Heartbeat || j. tribbiani (completed)

VI. THE ONE WITH THE KISS

"And then he kissed me." Katrina told the girls as they sat in Rachel's and Monica's apartment.

"WHAT?!" Phoebe let out, everyone looked at Katrina excitingly.
"We want to know everything that happened." Monica smiled eagerly.
"Well-" Katrina started before she was interrupted by the door opening the girls let out an irritated groan as they turned to see the boys walking in.
"Surprisingly that's not the first time I was greeted like that." Chandler joked, Katrina smiled at her brother.
"Katrina." Joey spoke, the room went awkwardly silent as the pair stared at each other from across the room.
"How are you?" he wondered.
"I'm good, how are you?"
"Just fine."
"Woah this feels like when my parents were in the same room last time." Chandler pointed out.
"Yeah what's going on with you two?" Ross questioned.
"Oh um, nothing. Nothing at all." Katrina said quickly while Rachel stood up.
"Hey Katrina, you should come help me pick out my outfit for the interview-"
"-Actually, i'd really like to talk to you, Kat." Joey interrupted causing Rachel to pause. Katrina gulped slightly but nodded.
"Okay, talk."
"Alone." Joey finished.
"Fine." Katrina said getting up and walking into the hallway.

"What do you want to talk about?" Katrina asked once Joey shut the door.
"What do you think?" Joey reminded her. "The kiss."
"Elaborate" Katrina smirked slightly.
"Kat." Joey warned.
"Okay, okay."
"Listen you're my friend, my best friend. We- we can't happen as much as I am attracted to you we can't- it's like-"
"-A bro code. I get it Joey."
"No, not a bro code. It's like complicated I suppose."
"I understand, I found an apartment across the street so i'm going to move there."
"Woah- i'm not saying you have to move out-"
"-No no, I know but I was going to anyway. I do have one thing however, we can't tell Chandler okay. He will kill you and I can't live with that."
Joey snorted slightly, "Please. Chandler? Chandler Bing!"
"Yes. You'd be surprised. I should go in and tell them i'm moving I suppose." Katrina sighed.
"Yeah lets go."
As Katrina and Joey walked back in everyone stopped talking to look at them curiously.
"Are you two alright know?" Chandler asked.
"Yeah, why wouldn't we be?" Joey spat out. "Um, Katrina has something to tell you." Joey pushed her forward.
"I got a job at a publishing agency and I found a nice apartment across the street and i'm moving tomorrow."
"Congratulations!" Monica exclaimed running to her friend and hugging her in a tight hug.
"Congrats!" everyone cheered, hugging the small girl she giggled slightly as they pulled apart they smiled at each other.
"Oh this is going to be so much fun! I love packing!" Monica grinned.
"Ugh." the boys groaned.
"No no up now we need tape, boxes and.." Monica listed walking around the room as the guys walked out of the apartment. Monica threw her arms down as Katrina let out a giggle.
~~
As Katrina walked out of her and Chandler's room with a box she heard Chandler talking,
"....three years of modern dance with Twila Tharp! Five years with the American Ballet Theater?!" he exclaimed.
"Hey, everybody lies on their resume, okay. I wasn't one of the Zoom Kids either." Joey admitted.
"Well, can you dance at all?" Phoebe questioned.
"Yeah, I can dance, y'know." Joey said and started to dance really badly.
"Oh, no, no, no." Chandler said. Katrina gasped causing Joey to turn around to see her.
"What, was that?!" Katrina exclaimed.
"Sure, it looks stupid now, there's no music playing." Joey explained as the phone rang.

"All right, I have to get that, but no-no." Chandler paused answering the phone. "Hello? Hi! Yeah listen, I'm, I'm in need of a stripper and I was told that you do that. Let me ask you this, what, what do you do for the extra hundred? So would I, would I have to provide the grapes?"

"Hi!" Monica entered as Joey took the box from Katrina's arms setting it down across the room in a pile.
"Hey!" Katrina grinned
"How was last night with Julio, senorita?" Phoebe smirked.
"It was soooo amazing, he is so sexy, and smart, which makes him even sexier. Oh gosh, I gotta so you this. Last night, we were fooling around and he stops to write a poem." Monica gushed.
"Get out! I couldn't stop if a meteor hit me." Joey added.
"Okay, we have our stripper. A miss Crystal Chandelier." Chandler said hanging up the phone.
"Well sure, you name a kid that, what do you expect them to grow up to be?" Joey commented.
"Anyway um, when he left he forgot to take the poem with him. Now, I am like totally dense about poetry, but I think it's pretty good all right. Check it out." Monica said handing them the poem, Katrina took it holding it out for everyone to read it.
"The Empty Vase. Translucent beauty..." Joey started to read outloud.
"To yourself." Chandler added. "Hey-hey-hey, y'know what that's pretty good."
"Yeah totally." Katrina shyly smiled at her with an encouraging nod.
"Oh good, I think so too. Pheebs?" Monica wondered.
"Oh yeah." Phoebe agreed.
"Oh, I'm so glad you guys like it. Yay! All right I gotta go to work." Monica tried to take the poem from Joey who now had it.
"Whoa, i'm not done."
"All right, just give it back to me when your done. See you guys." Monica smiled leaving.
"Bye-Bye." Chandler waved as she left.
"Oh my God, oh my God! Poor Monica!" Phoebe exclaimed.
"What, what, what?!" Chandler stated confused.
"What?! He was with her when he wrote this poem. Look, (reading) 'My vessel so empty with nothing inside. Now that I've touched you, you seem emptier still.' He thinks Monica is empty, she is the empty vase!" Phoebe explained.
"Phoebe you can't be serious, you really think that is what he meant?" Katrina asked her friend.
"Oh, totally. Oh, God, oh, she seemed so happy to." Phoebe frowned.
"Done." Joey finished, we all looked at him and Katrina patted his shoulder lightly and left the room to get more boxes.
~~
"Mark's a genius!" Joey exclaimed as Chandler, Ross, and Joey sat in the coffee house.
"Why?? How?? how is he a genius?" Ross asked curiously.
"Look, don't you see what's happening here. Instead of hitting on her right away, he's becoming her confidant. Now he's gonna be the guy she goes too to complain about you." Chandler explained.
"What am I going to do?" Ross groaned as Katrina walked over holding a coffee cup sitting besides Chandler on the coach.
"Well, why don't you send her a musical bug, oh, no you already did that" she smirked Chandler let out a low laugh before Ross's glare cut him off and he straightened himself, "All right look, you're going to have to go there yourself now, okay, make a few surprise visits."

"I don't know you guys." Ross sighed.
"All right fine, don't do anything, just sit here and talk to us, meanwhile she is talking to him about you. And he's being Mr. Joe Sensitive, and she starts thinking 'Maybe this is the guy for me, because he understands me.'" Chandler rambled.
" And before you know it, she's with him. And you'll be all, 'Ohh, man!' And he'll be all, 'Yes!' And us, we'll be like, 'Wh-whoa, dude.' And pretty soon you'll be like, (sadly) 'Hhiii,' and, and, and, 'I can't go, Rachel and Mark might be there.' And we'll be like, 'Man get over it, it's been four years!!'" Joey exclaimed.
"He paints quite a picture doesn't he?" Chandler points out, Katrina nodded playing with her ring on her finger.