The One Where Chandler is Missing
By: Jana~
Chapter One
*****
--Rachel couldn’t stand the thought of Monica getting ready for her wedding, knowing that there may not even be a wedding, but she was running out of ways to stall her.
There was still no word from Ross about whether of not he'd found Chandler… and after looking all night till the dawn and exhaustion, Phoebe joined the hunt. Wherever Chandler went, one thing was clear… he did not want to be found.
--Rachel had to tell her… all her stalling tactics were used and the no-longer-bride-to-be was about to put on her make-up before heading to the hotel…
"Ok, Monica, just-- Just hang on a sec…"
Monica stopped her flurried movements and gave Rachel her undivided attention… "What is it Rachel?"
"Ok, now, remember, when I tell you this, that we are all here for you. And that we love you…"
"Rachel, you're scaring me…" Monica felt a rush of adrenaline hit her heart…
"I'm sorry, sweetie. I'm so, so sorry… about what I'm about to tell you… about everything…"
Another rush of adrenaline coursed through her as she watched Rachel gather her words carefully…
"Monica, we can't find Chandler."
Those words held no meaning to Monica… they made no sense at all…
"What do you mean?"
"He took off…" Rachel explained… "Last night. Ross was out looking for him all night long. Phoebe went with him this morning to help him search… but they haven't been able to find him."
Monica seemed confused as her eyes darted about the room, trying to digest what Rachel was telling her… "Why? Why did he leave?"
"I don’t know, hunny, but, he left a note…"
"What did it say?" She stopped eyeing the room and it's contents and focused on Rachel…
"It said: 'Tell Monica I'm sorry'…"
She scowled… "He's… gone? Like, he doesn’t want to get married? He…" she started to cry as the realization hit her… "He pulled a Chandler and freaked out?"
"I'm afraid so, sweetie. I'm so, so sorry…" Rachel went to hug her, but Monica shrugged her away…
"What do I do now?" Monica asked as she wiped at her tears…
"What do you want to do?"
"I want to get married to the man I love!" Monica snipped, frustrated… "I want to find him and tell him that everything is ok! That's it's normal to be nervous! That he can do this! That I--" she started to cry harder… "That I love him!"
"I know…" Rachel soothed, hugging her friend… "I know…"
"How could he do this?!"
Rachel continued to hold her… "He's scared hun. I'm actually surprised he didn’t freak out long before now…"
"We talked about that though!" Monica pulled away from Rachel's hug… "He said he wasn’t freaked out! That was last night! What changed?"
"I don’t know."
"Has he stopped loving me?"
"No! Sweetie, he loves you! He's just… panicking."
"Then, maybe he'll still show up."
"What?"
"For the wedding. Maybe he'll still show up."
"So…" Rachel stammered… "Are you… saying… that you want to… go ahead… with--?"
"The ceremony. Yes. We'll keep to the schedule, then wait to see what Chandler does. See if he shows up."
Rachel wasn’t so sure that was such a good idea… "But, Mon, what if he doesn’t?"
"Then, we'll let everyone know… the guests and everyone… and then I'll come home and curl up in bed and die."
"Mon, sweetie--"
"No, Rachel, this was my last chance! I thought maybe with Pete! I thought maybe with Richard! But when I fell in love with Chandler, I knew it was him or no one. If we don’t get married, then that's it for me."
"But, you can't just--"
"Yes, Rachel, I can. Go get your stuff…" she pointed at the guest room… "We're heading for the hotel now."
*****
--It took Ross a few tries to finally figure out where Rachel and Monica were. He'd tried Monica and Chandler's apartment… no answer. He'd tried Joey and Rachel's… the same.
The phone rang in the bridal suite…
"Hello?"
Ross recognized Rachel's voice immediately… "Rach! What are you guys doing there?! I told you to stall her! We haven't been able to find him!"
"Ross, I told her everything… she insisted on coming. She thinks he still may show up."
Ross felt helpless. Beyond helpless. "He'd better!" Ross barked… "He better not leave my sister standing at the altar!"
"Ross, enough of the tough guy routine, ok? Get to the hotel and get yourself ready, ok?"
"Fine."
"Is Phoebe still with you?"
"Yeah."
"Let me talk to her…" Rachel requested, then called to Ross again before he handed the phone to her… "Ross! Wait!"
"What?"
"Chandler knows where to go, right? The groom's room?"
"Yes."
"Ok. Let me talk to Phoebe."
Phoebe took the phone… "Rach, yeah?"
"Monica wants to get ready like everything is still on track. So, I need you here and getting ready. I need you to help keep me sane."
"Alright. What if he doesn’t show?"
"I don’t know, Pheebs. I think it'll really mess her up."
"Yeah…" Phoebe agreed… "Ok. On my way…"
*****
--Monica stepped out from the back of the suite in her gown, her hair and make-up perfect…
"Oh, Mon…" Rachel gasped… "You look gorgeous." She started to cry, but Monica held up her hand to stop her…
"If you start, I'll start crying, and I got my make-up perfect."
Rachel nodded and choked the lump in her throat down.
"Where's Phoebe?"
"She got ready, but took off to go talk to Ross."
Monica nodded…
--"Ross!" Phoebe exclaimed quietly when he opened the door… "Any word from Chandler?"
Ross shook his head grimly… "None. I think this is going to end badly…"
"Don’t! Don’t you do that! At least try to be optimistic!"
He nodded… "I'll try."
She patted his shoulder… "Good. Now, you're all ready?"
"Yeah, why?"
"So am I…" she informed… "Let's go give it another try…"
"Finding Chandler?"
"Yeah."
He shrugged as he walked out the door and joined her… "Don’t know what good it'll do, but, ok…"
--They had walked out of ear shot when the phone inside the groom's room started to ring…
*****
--Joey explained his predicament to Rachel on the phone… his co-star was plastered and unable to act his way out of a paper sack…
"They won't let me leave, Rach! They say as long as he's here then we are still shooting!" Joey was obviously upset…
"Look! We already have one crisis we're dealing with!" she whispered frantically into the phone… "Do whatever it takes, but you get your ass down here!"
"Fine. You're right. I'll work it out…"
"Thank you." She sighed… "Oh! Hey! Joe?"
"Yeah?"
"If you were Chandler, where would you hide out?"
"Did you try his office? Or the gym?"
"Yeah. Both."
"Then I don’t know…"
She looked back at Monica who began to listen in and shook her head solemnly… "Ok. Just get down here as soon as you can."
--"I'm sorry sir, that line is busy…" the hotel receptionist informed the man requesting to be connected to the bridal suite… "Would you like to leave a message?" She grabbed a message pad and a pen, but put it down when the man replied in the negative.
*****
--"Has Joey Tribbiani left yet?" a stagehand asked the director of the movie Joey was co-starring in…
"Yeah. A few minutes ago. Why?"
"He has a phone call."
"Oh. Well, he's gone for the day." The director informed, the stagehand nodded and went back to the phone.
*****
--Ross hugged his sister, offering what comfort he could… "I'm so sorry…" he whispered… "We looked everywhere."
Monica forced herself not to cry… "I know…"
"How do you want to proceed from here?" he asked as Rachel and Phoebe approached, one holding her hand while the other rubbed her back, consoling her…
"We'll have to tell everyone…" Monica sniffled…
"Let us take care of that." Phoebe suggested, but Monica shook her head…
"No. I want to do it. I want to explain what happened."
"What happened?" Ross questioned her…
"Chandler panicked." Monica replied… "Someone shoulda stayed with him last night."
"I tried! He bolted before I got there!"
"I'm not blaming you Ross…" Monica sighed… "Or anyone else. It's just… Chandler being Chandler. I just… I don’t blame him either."
"You're more forgiving than I would be!" Ross exclaimed…
"Same here!" Phoebe interjected… "If it were me, I would be putting a curse on him right about now."
Monica rolled her eyes, then sighed… "Let's just go get this over with, ok?"
"Ok sweetie…" Rachel agreed… "We're here for you. Whatever you need."
She nodded, and sniffled again… "Thanks."
They walked out the door of the bridal suite…
Ross snapped his fingers… "I forgot something in the groom's room. Go ahead, I'll catch up…"
They nodded and continued towards the chapel as Ross ran off.
--Ross flung the door open to the groom's room and took a step to walk inside, but instead, he froze at the sight before him…
"What the hell?!?"
TO BE CONTINUED
Thanks for reading!