So this is just a short little bit to link the last part with the next. I promise their weekend will be fun and well documented and I will try and get over my fear of writing more intimate scenes so maybe our ladies can finally get it together!

Andrea pretty much fell through the door of her apartment and collapsed onto the sofa. What was supposed to have been an afternoon of follow up interviews had turned into a late night stood on the side lines of a crime scene which involved a whole family. She felt numb from the cold and what she had seen and wanted nothing more than to curl up beside Miranda and forget, but she had been the one who had insisted they spend the evening apart and the family would likely to be sitting down to dinner. Kicking off her shoes she curled up on her side on the sofa and closed her eyes, she would move in a minute, she just needed a quick recharge.

She woke with a start to the sound of her phone ringing in her bag. Untangling her legs from the throw she had obviously pulled from the back of the sofa in her sleep she stumbled across the room to where she had dumped her things when she got in. By the time she had untangled her phone from amongst all of her other rubbish it had stopped ringing and started up again. Miranda.

"Hi Miranda," she said dropping into her backside on the floor next to her bags.

"Andrea I've been calling for ten minutes." In a past life Miranda's voice would have been tinged with annoyance but all that coloured the other woman's voice now was concern.

"I'm sorry I must have fallen asleep when I got home," Andrea sighed, rubbing her free hand over her face, "it's been a long day since I left you."

"I thought you were just on follow ups today?" Miranda asked, sitting back in her chair and pulling off her glasses, Andrea sounded exhausted and Miranda found herself wishing, not for the first time, that Andrea would give up the crime beat and focus on her freelance work.

"There was a family killing in Queens, I was closest so I got to cover it. It was horrible Miranda." Andrea had honestly thought that after so long she would be immune to the bad in the world but she wasn't, not even close

"Oh sweetheart, you should have called. Do you want to send me a car to pick you up?"

"No I'm fine." Andrea sniffed, the tears she had been ignoring most of the evening beginning to fall in the face of Miranda being so nice, "you called me sweetheart."

"You have no proof," Miranda chuckled lightly, "but you are not fine. I would much prefer if you came and spent the night at the townhouse so I can look after you." Andrea had done so much for her family it was time she started repaying her.

"You're supposed to be spending the night with the girls," Andrea wrapped her arms tightly around herself and rocked slightly, wanting nothing more than to be surrounded by the love she felt when she was at the townhouses.

"Andrea, the girls got bored of me hours ago, they are up in their rooms glued to their infernal phones and anyway, they would never forgive me if they knew that I'd left you home alone when you were upset."

"Are you sure?" Truly there was nowhere else she would rather be.

"Quite. A car will be there for you in fifteen minutes."

Miranda met Andrea in the hall, removing her bag from her hand and leading her directly up to the bedroom. While she was waiting for the car to pick her up Andrea had changed into a pair of sweats and an old college hoody and pulled her hair up into a messy bun, she looked utterly exhausted. Having taken the time to change for bed herself Miranda climbed into the king size bed and pulled the young woman with her, arranging them so that the younger woman was curled into her side, her head on Miranda's chest as the older woman ran her fingers through her hair.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"No," Andrea said quietly, wrapping her arm tightly over Miranda's stomach, "tell me what you did with the rest of the day. Tell me about the proofs from the shoot."

"Hey Andy," Andrea looked up from the bottom of her cup of tea and watched Caroline cross the kitchen to the fridge. She'd slept for a few hours but had woken from a vivid dream and hadn't been able to sleep. Not wanting to wake Miranda she had come downstairs to make a cup of tea and had ended up staring into it for so long that it was almost cold.

"Hey sweety what are you doing up?"

"Just needed a drink," Caroline smiled, pouring herself a drink from the filter jug, "mom said you were going to stay at your place tonight."

"I was, but then I pulled a pretty awful story and I didn't really want to be alone. Is that ok?"

"Course," Caroline shrugged leaning up to press a kiss to the brunettes cheek "I don't know why my mom doesn't just ask you to move in. Night." Andrea watched her go and couldn't bring herself to be surprised, Miranda's children, much like Miranda herself, were always several steps ahead of everyone else.

After making sure the girls had everything they would need for the weekend and sending them off to school Miranda and Andrea shared a quiet breakfast of coffee and pastries on the back decking. Andrea was still exhausted, Miranda had found her slumped over the breakfast bar when she had gotten up at five and Andrea hadn't managed any sleep since. It was going to be a long day.

"I know we have talked about it before but I really do wish that you would give up the from desk. I hate the thought of the kinds of people you have to deal with and the things you have to see."

"Honestly I've been thinking about it." Andrea admitted, "I'm just not sure I can make enough working freelance."

"You can, I have no doubt of that, you just need to take the plunge," Miranda had every faith in the younger woman and her writing she just wished she had more faith in herself.

"I'll think about it, I promise. Now we should get going. What should I wear tonight?"

"Anything you want," Miranda said shrugging into her coat, "I'll be over at seven and I'll bring dinner."

"Night in?"

"If that's ok?" She knew Andrea would be exhausted by the end of the day and she just wanted the younger woman to be able to relax, she herself had been surprised by how relaxed she had felt that night in the young woman's apartment.

"Perfect."

"Good," Miranda pressed a kiss to her mouth before pulling open the front door, "now come on, duty calls."