"FRIENDS"
BY CREASSYA
 

This takes place after The Truth Hurts. Rick made a pass at Monica. Before she got the chance to tell Rachel, Rick lied about coming on to her. He said that Monica made a pass at him. Rachel was furious with Monica and told her that she didn't want anything else to do with her. She also distanced herself from Phoebe. A year has passed, and they haven't seen or heard from Rachel. It's now the beginning of fifth season. Let's see what happens.

It's 11 pm and Chandler is asleep on his couch until he hears a knock at the door. He gets up slowly and answers the door.

"Hi sweetie."

"Hi." He said going back over to the couch.

"Did I wake you?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay." He said rubbing his eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I have something for you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I want you to have it." He said reaching into his pocket.

Monica frowned up her face, wondering what he could be pulling from his pocket to give to her.

"What is it?"

"This." He said putting a key in her hand.

"A key?"

"It's a key to this apartment."

"Wow. I don't know what to say." She said looking at him in amazement.

"You don't have to say anything. Just use it." He said smiling.

"This is kind of a big step. Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I am."

"Thank you Chandler."

"No problem."

Monica smiled to herself. Chandler had come a long way from when he was so afraid of commitment. They had been together for a little over a year now. He never ceased to amaze her. Him giving her a key, meant that he was taking another big step towards facing his fear of commitment, and she was proud of him. He mentioned to her a number of times that her patience calmed the fears inside him. She expected him to be a little childish about their relationship from time to time, but he showed her that even though he was afraid of intimacy and closeness, he would stand and face it, and try to be the best boyfriend possible.

Chandler was sitting at a table at the restaurant where Monica works. He was there a little early to pick her up. The restaurant was closed, and Monica had some things to do before she had to leave. Just as Monica walked out of the kitchen, and into the restaurant area, a guy walked up to Chandler.

"Dude, is she hot or what?"

"Yeah, she is ." Chandler said smiling.

"She's coming over. And she's looking right at you. Looks like you might get lucky tonight." He said smiling at Chandler.

"I sure hope so."

Chandler stood up as Monica walked over to him. When she approached him, she kissed him for a few seconds leaving Joey staring with his mouth open.

"Dude, how'd you do that? I've never had a woman I didn't know come up to me and kiss me."

Monica and Chandler looked at him strangely and then back at each other.

"He's my boyfriend." Monica said looking back at Joey.

"Oh, I didn't know that." Joey said looking at them embarrassed.

Chandler smile to himself, and put his arm around Monica.

"So, Chandler, who's your friend?"

"Yeah, who are you?" Chandler asked.

"My name's Joey. I'll be working here. I talked to the manager, John. He told me to come in before closing to show me around."

"Oh. Well, he's in the kitchen in the back."

"Thanks."

Joey headed towards the kitchen as Chandler and Monica left the restaurant. They got into Chandler's new Q 5 infinity and headed to Monica's apartment.

A few days later, Joey approached Monica in the kitchen.

"Hi, Monica."

"Hi."

"Listen, I just want to apologize for the way I acted the other day."

"It's all right. Don't worry about it."

"Cool."

"Your boyfriend wasn't mad was he?"

"No."

"Good. Well, I have to get back to my tables. There's a table full of girls out there." Joey said smiling.

"Well, go get em." Monica said.

"I will. At least a couple of them anyway."

When Joey left the kitchen, Monica shook her head and smiled. She usually didn't like the type of guy who chased after women all the time, but there was something sweet and lovable about Joey.

Sunday night, Monica cooked dinner and invited Phoebe, Jimmy, Joey, and Ross over. Chandler helped her set the table before they all arrived. Phoebe and Jimmy were the first to arrive. Joey arrived twenty minutes later, and Monica introduced him to the others. Once they had arrived, everyone was ready to sit down to eat, but Monica wanted to wait for Ross before she served the food.

A half hour later, while they were all sitting in the living room talking, Ross walked in and stood at the door.

"Sorry I'm late guys, but guess who I ran into?"

He opened the door a little wider, and Rachel slowly appeared. She stood in the doorway looking a little unsure. Phoebe got up and went over to her.

"Rachel! I can't believe it."

"Hi guys."

"Hey, how you doin?" Joey said, still sitting on the couch.

Chandler looked at Monica, who was looking at Rachel. Silenced filled the room as Rachel approached the couch.

"Hi Chandler." Rachel said shyly.

"Hi Rach. Long time no see."

"I know. I just moved back here."

"Where did you move to?" Chandler asked.

"I moved with my parents in Florida."

"I have friends that live in Florida. What part do your parents live in?" Chandler asked, making conversation.

"Fort Lauderdale."

"Oh. I've never been there."

"It's really nice."

Monica sat there without a word. She didn't know what to say to Rachel. The room fell silent again. Chandler was about to say something to break the tension, but Rachel spoke instead.

"Monica, Phoebe, can I talk to you guys for a minute?"

"Yeah, sure." Phoebe answered.

The three of them went out onto the terrace to talk. They were all silent for a while until Phoebe spoke up.

"So, what's going on?" Phoebe asked.

"I just wanted to come here and apologize to the two of you for the things that I said, and the way that I acted."

"Why are you apologizing now?" Monica asked.

"When Phoebe came to my house and told me that she noticed the attention Rick had been giving you, I knew that you were telling the truth."

"Then why didn't you tell us this before?" Monica asked.

"Because, I was too embarrassed. I accused you of hitting on Rich to get back at me, instead of asking you what really happened. I noticed how distant he became after that night we all went out to dinner, but I thought that maybe he was a little uncomfortable around everyone. I'm so sorry you guys."

"I understand, kinda." Phoebe said.

"Thanks Phoebe. Monica, when you told me that it was Rick who came on to you, I saw you as my ex-bestfriend who was sleeping with my boyfriend and trying to convince me that he wasn't any good. I guess having that happen to me, affected me a lot more than I realized. It's been really hard for me to trust anybody."

"If we had know each other for a long time, it would have upset me that you approached me the way you did, but I understand where you're coming from. Rachel, I forgive you, but, in the future, please don't just jump to conclusions. Come to me like a friend and don't accuse me of something without asking me about it first."

"Fair enough." She said going over to hug Phoebe and Monica.

"Okay, I don't know about the two of you, but I'm starving." Phoebe said.

Monica and Rachel looked at each other and smiled. When they came back in the apartment, Monica went over to Chandler.

"Is everything all right?" He asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine now."

She kissed him and went into the kitchen. Ten minutes later, they were all sitting at the kitchen table ready to eat. Monica was feeling much better about things now. For a whole year, she had wondered where Rachel had disappeared to. She and Phoebe were surprised to find out that she moved shortly after the incident. Monica wanted to mention that she and Phoebe saw Rick with another woman outside the club, but she decided against it for now. She figured that Rachel had had enough of being ashamed and embarrassed.

When dinner was over and everyone left, Chandler stayed to help Monica wash dishes and to clean up. When they were done cleaning, Monica went into the living room and laid on the couch. Chandler went over and sat on the table in front of her.

"Tired?"

"Yeah."

Chandler leaned over and kissed her. When he pulled back, Monica smiled at him.

"I'm gonna take off now sugar lips." He said grinning.

"Okay."

Chandler got up off the table and stood up. Monica got off the couch to walk him to the door. They kissed again, and then he left. Twenty minutes later, while Monica was changing into her night clothes, the phone rang. She figured that it was Chandler calling, but it was Rachel instead.

"Hey Rach."

"Hey."

"What's up?"

"Well, I was thinking that you, me, and Phoebe should get together and do something next weekend."

"That sounds like a good idea."

"Thanks Monica." Rachel said softly.

"What for?"

"For always being so understanding."

"I'm not always understanding."

"Yes you are. I said some things that I wish I hadn't."

"You were angry."

"That's no excuse."

"Don't be so hard on yourself."

"Well, if I ever get like that again, you can slap me." Rachel said.

"Sounds like a good idea to me."

"Good. Well, I'll talk to you later."

"Okay." Monica said with a smile.

As soon as she hung up with Rachel, Chandler called her.

"Hi sweetie."

"Miss me already?" He asked in a low tone of voice.

"How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess."

"Oh, I just got off the phone with Rachel. We're supposed to hang out this weekend."

"That's good. I'll probably hang out with the guys."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know. Probably a strip club." Chandler said grinning.

"Yeah, I think we'll do that too." Monica teased.

"Oh yeah? Why would you wanna go to a strip club when you can see me strip for free?"

"Well, Mr. Bing, you're never offered to strip for me before."

"Well, I'm offering now."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but on one condition."

"Okay."

"You have to strip for me too." He said smiling.

"No problem. I think I can arrange that." She said smiling and raising her eyebrow mischeively.

"I have to warn you though. Women tend to get very excited when I start taking off my clothes."

"I'll try to control myself, but I can't promise anything."

Two days later, Chandler and Monica were lying on his couch in the living room kissing. Monica was slowly running her hands up and down his back. A couple minutes later, he whispered in her ear.

"Should I strip for you now?"

"How could I say no to that?" Monica said, grinning.

Just as Chandler was about to kiss her, there was a knock at the door.

"Who could that be?" Monica asked.

"Who ever it is will go away." He said, kissing Monica softly on the lips.

When it was clear that the person wasn't just going to go away, Chandler got up to see how was at the door. When he opened the door, a smile spread across his face.

"Chandler!" She said hugging him.

She broke the hug and came into the apartment.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming into town?"

"I didn't know until the last minute."

Monica was sitting on the couch smiling. Cassandra went over to her and gave her a hug.

"It's so good to see you again." Monica said.

"You too. I hear so much about you all the time. Chandler never stops talking about you."

"Good things I hope."

"Of course. I almost fell over when he told me that he gave you a key to his apartment."

"You and me both." Monica whispered.

"Hey, I heard that." He said sitting on the couch next to Monica.

"So, how long are you gonna be in town?" Monica asked.

"Just until Sunday. I had some vacation time that I didn't use, so here I am. I went to see my Mom a few hours ago."

"How's she doing?"

"She's doing fine. She's getting married."

"Sounds like she's doing better than fine." Chandler said.

"Yeah, she's really happy."

"That's good."

"And speaking of happy, you two seem to be doing all right for yourselves." She said smiling.

"We are." Monica said rubbing Chandler's arm.

"Y'know, it just occurred to me that I might of interrupted you two."

"Why would you say that?" Chandler asked.

"Because, Monica's shirt is buttoned up wrong." She said smiling.

"Oh right. I was just about to strip for her and she attacked me."

"Chandler!"

"It's okay Mon, she would tell anybody."

"Your secret's safe with me." Cassandra said.

"See Mon, I told you."

Monica smiled and put her head on his shoulder. Cassandra was happy to see that they were still together. She secretly hoped that Chandler wouldn't get scared and sabotage the relationship, like he'd done other times. She felt that Monica was the best thing that's ever happened to him. She had never seen Chandler this in love with anybody before. It was nice to finally see him in a healthy relationship. Cassandra really liked Monica. She felt that she was good for Chandler. He had confided in her that he was terrified of commitment and he was afraid that he would eventually push Monica away from him. He admitted to Cassandra that even though Monica made it a little easier for him to commit, he was still a little scared and unsure. He told this when they had only been going out for a couple months. Seeing him with Monica over a year later, made her really proud of him.

The next day while Phoebe and Rachel were at the coffeehouse, Monica and Cassandra walked in.

"Hey guys. This is Cassandra, the one I was telling you about."

"Hi." Phoebe and Rachel said.

"So, you're one of Chandler's friends right?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah." She said taking a seat on the couch.

"I heard that you helped her and Chandler get together." Rachel said.

"I would say that."

"She's just being modest. She didn't even know me when I met Chandler, but she came to the hotel I was staying at and explained that how his ex was, and that he liked me. And the rest is history."

"Don't believe her." Cassandra said smiling.

"They're so cute." Rachel said.

"Yeah, I remember when they were just messing around. Chandler was afraid of commitment and Monica wanted to be with him, but she didn't want to rush things with him."

"It seems so long ago." Monica said.

"I was glad when he met Monica. I couldn't stand the other girls he went out with. I guess they didn't realize how sweet and sensitive he is because they were so selfish. This is the happiest I've ever seen him."

"Oh stop." Monica said smiling.

"We were about to go to the movies. You two wanna join us?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah." Monica answered.

When they all came back from the movies, they went over to Chandler's apartment. When they arrived, Joey, Jimmy, and Ross were there playing the playstation. Chandler handed the joy stick to Joey, and walked over to Monica. She put her hands to his face and he kissed her gently on the mouth. The girls went over and sat next to the guys to watch them play speed racer. The guys looked like they were having fun, so the girls asked to play too.

Monica sat on Chandler's lap and watched them. They sat in a chair, while the others sat on the floor and the couch. They were all so into the game that they didn't notice Chandler kissing on Monica's neck off and on. She ran her fingers through his hair and rubbed his leg. She could feel that he was turned on by her slowly running her hand up and down his leg. She smiled when he slid his hand up her shirt and started rubbing her back. While no one was looking, Monica looked into Chandler's eyes and they kissed. After a couple minutes, they had forgotten that everyone else was in the room with them. When they heard things quiet down, they stopped kissing, and noticed that they were all looking at them.

"Get a room." Phoebe said.

Chandler and Monica laughed at the comment. He held her tighter and she laid her head on his shoulder and continued to run her fingers through his hair. He loved when Monica did that. It always put him in a relaxed mood. As the room grew nosy again, the two of them looked at each other and laughed. It felt good being among friends.
 
 
 

THINGS BEGIN TO HAPPEN FOR CHANDLER IN......

WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT