Two Days Later…

Joey sighed as he unlocked the door to his apartment, walking in with his travel bags over his shoulder. Rachel and Monica followed behind him, going into their apartment across the hall. Monica called Joey's name just before he closed the door.

She sighed, deciding before she spoke that she didn't want to pull Joey further into this mess than he was already in it, "Nothing." She told him, and closed the door to her apartment.

Joey shut the door and put down his bags next to the couch, "Yo! Chandler!" He looked over his shoulder at the bathroom to find it empty, so he walked over to his friend's room and knocked on the door, "Chandler?" He called.

He found the room empty, so he shut both halves of the door flopped down on the couch, grabbing the remote and flipping on the TV.

A couple of Baywatch episodes later, the apartment door swung open and Joey turned around quickly, thinking that it was his roommate, but his face fell when he learned that it was Ross. "Hey, you and Chandler want to go a Knicks game tomorrow night? My boss has box tickets and he can't go."

"Yeah, yeah that sounds good." Joey cleared his throat and stood, heading towards the refrigerator, "I'll have to ask Chandler when he gets home."

Ross looked confused, "Well, where did he go?"

"I don't know. He hasn't been home since we got back."

"Where is he?"

Joey shrugged a shoulder, "I don't know."

"When he left Vegas, he did say he was coming home, right?"

"Yeah. He said he needed time and he was gonna come home and you know, think."

"I think he's taking this whole Monica kiss thing a little far. So she kissed Richard? It was an accident. It wasn't like they slept together."

Joey scoffed, "Ross you were there when the Debbie thing happened. You know how miserable he was."

Ross put his hands up, "I don't want to have this argument." Joey nodded.

"Yeah, it's not our fight anyway."

Ross sighed, his hands on his hips, "Should we go and try to find him?"

Joey shrugged, "How in the hell are we going to find him? If he's not here, Monica's, Central Perk, or at work, he could be anywhere in the world!"

"Well, what does Monica think?"

Joey shook his head, "She doesn't know he's not here. She just thinks he's avoiding her."

Ross rubbed a hand over his face, "Well we've got to tell her."

Joey shook his head, "Not yet, Ross. We've got to give him at least until tomorrow. If we tell her now, she's only going to get more upset and more worried. We've got to at least give him a day to get back."

Ross nodded, "Okay. But if he's not back by tomorrow, I'm going to call the police and report him missing."

19 Hours later…

Ross opened apartment 19's door, "Hey, is he here?" He asked quickly.

Joey shook his head, throwing down his piece of pizza. "No. And I've been here all damn day. The phone hasn't ringed once. Who does that?"

Ross picked up the phone, "I'm reporting him." A few minutes passed, "Okay thank you." He put the phone down on the counter and sat down in the other leather chair next to Joey, "They're gonna call us back."

He nodded, "I just hope he's okay." Ross stood and clapped a hand on his friends shoulder, "I just want to know that he's okay, you know? What if he's…"

"No, Joey. He's fine. We can't think like that."

"I'm glad he's fine. Because when he gets back, I'm going to kick his ass!"

Ross nodded, "Come on. Lets go tell the girls."

Joey let out a breath and followed Ross out of his apartment, crossing the hallway. Ross knocked on the door, causing confusion from the man behind him, "Dude, why are you knocking? You never knock. Now they're going to think something's up!"

Inside, Monica snapped her head up towards the door. Who was knocking? Nobody ever knocked.

Chandler, she thought.

Maybe he was finally ready to talk to her.

She pulled her longs sleeves down over the top of her hands as she walked to the door. She tucked her hair behind her ears and then opened the door, her face falling more when she learned it was her brother and Joey.

"Oh, hey." She greeted with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

She moved out of the doorway and left it open, the two men following her in, "Hey." Ross finally said, "What's going on?"

Monica shrugged a shoulder, "Nothing."

Ross watched as his sister walked back over to her couch, flopping down and resting her head on her hand. Ross searched his brain for anything to talk about other than what he needed to tell her.

"How was work?" He asked.

She shrugged one of her shoulders again, "Fine, I guess."

Joey had walked to the table to see what his friend had there to eat and found nothing, so he looked in the refrigerator and grabbed a can of soda before joining Ross and Monica in the living room. He sat in the chair on the side and studied Monica.

Honestly, she looked like crap. She looked like she hadn't slept in days, and her pale complexion worried him. He looked down at the ground, turning the soda around in his hand.

This news wasn't going to help her.

She was the one that broke the awkward silence, "So um, what are you guys doing here?" Joey met Ross's eyes, and he found the same concern there that he hand on his own face.

Ross cleared his throat, "Well, um, it's about Chandler."

Monica's eyes grew bigger and she leaned up closer to him at mention of her boyfriend's name, "What did he say?"

Ross looked down at his hands, so Monica turned around to look at Joey for answers, "What? What's wrong? What aren't you telling me?"

Joey sighed, "Chandler is…"

"He's what?" Monica's voice was gravelly and panicked.

He reached over and grabbed her hands, and was shocked at how cold they were. He swallowed the lump in his throat, "The thing is, Mon, that Chandler isn't…"

"He isn't here." Ross finished for Joey, who was still holding Monica's hands to try and warm them up.

"What?" She pulled her hands away from Joey, still looking over at Ross, "What are you talking about?"

Joey sighed and reached for her cold hands again, desperately wanting to get them warm again. He was worried about her; "I haven't seen him since he left Vegas."

Monica's eyes grew again and she pulled away from Joey, standing and staring down at him, "Where in the hell is he?" She yelled.

Joey stood, "I don't know, Mon."

Ross stood up as well, "Monica, he's fine. He's probably…"

"I've gotta find him." She rushed into her room, hastily pulling on shoes.

"Monica, no. It's late, you're exhausted, and you have no idea where he is. I'm going to let you go out there." Ross said, pulling on her arm.

"Ross, let me go. I've got to find him. What if he's hurt?"

He shook his head, "I'm sure he's fine."

Joey had entered the room, "I'm worried too, Monica, but Chandler is a big boy. He can take care of himself."

Monica tried to pull away from her big brother again, but he held onto her arm tightly. "Let me go, please. Please, I need to…" Her tired body failed her as she hit his chest weakly with her free arm. He wrapped his arms around her as she broke down, crying into his shirt. "Where is he? Does he…" She hit his chest again, "Does he hate me that much?"

Ross let out a breath, rocking her softly, "No, he doesn't hate you, Mon. He doesn't." He pulled her down onto her bed and continued to hold her.

"I can't believe I messed this up."

Ross looked up at Joey, a look of disappointment on his face. He brushed down Monica's hair, mouthing words to Joey so he wouldn't upset her further.

I'm going to kill Chandler.

Joey looked away from him, looking down at Monica. He had never seen her this upset, and frankly, he wanted to kill his roommate too. He sat down on the other side of her, rubbing her shoulder.

They sat in silence for a while and eventually Monica fell asleep, her breathing finally slowed down, her tears dried on her face. Ross slowly stood up and picked her up with him, placing her down on the bed and covering her up, brushing the hair out of her face. He kissed her gently on the forehead and walked out of the room, checking one more time before he shut the door that she was sound asleep.

He sighed as he met Joey in the living room, "I'm going to kill him. She hasn't ever been this upset. He's made her feel like nothing, Joey."

Joey ran a hand through his hair. He was tired of defending Chandler, and he was running out of excuses for him anyway.

He let his head fall back, looking at the ceiling above him.

Where in the hell was Chandler?

Three Days Later…

Chandler stood in the familiar hallway, his bags over his shoulder. He looked between the two doors, sighing at number 20, and turning to 19, opening the door and walking in. He shut the door quietly; it was, after all, 2:00 in the morning.

He sighed and pulled the refrigerator door open, grabbing a bottle of water out of it and taking a big gulp. He closed it again and began to walk to his bedroom when the other room door in his apartment swung open so hard he wondered if the handle left a hole in the wall.

"Where in the hell have you been?" Joey yelled, walking towards him quickly.

Chandler held out his hands for a second and stared back at him, "Hey Joe, what's up?" Joey continued to stare at him, and he could see the fire in his friend's eyes. He sighed and sat his bag down on the couch, "Maybe I should've called but…"Joey couldn't take anymore, so he balled up a fist and used it to hit Chandler in the arm. "Ow! Damn it Joey! That hurt!"

"You better be glad it wasn't your face. And if I'm being honest, I want to punch you in the face right now, over and over again. What are you doing to her Chandler?" He was still talking very loudly, and Chandler wondered if any of the neighbors could hear him, specifically the ones across the hall.

He still held his arm where Joey had punched him, "Will you please stop yelling?"

"No!" He yelled again, "I'm so pissed at you right now. Who disappears for a week without a word?"

Chandler sighed, "I'm sorry, okay? I was gonna call, but I wanted time alone. I knew if I called you'd get where I was out of me and you'd come and get me."

"Damn right I would've come and got you! Everybody has been panicked, okay? I didn't know if you were dead or alive!" Chandler sighed, rubbing his sore arm. "Do you know what you're doing to her?" Chandler's blue eyes met his brown ones, "Chandler, she hasn't sleep but about 6 hours since Vegas. We can't get her to eat, and when we told her you weren't here, it only got worse."

"Why?" He asked, but he knew the reason, and the look on Joey's face said he knew that he knew. "I didn't break up with her. I just needed some space, you know?" Joey pressed his lips together and punched his other arm, hard. "Damn it Joseph, you do that again I will kick your ass! Stop it!" Chandler yelled back at him.

"I told you that I owe you a lot more than that! Where in the hell did you go that was such a cure for you and your 'alone time'?" He put quotations around alone time, "Where was so important to you that you couldn't pick up the fucking phone and call me?"

Chandler looked down at the floor, and then back up at him, "I was at Niagara Falls."

"Niagara Falls?"

"Yeah." He said, flopping down on the couch behind him, "I've always loved it there, you know? It's peaceful."

Joey sighed, still wanting to choke him, but calming down a little. He was glad that his best friend was alive and breathing. He sat on the other end of the couch, "You need to talk to Monica."

Chandler nodded, "I know."

"What are you going to say to her?"

"I don't know." Chandler admitted.

Joey shook his head, "Stop punishing her."

"What?"

"Stop punishing her." Joey said again. "She's had enough."

"I'm not punishing her." Chandler told him, "You don't think I have a right to be upset about this?"

"Do you love her?"

"Yes, of course I love her." He sat back, taking a deep breath.

"Then forgive her. This situation is not worth losing her over. You can't do much better than Monica Geller."

"I know that." He replied, standing from the couch, Joey following him. Chandler picked up his bag and put it over his shoulder again. Joey took a step towards him and Chandler stepped back in fear of another bruise on his body, but Joey only grabbed him for a hug instead.

Chandler sighed, relieved that Joey seemed to get him, at least a little. "Talk to her in the morning, please."

The friends broke and Chandler headed towards his bedroom, exhausted from the drive and well…life. "Goodnight."

"Night." Joey said, "Sorry about the punching."

Chandler closed his eyes and nodded, "I guess I deserved it."

"Oh, you did."

He watched as his friend went back into his room, shutting the door behind him. Chandler walked into his own room, closing both parts of the door.

Joey made a point to get up before his roommate, walking across the hall to greet his other friends. "Guys." Joey said, looking around, noticing somebody was missing, "Where's Monica?" He asked.

Rachel took a sip of her coffee before answering. "She had to go down to the restaurant. Her boss wanted to see her about the work she's missed. Have you heard from Chandler?"

"Yeah, have you?" Ross asked.

Joey sighed, "Chandler is fine. He's in his room asleep."

The other three people in the room surrounded Joey with a hundred different questions.

"Where was he?"

"Why didn't he call?"

"Is he okay?"

"Whoa, whoa, guys. He's fine. He was at Niagara Falls." He ran a hand through his hair, "I don't know why he didn't call. I told him what he put us through." Joey saw the look on Ross's face and stepped in front of him before he stormed across the hall. "I handled it, okay? I told him what he put us through. I told him that we called the police to report a missing person because he didn't call. I told him to talk to Monica. I'm fixing it."

Ross sighed, "He deserves it from me, okay?"

Joey shook his head, yet again defending Chandler, "No, he doesn't."

"Joey I-."

Phoebe cut in, "He's right, Ross. He's been through enough, and he's going to have more to go through when he talks to Monica."

"Why is Monica already down at the restaurant?" Joey asked, his arms open in surprise.

"Well it is 10:00." Rachel said to him, "The boss gets there early."

"She needs to be here so that she can talk to Chandler." He turned towards the door, "I'm going to go get her."

Joey held the handle of the door when it opened, Chandler walking through. "Oh hey." Chandler said, and was quickly greeted by Phoebe and Rachel, who ran up to him, hugging him tightly. They each slapped him on the shoulders when they broke, causing him to groan, "Okay, okay. Joey has already taken care of the hitting."

Ross stood in the living room, staring at him. Chandler took a couple of steps towards him. "I'm glad you're alive." He said.

He nodded, "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine."

Joey turned to leave again when the door opened, all 5 people in the room turned to see Monica standing in the doorway. She looked at Chandler for a few seconds. "Oh thank God!" She ran to him, jumping into his arms and holding him tightly. He squeezed her body to him; he actually missed her a lot. "I'm so glad you're okay." She told him, holding the back of his head.

The other four people decided to leave the apartment, closing the door softly behind them. They needed to be alone.

"I'm fine." He said to her. They finally pulled back from each other and she leaned up to kiss him, relieved that he let her. The kiss didn't last long, but it was what she needed to believe that he was in the same room she was in again.

"I'm sorry." Monica said to him, and it was then he noticed her pale complexion.

"Have you eaten?" Chandler asked her, even though he already knew the answer.

Monica shook her head, "No, but I…" She tucked some hair behind her ear, "I'm not hungry."

"Monica." He sighed and walked to the kitchen, pulling down a bowl and a box of cereal. "You have to eat."

He opened the refrigerator and pulled out the milk. After pouring the cereal, he pulled out the chair, "Come on, please. Come eat something."

She slowly walked to the chair and sat down it, taking the spoon from him and watching as he poured the milk. He sat down in the chair next to hers and waited for her to take a bite. She finally did and looked over at him, "Where were you?" She asked, her voice soft.

Chandler was already tired of that question, "I was at Niagara Falls."

Monica nodded taking another bite of her cereal, "I should've figured that out. You love it there."

He nodded, "Yeah, I do."

She cleared her throat before placing the spoon on the table and grabbing his hand, "Don't do that again."

He nodded again, "I won't. I'm sorry I made you worry."

"I'm so sorry about…"

"I know." He interrupted. He really didn't need to hear the reason she was sorry.

"Are you still mad?"

"Not mad." He said, "Just…I'm just tired of it all." She nodded, understanding completely where he was coming from. "Eat." He pointed to the spoon that sat on the table.

"I'm really not hungry."

"Monica…Eat." He repeated.

Rolling her eyes, she picked up the spoon and scooped some cereal onto it. When she finished, she grabbed a napkin and wiped her lips, "I love you." She told him.

He nodded, "I know." A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, "I love you, too." Silence fell over them as she continued to eat her breakfast and she actually felt better when she finished it. "Do you want more?" He asked.

"No, thank you. I feel a lot better."

"It's only a couple of hours until lunch anyway." She sighed, nodding. She wondered if he thought she was pathetic as she felt.

"I wanted to come find you." She finally said. "Ross and Joey wouldn't let me. They said I would never find you."

Chandler shook his head, "I didn't want to be found, Monica. I needed some time."

She got out of her chair and knelt down steadying herself by placing her hand on his knee, "It didn't mean anything."

"What?"

"The kiss. With Richard. It didn't mean anything."

"You say that now but…"

"No, babe, it didn't. I do not want to be with him, it wouldn't matter if he came in here and said he wanted children with me."

"Why did you lie to me about it?"

"I didn't know how to tell you." She said honestly, "I'm sorry. It's not going to happen again. I will always be one hundred percent honest with you."

He nodded and lifted her hand off his knee, pulling her up to sit in his lap, "Come here." She followed instructions and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry that I put you through that. It wasn't fair."

She placed a hand on his face, rubbing the skin there carefully, "I love you." She said again. He smiled for the first time in days and wrapped his arms around her waist, closing the gap between their lips.

When they broke, Chandler moved his hand up to her face, "Let's be us again, okay?"

Monica nodded, leaning down to kiss him again.

This is what she needed.

Him.