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It had been days since the friends found out about the beach house incident with the jellyfish. And the awkwardness had faded as though it had never even been there. At least, for the friends. Joey and Veronica, however, found that the awkwardness in their relationship didn't actually steam from the jellyfish incident.
The incident had brought forth a wave of awkwardness for all the friends involved, so the two never realized that there had been a fundamental change to their relationship separate from the friends. Once they'd gotten over the incident they found that they still weren't as comfortable with each other as they had once been. At first, they'd chalked it up to lasting effects of the incident but they quickly found that the rest of the friends acted as though the incident had never even happened.
That's when it hit them that the problem was only between them. It seemed they didn't know how to be more than friends and the transition had been less than smooth so far. Both of them knew that a relationship was what they wanted, there was no question about that. But they just didn't know how to be in a relationship after being friends for so long.
"So, you and Ronnie tonight, huh?" Chandler called with a smile.
"Yeah," Joey couldn't help the grin that spread on his face. Despite the obvious awkwardness between them, he was still ecstatic to finally be with the girl of his dreams, "It's actually our first official date."
"Wow! So tonight may be the night," Chandler trailed off, "You nervous?"
Joey shook his head without a second thought. "Nah, no. This is the part I'm actually good at."
"What must it be like not to be crippled by fear and self-loathing?" He mused, more to himself.
Joey paused, clearly not sensing that the question was rhetorical. "It's okay!" He shrugged.
Chandler frowned before he brushed it off. "How can you be so confident?"
"Well, I-I know exactly what I'm gonna do," He answered simply as if it was obvious.
"Really?" Chandler's brows furrowed in wonder, "Like you have a routine?"
"No, no, no, no, no. See. Each woman is different. You have to appreciate their uniqueness."
Chandler paused, clearly not expecting Joey of all people to think that. "Really?"
"No!" He scoffed, "I do six things! First, I look deep in her eyes. Then, I kiss her. Next, I take my hand and I softly graze her thigh."
"You mean like this?" Chandler asked as he awkwardly and clumsily rubbed his own thigh.
"No!" Joey huffed as he stared at him in disbelief, "Not like that, no, no. No, like this."
With that, Joey walked over to his best friend and demonstrated.
"Oh, I see what you mean, that's quite nice," Chandler nodded with a smile.
The two froze and stared at each other for a moment before they jumped apart.
"More foosball?" Joey suggested as he looked anywhere but at his best friend.
" ...And beer!" Chandler demanded.
Soon enough, the two had gotten over the awkward tension that had once filled the apartment. Joey found himself wishing the same would happen between him and Veronica.
"Hey, so you know how you said you have the same move for all the girls you take out," Chandler mused as he sipped his beer.
"Yeah."
"Well, do you think it's still going to work?"
"What do you mean? Of course, it's going to work," Joey scoffed confidently, "It always works."
"Well, yeah, but aren't those girls... different? I mean you always say Veronica is different from any of the other girls that's why you want a relationship with her. Don't you think she, I don't know, deserves more than your signature six moves?"
Joey froze at Chandler's words and his thoughts began to run wild. He was right, Veronica was different. Unlike his long list of one-night stands –some of which turned into week-long flings– he wanted more with Veronica. He wanted a committed, long-term relationship with her. And, maybe it really wasn't fair to pull his signature moves on her like she was just some one-night stand.
The only problem with that was that Joey had never strayed from his six-move plan, he'd never had to in his defense. So, now he was at a loss on how to ensure a perfect night. And that's when the nerves really set it. His head had begun to spin with thoughts of all the way things could go wrong tonight. How he could mess up his chance and never get another one.
He didn't know it then, but overthinking the night would be the reason it fell apart.
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"Thanks for dinner," Veronica smiled as Joey led her into his apartment.
"...I thought you paid," He chuckled and shrugged, "Ha, guess we won't be going back there!"
"So," Veronica sang as she gave him a sultry smile.
"Yeah," Joey returned her smile as he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her.
Without another word, the two were locked in a passionate kiss.
Joey pulled away slowly. "Hey what do you say we move this onto the likes of the couch?"
Veronica tilted her head to the side in mock thought. She gave him a teasing smile. "I'd say 'cheesy line', but you're lucky you're cute."
With that, she let him lead her to the couch where she sat down on his lap as they continued their makeout session. But, unfortunately, it didn't last long. Because as soon as Joey's fingers trailed up her thigh, Veronica started giggling.
Joey pulled away from her in shock. "What's the matter?"
She covered her mouth to try and stop, her face had gone beet red from how hard she was laughing. "I-I don't know," She shrugged helplessly, "I'm sorry, I don't know why I did that!"
She took a deep breath and brushed her hair out of her face, the laughter having finally subsided. She smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him towards her. But once again, the second his hand tried to go anywhere away from her waist Veronica jumped away from him in a fit of hysterical laughter.
"I am so sorry! Again," She gasped out as she fanned herself, "I don't- I don't know what happened, I must be nervous!"
"I don't get it," Joey pouted, clearly at a loss, "Chandler loved it!"
It took Veronica a moment to process what he'd just said. "...Why are you making out with Chandler?"
"Hey, so did you," Joey defended before his eyes widened, "Wait! I never made out with him."
Veronica frowned before she decided to just brush it off. She didn't know what was going on with her. She had never acted like this, she was never the shy or nervous type. Especially not when it came to sex. Under normal circumstances, she would already be in the bedroom.
But, then again, it wasn't a normal circumstance for her to be getting it on with one of her closest friends. She just couldn't get why she was so weirded out but the fact that she was with Joey. It wasn't like this was their first time sleeping together. But, maybe this was more official, she reasoned to herself. This night has higher expectations being their first official date and all.
She decided that since she'd never had a failed date before, she was not going to start now.
Joey, on the other hand, totally lost his cool. His conversation with Chandler earlier that day ringing in his head. He took this whole thing as a sign. A sign that he'd been right and he could not use his signature move on Veronica. He bit his lip anxiously, wondering if they could still salvage the night or whether their love life's DOA. He felt his palms grow clammy as he tried to think of any way to just get them over this weird limbo their relationship was in.
"Okay, okay, okay," Veronica breathed out as she smiled at him confidently, "I promise, I promise, I promise, I won't do it again. I really do. I promise. This is gonna be great."
Joey managed a smile, some of his nerves melting away at the sight of her beautiful smile. He always knew he wasn't the smartest which was why he'd always turned to Veronica to explain jokes or stories that went over his head with the rest of the friends. He always listened to her because to him, she was like the smartest person he knew. So, it put his mind at ease to hear the confidence within her voice and he believed her.
But, for the third time that night, when he tried to make a move on her she recoiled. Except this time instead of laughing, she slapped his hand away before slapping his head with both palms.
"Uh, was that good for you?" Joey asked dryly as he rubbed his head. He grabbed her hands and rubbed his thumb comfortingly against them, "Ronnie, you sure you want to do this?"
"Absolutely! Absolutely," She said earnestly as she cupped his face warmly, "I... it's just weird I guess. I mean that night at the beach house was just so... normal? But tonight-"
"Feels like everything's riding on it?" He finished for her with a nervous chuckle.
"Yeah, yeah, kinda," She agreed as she played with his hair subconsciously.
Almost as if it were second nature, Veronica's grip on his hair tightened and she pulled his head side to side while he affectionately pinched her cheeks and wobbled her head too. It was their thing, they didn't know how they'd come up with it or when it started but they'd been doing it almost since they'd become friends.
They froze when they realized what they'd been doing. They smiled at the familiar action, feeling some of the tension melt away because of it. It seemed they were still in sync even through all the nerves and swirling thoughts. Maybe they had everything wrong, maybe the move from friends to more was easier than they'd thought.
Soon after that, they were once again kissing passionately. And this time, Veronica had no adverse reactions to Joey's wandering hands. Unfortunately, while Veronica was now over the nerves, Joey's had seemed to spike. He'd gone to unclasp her bra but kept hitting blockade after blockade, which was totally out of character for him. Veronica frowned into the kiss as she felt him clumsily hit against her back.
"This thing welded shut?!" He huffed irritatedly as he fumbled with her bra clasp.
"Okay," She breathed out, not knowing what to do or say as he continued trying.
"All right, turn around, I got to get a look at this thing," He snapped as gave up on seamlessly unclasping the bra.
Veronica paused for a moment before she turned so her back was facing Joey. He continued to fiddle with the bra, even accidentally sending it snapping against her back.
"Ow!" She whined, flinching in pain.
"Sorry!" Joey mumbled sheepishly as he continued to manhandle the bra to no use.
"Well, this is romantic!" Veronica joked sarcastically as she played with the rings on her hands.
"I'm sorry!" Joey cried out desperately, "This never happened to me before! I'm an expert at taking off bras! I can do it with one hand! I can do it with my eyes closed! One time I just looked at one, and it popped open! I blame your bra!"
Veronica quickly turned to face him with narrowed eyes. "Hey, it's a standard-issue bra clasp on a very expensive bra."
"Then I blame you!" He countered and nodded at the shocked look she gave him, "Yeah! That's right! You threw me off with all your laughing and slapping!"
"Okay well, I'm sorry about that Joey," She said tightly, "But do you think that maybe on some level, you don't want to take off my bra?"
She figured that this was his just version of laughing and slapping.
Joey paused for no more than a second. "Nah! I don't have another level!"
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"How was your date with Joey?" Chandler asked Veronica the next day.
"Well, it was good.. until we got back to his apartment, and then we were fooling around and he started to put his hand up my leg and I kept laughing or slapping it away!" She huffed.
"You didn't like that?" Chandler asked in disbelief.
"Well, it wasn't just me," She scoffed, "He freaked out too! He couldn't even undo my bra!"
"Wow, really?" Monica frowned, "One time he just looked at my bra and it popped open."
"I do not know what's wrong with us, I mean, we've kissed before, hell, we've slept together already and that's been great!" She complained helplessly, "But this time I was just... very aware of the fact that it was Joey touching me I guess," She shrugged, clearly not understanding the situation herself.
"Well, you guys have been friends forever," Monica comforted her, wrapped her arms around her before she turned to Rachel, "Remember the first time that you kissed Ross? How weird that was? You couldn't stop laughing? You got through that."
"Yeah, yeah," Rachel nodded quickly, "It was so weird at the beginning but we got over that."
Veronica nodded slowly, as she began to sit up. Okay, that's true. That's true, we can do this. You're right, you're right, we can do this. We're just gonna power through!" She decided.
Before anyone could say anything else, Joey barged in before faltering when he saw Veronica.
"Hey Chandler can I talk to you for a second," He pointed to the hallway tightly.
Veronica jumped up. "No need! Problem solved, we are powering through."
With that, she grabbed his hand and dragged him towards his apartment with her head held high and her mind set. They were going to power through and get over this weird rough patch.
Monica hoped for the best for her two friends. Just as she turned to discuss the two with the rest of the friends, she frowned when she noticed Chandler staring at her chest.
"Chandler, stop! It is not going to pop open!" She snapped.
"You don't know!" He argued defensively.
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"Ready to Power through!" Joey called as he and Veronica stumbled into the living room.
"Yes! And in the interest of powering through," Veronica slipped her bra off through the arm of her shirt, "Okay. Alright! Let's do it!"
With that, they threw themselves at each other and started a heated kiss as Veronica pushed Joey backward till he fell into the BarcaLounger. She pulled the lever and sent the chair into its reclining position before she fell on top of him frantically. Unfortunately for Joey, she'd been too caught up in 'powering through' she hadn't realized that she'd accidentally kneed Joey.
She'd mistaken his groan in pain for pleasure.
"You like that?" She grinned as she detached her lips from his neck, "Let's-"
"Uh uh!" He cut her off, his voice strained, "No, no, no! You kneed me in my misters!"
"What?" She gaped and jumped off of him, "Oh my God! I'm so sorry. Joey? Are you okay?"
It took him a minute before he could force any words out. "...Soldier down!" His voice cracked.
The two were sitting on the couch dejected as Joey iced his groin with a bag of peas.
"What is the matter with us?" Veronica wondered sadly.
"Well, I know what's the matter with me."
"No, I mean with us, you know," She sighed, "I mean, is it supposed to be this... difficult?"
Joey frowned, wishing he could make her feel better but he had no idea how to. "I don't know."
Before they could dwell on it any longer, Ross strolled into the apartment.
"Hey, you guys," He greeted, "You got any peas? Monica swears she had a bag in her freezer but she can't find it and she's cooking."
Veronica and Joey shared a look before they shook their heads simultaneously. She subtly handed him a pillow to cover the bag of peas resting on his groin.
"Hey, listen, can we ask you a question?" Veronica said slowly, "When you and Rachel first hooked up, was it weird going from friends to... more than that?"
"Yeah, was there a part of you that... felt like it was... really wrong?" Joey added.
Ross took a moment to think before he shook his head. "Actually, no. No, it felt right. You know it felt like... Uh, I can't believe we haven't been doing this the whole time."
Joey and Veronica flattered at his answer. They were hoping he would agree with them, make them feel less weird about the whole thing.
"I can tell from your expressions that that wasn't what you were hoping for so I'm just going to go before Veronica throws something at me," He smiled at them before he turned on his heel.
"I wasn't going to throw something at him," Veronica broke the silence with a grumble.
"Yeah, you were," Joey chuckled quietly.
"Okay I would have but I would have thrown something at anyone," She defended herself before she sighed and grabbed his hand gently, "Well, just because it happened that way for them doesn't mean it has to happen that way for us, right?"
Joey smiled at her and tightened his hold on her hand, "Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. I mean, just because something's difficult doesn't mean that you quit."
"Eh, that's been my motto for most of the things in my life," She admitted before she shrugged, "But this is the first time I've ever wanted to not quit something that was hard."
That made Joey's heart soar. "Yeah, so we just keep trying and trying until we... do it. Again."
"Yeah, and if doesn't work, then we'll be just one of those couples that never have sex."
The two shared a look and scoffed, knowing neither one of them could ever do that.
"I wonder how Ross and Rachel could do it?" Veronica wondered as she threw her head onto Joey's shoulder dejectedly.
"I guess they weren't as good friends as we are," Joey suggested as he kissed her head.
"Yeah, we totally beat them at being friends," She agreed with a warm laugh.
"So what if they beat us at the relationship thing," He scoffed, "They broke up, anyway."
"Yeah!" She agreed as she looked up at him with a smile.
"I mean we have our own thing!" Joey reminded her as he pinched her cheeks.
"Right!" She agreed earnestly, her eyes glinting fondly as she grasped his hair.
The two started shaking each other's heads side to side gently as they laughed.
They froze as their eyes met and for the first time in a while, everything seemed to be just... right. There was no awkwardness, no tension, just Veronica and Joey. Everything else seemed to melt away when they stopped thinking about everything that could or couldn't go wrong between them. They were finally just being themselves and that was more than enough.
Without another word, their lips met, and soon after that their clothes were hitting the floor.
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〚𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄〛
I'm so sorry this chapter is a little late but it took me a while to decide what I wanted to do with Joey and Veronica's relationship. I ended up feeling like this episode from season ten was perfect for them and where they are in their relationship. I hope you guys liked this chapter, please let me know what you thought!
Also, I made a new cover for this book! What do you guys think?
This is a GIF of what I meant here; "Almost as if it were second nature, Veronica's grip on his hair tightened and she pulled his head side to side while he affectionately pinched her cheeks and wobbled her head too. It was their thing, they didn't know how they'd come up with it or when it started but they'd been doing it almost since they'd become friends."
Please don't forget to vote and comment!
Have a great day and stay safe ♥♥