soulmates. ― chandler bing

― 33 | FOR A LITTLE WHILE

WE ENDED UP in the hallway between our apartments. I didn't even think about how I said good night to him. Could I hug him? That would be awkward, wouldn't it? The four of us slowly walked down the hallway. And before I could even start my awkward goodbye, Joey started talking, "So, Chandler, just for your information. Rachel spends the night at our place. So, don't be weird. I don't want her to run off." While he said that he grabbed Rachel's waist and tickled her a little. It was adorable to watch. "Thank you, Joey. I really appreciate it. I'll try not to scare her off!", Chandler said smiling fake.

Meanwhile, Joey tickled Rachel once more, which made her shriek and laugh for a second. "Joey, stop! If I run away, I can assure you it is not because of Chandler." She raised an eyebrow at Joey, who looked a bit shocked now. God, aren't they both sweet idiots. Joey let go of Rachel's waist and took her hand, "Please don't run away because of me." Rach now grinned successfully, first at me, then at Joe. "Come on then, honey. Good night, you two!" She waved to us and pulled Joey behind her in the boys' apartment.

"She has him under control...I like that!", Chandler whispered when the door had closed. We stood there for a couple of seconds, not saying anything. I was thinking about how I would say goodbye now. Just thank him for the day. Tell him it was fun. Maybe drop that you want to do it again. And then leave, somehow, without making it awkward. I already inhaled to start the little speech I had thought of, but he was faster. "Eve, you can of course say no, but...I have the feeling I would bother them, you know if I walk in now and eventually be weird. So", he paused to look into my eyes, pulling a little grimace, "Would you mind if I come with you for a little while?"

I stared at him for a moment. Judging his reaction, my look must have been rather shocked. He opened his mouth and started, "Really, it's not a problem if–" But I interrupted him, "No, I would love that!" His expression changed and he smiled at me. "Great!", he said softly. I smiled back at him while searching for the keys in my pocket. I had to break my gaze at him because I just didn't find my keys. "God, where are they?" I looked into my bag and stopped paying attention to Chandler for a moment, who stepped past me. "We could just...", he whispered and knocked at our door. "Aren't you such a genius!", I grinned. After a few seconds, we heard steps coming closer to open the front door.

" GOOD EVENING, YOU TWO! "

It was Richard. Uh oh. Apparently, not just Rachel and I had a date tonight. Wait! Did I just call it a date? My kind of worried look jumped to Chandler, but he to my surprise smiled at Richard and even shook his hand enthusiastically. "Hello, Richard!" The joy in his voice, made Richard smile a little as he turned to me. "Hi Richard!", I grinned up at him. He took a step back to let us in. I waved to Monica, who was sitting on the couch with a glass of red wine in her hand. "We didn't mean to interrupt! Just passing through!" My sister took a sip of her wine, "Oh come on. Everything is just fine. You have to tell me how it was tomorrow morning!"

Chandler, who had followed me into the room greeted Monica with an easy, "Hey!" and a smile. My sister smiled at him but didn't say anything. There were a couple of seconds of silence and I didn't know what to do. I decided to handle the situation. "Enjoy your evening!", as I said that I grabbed Chandler's hand and pulled him after me into my room. Reading this, it sounds like they will have sex right away, oops. I can't write, sorry. He closed the door behind us. As he turned around, I was already sitting on my bed. "I don't know what from, but I am so exhausted!", Chandler said coming closer slowly. "Yeah, me too", I yawned, "Probably comes from the excitement!" He grinned, "Yeah, today was amazing!" So he thinks today is amazing, that's good. That is fantastic in fact. He looks so happy right now. God, he is cute.

He cleared his throat, clearing my thoughts. I don't know how long I've looked at him like that, but it sure was longer than I planned to. Chandler looked at me and from me to the bed. Only then did I notice, that he was still standing awkwardly in front of me. "Please, sit down. You cannot stand like this the whole night." Did I just REALLY say, "the whole night". That sounds like I want him to stay here. Sleep next to me in this bed. Waking up and seeing me first thing in the morning. Actually ... that is exactly what I want. His sitting down next to me brought me back to reality. "But to come back. Yeah, today was really awesome," I recalled everything that had happened today. That's when I remembered. I remembered my thoughts. I wanted to ask him about Monica. I wanted to ask him about my sister. I cannot have thoughts about him staying here if I don't know. My heart started beating faster. "So... Chandler. You seemed okay out there passing Richard and Monica. Do you feel better about this whole situation? I mean, I know you are in love with her and–", I started fast, but he interrupted me. "Was." I turned my head to him, just to see him facing the bed. "Excuse me?", I said confused.

❝I WAS IN LOVE WITH HER.❞

Oh. My. God. "Oh. Sorry. We obviously don't have to talk about this. I just thought–", I started again. This was a stupid idea. This was a stupid idea. "No, please. I remember your face. From that day, her birthday. Your tear-filled eyes. Evelyn, you have the right to know all of this...", he sighed and slowly let himself fall backward. He lay there on my bed, covering his face with his hands. "I was in love with Monica, yes. Or at least I thought it was. In the end, it was more like all my hopes and passion fighting for something, I knew I could not have. But I am sure everyone knows about these feelings by now. Although, maybe Ross missed all of this. It's been like this for a couple of months now. I don't know how it started. But I know that it was getting less. Everything was so weird. After a few months, I started sensing that I didn't have a chance. And I know, I couldn't know, but something told me, she was not the right one. Even though I knew this, I held on to her .... compulsively. I think, I just wanted to tell her, to get dumped and continue living. But there was this fear. And I just could not do it until now." He inhaled. His hands still covered his face, like he was ashamed. I didn't know what to say. I didn't have to, because he continued.

"Obviously I felt this change. Change of emotion. But only slowly and not strong enough, to really acknowledge them. But then, a month ago, it hit me like a tree." My eye got bigger. I started living in New York a month ago. Luckily his hands were still on his eyes, so he didn't see me blush. I think my whole face had turned red. Eve, you have to say something. Just say something. No, say nothing. That would ruin the moment. Do something. Anything. Just .. think of something. Now. So I lay down next to him. We both lay on our backs, so we were facing the ceiling. I didn't know what to do with my hands so I put them on the bed beside me. Stupid idea. Because I brushed Chandler for a moment, which made me blush even more. He must have felt it but did not do anything. "What made you listen to your feelings a month ago?", I asked with a shaking voice. That's when he let his hands drop on the bed as well. We were both staring at the ceiling now. "I am sure, you know what happened a month ago, Evelyn." He smiled a little like he was remembering something nice. So did I.

I gathered all of my courage and turned to my side to face him. Only to find him with his eyes closed again. "Eve?" It was like his voice filled the whole room. Like it took away the oxygen to breathe. "Yes, Chandler?", I replied slowly. It took him another moment until he replied. "I really like you." Pure happiness filled my body. It started to smile widely and I wanted to say something. But he stopped me by grabbing my hand. "I think I am in love with you." His eyes were still closed. And that was the last thing I saw clearly because tears of joy filled my eyes. After a few seconds, that must have felt like hours, I answered. "I am in love with you too, Chandler." My whole body was shaking and my heart was beating so fast and loud. Finally, he opened his eyes. They were full of joy and he smiled happily. "You are?", he asked stupidly, sitting up straight. I had to gather myself before I could answer, "I am."

Chandler looked into my eyes, so I could see my crying self in them. He helped me sit up as well. Still smiling widely, he wipes away a tear from my face. His hand then rested on my cheek and he pulled me closer. Our faces were only a few centimeters apart and before my brain could start progressing what was happening – our lips met.