A/N: As I said in the description this is gonna be a series of different one-shots on how our favorite couple could have gotten together earlier in the show. I haven't gotten around to reading a whole lot of Friends fanfics yet, but I'm sure this idea has been done before, and my only hope is that I bring something new to it. Each chapter will be based off of an event in one certain episode, and they won't be in any kind of order as I'm just writing them by whichever sounds more fun at the time. For now I'm leaving the rating at T, but it may change to M at some point in time. This chapter is based off of 'TOW All the Thanksgivings'. Quotes taken directly from the episode and a few others, I do not own those words as I could never write as well as they did. Though I feel I should get a little bit of credit from typing out all the lines myself because I don't trust that the transcripts will get every single word right. I do have a ton of ideas already planned out for this going forward, if it's something you'd like to see more of let me know. And in the meantime please enjoy this disgustingly long chapter.

Thanksgiving had been a sore spot in several of the friends' memories while they were younger. Whether it was when Chandler's parents decided to tell him they were getting a divorce, Phoebe's many past ones in her former lives, or apparently to Joey that one where Ross said 'Squatternut bosh' instead of 'Butternut squash'.

The one that had always stood out as the worst to Monica had been when Ross brought his new college roommate home for the holiday, which so happened to be Chandler. She had been instantly infatuated with him the second he walked in the door. She was a chubby high schooler, and he was a cute college guy that was in a band, even if that band was just some lame thing her brother and him had decided to pursue one day when they were bored. Her best attempts to get his attention were shot down the whole night, and she learned why when she overheard him telling Ross that he didn't want to hang out with his fat sister all night.

Thanksgiving had gone a lot better since the old days. During the first few years of their adulthood the gang would go back home and spend the holiday with their families, but the last few years they found themselves gathered together instead to enjoy Monica's feast, just the six of them.

That's where they sat now, all of them grouped around the coffee table in her living room. They were miserably full, and had spent the last twenty minutes listening to Joey go on and on about being thankful for thongs.

"Are you aware that you're still talking?" Chandler asked, stopping Joey mid rant.

"Is anyone thankful for anything else besides a thong?" Monica asked, the group sitting quietly while they thought for a moment.

"No, that's pretty much it for me." Joey said.

"Our lives aren't even going badly, and no one can think of anything?"

"There's a lot of things, that's why it wouldn't be fun to just list them." Ross pointed out.

"Oh, I know, let's talk about what we're not thankful for!" Phoebe said. "I'll start. Those little hooks on the wall that grab your clothes when you walk by them."

"Wait, we should talk about something a little more cheery than what we're not thankful for." Rachel said. "It is a holiday after all."

"Okay, how about we tell the story of our best Thanksgiving?" Ross suggested.

"That might be fun." Joey said. "Any of you girls ever rode on a Victoria's Secret float?"

"Do they even have those?" Chandler asked.

"I'm not sure, but it sounds like it'd be a pretty good story if they did."

"I know Monica's best Thanksgiving." Rachel said, smirking over at her friend.

"Oh, let's not tell this story." Monica said, the whole group urging her to tell it.

"Which one was it?" Phoebe asked.

"Oh, come on Monica." Chandler said, smiling over at her. "I think it's been long enough, they should hear the full story."

"Okay, fine. If you want me to tell the story, I will." Monica said.

Thanksgiving 1988…

Monica stood at the top of the staircase, listening as Chandler and Ross had entered the house and greeted Rachel and her parents. Her plan to get Chandler back for calling her fat the year before was already set in motion. The idea was to show off how great she looked now, making him regret ever teasing her appearance. Her hair and makeup were perfect, but the real payback was going to be when he saw her body. She had put on her nicest dress, the one that complimented her new figure best. She wasn't one to think much of herself looks wise, having never been the desire in anyone's eyes before. But tonight she'd even admit it, she looked damn good.

"Monica, come down here!" Her mother called out. "Everyone's here. Ross, Rachel, and the boy who hates Thanksgiving."

Monica took that as her cue and began walking down the stairs, taking a breath as she stopped at the end of them before walking over to everyone. "Hi Chandler." She said, dragging out her words to give them a more sexy tone.

Chandler glanced back at her, his eyes somehow landed on every part of her in a matter of seconds. "Oh my god." He said, his voice strained.

"What, what's the matter? Is there, is there something on my dress?" Monica asked, playing clueless as she spun around and gave him a good look at her.

"You just, you look so different. Terrific." Chandler said, his eyes wandering down her body again. "That dress, that body."

"Dude!" Ross said, snapping Chandler out of his trance.

"Sorry." Chandler told him.

"Yes, yes, Monica is thin. It's wonderful." Judy said, not sounding as though it were that big of a deal. "But what we really want to hear about is Ross's new girlfriend."

Monica rolled her eyes at her mother's not so subtle way of changing the subject to Ross. Normally it would have bothered her more, but her mother was not the one she was caring about impressing right now. And by the way Chandler kept looking at her as Ross went on about his new girlfriend she could tell it was working. "So Chandler, I guess I'll see you at dinner." She said as soon as Ross finished talking, starting to walk away.

"Okay." Chandler mouthed to her as she passed by him, not looking back as she walked toward the kitchen.

"Dude!" Monica's father said, loud enough for her to hear.

"Sorry." Chandler said back.

Monica smiled to herself, no doubt that he had been looking her over again and got caught. Her smile faded almost instantly as she stepped into the kitchen, suddenly feeling like that moment had not been as satisfying as she had hoped it would be. She walked over to the kitchen table, getting back to where she had left off on preparing the meal before she got ready.

"Ohh my god!" Rachel said, excitedly rushing into the kitchen behind her. "That was so awesome! You totally got him back for calling you fat, he was just drooling all over you. That must've felt so good!"

"Well it didn't." Monica said, disappointment in her voice as she peeled a carrot.

"What?" Rachel asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I mean yeah, I look great. Yeah, I feel great, and yeah, my heart is not in trouble anymore! Blah, blah, blah!" Monica said, brushing it off. "Y'know I still don't feel like I got him back, y'know? I just want to humiliate him. I wanna, I want him to be like naked, and I wanna point at him, and I wanna laugh!"

"Okay, that we may be able to do." Rachel pointed out.

"How?"

"Well guys tend to get naked before they're gonna have sex.

"What?" She asked, shocked as she scoffed at her idea. "I mean, I didn't work this hard and-and-and, lose all this weight just so I could give my flower to someone like him!"

"Okay, first of all, if you keep calling it that, no one's ever gonna take it. And then, second of all, you're not gonna actually have sex with him. You're just gonna make him think that you are."

"Yeah." Monica said quietly, smiling at the thought.

"Yeah."

"And then when he's naked I can throw him out in the front yard, and lock the door, and then all the neighbors will just humiliate him." Monica said, practically giddy.

Rachel laughed. "See, and then you will definitely get him back."

"Okay, so how to I make him think that I wanna have sex with him?"

"Ah, oh, here's what you do. Just act like everything around you turns you on."

Monica shuffled around a little in place, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, like, anything can be sexy. Like, uhm, oh, okay-" Rachel said, stepping over to the stove and grabbing the rag off of it. "Like this dish towel. She said, taking it and patting it against her cheeks. "Ooh, ooh, this feels so good against my cheek. And, and if I get a little hot I can just dab myself with it. Or I can bring it down to my side, and maybe run it through my fingers while I talk to him." She said, bringing it down to her side and running it through her fingers.

"I can do that." Monica said, excitedly.

"Yeah? Okay. Good, good, good, because he's coming. He's coming." Rachel said, trying to hand her the rag then giving up when she didn't take it and throwing it off onto the counter before she walked away. "Hey, what's up?" She said, nonchalantly as she passed by Chandler to leave the kitchen.

"Hey." Chandler said quietly, nodding at her as she left the room and closed the door behind her. He stepped toward Monica as she moved around the bowl like she was about to get back to what she was doing. "Monica, I was wondering if you could make me some of that righteous mac and cheese like last year." He said, grinning over at her.

Monica found herself getting a little flustered. She told herself it was from the excitement of getting him back, but she also didn't hate how good it felt that he was trying to flirt with her. "Ah, I'd love to." She said, running off to grab a box of pasta from the cupboard. Rachel's idea came to mind and she put the box up to her face, rubbing it against her cheek. "Ooh, I love macaroni and cheese. I love, I love the way this box feels against my cheek." She said, smiling over at him.

Chandler opened his mouth to speak, stopping to look at her questionably. "Okay." He said, unsurely.

"Ooh, and I love carrots. Oh." Monica said, picking up several of them between her fingers and bringing them to her side. "Sometimes I like to put them between my fingers like this, and hold them down here while I talk to you." She said, rubbing them and the box of pasta on her simultaneously. "Uhm, and you know, if I get really hot, Uhm, I like to pick up this knife and, uhm, I put the-the cold steel against, uhm, my body." She told him, picking up a knife off the counter and pressing it against her stomach.

"Okay, I'm just gonna, ah, take this from you." Chandler said, gently pulling the knife out of her hand and setting it back on the table. "Because no good can come from playing with knives."

Monica set down the box of pasta and carrots on the table along with it, feeling like her approach wasn't working as well as planned. She looked over at him, trying to work out something new in her head.

"Are you okay?" Chandler asked, sounding genuinely concerned as he took a step toward her and placed his hand on her arm.

"Yeah, I'm, ah, I'm fine." Monica said, moving away from him so that his hand was no longer on her. It wasn't because she was uncomfortable, but because she didn't want him being sweet clouding her judgement from what she had planned to do.

"Are you sure?" Chandler asked, looking over at her. "You're acting kinda, different."

"Isn't different good?" Monica asked, thinking of how much he seemed to be enjoying how different she looked.

"I suppose, in some ways." Chandler said, looking confused as to what they were really talking about.

"And even so, how would you know if I was any different? You hardly know me."

"I guess I don't." Chandler said, stepping closer to her again. "I'd like to know you better." He said, looking right into her eyes deeply.

Monica wasn't sure what to say back to him. She was supposed to be the one flirting with him, and making him feel all nervous, not the other way around. The moment was luckily cut short when the kitchen doors flung back open, Ross entering the kitchen and causing Chandler to move away from her quickly.

"Chandler, I thought you were coming to get us a couple sodas." Ross said, glancing over at him curiously. "What's taking so long?"

"Sorry, I was talking to your sister." Chandler told him, stepping a little further from her when Ross glared at him. "She was gonna make me some mac and cheese like last year, and I was just gonna offer to help." He said, trying to make it seem as that was all he was doing, which Ross believed.

"That's a nice offer, but Monica never lets anyone help her cook." Ross said, chuckling as he went to the fridge and pulled out a soda. He handed it to Chandler then took one out for himself, popping it open and taking a sip.

"That's not true." Monica defended. "I'll let him help me if he wants to."

"Really?" Both guys asked at the same time, Chandler smiling that he got an excuse to be around her longer.

"Yes." Monica stated. "I'm okay with people helping me, I'm not that much of a control freak."

"Okay, if you're alright with it then I can help too." Ross said, causing Monica and Chandler to both sigh. He looked at them oddly then brushed it off, rolling up his sleeves again and going to wash his hands.

"What's going on in here?" Rachel asked, coming back into the kitchen after she noticed the doors were open again.

"We're all cooking together." Monica said, not sounding very thrilled.

"You are?"

"Chandler offered, then Ross decided he wanted to help too."

"Ohh." Rachel said, getting the picture. She glanced over at Ross who had taken over peeling the carrots that Monica had long since forgotten about. "Are you sure you want to help, Ross? You know how picky she can get about her cooking, and do you really want to fight with your sister on this of all days?"

"She's making a good point, it is the holidays after all." Chandler said.

"I think we'll be fine, we aren't little kids anymore." Ross said, smiling over at his sister.

"You know, Ross, last year you brought up playing some of your music for me, I have some free time if you wanted to do that now." Rachel said, going for a second attempt to get him to leave the two of them alone.

"Ah, sorry, I can't. I left my keyboard at my girlfriend's apartment last time I was over there." Ross said, looking over at Monica and showing her the bowl of carrots. "Am I doing this right?"

"Yeah, it's fine." Monica said, not even paying attention at first then looking again. "Wait, no. You're only supposed to peel the outside of the carrot off, not the whole thing." She said, pulling the carrot and peeler from his hands and setting them back on the table. "How about you start boiling some water for the noodles."

"You're giving me water boiling?" Ross asked.

"Think of it like a job, if you do that right you'll get a promotion."

"And the promotion is?"

"Me letting you pour the noodles into the pot." Monica said then Ross shook his head, going over to the stove to start his 'job'.

"I guess we're all cooking now." Monica said, sounding unenthused. She looked over at Chandler who hadn't muttered more than a few words to her since anyone else had come into the room. She hadn't expected him to be scared off so easily, she figured he was the kind of guy who would go after a girl no matter who else was around.

"I guess if everyone is helping." Rachel said, sitting down at the kitchen table.

"Chandler." Monica said, getting his attention. "Do you wanna help me get down the China for dinner? The box is a little heavy, but you look strong enough to handle it." She said, grinning as she looked down at his body.

"Sure." Chandler said, following her over to the cupboards.

Monica reached beside the fridge and pulled out a step stool, unfolding it for him to step on. "They're in the cupboard up there." She said, nodding up above the fridge as she placed a hand on his back to urge him onto the stool. She kept it on him as he got onto the step, her hand landing on his lower back and staying put there. To anyone else it would look like she was just trying to steady him so he wouldn't fall, but she and Rachel both knew better.

Chandler reached for the cupboard door, his hand fumbling a little as he opened it when he felt Monica inch her hand down a little lower. He took a deep breath then pulled out the box of plates, stepping off the stool with them in hand. "Where do you want them?" He asked.

"You can just set them over here." Monica said, moving aside a couple things on the counter so he could put them down.

"You know, these really aren't heavy." Chandler said, pushing them further onto the counter so they wouldn't fall off.

"You don't have to say they're easy to carry just to impress me."

"Impress you? I wasn't trying to, I mean, they really aren't that heavy."

"Okay." Monica said, smirking at him as she stepped closer to him. "Whatever you say, tough guy." She said as she ran her hand down his upper arm, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Chandler smiled at her then glanced over at Ross to make sure he wasn't paying attention. When he saw him lifting a pan full of water off the stove to check if the flame was working underneath he felt safe going back to their conversation. "Were you hoping I was trying to impress you?" He asked, somehow sounding cocky and terrified to hear her answer at the same time.

"I was just pointing out that you didn't have to pretend, I'm already pretty impressed by you." Monica said, adding a small wink before she let go of his arm and turned to walk away.

Chandler's eyebrows shot up as he watched her walk away, leaving him frozen in place. He watched her as she explained to Ross that if he kept picking up the pan it would never boil, completely dumbfounded as to how she could manage to send shivers down his spine, then just go over there and act like nothing had happened. And honestly he couldn't figure out which part of her he liked more. The one that was all sexy, flirting with him and touching him while other people were standing a few feet away. Or the one that was slapping her brother's hand away as he tried to lift the pot yet again. He chuckled at the sight of it, Ross lifting his sore hand up to rub with his other. "You alright, buddy?" He asked Ross, finally joining them on the other side of the kitchen.

"I'm fine, it didn't even hurt." Ross said, moving away quickly when Monica pretended she was gonna do it again.

"If you want that to be a little more convincing, next time you shouldn't jump away from her like you were about to get acid poured on you." Chandler joked, chuckling at his friend.

"Whatever." Ross said as he grabbed the box of pasta off the table, and read the back of it for directions.

"Hey Mon, what do you want me to do?" Rachel asked.

"Uhm." Monica said, looking around the room then walking over and grabbing the platter of yams and a bag of marshmallows. "You can put these on top." She said, setting them in front of her at the table.

"Oh, thank god, something easy. I was only offering because everyone else was helping." Rachel said, ripping open the bag of marshmallows and starting to line them up on the yams. She looked up and noticed Monica wincing. "What? How am I doing it wrong already?" She asked, knowing her friend all too well.

"It's just, you wanna put the marshmallows in concentric circles." Monica said, motioning a circle.

"No, Mon, you wanna put them in concentric circles." Rachel said, pulling a single marshmallow out of the bag. "I want to do this." She said, shoving it up her nose.

Monica looked at her disapprovingly then turned her head to the side, plugging one nostril with her finger and blowing it out of her nose onto the table. "This is why I don't ask for your help."

"You know, it's been awhile since I've been a part of a Thanksgiving dinner, but I don't remember snot rocket marshmallows being included in the meal." Chandler said, walking over next to Monica.

"I was wondering, whatever happened to you that made you hate Thanksgiving so much?" Monica asked, glancing over at him.

"Oh god, no." Ross said from beside them. "I already had to hear this story again on the drive over here."

"Wait, I wanna hear it too." Rachel said.

"Well it was ten years ago to the day," Chandler started, Ross groaning as he went back to the stove to pour the noodles into the pan. "Me and my parents had just finished this magnificent Thanksgiving dinner. I have, and I remember this part vividly, a mouthful of pumpkin pie, and this is the moment my parents choose to tell me they're getting divorced."

"Oh my god." Both girls said at the same time.

"Yes." Chandler stated. "It's very difficult to appreciate a Thanksgiving dinner once you've seen it in reverse."

"That's awful." Monica said, shocked. "I can't believe they thought that would be an okay time to tell their kid something like that."

"Well apathy was never my parent's strong suit, fighting over who got to sleep with the house boy on the other hand." Chandler said, scrunching up his face as he thought back to it.

"It must have been hard for you to go through." Monica said, sympathetically as she set her hand on his back and rubbed it lightly.

"It was a long time ago." Chandler said, shrugging it off.

"Doesn't mean it can't still hurt." Monica said, catching his gaze and holding it up until the point her mother walked into the kitchen.

"Ross, sweetie." Judy said, getting his attention. "Carol is on the phone for you."

"Oh, okay." Ross said, handing the spoon he had been stirring with to Chandler then walking to the living room with his mom.

"Am I supposed to know what to do with this?" Chandler asked, waving the spoon in the air.

"Just stir the noodles, and make sure they don't stick to the bottom of the pan." Monica said then he walked over to the stove and did so, while she sat down at the table next to Rachel.

"You are doing so good." Rachel whispered, leaning in next to her friend. "I thought you already had him with whatever you said when you two were getting the plates. But the whole sympathetic over his sad past move, you're a genius."

"Yeah, thanks." Monica said, sitting back and thinking to herself a minute. She hadn't even thought about what she did as a move, mostly because it wasn't one. She had actually felt bad for him, it was clear how much that event had affected him if ten years later he still couldn't fathom the thought of enjoying a Thanksgiving dinner again. She didn't know what was happening. She wasn't supposed to care about his feelings, he sure as hell didn't care about hers when he called her fat. Though he hadn't known she was in the room when he said it, not that that excused what he did.

"Hey, Mon?" Chandler said, looking back at her from the stove.

Monica was caught her off guard during her thoughts when he spoke. Also, did he just call her Mon? She was sure it was just because everyone else had been calling her it, but for some reason it sounded completely different coming from his mouth. "Yeah?" She asked, glancing over at him.

"I think the noodles are done."

"I'll check." Monica said, standing up and going over to him. "Yeah, they're done. I can handle the rest if you wanna sit down." She said, pulling the pan off the stove top so she could strain it.

"Alright." He said, brushing his hand across her back as he passed by her.

Monica smiled to herself when he did it. Then she stopped almost immediately, reminding herself that she wasn't supposed to be enjoying this.

"Hey, Chandler?" Ross said, walking back into the kitchen.

"Yeah?" Chandler said as he took a seat at the table.

"I was talking to Carol and she's really upset, her and her parents got into a big fight during dinner. She's pretty down right now, and I was thinking after we get done eating I'd head over to her place and hang out with her awhile to help her feel better." Ross explained. "I could drop you off at our dorm if you don't want to hang around here till I get back."

"I'm fine with staying here." Chandler said.

"Are you sure?" Ross asked.

"I'm sure, I'll just hang out with your sister till you get back." Chandler said, getting a suspicious look from Ross. "And Rachel." He said, gesturing over to her. "And your parents, of course, 'cause this is their house."

"Okay, as long as you don't mind."

"Not at all." Chandler said, smiling at Monica as she walked over to the table with a bowl of noodles and the cheese.

Monica looked away, this time ignoring him and not smiling back. Sure, this year he wanted to stay here with her, now that she was skinny. And with that thought her plan was back in full swing, she wasn't gonna let him weasel his way out of payback, with his sad stories and little touches or smiles.

"Alright, she's still on the line so I'm just gonna go let her know." Ross said, leaving the room again.

"So, Mon, I saw Evan Conners at the mall yesterday." Rachel said.

"Oh yeah, how's he doing?" Monica asked as she continued making dinner.

"Really good, and he looked amazing." Rachel said, smirking over at her. "He asked me how you were doing too."

"Really?" Monica asked, looking at her friend curiously. Evan had been a senior during her freshmen year, and the leading quarterback, so there was no need for him to even think about the chubby girl he hardly paid any mind to at school.

"Mhm, he said things haven't been the same since he moved away and doesn't get to see you anymore." Rachel said, adding a wink so she'd get the idea of what she was trying to do.

Monica glanced over at Chandler, noticing a hint of jealousy in his expression as he listened to their conversation. "That poor boy, he could never take the hint that I wasn't interested." She said, joining in.

"I'll never understand why you weren't, he is still the hottest guy I've ever seen."

"I've seen hotter." Monica said, smiling down at Chandler.

Chandler did a double take when she heard her say that. First was with confusion, then with surprise when he thought about what she might be implying. But it was him, so he decided to check just to be sure. "Who, your boyfriend?" He asked, hoping to kill two birds with one stone.

"No, I don't have a boyfriend. And I was talking about someone I've seen more recently." Monica said, looking him over. "Someone with gorgeous blue eyes, and one of the sweetest smiles I've ever seen."

'And the funeral will be held for both birds tomorrow evening.' Chandler said in his head, just nodding silently to Monica's notion.

"What about you, Chandler, you got a girlfriend?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, no." Chandler said, almost like that should be obvious.

"Oh, yeah, you're in college. I suppose you got plenty of bimbos throwing themselves at you, no need for a girlfriend."

"It's not that, I just haven't been with the right girl yet."

"You believe there is a right girl out there somewhere for you?" Monica asked.

"I think so." Chandler said with a shrug. "I hope so at least."

"Like a soulmate?" Rachel asked.

"No, I don't believe in those."

"What?" Rachel said, surprised. "Who doesn't believe in soulmates?"

"I don't." Monica stated. "I don't think anyone is destined to be together. I think they meet, and they fall in love, and they work hard at their relationship."

"Exactly." Chandler agreed. "That's what I have always thought too."

"I'd say you two are clearly meant for each other, but since you don't believe in that." Rachel joked, making them both glance at each other awkwardly.

"Mom, although I agree Carol is pretty, I don't think it is remotely possible for you to be able to tell that just from her voice." Ross said, walking back into the kitchen with his parents.

"I'm telling you, I could tell." Judy said, looking over at Monica afterwards. "Monica, are you almost finished out here? Your father is getting into his fourth stage of hunger."

"Fourth stage of hunger?" Chandler asked.

"My mom thinks he goes through the five stages of grief when he's hungry, so she calls it the stages of hunger." Monica explained.

"I'm not getting depressed." Jack said. "I just mentioned it being a good time to update my will because I saw that commercial for a half pound bacon cheeseburger, and it reminded me that I haven't taken my brother out of my will since he died of that heart attack."

"The food's all done, mom." Monica told her. "I was just making Chandler something he could eat."

"Are you sure you won't join us for dinner this year, Chandler?" Judy asked. "We've got pumpkin pie."

Chandler held back his gag reflex at the thought of it. "No, thank you, Missus Geller." Chandler said, Monica smirking over at him as he looked as though he was in actual pain just thinking about it.

"Well, let's get started then." Judy said.

The Geller family and Rachel sat down at the dining room table to eat their feast, leaving Chandler out on the living room couch to enjoy his mac and cheese, far away from any smells of turkey and pumpkin pie. Monica kinda liked it better that way, she was still pretty self conscious when it came to eating around people. She'd been that way ever since last year, even once she had lost the weight. And the thought of eating around the guy that made her feel that way was something she wouldn't have been a fan of yet, not while she was still working on getting over what he had said. She was hoping tonight would change things, that once she finally got him back she would feel better. And as well as her plan was already going she had a feeling now that Ross had left to go see his girlfriend she'd be able to execute it fully in no time.

Not long after dinner when everything had been cleaned up Jack and Judy went upstairs to their room, Judy insisting to her husband that he could watch the rest of his football game up there so he wouldn't keep scaring the kids every time he yelled at one of the plays. That left Monica, Chandler, and Rachel alone downstairs.

Monica scooted a little closer to Chandler on the couch, pretending she was getting more comfortable. Rachel had just left them, going to look for a light bulb for the broken lamp in the living room. She could see his expression change in the darkening room, the sun nearly set leaving them with little light. He almost looked scared, like he didn't know how to act now that she was being more forward with him.

"I didn't find any light bulbs, but I did find candles." Rachel said, coming back into the room with her hands full. She set down some candles from her one hand, and three wine glasses from the other onto the table. "And I found your parents booze stash, and got us this nice bottle of wine." She said, pulling the bottle out from under her arm. "Also, I found these." She said, pulling out a cardboard shoebox from underneath her other.

"What are you, a carrying mule?" Chandler asked, looking at all the things she had brought out.

"That isn't what I think it is, is it?" Monica asked, looking at the box.

"It is." Rachel said, smirking over at her.

"What, what is it?" Chandler asked, not sure what they were talking about.

"When me and Rachel were younger we used to play truth or dare all the time, and it would get us into so many fights. Because we'd either ask the wrong question, or we'd dare something too crazy. Then one day we decided to make a bunch of cards with pre-approved truths and dares on them, and we added new ones all the time." Monica explained.

"So, it's a box full of them?"

"No, it's a box with a severed head inside from a dare gone too far." Monica said in a serious tone, making his eyes widen. "I'm kidding, Chandler." She said with a smirk, earning a laugh from him.

"What kind of things are on the cards?" Chandler asked.

"I thought we'd play it, then you can find out." Rachel said, opening the box up.

"This doesn't seem fair, I didn't give any pre-approvals on these cards. What if I pick one I don't want?"

"You can veto only one, and if you do you have to pick up both a truth and a dare card, and then you have to do both no matter what."

"I guess I'll try not to veto then."

"Let me get everything ready, then we can start playing." Rachel said, taking the candles and lighting them. She set a couple on the coffee table, then one each on the end tables. She grabbed a pillow off the back of the couch as she walked back to the other side of the table, tossing it on the floor to sit on. Once she was on the ground she opened up the wine bottle, pouring a good amount into each cup. "Cheers." She said, holding up her glass to them.

"Cheers." Chandler said, grabbing his glass and clinging it to hers.

"Cheers." Monica said, doing it to Rachel's first then his. "Cheers." She said to him, keeping eye contact with him as she pulled the glass to her lips and took a sip.

Chandler took a sip as he watched her, nearly forgetting they weren't the only ones in the room till he heard the sound of Rachel's glass setting back on the table. He looked away from her and to the box. "So, who's gonna start?"

"I will." Monica said.

"Okay, truth or dare." Rachel asked.

"Truth."

Rachel reached into the left side of the box and pulled out a truth card, reading it to her. "What is the craziest thing you did this year?"

"Craziest thing?" Monica said to herself, thinking a moment. "I went skinny dipping at the lake."

"Fully naked?" Rachel asked, shocked her friend had the nerve to do it.

"Well, no. I had on a bra, and panties."

"That's not skinny dipping, that's basically just a bikini."

"It was fifty-five degrees out, I didn't want to get chilly."

"I think that as a rule if someone lies during their truth that they have to do the thing they said they did, and we have to watch." Chandler suggested, getting a shove from Monica. "What? It only seems fair." He said, laughing as she pushed him a little more.

"What made you wanna try it anyways?" Rachel asked.

"I don't know." Monica said with a shrug. "I was out going for a run one night, and I came up on this lake. I had never done it before, and no one was around, I thought I'd try it." She said then looked over at Chandler with a smirk. "Your turn."

"I'm gonna go with dare." Chandler said.

"Oh, a brave man." Rachel said, reaching into the right side to get out a dare card. "Do your best impression of Tracy asking Gregory not to leave her."

"What the hell does that even mean?" Chandler asked, watching as they both chuckled.

"Tracy and Gregory were my next door neighbors back in the day, and one day Greg decided to leave Tracy. He stormed out of the house and Tracy came running after him, screaming away about how he couldn't leave her, and promising to stop doing all these weird things like shaving him while he was asleep, or cutting up his clothes to make into a quilt." Monica explained. "So you have to pretend like you are Tracy, and beg Gregory not to leave you."

"Can I at least change Gregory to Georgina, or something, so I'm not begging for some man to leave me?" Chandler asked, both of them shaking their heads no in response. "I really should have drank more before I picked a dare card." He said, taking a big sip of his wine before standing up.

"If you want to get more into character you can pretend the coat rack is Gregory." Monica said, pointing over at it. "That's what we used to do." She suggested then Chandler walked over to the coat rack and picked it up, carrying it closer to the living room.

"I don't know if Tracy could have carried Greg that easily, make it more believable." Rachel said.

"I'm about to beg a coat rack not to leave me, I'm not sure I can make this more believable." Chandler snickered as he set it down.

"With that attitude no wonder Gregory left her." Rachel whispered to Monica, not so quietly.

"Okay, here goes nothing." Chandler said, placing a hand on the coat rack. "Gregory, please, please don't leave me." He began to plead, making the girls both laugh the second he started. "I promise you, I promise that I will never ever again put on a Darth Vader costume and jump in the shower with you, yelling 'who's your daddy."

"Keep going, keep going." Monica said, laughing hysterically at his impression.

"Please, Gregory, think of our children." Chandler cried out.

"They didn't have any kids." Rachel remarked.

"Our children that I made out of garbage bags stuffed with old rags." Chandler said, looking back as if they were behind him. "Look at their faces, their drawn on faces. I will have to erase their smiles and draw frowns if you leave us."

"He's leaving." Monica said, both of the girls still losing it.

"No." Chandler said, dropping to the ground and grabbing a hold of the coat rack. "Please, you can't leave me." He said, clinging tightly onto it. "Can I let go of this thing now?" He asked, glancing back at them completely out of character.

"Yeah, you did a perfect Tracy." Monica said, wiping the tears from her eyes from laughing so hard.

"Thank you." Chandler said, standing up and taking a quick bow. "Now, come on, Gregory. I'll put you back where you belong." He said, picking up the coat rack and carrying it back to the foyer.

"He's actually really funny." Rachel said, still laughing lightly.

"Yeah, he is." Monica said, smiling at him as he walked back over to the couch and sat back down. "How does it feel being a single lady now?"

"It was tough to let go, but now it feels freeing." Chandler said, nodding to himself.

"Rach, you're next." Monica said.

"I'm gonna pick truth." Rachel said, picking out a card and reading it. "How many boys have you kissed."

"I'm so glad I didn't get that one, then I'd have to tell you about my night in Atlantic city." Chandler said absently, not thinking about it. "I'm kidding." He said, getting a chuckle from both of them.

"Let's see." Rachel said, using her finger to count. "I wanna say sixteen, but that's only because I've erased Jimmy Hoynes from my memory." She said, shivering at the thought of it. "Monica, your turn again."

"Truth." Monica said.

Rachel reached in and picked out a truth card, reading it. "What is the most embarrassing thing you did in front of a crush?"

"Second grade, out on the playground with Alex Clemons. I wanted him to leave his friends and come play with me so I told him that the teacher wanted to see him. We walked over to her together, and I pretended like I misheard what she said after she denied asking for him. Then I asked him if he wanted to come play on the swings with me, and he threw mud at my face for wasting his time."

"Seems like you dodged a bullet with that one." Chandler said. "He should've known you never throw mud in a girl's face. Maybe water, or a fake bug, but never mud."

"Chandler, your turn again." Monica said, sitting back a little on the couch as she sipped at her wine. She hadn't realized how much easier it was to get a buzz now that she had lost weight.

"That dare card did not treat me well last turn, I'm gonna go with truth."

"Okay." Rachel said, grabbing a truth card out. "What color underwear are you wearing?"

"She put that question in there just to tease me anytime I wore my pink cotton underwear with butterflies on them." Monica said, pointing at her friend.

"As coincidence would have it, that is exactly what kind of underwear I'm wearing too." Chandler joked, getting a smack to the chest from Monica.

"You have to answer seriously."

"Okay, let me check." Chandler said, laying back on the couch some and untucking his shirt. He pulled the waistband of his briefs up, looking at them. "Sorry ladies, it's just boring black today." He said, letting go of them and smoothing his shirt down.

Over the next couple hours they kept playing, going through card after card. They learned things they would have never known about each other, and had to do embarrassing things that they agreed to never share with anyone outside of the group.

"Looks like we only have a few cards left." Rachel said, glancing into the box. "And Chandler, it's your turn."

"I'll do truth, I really don't want to dance anymore." Chandler said.

Rachel grabbed out a card and read it aloud. "What is your worst fear?"

"Hmm." Chandler said, thinking a second. "My worst fear is becoming crazy snake man."

"I've either had way too much to drink, or you're not making any sense right now." Rachel said, taking a sip of her wine. "I guess it could be both things.

"What do you mean by that, Chandler?" Monica asked.

"I figure if I become an old, lonely man I'm gonna need a thing. So I figure I'll be crazy man with a snake, y'know. Crazy snake man. And I'll get more snakes, call them my babies, kids will walk past my place, they will run. 'Run away from crazy snake man' they'll shout!" Chandler said, shouting out the last part.

"What makes you think you are going to ever end up alone?"

"Just a feeling I get sometimes." Chandler said, rubbing his thumb against the glass on his cup. "I always do this stupid thing when I date a girl where I fixate on one thing wrong with her, and then I use that one thing as validation in my own head so I can break up with her, like it was the reason why I wouldn't commit."

"Why do you think you do that?"

"I don't know. I guess because if I get close to someone, and they don't like me, I have to accept that there is something wrong with me."

"It's okay if you have flaws, that doesn't mean there is anything wrong with you." Monica said, setting her hand on his leg. "One day you'll see, you are going to meet a girl and she is going to love you for exactly who you are, flaws and all." She said, smiling sweetly at him.

Rachel watched their interaction, getting worried Monica might be caring a little too much. "Mon, Do you wanna grab out a card for me?" She asked, getting her attention away from Chandler for a moment.

"Sure." Monica said, removing her hand from his leg and sitting forward some on the couch. "Truth or Dare."

"I'll do dare." Rachel said.

Monica picked up a dare card and read it. "Spin around in five circles while hopping on one foot."

"Oh no, I don't think when we were eleven we contemplated that we might be drinking while playing this game." Rachel said, using the table to push herself off the floor.

"How about we make this a drinking edition, you only have to do two spins."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me, I just don't want to have to clean up your puke." Monica said, watching as her friend did the poorest attempt at staying on one foot while she spun around twice.

"Oh thank god, the room is not spinning." Rachel said, standing in place a second before flopping back down onto the floor. "Mon, your turn. And it's probably the last round because we only have one truth left."

"I'll take truth then." Monica said, then Chandler started making chicken sounds from beside her. "What?" She asked, looking over at him.

"Sorry, I was just mimicking you." Chandler explained. "Y'know, 'cause you're a chicken."

"I am not a chicken!" Monica defended.

"We have been playing this game the last two hours, and you haven't once taken a dare card." Chandler said, adding more chicken sounds when she didn't have an answer.

"Stop it." Monica said, shoving him. "Fine, I'll take a dare card."

"Let me grab it for you." Chandler said, picking up a dare card. "Go skinny dipping in the lake, and let Chandler watch you."

"We didn't even know you when we wrote these cards." Monica said, chuckling at him.

"The truth or dare fairy must have added this one, now you have to do it."

"There is no such thing as a truth or dare fairy, now tell me what it really says." Monica said, trying to get a look at the card.

"Fine." Chandler said, looking at the card. "Throw a water balloon at your mother."

"Monica was fighting with her mom the day I wrote that one, I think she would have said no otherwise." Rachel said.

"I can't do that now." Monica said.

"It's what the card wants you to do." Chandler said, waving the card in her face.

Monica took the card away from him and held onto it. "Even if I was trying to start a big fight with my mother, or I was a little more drunk, I still couldn't do it. We don't even have water balloons anymore."

"Okay, in this one case we are going to give you a pass." Rachel said, knowing her friend wouldn't do it. "But the next dare you have to do, no matter what."

"Okay, deal."

Rachel reached into the box and pulled out another card, looking at it a second. "Kiss the person to your left on the lips, chest or rear end." She said then Monica's eyes shot over to the left of her, looking at Chandler.

"Wow, if this is one of the dares you two did while you played this game alone, I'm suddenly wishing I grew up in this neighborhood so I could have watched."

Monica turned her head back to Rachel, looking at her suspiciously. "I don't remember that ever being a card."

"It is, look." Rachel said, showing her it too fast to read. "Deal's a deal." She said, nodding toward Chandler.

Monica looked over at him. Of course Rachel would find a way for her to take her flirting to an even higher level, she should have seen this coming.

"I know this is your decision, but can I suggest the lips or the chest?" Chandler said, trying to lighten the mood. "I don't really like anyone around my ass."

Monica smiled at his comment, nodding at him. "I'll go with the chest." She said, feeling like that was far less intimate than the lips.

"And it's gotta be on the bare skin." Rachel added.

"You didn't say that before." Monica said, glaring over at her.

"It's in the fine print."

"Okay." Monica said, moving closer to Chandler. She could feel his eyes on her the whole time, but she didn't dare to look up at him. She reached up and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling it down some so that he had bare skin showing. She leaned in slowly, stopping just shy of his skin for a moment.

Chandler felt her breath on him and his hand went subconsciously to her side, gripping the fabric on her dress.

Monica leaned in the rest of the way and placed a soft kiss on his chest, lingering a few seconds before pulling away. "There, I did my dare." She said, letting go of his shirt and scooting away from him.

Chandler left his hand up a moment, where it had just been when she kissed him. He glanced over at Rachel then dropped it, clearing his throat as he turned back to face the table. "I'll do truth for my last one." He said.

Rachel took out the last truth card and read it. "Well this one doesn't really work since you're not in school, it's who's your least favorite teacher."

"Does the question work for professors? Because I have one who actually put a virus on my computer just because I made a joke about him, I had to spend the rest of class removing it, and I got behind on my lesson."

"You get to use computers?" Rachel asked. "The only time we got to do that was in ninth grade typing class."

"Kind of a perk of my major."

"What are you going to college for?" Monica asked. "Ross never told me."

"Computer sciences. And believe me, it sounds a lot cooler than it actually is."

"Why are you taking it then, was it like a dream job of yours?"

"No." Chandler said, shaking his head. "No, the classrooms for it were just the closest ones to my dorm." He said, making her laugh lightly. "What about you, what's your dream job?" He asked, looking at Monica.

"I'm gonna be a chef."

Chandler smiled as he thought back to last year when he had met her. "I remember thinking you would make a great chef."

"I know, you told me." Monica said, smiling back at him.

"What else do you remember thinking about Monica?" Rachel asked, hoping to get her friend back on track.

"I really didn't spend a whole lot of time with her." Chandler said. "But I remember she was really nice, and she offered to make me dinner the second she heard I wouldn't eat any Thanksgiving food. It was a really sweet thing for her to do."

"So, that's all you thought, nothing else?" Rachel asked, clearly digging for more.

"Rach, didn't you say you needed to use the bathroom?" Monica asked.

"When did I say that?"

"Now, you said it now." Monica said, looking at her wide eyed.

"Oh, yeah." Rachel said, climbing off the floor. "I'll be back, I gotta use the bathroom." She said, looking at Monica and pointing to Chandler. "Payback." She mouthed, Monica waving at her to go away.

Monica waited for Rachel to leave the room and get up the stairs before she looked back at Chandler, smiling at him when she couldn't think of anything to say. They were caught in an awkward silence, neither of them knowing how to get out of it.

"I'm sorry I talked you into picking dare." Chandler said, figuring he couldn't make this moment any weirder by bringing it up.

"It's fine, I was just being a chicken. Besides, it was kinda fun to be daring. It's not something I usually do." Monica said, rubbing her hands together nervously. "And at least I didn't have to confess my love to a coat rack." She said, earning a chuckle from him.

"Hey, you can't even begin to understand what me and Gregory had together." Chandler said, looking off longingly at the coat rack.

"I'm sorry." Monica said, playing along with his joke. "I guess I am just jealous of what the two of you had."

"Well you should be, it was magical."

Monica laughed, leaning forward to grab the bottle of wine and fill her glass back up. "More?" She asked, setting the bottle onto the rim of his glass.

"Sure." Chandler said, watching as she filled it to the top. "If I didn't know any better I would think you were trying to get me drunk, that way you could take advantage of me." He joked.

"What makes you think I couldn't do that while you were sober?" Monica asked, smirking back at him as she sipped from her glass.

"Touché." Chandler said as he reached for his glass, taking a drink then setting it back down on the table.

"Can I ask you something?" Monica said as she leaned back and rested her head on the couch cushions, looking over at him.

"You can ask me anything." Chandler said, mimicking her and sitting back on the couch. "But I should warn you if it's a dumb question I will be answering with a joke."

"Were you serious before when you said sometimes you get the feeling you'll end up alone?"

Chandler nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"Because you're afraid no one will ever want you?"

"Kinda. And I'm afraid that if someone does it won't last forever, they will get sick of me eventually. Then I'll be left all alone, and it will be even worse because I will know what it was like to feel loved." Chandler said, glancing over at his wine glass. "Okay, I shouldn't drink anymore, I'm already sharing far too much."

"I like that you are sharing things with me, it makes me feel like I'm not the only one feeling that way."

"You, ending up alone?" Chandler said, setting his arm on the back of the couch behind her as he chuckled at the thought. "That's never going to happen."

"What makes you think it couldn't."

"Because," He paused. "Who wouldn't want you?"

Monica watched as he avoided contact with her after the words left his mouth, looking like he regretted saying that out loud. She tilted her head to the side a little to get him to look back at her, holding a gaze once he did. "You really do have the most gorgeous eyes." Monica said, staring as though she was getting lost in them.

"I was thinking the exact same thing about yours." Chandler said, reaching up and tracing his fingertips down the side of her face and to her cheek.

Monica could have sworn she saw him leaning in towards her, and the crazier part is she was sure she was leaning in too. She expected him to close the gap, maybe it was even wishful thinking, but instead he backed away from her and moved further down the couch. She hadn't been sure what had caused that sudden change, not till she heard it too, the front door opening.

Ross stepped into the house, kicking off his shoes before finding his way to the dimly lit living room. "What's going on?" He asked, suspiciously.

"We were just talking." Monica replied, silently cursing her brother for interrupting yet another moment between them.

"Just talking?" Ross asked, glancing around at the setting he was finding them in. "Alone, on the couch, with candles, and a bottle of wine that you're too young to be drinking."

"We're not alone." Chandler said, trying to defend the situation. "Rachel is hanging out with us too."

"Wow, I didn't realize Rachel had become invisible since I left here." Ross asked, pretending to look around for her.

"No, she went to go use the bathroom." Chandler said, thinking to himself a moment then glancing over at Monica. "Though she's been gone awhile, maybe someone should check on her."

"She's probably off on the phone, I have one in my room." Monica said.

"Then why the candles, and the wine?" Ross asked.

"Rachel brought out the wine, and the candles are because the lamp wasn't working." Monica told him.

Ross stepped over to where the lamp was and clicked it on, the room lighting, and stinging their eyes from the sudden shift in brightness. "Seems to be working fine now." He said.

Monica thought about how she should have figured Rachel was lying about the lamp just to use candles instead. "So, is Carol feeling any better?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, she is." Ross said, walking back over by them. "Sorry it took me so long, she needed more comforting than I expected." He said, trying to hold back a grin.

"Just saying yeah would have been enough for me." Monica said, grimacing a little.

"It's getting pretty late." Ross said, glancing at his watch. "Chandler, we can just crash here tonight, and go back to school in the morning."

"We're going to share your bed?" Chandler asked, sarcastically. "Will there be spooning? If not, that's a deal breaker for me."

"You can stay in the guest room, I'll show you where it is." Ross said, Chandler standing up to follow him.

"Are you sure you guys don't want to stay down here till Rachel gets back? She might feel bad if she comes down here and everyone has gone off to bed." Monica said, trying to get Chandler to stay longer.

"I think it's better if we're not around when she gets back down here." Ross said. "I'm sort of getting the feeling she's into me now, the way she was trying to get me to go off with her and play my songs." He said, patting on Chandler's back. "Come on."

"Goodnight, Monica." Chandler said, giving her a sweet little smile.

"Yeah, night, Mon." Ross added.

"Night." Monica said, smiling back at Chandler before he turned to leave. She listened as they walked upstairs, laying back on the couch. Her hand went up to her face, retracing where his fingers had been. This was stupid, she shouldn't have actaully wanted to kiss him. Getting him to like her was all a part of her plan, her plan to pay him back for what he had said about her.

She sat forward again and blew out the candles on the table, then stood up and got the ones on both end tables. She walked back to the table and picked up her glass of wine, taking a few gulps of it then started gathering all their glasses. She headed over to the kitchen and poured the remainder of them down the sink, washing the cups before putting them away.

Walking back into the living room she clicked off the light, leaving and going upstairs. When she got into the hallway she stopped outside the guest room, she didn't know why but she just did. It was silent on the other side, he'd probably already laid down to sleep. She shook her head then walked further down the hallway, opening her bedroom door and going inside.

Rachel glanced over her magazine to see her coming in, sitting up on the bed and turning down the stereo she had been listening to. "How'd it go? Did you get him naked? Is he out on the lawn?" She said, excitedly walking toward the window. "I should look, or maybe I shouldn't. How did he look? Because if he's got anything weird going on under there I don't wanna see."

"I didn't do it." Monica said, walking over and sitting down on the end of her bed.

"What? Why not?" Rachel said, coming back over and sitting down next to her.

"He was about to kiss me, then Ross came home."

"So they left?"

"No, they are staying the night. Chandler's in the guest room."

"Mon, that's perfect." Rachel said, grinning at her. "You can sneak in there, and you can still get him back."

"I don't know." Monica said, unsurely.

"Oh, I got the perfect idea. He kept joking about you going skinny dipping, so tell him you want to go with him. Then once he's in the water take his clothes and run off, he'll have to walk all the way back here naked."

"I really don't want to do that anymore."

"Why not?"

"Now that we hung out, and I know him better, I don't want to embarrass him."

"Oh, I see what happened. You let it get too personal, and you got attached to him."

"I did not."

"You did. You're like one of those kids who plays with a caterpillar outside and thinks they need to bring it home with them, and then it dies in a jar."

"It is not anything like that." Monica said, getting defensive. "And I'll have you know inchy lived a long life before my cat got a hold of him, may he rest in peace."

"Monica, I know you like to be a good person, but this guy made you feel so bad about yourself. You've spent the whole last year eating next to nothing and working out like crazy just to lose the weight, you did it because he called you fat." Rachel said, setting her hand on Monica's. "Don't you feel like you deserve to make him feel the same way for one night?"

Monica took a deep breath and thought about everything she had felt the last year. She thought about how hurt she had been that night when she overheard him. It wasn't even the first time she had been called that, hell it hadn't even been the first time that week. But when he said it it had really hit her badly. And not just because he was some guy she had a stupid crush on making fun of her, though that was definitely part of it. It was because she had gone out of her way to be nice to him all night, even while he chose to ignore her completely. Then she found him making a comment about her being fat in a conversation with her brother where it wasn't even necessary to do so. Like something as superficial as her weight was reason enough to not want to hang around her. "Okay, I'll do it." She said, standing back up.

"Really?" Rachel asked, not expecting to have changed her mind.

"Yup." Monica said, nodding. "But I'm not going to leave him naked at the lake, or on the front yard. I'm going to make him feel what it's like to be unwanted by someone you like, I'm gonna make him feel exactly how I felt."

"You know, I've got the perfect outfit for you to wear in there." Rachel said, getting up and going over to her suitcase. "He'll go even crazier for you, and it will sting more when he shoot him down."

"Won't it seem weird if I change before I go in there? He just saw me twenty minutes ago."

"It won't be weird, it will be like you've changed into your pajamas." Rachel said as she pulled out a black lace nightie, one that looked as though it came straight out of a dirty magazine. "And he will look at you in it, and he will be filled with regret that he doesn't get to see you climbing into bed every night with him."

"Why do you even have this with?" Monica asked, walking over to her and looking over the garment.

"I brought it with just in case your brother got even cuter since I saw him over summer break."

"Rachel, he has a girlfriend!"

"Yeah, which is why I'm not going to use this." Rachel said, shaking the garment in front of her. "Now put it on, and go make that boy feel sorry he ever called you fat."

"Okay." Monica said, taking it from her. She walked over next to her bed and set it on her mattress while she removed her dress, replacing it with the nightie afterwards. "How does it look?" She asked, turning to Rachel.

"Looks like revenge." Rachel said, smiling at her friend.

"Okay, here goes nothing." Monica said, walking over to her bedroom door. She opened it slowly, peeking out into the hallway to make sure that no one was around. When she didn't see anyone she stepped out into the hall, hurrying over to the guest room door. She didn't want to barge in just in case he wasn't asleep yet, so she knocked lightly. She listened closely for any noise inside, and when she heard nothing she cracked the door open and looked in. He was laying on the bed, fast asleep on his back. She snuck inside and closed the door quietly behind her, stepping further into the room. She came up to the side of the bed and looked down at him. She smiled a little at how he was completely sprawled out across the whole bed in his tee shirt and boxers, blankets kicked aside and nearly falling off the mattress.

Though she was still trying to go through with her plan she knew now the reasons for it were different than earlier. Earlier it had been because she wanted to embarrass him, that way she felt better. Now it wasn't going to make her feel better, it was going to make them even.

What hurt her about having to do this was how much she really did like him now that she knew him better. He was surprisingly sweet, that is any time he wasn't putting on a show for the people around him. And he was funny, she had never met someone that had made her laugh so hard before. And he was self conscious and guarded, the same way she was. She had felt like they connected, and had it not been for that one comment he made she felt like she could have really fallen for him.

"Chandler." Monica whispered softly, sitting down gently on the side of his bed. "Chandler." She said again, causing him to stir a little.

Chandler squinted his eyes open, jumping back some when he noticed Monica sitting there. "Monica?" He asked, rubbing his eyes as he sat up some.

"Yeah." She said, smiling down at him.

"What are you doing in here?" Chandler asked, finally taking the time to look her over. His eyes traveled down her whole body, admiring the low cut and short length for a lot longer than he would have if he were wide awake and had more control of his faculties. "Am I dreaming?" He asked, looking back at her face.

"You're not dreaming."

"Are you sure? Because in my dreams I've had beautiful women in my bed many times. In real life, not so much."

"No, I'm really here." Monica said, chuckling lightly.

"What's going on?" Chandler asked, using that damned concerned tone that made her heart want to melt.

"Before, when we were alone on the couch, pre Ross coming in the house, there was this moment," Monica said, pausing for a second. "I thought maybe you were gonna, that you might have been about to," She paused again, finding herself stumbling on her words. "Were you going to kiss me?"

"Yes." Chandler said quietly, nodding his head.

"Good, because I was going to kiss you too." Monica said, leaning in and crashing into his lips.

Chandler's instinct once her lips pressed against his was to respond, kissing her back immediately. Her kisses were eager and rough, but he managed to slow down the pace when he propped himself up on one of his elbows and ran his hand up to her face, brushing her cheek gently.

Monica grabbed onto the back of his neck, gripping his hair and urging him to kiss her harder. Instead of complying with her attempts at removing any emotion, he added depth to their kiss. She hated that he was so good at this, and she loved it all at the same time. She'd hardly been kissed at all before, and even those times it was nothing like this. It was as if he memorized every curve of her lips, and pinpointed the exact spots to hit.

Chandler pulled back to catch his breath, resting his forehead onto hers. He opened his eyes straight into hers, their faces still close enough to inhale each other's oxygen. His eyes wandered around her face, taking in every feature of it as the street light from outside the window lit the room just enough. "God, you are beautiful." He said, softly.

Monica used his words as fuel to keep going. Of course she was beautiful to him now, now that she was skinny. She shifted her hand from his neck to his chin, pushing it up to gain access to his lips again. This time she wasn't going to waste any time enjoying it, her hand finding its way to his chest and running down it slowly. When she reached the bottom of his shirt she lifted it up enough to slide her hand under it, grazing it across his pelvis.

Chandler pulled his head back quickly, looking at her alarmingly. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Monica asked, smirking at him as her hand went to the elastic on his boxers and started to pull them down gradually.

"No." Chandler said, his hand reaching down to grab a hold of hers to stop any movement. "Monica, I mean it, what are you doing?"

"You know what I'm doing." Monica said, trying to piece together how he wasn't getting it. "You can't be that clueless."

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen." Monica said, smiling when she realized why he was worried. "Don't worry, I'm legal."

"And you're not a, I mean you've, you have done this before?"

"No." Monica said, shaking her head. She didn't know why she hadn't just lied, it wasn't like they were really going to have sex anyways.

Chandler sat up on the bed, crossing his legs under each other and pulling his blanket back over him. He took her hand he still had a hold of and turned it over, intertwining his fingers with hers. "I really like you so please don't get upset about this, but this can't happen, not tonight." He said, rubbing her hand faintly with his thumb as he continued. "I don't know what you're going through that made you turn to me, of all people, and I probably shouldn't have allowed this to go on this long already, but if we went any further you are going to regret it tomorrow."

Monica didn't know how to respond. Why did he have to care so much about her feelings now, where was this guy before? Had he changed since she met him last year, grown up more maybe? Because right now he was confusing her to no end. All she had ever heard about before was that a single man would never turn down sex with an attractive woman. "Why do you think I'll regret it?" She asked, trying to figure out what was going on in his head.

"You've gotta be having a pretty bad day to want someone like me, and I don't want to take advantage of whatever problems you are dealing with right now."

"Why do you think I'm going through anything? Why can't I just want to do this because I want to?"

"Because, I'm not the guy that women throw themselves at. I don't have the personality, or the looks that girls go crazy for."

"I think you do." Monica said, honestly. "When I saw you last year I thought you were the cutest guy I'd ever seen."

"Even with that hair due?" He asked, skeptically.

"Yeah." Monica said with a chuckle. "Although I'll admit I like the new one better." She said, admiring it as she ran her hand through it. "And as far as personality goes, you've got a pretty great one. One that could make someone look past your flaws, and love."

Chandler smiled at her words, squeezing her hand gently. "I wish I would have taken the chance to get to know you last year when we met."

"I wasn't someone you wanted to know a year ago."

"You had the same heart you have now, the only thing that changed is your body. And if I would have looked past my shallowness, and had an actual conversation with you instead of running off I would have been able to see just how amazing you were."

"You think that you could have liked me while I was fat?" Monica asked, tears starting to line her eyes.

"After being with you today, I'm sure I would have liked you even if you were only two inches tall."

Monica smiled widely, never expecting the same guy who had called her fat to be the one making her feel more comfortable in her own skin than she ever had before. She reached her free hand up to his face, cupping it as she leaned in and kissed him softly. This time she welcomed emotion, her plan effectively ruined for sure now. She pulled apart and smiled at him. "I guess I should go, let you get back to sleep."

"Yeah, like I'm gonna be able to get any sleep tonight after this." Chandler said, grinning at her as she let go of his hand and stood up.

"I'll see you in the morning before you leave." Monica said, getting ready to walk away.

"Are you busy tomorrow?" He asked, stopping her. "I could stay longer, take you out on a proper date."

"Tomorrow? You're a little impatient, aren't you?"

"I'm hoping the sooner I take you out, the less time you have to change your mind."

"I am free tomorrow, and I can assure you I won't be changing my mind." Monica said, leaning down to give him a few more short kisses. "Goodnight, Chandler."

"Night, Mon." Chandler said, kissing her once more before she turned and walked away.

Monica did the same as when she left her room and checked before leaving, hurrying back to her bedroom. She shut the door behind her and leaned her back against it, smiling to herself.

"I take it you got him back?" Rachel asked, noticing her friend's happiness.

"No, I got something even better.

"That's how you guys got together?" Phoebe asked, not having heard the full story before.

"Yup." Chandler said. "She just couldn't resist me no matter how hard she tried."

"Wait, did you ever get to go on your date?" Joey asked, eagerly waiting to hear more of the story as he picked at some leftovers.

"No, Joe." Chandler replied, sarcastically. "We actually never saw each other again after that."

"He did take me out the very next day, we went to this great little restaurant with really good British cuisine." Monica said, smiling back at the memory.

"I think I'm more concerned about the fact that this was all happening in the bedroom right next to mine." Ross said.

"I wasn't really going in there to have sex with him."

"After you got back to your bedroom you told me that before he changed your mind about him you weren't sure you would have been able to stop after kissing him, had he not stopped it first." Rachel pointed out, making Chandler gleam a little with pride.

Monica glared over at Rachel. "And that's why I cut the story off there, so no one would know that part."

"I actually never heard the part about you egging her on the whole time." Chandler said, looking over at Rachel. "You really wanted to make me feel miserable."

"I'm sorry, what can I say?" Rachel said, shrugging. "You hurt my friend, and it was payback time."

"It's alright, I would have deserved it." Chandler said, looking back at Monica. "I was the stupidest guy in the world to ever make you sad, and I will never make that mistake again." He said, rubbing her leg his hand had been resting on.

"I'm just glad to know I wasn't crazy, Rachel was trying to flirt with me that day." Ross said.

"I was not flirting with you." Rachel defended. "I've already told you before I was trying to get you out of the room so they could be alone."

"And the sexy nightie?" Ross said, a smirk forming on his lips when she had no answer for that. "Where is that anyways? Maybe you could wear it tonight."

"You do realize that I borrowed that nightie to your sister, so she could seduce your best friend in it." Rachel said, the smile dropping from his face.

"Never mind." He said, getting quiet again.

"Earlier you wanted to hear what everyone was thankful for." Chandler said, setting his arm behind Monica's back as he spoke to her. "I'm thankful for that Thanksgiving, and every one since then. Because I got to spend it with you, and that made me fall in love with this holiday again." He said, leaning in to give her a kiss.

"That's certainly a better Thanksgiving story than when I got my arm blown off in the war, twice." Phoebe said, reaching for a cookie off the table as everyone looked over at her questionably.