Haha, come on, who really thought I'd stop writing to revise for exams! Okay, maybe this wasn't the best idea, my exam is in an hour and a half…oosp…ah well….Anywayz, I'm so happy…not only have I've managed to update this fic but I've been Nominated in The Merge Awards! YAY Me! Well, thanks for all the reviews! Please keep them coming!

Enjoy!

Friendship Is Best For Now

"What's going on?" Joey asked aloud breaking the silence that took hold of the apartment after the door had slammed shut behind Nora.

"I've messed up again…" Charles mumbled, running his hand through his hair.

"I'm sure everything will be okay…" Ross said slowly. "Maybe you should wait for Chandler at his place…. Then you can sort everything out…"

Charles thought about it for a moment before sighing. "Yeah, okay….I guess…."

"I'm going to see if I can find Chandler…" Monica added, once Ross and Charles had headed over to the guys apartment.

"Wow, what a party, uh?" Phoebe commented.

"I know but what did you expect from putting Chandler in the room with both his parents…" Joey replied, turning back to the game.

"Don't they get along?" Sandra question, earning herself a slight glare from her husband.

"Well, Chandler okay with his Mom…they're not that close…" He told her. "But I don't think he's ever really forgiven his Dad for walking out on them when he was 9..."

"He walked out on them!"

"Uh…yeah…"

"Oh that poor boy…." Guilt started to wash over her.

XxXxX

Monica knew Nora had gone to find Chandler but she also knew straight away where he would have gone and she doubted Nora would think to look there.

"Hey…." She said, stepping onto the roof of their apartment building, seeing him; leaning on the small wall around the edge.

"I've gotta find a new hiding place…" He quipped quietly.

"I can go if you want some space…" She started.

"Nah, you're okay…." He gave her a small as she moved to stand next to him.

"Are you okay?" She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess…." He took a deep breath. "Just….just everything got a bit too much…"

She nodded slightly. "I'm sorry…"

"What for?"

"I shouldn't have invited them both without checking with you first…"

"No, Mon…it's not your fault…" He turned to face her fully.

"I still should have checked…" She claimed. "I ruined your birthday…"

He simply put one around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"It was the best birthday I've had in years…" He assured her.

"Yeah right…"

"I'm serious…" He stated. "I normally hate my birthday and never want to do anything but this year I had my friends around me and my parents…"

She looked up at him for a moment. "You seriously had a good night?"

"Yeah…" He shrugged. "Well, until the end…"

She was quiet for a moment, waiting to see if he would continue.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked once she realised he wasn't going to.

"Not really…"

She gave a small nodded, knowing not to push him into anything.

He sighed after a few seconds of silence. "It's nothing, really…I just overreacted…"

"Well, I'm sure you had a good reason…"

"He had I would have been better off with my birth parents…" He continued to stare up at the stars.

"Oh…." She replied quietly, unsure what to say to that.

"I just don't get…"

"Get what?"

"All of this….I never asked for any of this…. As far as I know I've done nothing to deserve this…" He moved away from the wall and began to walk around the rooftop. "I was happy with how things were….and it all got messed up….just when I think I've managed to get things sorted again…it all crashed down again…"

"Hey….it'll be okay…" She stopped him from pacing, making him look at her. She had never seen that look in his eye before, he look so lost.

"I just want to be happy…" He whispered. She simply wrapped her arms around him tightly and held him, just like he did when she was upset.

XxXxX

Ross walked into the girls' apartment the next morning, he had spent the night over at Joey and Chandler's, waiting for him to come back but he never. Around midnight, his parents had given up waiting, assuming that Monica was with him when she never returned either.

He headed towards Monica's room to see if she was there when he noticed two sleeping figures on the couch. Chandler's upper body was stretched across half of the couch, whist his feet were on the floor and Monica was curled up against him, her head resting on his chest and a arm draped across his stomach.

He glanced up when he heard the door to Rachel's room open. She appeared, her hair slightly tangled and still in her pyjamas. She stretched out her arms as she yawned but stopped suddenly when she noticed them to.

She looked up at Ross who gave her a small smile and shrugged slightly.

"Give me a few minutes and we'll go out for breakfast…" She whispered, not wanting to disturb them.

"Okay…" He nodded as she turned and went back into her room.

As they were head out of the apartment, they ran into Joey who invited himself along so they decided they would stop at Phoebe's so that no one would wake Monica or Chandler up.

"So, what's going on with them?" Phoebe questioned the others as they walked down the street.

"I don't know…" Joey shrugged. "Chandler hasn't said anything to me about it…"

"He'll deny it…" Ross stated. "I told him I'd be okay with it but he still refused to admit it."

"You'd really be okay with it?" Rachel looked at him, in surprise.

"Well, yeah…" He nodded. "I mean, I know he would look after her and everything…and as long as they were both happy."

"Aw! They'd make such a cute couple!" Phoebe claimed.

"Yeah and they're like best friends….that's the best person to fall in love with!" Rachel added.

"See they're perfect for each other!" Phoebe jumped up and down.

They found a small café and Phoebe and Joey had gone to see what food they had, leaving Ross and Rachel at the table alone.

"So, did you really mean that?" Ross started. "About falling in love with your best friend…"

"Well, yeah….I think one of the main factors in love is trust…" She explained. "And everyone trust their best friends….plus you'd already know a lot about them…"

"So…um…uh…who's your best friend?" He asked nervously, looking down where he was playing with the end of the tablecloth.

She watched him for a moment, a small smile on her face. "Well, I guess you guys…"

"Oh…" He nodded, still not looking up. "Uh, maybe….um… we could go out for dinner sometime…"

"I don't know…" She said slowly. "Is this like that time when I first moved in when you did nothing about it…"

"Uh…well…." He looked up finally. "How about tomorrow night?"

She smiled again and gave small nod. "Okay…"

XxXxX

"Hey…" Ross said as they all walked into the apartment, he glanced around seeing Monica sat alone at the kitchen table. "Where's Chandler?"

"He's gone to see his parents…" She told them. "Where have you all been?"

"We went out for breakfast…" Rachel sat down next to her at the table. "We didn't want to disturb you guys…"

"Disturb us?" She repeated.

"Yeah, you guys looked so cute…" She grinned, making Monica roll her eyes.

"Did you guys have fun last night?" Joey asked suggestively.

"We talked!" She stated. "He was upset about things…"

Ross frowned slightly. "He is okay, though?"

"I hope so…" She said quietly, looking down at the table.

"What's going on?" Joey asked, concerned for his best friend.

"Nothing…" Ross started.

"It's not nothing…" Joey cut him off. "There's something wrong with Chandler?"

"No, Joe…its just….just family stuff…" He told him.

"What stuff?"

"Look, I can't really say….I'm sure everything will be okay…" Ross replied.

Joey looked between the brother and sister and then to Rachel and Phoebe, both shrugging to tell him they knew nothing either but sighing in defeat and heading towards the couch, deciding to talk to Chandler himself.

XxXxX

Chandler had been sat in Central Perk for over an hour, alone. He had spoken to his parents…. His Dad had apologised for what he had said and now both of them where gone. His Dad, returning back to Vegas and his Mom back to her tour…both promising to call.

"Chandler?"

He turned when he heard his name and was faced with someone he wasn't expecting.

"Uh…Hi.." He said slowly. "Rachel's not here…"

"I know…" Sandra Green moved to sit next to him. "I came to see you…"

"Me?" He looked at her. "Why…why would you want to see me?"

"I think, it pretty obvious…" She stated.

"Look, I don't think this is a good idea…" He started.

"Please…5 minutes…" She asked. "I just want to talk…"

Chandler thought over the option, not knowing what would be the best idea.

"Okay…." He reluctantly agreed. "But not here…"

"Okay, how about that coffee place a few blocks from here?" She suggested.

"Fine…" He nodded. "I'll see you there in 10 minutes…"

"Okay, than you…" She gave him another smile before heading towards the exit.

Chandler sighed and slumped back against the couch, running his hands over his face and wondering how long he'd be able to keep doing this to himself.

He slowly made his way to meet her, his mind coming up with all sorts of questions why she wanted to talk to him. When he walked in, he saw her sat in the corner. He paused at the door, glancing around the rest of the room before moving towards her.

"I thought you might have changed your mind…" She greeted him with a smile, noticing he was a few minutes late.

"I'm hear now…" He stated, sitting down. "What's this about?"

"I want….I just wanted to talk…"

"About what?"

"I don't know…" She looked down at the table. "I just want to get to know you…"

"Why?"

"Because you're my son…"

"No, I'm not!" He shook his head.

"Please…I know I don't deserve your forgiveness…." A few tears appeared in her eyes. "But you got to believe me when I saw, I've always regretted that day…"

"Which one? The day you gave me away or the day I turned up at your house and you rejected me again…."

"Both…" She told him quietly. "I wish I could go back and change what happened."

Chandler watched her for a moment, unsure what to say or do when a waiter wondered over to take their order. He was slightly relieved at the interruption but then once again he was gone, leaving the pair alone again. Sandra watching Chandler closely, waiting for his response.

"I do…don't know what to say…" He admitted quietly.

"Is there any chance that I could get to know you?"

"I don't…I don't know…"

She moved her chair closer to the table and reached out, placing a hand on his cheek.

"You're so handsome….you look just like your Grandfather…" She whispered.

Her words made him flinch away from her touch, pushing his chair further back.

"You didn't know my Grandfather…" He looked down at his hands in his lap.

"I meant…" She started but he cut her off.

"This was a bad idea…"

"No, Chandler please…I'm sorry…" She stood up when he did.

"Look, this could never work out….you're one of my best friends' Mom…" He claimed. "If she…if she ever found not only would she hate you for lying to her but she'd also hate me…"

"You don't know that…"

"Yes, I do…" He replied. "So, why don't you just concentrate on her and your others daughter and forget about the kid you gave away 25 years ago…"

With that he turned and walked out as fast as he could, not daring to look back at her.

XxXxX

Chandler glanced into Central Perk as he passed, seeing his friends sitting around laughing and joking. He sighed, he wasn't really in the mood and knew if he want in, they would all notice something was wrong. Instead he decided to go to his apartment and finish off some work for a presentation he had to do next week. Just as he was about to open the door to his apartment, he heard the door to the girls' apartment open. He turned around and was faced with Monica.

"Hey…" She smiled at him, before frowning. "Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah…"

"Chandler?" Not believing him.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I saw her…"

"Who?"

"Her…my….my birth Mom…"

Monica's mouth dropped open slightly. "Oh my god…Well..uh…what…what did she say?"

"Uh, can…can we…" He gestured to her apartment.

"Oh yeah, sure…" She grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. "Are you okay?"

He removed his glaze from the floor to her before replying honestly. "I don't know…"

"Oh come here…" She wrapped her arms around him. "It'll be okay…"

"She's not my Mom…" he whispered.

"What?" She pulled back to look at him confused.

"No matter what she says….she's not my Mom…" He told her. "She'll never will be…I have a Mom…"

"I know…" She gave him a small smile, before kissing his cheek softly.

Chandler watched her, still holding her close, neither of them spoke…they just stared at each other. He saw her leaning in slowly but stop when their lips were millimetres apart. A small smile tugged at his lips as he closed the gap between them…the kiss only last a few seconds before he pulled back to look at her, making sure she was okay with it. He smiled again when he saw her eyes was closed, he pressed his lips against hers again, this time harder as she looped her arms around his neck, pulling him even closer.

His hands travelled up her back and into her hair as he deepened the kissing, forgetting everything else that had happened, just getting lost in the kiss. He heard her moan as he left her lips and moved to her neck as his hands slowly moved back down her back and then slip under her shirt.

"I knew it!" They jumped apartment and turned around to see their friends stood staring at them.

"Umm…uh…" Chandler stuttered, shooting a look at Monica who wore the same expression as him.

"Are you two together now!" Phoebe asked, jumping up and down excited.

"Uh…well…" Chandler started before sighing. "Can you give us a minute…"

"Yeah baby!" Joey cheered, earning himself a glare from Chandler.

"We're just gonna talk…"

"If you say so…" Joey replied.

"Alright, come on…" Ross grabbed Joey's arm and pulled him out of the apartment.

Chandler took Monica's hand and led her to the couch, sitting down next to her and turning to face her.

"Mon…" He started.

"This is going to be one of those conversations…" She cut in. "It's not you, it's me…"

He was quiet for a moment. "I can't be in a relationship at the moment…"

"What?"

"What we have…its…its different….I know what we have would be special…"

"So, what's the problem?"

"I'm not in the right place…" He told her. "I really, really care about you which is why this is not our time…"

"Well, maybe it'll be okay…"

He shook his head. "I don't want to risk….when we get together I want to be able to focus on that…just us….. I can't do that now…I have so many other stuff to deal with…"

"I could help you with it…" She stated, taking his hand in hers.

"I know you can…that's….that's why I want your friendship…" He said softly. "Mon, you're my best friend….I need you….and maybe…maybe when this is all over we can be something more…but I don't want to ruin it with all of the other crap I'm going through…"

She was quiet for a moment before answering. "Okay…if that's what you want."

"I hope you understand…"

"I do…" She gave him a small smile. "And I'm willing wait for you…"

"Mon, I don't want you to put your life on hold for me…." He was mid sentence when she pulled him towards her, kissing him deeply.

"I will wait….." She whispered, leaning her forehead against his.

He smiled slightly and gently brushed his lips against her one more time before standing up. He paused at the door and looked back her, giving her another smile before leaving.

TBC

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