Numbness. That was all that he felt at this very moment. Not even hatred, anger or heartbreak, he just felt detached. What on earth had he done to be treated like this?

In all his life, all he'd ever experienced was worthlessness. His parents had not cared much about him when he was younger and now his second serious relationship had ended because these women were better off without him too, apparently.

He glanced over at the clock that was standing on top of the dingy kitchen counter.

1:47am.

The green digits blurred his vision when he felt the effect of the alcohol wear off slowly. This was definitely no time to be sober. He recalled the events of the previous evening. He'd just wanted to make up with Kathy again, apologising for his beyond childish behaviour when he had basically caught her cheating on him with Nick. Nick, with his rock hard pecs, and his giant man-nipples! He now felt anger rise up inside of him and he knew he definitely needed more alcohol. But when he opened the fridge all he saw was some expired dairy products and leftovers from the Chinese food they had ordered earlier that night. Just when he thought his life couldn't suck anymore he was proven wrong once more.

Chandler glanced at the clock once more. 1:55am. On any other day he would have deemed this time of day as not suitable to make an excursion to the girls' apartment, but right now he was in desperate need for alcohol. Any kind would do, even that disgusting Sangria Joey used to bring back to the apartment from time to time. If he was really lucky Monica might have stored some beers in the fridge.

He put on his plushy Husky slippers and tiptoed across the hall, breathing a sigh of relief when he found the door to apartment 20 still unlocked. However, he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard someone on the couch.

"Chandler?" The voice was soft and sleepy as Monica sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. She was wrapped in a blanket, her hair messy. He had obviously woken her up.

"Hey, Mon. I'm sorry... I didn't want to disturb, it's just..." He paused as she looked at him worriedly. Even though he usually buried his feelings deep inside, with Monica it had always been different. He felt the sudden need to pour it all out, to tell her how he really felt.

"You're not bothering me, Chandler," she said softly as she got up. She had already seen Chandler like that a couple of times. More often than she would have liked to admit. It was that look of desperation, of deep sadness and of feeling like a failure. In fact, she had seen that look on her own face many times. Her heart had gone out to him earlier already when he had come back home drunk as a skunk. He had tried to make a joke out of the situation, just as he always did when he wanted to hide his vulnerability. But she could see right through him; in reality he was just hurting.

He was still rooted to the spot as he glanced over at her, a mixture of surprise and gratefulness visible upon his features. "Uh, thanks. I was actually wondering if you have some beers by any chance?"

Monica smiled apologetically as she shook her head, pulling out a chair for him and offering him to sit down. "No, I don't, sorry."

His face fell as he was contemplating his next move.

"But we do have some leftovers from our girly cocktail night two days ago, if you want to I can make you some Margaritas?" She watched as he sat down, a relieved look on his face now.

"Oh, that'd be great! ... Well, as long as you won't tell the guys that I got hammered on Margaritas at 2am?"

Monica laughed softly and tilted her head as she took in his cute smile. "I promise you that this will stay between you and me."

"Thanks, Mon. You're the best."

"Oh, I know," Monica winked before getting the ingredients ready. If all these undeserving women decided to break Chandler's heart, she would be the one to put it back together again. Piece by piece.

[-]

Monica glanced over at the time when she came back with the fourth batch of Margaritas for Chandler. Meanwhile she had reached batch number three herself. She just couldn't watch Chandler drowning his sorrow in Margarita shots all by himself. She was just glad that Rachel had left earlier that evening to spend the weekend with her parents on their annual sailing trip because she and Chandler weren't exactly being quiet.

"... and then I just slammed the door and left, just ran out of the building and into the next bar, y'know?" Chandler took a gulp of his Margarita and continued his account of the breakup with Kathy earlier.

"Chandler, look..." Monica put her own glass down and touched his shoulder softly, closing what little gap was still left between them on the couch. "She's a stupid b*tch if she treats you that way, you don't deserve her." Her heart went out to him once more when he kept his gaze focused on the glass between his fingers, looking down and avoiding eye contact with her.

"But it was my fault... if I hadn't been so stupid and accused her of sleeping with him in the first place... I mean, if I'd just called her afterwards to clear things up then-"

"Then she probably still would have slept with him, Chandler," Monica continued to look at her heartbroken best friend. "Stop blaming yourself. This was entirely her fault, nobody forced her to make this kind of decision."

Chandler took a deep breath, still not entirely convinced. He was craving more alcohol now, just wanting to forget all of this. Well, all of it except for Monica. He realised that after all that he'd been through, all the breakups, all the childish behaviour and all the joking, it was her who was still sitting on this couch with him tonight. She had never left his side. And all of a sudden, he was incredibly thankful for that.

"So... so you don't think I deserved this?" He asked quietly, finally daring to look into her eyes again.

Monica shook her head in disbelief and pushed some of her dark locks behind her ear, taking his hand into hers. "Chandler, listen to me. You are worth so much more than you give yourself credit for. You are kind and smart, you would do everything for your friends, you are ridiculously funny-"

He raised his eyebrows at that last compliment, realising that she wasn't joking. Out of all the people from his small group, she was the one who would always at least crack a smile at one of his inappropriate jokes.

"- and you deserve someone who loves you just as much as you love them. Because I don't know if you are aware of it, Chandler, but you have so much love to give." He noticed that her voice had turned incredibly calm near the end. She placed her hand on his heart and he could swear he had difficulty to keep his breathing under control.

"Yeah?" he retorted weakly, noticing how good it felt to exchange these subtle touches with Monica. They had always been incredibly close, but somehow this touch felt different than all those they had previously shared.

"Yeah," Monica nodded, their eyes locked, gazes filled with an intensity that neither of them had ever felt before. She watched as he licked his dry lips and all she wanted was to lean in and kiss his pain away.

"D-do you want another drink?" She said instead, pulling her hand away, knowing this probably would not be the best solution to Chandler's heartbreak. But to her surprise, he shook his head, his eyes still focused on her. It felt like he was scanning her, taking in every inch of her already familiar appearance, and yet something was completely different. It was as if he was seeing her in another light.

What came next completely took her by surprise.

"I want you."

She would have written that comment off as another guy's lame attempt to get her into bed. But this was different. First of all, this was Chandler. Her Chandler. The way he said it, his voice so sincere and at the same time on the verge of breaking, told her everything. This Chandler right in front of her was not hiding behind jokes; there were no defenses built around his broken heart, this was his plain truth. This came straight from his heart.

Suddenly his hand was on hers, and her heart was his.

It was like she was pulled to him by some invisible force, like she was the metal whose purpose it was to fuse with the magnet. It was unavoidable.

She felt his lips on hers, coy at first, then probing. A low moan escaped her throat when she realised just how perfect this felt. It should have felt wrong but to her a kiss had never felt so right. The kiss grew more intense, her hand finding that spot on his neck that felt oddly familiar as their lips fused together once more before they reluctantly pulled apart for air.

They both looked at each other, speechless and overwhelmed by the emotions that had been set free. Chandler sincerely hoped that she did not regret this move, that she felt what he had just felt, the incredible connection that he had never experienced with any woman before.

"Wow, that was..." Monica felt her swollen red lips, already missing the feel of his mouth on hers.

"Pretty incredible," Chandler finished for her, relieved when she quickly nodded.

"Oh yeah, definitely. I just... wow, how come we've never done that before?" She let out an embarrassed laugh.

He was quickly aware of the fact that he was no longer drunk. It was like their kiss had activated a switch within him. All of the heartbreak and sadness was suddenly far away and he didn't even remember why he had come over in the first place. All he could think about was Monica and the way she made him feel. Complete. For the first time he felt like his life had a purpose. His purpose was to be with her.

"God, I don't know. I think we should definitely do that again, though," he smiled sheepishly.

Monica let out a sweet laugh and nodded eagerly, looking into his piercing blue eyes that were now full of love. And she didn't need him to tell her that all of this love was just for her. She knew in a heartbeat. This was her forever.

Chandler returned her smile and leaned in to kiss her again.

Just when he had cursed all women to go to hell, she came along and proved him wrong.

This darkness would turn to light. Everything's alright.

Title was inspired by Lifehouse's song "Storm", which I realised just fit this theme perfectly. Just a little something I came up with and wrote down in between tasks.