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**Monica's Apartment**
— Later That Night —
Joey opened the door to Monica's apartment, planning to grab something to eat, only to find Rachel standing by the window, gazing outside.
"Hey, Rach. I, uh, was just coming over here to—" Joey started, flustered by the unexpected encounter and scrambling for an excuse. "Wait, I don't have to lie to you; you don't live here anymore! —I'm just here eating their food— What are you doing?" He realized there was no need for pretense.
"Ross is on a date with my sister, and they shut the drapes two and a half hours ago," Rachel replied, her voice laced with anger and a hint of worry.
"I didn't know we could date your sister," Joey said, which only deepened Rachel's frown.
Just then, Monica and Chandler emerged from the bedroom, prompting Joey to hide his bag of chips behind his back, while avoiding eye contact by looking at the ceiling—which made him look like a guilty child caught doing something wrong.
"Joey, we know you steal our food," Monica said in soft tone, He sheepishly extended the bag of chips toward them in an offering gesture but Chandler responded with a lighthearted, "We're good."
At that moment, the apartment door swung open, and Danial walked in, promptly confronted with the scene.
He did what he did best: ignored them and went straight to the fridge in search of something to eat.
"Danial, honey! Where have you been? I haven't seen you since this morning," Monica asked as she approached him.
"Huh?" he looked up, then continued, "I visited my parents, then went to the hospital, did valve replacement surgery, and now the chief has suspended me for three more days. And here I am, trying to find something to eat in your fridge because mine is filled with water bottles, juice, Red Bull, and beer." He paused to examine what he found—half a pizza, a bowl of salad, and a seemingly forgotten sandwich, plus a can of Diet Coke.
"Anyway, I'm here eating your food. What about you guys? What are you all doing here at this hour?" Danial asked, noticing Monica's bewildered expression.
"Oh, Joey is eating our chips, and Rachel is trying to see into Ross's apartment because he's on a date with her sister and the drapes are closed," Monica explained, taking a seat at the dining table.
"Hmm, Rachel's sister is here? Which one? Amy or Jill?" Danial asked, recalling the names of Rachel's sisters from a past visit to Rachel's home, when Monica insisted he shouldn't stay alone.
"It's Jill. Ross went on a date with her earlier, and now they're in there doing God knows what..." Rachel said in a frustrated tone, returning her gaze to Ross's apartment.
Danial, his mouth full of food, nodded in understanding, his hand gesturing that he would save questions for later.
"I still can't believe Ross is dating Rachel's sister. When Chandler made out with my sister, I was mad at him for ten years!" Joey remarked, causing Chandler, who was approaching to sit beside Monica, to pause.
"That was like five years ago," Chandler retorted.
"Yeah, and you still have five years left," Joey shot back.
"Joey..." Chandler attempted to intervene, but Joey interrupted, "You wanna make it six?" Chandler backed off, realizing he would lose this argument.
"I still don't understand why Rachel allowed them to date if she didn't like it. I know Ross wouldn't have asked her out if she had told him not to," Danial chimed in after taking a sip of his Coke to help swallow his food.
"But I didn't! At first, I wanted to see if Jill liked Ross because Phoebe said there was a spark between them. But somehow, in the middle of the conversation, I ended up telling her what a great boyfriend Ross is. Then she said if it meant that much to me, she would go out with him," Rachel explained, exhaling in frustration.
"Haha, you got played," Danial laughed, earning himself an angry glare from Rachel.
"There's nothing we can do to help you there, Rachel, but I'm dying to know why Danial is here at this hour, eating our food. Did you spend all your allowance?" Chandler asked, not forgetting to add a sarcastic remark.
"Well, I was going to order food, but I thought, why not see if Monica cooked something delicious tonight? Who would have thought you only had pizza?" Danial replied, conveniently omitting the part about wanting to see if anything new was happening with the gang.
"Danial, honey, how about I cook something for lunch tomorrow just for you?" Monica suggested, ruffling his hair.
"That would be nice..."
"Still, I want to know about this suspension thing again," Monica prodded, taking advantage of her captive audience.
"Ah, that. Same old, same old. He said I took the day off, but I went to the hospital and did surgery anyway. So now I have three days of suspension," Danial explained.
"You already said that. Did he give you another reason?" Monica asked, trying to dig deeper. She realized she didn't know Danial as well as she thought she did.
"Oh, that. He said I'm only twenty, so I need to get a life outside the hospital, get a girlfriend, get heartbroken, and stuff like that. Can you believe him? He's treating me like I don't know what to do with my life."
"Okay, so let me get this straight. Your boss is telling you to get a life *outside* the hospital? As if saving lives isn't enough of a life? I mean, come on! Some people binge-watch TV, and you perform valve replacements. Potato, potahto," Chandler remarked, flinching slightly when Monica elbowed him.
"Danial, I think your boss is right. You should at least try to get into a relationship. How long has it been since you were in a serious relationship with a girl? The last time you mentioned dating was about that girl Amelia, what, four years ago? And how about friends? Do you have friends your age? People you can call to go out with?" Monica's tone fluctuated between concern and a light lecture.
"I have friends; I just don't see the need to waste time on that before finishing my fellowship," Danial replied earnestly.
"Hmm, and I can't see why you can't do both. You're smart; I'm sure you'll figure it out."
"Yeah, I don't think this conversation is going to end anytime soon, so I'm going to sleep," Chandler said, standing up and walking away. They turned to find Joey had already slipped out, and Rachel was fast asleep on the couch.
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Enjoy 😊