Long Affairs & Silly Dares
Rating: PG-13.
Pairing: Andrea/Emily.
Fandom: The Devil Wears Prada.
Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine.
Summary: Emily didn't know why at the time, but suddenly she felt as though she needed to take this into her own hands, save Andrea from Christian… or Christian from Andrea. She didn't know which.

Emily thought she could die in ecstasy.

Andrea had smooth, pale skin, and long, brown locks that were soft to the touch. Andrea had dark, gorgeous eyes that sparkled with mirth and darkened with displeasure. Andrea had a cute, precious little giggle that was absolutely contagious. Andrea also had dark red lips that, when kissed enough, would smudge away to reveal a more innocent, a more natural, light pink. But best of all, Andrea had a way with her hands and fingers; a way that made it easy for her to navigate the dips and rises of Emily's body with a dexterous ease, garnering a loud cry most times for her efforts.

Emily could trace this obsession she had with Andrea back to Serena – everything began with Serena, and to be honest, everything involving Emily-and-Andrea (as opposed to Emily and Andrea, because they were hardly seen apart) really was all Serena's fault.

It was all Serena's fault, because Emily hadn't meant for this to happen – not in the strictest sense, anyway. All Serena's fault, because she had placed money down on the first person who could get Andrea – who had just gotten a complete makeover – into bed. Emily hadn't paid her friend any attention… until she realized that Christian had somehow found out about this dare, and was in on it. And Emily didn't know why at the time, but suddenly she felt as though she needed to take this into her own hands, save Andrea from Christian… or Christian from Andrea. She didn't know which. But it had to be Christian from Andrea, because that made sense. This intervention of sorts was odd, certainly, because Emily generally liked to think of herself as an apathetic person, someone who wouldn't meddle in the affairs and silly dares of others. But not so in this case.

It hadn't been easy at first; Emily was quite certain that she was going to lose the bet to Christian. Andrea had initially been wary of Emily's sudden friendliness towards her – a stark contrast to the treatment she usually received – but soon she grew accustomed to it, and even warmed up to Emily. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that Christian was going to come out of this on top, that Andrea would choose him over her. And she was bothered by the fact that she was unsettled whenever she thought of the latter occurring, but she tried not to think too much on that aspect of things. It only added to the confusion, and between answering Miranda's calls and trying to get Andrea away from Christian, Emily had more than enough on her plate.

It was only when Andrea turned Christian down in favour of watching a movie with Emily that Emily knew she had won: Christian was now out of the picture, and she was proven correct when Andrea saw less of him; instead of coffee every day, it was coffee every few weeks or so. Emily had a difficult time categorizing this newfound glee she felt at that moment, knowing she had succeeded. She wasn't sure anymore if she had decided to participate in this bet because of Christian, or because of Andrea. She had been so sure that her goal, all along, was not to get Andrea in bed with her, but to get Andrea away from Christian, so she could have him to herself. But now, she wasn't sure exactly what she had succeeded in, just that she had, and was all the happier for it.

And she would never have found out if she hadn't stuck around. Somehow, although the "danger" was out of the way, Emily still remained friends – good friends, even – with Andrea. She found that although she had been building this friendship for superficial purposes, she had actually ended up with one of the better relationships she had ever had. This made her feel bad, and she resolved to try and maintain their relationship, which really wasn't an issue, because it seemed that through the few months Christian had been trying to get Andrea in bed with him and Emily had been trying to get Christian not to do so, Emily had taken to Andrea – and likewise, Andrea had taken to Emily.

The relationship between these two young women was completely platonic, of course.

Completely platonic, until Emily, suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling she couldn't name, leaned over and kissed Andrea on the lips. It was one of their movie nights, and they had been sitting on the couch in Andrea's apartment, watching the credits roll down the screen at the end of the movie.

Emily was mortified at what she'd done, until Andrea leaned over and kissed her right back. And, as she tangled her fingers in Andrea's hair many minutes later, muffling a moan, Emily realized just why she had taken up the dare in the first place. And it wasn't because she had nothing to do. And it wasn't because she was worried that Andrea would take Christian away. What it was, was that she was afraid Christian would take Andrea away from her. It was so obvious now, yet she seemed to have been blind to this fact just a few months ago.

But now, as Andrea allowed her hands to wander, mapping out every curve and angle of Emily's body, Emily didn't feel so stupid and embarrassed for not realizing what she had wanted had been there all along.

Because what mattered was that Andrea was here, with Emily.

And that after this night, they would be Emily-and-Andrea.

And that thought made Emily think, for the very first time, that she could die in ecstasy.