{Scene 1 :  Central Perk, evening}

Chandler is sitting on the couch, facing the entrance to the coffee shop.  “Chandler, would you relax?  She’s only fifteen minutes late.”  Monica said calmly, flipping through her newspaper.

Chandler sighed and sat back down.  “I know, but... I’m just nervous.”

Ross entered the cafe and sank into the chair.  “Hey... so, she’s not here yet?  Wasn’t she supposed to be here at nine?”  He looks at his watch.  “What if something happened?  It’s a long drive from California to here, what if she’s stranded?  What if there was an accident...”

“ROSS!!!”  Everyone shouts.

Chandler jumps up.  “Honey, she’s fine, he’s just...”  Rachel starts.

Chandler turns towards Gunther.  “Gunther, Gunther phone... gimme the phone, gimme the phone, gimme the phone!”  Chandler runs over to the counter just as Gunther chunks the phone to where Chandler had previously been standing.  It flew over his shoulder.  He spun around and bent to pick it up and noticed Ross trying to cover up a giggle.  “Why are you laughing?  Why why why are you laughing?”

Ross lets out the giggle finally.  “She’s fine man, she’s parking her car.”

Chandler tilts his head and laughs sarcastically, chunking the phone at Ross’ head.  Ross laughs as he ducks out of the way.  “Hey, Gunther, go long!”  He shouts, chunking the phone at Gunther, who catches it without even looking up.  Ross makes and impressed face.  “Nice catch.”

“Thanks dinosaur man.”  Gunther mumbles.

“What?”  Ross asks.

“Um, more coffee?”  Ross shakes his head.  “OK then...”

Destiny pushes through the door and smiles widely as she sees Chandler standing to face her.  “Hey, you.”  She says.

He walks up to her and hugs her.  “Hey yourself.  How was your drive?”

“It was fine... ya know?”  She smiles at Chandler and pats his arm, moving around him.  “All this hugging stuff... I could definately get used to it.”

Phoebe stood and hugged Destiny, surprising her.  “Well, then get used to it roomie, cause we’re all kindsa huggy people.”

Next she recieves a hug from Rachel, and Monica.  Joey stands to hug her, but Chandler stops him with his arm.  “Not so fast there huggy man...”

Destiny laughs and shoves Chandler’s arm away.  She opens her arms and hugs Joey.  Joey’s hand starts to wonder lower.  “You go below the belt, *I* go below the belt... and I guarantee you’re not going to like it.”

Chandler smirks.  “That a girl.”

She sits on the couch next to Monica, who has discarded the paper.  “So, tell me, what’s the place look like?”  She asks Monica.

“Oh, it’s really cute... and clean.”  She laughs.  “It’s so clean, you could eat food off the floor!”

Rachel rolls her eyes.  “It’s this like.... little log cabin thing.  It’s really cute.  Phoebs and I decorated it already, but if you wanna change anything... and we left your room completely up for grabs...”

“Thanks.”  Destiny says, yawning.

“Oh, ooh, that reminds me.  Um, we weren’t sure if we should just get you a bed, or if you wanted to pick it out, so tonight you can sleep on my old bed and then tomorrow we can go shopping.”  Phoebe tells her.

Destiny nods, her eyes slowly closing.  “Sounds fine.”

“Aw, look at her.  She’s falling asleep sitting up.”  Chandler says, putting an arm around her.  “Why don’t you go home with Phoebs and Rach, and we can hang out tomorrow?”

She looks up at Chandler.  “You don’t mind?  Cause, yeah, I’m exhausted.”

He shook his head and kissed her on the forehead.  “Course not, go ahead.”

She smiled.  “You’re the best brother I ever had...”  She joked.

He laughed and ruffled her hair.  “I’m the only brother you ever had.”
 

{Scene 2 : The cabin, the next morning}

“Morning roomie.”  Destiny said to Rachel as Rachel stumbled out of her room.

“Mrnin.”  She mumbled, her eyes barely open.  She sniffed and her eyes perked up a little.  “You cookin?”

“Yup.”  She said, pointing around her.  “Eggs with swiss cheese, bacon, and toast.”

Rachel smiled and sat at the table.  Destiny picked up a coffee cup and brought it to her.  She poured her a cup of coffee and Rachel stared at her, dumbfounded.  “My God, I’ve got the best roommate!”

Destiny smiled.  “Well, I’m in a good mood.. plus, ya know, I owe you guys so much...”

Phoebe walked in, her hair piled on top of her head, wearing a striped footed nightie.  “Morni... oh my God, breakfast!”  She kissed Destiny as she went to grab herself a cup of coffee.  “Oh my god, you’re the best.”

“As I was saying, I owe you guys so much for letting me barge in like this...”

“Oh, please Honey, you’re not barging in.  It was way past time for me and Phoebs to move out of the guys apartments and you gave us the boost we needed.  WE owe YOU!”  Rachel said, starting to wake up.

“Plus, cause this is gonna be SO much fun.  It’ll be like... the three musketeers.. only girls.”  Phoebe says, nodding excitedly.  “And and we can have little pajama parties, and it’s just gonna be so fun to live with an eighteen year old!”

“I’ve never actually HAD a pajama party... well, unless you count me seeing Emelio in briefs.”  Destiny said, turning back to the stove.

Rachel and Phoebe looked at each other.  “What was THAT like?”

Destiny smirked.  “Not too bad... the man’s got a nice bod.  It’s really too bad he’s gay.  But, you know, he’s just too perfect to be straight anyway.  He’s sweet, he’s sensitive, he’s a good listener.  He’s great.”  She smiled.  “He’s more like a father than...”  Her smile fades.  “Anyway, sorry.”

“Sorry?  For what?  Honey, if you wanna talk, you know, you can talk to us.”  Rachel says.

“No, well.. it’s just, a little too deep a little too soon.  I was gonna say he was more of a father to me in the sixth months he’s been with Dad than my Dad was my whole life.”

Phoebe nods.  “Okay... um, you share one detail of your life with us, we tell you one of ours.  Kay?”

Destiny pours the eggs onto three plates, puts the bacon on it, and tosses the bread, carrying all three plates over.  “Okay... sounds like an interesting way to get to know each other.  That was my one thing.”

Phoebe nods.  “I never met my father til I was 26.”

Rachel racks her brain.  “Does it have to be about fathers?  Cause, the only thing my father did was spoil me.”

Destiny laughs.  “Then that’s your one thing.”

“Okay, that’s my one thing.  My Dad spoils me.”

“But, does it have to be about fathers?”  Destiny asks.  “Cause, I don’t think it should be limited to fathers.”

“Kay, then, it’s not.”  Phoebe says, taking a bite of egg.  “Oh... oh, I never thought I would say this, but WOW, this is the best egg I ever had... oh, and I don’t eat meat, so who wants my bacon?”  Destiny and Rachel both take one strip.  “Oh, well, I went out of turn, but that’s my one thing.

Rachel chew her eggs.  “Really, good Des... Okay, I left my fiance at the alter cause I realized I didn’t love him.”

“Okay... um... oh, I spent my fifth birthday party at a gay strip club cause Dad couldn’t get away.”

Phoebe and Rachel both drop their forks.  “Oh my God!”  They both shout.

“Okay, my mom killed herself when I was little.”  Phoebe said.

“Um... uh... I once dated a guy from Italy who didn’t speak English.”

“Oooh.  Nice!”  Destiny said, impressed.  “I once dated a guy that later dated my Dad.”

“Talk about your bad mental pictures huh?”  Phoebe said.  “Um, I know what Chandler feels like with this whole you thing, cause I just found out I had a brother three years ago.”

“Really?  How... how IS Chandler handling this who ME thing as you put it?”  Destiny asked, concerned.

“Well, ya know, of course he was wierded out at first, cause it was all like ‘Woah, I have a sister!’... but now, he’s excited.  Really, Des, he’s really happy.”  Rachel reassured her, putting her hand ontop of Destiny’s.  “By the way, do you mind us callin’ you Des?  Cause, we call Phoebe Phoebs, and Monica Mon... I mean, do you mind us givin you a nickname?”

“No, no it’s fine.  It might... It may take me a while to call you guys nicknames, but I don’t mind... call me whatever.  Call me Blondie, I don’t care.”

“Ok... ok, Phoebs had her one thing... mine is... OH, I used to have this really horrible nose, but then I got it fixed, see!”  Rachel said, tilting her head up.

“Nope, can’t tell.”  Destiny said, chomping on her bacon slowly.  “Lets see... one fact... um, I got an article published in my town’s underground newspaper.”

“Wow!  About what?”  Rachel asked.

“Well, it was a year ago, and it was about how people were really stressing way too much about Y2K.  It got a lot of reviews, and they wanted me to be a columnist till they found out I was only seventeen.”

“Wow... you should tell that one to Chandler.  He’d be impressed.”  Phoebe laments.  “Ok... the person who I thought was my mom... the one that killed herself, was actually NOT my mom, but my mom’s best friend.  My Mom lives on a beach somewhere, and her name’s Phoebe too.”

“Uh... that should count for like... five things.  Wow Phoebe, you’ve led a... I think you might have led as wierd a life as me!”  Destiny proclaims.  “That’s hard to do!”

Rachel scrunches up her nose.  “I don’t know, it’s pretty hard to top Phoebs.  Me, see me, I’m boring...”  She thinks about it.  “Okay.. one thing... I had sex my freshman year of college with a boy on my parents bed.”

“Oh, I had sex with one of Monica’s exes one hour after they broke up.”  Phoebe said triumphantly, as if she were trying to beat Phoebe.

“Ok... see, I’ve never had sex, so that’s my thing.”  Destiny said, looking a little embarrassed.

“No, that’s great.  You’re a virgin.”  Rachel said.  “I wish I’da waited longer than I did.  I did it way too soon.  It’s good to wait... good for you.”

“I have a twin.  Her name’s Ursula and I hate her.”  Phoebe said.  “Well, I don’t hate her... but pretty much as close to hate as you can get without hating someone.”

Destiny sits back.  “Kay, so how many bad things HAVE happened to you?”

Phoebe laughs.  “Too many.”

“I gather that.”  She takes a deep breath.  “Well, Phoebs, since you’ve shared like, three really dark things, I guess I’ll share mine...”  She looks at them nervously.  “I guess you should know anyway cause you’re gonna be living with me, and it’s kinda an ongoing thing...”

“What?”  Rachel asks, covering her hand with hers.  “What is it honey?”

“Um... okay, when I was sixteen I got... oh boy, I got addicted to heroine.”

“Woah.”  Phoebe stated.

“Yeah... um, I, ya know, quit, finally about a year ago... but it’s still hard sometimes... I mean, when things get hard, I have urges to... but I haven’t...so... um, there ya go...”  She stands up.  “More eggs anyone?”  She laughs nervously.

“Hey, don’t be nervous.  You’re scared that we’re gonna think you’re some kinda freak cause of that right?”  Phoebe asked.  Destiny nods.  “No... no, of course we don’t, right Rach?”

Rachel immediately shakes her head.  “No way honey.  Look, if things get tough, you come to us.  We can help you.”

“That not something we would freak about.  Actually, there’s not much we would freak about, but that’s something, ya know, evil in your past... we all have that.  For me it’s my Mom.  For Chandler it’s his Dad... ya’ll... Dad... um and I guess for you it’s your Dad too, cause I’m sure that had something to do with you getting into that in the first place... But anyway, stop me anytime before I stick my foot in my mouth...”  Phoebe covers her face.

Rachel laughs slightly and stands to hug Destiny.  “What Phoebe is saying” she says as she leans back and tucks Destiny’s hair behind her ears.  “Is that we all have our skeletons in our closets.  They may be different... they may be completely different, but we aren’t here to judge you... we’re here to be your friend.  And we are your friends... like it or not.”  She smiles.

Destiny smiles back.  “Thanks.... I’m glad, cause.. ya’ll seem like the best friends.  And I’m... I’m honored to be in the group.”

Phoebe stood and hugged Destiny.  “You have been dubbed the newest edition, Destiny Bing.  Welcome to our circle of friendship, the happiest place on earth.”
 

{Scene 3 :  A restaurant next to Chandler’s work, lunch time}

Chandler walks in and sits across from Destiny.  “Sorry I’m late, got hung up.”

She gives him a mock stern face.  “Five minutes mister... you are SO in trouble.”

He laughs.  “So, how was your first night at your new place?”

She smiles.  “Great.  I went right to sleep, and this morning I cooked the girls breakfast and we bonded.”  She leans across the table.  “Ya know, they really are great.  They really make me feel at home.”

“You ARE at home, Des.”  He says.  “This is your home now, with me and the gang.”

She laughs.  “Me and the gang... I never had a gang... it was pretty much just me... and then me and Mark.”

He looks at her.  “Yeah?  Well, that’ll change.  I was a loner in school.  It’s pretty much when I met Ross in college that I started having friends... real friends, friends I can ya know, trust and talk to.”

“It’s pretty cool, ya know?  Me coming to New York to a whole set of friends just welcoming me with open arms.  It’s really nice.  Thank you.”

Chandler smiled.  “Don’t thank me...”

“Oh, come on, you didn’t tell them to be nice to me?”

“I didn’t have to!  They’re doing that all on their own.”  They pause as the waiter takes their order.  “So, you had a nice morning with Phoebs and Rach?”

She nods, taking a sip of her Coke.  “Yeah, we played this game, like, tell me yours I’ll tell you mine... Gees, what a life Phoebe has had!”

Chandler nods.  “Yeah... she’s got a LOT of stories.”

“So...”  She says, fiddling with her napkin.  “What do you do?”

He wrinkles his nose.  “Okay, my job sucks.  I’m a processing supervisor.... basically, I take numbers and rearrange them.”  He laughs.  “It’s the most boring job in America.”

She shrugs.  “Pays good?”  He nods.  “Keep ya late?”  He shakes his head no.  “Make ya stressed out?”

“Not so much.”

She smiles.  “Sounds fine to me!”

He laughs.  “So... so, what did you do back home?”

She rolls her eyes.  “Sit there.”

He laughs.  “No, really, I’m interested.”

She smirks.  “No... really... sit there.”  She sighs.  “After I quit... ya know, sticking needles in my arms, it was pretty much sit at home and stare at the wall time for me.  I wrote alot, and sometimes Mark and me would go to a movie... but all of my former ‘friends’ were ya know, still into the whole ‘bad’ scene, so I dropped all of them.”

Chandler bites his lip.  “And Mark?  Was he into the bad scene?”

She nods.  “Yeah... but.... he cut down, and never around me.”  She looks at the table.  “He was never about needles though... he’s the one who helped me stop... but he smoked and drank and stuff... and I mean, I started out drinking, and one thing led to another... And I don’t want to be an alcoholic like Dad... or a drug aholic... or really, any kind of -aholic.”

Chandler eyes his beer guiltily.  “Ya know.. um, I’m sorry, I didn’t think about it... I could just get rid of this...”

She laughs and waves it off.  “It’s fine, Chandler.  You’re thirty, ya know?  You can drink... you just can’t let ME drink.”

“You sure?  Cause I don’t mind, I’ll just get a soda or some...”

“Stop it.  I’m fine!”  She reassured him.  “So... you’re engaged, what’s that like?”

He smiled.  “It wonderful... it’s great.  Monica is the most beautiful, sweetest woman on the face of the.....”  He laughs.  “Listen to me... did I  mention my last name was Hallmark?”

She raises her eyebrows.  “Well, then there’s been some mistake... cause my last name’s Bing...”

He laughs.  “I love being engaged.  Ten years ago I thought I’d never be happy.  I thought... I’m gonna die alone.”  He laughs again.  “I even thought about being snake man.”

She raises one eyebrow.  “And snake man would be... what?  A metaphor?”

“You know the old stereo type ‘the cat lady’?  Stay away from old Cat lady... she’s lonely, she’s bitter... she’s crazy... any idea what I’m talking about?”  she nods.  “Well, I don’t like cats... but I do like snakes... so, I was going to be...”

“Crazy snake man... gotcha.”  She laughs.  “You’re wierd.”

He acts like he has a tick in his eye and jerks his head to one side.  “I am not wierd, what makes you think I’m wierd...”

She starts to laugh even harder.  “You just reminded me of him.”

He smiles.  “Of who?”

“Dad.”

He stops smiling.  “Really?”

She frowns.  “He has some good points.  Like I said, he’s funny.  We had some good moments... especially recently.  Sometimes, he’d take me out to dinner.  And... he’d take me on vacations.  He’s not ALL bad.”

He sits up straighter.  “I’m sorry.  I don’t even.... I hardly know him...”

“No, you have a right to be angry with him... I was just saying that he has his good parts too.”  She smiles.  “When it was getting really bad back there with the drugs, that’s when he had first started going out with Emilio... well, anyway, he found out and he was... he was really great about it.  He...  he said he loved me, and he was so sorry for pushing me to this point, and that he shoulda been there for me.  He... he forked over the money to put me through rehab, and he got me my school assigments, and worked it out where I could still do the whole school thing while I was there... he, he came through finally.”  She blinks.  “And look at me, getting all misty over lunch.”  Chandler reaches his hand over and covers hers.  She looks into his eyes and smiles.  “I wish I coulda have known you.”

He frowns.  “Me too... these past two weeks I’ve been wondering how different our lives, both of our lives, woulda been if I’da known about you.”  He takes his hand away as the waiter comes over with their meals.  “Like... if it would have been easier to have relationships with women... cause that was real hard for me... my Mom, she wasn’t hardly ever there either.  Dad was gone, but Mom was... she was preoccupied with writing her porno novels and chasing after men half her age.  I always... wished that there had been someone else... who knew what it was like to grow up like that.”

“Yeah, like, if I’d have had someone to talk to, someone who actually cared and listened to me... if maybe I wouldn’t have turned to drugs.  I mean, Dad ignoring me still would have hurt, but...”

“Maybe not as much.”  He finished.  “I’m sorry... I should have tried harder... I should have tried to keep in touch with him... I shoulda found him... I shoulda...”

“Coulda, shoulda, woulda... it’s way too late for those.”  she said, stopping his guilty tirade.  “I could do the same thing.  I knew you exhisted.  I knew your name.  I knew how to find you... it took me five minutes once I’d made up my mind to find you, with the internet and everything.”  She shook her head.  “But... we grew up the way we did and there’s no changing that now.  There’s only new stuff.  Only the future.”

He looked at her, fascinated.  “You’re so mature.”  He shook his head.  “I can’t believe you’re only eighteen.”

“I am.”  She said, reverting back to a light mood.  “Wanna see my liscence?”

“That’s okay... I beleive you.”  He said, starting to dig into his Lasagna.

“So...”  She asks after a few minutes.  “What’s the deal with Joey?”

Chandler looks up.  “What deal?”

She laughs.  “Is it me, or has he been hitting on me?”

Chandler laughs.  “It’s not just you.  Joey’s a nympho.... uh, he likes women alot...”

“No, I don’t know what nymphomaniac is!”  She jokes as he blushes.  “He’s pretty cute.”

Chandler eyes her.  “Oh... oh... you uh... you think he’s cute?”

She looks at him seriously.  “I bet he’s good in bed.”

Chandler chokes on his bite of Lasagna.  “Ow, ow hot hot!”

She cracks up laughing.  “Did that freak you out?”

He looks at her crazy.  “No.. no not at all!”

She shakes her head.  “Chandler... he’s ten years older than me...”

“Twelve.”

“Twelve years older than me.... I’m not interested.   Four years is my limit, kay?”  She laughs.

He smiles, relieved.  “Good... I’m so glad you said that.”

“Course.... if I’m so mature, maybe he’s not really all that much older than me....”

“No... no, no, not THAT mature.... you’re not mature at all really,  no I was just being polite.... you’re actually immature...”

She laughs.  “Do you always freak out like this?”

He laughs, hanging his head.  “Yeah, yeah pretty much.”

“So...”  She starts, taking a bite of her spaghetti.  “So after ten years, how did you and Monica finally get together?”

He smiles a little shyly.  “Well... ah... it just sorta...”

“Oh... you were drunk.”

He laughs.  “No... no... we weren’t drunk.”  He closes his eyes.  “Okay, so Ross was getting married for the second time and Monica’s mom was kinda getting on her case.. ya know, you’re never gonna get married, you’re never gonna have kids... blah blah blah...”

Destiny shakes her head.  “What an awful thing to say!”

Chandler nods.  “Yeah, and Mon was getting depressed.  I wasn’t exactly in the best of moods either... and well, while I was comforting her.... I’ll just say one thing led to another.”  He laughs.  “It was kind of an.... ODD beginning... but I love her.  I guess I always have, I just never admitted it to myself.”

She nods.  “Have you guys always known each other?  I mean, you guys are so close it seems like.”

“We are.”  He agrees.  “See, me and Ross went to college together.  We just instantly clicked... we even started a band together...”

“You can play?  Or sing?”  Destiny asked, leaning forward, sipping her coke.

“Uh... actually... I can’t do either... we started a band... I didn’t say we WENT anywhere with it.”  They both laugh.  “I guess I have a descent voice, but... not good enough to actually sing in public.  Anyway, so Monica is Ross’ sister, and that’s how we met.  Um... Rachel was Mon’s best friend in highschool, so we met once or twice before I got the apartment I had been living in before I moved in with Monica.  Let’s see... Monica and I lived across the hall from each other... I used to live in Joey’s apartment with him... I’m getting ahead of myself.”  He laughs.  “Okay... so I lived across from Monica with this guy Kip... but he got married and moved out.  So then I found Joey, and... and Rachel ran out on Barry at the wedding and she moved in with Monica... and then I fell in love with Monica, moved in with her, Rachel moved out and lived with Phoebs, but then Phoebe’s house caught on fire, and Rachel moved in with Joey, Phoebe with us... and I think we’re current now... Yeah, we are.”  He takes a deep breath and squints at Destiny.  “That make any sense?”

Destiny slowly licks her lips.  “Um...”  Suddenly she cracks up laughing.  “That sounds like a tv show!”  She continues to laugh, her blue eyes crinkled up.

Chandler starts to laugh and notices they laugh the same way.  Their eyes wrinkle up the same way, the nose wrinkles up the same way, and her laugh was as contagious as he had been told his was.  “I guess so... but it’s MY tv show.”

She takes a deep breath and moves a cupped hand from one side to the other.  “This week, on Bing’s World.... the sister moves to town and in with his best friends... will it work?  Can they really accept this intruder?  Continue to watch for all the aswers to these questions and many more... On Bing’s World!”

Chandler laughs even harder.  “Bing’s World... I like that... a whole WORLD named after me!”