The One After the Reunion

Chapter Two

April 10, 2021

Last day on the set of Friends: The Reunion

DAVID

"Have fun, pal. We got this in the bag." Matty tells me. "I know, man. This is gonna be great."

The six of us are walking towards a mini stage that was built in front of the same fountain where we shot the opening credits of the show. About a hundred people are waiting for us. As is the case with the other segments of this special, Ben had earlier provided us with the general idea of what to expect, but the interview questions weren't vetted so we're pretty much clueless in everything else.

"Okay, here we go! We excited?" LeBlanc asked, rallying the group. I'm at the back of the pack, close to Lisa. Jen, hand in hand with Court, is leading the group.

From back here, we can grasp some of the introductory remarks being made by James Corden, the host of this evening.

"...together on a stage for the first time in years. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry, and Matt LeBlanc, the cast of F.R.I.E.N.D.S.!"

The audience welcomes us with rapturous applause. The energy reverberates in the open-air auditorium. It feels all the more amazing to be here and share this experience with my friends with whom I spent so many years of my life. We practically grew up together.

"How are we doing? This has been an emotional day for all of you. How are you feeling to be together, the six of you right now?"

Jen, sitting closest to James, answers first. "It's been so fantastic and exciting and we've literally just sort of slipped right back— as we usually do."

"David, how have you found this time?"

"Really emotional. Really, really fun, actually. I felt, after the initial shock of just being in the same room together, I think we all just fell right into our same old kind of joking around, like, we're family so it really was a true—"

"We regressed," Jen added.

"We regressed, yeah." It feels so much like old times.

"How much do you stay in touch?"

"We stay in touch for sure." Lisa volunteered. "Maybe not every day. But we have such a bond from having done this show and forged this very tight relationship, that, you know, any time you text or call someone, they're gonna pick up. They'll be there."

"Matthew, who doesn't pick up?"

"Oh, I don't hear from anyone." Matty jokingly replied.

The interview falls into an even rhythm after a while. Corden shows clips, introduces surprise guests – nothing out of the ordinary. That is until after Gunther's appearance, a noticeable shift in tone begins.

"Will you allow me to ask what I would consider to be a cheeky question? It's impossible not to realize and see that you were all young, hot, good-looking, successful actors..." Where is he going with this? "...And it's inconceivable to me that there weren't, perhaps, off-screen romances." I look at Jen. It's one thing to discuss it like yesterday when it was just the six of us in front of remote-controlled cameras, but in front of an audience? So soon after the first time we verbalized those feelings to one another?

"Well, I mean..." She starts. We both try to catch each other's eyes. "...David?" She gives the ball to my court. Well, one way or another, it's going to end up on tape and everyone's going to know about it. We might as well take the narrative now to reduce the possibility of it becoming fodder for unnecessary gossip.