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Monica's fingers impatiently tapped the counter at Central Perk as she waited to be served. All week when she and Chandler had tried to be together they had been interrupted or almost caught and she was so frustrated. If it hadn't been for that quickie in the cleaning closet she would have exploded by now. She hid a grin remembering the encounter and her grin widened into a smile as she felt him join her at the counter. Standing a little closer than necessary, his bare arm brushed hers and sent shivers through her.
"This is so annoying," she hissed, "I swear they all know and are deliberately blocking us."
"I know," he chuckled. "I get that feeling too. Sometimes I wonder how much easier this would be if it was Joey or Rachel who knew instead of Ross, ya know? At least then we'd have one apartment as a safe zone."
She nodded, watching as he checked behind him to ensure no one was paying them any attention before using his index finger to gently trace a pattern on her arm. She smiled knowingly at him.
"I was thinking," he murmured, still stroking her, "how about we book a hotel Saturday night? We could be together all night."
"A hotel? I'm not a hooker."
Both looked up guiltily at Gunther who was standing there with a raised eyebrow. Opps. Embarrassed, Monica quickly placed their order.
"I didn't mean it like that," Chandler whispered when Gunther left, "I meant we could tell Joey and Rachel that we both have dates and not to expect us home. We could go out for dinner, somewhere nice outside of the village, go dancing and then go back to a nice classy hotel where we could spend all night together. Imagine a whole night of not worrying about being caught by roommates. Somewhere where we would be able to spend the whole night in each other's arms…all night…we could even order late check out."
"Ok," she couldn't' help but laugh as he waggled his eyebrows, a cheeky smile on his face. God, he was cute. Besides, his suggestion sounded fun and the idea of having him to herself all night sent excitement through her body all the way to her toes.
"Well how about–" Chandler was cut off by Ross bouncing into the coffee house.
"Guess what?" Ross exclaimed enthusiastically.
He was over-excited, so reluctantly the pair moved to join the rest of the gang to see what was going on. They stood behind the couch that Rachel, Phoebe and Joey occupied, as Ross took the armchair.
"You realised dinosaurs are dead?" Rachel tried.
"Oooh, you realised you're never gonna see a naked chick imprinted on a fossil?" Joey tried.
Chandler just smiled, for once content to let the others come up with the jokes. He was more excited by the fact that he was standing close to Mon and had a potential weekend to look forward to. Life was good.
"Haa haa," Ross pulled a face at them, "actually, you're both wrong. I've been asked by the American Paleontological Society to give a talk at their annual conference this weekend…in Miami! Dr Lindtstrat had to pull out at the last minute so they've asked me to step in."
As everyone else made excited noises Chandler shared a quick glance with Monica.
"So you're apartment's gonna be free this weekend?" Chandler asked innocently.
The 'don't even think about it' glare Ross shot back at him made him take a step backwards, ironically moving him closer to Monica.
"What happened to the hotel idea?" she whispered.
"I'm thinking we could save that for another time," he whispered back, "this way we could be naked the whole weekend."
Her laugh was loud enough to cause the others to look at them. Especially Ross…he didn't look pleased.
"Congratulations bro," she quickly said, hoping to draw everyone's attention back onto Ross, it worked.
"So when do you leave?" Phoebe asked.
"Friday night," he replied, unknowingly delighting both Chandler and Monica.
"Will you get any time on the beach or are you stuck inside conference halls the whole time?"
"I'll mostly be in talks," Ross admitted with a shrug, "but I'll get some free time, maybe do a bit of sightseeing."
"Ooh, you know what's good to sightsee in Miami," Joey suggested.
They all looked at him curiously, he was hardly renowned for his geography knowledge.
"Chicks in bikinis," he grinned, "what?" he asked as everyone shook their heads and muttered disapprovingly.
Chandler used the opportunity to lean into Monica and whisper, "think we can get you into a bikini this weekend?"
"I was thinking of wearing even less!"
They shared a secret smile which was short-lived when Ross came over to them.
"Chandler a word," he gestured towards the counter.
With a sigh he shared a last look with Monica before joining Ross.
"Don't even think about using my apartment," Ross warned before Chandler could even open his mouth. "You have access to two perfectly acceptable apartments as it is."
"Well, this sneaking around thing is harder than it looks," Chandler protested quietly, "people keep almost catching us."
"Well here's an idea. Why don't you just tell them? It's almost been a month, how much longer are you actually planning to keep this a secret? Surely you've both adjusted to this by now."
Chandler shrugged, "we just want a little more time."
"Fine," Ross muttered, "just leave my apartment out of it…"
"I can't believe we're doing this," Monica giggled as they approached her brother's apartment door. It had taken a long time for Saturday to arrive.
"What Ross doesn't know won't hurt him," Chandler chuckled as he dug the key out of his pocket. "Now this is where you're gonna have to close your eyes."
"What?" Monica laughed. "Why?"
"I've got a surprise for you," he whispered into her ear as he unlocked the door.
"A surprise? For me?"
"Uh huh, now come on, eyes closed and no peeking."
Humouring him she closed her eyes, laughing as he came behind her and placed his hands over her eyes to be sure she couldn't cheat. She heard the door open and he gently guided her a few steps in.
"Ok, you can open them now."
He pulled his hands away and stepped back slightly awaiting her reaction. He wasn't disappointed and neither was she.
"Chandler! Oh my gosh," she walked further into the apartment to get a better look.
The coffee table in the small living-area had been pushed out of the way and replaced with some blankets and cushions. A filled picnic basket and 2 empty wine glasses were on the floor by the couch. Unlit candles were scattered along the open kitchen hatch, the window sill and shelving unit. On the dining table sat a vase of beautiful yellow and red roses, just like the bunch he'd surprised her with that first evening.
He grabbed the remote for the stereo and hit the play button smiling as romantic music filled the apartment. He then came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder, "surprise," he whispered in her ear, making her shiver.
"This is so sweet," Monica smiled as she leant back against him, "I can't believe you went to all this trouble."
"I sneaked over last night after Ross left for his flight," Chandler admitted. "There's wine in the fridge along with a few other perishable bits. Oooh and later when it gets dark I thought we could light the candles."
"God," she turned slowly in his embrace, snaking her arms around his neck as he wrapped his firmly around her waist, "when did you become so perfect?"
He flashed her a blinding smile, his arms tightening around her, "I'm far from it," he murmured softly, "you're the perfect one. I'm just trying to be good enough for you, to treat you like you deserve."
Touched, she leaned forward and they shared a gentle loving kiss. The kiss turned more passionate as their bodies pressed together, both desperate to get closer to the other, to be together with no interruptions.
Still entwined, Chandler walked her backwards until they she reached the edge of the blanket. He lowered her carefully onto the cushions, still kissing her. He laid on top of her, his arms taking most of his weight as he pulled his lips away to catch his breath, "let's get this weekend started," he suggested, laughing when she grabbed the back of his head and none to gently forced his lips back onto hers.
Much later that evening, a content Monica sat snuggled under the blanket, grinning as a naked Chandler emerged from the kitchen, wine bottle in hand.
"More wine?"
"Please," she smiled, holding up her glass.
"I think it's dark enough to light the candles," Chandler commented, placing the bottle down and grabbing a box of matches.
"Just be careful," Monica warned. "I know you wanted to be naked the whole weekend but if you burn anything delicate, you'll have to put clothes on to go to the ER...otherwise they may refuse to see you."
"I'll be careful," he promised demonstrating as he lit the first one, "trust me I have plans for little Chandler this weekend and being stuck in hospital is definitely not on the agenda."
"Agenda?" she laughed, he knew how to talk dirty to her, "what else do you have planned for us?"
"I figure this apartment is owed sex," Chandler announced, successfully lighting another tea light without incident. "Ross has been single for months and all the other apartments are probably making fun of it."
She raised an eyebrow unconvinced by his logic.
"Trust me," Chandler promised, "we need to help this apartment and I figure sex in every room would go a long way to redeem its reputation."
"Every room?" she laughed, "we haven't even done it in every room in either of our own apartments yet!"
"Think of this as a trial run," he winked.
She giggled, taking a sip of her wine as she watched him light the last of the candles and pull the blinds. The flickering lights certainly made for a romantic atmosphere and she sighed contentedly as the last bars of Fly me to the Moon came to an end. No new song came after.
"End of the CD," Chandler shrugged as he approached the shelving units.
"Just how many romantic CDs do you own?" she chuckled whilst admiring the view of his rather nice backside.
"Only a few," he confessed, "luckily I found Ross' hidden stash. I would've made you a mix tape but, ya know, I figured it was probably a bit too early for that."
She laughed fully as gentle jazz filled the room and he settled back under the blanket with her.
"Too early?" she questioned, "13 yr old girls make mix tapes for boys they've been dating for like a week and yet it's too early for us?"
"It was a joke," Chandler reassured reaching for his own wine, "I didn't make you a mix tape as one I'm not a 13 year old girl and two, I'm spending a lot of my free time trying to find ways to sneak around with my secret girlfriend."
"And your secret girlfriend appreciates that," she grinned, leaning against his chest. "I can't believe it's almost been a month."
"A month on Wednesday," he agreed, tapping their glasses together in a silent toast to them.
"An amazing month," she smiled, "I can't believe how good it's been. You know what we should do on Wednesday? Go have a drink in that bar you got hammered at a month ago; the one that started all this."
"How about no," Chandler shook his head, "maybe for our one year anniversary."
Monica just smiled, thrilled that he was thinking about 1 year anniversaries already. She knew his history and his issues with commitment so was determined not to rush anything but secretly she already knew that she had fallen for him hard. She'd been right before, when she'd been considering the idea of 'them', it had been like starting on the 100th date.
"Besides," Chandler continued, "you're working late Wednesday and I've got a stupidly early meeting on Thursday so I thought this could be our celebration."
"Sounds perfect," she smiled, wishing she wasn't working on Wednesday. Hell, after the day they'd had, she wished she didn't have to ever work again, so they could just stay like this forever. She felt so happy right now, so content being snuggled like this. And she was so pleased it was because of him, her best friend; her Chandler Bing. "I love you," she blurted out, freezing as she felt him tense behind her. Crap, so much for going slowly, "I mean I love spending time with you, like this."
She winced, waiting to see the aftermath of her slip up. He stayed silent, raising the wine glass to his lips. Another moment passed before she felt his arm tighten around her slightly.
"Me too," he whispered into her hair, brushing a kiss just above her ear.
She closed her eyes as so many emotions rushed through her. Relief, happiness, love…love. She knew if she pushed it he'll claim he loved spending time with her too. But if she didn't press him and simply acknowledged it for what it was, then she could revel in the knowledge that he felt all this too. It wasn't just her. They were onto something truly fantastic.
Silently she took both their wine glasses and placed them on the floor. She turned in his arms, meeting his eyes, delighting in the pure love they were reflecting. Even if they hadn't just kinda said it, she'd know just by the way he looked at her. The way he treated her. The way he adored her. Staring into his eyes just a moment longer, cherishing the feeling she wordlessly pulled him to her.
It was a loving kiss. A kiss that turned intense as they tangled under the blanket to show each other without words just how much they loved each other.
TBC…
After being mean to them in the last chapter I thought they deserved a mushy one. I had to keep reminding myself that this is set in Ross' old apartment as it's season 4- was a great excuse to rewatch early episodes though!
Let me know what you thought :o)