Stranded in Friends

6. The one with the Thanksgiving meal

Thanksgiving is today and I am on my way towards Monica and Rachel's apartment. Nerves are coursing through my body and I'm a little worried that I will once again, worsen my reputation around them. 

'Breathe in, breathe out. You're going to be just fine. They will like you this time.' I enter the building as someone holds the door for me. I thank him and then hop the stairs up towards the right floor. I meet Joey in the hallway. 

'Hey!' He smiles and presses a kiss on my lips. A kiss I didn't expect. Does this mean I'm actually dating the man? That's not like him, although he did have girlfriends throughout the show. 'What a coincidence! I was just on my way.' He says, his eyes finding the bottle of wine in my hand. 

'Good. Monica loves wine.' It seems this could be something that might be able to warm her up to me. I smile at Joey, telling him I'm glad. He knocks on her door before just barging in. I follow him in and greet the other friends that are already there. They all share a look when they see me but nevertheless they smile at me when I look at them. 

'Meredith! Thank you for coming.' Monica walks up to me and I give her the bottle. 'There you go. I didn't know what you like more but I chose red.' She waves it off, telling me that she loves it and that we will drink it during dinner. 'Just have a seat, we're almost ready.' I smile and take a seat on her couch, right next to Chandler. 

'Hi.' I say, trying to start up a conversation. 'Hi!' He just answers but it then dies off already. 'So, Meredith. We heard you were on a date with Joey. Tell us all about it.' Rachel plops down next to me and just intently stares at me. 'Joey won't spill anything.' You shyly look at him and he just winks. 

Once I start telling about my evening, something seems to change within me but also within literally every single one of the friends. It's like a switch flips over and they actually start to like me. They laugh at my jokes, ask me more about myself and Rachel even asks me to come along to get my nails done with her and Monica tomorrow. To sum it all up, this day is going great! And I may have found my opening into their circle of friends. All it took was Joey.

When I look at him, my heart skips a beat and I curse myself for realizing what is happening. It's not that he is incapable of settling down or falling in love, it just seems that diving into this will get my heart broken. It makes me slightly regret the events from the day before but that changes at dinner, when he says he is thankful for meeting me because he really likes me. 

After dinner I help Monica doing the dishes and cleaning everything up the way she wants it, without anything being placed on the wrong shelf or in the wrong cupboard. 'The day we first met you, we thought you were really weird.' Monica says when the other friends are having a few drinks on the balcony. 

'I know. It was obvious and to be honest, I don't blame any of you. I really was weird.' I chuckle and place a cup back on the numbered place on the shelf. 'I'm curious. You said you mistook me for someone else. Is she a friend of yours?' She looks me in the eye and I grow nervous. I don't even know why because I can easily talk my way out of this but I don't want to fall back to that place where they think I'm odd. I don't want to tell them I'm not from here, from this time and universe. 

'No, I mistook you for someone famous but it was just my first glance at you. I'm really sorry for making a wrong impression.' She shrugs it off, draining the sink and taking off the ridiculous yellow cleaning gloves. 'It's ok. It happens to the best of us. But just out of curiosity, which famous person? Courteney something?' 

'Oh, she's a.. dutch actress. That's why it's so unlikely that it would be her.' I smile tentatively. 'Oh, right. I see.' She smiles back. 'Well, we're all done here. Thank you for helping me! Let's grab a drink and join the others!' 

On the balcony, I find Joey talking to Chandler and Ross. He smiles when he sees me and beckons me over, just to wrap his arm around me when I get close. I hear what they're talking about but all I can think about is Joey's hand rubbing gently over my back. The skin under his touch is heating up and my mind is spinning. A second wave of reality is crashing into me as I again realize that I'm amongst my favourite people. I lean against Joey's shoulder while taking small sips from my glass of red wine. 

 I think I can safely say that I'm happy, genuinely happy for the first time in my life.