For Some Other Night

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Just a little Randler-y friendship fic. End of Season 4, sometime after TOW The Invitation. Wrote this in half an hour between classes—it's been on my mind for a good week and I needed to get it out. Updates for my other stories will be soon, hopefully!

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Chandler looked up from where he had been searching through his refrigerator for something to eat as the front door opened, Rachel appearing from behind it.

"Hey," he greeted her, smiling as he closed the refrigerator door.

"Hey," Rachel replied shortly, clearly distracted. "You know what sucks?" she continued, stumbling slightly as she moved towards the living room, looking around, slightly confused.

"Um-"

Rachel shook her head. "I don't live here anymore," she stated, walking back towards the door.

"Doin' some drinkin', Rach?" Chandler crossed his arms, slightly amused.

"Yea, I went out with some people from work after work," Rachel nodded. "I don't even like the people I work with," she added. Sighing, she leaned back against his front door, not walking out of it. "I mailed the RSVP to Ross's wedding this morning," she finally continued.

"Ah," Chandler nodded, finally seeing where this might be going.

"And you know what really, really sucks?" Rachel asked sadly, looking up at him.

"What?" Chandler asked, watching as she pushed herself off the door, heading back to the living room.

Rachel sighed, collapsing into one of the chairs. "It sucks when you think you're over someone, and you think you've moved on, and you think you can be happy for them, because you want them to be happy, and then-you're just-you're just," she shook her head, at a loss for words. "You're not."

Chandler nodded in agreement, walking over to where she had sat down. "Yea. That does suck," he agreed, sitting on the arm of the chair.

"It sucks a lot," Rachel continued. "I just-I really, really thought I was over Ross, and I want to be happy for him and Emily, but I just-I can't get over this part of my heart that hurts so much right now…."

Chandler rubbed her arm reassuringly, knowing that nothing he said would probably help that hurt. "No matter how moved on you are from someone," he finally said, "I think it is always hard to see them with someone else. If you loved someone, really loved them, and you had future plans with them, it's always going to sting a little bit to see them living out those plans with someone else," he continued on, looking down at Rachel, who was staring at her lap, his arm still around her on the chair. "Sometime last year, after Janice and I had been broken up for awhile, I was at the grocery store, and I saw her there with her husband. And it had been awhile since we broke up, and I wasn't still upset over her, and I had moved on, and I knew it was all for the best, but," he shook his head. "Seeing them together hurt. Really, unexpectedly, bad."

"Really?" Rachel looked up at him, teary-eyed.

Chandler nodded. "Really."

Rachel bit her bottom lip, trying hard in her slightly inebriated state to focus on anything in the room, finally finding that in the blur of the room, she could focus on Chandler, so she looked up, meeting his eye.

"And it gets easier," Chandler continued. "Like when we ran into Janice last time, and I had to fake move to Yemen?" Rachel laughed slightly at that. "There it is," he nudged her, and she offered another small smile, again focusing on his eyes. The rest of the room was a slightly rocking blur, but he was close enough to focus on without spinning.

"You have really pretty eyes," Rachel finally said quietly.

Chandler smiled. "You are very pretty and very drunk," he countered.

"And you're sweet and cuddly," she continued, now playing with his hand, resting beside her leg.

"Dangerous game, Rach," Chandler warned, though he was at least slightly amused. He was the King of Misplaced Affection while drunk, so it was a bit of a relief to see someone else in his shoes.

Rachel leaned against his chest, glad for the affection he was offering, needing it, and much more, at that moment. "And you smell really good," she continued. "Very Chandler-y," she added, slightly softer, before looking up at him, wide-eyed.

He knew, before she made any move, what was about to happen.

And then it did.

She kissed him, pulling him down to her with her hand on the back of his neck, needing that connection, that feeling, and in her current state of mind, he seemed as good of person as any to get it from.

Chandler kissed back for a moment (perhaps a moment too long), still slightly amused (also slightly enjoying it), before pulling back, hand still interlaced with hers, kissing her softly one last time before pulling his lips away from hers. He placed an affectionate kiss on her forehead before pulling away completely.

"Know what you need?" he asked, moving to stand up.

The only answer screamed at Rachel from the back of her head was along the lines of more of that, but she ignored that, knowing those thoughts probably wouldn't lead anywhere good (especially if continued with him).

"Huh?" she finally asked, having a hard time finding her voice.

"Food," Chandler replied, heading for the phone on the counter. "And I just came to the conclusion that I have none of that here, so I was thinking pizza," he continued, grabbing the menu to their usual pizza place.

Rachel found herself nodding along to the suggestion, head slightly clearer than a few moments ago, realizing that the cure for being upset over losing a friend because she dated him probably couldn't be solved by kissing another one of her friends. Hopefully-

"Twenty minutes," Chandler cut through Rachel's semi-coherent train of thought as he grabbed the remote for the TV from Joey's chair before again perching on the arm of the chair Rachel was sitting in. He turned on the TV, beginning to flip through stations in an attempt to find something to watch.

Rachel nuzzled up against Chandler as he again wrapped his arm around her, and she found herself smiling slightly. Actually, maybe this was what she needed.

"Chandler?" she finally said softly.

"Yea," he replied, glancing down at her.

"Thank you," she whispered sincerely, not sure what, exactly she was thanking him for. The company, stopping the kiss, ignoring the kiss, being there…maybe all of the above.

He smiled back, understanding completely. "Any time."

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Chapter title from the lyrics of I Kissed a Drunk Girl by Sometime Corporate. Reviews, please and thanks :)