Most newly married people were always raving about how happy they were together, and about how easy things worked for them. Even if you heard a married couple arguing, most of them still made things work. It was how married life was meant to be, and that's what had attracted Phoebe Buffay to the idea of it. She'd not had a normal life. Her mother had committed suicide, and her father had left, not to mention her jailed step-father, and she ended up living on the street for a lot of her teenage years. She wanted something normal in her life, and a wedding had been that normal thing.

However, what she'd not expected was to fall out of love with her husband, Mike, the second their honey-moon phase was over. She didn't think it was possible for her to stop loving him. When they'd first started dating, he'd been so sweet, and he made her laugh more than she thought possible. They were so happy. But, he wasn't what she'd thought he was.

Coming from a very high-class family, Mike Hannigan had a lot expected of him. His parents, Theodore and Bitsy were very different to what Phoebe was used to. Her first meeting with them had not gone well, with her raving about Mike's sexual prowess and then punching his father in his freshly done stitches. It was fair to say they didn't really approve of her, especially after learning about the pimp who spit in her mouth. However, both of them attended the wedding, although Mike's mother was a little spaced out after the few pills Theodore had crushed into her drink.

That was before, though, wasn't it? Now, Phoebe was sitting in her apartment at eight-thirty in the morning, on her day off. She couldn't sleep. She had woken up at six, this morning, when her husband dragged his feet back into their apartment, and fell into bed, fully dressed. She couldn't sleep because of the stench of alcohol on his breath.

Her husband was an alcoholic. How could this happen? How could she let this happen? With a sigh, Phoebe sipped on her freshly made coffee, the third she'd made this morning. She was trying to think of ways to get through to her husband. She wanted to help, so badly. Unfortunately, there was never time for her to mention it. Not until this morning. Now, she could finally ask him why he was being so ignorant of her feelings, and why he chose to drink all night.

Hearing Mike grumble, she figured he was now awake. So, she placed her empty mug into the kitchen sink, and leant against the counter, waiting for him to come into the room. When he did, he looked terrible, absolutely awful.

"Well, don't you look a treat." She said, sighing to herself as she shook her head, reaching for the coffee maker, hoping that would wake him up. "So, how much did you have last night?"

"Enough." He grumbled, rubbing his face with his eyes, and taking the mug of coffee from his wife's hands, and practically drinking it in one go.

"Are you going to tell me why you drink so much now?" She asked, turning to face him, her eyes scanning over his dishevelled appearance.

"Phoebe, I'm not doing this now, okay? I'm tired, my head hurts and I have to go to work this morning." He said, slamming the empty mug down onto the kitchen counter, nearly breaking it as he did so. "Just leave it." And with that, he went into the bathroom for his shower.

Phoebe shook her head, and wiped her eyes, not allowing herself to cry over him this morning, not again. She'd been sat up all morning doing so since he'd gotten home. This was the third time he'd done this, and that was just this week. It was only Friday. No doubt he'd be out tomorrow, as well as tonight, and she wasn't expecting any different.

With a slam of the front door, Phoebe was gone. She knew exactly where she was headed, and she wasn't turning back. Why did this happen to her? Of all the people in the world, why was she stuck with the failed marriage? Monica and Chandler were so happy, with their twins. Rachel and Ross were living together too, with Emma, and Ben on weekends. Joey was happy enough, all he needed was a girl in his bed, and a pizza for breakfast. Phoebe had to put on a front, smile for the camera's, and let her friends know nothing about her unhappiness. It wasn't something she was pleased to do, but she didn't need everybody knowing that she was having problems in her marriage after only a year.

Within minutes, Phoebe was sat on the comfortable sofa in Central Perk, her favourite coffee place. Gunther brought over her usual order, and with a half-smile, she thanked him, before adding two sugars to her coffee, and a little bit of milk. She then lifted the mug to her lips, and sighed. Despite having had three coffee's already, this one felt much better – simply because it was not coffee from her own home. Her unhappy home.

Setting the mug down, Phoebe looked up as she heard the door open, and in walked Rachel and Ross, with Emma in tow. "Hey, Pheebs." Rachel said, a bright smile on her lips as per usual. She looked great, her hair immaculate and her outfit looked like it'd been peeled off a mannequin at Ralph Lauren, which it probably had.

"Hi, guys. Hello, Emma." Phoebe smiled, the first smile of the day, and of the past few days. She'd been working so much, and spending the rest of her time worrying about Mike that she'd not had time to see her friends. "What're you guys doing today?"

"Well, I have to go to work, soon. We're examining some fossils that have just recently been found, so I'm going in early. But, you girls have fun." Ross smiled, as Gunther reluctantly handed him his order. Ross then kissed Rachel on the forehead, and left.

Phoebe then turned her attention to Rachel, who was tucking Emma in properly, "So, Rach. How's work?" She asked, knowing that after the whole incident a few months back, when Ross proclaimed his love for her, and stopped her from going to Paris, that she'd accepted her old job at Ralph Lauren back.

"Oh, it's great. I'm involved in so much more lately, more fashion choices, I'm talking to a lot of the designers, and we're really getting a good start on next years Fall line." She said, a bright, beautiful smile on the woman's face. Phoebe hadn't seen her this happy since she got back together with Ross, it was nice to see that look on her face again. "How's Mike? Seems like I never see him these days."

Phoebe froze, before thinking on her feet. "He's fine. Working a lot, so he's sleeping whenever he isn't at work." She explained, smiling a little as she then brought her coffee to her lips, hoping Rachel would accept that answer. The girls were best friends, they had been for ten long years, and Phoebe knew fine well when Rachel was lying, so it may have been the same the other way around, but she really hoped not.

Furrowing her brow, Rachel then nodded her head. She suspected that something was up, but she knew better than to press the matter. If things were going on between herself and Mike, Rachel would leave things well alone, because she knew that Phoebe, better than anyone else, could take care of her own business. After all, she'd managed to get revenge on a cop, when he stabbed her? She stabbed him right back, now, didn't she? So, Rachel knew that whatever was happening within her marriage, it wasn't a problem just yet.

"I've gotta go, now, Rach. I have a client to see." She lied again, before hurrying out of the coffee place, and leaving her best friend confused, and worried about her. So worried, she found herself calling Monica, and leaving her a message at work.