(A/N) Hey all! Heads up, update-wise; my summer school course started (ugh, physics), so I have to move back to school for a while as well as get through this hideous subject - sooo updates may be a bit less frequent from here till the end (but not too infrequent - I'm thinking 4-5 days max!). Thank yous to friendsfan101, BundyShoes, missdory, elizzabethavary, BluEyes, and Laurie M for the kind reviews! You guys are awesome!
To answer a few question/concerns: Yep, Chandler is definitely not going to be plucked and placed into Joey's plotline... mainly cause Joey's plotline stank haha! You can tell I really hated the Rachel/Joey thing... And the fic has been just in Chandler's POV so I'm not going to change it now... but no worries! You will all definitely know how Rachel feels about all this very very soon ;) For now, onwards to Barbados! :)
"Wow," Rachel breathed, setting her overly large duffel bag onto the floor and taking in the sight of the Barbados hotel lobby. "This place is gorgeous!"
"I know!" Phoebe gushed at her side. "Oh, isn't this great, David?"
Her jittery, bespectacled scientist boyfriend nodded. "It is, it's fantastic. Shall I go check in for us?"
"Ooh, okay. Ask if they have one of those beds shaped like hearts!" She followed him. "Oh wait, and maybe mirrors on the ceilings!"
Joey, upon hearing this, turned excitedly to Charlie. "Did you hear that? Come on, let's go check in with Pheebs and them!" They followed after Phoebe like lovesick puppies.
Rachel folded her arms and smiled sadly, watching her excited paired-off friends. She sighed and reached down for her luggage.
"Hey." Chandler materialized at her side, shouldering his own black duffel bag.
"Oh, hey!" Rachel let go of her bag again to give Chandler's arm a comforting squeeze. "How you feeling? Holding up?"
"Eh."
"Oh, come on," Rachel persisted. "How can anyone stay down in a gorgeous place like this?" She made an attempt at a sweeping gesture.
Chandler managed a one-sided smile and a small shrug. "I just wish Mon were here to see it with us, you know?"
"Oh, I know, honey," Rachel tutted. "I know. I do, too." She extended an arm to offer him a hug.
Crap. Another hug from Rachel would so not be the best thing for me right now. "Y-yep!" Chandler all but jumped away from Rachel's inviting arms. "But I think I feel a little better now. You're right, this place is really, really pretty – uh, nice. Pretty nice."
Rachel shrugged off Chandler's antsy behavior. "Yeah." She groaned. "Ugh, but it's just such a romantic place. I just wish I could, you know, share it with someone."
"Yeah."
Thoughts (probably not altogether different) trickled through both Chandler and Rachel's minds. Awkward silence ensued.
"Okay, I'm gonna – "
"Yeah, so I'm – "
They both started, stopped, and laughed.
"You want to go check in?" Chandler extended a friendly elbow. Rachel hooked it with her own. She smiled.
"Yeah, let's go."
"Ugh, what is with the rain?" Rachel grumbled, grabbing what seemed to be her tenth piña colada off a waitress' tray. "Nobody said anything about it being monsoon season over here."
At the moment, she was sitting with Joey and Chandler in the hotel lobby, all three glumly aware of the fact that they were indoors in Barbados.
"I mean," she continued, "I bought a new swimsuit and everything, and I'm not even going to get the chance to use it!"
Joey sat a little straighter in his seat and grinned. "You could wear it in here."
Rachel shot him a glare, and Chandler offered him a fist bump for trying anyway.
"At least you didn't just completely erase Ross' keynote speech off his laptop," Chandler said, wincing. "I feel so bad. I can't believe I destroyed all his hard work –"
"And ruined my date with Charlie!" Joey interjected.
"Oh yeah. You know, almost the same level of devastating."
Luckily, at that moment, Charlie appeared, a huge beam on her face. "Hey!" she said ecstatically. "Can you believe it? Ross and I just finished rewriting the speech!"
"Oh hey, congrats!" Chandler practically danced in relief. "I'm so glad Ross won't have to 'open a can of whoop ass' on me anymore."
"I'm glad, too." Charlie nodded in recognition, then turned to Joey, "So did you want to go grab that dinner now?"
"Oh, uh…" Joey glanced at Chandler and Rachel guiltily.
Rachel waved her hands in dismissal. "No, oh yeah, go ahead, Joe! Don't worry about us, really. We'll find something to do."
"Yeah, don't worry," Chandler added, with a straight face. "Rachel's swimsuit and I will have tons of fun."
Joey and Charlie laughed and bid them goodbye, leaving for the restaurant hand-in-hand.
Rachel slumped back into her chair and sighed. "So what should we do now?" She perked up a bit as she reached for her fruity drink. "More piña coladas?"
Before the straw reached her lips, though, Chandler grabbed the glass out of her hands. "Here's an idea." He set the drink down on another table farther from Rachel. "What about you get something to eat that doesn't require a bendy straw?"
She made a noise of protest, but immediately turned her attention to a waiter carrying by a tray of mini quiches.
"Ooh, quiche. I love quiche." Rachel made a move to grab one.
"Sorry, miss," the young, peroxide-maned waiter apologized, swinging the tray away. "These are for the pharmaceutical convention."
"Uh, wha-, buh –" Rachel sputtered, watching his retreating back with disappointment. "Ugh!" she sat back in her chair. "I'd like my drink back now."
She reached for the glass, but Chandler slid it away from her outstretched hand. "I have a better idea. How do you feel like crashing a convention?"
Two hours and thirty all-you-can-eat snack trays later, Kate Miller and Mark Wright emerged from the Pharmaceutical Convention with fresh mai tai cocktails in hand.
"Well!" Rachel sighed, peeling off her Dr. Kate Miller nametag. "Who knew pharmacists could be this much fun?"
"My mother during divorce season," Chandler deadpanned. He peeled off Dr. Mark Wright's nametag and crumpled it into a ball before tossing it over his shoulder.
Rachel laughed and set her drink down on a mahogany cabinet they had just approached, in the back corner of the room. Chandler had a sudden overwhelming urge to tell her to use a coaster, but then he remembered who he was with.
This isn't Monica. This is. Rachel. Different.
"Well, this was a lot of fun," Rachel smiled and leaned against the wall. "Who says you need to be in love in Barbados? Notme."
"I don't know…" Chandler replied with a smirk, taking a step towards her. "That man you were talking to looked like he wanted to take you home with him."
"That big man in the sweater vest? Well, you know, he did have really nice – uh, breasts."
"Maybe you could have him wear your swim suit."
They laughed. Chandler was suddenly very aware at how close they were. His heart sped up as he noticed how smooth and soft Rachel's bronze shoulders looked. He'd always had a thing for bare shoulders.
Stop it! He mentally slapped himself before he could reach out, brush Rachel's golden strands out of the way and place his lips gently against her tan skin… STOP. He squeezed his eyes shut to destroy the images in his head.
Luckily, Rachel seemed unaware of what Chandler was thinking, as she continued obliviously, "You know, I can't decide if I'm buzzed or not."
Chandler chuckled. "How many drinks have you had?"
"Well, this one –" she paused to slurp the last of her mai tai before slamming it back down on the cupboard – "makes fifteen."
"Fifteen." Chandler thought about it. "Pretty impressive, but I hate to burst your bubble –they were totally undersized girly drinks."
Rachel scoffed. "They were hardly undersized!"
"They were, too. Buzzed after fifteen fruity drinks?" Chandler smirked. "Wuss."
"I'm sorry, did you just call me a wuss?"
"What are you going to do about it?"
"You get mani-pedis."
Chandler's mouth stretched into a line. "Really?" He sighed. "Can we go one day – just one day – without bringing that up?"
"Oh I'm sorry, honey," she smiled, stepping even closer towards Chandler to fix the collar on his shirt. "You know you're always welcome to tag along with me when I go to the salon." She rested her hands behind his neck.
"You can admit you just like my company," he teased, eyes crinkling up into charming upside-down U's.
Rachel laughed, her voice so sweet it almost turned Chandler's stomach to listen. Oh God, seriously? Flirting with Rachel? What am I, in sixth grade again? It was innocent and harmless, but it didn't make Chandler feel any less of a jerk.
His eyes raked swiftly across Rachel's face, now so close to his own. He took in her wide eyes, her pink lips curled slightly upwards in a smile, her golden hair still glistening despite the humidity. Now his gaze was on her collarbone, her shoulders, the straps of her sundress just barely hanging on. He just had to lean in very slightly, and he'd be… we'd be…
"Nu-agh!" Chandler shook Rachel's arms off of his shoulders and leapt away before he could do something he would regret.
Clearing his throat and his mind, he took another large step backwards. Fresh air rushed through the now-open distance between their bodies; the electric charge between them, wiped clean.
This seriously needs to stop. Now. Chandler ran a hand through his hair and sighed, "Rach… I think we need to talk."
(A/N) How was it? I hope you liked it! I know - their funwas a little short-lived... but don't worry - more fun to be had later on! ;) Feel free to leave a comment/review/question/etc! Thanks for reading; it means a lot! I'll update soon. :)
