Chapter 3

"Oh, hey Joey!" Rachel exclaimed as she walked into her apartment to find him alone and face down in the couch. He lifted his face up. She raised her eyebrows.

"Hey Rach." He sighed. Hanna had come home the night before, and Ross had agreed to take care of her. Joey felt like it was his duty to care for her, after all, it was his fault she was in the hospital in the first place.

Flashback

The group was gathered around Hanna's bed as they gave her small things they had gotten from the hospital gift shop. Once they were done, the doctor came in and told them that he was going to need them to leave while he prepares her for release. The group filed out.

"I'm gonna take care of her once we get her out." Ross blurted.

"What? No Ross! I'm gonna take care of her. She's living in MY apartment." Joey said pointing to himself.

"No. No, Joey. Clearly, you've done enough. I can take better care of her than you can." Ross snapped. Monica came up to Joey and rubbed his back.

"Ross, that's not fair! How was I supposed to know she was allergic the muffin? Besides, where do you think Hanna would want to go, anyways? Do you think she'd want to go with you?"

"It doesn't matter what Hanna wants, it's what she needs, Joey. Clearly, that's something you can't understand." Ross pointed at Joeys chest.

"She's not a child, Ross." Chandler sighed, secretly wanting Hanna to come back to their apartment too.

"We should ask her what she wants to do." Phoebe chimed in.

Joey sighed. He wasn't sure that Hanna would want to come back with him anyways.

"Ross is right, I can't take care of a sick person. But Ross, if she so much as utters the beginning of a complaint about you, I'm whisking her away. Ya understand?" Joey pressed his finger into Ross's chest, and then he walked past him, out of the hospital.

Present

"Joey, is this because Ross wouldn't let you take care of Hanna?" Rach asked coming over to the couch and kneeling beside him.

"No." Joey pouted turning his face to the other direction.

"Awe Joey. You know, maybe it's for the best." Rachel said.

"No, Rach. It's not for the best. Hanna was so cool, okay? And it kills me that I put her in that situation. You know? Now I'm just reminded every time I walk into my apartment that she's not there and it's all my fault. And I really thought that by now, she'd be fighting to get away from Ross. She's probably having fun with that dinosaur-ologist." Joey whined sitting up. Just then the apartment door was pushed open. It was Hanna. "Besides, Ross is only doing this because he failed to take care of her all those years ago." Rachel sighed. She knew it was true.

"Oh. Hanna what are you doing here?" Rachel asked standing up. Joey shot up too.

"I snuck out." She was grinning. She was in shorts and was barefooted, carrying her shoes.

  "You did what?" Rachel asked.

   "I snuck out! You know, I'm trying really hard to see this as a sweet gesture from Ross, but I just can't. I can't help but feel like he's just doing this cause of the way he treated me in the past. And also, how come you guys just let him take me? You really thought Ross' apartment is where I want to go? I mean I know he's my cousin and he probably feels like it's his duty to take care of me at this point, but when I lived with them, he never said a word to me. He's treating me like I'm his troubled teenager. I mean, the doctor only wanted someone to look out for me just in case I have a reaction again. Not breastfeed me." She said shrugging. "Here comes the airplane." Hanna mocked Ross. "I just sort of don't understand why he was so willing to help me if whenever I actually needed his help, he wasn't there for me. It just doesn't feel right." She huffed.

"Oh yeah, the guy's obsessed with being right." Joey retorted.

"Tell me about it." Hanna tolled her eyes. "I don't know...it kinda hurts that he's only taking care of me because he's trying to pretend that everything he did, or I guess didn't do, never happened." She fidgeted with her fingers.

"So...Ross wouldn't let you move back in with me because he's feeling bad about how he treated you when you guys were teenagers?" Joey asked bewildered. "I mean what I said earlier to you, Rach...I was just mad I didn't even mean it but...wow!"

"You tried to get him to let me move back in with you?" Hanna turned to Joey. Joey nodded

"That guy is unbelievable." Hanna scoffed.

  "Oh tell me about it." Rachel sighed. The group knew Ross was protective and controlling, but it was only because he cared.

"Ugh. Joey, I really want to move back in with you." Hanna sighed and jumped over the couch right onto the cushions. Joey sat down beside her.

"You do?" He asked.

"Of course! I feel like you would watch out for me but also not, like, invade my personal space."

"No, no. Of course I wouldn't. I mean, I would only do that if you asked me to." Joey smirked. Hanna laughed.

"I'm gonna tell Ross that I'm moving my stuff back with you and Chandler. He'll just have to get over it. It's not like I have a lot of stuff anyways." Hanna said laying down and placing her bare feet gently on Joeys lap. "I can't deal with that guy anymore. Do you know how hard it is for me to even be in the same room as him? Doesn't he have a baby? Oh, I bet that has something to do with it."

"Oh, Hanna you're probably right. Ever since Ben was born, Ross has been so desperate to compete with Susan, it's almost crippling." Rachel plopped down in the chair.

Hanna shook her head, "Susan?"

"Ross' ex-wife's lesbian lover." Joey replied nonchalantly. Hanna nodded her head slowly.

"Joey it is okay if I come back to your apartment...right?" Hanna asked.

"Oh, yeah." He patted her bare legs that lay in his lap.

"Okay, great. My stuff should be here soon, so it shouldn't be for long." She commented.

  "O-oh. I almost forgot that you have your own stuff." Joey half heartily chuckled.

  "I know, so did I! I had so much fun with you and Chandler on my first night, I forgot I actually don't live with you two." Hanna laughed. She swung her legs around and stood back up. Making her way over to the fridge, she opened it.

  "Hey Rachel, do you think Monica would mind if used this stuff to make strawberry lime margaritas?" She asked biting her lip a little, but not looking away from the fridge.

  "Well, I'm sure she wouldn't. She'd probably like it if you made some for Rachel too." She innocently batted her eyelashes.

  "Haha don't worry Rachel, I'm making enough for everyone. It's a Friday night, why not have some fun?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  "Alright, so Monica. I have a question for you." Chandler grinned. "Do it in an airplane bathroom, or your parents bed." He said looking around and smirking, as if it were the best question ever.

  "I've already had sex on my parents bed, Mr Bing." Monica said mimicking Chandlers grin. Chandler's faded and he just shook his head amused. Ross gagged.

  "Okay, Rachel. It's your turn to ask someone a question." Ross urged.

  "Right. Hanna, I have a question. Fall in love with a billionaire who's terrible in bed, or a poor man who's exceptional?" Rachel asked slyly.

  "Neither." Hanna said flatly as she sipped her margarita.

  "What? Come on, you have to choose one."

  "It's not the sex part, it's the falling in love part. I don't want to fall in love with anybody. I don't believe in it." Hanna said. Everybody gave her questioning looks.

  "What do you mean you don't believe in love?" Ross asked bewildered.

  "Yeah, how can you not believe in love, Hanna? That's like...really huge." Monica pressed.

  "I just...don't. I don't believe in the idea that two people are just destined to meet, and then it's all stare-into-my-eyes and feel-my-heartbeat from then on. It's just-it doesn't happen." She said.

  "I don't understand, haven't you ever had a boyfriend before?" Chandler asked. Hanna hesitated, blinking.

  "A few...but I didn't love them. That's how I realized love isn't real."

  "So, just because you had a few lousy boyfriends, you don't believe in love anymore?" Ross pressed accusingly.

  "No, Ross. It's deeper than that."

  "We can talk about this when we get back to my apartment." Ross said shutting her down. Hanna scoffed, unbelieving.

"What did you just say? Ross, I am not a child! I'm not going back to your apartment. I'm staying with Joey again." Hanna said, shutting him down too.

  "What!? Joey was the one that gave you the muffin. Clearly, he isn't responsible enough to take care of anybody. That's- Thats like a death wish." Ross said defensively. His words had a whiney venom to them that the group heard, but they had no idea that the bitterness was towards himself.

  "Hey! It was an accident. How was I supposed to know she was allergic to nuts?" Joey wailed.

  "Maybe if you took the time to get to know her instead of just trying to get into her panties, you would have known!" Ross hissed. This made Joey furious. They both broke out into a frenzy of arguing and throwing insults.

  "Hey! Stop it!" Hanna yelled. "Joey didn't know, Ross. You're not my father, you're not my brother. You're nobody to me. You have no right to tell me where I can and cannot stay or what I can and cannot do. I lived with you for three years, Ross. Three years. And out of those three years, you only said a few words to me. You treated me like garbage when I needed someone to care for me the most. You are no one to me, Ross. Because I was no one to you. You don't own me. You don't own Joey." She pointed a finger at Ross and gritted her teeth. Her face was red and the muscles in her neck tensed. She spoke through suppressed tears. "So stop treating me like I'm your...your pet just to make up for the fact that you can't handle being wrong." She turned on her heel and walked out the door, slamming it behind her.

The group stood there in silence for a moment all looking at each other as Ross just awkwardly stared at the floor. Joey still looked hurt.

  "I think I'm gonna go check on her." Chandler said even though he wasn't exactly sure where she was. Even if he found her, he had no idea what he was gonna say to her. He just wanted to escape the awkwardness between the group.

  "I think Joey should go." Rachel stated.

  "Me too." Monica said. Joey just stood there for a second looking around at everyone to see if they were serious. They were. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, he was Joey after all. He hesitated for a moment, pulled the door open, and walked outside closing it gently behind him.

  "I think this will be a good maturing thing for Joey." Monica said after Joey was out of earshot.

  "What part? Living with the fact that he almost killed our cousin?" Ross said sourly. Monica slapped his shoulder.

  "Get it together Ross. Hanna was right. You're not her father and you don't own her. Nor do you own Joey. So quit being so bitter and leave her be. When she lived with us, you barely even talked to her. You have no right to be so protective." Monica snapped.

   "I-I know. I just...keep thinking about Susan and how good she is at taking care of Ben. It was like a moment to prove I could take care of something. I didn't want Joey to be able to care for her better than I could. I forgot that I ruined that a long time ago."

  "No no. Of course Joey has his strengths when it comes to caring. But so do you!" Monica paused. "Well, when you put aside your arrogance and overprotective tendencies."

"Yeah...I mean, Ross, come on. You're a great father for Ben. Ben loves you." Chandler comforted.

  "I guess. I'm gonna head back to my apartment. Sorry guys." He sighed. They said their goodbyes and parted ways.

They'd see each other the next day.