42│THE ART OF POWERING THROUGH

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It had been days since the friends found out about the beach house incident with the jellyfish. And the awkwardness had faded as though it had never even been there. At least, for the friends. Joey and Veronica, however, found that the awkwardness in their relationship didn't actually steam from the jellyfish incident.

The incident had brought forth a wave of awkwardness for all the friends involved, so the two never realized that there had been a fundamental change to their relationship separate from the friends. Once they'd gotten over the incident they found that they still weren't as comfortable with each other as they had once been. At first, they'd chalked it up to lasting effects of the incident but they quickly found that the rest of the friends acted as though the incident had never even happened.

That's when it hit them that the problem was only between them. It seemed they didn't know how to be more than friends and the transition had been less than smooth so far. Both of them knew that a relationship was what they wanted, there was no question about that. But they just didn't know how to be in a relationship after being friends for so long.

"So, you and Ronnie tonight, huh?" Chandler called with a smile.

"Yeah," Joey couldn't help the grin that spread on his face. Despite the obvious awkwardness between them, he was still ecstatic to finally be with the girl of his dreams, "It's actually our first official date."

"Wow! So tonight may be the night," Chandler trailed off, "You nervous?"

Joey shook his head without a second thought. "Nah, no. This is the part I'm actually good at."

"What must it be like not to be crippled by fear and self-loathing?" He mused, more to himself.

Joey paused, clearly not sensing that the question was rhetorical. "It's okay!" He shrugged.

Chandler frowned before he brushed it off. "How can you be so confident?"

"Well, I-I know exactly what I'm gonna do," He answered simply as if it was obvious.

"Really?" Chandler's brows furrowed in wonder, "Like you have a routine?"

"No, no, no, no, no. See. Each woman is different. You have to appreciate their uniqueness."

Chandler paused, clearly not expecting Joey of all people to think that. "Really?"

"No!" He scoffed, "I do six things! First, I look deep in her eyes. Then, I kiss her. Next, I take my hand and I softly graze her thigh."

"You mean like this?" Chandler asked as he awkwardly and clumsily rubbed his own thigh.

"No!" Joey huffed as he stared at him in disbelief, "Not like that, no, no. No, like this."

With that, Joey walked over to his best friend and demonstrated.

"Oh, I see what you mean, that's quite nice," Chandler nodded with a smile.

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