OH! DARLING | joey tribbiani

fifteen

"There's little Ben nodding off," Ross said as she handed the picture to Monica.

"Aw, look at Aunt Monica's little boy," the brunette cooed, showing the picture to Chandler.

The gang was as always at Central Perk, the girls had all gathered around Ross on the couch to look at the most recent pictures of his son that he had developed.

"Oh look, he's got Ross' haircut," Phoebe said.

"Oh let me see!" Rachel reached for the photograph, leaning on Ross' shoulder as she did so.

Quinn, who was sitting between Phoebe and the armrest closest to the counter of the shop, leaned over to Joey who sat at the little round table. "Look at his face, he's already got the Depressed-Ross look mastered," the redhead joked as she showed her friend a picture of Ben in a very sad, unhappy mood.

"Hehe, he really does!" Joey laughed. A waitress came over at the same time and handed him his bill, making his laughter stop. "Oh-ho..."

"What is it?" Quinn asked.

"Uh..." The actor drawled out until he noticed Chandler at the counter out of the corner of his eye. "Hey Chan, can you help me out here? I promise I'll pay you back."

His roommate approached him. "Oh yeah, right, okay. Including the waffles last week, you now owe me... seventeen jillion dollars."

Joey groaned before answering. "I will, really. I'll pay you back this time."

"I can pay your bill," Quinn offered but both men refused.

Chandler sighed, getting out his wallet. "Nah it's alright Quinn," he told the redhead before directing his attention back on his roommate. "And where's this money coming from?"

"Well, I'm helping out down at the NYU Med School with some, uh, research," Joey answered in a low voice, not wanting the others to hear him but alas.

"What kind of research?" Ross loudly asked, his and the other three girls' heads turning to face their friend.

Joey, suddenly put on the spot, struggled to come up with a good lie. "Uh, just, you know, science..."

"Science..." Ross repeated, mocking him. "Yeah, I think I've heard of that."

The gang all leaned forward in their seats, more intrigued by what kind of research Joey was part of. Quinn had her arms crossed on Chandler's left after he took a seat on the armrest next to her, resting her chin on top of her limbs and staring at her best friend as if she could get in his head and find out the information she was looking for with a single look through his eyes.

Joey gave up, the unwanted attention unsettling him a bit. He sighed in defeat. "It's a fertility study."

Rachel burst in laughter.

"Oh, Joey," Monica asked through her giggles. "Please tell me you're only donating your time."

"Alright, come on you guys, it's not that big a deal. Really, I mean, I just go down there every other day and... make my contribution to the project," he explained, his friends giggling some more. "Hey, hey, but at the end of two weeks, I get $700."

"Wow, oh you're going to be making money hand over fist," Phoebe joked, making everybody laugh.

Quinn reached with one hand to affectionately squeeze Joey's knee, telling him that although she was laughing now, she supported him in finding ways to make money. Joey squeezed her hand back, appreciating the gesture.

__________

Quinn and Phoebe were helping Monica get the food ready for Rachel's birthday party, the redhead cutting up vegetables while the brunette finished the coleslaw.