Encore

An Alternate Universe Mondler Fan fiction

Chapter 5:

Joey let out a cheer at Chandler's response and immediately wrapped him in another bear hug, eliciting a smirk from Chandler as he wrapped his arms around Joey in return.

"I can't leave right away though. I need to clear stuff up with management, and I like to help clean up with everybody else…it seems only fair." Chandler said matter of factly.

Rachel suddenly perked up, "Do you think we could get a behind the scenes tour?"

Chandler couldn't help but let out a laugh, a chuckle still evident in his voice as he said, "Yeah, I think I could manage that."

Chandler gently shook Joey off and was about to step out the door to his dressing room when he realized something.

"Uh, could you guys, maybe wait outside for a moment please?" Chandler asked somewhat sheepishly.

"Why exactly?" Phoebe asked with a knowing and playful sparkle in here eyes, a teasing smirk gracing her features.

"I've kind of got to change." He responded, gesturing to his concert wardrobe still on him. He rolled his eyes when Phoebe and Rachel didn't budge when the others did.

Off the look he gave them, Rachel responded half-jokingly, "What? You're famous. Pictures of you shirtless could get a lot of money."

Chandler shook his head and gently shoved them towards the door.

"Out."

It wasn't long before Chandler emerged from his dressing room in khakis and a plaid collared shirt. He had his concert clothes folded and tucked under his left arm. A smile graced his features, which had seen nothing of the sort in quite some time. His deep blue eyes sparkled as he turned to his friends.

"Come on, I'll drop this off and check in with management then I can take you guys on a tour." Chandler said gleefully, his long strides outpacing his friends in his eagerness.

Joey didn't have to be asked twice, quickly catching up to his friend in two strides. Ross rolled his eyes as he, Phoebe, and Rachel caught up as well.

They walked onward in amicable silence, even Chandler content to keep it, just happy to be together after so long. They followed the twisting passageways of the backstage, all except Chandler completely and utterly lost.

"Uh, you can get us back out of here, right Chandler?" Rachel asked sheepishly.

When Chandler spun around the others jumped back in surprise, the dim light of the corridor casting odd shadows across his face. His voice was deep and quiet, somehow adding a menacing air, no trace of his smile to be found upon his face.

"Why should I? I have you all here now, just like I planned. Now I can commence phase two."

Rachel sprang behind Ross, her eyes wide with fear and confusion, the other three mirroring her look. It didn't last long before Chandler burst out laughing, his face lit up with mirth.

"You guys actually believed I was an evil mastermind?! That's rich, that's just freakin' hilarious! You know me; how could I possibly be an evil genius plotting the down fall of New York?"

"In our defense, you've been gone a year. People can change a lot in a year." Ross defended.

"Yeah man," Chandler slapped Ross on the shoulder, "but I changed for the better."

"That was mean." Rachel complained whacking Chandler's upper arm with the back of her hand.

Chandler just smirked and walked onward and soon the five friends had left the gloomy corridor behind them in favor of a large open room with short hallways branching off. The room was a hive of activity, people constantly coming and going in a continuous stream, seemingly like they were following a current Ross, Rachel, Joey, and Phoebe couldn't see. However, Chandler didn't hesitate as he led them head on into the bustle. He gave a nod to the wardrobe staff as he quickly dropped off the clothes without breaking stride.

Soon the group of five had navigated to the far side of the room towards Chandler's manager and stage manager. He gave a reassuring nod to his friends as he nonchalantly approached the two. Aiden was standing to the left of John, the stage manager, looking up the moment Chandler approached.

"Great show Chandler. That was possibly the best you've performed Losing My Mind, and the new one, Break The Spell was obviously a hit." Aiden said with a smile.

"And for once you didn't give wardrobe a heart attack by messing up your outfit, so props for that man." John added before Chandler could respond.

Blushing slightly from embarrassment, Chandler nodded. "Thanks. By the way, these are my friends; Joey, Ross, Phoebe, and Rachel." He said, gesturing to each in turn.

"A pleasure I'm sure."

"Nice to meet you."

"So how did you four like the concert?" Aiden asked, facing the four friends.

"It was great." Rachel replied while Joey bounced up and down energetically.

"It was amazing and the first time we've seen Chandler in over a year!" Joey said excitedly.

John looked curiously between Chandler and the four friends, an interrogative look crossing his face. "Care to explain Chandler?"

"You hadn't told them?" Phoebe asked.

"Yep." Chandler exhaled.

"Sorry man, that's all me." Joey said sheepishly.

"Again, yep." Chandler muttered. He then turned to Aiden and John. "Okay, so I was dating my best friend, and you have to understand that we all were a very close knit group…and my best friend happened to be his," he gestured to Ross, "younger sister. Long story short, we had a fight and broke up, losing not only each other as significant others, but as best friends as well. To avoid the inevitable awkwardness and to leave Mo-, her, a support system that would not be distracted trying to balance out their time with both of us, I left without telling anyone where I was going. I said goodbye and disappeared. I tried writing, which had been my un-pursued passion and discovered I was good at writing music. That is basically where this story picks up."

Chandler then shook himself then straightened back up, and quickly clapped his hands. In an attempt to alleviate the gloominess that had followed the story he continued on to the task at hand with an upbeat voice. "Anyways, I was going to help pack up then take them on a backstage tour. I'm just checking in with you guys since I'm chilling in New York for a bit until we resume work on the next album."

It took a few moments for Aiden to react to Chandler's statement about New York, still caught up in his story. "No wonder you flipped and freaked out when I told you that you were scheduled to play Madison Square Garden."

"What?!" Joey, Phoebe, Ross, and Rachel all exclaimed.

"You didn't want to come to New York City?" Ross echoed, looking somewhat hurt.

Chandler sighed, studying the ground. "Can you blame me? Why should I have been eager to return to the place that is home to the place and person who absolutely shattered my heart and obliterated any and all hopes I ever had for my future in the course of one fight?"

It was clear how much his words pained the four. Joey was obviously trying to stay strong for his friend, but hearing the words directly and in context instead of them being lyrics to a song brought the pain to a new level. Rachel was less successful, letting out a whimper of sympathy and empathy.

Uncomfortable with the topic of conversation and hardly wishing to dwell in his pity and painful memories, Chandler once again straightened up with a muttered, "Right." before turning back to Aiden and prompting, "Well, is there any conflict with me staying in New York for the break? I also plan on doing some writing while I stay."

Aiden did his best to recover quickly from the flash revelation of the inspiration of most of his client's lyrics; and the pain of coping on his own due to one last act of chivalry and compassion, be it romantic or platonic towards the woman who broke his heart. "Yeah, uh, conflict, right…I don't think so. I'll need to check up on you occasionally just to get progress reports and alert you of any changes in the return schedule. Other than that, I think you're fine."

"Great." Chandler said quickly, looking ready to bolt for fear of having to spill more of his guts.

"Here we are at the back entrance that I'm going to need to slip out and meet you guys somewhere." Chandler said, concluding the tour.

The entire backstage area, and actually the entire arena were like a ghost town; just about completely empty. Their footsteps echoed as the walked through towards the door.

"Do you guys still have the same address?" Chandler asked.

"Yeah, we all live in about the same spots." Phoebe said.

"Oh, except for me. I live in Ugly Naked Guy's old apartment." Ross said proudly.

"That's great. So I'll meet you guys there. I am going to take a separate cab because let's face it, five people plus a guitar case and a suitcase is quite a squeeze. Plus, if you came here without Mon knowing, you probably want to get back without drawing attention to yourself which will be impossible if I'm with you." Chandler said, looking serious, not boastful.

Ross nodded, giving Chandler a supportive slap on the back, "No problem man."

"You promise that you'll come?" Rachel asked, looking worried.

"Yes Rach, I promise." Chandler sighed, saddened by his friends' lack of trust, but understanding it completely.

"I want to ride with Chandler!" Joey exclaimed in a half-whine, hopping from foot to foot.

"Relax Joe, you'll see him like, fifteen minutes after we get back." Phoebe soothed, leading the four friends out the main entrance and hailing a cab.

Meanwhile Chandler leaned against the wall, heaving a heavy sigh. He wasn't sure what had possessed him to agree to go back and stay with Joey for a few months; it would be near impossible to avoid Monica, seeing as she would be living right across the hall.

With another sigh, he pushed off the wall and returned to his dressing room to collect the last of his stuff. His ever-helpful crew had gotten his suitcases off the tour bus and put them in his dressing room. He gave a slight smile in appreciation for them before carefully packing one acoustic and one electric guitar into two cases. Picking all his luggage up, he stumbled his way out the back entrance, hailing a cab and silently pilling all his luggage into the trunk and getting, giving the cabbie the address of the apartment block a road down from where the gang really lived.

AN/Disclaimer: Okay, so first of all, high five to myself; This chapter is over 1,800 words and I didn't even use a song. Anyway, sorry this is taking so long, but I(as shown by the statement above) like to make the chapters decent sized so it takes a while. Plus, when I upload, I haven't even started the next chapter. Also, I wont be starting the next chapter until at least Monday night because I will be away for Memorial Day. Anyways, please review and let people know about this story. Now for my somewhat sarcastic or at least dry disclaimer…I apologize if any of you were under the impression that I do in fact own FRIENDS, because, let's face it. Every kid who is only just about to graduate middle school owns a show that started before they were born and earned millions of dollars from it…