Chapter Text
Feeling Young Again
As his friends were preparing to leave his apartment, Joey reached out and touched Chandler’s arm.
“Stay with me a little longer,” he whispered
Chandler looked at his friend, slightly confused by his anxious tone, “Sure man, no problem.”
Once the others departed Joey sat up and moved over so Chandler could sit next to him.
“Do you ever wish you could be young again?” Joey asked.
“Ah, yes, nothing I want more than acne, braces, and not being able to drink.”
“No, I’m serious. Don’t you wish you could be little. Have people take care of you?”
Chandler shook his head. “Believe me, with the childhood I had, no one was taking care of me. You okay there, buddy?”
“I’d give anything to be little. Can you let me be little? Just for a few minutes?”
Chandler stared at his friend for a few seconds in utter bewilderment. “Excuse me?”
“Can I be little?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I want to be your little boy.”
Chandler suddenly recalled when Joey was dating Melanie and she said “There’s a little boy within this man wanting to break free.” At this moment in time he realized this was exactly what she had meant.
He exhaled. “Okay Joe, for this moment in time I am your father. If we feel weird about this later, we’ll just tell ourselves it was an acting lesson or something.”
“Hold me” Joey whispered
Chandler gathered Joey in his arms and pulled him close.
“I hate seeing you struggle, pal.” He kissed Joey’s forehead gently.
“What did I do wrong?” Joey whispered.
Chandler paused. “Actions have consequences.” Joey looked at Chandler in confusion.
“Did you not stop to think that changing your lines in the script might get you in trouble?”
Joey shrugged. “A little.”
“Why did you do it anyway?”
Joey shrugged again. “I didn’t like the way my character was written.”
“You just can’t make a change to something without asking permission.”
Joey’s lip jutted. “It’s my character, so I should have a say.”
Chandler’s eyes met Joey’s sternly. “You owe your bosses an apology.”
Joey rolled his eyes “Okay, Daddy.”
Chandler kissed Joey’s forehead. “That’s my boy.”
Joey then moved out of Chandler’s lap and back to his spot on the couch.
“Are we done with the roleplay?” Chandler asked.
Joey nodded. “Yup. Thanks man.”
Chandler looked at his friend with concern
“Is this going to happen every time an issue like this comes up?”
Joey shrugged.
“Well, I draw the line at diaper changing."
“Dude! Gross!”
“You feeling old enough to drink another beer?”
“Oh, you know it!”