#mine: ross x phoebe

[starryeyesxx]

[cursedvida]

My boyfriend is rewatching Friends and I have to say several things:

1) I hated Ross before rewatching this series because he always seemed like a failed attempt at a nice guy and is unbearable.

2) Rachel would have been better off without him, tbh.

3) The series loses a lot in the last seasons and no one will be able to convince me otherwise.

4) I never paid much attention to Phoebe the first time I watched the series about 15 years ago, but now she's one of my favorite characters. She’s simply a queen; I love that she has so much self-confidence and doesn't care about anything. We adore her in this house.

5) Joey shouldn't be so likable to me, but I adore him so much. I think when you reach your thirties you understand that you'll always have a friend who will never grow up, and you need that in your life.

6) I LOVE Chandler and Monica as a couple. When I was a teenager, I saw them as the typical couple that was just meant to be, period. But rewatching the series as an adult, I realize they have such a healthy relationship??? I think I never understood in the past why they were so iconic, but now experience has given me the wisdom to understand that the key to their greatness is that, above all, they are best friends. They were friends, and after getting together and even getting married, they are still friends. They are friends above being a couple, and that makes their dynamics really healthy, with total honesty between them (I mean, Monica doesn't hide her attraction to other men, nor does Chandler, and they both don't care because they met each other while having other partners and flings, and they knew there was a life and a sexuality before them and it will continue, but obviously nothing will happen because they would never be unfaithful to each other and they have 100% trust and I LOVE it) and they understand each other perfectly. I mean, it’s a pleasure to watch their scenes because their conflicts are never absurd dramas with problematic connotations; they are not problematic at all, they are the anti-problematic. I think that’s the best thing about the series, honestly, and I would rewatch it again just for them. And that's it, this is my rant about Friends as if we were in 2005 lol.

[leavingubehind]

F.R.I.E.N.D.S 30-Day Challenge 07. Favorite Holiday Episode → 9.10 The One with Christmas in Tulsa

[galaxyspeaking]

I would have placed a crown upon your head, a saurondriel playlist I. Theatre - Etta Marcus II. Switchblade - Lia Pappa-Kemps III. Savior Complex (Copycat Killer Version) - Phoebe Bridgers IV. Late Night - Tennis V. So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings - Squirrel Flower VI. U R MINE - Kaeto VII. getting over you - renforshort VIII. The Cue - Sarah and the Sundays IX. Starling - Sarah Kinsley X. Sienna - The Marias XI. Forward To The Kill - Sydney Ross Mitchell XII. Some Kind of Angel - Georgia Gets By

Someone asked me for the tracklist to this saurondriel/haladriel playlist I made, so I figured I'd share it, along with a link! (Playlist subject to change and updates I tend to add more songs as I go)

[whowantslovergirl]

You did what?!

Joey Tribbiani x reader (reader is female with she/her pronouns)

warnings: this basically the episode where he proposes to Rachel just with Y/N, Y/N is pregnant from a guy named Dave, pregnancy, and marriage hope you enjoy my lovers 🤍

friends masterlist

Summary: Joey proposed to Y/N when she had her baby with a different guy

posted: February 19,2024

“Y/N is in labor! Everyone go go go!” Monica yelled rushing everyone out of the door.

_____

You were breathing frantically. You can’t believe you’re having a baby. You’re in the waiting room waiting for all of your friends.

“Y/N we really should be going to the delivery room or something what if he just pops out?!” Your ex Dave was also panicking and trying to rush you.

“No I told you we are waiting for my friends!” Then they came. A bunch of ‘hi and heys’ were heard and then you and Dave rushed to the secretary.

“Hi I am about to have a baby so do I have to sign anything or?” You said smiling and very calm which shocked everyone. “Oh one of your friends can sign your papers.”

“Got it!” Joey walked to the front to grab the papers. “Um Joey I think Dave wanted to sign her papers.” Rachel said seeing the look on Dave’s face. “Well snooze you lose Dave.” He said as signing your papers. Joey never liked Dave he thought he didn’t deserve someone like you.

So imagine how mad he was when he found out you were pregnant with his baby.

“Ok this is fun and all but Dave take me to the room I think I can feel an arm crawling out.” With that said Dave put you in a wheelchair and ran to the room.

_____

After 30 hours and annoying people you finally had your little baby boy.

Everyone came in and said awww.

“Aw look at him!” Monica said while carrying him.

“Oh my god I just want to chop him up and put his parts in my pocket!” Phoebe said not seeing all the scared stares on her. “So what do you guys think on naming him?” Ross asked.

“Well I’m letting Y/N have full control over his name. She’s the one who popped him out anyway!”

“Vincent Joseph L/N”

Everyone just sighed and looked at Joey. Joey looked at everyone and was confused. “What is everyone looking at?”

“Joey um what’s Joey short for?” Chandler asked.

“Joesph Why?”He gasped and you laughed. “Me? Oh my god thank you so much really this means a lot.” You just nodded and grabbed his hand and you guys looked at each other with such love.

After a few minutes everyone started to get uncomfortable. “Alright let’s go!” Phoebe said and everyone rushed out. Leaving you Joey and Dave.

“Well Ima get some flowers I’ll be right back.” Dave said while putting his jacket down on the chair in the room. It fell on the ground and Joey went to go pick it up.

And a ring fell out.

“Hey Joe? Can you help me with getting comfortable? Something’s on my back and I can’t get it.” He turned around and when he was on one knee you see a ring. You were shocked but it felt right to say yes.

“Okay.”

_____

“You did what?!” Joey just told Chandler what just happened between you and him. “I tried to tell her but her breasts were all out and I-.” He pacing back and forth. He just can’t believe you said yes.

_____

“He did what?!” You just told Monica that he proposed.

“He proposed!” You say smiling and showing your hand off.

“I really don’t think you should do this- and it’s bigger than mine!” She said grabbing your hand to look at the ring.

“Um Days of our lives thank you very much.” You say wiggling your finger around. She shook her head and let your hand go. “But no you can not marry him!”

Then Rachel and Phoebe walked in. “Perfect! More opinions! Ask them Monica.”

“Joey proposed. Should she marry him?”

“Yes!” They both exclaimed. “She’s already in love with Joey so that step is over.” Phoebe said.

“Yea and they are best friends!” Rachel continued.

“Woah woah I am not in love with Joey!” You said shutting down this allegation. “Yea alright.” Phoebe said sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

You’re not in love with Joey. Are you?

_____

“Man you gotta tell her that it was all a big misunderstanding.” Ross said. Joey is panicking, what if he didn’t want tell you. He would be a better husband than that bum. “Come on Joey.” Chandler said bringing Joey to your room.

_____

“Alright Joey tell her.” Chandler said while Ross pushed him closer. “Um I- I didn’t propose Dave’s jacket fell and I went to pick it up and a case fell out I opened it, it was a ring then you called me and I turned around and-.”

“What?!” Everyone turned around to see Dave with blue flowers and ‘Its a Boy!’ balloon. He rushed to you and saw your hand. “You said yes?!”

Ohhhh shit.

“Um well you can’t get mad at me I just had a baby!”

Then Dave turned to Joey. “Listen man I know you don’t like me but really?! The woman I have a baby with, that’s- that’s really low.” Then he turned to you. “I thought we could start over Y/n, but it’s whatever marry the guy I couldn’t care less.”

He walked out, then everyone walked out trying to comfort him. Leaving you and Joey. There was awkward silence. You were going to speak but he beat you to it. “Why did you say yes?” You just shrugged. “No, no you do know.”

“I really don’t Joe, I just didn’t want to be alone and if anyone should be my husband it should be you.”

“Is that really the reason Y/n?”

“Noooo I might like you like a little bit.” You say putting ur fingers together slightly. He just chuckled. “I might like you a little too.” He said while going to hug you but you pull him into a kiss instead.

“Oh my god can we come in now?!” You hear Rachel say behind the door. “Come in!”

They all walk in silently asking if something happened and when you nodded everyone cheered.

It finally happened.

______

It’s two years later, You and Joey are finally getting married. Dave slowly forgiven Joey but at least he’s okay with it. Vince is two now and he looks exactly like you, even though Joey is not his biological father, Vince still has his humor saying how you doin every chance he gets.

______

“Do you Y/n L/n take Joey Tribbiani as your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do.”

Do you Joey Tribbiani take Y/n L/n as your lawfully wedded wife?”

“Hell yeah!” He saw the face of the minister and he apologized. “I mean yeah I do.” You chuckled a bit.

“You may kiss your bride.”

And he did and he did well.

Vince and everyone else cheered loudly.

You’re so glad he accidentally proposed.

An: AHHHHH this is lowkey rushed but hoped you enjoyed my lovers 🤍

[skyeet-the-writer]

The One with George Stephanopoulos

this chapter made me want pizza and alcohol okay bye chandler bing x female!reader summary: its been a few months since you moved to the city and you're settling in pretty well with your new group of friends word count: ~4.5k warnings: mentions of black mold, alcohol, a little snooping, but its harmless fun <previous next>

"What would you guys do if you were omnipotent?" you ask suddenly during a quiet afternoon in the cafe.

"Probably make myself immortal," Monica says, looking up from her crossword. "And be able to time-travel, I've always wanted to do that as a kid."

"Ooh, time travel would be sick," you say. "I'd want to immediately know how to play the bass."

"Oh, that's good, that's good." Rachel smiles, handing you your latte.

"What about you, Phoebe?" you ask the woman sitting on the floor.

"I would want, um, world peace. No more hunger. Good things for the rainforest." She grins before quickly adding, "Oh, and bigger boobs!"

"Well, see, you took mine," Ross says. You giggle, holding your warm mug and leaning back into the couch next to Chandler, who quickly removes his arm from behind the couch. "Chandler, what about you?"

Chandler shrugs. "If I were omnipotent for a day, I'd make myself omnipotent forever."

You scoff and roll your eyes. "Lame."

Rachel also tches. "See, there's always that one guy. 'If I had a wish, I'd wish for three more wishes.'"

You laugh again and turn as the door opens. Joey walks in and you hit him with your burning question. "Joey! Joey, what would you do if you were omnipotent for a day?"

He blinks at your question and answers, "Probably kill myself."

Your eyes widen and you breathe out a laugh. "Sorry?"

"Hey," he starts as he takes a seat beside Ross. "If little Joey's dead, then I've got no reason to live."

You shake your head and take a sip of your drink.

"Uh, Joey." Ross's first mistake was to try and help. "Omnipotent."

Joey's eyes widen and in the most sympathetic voice you've ever heard him use, he says, "You are?"

You choke on your drink, laughing into your mug and almost spilling coffee on yourself. Chandler places a hand on your back while Phoebe hands you a napkin, taking your drink from you. You laugh again, wiping your face, and look at Joey.

"Dude, you're so funny. Do you know that?"

Joey smiles and shrugs. "People say that I am."

You clear your throat and lean back in your seat again. Chandler has an arm across the back of the couch again, but this time he doesn't move it, something everyone but you catches on to.

His arm doesn't move for the next thirty minutes either. Eventually, you notice but think nothing of it. Ross does it with Phoebe and there's certainly nothing there. Your newfound friend group talks about nothing and everything at once as the afternoon grows later. After a while, you glance at your watch and realize you need to head out, even though you don't want to.

With a groan, you sit up. "I've got to head out."

"Why?" Monica wonders.

You sniff and start to get your things together in your tote bag. "My window is leaking in my bathroom and kitchen, so my super is going to check it out. Also, there's this weird substance on my windowsills that looks like dirt, but I swear to god if it's black mold I'm going to kill someone."

"Well, good luck," Chandler says, watching you take out your walkman and put the headphones around your neck.

"I'll be back in an hour or so," you tell them and start your mixtape. "See you guys later."

And then you head out. Chandler watches you through the window--which isn't creepy because it's so big. He watches you take out your lighter and light a cigarette before walking on your way. For someone who moved to the city a few months ago, you already seem very much at home.

The second the door closes, Joey moves to sit by Chandler and says, "Chan. If you don't ask her out, I'm going to."

"Yeah, why haven't you asked her yet?" Monica asks. "With the way your arm was behind her for an hour, someone would assume you guys are dating."

Chandler scoffs and shrugs, feeling his neck heat up. "I--I don't know. I think she's too cool for me."

"She's too cool for all of us," Ross says.

"I think she's into you." Phoebe pokes his leg and smiles. "She's always around you."

"Yeah, because I was the first person she met here and she's my friend."

"So? I think you'd have a shot." Phoebe tells him. "Her aura is brighter around you."

Chandler isn't sure what that means, but he shrugs anyway. "I--I don't know. I really think she's cool, I don't want to mess this friendship up."

His friends nod in understanding but Joey asks, "So, does this mean I can ask her on a date?"

"No!" he blurts out, perhaps too loudly because someone at a neighboring table turns to glare at him for a moment.

"Woah, okay, man." Joey holds his hands up in surrender. "I know now to mess with your girl."

Heat rushes to Chandler's cheeks and he huffs, feeling very uncomfortable. "Whatever."

~*~

An hour and a half later, you return to the coffee shop pissed out of your mind. You angrily open the door and let it slam shut behind you. Monica, Phoebe, and Ross are still here and all look at you when you approach. You're frowning, something they've never seen you do before, and your head looks like it's about to explode.

"Woah, what's up?" Monica asks as you dramatically sit between Ross and Phoebe. "You look pissed."

"Because I am," you snap, shedding your jacket. "There's black fucking mold in my apartment."

"Oh, gross!"

"No, it gets better," you add, looking between your friends while your heart thumps rapidly in your throat. "It's not just my apartment. It's the entire goddamn floor."

"Oh no!"

"That's awful."

Phoebe puts her arm around you and you lean into your side, feeling yourself calm down quickly as her scent of patchouli envelops you. "I asked how long it would take them to fix it, but the super said I had to move out for a week."

"For a week?" Monica asks.

You nod. "Yeah. I hate to ask, but could I maybe stay with you and Rachel? I'll chip in with food and stuff."

Monica smiles and says, "Yeah, of course. Phoebe was actually going to be spending the night too, we can have a girls' night."

"Oh, that's fun!" Phoebe exclaims, smiling.

You grin and feel your anger slip away. You're lucky to have these people as your friends. "Thanks."

~*~

Later that night, you're making drinks with Phoebe and Monica while dressed in your pajamas. You went to your apartment to pack your things and you're glad you did your laundry yesterday.

Rachel is out with her friends and you want to assume they're nice, but they give you snooty rich-girl vibes. Plus their screaming only made you more angry than you were before, but now that you've taken two shots of rum, you feel a little better.

You fire up the blender again on your famous Tiki Death Punch--which is really just a strawberry and pineapple daiquiri--while Phoebe gets the glasses out and the door opens.

"Hey, Rach," Monica greets, finishing up the cookie dough. "How was it with your friends?"

And then, in unison, you, Phoebe, and Monica scream, mocking what Rachel and her friends did. You giggle and take off the lid to analyze your work before unplugging the blender and moving toward the glasses. But when you look back up, Rachel does not look amused and you hiss through your teeth. "Anyway, you want some Tiki Death Punch?"

"What's that?" Rachel asks, sounding exhausted.

You finish pouring the third glass and answer, "Well, it's rum and--"

Rachel doesn't even let you finish before she's taken the pitcher from your hands and is sticking a straw through the liquid.

You blink at your empty hands. "Okay."

"We thought that Phoebe was staying over and Y/N is staying here for the week, we'd have kinda like a slumber party thing. We've got trashy magazines, we've got cookie dough, we got Twister."

"I brought Monopoly and Balderdash," you add, glancing at the phone as it rings.

"And I brought Operation," Phoebe says, walking towards Rachel, who looks miserable. "But, um, I lost the tweezers so we can't operate. But we can prep the guy!"

You smile at her enthusiasm.

With the phone in her hand, Monica walks towards Rachel and says, "Uh, Rach, it's the Visa card people."

She groans and rolls her eyes. "Oh, God, ask them what they want."

"Could you please tell me what this is in reference to?" Monica asks into the phone before lowering it down and addressing Rachel. "Um, they say there's been some unusual activity on your account."

"But I haven't used my card in weeks," Rachel says, sounding even more exasperated now.

"That is the unusual activity." Rachel stands and pinches the bridge of her nose as Monica adds, "Look, they just want to see if you're okay."

"They want to know if I'm okay? Okay, they want to know if I'm okay. Okay, let's see." Slowly, you take a sip each time she says okay. "Well, let's see, the FICA guys took all my money. Everyone I know is either getting married or getting pregnant or getting promoted and I'm getting coffee. And it's not even for me! So if that sounds like I'm okay, okay, then you can tell them I'm okay. Okay?"

You swallow your last sip and see that half of your drink is gone.

Monica slowly licks her lips and lifts the phone to her ear. "Uh, Rachel has left the building. Can you call back?"

"Alright, come on!" With her voice breaking and tears in her eyes, Rachel unfurls the game mat and says, "Let's play Twister."

"Oh, Rachel!" You walk over to her and lead her to the couch as she wipes her tears. "Come on, babe, it's okay, you're fine."

"No, I'm not!" she exclaims, sniffling. "Everyone I know is being more productive than I am."

Monica sits on the other side of her and rubs her arm. "Oh, come on. You should feel great about yourself. You're doing this amazing and independent thing!"

But she just rolls her eyes and asks, "Monica, what is so amazing? I gave up, like, everything! And for what?"

"You are just like Jack!" Phoebe exclaims from her spot on the table.

Looking at her, you squint. "Pheebs, I'm a little tipsy, but what are you talking about?"

"Jack from 'Jack and the Beanstalk'," she answers like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "See, he gave up something, but then he got those magic beans. And then he woke up and there was this--this big plant outside of his window full of possibilities and stuff. And he lived in a village and you live in the village."

Rachel holds up a hand to stop her. "Okay, but, Pheebs, Pheebs. Jack gave up a cow. I gave up an orthodontist. Okay? I--I know I didn't love him, but--"

"Oh, see, Jack did love the cow."

You sigh and take another long sip of your drink.

"But, see, it was a plan," Rachel continues. "You know? It was clear. Everything was figured out and now everything's just kinda like..."

She flails her hands around, searching for the word, and you suggest, "Floopy?"

"Yeah."

You put your hands back on her arm and say, "I've been there."

"Really?" she asks, looking at you.

You nod. "Yeah, I'm there right now. I mean, I want to be a famous screenwriter and probably a director. But I live in a shitty apartment with black mold and I work as a hostess." You laugh at yourself and continue. "I live, like, three thousand kilometers away from home in a whole new country. I was supposed to go to school for nursing because my mom and my dad are both doctors, but I changed my major halfway through and moved here." You smile at her and rub up and down her arm. "And I'm happy I did because I met you guys. And, sure, I kind of hate my job and I don't have any time to write and I pour oil down my drains to fuck with my landlord. But I'm doing my own thing, doing what I like. Not what everyone else is doing. Does that make sense?"

Rachel shrugs, but then she nods.

Monica puts a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah. I mean, you've just gotta figure at some point it's all gonna come together, and it's just gonna be...un-floopy."

But then Rachel sighs and says, "Okay, but, Monica, what if--what if it doesn't come together?"

Monica rocks back and forth, searching for an answer, before quietly saying, "Pheebs?"

Phoebe puts her drink down and starts, "Well, 'cause you just like...I don't like this question. Y/N?"

You think about this question every night in bed, but you don't have an answer. And so you look around, muttering things under your breath so the heat will be off you.

"Okay, see, see you guys? What if we don't get magic beans? I mean, what if all we've got are...beans?"

Yeah, that's a thought that crosses your mind in the middle of the night too. And so you loudly slurp up the rest of your drink and pick up the pitcher. "I need more rum."

~*~

An hour and two pitchers of Tiki Death Punch later, you're all sitting in various positions in the living room. Phoebe is lying on the floor with her head on the ottoman and her hair over her face. Monica is eating cookie dough right out of the bowl with the wooden spoon. Rachel is lying across the couch with her legs in your lap. You're on your third drink and you're not even sure you can finish that. God, you're depressed, you really should get in touch with a pharmacist to get back on Prozac, but that's a hassle with the American healthcare system. Why can't it just be free like the rest of the world?

Rachel, who is changed into much comfier clothes, sighs and says, "I'm sorry, guys, I didn't mean to bring you down."

"No, you were right," Monica says, smushing the dough. "I don't have a plan!"

There's a knock at the door and that's the first time you've felt happy in forty-five minutes. "Thank Christ, food."

Rachel gets up to get the pizza and Monica says, "Phoebe?"

"Huh?" She flips her ponytail out from her face.

"Do you have a plan?"

She scoffs and says, "I don't even have a pla'."

Rachel swings the door open and a young teenage kid is standing there with pizzas. "Hi. One mushroom, green pepper, and onion?"

You almost burst into tears right then and there.

Rachel sighs. "No, no, no that's not what we ordered! We ordered a fat-free crust with extra cheese!" She also sounds like she's about to cry and lifts her fingers to her temple.

"Wait, you're not G. Stephanopoulos?"

"No."

"Oh, man, my dad's gonna kill me!"

Suddenly, Monica jumps across your legs and you almost piss yourself. Slowly, you and Phoebe follow as she asks the teenager, "Did you say G. Stephanopoulos?"

He nods. "Yeah, yeah, this one goes across the street. I must've given him yours. Oh, bonehead, bonehead." To be honest, him hitting himself in the forehead with the palm of his hand does make you smile a little.

"Wait, was this a--a small Mediterranean guy with curiously intelligent good looks?"

The kid nods. "Yeah, sounds about right."

"Was he wearing a stunning blue suit?"

"A--and a power tie?" Phoebe adds.

The kid shakes his head. "Nah, pretty much just a towel."

Monica's mouth drops and she leans on Phoebe for support like she's swooning. "Oh, god."

"So do you guys want me to take this back?" the poor kid asks.

"What? Are you nuts?" Monica seizes the pizza from his hand. "We've got George Stephanopoulos' pizza!"

While Rachel pays the kid, Monica rushes to the window and grabs the binoculars.

"Who is George Stephanopoulos?" you ask Phoebe.

But before she can answer, Monica shouts out, "I see pizza!"

Phoebe runs over to look, but you and Rachel stay by the pizza. You open it and almost start to salivate. You haven't eaten since lunch and you've been craving pizza all week.

"Who are we spying on?" Rachel wonders.

"You know the White House Advisor? Clinton's campaign guy, uh, the one with the great hair, sexy smile, and really cute butt?"

You laugh at her description and eat a piece of bell pepper. "No, but I wish I did."

Rachel nods. "Oh, yeah, the little guy! Oh, I love him!"

Together, you each take a piece of pizza and walk over to the window as Phoebe says, "Ooh, wait, I see a woman."

"Oh, please tell me it's his mother," Monica says.

You squint to try to see where she's looking, but it's too dark for you to see much.

And then Phoebe says, "It's definitely not his mother."

"Oh no."

"Oh, wait, she walking across the floor. She's walking, she's walking, she's going for the pizza." Angrily, Phoebe shouts out, "Hey, that's not for you, bitch!" Quickly, she covers her mouth and the four of you giggle. Rachel hands Monica her piece of pizza and you bite into your own.

Yeah, you don't need Prozac anymore, not if you have pizza and the girls.

~*~

A little while later, you're all out on the balcony. You're full of pizza and alcohol, but you're drinking water now. It's cold outside and there's a blanket over the metal chair you're sitting on and you're wearing the red sweatshirt Chandler gave to you a couple of weeks ago when you said you were cold. You forgot to give it back and maybe if you wear it you'll remember.

Monica comes back in with another pitcher of Death Punch and by now you're sure you've used up all your rum. But it's okay because you're having fun spying on his American politician with your friends.

"Are the lights still out?" Monica asks, climbing through the window.

"Yeah," Rachel says, binoculars still glued to her eyes.

"Well, maybe they're napping."

You scoff, straw halfway in your mouth. "Please, they're having sex, Mon."

"Shut up!" Monica and Phoebe shout at the same time.

You laugh, leaning your head back.

Everyone gets their drinks and sits back down when Rachel asks, "So what do you think George is like?"

"I think he's shy," Monica answers.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. I think you have to draw him out. And then...when you do, he's a preppy animal."

You all giggle and you feel like a schoolgirl again. You swat at her while she laughs and you laugh and so do Phoebe and Rachel.

Another half-hour later, you're all laughing and telling each other lies that you've told other people.

"Okay, okay I got one," Monica says and looks at Phoebe. "Do you remember that vegetarian pâté that I made that you loved so much?"

The vegetarian nods.

Monica snickers. "Well, unless goose is a vegetable!"

You and Rachel laugh while Phoebe screws her face up in disgust.

"Okay, fine, fine. Now I don't feel so bad about sleeping with Jason Hurley."

You sip on your water, having no idea who that is, but enjoying the way Monica's eyes widen. "What? You slept with Jason?"

"You were already broken up."

"How long?"

Phoebe shrugs. "Just a couple hours."

You laugh while Monica rolls her eyes.

Giggling, Rachel sits up. "Okay, okay, I got one." But since the pillow is leaning on the side of the wall, when she sits up, it falls to the balcony below. You smile as she continues. "Anyway. The Valentine Tommy Rollerson left in your locker was really from me!"

Monica looks at her friend. "Excuse me?"

Rachel returns to her original position. "Oh, hello? Like he was really gonna send you one." Monica rolls her eyes and Rachel adds, "She was a big girl."

You gasp and laugh.

"Well, at least big girls don't pee their pants in the seventh grade," she retaliates, leaning toward you and Phoebe.

Rachel gasps, "I was laughing! You made me laugh!"

As the two girls argue, movement catches your eye and you look across the street to where George lives and gasp, standing up. "Look, there he is!"

"Where?"

You blink, pointing at his huge windows. "Right where we've been looking all night."

Together, the four of you watch this man stand only clad in a towel. If you were sober, you'd feel bad.

"Oh, he's so cute," Rachel says.

"George, baby, drop the towel!" Monica exclaims.

In unison, you all chant "Drop the towel" and you're pretty sure he can hear you. Because then he does. And you gasp and all say, "Wow."

Heat rushes to your cheeks and you look away, giggling. "Okay, I don't know if Clinton is a good president, but I'll vote for him if that's his campaign manager."

The girls giggle and go back to their seats before you all can be arrested for spying.

"I have a question, Y/N," Rachel says, hopping back up on the ledge.

"What's up?"

"Are you interested in anyone right now?"

You raise a brow at the sudden question. "Well, now I'm interested in George Stephanopoulos."

Rachel rolls her eyes but smiles. "I can understand that."

Shrugging, you stir your water with your straw. "I mean, not really. I moved here a few months ago. I've been trying to figure my way around the city, I guess I haven't had much time to look at anyone like that."

"Then why are you wearing Chandler's sweatshirt?" Phoebe asks, smiling as she takes a sip of her drink.

You look down at the piece of fabric and rub it between your fingers. It's soft and thick and it reminds you of him. "He lent it to me the other week. I just...forgot to give it back."

"Okay," Phoebe says with a breathy laugh like she doesn't believe you.

You look at your friends and see that they all have the same expression--they suspect something. "W--what? No, it's not like that!"

"We didn't say anything," Monica assures you.

"You didn't have to." You take another gulp of your drink and feel some heat creep up your cheeks. "I don't know. He's my friend and I think he's cute, but I'm not looking for a relationship right now, you know?"

"Yeah, I do," Rachel agrees and you hear the truth in her voice. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay," you tell them. "I mean. Chandler is funny and he's really sweet, but, like, mentally I'm not ready." Something dawns on you and you grab Monica's arm with wide eyes. "Does he have a thing for me?"

"No," she answers easily. "No, have you met Chandler? He's the most socially awkward person I've met."

Slowly, you nod, staring down at your drink. "Okay, okay. Cool. 'Cause I don't want to make things awkward." And then you're quiet, still staring at your drink, before you put it on the small, dingy table and stand up. "I'm going to use the bathroom."

"Are you okay?" Phoebe asks as you wobble over to the window.

"Yeah," you answer, slowly folding yourself to go through it. Your vision is swimming a little. "I'm just drunk."

"We all are," Rachel says and watches as you go back into the apartment. When the door closes, she leans close to her friends and says, "No one tell Chandler."

Monica places a hand on her heart. "No, for sure. She's totally justified, though, I wouldn't want to date someone directly after moving to another country."

Phoebe nods. "Besides, Chandler is a big boy, he can figure out his own feelings." But then she adds after a moment, "Well, maybe not, but that's his problem."

Rachel and Monica chuckle and go back to spying on Stephanopoulos.

~*~

Later, the boys come back from their hockey game. Before you can ask who won, you see Ross wearing a brace over his nose. Chandler tells you that he was hit in the face with a puck and ended up having to go to the emergency room for a broken nose.

But Ross seems in happier spirits than he was before and that you're grateful for.

Eventually, Phoebe, Joey, Monica, and Rachel are playing a game of Twister while Ross flicks the spinner. You're making some more drinks with the remaining rum for the boys to have, figuring they need it after their night.

"What's the legal drinking age in Canada?" Chandler asks, watching you pour the last of your rum into the blender before placing the empty bottle to the side.

"Eighteen," you answer, measuring the sugar with your heart. "Well, actually, it's eighteen in Manitoba, Québec, and Alberta. Everywhere else it's nineteen."

Chandler breathes out a laugh. "It's twenty-one here."

"Can't men be drafted into war when they're eighteen?"

He nods. "Yeah. It's messed up."

You hum and fire the blender up, keeping an elbow on it and closing your eyes. You've had a long day. You're still mad about your apartment and having to squat at Monica and Rachel's for a week. You know they don't mind, but you still feel bad. You'll cook them dinner a few times, that'll be nice. You would clean, but Monica is very particular about it so you figure it's best to leave it be.

Opening your eyes again, you turn the blender off and serve it up, giving one to Chandler first. You clink your glass of water with his and giggle as he smiles. You both take a sip at the same time when Chandler suddenly takes your wrist and holds your arm up.

"This sweatshirt is familiar," he says, teasing evident in his tone.

You smile and shrug. "Some guy gave it to me."

"Is that guy going to get it back?"

You shrug again. "Eventually."

Chandler tilts his head then and says, "You keep it."

"What?" you ask in disbelief. "No, Chandler, it's yours."

He shrugs, resisting the extremely strong urge to run his hand up and down your arm. "It looks better on you."

You scoff. "It does not."

He nods, smiling. "It does." His eyes trail up your figure before landing on your face. "It makes your eyes pop."

"It makes my eyes pop?"

"Yeah."

Smiling just a little, you pull the sleeves over your hands. "Thank you, Chan."

And as you walk away to give Ross his drink, Chandler breathes. He's not entirely sure how he feels about you. You're hot, you're cool, but you're also his friend. And he just basically said your eyes are pretty.

He takes a long drink of your concoction, something called Tiki Death Punch, and pours himself some more. As if that will do anything to calm his nerves. Nothing can calm his nerves when he's with you.

[trishlia]

The Suprise

Characters: Chandler x reader (romanticly), friends x reader (platonicly)

Word count: 1.2k

contains: making out, mention of sex, naked. one shot

a/n: this is my first time writing something like this, so its not that great and english is not my first language. I made the idea myself and I wrote this at 2 am and posted this 3 am so enjoy!

***

Me and Chandler have been going out for a while, but the other five didn't know about it. We wanted to surprise them by kissing in front of them, we would love to see their reaction.

It was a Saturday evening at Monica's apartment. Everyone was hanging around on the couch.'It's a Saturday, does anyone have a date tonight?' Joey asked.

'Not me.' Monica added. 'Same for me.' Rachel spoke.

'Yea no luck.' Phoebe exclaimed. 'Nope.' Said Ross.

'How 'bout you two?' Joey pointed at us.

'Me? Yea, I do.' Chandler said, 'She's amazing!'

'Wow, somebody got a date. What about you Y/N?' Rachel asked.

'Yeah, I have a date tonight.' I said, nodding my head. 'Lucky! I hate not going out.' Said Monica.

'Well, who's the date? What's their name?' Joey continued.

'Yea!' Everyone agreed. 'I'm not telling you guys. Yall are just gonna tease me with his name.' I rolled my eyes.

'Same, I'm not telling. But she's better than Janice I tell ya.' Chandler said.

We spent the whole evening talking in the living room, it is now 8 p.m. 'It's getting late, don't you two have a date to go to?' Phoebe asked.

'Oh right! Let me go get ready. Rachel can I borrow your-?' 'Yes! Let me help you get ready!'

Rachel brought me to her room and closed the door behind us. 'Well what about you?' Ross asked Chandler. 

'Mine's at 9, we're going to watch a movie.' He stood up walking to the kitchen, 'What are you guys gonna do?' 

'I guess we'll just play foosball the whole night.' Joey said looking at Ross, 'I'm soo gonna beat your butt.' he grin

'Hahah, the only butt getting beat is you.' Ross pointing his finger at Joey.

'Well have fun and good luck Ross, you'll need it. What about you Pheebs?'

'I was thinking about betting you for Joey but I know I'm going to win… 20 bucks?' She said happily.

'That's not fair! You have Joey! But sorry Pheebs, I'm not in my betting mood.' 

'Its fine, Monica?' She turned her head to the black haired girl.

'Yep no thanks!' she said loudly.

I finally got ready and stepped outside of Rachel's room, who was walking behind me. 'You look gorgeous!'

'Wow! Where are you going all fancy?' Monica asked. 'Just the movies, I told you, Rachel! Nothing fancy!' The room went quite.

'Huh, what's wrong?' I asked, me and Rachel looked around the room. Noticing everyone was looking at Chandler. At that point, I knew I messed up. 

'What is with you guys? Chandler?' Rachel was confused.

Chandler was standing still beside the refrigerator, his face was nervous. 'What? Mines at 9!' Chandler was now looking at me, making everyone do the same.

'Mines it's 8.45, and it's 8.30 I'm going to be late!' I walked out of the apartment, closing the door behind me.

'That was weird. What happened?' Rachel asked. 'Oh, we thought Chandler was going out with Y/N.' Phoebe told Rachel what happened. 

'Pfft! Like Y/N would go out with a guy like Chandler!' Rachel laughed. Chandler was offended, 'Hey! What are you saying? Like she's out of my league?' 

'Heck yea, she's out of your league!' Monica said. 'So you think I can't get a Y/N? I can get a Y/N okay?' Chandler said, walking towards them holding a piece of cookie.

'Come on! You and her? Can't see it!' Monica added. The others seemed to be agreeing.

***

'And they said you are out of my league! And said that we aren't a match !' Chandler said as we were walking at the park going back home. 'Don't make a fuss about it.' I said, 'Tomorrow we will surprise them, I have a plan in mind, but it includes us making out.'

'Okay, I think I like that.' Chandler said, smiling.

We are now at my apartment. 'So are we actually going to make out?' 

'Of course! Why would I lie about that?'

I quickly pulled him in for a kiss, he then kissed me back and put his hands around my hips.

'My dream has finally come true' he said.

The kiss led us to my room, he pushed me on the bed and continued to kiss while he was on top of me. I was cupping his cheeks and giving out a moan.

The next morning, I woke up seeing Chandler was already awake sitting beside me fully naked. He covered his lower body with a blanket. 'Good morning, sweetheart. How was last night?' He said smilingly looking at me.

I sat up straight 'Good morning, honey. Last night was interesting..' My face was all red, we had sex last night. 'What, good, interesting?' He asked.

'Amazingly interesting..' I stared blankly at myself and notice I was naked and there was nothing that was covering my upper body.

'I can see that you're enjoying the view.' He laughed as I said that.

Chandler wore his clothes and went back to his apartment. I quickly changed and walked to Monica's apartment bringing Rachel's Jacket that I borrowed.

I opened the door to the apartment seeing that everyone was making fun of Chandler. 'Look, Y/N! Someone came home with the same clothes he was wearing last night,' Monica said as she walked towards me.

I smiled at Chandler, 'Whoo hoo! How was she?'

'Incredible! It was probably the greatest night!' He said, forgetting the woman he was talking about was in the room. His face got red quickly.

'Alright then, Rachel! Your jacket.' I said

'Oh thanks Y/N, just tossed it inside my room'

I did as I was told and walked towards the kitchen where everyone was hanging. 'You're not the only one who was having fun last night, Chandler.'

'Whoo hoo!' Everyone whistle.

'Well, how was he?' Chandler asked.

'He was amazing! It's like the dream you had Monica! He really did me.' I said. 'Really? Lucky!' Monica said.

As everyone was eating breakfast, it was the perfect time to show everyone that me and Chandler were dating, I have the perfect excuse as well. I gave Chandler a head signal and he nodded.

'Well I gotta get going, this grocery list is not gonna finish by itself.' I said, 'Wanna join babe? I asked him as I was walking towards him.

The room was now silent, everyone stared at the both of us. 'I told you I can get a Y/N' He said putting his arm around my shoulder, he turned his head to me, kissing me softly on the lips. 'And yes, I would love to help with your groceries darling.'

'Alright then, finish your breakfast. I'll be waiting downstairs' I said, walking out of the apartment. 

Everyone is now staring at Chandler, 'You and her? You and her?!' One of the five said. 'I can't believe it, I just can't!' Rachel added. 

'What's the big deal?' Chandler scoffs. 

'Can't you see? You're the most awkward guy with bad social skills gets the girl while me and Joey didn't!' Ross said. 

'Yeah! I can get any girl but she dumped me, remember?' Joey added.

'Oh, I see it now.' Chandler spoke, 'Alright let me eat my cereal. I need to get going.' 

'Wait, so that means you had sex with her last night?' Phoebe finally spoke, 'Wow! Did she top you?' 'Nope,' Chandler replied.

He ate his breakfast and walked towards the front door 'See ya guys!' Closing the door behind him. He walked downstairs to Central Perk seeing me drinking coffee waiting for him 'Hello darling,'

'Hi sweetheart.'

[hayleythesugarbowl]

Please write for Monica Geller x Phoebe's younger sister

I trust you with the plot

The One With Phoebe’s Sister || Monica Geller x Phoebe’s younger sister!reader

⋆୨୧˚ masterlist • f•r•i•e•n•d•s masterlist • monica hcs ⋆୨୧˚

summary: oneshot where phoebe introduces the friends to you, her younger sister, and you are instantly attracted to monica but don’t know that monica is equally smitten with you

word count: 3.1k

warnings: none 

a/n: hope you enjoy this and thanks so much for requesting it. also many apologies it took so long for me to get to this ask and i hope it was worth the wait!! enjoy ✧🍒🎀

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      “Alright everybody this is my sister, (Y/n). (Y/n), this is everybody.”

     Smiling widely, Phoebe gestures from the doorway to you and then to her friends, who are all lounging around the apartment. 

     “Hey,” you say shyly, taking off your jacket and looking around the room at your sister’s friends. “It’s nice to meet you. Phoebe talks about you guys all the time.”

     Your older sister had practically dragged you out of the airport and into the waiting taxi, overly excited to show you New York and everything she loved—you’d already been to her apartment, massage studio, and Central Perk, her favorite coffee shop. Now she beams as she leads you into a cozy apartment with purple walls and nicely arranged furniture. 

     You hang your jacket on the coat hanger and set down your bags as you gaze around the room. 

     “Ok, yay! Now I get to introduce you to everyone!” Phoebe leads you across the threshold into the living room, pointing at her friends as she goes. “This is Ross—” 

     You watch as the man who must be Ross gets up from his seat at the kitchen table and shakes your hand welcomingly 

    “It’s nice to finally meet you,” you say. 

     “The pleasure is all mine,” he replies and you smile.

      Phoebe pulls your arm, “And this is Chandler—” 

     Chandler waves awkwardly from his spot on the back of the couch. “Hey. Hi. Wow you look just like Phoebe. Well not just like Phoebe. Obviously. Because that’s Ursula. What I mean is, I can see the resemblance and you’re pretty, very pretty, and I’m going to stop talking now.”

    You chuckle and look back at your sister. 

     “Oh don’t worry about him, he’s just Chandler.” Phoebe waves a hand in the air. Chandler clutches his chest in mock offense.

     Phoebe continues. “Anyways, oh! This is Rachel.”

     The woman Phoebe refers to walks towards you “Hey sweetie, you must be Phoebe’s little sister. Oh it’s going to be so much fun having you here for…” Rachel looks at Phoebe.

     “Three weeks,” you interject, answering for Phoebe and smiling at Rachel’s kindness, “My flight back to (Y/h/t) is in three weeks.” 

     You can’t believe Phoebe’s life here. Lively city, amazing friends, and also apparently really good coffee, if Central Perk was any indication. You wish you could stay here for months, but unfortunately you have only a few weeks before you need to go back home to your city and everything that comes with your daily life. 

     “So that’s everybody!” Phoebe cheers, interrupting your thoughts, “Except for Joey but he said he’s coming over after his audition. And Monica…” Phoebe looks around the room questioningly.

     “Went to pick up some detergent or something,” Rachel informs her with an exasperated look, “Because you know, it’s not like the apartment isn’t already clean enough.”

     Chandler feigns a shiver, “Oh right, her Spring Cleaning Frenzy. Not to be confused with her Christmas Cleaning Madness or her New-Years Cleaning Hysteria. Although all are equally terrifying.”

    You chuckle. Your sister had told you about Chandler and his jokes. “We’ll I can’t wait to meet her.”

     As if on cue, a woman with dark hair holding grocery bags in both hands walks through the door. 

     Having set the bags down on the kitchen table, the woman begins rifling through her purse.

     Looking down into her purse she says, “Alright, before anybody says anything, I need these supplies and if anyone thinks differently they can start by cleaning the bathroom floors and—”

     “Oh Monica!” Phoebe exclaims, “You’re back! We have company!” She smiles excitedly. 

     You smile at the woman who must be Monica. You can’t help but notice her vibrant blue eyes and how her dark hair frames her face. Your sister didn’t tell you how beautiful she was. You suddenly catch yourself staring and quickly speak. 

     “Hi, I’m Phoebe’s sister, (Y/n). It’s nice to meet you.”

     Monica finally looks up. She sets her purse down hurriedly and walks toward the living room over to you.  

     “Oh, hi,” she says quickly, pushing her hair out of her face. You follow the movement with your eyes. “I’m Monica. But Phoebe already told you that. Make yourself at home. Please, sit.”

     Monica indicates one of the chairs in the apartment’s living room. You sit down.

     Monica takes the seat across from you next to Rachel and puts her hands in her lap eagerly. “So, your Phoebe’s sister, huh? Where are you from? What do you do? I mean, tell me about yourself.”

     “Woah, Mon, slow down!” Rachel says putting an arm on her shoulder, “You don’t want to scare the poor girl off the minute she gets here.”

     Monica looks at you sheepishly and Rachel laughs. 

     “No, it’s ok,” you say, amused and flattered by Monica’s enthusiasm. “I’m from (Y/h/t) and I’m currently going to school there, but I graduate next year. Not nearly as exciting as New York, though. I’m thrilled to be here.” 

     Monica smiles at you, “Well, my apartment is always open! You know, if you ever needed to stay here.” She clasps her hands together. 

     Chandler walks around the couch and sits on the back next to Monica. “Interesting, because when I asked to stay here last week when my apartment was being repainted because Joey thought ‘Fireball 2: now with more fire’,” he gestures in the air as if announcing a movie title, “was a good idea, I believe your exact words to me were to ‘take a hike’.”

     Monica shoves Chandler off the couch and glares back at him, “Yeah? Well then maybe you should take that hike right now.”

     Ross stifles a chuckle from the kitchen. Monica glares at him too and he quickly turns away. 

     Phoebe sighs, “Ok, guys? Totally ruining my whole meeting thing.”

     A chorus of “Sorry Pheebs” meets your ears but you just giggle. 

     “Anyways,” Monica says, “we’re all really glad you’re here.” She smiles at you and as she does her eyes light up causing you to smile back. She has a fire in her eyes and it makes her see like someone who is passionate about everything she does. Before she can catch you admiring her yet again, you get up and seize Phoebe’s wrist, guiding her away from her her friend and towards the other side of the room.

     “Pheebs, you didn’t tell me your friend was gorgeous,” you whispers emphatically.

      “Really? You think so? I mean compared to me…” she trails off and you roll your eyes at her. Phoebe suddenly gets an excited look on her face. “Oh hey, you should totally—”

     She gets cut of as someone else walks through the door. A man with dark hair wearing a New York Knicks jersey under a large coat steps into the apartment. 

     “Joey!” Phoebe shouts, dragging you to the door. “Meet (Y/n), my sister!”

     Joey looks you up and down admiringly as he takes his jacket off. “So you’re (Y/n).” He gives you a charming smile. 

     “Yeah, that’s me,” you say. “It’s so great to finally put all of your faces to names.” 

     “Oh, right, that’s everybody, yay!” Phoebe goes over to Joey. “So how was your audition?” 

     “Terrible, I blew it, there’s no way I got the part,” Joey mumbles distractedly and waves her off and saunters over to you, “So, it’d be rude of me if I didn’t ask you, how you doin’?”

     You open your mouth to respond when Monica rushes over to where the three of you are standing. 

     “Come on Joey,” Monica says, “I’m sure she doesn’t want to be flirted with by you the minute she walks in the door. Right?” Monica wrings her hands together and looks to Rachel for help. 

     Before you have time to contemplate what she just said, Rachel jumps in, turning to you.

     “Oh, honey don’t worry, Joey flirted with all of us when he first met us.”

     Chandler looks at Joey, offended. “You never flirted with me!”

     You laugh at the expression on his friend’s face. 

     “Anyways,” Joey starts, “(Y/n), it’s nice to meet you but Chandler we gotta go.”

     “Right, sorry guys, Joey and I have to bounce.” Chandler takes a last swig of the coffee in his hand and heads towards the door.

     “Knicks game,” Joey adds in explanation as he follows his friend, making to leave the apartment. “It was nice meeting you.”

     He winks at you. You give them a small wave and then they’re out the door. 

     Phoebe turns around, “So seeing as it’s finally just us girls—”

     Ross clears his throat. 

     “—oh right and Ross.” She gestures toward him and Monica snorts. She quickly covers her mouth, looking embarrassed. 

     “No no, I have to go anyway,” Ross says, with an air of confidence, “I have a date tonight.”

      “You?” Monica raises an eyebrow.

     “Yes,” Ross insists, “just because your love life is non-existent doesn’t mean mine is.”

     “Hey! I go on dates.”

     “With other people?”

     Monica wraps her arms around her torso. “I just haven’t found the right person yet.”

     You almost sense her glance over at you but you keep your eyes trained on her brother as he too walks towards the door. 

     “Bye,” you call out as he leaves. You like him and enjoyed the way he bantered with his sister. It reminds you of yourself and Phoebe. You two have always been close—closer than you are with Ursula—but you definitely get on each others nerves sometimes. 

     But mostly you liked hearing that Monica’s romantic life was less than perfect. It makes you feel better about your own love life—or lack of it—that someone as beautiful and kind as Monica is having trouble too. 

     You find yourself watching her as she and Rachel talk in tones you can’t hear over in the kitchen while Rachel helps her friend unload her remaining cleaning supplies from the bags on the table. Monica tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and you watch as she carries an armful of her purchases across the room.

     “I can tell you like her,” you hear Phoebe whisper from behind you. 

     “What?” You say, caught off guard.

     “I see the way you look at her. Like she’s, I don’t know, a goddess or something.”

     “I do not!” But you find yourself blushing in spite of yourself. 

     “It’s ok, I can tell she likes you too,” your sister offers encouragingly.

     “How could you possibly tell that?” You run your fingers through your hair nervously.

     “I know these things, (Y/n),” she says with a hint of mischief in her eyes, “I’m kind of a love genius.” She waggles her eyebrows. 

     “Oh yeah? And that’s why you haven’t been in a relationship in four months?” You tease. 

     “Ok, my powers don’t work on myself, you clearly don’t know how the cupid thing works.” 

      You laugh and she puts a hand on your arm, her ringed fingers laying gently on your sleeve. 

     “But seriously. I saw her looking at you too. And come on, she let you sit on the furniture with your shoes on! She’s never let me do that. Plus, Monica’d be lucky to have you. Your sweet and funny and pretty and, oh, you’ve had, like, no cavities! I mean anyone would be crazy if they didn’t want to go out with you.”

     “Thanks Pheebs,” you say, laughing and giving her a quick hug, “I love you”

     “I love you too, now go over there and tell her how you feel.”

      You glance at Monica, now sitting on the couch, a magazine in her hand as she shows something to Rachel. You look back at your sister with an eyebrow raised.

      “Yeah, no. I just met her and I’m not exactly the type of person to just go up and ask people out.”

     Phoebe gives you a look and then pushes you over to the living room and sits you down in the same chair you had previously occupied. “Hey guys, I forgot I have an, um, appointment with my psychic today that I just, like, totally forgot about so I’d better be off.” 

     She looks at Rachel pointedly, “Rach, would you care to accompany me?”

     “Uh, me? Why Pheebs?” She responds.

     “Oh, I don’t know. I just sensed this aura around you,” she gestures wildly with her arms, “and I thought you might need a psychic so….”

     Rachel, seeming to suddenly understand something, gets up quickly. “You know what you’re right! I felt a little weird this morning but I thought it was just bloating.” She shrugs and goes over to get her jacket.

     Monica turns around and fixes a look on Phoebe, “What so I don’t have an ‘aura’?” She puts air quotes around the last word.

     “No, sorry,” Phoebe says apologetically but then turns to you and Rachel, coughing, and mumbles a little too loudly, “Noteverything’sacompetition”

     Monica crosses her arms and turns around.  

     “So,” Phoebe starts and the other woman turns around to look at her again. “This is perfect because now you and (Y/n) can get to know each other until we get back. Ok? Bye Mon, bye sis!” She winks at you. You slap your forehead internally at Phoebe’s obviousness. You hope Monica didn’t notice. Phoebe shuts the door quickly and then they are gone, leaving you and Monica alone in her apartment. 

     You both turn to look at each other at Phoebe’s hasty departure. For a moment, the only sound is the far away noise of traffic until finally you decide to break the silence.

     “So, you know what I do, but what about you?” In reality, you knew exactly what she did because your sister talked about her friends to you all the time and you loved hearing about every detail. But you had to make some small talk. 

     “I’m the head chef at Allesandro’s restaurant,” she says, obviously proud of the fact. “I kind of like to cook.”

     “Phoebe says your food is amazing,” you compliment. 

     “Maybe I could cook for you sometime while you’re here? If you want.” She adds hurriedly. 

    “I’d like that,” you smile. 

     “So, what’s it like in (Y/h/t)? I’ve always wanted to go there.”

     “It’s nice,” you say “but I miss Phoebe a lot…it’s nice seeing how great her friends are here though. I mean, I’ve loved meeting all of you and seeing how caring and fun you are. She’s lucky to have you as a friend.”

     “She’s lucky to have a sister like you.” 

      You pick up a drink from the coffee table and hold it up in the air. “To Phoebe and how lucky she is to have us,” you say playfully.

     Monica picks up another cup and touches it to yours in a cheers, laughing.

     “You know, she’s told me all sorts of crazy stories about you…all of you,” you say. 

     Monica looks mildly frightened, “What has she told you?”

     “Oh, well nothing that embarrassing,” you lie. She gives you a look.

     “Ok, we’ll she did tell me that you dated your ex’s son…” 

     “What? I can’t believe she told you that! I’m going to kill her!” Monica looks outraged.

     “Told me what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You look at her knowingly and she smiles. “Yeah, Phoebe’s a lot of things but she’s not exactly…discreet.”

     Monica laughs, “I know!”

     You laugh with her. “So, are you still seeing him? The son, I mean.” 

     “No, that was a while ago,” she points at herself now, “Hasn’t been on a date in months remember?” 

     She pauses and then asks you casually, almost too casually, “Well, I-I guess it’s my turn to ask a question so…are you seeing anyone right now?” 

     You take a deep breath. “No, I’m not. Like you said, I just haven’t found the right person.” You mean to stop talking there but you find yourself continuing. “Sometimes I feel like I’m waiting for something that doesn’t exist though, you know? Like what if I’m missing so many wonderful opportunities because I’m holding out for something unrealistic. I don’t know, I guess I’m just an idealist. I just want someone who cares about me and who understands me, someone who I can love and be loved by, not just something superficial, you know?”

     Monica looks at you intensely. You try not to squirm under her gaze as you fidget with the ties on your shirt and contemplate everything you just said. Usually you don’t open up to people that much or so quickly, but there’s something about Monica you just trust. You just felt like she’d understand. 

     Monica leans forward. “Wow, I-I totally know what you mean. So, is it ok if I ask you another question?” 

     At your nod she continues slowly.

     “If you did, um, have an instinct about someone…you know, that you thought was attractive and kind and charming and someone that you felt like you’d regret not having a chance with, would you maybe ask them to get coffee with you sometime?”

     She’s leaned forward even more and you two are close now. You breathe in as you look into her blue eyes and the way she’s looking at you, almost shyly.

     “I think I would,” you manage. 

     “Would you like to get coffee sometime?” Monica asks you. 

     “I would.” And you smile bigger than you have in weeks. Monica places a hand on yours. 

     At that moment, your sister walks in the apartment. 

     “Ok, you’d think after forgetting my ‘spiritual coat’ this many times—” she stops abruptly when she sees you and Monica, sitting there so close to each other, your hands interlocked. 

    “So you? And you?” Phoebe trails off and you and Monica both look at each other and then nod. “Oh yay, see I knew it!” She cheers. 

     You look at your sister, looking so happy for you and at Monica, looking at you the same way you feel about her and you think how lucky you are to have these people in your life and how glad you are you came to New York with your sister 

     “Well, that coffee isn’t going to drink itself,” you say to Monica. 

     “Let’s go,” she says. You both head towards the door. 

     Phoebe raises her eyebrows at you, “You two kids have fun!”

     You look back at Phoebe and mouth, “Thanks, Pheebs”

     “What are sisters for, (Y/n).” She smiles.

     You smile back as you follow Monica outside, shutting the door to the apartment and possibly opening the door to a wonderful new relationship. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ˋ°•*⁀➷ i hope you enjoyed this!! i love writing for the friends characters so much and i hope i did them justice. have a wonderful day/night <3

[missielynne]

More Friends asks if you want: Rachel x Ross, Rachel x Joey, both or neither?! Do you prefer the first half of the series or the second half overall? And name five UOs about the series ---I'm guessing one of them is that Rachel is your least favorite of the female Friends? (Mine too, btw, so I'd love to hear why!)

Rachel and Joey brotp for sure, but romantically...neither. First half of the series overall because it always happens a lot with me that when characters start having babies and things, I just get less interested.

and UOs:

I don't like Ross and Rachel. It just doesn't do anything thing for me.

Rachel is my least favorite of the female Friends because I guess I've never really been drawn to her type. Like you give me a show and you have the main character who's the Rachel, the lead, and you're supposed to root for them, but they also have a quirky (or otherwise characterized underdog) friend, I will always go for the friend rather than the lead because the friend always seems more entertaining. (Although I was surprised when I started watching it to realize that I didn't actively HATE Rachel as as a character. She can be really endearing. I just don't enjoy watching her the way I do Monica and Phoebe.)

I am not a fan of all the kids that popped up toward the end. That really made it drag for me.

I don't know if it's a UO, but I didn't like Chandler and Janice, and as a character she kind of grated on me.

I hated Rachel getting off the plane. I know it's supposed to be this big romantic ting but...no.

[starchasing-cryptid]

thank u for the tag!!!!

s - seven by taylor swift

t - the moon will sing by the crane wives

a - angel baby by troye sivan

r - r u mine? by arctic monkeys

c - chasing that feeling by tomorrow x together

h - how much by joe cho

a - attention by newjeans

s - stop this song (loveseick melody) by paramore

i - i'm your man by mitski

n - new zealand by second thoughts

g - guilty by taemin

c - cool with you by newjeans

r - right where you left me by taylor swift

y - (you) on my arm by leith ross

p - punisher by phoebe bridgers

t - tinnitus by tomorrow x together

i - i know the end by phoebe bridgers

d - drunk-dazed by enhypen

no pressure tags!! @wewillbeinfrance @seductive-snail <3

Thanks for the tag @cozy-fish-crow !! :D

spell your url with song titles and then tag as many people as there are letters

S - Satellite by Smash Mouth

P - Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head by They Might Be Giants

A - All Alone by Gorillaz

G - Godzilla (feat. Juice WRLD) by Eminem

H - HUMBLE. by Kendrick Lamar

E - El Apagón by Bad Bunny

T - Take Me to Church by Hozier

T - THATS WHAT I WANT by Lil Nas X

O - On Melancholy Hill by Gorillaz

N - Neverita by Bad Bunny

A - Another First Kiss by They Might Be Giants

P - Poker Face by Lady Gaga

L - LAMENTED by TOOPOOR

A - American Idiot by Green Day

T - Till I Collapse by Eminem

E - Efecto by Bad Bunny

Tagging (no pressure!): @iworshipsappho @stygianirondiangelo @daylightsimon @altruistic-meme @tailoredshirt @theamberarchive @foxtriestobiteandmaimandkilland (lol good luck if you try this cayden) @jasminetea-nightsky @darktwistedgenderplural @queenslayerthepoettt @vasilisain @mrfloofysox @gothamsdefender69 aand I can't really think of 3 last names but take an open tag if anyone else wants to join in! :D

[cold-r-ain-in-june]

phoebe bridgers, "moon song" // ryan ross, "lonely moonlight" // a.w.m. // m.k. // gentle.earth // mary balogh, "snow angel" // unknown // gentle.earth // lil nas x, "thats what i want" // @the-little-red-queen, "you are keith"

[starryeyesxx]

[mtvswatches]

f.r.i.e.n.d.s. ☕ the one with the blackout

[itshansolo]

Ross is “the worst” (part 2 of ?)

[steppedoutofastory]

Here's how FRIENDS should have ended: So Phoebe should have gotten a record deal with some weird little indie company. Monica and Chandler adopting was great- but moving to the burbs was lame, they should have sublet at least. Something about them bothers me because they are like 30 year olds who act like 50 year olds. Maybe they could do something young for once?? OKAY ABOUT ROSS AND RACHEL AND JOEY. So, Rachel and Joey should have ended up together. They were the most functional friendship-turned couple in the show. Joey helped Rachel lighten up and act her (young) age. And Joey matures considerably with Rachel. He WANTS to be a one-woman man. He WANTS to take care of her and her baby. If anyone could make him settle down, it's Rachel- and she wouldn't even have to force him to do it! And let's be real, Ross and Rachel are toxic. Their back and forth went on way past its expiration date, and became totally inappropriate once they had a kid together. Ross had his head up his ass for the entire series. He was obsessed with self image to the point of manipulating the people around him (I can't be three-divorce guy wah wah wah). And Rachel thinks he's a dork! She looks down on him and has for literally the entire series. So it would have been way better if the series had ended with Joey proposing to Rachel and them having a courthouse wedding and them settling down in Monica and Chandler's big purple apartment (big enough for three if not four). And they live happily as the executive and the actor. Hopefully he'd land a big account (national pizza commercial perhaps?) Just as icing on the cake. BUT WAIT WHAT ABOUT ROSS. Don't worry. Just because he doesn't belong with Rachel doesn't mean he shouldn't be happy. So what happens with Ross is that Carol and Susan are struggling with Ben. Susan is faced with the dilema- she has a great promotion, but it's hours out of NYC. Ross and Carol and Susan get in a big fight. They don't want to uproot Ben and have him unable to spend time with his dad, but this is too good to pass up. So they work it out and they ask Ben what he wants. He surprises them by asking to move in with Dad. DUN DUN DUM! Finally Ross is a full-time parent with a reason to calm the hell down because now he has to take care of a tween boy and guide him through adolescence- and deal with the issues he acquired in his own that have haunted him through the series. Tl;dr Joey and Rachel 5evr, Ross needs to step the hell up, Chandler and Monica need to have fun (and cute lil babies), Phoebe is probably fine. She could have kids though. She really loved the triplets.

[enfant-du-fleurs]

on the horns of a dilemma part 1 // Jake Kiszka x Female Reader

WARNINGS: angst, strong language, cheating, mention of alcohol and other substances.

NOTE: Hi! Well, as you all can see, this is my first fanfiction EVER, so maybe this could be very shitty, but I put all my blood, sweat and tears on this, and I’m not joking with putting my tears on this because I was crying meanwhile I was writing this, so… enjoy it. Also, english is not my first language but if I write my fanfics in my language... nobody is going to read it, so pardon me if there is a mistake c: There is A LOT of songs references.

Words: +11,000

Pairing: Jake Kiszka x Female Reader

SUMMARY: Jake is one of your closest friends since you were on middle school, they have grown up together, but you always had a crush on him, you never considered yourself attractive enough to be with him. Now, Jake is getting married and you're realizing that maybe if you had been a little braver a while ago, things would be very different. Everyone is tangled up on the horns of a dilemma.

PLAYLIST

SEE YOU SOON – BEABADOOBEE

I WILL - MITSKI

MOON SONG – PHOEBE BRIDGERS

ANNA (GO TO HIM) – THE BEATLES

THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL (COVER)– CARLA BRUNI

KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU (COVER) – ANGIE MCMAHON

CRY – CIGARRETTES AFTER SEX

BACK TO THE OLD HOUSE – THE SMITHS

TAKE CARE – BEACH HOUSE

I'D HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT - LEITH ROSS

WIFE – MITSKI

_____________________________________________________________

Y/N’s POV:

Dear Diary,

Here I am after about... 13 years, maybe? Maybe more. I'm an adult now and I feel stupid to write here again, but maybe that's what I need, because if I tell this to someone in my circle of friends, they will surely see me as the most horrible and dumbest person in the world, although maybe I am.

As I had already written a long time ago, I've always loved Jake, perhaps when I met him, I only appreciated him as a good friend, but over time, Jake inevitably won my heart. When I was about 15 years old, I was finally able to accept that I liked Jake, but I didn't want to say or do anything about it, I didn't want to damage our friendship because it was one of the most important things to me after growing up a bit alone in such a small town. I just didn't want to lose him.

In addition to the fact that I never consider myself pretty enough for him to like me, because… he was always a very handsome boy, he got along with everyone and had many girls behind him, but the best of all is the way he treats everyone, always friendly, looking into your eyes, paying attention to every word and movement, these details made many people (like me) fall at their feet. Their girlfriends were gorgeous and I... I was just like the song; I was a teenage dirtbag compared to all of them.

I saw him fall in love many times, I listened to him every time he told me about some girl he liked, as well as every time his heart was broken even though mine was five times more broken, but I always had a piece of advice to tell him. There was a time when Jake would ask me a lot if I liked someone, but I always told him that no one in particular, always tried to change the subject of the conversation by making the worst jokes that could exist. He also saw me have some "romantic" approaches with other people, but nothing serious, in fact, I've always tried not to tell him if I liked someone, because I could never fall in love in the full sense of the word with someone other than him.

One time, when we were... roughly 16 or 17 years old, we were at an "underground" party with Josh (it was our first party of many) where we ended up terribly drunk. I still don't understand how the police never arrested us for possession of alcohol. Well... that's not the point, the important thing here is that on that day, precisely on that day, on a random May 16, he gave me a long, passionate kiss out of nowhere, he took my face in his hands, walked over without warning, and just kissed me. Why did he kiss me? He did it because he was... drunk, as far as I know, that’s why he did it, not because he had feelings for me, even Josh was shocked by that, but I remember being petrified processing what the hell was going on. The next day I had asked Jake if he remembered what had happened at the party, but he was sure he didn't. The answer was clear, he was never attracted to me.

Just as I watched Jake grow up and he watched me grow up, I also saw how his dreams were coming true, he was finally living his best life, he had the band of his dreams along with his friend and brothers. What more could he ask for? I was happy for him, genuinely happy to see him on stage shining with his family because yes, Danny was his brother too. I attended almost all the concerts of the band and I was moved in the same way because it filled me with pride to see him at school events, then in bars to huge venues, it's something indescribable and priceless.

Now... why did I do a little recap? the problem (well, at least for me it is a problem) is that obviously a lot of time has passed and although I repeatedly had the opportunity to tell Jake how I feel, but I just never had the guts to tell him and the big problem with this is that... he is going to get married in a couple of months, he hasn't told me personally yet, in fact I found out through Josh a couple of hours ago, I don't know why Jake hasn't told me yet and I'd rather not know, but anyway tomorrow we'll go to a cafe to have breakfast, well… we are no longer young enough to spend a whole night glued to the bar, we can’t  resist the same amount of alcohol in contrast to everything we used to drink when we were younger, although it’s not like we are extremely old now, but… is not the same as it was.

He has been with his girlfriend for a long time, I know her, she’s an angel, a very nice person and... I understand why Jake loves her so much, she is intelligent, nice, beautiful and is the type of person that makes you feel calm. As much as I want to, I can't hate her. I never saw her as competition because that idea seems absurd to me, besides there is no point of comparison, Jake is the Sun, she is the Moon and I am not even a star, they complement each other quite well.

______________________________________________________________

The next day, you went to the usual cafe in downtown Nashville, you were a little late and worried about leaving Jake waiting for so long, but when you entered the cafe, you didn't see him at first glance, which crushed your heart, but after looking closely, at the most hidden table, you identified his back. Despite the years, he kept his long hair, that day his hair was slicked back, and he was wearing his white cropped shirt. The years still didn't pass through his face. By this time, Jake had already removed his mustache, so he looked like he was back in his early 20s.

You gave him a little pat on the shoulder and proceeded to sit in front of him; seeing you, he greeted you with a friendly smile.

“Forgive me for being so late, I hope you didn't have to wait so long” you said while you noticed a peculiar shine in his eyes.

“Bah, don’t worry, If you took a hundred years to arrive, I would stay waiting for you all those hundred years” His answer made you feel a slight tingling in your stomach just like when you were a teenager “You are my best friend, I would wait for you as long as it was and especially because I have something magnificent to tell you” continued breaking all the charm, again -the best friend-.

“Oh yeah, well, go ahead” you said with a low-key forced smile.

“Okay, but first… let's eat something, I already ordered some pancakes, you just need to order something”

The waitress came over so you could order your breakfast; since your stomach hurt from being nervous, you only ordered a small sandwich and chamomile tea. As you and Jake ate, you kept glancing at him to see if he noticed you were looking at him and tell you why you were having breakfast together, you knew very well that it was to tell you about his wedding, you wanted to hear it come out of his mouth, but at the same time... you also wanted him not to say it and instead of inviting you to his wedding, you wanted him to tell you that his relationship with his partner had finished and then escape together from the cafeteria riding a horse with a golden mane, although you knew perfectly well that it was something very far from reality since he was apparently madly in love with his future wife. Even though you loved him, you felt bad for even imagining in the silliest way that he might change his mind about the wedding.

Jake lost his gaze in your tea to take a deep breath.

"Remember when... we said we hated Tears in Heaven?" he asked you meanwhile a giggle came out from his mouth.

Your eyes widened like two blooming flowers upon hearing his question and you answered serenely accompanied by a goofy smile "Of course I remember. And to think that Eric Clapton has praised you many times, only if he knew."

"It's that we had heard it so many times until we hated it."

“Yeah... but it's sad that baby died.” you took a sip of your tea taking away your gaze from him.

There was a moment of silence again, but Jake broke it with a sigh, "We've grown up together and we've come so far. Who knew we'd do so well in life? You as a journalist and me as a musician, everything is amazing, looking back at the things we've accomplished and now that we're in our early thirties...time goes by so fast."

"It's been a long time... now we're two adults who are doing... well, you're doing great."

"You're doing amazing too, you're one of the most recognized journalists in America."

You blushed letting out a shy smile that gradually faded "Well yes... but, I don't know, lately I haven't been feeling all that well emotionally. Sometimes I want to forget everything."

Jake frowned at your last words "Why? Is there something you want to talk about?" he leaned towards you and was looking for your gaze even though he sensed that you didn't want to look him in the eye.

"It's just... I don't even know why I feel like this" you lied "I think now I'm regretting not having done many things when I had the opportunity to do it" your gaze was lost to avoid eye contact, but Jake’s gaze was so piercing that it was hard not to see his eyes “But I don't want to ruin our breakfast so...”

"If you need to tell me something, I'll always be there for you, it doesn't matter if it's something silly for you, I'll always listen to you" he rubbed his thumb against the back of your cold hand, although you wanted to have physical contact with him, you slowly removed your hand. He was a little disappointed that you took your hand away from him, but on one hand he understood and continued "Well, we better change the subject of the conversation, don't you think?" you nodded and he continued "So... I told you to come here to tell you something extremely" this was where you realized that he was going to tell you what you already knew when you saw how his eyes lit up and his cheeks were pink; he looked genuinely happy "I haven't told you because like I told you…I can't process it but…I'm getting married!"

You feigned astonishment as you took another sip of your tea, but your heart was being crushed. As you set the cup down on the table, you looked up to meet Jake's eyes with a smile that hid pain. "Oh, Jakey. That's great! When is the wedding?"

"I knew you would be happy!" he took a sip of his tea "It will be May 16, but it won't be here, it will be in Scotland. Of course, you are invited, in fact, I would like you to help me a little with the organization"

When you heard the wedding date, you felt an emptiness in your chest and your eyes quickly began to fill with tears. The desire to cry betrayed you and began to fall from your eyes.

“Oh my god, Y/N! Are you okay?” he asked tenderly.

"Yes, yes, of course I am, I'm just... I'm very happy for you and I'm crying with happiness. That's it" once again you lied and tried to wipe away your tears.

Jake showed his perfect smile again that could collide the whole town "You had scared me for a moment" he giggled "But it makes me happy that you are happy and especially for accompanying me in important moments."

You couldn't feel bad about him, you couldn't hate him, or his fiancée, but you did hate the fact that things could be different.

While Jake was eating his breakfast calmly, you hurried to finish yours, you didn't want to be there with him anymore because you were going to keep crying and that was going to worry him.

Once you finished your sandwich and your tea you said "Well... my good old FRIEND" you made a clear emphasis on the word friend "I have to go because I have to prepare for an interview with... Tom Hiddleston, so that... I am very happy to see you and see that you are well and especially that you are getting married. As for your proposal to help you with the organization, I will have to check it and as soon as I know if I am not so busy, I will tell you" you asked for the bill of what you ate and as fast as you could... you left the cafe, not even Jake could tell you "goodbye" and on the one hand, that's how you wanted it to be because you didn't want to hear a "goodbye" from him. Also, about the interview with Tom Hiddleston, it was also fake but not impossible and you wanted to make him a little bit jealous since he knew how much you liked Tom Hiddleston when you were younger. Jake noticed that something wasn't right when he saw that later you didn't react the way he wanted, but far from feeling angry, he was very worried about you. He was hurt to see how gradually your behavior from "crying for happiness" changed to literally running away from there.

Once outside, you ran to your car and headed home. You didn't want to know anything about anyone. It was all so overwhelming it just made you want to kick Nashville to hell, be quiet and drive away.

_____________________________________________________________

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Y/N’s POV:

Dear Diary.

It’s me Y/N again being ridiculous and childish as always.

I went to breakfast with Jake to give me the damn news that he's getting married. He just wanted to see me there to tell me that he will have his wedding, he also wants me to help him with the organization and honestly, I can't do it, I couldn't bear to see him again, I feel so heartbroken and embarrassed by how I acted. I felt bad for having lied to him so many times in just one day.

I know I'm being fucking selfish, I know, but I've spent a lot of time hiding my feelings for fear of losing him and now I'm losing his friendship for being weird and losing him at the same time. I feel so stupid because I don't understand why I'm reacting this way right now as an adult, because honestly with all these negative feelings, I feel like when I was in high school, and I saw him with his girlfriend from back then.

It's impossible to hate them and I never will, it's impossible, they're both so lovely but they hurt me, but do you know what triggered my crying to come out? It was the damn date, the same day that Jake ever kissed me, that same day but from now...he's getting married. It disappoints me to know that day was only important to me, but I can't do anything about it, I can't force him to love me and after all... he deserves to be happy.

I don't know if I'll be able to attend his wedding, but I definitely won't be able to help him to organize it. I'll see what excuse I'll come up with to keep my distance. I know what I'm going to do is horrible, but I need to do something for the sake of my emotional stability.

______________________________________________________________

­­­­­­­­ To "calm down a bit", you spent the rest of the morning and afternoon watching movies like "My Best Friend's Wedding" and other romcoms to maybe comfort yourself a bit. You wanted to fool yourself that there was a chance you could cancel all plans and stay with Jake.

At some point in their friendship, they had said that if they both stayed single, they would get married and be together because they got along quite well, but the paths of life are not always as we want and although there were always people in love with you, you were always the maid of honor but never the bride.

When the sun set, you took the beer out of your fridge and gave in to the urge to drink one after another until you were completely drunk, although you were always aware of your actions while you were under the influence of alcohol, this time you stopped worrying about what you would do, you were so drunk that you bawled the lyrics of all those songs that expressed your pain, from Dolly Parton to The Smiths with "Back To The Old House", returning with ABBA and for the punchline: "Anna" by The Beatles. What you needed most was a hug and although anyone could give you a simple hug, you needed to feel the warm arms of your beloved Jake around you, but his hugs didn’t belong to you, they belonged to someone else, and it had always been that way. Your phone started ringing over and over again, checking who was calling you saw that the one calling you was Jake. You didn't feel like talking and you felt sorry that he realized you were crying.

"Jake?" you took the call "What happened? Do you need anything?" you asked letting out a tiny sob.

On the other end of the phone, Jake noticed that you were sobbing "Are you okay? It's just... I'm calling to ask if you're okay, I heard a weird sound and, in the morning, at breakfast, you left very quickly. You were fine and then... you left me"

When he said the last thing, your heart was crushed and you remained silent although the alcohol was nothing to cause you to confess everything, your brain was reluctant to say anything inappropriate "Oh... it's that... I told you, I had many things... to... do" your voice betrayed the amount of alcohol you were drinking "and... I had to... go"

"Are you drunk?"

"Um... kinda. Why?"

"Y/N, I've known you for a long time, obviously I'll know when you're drunk... and without me"

Jake tried to joke, but instead of making you laugh it made you sadder.

"Yes... I'm drunk, terribly drunk and yes, I'm also crying over a stupid movie. You know how sensitive I am"

Jake chuckled. "What movie are you watching?"

"Nope, I'm not going to tell you the name of this fucking movie, I don't want to ruin your day, or your week, or your month, or your life..."

"Okay? Well... I just wanted to know how you were because I was intrigued by what happened this morning and I even got upset and thought that you were mad or that I had done something that bothered you... next time you get drunk, invite me over, okay?"

"Yes Jacob... it's fine, I'll buy the drinks next time" your breathing (now calmer) could be heard.

"So... Are you sure you’re okay?"

"Yes... I am. Why? I already told you why I was crying"

"No, no, not for nothing" he sighed "I think... it's time to hang up. Anything you need I'm just a phone call or text away from you, well… you know. So bye!"

You wiped your nose with the back of your hand "Okay, I'll call you later" you moved the phone away from your ear and hung up.

Talking with him was relaxing, especially since he didn't mention anything about his wedding, apart from the fact that he had cared for you, it was very comforting to know that although his heart belonged to someone else, he would always be there for you.

Although you had kept your feelings to yourself for YEARS and had already seen him with several couples throughout this year, you had never been so scared and so sad as now. You needed immediate advice, but you were too embarrassed to give the context.

The first person you thought of was Josh, just like Jake, knows each other very well and was always close, plus you were sure that he suspected about your feelings towards his twin since the day of that mythical kiss. Either way, he was going to find out.

You texted Josh to come over telling them you needed some advice, he always had something to tell you and his advice was good thanks to his honesty, sometimes it hurt and many times it was far from what you wanted to hear, but without a doubt... it was what you had to do, and even if his mouth was full of reason, though that didn't mean you always put his advice into practice.

Josh responded quickly and agreed to come to your house, luckily his house wasn't far from yours, so it didn't take him long to get there. Once in your house, when you opened the door, he saw your red and swollen eyes, he felt your sadness and without further ado, he gave you the warmest hug that your heart needed.

"What happened?" you separated from him so that he could go inside the house.

Once inside and the two of you sitting in different armchairs you collapsed in tears "It's just... I feel so selfish for feeling like this, I should be happy and not feel so miserable."

"But if it's making you feel bad, I think it's better to let what you feel out, don't you think?"

"Just… please, I know I'm going to sound stupid, and I don't want you to judge me."

"Why should I judge you? I'm here for a reason and it's not the first time you trust me with something."

You took a deep breath to prepare yourself for what you were going to say since that would be the first time you would say it out loud and to someone else "The thing is that... it's that... I love Jake and always It's been like that but I'm a horrible person who never had the guts to tell him. Now he's going to marry a wonderful woman and he'll never know how much I love him."

Josh was extremely surprised at your confession; both of his eyes were wide open that it seemed that at any moment they would pop out “Damn...” He was silent for a few seconds to be able to process the information "I just don't know what to tell you this time and it must be one of the most horrible feelings. Why didn't you say anything to him?"

"Because I'm a coward... just because of that, because I was always embarrassed to tell him. Seeing him as he almost always got away with beautiful and intelligent girls, there was simply no chance for me, so I just watched as he was happy."

"I don't know if it's appropriate to tell you this right now" Josh sighed "but maybe if you had told him before, things would be extremely different now. Don't tell him that I told you, but some years ago he had feelings for you too, he told me almost every night, but he never did anything about it because even though you are his best friend, he always felt that you were a little cold, so he was afraid of being rejected and throwing the friendship away” he rolled his eyes “Fuck, you two are so dumb as hell. I bet if he finds out about this he's going to collapse."

"Collapse in what sense?" you said between sobs.

"Collapse in the sense that he's going to feel like an idiot" he covered his face with both hands.

"And if he loved me too, why didn't he do anything? Why did he go with other girls? Was I only his second choice? I have so many questions... that the more I think, the more it hurts."

"It's not like you were second choice to him, just that he's a cowardly fool, plus if I had no idea about you liked him, I'll bet my throat and left foot he has no idea either."

"I believe you, but it's hard for me to understand because even the date of his wedding will be on very special dat, at least for me"

"May 16" you said at the same time.

"See, you do remember that party and he doesn't, he never remembered that he kissed me"

"I had understood that at some point you two had kissed, but... I don't know why he chose that day specifically"

"Because he doesn't remember and maybe he did it before, but nowadays, I assure you that he doesn't remember"

"Assuming he finds out about this. Would you like him to dump his girlfriend?"

You kept silent because if you said yes, you were afraid Josh thinking badly of you "No, I don't want that to happen. I just want him to be happy and knowing him, knowing me, I think the best thing would be go away from him, it would be the best thing I can do, for my mental health, for his happiness and mine too. It wouldn't be fair to his fiancée if he left her on the eve of something so important."

"Sometimes you put others above yourself and that makes you not be honest with yourself, but I get it and if you think go away from Jake would make you feel better, it’s okay." he sat next to you to give you a hug again "Of course we would miss you a lot, but it's very understandable." he rubbed your shoulder with his strong hand.

"I would miss you guys a lot too" you sobbed "and in fact, I'm not going to attend their wedding or maybe I'll go for a while, but I don't think I can stand it. To make matters worse, he asked me to help him with the organization, but... I don't know how to tell him no because I don't want to lie to him anymore, that was enough lies, today I told him I had to interview Tom Hiddleston to get away from him."

"Why don't you write him a letter? You're good at writing and maybe it's easier for you to write about you feel than to tell him"

"Well... that would be less humiliating, but I think I would have to find the most prudent moment to give it to him"

You two continued the conversation, Josh made you laugh but sometimes the crying came back and you cursed yourself because you felt your behavior was childish but Josh made you understand that your feelings were valid, after all you spent SO MANY years holding them back and at some point moment, like a bomb, they were going to explode, and although some people say that time heals all, time never healed your love for Jake.

When Josh left, you were already calmer, down to earth and you didn't feel dizzy either, so you took a blank sheet of paper and a pencil, it was here where you would leave all your love for Jake.

______________________________________________________________

­­­­­­­­­­­­Dear Jacob,

First, I want to thank you for so many years of friendship, for so many experiences together, drunkenness, concerts, sad moments and of course, happy moments. I'm glad to know how much we spent together.

I recently found out that at some point, you used to feel something for me, something more that you wouldn't feel for a friend, but you never said anything because you were afraid that I would reject you, although that didn’t stop you from going your way. For better or worse, these feelings...were and are mutual to this day, however, my pride never let me be honest even with myself, and I didn't have the guts to tell you face to face either, but now it's too late.

This letter is not to reproach you or complain, but this is to tell you how much I love you and that I want you to be happy, but just as I want you to be happy, I also want to be happy too after repressing my feelings and desires for a very long time, so it's my time to go. Although we are adults, I want you to know I need time to grow and to exist. I don't want you to feel guilty, finally the one who fell in love was me.

I want to leave you in peace because you deserve to be happy, you and your fiancée are two amazing people who deserve everything, I want your dreams to continue to come true, that your life with her is prosperous and that the love you have between you stays strong. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but please don't look for me, I just know that I'll come back at the right time. I’ll take advantage of this trip to grow emotionally and professionally, I think I will be in Latin America to continue doing my job as a journalist. But please, again I implore you not to look for me, we both must live and continue our lives.

As you can guess, I won’t be able to assist to your wedding, I know that you are probably thinking that I am selfish, but I’m doing this for the good of both of us, it wouldn’t be healthy even for you

Promise me you'll be fine and happy.

Without more to say, thank you for everything, I will always be grateful to you, and I understand that things happen for a reason, and I love you, I love you so much that that is why I am leaving you so that we can exist.

I have no hard feelings, so... I’ll let you go, and I love you Jacob, but you're not mine.

See you soon.

Sincerely, Y/N

______________________________________________________________

While you were writing, the tears were present, remembering every beautiful moment you had with him, from the time he sang to you on your birthday with his beautiful smile, the first concert you attended together, the prom, when he announced that a label record company offered them a contract. Thanks to the friendship between you and Jake, you learned a lot of things, you lived the most wonderful experiences, but it was time to close cycles, perhaps in Latin America you would find another vision of things, start over, and maybe meet another person with whom to share beautiful moments as well as with Jake, but with reciprocated feelings for the other.

You decided to go to sleep because you had that tired feeling that comes after crying a lot. What motivated you a little bit was thinking that tomorrow would be a different day and that anything could await you. Although it was difficult to admit it, there was still a small hope that Jake would tell you that all this time he has loved you with madness and passion, even if it sounded silly and fanciful.

After sleeping like a baby, you woke up tangled with the sheets of your bed, you felt your pillow a little wet, you thought it could have been your saliva, but it was because even when you were asleep you cried a little.

You rubbed your eyes to see a little clearer and thus get up, once out of bed, you immediately went for a glass of water. You took your phone and there were several missed calls from Jake, when you saw the notifications, you felt your stomach shrink and you were even tempted not to call him back to unsettle him a bit, but you couldn't do that kind of thing to him.

“Hi, what’s up?” you greeted.

"Are you okay? Are you feeling okay?"

"Jacob, I don't know what you're talking about. Why do you say that?" you were really disconcerted because although obviously you weren't well, it was strange that he was worried out of nowhere.

"Oh…it's just, well, I'm not supposed to tell you this" he paused a bit.

"Tell me what?"

"It's just...I was talking to Josh last night and honestly...we were talking about you for most of the call. He's worried about you, he told me he'd been to see you and that you looked really bad, like sick and depressed, so I told him that it made sense because I told him what happened at the cafe"

You started to worry because you thought Josh had ratted you out, but you decided not to go any further.

"Did he tell you just that?"

"Yes, it was just that. Why?"

"No, no, it's just... he has a point"

"Y/N, please how can I help you? I'm shocked and worried for you as you have no idea"

You didn't answer, you stayed silent, and you could only hear how you were breathing. You wanted to cry, but you were able to contain your tears.

"It's just... emotionally I haven't felt good, I'm far from feeling good and I've repressed myself for a long time to the point that it's affecting me mentally"

"If you want to tell me something specific, I'm here, I listen to you and if you want, I can drive you home. Whatever you need"

"I have many things to tell you, there are many things you should know but now is not the right time" you sighed "Is that why you called me?"

"Oh... well, in this case, I understand that you don't want to talk about this right now, but when you tell me we can meet" you imagined his smile at that moment "and yes, I called you precisely because of that, also I felt that our last call was a biting and I got even more concerned about what Josh told me."

"Oh, sorry if I sounded rude or something, but I really wasn't very open to talking to you."

"Did I do or say something to upset you?"

"I don't want to go into details, but it's not something you need to worry about. In fact, I have something to give you as soon as possible."

"Well, I have the night off tonight, we could have a drink. If you want, I could ask my fiancée to join us and spend quality time the three of us"

You rolled your eyes because the last thing you wanted was for someone else to be there, you just wanted to have time with him, alone "Come on Jake, I don't want to be the third wheel" you snorted.

"But it's not the first time we'd do it, we did a double date once, do you remember? You were with that guy who was a Weezer fan"

"Pff... that happened a long time ago" you forced a giggle "of course I remember, but you said it yourself, it was a double date and now I would go completely alone. I would feel more comfortable if it was just the two of us. I don't have nothing against her, but it's something a little... more personal"

"Okay? I think I know where this is going"

"No Jake, you have no idea, I bet you"

Jake laughed "It's not like you're going to tell me that all this time you were in love with me, you're so unpredictable that I could expect anything but that from you"

The slight smile that was on your face was disappearing, sometimes you felt like pushing him or kicking his butt because of how silly he was, finally you didn't expect much because even though he was cute and you loved him a lot, he was a man.

"Don't get your hopes up, Jake" you tried to joke although you were discouraged "but aside from any joke or whatever you think it is... it's something extremely important, almost confidential, but as I told you, I won't give you more details"

"Okay, okay, I get it" he made his usual giggle that made you feel butterflies in your stomach "At the usual bar?"

"Yep, the usual bar"

Throughout the day you were checking flights to Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico, it distracted you a little from the pain to decide which country you would go to start over. You finally chose to go to Mexico since you had family there and that way you wouldn't be so alone.

You were constantly stopping to think if what you were doing was the right thing, you even considered that you were being very impulsive, but you couldn't keep holding back like that either. It was now or never. You finally bought your ticket to Mexico City at 10:30am for tomorrow. After buying your ticket, you were looking for an Airbnb to stay for a week while you got an apartment and work there. Maybe you were being a little impulsive, but you knew it was best for Jake and you.

You were looking forward to the night, but your stomach hurt a little from the nerves, however it was something controllable. You planned almost everything you would say to him to avoid any undesirable situation, even if you were already in an undesirable situation. You most likely knew things weren't going to go your way, but you still stuck to your "plan."

Basically, your plan was to extend the conversation and just before leaving, you were going to give him your letter explaining that he had to read it when he was calm and comfortable, that it was not necessary for him to read at that moment, but alone.

It was time to go to the bar, you didn't try to get ready, it was just a pair of mom jeans, a plain black long-sleeved shirt, a cardigan, and a red scarf, it wasn't really cold, but you liked your scarf, besides that made you feel protected at times like these. Also, your makeup was very simple, you just put a little eyeliner that adorned your sad eyes. You took your letter and put it in an envelope, it had no decoration or anything like that, you just sprayed a little of your usual perfume so that it would not be something so apparently simple, because what really mattered was each word that was written on the sheet of paper.

On the way, you were playing with your fingers, also every so often you were rubbing your hands on your lap to remove the sweat from them. The driver saw you so nervous that he avoided making conversation with you, a gesture that you appreciated with a generous five stars as a review.

From outside you could hear the band that played that night in the bar, it was a cover band that didn't sound bad. By this time, Greta Van Fleet were already among the most popular bands in the United States, so it was common to hear everywhere followed by songs by Aerosmith, Queen and other rock greats, so you could hear from the parking lot that they were playing "Highway Tune", you immediately thought that if Jake was already inside, he was probably with a smile full of pride... or maybe he was carefully observing every movement of the guitarist to see if he was doing it right.  

You stopped before you texted Jake to see if he was here yet, if so he would probably be at the farthest table so it was important to know where he was. He took a while to answer you, but he had told you that he was indeed already at the bar.

Once inside, you looked for the table next to the window on the left side and there he was, he looked... calm and that's how you wanted to remember him.

He was watching you, his face lit up with a smile like that of a child who sees his mother after a long day at school.

"Y/N, it's good that you're here! I'm all ears, tell me what you want. Shall I ask you for something?"

"Jake! Wait, I'll go to ask for my drink, I'll be right back" you left your bag on the chair where you were going to sit and quickly went to order a rum and coke without ice and preferably more rum than coke. Once you had it in your hands, you took a sip and said to yourself "Tonight is going to be worth it if it's going to be our last night" when you returned to your place, you settled in front of Jake and gave him a look full of nostalgia.

"Hey Y/N What's up? Why are you looking at me like that?" he said worried as the band played "Anna" by the Beatles.

"It's just... all this fills me with nostalgia, and I would like things to be like before"

"But it hasn't been long since we last went out drinking with the boys."

"No, it's not that" you took a sip from your glass "I mean something else, we are becoming more and more adults and our lives are taking a different course due to small actions of the past"

"Why?" He took a long drink from his beer.

"It's just... every day I regret more of what I didn't do before and that makes me so sick that it's affecting my relationship with other people, even... with you" you took off your scarf and left it on the back of the chair.

"If so, I think you do not have to worry, we have so many years of friendship, we know everything about each other, we have listened to each other so much. Honestly, many of the best things would not have happened to me if I hadn't met you, in fact Greta Van Fleet wouldn't have had the same popularity that we have now" he smiled and took another drink, now shorter "now that I'm saying this, do you remember when everyone said that we were going to end up married?"

Your eyes widened like a pair of white plates and you shook your head, obviously you remembered perfectly well, but you pretended you didn't.

"They always thought that at some point we would end up together or something and look at us now. Our friendship will last until the end of the world, so if you feel bad... just tell me” You wanted to be angry with him for saying things so hurtful to you, but you couldn't be mad at him for two simple reasons: one, he had no idea how you felt about him and two, he was Jake.

"Jake, look, I have a lot of things to tell you, you have no idea how much I want to tell you everything that has me wrong, but it will be a little later, right now I want to clear my head, I know that we are here together to talk about what worries me , but first I want to be... happy because this may be the last time I see you"

Jacob immediately put on the most serious face you've ever seen "How could this be the last time I see you? What are you going to do?"

"Remember I told you I had something for you?"

He nodded.

"Well, it has something to do with -it-"

"But what about my wedding?" he paused with an incredulous face "Ah, I think I know where this is going! Surely it has something to do with my bachelor party, right?"

You wanted to slap him and tell him everything at once, but you just shrugged your shoulders with a forced smile. The band now played something more relaxed, they opted to play an acoustic version of Juliet by Cavetown.

"Well, that doesn't matter right now, we're going to drink in the wildest way possible like in our old days" Jake said lifting his beer.

"Like pirates?" you asked with a tender but melancholic gaze.

"Like Pirates"

Beer after beer and rum after rum, you laughed at every nonsense word that sounded funny in your head, it really was like going back in time to when you were about 23 years old and going from bar to bar in different countries to have a good time along with the rest of the band. Although going out with them was frequent, the outings with them became more and more serious, it was no longer for fun, they were already to relieve stress and due to the responsibilities of each one, it was already more difficult to meet with the whole band.

"Hey Jake, does she have a problem with you getting drunk with me?"

Jake snorted and slowly answered "No, not at all…she knows…and she trusts you a lot"

They soon drifted off topic and continued talking about the absurd things of their day to day, even Jake let it slip to tell you that his fiancée was sometimes very scolding with him for not being as organized as she was and that sometimes he felt like a child little boy with her, he loved her but there were many things that he disliked. You might as well draw him out and screw the wedding, but you weren't cruel enough to do it.

The night progressed until it was your time to go, you had had a good time with him, you laughed a lot and remembered many beautiful things, but it was time to put your feet on the ground.

"I haven't laughed like I did right now for days" you giggled "but it's time to go, I have to get my things ready for tomorrow"

"Are you going somewhere?"

"You will know"

You took your bag and got up from the chair, but Jake took your hand, you felt his calluses from the tips of his fingers on the back of your hand. Your gaze met his and although both of you were a little dizzy, clearly his gaze was expressing what you wanted so much to see reflected in his eyes. It was love.

"Y/N…please stay" he whispered.

"No Jake, I can't. It's too late for this"

Now his hand was holding you tighter and at any moment he could have dropped to his knees to beg you to stay with him.

"Please stay with me, I want you to be by my side forever"

"Jake, you're saying this because you're drunk. You're just talking incoherently and that's enough because... you're hurting me" he let go of your hand without any another word and settled back into his chair.

"I'm sorry, but it's just... there are things I can't say when I'm sober"

"Well, I would really appreciate it if you would tell me sober and not like that because once you kissed me when you were drunk and while you forgot about it the next day, it meant a lot to me all my life!" everything began to get out of control and without shame, you began to cry in front of him, with that you had said everything and without having to give him the letter.

Jake looked at you in disbelief, he was trying to decipher what you had just said, because he didn't know if it was a reproach, or you were confessing your love. You began to rummage through your bag to pull out the letter and hand it to her.

"Here's what I wanted to give you" again his eyes met yours "read it when you can, as long as you're alone" without further ado, you took your phone to put it in your bag and almost ran out of the bar. It was so fast Jake couldn't even stop you...again.

You ran far from the parking lot and ordered an uber to take you home. Coincidentally, the same driver who brought you to the bar was the same one who came to pick you up, but this time, he saw that you were crying and before starting he told you "You're still very young, I bet whoever made you cry will have a really bad time" you thanked him for his words and the car started straight home.

He was so shocked and completely speechless, he just stood there by the hand with the envelope in his hands. They had to spend a few seconds to sat down and run both hands through his hair.

As the band played "Back to The Old House," Jake desperately tore open the envelope and pulled out your letter. He turned the letter over both sides, he was looking at the details of the page and then he started to read it. At first, his expression was serious, but as he was reading, his heart was shrinking, and he felt that singular sting that appears when you want to cry.

He had mixed feelings, he didn't know if he was angry with himself or with you and he didn't know if he was sad either, but as soon as he finished reading your letter, he picked up his phone to call you. Looking up from him, he saw that you dropped your red scarf and took it to hold it close to him.

When your phone started ringing, you answered the call by inertia, not even checking that Jake was calling you.

"Y/N...you forgot your scarf"

You turned to see your things and covered your face with your right hand "You can keep it; I can't go back" you said between sobs.

"Hey, listen, I already read your letter..."

"It's too late to talk about this"

"But I want to talk about your letter"

"But I don't want to, please"

"But why not?"

"Because it's late, didn't you hear?!"

"It's just... it's just... I'm mad that you didn't tell me sooner! You make me between a rock and a hard place! Why are you doing this to me right now?" he was crying too, her helplessness was more than her sadness.

"Because I just couldn't take it anymore, Jake! I've been holding it in for a long time and I can't anymore!" the crying got even louder "and I'm also mad at myself for not telling you sooner, but anyway, there's nothing to do. Tomorrow I'm out of here"

"Y/N, please don't do this to me right now, I need you, I want you to stay with me"

"Jake... you already have someone to stay with you for a long time"

"I'll come see you tomorrow"

"I already told you, I beg you not to look for me anymore. Let me exist in peace, every day that passes the pain that you are not with me becomes more intense and it is not fair for you because you are already happy, I am supposed to I'm fine, but I'm not. Please, it's about time we went our separate ways" you snorted "You know something? I'm at the uber and the poor driver is listening to all this. I'm going to hang up because it's embarrassing" without further ado you ended the call and apologized to the driver.

"Don't worry, I didn't pay attention to your conversation, anyway, if it's any consolation... things happen for a reason, everything has a reason to be and exist, I know that the current outlook for you is bleak, but the universe arranges things in a certain way to obtain learning"

The rest of the way was silent until you got home, you thanked the driver and finally walked through your front door. Once inside, you desperately ran to your room to grab your suitcase and put your clothes inside it along with other important things. Your tears were still rolling down your cheeks and Jake kept calling you insistently.

Again, you took the call just to see how things would end and at least give a calmer end to all this "Jake, now what?"

"Are you home already?"

You thought about your answer because if you said you were at home, he would come to see you "No... not yet"

"Can we talk about your letter now? I don't want things to end like this" he sounded very desperate.

"Me neither... and sorry for reacting like that"

"You don't have to apologize, finally... I said a lot of things that could have hurt you, but I didn't know I was doing it, in fact I never thought you loved me that way"

They were both speechless, only Jake's light crying, and your sobs could be heard, that was all.

"Jake... I'm already home"

"Can I go to see you?"

"Just for a while because I don't want to sleep so late"

While you waited for Jake to arrive, you continued to pack your things and arrange the small backpack that you would carry during your flight. You were beginning to regret your desperate journey. What would happen to your family and your house? So you decided to stay in Mexico for a little while to try out what life is like there and take it as a vacation instead of making it your whole life.

The doorbell rang twice and it was obviously Jake. You weren't in much of a rush to get downstairs and to the door, but once you opened it, Jake hurried inside your house.

"I need to talk about it" he said taking the letter.

"What do you want to know?" you asked closing the door "everything you need to know is there, the one who should make the questions should be me"

"I'm an open book. Let's get this over with." he flopped down on the loveseat and rubbed his hands against his skinny legs.

"In all honesty... do you remember that time you kissed me?"

"Yes, I know what happened, but I don't remember when exactly"

"It was a May 16..."you said.

Jake looked up to meet yours, her face reflecting surprise "I swear I... I didn't remember the date"

"I noticed, but I don't entirely blame you, finally you were drunk, and we were two dumb teenagers." You were still standing in front of him until Jake patted the couch twice for you to sit next to him. Once at his side you continued with your questions "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me if you liked me so much? I know I did the same, but I already explained my reasons, all you need to do is tell me what happened "

"It's just..." he moistened his lips "even though you're my best friend, I always felt you a little... you know, distant, very serious, cold and that you were never going to fall in love with a person as disastrous as me. Simply because you and I are polar opposites, and that's why I thought that our thing was not going to work, plus I was very afraid that you would reject me and therefore make our friendship uncomfortable. But I saw that our friendship anyway, now it depends on a thread, and I could lose you sooner than I thought. Frankly, I've always loved you, it's just that for a long time I gave up the idea that one day you would be with me, and this doesn't mean that I don't love my fiancée, but I just... gave up. It obviously hurt every time I saw you with a guy, even though I knew they were just casual dates, but still…the pain was there. I know that you can misunderstand the fact that I have gone out with some girls, because I did love them, but I never felt the same intensity as with you"

You began to play with your hands and avoided looking into his eyes "Finally we're not so -opposites- we're both scaredy idiots" you let out an unfunny laugh "we could have had it all but because of the damn fear we lost it all, too late to make amends, so I think it's best that we just let's go our way"

Jake turned to you "I wouldn't say it's late"

"Jake, the dice were already rolled from the start. Of course, it's already late, you’ll be taking a very important step in your life, don't do something rash impulsively, don't hurt your fiancée, she's a very nice person and she genuinely loves you"

He was desperately looking for your eyes and your hands "It no longer makes sense for us to keep hiding what we feel, I admit it, you too, what difference does it make?" he came even closer to you and took your hands tightly "Let's go to Latin America together, let's run away together like when we used to sneak out at night to go to parties"

You let go of your right hand and took his chin gently "But this isn't a party, this is real life and… I'm leaving tomorrow" you pushed his hand away and continued "besides, that wouldn't be the right thing to do, it would be very hurtful for your fiancée, you can't leave her like this a couple of months before a wedding" Jake shook his head, directing his gaze to his hands and you continued "So... if you want to do things right, settle your affairs first and then come to find me."

"How am I supposed to find you?" he asked you with a bit of desperation.

"You'll know, but for now, if that's what you want…you know what to do"

He looked at you with a certain sadness, he didn't know whether to direct his gaze because he also felt a little embarrassed to turn to look at your eyes. Even though you really wanted to hold his hands and peck every inch of his face, you were thinking about how his fiancée would feel if she found out that you two kissed, so in solidarity with her, you refrained from kissing him. The only thing left now was to wait.

Jake got up from the love seat and scratched the back of his neck, still looking down "Well, I think we heard the things we needed to tell each other” You nodded biting your thumb nail "it's too late and... I think I have to go now; you'll need a lot of sleep for your flight tomorrow."

"Thanks for coming Jake... I really needed this" you also got up after him. He gave you a soft smile but still a little sadness in his eyes. You felt a little bad seeing him like that so as he headed for the door, you slowly approached his back and then hugged him just as he was about to touch your doorknob making it stop completely.

Tears welled up in your eyes quickly, there was no way to stop your tears. When Jake felt your arms wrap around his back, he reached for your arms so he could turn to you and hold you like it was always meant to be "I'm going to do the right thing, I promise I'll do the right thing" he gently brought your head close to his chest; you could hear every strong beat of his heart.

You lasted a few minutes hugging until Jake left your house. Before he opened the door of his car he exclaimed "I'll come for you! Please wait for me!"

"I’ll be waiting! If you took a hundred years to arrive, I would stay waiting for you all those hundred years!” you exclaimed watching as he closed the door of his car.

Once inside your house, you leaned against the door and let yourself fall. It took so many years to confess your feelings, something that looked so easy but was so complicated to do. You needed to hit rock bottom to change your situation. You needed to sleep to get up early and go to the airport, what was next in your life was to let yourself be surprised by the wonders of life in Mexico and wait for Jake to come for you, but not in the sense of rescuing you like a princess, but to accompany you on your new adventure. Once in your bed, you tucked yourself in and it didn't take long for your eyes to close. The day ended with a small smile on your face.

On the other hand, Jake was on his way home, still reflecting on what had just happened, he still couldn't believe that you were keeping your feelings to yourself for so long, although he couldn't help but think that he was also stupid for not telling you before. Along the way, the best he could do was call his best friend who was also his twin.

After two unanswered calls, Josh finally answered the phone on the third call. With his sleepy voice it was heard as he said "hello" almost like a whisper.

"Josh... it's me" Jake said eagerly.

"I know it's you. Don't you think it's too late to call me right now?"

"Yes, yes, I know it's late, but I have something to tell you” There was no response from Josh other than the slight sound of his breathing "Josh... I'm not getting married"

The curly-haired brother's eyes widened, and he jumped up from the bed "Don't fuck with me, what the fuck did you do? Did you cheat on her?"

"No, of course not," Jake replied indignantly, "I just…I've been pondering if I really want to spend my whole life with her under a stronger commitment than just living together."

"It has nothing to do with Y/N right?"

"I'd like to say no, but actually yes"

"I knew it! I knew this was going to happen!" he hit the mattress with his right hand frantically "And you know it perfectly well, I always told you to tell Y/N before someone got hurt and now her and your fiancée are or will be hurt."

"I know and I feel stupid, I just did a drama at Y/N's house and I just went to make a fool of myself, but it doesn't matter because... honestly, a weight was lifted off my shoulders.”

"Maybe you don't feel that pain anymore that you used to have every time Y/N dated a person, but what I'm really worried about is how you're going to tell your girlfriend...fiancée or whatever that you're not getting married anymore. "

"I don't know…" he sighed and scratched the back of her neck "I honestly don't know how I'm going to do it; besides, Y/N is going to Mexico tomorrow and I think she'll be there for a long time.”

"I did know that, she'll be there for a long time, I think she wants to start things over there."

"Why did you not tell me?" he hit the steering wheel "Maybe I could have stopped her from leaving and we could have worked things out."

"No Jake, obviously I wasn't going to tell you that she was leaving because you were busy with your stuff, plus I'm sure she didn't want you to know, and I had to respect that"

Jake was overwhelmed with despair and conflict. "I told her that I wasn't getting married anymore and that... I would come back for her." His eyes began to get teary.

His brother let out a long sigh of desperation and anguish "Jake, brother... don't make promises if you can't keep them."

"Why do you say I can't keep it?" Jake raised his voice.

"Let's face it, it's going to take you too long to tell her you don't want to get married anymore. I know you so well."

Jake was upset with what his brother had just told him, however, he knew he was telling the truth, telling his now ex-fiancée was going to be extremely difficult, but sooner or later he had to do it, besides, he had just had the lesson of his life about saying things and being honest with the people around himself.

He drove to his house, parked the car and when he entered, there was that girl with whom he wanted to take a step forward by marrying her. She had fallen asleep in the couch that was looking at the window to see him arrive. She apparently thought of staying up to wait for him, but her sleep defeated her.

She really was a very good woman, you could see that she genuinely loved Jake, she cared a lot about him, trusted him and was willing to do anything for him, almost like you, the only difference between her and you it was that Jake was with her, but you loved him just the same.

When Jake saw her asleep, he felt a lump in his throat, because he knew how much she loved him and it would break her into a thousand pieces to know that he no longer wanted to marry her, much less... continue with a relationship that was not reciprocal. She gave a lot and Jake apparently did too, but the truth was that he was never going to love her the same way.

He sat down next to her, looked at her face carefully, from her long eyelashes to the small pimple that appeared on her right cheek. It didn't take long for Jake to remove the hair that covered her forehead, although he did it carefully, it made her wake up. Opening her eyes, her lips curved into a smile until she met Jake's anguished face. "What's up, baby?" she asked her.

Jake didn't answer her question, he kept stroking her hair. She was silent for a few minutes until he said "Nothing, nothing's wrong. Keep sleeping" he closed his conversation with her with a small kiss on her forehead, releasing a small tear that rolled from his eyes to her cheek.

"We talk tomorrow, okay?" The woman with long dark hair nodded with the same smile as before and continued with her deep sleep while Jake kept looking at her sadly thinking about how he was going to put an end to his problem, although surely one of them would get hurt, well, he had two options : stay with his fiancée, make her happy but break the promise he had made to the love of his life and therefore, leave her waiting in another country, or leave his fiancée with a strong pain that will cost her a lot to forget but keep his promise.

TO BE CONTINUED