For Always

Inspired by a song, mostly C&M fluff. Takes place after 6.01, "The One After Vegas." Enjoy!

Disclaimer… I don't own any of the Friends cast, sadly.

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This was it. She knew it, he knew it, and she was pretty sure that soon Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, and Joey would know it, too. It may be unofficial, but this was it.

She'd had the craziest weekend of her life. Her one year anniversary with Chandler, the first time she'd ever even had a one year anniversary, started it off. Then they got into a fight on their anniversary over Richard, of all people. After spending a day fighting, they'd ended up almost getting married in a Vegas wedding chapel. They'd both chickened out, though, once the moment was gone and they witnessed a drunk Ross and Rachel stumble out. That had kinda made Monica realize what they were about to do. She knew they weren't really ready yet, they should probably go a while longer before taking that big step. Then they came home, and, to top off this weekend he asked if she wanted to live with him.

She hadn't been sure what he was asking at first. It was so obvious what he had been trying to say, but she really didn't think that Chandler, the one who was scared of commitment, and with whom she had just agreed that nothing should change, would be asking that. She figured his 'What if I unpack here?' and 'What if all my clothes were here?' lines had been the setup for some joke.

And then he'd said it in so many words.

"What if we live together, and you understand what I'm saying?"

The words went through her head a few times before only one thought was left in her head. Yes. Then she told him that one word, yes, and leapt over the back of the couch and into his arms. She hadn't planned to do that, she just... did it without thinking. Luckily he had caught her.

Then she gave him a key, and made him go out and Christen it, and then the key broke in the lock.

And that was why she was in her apartment, soon to be their apartment, alone, thinking about all of this while her future live-in boyfriend was on the other side of the door somewhere. Every once in a while she would hear him mess with the lock on the door, trying something new to get it open, then he'd disappear. A few minutes later she heard him talking to someone, she guessed probably Joey or Rachel, and then the next thing she knew, the door crashed in, and Joey stood there looking proud.

"Nice job, Joe! You're quite the craftsman," Chandler commented, staring at the door. Joey smiled and walked back to his apartment. Chandler stepped over the door and into the apartment and looked at Monica with a smile.

"Got the door open," he told her.

"Yeah, I see that," she said with a smile. "Good luck getting it closed again, though."

He laughed, looking at the door, then looked back at her. "So that kinda ruined our moment, huh?"

"Nah," she said with a smile, wrapping her arms around him. "We can just make a new moment."

"We gotta put the door back up..." Chandler told her.

"No, not right now we don't," Monica said leaning in to kiss him. He smiled against her lips and kissed her back.

"Yeah, guess it can wait a while," he agreed, kissing her again. She smiled once the kiss broke and moved her arms around his neck.

"Mmmm," she said, kissing him quickly on the lips. "I love being in your arms."

He smiled and leaned in to kiss her again. "I'll let you in on a secret," he told her. "I love having you in my arms."

"Good," she said with a smile. "It just feels so safe," she said. "God am I getting sappy or what?" she asked with a laugh. He smiled. "When I was little," she continued, "I used to feel that way about my bed. You know, it was warm and comfortable and safe, and whatever things were bothering me couldn't get to me when I was in bed. But now that's how I feel right now with you." She paused, trying to decide if she should say what she was thinking. "It's like I could just stay here forever."

He smiled at her. "You want to know another secret?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" she asked with a smile, playing with his shirt collar.

"You can," he whispered in her ear. She smiled and a shiver went down her spine both from him whispering in her ear and what he had just said. Hadn't it only been like, six months ago that he had freaked out over the prospect of marriage and babies? Their friends had found out about them and were teasing them with the marriage and kids deal. He'd flipped out. Now all of a sudden he was making impulsive marriage proposals and initiating them living together. And making comments that included "forever." This was why she knew this was it. He wouldn't suggest things like this if he wasn't serious and comfortable with where they were going. The woman who could make Chandler Bing want to move in with her was definitely the one he would end up with. She remembered Phoebe and Rachel saying something like that one time. They'd said that the first person he ever seriously talked about living with, that would be the one he'd marry.

It was her.

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"So we're really... moving in together?" Monica asked with a smile, her arms still lingering around his neck, and his still around her waist.

"Sure are," he told her with a smile.

"What happened to you?" she asked quietly with a smile. "When'd you change?"

With a confused expression, he looked down at himself. "I didn't change, this is what I was wearing earlier when--"

"No, no," she said with a smile and a slight laugh. "I don't mean physically, I mean, like emotionally..."

"I changed emotionally?" he asked.

"I don't know if that's the right word for it," she said, thinking. "But I mean, when did you stop freaking about commitment?"

"I... don't know..." he said, thinking about that. "I've stopped?" he wondered.

"Chandler," she said with a smile, running her hand across his cheek. "I mean, this week we almost got married in Vegas. Your idea. Now we're moving in together. Again, your idea," she reminded him. "I mean, those aren't things someone who is scared of commitment really does." She paused and looked at him with concern. "By mentioning all this I'm not gonna freak you out, am I?" she wondered.

He smiled. "No, you aren't," he assured her. "It's something I usually have to come up with myself," he said with a laugh. "It's just... well, I didn't even realize that all those were things I should be freaking over," he said with a laugh. "They just felt right. Like, that's what I wanted to do."

She looked at him with a smile. "Hence, you weren't afraid of committing to those things."

"Huh," he said. "Wow, I guess you're right. Who would've thought, huh?" he wondered.

"I would've thought," she answered his rhetorical question and leaned in to kiss him.

He pulled away from the kiss after a few seconds and looked at her. "Really?" he wondered.

She smiled at his shocked look and nodded. "Yeah, really."

Finally she broke from his grasp to go and look at the door.

"I say Joey fixes it," Chandler announced, looking at her looking at the door.

"I can't believe that key broke in the lock," she added. "You were supposed to go out there and try the key, it would open the door, then you would come back in here and kiss me--"

"Wait," he cut her off. "Let's pretend." He went out into the hallway, stepping over the door on his way. He took an imaginary key and pretended like he was opening the door, then he walked in. She looked at him with an amused smile. "Key works," he told her. "So did NOT break in the lock."

She smiled. "Imagine that," she said with a laugh. He came up to her and smiled, putting his hands on either side of her face. They looked into each others eyes for a few seconds before he leaned in and tenderly kissed her. The kiss lasted longer than either of them had intended for it to last. Monica smiled against his lips when she realized she could hear his heart beating. He pulled away a minute later and looked into her eyes and smiled.

"Wow," she said, not being able to think of anything else to say.

"Yeah, really," he said. She smiled.

"You can ask me to move in with you everyday if this is how you're gonna kiss me," she added.

He smiled in response. "You know what this means? I don't have to leave anymore," he said.

"And I don't have to leave your bedroom in the mornings anymore, either," she said.

"Yeah, no more 'I've got to go now,' and then the 'No, just stay a while longer' and the 'I really should go...' conversations."

"Well, you need to remember this conversation when you're sick of me," she said with a smirk.

"Nah, I'm not gonna get sick of you," he decided. "I HATE leaving you. I mean, even if it's just to go over to my apartment and get dressed, then come back over here for breakfast. I hate it. I really do," he said. "Wow, what's happening to me?"

She smiled. "I know what you mean. I hate it when you leave. I hate it when I leave your place. I just... well, I'd would rather not do it." She stopped and smiled. "And Chandler Bing, I believe what happened to you-- was me," she added with a smirk on her face.

"Yes, Ms. Geller," Chandler said, "I believe you are the case in point."

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Monica walked out of her room and into the living room where Chandler was.

"Hey, look what I found," Monica said with a smile. She held out her hand to Chandler. "Another spare key."

"Is this one going to break in the lock, too?" Chandler wondered.

"No, it's not as old," she said with a laugh. "Here," she handed it to him. "Not that it will work in the lock, anyway, until we can get the broken key thing settled, but..."

"Huh," he said looking at the key.

"That's all you have to say?" she wondered.

"Yeah," he said with a smile. "But you know they say actions speak louder than words, so..." he leaned in and kissed her.

"We're really doing this," she said with a smile. "It's just... I can't believe it. I can't believe it in a good way, though," she assured him.

"Me either," he said. "But we're definitely heading in the right direction."

"Where's the right direction?" she tested him. She was partially afraid to ask him, afraid she would freak him out if he had to think about things like that too much, and partially afraid that he would say the opposite of what she wanted to hear. But he was in such a good mood with nothing freaking him out that she couldn't resist asking.

He took her hand and squeezed it. "You know," he said, looking into her eyes.

"But do I really?" she asked, not breaking the gaze.

"You know, and I know, and probably some of the others know, too," he said. "But let's not say it outloud just yet," he said.

She knew then that where they were going was where she wanted them to be going. She was almost relieved to hear him say that he didn't want to say it outloud just yet... she was kind of getting freaked out with this commitment freak-less Chandler.

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Chandler walked back into Monica and Rachel's apartment after he and Joey had successfully gotten their door back on the hinges. He wasn't even sure how they had done it. Joey did most of it. Joey had even managed to get the broken key out of the lock with a bobby pin. (AN: No idea if you can do that, but hey, I'm going for simplicity here!)

He walked past the couch and noticed Monica asleep. He smiled to himself and glanced at the clock seeing it was after 11:30. He took a piece of paper off the pad next to the phone and wrote her a note that he put on the table. He pulled the blanket from the back of the couch over her, and she shifted in her sleep a little. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

"I love you," he whispered, smiling as she smiled in her sleep, almost as if she had heard his words. He then headed to the door, locking it behind him on his way out. Rachel had come in and gone to bed an hour or so ago, and everyone knew that once she was out she didn't wake up unless she absolutely had to.

Monica woke up and realized she had fallen asleep on the couch. She thought for a minute about what had been happening, and she remembered that Joey and Chandler had been putting her door back on its hinges. She sat up and glanced at the door and smiled when she saw that it was back in place. Then she realized that someone had covered her up at some point. She knew Rachel had been asleep when she had sat down on the couch, so she figured it had been Chandler who had covered her up. Then she noticed the note on the table.

Mon,

We got your door back up somehow. However it seems we failed to keep YOU up. I didn't have the heart to wake you up or even disturb you to move you to your room. I'll see you in the morning.

I love you.

She smiled as she noticed that he hadn't even signed the note. She smiled at the "I love you" at the end that seemed to be his signature instead. She hated it when he left. She always had. It had been especially bad when they had been hiding their relationship from their friends, he would have to leave before Rachel even got up.

Then she realized that soon he wasn't going to have to leave in the mornings or at night anymore. He was going to live there. With her.

You better watch yourself, Chandler Bing, she thought with a smile. Because I've decided I'm keeping you. She smiled at her thoughts. He'd probably freak out if he knew she was thinking that. Then again, maybe not. He was surprising her lately.

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Little did Monica know that across the hall, Chandler was having the same thoughts. He walked into his and Joey's apartment, looking around and seeing that it was empty.

He'd rather be across the hall with her.

He hated when he had to leave her. It wasn't like he didn't see her every day. It wasn't like he already didn't spend most of his day at her apartment or with her-- even before they had been together. But all of a sudden something had changed. That wasn't good enough anymore. He wanted to be with her all the time, and he was only like ten feet away, not ten miles or blocks away. It was easy. It hadn't freaked him out at all, he hadn't even thought otherwise. The choice to move in with her had been easy.

Something had come over him in Vegas. And although they had agreed that things were moving too fast and they weren't ready yet, something had changed.

He knew he wanted to keep her forever now.

Not that he didn't know that before. He'd always kinda known in that nagging-in-the-back-of-your-head-but-you-try-to-ignore-it type way. When they had first gotten together it wasn't supposed to be a serious thing like it had ended up being. So he hadn't had to worry about if it was moving too fast or where it was going, or what was happening. Then all of a sudden it went from some fling to a real relationship. Even then he still hadn't had too much of a chance to freak, because no one had known about them. Nothing too serious that was worth freaking out over could happen before their friends knew about them.

And by the time they all found out about their relationship, they had already been together five or six months. Not to mention by then he was already in love with her.

And once he was in love with her, he wasn't going to give her up.

This was it.