THE ONE WITH THE PARTY.
EPISODE FIFTEEN.

♡

Chandler and Toby worked within the same area, so Zara met them after they were finished to get dinner together. They hadn't done this before, but Zara wanted to make an effort: for one, she was serious about Chandler; and two, she had family, so it was important that they got on.

And there was no concern as the two did get on to the point that Zara felt like she was third-wheeling.

When they left to walk home, Zara had her hand entwined with Chandler as Toby walked with them.

"Oh... my... God!"

Hearing that voice, Zara's eyes shot so wide. Next to her, she felt Chandler tense up, having the same reaction as Zara was. His grip on her hand tightened as Zara squeezed back in silent support.

"There's no way," Zara said so quietly.

"I'm scared to turn around to see," Chandler confessed.

"Who is it?" Toby asked.

If Toby heard it, then it must be true. Zara turned as her eyes instantly fell on Janice, who hadn't changed in the time it had been since they had last seen her. Now, she was staring at them with shock, but it lacked the horror that Zara and Chandler were both feeling.

"I don't believe it!" Janice continued. "The two of you are back together?"

That caused that familiar chaotic laughter from Janice.

"Yeah," said Chandler. "We're back together."

"I'm shocked," Janice said. "Shocked, I tell you!"

"So are we," Zara replied, meaning about seeing Janice.

"Shocked because I thought you and Joey had unfinished business," Janice confessed which caused the two to flinch that made things worse with Janice. "Oh my God. I was right, wasn't I? You broke poor Joey's heart, didn't you, Zara?"

"Janice, I'm with Chandler now," Zara told her.

"Chandler now, but who's next?" Janice questioned as Zara sighed, wanting to flee, but Janice was now pointing at Toby. "You better watch yourself."

"I'm Zara's brother," Toby said. "Toby."

"Brother?" Janice repeated, stunned again for a moment, and then she became flustered, inching closer to her brother. "You kept a handsome brother from me, Zara Ellison?"

"Toby has a girlfriend," Zara blurted out.

"That's a shame," said Janice. "Imagine that, though? Me and your brother, then the two of you. It's like it's all meant to be."

"God Toby," said Chandler. "Why'd you have to have a girlfriend?"

"Maybe next time," Janice smiled. "If you two are back together, then maybe you'll finally want to know what happened that night—"

"No!" Zara and Chandler quickly shouted.

Janice cackled again. "One day, I will tell you. Janice doesn't like secrets."

"Zara likes the mystery of not knowing," Zara said.

"So does Chandler," Chandler agreed.

"I don't understand what's going on," Toby confessed.

But it was better that he didn't as they truly hoped Janice wouldn't pop up in their lives again.

♡

EPISODE SIXTEEN.

♡

"Oh, look, my girlfriend's here. That's rare."

Zara couldn't help but smile as she sat at the foosball table with Monica, where the two had let themselves in just like the guys always had. Eventually, Chandler had woken up, and Joey was making himself a sandwich before his shower.

"Good morning to you too," Zara replied.

"It could have been a good morning," said Chandler, sitting down next to Zara as he popped a quick kiss on her cheek. "If you slept with me last night."

"Give us back the apartment and I will," Zara reminded him.

"You know, I'm impressed," Monica said. "I thought one of you would have cracked by now."

"I know I would have," Joey confessed with a chuckle before he looked over, catching Chandler's cautious gaze. "Too soon?"

"Maybe just a little," Chandler mumbled.

Zara laughed at that, though she couldn't look at Joey or Chandler, knowing he still felt insecure. They were getting there, but even Zara's heart pounded at the reminder of it all.

"Yes, well, I don't know whether to be impressed or offended," Zara told Chandler. "No one's ever resisted me like this before."

"I guess that makes me one of a kind," said Chandler. "Lucky me."

Zara narrowed her eyes at him as Chandler smiled.

"If it helps," Chandler continued. "I happen to know that you'll give in soon."

That caused Zara to scoff. "Yeah, right."

"Have you met Zara?" Monica questioned. "If Zara's set on something, she'll stick to it."

"Yeah, she can be crazy competitive like you," said Chandler. "But I think I know you pretty well by now, Zara. You'll be the one dragging me to the bedroom. Just you wait."

"Not gonna happen," Zara told him, not liking how smug he was getting about it.

But, already, Zara could feel herself inching to give in. Chandler was sitting close to her with their thighs brushing, but all she wanted was their apartment back.

And now Chandler was adamant she'll be first to give in, so that only fueled Zara to resist her boyfriend.

As Joey disappeared to the bathroom for his shower, Phoebe came into the apartment. Both Chandler and Monica were reading the morning paper while Zara was eating the rest of her toast before it ended up cold.

Phoebe, though, started to groan, causing all three of them to look up at her.

"What is it, hun?" Monica asked her.

"Nothing!" Phoebe replied, though it didn't sound like nothing. "I can't find anything that I want to eat. Everything makes me nauseous. I'm telling you, being pregnant is no piece of cake. Oh, cake!"

Chandler gestured as if that was something for Phoebe to eat.

However, Phoebe's face screwed up. "No! See?"

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry," Monica said.

"It'll get better," Zara reassured her.

"God..." Then she paused from halfway taking her coat off. "What is that smell? It's coming from the bathroom! Oh!"

Phoebe followed the trail of smell with them all wondering if it was coming from Joey's sandwich, which most likely had meat in it.

"Wow, pregnancy does give you some weird cravings," Chandler commented.

Zara smiled at that, turning her head to face Chandler, as he smiled back at her.

♡

Later on, they ended up down at the coffee house again, but it felt weird for Zara as she didn't have her laptop or had a need to write. With the book finished, she was on a break, and Zara was determined to stick to it so far.

That break also meant that Chandler had a surprise weekend away planned for them — their first since getting back together, so Zara was excited. Though, the weekend wouldn't be happening until their sex ban was over.

Zara now sat with her cappuccino with a book as she casually read, sitting close to Chandler.

"What are you writing?" Chandler asked.

Hearing that, Zara looked up to see that he was talking about Rachel, who had a notepad in her hand with a pen. Monica sat down on the arm of the sofa next to her, holding a mug in her hand.

"Well, Joshua's coming in tomorrow," Rachel explained. "And since I don't have the guts to ask him out, I'm going to sell him a coat and put this note in his pocket."

"Oh, so you've written a love note?" Zara realised. "Can we read it?"

"No," Rachel was quick to answer.

Chandler reached forward to take the note from his hand as Zara moved closer to him, wanting to read over his shoulder. "Joshua, give me a call sometime. Guys like you... never go out of style. What did you throw away?"

Rachel snatched back her notebook.

"Aw, Rachel, honey," said Zara. "It's good, but did you want some help?"

"No, I want it to be from me," Rachel said.

"Hi, guys," Ross came in greeting them along with Emily as they were all quick to reply.

"Hey, what have you guys been up to?" Joey asked them.

"Oh, we went to see a collection of Victorian door knobs," said Ross. "At the Cooper Hewitt museum."

"Without me?" Chandler exclaimed before his eyes fell on Zara in mock horror. "Honey, why haven't you taken me?"

"Toby will take you, won't you, Toby?" Zara replied, shooting her brother a grin as he playfully glared at her from where he sat next to Joey.

"Yeah," Emily said. "My uncle dragged us there but it actually turned out to be really interesting. They were so ornate and beautiful. I mean, look at that."

Emily showed them a doorknob and they all looked at it, unknowing how to respond.

"I don't know how museums work in England," said Monica. "But here, you're not supposed to take stuff."

Ross laughed.

"I, uh, got it from the gift shop," Emily replied. "They have really lax security there."

They all raised their eyebrows at that, a little shocked.

"It's a joke," Emily reassured them.

Zara felt her lips twitch, but there was no laughter from any of them. Instead, Emily turned away from them as she kissed Ross.

"Right, I've got to be off," Emily told them after. "Well, see you then. Bye-bye then."

"Bye," they all replied together as Emily left the coffee house.

"Well, you guys seem to be having a good time," Joey pointed out.

"A really good time," Toby added, grinning along with Joey.

"Yeah, she's-she's amazing," Ross said. "And-and she's so much fun, you know? And, you know what? When I'm with her, I'm fun." At that, Ross started to laugh. "I even signed up for helicopter classes. She's leaving in two days, I don't have to do it."

"Wow, two days," Monica said. "You must be bummed."

"Yeah, she's got to go back to London," Ross replied. "But you know what? I've been prepared for this from the start. We both knew we had two weeks together and then that's it, you know?"

"Hey, that's what all my relationships are like," Joey told him.

Zara tried not to flinch at that, but at least they had a month together.

"Yes, but in Ross' case, they both know in two weeks that's it," Chandler said.

Joey frowned at that, where his eyes briefly flickered to Zara as she was quick to look away before things ended up awkward. She didn't want to know where his mind had ended up, and fortunately, Phoebe came in then that was enough of a distraction.

"Pheebs!" Ross greeted her, all cheery. "Oh, hello! Hello!"

"I know, I know," snapped Phoebe, sitting down on the spare chair. "Yeah. So, the baby is totally craving meat. This afternoon, I tried tricking it. I made it a soy burger, so maybe it would think it was getting meat and I got nauseous."

"Well, maybe that's because soy burgers suck," Chandler commented.

"Being pregnant is hard on your tummy," Phoebe said.

"But at least you get that cool, pregnant lady glow," Joey said, trying to help.

"Oh, that's sweat," said Phoebe. "You throw up all morning. You'll have that glow too."

♡

Zara's newfound freedom led to her persuading Chandler and Toby to play foosball with herself and Monica. Well, actually, it was Toby who persuaded them, wanting to see just how competitive the two get when they are together.

Joey was watching as he snacked on a bag of chips while Ross was keeping score on the sketcher that was on the door.

Rachel came pushing through the door, almost knocking poor Ross.

"We have to have a party tonight," Rachel told them quickly. "Actually, we have to have one in five minutes. So, everybody cancel your plans."

Zara looked over to Chandler. "Did we have any plans?"

"You were gonna sleep with me," Chandler told her.

Zara rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

"What are you talking about?" Joey asked Rachel.

"We have to have a surprise bon voyage party for Emily," Rachel explained, starting to throw party supplies from her bag onto the foosball table. "But it's actually for Joshua. Look. He said he's not ready to date, so I had to invite him to a party and I wanted to see him outside of work and now I have created the perfect opportunity to seduce him."

Zara picked up a party hat, putting it on her head with the string tight beneath her chin. Monica still held hers as Chandler and Toby wore theirs already, accepting that they were having a party.

"Well, as much as I'd like to meet Josh and warn him," said Ross, accepting a party hat before he put it down on the side. "Emily and I aren't going to be here. I mean, she's going to come by here first to say goodbye and then I've got a whole special evening planned. So, sorry, no party."

"Aw!" Joey replied.

Even Zara had to agree she was a little touched by how far Ross was willing to go to make their final time together special.

Emily knocked on the door that was still open. "Hello?"

"Surprise!" Rachel shouted, holding up a bon voyage banner.

"Surprise! Surprise!" The rest of them cheered, quickly trying to get into the party spirit.

Emily, fortunately, was smiling brightly. "No one's ever thrown me a surprise party before!"

"Well, it was all Ross' idea," Rachel said, trying to soothe things over.

"You're so sweet," Emily told him, all emotional. "And I'm so surprised!"

"You really didn't know?" Ross eventually responded, having no choice but to play along now.

Zara was excited about the party, mainly because she was curious to see how far Rachel was willing to go for this Joshua. With that, Chandler and Zara stayed together during most of the party, watching both Joshua and Rachel.

Becoming nosy, the two walked over to Rachel in the kitchen.

"Why are you over here if Joshua's all the way over there?" Chandler asked.

"Uh, because I'm trying to play hard-to-get," Rachel said.

"Maybe you should change," Zara said. "If I wanted someone, I would wear something I knew they would like. You know, like a sexy dress or no underwear."

"That always works," Chandler added. 

"He's looking," Rachel noticed. "Say something funny."

Chandler panicked, becoming all dried up from his jokes.

"Like what?" Chandler questioned.

Rachel laughed in response as Zara tried laughing too, patting Chandler on the back just to make him feel a little more awkward.

"Wh-what's so funny?" Joey asked.

"I said like what," Chandler replied.

"Well, that's a thinker," Joey said, zoning out from them as he thought about the non-existent joke a little too hard.

"Okay, you know what," said Rachel, starting to panic. "This playing hard-to-get thing is not working. Hand me those cherries."

Chandler passed the jar to Rachel and the two watched as she walked over to Joshua, where they were both completely clueless as to what she was about to do. Even just witnessing Rachel's walk, Zara felt like cringing.

"Would you ever act like that for me?" Chandler questioned.

"I never needed to. You've always been easy to get," Zara reminded him, turning to smile up at him. "It was you first who had a crush on me, remember. I just always liked teasing you. Like now."

"You're torturing me more like," Chandler told her.

"Yeah, but you love it," said Zara, pushing up on her tiptoes to kiss him as his hands found the familiar place on her hips. "You know, you could always give in..."

"Nope," Chandler grinned. "This is my revenge for all the times before."

"For all the times like what?" Zara challenged, enjoying it too much.

"You know what," Chandler said, becoming flustered.

"You know, I could make it worse," said Zara as she cupped her hand behind his ear, standing on her tiptoes to whisper something in her boyfriend's ear as his hand tightened on her waist.

Afterwards, Zara pulled away with a smug grin, knowing he was crumbling.

"You would really do that?" Chandler questioned. "Like really?"

"You'll have to find out," Zara replied.

"Oh, I hate you," Chandler said.

Zara only laughed. "No, you love me."

"Yeah," said Chandler, smiling happily. "That I do, but you're still evil."

Zara was happy with that, but before she could reply, Rachel started to choke behind them which suddenly caught their attention. Wide-eyed, they watched as she was quick to leave the apartment with Zara wondering what had even happened.

Focusing on the food, Zara picked at the chips while Joey started making himself another sandwich. Toby was eating too, which caused Phoebe to come over, wanting to see what they were making. Chandler had disappeared temporarily with Zara wondering if he needed some space from her like she did.

"Oh, yeah," said Phoebe. "What are you going to put on top of that?"

"A little salami," Joey told her.

"Oh, yeah, yeah," Phoebe continued. "Then, um, what goes on top of the salami?"

"Oh, pastrami," Joey said.

"Oh, yeah," Phoebe agreed as Zara laughed at her. "You're a genius."

"Oh, could somebody give me a hand with the zipper?"

Turning, Rachel was hurrying towards them as Zara's lip curled upwards into a smile, knowing this had to work with Joshua. Maybe Zara needed to pull the dress move with Chandler to trick him into sleeping with her.

"Looking hot, Rach," Zara told her.

"Up!" Rachel advised Joey, who was helping with the zipper.

"You changed?" Monica questioned.

"Yeah," said Rachel. "I decided I needed my lucky dress. Zara, you would sleep with me, right?"

"Oh, for sure," Zara reassured her. "Especially in that dress."

"And lucky means more cleavage?" Monica guessed.

"It does for me," Chandler said.

Zara's head snapped to Chandler, glaring at him as he was clearly looking at Rachel's chest.

"What, you said you'd sleep with her, so you were looking too," Chandler pointed out.

Though, from Chandler's face, Zara was certain he was imagining a lot more. However, Joey ended up distracting everyone as he wiped down Rachel's dress before signalling she was all good to go.

"Oh, God," said Rachel. "Look at him. He's so cute! I just want to go over there and grab him and kiss him! How could I kiss him without letting him know that I like him?"

"Oh, hey, I know how you can get him," Joey offered. "Take off your bra."

"What?" Rachel responded.

"There's this scene in Footloose..."

"Flashdance," Chandler corrected.

"Yeah," Joey agreed. "Yeah with that plumber girl..."

"She was a welder," Chandler told him.

"What, were you, like, in the movie or...?" Joey demanded as Chandler fell quiet with Zara a little curious now, wanting to see this film that Chandler knew so much about. "Anyway, she takes off her bra under the shirt and pulls it out the sleeve. Very sexy and classy."

"Or if you want to kiss him," Monica suggested. "Um, you could use mistletoe."

"It's not Christmas," Rachel pointed out.

"Or spin the bottle."

"He's not eleven."

"Thank you so much for this," Emily said as she came over to join them with Ross, where the two looked ready to go. "It was really so thoughtful of you."

"What, you're leaving?" Rachel questioned.

"Yes, we have something to get to," Ross reminded her.

"Uh, yeah," said Joshua. "I think I'm going to take off too, actually."

"Oh, you guys, you can't leave yet!" Rachel protested. "You have to stay! We... we've got the whole big thing planned."

"What big thing?" Ross asked what they were all thinking.

However, the big thing ended up with them playing spin the bottle as Zara found herself sitting cross-legged between her brother and boyfriend. Despite them being with her, she felt like she was back in high school again.

"So, spin the bottle works like this," started Rachel. "I spin the bottle. Lands on Gunther, so I would have to kiss Gunther."

Rachel started to crawl towards him with Gunther looking about ready, but then she stopped with Zara a little gutted for the white-haired man.

"All right," Rachel concluded her explanation. "Who wants to go first?"

Zara wanted to question the rules of the game but, then again, she didn't want to think about it too much. Both Chandler and Zara knew they wouldn't be kissing anyone else, even if it was a game, but they'd still sit in support for Rachel.

"I'll go," Emily offered.

There was a chorus of cheers as Emily leaned forward to spin the bottle. Zara held her breath until it landed on Joey in relief.

"Welcome to America," Joey said.

The two leaned forward, somewhat crawling towards each other as they briefly pecked. Then, it was Joey who spun the bottle as it landed on Emily, causing more of a reaction from Rachel and Monica then anyone else.

"Two in a row," Monica said. "You got to use tongues now."

Again, the two shared a small peck as Zara caught Ross' stormy expression.

"We're both in agreement we're not actually playing, right?" Chandler questioned.

"Right," Zara said. "God, we're that boring couple now."

Chandler didn't say anything at that as maybe the two had sunk into a normal relationship that they never thought they'd originally be in. That, and it felt a little dull with no sex, but everything was still good.

Emily spun the bottle again as it landed on Joey for a third time.

"What are the odds?" Chandler exclaimed.

"Ross, you all good?" Toby questioned.

Ross strained a smile as both Joey and Emily went in for a third kiss before Ross cracked, breaking it up between them.

"Okay," said Ross. "Th-that's enough, you know? Let's... let someone else play."

"Hey, if you didn't want to play, then why'd you come to the party?" Joey demanded, removing his party hat.

"Okay, my turn!" Rachel cried out.

Rachel spun the bottle, where it miraculously landed on Joshua as she let out a little cry of delight. "Look at that! Oh my God!"

There was a massive grin on Rachel's face as she crawled towards Joshua with Zara knowing she had never acted like this for anyone before. Zara's fingers pressed against her lips, trying not to laugh at Rachel's attempt of crawling.

"Oh my God!" Phoebe exclaimed. "The baby just kicked!"

That overtook the game as everyone reacted, surprised and ecstatic.

"It's okay, it's okay!" Rachel shouted. "If it kicked once, it'll kick again!"

But no one was listening as they helped Phoebe stand, wanting to celebrate this big moment with her. Zara's hand fell on her back, smiling in pure joy as she checked up on her friend, wanting to make sure that she was doing good too. 

"Well, everybody just remember where they were sitting."

As the night went on, things started to spiral with the shock of Phoebe eating meat that Joey was further encouraging with steak. Zara and Chandler ended up sitting next to Joshua as Zara was trying to understand him, to see if he was even interested in Rachel.

However, even with Zara's helping hand, Rachel was about to blow it for herself anyway as she came back into the apartment wearing her cheerleader uniform from high school.

"This is going to be a disaster," Zara told Chandler as the two stood, eager to head over.

A disaster that Zara was excited to witness.

"Well, we can't go now," said Emily. "It looks like Rachel's going to put on a skit."

Monica went over to talk to Rachel as Zara stayed back, knowing she'd say something that would only upset Rachel. Right now, there was no way Zara would find Rachel attractive enough to sleep with her.

"I hated cheerleaders at school," Zara commented.

"That doesn't surprise me," Chandler said.

"They were pretty to look at, but complete bitches," Zara said.

Monica let Rachel go as she walked towards Joshua, where the two greeted each other.

"Nice, uh... costume," Joshua said.

"Oh, yeah," Rachel said. "Well, I wanted to give Emily a big, American good-bye cheer."

"Lucky Emily," Zara said.

"So, okay," Rachel started as she hurried for space in the living room to do her little cheer routine. "Whoo! Ready? Okay! Give me an E."

With each letter, they repeated it back to Rachel.

"Give me an M."

"Give me an I."

"Give me an L."

"Give me an Y."

Rachel rolled her pompoms. "What do you get?"

Then, she threw her pompoms as Phoebe and Joey caught them before doing a series of cartwheels with Emily's name as a cry, which led to her crashing in the bedroom. There was a yell as Zara's eyebrows rose, finding this cheerleader so much better than the ones from highschool.

"Okay, so that's me as a cheerleader," Rachel said, though she was struggling to speak. "Ta-dum!"

Gunther was clapping the loudest out of them while the majority were a little lost for words.

"You all right?" Monica questioned as she and Joey both checked on Rachel.

"Yeah, I just loosened a tooth," Rachel told them. "It's no big deal. I have a dentist. I'll go put some ice on it. Excuse me."

Both Monica and Joey followed Rachel as they rest tried not to cringe for their friend who was failing so badly. If it was Zara, then by now, she would have taken the rejection and moved on, but it was obvious Rachel had never been the one to chase or be rejected.

In the end, it seemed Rachel had given in as she disappeared to the bedroom for Joshua to get his coat.

"So, chances of you staying with me tonight?" Chandler asked.

"That depends," Zara said, looking up to her boyfriend with a smile. "Will it just be sleeping or..."

"Just sleeping apparently," said Chandler. "Unless you were planning otherwise?"

"Nope," Zara told him. "Are you?"

"Nope," Chandler replied.

So, by the end of the night, it turned out that Rachel actually had a chance with Joshua despite how much she embarrassed herself. Zara ended up giving in just a little with Chandler as she joined him in his bed, wearing pyjamas with her head resting on his chest.

"You know, no one has to know—"

"I'll know," Zara argued. "I don't like to lose, Chandler."

"Seems like you're losing anyway," Chandler said.

Zara frowned at that. "I'm not as I'm not sleeping with you."

"But you're not having sex either," Chandler pointed out.

"True," said Zara as she looked up at him with a teasing grin. "But I'm not exactly frustrated, am I? I don't always need you, Bing."

Chandler's mouth fell open as he thought about that, where Zara quickly kissed his cheek before she rolled over to turn the light off, wondering if he was about to give in with his mind going in a wander.

"Wait, do you mean—" 

"Goodnight Chandler," Zara said instead, but she couldn't help but grin into her pillow.

♡

Sorry it's been a while! I've debated about saying what's been going on with me as I have been ill & in hospital recently, but the truth is I'm not ready to share nor do I think I ever will be. The important thing is that I'm doing a lot better now & slowly getting back to being normal. I can't say updates will be like they used to be as it takes a lot out of me now to write these chapters, but I'm getting there & writing does help. Just bare with me if it does take me a little while, but Chandler & Zara do make me happy.

Chandler or Zara is about to give in!!