"You know, before she killed herself."
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"Hey. What are you guys doing?" Phoebe walked into the apartment.
"Monica's making us watch Old Yeller." Richard glanced back at her, tears streaming down his face. I mean, that's what we all looked like at this point. Rachel and Ross were cuddling on the arm chair, and Richard and Monica were on the couch together. Of course, I had no one, so I was stuck with a pillow.
"Why are you guys so upset? It's Old Yeller. It's a happy movie." She giggled.
"What are you talking about?" The rest of us look at her weirdly. It's like she's never seen it.
"Come on. Happy family gets a dog. Frontier fun." She took a bite of her cookie.
"Yeah, but, Pheebs, what about the ending?" Ross inquired as we went back to watching it.
"Oh, when Yeller saves the family from the wolf, and everyone's happy?" She questioned him.
"That's not the end." Rachel spoke up.
"Yuh–huh. That's when my mother would shut off the TV and say 'the end'." Phoebe shrugged her shoulders and stood behind the couch.
"What about the part where he has rabies?" Monica asked.
"He doesn't have rabies. He has babies." Phoebe corrected her, but she was wrong. "That's what my mom said." She answer.
"Pheebs, I don't think your mom would want you to see what's about to happen." I warned her.
"Why? What's about to happen?" She glanced over at the TV. "I've never seen this part before." She tilted her head to the side in slight confusion. "Travis, what are you doing with that gun? Oh, no. No, no, Travis, put down that gun." We knew what was about to happen. "No, no, no, he's your buddy. He's your Yeller. No, no! The end! The end!" The gunshot echoed loudly, making us jump. "Okay, what kind of a sick dog snuff film is this?" We looked at her sadly. Later that night, Rachel was working at the coffee shop while Monica and I entertained ourselves with a couple of Calvin Klein magazines.
"Hey." Phoebe walked into Central Perk.
"Pheebs, what do you got there?" I nodded towards the tapes in her hands.
"Okay. Love Story, Brian's Song, and Terms of Endearment." She sat down at the small table.
"Wow. All you need is The Killing Fields and some guacamole, and you got yourself a par–tay." Monica cheered jokingly.
"Yeah, I talked to my grandma about the Old Yeller incident, and she told me that my mom used to not show us the ends of sad movies to shield us from the pain and sadness, you know, before she killed herself." Phoebe explained.
"Hey." Chandler and Joey came running into the coffee shop.
"Where is he? Where's Richard? Did you ditch him?" Monica was worried about her boyfriend.
"Yeah, right after we stole his lunch money and gave him a wedgie." Joey teased her. "What's the matter with you? He's parking the car." He reassured her.
"Did you guys have fun?" She asked them. Chandler stayed standing while Joey came over to sit on my other side.
"Your boyfriend is so cool." Chandler gushed.
"Really?" She was all smiley and happy that her friends were getting along with her boyfriend.
"He let us drive his Jaguar. Joey for 12 blocks, me for 15." Chandler stuck his tongue out at his best friend and roommate.
"Wow. He must like you the best." Rachel nodded her head.
"And what about that thing he did when he tipped the guy who showed us to our seats?" Joey looked over at Chandler. "You never even saw that money. It was like this." He pulled out a couple of bills. "Hey, Chandler. Thanks for showing us to our seats." The two shook hands, and Joey gave him the money discreetly.
"No problem. Hey, Joey, thanks for parking the car." They did it again. "There's the man!" My brother exclaimed when Richard walked into the coffee shop.
"Hey, you're getting better at it." Richard smiled when Joey passed him the dollar bill. "I'm going to keep this by the way." He held up the bill.
"Okay..." Joey smiled and nodded his head. "He kept my dollar." He said to Chandler kind of nervously. Later in the evening of the next day, Joey was giving me a shoulder and back massage at my place.
"You know, Ross has Ben tonight, and Monica's with theme. My brother's probably off doing something weird and stupid. Phoebe's most likely at her apartment. Rachel's working at the coffee shop. We get to be all alone tonight." I put my hand on top of one of his.
"Sounds perfect. But..." He trailed off, chuckling nervously.
"Are you going to the Ranger game? With Chandler?" I glanced back at him.
"And Richard." He added. "But I promise, we can do whatever you want when I come back." I just brushed his hands away.
"Go have fun. I don't care where you go." I crossed my arms over my chest, going to the kitchen.
"Baby..." He called out to me and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind me. "Don't be mad at me. Please."
"I'm not mad." I rolled my eyes jokingly. "They're probably waiting for you." I sighed. The next day, I hadn't seen Joey at all. I went over to Monica's place. "Your boyfriend's stealing my—hi, Richard." I smiled at him sarcastically.
"Hey, Suparna. What's happening?" He looked up from his newspaper. Clearly, he hadn't heard what I just said.
"Nothing much. Monica, your room, now." I grabbed her arm and pulled her inside.
"What's going on?" She looked at me in slight concern.
"Your boyfriend's stealing my boyfriend. I haven't seen him in two days, and I have needs like every person in this world." I whispered to her.
"I've been feeling the same way." She groaned in frustration. "It's like, I want them to be happy, but not at the expense of my happiness." She explained.
"That's exactly what I'm feeling! What do we do, Mon?" I fell back against her bed, sprawled with my arms and legs out.
"Let's read Cosmo. We could probably get an idea from there." She suggested.
"Or if that fails, we can maybe learn how to do an at–home bikini wax out of leftover Christmas candles." I sat up. The next day, I went over to the guys' apartment. Of course, Chandler and Joey were playing foosball against Richard. "Hey, I'm just going to steal some whip cream." I called out to them.
"Don't have any left. We used it all up when we were trying—trying to make an ice cream sundae." Joey quickly made up on the spot. "Don't you remember?"
"Yeah, I do. But I can't really remember the last time I had sex. God, with all the chocolate syrup I've got in my apartment, I just don't know what to do with it all." I spoke loudly.
"That's nice, Suparna!" My brother yelled, not hearing what I actually said.
"I'm just going to go to my apartment and eat my weight in Chinese food. I'll order extra if anyone comes over." I kept the door open. "Maybe I'll try something with the chocolate syrup."
"Great game, boys. I've got a date to catch." I smirked as Joey followed behind me. Once the food came, we quietly sat at the dining table and stuffed our mouths. "Suparna, I can't help but feel like you're mad at me for something. What is it, baby?" He reached over to hold my hand.
"For the past couple of days, I feel like...we haven't spent as much time together. And it's not like. I can kiss you any time I want." I looked down at my lap while he rubbed his thumb across the top of my hand. "Joey, I know I probably sound clingy, but that's just the way I am."
"Oh, Suparna...I didn't know you were feeling left out. Why didn't you tell me sooner? I would cancel on the guys in heartbeat if it means I get to spend time with my girl." He smiled at me. I blushed when he called me his girl.
"Thanks, Joey. I love you." I said. Then, my eyes widened in realization. Shoot.
"I love you, too, Suparna." And he leaned over the table to kiss me.
"God, it feels weird saying that to someone other than my family." I giggled.