.
"Yes, even though that makes me nauseous as well."
Monica ate her breakfast and went to go collect her things for school. She walked outside and she got into her car with Joey and Phoebe.
"Are you nervous for today?" Phoebe asked her as they pulled up to the school.
"A little bit," she sighed. "Who knows what kind of rumors are going around right now."
"Well you don't have to worry about it because I have your back." Joey told her as they all climbed out of her car.
"Let's get this over with," Monica took a deep breath before they walked into the school.
"They definitely know something," Phoebe commented as they spotted all the kids staring at them.
"This is going to be a long day," Monica went to her locker.
"Hey," Chandler came up to them, his hair wet from the shower he just took after his practice was over.
"How was practice?" Joey asked him.
"Good," he told him. "Are you ready for your try out this afternoon?"
"Hopefully."
"So a few of my soccer teammates asked me what was going on with us," Chandler looked at Monica. "They heard that you moved out, so I came up with a cover story for us."
"What do you mean?" she looked at him.
"I told them that you got emancipated and that you moved out of your parents' house."
"So far, it's all true."
"They asked why your car was at my place so much this weekend, so I told them that you just hung out there whenever you weren't working."
"That should be able to give us the cover we need until we decide to announce it officially." Monica smiled. "I'm glad that you know how to think on your feet."
The bell rang and they all went off to their classes. Monica struggled to make it through each of her classes without getting sick and losing the contents of her stomach.
When they all met up for lunch, Monica bought her normal lunch but Ross, Chandler, and Joey took turns eating the food so that it looked like she was actually eating.
"Are you doing any better today?" Ross asked her.
"Maybe a little," she mumbled. "My appetite is a little better, but I'm still tired all the time."
"This part is almost over isn't it?" Joey asked.
"Another month at least," Monica sighed as the bell rang.
They all got up and deposited their trays and went off to their next classes. Chandler and Monica walked into their Advanced Trigonometry class and tried to ignore all the stares from the other kids in the class.
After school, Chandler and Joey went off to the locker rooms; then Chandler headed off for the soccer field, and Joey went towards the football field for tryouts. Phoebe waited by the lockers as Monica finished gathering some information about the Spring musical from her theatre teacher.
"All right, I'm done." Monica came out to Phoebe and gathered her things from her locker.
"So what's the play going to be?" Phoebe asked her as they walked out to the parking lot.
"The Wizard Of Oz," Monica told her. "But I obviously can't be in it this year. I just volunteered to help with the set construction and the painting and stuff."
"Why can't you be in the play?" Phoebe asked her as they reached Monica's car and climbed in.
"On opening night, my stomach would be the size of a bowling ball."
"I guess you're right,"
"Oh no," Monica mumbled as she tried to start up her car but all she heard was a clicking sound. "Not again."
"You need another car," Phoebe told her as they climbed out again.
"I know," Monica sighed. "Let's go to the soccer field before practice is over so Chandler can take us all home."
"Let's sneak by the football field," "Phoebe suggested. "I want to see how Joey's tryouts are going."
"He made us promise that we wouldn't watch."
"I guess," Phoebe sighed as they reached the soccer field and tried to spot Chandler.
"There he is," Monica spotted him weaving around the field running one of the drills.
The coach blew the whistle and everyone on the field stopped and ran over to the bench where all the water bottles were. The coach talked to them briefly and they all ran off to the locker rooms.
"Hey," Chandler spotted them and went to the fence where they were standing. "What's going on?"
"My car won't start again." Monica told him. "So we need a ride."
"Sure, I just need to get cleaned up." He told them. "And we need to wait for Joey too."
"We're in no hurry," Phoebe told him as he followed his teammates towards the locker room.
Monica and Phoebe moved to sit on the bleachers as they saw Joey heading towards them with his equipment.
"Hey," Phoebe smiled at him. "How'd it go?"
"I'm on the team," he told them.
"That's awesome!" Monica hugged him. "Congratulations!"
"Hey Monica," she turned at the familiar voice as her smile faded and she spotted Rachel coming up to them.
"What do you want?" she glared at her former friend.
"I just want to make sure that you're all right. I heard that your parents kicked you out."
"They didn't kick me out. I moved out and got a place of my own."
"I didn't realize that things were so bad with you and your parents."
"Why would you? You haven't been at my house for over a year."
"What's going on?" they looked back and saw Chandler approaching the group, glaring at Rachel. "Why is she here?"
"She was just leaving," Joey told him.
"So how'd it go Joe?" Chandler looked at him as they headed out to his car. "Did you make it?"
"Yes I did."
"Great," they reached the car and Chandler put his and Joey's equipment in the trunk. "I'm sure my dads will want to celebrate."
"So now there are officially two athletes in this family." Phoebe said.
"I have a lot of work to do though," Joey told them. "The coach says that I'll need to put a lot of extra work in if I'm going to be able to play on Friday night."
"You're playing Friday already?" Monica asked as they pulled out of the parking lot.
"First game of the season and they're desperate."
They pulled up to the house and they all got out and walked inside. Terry was starting that night's supper as there were printouts and magazines spread out at the table.
"You all came home together?" Terry looked at them.
"My car broke down again," Monica told him. "I left it at the school."
"I'll call our mechanic to tow it," Terry picked up the phone.
"What's all this?" Chandler spotted the table.
"That is for you and Monica to go through. We have less than a week to plan a wedding. So we need to get started."
"What all do we need to do?" Monica started looking through it.
"I'll help you guys while this bakes," Terry put the pan in the oven and set the timer. "We also need to get all of your guys' measurements and send it to the tailor down there."
Chandler sighed as he sat at the table with Monica and started going through all the magazines. Phoebe joined them after she put her things in her room and helped them narrow a number of things down.
The next night, everyone gathered at the high school to watch Chandler in his first soccer game. He was still doing warm up drills with the rest of the team when Phoebe and Monica walked past the field and got in line for the concession.
"What do we want?" Phoebe looked at Monica.
"Cheese fries," she told her. "We should probably get Joey something."
"Nachos," Phoebe said as they reached the front and placed their order.
They headed back to their seats with their food and rejoined Joey, Charles and Terry. Joey accepted the nachos from them as a loud buzzer blew and the teams ran to their benches and got into a huddle.
"Are you actually going to eat those?" Joey whispered as he saw the cheese fries on Monica's lap.
"You can have some." She offered.
"No, I mean your stomach-"
"I feel better today," she told him.
"What are the rules to soccer exactly?" Phoebe asked.
"I have no idea," Monica told her. "I just cheer when they score."
They all watched as Chandler ran out onto the field and waved briefly at them before the ball was thrown in and the game started.
"I can't believe you're doing-what you're doing-this weekend." Joey said.
"I know it's a lot, but I think we can handle it." Monica told him.
The night before, they had made a majority of the decisions regarding the wedding. Phoebe helped them choose a theme and Terry made up the invitations and sent them out to just close family and friends who promised to keep it to themselves. They ordered all the decorations to have delivered to the beach house by the weekend and booked a photographer.
Carol and her parents showed up with Ross so they could get Ross and Carol's measurements and sent off to the tailor. Phoebe, Carol and Monica spent two hours around the computer trying to pick out Monica's wedding dress.
"I forgot how intense he can be," Phoebe's comment brought Monica out of her musings. "I don't remember him being this intense though."
"It's his senior year. He's trying for a scholarship."
"Have you guys talked about your college plans yet?"
"A little bit. We just need to get through this coming weekend. Then we'll address everything else that we need to."
"Go!" they were startled from their conversation as Charles cheered from behind them.
They all watched as Chandler broke away from a group of the opposing team's players and bolted across the field to score the winning goal before the buzzer blew. They all cheered as Chandler's teammates surrounded him and they all rushed back to the team's bench.
They all arrived back home where Charles ordered pizza and Terry made up ice cream sundaes in celebration of both Chandler's team's win that night and for Joey making the football team. They were all sitting at the dining room table when Chandler came downstairs after taking a shower. The pizzas had just arrived and Charles was bringing out the plates.
"Awesome game tonight man," Joey told him through a mouthful of pepperoni pizza.
"Thanks," Chandler sat next to Monica at the table and put a couple slices on his plate. "But I am going to be in pain tomorrow. I got nailed in the back with a ball during warm-ups."
"Smile you guys," Monica snapped a picture of Joey and Chandler with her phone.
"I hate when you do that," Chandler told her. "I don't take good pictures."
"Which is why I didn't give you a chance to pose for it." Monica pressed some buttons on her phone. "I'm putting it on Facebook, and Joey I'm tagging your sisters."
"You're Facebook friends with my sisters?" he looked at her.
"Most of them," she replied as she put her phone down.
"Ice cream sundaes coming through," Terry brought in a tray with the ice cream, toppings, and bowls and spoons.
"Best ending for the day," Chandler started to pass out the bowls as Charles came back in.
"The invitations were all received," Charles informed them. "And everyone will be coming."
"So it's definitely on," Chandler looked at Monica. "Our lives will change in just four days."
"No turning back," she smiled at him.
AN: So what'd you all think? I hope you liked this. The next few chapters might take longer to post because I want to get the ceremony just right. What do you think about Rachel coming to Monica's side? PLZ R&R!
I've been getting into Criminal Minds lately and a thought suddenly occurred to me. Has anyone ever considered writing a Friends/Criminal Minds crossover story. Especially since Paget Brewster-Kathy from 4th season of Friends-is in Criminal Minds? Just thought I'd throw that out there.
