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!)

This chapter is dedicated to my dear friend Lauren. You are probably my biggest fan and supporter. You're the best!

Order 18. Thai Coffee with Boba

"He wants alimony?" Amy was never one to lose her temper. She always kept it cool and collected, although at that moment it took every ounce of willpower to prevent herself from throwing her phone across the room. "How much?"

The amount that was stated made Amy's vision go black for a moment, and she had to lean against the kitchen counter to balance herself. It was that outrageous.

Rei's weary sigh on the other end only made her temper worsen. "Here's the thing, if we can prove that he was at fault for the marriage failing then a judge may deny alimony. However, he's sighting irreconcilable differences. It can be looked at as your marriage just failed for no reason other than you two don't work well together."

"Are you kidding me?" Her grip on the phone tightened, "so I'll have to continue to take care of him despite the fact that he left me? I tried Rei, I tried so hard. I was willing to work it out, I was going to suggest marriage counseling. Anything for us to make it."

Her voice was quivering now. From rage or hurt, she wasn't sure. Amy wasn't one to experience extreme emotions often, it was difficult for her to sort them out.

"I'll discuss this more with his lawyer and bring this into account," Rei stated softly, "I will be requesting mediation be a part of this process. Mediators cannot force a settlement on anyone, but they can show people what would be a reasonable settlement, and advise them as to what the court may do if there were a trial. Sometimes it is just good to have a neutral person, who both sides will listen to, help with the settlement negotiations. If we can manage to get this to be an uncontested divorce then we can get this over with in just under five weeks."

"And if it's not uncontested?" Amy asked.

"Then prepare for one hell of a fight," Rei answered.

Amy groaned, "thank you Rei."

"No problem. I'll get in contact with his lawyer right now and we'll go from there. Talk to you later," Rei hung up shortly after, leaving Amy alone with her thoughts.

Craig had been unemployed since October. His company had downsized and there had been massive layoffs, he received unemployment checks while searching for a new job. Times were difficult, and finding a new employment was not easy. Even with the economy improving it wasn't doing it quickly enough.

Amy carefully placed her phone down on the kitchen counter before she really did chuck it across the room. She had yet to tell her mother of her predicament. Her mother was no doubt at work, Amy would text her later to break the news to her.

Her beeper was going off. Amy stared at it for a moment. She had never realized just how unhappy she was with her life.

She loved being a doctor, but her body was starting to feel the long hours at the hospital. She had been offered a position in a private practice that was affiliated with the hospital but she'd only have to work Monday through Friday and would have to do rotation on Saturday once a month. She had also been offered a position in the pathology research department that was also a Monday through Friday job.

Maybe it was time for Amy to weigh her options.

Craig had wanted to start having children, especially since he had lost his job. He had seen it as the perfect opportunity to stay at home with them. Amy wasn't ready for children, she wasn't even sure if she wanted them.

Irreconcilable differences indeed.

She grabbed her beeper and checked what it was about. Thankfully it was just an intern with a question that she could easily text a response to. She was ahead of her patient paperwork and had just gotten home from doing a twenty hour shift.

Her blue eyes glanced around her townhome. Without Craig it felt so empty, she'd have to remember to mention selling it to Rei so that she could lay it out in the divorce paperwork.

Amy rubbed the tension from the temple before deciding on doing a quick clean of her home. She vacuumed and dusted and threw a load of laundry into the wash. Anything to keep her hands busy and her mind blank. She forced herself to put all of her clothes away before taking a long hot shower and settling down for sleep.

For Amy to have the day off was rare. Typically she'd spent the time doing laundry or cleaning, but she had done that the night prior. Besides, today was different.

She had agreed to meet Zoicite for dinner that evening, so Amy decided now would be a good time to get a haircut (and maybe even a coloring too if she were to be honest), perhaps a pedicure, or a spa facial. It had been a long time since she allowed herself to be pampered. With how stressful her life was becoming some pampering would do her some good. So long as she could find a way to shut her mind down.

Amy had spent the early morning texting her mother, which was rarer since they barely ever had time to speak. Her mother was disappointed that Amy was getting a divorce, but was supportive of her only daughter. Ms. Mizuno was a divorcee as well, and was grateful that there were no children involved so that the two could have a clean split.

These things happen, her mother had written. You two have been together for years, it's going to seem strange to be apart at first. But you'll realize that you're stronger alone.

Even when they were together Amy felt stronger alone. She had always shrugged it off, but maybe that wasn't the norm.

After spending the morning getting her hair and nails done, she went grocery shopping before going home to take a quick nap before freshening up for the evening.

Lita's green Jeep in her driveway caused Amy's eyebrows to furrow with confusion.

Mina hopped out of the car as soon as Amy pulled in and parked.

"Finally! I was about to start blowing up your phone," Mina stated, a bag in one hand and a dress draped over an arm.

Lita got out of the car at a slower pace. With a shake of her head she gave Amy an apologetic look. "This was all Mina's idea."

"Oh shut up," Mina grinned, "you know you wanted in on this."

"I'm just a little confused," Amy admitted while walking towards her front door to allow them inside.

"Well my dear," Mina started, placing the items in her hands on the dining room table while Amy put her groceries away. "I'm going to be heading home soon, and I was not going to miss the chance to help you get ready for your first date in nearly twenty years."

"Sixteen," Amy corrected with a roll of her eyes. "And Craig and I went on dates."

"Watching Netflix doesn't count," Lita interjected.

"Screw you Lita," Amy said without any malice in her voice as she finished putting her purchases away.

There was a hint of a smile on Amy's face as true excitement and nerves finally began to take over. They were right, this would be her first date in almost half her life. She had only ever been with Craig, and had never seen a problem with it. Now was the chance to try something new.

"So I brought you a cute black dress straight from Bunny's closet," Mina cut in. The dress had long sleeves and a high neckline with a geometric cutout above the crease of where the cleavage would be. The skirt stopped at the knee, it was modest yet sexy. "And shoes!" Pointed toe black leather kitten booties.

Amy loved the entire outfit more than she was willing to admit. Although she knew her legs were going to freeze, which she had pointed out to Mina. She disregarded the fact that she was borrowing from Bunny, she'd give it back eventually.

Mina shrugged, "beauty is pain and suffering. Now go take a shower, I'll give you an hour to relax before working my magic on you."

Lita had moseyed her way into Amy's kitchen, inspecting her foodstuffs despite the fact that Amy had just gone to the supermarket. "I'll make us something light for lunch. And maybe enough for you to freeze for later."

"You know you don't have to do that," Amy told Lita as Mina began to push her towards her bedroom.

Lita gave her a warm smile, "stop being so dumb."

"Make sure you shave your lady bits!" Mina cried out after Amy as she closed the bathroom door behind her.

Amy rolled her eyes before she began to undress. It was only noon and her date wasn't until six that evening. She sighed wearily as she turned on the water and waited for it to warm while she stripped out of her street clothes.

When she was done and was wrapping a towel around her form, Mina opened the door and peeked in.

"Mina!"

The blond grinned widely, "I picked out the sexiest underwear that you have. Honestly Amy, it's like you could use all the help you could get."

"Get out!"

Mina laughed as she dodged a soap bar that was aimed at her head.

Amy wished she had it in her to feel embarrassed or irritated. After knowing each other for so long, such emotions were useless.

As stated her "sexiest" underwear was on her bed and her bedroom door was closed. It was a simple black bra with matching low-waist panties. Next to them was a bottle of lotion – Mina's way of telling her to moisturize. Thankfully it was a fresh scent and didn't take Amy too far out of her comfort zone.

Once she was done getting redressed into some lounge clothes, she turned down the blanket to her bed to lie down for a much needed nap. It was only 12:20 and Mina had promised to give her an hour. Amy was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

"Amy," Lita's tone was soft and gentle. It reminded her of when her mom used to get her up for school when she was much younger. "It's three, what time is your date?"

"Six," Amy answered, she blinked her blurry vision away and rubbed her face.

"WAKE UP! I only have three hours to make you irresistibly gorgeous!" Mina's high pitched whine made the other two women grimace. "I gave you extra time to sleep, time to get up!"

"You only gave her extra time because you fell asleep on the couch," Lita pointed out.

Mina's response was to blow a raspberry. "Sorry I'm a little hungover from last night."

"That sounds like a personal problem," Lita responded, "get up Ames. I made you a sandwich to tide you over until dinner. But you'll have to eat it quickly, before Mina gets her claws on you."

Amy nodded while doing a long stretch before she rolled out of her bed and fixed her sheets.

The sandwich was delicious. It made Amy realize how much she missed Lita's skills in the kitchen. While she ate she watched Mina open her makeup case and dig certain eyeshadows and lipsticks out, putting the swatches against Amy's skin before shaking her head and taking another out.

"How were you allowed to take all that through customs?" Lita asked curiously.

"Why did you bring so much?" was Amy's question.

"Well I was here for the holidays, I didn't know what I was going to wear or how I was going to wear them. I wanted options. As for customs, nothing is liquid, so it's all good. Ah, this is perfect!" Mina held up a soft nude lipstick. "I just want to enhance your natural beauty, this guy sees you in scrubs with messy hair and no makeup all of the time, obviously he already thinks your attractive."

Amy could feel her face heat up at that comment.

"So what's he like?" Lita asked while leaning back in the recliner, putting her feet up and her hands behind her head.

By this time Amy had finished her meal and Mina was already starting on her hair. It felt like prom all over again. Minus Rei and Bunny.

"Well he's a professor," Amy stated, not wanting to go further into it. Just because she found the sciences that he taught fascinating did not mean that her friends would. She had learned early on that they would just become lost in the scientific jargon that she would spew.

"What's he look like? Are you guy's friends on Facebook?" Mina began to clean Amy's eyebrows free of any stray hairs.

"No, I don't even check mine."

Lita brought her phone out and began to login to her own account, "what's his name again? I can probably find him!"

Rolling her eyes, Amy told her.

"Found him!" Lita grinned from her spot on the loveseat.

"Oh! Let me see," Mina hopped up from her seat on the coffee table and took Lita's phone to inspect it. "Oh, he's cute. I never would have pegged you as the type to like guy with long hair."

Mina grinned as she continued to play on Lita's phone, much to the woman's chagrin, and then froze. "Oh, fuck."

"What's wrong?" Lita asked suspiciously while peeking over the blond's shoulder. Where she also froze. "Fuck."

"What is it?" Amy was now curious.

"No," Lita took the phone away before Amy could properly see it. "No Ames, you don't need to see that."

Now confusion was beginning to settle in, "what is it?" She repeated.

Lita and Mina exchanged looks before Mina nodded.

With a heavy sigh, Mina took the phone from Lita's tight hold and opened the window they had hastily closed. "Craig as a girlfriend Amy."

"What?" Amy glanced down at the photo. It was Craig's recent Facebook picture. It was of him and a pretty redhead woman kissing underneath a mistletoe at his parents' house during Christmas.

Amy wasn't sure when her legs gave out, but the next thing she was aware of was that she was back on the chair she had previously occupied. Cold began to settle into her body, her fingers and toes becoming numb as her body began to shake.

Her two friends were speaking, but she couldn't hear them. She felt as if her head were underwater, their voices were muffled. She wasn't sure what she felt first, betrayal was the strongest. Anger, sadness, disgust, shock. Shock was pretty strong too.

It was obvious that Craig's family knew. He has brought that woman to their house for the holidays. Right after he had left Amy.

Her eyes burned, and she drew her legs up towards her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees to bring some sort of warmth to her body. The shivers were becoming stronger, wracking her petite form.

Why was it so cold? Her insides were becoming ice. She was freezing over.

Lita placed a comforter over her shoulders and drew it tightly over her while speaking in soothing tones. Mina was on the phone with someone in the kitchen. Amy could only stare down at her knees, unseeing eyes focusing on the image that was burned into her mind.

Logically speaking it would be better for her to file divorce under infidelity instead of irreconcilable differences.

Yet, for the first time in her life Amy couldn't feel her brain grasping those types of thoughts.

Her teeth were clattering harshly together when the tears finally came, and then she let out a sob. Loud and heart wrenching, and once the first one escaped her, Amy couldn't stop. In-between hiccups she managed to spit out that someone should call Zoicite for her, she needed to cancel her date. Lita was busy rubbing her back and holding her, which left it up to Mina.

"Okay," Mina took Amy's phone and dialed the man's number. She waited for him to answer, a sad frown on her face. "Hello, I'm Mina, one of Amy's best friends. I'm so sorry, Amy has been given some terrible news and she is not able to go out tonight."

Amy tried to keep her crying down, but she couldn't. She was on the verge of hyperventilating.

Mina moved to the kitchen so that Zoicite wouldn't be able to hear Amy. "Yes, that's her. It's not my place to tell. She'd love to reschedule with you once she's in the right frame of mind. I know she really likes you."

They chatted a bit more before Mina's blue eyes traveled over to her two friends, "Yes, goodbye." She hung up shortly after.

Mina had always been the leader of their little group, always the one to take over in the face of any crisis. "Amy is going to go wash her face and place some ice on her eyes to help with the swelling. Also, Amy is not going to mope and avoided the handsome professor who is interested in her. This may be a bad time, but you know her as well as I do."

Amy flinched under Mina's gaze. "Not everyone can treat cheating like you Mina."

This time Mina flinched. She rubbed her face and began to tidy up the mess that she had left on the coffee table. "You're right. But I'm really hoping that you to do to this guy what you did to Craig."

"MINA!" Lita shot up from her position next to Amy. "Don't blame her for his actions!"

"I'm not." Mina sighed, "I'm not trying to be a bitch. He did what he chose to do. But Amy also didn't treat him like a romantic partner, she treated him like a room mate, and instead of trying to fix it Craig did something stupid. This guy, Zoicite, seemed genuinely concerned. He wants to be here to comfort her, and from what she told us, they had been talking for awhile. I refuse to allow you to put your head in the sand on this one Ames. This is what's called tough love. It hurts, you'll feel disgusted with your own body because you can't help but wonder if he touched her while he was still touching you. You'll wonder where he found the time to do this. How could he betray you like this? None of this is your fault. Craig made his decisions. But you're not going to run from your emotions, and you're sure as hell will not dismiss this other man, Zoicite, who may end up being the actual love of your life. Love - life - is just as complicated and painful as it is beautiful. You know this, and what you're experiencing right now is just a small bump in the road."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience," Amy murmured.

"Don't I always?" Mina shrugged.

Their blue eyes clashed and they stared each other down. Mina refused to blink. After a few minutes Amy got up to wash her face as Mina has suggested. She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror for several minutes.

She was wearing a plain black t-shirt with her Ravenclaw joggers. Her face was only a little puffy, and despite the hurt in her heart. Her head and her heart were confused, and she didn't know how to sort it all out. But that was okay, for once Amy felt as if she were a human being. Flawed and nowhere near perfect. She hadn't felt this way since her father left.

The warmth was starting to come back to her body, although the occasional shiver still went through her. The crying had been cathartic, it didn't dull the sharp pain in her chest, but it did make her feel better. She would be okay, this too shall pass.

After one more rinse of her face, she took in a deep breath. Amy was stronger than this.

TBC

MLL: Guys, I miss having a boyfriend. Guess it's the companionship. If anyone is interested, I'm single and decent looking lol. –Internally cries- I'm becoming a lonely spinster.

Also, raise your hand if you've been cheated on! Yeah... I tried to convey how I felt when it happened to me. It's really hard to put that type of anguish into words. Anyway I figured Amy needed some more drama and here we go! Please review!