Best Buds

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Lately, Chandler has been stuck on Joey's mind. Too much to be normal.

Then he came to a glorious realization. They're best friends.

Of course Chandler's face, the way he speaks, the way he jokes, the way Chandler does everything would be pleasant for Joey. He was his best friend, and Chandler should know that. Dammit, he had to know.

But in what way?

"Hey, this is a little extra somethin' for uh, ya know, always bein' there for me," Joey said shyly as he handed Chandler a jewelry box. This will be perfect.

Chandler blinked, looking pleasantly surprised. "Wow, I don't know what to say," he said, opening the box and pulling out a massive, tacky gold bracelet. "Wow, I don't know what to say."

"Heh, what d'ya say?" His roommate prompted.

Chandler gave him a look. "I don't know. It's a bracelet."

"Isn't it?" Joey said, nearly bouncing on his toes. "And it's engraved too, check it out."

"To my best bud," he read before he put it back in the case slowly. "Thanks best bud."

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Later at Central perk, Phoebe was looking over Chandler's new bracelet. "It's not that bad," she tried.

Chandler scoffed, tugging his sleeve over the bracelet. "Oh, yeah, easy for you to say," he retorted. "You don't have to walk around sporting some reject from the Mr. T collection."

Behind him, Joey walked in.

Phoebe's eyes widened. "Chandler, Chandler," she whispered, mentally urging him to shut up.

He wouldn't.

"I pity the fool who puts on my jewelry, I do, I do. I pity the fool that..." he trailed off, noticing Joey in the corner of his eye and turning to him. Oh no. "Hi. Hey man, we were just doin' some uhh, impressions over here," he lied quickly. "Do your Marcel Marceau."

Joey turned and walked out without saying a word. I'm such an idiot.

"That's actually good," Chandler mumbled, leaning back into the couch. His stomach suddenly seemed to weigh just as much as the bracelet.

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Chandler later joined Joey at the apartment.

"Hey man, look it's my best bud! How ya doin?" Chandler greeted with enough enthusiasm for the both of them, which was very much needed since Joey wouldn't respond.

"Wow, you are really gettin' good at that Marcel Marceau thing." He paused for a moment. "Hey, whaddya say uh, we play some ball, you and me, huh, whaddya say?" He tossed a basketball to Joey, who didn't move, leaving the lamp defenceless as it fell from the impact of the ball.

"OK, that's my bad."

"If you hated the bracelet so much, Chandler, you should have just said so," Joey said firmly.

His roommate took a breath. "Well, doesn't the fact that I wore the bracelet even though I hated it say something about our friendship and how much it means to me?"

"Well, what about the fact that you insulted the bracelet and you made fun of me?"

"OK, well that's the part where I'm a wank. But I was hoping we wouldn't focus on that."

Joey rolled his eyes before he went to his room and shut the door.

Chandler sighed, walking over to the door. "Hey, c'mon man, I said I was sorry like a hundred times, I promise I will never take it off my..." he looked to his bare arm.

"...wrist." Well, where did it go? "But if, if you want to stay in there and be mad, you know, you just uh, you stay in there," He said quickly before he dove down, and looked under the couch cushions. Shit, shit shit shit..

Joey leaned against the door for a moment with a frustrated expression before opening it. "You know what the..." he stopped talking when he saw Chandler on the floor with a cushion in each hand.

"I am here, on my knees, holding up these couch cushions as a symbol of my sorrow and regret," Chandler announced, internally scrambling for words. "Much like they did in biblical times. Though you may haveth anger now..."

Joey immediately stepped back into his room and closed the door. He's not even taking this seriously.

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I can't believe it, Chandler thought as he stared at the new "best buds" bracelet he wasted $400 dollars on, just to replace the one he hated and lost.

Rachel came up from behind the bar, causing Chandler to flinch when she spoke. "Hey. I've got something that's gonna make you happy. Guess what Gunther found?" She holds up a familiar gold piece.

Phoebe's eyes lit up. "Hey now you have two!"

Chandler narrowed his. "'Oh, now you have two'," he mocked. "What am I gonna do, huh?"

"Hey." It was Joey.

Chandler turned around, holding both bracelets. "Hey."

"How come you have two?" Joey asked, frowning.

"Well this one's for you," Chandler said, sticking out the new one. Or the first one? He couldn't remember which was which,

His roommate scoffed. "Get out."

"No, I can't," Chandler stammered. "No no, listen, I, I know how much this means to you and I also know that this is about more than just jewelry," he said genuinely, closing the bracelet over Joey's wrist. "it's about you and me and the fact that we're-" he looked down to read the bracelet. "-best buds."

He could see Joey's face slowly light up, impressed. "Wow, is this friendship?" He exclaimed excitedly. "I think so. Check it out, we're bracelet buddies," he cheered.

Chandler had a smile on. Oh boy. "That's what they'll call us."

Author's Notes
I'm back, and I have like three or four chapters I'm almost done and will publish soon! Stay tuned!

The One Where They Fall in Love (A Chandler x Joey Fanfic)Όπου ζουν οι ιστορίες. Ανακάλυψε τώρα