Encore
An Alternate Universe Mondler Fan fiction
Chapter 3:
It was 5:45PM and Joey was running around the apartment, Rachel laughing, as he tried to get ready for the concert. This was the first time she had been ready before anybody else, and she had to admit it was hilarious to see the others rushing around.
The concert was in half an hour and they were due to leave in five minutes. Soon, there was a knock at the door and Rachel went to open the door, revealing Ross and Phoebe, all ready to depart.
"Joey will be ready in a minute." Rachel said with a slight smirk.
"Excuse me for wanting to look good when I see my friend after almost a year!" Joey called from his bedroom before emerging in a pair of dark wash jeans and a nice loose fitting button up shirt.
"You clean up nice Joseph." Phoebe commented with a teasing glint in her eyes.
"Aw, thanks Pheebs." Joey said, before quickly jumping up excitedly, "Come on we need to get moving!"
Joey couldn't help but act like a kid going to a toy store while Ross, Phoebe, and Rachel laughed at his antics, all of them also excited to see Chandler after so long.
Upon reaching the ground floor they walked outside, Ross immediately walking up to the curb and attempting to hail a taxi. It would appear that his attempts were in vain. Laughing under her breath, Phoebe pushed her way past Ross to the edge of the curb, and yelled surprisingly loud, three taxis taking her call. She waved off the second two, and the three friends squeezed into the first.
"Where to?" The cab driver, a surprisingly young, attractive man asked.
"Madison Square Garden." Rachel replied happily.
"Ah, the Chandler Bing concert. I swear, every cab from here to JFK is going there." The cabbie commented amicably.
"Really? I knew he was big, but I didn't know he was that popular." Rachel said, her voice slightly awed.
"Are you kidding? He's huge! His music is on a daily basis topping the charts. He's all over the radio and talk shows." The cabbie replied.
"Well, I haven't followed him really much at all. I'm just going because he's an old friend of ours' that we haven't seen in around a year." Rachel said, trying to defend her lack of knowledge.
"Riiight." The cab driver said disbelievingly.
"No really! I could tell you his middle name, what his parents do for a living, the reason why he hates thanksgiving, a ton of stuff." Joey interjected.
The cabbie shrugged, still not believing them, but humoring them.
The traffic got worse and worse until they were a block from Madison Square Garden. It was bumper to bumper, the pavement not visible beneath the sea of yellow caused by the endless stream of cabs.
"If you get out here and walk, you'll get there sooner." The cabbie pointed out.
"Thanks, we'll do that." Ross responded, taking out his wallet.
"The fare's $12.56, have a good time."
Ross handed him the fare then opened the door of the cab as wide as he dared. He quickly got out, followed by Phoebe, Rachel, and Joey. The cab driver was right. They had safely crossed the remainder of the street and were already halfway down the remaining block in the time it took for the traffic to travel a mere few feet.
Of course, once they reached the closest entrance to Madison Square Garden, the sheer volume of people, pushing and shoving, trying to get in sooner, hoping to catch a glimpse of Chandler before he came on, overwhelmed them.
"Geez, Chandler's sure got a lot of fans." Rachel commented.
"How else would he be able to play the Garden Rach?" Ross replied with good-natured pointedness.
Chandler sighed as he soothed his nerves of the concert that was fast approaching. Even from far backstage he could hear the crowd coming in, in their usual fervor, all hyped for his performance.
His wardrobe department was going crazy as they made last minute preparations. He was already dressed for the concert, wearing a t-shirt that was a mottling of many different grays with a solid gray decal on it. He was wearing dark wash jeans and a dog tag. Now he was surrounded by the hairdressers, all arguing on the specific way his hair should be done. Finally they decided on doing a slight spiked up style to his short cut hair, using styling gel to hold it in place. After much more fussing and squabbling, they deemed him concert ready.
Chandler turned to them with a courteous smile that turned to a grin as he spoke. "Thanks, I'll try not to mess it up."
One of the few people he considered a friend in his staff laughed and whispered in his ear, "You better not mess it up or Stacy will have a heart-attack."
He cracked up slightly, turning to face her. "Yeah, you're right Meg, but I don't think she's capable of them after so many concerts dealing with me."
He wore a cheeky grin as Megan shoved him away, teasingly saying, "Don't! You could cause an un-prescribed wrinkle to show up on my shirt!"
"Shut up and go check in with John, he needs to know when you're ready." Megan laughed.
"Yeah whatever." Chandler laughed in response.
"Hey, you wouldn't want anything going wrong with the final concert of the tour, now would you?" Megan mock scolded.
"God forbid!" Chandler replied teasingly before walking off to find John.
John was the stage manager, patiently awaiting Chandler in his chair, his brown hair perfectly messy as always. John was actually a pretty easy-going guy, but backstage he was all business.
"Chandler, you're on in five, so get your guitar and get ready to tear the place down."
"No problem John. Anything else? Do you maybe want an antacid?" Chandler said with a grin.
"Get out of here Bing." John said, shaking his head.
Chandler laughed and nodded, but as he walked away, he could have sworn he saw a smile on John's face. He grabbed his guitar and made his way to the offstage wing where he'd enter.
The four friends had finally made it past the entrance lines and security. Now they were struggling to find their way through the throngs of people to their seats.
"Guys, I got us seats right by the stage! We'll be so close there's no way he can miss us!" Joey said excitedly.
"Joey, I think you have become the equivalent of a fan girl." Rachel said teasingly.
Phoebe couldn't help but laugh at Joey's excited antics as he brushed off Rachel's comment without missing a beat. Well, it was more likely Joey hadn't been able to make the connection between what he said and Rachel's comment, but that just added to the humor of the situation.
They passed stand after stand selling food, drink, or some sort of trinket or memorabilia. They finally found the correct passageway and found themselves heading closer and closer to the stage. True to his word, Joey had gotten them as close as possible, which included backstage passes.
Upon finally finding their seats, the four friends sat down, anxiously awaiting the first time in almost a year that they would see their friend in person. Suddenly the lights went down, and pitch darkness reigned. Just as suddenly, strobe lights blazed, giving a sense of chaos and inhibit any clear view.
And then, the blast of moderate pyrotechnics accompanied the strum of the first chord.
The blast of pyrotechnics rang in Chandler's ears for half a second as he strummed a power chord. He gave a smile before launching into the song vocals.
Heard that song on the radio,
And it got my gears turnin'
Like a real life time machine.
You were there in the front seat,
Windows down we were burning,
It was just like a movie scene,
Those dashboard lights,
And your pale blue eyes cutting through me.
Two hearts on the getaway,
Feels just like yesterday,
Young love on the freeway,
Singing louder than ever.
Those nights we used to sing along,
We were living in a love song,
Those days might be gone,
But I hear it louder than ever.
We spent that whole summer long,
You and me and the moonlight,
Chasing dreams in a fast machine,
No way that it could go wrong,
When it all felt so right,
Feeling like California queen,
I cannot forget all of the ways that you loved me.
Two hearts on the getaway,
Feels just like yesterday,
Young love on the freeway,
Singing louder than ever.
Those nights we used to sing along,
We were living in a love song,
Those days might be gone,
But I hear it louder than ever.
I can't help but turn it up,
No it can't get loud enough,
Yeah, I just wanna hear it,
Over and over,
Over and over,
Heard that song on the radio,
And it got my gears turnin'
Like a real life time machine.
Two hearts on the getaway,
Feels just like yesterday,
Young love on the freeway,
Singing louder than ever.
Those nights we used to sing along,
We were living in a love song,
Those days might be gone,
But I hear it louder than ever.
Two hearts on the getaway,
Feels just like yesterday,
Young love on the freeway,
I hear it louder than ever.
Those nights we used to sing along,
We were living in a love song,
Those days might be gone,
But I hear it louder than ever.
Chandler gave a soft chuckle at the end of the song. "Hey New York City! How's everyone doing?"
Various cheers that rocked the arena answered Chandler and he couldn't help but give a wide smile in response. "Glad to hear it! Now, before I go on to the next song, I just got to say one thing…You all are the best fans ever, and I wouldn't be here without your support, so all of this," he gestured to the stage and the fact the venue was Madison Square Garden, "is all your doing. So this, this if for all of you."
Even over the cheering, the four friends turned to each other. Ross looked at the other three, unable to keep his observation to himself.
"He's really gotten much more confident, hasn't he?"
"Yeah, definitely." Phoebe nodded her agreement.
They turned to Joey, but found him smiling and cheering just as loudly as the strangers around them, Rachel acting just the same.
Chandler continued smiling, his gaze going across the entire stadium, focusing just as much on those in the far off seats as those close up. He lifted the microphone to his face in his right hand, and rubbed his left shoulder with his other hand, looking surprisingly irresistible. "Here's a personal favorite of mine, and it is brand new, so you are all hearing it before everyone else."
Like a moth into a flame,
I'm hypnotized,
And like a stone,
I'm paralyzed cause I can't look away,
You found your way under my skin,
And I'm tryin' not to love you,
But I hate the way I keep on givin'
Into you, like I always do,
No matter how I try,
Or maybe could it be,
That you're the part of me,
That's keeping me alive?
How am I supposed to break this spell you got me under,
I'm so addicted to the pain,
Got your poison running through my veins,
The way you pull me in,
The way you chew me up,
The way you spit me out,
I keep coming back, I can't get enough,
I can't go without you,
I could fight you 'til the end,
But I will lose you if I win,
So I guess I'll just keep on givin'
Into you, like I always do,
No matter how I try,
Or maybe could it be,
That you're the part of me,
That's keeping me alive?
How am I supposed to break this spell you got me under,
I'm so addicted to the pain,
Got your poison running through my veins,
The way you pull me in,
The way you chew me up,
The way you spit me out,
I keep coming back, I can't get enough,
I can't go without you,
This feeling is far from sober,
Its beauty buried deep inside,
You're the only one who gets me high,
And I know it's far from over,
As you can see you're the part of me,
That's keeping me alive
How am I supposed to break this spell you got me under,
I'm so addicted to the pain,
Got your poison running through my veins,
The way you pull me in,
The way you chew me up,
The way you spit me out,
I keep coming back, I can't get enough,
I can't go without,
The way you pull me in,
The way you chew me up,
The way you spit me out,
I keep coming back, I can't get enough,
I can't go without,
I keep coming back, I can't get enough,
I can't go without, you.
The crowd was going crazy, absolutely loving the song. Chandler was smiling exceedingly widely, walking along the stage extensions that entered the audience. He was quickly high fiving those who extended their hands up when he saw his friends in the front row. He froze, not sure if he wanted to be hallucinating or not. He shook his head almost imperceptibly to clear it, then headed back to the main stage. He turned to face the crowd, keeping up the smile, though now it was partially a façade to hide his inner turmoil.
"The energy here is crazy, I think you guys have got me losing my mind." Chandler said, nearly cut off by the cheers that erupted, for they knew what song was coming.
Never thought a train goin' any place could've changed my life
Never thought I'd say I could go insane, 'til I saw your eyes
And I had to take another look to know for sure
That you could be for real
You found an empty seat sittin' next to me
And I asked your name
Where you comin' from?
Where you headed to this Saturday?
'Cause I'm gonna be out on the town
As long as you are goin' there with me
Yeah and my head keeps spinnin'
You got me trippin'
There's something about the way you move
Yeah, every little single thing you do is like
One part angel and one part danger
But, oh, the kind of crazy I like
You got me losing my mind
I'm losing my mind!
It's getting hard to sleep
Getting hard to think 'bout much these days
'Cause everywhere I go
Only thing I see is your glowing face
And the way you light up every room you walk into
Just makes me want to scream
Yeah and my head keeps spinnin'
You got me trippin'
There's something about the way you move
Yeah, every little single thing you do is like
One part angel and one part danger
But, oh, the kind of crazy I like
You got me losing my mind
I'm losing my mind!
Can't understand why you got me so far gone
You're gonna have to lock me up before too long
You've got me losing my mind
Yeah and my head keeps spinnin'
You got me trippin'
There's something about the way you move
Yeah, every little single thing you do is like
One part angel and one part danger
But, oh, the kind of crazy I like
You got me losing my mind
I'm losing my mind!
You got me losing my mind
I'm losing my mind!
Chandler was slowly losing control, his eyes kept being drawn to Joey, Rachel, Ross, and Phoebe. He knew they saw him looking at them, and it made him more nervous, so when it came time to close out the concert, he was happy to be able to escape into one last song before disappearing backstage.
"All of you should know this one, so feel free to sing along." He called out to the audience as he started the song.
Now that it's all said and done,
I can't believe you were the one
To build me up and tear me down,
Like an old abandoned house.
What you said when you left
Just left me cold and out of breath.
I fell too far, was in way too deep.
Guess I let you get the best of me.
Well, I never saw it coming.
I should've started running
A long, long time ago.
And I never thought I'd doubt you,
I'm better off without you
More than you, more than you know.
I'm slowly getting closure.
I guess it's really over.
I'm finally getting better.
And now I'm picking up the pieces.
I'm spending all of these years
Putting my heart back together.
'Cause the day I thought I'd never get through,
I got over you.
You took a hammer to these walls,
Dragged the memories down the hall,
Packed your bags and walked away.
There was nothing I could say.
And when you slammed the front door shut,
A lot of others opened up,
So did my eyes so I could see
That you never were the best for me.
Well, I never saw it coming.
I should've started running
A long, long time ago.
And I never thought I'd doubt you,
I'm better off without you
More than you, more than you know.
I'm slowly getting closure.
I guess it's really over.
I'm finally getting better.
And now I'm picking up the pieces.
I'm spending all of these years
Putting my heart back together.
'Cause the day I thought I'd never get through,
I got over you.
Well, I never saw it coming.
I should've started running
A long, long time ago.
And I never thought I'd doubt you,
I'm better off without you
More than you, more than you know.
Well, I never saw it coming.
I should've started running
A long, long time ago.
And I never thought I'd doubt you,
I'm better off without you
More than you, more than you know.
I'm slowly getting closure.
I guess it's really over.
I'm finally getting better.
And now I'm picking up the pieces.
I'm spending all of these years
Putting my heart back together.
Well I'm putting my heart back together,
'Cause I got over you.
Well I got over you.
I got over you.
'Cause the day I thought I'd never get through,
I got over you.
The crowd rose up in a roar, cheering wildly for Chandler, and he acknowledged them graciously, despite the fact that he wanted nothing more than to escape backstage and hope he didn't have to face his friends. Sure, he missed them, but he had no doubt they blamed him for he and Monica breaking up; heck, he blamed himself.
Finally the cheering died down enough for Chandler to exit the stage. As he walked off, he found himself searching for his friends among the crowd once more, before disappearing backstage.
AN/Disclaimer: Okay, I don't own friends or daughtry. The songs are:
Louder than ever
Break the Spell
Losing my mind
Over you
All of which are by daughtry.