Chapter Text
It is almost midnight when Andy's phone rings.
She reaches for it naturally, not quite looking at the caller ID as her attention is still trained on the article she is writing on her laptop. Although she does think it is pretty obvious who would call her at this hour — so when she picks up the phone and hears the blast of music from the end of the line, she isn't surprised at all. She is well aware of Emily's whereabouts and what she is meant to be doing that evening anyway.
What surprises her though, is the voice that greets her, shouting over the loud music in the background. "Andy? Please tell me you are still awake?"
Andy draws her phone from her ear with a frown. The caller ID does indeed show that it is Emily calling her, yet the voice, as familiar as it could get, clearly does not belong to her.
"Serena?" She asks in a doubtful tone. "Is that you? Where's Emily?"
For a few seconds, Andy is unable to hear anything but the loud beats and muffled voices in the background. "Serena? Hello?" She tries again, a little worried now, but eventually she hears a muted background followed by a mumble of apology.
"Sorry, sorry! It's so damn loud inside. I just came out from the bar." Serena explains quickly. "Anyway, can you come over and get your fiancée please?"
Andy's frown deepens as she immediately sits up straighter, pulling her hand away from her laptop. "Is she okay?"
"Oh. She's fine." Serena lets out what Andy can only describe as some sort of evil chuckle of amusement before she continues. "Just very, very drunk. She can barely even walk."
"Geez." Andy remarks, already standing up from the chair as she quickly makes her way into their bedroom to grab her purse and keys. "Do I even want to know what happened?"
Serena laughs again. "All you need to know is that we had a wonderful time teasing her."
Andy raises an eyebrow. She knows that by 'we', Serena meant her and the rest of the girls Emily had invited to her bachelorette party. It was supposed to be a simple evening out at the bar with her closest female friends, but clearly, if Emily had ended up this intoxicated while Serena still sounded completely sober, something must have happened during the party.
"You know where the bar is, right?" Serena asks. "We'll wait for you to get here before we leave, don't worry."
"Yeah, thanks." Andy stops by Roark and Bronwyn's rooms quickly, checking to make sure the two pre-teens are still fast asleep before making a dash towards the front door. "I should be there in fifteen, tops."
"Cool. See ya!" Serena says in a sing-song voice and hangs up.
Andy tosses her phone into her handbag and rushes downstairs without another second wasted.
Emily being very, very drunk is probably an understatement.
Serena tells Andy that she'd thrown up twice in the washroom before quite literally depositing her into the brunette's arms. The blond woman gives Andy a wicked smile and a flying kiss before leaving with the rest of Emily's friends.
Emily cannot even stand straight, nearly crumpling towards the floor as soon as she leans into Andy. "Whoa, there." Andy sighs, quickly curling her arm around Emily's lower waist as she tries to steady her. "Baby, what did they do to you?"
Much to her surprise though (or maybe it isn't really a surprise), Emily's immediate response is to push herself away from Andy's hold. "Who are you?" Her words slur but she is still able to form a coherent sentence.
"It's me, Em." Andy states with a raised eyebrow, hands instinctively drawn out to prevent the redhead from falling over. "You can lean on me for support, honey."
Emily points - no, more like jabs - a finger into Andy's chest as the latter flinches in surprise. "Who are you calling baby and honey?"
"What?" Andy asks in confusion, though she slowly begins to understand what exactly is going on; Emily is so extremely intoxicated that she cannot even recognise her.
"Just so you know," Emily continues with a hiccup, "my wife will beat you because you tried to flirt with me."
Amusement rises within Andy as she silently observes Emily's antics. Her choice of word to describe her does not go unnoticed as Andy's heart skips a beat; Emily had just described her as her wife even though they're technically not married yet, which makes her heart flutter in the best ways possible. Andy blushes a little at the implication.
"Em, I'm your fiancée." She places a hand on her chest, "Now will you stop trying to fight me and push me away so we can go home?"
"Hm." Emily squints her eyes as if to look at Andy closer. "I don't think so. My wife is so much prettier than you."
Andy wants to laugh, she really does. But she recollects herself with a deep breath and reaches out to steady her fiancée who had attempted to take a few steps forward by herself. Emily stumbles into the nearest wall, and Andy is quick to catch her from falling.
But the redhead stands straight with a loud huff, and quite literally shoves Andy away again. "Don't touch me! I willscream."
"Okay, okay!" Andy raises both hands immediately, biting her lower lip to prevent a grin from breaking out on her face. "I'm not going to touch you, but please, can you just get into the car?"
"I don't even - hic - know you." Emily shakes her head profusely. "Even a child knows not to - hic - follow strangers into their cars."
"Emily," Andy nearly pleads exasperatedly. "I am not a stranger! I'm Andy, you know me, we live together!"
"Blah blah blah." Emily presses her palms against her ears as she takes two unstable steps forward again. "Do you think - hic - just because I am tipsy I am gullible?"
Andy stares at her fiancée for a good several seconds in amusement. Tipsy? She stifles a laugh by pursing her lips tightly together. Dead skunk drunk, more like it. What on God's green earth even happened at her Bachelorette party? She makes a mental note to pry the information out of Serena first thing tomorrow. In the meantime, Andy pulls her phone out, deciding she needs to record this somewhat rare moment of her future wife.
Totally not for blackmail purposes though. Andy swears, crossing her heart and all that. It is merely for memory purposes, because she knows a hundred percent that Emily will deny ever acting like this when she is sober again.
"No, I do not think you are gullible for sure." She tells her honestly, and this time Emily whirls around to face her so fast that she nearly topples over into Andy, who is of course, always ready to catch her.
But the redhead steadies herself by putting her hand against the wall beside her just as another hiccup escapes her. "So why are you trying to persuade me to - hic - follow you home?"
Andy considers her options and decides it will not do to continue arguing with Emily about her identity when it is clear that the latter does not recognise her at all. So she tries a different strategy. "Your, uh, wife, sent me to make sure you get home safely."
Emily's expression softens, her cheeks bright red and rosy. "Andy did?"
Andy nods firmly. "Yes, she asked me to take you home."
"Huh." Emily frowns, as if considering her words carefully. "How's Andy by the way?" She continues suddenly, her face contorting into a dreamy-like smile.
Andy's heart does a silly little somersault again.
"She is…" Andy pauses, choosing her words carefully. "doing well. Just, worried about you, as you would know..."
"I do." Emily nods rapidly, then lets out a low chuckle. "I've told her plenty times - hic - that I," She taps her chest twice loudly. "am very well capable of taking care of myself. But Andy, oh, sweet and loving Andy…she never stops worrying about me."
Andy's face breaks into a relaxed grin, clearly entertained by drunk Emily. She's never seen her usually composed and collected girlfriend of hers, now fiancée, in this light. The Emily she knows and is familiar with is one who is always responsible and sensible. Her softer sides do come out in private during their intimate moments together, but aside from that, Andy has most definitely not seen Emily in this current state of honesty.
"She just," Andy shrugs, her voice soft and gentle. "simply wants you to be happy, Em. She would give you the world if she could, because you deserve all the happiness in the world."
Emily smiles, closing her eyes as she leans against the wall behind her. "I know." She sighs loudly. "I'm really lucky to have her."
The sudden admittance from Emily makes Andy widen her eyes. "I just hope she knows - hic - that I love her very much." She continues, voice continues to slur. "So, so much that it hurts sometimes."
It, being her heart, as Emily pats her chest over and over again.
"Oh, Emily." Andy exhales as emotions crashes over her like a tidal wave. "She definitely knows that. And she wants you to know that she loves you very, very much too."
"I know." Emily says sharply. "Andy…she wears her heart on her…what's that word again…oh. Sleeves."
Andy smiles again, a little teary eyed.
"It's me that's the problem." The redhead continues with a pout. "I'm not like her - hic -. I don't know how to be like her."
"Listen," Andy states firmly. "I'm sure Andy loves you all the same and doesn't want you to be like her."
"You think so?"
"Mmhm. I know so."
"But what if," Emily pauses, barely able to keep her eyes opened. "she gets tired of me one day and - hic - decides to leave?"
Andy couldn't help herself; she lets out the loudest gasp of disbelief as her heart pounds loudly in her head. Does Emilyactually think that? That she would leave her one day?
She immediately takes a step closer while still respecting the boundary drawn by drunk Emily. "Hey, hey. Where did you get such an idea? Andy would never."
Emily shrugs and glances to the side, a sort of faraway look in her eyes. "She's left me once."
Andy feels the ache in her heart even before she truly registers Emily's words. For a minute there, she does not know how to respond to her; it's the first time she's ever heard of what Emily feels when she left Runway the first time more than twenty years ago. Heck, she didn't even know she's made that much of an impact on Emily back then that she would care that she left without even saying a proper goodbye.
"Oh, Em." She sighs eventually. "Please know that that would never happen again. I promise."
The crease on Emily's forehead deepens. "Who did you say you are again?"
Andy chuckles with a shake of her head. "Me? Well, I'm Andy's friend."
"Huh." Emily looks at her and doesn't say anything else for the next thirty seconds. Andy wonders if she finally recognises her, finding it amusing that Emily would rather believe she's Andy's friend than being Andy herself.
"Em?" Andy asks carefully. "Can we please go home now?"
"Okay." The redhead finally acquiesces and pushes herself from the wall. "I'll follow you. Only because you are Andy's friend."
"Great. She would be happy if you do, that's for sure." Andy holds an arm out in case Emily wants to hold it to walk to her car. The latter accepts it a few seconds after, winding an arm around it to steady herself. She doesn't say anything else, merely basking in the silence as Andy keeps a watchful eye out for her silently.
"You are a good person, Andy's friend." Emily tells her twenty minutes later when Andy parks her car outside their apartment. Andy shakes her head with a chuckle and quickly unbuckles their belts. She helps her into the elevator and then to their front door.
At least Emily has stopped trying to break free, letting Andy hold her in one arm as she unlocks the door with her other hand. Andy barely makes it to their bedroom before Emily collapses into their bed and is knocked out soundly two seconds after.
Andy does a quick check on the two children - they're still asleep, thankfully - before going into the bathroom to soak a face towel into a bowl of warm water. Then she slowly changes Emily out of her outdoor clothes, putting a fresh set of pyjamas on her before squeezing water out of the towel to wipe her face gently.
Emily stirs slightly at the touch, opening her eyes briefly to meet Andy's loving gaze. "Hi," She says carefully, trying to gauge the redhead's reaction.
A small smile spreads across Emily's face before she closes her eyes again. Then, she mumbles just one word. Well, not a word, but her name. "Andy…"
"Yup, that's me." Andy chuckles, wiping Emily's neck now.
She assumes Emily has fallen back into slumber and nearly misses it, because her voice comes off softly like a whisper.
"I love you."
Andy's hand stills, and she feels another rush of emotions overwhelming her entire being. She remembers everything that Emily had shared with her just an hour ago, and her heart swells with love and adoration for the woman.
Andy eventually leans forward to press her lips on Emily's forehead. "Love you too, Em."
Emily jerks awake with the sharpest ache throbbing against her head repeatedly.
She couldn't even open her eyes, covering one palm over her eyes as she groans loudly. It takes her at least another minute to finally be able to pry open one eye without feeling like the entire sky is going to collapse on her. Clearly still disoriented though, Emily doesn't register her surroundings until it eventually hits her that she's in the safety comforts of her own bedroom, in her own home.
Her frown deepens. How the hell did she even get home safely?
The last thing she remembers is the shot of whiskey she had taken for maybe the eighth or ninth time. She really cannot remember the exact count, only that the hard liquor is not as brutal as her friends who had clearly enjoyed seeing her take the shots one after another.
She makes a promise to herself that she is going to kill Serena when she is sober enough.
"Em?"
The familiar voice is enough to make her grunt as a response. She doesn't even have the energy to reply verbally, to be honest. This hangover might just be the worst she has ever experienced in all her forty three years of living.
"Oh, honey, how are you feeling?"
Emily feels her side of the bed dip a little at the added weight, followed by Andy intertwining their fingers together. She finally opens her eyes slowly to meet Andy's worried gaze, and Emily groans again. "Feels like I've been run over by a car all over again."
Her voice is incredibly hoarse, and her throat feels like fire. She grimaces immediately, and makes a face of obvious discomfort. "Bloody hell. How bad was it?"
"Pretty bad." Andy says, though without judgement in her tone. "You couldn't even recognise me last night."
"What?" Emily furrows her eyebrows together, but at least she has connected two and two together. Andy was probably the one who came to pick her up from the bar yesterday, which, of course, made complete sense. "What do you mean?"
This time though, Emily sees the way Andy's face breaks into the widest grin possible. She hands her a glass of water. "Em, you don't remember anything?"
She slowly sits up to drink the water, but the movement almost makes her regret every life decision she has made up to this point in her life. "God. Tell me I didn't do something embarrassing?"
"I don't know if that counts as embarrassing," Andy says carefully, still smiling. "but it was definitely endearing to me."
"Huh?" Emily doesn't understand her at all. She thrusts the empty glass of water back into Andy's hand and buries her face into her palm. "What are you talking about?"
"For starters," Andy starts to explain. "you called me your wife."
Emily feels heat rising in her cheeks all of a sudden. "That's silly. We aren't married yet."
Andy laughs again. "Exactly. But you definitely referred me as your wife. Like, I didn't know you were this excited to be married to me."
Emily lifts a finger up instantly. "Do not tease me, Andy."
"I'm not!" Andy says, and Emily throws her a sharp glare. "I promise!"
Emily is not convinced, not when Andy's looking at her with the sort of expression that's clearly just waiting to blurt everything out to her. She knows she'll unlikely be able to get out of this situation, so she braces herself and asks. "What else did I do?"
"Well…" Andy fights the urge to laugh. "As I mentioned earlier, you couldn't recognise me. You kept pushing me away, said that your wife would beat me up if I kept flirting with you."
Emily's jaw drops. "I said what?"
"Oh, and," The brunette continues gleefully. "you said it's because your wife is prettier than me. Which is rather hilarious, considering we are the same person."
"I did not say that." Emily denies in complete horror.
Andy merely laughs, not even trying to argue with her. "I'm flattered you think I am pretty though."
Emily, of course, does not have any recollection of what Andy had claimed she said. She shakes her head, still in denial. "You could be making all of this up for all I know."
"I have a recording, just so you know."
At that revelation, the redhead snaps her head up a little too quickly, and immediately feels dizzy. Andy quickly holds her, letting her lean her forehead into her shoulder. Emily mutters against her without moving away. "You have a what?"
"A recording." Andy repeats, patting her back a few times gently. "I knew you were not going to believe that happened, so I had to record. Although I only recorded bits and pieces of what happened after you said all those things."
Emily groans loudly, mostly in embarrassment. She figures it might be better not to watch the video, choosing to just believe her fiancée instead. "I'm going to bloody murder Serena."
"What even happened?" Andy asks, only because Serena had been tight-lipped about last night no matter how much she had pleaded for her to tell her what happened.
"She and the girls made a drinking game." Emily explains without much resistance. "I had to take a shot every time they asked me something I didn't want to answer."
"What?" Andy is almost in disbelief, knowing that Emily is someone who surely wouldn't be defeated by a couple of questions? "Just what sort of questions did they ask if you were intoxicated to the point of oblivion?"
Emily pauses. The questions do not immediately come to her mind, but they do eventually, slowly, one by one, and her face flushes a crimson red in remembrance. "Er. It's best if you don't know."
"Em…"
"Just give me several more hours and I'll be fine." Emily pushes herself to an upright position again. Thankfully it's Sunday, so she can sleep in if she wants to. "Are the kids still asleep?"
"Yes. Breakfast is ready for when they wake up." Andy nods. "Do you need an aspirin? Also, don't try to change the topic. What did they ask you?"
"I do need an aspirin, thank you." Emily says, then shakes her head again. "And I'm not telling you! Just like how I didn't pry into what happened during your bachelorette party!"
Andy groans, but says nothing to counter that argument. Her own bachelorette hadn't been as wild as Emily's, that's for sure. Lily wouldn't dare. Wordlessly, Andy gets up to get an aspirin for Emily.
Emily closes her eyes again while waiting for her to come back. She's so darn exhausted. Everything hurts and she still feels a little nauseous. Bloody hell, she will probably never drink another drop of alcohol ever again.
When Andy returns a quick moment after, Emily thanks her and quickly swallows her pill. She lays back down after a minute, and disappears under her duvet.
Only because she knows that Andy's curiosity will likely not let her live this moment down. She will either try to pry the information out of her, or tease her endlessly for what she had said to her last night. Emily doesn't think Andy would be too amused to know that every shot she had taken had been strangely detailed questions relating to their sex life.
She'll probably thank her though, if she knew. Oh. She'll definitely thank her.
Emily is ready to fall back into sleep when she hears Andy calling out her name again. Weird, she thought Andy has left the room. She draws down her duvet and glances at her fiancee, who is looking at her with an odd expression again. "What is it?"
Andy plays with her fingers nervously, seemingly hesitating to tell her what's bothering her. Emily frowns, but reaches a hand out to clasp Andy's arm. "Tell me. Did I say something stupid?"
"No, not stupid. Definitely not stupid." Andy quickly says. "It's just…you were really honest yesterday, and you said something I didn't even know about."
"Oh no." Immediate worry washes over Emily as she starts to push herself up to lean against her bed frame again. "Just what did I say to you, Andy?"
"You said…" Andy starts slowly, holding her gaze. "that you were worried I would get tired of you, that I would leave you like how I left you before."
As soon as she hears that, Emily shuts her eyes instantly. A wave of embarrassment crashes into her as she covers her face with one hand and groans. This silly little insecurity of hers is something she has never shared with anyone, not even Andy herself, mostly because part of it stems from a past occurrence that shouldn't even hold that much significance in her - their - life anymore.
"Emily." She hears Andy's voice, her tone firm now as she scoots closer to her. "What happened twenty plus years ago—"
"I know, Andy." Emily interrupts her with a sigh. "It was something you had to do. You didn't owe me anything back then. I mean…we weren't even friends at that time."
"I didn't know." Andy admits softly, her eyes filled with guilt.
"You couldn't have known." Emily says. "I wasn't exactly the most transparent colleague back then. Well, I didn't even know you would end up becoming someone this important to me anyway."
Andy squeezes her hand and continues to hold it. "I just need you to know that I'm not going to leave you. I will never get tired of loving you, Em. Surely," She pauses to swallow the lump in her throat. "surely you must know that?"
Emily nods, smiling slightly. "I may not remember what I said yesterday, but I definitely know you do."
"And I love you for who you are." Andy continues, stressing her words by punctuating each word firmly. "I don't ever want you to change anything about yourself."
"Oh for Christ's sake," Emily throws her hands up into the air. "Just what on earth did I say to you yesterday?!"
Andy laughs, immediately reaching out to hold her hands again. "You were just being honest, that's all. And well," She shrugs. "I do have a recording if you want to watch."
Before Emily could protest any further about the alleged recording which she really does not want to watch, but maybe she has to because curiosity is starting to get to her, they hear the sound of footsteps outside their bedroom, followed by muffled voices of Roark and Bronwyn clearly arguing over something.
"I guess that's my cue to go." Andy smiles. "Just think about it, okay?" She leans forward to plant a quick kiss on Emily's temple before making her way out of their bedroom. "Oh, and I do have breakfast for you as well, if you're up for it."
Emily simply smiles, keeping her eyes trained at Andy's back even after the door closes behind her. She doesn't think she's able to deal with her two loud children that morning just yet, so she remains in bed trying to reach into her memories and see if she is able to recall anything during her drunkard spiel last night.
When it becomes clear that her mind is an empty blank piece of paper, Emily lets out another sigh. "So I really have to watch the recording?" She asks loudly to no one in particular, slowly coming to terms of possibly having to witness her most embarrassing moment immortalised in Andy's phone.
Despite the pounding ache in her head, she decides she'll finally get out of bed to wash up and to check in on her children - make sure they aren't tormenting her fiancée and all that (she knows they wouldn't, not when they adore Andy as much as she does).
Emily pauses right below the archway into her dining area as her heart melts at the sight before her; Bronwyn is chattering away, sharing an interesting story from school as Andy listens to her intently while spreading jam on her toast. Roark interjects every few seconds to give his unsolicited opinion about Bronwyn's story as his sister asks him to stop interrupting her. The bickering starts shortly after as Andy attempts to mediate things between them fairly.
It is nothing out of the ordinary for Emily, yet she still feels the inexplicable ache in her heart - though in the best way possible - at how easily Andy has fully integrated into their lives. How she has become a permanent parental figure, and how she now sits at the same dining table with the same importance as her two beautiful children.
It isn't all too surprising anymore to her that she had called Andy her wife yesterday. In the deepest recesses of her mind, Emily knows their wedding ceremony is all but a mere formality. Andy has become her family months ago, after all.
Andy looks up just then and her face brightens up at once. Bronwyn and Roark spot her two seconds after, and both children immediately speak at the same time over each other.
"Mum, you're finally awake! Wyn is being mean to me again!"
"Mum, Roark is being such a pain in the arse!"
Andy laughs heartily, just as Emily lets out another groan. She half regrets getting out from bed now, but deep down, she knows she won't have it any other way.