Sorry, I had a lot of work lately and I couldn't update the story as fast as I would have wanted. Chapter 5 is now ready and it's not a short one :) Hope you'll like it !

Chapter 5 : Happy New Year

* CHANDLER *

I can't ask her directly. I can't say that I want to kiss her at midnight tomorrow. What if she says no ? Maybe she wants it too but she's afraid. Afraid of what the others could think (come on, Monica wanting to kiss me ? Everyone would laugh), afraid of what could happen after, afraid of what her agreement to kiss me could mean. I don't wanna ruin the complicity we have had for the past few weeks. All the things we never said but understood clearly. So I have to find a stratagem.

Maybe my roomate can help me... "Hey Joe, got a date for tomorrow night ?" I ask casually. "Not yet ! Well... Actually, I had two. But they prefer spending New Year's Eve with their family, can you believe that ? So I have to find another girl..."

I see an opportunity to ask THE question but I don't know where to start : "Or... y'know, if... If everyone has something planned... In last resort..." God, I hope I'm not being too obvious. He looks at me in a weird way, I think he's wondering where I'm going... "If you can't find someone... You could kiss one of the girls... I mean, one of OUR girls."

Luckily, Joey doesn't suspect anything and seems onboard. He shrugs his shoulders : "Yeah, why not ? But, hey, what girl ?" he adds with a confident smile. Okay, the time has come to be cool and act like it doesn't matter... But if he says "Monica", how can I make him change his mind ? I swallow and try to stay casual : "I don't know... But... I just thought..." Lie. I didn't JUST thought. I've thought about it for a while, someting like two weeks. I ignore the little voice in my head and continue : "... Ross is single, right ? Not really divorced yet, but still single. Rachel is single..." Joey seems confused, frowns his eyebrows and cuts me : "You wanna put them back together ?" I'm sooooooo bad at this... I have to be more explicite : "No Joe... What I mean is... We're all single, aren't we ? The six of us ?" A little voice in my head screams : NOOOOOO, you're not ! Unofficially. "And, well, we're 3 men and 3 women, so..."

"Oooooohhhhhh, come on Chandler ! You already did this math thing five years ago and it didn't work !" moans Joey. And he's right. But I'm prepared : "Yes ! I know ! But this time we're older, and we have a plan ! It's not something we'll decide at the last minute."

Joey laughs : "Boy, you had me ! You think I'm stupid ? I understand now..." I panick. What ? What does he understand ? What ? I pretend to be puzzled : "Uh ? What exactly did you understand ?" He giggles : "YOU ! YOU don't have anyone to kiss at midnight ! So YOU're looking for a plan !" I admit defeat : "You're right... And I can't find anyone by tomorrow night, so..." I'm relieved, I thought he knew about Monica. Or my feelings for her. Or just who I want to kiss.

Thankfully, Joey is a great pal. He pats me on a shoulder : "I'll help you, no problem man. So, what's our plan ?" I sigh : "That's the matter. I don't know. Who kisses who ?"

I see that Joey is concentrated and he thinks out loud : "Okay, Ross and Monica can't kiss. Ross and Rachel can't kiss, too much history between them..." I nod : "So Ross has to kiss Phoebe." Joey looks pissed off : "Damn it ! She' hot... But, well, Rachel and Monica are too, hey ! So ? It's between us." I'm starting to feeling unwell... My head is spinning and I don't know what I have to answer. "I-I-I-I... I don't know. What do you think ?" Joey grimaces : "I'm not sure about Mon... Actually, I'm not sure she'll agree at all. Hey, man, it's your plan after all. You're gonna have to deal with her... I don't wanna be the only one not to be kissed at midnight ! So I pick Rachel ! Good luck to you !"

He leaves quickly before I even had a chance to protest. Not that I complain ! I go across the hall and enter the girls' apartment. Rachel and Monica are there, sitting on the couch, reading something. "Hello girls ! Hey, do you have a date for tomorrow night ? Y'know..." and I look into Monica's eyes while saying : "... lips to kiss at midnight..."

I see Monica glaring at me and I want to laugh because I know exactly what this glare means : she would like to kiss me and here I am, teasing her in front of Rachel who doesn't have a clue. Rachel sighs and moans : "Rrrraaaah, don't tell me about it ! I thought I'd have Danny, but... you know how it turned out. So... Alone, again ! And don't try to set me up with one of your colleagues this time !" she says, pointing his finger at me.

I smile : "Oh no ! Don't worry ! Joey and I have a better plan." Rachel is staring at me : "Okay, now, I'm even more worried." Monica doesn't say a thing but I can see curiosity on her face. I carry on : "Yeah, here's the thing : we're six and we're all singles. It'd be ridiculous to complain when it's too late... at midnight. Soooooo... three guys, three girls... See the maths ?" Rachel jumps off the couch, furious, and starts to storm away of the room : "Oh My God ! No way !" And Joey who thought it would be easy to convince her...Monica gets up, catches her friend by the right arm and takes her in the kitchen : "Rach, wait ! Come here !" I can see them talking, Monica calming Rachel down. Sometimes, Mon briefly looks at me, I just keep staring at her, and only her.

Finally, the girls come back to me. Rachel starts : "Maybe we'll agree. BUT ! On two conditions ! Each girl will kiss only one guy, don't try to mess with us."

I can't help but cutting her : "Of course ! It was in the plan ! What's your second condition ?" It is Monica's turn to speak, her tone is sharp but her eyes are exactly the contrary and I see like a smile in them : "No tongue." I feel myself blushing and I look down to avoid further eye contact with Monica. Rachel adds : "Yeah, just a peck on the lips and that's it." I nod and Rachel continues, anxious, curious and furious at the same time : "So, tell us who we're going to kiss... I guess it's between you and Joey, because Mon can't kiss Ross, and I hope that you're smart enough to not make me kissing Ross..." I swallow and my brain is trying to find a sentence to explain who they'll kiss. I have to stay cool. No big deal. Act like it's only for fun. "Um... Y-Y- You, Rachel, y-y-you'll kiss Joey." Rachel seems relieved (well, THANK YOU ! ) and smiles : "Ah ! Poor Mon..."

Monica doesn't say a thing, she doesn't smile, and I can't even read in her eyes. Man, what is she thinking ? I can't tell if she's happy, if she's angry, if she doesn't care... And suddenly I'm anxious. Have I done something wrong ?

* MONICA *

I admit it : the no tongue condition was my idea. But it was the only way to convince Rachel, because once I said it in our private conversation, I saw that she started to agree. But now I have to pretend that Chandler kissing me is not a big deal, whereas I'm burning inside. I don't want to show him how glad I am that he had this idea (because don't get me wrong, I'm sure HE – and not Joey – had that idea), and of course the others don't have to notice a thing. I have to pretend that I'm embarrassed to kiss im, maybe even frustrated. I have to play my role in front of our friends.

Tonight is the night. THE night. Six months I'm waiting for that moment. I already know we won't respect the pact. It's not gonna be a quick peck on the lips. How could it be ? The party has started but none of the three guys are here. What are they doing ? I hear a knock on the door and go to open it. They're here. Joey is dress casually, Ross has made an effort, and Chandler... Chandler is soooooo handsome. He wears a black suit, with a white shirt and no tie. The last button of his shirt is undone and I immediately feel the urge to kiss him. But I can control myself, can't I ?

The boys enter the apartment and I follow Chandler with my eyes. He walks slower than the others two and stops in front of me. Ross and Joey are already greeting Rachel and Phoebe, so they can't hear what Chandler says to me with a smile : "I was sure you were gonna like it... And the evening is just starting..." Is he flirting with me ? I've never seen Chandler flirting ! Or, yes, I have... but absolutely not like this ! I LIKE this, I LOVE this...

At one point, we're all together around the couch : Joey, Rachel and I are sitting on it, and Chandler and Phoebe are sitting on the table in front of us, while Ross is up next to us. Joey is having fun teasing Rachel : "Soooooooooo Rach... Tonight's the big night, uh ? You're gonna realize your fantasy ! Kissing me !" Rachel shakes her head while Ross is clearly hurt : "UH ? JOE ? Hello ?" Joey doesn't understand : "Hello Ross, yeah, I saw you, you know..." Ross looks disillusioned and Chandler grimaces. He's cute even when he does that... God, I lo... Um, no, I didn't think that.

Joey seems excited and continues : "Think about poor Monica who's gonna have to kiss Chandler." Chandler smiles and says, avoiding eye contact with me : "Yeah, poor Monica !" Okay, now it's time to play my role : "Remember ! Just a quick peck on the lips !" Ross is backing me up : "Yeah, he'd better remember !" Chandler defends himself : "Wow, wow ! Don't worry ! I think that if it lasts too long, Mon will slap me on the face ! Right, Mon ?" He finally looks into my eyes and I tease him : "Deal !" The others laugh and Phoebe says : "I SO want to see that happening !" Chandler stares at her, faking being hurt, and I can't help but laugh. He's just too adorable.

23:59 is quickly there. Joey is pratically bouncing and he screams : "Oooookay gentlemen, pick your partner ! Come here Rach, I'll show you what a real kiss is like." I feel Chandler's hand taking mine and I hear his voice in my ear : "Let's find a quiet place." We choose to go near the window, in front of the bathroom and my secret closet. Almost nobody can see us, and my back is almost touching the door of the secret closet. Chandler's body is dangerously close to mine. People are starting to count. We don't, we just hear them around us.

10, 9 – "So, a quick peck on the lips, uh ?" Chandler asks, raising his eyebrows – 8, 7 – I shrug my shoulders, taking a deep breath : "That's what we agreed" – 6, 5 – "Do you want it that way ?" he says, taking me closer to him by putting his hands around my waist – 4, 3 – I'm totally lost in his eyes, I don't know where I am anymore, my mouth is dry : "Uh, I-I-I, uh..." – 2, 1 – "Happy New Year Mon..." he whispers in a soft and husky voice before leaning his head over mine. I feel his lips locking with mine and there's electricity running through my whole body. I put my arms around his neck and kiss him back, as slowly and softly as him. It feels like it has been lasting for a while, but it must have been only 3 or 4 seconds. I want more. I like to control everything in my life, but I can't control my body in that moment and my feelings are too strong. So far, he respects a part of the pact : no tongue. But I, I want to deepen the kiss, so I let my tongue going through his lips. I can feel him smiling a little bit and we start kissing, still slowly, but harder.

I'm starting to run my hands through his hair. Mmm, he has soft hair and I can well run my fingers through them. God, I have to stop that, what if the others see us ?! The others ! Abruptly, I stop the kiss and I take his arms off my waist, but still holding his hands in mine. I look around, anxious. He doesn't seem to understand and looks at me totally lost and... I must say... on cloud nine. I spot Rachel, in the kitchen. She's laughing to some joke that Joey must have said, Phoebe and Ross are with them, smiling. Thankfully, they don't seem to have noticed a thing. How many time did it last ? Less than 8 seconds I think, but it was... amazing. Again, I turn my gaze to him. He stares at me intensely and deeply. I don't know what to say but he speaks : "So... you didn't say it back to me." I'm puzzled : "Mmm... what ?" He raises his right hand and puts a lock of my hair behind my right ear. I'm melting, my heart is beating really fast, I can barely breathe, and I'm not even talking about swallowing... He looks so serious... Did he say something to me that I had to answer ? He explains, a little bit uncomfortable : "When someone says Happy New Year to you, you're supposed to say it back... Unless... Unless of course you don't want that someone to have a happy New Year because you're gonna announce a bad news to him, or bec...". I cut him by putting my left index finger to his mouth and almost whispers : "Happy New Year, Chandler."

"GUYS ! Here you are ! Happy New Year !" Shoot. The others. They're here. No, they didn't catch us, they don't notice the tension, they don't see our gazes. But they broke our moment and I need some seconds to come back to earth and wishing everyone a happy New Year.

In next chapter : New Year Resolutions :)