Surprise! I bet you guys weren't expecting another update so soon! But with all the AMAZING reviews I got on the last chapter (seriously guys I as almost crying from happiness at the response) and the way I left you all hanging, I really really wanted to get another one out, so here we are! It's much shorter than the last one, so apologies for that, but it's a pretty important one!

Once again, I CANNOT thank you guys enough for all your amazing reviews! Hearing how much you guys like the story has given me motivation to write more than I have in years (I mean it...I haven't written this much since early 2014 during my One Direction phase) and I am so truly grateful for every single one of you for making me enjoy writing again. Please continue to let me know what you think!

Chandler hated sleeping alone now.

It didn't happen very often, hell, he had all but moved into her apartment by now, but when it did he barely slept at all. It didn't help that to top it off he was angry. Angry, and frustrated, and hurt, and completely at a loss at to what to do about it.

He had never been great at dealing with conflict in a relationship, and before Monica something like this would have almost certainly led to a breakup. That wasn't what this was though, was it? It was just a fight. She had told him that herself, months ago, before everything had been turned upside down.

You deal with it and you move on. It's nothing to freak out about.

Except "freaking out" was his go-to reaction for everything, and that included a major dispute with his girlfriend.

This wasn't a breakup. At least, Chandler really hoped it wasn't a breakup.

That didn't make him any better equipped to deal with the situation.

He tried going for a walk, but he didn't make it far before it started to rain, and while he may have been upset, he wasn't quite depressed enough to wander in the rain, so he had turned back, and now he was stuck in his apartment separated from the person he most wanted to talk to by just a few doors. It was still too soon, though. They both still needed to cool down.

No one had come back upstairs to bother them, or if they had, they'd steered clear of apartment nineteen, and Chandler wasn't sure whether to be grateful or not. On the one hand, he wanted to stew by himself, to allow himself to just feel for a little while, and to try to process what comes next without his friends' misguided but well-intended interference. On the other hand though, he was already going out of his mind. It had been only a few hours, and Chandler had talked himself in about six circles and was at a total loss as to what to do next. Since his regular relationship coach was obviously off the table, he'd settle for just about any guidance at this point.

A glance at the clock told him that it was almost dinner time, and right on cue Joey and Ross burst through the door, arms loaded with all sorts of takeout boxes.

He looked up when they entered, but said nothing. It took a minute before they addressed him, but he knew they had noticed his presence. Ross grabbed some plates and forks, which Chandler knew from experience were just wishful thinking, as Joey dug into a carton of what looked like fried rice.

"So we talked to Monica," Ross mentioned casually.

Chandler sighed, slumping back in his chair.

"Can we not do this right now?" he asked.

"Dude, no one's mad at you," Ross added quickly.

"Except Monica," Joey inserted, before quieting again at Ross's glare. Chandler would have glared too but he just didn't have the energy.

"You guys just had a fight, it probably wasn't anyone's fault, so you can stop looking like I'm gonna rip your head off."

Chandler appreciated the concern, he did, but right now Ross was far from his main worry.

"I'm just mad at myself, I think," Chandler admitted. "I think we both could have handled that better, but I should know by now not to engage when she gets worked up like that."

"So just go back over there," Joey encouraged.

Chandler shook his head, "Nah, we both went too far. I think going back over there now would just lead to another fight because we're so wound up. I'll talk to her in the morning or something. Now, what do you have over there?"

That seemed to satisfy the relatively short attention spans of his friends, and he could only hope that Monica had the girls over there with her, doing whatever it is girls do in this situation. Joey and Ross may not have been the most help, but at least he didn't have to spend the evening alone and for that he was grateful.

The evening seemed to drag, despite the company of his friends, and Chandler knew that it was because no matter what he did, he couldn't shake the guilt and angst of his and Monica's argument, and as the night stretched on, he missed her more and more.

Ross finally left around nine, and Chandler immediately excused himself to his room, his energy all but drained. He really hated sleeping alone, but he had no idea how Monica was feeling, and he didn't want to risk another fight so soon. Plus, he was still a bit irritated that she had just dismissed his concerns for her wellbeing and didn't trust himself not to blow up at her again if it came down to it.

He changed into his sleep clothes and crawled into his bed, preparing for a long night of tossing and turning. He ached to hold his girlfriend, to sleep next to her, to feel the shape of his child inside her. He felt as empty as his bed, and wrapped himself around a spare pillow just to create the illusion of company. It didn't work, he knew it wouldn't, but it was better than nothing.

Sleep didn't come for a long time, and when it did, it was a restless, dreamless sleep. Multiple times throughout the night he found himself jerking awake and reaching out blindly for the other body that wasn't there. He drifted off for the final time just as the sun began to peek in through his windows, and when he woke again he was up for good. It was only eight, but still he pulled himself out of bed and trudged through his morning routine. Freshly showered, he dressed for the day and braced himself for whatever was waiting across the hall.

Monica was stubborn, he knew that better than anyone. No matter how sorry she felt, she wouldn't seek him out first out of pride, so it had to be up to him to take the first step. He couldn't bare to be apart from her for another minute, no matter how angry she still might be.

He crept slowly through the living room, and paused when he found himself outside the door to the other apartment. Should he knock? He never had in the past, but what was the protocol in this situation? Would she be upset to see him so soon? Or disappointed that he had waited so long? As he tended to do, Chandler began to doubt everything in those moments, and a part of him wanted to slink back to his own room and hide in bed for the next week.

But that was the old Chandler talking. He wasn't that person anymore, not really. New Chandler had been dating Monica steadily for eight whole months. New Chandler was going to be a dad, and couldn't be more excited about it. New Chandler would do anything it took to make Monica happy, even if that sometimes meant giving in. New Chandler really just wanted to see his girlfriend.

With that, he cautiously gripped the handle and opened the door slowly, peeking inside. Rachel wouldn't be awake yet he knew, but Monica might be. It was her day off—and how ridiculous was it that his worry about not spending time with her had led them to waste the one night they both had completely free all week?—but she still liked to be up earlier than the rest of them.

As he suspected, Monica sat by herself at the kitchen table reading a magazine, a glass of orange juice in front of her. She looked up when he entered, closing her magazine to give him her full attention. Chandler took that as a good start.

"Hey," he began.

"Hey," she nodded at him, standing slowly but keeping the table between them. He made no move to approach her, wanting to let her decide how close they could be.

"So last night sucked," he said, and she cracked a smile at his brutal honesty.

"Yeah," she agreed, deflating a little, and Chandler took a careful step closer, exhaling silently in relief when she mirrored his action.

"I missed you. Like, a crazy amount."

"Me too," she smiled softly, taking another step towards him. He carefully closed the distance between them to take her in his arms, holding her tightly against him. Her arms wrapped around his torso as she buried her face in his chest and he buried his in her hair. He instantly felt a hundred times better, just having her there. Holding her, feeling her, smelling her.

He was so in love.

"Let's never do that again," he mumbled, and she huffed out a laugh that he felt through his shirt.

"Deal," she said, and he kissed the side of her forehead gently. They stood there for a few moments, just appreciating the feel of each other, soaking up the touch that they had missed so much since the previous afternoon.

"We stiff have to talk about this, don't we?" he asked, regretfully pulling back so he could look at her, but moving one hand to rest on her stomach.

She sighed. "Yeah, we do."

"So? Who's gonna start?"

She smiled at him in amusement. "Since when were you the expert at solving relationship crises?"

"Since I got into a relationship I really cared about," he answered honestly, and her face softened into the most beautiful smile that made Chandler go a little weak in the knees.

"You were right," she admitted, and in any other situation Chandler would be preparing to gloat, but even he knew that now was not the time. "I have so much going on, and not nearly enough hours in the day to take care of everything I need to, and I took it out on you. I'd like to blame the hormones, but I know they're not fully responsible." She looked up at him through her eyelashes, and he gently brushed hair from the side of her face, taking great care to stroke her cheek as he did so. "But Chandler, you have to understand. You can't tell me what to do, okay? You can't. I may push myself too far, but I always do that. You need to trust me that I know how much I can handle, okay?"

"I do trust you," Chandler said immediately, taking both of her hands in his. "I know you can take care of yourself, and I know you're independent. That's one of the things I love about you." She blushed, and he smiled at her reaction to his words. "I know you can do everything, but the thing is, you don't need to. That's why I'm here. You've taken care of all of us for so long, I want to take care of you for a change."

"I'm not quitting my job," she argued.

"And I'm not asking you to," he interrupted quickly. "Mon, I would never ask you to do that, I know how much you love your job. I want you to continue enjoying it, and you can't do that if you're so exhausted because you're only getting like five hours of sleep. Let me help you. You know work doesn't keep me busy, I have time to help you around here. I can do exactly what you tell me to, just say the word."

"I know I'll have to cut back on work soon," Monica admitted, voice quiet. "And I hate it. This is all…so hard Chandler, you have no idea. I just need to hold onto normal for as long as I can."

Chandler pulled her close again, running his hands up and down her back in a way that he hoped was comforting.

"I know, I know," he murmured, though he knew he had absolutely no idea what she was going through. All he could do was offer comfort, and give her whatever she needed. He just needed her to tell him what that was. "You're so brave, Mon, okay? You are, you're a superhero, and our baby is so lucky to have you as a mother. You amaze me every day, honey."

He felt her breath hitch and knew she was crying, though she would never admit it. He just held her tighter, whispering softly into her hair as he rocked them back and forth where they stood in the kitchen. This was just another thing that scared him to death about the whole situation. He had never been great at dealing with emotions, his or other people's, and this was only the beginning. This wasn't just a nine-month commitment; this was going to be his life for the next eighteen years.

Wasn't it?

They still hadn't talked about what would happen beyond the birth, and Chandler sometimes wondered just how involved Monica meant for him to be. Even now she was brushing off his offers to help, claiming over and over that she could do it by herself. Had she been intending that the entire time? Did she even want him around after all? She loved him, he felt fairly confident in that, but there was a huge difference between best-friend-you've-been-dating-for-eight-months love, and spend-the-rest-of-our-lives-together love.

As Monica's tears subsided, Chandler felt his own brain go once again into overdrive.

"Chandler?" she asked softly, looking up at her with red eyes that just about broke his heart. "Are you okay?"

"Me? Yeah, fine," he responded quickly. They had just had one crisis, they didn't need another one.

"No you're not," she argued, pulling back a little and wiping once at her face to get rid of the remaining tear tracks. "Chandler, what are you thinking about?"

"Okay, it's really nothing, it's just…" he paused, trying to think of the best way to phrase it. "We haven't really talked about…after, I guess."

"After?"

"You know, after the baby is born."

"Oh."

She looked down and backed away, and Chandler allowed her to create space between them. This wasn't the first time he had tried to bring this up, and he was fairly certain that Rachel and Phoebe grilled her on the topic pretty regularly too, but for someone who had dreamed her entire life of commitment, she always seemed to dodge the conversation when he brought it up.

Chandler never thought he'd see the day when he was the one initiating a conversation about the future.

"It's…surely you've thought some about what's gonna happen, right?" he continued when she said nothing. "I mean, you have a plan for everything! And it's only a few months away now and I just wanna make sure we're on the same page, you know?" Chandler was rambling now, but he wanted nothing more than for Monica to shut him up, to put him out of his misery, to give some indication that he was being totally paranoid and had nothing to worry about.

Monica didn't look at his when she finally did speak. "I just…there's so much that has to happen between now and then, you know? That's what I'm focusing on right now, getting through these next four months. Everything else can come later. It's gonna be okay though, I promise." Chandler just nodded absently, her answer doing nothing to ease his anxieties. "Hey, Chandler." When he looked up again, she was standing right in front of him, blue eyes gazing into his. "We're good, right? You and me? We can do anything."

Chandler had no response to that, just nodded again, as she wrapped her arms around his waist again. So close like this, he could easily feel the outline of the bump pressed against him, and he realized that the thought of his kid might be the only thing keeping him from going completely over the edge. One way or another, he was gonna have a baby in less than five months; everything else would work itself out around that.

Now if only he could get rid of the feeling of dread in his gut that something was going to go terribly wrong.

I'm sorry, I'm so mean, but let me know what you think anyways? *runs and hides*