Thanks again for the reviews :) It's a longer chapter this time, I hope you'll like it.

Chapter 4 : Only You Can Understand

* MONICA *

It's the morning after the failed date with Dan, and I'm alone in the kitchen, cleaning the mess that Joey and Rachel left after eating their breakfast. I hear a light knock on the door, so I stop the tap, I dry my hands and quickly put the sponges in a closet. Whoever is behind that door is not in a hurry ! I finally open the door and... find Chandler, waiting.

"Chandler !? Why do you knock ?"

"Hey you ! I just didn't know if Dan left, so... I respect your privacy, you know !"

What is he saying ? "You respect my privacy ? Since when ?"

He laughs and says seriously : "OK, I admit : I didn't want to bother you if your date was still here."

I sense that he's quite nervous so I quickly reassure him : "I didn't bring him here. I.. sort of... dumped him before anything happened. He was not that great."

"Oh..." He's clearly relieved and doesn't even hide it. Or maybe he just can't hide it. But he's still nervous and, while entering the apartment, he asks : "So... Did you... um... y'know... Did... Did you have fun ?"

He seems to give a double meaning to the two words "have fun" so I play a little bit with him : "Depends what you mean by 'having fun'..."

"Well... You know... Having fun ! Playing with a ball in a park, making a sand castle on a beach, jumping on a trampoline..." he answers sarcastically and I wanna enter into his game so I cut him : "Ooooooh, that kind of fun ! No, no, then... we definitely didn't have fun..."

He pauses, looks me deep in the eyes and add a single word in a soft voice : "Kissing."

Oh my God he looks so vulnerable, I want to hug him. It's so strange to see him so grave for once, and I sense he wants a serious and honest answer, so I shake my head and give him what I hope is a warm look full of affection and I say, almost in a whisper : "I didn't kiss anyone since you."

I see him swallow (it's weird that in moment like these, you notice such little things... but it means something : he was anxious) and he passes his left hands in his hair, smiling (gosh, he's soooooooooo attractive...) and saying only one word : "Good." After a little pause he adds : "Because, you know... If... If y- you kiss someone after you kissed me, then... I- I-... Well... I have a saliva power and your tongue could turn blue or could become really big, or..." I laugh and he gives me that awesome smile. Again, I wanna enter into his game and reply : "Oh, I see ! I won't take the risk !" We look into each other's eyes, half-smiling half-laughing, and there is a real chemistry between us. We understand each other without saying a thing.

"Anyway... I just wanted to check if everything was okay", he tells me before again smiling to me and going towards the door : "I have to go to work, I'm late, actually. See you tonight Mon." And he leaves. And I'm watching the door like I watched it the day we returned from London when he left after we agreed that it was better to stay on the New York rule.

This evening, we're all sitting in Central Perk. Joey and Chandler are each on a chair, we the girls are on the couch, and Ross is in the armchair, moaning over his situation with Emily. Joey rolls his eyes : "Man, I'm sooooooooo tired of hearing this story over and over again ! Can we please talk about something else ? Like Rachel and Monica's date from yesterday... So, how were the nurses, huh ? Good like the female nurses I picture in my dreams everyday ?"

I shake my head : "Joey..." and Rachel answers, still a bit bitter about yesterday : "Well, I didn't really enjoy my evening because of Monica... Apparently this guy wasn't good enough for her ! Seriously, I don't know what you are looking for... Anyway, we had to come back early, alone, and we didn't even enjoyed it because Monica wasn't there... mentally speaking."

I'm feeling uncomfortable, and even more when Phoebe asks : "Really, she wasn't there ? Where were you, Mon ?"

Rachel answers for me, rolling her eyes : "London, apparently."

"Oh yeah ? Great place !" Chandler. He starts again with his subliminal messages.

And Joey didn't understand a thing : "What ? You were in London yesterday ? How is that possible ?"

Rachel sighs and explains : "No, Joey... She was thinking of an English man that she met over there and..."

I'm panicking : "Okay okay enough Rach ! Jeez, I won't tell you anything from now..."

Chandler seems intrigued : "An English man ? Really ? You mean one of the guests ?"

He has to stop that, and I'm glaring at him, hoping he'd understand. But he's probably having fun because he carries on : "Do you plan to see him again ? Because... London is far far away, you know... Ask Ross !"

My brother nods and sighs : "I tell you Mon, don't do that..."

That's enough, I have to stop this conversation : "Okay, please, can we stop ? It's over, so..." But Rachel continues : "It didn't look over yesterday !"

She's telling too much, and just after she said that, Chandler gives me an amused look that means : "Really ?". I'm upset and yell : "RACHEL ! STOP IT NOW !"

Everyone's looking at me : four of my friends are confused, but one is clearly having fun and he can't help himself to break the silence :"Wow, the Gellers have a hard time with English lovers..."

Why do I want to punch him and kiss him at the same time ? I hold my head in my hands and moan : "Oh my God, guys, will you stop ? It's nothing. Really. Can we please forget it ?" I hear a lot of reactions in the same time : "Sure, no problem", from Ross and Joey, a skeptical "If you say so..." from Rachel, a warm "Yeah yeah don't worry" from Phoebe.

But Chandler speaks one second after the others. On purpose, obviously. He looks at me, squinches his eyes, tilts his head, and says : "Maybe".

Nobody notices it, no one pays attention to it, but I do. How could I not ? I seem to be the only one to see everything he does, to hear everything he says. I then look at him and all is doing is smiling mischievously to me before taking a sip of coffee.

* CHANDLER *

I love playing with her. I'm sure she's still hung up on me. But I want more proofs before making a move, I don't wanna feel stupid or be rejected by my best friend. I know I'm driving her crazy with my messages that I slip into conversations, but it's so much fun, I don't wanna stop.

When did I become so confident ? It's a brand new feeling to me, and I definitely like it. I'm not saying that I think she wants to be in a couple with me, or to be my full-time girlfriend, but I know for sure she liked our night, and I suppose she would like to give it another try. But I understand why she's perturbed. We're talking about me. Hello ? Me ? Her best male friend, the sarcastic one, the phobic commitment one.

Actually, if I think about what could happen if we kiss again, I freak out. I don't know what she exactly wants (but she wants something, I see that as clear as crystal), but I know that I don't want just sex. And I'm scared of being disappointed if I learn what SHE wants. So I'm gonna carry on like I did the last days : teasing her, playing the confident guy, and being casual.

A lot happened between Ross and Emily recently and, long story short, Ross moved in with Joey and I. He's not always easy to live with, and now I need some fresh air, so I cross the hall and enter the girls' apartment.

"MUM ! Stop it ! I'm still young !... Yeah... Well... You think that 2 failed mariages is better ? ... I don't care that y-... Mum !"

Oops, it's a bad time. Monica is on the phone with her mother and I'm still on the doorstep, not knowing what to do. But she turns around and sees me. The anger and anxiousness on her face lessen and she manages to give me a light, sad, smile, motioning me to enter. "I gotta let you, someone knocked on the door. Maybe it's Prince Charming... Bye Mum."

She hangs up the phone and I move forward to her. "Your mum is still driving you crazy, uh ?" She nods, looking at the floor, and sits on the couch, sighing. I wonder what her mum just told her... She seems depressed, I hate seeing her like this, so I try to cheer her up : "So... I'm Prince Charming now ?" She shakes her head and laughs lightly : "I don't know why I said that... I guess I was very upset."

She has her elbows on her knees, her face in her hands, and she's still looking down, kind of lost. I sit next to her and wrap my left arm around her shoulders. I kiss her cheek and whispers : "Don't listen to your mum. You're right, you're still young. You will have your happy mariage. I promise. Just wait for it." She snuggles up to me, lays his head on my shoulder and wrap her right arm around my waist.

We stay like this in silence for a few seconds, then she asks : "How can you make such a promise to me ?" I take a deep breath : "Because, you know... First of all, you deserve it. And, um... Rem-Remember what I said to you when Ben was born ?"

She moves so she can look in my eyes and seems confused : "You want me to remember someting you told me five years ago ?"

I'm a little bit disappointed, but, sure, for her it was only a joke. So I refresh her memory : "I told you that... That if by the time we're 40 none of us is married, then... we could... well... y'know..."

Her eyes widen : "But I-I-I... I never thought you were serious !"

I clear my throat and add : "So, yeah, I'm not saying that it WILL be a happy mariage, but... I'm not that bad, am I ?"

Her eyes light up and she smiles while she wrap her both arms around my neck and says : "You'd be great."

We're so close of each other, and I want to kiss her so badly... On the lips this time, not on her cheek. But I don't want to screw everything up, I don't want to AGAIN take advantage of her while she's down. I want her to want me even when she's fine. So I joke : "Don't worry, you still have more than 10 years in front of you to escape from me !"

She smiles lightly and shakes her head like if what I said was stupid, but the door opens up and Ross appears. We quickly takes our hands off each others' body and luckily Ross doesn't notice a thing : "Chandler, can you come ? Something is wrong with the fridge..."

I get up and give Monica a quick and innocent (at least to Ross' eyes...) kiss on her hair. I know she feels a little bit better thanks to me and that's all that matters. Oh, and the fact that she thinks I'd be great to her, of course... Her sentence dances in my head. It'll soon be New Year's Eve and I have to think about something to be able to kiss her at midnight...

Next chapter is New Year's Eve, hehe :p