Inspired by S4E12 - The One with the Embryos.

The Cookie Angel

On his way back to the office after lunch, Chandler passes by Jefferson Market and glances briefly inside before coming to an abrupt stop. Through the window, he sees Rachel, pushing a small cart up the aisle. Her purse is sitting in the front, next to an open box of cookies, of which Rachel is stuffing her face.

Chandler grins as the term "cookie monster" comes to mind. Although, with the way the light is hitting her from behind, and the delicate way she wipes crumbs from her mauve lips, he thinks the word "monster" is hardly fitting. No. Rachel Green, with her soft, dirty blonde hair and her impossibly smooth skin, is more akin to an angel.

Chandler scratches the back of his head, wondering where these thoughts are coming from. But even as he wonders, he can't seem to make himself walk into the store and announce to her his presence. Instead, he just stands there and continues to watch her shop. He notices that for every item she places in the cart, she slips another Devil's Food cookie from the box.

Chandler smiles at the way she juts her hip out when she stops to examine the back of a yogurt container. As she does so, her fingers snake over to the open box and she pulls out another cookie without looking. But just as she takes a bite, a man taps her on the shoulder. Rachel jumps, taken off guard, and spews crumbs all over the man's face, the other half of the cookie flying up into the air.

The man takes a moment to brush off his face before reaching around Rachel to grab a stick of butter, glaring at her as he walks away. Rachel glances around frantically, soft cheeks darkening. She throws the yogurt into her cart and rushes to the check-out counter.

Chandler laughs out loud and steps away from the window to lean against the front of the building. A few minutes later, Rachel emerges with a bag in hand. She turns and spots him immediately, a brilliant smile lighting her perfect face.

Again, Chandler is unprepared for the words his brain is conjuring up to describe her.

"Hey honey, what are you doing here?"

"I was just heading to- oh, here." He reaches out and wipes away a single brown crumb clinging to the edge of her lip. He holds it up for her to see before flicking it away.

"Oh, my god." She holds a hand over her mouth and stomps her foot. "I cannot believe that was there the whole time."

"I'm sure no one saw," he fibs.

"Yeah, right," she mumbles. She slips her arm through his and pulls him away from the market. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Chandler doesn't mention that he's supposed to be on his way back to work - in the other direction. When Rachel looks up at him and asks if he wants to grab a cup of coffee, he tells her yes, that would be great. He makes a mental note to call his boss as soon as they get to Central Perk to tell him that he's come down with food poisoning or... something.

As the two of them walk down the street together, it's hard for Chandler to miss all of the men ogling Rachel. When he sees them, it's an automatic reaction - he tightens his grip on her arm and draws her attention elsewhere. For the life of him, he can't figure out why, all of a sudden, he's so possessive of her.

Luckily for his sanity, Rachel is in no mood to be ogled.

Just as another man walks by, eyes raking up and down her body like a predator appraising his prey, Rachel points just past him and screams, "Watch out!"

The man, who is stepping off the curb and into the street, overcorrects and trips, landing in a sprawling heap on the ground. Rachel doubles over in laughter, hand clutching her stomach. Chandler laughs too, but if he's being honest, the smile on his face has more to do with the beautiful sound of Rachel's laughter rather than the jerk she totally just screwed with. But his smile vanishes as the jerk gets to his feet, scowling at the two of them. Chandler and Rachel reach for each other at the same time as they hurry down the sidewalk.

When they make it to Central Perk, Chandler takes a seat at the small table next to the counter and Rachel plops down on the sofa between Monica and Phoebe. He's a little disappointed that it's not just the two of them any longer, but he's not worried. He has a million minutes to spend alone with Rachel. If not now, then most likely tomorrow. They do live just across the hall from each other.

Rachel pulls her half-eaten box of cookies from the Jefferson Market bag and offers some to both Monica and Phoebe. They decline in lieu of their respective drinks, but when Rachel turns to him with a smile, the box held out to him, he takes one out and waits for her to do the same.

They bite into their cookies together and share a private smile.

He has always loved Rachel. She's one of his best friends. But as he watches her now, eating cookies and laughing with her friends, he's a little frightened to realize that Rachel is not Just Rachel anymore, and he tries to think back to when this might have happened. But whether it happened the day he met her at the Gellar's all those years ago or just earlier today, Chandler doesn't think it really matters.

Because now she's his cookie angel, and he doesn't think there's any coming back from this.

This will be a collection of one-shots, some long, some short. Most of these will be inspired by certain episodes, so I'll post which one at the beginning of each chapter. Enjoy!