A/N: Well, yet another series, the plot of which has been stuck in my brain for quite some time now.

This is the first time I am writing a fic that's not aligned centrally, and you have no idea how uncomfortable I feel now with left alignment! Emily J and BluEyes, I don't know whether you guys are reading this, but if you are, I really do appreciate you letting me know that most readers are not probably comfortable with center alignment.

If it's Love

Chapter 1

February 1993

It's not you, Monica. It's me.

That's what he said. And she knew damn well that it was him. That rotten son of a bitch.

I can't commit to anyone right now.

He told her that, too, and now, three months later, he was getting married to someone else.

She felt something flare inside her chest as she read the words 'You are cordially invited to celebrate the wedding' glittering on the invitation. It wasn't addressed to her, of course. Her friends had probably been careful in hiding their invitations, but this one had escaped their attention, which in turn had grabbed hers.

Those feelings of hurt, disappointment and dejection which she'd thought she'd succeeded in burying deep within, surfaced again now, along with something else. Humiliation.

She could feel her breath coming in quick, sudden gasps. She could feel her eyes burning with tears, blurring the words on the invitation.

She closed her eyes, letting her tears fall. Those were the tears that she'd refused to allow to fall, just a few months back, and now, this little piece of paper had successfully broken her resolve.

The anger that grew slowly and steadily, suddenly reached a boiling point. She was no longer crying.

She tore the invitation neatly in half. The two pieces of paper that remained in her hands met the same fate. She repeated the action over and over again, until all that remained in her hands were bits and pieces of the invitation that was no longer readable.

She turned her palms down and allowed the pieces of paper to fall on the floor, watching them as they fluttered about before they reached the ground.

She turned around when she heard the door creek open and saw that the person had stopped dead in his tracks, as he watched what was happening.

His face taking on a pained expression, he whispered, "I am so sorry, Mon."

She nodded, tears now freely flowing down her cheeks.

"It'll get better, I promise," he whispered again, fiercely, as though her broken heart was somehow breaking his own.

She nodded again, even though she didn't believe his words.

She just hoped they would become true. That they would become true, soon.

~.~.~

A/N: Confused? I'll clear things up in the next chapter. This will definitely be a shorter fic, (hopefully) not more than six or seven chapters. I think I'll be updating 'That Thing Called Love' next, but even that's gonna take me a while. And, those who reviewed 'Only You', Thank you :)