Chapter 2

The Past

FLASHBACK

Yelling, yelling, and more yelling. Six year old Chandler M. Bing sat at the bottom of the stairs, his hands cupped to his ears, tears sliding down his mudding face. He had been playing football with some pals when his father stormed out of the house, red in the face, roughly grabbed him by the arm and dragged him back into the house. Chandler's dad looked extremely angry. "DID YOU TELL HER?!" he spat, glaring at his only son. "Tell her what?" he asked, wiping his eyes. But he couldn't stop the stinging; he had never seen his father this angry before. "DON'T YOU DARE LIE TO ME YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS ABOUT IT!" Charles may as well have been yelling at a dead animal. "But I..I...I..." chandler stammered, he had never been this clueless in his life. But the look his father gave him told him he wasn't pleased. "THERE'S NO OTHER WAY NORA FOUND OUT!" He screamed, slapping him harshly across the face, causing chandler to stagger backwards. Just then Nora came running into the hall, looking wildly around for the source of commotion. "Charles! What the Hell are you doing here?!" she exclaimed, followed by a gasp as she saw her son. "GET OUT! BEFORE I DECIDE TO CALL THE POLICE!!" Making a grab for the phone, she glared as Charles straightened up, gave his son a brief look, before heading out the door. Not knowing when the last time he will see him.

Nora walked over to her son, embracing him "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "It's not your fault, don't blame yourself for anything." She added, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Mommy..." He hesitated "What did I do wrong?" he asked, curious to his dad's sudden outburst at the same time hurt physically and mentally. "Nothing" she answered. "It was him from the beginning, his loss; let's just forget about it ok?" He nodded as a wave of exhaustion hit him. Nora carried a sleeping chandler back into his bed, hoping by morning thatthis was all forgotten. Charles indeed had accused his son of telling Nora he was sleeping with the Pool Boy, when in fact she witnessed it herself. Last night they had the hugest fight known to man, it was fortunate that Chandler's ears didn't erupt under all the chaos. He was six and couldn't figure out the reason. Sleeping with the Pool Boy? Did that mean not sleeping with mom? Betrayal, reject, what did all those mean? One thing he was sure of as he drifted off to sleep on his mom's lap, that he will be a real man and not turn out like his father. He vowed never to cry again.

END OF FLASHBACK

Monica Geller snapped back to reality, where an injured body lay nearby. The boy was not much older than her, with sandy brown hair and a thin figure.

"Are you ok?" She asked again fearing the worst when she felt a lump on the back of his head. She tried to raise his head and bring him back to conscious while ignoring her nerves. He needs help she concluded as the figure didn't budge.

"Chandler!" Monica looked up to see her brother roller-blading her way. "Chandler...his he..?"

Ross looked aghast, horror-stricken across his face at the site of his best friend. He kneeled down but could see no blood or any sign of fatal injury. "You know him?" Monica asked.

"Yeah. That's Chandler, my college roommate, I see you already met him."

The sound of moaning startled Ross and Monica. Even more, As Chandler seemed to come back to consciousness. His eyes slowly opened as they stared down at him. "Chandler, Pal, are you alright?" Ross asked, concern etching on his face.

"Yeah just fine." He replied, "Besides the agonizing pain in my head, I'm just dandy." Ross could hint a bit of sarcasm in his tone. "Maybe we should take him inside" Monica suggested, and together they helped him into their house. They filled their parents in about the accident once they settled him onto the couch. Although not too sure what happened themselves, they decided to ask. Monica got him water while Ross asked him what happened.

"Well... I'm not so sure... All I know right now is that I'm dizzy, have a major headache, and ringing in my ears."

Monica and Ross simply stared at each other, fearing the worst.