Author's Note: Also written on vacation, this one-shot is showing the friendship between Joey and Chandler, not romantically, I don't particularly like them as a couple. The story is based off of part of the lyrics of 'Heaven Laughs' by the Hooters, which are at the beginning of the story. The star in them represents Phoebe, who has lost her light momentarily. The fic is written from Chandler's point of view. Also, it's more about what it says than how it's said, so if it seems out of character for him (I don't know if it does or not), ignore it. Enjoy and please review!

See the stars that shine and give us light
One less star is in the sky tonight
Words alone won't keep our tears away
But I know that star will shine again someday

The tears kept spilling over from her eyes, making her vision blurry and her nose runny. She tried to hide her blubbering face, but it didn't really work. I went to get her a tissue from the Kleenex box Joey and I keep in the bathroom and gave it to her. She gratefully took it and wiped her eyes and blew her nose, but there was really no point because a minute later the tears came back, almost twice as strongly. They overflowed from her pooling, bloodshot eyes, running down her cheeks, past her runny red nose, and eventually dripping off her chin and falling onto the pillow she was hugging tightly, curled up into a ball on my favorite recliner. She was curled up so small she took up less than half the chair, and it scared me how fragile she looked in that moment.

Of all of the six of us, she was always the strongest. She was always the glue that kept us all together; the person that whooped us back into shape when we fell into a funk. I can't count the number of times this woman came to my rescue, and never once did she ask for anything in return. She didn't need me for that, and I accepted that because I was her friend. But it was moments like these that frightened me to no end. How the one person you always knew would manage every situation life threw at them with a smile could have breakdowns like this. How the strongest one of all gets scared sometimes too, how the warrior can fall. Of course people get sad at times, of course she does, that stands to reason, but I had never seen anything like this before. Such raw emotion and pain showing from the person you thought didn't get hurt.

This woman got abandoned by her father, and her mother committed suicide. This woman's sister treats her like a pile of dog-shit and everything good has been taken from her, and through all these bad times, of which there were plenty, she got through it smiling, because she knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and if there wasn't, she'd make one. And yet here she was, collapsed into nothing more than a scared little girl, all the hidden feelings coming to the surface once and for all. And all I could do was stand there, because I couldn't deal with this, didn't know how to, because this had never come up before and I'd never expected it to. I felt like my trust in her, to always be the strongest, had been broken. No matter how selfish that sounds, it was the truth. I also felt like I was letting her down. And now I was stuck in this situation. Don't get me wrong, if I'd known what to do, I would have. But in that moment, the best I could do was supply the Kleenex and a glass of water, and wait until the worst of the storm had subsided. I still got the feeling, though, that she was grateful not to be alone, and I was glad to be there for her.

I watched her for a little while, thinking about how frail and breakable and vulnerable she looked, with the tears streaming down her face and the choked-up sobs coming out even though she was trying to muffle them. It didn't just worry me, but it hurt me too, to see her so upset. One of the people I care about most in my life, in more pain than I honestly think I've ever seen anybody in before, and not a damned thing I could do about it.

Looking back, I realize she didn't need me to change things for her. I realize all she needed was for me to be there for her, which is why I'm so glad I did what I did next.

I couldn't stand the sight of her like this any longer, weeping like I've never seen before, so I laid down in the recliner with her and awkwardly put my arms around her from behind. I pulled a blanket over us and stroked her matted hair. I held her tight in my arms, and didn't ask any questions. I just let her cry into my arms. I didn't even care that she was getting snot on my sleeve; I just really wanted her to be alright again. For her, but also for me and for everybody else. We all needed her back to normal. So we laid like that for a while, and none of us spoke. After a while, I heard the sobbing quieten a little, and the tears lessened, and eventually they stopped coming and the sobs died down completely, and she fell asleep in my arms, all out of tears and all out of energy. Carefully, I moved away from her and tucked the blanket around her to keep her warm. Then, I turned out the light and tiptoed into my own bedroom, closing the door gently behind me.

The next morning, she stood in my doorway with tangled hair and red eyes and a hoarse voice and gave me a small smile and softly half-whispered the words,

"Thanks. I really needed that." And I knew she meant it. And I knew she was back to normal. And nothing made me happier. And I never told anybody else about that night, ever. Because I knew she was counting on me.

In retrospect, I was really glad I was the one there to help her that night. Because sometimes, even a warrior needs a hero. Even an idol needs somebody to look up to. And even Phoebe Buffay needs someone to keep the tears away.

Author's Note: REVIEW! I'm actually pretty proud of this story, I really like it to be honest, and I'd love to know what you guys thought of it, so tell me! Thanks.