`So a lot of what I write is inspired by music, one song can trigger a whole story in my mind and no artist is better at this than Heather Peace. I have a huge amount of love for her and her music especially her newest album The Thin Line and most of her songs make me think of our two favorite ladies. So I have decided to try and write a collection of fics inspired by each of the songs on that album. They won't be linked but will be snap shots of interactions between Miranda and Andrea. I'll try and post links to the songs where I can. I'll say now that she's not the most cheerful of singer songwriters so the chances of something really happy are slim but I've always been happier writing a bit of angst!

This is the first of these fics, inspired by the song I Pick Flowers. I recently saw Heather Peace live and she introduced this song by saying she wrote it in ten minutes because it was exactly how she felt at the time and it was dedicated to her wife Ellie. I love the song and I love the feelings it invokes and the images it puts into my head.

I Pick Flowers

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Andrea closed the door to the townhouse behind herself and lent against it, absorbing the overwhelming feeling of being home after what had been, in her opinion, far too long spent away. She looked up when she heard paws on the hardwood floor and smiled at the sight of Patricia padding towards her. Dropping her bags she bent down and accepted the St Bearnard's lick of greeting, burying her hands in thick fur,

"Hey girl did you miss me?" the bark she received was all the confirmation she needed and pulled a smile onto her face as she kissed the dogs head and scratched behind her ears before pushing herself to her feet. The house was quiet as she had expected and while a part of her had hoped that Miranda would be home to surprise her she had known deep down that she wouldn't be. Things had been rough between them before she had gone out of state and it hadn't exactly improved over the three weeks she had been away. She desperately wanted to fix things but she was glad that she didn't have to deal with a confrontation the minute she walked through the door.

Deciding to leave her bags where they were for now, the toed off her shoes and made for the stairs. She needed a shower and perhaps a nap so she could deal with whatever happened when her wife arrived home.

Miranda kicked off her shoes the minute the front door closed behind her and hung her coat in the closet slightly irritated that she almost broke her neck on the pile of bags abandoned at the bottom of the stairs that belonged to her daughters. Moving them into the closet where they belonged she smiled when she found Andrea's hold all's beneath them. She felt slightly guilty that she hadn't been home when Andrea arrived but she had been so busy at the magazine that she had totally lost track of time. Now though, she was exhausted, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up with her wife and forget about the last month. It had been awful recently, they had both been busy with work, their schedules hadn't matched at any point and they were both exhausted, every interaction had ended in a clash. It was time that she fixed it

Picking up her shoes she went in search of her family and her heart warmed when she found them all cuddled together on hers and Andrea's bed.

"Mom?" Caroline pushed herself up when she heard movement and Cassidy cracked her eyes open and smiled,

"Andy's home,"

"I can see that," she smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed and accepting kisses from her girls, "Why don't you two go and start your homework and we will order pizza later for dinner." the girls did as they were asked with no protest, closing the door behind them to give the other women some privacy. They were pleased Andrea was home, they had missed her but not as much as their mother had, they hoped she might smile a little more now.

Miranda slid along the bed careful not to wake the younger woman just yet. She took the time to study every inch of her wife's face and was sad to see that even asleep she looked exhausted. She was ashamed that she had very little idea what Andrea had been doing for the last several weeks. They had barely spoken and, even when they had, their conversations had been short and stilted. She had been so wrapped up in the magazine lately that she had forgotten what was really important, something she had sworn to herself she wouldn't do when Andrea had walked back into her life. Reaching out she brushed her wife's still damp bangs from her face and traced her fingers across her cheek, joining the freckles that had appeared on her skin in the last few weeks.

Andrea woke slowly, pressing her face into the warm hand on her cheek. Blinking her eyes open she smiled at the sight of her wife watching her,

"Hey," she said, rolling onto her back and taking Miranda's hand in her own, pressing a kiss to her palm.

"You're home," Miranda murmured linking their fingers and squeezing gently.

"I am," Andrea nodded, "I missed you." Tugging gently on the hand in hers she encouraged the older woman to lie down beside her and tucked her into her side.

"I missed you too." Miranda pressed her face into the crook of Andrea's neck and kissed the skin there, "Tell me about your trip." as Andrea spoke and threaded her fingers through her hair Miranda reaffirmed a promise to herself, to never again loose sight of what was really important and to never let so long go by without making sure Andrea knew how much she was loved.