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"I'm going to Monica's", Alycia said to Joey when he was out of his bedroom. Everytime she stays here to spend the night, she's always the first one to wake up. Joey could sleep a whole day and he wouldn't even notice.
"Great. I'll go with you", he said.
"After you shower", she points out, noticing he was going to walk out like that.
"We're all friends here", he argued.
Alycia was going to argue back but decided to let him be, hoping he'll shower later. They got to the apartment from across the hall, finding Chandler and Monica sitting in the living room.
"Hey", Alycia said when they were inside.
Joey walked over to the fridge to get a bottle of water and Alycia noticed Monica made Chandler a gesture as they both stood up, turning to look at them.
"We have something to tell you", Monica said.
"Oh my god, you're pregnant!", Joey exclaimed, him and Alycia smiling widely at the idea of their friends expecting a baby.
"No...no?", Chandler asked Monica to which she quickly shakes her head. "No!", he laughs it off, terrified to even think of having kids yet. "Joey, look...", he started as him and Monica started to walk to the kitchen, "Monica and I decided to live together. I'm moving out, man".
Alycia wanted to congratulate them, buy she knew Joey was not liking the idea at all just by the look on his face so she stood there, without knowing what to say. She decided to wait for Joey to speak first and move on from there.
"Uh...well, I'm happy for you. Contratulations, guys", Joey stutters after many attempts. "See you later".
"Wait", Monica stopped him from leaving the apartment. "Are you okay?".
"Yeah, I gotta go. I have an acting job", he lied.
"You haven't even showered", she points out, looking at his clothes. They weren't believing him at all, knowing he was not okay after receiving the news.
"I'll be right across the hall", Chandler tried to make his friend feel better. "And I promise you the minute Monica and I break up, I'll be moving right back in with you".
"Okay, since you're the one who's gonna live with him, I feel like it's my responsability to tell you the truth about him", Joey started, looking at Monica. "He's a terrible roommate. He forgets to...uh, always...who am I kidding, he's the best roommate ever!".
Joey pushed Monica out of the way to hug Chandler. Alycia walked closer to Monica, hugging her too as a way to say she was happy for them.
"Congratulations, Mon", she says. "I'm really happy for you guys".
"Thanks", she smiles, hugging her friend back.
"Have you told Rachel yet?".
"No, I don't know how she's gonna take it".
"It might be hard at first, but I'm sure she'll be just as happy as I am for you guys".
"Oh, I love you", Monica sighs, hugging her again. "This really means a lot to me, but I'm so scared of Rachel's reaction. I mean, I won't be able to handle that", she added, pointing at Joey who was still hugging onto Chandler, crying.
☀️
"Hey, how did it go?", Alycia asked Monica when she entered her apartment. Monica told her she was going to explain Rachel what she actually meant back when she first told her friend that Chandler was moving in. Rachel thought it was going to be the three of them living together, not getting the idea that she had to go.
"She took it very well", Monica replied. "She didn't cry or was sad".
"That's great!", Alycia smiled, but her smile faded slowly after noticing Monica's expression. "Isn't it?".
"We've been living together for six years! All I wanted was just a little emotion", she replied.
"But that means she's way too happy to feel sad about it".
"But when we told Joey he cried his eyes out! Are we not as close as they are?".
"Look, maybe she just take things like this in a different way".
"You know we are talking about Rachel, right? Our friend who cries literally about everything", Monica argued.
"Pehaps she didn't want you to see her cry and feel bad about moving in with Chandler. I mean, I'm sure she's just as sad as Joey was when you guys told him".
Monica sighed. "I guess you're right", she agreed. "But I still deserve a few tears!".
Alycia tried to stop her from getting out of the apartment to talk to Rachel again, but she failed. She decided not to go after her, knowing she was late to meet Phoebe and Ross at the Central Perk.
☀️
"It's so nice to hear Monica and Chandler are moving in together", Phoebe commented when the three of them were already drinking their coffee.
"Yeah, I didn't think they were actually going to do it, but it's really happening", Alycia agreed.
"People moving in, people getting annulments", Pheobe continued, winking at Ross' direction. She was the only one who knew he didn't actually get the annulment and is totally convinced Ross still loves Rachel.
"Alycia", Ross started, trying to change the subject. "What about you and Joey?".
"Oh, yeah. We're dating", she replied with obvious sarcasm.
"I meant, are you moving in with him now that Chandler's moving out?".
Alycia didn't know what to say at first. She haven't even thought about the idea of living with Joey at all. She's not actually bothered by that idea, but deep down she knows Joey doesn't want that yet. And she respects that.
With Phoebe mentioning marriage and Ross asking if they're moving in together, she started feeling a slight pressure , almost as if everyone expected them to move things to the next level, even when neither of them wanted that to happen.
"We've never talked about that", she replied. "But Joey doesn't want to, so I guess he'll start looking for a roommate".
"Well, you've never talked about it. How do you know how Joey feels?", Phoebe asked.
"Yeah, he took a long time to confess he was in love with you", Ross agreed. "Maybe he's thinking about it but won't tell you".
"I don't know", Alycia shrugged. She was getting a little scared of that idea. She loves Joey, but moving in together only means things are getting really serious, and even thought Alycia is happy because of the relationship going so well, it's still a little scary. Especially if she doesn't know how Joey feels about that.
Maybe he doesn't want to and she starts getting her hopes up with something that is not happening anytime soon.
But her friends are right. She has never talked to him about it, and maybe (just maybe) he wants it too.
