Chapter Text
The night passed relatively easily for Miranda, but Andy couldn’t say the same. The first two hours helped her get settled with the fact that she was indeed in the same space as her boss while she slept. The rest of the night instead passed in a tremendous fear of someone breaking in to kill Miranda, and possibly even her.
Needless to say she was incredibly tired and still stressed. As soon as Miranda woke up, she got the green light to wash up and grab herself a coffee. Small fortunes for our poor Andy.
Down at the hotel’s bar she found a bunch of Runway’s crew taking their coffees and so she joined them with her espresso and a croissant.
“Jesus, Six. Did you sleep at all? You look like you could faint on the streets just to get a minute of relaxation.” Nigel’s voice came from behind her, making her jump a little.
“Well, no. Didn’t bat an eyelash tonight, had to watch over Miranda.”
“Scared of someone bashing in at night?”
“Terrified.”
And so she spent the rest of the day like that, watching everyone like a hawk and staying as close to Miranda as possible, which isn’t much as the older woman respects her boundaries a little too fiercely, even on the verge of death.
At 5 PM they were at an Armani show. Miranda and Nigel sat at the front row as usual, while Andy sat right behind them. She took notes of every outfit, paying close attention to Miranda’s facial expressions to make sure which ones she liked and which ones she didn’t. She jotted down everything, her hand moving quickly on the small paper, but she really had to keep up, despite her lack of sleep and her eyes closing every few minutes.
At 8 PM they were having a fancy dinner with both Amrani and Dolce e Gabbana’s team. Andy was engaging in a conversation with Domenico Dolce’s assistant, trying her best to pay attention as the girl rattled on about a purse she wasn’t even sure she ever saw. Andrea could feel someone staring at her, she really could. And she even knew it was a pair of blue eyes, but she wasn’t sure why, since that exact pair of blue eyes should be watching Giorgio Armani. Andy knew the poor man was speaking to Miranda, and she also knew that he wouldn’t get her full attention, not tonight.
Finally, the girl stopped her rant about that purse to speak with Jocelyn (bless her soul), and Andy had the chance to turn around and meet those blue eyes. By now, Andy was sure she could read Miranda’s every expression, but today? She wasn’t sure if she saw confusion, boredom or concern, she couldn’t really tell.
At 10 PM they were finally back at the hotel, and Andy was back at Miranda’s side.
“I’ll go change, won’t take more than 10 minutes.” Promised the girl, but the older woman was still regarding her with that unreachable look.
“Have you slept?” What? Had she heard right? Did Miranda just… show concern for her? What?
“Uh no, not really… I wanted to be vigilant at all times, you know?”
This caused Miranda to frown and purse her lips. And here she thought she was doing good at protecting her.
“Well, go change. And you better sleep tonight, or you won’t be able to be vigilant at all.” She spat the word as if it offended her personally. Andy just sighed and turned on her heels to wash up quick enough. What was that, though?
About 15 minutes later Andy was back in Miranda’s room. She found her sitting on a stool removing her makeup, still wearing that infamous grey robe, and Andy couldn’t help but think about Paris. Miranda sitting on that sofa, red eyed and tear stricken cheeks. Oh, how she regrets not doing anything to console her.
“You’re late.” She murmured. “Didn’t take you 10 minutes.”
“It was approximated.” She retorted weakly, Miranda barely scoffed.
The air felt charged with unspoken words and questions. Emotions that both couldn’t quite decipher, and fears so clear that stopped them from figuring out any other feeling. They locked eyes in the vanity’s mirror, and Andy’s breath caught quietly but visibly. Miranda laid the cotton pad carefully on the dark wood and turned to the doe-eyed girl.
“I’ll just sleep on the couch, then.” Andy whispered, scratching her bare neck.
“Yes.”
But neither of them moved, and silence fell once more, interrupted only by Andy swallowing down words she’d never say out loud. It hurts both of them not being able to know what they feel, and it’s frustrating how confusing it all felt.
“I’ll put an alarm every hour to check, if you don’t mind.”
“Fine.” And Andy just went over to the couch, accepting how Miranda could, apparently, speak only in monosyllables.
She set the alarms and laid on the couch. Sleep came easy to her as she felt tired all day, so when the first blaring sound found her, she couldn’t help but jump awake and turn it off, looking at it terrified. She looked around, made sure no one made its way inside the hotel suite and also made sure Miranda was well and alive. When she found out everything was right, she quickly fell asleep again.
The second time went pretty much like the first, for the only exception that she half-woke up Miranda too, and had to profusely apologise. The third time Andy found Miranda glaring at her while she personally turned off the alarm.
“Stop these alarms and just sleep. If someone breaks in, we’ll hear it.” She growled, sitting down next to Andy on the couch.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. I’m not deaf, An-dre-ah.”
Andy bit her lip, fidgeting with her hands, unsure of what to do or say. Should she sleep? Was she even allowed to with Miranda next to her?
“I know why you left.”
“What?”
“In Paris. I know why you left. Honestly An-dre-ah, you’re too kind hearted, the industry will never notice you if you keep being this…” she just looked her up and down and went back to staring ahead.
“You think I left because of what you did to Nigel?”
“Well of course, what else?”
Andrea stared at her boss’ side profile. She could only make that out, as the moonlight made it shine in the darkness of the room.
“I just… I had to process everything that happened. I know I wasn’t professional, but it really was a big load.”
Miranda regarded her for a moment. A deafening, silent moment. Until, apparently, she found what she was looking for. “Were you scared of being compared to me?”
That caught Andy off guard. “At the time, yes. But I’ve come to accept that you were right. I do love my job, and I know I can make big sacrifices for it.”
Miranda’s eyes widened for a slip second before the smallest smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
Silence fell over for one last time that day, but only because they both fell asleep. They should have worried, they should have separated, but they were too tired and it was 3 AM, and the couch was big enough for the two of them, right?
It was not.
When Andy woke up at 6 AM she found Miranda pressed against her chest, still sleeping profoundly. How is she supposed to get out now? Will she even make it out alive? Andy now fully believed she would have woken up Miranda either by moving or simply by the older woman hearing how fast and loud her heart thumped against her chest.
Andy just hoped she wouldn’t be fired on the spot.