Work Text:
Emily Charlton rarely let anything get in the way of her work. No matter how tired, hungry, upset, or even joyous she was (which was rare because the second Miranda caught a glimpse of anything that resembled happiness on Emily’s face, she was sure to give her a long look up and down as if saying, “I don’t know what’s gotten into you. But if you let this distract you, you’ll never want to smile again.”)
There had been only one time she hadn’t been completely on top of everything at work. And that was when Andrea Sachs sat at the desk across from her.
For some reason, Emily couldn’t stop thinking about her appalling sense in fashion (seriously, the fact she would look in the mirror and think it was okay to leave the house like that was beyond Emily) and her big pleading brown eyes that tormented Emily in her dreams.
Maybe it was the fact that no matter how rude she was, Andrea never let it stop her from attempting to wedge her way into Emily’s life. Or the way that Andrea had gone to Paris and left her injured and alone. But for some reason Emily wasn’t as angry as she should’ve been., She could only focus on how much she had missed Andy during her time away.
So much so that when Andrea told her she quit Runway and a look of guilt and frustration crossed her beautiful features, Emily could only grab her by the chin and kiss the expression off of her.
After that, Emily was more than thankful to no longer have Andrea as a distraction at Runway. Unless Andy called her during the day and needed something, or wanted to see her, or simply just wanted to talk to her. But she could multitask and decided that now nothing would get in the way of her work.
Which is why when she woke up this morning with her throat burning so terribly that she considered swallowing sandpaper, she still got dressed and came to work.
As she sat at her desk, she tried her hardest to ignore the mirror she kept next to her. Her red puffy nose, that no makeup could hide, tormented her and let everyone else know she was battling death itself. Any sane boss would’ve taken one look at Emily and decided she needed to go home. But Miranda Priestly and sane didn’t even fit into a sentence together.
She had already made it halfway through the day and was able to just sit at her desk and do busy work. But of course, that was too easy.
“Emily!” Miranda called from her office.
In one swift motion, Emily stood up, ignoring the way the world started to spin around her, and headed to her office.
Miranda spared no glances at her as gave her a grueling but not unusual list of things to do.
“That’s all,” Miranda said.
And at that, Emily left the office, grabbed her belongings, and headed out to complete her tasks. What she failed to consider was that it was pouring outside. Emily, who of course always chose fashion over functionality, was wearing a short sleeve dress and a tiny jacket. No umbrella anywhere near her.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” she said as she walked out of the Runway building. She had no choice but to put her jacket over her head and hope for the best.
As she was nearing the end of her tasks, she was starting to become more and more ill by the second. She wasn’t sure if her nose was wet from the rain, or the amount of times she had sneezed within the last five minutes.
As she was heading back to Runway when her phone lit up.
“Emily Charlton with Runway, how can I be of assistance?” she answered on autopilot, her voice gravelly from sickness.
“Hi, yes, I need to speak with your boss immediately. It seems as though I miss my girlfriend, who works for Miranda Priestly, and I was wondering when she’d be off of work today,” Andy said playfully through the phone.
A soft laugh escaped Emily’s lips, but it just led to a rough cough she couldn’t stop.
“Ugh,” she hated being sick.
“Sorry, hi Andy,” she said as she walked underneath a covered portion of the sidewalk.
“I think I’ll be off within the next thirty minutes. Why?” she asked, wondering if Andy needed something.
“I am going to pretend that you didn’t forget about our dinner plans tonight,” said Andy’s voice coming through the phone, slightly amused.
A soft sigh of remembrance rippled through Emily as she facepalmed. And a lullaby of sneezes quickly came out of her.
“I’m so sorry, Andy,” she said once she’d caught her breath.
“It must’ve slipped my mind. I haven’t been quite well today, as you can hear.” She chuckled dryly.
“Aw, honey,” Emily could almost see the little pout on Andy’s face.
“Don’t worry about it. How about you come here tonight? Let me take care of you, yeah?”
Emily thought about it, sniffling a few times, and began picking up her pace again towards Runway.
“Are you sure? I don’t think you want me sneezing and coughing all over your apartment.”
“Who says I don’t?” Andy asked playfully.
Emily chuckled, cheeks warming a little despite herself.
“Okay, I’ll be over as soon as I’m done,” she confirmed. “Thank you, my love.”
“Of course. I’ll be here waiting.”
…
After about 45 minutes, Emily stood outside of Andrea’s apartment door and knocked.
“Coming!” Andy said. Emily could hear her shuffling through her apartment.
As Andy opened the door, she took in the sight of a slightly shivering, red-nosed Emily in front of her. She couldn’t help but grab her by the arm and pull her close, not caring that she was a little damp from the rain.
“Oh no. My poor baby, you look terrible,” Andy
said while she affectionately rubbed her back.
Emily had always told herself she wasn’t one for being babied or called pet names. In all honesty, she thought it was quite distasteful when anyone she had dated in the past called her any nickname besides the occasional “babe.” But as stubborn as Andy is, she continued to call Emily every pet name in the book. And the most absurd part is that Emily didn’t mind. She actually quite liked it.
“Why, thank you, Andy,” she rolled her eyes, but nonetheless reciprocated her hug.
“I was hoping I’d be told how awful I looked upon my arrival.”
Andy giggled that soft giggle only reserved for Emily and smiled, pulling back a little.
“You know what I mean,” she said, grabbing Emily’s bag off of her and leading her towards the couch to sit.
Emily sat down and watched while Andy ran around her apartment grabbing items.
“Okay, here, take this,” Andy said, gently placing warm tea and medicine in Emily’s hands.
“And you need to get out of these clothes. You’re going to freeze to death! Jesus, did you not have any other jacket?” Emily didn’t reply, but the way she refused to meet Andy’s eyes told her all she needed to know.
Andy washed Emily’s face, forced her to eat the soup she prepared for her (even though Emily swore she didn’t want it), and helped her change clothes.
Now a very drowsy Emily, dressed in Andy’s sweatshirt, lay in between her legs trying to fight sleep. Andy wrapped her arms around her and pulled her closer to her chest, letting out a small sound of contentment.
“I am sorry about all this, Andy,” Emily sighed out.
Andy let out a confused noise, unsure of what Emily meant.
“This isn’t how you planned to spend your Friday afternoon. You shouldn’t have to take care of me. I am more than capable. I was reckless and let whatever this is creep up on me, is all. And that’s unfair to you,” Emily said, struggling to get it all out due to her stuffy nose.
Andy looked down at her in disbelief.
“Are you serious?” she asked, even though she knew Emily was.
As tough as Emily came across, Andy knew her. She knew her better than anyone else. And all of the snide comments and glares were simply Emily’s way of protecting herself. She worried that if anyone saw past her tough exterior, they’d realize how insecure and vulnerable she really felt. And if Andy had to remind Emily of how deserving and perfect she was 100 times a day, then she would do it without any hesitation.
She turned Emily around to look her in the eyes.
“Em,” she said, staring into her uncertain blue eyes that made Andy’s heart flutter.
“There is nowhere, and I mean nowhere, I’d rather be right now. I don’t care if I planned to have dinner with you and it ended up not happening. This isn’t some inconvenience for me. All I want is for you to be better, and if that means I have to sit here for a year and wait for your cute little nose to stop running, then I will. Having you here with me is more than enough,” Andy explained while brushing her hands through Emily’s hair.
She was unbelievably nonchalant, as if what she just said was completely normal and didn’t make Emily feel a bit faint.
Emily just stared at her, a little bit in shock but mostly disbelief. She’d never been cared for like this and she quite sure what to say. So, she said the one thing Andy was sure to understand.
“I love you.”
That little giggle Andy seemed to only emit around Emily returned.
“I love you too,” she said, smiling.
Andy pulled Emily closer and began peppering small kisses all over her face.
“My sweet baby,” she said as she placed another kiss to her temple.
“Okay, okay, Andy, that’s quite enough!” Emily said, even though she could feel the heat rising to her face at Andy’s words.
“You know you love it.”
And at that, Andy placed one last kiss on the corner of her mouth.
And even though she didn’t say it, Andy was right. She did love it.