Last Night in Vegas

This is my (very) humble entry for the fanfic contest at Merge! I'll warn you now, it's far from fantastic, but the best I could do. =)

Breakfast was a surprisingly dull affair. Even though in the last twelve-odd hours two of them had gotten married, another two had almost gotten married, one had waged war with an old lady and another had found his identical hand twin, nobody was talking. Nobody seemed to notice as Monica and Chandler exchanged glances over their coffee, communicating without words. In fact, neither Ross, Rachel, Joey or Phoebe seemed to notice anything when it came to their relationship; which was fine with Monica and Chandler. They liked having secrets. They had had the best time keeping their budding relationship a secret and knew they would enjoy keeping their near-marriage a secret, too.

Monica and Chandler knew the second they told their friends they had come this close to getting married, nobody would ever let it go. They wanted to enjoy their relationship without dealing with pressure from their friends to get engaged or anything - not that Ross, Rachel, Joey and Phoebe would put such pressure on them with bad intentions.

"Chandler?" Monica said, interrupting their silent conversation, "Can we talk? You guys don't mind, do you?"

"No, no, of course not," Ross, Rachel, Phoebe and Joey said. Chandler nodded and followed Monica outside of the restaurant.

"What's up, Mon?"

"Look, Chandler...we almost got married last night. Do you realize that?"

"Um...yes," Chandler said. He wasn't quite sure where Monica was going with this.

Monica sighed heavily. This was a situation that she wasn't sure how to deal with it. She wanted to marry Chandler, she really did. And she knew Chandler wouldn't have asked her to get married if he didn't want to. But, if they did go through with it, really got married - imagine! - would she regret it? A friend of hers had once said "There are no regrets in life, just lessons." Monica loved the quote and tried to live her life by it. If she were to marry Chandler and regret it, what would she learn? Never get married in Vegas? Don't rush into things? The second seemed a worthless lesson now. Wasn't rushing into things the basis of their relationship?

"Monica? Is something wrong?" Chandler was getting worried. "You can tell me."

"It's...it's just that, maybe we should have got married last night. I mean, the only reason we didn't was because Ross and Rachel freaked us out, right? But maybe...maybe we're not Ross and Rachel...and their problems aren't our problems, you know? And maybe we would have regretted it, or maybe we wouldn't have. I just know that I-I think I want to be...your wife."

The noise of the restaurant seemed to fade away after Monica spoke those words. Chandler laughed, and grinned like a maniac. "Really?"

Monica started to laugh, too. It was one of those laughs you laugh when you find yourself so happy you don't know what else to do. A laugh you laugh out of pure joy. "Really."

"Hey, so where were you guys last night?" Phoebe asked as Monica and Chandler rejoined the table. They glanced at each other and both raised an eyebrow.

"Our little secret," Monica said, grinning at Chandler, her partner in lies.

"Yeah, baby," Joey said jumping to the wrong conclusion.

Chandler leaned over and kissed Monica. "We're going to start packing. See you guys later."

"Packing," Joey said with a dirty grin, "Right."

Monica was in a state of euphoria. She was going to get married and she had lots of stuff to pack. Not only did she have to pack up her and Chandler's suitcases, but Rachel had left her her stuff, too, claiming it was her anniversary present for Monica.

While Monica was busy packing, she and Chandler were working on the details of their betrothal. Should they wed in Las Vegas, or New York? Should they do it right away, or be engaged for a while? Big wedding, or small wedding? Should they be sponetaneous and do it on the spur of the moment, or plan an extravagent wedding just like in Monica's dreams?

"It was so romantic when we were going to do it last night," Monica said. She folded up her last sweater and zipped up the zipper of her suitcase.

"I know."

"I know. I want that kind of romance at our wedding. I just don't think I want to get married in Vegas by an Elvis impersonator. I don't even like Elvis."

"You don't? I always thought you loved him."

"That's Elvis Costello, sweetie."

"Oh, yeah," Chandler said. He glanced up at the ceiling. "It's okay with me if we don't get married here."

"This is so complicated."

Chandler was silent for a while. "It doesn't have to be."

The carpet of the hotel room was now carpeted in rose petals. A favourite song of hers was playing on the stereo. The lights were dimmed. The only light came from the few candles he managed to scrounge up. The borrowed blue shirt sat on the bed, a centerpiece of it all. She walked into the room.

"Oh, my gosh," Monica whispered as she saw the sight before her. "Chandler, did you do all this? Imagine the cleaning bill! All these roses."

"Would you like to dance?" Chandler asked. He smiled boyishly as Monica nodded yes.

Someday

When I'm awfully low

When the world is cold

I will feel a glow just thinking of you

And the way you look tonight

Yes, you're lovely

With your smile so warm

And your cheek so soft

There is nothing for me but to love you

And the way you look tonight

Chandler got down on one knee. Monica's eyes widened - she mouthed the words, "Oh my gosh." She couldn't seem to find her voice.

"Monica," Chandler said slowly, "I should have done this a thousand times before, in a thousand more romantic ways. Because that's what you deserve. If you want to get married in Las Vegas, New York or even Canada, it doesn't matter to me, as long as it's you I'm marrying. I don't care whether we plan the wedding to death or do it on the spur of the moment. The fact that we're getting married will be enough for me. Monica, I know we've only been dating for a year, but I don't think it matters. I love you.
I've never loved anybody as much as I love you. We belong together. I know it. When I'm with you, I'm happier than I've ever been in my life. And if you let me, I'll spend the rest of my life making you feel the same way. Monica, will you marry me?"

With each word your tenderness grows

Tearing my fear apart

And that laugh

That wrinkles your nose

Touches my foolish heart

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Really."

Lovely

Never ever change

Keep that breathless charm

Won't you please arrange it

'Cause I love you

Just the way you look tonight

And that laugh

That wrinkles your nose

It touches my foolish heart

Lovely

Don't you ever change

Keep that breathless charm

Won't you please arrange it

'Cause I love you

Just the way you look tonight

Hmm...

Hmm...

Just the way you look tonight