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"Here you go Pheebs," Rachel smiled excitedly as she held the plate of brownies out, "Who else wants one of my special homemade brownies?"
"I will have one," Chandler and Ross grabbed a piece.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Phoebe grimaced and quickly spit out the bite she'd taken.
"Okay, I'm not gonna have one," Chandler frowned as he and Ross dropped the brownies back in the plate.
"Neither will I," Ross agreed.
"No, no, it's just my tooth," Phoebe reassured them as she clutched her jaw.
"All right I'll have one," Chandler and Ross quickly grabbed their brownies again.
Ross, Rachel, Chandler, and Phoebe's heads snapped to Veronica's door when it creaked open.
Veronica and Max hadn't broken up but they still had a lot to talk about still. After their fight three days ago they'd decided to cool off before they continued talking about it. They hoped that would mean the next time they talked about it they wouldn't be at each other's throats.
The friends had quickly pulled her into a comforting hug when she trailed back into the apartment sadly. She'd been
"Brownies?" She asked quietly and Rachel quickly handed her the whole plate in hopes that it would cheer her up.
"You want ours too?" Chandler asked seriously, just wanting to get their happy, bubbly Veronica back.
She shook her head and slowly made her way over to the couch. "Are these funny brownies?" She asked hopefully.
"No, honey," Rachel patted her shoulder, "You were the only one who knew how to make those in college."
She let out a disgruntled sound and shrugged before she started eating the brownies. She figured since she'd been cut off from wine the last three days at least a pot brownie would get her mind off of Max.
Monica and Rachel had decided she wasn't allowed any more wine after finding her on the kitchen floor surrounded by bottles and glaring at baby magazines.
"So what's a matter, you need a dentist?" Ross asked Phoebe, "I've got a good one."
"No thanks, I have a good one too," She paused as she tried to think of how best to explain this to them, "I just, I-I can't see him."
"See that is the problem with invisible dentists," Chandler joked and turned to Veronica with hopeful eyes, "Huh?" He raised a brow, hoping for a laugh.
She gave him a small smile and he wrapped an arm around her comfortingly.
"Why?" Ross raised a brow, "Why can't you go to him?"
"Because, every time I go to the dentist, somebody dies," She explained simply.
"That is so weird, because every time I go to the dentist, I look down the hygienist's blouse," Chandler joked as the friends stared at her in disbelief.
"Phoebe, what?" Rachel asked slowly as she tried to make sense of what she'd just heard.
"Yeah, yeah, first there was my aunt Mary, and then there was John, my mailman, and then my cowboy friend 'Albino Bob'."
"And all these people actually died?" Rachel raised a brow.
"Yes, while I was in the chair! That's why I take such good care of my teeth now, y'know, it's not about oral hygiene, I floss to save lives!" She huffed earnestly.
"Pheebs, come on, you didn't kill anybody, these people just happened to die when you went to the dentist," Ross explained slowly, hoping she would understand, "It's just a coincidence."
"Well tell that to them," She scoffed, "Oh! You can't, they're dead."
Rachel opened and closed her mouth in shock before deciding there was nothing she could say to that. Instead, she decided to turn to Veronica and try her luck with her best friend.
"So, honey, when are you going to go talk to Max?" She asked as sat down next to her.
"Meh," She shrugged and started munching on another brownie.
"Okay, you need to snap out of this!" Phoebe said decidedly as she snatched the plate of brownies out of her hand.
Veronica let out a whine and made grabby hands at the plate.
"You get more brownies after you go talk to Max," Phoebe snapped, "Now get up, get pretty, and get going!"
Veronica pursed her lips and stared at the brownies before nodding and standing up.
The friends cheered her on as she made her way to her room to change.
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Veronica smiled as she got out of the taxi. It felt good to finally be out of her pajamas and in her heels. She was ready to put this dumb fight behind them and get back to being the cutesy couple everyone glared at.
She stood in front of his door and took a deep breath before she knocked on the door. She couldn't wait to be wrapped up in Max's arms again. She'd missed him so much and they'd only been apart for three days.
When she heard the door lock beginning to unlatch she stood straighter and smiled brightly.
Her face fell as soon as she saw who was behind the door. Her frown only deepened when she finally saw Max. He'd walked up behind his ex-wife shirtless.
Veronica felt herself freeze up in shock before she turned on her heel and strutted towards the elevator with her head held high. She could start crying once the elevator doors closed and she was alone.
"Veronica!" Max called out behind her desperately as he chased after her.
She stiffened and only sped up her pace, she had never been more thankful for being able to walk in heels so well. But her luck ran out because Max managed to slip into the elevator behind her just before the doors closed.
She stared at him blankly before pursing her lips and turning away from him. She quickly pressed the ground floor button and kept her gaze on the elevator doors.
"Ronnie, baby, I-"
"Don't call me that," She growled dryly, not even glancing in his direction.
He stared at her in a stunned stupor before he gulped. "Veronica, would you please just listen to me.
"You chose her. And that's okay because we always choose the wrong people for ourselves. I mean, I chose you didn't I?" She laughed sardonically.
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"What are you talking about?" Veronica scoffed as she took a sip of her wine.
The friends had been comforting Veronica and Chandler about their break-ups. Veronica and Chandler were sitting next to each other on the couch as they whined sadly about their ex's. The first thing Veronica had done was ask for the plate of brownies she'd been denied that morning.
"Honey, you didn't even let him get a word out," Monica explained gently, "What if it was just a big misunderstanding, huh?"
Veronica paused in thought but stayed silent, not wanting to admit out loud that Monica did have a point.
Ross nodded. "I mean it does seem like you maybe, sorta self-sabotaged your-"
"Your face is self-sabotage!" She snapped and glared heatedly at Ross before she faltered, "Sorry, lot of emotions."
He cleared his throat and gave her a dry look before continuing. "Maybe you wanted the relationship to end."
"That is not true," She huffed as she crossed her arms, "If I wanted the relationship to end then I wouldn't have been crying into a tub of ice cream and my tears wouldn't have been wine!"
"You did drink a lot of wine after the fight," Rachel nodded worriedly before she patted Veronica's arm comfortingly, "But, Ronnie, think about it. You were already acting like you guys broke up and then you didn't even let him explain when you saw him."
She frowned as her mind went a mile-a-minute to try and sort through all the points her friends had raised. Maybe she had been hasty with how she'd left things with Max at his apartment. And maybe she had done it on purpose even if she didn't realize it then.
"I mean, the two of you want really different things," Phoebe reminded her, "Maybe this was your way of ending it without really ending it."
"Pheebs that makes no sense," Ross furrowed his brows in confusion.
"Shut up, Ross," Veronica rolled her eyes, "It makes perfect sense. I didn't think we could fix everything after our fight so I decided to use today as an excuse to break up because then I wouldn't have to actually do it myself."
Joey had been silent for most of their exchange. He didn't know what to say, after all, he'd never been in a meaningful relationship before. But, all he knew was that he didn't want to see Veronica so sad.
"C'mon," He called as he held his hand out to her.
"What?" She furrowed her brows, "Where are we going?"
"To Max's apartment," He smiled as best as he could.
It's not like taking the girl you're crazy about to her boyfriend's house was easy but he'd do it if it meant Veronica would be happy.
"Why?"
"Because you two need to talk this out," He explained simply, "Whether that means getting back together or getting Clorox-"
"Closure," Chandler corrected him quickly.
"Yeah, that," Joey nodded, "So, c'mon. I'll go with you and I'll be there if you need anything."
She bit her lip nervously before nodding and grabbing his hand. "Okay."
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Veronica took a deep breath before she knocked on Max's door.
"Veronica?" Max gasped in shock when he saw her on the other side of the door.
"Hey," She greeted quietly as she gave him a weak smile, "Can we talk?"
She frowned when she saw the state he was in. He looked like he'd been drinking and he looked worse for wear. He'd looked tired when she'd come by that morning but now he looked like a wreck.
"Y-yeah, of course," He nodded vehemently and opened the door wider for her to come in.
"I'm sorry," They both said at the same time.
Max motioned for her to continue as they sat down on the couch.
"I'm sorry I left," She bit her lip anxiously, "I'm sorry I didn't hear you out. I was just- Max, what's wrong?" Her brows furrowed in worry when she saw a teat trickle down his cheek.
"I-I am so sorry," He breathed out.
"Why are you sorry?" She laughed innocently, "I'm the one that wouldn't let you explain and just walked out of here- walked out on us so easily."
"No, no," He shook his head as he ran a hand down his face, "Veronica, you don't understand. When you came over nothing happened between me and her."
"I-I know," She nodded reassuringly as she reached out to grab his hand but frowned when he pulled away from her as if he'd been burned, "And I'm sorry I didn't let you explain before I decided to just break up. But that's okay, now-"
"No, it isn't!" He moaned as he took a shuddering breath, "Nothing happened when you came but after you left..."
Her eyes widened as she stared at him in shock as he trailed off. Her mouth fell open as she tried to make sense of what she'd just heard. There was no way. She hoped to God that he was going to tell her something completely different from what she was thinking.
"After you left," There was an unspoken reminder that for the few hours since she'd last been here they'd technically been broken up, "I wasn't in a good place and she was there and things just kind of happened-"
"So, you slept with her?" Veronica asked blankly as she stared in front of her blankly.
"No!" He yelped as he stared at her with eyes wide in fear, "I stopped it before anything could happen but-"
"But something was going to happen," She finished dryly.
He looked away from her in shame as he nodded slowly.
Veronica laughed dryly as tears stung her eyes. "I guess it wasn't cheating since we were broken up but, God, you couldn't even wait a whole day?" She scoffed as her voice broke.
The two sat in silence for a moment as they scrambled to think of what to say or do.
"I don't care how many people there are in the world, I want you and only you."
"Oh yeah? Sure as hell didn't seem like it a few hours ago!" She snapped as she turned to him with a heated glare.
"Baby, that was a mistake. You know I love you," He grabbed her hand gently but she quickly ripped them out of his grasp and pushed both her palms against his chest angrily.
"You don't love me. You don't do this to the people you love, you don't make them feel like this! You made me feel like you really loved me and then you just left like it was nothing. Like I was nothing. You have no idea how worthless you made me feel in the span of ten minutes!" She screamed at him.
"I-I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking-" His voice broke as he sniffled, "You're the best thing that has and ever will happen to me."
"You sure as hell have a funny way of showing it," Veronica huffed tearily.
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〚𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄〛
So I had originally planned for Max to cheat on Veronica but I ended up loving his character too much to have him actually do it lol. Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter! Please let me know what you thought.
Don't forget to comment please!
Have a great day and stay safe ♥♥