A/N: I'm sorry, I know I should write something more original, but writing these is comforting. Like, I don't know, eating a cookie?

Have a nice weekend!

Part 3: The One With The Christmas Holidays

After that first disastrous year, Thanksgiving becomes a holiday reserved for the six of them. It is only natural then, that Christmas becomes a family holiday. There are a few exceptions, and the six of them exchange gifts every year either way, usually a little before Christmas; generally, however, they all go their separate ways for the holiday.

Phoebe celebrates with her grandmother. (A couple of years later she will celebrate with her little brother and his family, and will come back looking somewhat exhausted and a bit hysterical). Joey and Rachel visit their families; Joey goes happily, Rachel with a certain trepidation. Apparently the decision of who spends what days where is still not completely solved after the divorce.

Ross and Monica, of course, head home as well. Monica can't help but feel somewhat optimistic every time, but the feeling of dread usually takes over before they even ring the doorbell.

She loves her parents, she does, but she also knows them. She knows them as the younger sister she once was, the girl who would become dominant and almost overbearingly competitive just to compensate for the praise her brother would receive. She knows them as the awkward, hopeful teenager she grew into, and finally, she knows them as an adult.

Monica loves her parents, but a lot of the time, she doesn't like them.

Christmas is part time lovely, part time awful. It involves a lot of cooking and evenings by the fireplace, card games and personal questions about her lack of boyfriends or career perspectives. It is nice to be there, but it is also very nice to leave.

The stress she feels around the Christmas holidays doesn't give her much time to think about anything or anyone else. It is only on the twenty-fourth that she begins to wonder about Chandler.

He is the Christmas wild card of the group. Monica knows that sometimes he leaves for various exotic locations, mostly Europe, to visit his mother. He never seems very excited about it, despite the others' envy, but that is just Chandler for you. It almost pisses her off, sometimes, because while her parents are pretty well off they aren't that fond of traveling and Monica has only been out of the country once before.

This year, Monica isn't sure what his plans are. During the morning as she packs her bags she searches through her memories of the past few weeks and comes up with nothing. Typical. She glances at her watch; she is well on schedule and can take a few minutes, she supposes.

He and Joey hadn't come over for breakfast this morning, probably because they knew she would be leaving. Joey had probably even left by now. Rachel had gone a couple of days earlier to visit her father before Christmas.

Monica walks across the hall to knock on the boys' door, wondering how she could have missed any eventual discussion regarding Chandler's plans.

It takes a few moments before the door opens. When it does, Chandler blinks at her, his hair messy.

She gapes at him. "How can you be sleeping now? It's ten o'clock!"

Chandler blinks again, then rubs his face with his palms. "Hi?"

She takes a step back, shaking her head to rid herself of a sudden feeling of awkwardness. "Uh, I'm leaving soon, so I just wanted to say goodbye."

Chandler runs his fingers through his hair in a futile attempt to tame it. "Okay. Merry Christmas."

Monica responds automatically. "Merry Christmas." She hesitates. "So... what are your plans for the holidays?"

"Well." He seems to have woken up properly by now, though he is still attempting to tame his hair, dragging out his response. "Other than Not Working, you mean?"

The flippancy of his reply causes a slight pang in her chest. Monica thinks that she will probably never understand the relationship that Chandler has with his family. Despite Monica's own complicated relationship with her parents, she has never lost her will to keep trying. Chandler, on the other hand, seems to have given up long ago.

"You know you're always welcome at our house," she says without thinking. At his surprised look, she plows on. "My parents would love to see you again." It is an outright lie, because for whatever reason her mother's upper lip will always curl with disgust at the mention of Chandler's name. Still, Chandler doesn't need to know that.

He raises his eyebrows at her. "The last time I spent a holiday with your family, I lost a limb."

Monica feels herself flush, and her fist shooting out is automatic, really. "It was only your toe!"

Chandler winces as she hits his arm, rubbing the spot. He looks at her accusingly in a way that almost reminds her of her brother. "Ow."

He can be such an infuriating person times. "It was only an offer. If you don't want to..."

He drops the wounded act to give her a somewhat lop-sided smile, shaking his head. "Nah. I've got pizza and a TV marathon of Christmas movies. It'll be great."

"Well, if you're sure." Monica hesitates for a moment, then stands on her toes to give him a quick hug. "Merry Christmas, Chandler."

"Uh. Merry Christmas." He scratches his chin, and Monica notices that his cheeks are a little pink all of a sudden. It makes her smile.

"See you in a couple of days."

"Yeah."

She gives him another smile, turning to head back to her apartment to pack the last of her stuff. He smiles back, the corners of his eyes wrinkling, as he closes the door.