Encore

An Alternate Universe Mondler Fan fiction

Chapter 6:

It wasn't long before the group of four friends had arrived back to the apartment block. They all emerged from the cab, Phoebe paying the fare this time. Once they were all standing on the sidewalk and heading towards the doors, Joey turned back to face the others,

"Do you think Chandler will actually come? That he wont suddenly decide it's a bad idea to come back here?"

Ross shook his head and said with a sigh, "I really don't know Joe. He's not one to go back on his promises, but it'll be challenging for him to come back here no doubt."

"Come on Joey." Phoebe said sweetly, lightly patting him on his shoulder before they went into the apartment building.

About fifteen minutes after the four friends arrived back at the apartment, Chandler's cab arrived to its destination a block away. He gave a smile to the cab driver, handing him a twenty-dollar bill.

"Keep the change." He said, grabbing his bags from the trunk. He slung his backpack over his shoulders, picked up his double guitar case, and rolled his suitcase behind him.

Chandler heaved a sigh before starting to make his way down the street. His heart rate kept increasing each step he took closer to his old home. Well, his old life. He still considered his childhood home his old home; for it belonged to a time he was always reluctant to look back on.

It wasn't long before he found himself in front of the apartment building that had dominated a large part of his life. By now his heart was beating so hard that he was certain that it could be detected on a seismograph. It would probably be like, a .0025 on the Richter scale, but whatever… he thought to himself.

Taking a deep breath, he buzzed Joey's apartment, praying that someone would answer, because there was, for the love of god, no way that he would buzz Monica's apartment. It took a few heart rate rising seconds before he heard Joey's voice through the speaker. He thought it odd that the doors were locked, for it seemed people had rarely ever had to buzz in when he lived there.

"Hey Joe, it's me." Chandler said into the buzzer's microphone.

"Come on up."

Chandler gave an apprehensive smile as the door gave a slight click and he walked in. It was now that he had all his bags it occurred to him the ridiculousness that the building had no elevator. Rolling his shoulders in preparation, he picked up his suitcase, adding to the load on his upper body, and made his way up the stairs.

Finally he arrived in front of Joey's door and knocked, hoping to get in quickly lest Monica decide to come out into the hall at that moment. He hated that he had to avoid her, but it was inevitable that it would be unbearably awkward. It was likely to end negatively anyway; he had had a long year and had just finished a concert…he was tired which made it more likely he would snap and make the situation worse.

Thankfully, Joey promptly opened the door and Chandler practically flung himself into the apartment. Joey smirked slightly as he closed the door behind him before turning around so as to face him.

"Uh, your room is still the one on the right…my last roommate didn't change too much. I'll help you settle in." Joey said, grabbing Chandler's suitcase and carrying into the bedroom, Chandler close behind.

"Thanks man."

"Hey, you're my brother. That was established a while ago." Joey replied, smiling widely.

"I'm glad that that still stands."

"Of course it does man." Joey said before the sound of an egg timer came from the living room, "You still like Baywatch dude?"

"Are you crazy?! Of course I do!" Chandler said with a grin, charging from the room, skidding to a stop when he was thrown for a loop, seeing both barcaloungers there. "Monica didn't throw it out when we broke up? I figured she'd throw out anything of mine that I didn't take…"

Joey walked up behind him, "Nah, she gave it to me along with anything else of yours she thought I'd want."

"Oh, okay." Chandler said, taking a seat in his old chair, reclining and letting out a groan of happiness. Joey did the same while turning the TV on and flicking to Baywatch.

All was fine for about five minutes, after which the door opened and a black haired beauty that Chandler had hoped to avoid walked in.

"Hey Joe, do you have my-" Monica's voice dropped away as she stood there, frozen, staring at Chandler who was staring back at her, equally transfixed. "You know, never mind. Keep it. I've got to go." She then turned and walked out the door, closing it harshly.

Chandler looked between the door and the TV a few times before turning to Joey. "I'll be right back Joe." He said, jumping from the chair and running out the door.

Chandler stood in the hallway, his guts already abandoning him. He stood outside the door to apartment twenty, debating whether or not to go in, when he heard voices coming from inside.

"Rach, what the heck is he doing here?!" Monica exclaimed angrily.

"He's here seeing old friends Monica. He hasn't seen any of us in over a year; He's allowed to hang out with us. He gave you an entire year with us entirely to yourself when he had nobody!" Rachel replied, calmer than Monica.

"This is going to be so awkward though."

It was at this point that Chandler decided to make his presence known, and knocked on the door. He could hear some shuffling around inside before the door opened and he was face to face with Rachel.

"Can I come in? I know Monica's here…I want to talk to her." Chandler said, swallowing worriedly.

"Of course. I'll get out from under your guys' feet. Good luck Chandler." Rachel said, walking out into the hall as he walked in to apartment twenty.

Chandler took a deep breath, looking around the apartment that he had shared with Monica for a few months. Not much had changed, as a matter of fact; it looked like absolutely nothing had changed, except for the fact that anything that had had his influence was gone. His voice was soft and hesitant as he called out,

"Monica? Mon, I know you're here, please come out and talk to me."

Monica sat on her bed in her room, debating whether or not to go out and talk to Chandler. How could he come back here? Didn't he expect this? How could he think he could just waltz back here after a year and everything would be okay? Maybe if you talked to him you could find out. She thought to herself, irritated with her subconscious.

Sighing with reluctance, Monica emerged from her room, looking at Chandler straight on. "What Chandler?" she asked, her voice hard and steely with slight exhaustion.

Pain flashed across his face and stayed in his eyes, and for a moment she felt guilty. "I thought we should talk, get everything out in the open. I'm going to be staying with Joey for the next few months until I have to start work on my next album, so, I thought it would be good to clear the air as much as possible." Chandler said, his voice soft and almost hollow.

Wait, album? Since when does he work on albums? Oh yeah, great, that's the part to focus on dimwit! Monica thought to herself. Instead, she said, her voice cold and somewhat cynical, "Clear the air? Chandler, in case you haven't noticed, it's been a year. The window for that closed a long time ago."

"Yes Monica, I am aware it has been a year, and quite frankly, I didn't know how to deal with this then, and I still don't. But I'm sure going to try. I'm tired of running. I ran a year ago, cutting everyone who ever mattered to me out, just so you could have them. But at this point, I can't take it anymore. I know loneliness, and I used to be fine with it; I was alone my entire childhood and I'd rather not be alone for the rest of my life as well. So you can go on pretending you're living in your perfect little world, but I've never had one, and I know they don't exist. If you want to be happy, you need to make it happen. But even if you don't want to talk, I do, so lets give us both a chance, and who knows, you may learn something about the entire freakin' situation." Chandler said, his voice never rising and his eyes blazing with a burning pain, slightly out of breath from his miniature rant.

Monica looked almost taken aback by that. The Chandler she knew had never advocated for himself, instead he just let it all wash over him to avoid conflict. After going back and forth with herself mentally, during which a deafening silence reigned, she sat down in the chair.

"Fine, speak."

AN/Disclaimer: Okay, so I could have continued in this chapter, but it is already over 1,500 words and I figured, sure, why not tease them with a cliff hanger? Plus, I tend to have trouble finding ways to start chapters unless there is something I can latch onto from the last chapter, so hopefully this'll help. I don't own F.R.I.E.N.D.S, and lets be honest, I likely never will.