A/N - Wow, thanks so much for the warm welcome back and the lovely reviews guys! I can't tell you how awesome you all are and how much of a smile you each put on my face! I'm glad a lot of you are enjoying this so I've updated as quick as possible.

Just to clarify for those of you that wanted to know about the 'secretiveness' status of their relationship by this episode...Joey knew (and they knew he knew) and Rachel knew (but they didn't know she knew but Joey knew she knew). Simples ;o)

Part 2

They spun around to find a shocked Phoebe standing behind them, her eyes round and mouth hanging open.

"You slept with Monica?"

Chandler sighed in defeat before simply shrugging a shoulder. Keeping their relationship a secret now seemed so insignificant compared to before.

"We're together," he quietly confirmed.

"As in dating?" He nodded. "Oh my god, you and Monica? Wow! This is just...wait, Joey knows?"

"And Rachel," Joey corrected and Chandler didn't even bother asking.

It wasn't important how Rachel knew, or that now most of the gang knew. There was one important thing though...

"Phoebs, do me a favor and don't tell Ross, ok?" he requested softly meeting her eyes. "He's got enough on his plate without this adding to it."

That was putting it lightly Chandler realized. The man was going through a horrible divorce, was homeless, put on sabbatical and now was hoping for his sister to pull through. He really didn't need to know his best friend had been lying to him and sneaking around behind his back for months.

"So have you," she reminded him gently, placing a hand on his arm. "And, you know what, I think you should tell him."

"Why?" he frowned.

"Chandler, he's in there not only worried about his sister but now thinking someone has taken advantage of her and that she may have to raise a baby alone. Be honest with him, it will at least put his mind at ease about one thing, plus if he knows, at least you can stop trying to act like a worried friend and be a worried boyfriend. You shouldn't have to hide your true feelings, not at a time like this."

He studied her for a long moment debating the truth in her words before his eyes went to Joey, silently seeking his opinion.

"I think you should tell him," he agreed. "He deserves to know and like Phoebe says, you deserve to not have to hide anything in there."

He nodded slowly, his mind still too full with fear for Monica to try and worry about how to tell Ross. He'd just tell him, man to man and then he could focus on those positive thoughts he needed. Monica would be ok. There wasn't an alternative option.

Chandler started the short journey back, Phoebe and Joey walking silently behind him. He knew Phoebe was probably bursting with questions but she knew now wasn't the time and he appreciated that. Reaching the door to the waiting room he took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves, about Ross, about having to wait in that horrible room, about what news he might receive whilst waiting in that horrible room.

Feeling a reassuring hand on his shoulder, feeling the silent support of his friends, he nodded, taking a final breath before pushing open the doors.

Ross and Rachel's heads snapped up but Ross' eyes immediately dropped back to the floor, although Rachel's lingered on him for a moment longer, silently questioning if he was ok. He shot her back a tight nod of thanks.

"Any news?" Phoebe asked, sitting the other side of Ross, her hand on his arm. Had she sat there to brace him for Chandler's news, ready to support or maybe restrain him?

"No, nothing, what's taking so long?" Ross sighed, scrubbing a frustrated hand across his face.

"I'm sure they're doing all they can," Rachel reassured him quietly. "No news is good news."

How he hoped that was true.

Ross reluctantly nodded at her statement, dropping his head and Chandler stared at the man, Phoebe's words coming back to him. If he could reassure him about something, then he should, right? He was his best friend, he deserved to know and it might actually help him; may lift some of the weight off his slumped shoulders.

And above all he was Monica's brother. She would want him to help her brother.

His decision was made.

"Ross," he croaked, swallowing as he stepped closer to him.

"Yeah?" he looked up.

"I, uh, I've got something I need to tell you."

"Now?" he asked screwing his face up.

Chandler nodded with a wince, feeling all the others eyes on him, silently urging him on and offering their support. As he struggled to find his words, it occurred to him it should never be like this. Monica should have been there, Monica should be the one to tell her own brother, but that wasn't an option right now. He just had to remember he was doing this for his friend...who was staring up at him, his frown deepening.

"Chandler?" Ross pressed. "What is it?"

"There's, uh, there's something I need to tell you," he repeated, why was this so hard? Was it because they'd never told anyone? That everyone had worked it out for themselves? Was it because he feared Ross' reaction more than anyone else's? Whilst he was hoping this news would take a weight of Ross' mind, he knew damn well there was a chance it would go the other way. That the man was in such a fragile emotional state, even before this, that this might be the final straw to make him snap. That maybe Ross would kick him out of the hospital, or put him in a hospital bed and then he wouldn't get a chance to be near Monica at the time it mattered the most...

"Chandler?" Ross repeated, standing up as Joey came to stand beside him. "What is it? What's going on?"

Chandler glanced at Joey before looking back at Ross, meeting his eyes briefly as he cleared his throat.

"I'm in love with your sister," he said quietly, quickly, his eyes dropping to the floor. "We've, uh been dating, for a little while actually and the b-baby's mine."

He closed his eyes, waiting to learn his fate.

"W-what?" Ross squeaked clearly shocked, "You're...what?"

"It's a good thing, Ross," Rachel soothed instantly, jumping up and running a hand down his arm. "A really good thing. I've never seen Monica like this with anyone, he makes her so happy and they're in love. It's always great when two people realize they're in love, right?"

Chandler opened his eyes in surprise, looking over at Rachel. He hadn't even realized she'd known about them until today and yet she'd manage to observe all that?

Ross was looking at Rachel too, studying her intently before he finally looked back to Chandler meeting his eyes.

"This isn't how we planned to tell you," Chandler confessed quietly, still not sure what was going on in Ross' head. "And I don't want to add any more pressure on you right now, I just wanted you to know that, well that she's not been used or abandoned; I'm going to be with her every step of the way, and already they," he swallowed, "they already mean the world to me and," he swallowed again, fighting the tears he felt pressing against his eyelids, "And, I can't even think right now what will happen if I lose either one of them and, I, I just-"

Suddenly Ross stepped forwards pulling him into a fierce hug and gratefully he accepted, knowing they probably needed it as much as each other. He felt more arms and closed his eyes, accepting the group hug from his friends. They were all in this together and he had to hold onto that fact. She had all these people that loved her dearly and were praying she made it.

It had to count for something.

It had to be enough.

"Um..."

They broke away quickly, Chandler swiping at his eyes as he turned to the doctor.

"Is she ok?" Ross asked quickly, desperation clear in his voice.

Chandler's heart was in his throat, unable to speak as he studied the stranger before him, trying to determine the news before he heard it. To brace himself for what was to come.

"So far she's responding well, as is the embryo. You still need to prepare yourselves though, all head injuries are treated very seriously and until she is conscious we won't be able to determine the full extent of any damage."

A silence settled over the group as they all tried to process the doctor's words.

"C-can we see her?" Chandler managed to ask as the man started to turn away.

"Not quite yet, but I'll have a nurse let you know as soon as you're able to."

With that he offered them another sympathetic smile before leaving them alone.

"They're responding well," Phoebe said out loud, trying to no doubt comfort him as well as herself, "that's good news."

"Yeah," he managed to choke out, walking over to one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs, trying to fight the temptation of another cigarette.

The others took seats too as they all waited to learn her fate.

"Mom and dad should be here soon," Ross commented to no one in particular as he looked at his watch.

"Ross," he spoke quietly, wetting his lips, "Can you do me a favor and don't tell Jack or Judy about the baby?"

"Why not?" he frowned.

"Because," he scrubbed a hand through his mussed hair, hating that he was struggling to express himself, hating this whole situation, "because...she should get to tell somebody. It's this huge thing that she should have gotten to surprise me with and then we'd have had to have worked out how the hell to tell you all about not only us but a baby too but now...now everyone already knows before she does. It's not fair, she deserves to be the one who tells people, especially her own parents."

"He's right," Rachel said gently. "It's Monica and Chandler's news to tell people. I can imagine how excited she would have been to tell us...and how nervous you would have been to tell Ross you'd knocked up his little sister," she teased lightly and a ghost of a smile briefly fleeted across Chandler's face in acknowledgment.

"Ok," Ross eventually agreed, looking over to him. "Ok. So, uh, since when did you two get together anyhow? Why now after all these years?"

Chandler blinked, totally caught off guard.

"You seriously wanna discuss this now?" he asked bewildered.

"Yeah," he nodded, clearing his throat a little but his voice was still quiet when he spoke, "it's better than sitting here in silence trying to work out what to prepare ourselves for."

"And it's nice as we'll be talking about Monica," Phoebe piped up enthusiastic about the idea, "Happy thoughts and stories that will find their way to her and the baby."

"Really?" he asked sceptically, shifting in his seat uncomfortably.

"I think it's a good idea. Come on, tell us some things, like how you got together," Rachel insisted, leaning forward interested, "Joey barely knows anything, apart from it happened in London."

"Wait London? At my wedding, London?"

He nodded guiltily as Phoebe laughed lightly, "That's so rock and roll, I didn't know you had it in you."

"Thanks, I think," the smallest smile touched his lips, his mind leaving their current nightmare, instead remembering a happier time, perhaps his happiest ever time. If only he'd known then the amazing direction his life was going to turn that night. If only he would have guessed how much his life was going to change for the better when they'd tumbled under those hotel bed sheets. "It wasn't expected or planned or anything like that. We were in a foreign, romantic country and had spent the evening of your rehearsal dinner just hanging out together," his smile widened slightly as he remembered more. "My, uh best man speech had completely bombed and your mom had been driving her crazy. She'd drunk a bit too much and I tried to comfort her and things...things just happened...

"We were going to leave it as a one night thing, or at least a one country thing and not continue anything when we got back home but we couldn't, it just felt like we were onto something, onto something good," he smiled again, realizing Rachel and Phoebe had been right. Just discussing their relationship out loud was starting to make him feel that little better, that little bit comforted as he remembered their unique love story. "And we were right as it turned out, we were onto something really good. Neither of us saw it coming but when it did, we just clicked. It's easily the best relationship I've ever been in."

"Why didn't you tell us? When you got back from London?" Rachel asked curiously. "I mean we tell each other everything."

"There was already enough going on," he shrugged, thinking of Ross but not saying it. "I guess we didn't want to add to that, or add any pressure on the start of our new relationship."

"Surely keeping it a secret was even more pressure?" Ross frowned. "Especially from us guys, you see us everyday, multiple times even. To hide something as huge as this must have been really hard."

Chandler smiled slightly, remembering all the near misses they'd experienced throughout these months. There had been a fair few in hindsight.

"It wasn't always easy to hide," he admitted, "but on the flipside being a secret made parts of it fun. The main reason we kept it secret though, I guess, was to give us time to adapt to everything ourselves. I mean it had caught us both completely by surprise and we just needed time to...process it out of the public eye so to speak."

"Then why did you tell Joey and Rachel? Or did they figure you out?" Phoebe asked confused.

"We didn't tell anyone," Chandler clarified, finding it slightly ironic that they now all knew, "uh, Joey worked it out himself when we went away for a weekend together."

"You went on a weekend away with Joey? When?" Phoebe looked even more confused.

"Not with Joey," he screwed up his face at the thought, "with Monica, ya know, just the two of us..."

"Aw, a romantic weekend getaway?" Phoebe praised, "How would we not have noticed that?"

"We made up cover stories," he shrugged, remembering the disastrous weekend but more importantly remembering her reassuring promises after they'd returned to New York. Remembering the warmth in her gorgeous eyes and her beautiful smile as she had welcomed him to an 'adult' relationship. She'd forgiven him for that fight and he hoped beyond hope that she would get the chance to this time. That he'd get the chance to see that smile again.

"What about Rachel, how did she find out?"

"Erm, I'm not sure?" he looked over to her, pleased to see her smile softly too.

"I heard you on the phone a couple of weeks ago," she confessed. "Then once I knew, it was pretty easy to figure out all your codewords and disappearances, you two really aren't great at this whole undercover thing. I mean you paying her to clean your bedroom? Seriously Chandler? I mean it's Monica, she'd pay you to let her clean it."

He grinned nodding, knowing her words were too true. Her OCD cleaning habits were just one of her little quirks that made her Monica. His Monica.

"I tried to get her to confess it all to me," Rachel continued, "but she wouldn't. I listened in on you guys talking a little later and I understood; I know she wanted to tell us but that you both weren't quite ready. She's really smitten with you though, Chandler and the more I thought about the two of you the more right it became. I'm really happy you found each other, even if it took you a decade."

"Thanks," he managed to grab hold of the secure loving feeling in his chest letting it momentarily calm the worry that was churning within.

She loved him as much as he loved her.

"I still can't believe this," Ross admitted, trying to process his own memories. At least it had stopped him thinking about the current situation his sister was in. "Wait, is that why you went all weird at thanksgiving this year?"

"He's weird at every thanksgiving," Joey pointed out, "it's his thing."

"I meant about Monica and the toe-cutting incident," Ross corrected, looking over at Chandler curious.

"Yeah," Chandler pulled a face, "it was stupid though, I mean it happened such a long time ago, it was just the first time I heard why it happened and I don't know...we made up though, she even put a turkey on her head, Joey style, but she included these big glasses and a hat," he chuckled fondly at the memory.

"Wait, that's what that was?" Joey asked, clicking his fingers.

Chandler laughed a little as the others looked confused, "Right, I'd forgotten that."

"What?" Rachel asked curiously.

"Joey walked in on Monica mid-dance and ran from the apartment screaming like a girl!"

"Hey! Not like a girl!" he immediately protested as the others chuckled, "it just caught me off guard. You don't expect to walk into your apartment and come face to face with a giant human- turkey; not even at thanksgiving."

"I thought it was wearing comedy glasses and a hat?" Ross pointed out, "It doesn't sound particularly scary."

"Trust me, you would have been freaked out if you had been there," Joey insisted, his ego damaged.

Chandler's smile widened, remembering the incident well. Remembering his blurted 'I love you' and his panicked retraction straight after. He still couldn't believe she had put an actual turkey on her head just to try and cheer him up. She was simply incredible, amazing and he was so lucky to have her...

She had to be ok.

He needed her, needed her so badly.

His smile fell, that little light from moments ago diminishing as he realized just how much he stood to lose. She was the only person that really got him; the one person that understood him and made him feel complete. She couldn't leave him. Couldn't be snatched from him without him getting the chance to tell her how much he did love her and not retracting it. He needed to try and express how much she meant to him, how much he cared about her and cherished her.

Phoebe had been right, talking about her had been wonderful, but now it made his heart ache even more than before, reminding him exactly what he stood to lose if he lost her.

He couldn't lose her.

Couldn't.

"You ok?" Joey asked quietly as the atmosphere in the room changed, fading back to tense and worried.

"What am I going to do if she doesn't make it?" he whispered to anyone, swallowing hard.

"Nuh uh don't do that," Phoebe shook her head. "You need to keep the hope alive, think positive and not dwell on these thoughts, it isn't going to help anybody."

He shook his head, fear and frustration rapidly making their way to the surface as anxiety pushed itself to the forefront of his mind. He couldn't do this any more. Couldn't be positive when Monica was in there fighting for the life of her and their unborn baby.

"Yeah, well I'm sick of being told to think positively," he told them standing up, needing to pace to get rid of some of his nerves, some of his pent up anger at the whole situation. It wasn't fair, none of this was fair. "How am I meant to think positively when my whole life is laying on some hospital bed, still fighting and we're being told to not get our hopes up? How the hell am I meant to-"

"Chandler," Joey said firmly, stepping in front of him, his arms outstretched to tightly grip his shoulders. "We're all worried about her, ok? You've just got to hold it together, doing this now isn't going to help Monica. Got it?"

He stared at him a moment before roughly jerking out of his grasp, "I'm going for a smoke."

As the others protested he stormed towards the door, needing to get his head together again. He hated emotional situations, he didn't know how to deal with them, not like this, not when he was vulnerable and exposed. It was always Monica that helped him cope and now that she wasn't here he could feel himself losing the little control he had.

He pushed hard on the doors, causing them to swing open at force and instantly collided with a nurse who was entering the room. He simultaneously cursed and apologized, faltering in his step. Was this their nurse? Was this finally news?

"That's ok," she brushed herself off. "The doctor says she's allowed visitors now, but not all of you."

The others patted Ross' back and he joined Chandler. As much as they all wanted to see her they understood her brother and boyfriend needed to be the ones to see her first. The two men followed the nurse silently as she led them down a long sterile corridor. When she suddenly stopped by a room, Chandler took some deep breaths, trying to calm the adrenaline that was racing around inside him; he had to be strong, no matter how bad she looked.

She needed him.

He felt Ross' hand on his shoulder and opening his eyes he met his oldest friends' and nodded. They both had to be strong; for Monica.

Chandler entered first, freezing on the spot. She looked so pale, so fragile and...small. She was still hooked up to various monitors and had tons of wires connected to her and had a large dressing on her head.

The most eerie thing was she was so still. So unlike Monica. Animated, neurotic Monica.

With a shaky breath he headed towards her bed, automatically sitting down on the chair beside her as he gingerly reached out and took her hand in his.

"Mon?" he spoke quietly, tentatively as his thumb caressed her hand, "It's me, can you hear me?"

There was no response.

Slowly Ross walked around to the other side of the bed, his hands in his pockets as he studied his little sister. They stayed in silence for a while, both just staring at her.

At least he was here with her now, able to hold her hand and hopefully reassure both her and himself.

Tightening his grip on her hand for a moment he then lifted it slightly, lowering his head as he gently pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. He let his lips linger on the soft warm skin as he closed his eyes.

"Come on Mon," he whispered to her, "please..."

Please wake up, please be ok, please prove to him and everyone that she was as strong as they hoped. Just please.

Monica didn't respond to his touch or his pleas. She stayed still. Too still.

"She's so still," Ross murmured unknowingly echoing Chandler's thoughts.

"Yeah," he swallowed, opening his eyes and studying her face, desperately scanning it for any signs she could hear them, any signs she was fighting this and about to wake up.

That's all he needed her to do now, wake up and reassure him she was fine and worrying over nothing. If she at least recognized him then that was enough. Anything else they could learn to deal with but he needed her more than anything.

Ross dragged a chair across the room to her other side, the noise loud and grating.

Together the sat in silence, staring at the woman that meant so much to them.

Waiting. Praying. Hoping.

A/N- sorry another depressing end to the chapter. I'll try to get part 3 up soon. You've probably guessed I've not got a medical degree so please ignore any inaccuracies you may spot. I'm deliberately not going into too much medical details as I always prefer to explore the character side of things and experiment with how they might reaction in this sort of scenario.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter :o)