A/N – Opps, I was wrong and this isn't the last chapter. Turns out I majorly underestimated my ability to waffle on! The scenes I had planned seemed a lot shorter in my head but when I came to write them…well…let's just say there's at least 2 more chapters worth…which is hopefully good news. Considering that this was originally a one-shot I should've figured I rambled more than I realised ;o)
Chandler glanced down at his watch and couldn't help but let out a small groan of disappointment. They'd been out on their picnic date for hours and it was unfortunately true what people said; time did indeed fly when you are actually having fun. He couldn't remember ever enjoying a Sunday afternoon more than this, however it had gone quickly and they'd soon have to leave their bubble and face reality once more.
"What?" Monica questioned lazily, her head resting on his shoulder where they laid snuggled on the blanket together. He held out his wrist to her and she glanced at the circular display as realization dawned, "crap."
"Yep, I guess we'd better make a move," he sighed regretfully and couldn't help but grin as she moaned in protest. It was nice to know the feeling was mutual.
Reluctantly, they untangled themselves and sat up. He was first to slowly stand, stretching his stiff muscles before reaching out a hand and tugging her to her feet. Purposely, he pulled a little too forcibly so she ended up flush against him and he wrapped his arms around her to hold her in place. He swooped down and claimed her lips, swallowing her gasp of surprise. She soon returned the kiss with passion, clinging to him as she allowed herself to get caught up in the moment.
Finally, they broke apart breathing heavily and Monica raised her eyebrows, "wow."
"I know," he agreed.
Staring at each other for just a few more moments, they grudgingly pulled apart. Raking a hand through his already mussed hair, he stepped away and took a couple of deep breaths, before he got to work folding the blanket. Monica quickly joined him to ensure it was, of course, folded in the correct way, neatly and to her standards, before being placed back in the bag.
He grabbed the wilting rose and glass bottle about to throw them out when Monica stopped him.
"Are you kidding?" she asked shocked, "I'm keeping this," she plucked the rose from his fingers.
"Really?" he asked, grinning in surprise.
"Uh huh," she informed him happily, "it was a really sweet gesture. I'm going to press it and keep it as a little token of our first date."
He swallowed, thrilled that it meant so much to her; for some reason he hadn't expected it. His face softened, "I'd like that," he eventually admitted.
She offered him a smile before stowing the rose away safely and zipping the bag shut. Chandler, still trying to be a gentleman, grabbed the closed bag, pulling it onto one shoulder before he grabbed her hand. He gave her captured hand a gentle squeeze and was more than a little delighted when she squeezed back.
"Sooo, I guess it's time to face the others," he sighed as they started a slow pace back through the park.
There was a pause; neither wanting to see the others right now and have to deal with their inevitable interrogations.
"It's still early," Monica eventually pointed out, eager for their date not to end, "how about a movie?"
He paused mid-step and turned to look at her, a smile of appreciation on his face.
"That sounds like a genius idea," Chandler grinned loving her logic; loving her. "You're amazing. Have I mentioned that?"
"I try," she quipped, Chandler-style, raising an eyebrow.
Laughing, he leaned forward and gave her another quick kiss, reveling at how natural it felt to do just that. Loving the smile that spread across her face, he gave her hand another quick squeeze as they headed along the path towards the movie theatre.
Chandler didn't care what movie they saw. He just wanted to spend more time with her, just the two of them.
"I not only walk you home but even escort to your front door," he smiled as they came to stand in the hallway between their apartments that evening, "you can't get much more gentlemanly than that."
"I don't think it counts when you live right across the hall," she chuckled lightly, wrapping her arms around him, which he happily copied.
He laughed softly and just stared at her for a moment drinking her in. She was perfect.
"I, uh, I would invite you in for a drink," he murmured, "but I don't think it's such a good idea, ya know, if we're gonna take this slow and all."
He watched her swallow and nod, "ditto, and there's probably some stragglers still at mine wanting gossip."
He rolled his eyes good-naturedly before meeting hers once again and getting captured in their intensity. Being this close to her he could feel the electricity darting between their bodies and slowly got pulled in, leaning forward for a final goodnight kiss. It turned passionate quickly both needing this connection between them. As the kiss deepened, he heard her slight groan which immediately sent shivers through him and caused some sort of desperate noise of his own in response. Still entwined, he walked her backwards a couple of steps until they hit the hall wall. Craving more, he pressed his body to hers unable to get enough of her. He felt her leg shift and wrap around his lower calf and he groaned again in approval, his body on fire.
"Gross! Just what I really didn't need to see!"
They sprang apart guiltily to find Ross looking mightily unimpressed from the girls' doorway.
"Um," Chandler swallowed, breathing heavily, trying to form a coherent sentence as he briskly ran a hand through his hair. "I, uh, we-"
Ross just shook his head, "it's just weird," he whined in that funny voice of his.
"Well, get used to it," Monica warned causing Chandler to look over at her and smile. She smiled back and he stared at her, unable to look away. He was getting caught in the spell once more…
"God, at least let me leave before you start up again," Ross protested, hurriedly passing them and heading for the stairs.
They looked over at one another again and started to chuckle. The moment was well and truly broken.
"I guess this is goodnight," Monica commented, nervously fiddling with her bag strap.
"Yeah," he nodded looking at her, debating if it was safe to try and kiss her again, or if they'd get into dangerous territory too quickly. He'd promised her they'd take this slowly and he wasn't sure he'd be able to keep that promise if they started making-out again.
She took the decision out of his hands when she stepped towards him and placed a firm hard kiss onto his unsuspecting lips. "Night," she called as she promptly headed into her apartment and closed the door.
Wow.
His hand came up to touch his lips for a moment before he shook his head in a vain attempt to remove his stunned, stupid grin. Slowly, he came to senses and entered his own apartment to find Joey alone watching tv.
"Hey," he greeted.
"Hey," Joey grinned taking in his friend's expression, "I take it it went well?"
"Yep," he smiled, chucking his keys on the counter and grabbing a beer from the fridge.
"Has she decided?"
"Yep, we're officially together," he had a sudden urge to do his victory dance but managed to repress it in time; no point in spilling and wasting good alcohol.
"That's great news man, congrats. I know how much you liked her."
"Thanks," he walked over to where his housemate sat.
"You kiss her?"
"Yep, lots," he couldn't keep proud smile from his face. He wasn't one to kiss and tell but he was allowed to be a little smug; he'd spent a large part of the day kissing and touching Monica. He may never know how to be humble again.
"Niiice," Joey approved. "You wanna pull up a patio chair? Extreme Midget Wrestling's about to start."
"Cool," Chandler agreed easily, settling beside his roommate. He was glad that Joey had gone easy on him and not wanted loads of details. He just hoped the same could be said for Monica and the girls...though in all honesty, he sincerely doubted it.
The second Monica closed the door to apartment 20 she was bombarded with questions.
"Ooh how was it?"
"Did you have a good time?"
"Are you dating?"
"Did you kiss?"
"Was he romantic?"
"Are you gonna see him again?"
Not bad considering there were only two of them there. She sighed, wishing she was still in the hallway with Chandler. She started to smile just thinking about that kiss, heck, about the whole date. It had simply been perfect.
"Monica!" Rachel protested impatiently, bursting her bubble, "come on, share, we need details."
Monica had to resist rolling her eyes; obviously, her roommate was a little hungover still and just a touch crabby. Great.
"It was good," she said as nonchalantly as possible, as she joined them on the couch.
"Good or goooood?" Phoebe teased excitedly taking in Monica's glowing aura.
"The second one," she finally admitted with a grin of her own. She knew she couldn't keep this from them. Besides, they'd helped her realize her feelings and encouraged her to actually get together with him. Plus, she liked girly chats with them. At least Ross wasn't in ear shot.
"I knew it!" Phoebe squealed.
"Was he romantic?" Rachel asked, finding it a little hard to imagine.
"Very," Monica sighed remembering the date and the rose she had kept. "I think it's actually the best first date I've ever been on."
"Really?" Rachel asked surprised, "better than the 'all you can eat' dinky doughnut date with Tom Parkinson back in Junior High?"
"Yep," Monica agreed, "easily. And better than that 'Dishy-Dan-you-can-order-the-lobster-man'."
"Wow," Rachel mused, remembering how much her housemate had raved about that date.
"So, did you talk with him?" Phoebe asked. "Like have the talk with him? Have you decided for sure?"
"Yeah," she answered shyly, "we talked and we're officially together."
"I'm so happy for you!" Phoebe pulled her into a hug and moments later Rachel joined in to make it a group event.
"You and Chandler," Rachel eventually commented as she returned to her seat. "Ya know, that's gonna take some getting used to."
"That's what Ross said when he interrupted our make-out session in the hall," Monica laughed causing the other girls to giggle, imagining the scene.
"Oooh," Phoebe grinned, "I take it he's still good kisser? Chandler that is, not Ross."
"Mmm," Monica sighed dreamily, "he's an amazing kisser and if anything, it's got even better, even hotter now that we're a couple."
"Then why are you finishing your date here with us and not across the hall?" Rachel asked the obvious question.
"Because…we wanna take things slowly," she sighed heavily. Why had she suggested that?
"Mon, you spent the last two nights in his bed," Rachel pointed out, "That's hardly going slow."
"We didn't do anything," Monica protested. Well they had, but not in the way Rachel meant. They'd talked and cuddled and god, she'd loved the feel of just being in his arms; in his bed.
"So, why are you taking it slow?" Phoebe asked.
"I…because…," she groaned closing her eyes, "I had reasons, good reasons but I can't think of them right now."
Right now, all she could think of was going over to apartment 19 and finishing that kiss. Would they have taken it further if they hadn't been interrupted? If it wasn't for her stupid brother would they already be in his bedroom breaking the 'slow' rule?
Rachel chuckled as if reading her thoughts, "I sense you won't be taking it slow for long."
"50 bucks says you put out by the end of the week."
"Phoebe!" Monica admonished, "No betting on my sex-life. Actually, no betting on my love life period."
"It's a little too late for that," Rachel muttered to which Monica raised a warning eyebrow.
"There might be a betting pool on when you guys are gonna get married," Phoebe admitted a little sheepishly.
"What?" Monica asked pissed, "we've been on one date!"
"We didn't start it," Rachel complained, "we were all discussing you guys and how commitment-phobic Chandler is and how you're…" she swallowed under Monica's glare, "pro commitment," she said quickly, "and that it was an interesting mix. One thing led to another and we started betting and…"
"I don't want to know," Monica insisted annoyed. "I can't believe you bet on us."
"You want in on the action?" Rachel asked hesitantly.
"No!" Monica shot her down. "I don't want to know any details, ok. Look, this thing with Chandler is really important to me and I really don't want anything to screw it up. If he hears you guys talking about marriage and stuff you're just gonna freak him out. So, please, you can bet on us all you like and I promise I'll share the good bits with you at girly nights but can you please promise not to say this stuff in front of Chandler? That you'll leave us alone? Please? We want to do this our way without any pressure."
"Of course," Phoebe sighed, "we'll try."
"Ok, sure," Rachel agreed a little reluctant, "we'll be good. We promise."
Monica would believe that when it happened but at least they were going to try and reign it in a tad; that was pretty much all she could ask for with this group. So, she had the girls covered. As for the boys- Joey was Chandler's responsibility but she couldn't see him caring much about any relationship specifics. And Ross definitely wouldn't want any details.
Sure, they'd all be watching them, speculating and no doubt running all kind of betting pools on their relationship; there was no way around that. It would settle down eventually and they would become old news, she hoped. One thing she did know for sure was that all this initial weirdness and gossip would be worth it.
She was very sure of that.
A/N – thanks again for all the reviews and for sticking with this one! FYI – for any Chandler fans, the next chapter starts with him in nothing but a towel ;o)