A/N: I tried this story using different characters, but I don't think it worked very well, so I'll try it this way. This takes places about 16 years after the finale. The Bing's have to deal with a tragic event that no family should ever have to go through. It's mostly going to be about Monica, Chandler, Erica, and Jack; but I'll try to write the other guys in as the story progresses.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Friends characters or the song "This Kiss" by Faith Hill.
The early morning sun shone peacefully into 16 year old Erica's room. She groggily opened her eyes and looked at her alarm clock. It was 5:57. In three minutes, her alarm would go off. She sighed happily as she thought of the events the night before. It had been her and her brother's sweet 16 party. All of her friends and her parent's friends had been there. Just as she started to drift back to sleep, her alarm went off. She groaned as she got up and dragged herself to the bathroom.
Thirty minutes later, she went downstairs after having showered and gotten ready for school.
"Good morning!" she smiled cheerfully.
"Morning honey," Chandler said from the stove where he was attempting to cook breakfast.
She looked around to find Jack practically asleep in his cereal bowl.
"Morning sunshine," she said mockingly to her brother
"Hmmm," was the only response she got. She sighed as she sat down. Monica emerged minutes later with a huge smile on her face. She immediately ran up behind Chandler and put her arms around him. He quickly returned the hug then turned around to kiss her. At the sound of his parents kissing, Jack's head immediately sprung up.
"Oh, please, I'm eating here!" Jack started slightly annoyed. He hated it when his parents started kissing and got all lovey-dovey. It was embarrassing. Erica just smiled. She knew her parents were really in love and hoped that one day, she would find true love like they did.
"Kids, your father and I have something to tell you…I'm pregnant!" Monica smiled.
Erica shrieked in delight as Jack's jaw dropped revealing chewed up bits of lucky charms that he had yet to swallow.
"What, how?!" Jack exclaimed.
"Jack, honey, do we really need to go over that again?" Monica asked.
Jack grimaced as he thought about the last time his parents tried to have "the talk" with him.
"That's not what I meant. I thought you two couldn't have kids"
"The doctor said there was a slight possibility that we could have kids. I guess we just beat the odds," Chandler said as he leaned in to kiss Monica.
"Aw, now, hey, come on, don't start that," Jack said looking away.
About twenty minutes later, Monica pulled up to the high school Erica and Jack attended.
"Oh, Mom, there's a soccer game after school. Can I go with a few of my friends?" Erica asked.
"Sure, who's going?"
"Chris, Emily, and Matt."
"I'll probably go too," Jack said from the back seat.
"Yeah, that sounds ok. Call my cell when the game's over." Monica said.
"Ok!" both children exclaimed as they climbed out of the car.
The twins parted ways as soon as they entered the school. Jack went over to his group of friends, as Erica made her way over to her locker. Just as she reached her locker, Chris came up from behind and engulfed her in a big bear hug. Erica smiled. Chris gave the best hugs. But then again, every girl thinks their boyfriend gives the best hugs.
"So, are we on for the soccer game today after school?' he asked.
"You bet!" Erica exclaimed.
"Great. Emily, Matt, and I will meet you here at the end of the day so we can all walk down to the field together. Sound good?"
"Perfect." Erica couldn't help but smile as she stared into his eyes. She so badly wanted to kiss him, but held off when she noticed a guy about the same age as her staring at them.
"Hey, who's the new kid?" she asked.
"Oh, his name is Jason. He was expelled from his old school so he had to transfer here," answered Chris.
"What was he expelled for?" Erica wondered.
"I think he brought a weapon into school or something. Sounds like a psycho to me. Anyway, I have to go. I'll see you at the end of the day." Chris explained. They shared a brief hug (Erica noticed Jason cringe) then went their separate ways.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the bell rang ending last period. Erica, Chris, Emily, and Matt made their way down to the soccer field along with most of the other kids at school. They caught up with Jack and his friends and they all decided to sit together. About fifteen minutes into the game, Emily whispered something into Erica's ear. Erica giggled and the two girls stood up.
"We're going to the bathroom," Emily announced.
"Congratulations?" Matt answered. Erica and Emily rolled their eyes as they made their way to the ladies room.
"I can't believe you and Chris are going out," Emily said once they had reached the restroom.
"I know. I've liked him for a really long time." Erica couldn't prevent the smile that started to form on her lips.
"So…" Emily started with a sly smile. "Have you two 'done anything' yet?"
"Emily!" Erica squealed blushing furiously. "We've only been going out for a week. Is this what you brought me in the bath room for? For details on our relationship?"
"Maybe…Come on Erica. You're telling me that you've wanted to go out with this guy for a long time, and now that you finally are, you haven't even done anything with him yet?!"
"We're taking things really slow. I haven't even kissed him yet. I don't want to mess up this relationship," Erica explained.
"Fair enough, but you have to promise to tell me when something does happen," Emily continued.
"Ok" Erica giggled and blushed.
"Ok, we had better get back to the guys. They probably think we fell in or something," Emily giggled.
"You go ahead, I'm going to get something to eat," Erica said as she hurried over to the snack bar line.
"Hi," Erica heard someone say. The voice gave her chills. She turned around and came face to face with Jason.
"I'm Jason Brown."
"Hi, I'm Erica Bing."
"I know who you are. I've seen you hanging around with that guy Chris. What's the deal with you two? Do you like him?"
"I'm going out with him," she answered nervously.
"Oh," Jason said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
"Wait, if I just met you, then how do you know my name?" Erica wondered
"I have my ways. I also know that your Mom's name is Monica, your dad's name is Chandler, and you have a twin brother named Jack. I know you're on the gymnastics team and that your mom is expecting a baby. How's my aim?" he asked smiling maliciously.
Erica didn't answer him. All of the color drained from her face. She got up her last ounce of her courage to ask one final question.
"How did you know my mom is pregnant? I haven't even told my friends yet." Jason just smirked and turned to walk away. Just as he was leaving, he turned his head
"Oh, by the way, I would definitely reconsider going out with that Chris kid. I really like you, and I always get what I want, one way or another." With that he turned around completely and left. Erica just stood there, frozen. She suddenly wasn't hungry anymore. She went back to her seat.
"Hey, what took you so long?" Matt wondered.
"Oh…um…nothing, long line," Erica quickly answered. She didn't feel like explaining to anyone what had just happened. If she just forgot about it, it would eventually go away…wouldn't it?
The game had just ended as Jack, Erica, Emily, and Chris made their way to the parking lot. Jack was on the phone with Monica asking her if she could pick them up, and Emily fell behind hoping to flirt with one of the soccer players.
"So, it was a great game," Chris started awkwardly.
"Yeah. I'm glad we won," Erica smiled.
"Me too," Chris answered. They turned into each other, realizing their faces were only inches apart. Very slowly, Chris leaned in to kiss her. It was a nice kiss. Erica was just beginning to sink into the kiss until she heard her name being called by none other than her mom.
"Erica Marie Bing! What do you think you're doing?" Erica and Chris quickly pulled apart and Erica frantically tried to fix her lipstick.
"Um…we were just uhhh…" Erica desperately tried to think of a good reason as to why they were kissing, but one didn't come to mind.
"Yeah, uh-huh, sure, go get your brother. We can talk about this in the car," said an agitated Monica. Erica quickly told Chris she would call him later then ran to find her brother and the two of them hopped in the car. As she put her seatbelt on, Erica noticed Jason staring at her until they drove away. Jack immediately put his head phones on sensing his mom and his sister were about to start World War III.
"Do you listen to any of those talks me and your father give you?" Monica started getting all flustered.
"Mom, relax we were only kissing! I would think you of all people you would be able to understand that. Kissing is the only thing you and Dad ever do!" Erica tried to defend herself.
"Don't bring me and you father's relationship into this! Kissing leads to a lot more missy! What would've happened if I hadn't shown up just now?" Monica asked exasperated.
"Nothing! Mom, you just have to trust me!" Erica was now starting to get annoyed.
"It's really hard to trust you when you're locking lips with your boyfriend all the time," Monica snapped.
"We don't kiss all the time! That was our first kiss! And even if I did kiss him all the time, I have to experience it sometime, I'm not a little girl anymore!" Just then, the song "This Kiss" by Faith Hill came on the radio. Monica looked at Erica and they both started cracking up.
"Perfect timing Faith," Erica giggled. The two girls sang at the top of their lungs with a very confused looking Jack the rest of the ride home.
"Girls are weird," Jack decided as he walked in the front door. The three of them walked to the kitchen where Chandler was making dinner.
"Look guys! Look! I made dinner! I made spaghetti all by myself!" Chandler smiled sounding like a little kid. Monica just laughed as she went up to give him a kiss. Her Chandler could be so cute sometimes. Her Chandler. After all these years, the thought still gave her butterflies.
"Ok, we have spaghetti, nothing can beat that," she smiled as she set down four plates. Just as the four of them were sitting down to dinner, the phone rang.
"I'll get it!" Erica said.
"Hello?"
"How's the spaghetti?" the eerie voice on the other line asked.
"Jason where are you?" Erica asked, the fear evident in her voice.
He hung up
"Jason…Jason! Damn it."
"Language young lady," she heard Chandler yell from the other room. Erica returned quietly to her seat.
"Who was it? Was it lover boy?" Jack blurted out.
"L-lover boy? D-did he say lover boy? Erica doesn't have a lover boy! Does Erica have a lover boy?" Chandler stuttered starting to panic.
"No, um, they had the wrong number," Erica answered nervously. Monica noticed Erica's face was flustered.
"Are you feeling ok baby?" Monica asked feeling her forehead.
"Yeah, I'm fine just tired. I'm going to go up to my room and get some homework done."
"So there's no lover boy?" Chandler asked hopefully. Erica sighed and left the table.
"Chandler, she's 16. So what if she has a boyfriend?"
"Monica, do you remember what we did when we first started going out?" Chandler asked with an urgent look in his eyes. Jack, looking disgusted, quickly excused himself and ran to his room.
"Chandler, I know this is hard for you. It's hard for me too, but she's not a little girl anymore. She's a good kid. I think we can trust her." Monica said.
Meanwhile, upstairs in her room, Erica attempted to do her homework; but she couldn't concentrate. She wondered if Jason could see her now. The thought scared her. She quickly jumped up and closed her shades. Just as she was finishing her chemistry homework, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
Monica walked into her room and sat on the edge of her bed.
"Hey, I just wanted to make sure you were ok. You looked really pale when you left the table. Are you sure you're feeling alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry," Erica answered a little too quickly.
"Ok, I just want you to know if you need to talk or anything, me and your father are here for you," Monica gently said. A wave of guilt hit Erica. She knew she should tell her mom about her stalker, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead she ran into her mother's arms and gave her a big hug.
"I love you," Erica whispered.
"I love you too honey. And when you're ready to talk, you know where I'll be," Monica smiled.
"Thanks Mom," Erica tried to put on her best fake smile, hoping her mom would buy it.
The Next Day
Monica woke up to find Erica asleep between her and Chandler. She sighed as she tip-toed to the bathroom to take a shower. Something was bothering that kid, she just wished she knew what.
When Monica got out of the shower, both Chandler and Erica were downstairs along with Jack eating breakfast. Jack, as usual, was half asleep.
"Good morning sweetie. How did you sleep?" Monica questioned her daughter.
"Not so good. I hope you don't mind that I came in your room and slept with you guys. I was having trouble falling asleep."
"No problem at all," Monica replied. The kitchen was over come by an awkward silence.
"Well, I'm going to go wait in the car," Erica stated. Jack, sensing Erica didn't really want to be alone right now, decided to wait there with her. He and Erica had always had this freaky twin thing going on between the two of them. As soon as the twins went outside to the garage, Monica turned to Chandler.
"I'm really worried about Erica. She's not her usual cheerful self. Do you think she could be sick?"
"Monica, I'm sure she's fine. She's 16, she's supposed to go through mood swings, isn't she?"
"Yeah, but she's just so anxious about something," Monica said pacing the kitchen.
"I'm sure it's just some adolescent problem," Chandler replied.
Monica sighed. "I guess you're right. I'm going to drop the kids off at school. I'll see you later. I love you."
"I love you too." Chandler gently kissed Monica's stomach before catching her lips in a brief passionate kiss.
The entire car ride was silent. Completely silent.
"What time should I pick you guys up?" Monica asked as they drove up to the school.
"There's another soccer game after school because we won yesterday so I think I want to go to that," Jack answered.
"Not me. Mom, can you pick me up at 2:30, as soon as school gets out. And please don't be late. I don't want to stand around by myself," Erica replied nervously. Jack and Monica shared a confused look. Erica usually loved going to the games.
"Ok sweetie, I'll be hear at exactly 2:30 to pick you up. Jack, call my cell phone when you need a ride home. Have a good day guys." With that, Monica drove away. Jack saw his best friend and ran over to him. Erica was left alone. She quickly looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was there."This is ridiculous," she said to herself. "I'm just being paranoid." No sooner did those words leave her mouth when someone popped out form behind her and cupped a hand over her mouth. It was Jason. Erica's eyes grew wide with terror.
"Hello beautiful. You wouldn't want to do something stupid and tell someone about me, would you? Come on, you're a smart girl, and you don't want to make me angry. Do you understand that? You DO NOT want to make me angry!" he yelled at her. Tears began to stream down Erica's face.
"Now, I promise if you don't break up with this kid and go out with me, there will be consequences. I'll give you today to break up with him. If you don't break up with him by the time school ends, things will happen tomorrow to ensure that you do. Now I'm going to let you go. If you scream, you're going to wish you had never been born." He let her go and walked away. Erica was shaking. She had never been so scared in her entire life. She couldn't stop the tears that trickled down her face. What consequences was he talking about? Would he hurt Chris? Would he hurt her? As she walked into the building, she tried to forget about what had just happened. She found Chris and ran into his arms, crying.
"Oh my god, Erica, what happened?" Chris asked concerned. Erica froze. She didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell him the truth in fear of both of their safety.
"Um…I've just been having a bad day. My mom and I got in this huge fight, and I'm PMSing, and I think I failed that geometry test we took yesterday."
"Shh, Erica, I'm sure you did really well on that test, and things between you and your mom will get better. As for the PMSing…I can't say from personal experience, but doesn't chocolate make everything better?" he smiled as he pulled a chocolate rose out of his locker. Erica gave him a small smile. He was too perfect to let go, no matter what Jason said.
"How about I walk you to geometry?" he asked.
"Sounds perfect," she replied wiping her tears. They walked hand in hand down the hall to Erica's geometry class.
The bell rang signaling the end of the day. Erica walked outside to find Chris waiting for her.
"How was your day? Did it get any better?"
"Much better," she replied kissing him passionately on the lips. Jason watched the whole thing from a bush…and he was mad.
"I have to go Erica, but I'll call you later. I love you."
Erica's heart melted. "I love you too." They shared one more quick kiss and then he left. Luckily, Monica's car pulled up just as he was leaving.
"How was school?" Monica asked.
"Eh…it was school…could it be any more boring," Erica replied as she put her seat belt on. Monica smiled. The old Erica seemed to be coming back.
Just as they walked into the house, the phone rang.
"I'll get it!" Erica yelled, hoping it was Chris.
"Hello?"
"I gave you fair warning Erica. I told you, I always get what I want. I wanted you to break up with Chris, but you wouldn't listen. All I'm saying is watch your back at school tomorrow." The line went dead. Erica froze with the receiver still in her hand. She finally hung up the phone and burst into tears. Monica heard her and ran over to her.
"Erica, honey, what's wrong."
"I wish I could tell you Mom, but I can't," she sobbed.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want him to hurt me!" Erica was hysterical now.
"Erica, please tell me what's wrong."
"I can't!" Erica raced past Monica and upstairs to her room. Monica just stood there, not knowing what to do. She decided to give Erica some time to cool off before going upstairs to talk to her. But by the time Monica finally went up to Erica's room, she was already fast asleep. Seeing as she barely got any sleep the night before, Monica let her sleep and made a mental note to talk to her in the morning.
Dream Sequence
Erica sat up and found a familiar looking older woman sitting at the edge of her bed.
"Who are you?" Erica asked.
"I'm your mother's grandmother," the woman replied sweetly.
Erica's face went pale "Isn't my mother's nana dead?"
"Yes darling," by the startled look on Erica's face, she quickly added "Don't worry dear, you're not dead. I came here to warn you. I know about Jason. Be very careful tomorrow. And please, take care of my granddaughter."
"What does my mom have to do with anything?"
"More than you know dear," and with that, she disappeared.
The Next Day
Erica woke up with a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She showered, got dressed, and then went downstairs to eat breakfast.
"Good morning," Chandler smiled.
"Morning dad," Erica said lifelessly.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Chandler asked.
"Yeah, of course I am. Why wouldn't I be ok?"
"Well, for one thing, you just poured coffee in your cereal." Erica looked down and sure enough, there was coffee all over her captain crunch.
Chandler's tone softened as he went over to sit down next to his daughter. "What's wrong, really?"
"Nothing Dad!" Erica said defensively. Just then, Monica walked in.
"Hey, you look a little pale. Are you sure you're feeling ok?" she asked.
"I'm fine!" Erica snapped.
"Ok, do you two need a ride to school?"
"NO!" Erica shouted. "I mean no thank you. Jack and I can take the bus today. And we'll also get out own rides home. You don't have to come anywhere near the school today," Erica quickly explained.
"Ok…" said a very confused Monica. Jack didn't object to this idea…seeing as he was once again half asleep in his cereal.
"Oh, there's the bus, come on Jack!" Erica nervously dragged a bewildered Jack out the front door to the bus.
"Wait, Erica, you forgot you lunch!" Chandler yelled, but it was too late. The bus was already speeding down the road toward the school.
"Do you want me to take it to her on my way to the office?" Chandler asked.
"No, I think I'll take it. While I'm down there, I might have a little chat with her teachers. Maybe they know what's wrong with her." Monica said.
At School
As usual, the twins arrived at school and went their separate ways. Erica looked around. There was no sign of Jason anywhere. She went inside the building and walked over to Chris and Emily.
"Hey," Chris said as he hugged her.
"Are you feeling alright?" Emily asked. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."
"I'm fine, just tired," Erica muttered.
"Ok, I'll see you two at lunch." Emily said and walked off in the direction of her P.E. class. Erica and Chris started to make their way to their French class. This was the only class the two of them had together all day.
It was around 8:30. Maybe Jason was just trying to scare me Erica reassured herself. Then it happened…a gunshot rang through the halls of the school. The class went silent. Then they heard students screaming from the hall. The French teacher, Mrs. Stewart, poked he her head out to see what all of the commotion was.
"Oh my god! There's a guy with a gun in the hall!" she cried.
Sure enough, there was Jason.
"WHERE'S CHRIS? I'LL KILL HIM!" he screamed. "I WANT THE WHOLE SCHOOL TO THE TOP FLOOR! NO ONE LEAVES UNTIL I FIND HIM!!!"
Kids screamed, hid, and tried to get out. Everything was chaotic. Jason started to march through the hall toward Erica's French class, shooting kids that were in his way…one of them was Emily.
Mrs. Stewart saw him coming, and quickly closed and locked the door to the classroom. All of the kids huddled in the corner farthest from the door. Christ wrapped his arms protectively around a now hysterical Erica, and tried to whisper words of comfort in her ear. There was nothing anyone could do except sit quietly and hope the police showed up in time.
Monica arrived at the school and noticed that it was exceptionally quiet. She grabbed Erica's lunch and walked up the stairs to the building. No one was there. It seemed like the entire first floor was deserted. That's weird Monica thought to herself. She then heard screaming coming from the second floor and made her way over to the stairs to see what was going on.
Jason reached the classroom Chris and Erica were in and peered through the window. He saw them huddled in the corner together. That only made him angrier.
Monica got to the top of the stairs and came face to face with Jason. She stopped dead in her tracks as soon as she saw the gun. Jason grinned psychotically.
"HEY, ERICA, LOOK WHO I HAVE OUT HERE!!!"
Out of curiosity, Erica lifted her head and cautiously walked over to the window just as Jason pulled the trigger.
"NOOOO!!!" Erica shrieked as she saw her mother collapse in a pool of her own blood.
A/N: Well, there you have it! My first Friends fan-fic! I'm honestly not too sure where I'm going with this story, so if you have suggestions, I'm open to them. Constructive criticism is always welcome as long as you're nice about it. Also, last time I posted something, the format got all messed up. I'm going to try to post this story differently so it will be easier to read. If it gets messed up or is hard to read, let me know. Please, please, PLEASE review! :-)