…before you read:

Title: "Deliverance"

Genre: Stream of consciousness: almost General, not really angsty.

Category: "Friends"

Disclaimer: Strange as it seems, "Friends" don't belong to me. The mentioned books are probably in public domain, but I don't try to claim them either.

Summary: Just fooling around with Tulsa and 'should-have-been's

Warning: Not as much an AU as a bit of Stanislavsky approach (that is, "Me in given circumstances"), but the perception of the situation is far enough from canon to advise true "Friends" – or at least Mondler – fans to stay away. Also, personally I am fairly certain "affection" and "sexual attraction" are not necessarily the same thing, but I can't possibly stop you from seeing some slashy undertones in the story if you do. In other words, DON'T READ UNLESS YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY SURE YOU AREN'T GONNA FREAK OUT ;-).

Timeline: Originally my plot required "Joey's big break" and Tulsa brought together at some point of time when Monica and Chandler were already living together, but not married yet. Now I got rid of all canon time-markers besides Tulsa itself, so hypothetically, it should fit into the Canon timeline. I just wouldn't drag anyone through what little I know about American divorce laws.

Other Author's Notes: I've never felt the need to explain why I chose these and those Canon facts and altered them so and so, and I'm not going to start now. Isn't bending the Canon your way the whole purpose of fanfiction, after all?

But, just to ease your possible bewilderment, I would like to make a few comments you are by no means obliged to read.

1) I'm not a huge "Friends" fan. For a long time I only saw occasional episodes, mostly from the first five seasons, but that was enough to conclude I could sort of sympathize with Chandler. This summer I finally got the chance to get properly acquainted with the show, and I was absolutely appalled by the way the Chandler and Monica's marriage turned out. So I got the general idea for the story, but didn't think anyone would want to read it. Since then I have had to relive some of my similar experiences, so I've decided I want to finish the story anyway. And I've checked out some episodes I needed factual data from, but by now I'm not so much influenced by the show itself as by Cress' "If You're Gone", which is really good stuff when you're in the mood for something angsty.

2) Personally I think smoking is disgusting, but I also have firm ideas about self-distraction which I won't discuss here, but which roughly state telling a grown man off for smoking is insulting.

3) Yeah, I plain and simple googled "Statistical analysis". Don't come nagging me about how inaccurate it is, unless you actually have a degree in it :-).

STILL WANNA READ IT? ;-P