"Well, do you guys have time for coffee?" He asked the rest of his friends as they stood in the empty apartment doorway, a place that had all known for so long. "Yeah." They spoke in unison. "Why not…" As the group of friends walked out into the hallway much different people then they were ten years ago as it all began Chandler spoke out of sarcasm for one last laugh, one last tear jerking moment for the audience of the series finale of friends. "Where should we go?"

Like he had to ask, they of course went to Central Perk. But they six friends came full circle they went from six single twenty something's to six thirty something's with kids, and marriages, and divorces and love. Things weren't that simple always. After all it took ten years for the six of them to end things like they did, going back to the same place they always had, a place where they were comfortable, but completely different people.

The bell rang across Scratmorthe Academy as Charlie slowly trudged into her homeroom and sat down in the middle of the classroom. "Hey everyone." Mr. Smith bellowed as he walked into the room not long after Charlie took her place among the chattering students. He stood in the front of the classroom taking row call. Kale Manning's seat lay empty and alone.

"Not that I care…" Mr. Smith continued. "But how was everyone's weekend." "Why don't you ask Charlie?" A girl's voice cried from the back of the classroom. Charlie quickly sat up in her seat and turned around but the voice had already softened and whose body it came from was undetectable. "Yeah I hear Charlie had a pretty sweet weekend… as always I suspect." A boy's voice said, the small group of people laughed and snickered as Mr. Smith rolled his eyes. Charlie Radin's brother sat not too far from her own seat, he much quieter then the rest but smiling not the less.

"What the hell is going on?" Charlie cried looking around the classroom. Charlie crossed her arms as the teacher silenced them as the announcements sliced across the room from the loud speaker. "What's going on?" A girl's voice asked from the row behind Charlie Radin. "Oh you didn't hear?" Another voice answered obviously whispering just loud enough for Charlie to hear herself. "At Nicholas Westerfeld party on Saturday Charlie and Kale Manning hooked up." There was a disgusting sound from the other girl as she came to a silence. "I thought they were just friends." The other girl continued.

Charlie's face was turning warm and redder by the minute, but she couldn't stop listening and she couldn't pretend not to care. Where was Kale? "That's what we all thought too." The girl said. But now Charlie could confirm it as Amanda Hilfiger's voice. They use to be friends, until last year. They were close as close as Charlie got to anyone besides Kale… or for that matter Ian but apparently not that important to each other because once rumors flew that Charlie was less then perfect Amanda flew away with her dignity as well.

"But Charlie always told me that she and Ian were just friends too but we all knew what happened there." Amanda snickered. The bell rang and Charlie hurried to grabbed her bag on the floor as she stood up Amanda walked past her hitting her shoulder against Charlie's. "Oops. Sorry there." She said with a smirk grin on her face as she continued walking.

As Charlie walked by the rest of the desks all were empty except one. She caught a glimpse of her brother Radin who had mysteriously turned up at school today without a ride, since Radin was lacking his drivers license. He sat there quietly and didn't say a word but still stuck with a grin plastered on his face and staring at his desk as if no one was there, especially not his sister.

The halls of the only local high school to this small town were crowded and spaces were few and far between. Between pushing past the sudden stopping freshman and walking behind the lagging fellow seniors Charlie made it to class but with no time to stop at anywhere in between.

"Hey Charlie." Nicholas said softly slumping down into the desk next to Charlie's in their first period class. The warning bell rang as the door closed behind Mrs. Shaft, their English teacher. She usually just sat at her own desk, doing anything but teach and gave the students a free period to read for their weekly book report, but nothing else was to be done.

Charlie ruffled slightly with her long blonde hair and rummaged through her bag pretending not to hear her friend next to her as Nicholas pulled out his own book. "How was the rest of your weekend?" He asked one mutedly just like any other day, to any other person.

Charlie swiftly turned to him, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Who'd you tell?" She asked. "Or did you just do it easy and quick? And told everyone?" She asked angrily looking at him slightly. "Huh?" He asked sarcastically biting his bottom lip.

"At your party…" She continued, unsure now. He nodded still looking surprised and confused as the Mrs. Shaft stared angrily in their direction. "Are you talking about the cops? Because I didn't give your name to them." Although obviously that wasn't what Charlie Radin was talking about, as she thought about her next move inside her head, some weight was lifted off her shoulders.

"Who'd did you tell about…" Charlie spoke eagerly, and angrily looking into Nicholas's eyes as her voiced softened and her eyes veered around the room. "…me and Kale" she said urging her eyes larger and larger. Nick grunted a little bit and sat up. "Charlie, I consider you one of my close friends. I wouldn't do that to you."

His voice was cool and straight. His eyes stayed calm and without worry. Charlie had seen lying she could read it, read it as simply as any book and her body relaxed in the chair and uncrossed her arms. "…everyone knows." She said coldly out loud. Although she was truly talking to her self Nicholas nodded in agreement. "Charlie." He began looking at her and stayed quiet. "I was talking to Kate earlier and she told me she was talking to your brother this morning before school." Charlie raised one eyebrow expecting nothing about the present conversation. Radin hardly ran with the same group of friends as Charlie did now. Nor did Kate, Nicholas's girlfriend.

"she told me he started talking about my party and how you and Kale hooked – up, I guess he was saying that he heard it from some other person at the party but couldn't give a name… anyway she said he seemed pretty eager to tell every living soul in the hallway." Charlie grunted. "Radin wasn't at your party." She said protesting his idea, slightly annoyed as she felt slight eyes around her starting to look at Nicholas nodded.

"Yeah he was, I talked to him for a couple minutes." Charlie grimaced. "I didn't question his invitation, I knew he was your brother, I assumed he was there with you." She shook her head still staring at him intently as he continued in a soft, caring voice. "we were just talking upstairs before the cops came, then I waved him off as I walked into my room… well anyway you were in there." Charlie's face turned increasingly warm. "Sorry." She murmured under my breath as she contemplated what he had just said.

"So you're saying my brother saw me?" She said sarcastically. "I mean I guess Charlie… I was saying good bye to him as I opened the door, but I don't know why he would want to tell everyone." Mrs. Shaft was now standing in front of the two desks and looking down at them. "Unless you two would rather learn some impressive punctuation, I suggest you shut up!"

Charlie ground her teeth beneath her lips as she turned back in her seat, facing forward. Nicholas threw her a sympathetic look before digging his noise in an unread book. Charlie sat with an empty desk in front of her tapping her foot. Where was Kale?

As the bell rang Charlie rushed out of her seat scattering past Nicholas who was still bellowing her name and the whispering voices and walked towards the opposite end of the school, towards Kale's locker. The grayish – blue metal door was swinging out to the side of the fellow lockers as Charlie approached him, turning slightly she that she could stand away from the open hallway.

"Where have you been?" She barked at him, making her friend nearly jump. He leaned his body out from behind the locker door, rolled her eyes and closed it. "My car wouldn't start this morning." He said stuffing a couple books in her backpack, not paying attention to Charlie's worried face or stress lines. "I had to get a ride from my dad." He continued.

"They all know." Charlie said quietly looking around the loud hallway. "They all know what?" Kale questioned sarcastically. His heart beat quicker as he stood in front of her. Had she not remember what had happened yesterday? What had happened Saturday? He thought as he looked at her, trying to stay calm, to stay sain.

"They all know we slept together, Kale." Charlie said angry, that he hadn't known. To the right of them there were two junior boys on the varsity football team, both looked familiar to Charlie the taller went by the name of Shane, the shorter of the two was Harry. "Yeah, so I guess they did sleep together." Shane confirmed nodding his head towards Charlie and Kale. Harry turned around and smiled sarcastically and turned back. "They look like there just friends."

The two boys were just within ear shot of the two friends standing in the hallway. Their voices were soft but hearable. "Charlie is friends with everyone, if you know what I mean, you know about Ian Rowland last year right?" One said while the other nodded. "Well anyway I was talking to Radin…" Shane continued. "I thought she was…" "Radin, her brother… I think his real name is Kyle or whatever."

Harry was leaning against the locker doors as Shane dug through his locker. "Anyway, I was talking to Radin he was telling me it was true that Charlie and Kale really did do it, at Nick's party; sure it wasn't the first time… whatever. But why does he want…" He continued but his voice soon trailed away as they began to walk in the opposite direction.

Charlie's head turned back to Kales view here eyes bulging out of her head. Kale hadn't said anything he just stood there. He hadn't seemed to be listening to anyone since Charlie had spoken. He grunted and tugged on Charlie's hand pulling her across the crowds and into an banned class room.

"What are we doing?" She muttered. Kale sat on the desk across from Charlie and turned looking at her and suddenly reached forward and grabbed her hands again. Charlie was taken back, amazed a little. "I can't do this again." She said with urgency. He nodded. "Everything is going to be okay." He said harshly looking at her.

Charlie wasn't one for that crap. She usually had answer. How do you know? Can you promise that? Or: nothing will ever be okay. But something in Kale's voice was so calm so sympathetic, it was made her believe him or at least want to so much that she couldn't utter one remark, or rebuttal to what he had said.

Things were never as easy as everything will be okay because usually things had to get a lot worse before they eventually did get better. After Mrs. Manning died, Kale's father went through some money issues and the Manning house hold was going under, at least money wise but eventually Mr. Manning got a rise and they resumed from bankruptcy.

After Charlie's rape, she couldn't stand to be touched by anyone, except Kale but sadly the worse to that situation came four years later to the tune of Ian Rowland, who was the first to touch her in that same way. But Charlie never came out from that. Things went from bad: the rape, to worse: Ian. And nothing changed after that, Charlie didn't come up from drowning, Charlie never came round circle. When was the worse going to be over to have the happy ending shine through? And have the season finale closing credit roll across the screen. ?