Title: Bubble Tea

Genre: Romance/Drama

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I no own

Summary: When Bunny Tsukino learns that she's pregnant with Darien Shields child, she feels that her life is over. A baby wouldn't have been a problem if the father hadn't been a one night stand. Now she's unsure with what her next move should be, and if he would be as supportive as her best friends are. She can't help but wonder when her life became a TV-drama. - AU

NO BETA. BEWARE OF ERRORS. (Looking for a beta! Message me if you're interested!)

Order 15. Milk Tea with Boba

Mina was spending the night with Lita and Andrew to give Bunny and Darien some privacy. Although she doubted anything would happen between the two, Darien seemed to be too much of a gentleman. Which made Mina want to give a sarcastic laugh considering he and her cousin were expecting a child. Really, what was the point of acting chivalrous now that the deed was already done?

To each their own.

But now her thoughts were becoming off topic. See, Mina knew when people lied, it was just a sixth sense that she had. It had always been there since childhood. Which led Mina to believe that she really wasn't that good of a person because she knew Kunzite had been married (or at least in a relationship) the entire time the two were together. She just loved him too much to fully care of the repercussions. Sometimes she wondered if she confused fantastic sex for love, it had still be worth it.

So maybe she was a terrible person.

Lita, however, was usually to the point and honest. So it was a surprise when she spun the lie on how she had been delivering cupcakes for a quincenera before coming home when her tire blew out.

Mina prided herself on knowing when someone was lying, and Lita was guilty as could be. But Mina wisely kept her mouth shut, because Andrew wholly believed his fiancé. There was no reason for him to not believe her, the entire story was plausible.

It was midnight when Lita and Mina found themselves alone. Lita had off of work the next day, Andrew did not and had gone to bed nearly an hour prior. The two women were sitting on Lita's balcony, overlooking a lake. The cool January breeze ensured that both woman were bundled in quilts while drinking rum infused cocoa. They were just quietly shooting the breeze while enjoying the clear night with the full moon heavy above them.

"So where were you really?" Mina made sure to drop her voice a few decibels when asking. She was usually loud and boisterous, but this was something Andrew did not need to overhear through the balcony's sliding glass door.

"What do you mean?" Lita asked, her green eyes peering over at the blonde.

"Earlier today," Mina specified, "when you got your flat. Where were you really? I'm just honestly curious."

Lita stared at Mina for a second, as if debating if she really wanted to tell her. Which was odd because they had never kept secrets from each other before. Mina had considered Lita and the rest of the girls as her soul mates. Through thick and thin the five of them would stick together no matter what. Their relationships were built off of honesty, loyalty, trust, and love. The fact that her friend did not want to open her mouth to talk caused warning bells go off in Mina's head.

"Don't get mad," Lita started, eyeing Mina's reaction. "I was going to see Nephrite."

"WHAAAAT?" Mina clapped her hands over her mouth once she realized how loud she had been. She glanced over at the door before leaning close to Lita. "What the fuck Lee? What in your right mind would convince you that that was a good idea?"

Lita shook her head, "it's not like that. His wife is a wedding planner and we're working together, she left her cell phone at the shop so I contacted him to drop it off. No harm, no foul."

"Yet it was foul enough for you to lie to Andrew. Who, by the way, is an amazing guy," Mina pointed out.

"I'm not cheating on Andrew, I was just returning Molly's phone." Lita shifted in her seat, curling in on herself.

"To her husband who just happened to be your ex. Not just any ex, but the one you had thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with. The one that you almost had a child with." Mina took an angry swig of her drink, nearly scalding her tongue with how hot it was, "and don't tell me this was a onetime thing. The fact that you seem so calm over the fact that the wedding planner's husband is Nephrite fucking Stanton tells me that you knew way before thoughtfully going out of your way to return a phone that you could have easily emailed her to pick up from the shop the next day."

"Maybe," Lita's shoulders were slumped as she stared down into her cup, "I don't know what's going on with me. It's just so wrong. I met up with him for lunch a few days ago. Just lunch. We hadn't been in contact since, and then his wife leaves her phone—"

"You met him for lunch a few days ago?" Mina's voice was a shrill hiss. She couldn't believe her ears, "Lita, no. Do you not remember how this guy chewed your heart and spit it out? You have a fantastic thing going on with Andrew. What the hell?"

"I don't know Mina!" Lita bit her lip and glanced over at the glass door before lowering her voice, "I honestly don't know. I love Andrew Mina, I do. I love him."

"But what? Do you still have feelings for Nephrite? Mina asked. She scooted closer to Lita. "After all this time?"

"Andrew is such a fantastic person," Lita whispered, she blinked her eyes a few times to will away the tears she felt coming on. "But I don't think I'll ever truly be out of love with Nephrite. And it's not fair to Andrew, because he loves me. He adores me, he treats me like a queen. We're so great together and I know he'll be an amazing husband and father."

Mina sighed heavily, "Don't do this to yourself."

Lita ran her hands through her hair, tugging on the loose curls that fell to her shoulders, "should I call off the engagement? Andrew deserves so much better."

"Don't be stupid," Mina shook her head, "you said so yourself that you love Andrew. I can understand where you're coming from. I'll always love Kunzite. It's bittersweet and you'll always wonder 'what if'. But that's just a fantasy, Andrew is reality. Don't throw what you have with him away for a man you can't have."

"When did you become the voice of reason?" Lita teased, her voice becoming louder again. "Who knew that you were so wise?"

"Oh shut up," Mina grinned, "you know I'm right."

They silently sipped at their spiked beverages for a moment, letting everything settle down and sink in before Mina spoke again.

"Did I tell you that I ended things with Kunzite?" She knew that she hadn't told any of the girls, with all of the drama and excitement she had honestly forgotten to bring it up. It felt good to finally say it out loud.

"Seriously?" Lita's face brightened, "That's great!"

"Yeah," Mina nodded. She tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear and worried her lower lip for a moment. "His wife called me up my first day here in Florida. She told me that they were getting a divorce and that I could keep him."

"Really?" Lita's voice shook with disbelief. "So she knew the entire time?"

"Apparently it was common knowledge between the two of them. They were the typical W.A.S.P couple. Their marriage wasn't exactly an open on, but affairs were expected."

"Well that's fucked up."

"Isn't it?"

Lita shook her head, "so what are you going to do?"

"Absolutely nothing," Mina stretched her legs before curling back up. The temperature was starting to drop and the dampness in the air made it feel colder than it was. "I'm really hoping for that promotion. If I get it I'll either be sent to Paris or Manhattan, and I'm really hoping to come back to the United States."

"We'll get Rei to perform some voodoo witch magic on you for it," Lita grinned, bumping Mina lightly with her shoulder.

"Yeah right," Mina laughed, "let's go inside, I'm freezing out here."

When she woke up the next morning Mina was a little disoriented with her surroundings. It took her several minutes to figure out that she was on Lita's pull out couch in the living room, facing the large sliding glass doors that led to the screened in balcony.

Besides her was Lita, still deep asleep. They had passed out while talking last night.

Mina rubbed her face to try to wake herself up. The sun was just beginning to come up, it was much too early for her to be awake. She groaned and flopped back down on the mattress.

"Good morning," Andrew chirped from the kitchen to the right of her.

Mina flopped a hand up to wave. "What time is it?"

"7:15."

"Blargh," Mina sat up, finger combing her hair back before forcing herself off of the sofa bed. "Is there coffee?"

Andrew gave her an amused look before pointing to the mug that was already made, "I already poured you a cup."

"You're a doll," Mina gushed before taking his offering and slurping it up.

The two enjoyed their mugs in silence, and Mina took the time to study Andrew. They had known each other for seven years now, having met towards the tail end of college. He had gotten better looking with age. His once lanky – okay, scrawny – self had filled out, his face looked more chiseled, his hair was neatly groomed compared to the long shaggy look he used to have. Somewhere along the line he had gotten a nice golden tan, which made his hazel eyes really stand out and he had the beginnings of a beard shadowing the lower half of his face. She took in his broader shoulders and narrowed waist. He had the body of a swimmer, and Mina could honestly say that he made for a nice piece of eye candy. Especially in the early morning sunlight, which kissed his skin just so and caused his entire being to glow.

She mentally placed Lita by his side. Lita was nearly as tall as Andrew, she had the body of an Amazon warrior. Mina always thought Lita could pull off a great Wonder Woman. Lita looked like a warrior princess, Andrew on the other hand was more docile and peaceful.

Mina then tried to remember what Nephrite looked like. The image she came up with was of a man who could probably kick Andrew's ass. He was Spartan-like and with Lita on his arm they seemed fierce. Destructive even. It was not a good combination.

"Why do you keep staring at me?" Andrew asked, slowly backing away from Mina.

She gave him a soft smile. "You're good for Lita, you've probably heard that from everyone. But you really are."

Andrew gave her a shy smile and Mina felt her heart warm for him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. And thank you for taking such great care of her. Lita is tough, but she's been through a lot, and we can't always be there her," Mina said sincerely.

She really hoped Lita wouldn't screw what she had with Andrew up on someone who wasn't worth her time. Which sort of made Mina a hypocrite, but she really lived by the quote "do as I say, not as I do", it was her motto.

She watched as Andrew gave Lita a sweet kiss on the temple before leaving for work. Mina felt envious towards them, she wanted something like that too. Although she hadn't realized that she wanted something like that until that very second. She never saw herself as getting married or having children, that wasn't the Mina way.

Mina let out a hearty sigh before going to the bathroom and rummaging around Lita and Andrew's things until she found spare toothbrushes to start her morning routine.

By 8AM Mina was bored. She had rummaged through Lita's closet and had borrowed an old sweat shirt and some tights to wear for the day, along with a hair tie to put her long tresses up in a high ponytail. Her friend was still snoring away, obviously taking advantage of her day off.

She made herself some toast and sat down with her phone to check her work emails. Something she had not done since the beginning of her vacation. She was dreading the rejection email she was bound to receive regarding the promotion that she had been aiming for.

As expected Mina's work email was full. Most of it was stupid questions that the interns always asked her, they were fearful of their boss and Mina was the nicest person to go to. She gradually went through them, answering everything in detail before her heart seized at the sight of an email from the head of her department.

This could only mean one of two things. One – she got the promotion. Two – she didn't get the promotion. Three – she was terminated. Okay, so one of three things. Termination was the least likely to happen but it was something she was always prepared for, especially after the recession had hit everyone so hard.

Holding her breath she clicked on the icon and began to read.

Dear Ms. Aino,

Congratulations on your promotion to Assistant Director, Marketing Communications effective February 1, 2011.

The annual salary for the position will be $78,000 paid on a biweekly basis.

You will report to Ann Granger, Director, Marketing Communications. She is looking forward to working with you as you transition into your new role at the company. Mrs. Granger is located in the Manhattan, NY office, you will be given severance to relocate along with two weeks of lodging.

Again, congratulations on the new position.

Sincerely,

Metaria Dark

Director, Human Resources

cc: Ann Granger

Mina stared at her screen for a few minutes before rereading what she had just read. The squealing scream that ripped out of her throat caused Lita to jump up from her spot on the sofa bed.

"OH MY GOD!" Mina's joy overtook her as she screamed and hopped up and down for a few minutes. When she was done she plopped back down in front of her toast and phone, a large smile on her face.

"I'm assuming you got good news?" Lita asked groggily from her spot on the sofa bed. "Are those my clothes?"

"I got the promotion!" Mina exclaimed happily while completely disregarding the other question, "I'm moving to New York! Ah, I have to start looking at apartments! Can I use your computer?"

"Congratulations," Lita managed to say while sitting up, her hair looked like a mop and there were deep bags underneath her usually bright eyes. "Yeah, I'll get you my laptop. But only if you let me take a nap after I log you in."

Mina was too happy to say any sort of sarcastic remark towards her friend. She just nodded enthusiastically. The pay raise was amazing. Since the recession she was afraid that she would never be able to move up, so many companies down sized. Mina had been lucky that she had been with them since after college graduation, otherwise she'd have been laid off too.

But now there was a promotion! In Manhattan of all places! It felt like a dream.

A part of her heart began to ache as she searched online for apartment postings. If she came back to the USA she would never see Kunzite again. Despite everything that thought hurt more than she was willing to admit. Swallowing the lump that was beginning to form in her throat, Mina continued her search. There was so much that needed to get done and such little time to do it.

TBC

MLL: SURPRISE! Here is a super early update! Do not expect this for the next chapter, the struggle is very real there lol. I loved writing this chapter, I felt like Mina said what everyone was thinking. Thank you to those who reviewed and gave me a warm welcome back into fanfiction! I appreciate you guys!