Disclaimer. I don't own the characters. There is no more gain than the writing practice that is done here

Chapter 5: Joey – Leaving the house

On Friday morning Chandler drove the kids to school from Ross's house, and he went to work even though he had said he wouldn't be in until Monday.

His classmates immediately noticed that he was weird, he looked sick, he wasn't the same smiling and relaxed Chandler. When someone approached him to ask if he's okay, he just said "yes, I'm fine."

On his desk, he took out of the frames the photos he had of Monica or with Monica, leaving only the one of his children.

At mid-morning he spoke with the lawyer who told him that he had contacted Monica and she agreed with all the conditions, therefore, the papers would be ready for them to sign no later than Friday of the following week. Chandler asked him to do that signature separately and the lawyer told him that there was no problem, that he would come in the morning and he would make an appointment with Monica in the afternoon.

He then approached the office with Steve, the Agency President, the two having forged friendships and excellent working relationships that had allowed Chandler to quickly rise to management positions.

Steve was the only one Chandler told that he and Monica were getting a divorce, and since he was staying with the kids, for a few days he needed to leave a little earlier to receive the kids from school until he found a babysitter.

Steve was surprised because he had always seen them as a match made for each other. Obviously he told him that he was free with the schedule and that whatever he needed he would support him.

Then he went to see Donald and without giving him too many explanations he asks him for his therapist's contact, and from his office he call him, making an appointment for Thursday of the following week.

Finally, he told his assistant that he was not in good health, that he was going home.

When he got to Ross's house he was met by Joey, who gave him his usual bear hug.

Only Joey was in the house, since the others were at work or school.

Joey was his brother, with him he could vent a little more, he told him what happened detail by detail, and as he turned to her, his eyes filled with tears, Chandler didn't want to cry, he had promised himself, but with Joey knew he could do it without pity, he didn't want pity from anyone.

Joey couldn't believe what he was hearing, he couldn't understand why Monica was doing this to his friend, he would never have believed it from her, she must have lost his mind.

"No Joey, she didn't lose her sanity, she knows what she's doing, look, I can understand that she has stopped loving me, that she fell in love or has always been in love with me, I can't force anyone to love me, what I cannot understand is that she has betrayed my trust"

"I loved her madly, in truth I still love her madly, but I also trusted her absolutely, I trusted her blindly when we were just friends, and that trust grew even more since we were together"

"Cheating on me, sleeping with Richard behind my back, then coming home like nothing happened and getting into our bed! She couldn't do that to me, knowing my story, knowing how our relationship has always been, almost 20 years placing all my trust in her, to destroy her in 15 seconds..."

"Obviously I would have been hurt and broken if she had told me that she had fallen in love with Richard and that she wanted to be in a relationship with him, but it would not have destroyed my trust, I would have listened to her, I would have cried for sure, but I would have appreciated that she was honest with me."

"Now I have nothing, I lost her love, I trample on her honesty, she destroys my confidence, and she showed me that she doesn't even respect me since she threw me away when she wanted to"

"Now she wanted to talk to me, why? I don't want her apologies or her explanations, her words are no longer worth anything... "

Joey didn't say anything, that he could say…. How he could help his friend in this pain? he didn't know, he got up and took two beers from the fridge and wanted to give one to Chandler

"No thanks Joey, I don't want to drink alcohol, no alcohol, I think if I have just one glass I will never be able to stop, and my children need me sober, strong, whole..."

"And how are you going to do that if you are devastated…."

"I don't know, these couple of days I could. I contacted a therapist and I'm going to start next Thursday, and I want to go to the doctor to get checked out since I'm physically exhausted, sore… and practically sleepless since Wednesday night…"

"OK Chandler, let's go to the hospital to get checked out, let's not waste time, they will surely give you medication for the stress you are going through. I really don't know what to do or say to ease your pain, I know that what is happening is hell, nothing I say will help, but at least let me take care of your health."

Meanwhile, Monica had called in sick at the restaurant saying that they would not count on her until Monday.

At noon she met Richard for lunch, and while he talked about plans to travel to Paris, her mind was on the children she hadn't seen for almost two days and how Chandler would be, she hadn't wanted to hurt him like that.

Then Monica went back to her house and started packing her clothes, Phoebe got there first since she didn't work and Rachel would when she got back from work.

Phoebe didn't bring up any conversation regarding Monica's decision or her feelings or mention Richard, they really had little to talk about. When Rachel arrived, she entertained them with stories about her from her office, and told them that Joey had arrived at her house that morning.

Monica was surprised, "He flew in from Los Angeles...?

"Yes, he found out and came to support Chandler, you know that he is a brother to him"

"Well, I'm his friend and he could have called me at least..."

Phoebe stared at her and said, "Mon, you're the one who's happy because you're starting to live your dream, so you don't need Joey, I even think … Joey doesn't want to see you happy."

"He came to support the friend who is having a hell of a time..." "And the same goes for your brother" "You have Richard; you don't need them..."

"See, you are judging and condemning me for being happy" said Monica with anger.

"No Mon, we don't judge you, we're here to help you, so you can go with the man you love... but you can't be mad that we care more about Chandler now, he's the one who needs us to support him now..."

Monica was silent and continued packing with an annoyed gesture.

But deep down, her stomach felt hard, she knew that her friends were right, she had hurt him so much, she knew that deceit, abandonment, betrayal had marked Chandler's life since childhood, and now she had deceived him. …. he loved her and trusted her, and she loved him too, they both had a happy and fulfilling life until Richard appeared and moved the whole world from her. She couldn't help but feel guilty, even though she never admitted it to her friends. They were right, he was the one who was going to need them all.-

Her friends helped her load the things into the car, since she was going to spend the night at Richard's house.

Chandler went with Joey to the hospital, they checked him out, they did tests, an EKG, X-rays.

Finally, they told him that his blood pressure was a bit high, therefore he had to stop consuming salt, and they gave him a piece of paper indicating all the species that he could consume to replace salt. He obviously had to forget about junk food, eat salads, lean meats, fruits. No alcohol or cigarettes

They told him that he had to make an appointment with a doctor to indicate more specific studies and temporarily prescribed some pills to calm the stomach pain, and other light ones to help him relax and sleep. -

Right there they requested the doctor's appointment that he would have to go to on Friday afternoon of the next week.

Joey was relieved to see that he had at least helped his friend take care of his physical health, but he didn't know how to deal with his friend's anguish.

Joey stayed until Sunday, and Rachel and Phoebe finished helping Monica move her things.

On Saturday afternoon Monica left the house for good, she had taken her clothes, some photos, and some kitchen appliances that she knew Chandler wasn't going to use. The rest knew that Chandler was sending it to storage, so she would have time in the future to decide what to do with it.

On Sunday at Ross's house, they all gathered for a barbecue to say goodbye to Joey and try to distract Chandler, who made Joey smile with his dating stories.