Set in season 6, before Monica and Chandler move into together.

A little help from my friend

Chandler Bing walked into his and Joey's apartment, noticing his roommate sat down, wearing a shirt and tie.

"Hey, Joey, got a date tonight?" He asked him, jumping up to site on the counter.

"Nah," Joey said simply, "just a party... a work thing..."

"Oh right..." Chandler nodded. He watched his best friend for a moment. For the last couple of weeks, Joey hadn't been acting himself. He rarely went out anymore and instead just sat in their apartment watching TV but on the odd occasions when he would go out, he would came back looking terrible and tired. Chandler had tried to talk to him about it but Joey would insist that there was nothing wrong.

"What you up to?" Joey broke his trail of thoughts.

"Oh, I'm taking Monica out." Chandler couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he thought about his girlfriend. He couldn't believe his luck when he got together with Monica and in a week they would be moving in together. He couldn't wait.

"Oh." Joey swung the chair around so he was facing the TV with his back to Chandler.

"Joe, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, why shouldn't it be?"

"Well... I dunno..." Chandler got of the counter and moved towards the chair next to Joey's, "you just don't seem to be yourself lately."

"What ya talking about?" Joey tried to force a smile to convince his friend he was fine.

"Come on, Joey..." Chandler sighed, "I know you better then anyone and I know when there is something wrong."

Joey's head dropped into his hands, as he tried to keep in control.

"I can't tell you..." He muttered quietly.

"Course you can!"

"I can't..." He looked up at him, "you'll hate me..."

"I won't hate you!" Chandler insisted.

"You will!"

"Joey, just tell me what going on!" He demanded, with concern, "Joey?!"

"It's nothing..." Joey stood up from his chair and moved towards his bedroom.

"Has this got something to do with Monica?" Chandler asked and watched as he roommate froze still.

"What?" He turned around, "no, course, it hasn't! Why would it?"

"You know, for an actor, you're not very good at acting!" Chandler commented.

Joey's eyes dropped to floor and the guilty look on his face, told Chandler he was right.

"What's going on, Joe?"

"Look, it's not that I don't like you two together or anything, I think that you two are great..." He said quickly, trying to explain, "its just..it just that..."

"It's what?"

"I dunno..." Joey shook his head, "I guess, I miss you..."

"You miss me?" Chandler frowned, confused.

"Yeah, like before you were together, we were best friends and we did everything together... but now, you're with Monica...."

"Joe, we're still best friends, we always have and always will be!" Chandler informed him, "and I know things have changed a bit and I'm sorry, if I haven't been around much but it just that I love Monica...I wanna be with her as much as I can..."

"Yeah, I know... I understand..." He told him, "look, I'm sorry...I guess its just that with you moving out and all, I'm going to be alone here...."

"Hey, you still got the Duck and Chick..." Chandler pointed out, Joey smiled, "we okay now?"

"Yeah, yeah... course..." Joey grinned at him but this time Chandler fell for it and walked out to find the rest of the gang.
As soon as he left, Joey dropped back into the chair and rubbed his eyes, trying to stopped the tears from falling.... He didn't want to be alone, he didn't want his best friend to leave him.

*~*~*

Chandler stood whistling to himself as he fixed his tie, he was nearly ready to go out with Monica. He hoped Joey was feeling better and that everything was sorted, he knew everyone in the gang was beginning to worry about him because he had become distant from everyone but mostly Monica. She was upset and wondering what she had done to him. His thoughts were interrupted by a phone call.

"Hello?"

"Hi...is that Chandler?" A male voice asked.

"Yeah, who's this?" Chandler frowned, not recognising the voice.

"Oh, I'm Rob, I'm a friend of Joey's..."

"Right..." Chandler said, confused, as to why this guy knew him, "well, Joey left about a hour ago."

"Yeah, I know... I'm with him now..." Rob explained, "We're at the hospital...."

"The hospital?!" Chandler repeated, "What's wrong? Is Joey alright..."

"I think, it might be best if you came down here..."

"I'll be right there..."

"OH and chandler?" Rob said, before he had chance to hang up, "Joey said he doesn't want the others to know..."

"What? Why not?" Chandler asked. Why wouldn't Joey want them to come, they were his friends.

"I dunno... but he said to make you promise..."

"Alright, I promise..." He finally, agreed and hung up the phone. He guess Joey wasn't actually fine, like he said he was.

*~*~*

The next morning, Chandler and Joey walked into their apartment in silence. They hadn't spoken to each all night, neither of them knew what to say. Joey headed straight to his room, whilst Chandler sat in one of chairs to think about everything that happened.

When he first arrived at the hospital and found Joey, his friend wouldn't talk to him and he wouldn't tell him what happened. It wasn't until the doctor came in Chandler found out why he was there.

He jumped slightly as the door opened, he looked up to see Monica and Rachel stood there.

"Where have you been?" Monica asked with concern in her voice.

"Oh my god, Mon!" Chandler jumped up, suddenly realising he hadn't cancelled their date last night, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

"Are you alright?" Rachel asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I'm fine..."

"Then where have you been!?" Monica demanded again but this time without the concern, "we've been up all night, worried about you!"

"I'm really sorry..." He reached out for her hand, "something came up..."

"What did?" She asked, after a few minutes of silence, she pulled her hand away from his. "What's going on, Chandler?"

"It was my mum..." He replied, saying the first thing that came into his head.

"Your mum?"

"Yeah, she was upset and needed to talk to me..." He hated lying to her, "I'm so sorry, I totally forgot about dinner...."

"I thought your mum was in Spain..." Rachel added, trying to remember.

He glared at her, "she was...she is... she left this morning..."

"Right..." Monica nodded, "is she alright?"

"Yeah...she's fine now..." He smiled slightly at her, "I'm really am sorry."

"It doesn't matter..." She smiled back at him and moved to hug him, "you want some breakfast?"

"Nah, I think, I'm going to head for bed..." He told them, "I haven't spelt all night..."

"Alright then... sweet dreams.." Monica reached up and kissed him.

"See you later..." He smiled at them as they left.

He let a sigh of relief out once the door had closed, happy they had brought his story. He rubbed his tired eyes, before moving towards Joey's room. He didn't bother to knock, he just walked right in, he didn't care what the Italian man said, he wanted answers. He decided that it wasn't best for him to go in there and start shouting at him, no matter how he felt about what his best friend had be doing. He knew that if he went mad at Joey then he wouldn't let him help him and that's what he need, help.

"I wanna be alone..." He heard Joey muttered.

"Tough," Chandler told him, "we're going to talk about this."

"What if I don't want to talk about it?!"

"I don't care!" Chandler raised his voice slightly, forgetting his decision to go easy on him. "I wanna know what's going on?!"

"Its nothing!"

"Nothing!" He repeated, "for god sakes, Joe... I get a phone saying that you're in hospital and when I get there I found out it because of drugs!"

"It was a mistake..."

"Yeah, I have to agree with you there!" He yelled, "how the hell did you get mixed up in this?!"

"I'm not mixed up in anything!!" Joey sat up and glared at him.

"Joey, you took cocaine...how stupid can you get?"

"I'm sorry..."

"You're sorry..." Chandler looked at him, "that all.. You ended up in hospital because you took some stuff that nearly stopped you from breathing... and you just say you're sorry?!"

"What else do you want me to say?!"

"Tell me you know that you've done is wrong!" Chandler shouted, "tell me you won't do it again!"

"I can't!" Joey screamed back but then dropped back down on to his ended. He held his head in his hands as sobs wreaked through his body, "I can't... I can't stop..."

"What do you mean, you can't stop."

"Help me..." Joey looked up at him, tears streaming down his face. "please.. Please help me.."

Chandler looked at him, he'd never seen Joey in a state like this before, he'd never seen his so scared before. He sat down next to him and hugged him.

"You're going to get through this..." Chandler told him, knowing the seriousness of the problem, "I promise...everything is going to be okay."

*~*~*

Chandler sat staring at the blank TV screen, thinking. He had spent 3 hours talking things over with Joey. Promising him that he would okay and telling him he'll always be there. He still couldn't believe it, this time yesterday, he's life was perfect, he was moving in with the women he loved and he had his best friends around him. He couldn't ask for more but when that all changed within a few hours.

When the doctor at the hospital explained to him that Joey had a bad reaction to cocaine, he's heart stopped. He thought he had misheard the doctor, there was no way Joey could be mixed up with drugs but just one look at his best friends face told him everything.

Once Chandler had gotten over the shock, he became angry. Angry that Joey never talked to him about, angry that he couldn't trust him enough to want to talk to him about it. Worst of all he was angry at himself, for not realising. He knew that something was wrong with his roommate but choose to ignore it and to believe Joey when he said nothing was wrong. He could feel the tears began to burn in his eyes, as he thought about it. Joey was like a brother to him and he had let him down.

"Here's where you're hiding..." Ross interrupted his thoughts. Chandler quickly wiped the tears out of his eyes, as he spun around to face his friend.

"Hey, man..." He said, trying to sound normal.

"Where you been all day?" Ross asked, closing the door.

"Here..."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine..." Chandler stood up and moved towards the fridge, "why wouldn't it be?"

"Well, we haven't seen you all day and Monica said something about your mum being upset..." He frowned as he watched his friend curiously.

"Yeah, that's all sorted..." Chandler told him, getting use to telling the lie about where he was last night.

"Oh right..." Ross didn't believe him, he knew something was bothering his best friend but also knew not push him on the subject. "So where's Joey..."

Chandler suddenly tensed and his eyes drifted to Joey's bedroom door, where he was currently sleeping off the side effects of drugs he was given last night at the hospital.

"He's at an audition..." He said quickly, hoping Ross didn't notice his reaction.

"So, you coming to the coffee house?" Ross asked, "Phoebe's wrote a new song..."

"I would but I've been up all night and I'm really tired..." Chandler didn't want to leave Joey on his own, not so soon after everything.

"But I thought you've been sleeping all day?" Ross frowned.

"I tried..." Chandler stuttered, "but... I couldn't..."

Before Ross could reply, they both turned around as they heard a door being opened. Ross frowned again, when he saw Joey stood at his bedroom door. Ross stared at Chandler, silently ask him what was going on and why he lied.

"Oh...hey Ross.." Joey said quietly, dropping his head down slightly... "Umm, I just gotta do something..." With that he closed the door again.

"What's going on?" Ross asked Chandler.

"What do mean?" Chandler replied, hoping Ross would get the hint that he didn't want to talk about it.

"Why did you lie to me?" Ross said, "why have you two been hiding..."

"We haven't been hiding!"

"Why haven't either you left this apartment then!?"

"Well, I'm sorry if me wanting to get some sleep after staying up all night is such a bad thing!" Chandler shouted sarcastically.

Ross looked at him, just by looking at him, Ross could tell that he hadn't had any sleep but he also knew something was going on.

"Why are you shutting us out?" Ross asked, simply.

"What?"

"I know something is not right, I know something is wrong with you..." Ross stated, "why won't you tell us... me, Monica, the girls?"

"Ross, there nothing wrong with me apart from the fact, I've had no sleep."

"Did you and your mum have another fight?"

"Look, Ross..." Chandler sighed, not knowing what to say any more. He was to tired to think of any convincing lies now.

"Cos if you have, you know you can talk to me..."

"I know but honestly, its not that important..."

"You sure?"

"Course I am!" Chandler smiled at him, "now go and support Phoebe!"

"Alright but you sure you're okay?" He asked again.

"Yes! Just go!" He told him, push gently towards the door, "tell, Mon I'll see her later..."

Joey sat back down on his bed once he heard Ross leave. He was relieved that Chandler hadn't told him what really happened but he also felt guilty by the fact he was making him lie to everyone, including Monica.
He hadn't wanted to involve anyone in his problem, let alone Chandler, his best friend but when he taken to the hospital, he was scared that he was going to die and he didn't want to be alone.
He had made Chandler promise not to tell anyone because he didn't want to see the look of disappointment cross their faces, just like Chandler.
He didn't want to get caught up in all this, he didn't really know the effects of taking cocaine. He was at a works party, it was just after Chandler and Monica announced they were moving in together and he felt depressed. Depressed because he'd never had a proper relationship, depress because everyone was growing up and depress because they were all going to leave him. Chandler and Monica were just the start of it, before he knew it, they'd be married, having kids and moving away to a bigger house. No doubt that Ross would re-marry, maybe to Rachel...To Joey, they were destined to be together. Phoebe would marry some guy and move away as well or she would travel the world to meet new people, both the living and the dead.
One of his colleagues, Jimmy had told him that there was away for him to cheer up and become more relaxed and stupidly, Joey agreed to give the drug a try.
The next morning he felt so bad that he promised himself never to take do it again and then another party came around and Jimmy showed up again. The next couple of weeks, he would the same thing again and again just because it blocked out the pain.

He laid down and closed his eyes, trying to stopped the tears from rolling down his face but he couldn't, he quietly cried himself to sleep.

Chandler stood and listened to the sound of sobs coming from Joey's room and couldn't help a few stray tears roll his own face.

*~*~*

Joey moved restlessly around on the couch, trying to get comfortable. It had been two days since Chandler had found out about his addiction and promised to help him through it. Joey hadn't had the courage to leave the apartment yet, he didn't want to see his friends, just in case they worked out what was wrong with him.
They would sometimes come over but he would always leave the room. Rachel tried to talk to he him about it, asking him what was wrong. He just shrugged his shoulders and said he was fine.
He would hear them all trying to find out what was going on from Chandler but his friend would refuse to admit anything and just told them he didn't know. They both knew that none of them believe him.
The fact that Chandler had spent so much time with him had put a strain on his relationship with Monica and Joey hated himself for that. Chandler didn't want to leave Joey alone, just in case something happened, he would never be able to forgive himself if it did.

"Chandler?" Joey cried out softly.

"Yeah, Joe?" His friend replied from where he was sat, watching in one of the Barcalounger.

"It hurts..." He whispers, "I can't take the pain..."

"I know it does..." Chandler moved to knell down next to the couch, "but I promise, it'll get easier."

"When?"

"I dunno..."

"I can't do this..." He was suffering from withdrawal symptoms, he was left feeling depressed and exhausted

"Yes, you can..."

"I can't....I can't...it hurts, I really hurts..." Joey cried, his eyes pleading with Chandler to help him.

"Try to sleep..." He advised.

"I can't!"

"Yes you can..." Chandler told him, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "just stay still..."

Joey did as he was told, he lay on his back and closed his eyes. He could still feel Chandler's hand on his shoulder and knowing his friend was there made everything seem slightly better.

*~*~*

"Hey..." Monica jumped up from her chair and walked over to Chandler as he came throw the door.

"Hey..." He replied and wrapped his arms around her. Joey had finally drifted off to sleep and he decided it was safe enough to leave him to see his other friends for a while.

"Everything alright?" Ross called over and both Phoebe and Rachel looked up at him.

"Yeah, everything's great..."

"Haven't seen you around much for the last couple of days..." Rachel said looking at him curiously.

"Yeah, I've had a lot on at work..." He hated lying to them but it was the only thing he could do.

"I've missed you..." Monica admitted and lend up to kiss him.

"I've missed you too..." He smiled at her.

"So, where's Joey?"

"Oh, he's out somewhere," Chandler said as he moved towards the couch and sat next to Rachel.

"You sure he's alright?" Ross asked, "he doesn't seem to want to talk to us at the moment..."

"Nah, that's not it," He reassured them, "he's just stressed with his new play of his..."

"What play?" Monica frowned and sat next to him.

"You know..." He said slowly. They all looked at him and shook their heads. "Just a play..."

"What's it called?"

"Ermm..." Chandler thought for a moment and before he knew it he blurted out a random story. "Peter Pan.."

"Peter Pan!?"

"Yes..." He said slowly, regretting it.

"So, he's wearing tights?" Ross asked, with a bit of amusement in his voice.

"Umm..."

*~*~*

Chandler was relieved when he eventually returned to his own apartment, escaping all the question his friends were asking about what he been doing at work and them still insisting that Joey was avoiding them. The only reason he got away earlier was because they wanted to go out for dinner and he was able to excuse himself saying he had an early start in the morning. He had nearly given into their pleads for him to join them when he saw the disappointed look on Monica's face but he couldn't leave Joey any longer.

He sat back down in the Barcalounger he was in before and watched his roommate sleep. He sighed and glanced at his watch, it was 8:30 and he exhausted, he hadn't had much sleep since everything had started.

"Chandler..." Joey's sleepy voice interrupted his thoughts, "you gotta let me have some..."

"I'm not going to do that, Joe..." Chandler told him sharply, not needing him to finish of the request.

"You gotta...it will make the pain go away.."

"I know but it will only make things worse," he told him.

"But I need it....." Joey cried.

"No you don't..."

"I do!"

"Joey just go back to sleep," Chandler sighed again. Silence took hold over the apartment and Chandler guessed Joey had took his advice.

He could fell his eyelids slowly fall, he tried to keep them open but he was fighting a losing battle.

When he woke, he looked at his watched and realised it was now 10:30. He suddenly noticed that he was sat in the room alone. He jumped up from the chair and ran straight for Joey's room, the only door that was closed.

He found Joey sat on his bed, laughing uncontrollability at the duck, waddling around doing nothing in particular.

"Joe?" Chandler said, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Hey! Chandler!!" He jumped up and hugged his tightly, "look, look, watch the duck!"

"It's not doing anything..." Chandler stated.

"I know, that's what's funny!" He giggled again and fell back onto the bed, causing him to laugh harder.

"What's going on Joe?"

"I'm feeling better..." He informed him.

"Tell me, you never took anything?!" Chandler demanded, he didn't need Joey to confirm it, he already knew.

Joey looked at him with a straight face for a couple of seconds before it creased with laughter again, "but that would be lying!"

"JOEY!" He yelled, "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!"

Joey stared at him with confusion.

"YOU PROMISED ME!! YOU PROMISED YOU WOULDN'T DO THIS AGAIN!!"

Joey opened his mouth to argue back, when he felt his stomach turn. Chandler grimaced as he vomited on the floor. He turned and walked out, slamming the door. He looked around and kicked a cushion that was left lying on the floor. He marched into the bathroom and pulled out everything from the cabinet. He unscrewed the tops of all the medicines and pour them down the toilet and watched them being flushed away.
He couldn't trust Joey no more with any drugs, not even legal ones. He continued to stare down after they disappeared from view. The anger and disappointment in his eyes faded and they were filled with tears. He didn't know what to do.

*~*~*

"What was that?" Rachel paused as her and Monica stood in the hallway.

"What?" Monica frowned.

"Can you hear shouting?" Rachel asked, moving towards Chandler's and Joey's door. She pressed her ear against the door but everything was silent.

"You must be hearing things," Monica told her, laughing slightly and walked into their own apartment.

"Yeah," Rachel said slowly, still looking at the door. She knew something wasn't right.

*~*~*

As the morning sun shorn throw the open, Joey cracked open one eye. He felt the familiar feeling of exhaustion and nausea. He groaned and put his head down after a minute he could fell someone's eyes on him.

"Chandler?" There was no reply. Joey lifted his head again and saw his best friend sat in the corner of his bedroom, in one of the Barcalounger, watching him. "What you doing?"

"I can't trust you no more..." Chandler finally said, emotionless.

"What?" Joey glared him.

"I can't trust you on your own no more, Joe..."

"What talking about!?" Joey raised his voice.

"You broke your promise," Chandler told him, "I can't leave you alone."

"Get out of my room!" Joey hated being babysat.

"No." Was the simple reply.

"GET OUT!!" He yelled.

"No."

"WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE!?" Joey continued to shout from the comfort of his bed. He's eyes blaring at Chandler, "YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!"

"Just go back to sleep..." Chandler said, he hadn't flinched the whole time Joey had been shouting. He didn't care about what he was saying, it was just the effect of the drugs.

"You can't stay here forever!" Joey stated.

"No but I can for a long time.." Chandler countered.

"No you can't because you're moving out in 3 days!"

Chandler paused to think. He had totally forgotten that he was moving in with Monica. He had been looking forward to it for weeks but he couldn't leave Joey in this state.

"Just go back to sleep, Joe..." Chandler broke the silence, "I'm not going anywhere."

Joey stared at him for moment before sighing in frustration and turning to face the other way. He need more drugs, he need to stop the pain, he needed to block out the everything. He hoped that Chandler hadn't found the small bag of Crack Cocaine that was taped to the inside door of his closet.

Chandler remained in the room, thinking about what he was going to do. He didn't want to let Monica down but he also knew what would happen to Joey if he left. A single tear rolled silently down his face. He just wanted everything to go back to the way it was before.

*~*~*

"Do you guys think that everything is alright with Joey and Chandler?" Rachel asked the others as they sat around watching TV.

"What?" Monica glanced over at her.

"I dunno... I think there's something going on... I thing there's something wrong.."

"Yeah, I agree..." Ross nodded.

"What do you mean?" Monica frowned, she trusted Chandler enough to believe him when he said there was no problem. "Chandler told you, there's nothing wrong."

"Oh come on, Mon..." Rachel sighed, "We haven't seen Joey in like 4 days and you've seen how nervous Chandler's been acting around us!"

"Yeah, like the other day..." Ross started, "I was around there and Chandler told me that Joey was at an addition but then he walked out of his bedroom, took one look at him and walked back in."

"So?"

"So, he lied to me!"

"What do you think is going on?" Phoebe asked.

"I dunno..."

"Maybe Joey's mad at us and doesn't want to talk to us..." Monica suggested.

"Yeah but what's that got to do with Chandler?" Rachel asked.

"They're best friends... he probably just help him through it..." Phoebe added.

"Yeah, I suppose..." Rachel said slowly, "but why would Joey be mad at us?"

"Maybe he's jealous!" Ross put in.

"Of what?"

"Of Mon and Chandler moving in together...maybe he doesn't want to be on his own."

"But that's stupid!"

"It does make sense though..."

"Yeah, I guess..." Rachel finally agreed but to her it still didn't seem right.

*~*~*

Joey walked into his apartment to find it empty, he looked around in confusion.

"Chandler?" He called out but there was no answer. He left and walked into Monica's and Rachel's, he found them all sat there.

"Hey, where all our stuff?" He looked at Chandler.

"Do I know you?" He stared blankly at him.

"What?" Joey asked, looking around at the other, seeing they all had the same blank faces. "what's going on?"

"Can you get out my apartment, please..." Monica stood up and pushed him towards the door.

"Monica! What's going on?" He protested.

"How do you know my name?" She asked him, "who are you?"

"What you on about? I'm Joey..."

"We don't know no Joey!" Rachel stated.

"Yes you do!" Joey told her, "I live across the hall with Chandler!"

"I live here..." Chandler told him and then pointed to Rachel and Phoebe, "they live next door..."

"What?" Joey cried. "Chandler, you gotta remember."

"I'm sorry, I don't know you!"

"You do! Is this because I broke the promise because if it is, I'm sorry..."

"What promise? Look, I'm sorry but I don't know you." Chandler stood up and started to push him to the door, "Get out and don't come back!"

He stared at the door that was slammed in his face, tears streaming down his face.

"Chandler, please, I'm sorry...please, you gotta remember... I'm sorry...Don't leave..." He hammered on the door.

"Please, don't leave, I'm sorry...please..."

"Joe? Joey..."

He sat up in his bed, breathing heavily and sweating. Chandler was knelling next to his bed, with a worried look on his face.

"Its okay, Joe...It was just a dream." He reassured him.

"You left..." Joey whispered, "and none of you could remember me, you throw me out..."

"It was just a dream..." Chandler repeated softly, "I'm not going anywhere and none of us are going to forget you."

"You sure?" Joey asked in a shaky voice.

"I'm sure..." Chandler put a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back down, "now try to get some sleep..."

"But..." Joey tried to resist but he was to tired to fight back.

"Don't worry..." He whispered, "I'm not going anywhere..."

Joey looked at him for a minute then nodded and closed his eyes, "I'm sorry... I'm never going to let you down again..."

"I know..." Chandler replied and then added as a afterthought "And I'm not going to let you down."

*~*~*

He stood outside her apartment for about 10 minutes, trying to get the courage to go and face her. Once he was sure Joey was in a peaceful sleep, he decided that he should go and break the news to Monica about not being able to move in with her.
He knew he couldn't tell her the real reason why because he and promised Joey he wouldn't and he couldn't break that. Joey would never forgive him.

He took a deep breath and pushed open the door to find Monica, Ross, Rachel and Phoebe all sat around watching a movie.

"Hey, Guys..." He said nervously.

"Hey, man..." Ross looked up first and frowned, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything great..." He forced a smile but then sighed and shook his head, "No, no... its not actually..."

"What's going on?" Phoebe asked.

"Look, Guys, I need to talk to Mon..." He told them, they all nodded but stay where they were. "Alone!"

"Oh yeah, right..." Rachel said quickly, standing up and walking into her bedroom. Ross and Phoebe followed her and closed the door.

"What's going on?" Monica asked, walking towards him.

"Right.. Oh god, this is really hard..." He stuttered, rubbing his eyes.

"Chandler?"

"Look, Mon... maybe you should sit down..." Chandler said, as he gestured her to the couch.

"What's going on?" Ross whispered to Phoebe who was listening at the door.

"I can't hear anything..." She glared at him. "Oh, no..."

"What?" Rachel asked, "what's happening."

"I've just realised, we're in the wrong room..." She sighed and throw her hands up in the air with frustration.

"What?" Both Ross and Rachel stared at her.

"Well, when you two used to fight.... We used to go in Monica's room..." Phoebe explained, "and after the first time, when we got stuck in there for hours... Joey hide a box in there with food and stuff..."

"What first time?" Ross frowned.

"Oh, when Ross cheated on you..." She told them and turned back to the door.

"We were ON A BREAK!!" Ross yelled.

"Oh great... I'm stuck in here with you two..." She rolled her eyes.

Chandler stopped talking when he heard shouting from the bedroom.

"What's going on in there?"

"Forget about that..." Monica told him, taking his hand, "what's wrong..."

Chandler looked back at her, the words caught in his throat as he spoke, "I...I... can't move in with you...."

"What?" Pulling her hand away from his.

"I'm sorry..."

"What?" She stared at him, "Why not?"

"Because, because..." He searched his brain for a good excuse, trying to swallow the "because I don't think I'm ready..."

"But...but it was your idea..." She shuttered, trying not to cry.

"I know and I'm sorry..." Tears formed in his own eyes, he hated at he was lying to her again, "I do love you..."

"But you don't wanna to live with me?"

"I do..I really do..." He told her, reaching for her hand, "just not now..."

"So...." She said, brushing away the tears in her eyes, "so, what do we do now?"

"I dunno..." He looked down the floor.

"Do...do you want us to break up..." She just about managed to get the words out without crying.

"No, no, I love you..." Chandler couldn't hold onto his emotions anymore, letting tears run freely down his face.

"And I love you too..." Just seeing him cried made her lose control to, "but... I don't think we can just go back, not now..."

There was silence, Chandler didn't know what to say, he didn't want to agree with her but he knew he had no choice, "so, that's it? We're over?"

"I guess..." She shrugged but then shook her head, "no, no... maybe we should just have a break..."

"A break?" He repeated, "Like Ross and Rachel?"

"I guess..."

"If that's what you want..." He tried to smile but couldn't.

"Maybe, a bit of time apart will make our love stronger..."

Chandler nodded but couldn't speak. He held his head in his hands, shielding his face from hers. Once he thoughts the tears were all gone he looked up.

"I'm sorry..."

"I'm sorry too..." She stood up and moved into his arms. They stood there, both crying with their arms wrapped around each other.

"Everything has gone quiet..." Phoebe told them.

"You think its safe to go out?" Rachel asked.

Both Ross and Phoebe looked at each other and shrugged. Rachel rolled her eyes and opened the door.

They froze when they saw their two friends holding each other tightly with tears streaming down their faces.

"Oh, sorry...thought you had finished..." Phoebe stuttered

"It's okay...I'm just going..." Chandler said, wiping his eyes and looked at Monica one more time, "I'm sorry..."

"I know..." She whispered, wiping her own tears away as she watched him walking towards the door.

"Love ya, Mon..." He told once he had opened the door.

"Love ya too..." She replied and smiled sadly at him as he closed the door.

Chandler closed the door and leant against, trying to stop the tears from falling anymore. He could hear his friends trying to find out what happened and he knew they would won't more then the answer he gave to Monica but he couldn't give it to them, not yet.

"Mon?" Rachel moved towards her, as she collapsed on to the couch sobbing. "Mon? What happened?"

"Its over..." She whispered.

"What?"

"He came..he came over to say he didn't want to move in any more..." She told her, bringing her knees up to her chest and hugging them.

"What?" Ross asked in disbelief, he couldn't believe Chandler would that, not to Monica. "Why not..."

"He said he wasn't ready..."

"Oh Mon." Rachel hugged her and so did Ross and Phoebe, "What happened then?"

"We decided that we should take a break..."

Chandler closed the door to his apartment quietly, not wanting to disturb Joey, after a second of thinking, he locked the door. Not wanting any of them storming in demanding answers.

"Chandler?" Joey appeared at his bedroom door, his hair tousled. "Where did you go? You said you wouldn't leave!"

"Its alright, Joe... I just want across the hall.." he sighed and got a bottle of water out the fridge.

Joey looked at him curiously, he was certain he'd been crying. "What's happened?"

"Nothing..."

"No, tell me!" Joey demanded, annoyed, "I wanna know!"

"Alright, fine!" Chandler suddenly snapped back, Joey backed away with shock, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to shout."

"It's okay..." He frowned at his friends behaviour... "What's going on?"

Chandler took a deep breath before telling him, "me and Mon broke up."

"What?! Why?!"

"Don't worry about that now...." Chandler told him, looking down the floor.

"Is it because of me?" Joey watched Chandler, waiting for an answer but there was silence, "Chandler?! It is, isn't it?!"

"No..." He insisted, knowing that if Joey would blame himself, "we just needed a break, you know moving onto fast and all..."

"But you love her..." Joey whispered. Chandler looked away again, not wanting him to see his tears. "I'm sorry..."

"Look, its for the best..." Chandler lied, "we both agreed and y'know when you're better, everything can go back to normal."

"Maybe I should just go...."

"Go where?" Chandler frowned.

"Away..." Joey ran his fingers through his hair, "let you get on with your life..."

"Oh that's ridiculous...."

"Be better then you hating me..." he mumbled, not being able to look at his best friends.

"Hate you?"

"I've ruined everything..." Joey looked up, "cos of me, you and Mon broke up, you rarely see the others...."

"Joey, I don't hate you..." He told him simply.

"You will though...by the time this is over..."

"I won't..." Chandler walked towards him, "you're my best friend, you and Ross are like brothers to me, I couldn't hate either of you or abandoned you when you need help!"

Joey looked at him before pulling him into a manly hug.

"You're like a brother to me to..." He whispered.

Before either of them could say anything, someone attempted to open the door, when they found it locked, there was a knock.

Chandler watched Joey, expecting him to go back into his room and hide from outsiders, but he never. He stayed where he was, looking at the door.

"Chandler!" Ross voice flittered through. "Open this damn door!"

"We want to know what's going on!" Rachel shouted.

There was silence in the apartment and Joey was waiting for Chandler to do something but he never, he stayed still, not taking his eyes off the door. He couldn't face them, not yet. Ross was Monica's protective older brother, who had warned him about hurting her when he first found out about their relationship and Rachel was her best friend, who would do anything to make Monica happy.

"Go in your room..." Joey whispered.

"What?" Chandler moved his gaze from the door.

"I'll tell them you went out..."

"But you don't want to see them..." Chandler stuttered, "I can't let you do this..."

"Oh come off it, look what you've done for me..." Joey told him, pushing him forwards his bedroom, "I can do this..."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure..." Joey told him and head towards the door.

"Joey?" Ross said, surprised for him to be opening the door.

"Sorry, I took so long, I was asleep..." Joey lied easily, ignoring their concern looks at his own appearance.

"Ermm, okay..." Rachel stuttered, "Is Chandler here?"

"No, he went out about ten minutes ago..." He told them.

"Do you know where?" Ross asked.

"Work..."

"Tell him I wanna word when you see him..." Ross ordered and walked back into Monica's apartment, whilst Rachel stayed where she was.

"You okay, Joey?" She asked him.

"I'm fine..." He forced a smile small.

"You sure? Cos we haven't seen you around... I mean, I hope haven't done anything wrong..."

"Rach...." He cut her off, "I'm fine, just been busy!"

"You sure..." She said again, when he nodded, she decided to change the subject "did Chandler tell you what happened?"

"Yeah..." He nodded again sadly, "but they'll get through it, it's just a break..."

"That's what Mon keeps saying..." Rachel sighed.

"See, everything going to be fine..." Joey couldn't help a grin that spread across his face, glad to hear that Monica hadn't given up hope.

"Yeah but I said that about me and Ross...look how we ended up..." She told him, to see his smile fade. She turned and headed back to her own apartment, "I'll see you later, Joe..."

Rachel's words repeated itself over and over again inside Joey's head, as he closed the door. She was right, everyone thought that Ross and Her would be okay, everyone thought that they'd be together forever but after their 'break' everything changed. Their friendship was nearly ruined, causing a lot of strain on the rest of the group. If the same happened to Monica and Chandler, he'd never be able to forgive himself. He knew the only reason that Chandler had said he couldn't move in with her was because he would feel guilty about leaving him there on his own and would be worried about him.
When he first found out about the couple's relationship he was shock but then it all suddenly made sense. Looking back over the years, they'd always been close, they'd always be hugging or sat close. It never occurred to him or anyone else in the group that they'd make the perfect couple. Had he ruined that? Had he destroyed their chance of happiness. He hadn't seen Chandler or Monica so happy in a relationship before now. He promised himself that would get through this, he would listen to whatever Chandler told him do and make sure that the whole thing was over before it was to late for Chandler and Monica.

*~*~*

One Week later

Chandler sighed and flopped down onto one of the Barcalounger. He had just managed to convince Joey to try and sleep of the withdrawal symptoms off, after spending the rest of the morning making sure that he didn't do anything stupid. The last few days had been a nightmare, Joey was becoming more desperate for a fix... which meant he was lashing out at Chandler, trying to hit him because he wouldn't let him leave but because he had lost a lot of weight and strength, Chandler was able to fight him off.
It had been a week since he had broke up with Monica and he'd only really seen her when he they dumped into each other in the hall but he rarely left the apartment with fear of leaving Joey alone.
He rubbed his eyes, before getting up and making his way to the fridge, in search for something to eat. He then realised that he'd forgotten to get some more food in. He slammed the door shut and reached for the phone to order a pizza. He seemed to be living off take-a-ways, either because there was no food left or because he was too tired to cook something.

"This can't be good for my health..." He muttered to himself as he replaced the phone and sat down to wait for his food.
He decided he would try and convince Rachel to go shopping for him tomorrow. She was the only one that came to see him now. The day after he and Monica broke up, Ross confronted him. Excusing him of using his little sister and telling him that he couldn't forgive him. Phoebe had told him that she didn't want to get involved but swear that she still wanted to his friend.
Rachel came over every other day, trying to find out what was going on. Convinced that Joey and him had been avoiding them. He lied to her and said that they'd both been busy working and that was why they never cleaned the apartment or had time to go shopping. He knew she never believe him but she never said anything about but instead come back over the next day and try to find out another way. Every time Joey would be hiding in his room, listening to see if Chandler would break his promise but never. He had talked to Joey about telling the other, explaining everything but Joey didn't want to, he didn't want them to be dragged into his mess and wished that Chandler hadn't. He watched his best friend, cry and beg him not to say anything and every time he even considered opening up to Rachel, that imagine would flash in his mind and stopped him.

*~*~*

"Where you going?" Chandler asked, as he walked out the bathroom, just in time to see Joey by the door.

The Italian jumped away from the door, startled by being caught. "Nowhere... just fancied a walk...."

"Oh right..." Chandler nodded, knowing that he was lying, "I'll come with you..."

"NO!" He said quickly, desperate to get out and have a fix. "I mean, I need to be alone..."

"Joey.." Chandler sighed and moved towards him, "you think I'm falling for this..."

Joey's face grew darker, once he realised Chandler was going to let him out. "You don't understand!"

"I do understand..." Chandler informed him, "But I'm not letting you go..."

"I don't care! You can't stop me!" Joey shouted and walked towards the door but Chandler blocked his path. "Get out the way!"

"No, I'm not letting you throw everything away..."

"Get out the way!" Joey growled again, trying to past him.

"No..."

"Let me out!" Joey screamed but when Chandler didn't move he grabbed him by his shirt collar and swung him around. Chandler would have fallen to the floor if Joey had let go of him but he never and instead raised his fist. Chandler's head snapped back as Joey's hand made contact with his face, splitting his lip open. Once he felt the grip on his shirt loosen, he prepared himself to fight back before he had chance, he felt a fist slam into his stomach. He slumped to the floor, struggling to breath after being winded and found Joey jumping on top of him, ready to continue the beating. Just as he was about to bring his fist down again of Chandler, he heard the door open and froze.

"What's all the noise..." Monica asked but suddenly stopped in shock when she saw the scene.

"What's the hell..." Ross started before run over and pulling Joey off Chandler.

Joey began to panic and looked over at his friend. Monica, Rachel, Phoebe and Ross stood confused and in shock. While Chandler was still lied of the floor, taking deep breaths and trying to recover.

"You going to tell me now, what's going on?" Rachel asked, walking over to Chandler and helping him up. He remind silent, just watching Joey, waiting for his next reaction. It didn't surprise him when he ran out the apartment. He shook his head slightly and touched his lip, he looked at the bloody on his fingers. He decided to let Joey do what he wanted, he had, had enough.

*~*~*

Chandler had his eyes closed but he wasn't asleep. Over the last week, he hadn't got much sleep but he still couldn't drop off now. He was beginning to worry about Joey, hoping that he would change his mind and come back but he hadn't. He listened to his friends' conversation that they were having in the kitchen, he was lying on Monica's couch because she had insisted he had dinner with them once she found he had no food in. He pretended to be asleep so that it would stop all their questions about why the fight had happened, even though he had given up, he still didn't have to courage to tell them.

"What do you think is going on?" He heard Ross ask.

"I dunno..." Rachel sighed, "I've never seen Joey like that before."

"I have..." Phoebe piped up.

"When?"

"When he found out about..." She started to say but then stopped suddenly.

"About what?" Monica asked.

"When he found out about Kathy and Chandler..." Phoebe finished quietly.

Chandler frowned, wondering what she meant.

"You..you think, he's found someone else..." Monica stuttered, on the brink of tears.

"No..." Rachel assured her, knowing that what was going on was something worse then a women but she couldn't work out what.

"Well, it would make sense..." Ross said, slowly, "I mean, maybe he's doing so he doesn't have commit."

Chandler couldn't believe that he was hearing, he was about to sit up and tell them they were wrong and that he loved Monica more now then he did before and missed her so much. He heard the door open and Joey's voice and decided, he would wait till he left to show them he was awake.

"Hey, is Chandler here?" He asked quietly.

"He's asleep..." Monica told him. "What happened to your face?"

Chandler shot up from the face to see that Joey now had a black eye.

"What happened?" He asked concerned, ignoring the looks of confusion from the others.

Joey looked back at him, tears in his eyes. "You gotta help me..."

Chandler nodded slowly, knowing he wouldn't say anything in font of the others and walked towards the door.

"I'll see you guys later...thanks for everything..." He smiled slightly at his friends, before he left. "Oh and I'm not seeing anyone else, I still love Mon..."

Rachel couldn't help the small that spread across her face to hear Candler to confirm what she had told them. She looked at the others, before Phoebe and Ross had gone red after being caught at talking about Chandler behind his back and Monica was smiling happily, glad to know that there was still a chance for them.

"So, what happened?" Chandler asked, once he closed the apartment door behind him.

"I'm sorry, hit you...I didn't mean to..." He stuttered, hanging his head.

"It's okay...." He told him, "who hit you?"

"What?" Joey frowned.

"You eye..." Chandler said, "I know I never touch you..."

"Oh..." Joey looked down again, "I'm in big trouble..."

"What's going on now..." Chandler moved towards him, "did you take something again?"

"No, I never had chance..." Joey admitted, "My dealer, wouldn't give me any..."

"He hit?" Chandler asked, "Why?"

"Because I owe to much money..."

"What?" Chandler asked, fear creeping over him.

"They said, they'll kill me if I don't get the money..." He looked up, with tears streaming down his face.

Chandler froze, he'd never thought about where Joey got the money to support his habit before. He pulled him into a hug.

"Don't worry, it'll be okay..." He reassured him, as he continued to cry.

*~*~*

Joey jumped as the apartment door opened, just as he reached for the baseball bat the was laying next to the chair, he saw it was Monica, Rachel, Phoebe and Ross.

"Oh, its you..." He slumped back in the chair, sighing with relief.

"Where's Chandler?" Monica asked, looking around.

"Gone out..." Joey told him, looking at his watch. Chandler had gone to pay off his debt. Joey tired to stop him and told him to leave it him but Chandler insisted and said he had enough money to cover his $890 bill.

"Right, we're going to wait here then..." Rachel informed him, sitting down on the Barcalounger.

"What?" Joey looked up sharply, to see his friends all settling down.

"We wanna know what's going on..." Ross said, "we'll wait for Chandler first..."

Joey knew it was no good protesting, they wouldn't leave but he did feel safer having someone else there.

*~*~*

Chandler stared at the door in front on him, trying to get the courage to knock on the door. He couldn't tear his glaze away from the three holes, which looked remarkable like bullet holes... he shook his head and told himself he was being stupid. He knocked gentle on the door, making a few more flakes of pain to drop off... he didn't want to knock hard, in fear of the door falling down.

"What?" A huge man appeared behind the door.

"Ermm..hi..I'm looking for a Gary Hilton..." He stuttered.

"Why?"

"For a friend...to pay of his debt..." Chandler told him, "You Hilton?"

"No, he's in here..." The man turned, leaving Chandler no choice but follow him. The apartment looked worse inside then it did outside.

He watched the man lean down and whisper something into the ear of the smaller man, who he assumed was Hilton. He slowly looked around, noticing four more guys sitting, watching him. He wondered if it was such a good idea to come here alone.

"What's your man?" Hilton asked, from where he was sat.

"Chandler..."

"Chandler what?"

"Chandler Bing..." He couldn't help and glare at four men who laughed at him.

"What do you want?" Hilton said, who also glared at them to silence them.

"To pay a friend's debt off..."

"Who's..."

"Joey Tribbiani.." Chandler told him.

"Got the money on ya..." Hilton stood up and moved towards him.

"Yes..all of it..." Chandler said, "so after this, its over, you won't go near Joey? You won't touch him?"

"We won't..." Hilton smiled, evilly "but the question is, will he come near us?"

"He won't!" Chandler insisted and throw a brown envelope at him, with the money he drew out his bank 10 minutes ago. "here's your money..."

"Don't mind if I count it, do ya?" Hilton grinned again and flicked throw the note, "your $400 short..."

"What?!" Chandler asked, "there's $890 there... I just drew it out!"

"I know... but your friends debt has gone up..."

"You can't do that!" Chandler insisted.

"I think you find he can..." The guy from before said, "what you going to do, run to the cops?"

"Look, I haven't got any more money..." Chandler told them, "that will have to do..."

"Well, we have a problem then..." Hilton sighed and clicked his fingers.

Chandler stepped back and tried to shallow the lump of fear that raised in his throat, as he saw the four guy stand and move towards him, alone with the guy before.

"Look, you can't do this..." Chandler pleaded backing up until he hit a wall. He couldn't do nothing except watch as they got closer and closer.

*~*~*

"Where did he go?" Monica asked, looking at her watch, annoyed that Chandler was taking so long.

"To sort something..." Joey repeated the same excuse again. He was beginning to worry about Chandler, wondering what the hold up was, all he was going to do was drop the money off and leave. It didn't take an hour and a half.

They all jumped as they heard a quiet bang hit the door. Ross jumped up and moved to open, Joey's hand moved closer to the bat, just in case. When Ross opened the door, they saw Chandler, trying to stand.

"Oh my god!" Rachel cried out as they all ran towards him.

"Oh, good...your all here..." Chandler said sarcastically, he knew now he had some explain to do. He cried out as pain shot through his ribs and back when Ross helped him to his feet.

"What happened?" Ross asked.

"I walked into a door..." He joked, smiling at them.

Joey stood back, knowing what actually happened. Chandler was punished for what he had done. He watched as Ross and Phoebe helped Chandler over to one of the chairs. He had his right arm, cradling his ribs, he had a large cut above his left eye, blood poured from his lip and nose and he could hardly stand. This was all his fault, he turned and ran into his room, slamming the door.

"We're taking you to the hospital." Monica said.

"No, I'm fine..."

"I'd hate to see you when you're not fine..." Phoebe added, causing Chandler to smile slightly.

"What happened?" Ross asked, after returning with the first aid box.

"I was mugged..." He lied, he knew he still couldn't tell them the truth. He frowned when he saw Rachel pick up the phone, "What ya doing?"

"Calling the police..." She told him, just about dial.

"NO!!" He screamed, jumping up, knocking the phone out her hand and then collapsing to the floor in pain.

"Why not?!" She demeaned, looking down at him..as he struggled to suck in air.

"I can handle it..." He whispered.

"You wasn't mugged were you..." Phoebe predicted.

Chandler reminded silent.

"You going to tell us what really happened?" She crossed her arms.

"I can't..." He whispered, "Not yet."

There was silence, no one knew what to say or do.

"Maybe you should let you get some sleep, then..." Ross said, walking towards the door.

"I'll be back in a minute..." Monica told him, "I'm going to get my stuff and stay with you tonight."

"Mon, you don't have to do that..." He told her.

"Yes I do...I'm not leaving you alone while you're in this state!"

"Alright...fine.." He agreed. He couldn't help a smile, he didn't want to be alone anyway.

Once they'd all left, he took the chance to go and talk to Joey, knowing he only had a few minutes before Monica returned.

"Joe?" He called out as he opened the door.

"I'm sorry..." Joey sobbed, sitting up.

"Hey, it's okay..." Chandler replied softly.

"No it's not...look at you.."

"I'm still a live aren't I?" He grinned.

"Why did they do this?" Joey asked, not having the strength to smile.

"They've put the debt up by $400..I didn't have no more money on me or in my account."

"What?!"

"It's going to be okay though..." Chandler told him, "I'll go back tomorrow and give it to them."

"Where you going to get it?" He asked curiously.

"Haven't you got any money?" Chandler frowned.

Joey shook his head.

"Okay...okay.. Don't panic..." Chandler told him, even though his starting to panic himself. "I know, one of the others will give it to us..."

"NO!" Joey said, "if they give it then they will wanna know why..."

"Alright, don't worry, I'll think of something..." Chandler told him, before turning, "okay, get some sleep..."

Once he had left the room, Joey buried his head in his pillow and muttered to himself, "we're dead."

Chandler found Monica standing near the door, with some more first aid stuff.

"Hey," he smiled at her.

"Hey, yourself.." She replied, "how you feeling?"

"Like I've been ran over by a bus..."

"I'd be a lot happier if you saw a doctor..." She ignored his joke and began to clean up the bloody from his face.

"Mon, I'm fine....OWW.." He yelped when she dabbed the cotton wool on to the cut.

"That hurt?" She asked, smiling.

"Not a lot..." He grinned back at her. They looked at each for a second, before Monica turned her attention back to first aid. Chandler reached up and stopped her hand, lowering it to his mouth and kissed the palm. She leaned in slowly, allowing their lips to meet softly. After a second Chandler pulled away, in pain and touched his swollen lip.

"Sorry," She couldn't help but laugh.

"Thanks for this..." He replied, as she once again started to clean up the bloody.

"No problem..."

*~*~*

Chandler sat in his office, the next day, trying to think up a plan. He had to return to work before he was fired and at the moment he had no money so he had no choice. He was worried about leaving Joey the whole day but he had convinced him to trust him. Chandler also knew that he was to scared to leave the apartment anyway. He ached all over from the beating the day before. He predicted that he had a couple of broken ribs and his head was still pounding. When his boss, Doug, had asked what happened to repeated his lie and said he was mugged. All his colleagues fell for it and offered sympathy. He sighed and looked back down to his work, when his secretary buzzed in.

"Mr Bing? There's a Monica Geller to see you..."

"Can you send her in?" Chandler replied, instantly concerned in case something bad had happened.

A minute later his door opened and Monica was stood there.

"Hey, what's up?" Chandler asked, hoping she didn't notice the nervousness in his voice.

"Nothing...just thought I'd come and see if you're okay..."

"I'm fine..." he smiled at her concern.

"Should you be working?"

"Mon, we went through this, this morning..." Chandler sighed and moved towards her, taking her hand, "I'm perfectly able to work today."

"I'm sorry...I'm just worried."

"Hey, it doesn't.." He grinned, "At least I still know you care."

"I do and what you said yesterday about still loving me... I still love you to.." She told him, "and that I never really believe there would be someone else..."

"I wouldn't blame you if you did. The way I've been acting..."

"That doesn't matter..."

"Good..."

"And I want you to know, whatever going on..I'm going to wait for you... so when its over you can be together again..."

A bigger smile spread across his face and leaned in to kiss her, "I have a better idea..."

They both jumped apart when the door was flung open.

"What the hells going on?!" Chandler shouted, annoyed at being interrupted.

"I tried to stop them but they wouldn't listen..." His secretary explained quickly.

"Chandler Bing?" Chandler spun around to be faced with a police officer.

"That's me.."

"I'm sorry sir, I'm going have to ask you to come with us..."

"WHAT?!" Monica asked, in shock.

"Bing?" His boss appeared at the door, "What's going on?"

"I dunno..." Chandler stuttered, he looked around as more officers searched his office. "What they looking for?"

"Drugs..." One replied.

"You're joking me?" Chandler laughed but then stopped when he saw they were serious.

"Chandler, what's going on?" Monica asked.

"I have no idea..."

"Mr Bing, you were seen at the home of a known drug dealer by the name of Gary Hilton..." The officer from before informed him, "if you give me a good excuse as to why you was there then this will go no further."

Chandler hesitated, an image of Joey begging him to tell anyone flashed in front of him. He hung his head before replying, "haven't got one."

"Well, I'm sorry but I'll have to arrest you..."

"With evidence like that?" Doug asked, "He's not some thug... he wouldn't touch drugs..."

"He's record says otherwise..."

"What record..." Monica queried, looking at Chandler. "Chandler?"

"I'm sorry Mon..."

"For what?"

"When I was a kid, I got mixed up with this gang..." He explained quickly, "which got me involved with drugs...but I swear, I haven't touch them since I was 16!"

"Oh my god..."

"You gotta believe me, Mon!"

"Mr Bing, you'll have to follow me..." The officer grabbed his arm.

"Chandler?" Doug said, "I'm sorry but I can't have you working here no more..."

"WHAT!?"

"We can't have a drug user on this team.."

"I'm not a drug user!" He instead.

"When police officers raid your office and arrest you then I think there is something still going on..." he said, "I'm sorry but you're fired."

Chandler shook his head, as he pulled out the building, catching one last look at Monica. He smiled sadly at her.

*~*~*

Joey moved slowly towards the front door, baseball bat in his hand. He grip tightened around it, when there was another knock. He looked through the eye-hole and was relieved to see it was only Ross.

"Hey, Joe..." He smiled and then frowned when he noticed the bat in his hand, "umm, Rachel, Phoebe and I are watching a movie, if you wanna join us..."

"Nah, thanks..." Joey shook his head.

"Don't worry, we're not going to demanded answers..." He told him, "we just thought that you wouldn't wanna be on your own."

"Huh?"

"Well, since you go near without that bat of yours and Chandler got beat up yesterday..." Ross started, "we don't know why but we know that your scared and if you wanna hang with us, you can..."

"I can't tell you what's going on..." Joey warned, worried that it might some kind of trick.

"Don't worry, I won't ask.." Ross smiled and turned back to Monica's. "You coming?"

Joey hesitated for a moment before nodded, "Yeah..."

*~*~*

"This is a mistake..." Chandler protested, as he sat across the table from two police officers, Cullen and Stilton.

"Why is it?" Stilton asked.

"I'm not doing drugs..." He explained, "I haven't since I was 16...."

"We know that..." Cullen replied.

"Then why the hell am I here!?"

"Because you was seen at the house of Gary Hilton..." Cullen told him, "why were you there?"

Chandler ran his finger through his hair, he was so confused to what he should do. Should he tell them the truth? Then would Joey be in trouble? If he didn't say anything then Joey would left on his own until he was realised and then might start to believe he was guilty.

He sighed, "Alight...I was there to pay a debt..."

"Who's debt?" Cullen asked.

"It was for a friend..." He muttered.

"What's their name?" Chandler was silent. "Come on, we know that you're not as involved in this as it looks.... We also you took a beating for this friend...is your friendship really worth all this?"

"Yes!" Chandler's head snapped up, "he's the closest thing to a brother I've ever had! I'm not just going to tell him throw his life away!"

"Good...then tell us everything, so it can all be over...."

"I dunno..." Chandler stuttered, unsure.

"Come on, you tell us what's happening and we can sort it...you and your friend won't be in trouble if you two are the victims..."

"Alright..." Chandler nodded slowly, taking a deep breath.

"Good...." Cullen grinned, "Now, what's your friend's name?"

He sighed and covered his eyes, he couldn't believe it came this far, "Joey...Joey Tribbiani..."

*~*~*

Rachel glanced across at Joey, sitting in the arm chair, eyes fixed on the TV screen, although she knew he wasn't really watching the movie. From where she sat on the couch with Ross and Phoebe, she could see him jump with nervousness at the slight noise. Her thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and the sound of crying reached her. They all spun around to see Monica stood there.

"Mon?" Ross jumped up and moved towards her, so did the others, "what's wrong?"

"Chandler..." She managed to say.

"What about him?" Joey panicked, "Where is he? Is he alright?"

"He's...he's been arrested..." She cried harder and collapsed into Ross' arms.

"What for?!"

"They think he's involved with drugs..."

"That impossible!" Ross insisted, "I mean when we were in college, he used to freak out if someone would even offer us some..."

"They said he had a recorded... and he's been involved in this before..."

"What?"

"He said he was involved with a gang and drugs when he was a kid..."

"Oh my god..." Phoebe gasped, "I'd never thought Chandler...."

Joey stopped listening to the conversation, suddenly realising how Chandler knew everything about being addicted, how he knew how to cope and look after him, how he could say he understood because he did understand. He felt sick deep down in the pit of his stomach, he pushed past Ross and Monica and stumped into his own apartment. Tears falling from his eyes, he headed straight for his bedroom. Pushing a chair up against the door so no one could get in.
He couldn't face anyone, this was all his fault, he was the reason Chandler and Monica broke up, he was the reason Chandler got beat up and arrested.
He buried his head in his hands, thinking how better off everyone would have been if he never ever meet them. He sat up and brushed the tears from his face. He knew what he had to do.

*~*~*

Chandler stood in the hall outside, trying to decided who he should see first. Monica or Joey. The police had told them that him nor Joey were in trouble once he had explained everything but they did need Joey to give a statement about Hilton's gang. They agreed to let Chandler talk to him first and make sure he knew what would happen. He guessed that the others would be with Monica and would know what happened. He thought it was best to see them first, he had to explain everything now. He sighed and pushed open the door, he predicted right. Monica, Ross, Phoebe and Rachel stood up and looked at him.

"Hey..." He mumbled, loosening his tie. He was worried that they wouldn't want to speak to him now that they knew about his past and the fact that he had gotten involved with it again. He was relieved when Monica ran into his arms.

"I'm sorry..." He whispered, trying not to cry.

"Is it true?" Rachel asked, causing him to look up. "about the drugs? About your past?"

He looked around at them, all waiting for his answer. He slowly nodded.

"I don't believe this..." Ross muttered, thinking he had known Chandler better.

"I'm sorry I never told you..." Chandler said, "but I was stupid back then..."

"What the hell made you turn to drugs?!"

"I dunno, alright!" He raised his voice slightly, trying to avoid their accusing looks. He took a deep breath to calm himself, "you all know what I went through as a kid, it was just my why of dealing with it."

"But drugs?" Phoebe asked, "I just can't see you doing that..."

"Like I said, I was different then..." He shrugged.

"What about now?" Monica asked, "have you gone back to that life style?"

"No..I haven't..." Chandler told her, looking her right in the eyes, "I swear to you, I haven't touch any of that stuff since I was 16!"

She watched him for a moment, "I believe you..."

"You do?" He couldn't help a smile as he pulled her back into his arms. He looked at the others, who were watching him curiously. "Okay, I guess I'd better tell you what's been going on?"

"I think you should, too.." Rachel said, moving towards the couch.

Chandler waited for everyone to sit down and for silence to fall over them before he started.

"Okay, the reason I was at the dealer's house last night was because I was paying off a debt..."

"What debt?" Ross jumped in.

"A drugs debt..." Chandler answered, he saw their eyes widen, "not mine..."

"Who's.."

He stopped, looking down as the same image of Joey flashed in his head, begging him not to say anything. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, knowing he had to, he couldn't do this on his own no more.

"Joey's..."

There was a stunned silence. No one knew what to say.

"That's why he hasn't been around," Chandler explained, "he thought you all would be a shamed of him..."

"Why would he think that?!" Rachel asked, close to tears. "We're his friends..."

"I know..."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Ross asked angrily.

"I had no choice... he made me promise..." Chandler shot back, jumping up form his sit.

"And you think we couldn't have helped?!" Ross jumped up to.

"It was wasn't about you being able to help! It was about Joey not wanting your help!"

"Just calm down both of you!" Monica ordered, pulling Chandler back down to the couch. While Ross walked off to try and calm himself.

"Maybe someone should check on Joey..." Phoebe suggested. "I mean he didn't look earlier..."

"You've seen him today?" Chandler looked at her.

"Yeah, he was here watching a movie when Mon came in," Rachel explained.

"What?" Chandler panicked, "he's knows about me being arrested?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh god, no..." He jumped up run towards their apartment.

"What?" Monica asked, following him out.

Chandler ignored them and headed straight for Joey's room. He tried opening the door to find something blocking it.

"Joey?" He called through, knocking, "Its me, open the door."

"Chandler?" Monica question again, causing him to look around at them. Like everyone else, she saw the fear in his eyes.

"JOEY!" He turned back to the door, banging hard. There was no reply. Chandler took a deep breath and stepped back before ramming his shoulder into the door, which still failed to give way. He bounced back off it, nearly collapsing to the floor in pain caused from the attack the day before. Before he had chance to step back to the door, Ross stopped him.

"I'll do it..." Chandler nodded, still cradling his ribs. While Ross placed a few hard kicks at the bedroom door. As soon as He heard the sound of wood breaking, Chandler pushed past everyone, entering the room first.

He wasn't surprised at the sight in front of him. He instantly knew he had to help his best friend before it was to late. He ran to his side, checking for a pulse, he could feel a faint one. He turned to the others, who were standing in shock, looking at Joey. It didn't look him, lying there... pale and peaceful face, stretched out across the bed, with a needle sticking out of his arm.

"Someone call an ambulance..." Chandler whispered. None of them could tear there eyes away from their friend. Chandler raised his voice, to get their attention, "Call an ambulance!!"

They all jumped and Phoebe nodded, racing out the room to find the phone.

"He's going to be okay, isn't it?" Rachel asked, moving closer, tears filling her eyes.

Chandler turned his attention back to Joey, not wanting to look at any of them, he could hear them crying and he knew if he saw their tears, he would start to.

"Chandler?!" Rachel snapped, wanting some confirmation.

"Help me get him on his side..." He told her, ignoring her question.

"Help is on the way..." Phoebe said walking back in. Rachel nodded and stepped back from the bed, joining the other three. Leaving Chandler knelling next to Joey's side.

"Come on, Joe..." He whispered. "You can't give up...not now..."

He watched him for a seconded, waiting for kind of reply, some kind of message but there was none. He shook his shoulders gently.

"Come on Joey!" He said louder, tears beginning to fill his eyes. "I need you, man...you're my best bud..."

"He'll be okay..." Monica told him, placing a hand on his tense shoulder.

He didn't notice her touch or hear what she had said.

"You made me promise not to leave..." Chandler continued, gripping hold of Joey hand, "you made me promise and I'm still here, so that means you can't leave me! You got that?!"

The others all huddle together, trying to get some form of comfort, listening to Chandler's pleads.

"You leave me here...and I'll never forgive you!" Chandler insisted, tears pouring down his face, all he wanted was some kind of sign to say everything was going to be fine "I've gave up everything for you! My job! My relationship with Monica so you can't just give up, Okay?! Just...please...please don't give up!" Chandler begged, he's voice growing weaker and weaker, "please...please..."

Phoebe turned and walked out the room, the scene was to over bearing for her. She began to cry harder, she never did anything to help him, she never even noticed. When she felt someone touch her shoulder, she turned and fell into their arms.

"He's going to be fine...." Rachel reassured, not knowing what else to say. They hung onto each other, crying for a couple more minutes, until they heard a knock at the door. Rachel was relieved to see the paramedics enter.

*~*~*

Rachel looked down at her hands, she couldn't stop shaking. Afraid of what might happen to Joey. They were all sat around in the hospital corridor, waiting for news. She slowly looked around at the others. Ross was sat still, staring straight ahead, keeping his emotion under control, although ever so often, he blinked back the tears. Phoebe, Monica and herself hadn't stopped crying since they'd seen Joey, lying there, motionless. Chandler was sat down, arms wrapped around Monica to be begin with but now he pacing up and down. Sometimes he would stop and close his eyes, moving his lips in a silent pray.

"This is all my fault...." He mumbled, breaking the silence and causing everyone to look at him.

"What?"

"I should have done more..." He said, running his hands through his hair. "I tried my best..."

"Chandler, this is not your fault..." Monica told him, standing up and reaching for his hand.

"I did try..." He looked at her, tears in his eyes, "but it was hard..."

"You did your best..." Ross said.

"I should have knew I couldn't do it on my own..." He stuttered and started pacing again.

"But you did do this on your own..." Rachel interrupted him, standing in front of him to stop him from pacing. "All this time, you managed to keep under control. It was us who did nothing..."

"He didn't want you to know..." Chandler hung his head, dropping into a chair, "I should have told you..."

There was silence as the other looked at each other, not knowing what to say or do before Monica moved forwards and knelt in front of him.

"He did what Joey wanted..." She told him softly, "you did the right thing.... Its up to him now..."

He slowly looked up to her, before pulling her into his arms.

"I love you, so such..." He whispers. He saw Rachel standing watching them, trying to hide her tears at the same time and he could hear Ross and Phoebe sobbing quietly. He gestured them into a group hug.
They stayed like that for what seemed like hours, none of them wanting to let go of the shred of comfort and support they were feeling but it still didn't seem right just the 5 of them.

They broke apart when he they heard someone clear the throat.

"Mr Bing?" Chandler turned around at the sound of the voice he recognized as Cullen, the police officer from before.

"What do you want?" He asked, rubbing away the tears from his eyes.

"We heard about Mr Tribbiani...." Cullen explained, "how is he?"

"We haven't been told yet..."

"So, we can't see him then?" He asked.

"No you can't!" Chandler snapped, "he's taken an overdose because of you!"

"Because of us?" Stilton spoke for the first time.

"Yes!" Chandler replied angrily, "if you hadn't arrested me then he wouldn't have done this..."

"What has that got to do with anything?!"

"He didn't want be alone... he thought I would leave him..." The angry in his voice slowly faded away, "I should have been there..."

Monica squeezed his tense shoulders, before hugging him.

"I'm sorry this has all turned out like this...." Cullen started, "but we were only doing our job..."

No one said anything. The two police officer felt out of place, standing there. Everyone jumped up when they saw a doctor approaching them.

"Are you here for Joseph Tribbiani?" He asked.

Chandler nodded and swallowed, dieing to know who he's best friend was. "Yes...yes we are...How's Joey? Can I see him?"

"I'm sorry..." The doctor started but was cut off by cries.

"Sorry for what?" Chandler demeaned.

"We were unable to do anything for your friend..." Doctor sighed, "I'm sorry but we tried the best we could..."

"No!" Chandler said, "No, you're wrong..."

"I'm sorry, sir..." The doctor told him, "I'm not..."

"No...no..." Chandler repeated, leaning his forehead against the wall, "no..no.."

Rachel sunk into a chair and buried her head in her hands, she couldn't believe this.
Phoebe and Ross held onto each other. Phoebe cried then she'd ever done before, first her mum and now Joey.
Joey was one of Ross' best friends and he let him down, he wasn't there to help him through this. He looked over at Chandler, who was softly banging his head against the wall, tears streaming down his face, telling himself that it wasn't true as Monica tried to comfort him. He knew he had let Chandler down too, letting him go through all this on his own.

"Chandler..." Monica said, through her sobs, "you can't blame yourself for this..."

Chandler slowly turned his head to face her, his forehead still against the wall, "I promised him everything would be okay... I promised I wouldn't leave him..."

"But you never left him..." Rachel looked over at him.

"I did...and he's gone for good..." He screwed his eyes closed, "I promised him...."

"Come on, man..." Ross said, "you did nothing wrong..."

When he opened his eyes, he could see them all watching him. Tears steaming down all their faces, they had lost a friend too, someone who they loved and it was his fault, he couldn't face them right now.

"I've gotta go...." He said, stumbling away.

"Chandler wait!" Ross tried to block his path but his friend pushed past him and ran off out of the hospital.

"Let him have sometime to himself..." Phoebe advice, "that's all I wanted when my mom died."

They all nodded and atomically step closer to each other for a hug. Just the four of them.

*~*~*

Chandler ran and ran, not sure where he was going but he knew he had to get away from the hospital. Tears blurred his vision, images of Joey flashed into his mind. First, it was everyone sat in the coffee, listening to Joey as he excitedly told everyone about the part he got in a film. When that faded out another one of just him and Joey playing foosball appeared, they were just laughing and joking. The last image was one of Joey lying on his bed, begging for Chandler to help...crying out in pain.
Chandler was forced to stop running, he's leg felt like they were going to give way and his lung were treating to burst with pain from his ribs protesting from the burst of exercise.
Once he managed to catch his breath back and the pain had decreased slightly, he looked around to see where he was. He found himself outside his own apartment block.
He hesitated before walking up the steps, knowing what he had to do. He froze when he entered his home, noticing Joey's things still spread out around the place, he was never every neat. He shock his head and walked into his bedroom, grabbing a bag from his closet and then started throwing his things into it.
After 10 minute of frantic packing, he scanned the apartment for anything he missed. He had already let the duck and chick into Monica's and Rachel's place. Now he stood in the middle of his and Joey's place, the place where they had so much fun, where they had grown to become the best of friends, where they had grown to become each other's family. That was over now.
He closed his eyes, in attempted to stop more tears from falling. He shook his head, he knew what he had to do. He grabbed the three bags that were at his feet and walked out, locking the door behind him. He couldn't go back there.

*~*~*

Monica walked slightly ahead of the others, worried about where Chandler had gone, hoping that he wouldn't do anything stupid. She wished, she had been there to help him and Joey.

"Mon?" Ross broke her thoughts, "you okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking," She sighed. It didn't seem really... Joey was dead and now there was 5 instead of 6... Maybe 4 for Chandler didn't came back. She didn't know what she would do if Chandler left her. He was her best friend, he was her sole mate, he was her rock. She needed him.

She looked sadly at the door to apartment 19, knowing that Chandler, wouldn't be in there. Not so soon.

Everyone decided to stay over in her apartment for tonight, none of them wanting to be alone.

They all jumped when they saw a figure standing there in the middle of the room, with his back to them. He spun around to face them, he looked straight at Monica.

"You still wanna live together?" Chandler asked tearfully.

She nodded and ran into his arms...he held her tight, letting his emotions go as they both cried.

The other three watched the scene in front of them, deciding that they needed time alone. They quietly closed the door. Ross wrapped his arms around both Rachel and Phoebe before heading towards his apartment.