A/N: This was originally a oneshot, but is now the second chapter in a collection of drabbles :)
The One Where They Can't Catch a Break
It was awkward to say at least. Ross barging inn had woken them both and left them in an uncomfortable silence. None of them knew what to say, where to start, how to react to the seemly absurd situation they found themselves in.
"Well I've, I've never done that with you before," Chandler said in an attempt to break the silence.
"Nope," Monica chuckled nervously. It was so weird waking up with him like this. Or being woken up by him shoving her underneath the covers. Ross's yelling had made her think of the gravity of the situation. Earlier that night she had told him that they weren't that close friends anyway. Which she realized now was a lie. Everything would be different. And awkward.
"So," Chandler squirmed nervously beside her. "How are you? How you… How you…" He stuttered but pulled it together. "You okay?"
Trying to act like nothing was wrong, she chirped "Yep, Yep!" Nerves hit her again and she turned to him "You?"
He kept staring straight ahead. "Yes… uh." Monica swallowed. "You?" he asked again. She kept staring at him. Realizing he turned to her. "We already did you."
They both looked away and stared at the sheet covering them, fighting an inner battle with themselves.
Monica debated with herself whether to discuss if this would affect their friendship or not. She remembered Chandler's relationship issues and figured it would be bad to talk about it. She didn't want him to think that this meant something to her (although it did) so that he would freak out about having a relationship they didn't really have. Things started to get complicated in her head. And they didn't really have time for discussing anything anyway.
Chandler was busy beating himself up. She had been drunk. The perfect amount of drunk, but he should have thought about how this would affect them before jumping into it. His mind kept being sidetracked, wondering if she would want to hook up again. It was probably not the best time to ask her, however.
The silence kept pushing them down, until Monica broke it.
"Well… I'd better be going."
A rush of emotions hit Chandler, the majority of them grateful for her leaving and breaking the awkwardness, but some were yelling for him to ask her to stay so that he could kiss her again. He refused to acknowledge those.
"Oh yeah," he agreed eagerly. "Absolutely."
She scooted to the side of the bed and paused there, tense.
"Could you… not look?"
He heard the embarrassment in her voice.
"I… I don't want to look." He stubbornly said and stared intent at the opposite wall, wanting not to look at her in that way. Wanting to view her as just his friend again. That path was unfortunately closed for both of them.
Monica quickly got dressed in her clothes from last night while Chandler had a staring contest with the wall. She hurried to the door wanting to get out before Joey or worse, Ross, came back.
"See you later," she said hearing her own voice as far away.
He turned his head, still clutching the sheet to his chest and looked at her. "See you, Mon."
She offered him a weak smile and he smiled a little in return, before she left.
They both had some serious thinking to do.
As soon as Monica left Chandler got out of bed. He hurried into the bathroom before Joey could come back and ask him what he was doing completely naked in their hotel room. Stepping into the shower he allowed himself to think about last night. She had hooked up with him; she came to his door and started kissing him. Chandler couldn't help smiling. It was weird, he would admit that. The weirdest thing was, however, it hadn't felt weird doing it. She had liked it, he was sure of that. He almost laughed at the memory. Seven times in one night. He had gotten so much better than before.
He did a little dance in the shower and grabbed the soap. It felt weird that he had done this with Monica, yet in a way it did not. It had been nice, being with a friend and waking up with her, the awkwardness be damned. Chandler sighed. He had liked it. He wanted to repeat it. He just had to ask her if she still was game. He grinned at the memory: Monica pressed against him, gasping "We are so doing this tomorrow."
Then he tried to think about it realistically. It had been stupid to do this. Jeopardize their friendship like that. They had agreed that they weren't that good friends anyway, but that was a spur of the moment thing. Shampooing his hair he decided. The whole thing was insane. They shouldn't be doing it. They should stop. But if Monica was in one more time, so was he.
As soon as Monica came back to her hotel room she collapsed on her bed. She hid her face in the pillow as her face split into a grin.
"Oh my God," she moaned softly, still not able to really believe she had done that with Chandler.
It had been so good, and so not weird, which in itself was weird. Rolling over on her back, she sighed. She wanted to do it again, with him. Things were already awkward, she reasoned. The damage had already been done. But the nagging voice in her head kept telling her that if they continued, things would get even weirder. She stood up and walked into the bathroom, deciding that she and Chandler needed to talk about this, at least at some level. At least talk about if they should talk about it or leave it alone.
They should probably stop this. Starting anything but a friend-relationship with Chandler was a bad idea. Him relationship issues combined with her bad luck in men could only end in disaster. The other voice in her head however, was singing with joy over an amazing night, having the best sex she ever had.
Unable to satisfy both the voices in her head, she decided to tell Chandler that they had to stop, but that she wanted to do it one more time. At least.
Stepping out of the bathroom, still in his own thoughts, Chandler took little notice of Joey.
"Hey," Joey offered.
"Hey," he said his thoughts elsewhere. Joey's next question took him completely by surprise.
"Have you seen Monica?"
Chandler froze, shocked. His brain screamed at him: Deny! Deny! Deny! While he wondered how Joey could possible know.
"I'm not seeing Monica!"
"What?" Joey's confusion was apparent.
He relaxed. Joey didn't know. He overreacted. What had happened was supposed to stay between him and Monica and he would keep it that way.
"What?" he said pretending he didn't know what Joey was asking about.
"We got to find her," Joey exclaimed stressed. "Phoebe just called! Rachel's coming to tell Ross she loves him!"
Chandler momentarily forgot about his own situation, completely shocked at Ross and Rachel's. "Oh my God!"
Joey nodded in agreement. "I know. And that's why we need to find Monica. You know where she is?"
Chandler froze again. The only reaction he could come up with was getting defensive. "No! Okay?" Panic welling up inside of him. "What's with the third degree? Why don't you just shine a light in my eyes?"
Joey's totally confused expression led Chandler to believe he had gone too far. His defensive act had only raised suspicion. But Joey just shrugged it off and Chandler felt safe for now.
Monica had thought her brother's wedding day would be perfect. That was until Joey had grabbed hold of her and told him what Phoebe had said. She realized it wouldn't have been perfect anyway with her mother criticizing her like always. If she just could let it go for one second…
Standing in the middle of the chapel Joey walked up to her.
"Monica," he whispered. "We really need to start looking out for Rachel. I'll cover the front door. You'll watch the big hole in the back and I got Chandler covering Ross," he added with a shrug.
Fear welled up in her. Why would he tell her about Chandler? Did he know? Panicked she started babbling. "Why would I care where Chandler is?" she nervously twinned her hands together. "You know, sometimes I don't even like Chandler!"
Joey stared at her like she was crazy and Monica realized she had overdone it.
"Okay…" he said carefully and Monica walked away in a hurry, leaving him to stare confused after her.
Monica was relieved. Rachel hadn't said anything to Ross. She had sat down quietly to attend the wedding as a guest. Monica was happy for Ross and Emily but this forced her to walk down the aisle with Chandler. The awkwardness was still there. She still debated with herself if she should bring it up.
Chandler beat her to it. "What we did last night…"
"Was stupid." Monica finished.
"Totally crazy stupid," Chandler agreed and Monica felt a rush of sadness hit her. Well, if that was how he felt…
"What were we thinking?" she asked rhetorically while swallowing the bitterness that rose inside her.
Chandler looked at her, silently wondering if she really meant it and if he should just back down. But it was Monica he was talking about. He would be crazy if he went down without at least trying. They had almost reached the podium.
"I'm coming over tonight, though?" he asked, hoping, hoping.
Monica's heart swelled. He wanted to. Oh, he wanted…
"Definitely," she agreed and they broke free from each other before their emotions could show.
Chandler and Monica met at the buffet table a while after the disastrous ceremony.
"Hey," Chandler greeted.
"Hey," she replied.
He had been thinking. It was probably not the right time to discuss them when two of their best friends were having serious problems. But Chandler had decided that the problem he and Monica had was almost equally important. They couldn't keep doing this. Look where it had gotten Ross and Rachel. As much as it pained him to say it, he had to tell her about his fears.
"I hope you don't take this the wrong way, and I know we had plans to meet up tonight, but I'm just kinda worried about what it might do to our friendship." Might do? More like will do…
Monica kept her gaze at the food. "I know," she replied sadly. "How could we have let this happen?" The weird thing was; even though they kept discussing it back and forth, listing, worrying and agonizing about the bad things this might do to them, she still wanted to continue. It seemed like nothing could dull those emotions.
"And seven times!" Chandler said angrily. She almost smiled at that. Seven times…
She tried to reason. "Well you know. We were away…"
Chandler caught up with her almost immediately. "In a foreign romantic country."
"I blame London," she exclaimed desperately wanting anything to take the pressure away from the real heart of the problem.
"Bad London!" Chandler agreed and smacked the turkey with a spoon. She gave him a puzzled look.
Still, seeing as he agreed with her she decided to press further.
"So look," she started nervously. "While we're still in London, I mean, we can keep doing it, right?" Hopefulness taking over her voice.
Chandler almost did the dance. Given everything negative they had discussed, she still wanted to hook up with him. They could deal with the issues when they got back home.
"I don't see that we have a choice," he said happily. "But, when we're back home, we don't do it." They had to stop somewhere or it would ruin them.
"Only here," Monica agreed, glad that they had pushed the issue away. If everything went according to plan, they could just forget it ever happened when they got home. She knew she wouldn't forget, but they could go back to being just friends, now that they had sat a limit.
Chandler decided to waste no time since all they had left in London was a day. "You know, I saw a wine cellar downstairs."
Say no more, Monica thought. "I'll meet you there in two minutes!"
"Ok," Chandler smiled, throwing away his plate and ran towards the wine cellar.
A little while later a confused Monica walked up to Chandler. "Where were you? Wasn't we supposed to meet in the wine cellar?"
Chandler sighed sadly. "Forget it. It's off."
Panic welled up inside Monica. He had changed his mind. She choked out a soft "Why?" feeling tears gather in her eyes.
Chandler took no notice. He pointed irritated to Emily's dad who happily announced that the next tour of the wine cellar would take place in five minutes. Monica swallowed her tears and almost laughed at her reaction. What was the matter with her? This thing with Chandler wasn't supposed to continue forever anyway.
Joey effectively made her forget those thoughts. "Are you eating meat?" she asked surprised at him, staring as he filled his plate with turkey. "I thought you wouldn't eat meat until the triplets were born."
Joey shrugged. "I figured since we are in a different country, it doesn't count."
Chandler looked at Monica seeing that she had realized the same thing he had.
"That's true," Monica agreed.
"The man's got a point," Chandler nodded suddenly feeling unwell. He didn't mean it. He didn't think that just because they were in a different country that Joey's deal with Phoebe didn't count. But, if he believed that, what would that mean for him and Monica?
Chandler grabbed her elbow and led her a bit away from the crowd. Monica's face was flushed leading Chandler to believe she had thought at least some of the thoughts he had been thinking.
"Should we really keep doing this?" he asked in a low voice.
Monica looked into his eyes and saw nothing but earnestness. She realized that on some level this meant something to him too. She debated for a few moments. "It's only when we're in London, right?" she asked and Chandler nodded. "Then I don't really see the harm in continuing. We already did it in London. It wouldn't change anything if we keep doing it."
"I guess you're right," he said leaning in close to block out the noise all around them. Monica's heart started beating a little faster when he got so close and Chandler felt heat rise in his body.
"Let's go back to my room," Monica murmured. Chandler had big difficulties keeping his hands off her as they walked out.
Down the corridor, frightened that someone would stop them and ask them where they were going. Around a corner and they were close. Chandler's hands hovered around her sides and Monica swallowed hard.
Stopping in front of her door she fished out her keycard from her purse.
Chandler scratched the back of his head. "Listen, in the middle of everything if I scream the word "yippee!" Just ignore me."
Monica laughed, surprised, yet pleased, at how exciting he found it to be with her and turned the doorknob with Chandler's hands on her shoulders.
Rachel was sitting on her bed. They both froze, terrified that they had been caught.
"Hey Rachel," they greeted trying to appear nonchalant.
Rachel took no notice of how flustered they were and rambled about what Ross had said and what that meant. While both Monica and Chandler wanted to help both Ross and Rachel with their problems, they were a little bit too caught up in their own.
"Do you guys want to go downstairs for a drink?" Rachel finished and Monica tensed. More interruptions. She had no idea how to let Rachel down. Good thing Chandler was there, though.
"Yes we do. But, we have to change first," he replied, thankful for his quick thinking.
"Yes, I want to change," Monica's voice sounded strangely stained. "Why don't you go and get us a table." If Chandler's hands still hadn't been on her shoulders she was almost certain she would have dragged Rachel out of the room.
"We'll be down in like, five minutes."
Monica elbowed him and rolled her eyes. "Fifteen minutes."
Chandler made a comical sound in agreement.
Rachel was on her way out when the phone rang. Chandler resisted the urge to facepalm. Apparently the universe was against him today.
"It's Phoebe!" Rachel exclaimed in excitement.
"Yay…"
"That's great…" neither of them were able to sound happy.
As Rachel started to tell Phoebe in detail about Ross, Monica was fighting the urge to scream or cry. She shared a dejected look with Chandler. He leaned in to whisper something.
"Why don't we go and change in my room?"
She replied before she could think about it, "But my clothes are-"
Chandler raised his eyebrows at her. "Oh," she grinned and they quickly made their way out the door.
Down the corridor again, looking around, afraid to be caught. It was an urgency to their walk that hadn't been there before. When they got to the door Chandler pressed his ear against it, trying to hear if there was anyone there. Then he gently eased the door open. Monica got inside in a hurry and Chandler locked the door. Then he turned to face her.
She was just standing there, smiling nervously at him. Chandler felt the excitement rise through his body like a wave and he suddenly felt nervous in a way he hadn't before. Monica, his friend. His really hot friend was here with him. He was prepared to try and translate some of the feelings into words.
"Wow, you look-"he began but Monica interrupted him, running over to him and started force of his jacket.
"No time for that," she said smiling at him, showing that she appreciated his effort. Chandler smiled back at her and was preparing to lean in and kiss her. As his jacket was thrown on the bed they heard a thump against the door. Frightened they jumped apart.
"Let me in! I got a girl out here." Joey said through the small crack in the door.
Monica and Chandler exchanged a sad look and he walked over through the door
"Well… I got a girl in here," Chandler said, trying not to give too much away, but hoping that Joey would take the hint.
"No, you don't," Joey snorted. "I just saw you go in there with Monica."
Monica felt a surprised expression fall over her face. So apparently she wasn't a girl? Still, she felt relieved at Joey's denseness.
"Well, w-we're hanging out in here!" Chandler was fighting now and Monica couldn't help but admire him.
"Which one of us is going to have sex in there, me or you?"
"I suppose I'd have to say you," Chandler snarled angrily. Why did this have to be so difficult? He could still convince Joey to leave though. "But, what if we're watching a movie in here?"
"Which we are!" Chandler heard that Monica was almost as desperate as him. "And-and, we already paid for it. It's My Giant!" she said as she turned the DVD she had in her hand.
"My Giant?" Joey sounded too happy. "I love that movie!"
Monica leaned her head on Chandler's shoulder, wanting to sob. They had lost, yet again. With a heavy heart Chandler opened the door and let Joey and Felicity in. Felicity looked at them with a questioning gaze. They pretended they didn't notice.
"This is great!" Joey grinned. "Now we can watch it together."
"Yeah…"
"Great…"
Chandler and Monica sat down on Chandler's bed. At least they could sit close together. Joey put the DVD in the player and turned off the lights.
The movie was starting but Chandler couldn't bring himself to focus on it. What became really important to him was that Monica was sitting next to him, both of them leaning against the headboard. Her leg was almost pressed against his. He had his hands folded in his lap. Chandler quickly looked over at Joey and Felicity who were both caught up in the movie. Slowly, carefully, he lifted his hand and tentatively placed it on Monica's knee. He felt her sharp intake of breath next to him. He looked over at the others one more time, but they hadn't noticed anything. He jumped a little when Monica's hand started to trace patterns on his shirt. He felt her chuckle next to him. Chandler started running his hand softly up and down her leg. Monica's laughter stilled at once.
It felt like slow, sweet torture. Having him so close, touching her and unable to do anything about it. Monica felt like her skin was on fire. It was too hot. She turned towards him, not really certain of what she was doing, leaned up towards him and kissed his neck hard. Chandler shot out of the bed as if lightning had hit him. Joey and Felicity looked surprised at him.
"We-we should go," Chandler stuttered. If the lights had been turned on they could have seen how badly he blushed. "You two should be alone," he continued fanatically. "Monica and I should go and check up on Ross."
"Oh yeah," Joey said, realization dawning on him. "I'll come with you."
"No," Monica almost yelled. Her voice was too loud. "He probably doesn't want to see all of us anyway. Just say here."
Joey shrugged. "Ok. See you later, then."
"Yes," they quickly replied and hurried out the door as fast as their legs could carry them.
Chandler noticed to his frustration that there were people in the hallway. He had been prepared to kiss Monica as soon as the door closed behind them.
"That was fun," Monica remarked dryly. Chandler looked at her and she looked as frustrated as he felt.
"Come on," he murmured and grabbed her hand, walking briskly down the hallway, looking for a quiet place.
Chandler looked around the honeymoon suite, pleased at himself. It was the perfect place. Beautiful, romantic and most importantly, no one would interrupt them.
Monica looked around with awe in her eyes. "You really think this is ok?"
Chandler almost snorted. Of course it wasn't ok. They were sneaking around to have sex and they could use the honeymoon suite because Ross's wedding crashed and burned the moment he stood at the altar. "Ross and Emily aren't going to use it," he said with a shrug.
"It's so beautiful," Monica said, sighing. "I don't know if I feel right about this."
Chandler flailed a little. She was having the same thoughts as him, only she wanted to act on them. Not good.
"Oh Mon-Mon-Mon-Mon look," he began panicked, stuttering. "This is the honeymoon suite." Happy that he had found some sort of argument he continued. "The room expects sex." Monica raised her eyebrows. "The room would be disappointed if it didn't get sex." She was smiling now. "All of the other honeymoon suits would think it was a looser."
Monica beamed at him. He was lucky she didn't need much persuasion. "Okay!" She agreed happily and ran over to the bed with Chandler, starting to turn the covers.
Only to be interrupted again.
"Emily?" Ross's voice had such hope to it.
Chandler's flushed face popped out from the covers. "Nope! Not under here."
Monica looked sadly at her brother. "You didn't find her?"
"No and I've looked everywhere!" Ross said, dejected.
"Well, you couldn't have looked everywhere or else you would have found her!" Chandler was trying to be helpful and to get Ross to leave at the same time. It didn't sound as great as he had planned out in his mind. He figured that Monica would probably want to help Ross.
She surprised him. "You should keep looking!"
Chandler beamed at her. "For like 30 minutes." He wanted to use his time. It probably would be the last time they did this.
"Or 45!" Monica grinned.
The meaning was not lost on him. "Wow, in 45 minutes you can find her twice!" Monica looked as if she was about to laugh. He could only guess that his expression was a weird mixture between surprise, awe, flattery and excitement. The feeling was short-lived, however.
"No!" Ross said firmly. "For all I know she's trying to find me but couldn't because I kept moving around. From now on I'm staying in one place." He walked determined over to the bed and sat down. "Here!"
Chandler was tempted to slap him. Or at least bury his head in the pillow and scream. Why-why-why did they keep getting interrupted like this?
Monica quietly touched his elbow. "It's getting late," she said, more to him than Ross.
"Yeah, we're going now," Chandler's hands moved to her waist and kept them there. They still had most of the night left.
"Actually," Ross's voice sounded kind of timid. "Do you guys mind staying here for a while?"
Chandler could see the inner struggle on Monica's features. "Ugh… We have to get up early and catch that plane from New York."
"Yes. It's a very large plane."
Ross stared disappointed at them. "That's cool."
Cursing softly to himself Chandler made a decision. Ross was his friend. His problems were more important than his sexual frustration. Monica would probably feel guilty for leaving Ross like this as well. "But, we'll stay here with you." It didn't mean that he had to enjoy it though.
Monica shot him a grateful look. Ross smiled at them. "Thanks guys." They sat down on each side of Ross. Chandler figured he could at least touch Monica behind Ross's back. What he didn't know wouldn't kill him. It could also be kind of fun teasing her like that. And it would help him having a sort of connection to her.
"I really appreciate this," Ross started to say, but looked strangely at Chandler. "But you don't have to rub my butt."
Awkwardly Chandler took his hand away and Monica stifled a giggle.
The night with Ross proved to be a long one. Monica had hoped that they could at least talk about normal things so that she could take her mind off the man that was sitting next to her brother. Ross had talked almost all the time, however, forcing them to listen through his whole relationship with Rachel, again. As much as Monica tried to care, she was getting tired of the whole story. He should be telling Emily this. That he and Rachel were through. That him saying her name at the altar had just been a slip of the tongue. That he loved Emily. Instead it was her and Chandler who got to hear the story they had heard a million times before. It didn't really take her mind of what she wanted to do. She looked solemnly at the doors that separated her and Chandler from freedom. She wanted to drag him through them, close them and have him make love to her for hours. She checked her watch. One hour. She wanted to hit Ross. She looked over at him and saw to her surprise, and relief, that he had fallen asleep in Chandler's lap. Chandler looked as tired and depressed as she felt.
"We have to leave for New York in an hour," Chandler said somberly.
"I know," Monica sighed. "I've been looking at those doors, they look pretty sound proof, don't you think?"
Chandler looked at her and tried to rub the tiredness out of his eyes. "We can't do that," he said flatly. "I mean, A- he could wake up and B- you know, let's go for it."
Monica flashed him a quick smile and they both started to ease out from under Ross. A knock on the door woke him up, however. Monica let out the biggest groan of her life.
After Mr. and Mrs. Waltham left, Ross and Rachel stood in the room with Monica and Chandler.
"I guess we should go and pack." Chandler's voice had no happy quality left. He stared at Monica.
"Yeah," Monica agreed. "We have to leave soon." She checked her watch. They could still be able to have sex once if they hurried.
"Oh! We should go and pack too," Rachel tried to smile. Monica and Chandler didn't. They stared angrily at her.
"I guess," Ross murmured. "My plane doesn't leave for a couple of hours, though."
"I'll go with you," Rachel declared. Monica would have protested if she hadn't been too busy trying to sneak out the door with Chandler. They made it as far as the hallway.
"Hey Mon, wait up," Rachel hurried after them. "Your room is next to mine. Let's go."
Monica stared sadly at Chandler. "See you."
"Yeah, see you, Mon."
They turned and walked away in opposite directions. As soon as Chandler made it around the corner he promptly smacked his head against the wall.
They were traveling back to New York with Joey so both of them assumed that all the opportunities had passed. It didn't make it any easier though. In the cab and at the airport they were still in London so the New York rule didn't count yet, and both of them looked for a small chance to slip away for a few minutes. It didn't happen.
As they were boarding, Joey commented, "You seem a little tense."
"Yeah," Chandler trailed off watching Monica's back in front him.
"Dude!" Joey poked his shoulder.
"Sorry," Chandler grimaced. "I just don't want to go back to New York and my job."
"I miss New York!" Joey exclaimed.
Monica turned around and smiled at him softly. "We'll be there in a few hours, Joe. Just relax."
As they boarded the plane Monica tried to say goodbye to whatever she had, had with Chandler the last 30 hours or so. Surprised she felt that she was unable to do so. She shrugged. She would get over it, in time.
It was difficult to try and start to let anything go when she was seated next to Chandler. For the first hours they were mostly silent, trying to start conversations about lighter topics but unable to keep them up. Most of the time they stared straight ahead terrified to bring up the elephant in the room.
After a while Monica felt like she was going to explode. "Maybe it's best we never got to do it again," she exclaimed hastily without any explanation. Chandler didn't have to be a genius to figure out what she was talking about.
"Yeah, it kind of makes that one night special." He kept on staring straight ahead. For some reason this felt as awkward as when they had woken up this morning. The night would be special anyway, he realized. No matter if they did it only once or a hundred times. Something dawned on him…
"Technically, we are still over international waters."
Monica wanted to kiss him so badly right then. "I'm going to the bathroom. Maybe I'll see you there in a bit," she teased.
"Kay!" Chandler replied, giddy with joy. He stared longingly after her as she walked away. He turned back to get up and realized startled that Joey was sitting in Monica's seat.
"Can I ask you something?" Joey sounded serious.
Chandler pondered for a quick moment. This was his last opportunity with Monica. He could talk to Joey every day. "No."
Joey didn't seem to care. "Felicity and I, we're watching My Giant, and I was thinking, "I'm never gonna be as good an actor as that giant." Do you think I'm just wasting my life with this acting thing?"
Oh, why did he have to have this conversation now? "No," Chandler replied, anxious to get Joey out of the way.
"I mean, the giant is like five years younger than me," Joey continued. "Do you think I'll ever get there?"
Chandler stared at him for a couple of seconds. "Yes."
Joey looked relieved. "Thanks man."
"Okay," Chandler started to get up, surprised that it had been that easy.
"But, what about how much taller he is than me?" Joey cried.
Chandler sunk down in his seat. Never, ever say that things are easy. For this conversation he would need alcohol. A lot of it.
Joey kept talking and Chandler was finishing his third mini-bottle when Monica came back. She did not look happy.
"Hey Monica," Joey replied caught up in his own problems. "Uh wow. You've been to the bathroom for half an hour."
"I know," Monica gritted her teeth and stared furiously at Chandler. He made a defeated gesture to Joey and the alcohol and she seemed to understand. They both had depressed frown on their faces as Monica went and sat down in Joey's chair.
Landing in New York and pretending that everything was normal was actually easier than Monica had thought it would be. She was able to joke with both Joey and Chandler as if nothing had happened. However, something had happened between her and Chandler and she was surprised to find out that it didn't change anything. He was still her friend.
Seeing Phoebe again was great and they greeted her with much enthusiasm.
"You ate meat!" Phoebe accusingly exclaimed and pointed at Joey. Then she turned surprised to Monica and Chandler. "You had sex!"
"No we didn't," Chandler denied. Phoebe couldn't know that anyway.
"I know you didn't," Phoebe snorted and Chandler was surprised to find himself a little hurt. "I was talking about Monica."
Monica rolled her eyes and easily lied. "Phoebe, I did not have sex."
Surprisingly, Phoebe dropped it. "This pregnancy is throwing me all off! And making me fat." Monica smiled a little.
"Well, I'll go and say hey to chick and the duck." Joey picked up his bags.
"Oh! Me too," Phoebe smiled happily. Chandler gave Monica a confused look.
Joey seemed to feel the same way. "Why would you need to say hey to them? You've been feeding them for four days."
Phoebe suddenly looked flustered. "Maybe I'll just go home."
Joey's eyes widened in terror and both of them hurried out of the apartment.
Monica couldn't help but find it ironic. "Well, we certainly are alone."
"Yeah," Chandler moved around in the kitchen. "Good thing we have that "Not New York" rule." He didn't sound like he thought it was a good thing. Monica silently agreed. Still, neither of them wanted to jeopardize their friendship. She figured she might as well tell him how she felt.
"While we're still on that subject, I just wanted to tell you," she stuttered a bit, struggling to find the right words. Chandler smiled encouraging at her. "I was going through a real hard time in London, with Ross getting married," she paused. "And that guy thinking I was his mom."
"Right," Chandler murmured, wanting to reassure her, but Monica wasn't done yet.
"Well, anyway," she felt a blush creeping up her cheek. "That night meant a lot to me." She met his gaze. "I guess I'm trying to say thanks."
Chandler tossed an apple from one hand to another. He looked around the apartment as if to reassure himself that they were the only two there. He smiled. "You know, that night meant a lot to me too." He put the apple down and walked closer. "Not because I was in a bad place or anything," he smiled smugly at her. "It just meant a lot to me because... You're really hot!" His face was so serious that Monica couldn't help but laughing. He smiled endearingly at her. "Is that okay?" Monica had trouble getting over how adorable he looked at that moment.
Still stifling her laughter she agreed. "That's okay."
She could almost see his confidence build. "And I'm cute too?"
She laughed again. It was so like him, fishing for compliments. But it was true. "You're cute too!"
He wrapped her up in a hug. "Thank you."
As they pulled away from each other Monica started to doubt the rule they had set. It was obviously something there. Something special. And from the looks of it, whatever it was between them didn't ruin them. It made them stronger. She was debating how clever it was to talk about this with Chandler though.
"All right," Chandler sounded sad. "I have to go unpack."
She high fived him, still caught up in her thoughts. It wasn't too late to tell him to stay. But as Chandler made his way to the door, she couldn't find her voice. And then he was by the door and he was saying goodbye and smiling at her and then the door was closed and it was too late. Monica started walking towards the door, desperately to call him back. She wanted- She didn't really know what she wanted. She wanted something. By the door she paused. It was a bad idea. They had both agreed to just be friends when they got home. She turned to walk away; feeling a little more crushed a step at the time.
The door opened behind her and she turned surprised around to find Chandler standing there. The door closed behind him with a sharp bang. Chandler was dragging his hand over his face, desperately debating something. Monica looked at him and hoped.
With a plea in his eyes Monica had never seen before, he spoke, giving her one last chance, wanting her to take it. Wanting to be with her. "I'm still on London time. Does that count?"
Monica stared at him, a million emotions flashing in her eyes. "Oh, that counts."
And then they were holding each other and kissing like they never had before. She was clinging to Chandler, wanting to hold him forever and he crushed her against him, wanting her closer, closer. His jacket was tossed on the floor and so very un-Monica-like, Monica didn't care. She let her hands roam over his body as Chandler kissed her neck. He slowly backed her up towards the couch as she fanatically popped the buttons on his shirt open.
They both were on the couch, him on top of her, doing something it felt like they have done a million times before. As Monica pulled him down to kiss him she couldn't help but wondering. Their relationship wasn't just based on sex. It was friendship that had evolved into something new and thrilling. Perhaps unbeknown to Chandler, he had taken the first step into a new and better part of their lives. As she let herself get carried higher she realized that this was probably the best decision she had ever made in her life.
Chandler was holding her and it was quiet. The silence was welcoming for it let them both have time to think. Chandler could feel her breath on his chest and for a little while he forgot and allowed himself just to feel. It felt so good having her lying next to him.
"I don't want to stop," Monica's voice hitched in her throat. He looked down at her and found her staring at him with bright eyes. "I don't want us to stop this, whatever this is."
Chandler leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He got one in return on his chest. "Me neither."
"So we should continue?" her voice was filled with hope.
"I think so," Chandler murmured. "We're still able to act like before. I don't think it's going to be a problem." He smiled at her. "And when it's not a problem, there's no reason for us to stop."
Monica hugged him. "I think so too."
Chandler hugged her back, but felt scared at the voice inside of him that screamed that he just had taken his first step towards doom. Truth be told, he didn't really care. He and Monica were just goofing around, being great friends. He looked down at her, pressed against him with closed eyes, smiling softly and he sighed happily. There was no way something this good could be wrong.