Chapter One: Admitting you have a problem

"And now for the next speaker..."

Well this was one way to go about dealing with my problem. Maybe not the way I would have done it - old movies and my best friends Ben & Jerry. But leave it to my good friend Dorothy to suggest something So unconventional.

"Dorothy Catalonia..."

I knew I had a problem from the minute I laid eyes on him.

"It's been four weeks and two days....."

I guess my behavior over the past few years had been more than a little obsessive. But it wasn't exactly like I was chasing him anymore. I never called him, never tried to contact him. The few occasions that my prince did decide to grace me with his presence, I never once threw myself at him. Never. I would never push my unrequited emotions on someone like Heero Yuy.

"...Since I last tried to stab my boyfriend."

However I had never been on a date in my life. I never pursued any of the suitors that came calling. I'd always mentally compared them to him. I made the mistake of telling my dear friend that maybe if one of my many admirers pointed a gun to my head and threatened to kill me...

"I have brought a new member with me today..."

That's how I ended up here - surrounded by recovering alcoholics in the dingy basement of an old school. I would have to make a mental note to raise funding for education. Dorothy was certifiably insane but she did mean well. She'd started coming to these meetings as sort of a joke back when Duo found out about her and Quatre's relationship. He'd really let her have it about her violent tendencies . Well all was fair in love and war - literally.

"Relena Darlian!"

The crowd clapped as I made my way up the pitiful looking stage. Dorothy brought her hand to my cheek and whispered, "I'm so proud of you." She was having way too much fun at my expense.

I waved a nervous hand to the twenty or thirty people staring back at me. "My name is Relena Darlian and I have a problem."

Well maybe I was wrong. Maybe it would feel better to get it out in the open. Maybe I could finally move on from all these feelings I'd had for the same young man for three long years. I was eighteen years old after all! I was all grown up and I was the Vice Foreign Minister, this silly little crush needed to be taken care of and it needed to be taken care of immediately.

"I am addicted to Heero Yuy," there I said it.

They clapped for me. Not caring that I wasn't an alcoholic. Not caring that I wasn't addicted to anything life threatening. They were accepting me for who I was and giving me a platform to scream to the world that I was just as normal as the rest of them. Well at least that I was a normal teenage girl who had a crush on a guy way out of her league.

The older gentleman who appeared to be the lead speaker pulled me into a warm embrace. "That was very good."

Dorothy gave her cheesiest smile, "I'll be her buddy."

Dorothy had assured me beforehand that my presence at these meetings would never be made known - even if they were I would only be there to support my poor, pathetic friend.

She started scribbling incessantly in her notebook, "I have to change the steps around a bit, seeing as you are not an alcoholic and we need to meet your needs."

That made sense. "Of course, whatever you think is best."

"You know," she gave me a familiar wicked smile, "if this works you might even have a date for Valentine's Day!"

Yes, Valentine's Day. That was barely a month away. I'd never had a date on Valentine's Day before. I'd always been invited out, of course, and received many bouquets of flowers. But much to my dismay they were never from Heero so they all quickly found their way to the bottom of my trashcan.

"Alright," she sighed, "your second step is to remove the problem."

"Remove the problem?" I asked confused. How exactly was one to simply remove Heero Yuy? OZ had tried and failed. I didn't think I would be very successful.

"The next time Heero Yuy stops by for a social call, you are going to tell him he is no longer welcome in your life," she informed me.

"It's not like I see him often," not as often as I would have liked anyway.

Her glare left no room for argument. "You can't move on if he's just popping in and out," she stated matter-of-factly. "You'll only regress and end up an old maid."

Dorothy was right. Step one was admitting I had a problem. Step two would be removing it. I had to stay out of the bar...or at least keep the bar from coming to me.