♡

THE ONE WITH SMOTHERED FEELINGS.
EPISODE THIRTEEN.

♡

"You know you have work right?" Joey told Zara.

Looking up from her laptop, her eyes fell on him. "I do, hence the flowers on my dress."

Zara's hair had grown to the point that she could get it into a ponytail again, so she was back to wearing scrunchies to wear with her work uniform.

"Then why are you writing?" Joey questioned.

"For inspiration," said Zara. "Mainly notes from my dreams or thoughts."

"You know, I wonder what would happen if you wore leather to class," Chandler said.

"Zara's boots deserve better than a class of six-year-olds," Rachel decided.

"The kids love my looks," Zara told them. "So do the parents."

"Oh, I'm sure the dads would love the leather," Chandler reassured.

Zara smirked at him. "Don't forget the moms."

But, they both knew she meant her bright and fun daytime looks.

Chandler started pouring himself two glasses of milk before he was rummaging through Monica's cupboards with Zara reminding him not to mess anything up. Of course, she needed to get going soon, but her laptop was now closed, and Zara was organising the marked homework she had brought home last night.

"Yeah, baby," Chandler announced.

"What are you doing?" Ross asked.

"Making chocolate milk," Chandler told them. "You want some?"

"No thanks, I'm twenty-nine," said Ross.

"Luckily, I'm only twenty-five," Zara said. "I'll have one."

"Already made you one," Chandler announced, offering Zara a smile as he squeezed some of the chocolate sauce into the second glass.

There was a tiny smile on Zara's face that she tried to hide as she gratefully accepted the drink, touched that Chandler still knew to do little things like that. For someone who didn't think he was good when it came to women, Chandler unconsciously knew how to get into someone's heart.

Phoebe came in then, where everyone was eager to greet their friend.

"Look at you," said Joey, noticing the skates in her hand. "Since when do you rollerblade?"

"Oh, since tomorrow," Phoebe replied. "I met this really cute guy in the park. And he like, you know, jogs and blades and swims and so we made a deal. He's going to teach me how to do all sports or jock stuff."

"And what are you going to do for him?" Ross asked.

"I'm going to let him," Phoebe said.

"It sounds fun," Zara told Phoebe. "I dated this one guy before who couldn't even stand on the rink, let alone even skate, so you'll have a great time if he's really into sports."

"Hey," Chandler protested. "I can skate."

Zara's nose crinkled, knowing Chandler really couldn't skate.

"Morning," Monica greeted, saving Zara from answering.

"Hey, somebody got in late last night," Rachel said as they all greeted Monica.

"Yeah, well, I ran into Richard," Monica told them.

That caught Zara's attention as her eyes landed on her friend, wide with shock and concern.

Rachel gasped. "When did this happen?"

"Oh, around 8:02," Monica said casually while helping herself to coffee. "We, uh, talked and then we out for an innocent burger."

"Oh, there's no such thing as an innocent burger," Phoebe told her.

"Are you going to see him again?" Ross asked.

"Tomorrow night," Monica said.

"Monica, what are you doing?" Rachel questioned.

"Well, she spent the last six months getting over him," Chandler answered for her. "And now she's celebrating that by going on a date with him."

"It's not a date, okay?" Monica reassured them.

"You sure?" Zara challenged.

"I'm just going to teach him how to make a lasagna for some potluck dinner he has," Monica said.

"You might want to make a little extra because, you know, you'll probably be hungry after the sex," Joey told her.

"We're not going to have sex," Monica said, but they were all trying to hide their smiles, knowing it was going to happen. "Okay, nothing's changed here. He still doesn't want children and I still do. So that's why we're going to just be friends."

"Naked friends," Ross said.

That night, Zara ended up talking to Monica about the Richard situation. Even with Chandler around, it had been hard to openly communicate about how hard being friends with Chandler was.

"Mon, what will you do if this backfires in your face?" Zara questioned.

"It won't," said Monica. "You and Chandler figured out how to be friends."

"And you know that I'm still struggling with that," Zara reminded her. "You gave me advice not long ago not to do anything stupid, so listen to yourself."

Monica rose her eyebrows. "And did you do anything stupid?"

Zara pressed her lips together, unknowing how to answer that.

"I knew it!" Monica pointed an accusing finger at Zara.

"Nothing happened," Zara insisted. "I almost kissed someone, but it doesn't matter. You're using this to distract me from you."

Monica gasped. "Who?"

"No one—"

"Chandler!"

Zara remained silent.

"Oh my God, it was Joey!" Monica realised.

Zara hushed her friend. "Someone could hear you."

"I can't believe this," Monica said, eyes wide with shock. "But what about Chandler?"

"Chandler doesn't know — I don't even know if Joey knows as we were drunk, so I'm hoping he's just forgotten," said Zara, hating that she was rambling. "It won't happen again. It's just a stupid crush like before; it'll pass."

"Are you sure it's just a crush?" Monica prodded, needing to know now. "Zara, the conversation I overheard you both having at Christmas..."

"It's just a crush," Zara insisted.

"And Chandler?" Monica questioned further. "Do you still...?"

"I don't know," said Zara. "I keep thinking I'm over him, but... I don't know if I ever completely will be."

The thought of saying it out loud was terrifying, but Zara was certain that she'd always be in love with him. While Zara had thought she was in love with Derek and Marnie, she never had any feelings quite like this before.

"Oh my God," said Monica again. "Zara, this is..."

"Nothing," Zara reassured her. "They're both my friends, so I'm not gonna do anything that would risk losing them. But, you, you're playing a dangerous game too with Richard."

"Zara, I only have to worry about staying friends with one guy," Monica told her. "You, honey, are trying to stay friends with two guys you see every day and who are also best friends with each other."

So, in other words, Zara was screwed.

♡

While Richard was over the following night, Zara had hidden downstairs in the coffee house to continue working on her novel. To her surprise, Joey was reading Little Women (which happened to be Zara's favourite book).

The coffee house wasn't supposed to be so distracting, but Zara had a small, sweet smile on her face as she kept looking up to see Joey reading. Every time she caught herself, she was quick to avert her gaze, reminded by the fact that she was currently sitting in between Chandler and Joey.

"These Little Women," Joey said after a while. "Wow!"

"Right?" Zara agreed, grinning brightly.

"You're liking it, huh?" Chandler questioned.

"Oh, yeah," said Joey. "Amy just burned Jo's manuscript. I don't see how he could ever forgive her."

"I know I couldn't," Zara mumbled. "But Jo's a girl, Joey."

"It's short for Josephine," Ross added to help.

"But Jo's got a crush on Laurie," Joey pointed out before his mind tried to understand it in Joey's own way. "Oh! You mean it's like a girl-girl thing? 'Cause that is the one thing missing from The Shining. No wonder why you love it, Zara."

"No, actually, Laurie's a boy," Chandler told him.

"No wonder why Rachel had to read this so many times," Joey said.

"If you want a book that's a girl-girl thing," said Zara. "Try Annie on my Mind — that helped me figure out a few things as a teenager."

"I'll read that next if you read The Shining," Joey told her.

"I've already read The Shining," Zara confessed.

"You have?" Joey exclaimed, surprised. "We have to talk about it!"

"Once you've finished Little Women," Zara promised him.

As Joey started to read again, Zara returned her attention back to her laptop in the hope to ignore the fuzziness that was forming deep inside her again. Fortunately, Phoebe joined them then as Zara was happy to meet the man Phoebe was seeing.

"How'd the basketball go?" Ross asked them.

"Oh, okay," said Phoebe. "I learned how to shoot a lay-up, a foul shot and a 23-pointer."

Chandler caught the basketball as Phoebe dropped it for him. "You mean a three-pointer?"

"Oh, I get more because I'm dainty," Phoebe told them.

"I like that rule," Zara decided.

"So, um, is there a phone here I can check my messages?" Robert questioned.

"Yeah, in the back," Phoebe told him. "Do you want a quarter?"

"Oh, no, thanks," said Robert. "I always carry one in my sock."

As Robert placed his foot on the armchair, Zara felt Chandler leaning into her side. Confused, Zara looked up from her laptop as her head turned to the left, eyes widening as saw Robert's balls hanging out of his pants.

Like Chandler, Zara had started to move away from Robert and into Joey, where the three were squished up together at the other end. Joey looked up from his book, eyebrows furrowing at them both.

"What are you doing?" Joey questioned. "Chandler, you're pushing Zara. Get back over—" But as Joey leant over Zara, pushing Chandler back to his side, he finally saw what they were avoiding. "Hello!"

Zara had to use her hand to cover her laughter.

"I'm Joey," the man was leaning over Zara as he introduced himself. "We haven't met."

"Good to meet you," Robert shook Joey's hand. "Robert."

Joey couldn't hold his laughter in as Robert left, which set Zara off. It caused the two guys to join them with Phoebe catching them.

"What?" Phoebe questioned, but no one could stop laughing to tell her. Though, Zara offered to let Phoebe have her seat as she moved to sit with Ross, liking to have the table with her laptop. "What? You guys? What is going on? Do you not like Robert?"

Hearing his name, there were a few sniggers again.

"Why are you laughing?" Phoebe asked again.

"Calm down," Ross told her. "There's no reason to get testy."

That caused Zara's lips to twitch with the urge to laugh again, but she managed to contain it unlike the other three.

"You guys," said Phoebe, completely clueless. "Come on."

"We're sorry," Chandler said. "It just seems that Robert isn't as concealed in the shorts area as uh, one may have hoped."

"What do you mean?" Phoebe questioned.

"Hey," said Robert as he came back, sitting in the armchair.

"Uh, Robert, could you uh..." Joey tried to think of a way for Phoebe to see for herself. "Uh, pass me those cookies?"

"Sure."

Though, his foot was on the coffee table as he reached over to pass the cookies over. Phoebe gasped, hand covering her mouth in shock as Zara tried concentrating on her laptop in the hope that she wouldn't start laughing again.

♡

Even though they had almost risked their friendship, Zara was relieved that nothing had come between her friendship with Joey. Maybe it had just been two friends drunk, so it was nothing to think too much into.

"You know you gotta have a break, right?" Joey told her, holding Zara's laptop as they walked towards the coffee house. "All you do is work, Zara."

"It's a little hard," Zara confessed. "But I've got this."

"I know you do, but you should still have a break," Joey said.

Zara offered him a smile. "I already had a break, remember? Now I gotta focus on the second book if I want to stay on schedule."

Then, with that, they entered the coffee house as they bumped into Robert leaving, which made the two laugh as they greeted him.

"How's it going?" Joey asked their friends.

"Good," Chandler and Ross mumbled.

"Hey, Rach," said Joey as Zara took her laptop from him, setting herself up on the little table that she liked to claim. "How are you doing with The Shining?"

"Oh, Danny just went into room 217," Rachel told him.

"Oh..." Joey responded. "The next parts the best when that dead lady in the bathtub..."

"Oh, no, no, no!" Rachel panicked, covering her ears. "Come on, you're going to ruin it!"

"All right, I'll talk in code," said Joey, addressing the others. "Remember when the kid sees those two blanks in the hallway?"

The three all nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," said Chandler. "That's very cool."

"Oh! All blank and no blank makes blank a blank blank."

Zara lost the flow with that one but still smiled anyway.

"Oh, no," Joey was quick to add. "The end when Jack almost kills them all with that blank but then in the last second, they get away."

"Joey, I can't believe you just did that," Rachel complained.

"I can't believe she cracked your code," said Chandler before heading over to the counter to get himself a cup of coffee.

"All right, okay," Rachel started, moving to sit down on the sofa next to Ross. "Laurie proposes to Jo and she says no, even though she's still in love with him and then he ends up marrying Amy."

With that, Rachel picked up her book to carry on reading. Zara's eyes fell on Joey, witnessing how horrified he was to be spoiled.

"Hey!" Joey protested. "Mine was by accident! All right, the boiler explodes and destroys the hotel and kills the dad."

Rachel gasped. "Beth dies."

Joey was quick to stand, his hand covering his mouth. Trying to pull himself together, he settles on the sofa, eyes stuck on Rachel as if he's about to break into tears. "Beth...Beth dies?"

Rachel hums in agreement.

"Zara!" Joey's attention fell on her. "Is that true? If I keep reading, is Beth going to die?"

"No, Rachel's wrong," Zara reassured him. "Beth doesn't die. Does she, Rachel?"

"What?" Rachel questioned.

"Joey's asking if you've just ruined the first book he's ever loved that didn't star Jack Nicholson," Ross told his girlfriend.

"No," Rachel said. "She doesn't die."

"Then why would you say that?" Joey demanded.

Rachel thought about it for a second. "Because... I wanted to hurt you."

Robert came in then, capturing their attention. "Oh, there they are. I-I dropped my keys."

As he bent down to pick them up, Zara was quick to look away. From the sofa, Rachel gasped, seeing it now too.

♡

"You were right."

Turning from the sofa in the apartment, Zara's eyes fell on Monica, who looked upset. From Monica's face, Zara knew it was about Richard as she offered her friend a sad smile.

"I was hoping I wouldn't be," Zara told her.

Sighing, Monica sat down on the sofa next to her friend, moving to rest her head on Zara's shoulder with the two still supporting each other over their heartbreaks after all these months.

"I don't know how you do it," Monica confessed.

"I don't know either," Zara told her. "All I know is that I don't want to lose either of them."

Even worse, Zara didn't want to be completely left by them.

"You know, I don't think you ever could," Monica reassured her. "You're the only one I've ever seen either of them like this for."

"Joey doesn't—"

"Honey, he does," Monica insisted. "Joey's just oblivious to it, but I can see it."

Then, Zara hoped that Joey would stay oblivious.

"You know, the next time you bump into Richard, it might be easier," Zara told Monica, wanting to help her friend rather than talk about Zara's situation. "It just takes time."

But how much time, Zara couldn't say.

For Zara, she simply hoped time would be enough to smother whatever was happening with her heart. But, Monica was right: seeing Chandler and Joey every day wasn't helping.

The following day, Zara had been typing at the table while Rachel was reading. As the door opened, the two looked over to see Joey with his book.

"Beth is really, really sick," Joey told them.

"Oh, Joey," Zara sympathised along with Rachel as she helped Joey sit down at the table.

"Jo's there," Joey started to cry as Zara moved her chair closer, placing a soothing hand on his arm. "But I don't think there's anything she can do."

Rachel hugged him as Zara remained close.

"Joey?"

"Yeah?"

"You want to put the book in the freezer?" Rachel offered.

"Okay," Joey decided, handing the book to Rachel.

Though, when Joey found the bravery to finish the book, it had been with the promise that Zara would be there so he wouldn't be alone. Afterwards, Joey had been silent, trying to process the book.

"I still don't understand," said Joey after a while. "Why is this your favourite book when you like horrors?"

"I'm not really set on one genre," Zara reminded him. "I mean, look at me: I'm writing a children's book. I guess Little Women was one of those books that I found comfort in. I always imagined myself as Jo, I suppose, but it was mostly because I just wanted to be a part of a family like that."

"Were you not close to anyone in the foster homes?" Joey questioned.

Zara shrugged. "Everyone comes and goes in group homes like that; sometimes I was alone."

"Oh," said Joey. "I can't imagine anything like that."

"That's good," Zara told him, smiling. "I couldn't imagine growing up in a big family like yours."

"I could imagine you in a family like that," Joey told her. "You what, teach fifteen kids? That's a handful all on its own. Plus you have us — you know how much of a handful we can all be."

"Yeah, that's true," Zara realised. "I guess I have my own version of a family."

♡

EPISODE FOURTEEN.

♡

There was a new singer in the coffee house as they all sat around to listen.

"Wow, this girls good," said Joey.

"Oh, yeah," Phoebe agreed sarcastically. "A song with rhyming words — I never thought of that before."

"I like her," Chandler told Phoebe.

"Why? 'Cause she can sing and play guitar and do both at the same time?" Phoebe questioned.

"Well, that's pretty much all I'm looking for from these people," Chandler said.

"Hey, Pheebs," said Zara. "She's nothing compared to you."

"Finally some taste," Phoebe replied.

"Look at you," Monica teased. "All jealous."

"Yeah, Pheebs, come on," Ross told her. "You two have completely different styles. You know, she's more..." Ross used his hands to show Phoebe. "You know, and... you're more..." To finish, there was a small wiggle of his body.

When the lady finished singing, the coffee house applauded.

"See? See?" Phoebe pointed out. "Everybody else is happy she's done."

"Okay, my next song is called Phoebe Buffay, what can I say? I really loved when we were singing partners and I shouldn't have left you that way."

At that, everyone looked to Phoebe.

"Oh, no," said Phoebe. "One of those look for the hidden meaning songs."

After the performance, the woman came over to greet Phoebe, likely hoping to speak to her.

"How'd you know I'd be here?" Phoebe questioned.

"I ran into Vlad at the place where they sell the big fish," she replied. "He said you played here a lot, so, um..."

"Listen," said Chandler close to where Zara was sitting. "I have to go to the bathroom, but if the place with the big fish comes up again, I'd like to know whether that's several big fish or just one big fish."

"How about I find out where they sell the big fish and we'll go see for ourselves?" Zara suggested.

"That's a d — a plan," Chandler stumbled over the words before disappearing as Zara was left staring after him, eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

"So, Phoebe tells us you write jingles?" Joey continued the conversation.

"Actually, I said she abandoned me to write jingles," Phoebe corrected.

"Uh, anything we might have heard of?" Joey asked.

"Uh, yeah, um... Home is never far away..."

"...home is Homestar Stew."

"Yeah, but I don't do that anymore. I got kind of sick of it and then I couldn't come up with anything good so they fired me."

"Bummer," Phoebe replied.

"Well, uh, you know, I was just...um, I was just thinking and just hoping that maybe you'd want to get back together."

"No, but thanks," Phoebe told her.

"Oh, come on, Phoebe," she continued. "Would you just think about it?"

"Okay," Phoebe decided. "No, but thanks."

"Okay," the woman gave in. "Uh... see you, Pheebs."

"Wow," said Joey once the woman left. "That was kind of brutal." '

Zara was somewhat impressed, having not expected that from Phoebe.

"Well, okay, let this be a lesson to all of you," Phoebe said. "Once you... once you betray me, I become like the icewoman. You know, I'm just... very hold, hard... unyielding. You know, nothing, nothing can penetrate this icy exterior. Can I have a tissue, please?"

"Oh, yes," Monica offered her one.

"Thank you."

Not long later, they were getting ready to leave with Zara putting her leather jacket on.

"Where's Chandler?" Phoebe questioned.

"Uh, he can't make it," Joey replied. "He said he had to go back to his job, and do, uh..."

Though, as Joey turned, he spotted someone behind Zara. Turning too, Zara spotted a pretty brunette as she resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Woah-oh!" Joey responded, hiding from her.

"Joey?" The lady questioned, stepping closer to the group. "Joey Tribbiani. Joey, I can see you, okay? You're hiding behind the coats."

Joey pressed a finger to his lips, but they were all looking at him.

The lady looked at Monica, who looked away, and then she made the decision to leave.

"Oh..." Joey sighed, relieved. "Close one."

♡

Phoebe, Zara, and Monica had the ouija board out, where they were attempting to communicate with any ghosts. Zara was about to take control to scare the two, but Phoebe's phone beeping already made Monica jump.

Standing, Phoebe placed it in a saucepan and put the lid on top before placing it in the oven. Acting as if nothing has just happened, Phoebe sat down again.

"Now, you know those are a delicacy in India?" Monica told her.

"Yeah, that was Leslie calling again to see if we can get back together," Phoebe explained. "It's like the twentieth time today. Good luck, Leslie!"

"Must have been a bad breakup," Zara noticed.

"She must have hurt you pretty bad, huh?" Monica guessed too.

"Well, yeah," said Phoebe. "You know, we were best friends. Ever since we were little, our moms worked on the barge together."

"Oh," Monica said. "You two must've been so cute running around on a barge."

"You never run on a barge," Phoebe exclaimed.

The door opened to Joey as the three greeted him.

"Is, uh, Chandler around?" Joey questioned.

"Nope," Zara said bitterly. "He blew me off for a date."

Zara had asked Phoebe where the fish were, thinking it would be funny to take Chandler there, but he had other plans.

"He met some girl at the coffee house," Monica added for Joey.

"Oh," said Joey.

"Yeah, Ginger something."

"Awful name," Zara muttered.

Monica's eyebrows rose at Zara, catching her obvious jealousy.

"No," Joey replied, eyes wide. "No, no! Are you sure it wasn't something that sounded like Ginger? Like, uh, Gingeer?"

"No," said Monica. "It was Ginger. I remember because when he told me, I said... the movie star."

"Aw, man," said Joey, heading into the living room area. "That's the girl I was hiding from."

Zara huffed. "Of course it was."

"When she finds out he's my roommate," continued Joey. "She's going to tell him what I did?"

Now, Zara was intrigued. "What did you do?"

Joey's hand rose in caution. "Oh, no, no, no, I can't... I can't tell you that. It's like the most awful horrible thing I've ever done in my whole life."

"You know what?" Monica replied. "Don't tell us. We'll just wait till Chandler's home because it'll be more fun that way."

"All right," Joey gave in as the three were quick to hurry over to where he sat on the sofa. "Okay, it was like four years ago, and Ginger and I had gone out a few times. And then this one weekend, we went up to her dad's cabin. Just me, her, and her annoying little dog, Pepper. Well, that night I cooked this really romantic dinner..."

"You gave her food poisoning!" Monica guessed.

"I wish," Joey replied. "After dinner, me, her, and Pepper all fell asleep in front of the fire. Well, I woke up in the middle of the night and I saw that the fire was dying out, so I picked up a log and threw it on."

"How evil of you," Zara commented.

"Or, at least what I thought was a log," Joey continued.

"Oh my God," Phoebe stood, completely horrified. "You threw Pepper on the fire!"

"I wish," Joey said again, keeping them intrigued. "See, I guess another thing I probably should've told you about Ginger is that she kind of has a, uh... artificial leg."

Realising what had happened, the three gasped in shock with their mouths open wide.

"Oh my God," Monica said.

"Joey, you didn't," Zara said.

"I did," Joey replied, unable to look at her.

"Joey, what did you do after you threw her leg on the fire?" Monica demanded.

Joey stood up with Zara already knowing the answer. "I ran!"

Despite everything, Zara found herself laughing — though, it wasn't at poor Ginger, but at the whole situation, including that Zara wasn't the only unfortunate one resulting in Joey fleeing on them.

♡

Zara wanted to avoid anything to do with Ginger. While the whole Joey situation was amusing, she found herself jealous for an odd reason: Zara didn't like that both Chandler and Joey now had a past with her. It was like the Amsterdam woman all over again, where they both liked her, and Zara selfishly wanted them just to like her.

It was pure insanity; Zara was officially losing her mind.

And Monica found it hilarious.

"It's not funny," Zara told her friend.

"I'm sorry," Monica tried to hide her smile as Zara glared at her. "Really, Zara, I am. It's just... you're jealous because you thought you were the only girl Joey ran out on and you want them both to like just you."

Zara placed her head in her hands. "What am I supposed to do, Mon?"

"Okay, let's get serious," Monica decided. "I have four options for you."

Sighing, Zara looked over at her friend, who had sat down next to her with a parcel on her lap. "What's in the box?"

"Hang on, we'll get there," Monica told her. "But, first: Chandler."

"What about him?" Zara questioned.

"I know you don't want to risk your friendships again, but what if you told Chandler how you feel," said Monica. "You know, for relationships to work, you gotta work hard at them. I feel like you and Chandler just need a little push to get there."

The fear felt suffocating as Zara shook her head.

"Okay," Monica continued. "What about Joey? You both are obviously attracted to each other, so what if there's something there?"

"Just for it to end like Chandler and I?" Zara guessed with a laugh. "No, Mon. If I act on these feelings, I'll really lose them both."

"So that's your decision?" Monica pushed further. "No to both of them?"

Even though it was hard and it left a crack in Zara's heart, she pushed herself to accept that there could never be anything again with the two guys. "I can't risk losing them," admitted Zara. "Or even be the one to come between their friendship."

Monica smiled sadly, having hoped for a different outcome.

"You told me I was acting reckless and stupid," Zara reminded her.

"Because you were drunk," Monica told her. "But if this is what you want, then that leaves you with the last two options."

"What's the first?" Zara asked, knowing what it would be.

"You find someone else," said Monica. "Even if it's not something serious, you find someone who is enough to help you move on."

The words were met with silence, where Zara had already been debating it. Just like Hannah had been, Zara needed someone who could keep her distracted, but also be a shield from her feelings.

"What's the second?" Zara questioned, hoping for a miracle.

Monica handed Zara the parcel, starting to beam.

"You focus on yourself," Monica told her. "Zara, you're about to be a published author, so instead of figuring out your heart, focus on what you've spent your life dreaming about."

Zara's heart pounded, finally realising what was inside the box.

"Monica, this is..."

"Your book," Monica finished, starting to get excited.

"That means advanced copies will be going out," Zara realised, clutching onto her box to hide her shakiness. "Strangers are going to be reading my book."

"And they're going to love it," Monica reassured her. "Just like we do."

There was a smile on Zara's face as she opened the parcel, finding a few hardback copies of her book. Holding it, Zara felt the air leave her lungs, knowing she was about to cry.

Everything about it was perfect as Zara flickered through the pages, seeing all the tiny illustrations bringing her book to life. But, most of all, there was Zara's name on the front cover in bold letters.

And when everyone (minus Chandler) came over to the apartment later that evening, Zara couldn't believe she was showing them her book. Massive smiles and shouts of joy from her friends would forever remain in Zara's heart.

"This is your book! This is your book!"

Joey kept repeating the words as he looked from the book to Zara before he gave in, pulling Zara into his arms. There was a moment when Zara sunk into his hold, feeling her heart quicken in speed.

"You gotta make it official," Joey told her. "You gotta sign it."

"Sign it!" Phoebe started to chant with everyone following.

Zara's cheeks were hurting from her own smile as she accepted the pen from Monica, opening the book to the title page as she signed her first book. Around her, everyone cheered before Zara had no chance to quickly divert from a hug, but she found herself thankful that it had happened.

But, it didn't feel quite complete without Chandler there to celebrate. As Monica had hurried to get classes and a bottle of champagne, Zara had headed over to the guy's apartment, knowing Chander was upset as things didn't work out with Ginger.

"Chandler?" Zara poked her head through a gap in the door. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah," said Chandler.

Zara found him sulking in his chair which made her heart ache.

"I have something that might cheer you up," Zara told him.

Chandler's eyes fell on her, noticing that she was hiding something behind her back. "Like what?"

Unable to hide her smile, Zara showed him the hardback copy of her book, watching as Chandler sat up straight, mouth parting in surprise. His eyes lit up with joy, smiling just as brightly as Zara was feeling.

"That's your book!" Chandler exclaimed.

"Actually," said Zara. "It's kind of your book."

Chandler's eyebrows furrowed, light irises remaining on Zara as she walked towards him. Handing him the book, Chandler's eyes fell on it as he studied every inch of the book.

He opened the back of the book, finding Zara's portrait.

"Hold on," said Chandler as Zara rolled her eyes, having known he would make a joke about it. "This hot woman looks exactly like my ex-girlfriend."

"How freaky is that? You should read the acknowledgements page," Zara hinted to him. "The hot author might have mentioned something about her ex."

Curious, Chandler turned to the front of the book as he looked through. A flashy grin appeared again as he found Zara's signature.

"If I sell this, will I be rich?" Chandler questioned.

Zara couldn't hide her amused smile as she shook her head at him. "Just keep going."

Finally, Chandler opened the book to the acknowledgements page with Zara's heartbeat quickening in response. No one else knew about it yet as Zara planned on giving them all a signed versions for them to see themselves.

"To my friends," Chandler read. "Who showed me that family doesn't have to be blood. Most of all, to Chandler, who believed in me before I even did." Afterwards, he looked up at her, and Zara knew she still loved him. "Zara... you didn't have to do that."

"I did," Zara insisted. "I owe a lot to all of you, but you were the one that made me believe I was good enough to make it. You were the one who stayed up reading drafts for me and kept me sane throughout it all. So, this is my first copy, but it's for you."

"I..." Chandler was speechless — a rare achievement. "Thank you, Zara. I know I might be biased when I say you're incredibly talented and I'm so glad the world is gonna get to see that too. I know I keep saying this, but I'm so proud of you."

Zara hated the fact that she was blushing, but it was still everything she wanted to hear.

"I guess this makes me your number one fan," Chandler realised.

Then, as Chandler rose, his arms wrapped around Zara in a hug that was so tight, but so soft too. For them both, it was a confirmation that those feelings were still there.

♡

Back to team Chandler again!🥺 I'm so excited for Zara's book to finally be published! Any predictions for the end of this season?