INT. MONICA’S APARTMENT – MORNING
Chandler is reading a newspaper. Joey is on the floor flipping through a comic book. Jake is pacing. From the bathroom: the sound of a loud cabinet slam.
(from the bathroom, panicked)
"Babe! Cancel the beach! Tell the sun I’m unavailable!" Ronnie screams
"Baby, you okay?" Jake asked her
"It’s here again! The Red Wedding! The cursed uterus strikes again!" She said
Chandler slowly lowers his newspaper.
"Uh... is that code for something or do I need to call an exorcist?"Chandler asked
(muffled)
"I got my period, genius!" She said to him
Beat. Joey stands up slowly like a meerkat.
"Do we… ignore? Or like… back away slowly?" Joey asked
"Don’t you dare come near this door unless you’re Monica or carrying chocolate. not after what happened last month " she screamed at them
---
INT. BATHROOM DOOR – MOMENTS LATER
(softly, through the door)
"You okay?"he asked
"No. I wanted to go to the beach. I put on sunscreen and everything. And now I’m stuck because — I don’t know how to use a tampon, okay?! I never figured it out and now it’s too late and I hate my whole body!"
(awkwardly)
"Okay. Okay. Uh… do you want me to get Monica?" He said panicking
"She and the girls went shopping. In SoHo. With no cell phones. Because it’s the freakin’ stone age!" She said
Jake looks helplessly at Chandler and Joey.
"We could… call the store?" Joey suggest
"Oh sure. “Hi, Bloomingdale’s? Can you page three women in platform sandals and tell them someone’s uterus is ruining her Saturday?” That’ll go great."Chandler said
---
INT. PHONE SCENE – 1990s CHAOS
Jake is on the landline trying to call Monica’s pager. Yes, a pager. It beeps. Phoebe answers a payphone on the corner outside the store.
"Hello? This is Pheebs!" Phoebe said
(relieved)
"Phoebe! It’s Jake. Emergency." He told her
(serious)
"Oh no. Is Ronnie okay?" Phoebe asked him
"She’s fine, just… her period started again, and she wants to go to the beach, but she doesn’t know how to use a tampon, and she’s in the bathroom melting down."Jake told her
"Okay, patch me through."she said
"What? This is a landline." He told her
"Right. Okay, give her the phone." Phoebe said
---
INT. MONICA’S BATHROOM – MOMENTS LATER
Ronnie opens the door a crack. Jake passes her the receiver with the long cord.
(whispers)
"Please tell me it’s not Joey on the line." She said
"It’s Phoebe." Jake said
Ronnie said (grabbing it)
"Thank God."
---
SPLIT SCENE – BATHROOM & PAYPHONE
Phoebe said to her (on payphone)
"Okay, sweetie. First, deep breath. You’re not dying. You’re just becoming one with the moon."
"Pheebs, I’m serious!" She said
"So am I. Okay. Take the tampon. Get into a weird yoga squat. Don’t look at it like it’s a weapon — it’s a tool. Point toward your spine." Phoebe explained
"Toward my what?!" Ronnie screamed at her
"Trust me. It’s science. And rage." Phoebe explained
"What if I mess up?" Ronnie asked
"Then you try again. We’ve all been there. It’s like Tetris — eventually it clicks." Phoebe reassured her
---
INT. LIVING ROOM – GUYS WAITING
Jake is pacing. Joey is eating a Pop-Tart. Chandler looks like he aged ten years.
"This is like a horror movie, but with better dialogue." Chandler said
"You think she’ll still want to go to the beach?" Joey said
"Knowing her? No ,If her energy didn't burn the building down first." Jake said
---
INT. MONICA’S APARTMENT – 20 MINUTES LATER
(Ronnie exits the bathroom in shorts and an oversized tee. She’s pale, but standing tall. The guys look up like it’s a court verdict.)
"I survived. Let’s stay at home because I don't have the energy anymore " she said
"Should we… bring ice cream? Or a warm pillow?" Her brother asks her
"Bring chocolate. You might live through the day." She told them
---
✏️ Final Journal Entry (Later That Night):
> “It wasn’t that I needed help. It’s that I finally let someone hear me panic.”
“They didn’t fix it. They made space for it.”
“And Phoebe’s tampon wisdom might’ve saved my life.”
YOU ARE READING
After The Silence
Fanfiction(season 1-10) --- Ronnie Bing was never supposed to be noticed. But after a breakdown, an overdose, and a silent goodbye, she's learning what it means to stay alive. This is her story - the quiet kind of survival. Mature contact s6-7-8-9-10
