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Joey was looking up and to the left with a dazed smile on his face, a clear indication that he was imagining something pretty great. Chandler loved that look and always wondered what pictures Joey's imagination came up with at those times. He always looked so happy when he drifted off into one of his daydreams. Chandler never felt that happy. Life was never quite that simple for him. No, Chandler's mind was always filled with self-doubt and anxiety. He had a few bright moments amidst a life filled with angst, but Joey's life seemed to be sunny most of the time with only a few clouds occasionally darkening his horizon.
The dark and cynical side of Chandler piped up with, Ignorance is bliss. But that wasn't really being fair to Joey. No, he was not the most educated man, nor was he all that intelligent, but he had a way with people and emotions that none of the rest of their group of friends could rival. It wasn't just with women either, though that was the most obvious use of his skills. No, Joey could read people. And he always used that power for good, instead of evil. He tried to help people when he saw them hurting; he never took advantage of their pain.
Chandler on the other hand was so wrapped up in himself that he rarely noticed if one of his friends was hurting, let alone strangers. And he almost never went out of his way to help someone else out. Joey was always doing stuff for other people.
"Whatcha thinking about Joe?" Chandler finally asked.
Joey visibly shook himself from his daydream and blushed. "Just thinking about this really great sandwich I had last week. It was the absolute best. The bread was fresh and the pastrami lean. It was hot and the provolone cheese was all melty. Mmmmm."
Chandler laughed. "Well, it sounds really good. We could go wherever you got it and maybe I could try it too."
Joey's grin practically split his face in half. "That would be awesome!"
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Joey was quiet as they took the subway downtown towards the SoHo Deli where Joey had found his incredible sandwich. He felt a little guilty. He'd lied to his best friend. Yes, this really was a great sandwich, but that hadn't been what he had been dreaming about. He'd been daydreaming about Chandler again. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him. For weeks now he had been having the most…wrong thoughts about Chandler. Even now, the images that haunted his dreams were dancing around in his head. How was he supposed to act like everything was normal when nothing was normal?
Chandler was telling him some story about the new girl at work as they walked up the subway stairs back to street level. Joey smiled and laughed when Chandler did, though he wasn't really paying much attention. The deli was only a block from the subway entrance, so Joey walked to the crosswalk. Chandler continued his story about the girl and how the department head found her in the janitor's closet with one of the accountants. The light changed and Chandler stepped off the curb. Joey was only a step behind him, but that one step made all the difference.
There was a screech of tires and Chandler and Joey both turned in time to see the taxi that had run the light just before it hit Chandler.
"Chandler!" Joey screamed, but it was too late. His friend lay on the pavement, blood already pooling beneath his head.
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Joey paced the emergency room waiting area. He'd been there for three hours with no word from the doctors. He'd called their other friends, but hadn't gotten anyone, so he'd left messages. He expected that they would be there as soon as they got the messages, and he kept trying to call, but in the meantime, he was alone.
"Mr. Tribiani?" a doctor in green scrubs came out from behind the double doors and called. Joey rushed over to him.
"How's Chandler?"
"Not good," the doctor sighed. "Chandler has you listed as his next of kin on the medical papers we found in his wallet. There are some decisions that you are going to have to make."
Joey frowned. He hadn't known Chandler had made him his next of kin. "Can it wait for our friends to get here? I don't want to make the wrong decision."
"I'm sorry," the doctor said. "There's no time to wait. Chandler has experienced severe head trauma. There's blood amassing in his cranial cavity and it is putting pressure on his brain. If we don't operate to relieve that pressure, it will kill him."
"So relieve the pressure!" Joey said.
"We need you to sign the consent forms to allow us to perform the surgery," the doctor explained.
"I'll sign whatever you need," Joey choked out. "Just…save him. Please."
The doctor nodded and said, "I'll have a nurse bring you the forms. She'll also show you up to the surgical waiting area. I won't lie, even if this is successful, there is a very strong possibility that he will suffer permanent impairment of some form. And there's a thirty percent chance that he won't survive the operation. You need to be prepared for that."
Joey's eyes were already filled with tears and he swallowed hard. "Okay."
"Assuming everything goes well, we expect the surgery will take between six and nine hours," the doctor said. "I'll have someone come and update you periodically as I can. We're going to do the best we can for your friend."
"Thank you," Joey whispered and collapsed into a chair as the doctor walked away.
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Phoebe was the first to arrive. She'd gotten the message after returning from a date with David, her scientist boyfriend who had recently returned from Minsk, and had come right over. Rachel and Ross were next. Joey wondered idly if they had been on a date. Since their break up several years ago, they went back and forth all the time with how they felt about each other and he suspected that they sometimes had sex even though they claimed not to be together right now. Monica was the last to arrive. She had been on a date with Richard and they had come together. Joey was glad. He was a doctor and might be able to help him understand what the hell was happening.
"The last time they came out with an update they said that he had extensive damage to his accidental lobe, whatever that means," Joey said and looked at Richard.
"You mean his occipital lobe?" Richard asked.
"Yeah, probably," Joey agreed. "They said he's holding steady but there wasn't much they could do to repair the damage already done to the…whatever lobe."
"The occipital lobe is the area of the brain that controls vision," Richard said. "If that is damaged, he could very well lose his sight."
"So that's probably what he meant by helping him adjust to permanent impairments," Joey said. "I don't care. I'll help him adjust to anything as long as he lives through this."
The hours seemed to drag by. Ross and Rachel tried to get Joey to go to the cafeteria to eat, but he refused to leave the waiting room. What if the doctors needed him to make some other decision? Chandler had made him responsible for his life, and Joey wasn't going to let him down. Instead they brought Joey back a sandwich, but it just reminded him of the sandwich he and Chandler had been going to get and made his stomach churn, so he gave it to Monica instead.
It was after two in the morning when the neurologist finally came back to talk to Joey instead of sending one of the interns. "Mr. Tribiani. Chandler made it through the surgery okay. He's stabilized and being moved to recovery. We've relieved the pressure on his brain and the swelling should go down soon. We've repaired what we could, but it is very likely that even if he does wake up that he'll be blind. The damage to his occipital lobe from the impact with the pavement was more extensive than we had originally thought. We don't expect that he'll wake up from the sedatives for the next six hours. After that, we're hopeful that he'll wake up on his own. If not… Well, if he doesn't wake up on his own in the next 48 hours, there's a chance he might slip into a coma."
"Can I see him?" Joey asked.
"Just for a few minutes," the doctor said. "And unless one of these other folks is family, they won't be allowed in until he wakes up. I'm sorry. Once we're sure that he's not going to have any adverse reactions to the surgery, we'll move him out of recovery and into ICU, and you'll be able to sit with him until he wakes."
The doctor left to get a nurse to show Joey to Chandler's bed and Joey turned to the friends gathered around him. "You should probably go get some sleep. I'll be here with him and I'll call if anything changes."
"I'll stay with you," Phoebe said. "At least until he's in ICU and you can visit with him."
The others all agreed reluctantly and gave Joey hugs goodbye before the nurse returned. Joey looked back at Phoebe and gave her a small smile before following the nurse out of the room. They went down the hall and through two sets of double doors before reaching an area that had a dozen beds each separated by curtains. Most of them were empty at that time of night. Joey figured that most surgeries took place during the day time. Chandler was in the last curtained area, closest to the nurses' station. Joey's breath caught at the sight of his friend.
Chandler had gauze bandages wrapped around his head, which was propped up to keep pressure off of the injured part at the back. His arm was in a cast. Joey had almost forgotten that the doctor had told him that Chandler had broken it. He'd bruised several ribs as well, but neither the ribs nor the arm were as bad as the injury to his head. There were cuts and bruises on Chandler's face and arms, probably his body and legs too, but Joey couldn't see them. There were tubes in Chandler's mouth hooked up to a machine helping him breathe. He had tubes in his arm connected to an IV. There were tubes coming from under the blankets that Joey assumed was a catheter. He was wired to all kinds of monitors that beeped and pinged in a steady rhythm.
Joey walked over to the bed and carefully picked up Chandler's uninjured hand and held it for a few minutes just looking down at his friend. "I'm so sorry. This is my fault. If I hadn't lied about that damned sandwich we never would have been going to the deli and this wouldn't have happened. I'm so sorry."
Joey didn't even realize he was crying until the nurse came back and told him he had to go back to the waiting room.
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They moved Chandler into a private room in ICU at ten o'clock that morning and Phoebe finally went home to rest, while Joey went to sit with Chandler. At first he talked to his sleeping friend, hoping that his voice would help Chandler wake up, but after a while, the long night caught up with him and he fell asleep in the chair. At some point, he knew one of the nurses had woken him up and shown him how to recline the chair so he could sleep more comfortably and had given him a pillow and blanket. He slept for a good portion of the day, waking periodically when the doctor or nurses came in to check on Chandler.
Around five, the lack of food for more than a day started to catch up with him and one of the nurses insisted that he go get something to eat before he passed out. Joey meekly followed orders and took the chance to call his friends.
"Have you called his mom yet?" Monica asked gently.
Joey winced. "No. I'm not sure I should. I mean, Chandler really doesn't get along with his parents and he listed me as his next of kin. I think I should wait until he wakes up."
"What if…"
Joey swallowed hard. "If he doesn't wake up by the time the doctor said he should, then I'll call."
"Phoebe called her ex—the cop?—and found out that they arrested the taxi driver," Monica said. "He was high, apparently. He'll go to jail."
Joey sighed. "Good. But it doesn't change things."
"I know," Monica said sadly. "Do you want one of us to come keep you company for a while?"
"No," Joey said. "They won't let you in yet anyway, and I don't want to be away from him for that long."
"Okay, but call us if you need us, or if anything changes, okay?"
"I will," Joey promised. He hung up and went to the cafeteria. They had all kinds of sandwiches but Joey frowned at them as though they had been the cause of all this and picked up a burger instead.
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Joey was pacing Chandler's room and talking to his friend. It was approaching the 48 hour time limit and he was getting really scared. What if Chandler didn't wake up? What if he slipped into a coma and never woke up? If it came to making a decision about pulling the plug, Joey just didn't think he would be able to do it.
"Buddy, you gotta wake up now. Please," Joey pleaded. "You've had a really nice rest and all. Hey, I can appreciate the lure of a great nap as much as the next guy. But now it's time to wake up."
Joey was tired and scared and he finally just fell into the chair beside Chandler's bed and held Chandler's hand again. He looked at Chandler's face, so peaceful and yet pale and bruised. He knew without a doubt that he would never recover if he lost Chandler. Whatever those feelings were that had been growing inside of him were screaming out in pain and he knew that pain would just keep growing if Chandler didn't make it. He knew he wasn't the smartest man in the world, but he also knew that he loved his best friend more than life itself and he would give anything to have him back.
The first thing he noticed was Chandler's hand twitching. Joey looked at that hand in his own and smiled. Then he looked up into Chandler's face and saw his eyes fluttering. "Chandler?"
They had removed the breathing machine that morning because Chandler was breathing on his own, so when Chandler's eyes opened and he spoke, there was nothing stopping him.
"Joey?" Chandler croaked out in a weak voice. "Why's it so dark?"
Joey almost cried. The room was dim, but not dark by any means. "You're in the hospital. There was an accident. Let me call the doctor."
Minutes later, the room was filled with a couple nurses and the on-call doctor who checked Chandler over before explaining his injuries. Joey listened on with tears in his eyes as Chandler asked why he couldn't see and the doctor said it was a permanent result of the injury. Chandler seemed to take it okay, but Joey knew his friend well enough to know that it hadn't really sunk in yet.
The good news was that there didn't seem to be any mental impairment and his vitals were all good. The swelling in his brain had gone down drastically and he was healing very well from the accident overall.
After the doctor left and the nurses went back to their station, Joey took Chandler's hand again and sat beside him.
"I can't see Joe," Chandler whispered.
"I know buddy," Joey replied. "But we're going to get you through this. We'll figure it all out soon. And the doctor said there are people who can help you learn to get around and you'll be able to do most things again."
"Everything but see," Chandler choked out and Joey saw the tears fall from unseeing eyes.
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The friends came and went in small groups after Chandler woke and Joey called them. They were all trying very hard to be optimistic and cheerful, but they were all devastated by the news that Chandler could no longer see. They had each faced difficulties and hardships in their lives, but never anything as big as this. Through it all, Joey was there, by Chandler's side, keeping things from becoming overwhelming for Chandler.
Chandler wasn't sure how he was feeling. His ribs and wrist hurt. His head always ached. Those pains, however, were manageable because of the drugs the nurses kept pumping through his IV. The pain in his chest, however, hadn't gone away since he had realized that he would never see again.
He'd called his work and spoken to his boss. He was officially on short-term disability leave. Once he was recovered, his insurance would cover the rehabilitation and training that the doctor had told him would be necessary. Then, in six months maybe, he would be able to go back to work with the help of a few tools for the blind. As much as he hated his job, he was grateful just then that they would be so accommodating. He would need a Braille printer, software to vocalize what was written on the computer screen, a special keyboard. The rehab specialist had already been in to talk with him and told him of all the great advancements that had been made to make life easier for the visually impaired.
That was him. Handicapped. Blind. No matter how easy they made it sound, the whole world was a frightening void and he didn't really want to step out into the emptiness alone.
But Joey was there every step of the way. As the days and weeks passed, Joey went to auditions and took small commercial jobs, but was there every second he could be. He went to Chandler's rehab sessions. He was there for all of the doctor's check ups. He helped Chandler learn his way around his hospital room by memory, practicing the techniques the therapist had shown them. Joey told him where the food was on his tray. Joey snuck in treats for Chandler and slept in the uncomfortable recliner every night.
And then the day came when he was discharged. Chandler was afraid to leave the hospital, but Joey was there with him, his hand on Chandler's elbow guiding him out the front entrance and to the taxi that was waiting for them. Chandler took a deep breath and listened as Joey gave directions to their apartment and sat back in the cab.
Tom, the rehab therapist, would come by the apartment twice a week to help him relearn everyday skills with his new disability. He'd also continue his Braille lessons with a new tutor twice a week. He thought he was doing pretty well, but it was still slow going.
"They aren't planning anything big are they?" Chandler asked once Joey sat back in his seat and the driver pulled into traffic. "Because I'm not sure that I can handle a room filled with people I barely know."
"Nah," Joey said easily. "Just a little thing for the six of us. Oh and David and Richard will probably be there."
Chandler nodded. "I can handle that, I guess. At least I can recognize all of their voices and won't be trying to figure out who the hell I'm talking to."
"You learned the nurses' voices pretty quickly," Joey pointed out.
Chandler blushed. "Three of them gave me their numbers before I left."
"That's great!" Joey said. "Maybe this blind thing will be a babe magnet. You know, they'll want to get all protective and take care of you. Like bringing a baby along attracts them."
Chandler frowned. "I don't want to date a woman so she can take care of me."
"I didn't mean that would be the only reason she would date you," Joey said quickly. "Just that it's a foot in the door. Cause you suck at flirting."
Chandler chuckled. "Yeah well, we can't all be Joey Tribiani. How close are we?"
"Just a few more blocks," Joey said.
"Here's my wallet," Chandler said. "You pay him. You can see the meter."
Joey took the wallet and grabbed a few bills, making sure to give a decent tip. He noticed that Chandler had started folding the bills the way that Tom had shown him so he could tell the difference between a one and a twenty. It hit him as he was looking at Chandler's usually messy wallet that was now neatly organized that they were going to have to make some changes to the apartment. Clutter was dangerous when you can't see. They'd have to get rid of some stuff and make sure what they had was kept neat. No more leaving his shoes by the lounger or tossing his jacket on the stool by the kitchen. Everything would need to have a place and be kept there when not in use. This was going to take some getting used to.
They pulled up outside the building and Chandler climbed out of the cab while Joey handed the money to the driver. Chandler had pulled out his white cane, but hadn't unfolded it. He was waiting for Joey. In two steps, Joey was beside him, taking his elbow and giving small verbal instructions about where they were and where they were going. Their trip up the three flights of stairs to their familiar hallway was uneventful, but Joey almost forgot about the step down right outside their door and had to stop Chandler from tripping at the last minute.
"Sorry about that," Joey said sheepishly. "I forgot about that one."
"S'okay Joe," Chandler said easily. "I should have remembered it myself. Are we going to our place or the girls first?"
"Just let me drop your bag off and we'll go to the girls'" Joey said. Chandler waited patiently as he heard Joey open their apartment door and put the bag down somewhere and rush back out. Chandler by that time had found the door knob for the other door and was turning it just as Joey joined him.
"Welcome home!" six familiar voices called out and then a chorus of noisemakers sounded until Chandler put his fingers in his ears to shut them out.
"Too much?" Ross asked apologetically.
"A little," Chandler said with a grin. "I'm glad to be home, though."
"We figured you couldn't see a banner, so the noisemakers would be better," Phoebe explained. "Besides, they're way cool!" The noise from a single little horn sounded and Chandler knew she had done it. He laughed. It really was good to be home.
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Chandler was not laughing that Saturday as he and Joey tried to sort through the apartment to make it more negotiable. They had gotten up early to get to work, but it was not going well. There were things all over the place that he could trip on, not to mention that nothing stayed in the same place for very long. They had to find a way to organize the place, but neither of them had a clue how to even start. After three hours of trying to sort through the kitchen, they were both ready to give it up as a lost cause. They were sitting on their matching loungers and drinking a beer while they took a break.
"I know what we can do," Joey said. "We tell Monica we need her help. She'll go nuts."
"She'll be a nightmare," Chandler said.
"Only until she gets sick of having us around," Joey said. "Then she'll send us away so she can work. She'll love it, and this place will be spotless."
"Call her," Chandler said with a grin.
Five minutes later, Monica was over at their apartment with her bucket of cleaning supplies and a Braille label maker that produced a label with both the Braille dots and printed regular letters underneath. "Why didn't you call me earlier? I've been dying to straighten this place out for years!"
"Just don't throw away any porn," Joey scolded. "Better yet, leave my bedroom alone altogether."
Monica rolled her eyes. "Fine, but I get to organize Chandler's closet and dresser."
"Deal!" Chandler put in. That was one of the things that Tom had told him would help him function, but he hadn't gotten around to even thinking about yet.
"Anything that you want to get rid of, box up and Ross and I can take down to storage later," Joey said.
"Okay, fine!" Monica said with exasperation. "Now get out so I can get to work!"
"You don't want us to stay and help?" Chandler asked warily.
"Hell no!" Monica said. "You'll just get in my way. I'm going to make a list of things for Joey to buy to help organize things. Other than that, stay out of my way."
"We'll…uh…just be in your apartment, then," Chandler said as he carefully made his way to the door. Joey was right behind him.
"Why'd you ask that?" Joey said once they were in the hall. "What if she'd said yes?"
Chandler shrugged. "I'm blind. There wasn't much I could do to help anyway."
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Monica didn't call them back over to their apartment until nine o'clock that night. Joey noticed that she looked tired but happy as she stood outside the door to the apartment. He had brought empty boxes over and he and Ross had taken those same boxes down to storage. He dropped off the supplies she'd requested, but every time he'd come to the door, she had stopped him from coming inside. So now he was impatient to see what she had done to the place.
Monica led them into the apartment, holding Chandler's hand as she walked backwards and explained everything she had done. Joey tuned her out and simply marveled at the differences he could see. The room had been rearranged so that there were wide straight paths between the furniture that Chandler could easily negotiate. The kitchen shelves were lined with Tupperware containers, each bearing a raised label so that Chandler could feel what was inside. Their flour and sugar were among the clear plastic containers, but there was also several for cereal and pasta and other things they used. Joey opened the drawers and found that everything inside had been neatly organized with small flat baskets holding their various utensils. Even the cans in the cabinets and the jars in the refrigerator had been arranged by type and aligned with the labels on the edges of the shelves so that they were easy to find.
He followed them into the bathroom and saw more labels on the shampoo and conditioner bottles in the shower. Everything was arranged in a certain place and Joey knew that he would have to try to remember to put everything back where it belonged everyday.
Chandler's bedroom had been rearranged a little to make it easy for him to dress and move around. His closet was now organized by color with each hanger sporting a label telling what was on that hanger. His shoes lined the bottom of the closet and Monica told him where she had placed each pair. His drawers were neatly organized; his socks were folded in different ways for different colors and organized in neat rows.
Of course, Monica had cleaned as well, and apartment now smelled of pine and lemon.
"I can't thank you enough," Chandler said when Monica was finished with her very excited tour. "Can I ask, though, why you have a Braille label maker?"
Joey watched Monica blush. "Well I got it for me after we found out. I thought I'd just redo all my labels so that you could read them too. But then you asked me to do this… and I thought about giving you this one, but… Well, maybe I'll have to buy you one too."
Chandler laughed and gave her a hug before she finally went back to her apartment.
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Chandler was practicing his Braille reading a couple weeks later when he felt like someone was watching him. It had to be Joey, since there wasn't anyone else in their apartment at the moment. He'd been feeling Joey's eyes on him a lot lately. It was sort of weird. He couldn't see him, but he could feel him watching him and it weighed heavy on the silent air in the room.
"Whatcha doin', Joe?" Chandler asked casually.
Joey jerked. "Um… nothing. Just daydreaming I guess."
"'Bout what?" Chandler asked as he put down his book on the stand that now resided between their two chairs.
"Um…" Joey hesitated. "About you. Um… have you called your folks yet? Told them what happened?"
Chandler was momentarily thrown off by the question. He was positive that wasn't what Joey had been thinking about, but he really hadn't given much thought to calling his parents. He wasn't particularly close to either of them, though he knew they would want to know what had happened. It had been two months since the accident and he really should have called them by now.
"No," Chandler sighed. "I guess I should, huh?"
"Probably," Joey said with a touch of relief in his voice. Chandler let it go, but he promised himself that he would press the subject soon.
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The calls to his parents were harder than Chandler had thought that they would be. His mother was angry with him for not calling sooner. Chandler could tell she was concerned for him, but there were no tears and she made no attempts to try and come see him. Not that he really wanted her around after the disaster with Ross on her last visit, but most mothers would have insisted. His father, on the other hand, had taken the news rather badly. He cried more than Chandler had when he'd been told. And he threatened to get on a plane and spend the next month with Chandler, taking care of him. Chandler had to talk quickly to prevent that, but he did agree that maybe it was time for his dad to come visit. Maybe if he couldn't see the drag, it wouldn't embarrass him as much.
Chandler pushed those thoughts away. He needed to concentrate on his and Joey's budget. Things had gotten really tight since the accident. The hospital social worker had applied for disability benefits for him, but those checks wouldn't start to arrive for another month. Not that they were much, but the extra medical coverage was already helping. As a disabled person, the government helped with covering everything that his health insurance didn't, and he had the added benefit of qualifying for special services, like transportation so he wouldn't have to rely on cabs or trying to catch a bus. His disability benefits only paid about 60% of his regular salary, and Joey's few commercials weren't enough to cover the difference. He needed to get back to work, and soon.
Tom, his rehab therapist was coming over that day and Chandler decided he needed to discuss his options with him. "Realistically, how soon will I be able to go back to work full-time?"
Tom hesitated. "Physically, you could go back today. You have the skills down that you need. You're doing great with the Braille and have been practicing with the voice programs on the computer. But you aren't ready yet."
"Because I still haven't gone out alone," Chandler said with a sigh.
"Yes." Tom rested a hand on Chandler's shoulder. "That and the fact that there will be hundreds of voices that you may or may not recognize all coming to you to welcome you back and see how you are doing, or possibly just to gawk. I think we need to work on getting you out of the apartment for a while before we even think about you going back into the office."
Chandler nodded. "What if I could do some work from home? Do you think I'm ready for that?"
"Yes, if your employer is willing to work it out, I don't see a reason why it wouldn't work," Tom said. "But remember, once you go off the disability benefits, it will be ten times harder to go back on if you can't handle it. Make sure you're ready before you do anything."
Chandler sighed. "My job sucks. It's boring and pointless. But I need the money more than I need the time off right now. Things are starting to get tight."
"Can't Joey pick up more work?" Tom asked.
"He makes as much as he can," Chandler said. "And I won't ask him for more."
"I don't get you two," Tom said dryly. "He hovers over you and protects you. You take care of his finances. It's like you're married, only without the benefits of sex."
Chandler frowned. "He's my best friend."
"I know," Tom said placating. "I'm just saying that not a lot of people are as close as the two of you. Not many friends would have done as much as he has since the accident. And not many people would pay his roommate's share of the rent so he could pursue his dreams. You two are lucky to have each other."
"Yeah, we are," Chandler agreed thoughtfully.
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"You shouldn't be working yet," Joey argued with Chandler a couple weeks later. He'd talked everything over with his boss and the HR department. For now, he would work from home and email his reports into his secretary. He'd already done about six hours of work that day and was feeling better about himself and their situation, so he hadn't been expecting to have to argue with Joey.
"We talked about this," Chandler sighed. "Tom said it was fine. And I've been getting bored being home with nothing to do but listen to the radio or read Braille books. Besides, we can really use the money."
"I still think it's too soon," Joey said and Chandler could hear the pout in his voice. "I've got an audition this week for a series. One of the networks is trying out a new crime series to compete with all those Law and Order shows. If it goes well, I could probably take care of us for a while."
Chandler smiled. "I bet you will get it. But that doesn't change the fact that I need something to do besides sit on my ass all day."
"Tom took you out yesterday," Joey argued.
"And we went to the coffee house last night," Chandler said. "But I'm trying to get to the point where I can do those things by myself. I need to get to a point where I'm not afraid to be alone in a place that isn't familiar, where unfamiliar voices don't freak me out. I need to try to get back as close to normal as I can. Part of normal is holding down a job."
Joey sighed and sat down on the recliner. "Okay. I get it. I don't like it, but I get it."
They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Chandler broke the silence. "My dad's coming next week."
Joey chuckled. "I can't wait to finally meet him. You've told me so much about him."
"He's…" Chandler sighed. "Well, he's different."
"I know that," Joey said. "The drag thing doesn't really matter. And it's not as if half the guys in show business aren't gay. I've never seen you have a problem with gay guys except when it comes to your dad, or when someone thinks you are. Why is that?"
Chandler shrugged. "Don't know. I know all gay men aren't like my father, I guess. But at the same time, I really don't want to be like him."
"Unless you start putting on women's clothes and belting out show tunes, I don't think that's possible," Joey said. "Even if you were gay, I don't think you could ever be like your father. You respect people too much to use them for sex and toss them aside. Come to think of it, you're nothing like either of your parents, really."
"No, I guess I'm not," Chandler said. "That's great. Thanks, Joe."
"No problem," Joey said and Chandler could hear the smile in his voice.
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Chandler woke up sweaty and sticky from his own come. He groaned into his pillow as he realized that he'd had a wet dream again. This was getting ridiculous. How many times was this going to happen? This was the third time this week, and it was only Wednesday. The worst part was he could remember snatches of the dream, enough to know that the dreams were always about the same person, but not enough to be able to tell who that person was.
Chandler touched his new clock and listened as the digital voice told him the time. Five in the morning. Too early to be up, but too late to really fall back asleep. He supposed he could go shower, but he was just too tired to actually move out of bed. Instead, he allowed the images from his dream to dance across his mind. Hands touching him, fingers lacing with his own, mouths meeting in a hot and hungry kiss.
While his mind raced, Chandler's hand drifted under his pajama pants to his reawakened erection and smoothed his palm over the hard length before wrapping his fingers around and grasping tightly. The images kept coming and his hand began to move with steady even strokes. He ran a thumb over the damp head and shivered with delight. It had been so long since he had felt like this. After the accident, he had been in the hospital and once home he just hadn't felt the desire, but now… Now his whole body was on fire. Keeping the motion of his hand steady, Chandler brought his other hand to his mouth and licked his fingers before bringing them to his nipple. The wetness and cool night air brought his nipple to attention, but when he pinched and tugged, he felt it all the way to his scrotum. He took his right hand from his cock and began gently kneading his balls, all the while imagining it was the nameless lover from his dreams.
He almost sat straight up when his finger accidentally brushed over his anus; that was not supposed to happen. But the sensitivity of the puckered skin and the way it made his whole body shiver with pleasure made him stop and reconsider. If just an accidental brush felt that good… Chandler quickly discarded his pajama pants and rolled to his side as he reached for his nightstand drawer. He found the tube of lotion he kept there and squirted a small amount onto his fingers. Staying on his side, he shifted his leg forward and reached his lotion covered fingers back to his ass. It was cold at first as he massaged that puckered bit of skin but that didn't seem to stop him. He felt weird and awkward doing this, but at the same time, there was something so right and erotic about it. A part of his mind was noting each movement and reaction to analyze later, but the other part of him was moaning with pleasure.
Chandler realized that he wasn't just moaning in his head. When his finger finally breached the muscles that guarded his anus, Chandler let loose a low moan that even he didn't recognize. The friction from his finger as he dragged it in and out of his body made him tremble and want something that he couldn't vocalize or name. All his mind could focus on was more. Another finger was added and his other hand went back to his cock, now weeping freely. He imagined his dream lover's hand on him, in him as he picked up the tempo and skirted the edge of his orgasm. Then several things happened seemingly at once. His fingers brushed something inside that made his body feel like it was on fire with sensation, his mind finally opened enough to reveal the face that went along with the person in his dreams, his orgasm ripped through him like a freight train, and his moaned out Joey's name.
Spent, shivering and satisfied, Chandler groped for tissues to clean up even as he denied what his mind had showed him and his mouth had said.
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"Stop pacing," Chandler said with annoyance. The annoyance emanated more form his inability to do the same than from the actual action. He heard Joey huff and sit down in the recliner beside him.
"He's going to be here any minute," Joey said. "Aren't you nervous?"
"Extremely," Chandler admitted ruefully. "I haven't seen my father in years. Well, I guess I'm not going to see him now either. Huh."
Before Joey could say anything to that a knock sounded at their door. Joey got up and went to answer it. "Just tell me he's not like your mother."
"My father is friendly," Chandler admitted as he stood up and made his way to the kitchen counter. "A little too friendly most of the time. In fact he's just like my mother, except he cries more."
Joey took a deep breath and opened the door. The man who stood there was a very pretty woman. "Um, Mr. Bing?"
"Call me Charles," he said in a low raspy voice that was still quite feminine. "And you must be Joey."
Joey took the offered hand and shook it. He was surprised by the way the softness of the skin was countered by the strength of his grip. "It's nice to finally meet you. Come on in."
"Chandler!" Charles gushed as he entered the apartment. "Don't you just look… awful! What did they do to your hair?"
Chandler smiled wryly and rubbed a hand over his head. The hair was finally growing back, but was still very short. "Had to shave my head to perform brain surgery."
Charles closed the gap and reached a tentative hand up towards Chandler's head. After just a brief pause he touched the soft hair that was re-growing. "Well, I suppose it was necessary. How are you?"
"Getting better," Chandler said stiltedly. "Learning to get around. Started working again a couple weeks ago, but from home for now."
"Can I…" Charles hesitated again. "Can I hug you?"
Chandler gave a small smile. "Yeah, that would be nice."
Joey watched father and son, unusual as they may be, embrace and felt tears welling up in his eyes. After a few minutes the two men pulled apart and there was much throat clearing. Chandler carefully walked back to his recliner and offered his dad a seat. Charles took the opportunity to sit and Joey made himself busy getting drinks for them.
"How's Nora taking all this?" Charles finally asked after accepting the glass of iced tea Joey brought him.
Chandler hesitated while he set his own glass on the table beside him. "She's… well I think she was more concerned by the appearance of what happened than with how I was doing the last time I talked to her. I mean, I know she was concerned, but… She was mad that I hadn't called her so she could visit me in the hospital. I'm pretty sure she was picturing having some reporter following her and taking pictures. So, nothing new."
"She was always a self-centered woman," Charles sighed. "But then again, so am I."
"So why did you marry her?" Chandler asked.
Charles looked at Joey who was trying to look busy. Joey looked up at him, though and cleared his throat. "I'll just… be in my room."
Once the door was closed Charles turned to Chandler. "I married her because I knew she would never love me. I was trying to avoid feeling guilty for the lie that I was perpetrating. If she had no feelings for me, then I couldn't hurt her."
"But you could both hurt me," Chandler said with no small amount of bitterness. "Why even have me? What was the point?"
Charles laughed humorlessly. "You were the point. Your mother may be a first class bitch at times, but that doesn't change the fact they we, both of us, wanted a child. We were probably being very selfish when we decided to have you, but I can't say that I regret it. I am sorry that our differences made your childhood difficult. I know that I certainly didn't help matters, and your mother was never able to give you the attention you needed. But even if she rarely shows it, and even if I fucked up time and again, you have to know that we both wanted you and that we both love you."
Chandler swallowed hard. He'd never had this kind of conversation with his father before. "Thanks, dad."
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Charles Bing's visit went much better than Chandler had expected. They spent time together doing things that they had never really done together before. Chandler was starting to feel more comfortable going out in public, and they took advantage of that improvement by spending one afternoon shopping. Charles had some very strong opinions about clothes and Chandler let him pick out a few outfits for him, planning on getting Joey's opinion about them before actually wearing them. They also went to a cabaret one night; a friend of Charles' was performing. And his last night in town, Charles insisted on taking Chandler and Joey out to dinner.
They had reservations at a nice place not too far from the apartment, so they decided to walk. Chandler automatically took Joey's arm and let him lead the way. Their conversation was light as they walked and Chandler felt better about his life than he had in years.
Once at the restaurant, Charles said, "I wanted to thank you, Joey. You've taken good care of my son."
Joey nodded and smiled. "He's my best friend. Of course I'd take care of him when he needs me. Just like he takes care of me."
"Not many friends would care for each other the way the two of you have," Charles commented watching both boys' faces. "You are very lucky to have each other."
"Yeah, we are," Joey agreed and Chandler thought back to his recent conversation with Tom.
Dinner went smoothly and they walked back to the apartment afterward. Joey went to bed and left the father and son alone for their final visit. "I wanted to thank you for coming, Dad."
Charles touched Chandler's cheek and said, "You are my son. No matter how messed up things got between us, that never changed. I love you."
"I love you too, Dad," Chandler said. They sat on the sofa in silence for a few minutes.
"You really are lucky to have a friend like Joey around," Charles said after a bit. "He really cares about you."
Chandler could feel his face heating with a blush when that brought back images of his fantasy the other night. "I know he does."
"Do you?" Charles asked. "Because I think that maybe you don't realize just how much he cares."
"Dad…"
"No, Chandler," Charles said. "You can tell me to mind my own business, but I know what I saw. I know the way he looks at you when he doesn't think anyone can see. And I see the way you just naturally gravitate to him. When you take his arm, it isn't like when other people lead you. You lean closer and he lights up at the connection. I know I screwed up your childhood, and I know you probably don't want to face being like me in any way, but Chandler, there is more between you and Joey than friendship."
Chandler sighed. "Maybe. He's never… And I never thought about it until recently, but…"
"At least you admit that much," Charles said. "You've told me stories about Joey's exploits, but I have to say, when we were out tonight, Joey didn't look at anyone but you. And the waitress who served us was definitely trying to catch his attention. Pretty little thing with curves in all the right places. She was practically throwing herself at him. He didn't even notice her."
"Really?" Chandler asked. Now that he thought about it, Joey really hadn't been going out much lately. He couldn't remember the last time he told Chandler about one of his dates. But Chandler had just thought that had more to do with Joey taking care of him than Joey wanting to BE with him. "He didn't even look at her?"
"He was too busy looking at you," Charles said. "Think about it. And call me if you need to talk. Or even if you don't need to talk. I love you Chandler."
Chandler allowed his father to pull him into a hug and he hugged him back with feeling. "I love you too, Dad."
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"We should look into getting you one of those dogs," Joey suggested a few days later. "You know the ones that do things for their masters and save them from being hurt."
"A seeing-eye dog?" Chandler mused. "Never thought of that. But we can't have pets in the building. Treager would have a fit."
"That's not a pet," Joey argued. "Isn't there laws about those dogs? I mean, they let them into restaurants and everything."
Chandler raised his eyebrows and nodded. "Yeah. You're right. They'd have to let me keep him. I'm disabled now. I keep forgetting that."
Joey chuckled. "How do you forget something like that?"
"Oh! I don't forget I'm blind," Chandler clarified. "I just forget that those laws for disabled persons apply to me now. I mean, if I could drive, they'd give me handicapped parking. I could use the handicapped stall in the restroom and no one would think twice about it."
"I use those stalls if they're empty," Joey said. "Lots of room to stretch your legs and read a script or magazine."
Chandler laughed. "I never thought of it that way. So maybe we'll ask Tom when he comes by this week. He's sure to know something about the dogs."
"Did you know he's started dating Gunther?" Joey asked. "Apparently they hit it off when he took you down there the first few times."
"Gunther? I thought he was hung up on Rachel?" Chandler said with surprise. "Never knew he liked men. Didn't know Tom liked men either."
"You aren't really very observant about that sort of thing," Joey said. "Even before the accident."
"Who else did I miss?" Chandler asked. Now that he was starting to come to terms with his feelings for Joey, it felt like his past attitudes were a bad dream.
Joey was silent for a long time and Chandler might have begun to think his friend might have left the room except for the sound of his breathing.
"Me."
Chandler froze. Joey was… "But… why?"
"Why didn't I ever tell you?" Joey guessed. Chandler nodded. "Because you were all hung up on the thing with your father. I've always liked both men and women, but when we moved in together, I figured I could just keep the men to myself if it made you more comfortable. But then you and your dad made up and it seemed like you were more ready to accept it. Are you?"
Chandler nodded dumbly. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I am."
"Good," Joey said and Chandler could hear the relief in his voice.
"I've um… I've been doing a lot of thinking about that stuff lately," Chandler admitted.
"Oh yeah?" Joey asked.
"Um yeah," Chandler said. He felt Joey sit beside him on the sofa, just a little closer than he would normally.
"Since when?" Joey asked, his voice husky and warm with emotion.
"Since the accident," Chandler said. "Since we've been spending so much time together."
"So you've been thinking those thoughts about me?" Joey asked and Chandler could tell he was closer than he had been just seconds before. He leaned towards the warmth of Joey's body.
"Only about you," Chandler admitted. He didn't have to say any more because Joey was there and kissing him and it was everything and more than he had dreamed about.
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Chandler went back to the office the next week. It was scary at first, even with the door to door transportation for the disabled that the city provided. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that having a dog would make him feel more secure when he was out by himself. He'd discussed it with Tom and the rehab specialist therapist had helped him connect with an agency that raised and trained seeing-eye dogs. He was put on a waiting list, but the woman at the agency told him that there was a group of dogs that were almost finished with their training, so it should only be about two weeks before he could take a dog home. In the meantime, they wanted him to start his training. So after work, he and Joey went down to the agency to learn how to handle and care for these very special animals.
"You need to be consistent with you commands," the trainer told them after Joey fell all over himself playing with the dog. "When he's in harness, he is working. In that situation, petting or praising for good work is appropriate, but playing is not. The dog needs to remember this, so you need to remember it as well."
"So we can't play?" Joey whined. "But he's so cute!"
This time Chandler could hear the indulgence in the woman's voice. "You can play, just not while he's in harness. Okay, Chandler, we're going to run through various scenarios today. We have several scenarios set up and I want you to go through them with King here. The first is crossing the street. Let King guide you. When he stops you stop. You'll need to rely on him to know when it is safe to cross. In a real life situation, you'll also want to use your ears to listen for danger. Since there are no cars inside the training facility, he'll pause at the curb to alert you that there is a step and give you time to feel for it before leading you across the street."
They went through that scenario several times before Chandler felt confident about following King's lead. Then they worked on navigating a crowded sidewalk using cones to represent people. They also made their way through a restaurant set up and an office crowded with desks. It felt good not to have to cling to another person or a wall to find his way through a maze of cubicles. By the time they were finished, Chandler felt a hundred times more confident about getting around. It was hard saying goodbye to King, even knowing he would be coming back for more lessons.
"Don't worry," Joey said. "You'll have a dog of your own soon."
"And you'll get to play with him," Chandler smiled. "Now we won't have to move so you can have a dog."
Joey gave Chandler a kiss, not minding the looks he was getting from the trainer or the other people present. "Let's go home."
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They hadn't done more than make out and a little light groping yet and Chandler was starting to get a bit nervous about the whole relationship thing. They hadn't really discussed any of it, and he worried that maybe Joey was just feeling sorry for the poor blind guy. Instead of bringing his fears up, he buried them in humor as usual. But that humor started to develop a bit of a bite, and soon Joey was mad.
"What the hell was that about?" Joey demanded after they returned from Central Perk one evening. "You almost made Phoebe cry. And let's not forget that crack you made about me."
Chandler knew he had been in the wrong and sighed as he sat on the sofa. "I'm sorry. It's just…"
Joey softened his tone as he sat down beside his roommate. "What?"
"It's just that they were all going on and on about their great relationships and then I started thinking about us and how none of them know and I wondered if that was because you are ashamed of me. And then I thought that maybe you're just humoring the blind guy and don't really want me at all."
Joey took a deep breath. "You're an idiot."
"I know," Chandler said. "But why am I an idiot this time?"
Joey chuckled. "Because I am not ashamed of you or us. I didn't think you were ready for everyone to know, so I haven't said anything. But if you want to tell them, I'll go over to the girls' apartment right now and tell them. As for the wanting you part. I want you so bad that it hurts, but I didn't want to rush things. This is all new for you. And I want it to be special the first time we make love."
"Oh. Okay," Chandler said. "Um… can we, um… can we sleep together, though? I really like it when you hold me. Makes me feel like I'm not alone in the universe, you know?"
Joey swallowed hard, choked up by Chandler's admission. "Yeah, we can cuddle all night if you want."
"And about telling the others," Chandler said, "I think you're right about that. I don't think I'm really ready to have them overanalyzing everything we say or do. It was just hard tonight. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Joey said and wrapped his arm around Chandler, pulling him to his side. "But I think you're going to have to apologize to Phoebe. You told her that her music sucks."
Chandler groaned and buried his face in Joey's shoulder. "Oh god."
"I have some happy news," Joey said. "I thought about telling everyone earlier, but after I saw what kind of mood you were in, I decided to hold off."
"What is it?" Chandler asked lifting his head.
"They want me back on Days," Joey said excitedly. After not getting the part on the cop show, Joey had been a bit down, but this certainly made up for losing that part. "They're writing my character back into the show now that that writer I pissed off has gone to work for Another World."
Chandler looked bemused. "But Drake fell down an elevator shaft. How in the world are they going to bring you back?"
Chandler felt Joey shrug. "No idea. Something about the mob and amnesia. But I'll be better this time. I won't do anything to piss anyone off, and I'm going to make sure this lasts. I won't take this for granted like I did last time."
"I'm so happy for you," Chandler said and used his hand to find Joey's lips before leaning in for a kiss. "We should celebrate."
"We can go out to dinner after we pick up your dog tomorrow," Joey said before kissing Chandler again. "Then we'll both have something to celebrate and you can start taking advantage of the fact you can take your dog anywhere."
Chandler just laughed and tucked his head onto Joey's shoulder.
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They went to the agency the next day and met the trainer. There were actually three dogs that still hadn't been placed and they had a chance to pick which one they would take home. Joey described each of them. They were all Labrador retrievers, though they weren't all the same color or size. The largest of the bunch was black and had a very sedate personality. The second was a chocolate lab and was very playful. The third, a yellow lab, was the smallest and was somewhere in between in personality. Joey wanted the chocolate lab, Chandler could tell, but he was actually leaning towards the yellow lab because he wasn't sure he trusted the lively chocolate lab to lead him properly. They spent a little time with each of the dogs and then the trainer put their harnesses on so he could test how they worked together.
Chandler was quite surprised to find that the chocolate lab was actually more responsive to him than the yellow or the black. Though she was more hyper out of the harness, she was the most responsive in the harness and seemed to anticipate Chandler's needs better than even King had.
"I think she's the one," Chandler finally said. "She seems to know just what I need, even before I do."
"And she's so cute and friendly," Joey added. "She'll be loads of fun when she isn't working."
The trainer laughed but had to agree; Chandler and the chocolate lab seemed to have connected right off. "Well, just let me get her things together. The family who raised her and who has been caring for her while she was trained would like to meet you, if that's okay?"
"That would be great," Chandler smiled. "I'd love the chance to thank them."
They spent the next half hour talking with the family and the trainer. It was the first time the family had raised a seeing-eye dog and their son was having a hard time letting go, but Chandler promised to send pictures and letters to let him know how the dog was doing.
"We called her Kelly," the boy said. "You'll take good care of her, right?"
"I promise," Chandler said solemnly.
Then the trainer handed Joey a bag with some of the toys and things that the family had brought along for Kelly and they were on their way. For the first time, Chandler and Kelly worked together to navigate the streets of Manhattan. Joey walked close by, watching the two interact and was proud at the progress Chandler had made in just a few short months.
They went to a restaurant not far from the agency and the hostess greeted the dog before she even greeted Joey and Chandler.
"If you were still single Kelly would be a great way to pick up girls," Joey said once they were at their table. Kelly lay at Chandler's feet just the way she had been trained. "You should have seen the way the girls in this place were looking at you."
"Oh yes," Chandler agreed wryly. "Blind and with a dog. They can have needy and cute all in one package. I'd rather have you though."
Joey clasped Chandler's hand on the table and squeezed. He didn't even let go when the waitress came to take their orders.
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Everyone came over the next evening to meet Kelly and Joey was able to tell them his big news. This led to an impromptu party with pizza and wine all around. A part of Chandler thought that this might be the perfect time to tell their friends about their relationship, but another part of him still believed that it was just too soon. So he held back and when things started to settle down for the evening, he took Kelly out for a walk so she could do her business. He was surprised when Phoebe caught up with him and decided to walk too.
"I'm glad you're here, actually," Chandler said. "I wanted to apologize for what I said the other day. I didn't mean it."
"I know," Phoebe said lightly. "And I think I've figured out why you were being so pissy."
"You have?" Chandler asked with some skepticism.
"Yeah," Phoebe told him smugly. "You are harder to read these days, since your eyes don't give you away anymore, but I know you. You were upset about not being to share in the conversation about relationships. You wanted to spill the news about you and Joey."
"Wha—huh?" Chandler said in a daze.
"You are both pretty easy to read if you know what to look for," Phoebe said. "He has been watching you since before the accident, and the last few weeks you've been hyper aware of where he is and what he's doing. Then your dad visited and everything relaxed and you were both so happy. I knew that something had finally happened."
"I know you aren't psychic," Chandler said. "But that's pretty scary."
"And then the other night we were all talking about how great our relationships are and you couldn't say anything," Phoebe said. "I knew it was bothering you. I think everyone could see it, but they just think it's because you're alone."
"You won't say anything, will you?" Chandler asked. "Because I do want to tell, but we aren't ready yet for all of their questions and everything."
"No, I won't say anything," Phoebe said. "I think you deserve time to get everything straight between the two of you before facing the inquisition. The longer you wait, however, the harder it will be, so don't wait too long, okay?"
Chandler gave Phoebe a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Pheebs."
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When Chandler got back to the apartment, all of their friends had gone and Joey was there alone, cleaning up. Chandler greeted him before going to the bathroom to shower and change for bed. Joey was finishing up with the dishes when Chandler emerged from the bathroom and headed to his bedroom. It was only a few minutes later when Joey entered the bedroom and found that Chandler was waiting for him.
"What's going on?" Joey asked with some surprise. Chandler was lying on top of the covers, with only a towel wrapped around his waist. There were scented candles lit around the room to set a mood, and there was a brand new bottle of lubricant on the nightstand.
Chandler's face was flushed, but his voice was clear and sure. "I was hoping you'd make love to me. You said you were waiting for me to be ready, and, Joe, I'm ready. You said you wanted it to be special, and I tried to do that too."
Joey grinned. "I think any time with you is pretty special, with or without candles." Joey didn't waste any more time with looking. Instead, he began to strip off his clothes, careful to make sure that they went into the hamper rather than the floor, and joined Chandler on the bed. He pulled the towel away and tossed it into the hamper, stretched out along side of Chandler and pressed his body against his lover's. "This what you had in mind?"
Chandler groaned at the feel of Joey's flesh against his own. "Yes," he hissed. "This and more." Chandler pulled Joey's face towards his own.
Joey took the hint and kissed Chandler with all of the pent up passion he'd been storing since their first kiss. Their lips met and Joey allowed his tongue to explore the depths of Chandler's mouth. Then Chandler took his turn at controlling the kiss and returned the exploration. It was a comfortable and familiar dance by now. What was new was the feeling of intimacy that passed between them. The setting, their physical and emotional nakedness, the knowledge that this wasn't going to end with kisses and a quick hand job all worked to deepen the experience for both of them.
Slowly, Joey began touching every inch of Chandler's skin with his skilled hands while keeping their kisses almost constant. Gliding his fingers over the exposed flesh, Joey worked his way to Chandler's hips and finally to his already hard cock.
"I want to taste you," Joey murmured as he got to his knees to worship Chandler's cock with his lips and tongue. With the first swipe of Joey's tongue across the already weeping head, Chandler gasped in pleasure.
Chandler couldn't believe that Joey, his sexy and very masculine friend was kneeling before him, sucking his cock. No one had ever given him pleasure like this before; none of the girls he'd dated had ever been this good. Now here was Joey, who had turned his whole world upside down just by being who he was. Not just with the way he was worshipping Chandler's body, but with every single thing he did.
With the first touch, the first kiss, Chandler had felt that there was something different between them this time. It was more than the fact that they were finally going to sleep together. He'd felt like electricity was surging through his body, and he knew that it was because this was Joey. His Joey. It didn't take long for Chandler to feel his balls tighten with his impending orgasm. He tugged at Joey's shoulders to let him know, but the man continued to suck even harder, until the pleasure washed over him in waves. He had to clutch at the Joey's shoulders as he continued to milk him of every drop, until the sensation became too much to bear and Chandler finally pulled away and sank into the pillows, exhausted.
"Thank you," Chandler whispered.
"You are welcome," Joey said sincerely as he moved back up Chandler's body and then captured his lips in another passionate kiss. Chandler could taste himself on Joey's tongue and groaned with renewed excitement.
"I want you inside me," Chandler said as his hands began to roam over Joey's body, exploring as much as he could reach.
"Oh, that's definitely on the plans for tonight," Joey chuckled. "But first I want you desperate for me. I want you gasping with need, begging for my touch. I want you to be so desperate that you can't do anything more than writhe with it."
With those words, Chandler let out another soft moan. Even the Joey's voice was designed to entice and arouse him tonight. And when Joey set about making his wishes a reality, Chandler couldn't bring himself to mind. His hands were everywhere, his tongue and teeth explored every inch of Chandler's flesh, causing him to lose all sense of lingering inhibition.
"Oh god!" Chandler whimpered when Joey finally rolled him over and began to kiss his way down his spine. He kissed and laved at each and every vertebra, hands caressing along Chandler's ribs as he went. When Joey reached Chandler's ass, he thought he was going to fly right off the bed. Joey's hands gently parted the cheeks and gained access to Chandler's most sensitive opening. His tongue swathed a long line from balls, up the crease, over the puckered hole, all the way to the base of Chandler's spine before returning to delve more deeply into his now twitching hole.
Chandler thought he was going to shake apart; he was trembling with such need. He began to mutter and whimper nonsensically as that talented tongue continued to bore into him relentlessly. No one had ever done this for him before. This was a heaven he'd never dreamed of before.
When Joey finally pulled away, Chandler sobbed with his need. "Please!"
Joey chuckled, but did not respond. Instead, he reached over to the bedside table and found the tube of lubricant Chandler had placed there earlier. After slicking up his fingers, Chandler sighed with relief when those fingers took the place of the tongue he'd been missing.
"Oh fuck, yes!" Chandler shouted as one talented finger delved deep and glanced across his prostate. "More please!"
Joey didn't have any intention of rushing the experience for either of them; it was Chandler's first time, and it should be really special. There was something so intimate and erotic about preparing a lover. The grip of those tight muscles around his fingers, the silken feel of that hot channel, the moans that echoed through the room all served to heighten the experience for the more experienced man.
By the time he'd worked up to three fingers, Chandler was panting breathlessly with his need, pleading to be fucked, and grinding his renewed erection against the coverlet. Joey was himself harder than he could ever remember being and knew he could hold off no longer. With deliberate care, he removed his fingers and replaced them with his cock as he nudged Chandler's hips up for easier entry, teasing the hole for a few long seconds before finally breaching the well-prepared opening.
Chandler was tight and hot, and Joey had to take a minute to calm himself so that he could make this great for Chandler who had trusted him with his pleasure. He started with slow shallow thrusts designed to entice and excite Chandler. He waited for Chandler to begin thrusting back before beginning to speed up and thrust ever deeper into the tight heat of his lover. It didn't take long for them both to lose all control. Chandler continued to thrust his hips back into Joey, crying out with every stroke to his prostate.
Cries of "Oh fuck," "Shit," and "Harder!" rang through the room as the smell of sex and sweat permeated the air.
As Joey felt his own impending orgasm building, he reached around Chandler to grasp firmly his weeping cock and began stroking it in time to every thrust. The headboard rattled against the wall, and Chandler arched his back further as he clung to the spindles to keep from slamming into the hard wood with every powerful thrust from Joey.
"Oh fuck! Ohfuckohfuckohfuck!" Chandler cried in one long rush of emotion just before he came, spending his seed in pearly strings on the coverlet beneath him. Joey felt the contractions of the muscles around his cock, almost painful in their intensity, and with three more urgent thrusts, he too found his release, spending himself completely inside of his love.
They both collapsed to the bed, and it was long minutes later before either of them had the energy to move apart. Eventually, Joey knew he had to move off of Chandler or crush him, so he carefully slipped his now spent prick from the body beneath him and rolled to his side, gathering the exhausted man into his arms. He gently caressed his side, calming them both as they caught their breath.
"That was… amazing," Chandler said once he felt like he was coherent enough to form words.
"Yeah," Joey agreed with a grin. "But only because it was with you. That's what made it so great."
"For me too," Chandler said. "I love you."
Joey leaned over and kissed Chandler again. "I love you too."
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It had been three of the greatest weeks of Chandler's entire life. He and Joey had spent every spare minute together, even more then before, and had spent much of that time in bed together. Joey's part on Days was going great, Chandler had been given another promotion—though he suspected it had to do more with his disability than with his skills—and life was moving along spectacularly over all. The only thing that was holding him back from being completely happy was the fact that they still hadn't shared their relationship with their friends.
Joey, too, was feeling the strain of keeping them a secret. He'd never been good keeping anything from his friends, and when he was this happy, it was nearly impossible. The only person he could talk to about it besides Chandler was Phoebe. But it wasn't enough. He wanted to be able to hold Chandler's hand or kiss him goodbye when the others were present. He wanted to share his happiness with their friends.
So, with Phoebe's help, they planned a coming out party. They invited the gang along with their significant others to dinner. Since there really wasn't enough room for everyone to sit down and eat at their place, they arranged for a private room at one of the local restaurants and everyone dressed up for the occasion, though they didn't really know what the occasion was. Phoebe brought David, Monica brought Richard, and Ross and Rachel, wo seemed to be on again for the moment, came together.
Chandler was surprised that they waited until the first course was served before demanding an explanation.
"So, what's going on?"Monica finally blurted out. Soon, Ross and Rachel were adding in their own questions. None of them seemed to notice that Phoebe was silent.
"Well, Joey and I wanted to tell you something," Chandler said nervously. He squeezed Joey's hand under the table and the Italian smiled.
"We wanted to let you know that we've been dating for a while now and we think it's pretty serious," Joey said.
"Dating?" Ross asked. "You mean each other?"
"That's what we mean," Chandler said.
"What? How long?" Rachel choked out.
"Two month, six days and about two hours," Joey told them with a grin. "Right after Chandler's dad visited."
"Wow," Monica said. "Just…wow."
"Well, congratulations," Richard said, taking the lead in offering his well wishes.
"Yeah, congratulations," David put in. He knew it was easier for he and Richard to accept the change since they hadn't known the other two as long. "I hope you'll both be very happy together."
An uncomfortable silence fell over the group then and wasn't broken until the first course had been cleared and the entrees had been served.
"Oh come on!" Phoebe finally scolded her friends. "This can't be that big of a shock. I mean, I know you've all been caught up in your own lives, but Joey and Chandler? We've all talked about how much like a married couple they are. You can't be that dense."
"But that was just teasing," Rachel said lamely.
Ross sighed. "I guess it's not that big of a surprise. I just never thought that Joey…"
Phoebe snorted. "Joey was the more likely of the two. You guys really don't have any idea."
Monica frowned. "What do you mean?"
Phoebe rolled her eyes. "I mean, Joey's always been into guys and girls. Isn't that right, Joey?"
Joey looked startled to be addressed directly, even though the discussion was about him. "Um, yeah. When I moved in with Chandler, I curbed those tendancies since he wasn't real comfortable with it. But yeah, I've dated a few men in my time."
"So what changed?" Rachel asked, sounding genuinely interested. "I mean, how did you guys actually get together?"
Chandler blushed since it was really he who had changed. "Um, well, after the accident, everyone kept pointing out how special it was that Joey and I take care of each other. And then, I started thinking about things differently. And then my dad visited and we worked through some of our issues…"
"So I told him about my history with guys," Joey said. "And then he told me that he'd been thinking about me and so we decided to try it out."
"It took us a while to really get things together and right, but now we have and we wanted you all to know," Chandler finished. They had left out some of the more personal details, but that was the basics of what had happened.
"Well, I am happy for you," Monica finally said.
"Me too," Rachel said with a genuine smile.
Ross looked at his two friends who were waiting nervously for his response. "Yeah. Congratulations."
After that, the tension seemed to drain from the room and they began to talk about other things, laughing and joking around like any other night. It was over dessert that Monica brought up another touchy subject.
"Have you heard that the building is going condo?" Monica asked.
Both Joey and Chandler froze, but it was Chandler who answered, "No, we hadn't heard that."
Rachel said, "Yeah, Treager was eager to let me know that I'm probably going to be homeless soon."
"You aren't going to be homeless," Ross said. "I thought we agreed that you would be moving in with me."
"We did," Rachel said. "But Treager didn't know that when he told me."
"What about you, Mon?" Phoebe asked. "Are you going to be able to afford to buy your place?"
"Well, that's kinda why I brought the subject up," Monica said. "Since Richard and I are getting married, we won't need two places anymore. We talked about it and we think his place is bigger and nicer, so I'm going to move in with him. I thought Chandler and Joey might want a chance to buy the bigger apartment. I thought with Joey's part on Days and Chandler's promotion, they would be able to afford it."
"Yes! We'll take it!" Chandler said without even bothering to discuss it with Joey. After all, they had both loved living in the larger apartment when they had won it from the girls a few years ago.
Joey didn't look as sure. "Can we really afford it? I mean, what if they write out my character again?"
Chandler turned towards Joey and spoke softly so that the others couldn't overhear. "I have a pretty large savings account. I've been putting away money for years because I was sure that someday I'd want to buy a place. We could use that as a down-payment so we could afford the mortgage even if you were out of work. In fact, I'd bet that the mortgage payments will end up less than what we pay for rent right now."
"You really think so?" Joey asked.
"I do," Chandler said. "I know what other condos in our neighborhood are going for. I'm pretty sure we can afford it."
Joey grinned and turned back to Monica. "We'll take it!"
JCCJJCCJJCCJ
And so it was. In the months that followed, Monica moved in with Richard and Rachel moved in with Ross. Joey and Chandler bought the lrager apartment and had it fixed up: doing some basic repairs that Treager had never wanted to do and painting over the purple walls. When they finally moved in, they also replaced most of their old furniture and had Rachel and Monica help them decorate. Since Monica's old room was quite a bit larger than either Joey or Chandler's room in the old apartment, they were able to keep both of their wardrobes in the one room and decided to use the extra room as a game room/ work out room with a Murphy bed for when guests came to stay. Chandler couldn't play foosball anymore, so they bought a real dining table and had Monica help them organize again after the move.
Joey's character became one of Days most popular, giving him a bit of extra assurance that his job was secure for a while at least. Chandler had found that he really liked his new position since he was working more with the production side of things. He still had to deal with data entry and processing, but he also got to deal with the people who were actually collecting that data.
Monica's wedding was beautiful and she was on cloud nine for months afterward. That ended when she found out that she couldn't carry a child, so there would be no baby for her. Richard offered to adopt, but Monica decided that she would rather not, given the fact that Richard had only agreed to children to make her happy. So when Rachel wound up pregnant with Ross' baby, Monica vowed to be the most involved aunt ever.
Of course, Ross and Rachel had broken up again by the time she realized she was pregnant. She had moved in with Phoebe, who was taking her time with David and had no intention of getting married or moving in together for a while. So the two women enjoyed Rachel's pregnancy and Monica was a regular visitor, living vicariously through Rachel.
They all still hung out at the coffee house whenever they could, especially Joey and Chandler who had begun spending time with Gunther and Tom on occasion but still spent most of their time with the old gang. It was on one such afternoon that Joey noticed that Chandler had drifted, his mind no longer following the conversation around him. Instead, he had a dreamy look on his face and was smiling, something that had become a regular occurrence of late.
"Whatcha thinking about Chan?" Joey finally asked.
Chandler visibly shook himself from his daydream and blushed. "Just thinking about you, about me, about us."
"Sounds like a good daydream," Joey said.
"The best," Chandler agreed.
The End