Hello! I'm back! I know I can be slow to update, so, when I first started to write this story, I wanted to publish it only when I had all the chapters done. But I couldn't wait, and I think that hearing your feedback also helps me write. So, I still don't have all the chapters done, but most of them are already moving forward. So, I will update the first chapters maybe once a week, which I hope is enough time for me to work on the remaining ones. I hope you enjoy this story!
"Oh, shit!" Monica whispered, looking at the two red lines on the pregnancy test.
She couldn't say she wasn't happy. After all, she dreamed about having a baby ever since she could remember. But at the same time, seeing those two lines also scared her.
Under different circumstances, Monica would be thrilled about her newly-discovered pregnancy. But she hadn't pictured it like this. She had always painted the picture of the perfect happy family and the white-picket fence house: Monica, her good-looking husband, and a baby. Or two. Or three… She never imagined she would be a single mother at the age of 27.
Tears started to run down her face as a million questions and doubts raced through her mind. But one question persisted over the others: What would she tell her friends? And most important, what would she tell Him?
Flashback – Around 2 months earlier
"Look, I can fly!" A drunken Chandler exclaimed after jumping from the couch and running to the drinks table to take another Jell-O shot.
"You've seen that, Mon?" He asked, now talking directly to Monica.
Monica looked at him and took the other Jell-O shot he was about to take from his hands. She didn't remember ever seeing Chandler that drunk. At least not that she could recall.
"Okay, mister. You've already had too much to drink. You need some fresh air," She said to her friend, dragging him by the hand to the hallway.
Once outside apartment 19, they sat in the small step between the two apartments.
"Wait here, I'll be right back," Monica said, entering the crowded apartment. Soon, she emerged back outside, holding a water bottle.
"Here, take this," She said, handing the bottle to Chandler. Her best friend did as she ordered and drank half of it in one gulp.
Then, he took the cap, and Monica couldn't help but let out a small giggle at the sight of Chandler trying, unsuccessfully, to screw it back on the bottle. She took the bottle from his hands and did the task for him.
"You're really drunk, uhn?" Monica pointed, messing up with Chandler.
"You're so fucking hot, Mon," Her friend blurted out.
"What?" Monica asked, laughing at his friend's drunken state. It wasn't like he hadn't called her hot and beautiful several times in the past, so she assumed he was just drunk and saying random nonsense.
"No. I mean it. You're the most beautiful woman I've met," Chandler repeated, looking intensely at Monica.
"What…What are you doing?" Monica asked when Chandler held her closer to him.
But she had no time to get an answer. Right after her question, Chandler's lips were on her own. Soft, warm, and delicious. Who knew her best friend was such a good kisser?
Monica could taste the vodka and the sweetness of the gelatinous dessert on Chandler's lips, and, for a second, her brain told her to stop. But she couldn't. A magnetic force pulled her closer to him, and she opened her mouth, allowing him to deepen the kiss. It was sloppy, as a kiss with a drunk person would be expected to be, but it didn't make it less enjoyable.
Eventually, they both ran out of air and broke apart. Monica studied Chandler's face and saw he was as astonished as she was. She was ready to lean down and kiss him again, but the alarms started to ring in her head.
"We should go back inside. Don't want anyone to see us like this and get the wrong impression," Monica declared, extending her hand for Chandler to hold while trying to get up.
Chandler accepted her help, and they both headed inside. And as soon as they stepped inside, he was his drunk self again, running around and carelessly dancing to the music that blasted through the stereo. But Monica wasn't back to normal. It had been just a drunk kiss. They had drunkenly kissed before - although it had never been like that. So why couldn't she take it out of her mind? She headed to the drinks table, hoping some alcohol would take her thoughts away.
Eventually, Joey's birthday party ended, and everyone left. Everyone except Joey, who had gone to sleep as soon as the party was over, Chandler because he lived in the apartment, and Monica, who had stayed to help clean everything since her best friend was in no state to do it.
"Everything seems to be in order. I'm leaving," Monica announced after cleaning the last plate in the sink.
"Don't leave yet! I don't want to be here alone," Chandler mumbled drunkenly.
Usually, Monica wouldn't deny his request, but she also felt tired and slightly drunk.
"I'm tired, Chandler. Besides, you're drunk. You should go to bed and get some rest," Monica said, softly laughing at her best friend's attempt to stand up.
"Fine. But I might need some help with that," Chandler agreed.
So, Monica helped Chandler get into his bed. Then, she went to the kitchen to grab him some aspirins and a glass of water and returned to his bedroom to place the items on his nightstand. Finally, she stood up and was ready to leave when his voice caught her attention.
"Thank you, Mon."
"You're welcome," she answered softly.
She prepared to turn to leave again, but his wrist wrapped around her arm.
"What I'm gonna do when you're married and have someone else to care about?" He asked, a hint of his self-doubts surfacing.
"What do you mean, honey? I will always care about you. And where did that question come from? I'm not close to getting married; I don't even have a boyfriend," Monica answered, slightly confused.
"I don't know. I feel lonely. Joey is always on dates with chicks he asks out two seconds after meeting them, and I'm always here, alone and with only you to take care of me. I wonder if it will be like this forever," Chandler answered, letting Monica see the vulnerability he usually hid from everyone else.
"Oh, Chandler, sweetie. You won't be alone forever. Someday, you will find a girl that will love you." Monica answered tenderly, trying to comfort her friend as he had done with her several times before.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because I know you. I know how caring, funny, and loyal you can be. And one day, another girl will see that too," Monica answered confidently. It was not a secret she thought those things about her best friend. It was not unusual for them to say those things to each other. What was unusual was his reaction to her statement. Because instead of returning it, Chandler grabbed Monica and kissed her for the second time that night.
And even stranger was the fact that she returned the kiss. Monica had never had those kinds of thoughts about her best friend. Well, not since all those years ago, but she had put those feelings in the past. However, the kiss they'd shared earlier in the hallway had awakened those long-repressed feelings. Chandler might have been drunk, but he knew how to caress her lips with his own perfectly.
"What are you doing?" Monica asked after the kiss ended, less mad than she should be.
"I'm sorry. I don't know. I'm a lot drunker than I thought," He apologized.
"It's okay. Just forget about it," Monica said, even though she knew she wouldn't.
And for the third time before she could leave, Chandler's voice broke the silence in the room.
"You know… kissing you is kinda nice …," he started, his words a mix of sincerity and mumbling due to the alcohol. "Why don't you spend the night here?"
Monica didn't know what to say. Was he asking what she thought he was asking?
"Why would you want me to spend the night?" She asked apprehensively.
"So we could do it some more? Besides, the kiss was great. Who knows what other things could be great…"
Monica wanted to say no. Something inside her head was screaming that it would be a terrible idea. Instead, she found herself wordless.
"It doesn't have to mean anything. We're drunk and lonely. I don't have a girlfriend, and you don't have a boyfriend. We could both use physical intimacy. It would be just that. Two friends using each other for physical needs," Chandler almost begged.
Suddenly, his request seemed to be more appellative. He was right. If the kisses had been so good, how would he make Monica feel if they continued further? She hadn't had a boyfriend recently and could use the physical intimacy…
"Just sex, uhn?" She asked with a slight smirk.
"Just tonight. One time thing, and we don't have to talk about it ever again," Chandler confirmed.
It was enough for her. If she hadn't been drunk, it would have ended completely differently. But Monica let the alcohol that ran through her body cloud her judgment and, the next second, pressed her lips on his in a silent agreement.
Only if she knew how her life was about to change. Or how much she would regret their agreement of being just sex for one night.
End of flashback
It all started the morning after. The night they'd spent together had been incredible, better than Monica had expected. But for Chandler, it hadn't been so memorable. After all, all he could talk about was about Joey's sister, whom he'd apparently also kissed in the storage room. For a moment, Monica thought he was joking and even played along, talking about their kiss in front of everyone else. But Chandler was serious and even tried to go and meet the sister, saying he could try a relationship with her. The whole situation felt like a knife cutting through Monica's heart. If Chandler wanted to pretend their night had never happened, she, too, could play along and pretend it didn't mean anything.
Between everything, two months passed by, and they'd never talked about it. And now, Monica was about to have his child in a few months. How would she tell him that?