A/N: Another missing moment that I really should have written first if I'm trying to go in any real order here. I felt like this had to be done since it's such an important moment for Chandler and Monica, and I've really wanted to write this for a couple weeks now. Thank you so much everyone who's read, reviewed, and favorited any of the stuff I've written. It seriously means a lot, and I hope you guys like this one too!
Disclaimer: I do not own Friends, but some dialogue is taken from "TOW Ross's Wedding" and "TOW the Truth About London."
Monica sat beside a Chandler who looked as though he would like nothing better than to disappear into the ground and never speak to anyone ever again. His hand was fully covering his face in embarrassment at the series of awkward moments that had been his Best Man speech for Ross just a few minutes before. Joke after joke had fallen flat in front of Ross and Emily's family and friends. Maybe Chandler's American humor didn't translate as well to the half British audience, or maybe no one except their usual gang was used to Chandler's particular brand of joking sarcasm. Whatever it was, Chandler was upset and humiliated, and Monica, despite her own problems with her mother, who had spent half the night making comments about Monica's current lack of a relationship, felt terrible for him and really wanted to make him feel better.
"I was laughing," Monica said, putting her hand on his leg trying to comfort her friend.
"Out loud?" Chandler asked moving his hand from his face, seeming to know already that she hadn't actually laughed at anything in his speech.
Monica shifted in her seat slightly, not wanting to lie to her friend, but not wanting to crush him even more than he already had been. "Well I didn't want everyone to think I was stupid."
Chandler nodded, frowning sarcastically, but then he half smiled at her more seriously. "So how you doing?" he asked, referring to her parents and all the other wedding details that Monica had had to figure out earlier that day.
Monica glanced over to where her parents sat. "My mother's driving me crazy." She grinned at her friend. "But Ross is getting married, and I'm happy. I'm not gonna let anything spoil that."
Chandler smiled back at her.
Just then, a man, wobbling slightly, obviously drunk, came up to the pair of them, standing slightly closer to Monica than sober propriety permitted.
"I just want to say that Ross is a wonderful young man," the inebriated gentleman said to Monica.
"Ah, thanks," Monica replied, "we like him." She gestured to Chandler.
The man stared at her. "My God, you must have been a teenager when you had him!"
He walked away as Monica stared straight ahead. Apparently that man thought that she was Ross's mother. I guess it makes sense, Monica thought to herself. If I look like Ross's mom, then there's the reason I'm not married.
Monica felt Chandler reach over and pat her shoulder comfortingly, but she moved away from him. "I need a drink." She got up and walked to one of the tables on the side of the hall, grabbing a glass and a bottle.
"The guy was hammered," Chandler said, following her as she poured her drink. "Okay, there's no way that you look like Ross's mother!" He brushed her arm with his hand, trying to calm her down.
Monica didn't believe him. "Then why would he say it?" she asked, upset.
"Because he's crazy!" Chandler replied seriously, getting worked up. "Okay, he came up to me earlier and thanked me for my very moving performance in Titanic!" Chandler stared at her, seeming to be trying to reinforce his point that the man in question clearly didn't know what he was talking about.
Monica gave him a weird look, but she brushed off his comment. "My mother's right, I'm never gonna get married," she said, expressing truly why the man's comment had bothered her so much.
Chandler scoffed. "You know what, that is…" He trailed off, gesturing his hand at her as if he didn't have any words to say what he wanted to. "Who wouldn't want you?" He turned his head to the side slightly, a small smile on his face as he rested his hand on her shoulder, rubbing it gently with his thumb.
"Please!" Monica replied, unconvinced. "I'm a single mom with a thirty year old son!" She turned away from Chandler and downed the rest of her glass.
"Monica, come on! You know no one besides that drunk guy actually thinks that." Chandler touched Monica's arm, trying to turn her back to face him.
Monica set her glass down on the table and looked around at Chandler. "Okay, sure, maybe no one else thinks I'm Ross's mom, but I'm still single! Completely and totally single!" Monica threw out her arms to emphasize her point. "And it's not like I have any reason to think that's going to change soon. It's been two years since Richard, and who have I even sort of dated in that time? Julio, who hated American women? Pete, the Ultimate Fighter? Timothy, Richard's son? Face it Chandler, I'm hopeless." Monica stared at the ground.
Chandler moved Monica so he was completely facing her as he rested both his hands on her upper arms, gripping her slightly. "Monica, look at me."
Monica glanced up at her friend.
"Monica," Chandler said again, "you're not hopeless. The perfect guy for you is out there somewhere; I know he is. You're one of my favorite people in the whole world, and I'm absolutely sure you'll find someone who's just as great as you are. Don't listen to that drunk guy or your mom or anyone." Chandler looked directly into her eyes, completely serious. "The right guy for you is out there, and he's probably just as upset as you are that he hasn't found you yet."
Monica stared at her friend, a small smile appearing on her face. "You really think so?"
Chandler laughed quietly. "Of course, Mon! Don't worry!" He pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back gently.
"Thank you," Monica whispered into his shoulder.
"Anytime," he replied pressing a kiss into her hair.
Monica moved back from her friend. "Can we go get at least a little drunk?" she asked, still upset, even with her friend's comforting words.
Chandler laughed. "Of course," he answered, as Monica began to pour both of them drinks from the bottle on the table beside her.
After a few more drinks, Monica having several more than Chandler, who seemed to be watching her closely to make sure she was okay, the pair decided that the night had already gone on long enough and it was time to head up to bed.
Monica held one last drink in her hand as she and Chandler reached their floor.
"What number's your room?" Chandler asked, taking the keycard from her hand as they got off the elevator.
"You don't have to walk with me," Monica said, half smiling at her friend.
Chandler shook his head. "Of course I do." As they reached her room a few moments later, Monica pointing it out to him, he slipped the keycard into the slot in the door and opened it for her.
"Thanks," Monica said to her friend gratefully. "I mean for everything."
Chandler nodded to her, handing her the keycard. "No problem. Night, Mon."
Monica smiled at her friend. "Night, Chandler." She stepped into her room and closed the door behind her.
Now that her friend was no longer with her, the sadness Monica had felt earlier at her lack of a boyfriend, let alone a husband, came back to her. She sighed as she sat down on her bed, sipping her drink wistfully.
Her thoughts returned again to the man who had thought she was Ross's mother. No matter what Chandler had said to the contrary, that guy still had thought she was old enough to be the mother of a thirty-year-old Ross. Even if she had been a teenager when she had him, that would make her almost 50, according to Stupid Drunk Man. Do I really look 50? Monica thought to herself, standing and looking in the mirror that hung over a table near the door. Of course I do. Her eyes fell. No one's ever going to want to marry me.
Monica finished her drink and found that she definitely wanted another one, so she opened the door again and made her way down to the bar near the hotel lobby.
Ordering a drink and taking a seat, Monica thought to herself about the prospect of going back to her room, all alone, just like she was apparently destined to be for the rest of her life. Monica stared down at her feet, depressed by the thought. She needed something to take her mind off how lonely she felt.
The bartender handed her a drink, and she took it with a quiet thank you.
What she really wanted, she realized as she took a sip, was sex. Just sex. Meaningless, stupid, enough to make her forget how pitiful her life was sex. But with who? Monica asked herself as the answer came to her almost instantly. Joey. Of course, Joey. He wouldn't ask questions, he wouldn't expect it to mean anything, and the next morning they could just pretend it had never happened. It was perfect.
Monica stood up, her half full plastic cup still in her hand, and walked back to the elevator, pressing the button for their floor when she stepped inside.
When the doors opened a few moments later, Monica got out and made her way down the hallway to the room that Chandler and Joey were sharing for the trip.
She knocked and waited a couple seconds before the door was opened by Chandler, who had changed into a set of blue pajamas covered with illustrations of cowboys in various poses.
"Hey," he said, seeming to be happy to see her, though slightly surprised that she was there.
"Cute PJs," Monica commented. "You're really living it up here in London, huh?" Monica laughed as she took a sip of the drink in her hand.
Chandler gave a partial laugh in response. "Well I, I wasn't exactly expecting company after–" he checked his watch "– 9:15," he finished, blank faced.
Monica walked through the doorway, past her friend, glancing around for the reason for her visit to Chandler's room. "Is Joey here?" she asked casually.
"Nah, last time I saw him he was heading out the door with the bridesmaid and a bucket of strawberries." Chandler shrugged as he shut the door to his room.
Monica sighed to herself, setting her drink down on a table. Of course Joey already had someone for the night. He wasn't some sad, hopeless person like her. Joey didn't have to worry about being alone; no one thought he was Ross's parent.
"So," Chandler continued, "uh, you're not still upset about what that guy told you, are you?" He looked at her seriously, clearly wanting to make sure she was okay.
Monica looked down sheepishly, staring at the room key in her hands, but not really seeing it. "Wouldn't you be?" she said, looking back up at him and folding her arms.
"Uh, look," Chandler replied. "It's been a really emotional time, and, you know, and you've had a lot to drink, and you've just got to let that go. Okay, I mean you were the most beautiful woman in the room tonight."
Monica stared at her friend. Chandler was always so kind, and he said such sweet things to her that could always make her smile. He was one of the people she relied on most in the world. He had spent his night not going out and finding himself a girl like Joey had, but staying with Monica to make her feel better and give her someone to talk to. Maybe sleeping with Joey had been the wrong idea.
"Really?" Monica asked her friend, seriously.
"Are you kidding?" Chandler replied genuinely, "You're the most beautiful woman in most rooms."
Before Chandler had finished his sentence, Monica had already made up her mind: tonight she wanted to sleep with Chandler.
She threw her arms around his neck and locked her lips with his hurriedly.
Chandler stumbled backward for a second, clearly surprised, before pressing his arms around her and kissing her back with just as much enthusiasm as she had kissed him.
As Monica moved her hands from around Chandler's neck up to his face, he backed away from her, his eyes wide.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's going on? You and I just made out. You and I are making out?" He took a step back toward her, obviously very confused.
"Well, not anymore," Monica said, discovering that she really wanted to kiss Chandler again.
"But we don't do that," Chandler replied helplessly, clearly having no idea how to handle the situation.
Monica took a quick breath, staring at Chandler. "I know, I just thought it would be fun." She took a step toward him.
"How drunk are you?" Chandler asked, moving a little closer still.
"Drunk enough that I know I want to do this, not so drunk that you should feel guilty about taking advantage," Monica answered quickly and honestly. She had had a lot to drink that night, but her decision-making skills weren't too badly impaired.
Chandler stared at her for a moment, clearly calculating his next move, as Monica looked at him imploringly. "Well, that's the perfect amount!" he decided finally, taking her hands in his quickly, turning Monica around, and moving them both to sit on the edge of the bed.
Monica looked at Chandler for a brief moment before grabbing the back of his head and finally kissing him again. Monica had kissed a decent number of guys in her life, but this was different. This was with Chandler, her closest guy friend who she had known for a huge part of her life. She knew it should have felt wrong kissing someone like this that she knew so well as a really good friend, but somehow, it didn't. Nothing was weird at all. In fact, it felt more right than anything. Why haven't we been doing this all night instead of moping around? Monica thought quickly as she moved her hands from behind his head to the arms of his pajama top.
She leaned back from him for a moment to speak. "You know what's weird?" she said, her eyes widening seriously.
"What?" he asked.
"This doesn't feel weird." She motioned to the two of them.
"I know," Chandler responded, almost sighing contentedly.
Monica glanced down at his lips for the briefest of seconds. "You're a really good kisser," she said, grabbing his arm.
Chandler adopted his usual joking tone. "Well, I have kissed over four women."
They both laughed as they leaned in, kissing again.
After a second, Chandler pulled back. "You wanna get under the covers?"
Monica nodded excitedly. "Mmhm!"
The two raced to get under the blanket and the sheet as they pulled off their clothes.
Monica slipped her dress off quickly and was left watching as Chandler pulled off his PJs in what must have been record time.
"Wow, you are really fast," she said, amazed.
"It bodes well for me that speed impresses you," Chandler replied in typical Chandler fashion as he lay down next to her.
Monica grinned at her friend before coming to a realization. "We're gonna see each other naked," she said to Chandler, slightly nervously.
"Yup," Chandler nodded.
"You wanna do it at the same time?" she asked a smile growing on her face.
"Count of three?" he replied.
She gave him a half nod in reply.
"One, Two, Three," they said together and then lifted up the blanket, pulling it back down a couple seconds later.
"Well, I think it's safe to say that our friendship is effectively ruined," Chandler said after a slightly awkward silence, offering her a nod.
"Eh, we weren't that close anyway!" Monica turned to him as he made a noise of agreement, their lips meeting again a second later.
She had only been with Chandler for a few minutes, but something about what had happened made Monica think that maybe, just maybe, she had finally found that right guy that Chandler had mentioned earlier, the one who was out there trying to find her like she was trying to find him.
Of course, she knew that she could have been wrong about Chandler being the guy she had been looking for and that this may have just destroyed their friendship, but somehow, despite any problems that she knew could come of this, she felt that she could just as easily have been completely right.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading, and please review!