[Joey x Chandler] COMPILATION OF SHORT STORIES FROM AO3

The one when Chandler thought

"Alright, look! If this is just a big joke to you, then forget about it, all right?! This means something to me! And if it doesn't mean anything to you, then you should get out of there, otherwise you're just an idiot in a box!" Joey argued to the box where Chandler was. If getting inside a box would erase his betrayal to his best friend, he would get in the smallest box of the world. He should have said Joey he was in love with Kathy before kissing her, it was the very basics of a friendship! Not kissing your friends' girlfriends!

"You're right, and I'm sorry! This means a lot to me! I want you to be my friend again! I swear, I won't say another word tonight." He moved his hands where he heard the voice though Joey couldn't see him.

"So are you gonna start taking this thing seriously?" Chandler shook his head.

"Absolutely!"

"That sounds like another word to me! Are you gonna take this seriously?" He, then, shut his mouth up and waited. No more words. He had to think. "Okay." He heard how Joey sat down at the table with the others.

"Don't say that I have no sentiment!" Rachel said really upset, but Chandler didn't really focus on the argument his friends where having and concentrated on the fact he, indeed, betrayed his best friend with the woman he was seeing and how he felt awful about it.

He had to think, he had to think... Could he be in deeper thoughts? The facts were that he had tried to stop this incident to happen at the beginning, but Kathy's lips... They were so plump and soft... He had to kiss her, it were his manly instincts telling him to do something. But it was wrong, and he knew it. He should have stayed stronger in front of temptation.

He wished he could go back on time and redo everything. He wouldn't kiss her, even in the case if that meant he would lose her forever. He'd rather lose Kathy than Joey. He was his best friend! And you know what they say: pals before girls; and he didn't want to break that stupid and childish rule.

He allowed himself to venture on the consequences his action could have carried: Joey moving out the apartment, again. He wouldn't be able to bear that situation once more. His guts twisted and he tried to get a bit more comfortable, but it was true that one of the reasons he was in the box was of punishment. He had backache and he was hungry. However, he knew the pain was worth it. He would break up with Kathy if that got Joey to smile to him again.

He really missed Joey even if it was a short time since that happened, and he feared that it would be prolonged for days or weeks. Chandler knew that Joey was a bigger part of his life than he liked to admit, and the risk of losing him again was at its peak.

How long had he to be there for Joey to open the box and give him an awkward hug? He had so certain his priorities, where his best friend was on top of it. But why? A voice inside his head seemed to inquire. The same voice of his conscience that told him the things he had to do, or he had to know that were important. The same voice that screamed at him the night of the kiss to not to do it, which he decided to ignore.

But why? Why was Joey so important to you?

It was obvious. Chandler rubbed his eyes, frustrated and slightly annoyed about the laughs and noises outside his dark box. He was so important because he was his best friend. His roommate. He would do any stupidity to make him happy. And he had done it several times. That's what friends are for! All for one and one for all!

Are you sure? You said you would dump that beautiful girl for him.

Now, that voice sounded somewhat like his father. He didn't like that. He was not like him. He wasn't gay. No, not at all. Nope. He was as straight as a ruler. Nothing about Joey made him otherwise. It's not like he would get enchanted when the other laughs, nor he'd find his silliness adorable, nor he'd admire the light in his eyes, nor he'd think his hair is soft and he would like to... No! Chandler stopped himself in the middle of the thought and jumped on his seat, thumping his head on the lid of the box. It hurt.