TOW Monica’s 30th Birthday

Okay. London never happened. Well, they still went to London but CnM never got together. When Monica went to Chandler’s room that night, he told her he’d feel like he was taking advantage of her so they didn’t, um, do anything. So newayz, now it’s Mon’s 30th birthday and I think that’s all u really need to know. Oh yeah, characters aren’t mine. And right about now is when most people say that they wished they owned Matthew Perry. But how can you own him? I mean, you can own Chandler, Chandler’s a character. But Matthew Perry’s a person, and you can’t really own another person. Um, I’ll be shutting up now, sorry for ruining ur dreams of owning him, I’m sorry. Please read and review.(was that a long enough AN? LOL)

"So Mon," Phoebe asked Monica, "what do you want for your birthday?" Monica, Phoebe, and Rachel were sitting in there usual spot at Central Perk.

"To still be 29," Monica sighed.

"Yeah, well, I’m psychic, not magic, so anything else?" Phoebe rolled her eyes at Monica.

"To not think about the fact that I’m about to turn 30 and am absolutely nowhere in life. I mean, when I was a kid, I always thought I’d at least be married by now, and I don’t even have a boyfriend," Monica answered, sinking back into the couch.

Just then, Chandler walked in and sat on the edge of the couch next to Monica, "So, Mon, what do you want for your birthday?" he asked and the three girls just looked at each other.

"A husband, kids, and a better job," she sighed and looked up at him.

"Yeah, well, I’m not sure if I can get all that by next Friday…anything else?"

Monica just shrugged and stood up, "I’m gonna go, I’ll see you guys later," she walked out.

"Did I do something?" Chandler asked confused.

"Well, kinda," Rachel said, "she just really doesn’t want to think about turning 30, y’know, biological clock ticking and stuff."

"Oh. Well, I’m gonna go see if she’s okay, see you guys later."

"Mon?" Chandler said walking into her apartment. "Hey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel bad," he started when he saw her sitting on the couch.

"Hey, it’s not your fault, you just came in at a bad time," Monica patted the couch next to her for him to sit down. "Know what I really want for my birthday? To not think about the fact that it’s my birthday. To just stay at home alone and take a long, hot, bath, no party or anything." Chandler looked down guiltily, "There’s gonna be a party, isn’t there?"

"Yeah, but its supposed to be a surprise, so, shh, I didn’t tell you," he smiled.

"Oh, I kind of figured."

"Hey, do you want to go out for dinner Friday?" Chandler asked, "It can be like my present for you or something."

"Um, okay. Just us?"

"Yeah, I’m kind of supposed to get rid of you for a couple hours while they decorate and stuff," he said, looking a little guilty.

"Oh," she paused, "Is that really my present from you?"

"Nice restaurant, order whatever you want. Well, to an extent," Chandler said, thinking.

Monica rolled her eyes, "okay, what time?"

"Seven," he said. "So, it’s a date?"

"Yeah, in your dreams," she grinned.

"Hey, if that’s all I got," he grinned back and shrugged.

~*~

"Wow, you look nice," Rachel commented when Chandler walked in wearing a nice suit. "Be back at 8:30, okay?" she added quieter and he nodded. "Okay, I have to go, be out of here soon."

""Okay," he agreed and she left.

Monica walked out of her bedroom and Chandler’s jaw practically hit the floor. (Okay, how many times ahs a line like that been used in fics? Way too many, but hey, I guess I’m guilty of using it too, so...) She was wearing a black dress that tied in a halter in the back, with her hair down.

"Wow, you look…gorgeous," Chandler said after finally finding his voice.

"Thank you," she tried to hide her grin. If nothing else, it was nice to have that effect on someone. Every once in a while, she’d catch him checking her out, and even thought she thought she should be offended, she was more flattered than anything. "You don’t look so bad yourself."

Chandler shrugged, looking at the clock. "We’d better go, Rachel’s gonna be back soon."

"Okay. Hey, where are we going? You never said."

"Of course I didn’t, silly, it’s supposed to be a surprise. I figured you could at least have one real surprise tonight," he grinned, opening the door, "Don’t worry, though, it’s a good one."

~*~

Monica looked out the cab window, trying to figure out exactly where they were going. She only kind of recognized where they were going, it wasn’t completely familiar. She only hoped that a surprise from Chandler was better than a surprise from Joey. If Joey said a nice restaurant, it’d only mean something other than fast food.

When the cab stopped, Monica immediately recognized where they were. He’d brought her to her favorite restaurant. "Oh my god, Chandler."

He just grinned and paid the driver. "Told you it was good."

"Thank you so muck."

"God, we haven’t even got inside, yet," he said as they stepped out of the car. "You’re welcome, though," he added softer, placing a hand on her bare back and leading her inside.

Monica couldn’t believe he would do that. Sure, he could be sweet, but this? She’d just figured that him taking her out was his cheap and easy way out of buying her a present. "I can’t believe you’d do this," she thought outloud, after they’d been seated.

Chandler just shrugged, modestly, "I just thought I’d cheer you up about turning…29 and 12 months."

Monica smiled again. "Thank you."

"You already said that."

"I know, I just," Monica trailed off, "I really appreciate it."

"Hey, what are friends for?"

"Making fun of," Monica answered dryly.

"Ouch," he laughed as the waiter came to take their order.

They ate dinner, talking casually and laughing and Chandler just smiled, he’d cheered her up.

"Crap!" Chandler looked down at his watch.

"What?"

"It’s almost 9 and we were supposed to be back at 8:30," he said before asking for the check.

~*~

"Chandler, slow down, I can’t walk that fast in heels," Monica said, trying to keep up with him. They’d ended up having to walk half the way home because a car accident was tying up traffic. "Chandler," she said, almost catching up to him, "Oww," she said and cursed under her breath.

"What’s wrong?" Chandler stopped and turned around.

‘I twisted my ankle," she said, grabbing on to his arm for support and rubbing her ankle with her other hand.

"Are you okay, can u walk on it?"

"I think so," she said, but after putting weight on it decided against it. "Owww!"

"I could pee on you if it’d help," Chandler joked, causing Monica to burst out laughing.

"Oh my god, I forgot about that. I think I blocked it from my memory."

"Here," Chandler wrapped his arm around her, both of them still laughing.

He eventually managed to help her limp back to their building. When they got there, Chandler buzzed up to signal that they were there. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, Monica just looked at Chandler. "It hurts really bad, I don’t know if I can walk any more," she said and then added, "Sorry for making us so late."

"Hey, that wasn’t your fault," he paused, "I’ll carry you, come here." Monica agreed, not having a better idea. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him carry her upstairs.

"Thanks," she said as he gently put her down.

"No problem."

"And thanks for everything tonight. That was really sweet."

Chandler just shrugged, "Every once in a while I guess I do something right. Now come on, Rachel’s already gonna kill me," he once again wrapped his arm around her to help her walk.

"Surprise!" everyone but Rachel yelled when they opened the door.

"Where the hell were you?" Rachel glared at Chandler.

"Traffic and then Monica twisted her ankle," he hid a grin, pleased at not having to lie.

"Smooth," Monica whispered to him.

"Oh, sorry. Happy Birthday!" she hugged Monica.

"Rach, I’d love to stand here and chat, but, I can’t really stand," Monica said, grimacing.

"Sorry," Rachel smiled at her, "I’ll get you some ice to put on that."

"Thanks," she said as Chandler helped her over to the couch.

Throughout the party, people would come over to Monica, either asking her about her life or telling her about something big that had just happened in theirs, and it was just making her feel worse. But despite how she was feeling, she smiled.

"I don’t buy it," Chandler whispered to Monica, walking up behind her.

"What?"

"The smile. What’s wrong?"

Monica didn’t answer, so he sat down next to her.

"I was just thinking…" she started but trailed off. "Do you remember the day Ben was born?" she finally asked.

"Of course," Chandler said, not at all sure of where she was going with that.

"Do you remember what you said to me? What you offered?"

Chandler thought for a minute, at first have no clue what she was talking about. But then he remembered. He’d said that if neither of them were married by the time they were 40, that they’d get together and have a kid.

"Yeah," he finally said, "Why?"

"Can I take you up on that offer 10 years early?" she asked, not even trying to hide the desperation in her voice.

"Mon, don’t do that. Don’t just settle for me. I can guarantee you, that you will find somebody, Monica," he said softly, tilting her chin up so that she was looking him in the eye. She just looked back, not believing him. "*Trust* me, Mon. You are beautiful, and smart, and sweet, and funny, and…sexy," he said, still keeping his voice low. "You’re gonna find somebody."

"Thank you," Monica whispered back, smiling slightly.

"Hey, wanna dance?" he asked.

"I don’t know if I can, my ankle’s pretty swollen."

"Please?" he asked again and Monica finally agreed, deciding that since a slow song had just come on that she probably could.

Chandler stood up, holding his hand out to her and she took it, wincing at putting weight on her ankle. "You okay?" he asked and she just nodded.

Monica wrapped her arms around Chandler’s neck, and he held her closer so that he was supporting most of her weight to keep it off her ankle. Monica looked up so she could see his eyes and realized something. With out shoes on, he was a lot taller than she was. Monica broke the gaze and leaned her head against his chest. He’d taken his jacket and tie off and was now just wearing a dark blue dress shirt. Chandler ran his fingers down her bare back, causing her to shiver. "Sorry," he whispered, leaning his head against hers. Monica nodded against his chest in response, closing her eyes.

They danced for a couple of minutes in silence until Chandler broke it, but only by murmuring into her hair.

"Happy birthday, Mon."

to

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continued…..

So…should I continue it? Huh? Should I? Yeah, I can’t read your thoughts, you’re gonna have to click the little button down there to review. It won’t hurt too bad, I promise. : ) thanks