Disclaimer: The Devil Wears Prada doesn't belong to me, but to Lauren Weisberger and 20th Century Fox!

Thanks to my Beta Erua!

Special thanks to: Marla-Kojak, CaptainStone, lvpib, JUJUChick16, VanessaDgne, Adrianna-Rossetti

Chapter 25

Andrea dreamed her phone was ringing until she woke up, only to realize that her cell was indeed making its familiar jingling sound. Her eyes grow wide when she saw Miranda's caller ID.

Andrea was out of breath before she even answered the call.

"Miranda!" she simply said.

"I need to speak with you." Given that Miranda wasn't exactly good when it came to introductions on the phone or in general, that one was by far the worst start for an 'I apologize and have to tell you something important' talk.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to meet somewhere? Should I come to the townhouse?" Andrea hesitantly asked.

"That won't be necessary. I…I'm downstairs," Miranda stated awkwardly.

"Oh…really? How do you… I …w…wait a sec." What was Miranda doing here?

Andy hurried to the front door and let Miranda in.

She waited in the door frame, her heart beating like a drum. When the elevator finally reached the 6th floor and the door opened, Andy couldn't breathe at all anymore. Her hands were cold as ice, but her palms were nonetheless sweating.

At first nothing happened. Andy almost started to wonder if Miranda was even in there, when the woman finally stepped out of the lift and walked into her direction. Miranda looked anxious and nervous, her lips were pressed together into a thin line and her hands were clenched to fists, but just fecklessly hanging down alongside her slightly shaking body.

Andrea wanted to rush up to Miranda to clasp her in her arms, but she felt as if she was rooted to the spot. She just couldn't move, but only stared, feeling completely petrified.

Miranda eventually stood in front of her, but didn't say anything. She just looked at Andrea silently. One of Miranda's blue eyes was covered with a strand of thick silver-white hair, the other one focused on Andrea's face. There were dark circles under Miranda's eyes and her expression mirrored the high physical tension the woman was in.

It felt incredibly good to see Andrea, but Miranda didn't know what to say…there was so much…all those feelings…all those lies that had to be wiped off…all those truths that had to be told. She felt overwhelmed. Miranda wanted to ask about the strange woman, but knew this wouldn't be exactly a proper prelude.

"Andrea...I don't know where to start," she finally brought out. She felt utterly silly, being so lost for words.

"There are only four words I'd like to hear from you, Miranda. Everything else can wait."

Miranda was stunned. What could Andrea possibly mean? Why on earth four words. That was one surplus word.

"Why four? Why not three?"

Andrea couldn't help but smile at her. That question had to be the most beautiful one she'd ever heard in her entire life. Maybe Miranda wasn't aware of the actual meaning of what she just had said, but that only made it more wonderful. Andrea's heart was aching with happiness. Now, if Miranda would only end her self-deception, for Christ's sake, they could start all over again.

"No, I want to hear four." Andrea's smile grew wide when Miranda's mouth stood open and her face just showed how clueless she was.

"I'm sorry, I don't know the words," Miranda eventually said and shrugged.

Andrea's smile disappeared and was slowly replaced by disappointment.

"Then any other spoken words would be meaningless between us." Andy sighed.

Miranda looked desperate now. What was the damn fourth word? Wasn't it 'I love you'? 'I love you, Andrea?' 'I'm in love with you'? Too many words! 'I'm sorry'? Not enough words! Damn! What else could Andrea possibly want to hear?

She just shook her head, already feeling like everything she had done and thought tonight would have been in vain. She was about to leave, when it struck her like greased lightning.

Suddenly Miranda closed the gap between them. Looking utterly tense, she whispered: "I am not straight."

Andrea's smile returned, only brighter. Chuckling, she reached out for Miranda's hand and took it with her own.

"Well done," she replied and locked Miranda in her arms.

"I'm so glad you came by," she whispered, rubbing her head against Miranda's shoulder and inhaling the other woman's scent that she had missed so dearly during the past few days.

Miranda wrapped her arms around Andrea and hugged her even tighter. Burying her face in Andy's neck, she whispered: "But I'm already too late."

Andrea suddenly stiffened. "What do you mean?"

Miranda breathed against Andrea's neck, not willing to look up and face those hauntingly beautiful brown eyes.

"The other woman I saw today, isn't she…?" Miranda trailed off.

Andrea shook her head slightly. "But Miranda…there is no other woman. The woman you saw is my sister Jill."

Miranda started to shake with convulsive sobbing now. It felt like all the tension and pressure of the past days left her body and what remained was relief and gratitude.

Andrea paused. Taking hold of Miranda's chin, she coerced the woman to look at her. She smiled lovingly and asked: "Don't you know it has always been you?"

Miranda blinked back the tears that were about to fall.

"Oh sweetheart," she moaned, kissing the corner of Andrea's mouth and her nose and her eyebrows and cheeks, until Andy was too hungry for patience and kissed her lips in need of more contact, more of the woman's taste and just more of Miranda Priestly.

They stood in the hall kissing and hugging each other silently, forgetting the world and everything in it for a long time until Andrea pulled Miranda along with her into Nigel's loft.

Miranda hesitated at first, but didn't have much of a choice, since Andrea didn't let go of her hand and just went ahead.

"Come...," Andy whispered and let her into the guestroom.

"I'm not sure...I don't want Nigel to..."

Andrea put a finger to Miranda's lips and whispered: "Don't worry, he's asleep, he won't even know that you were here. Just come with me."

The moment she had closed the door behind her, Andy walked over to Miranda, who stood in front of the window and looked out at the dark and empty street. Andrea wrapped her arms around Miranda from behind and leaned her chin against the other woman's neck.

"I missed you so much. Can you stay?"

Miranda sighed. "I'd love to, but no, the twins are alone at home, that's why I have to leave soon."

"What will happen to us...I mean...what are we going to do now?" Andy whispered.

Miranda shivered, feeling Andrea's hot breath against her skin. She wanted nothing more than to stay and to show Andrea how much she meant to her.

"We'll figure out soon, Andrea. Will you come and see me tomorrow? Cassidy and Caroline are going to Chicago over the weekend. We'd have plenty of time to talk."

"And do other things...," Andy chuckled.

"Hm...I'm looking forward to the so-called other things as well!" Miranda turned around and kissed Andrea on the lips again.

Andrea kissed her back. She didn't want to let Miranda go. They had all the time in the world to talk about their future, a possible relationship and the terms they had to set to make it work, but at this very moment all she wanted to do was feel Miranda and be close to her.

They ended up lying on the bed, caressing each other through their clothes. Andrea's hand found its way into Miranda's lingerie. Before she even could complain, Miranda felt Andy's fingers inside of her.

"I need to feel you here and now, Miranda," Andy whispered against Miranda's lips.

Miranda closed her eyes and gave herself up to Andy.

Nigel was sitting in his bed, reading when he heard the door and the sound of one pair of high heels and one pair of bare feet making their way through his loft.

First he was anxious and undecided. Should he go and look what was happening, or better stay there and pretend he was asleep? When he heard Miranda's voice, the decision was made. He wouldn't leave his room even if the window curtains would suddenly burst into flames. There was no way he'd throw himself between those two women. Andy and Miranda would handle their issues best on their own and without...any disturbances.

He even turned off the light and tried hard to fall asleep, but naturally that was impossible, so he finally just lay there and listened if there were any sounds coming from the other room. What were they doing? Where they talking at all? Nigel couldn't hear a thing. It drove him crazy. Admittedly, he was a curious person and naturally he wanted to know what the hell was going on. Would they sort things out? He deeply wished for it to happen, not only for the sake of Runway, Miranda and Andrea, but for himself, because if two people who were so different from one another could stay together and make something work, he could believe in the possibility that even James and he could work something out...something less fucked up than the current state they were in.

Before he was entirely wrapped up in his thoughts about his own relationship, Nigel was taken by complete surprise when he suddenly heard his boss moaning ecstatically and crying out her former assistant's name more than once.

"Oh fuck me!" Nigel covered his mouth with his hand, trying to make no further sounds. All he could think of was that if Miranda wouldn't stop soon, he'd burst out in laughter and God had better prevent that from happening, because nothing could be worse than a Dragon Lady who was pulled out of an afterglow after fantastic reunion sex with the person she might finally consider her girlfriend.

Fortunately he only had to survive another couple of seconds until it went silent again in his home. The only further sounds he heard that night were Miranda's Louboutins on his parquet floor and Andy who was giggling while Miranda said more than once: "Oh God, oh God, I just couldn't help myself. Do you think he could hear me? Oh, maybe I need to fire him.."

"Miranda!"

"Of course, I will do no such thing, sweetheart."

Typical! Of course he could hear her. Even if he'd been almost deaf Nigel wouldn't have missed that. Andy was still giggling when she went back alone into her guestroom again. Nigel listened for a while to his friend's cheerful sounds until tiredness took over and he finally fell asleep.

Andrea was already up when she saw Nigel coming out of the bathroom. She'd made coffee like the last couple of days and had even gone to the newsstand to buy an issue of The New York Mirror. She had also bought croissants at a French bakery around the corner. Andy really had to catch up with what was going on in the world and she finally felt up to facing it with new and positive energy again.

"Hey, Nige, good morning!" She beamed at him.

"Morning, Six, why so happy?" Nigel pretended to be clueless and poured himself a cup of coffee.

Andrea looked at him, first skeptically, but then a bright smile returned to her almost gleaming face. "C'mon, Nige, you can't fool me."

Nigel tried to make a surprised face. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, Six. Care to enlighten me?"

Andrea took a sip of her cup of coffee as well and bit into her croissant. "Um...actually...nothing happened except...," but she couldn't contain herself any longer. She jumped to her feet and flung her arms around her friend.

"She said it...she finally admitted it to herself and to me, Nigel!"

"Oh...really...what are you talking about, darling?" Nigel's brow shot up.

"That she isn't straight, that she's bi and wants to be with me and such things and we made love and I know you could hear us...well her, but I don't even care and I don't regret anything...I'm just happy."

Then Andy made a little ridiculous-looking dance in front of him. She paused, arms akimbo, and simply added with a bright smile:"That's all!"

Nigel chuckled. "Wow, that's truly amazing, Six, congratulations."

Andy nodded. "Yeah, let's hug again, 'cause I'm so freakin' happy."

When Miranda had brought the twins to the airport and arrived back at the townhouse, she finally took the time to think about the night before. She truly hoped she could adhere to all the things she had said after Andy had made love to her and held her in her arms for quite a while. Miranda had whispered tenderly that she would honestly try to make their relationship work. She had confessed how much she had missed the young woman and that Andrea was important to her...very important. She had been too emotional to say the words she wanted to say, she had been anxious that Andrea could think that she didn't actually mean what she was saying and that she only said it because she felt she had to convince Andrea of her truthful intentions. She didn't want to sound desperate, only sincere, so she had just kissed the brunette and begged her to trust her only one more time.

Now very slowly everything else began to sink in, especially the things that were connected to certain responsibilities, like for instance to her daughters or her still not completed divorce, plus the fact the she had to face a complete change of life and the question: how to convey all of those changes and mental course corrections she had made only in a few days to her twins?

She wondered about the power a young woman like Andrea suddenly possessed over her and if it really would be the right action to take such a huge step like coming out of the closet at her age. Irv Ravitz would celebrate a whoopee that would last at least a week the moment he received the news about Miranda Priestly's late lesbian awakening. Shit!

But she wasn't willing to sneak around behind her daughters' backs anymore. She had done that long enough while having a few escapades with models during her marriage. That was over and done. Andrea Sachs wasn't an affair, she'd be her...her proper girlfriend. That sounded enormous and surreal and very frightening, but also promising and wonderful and thrilling at the same time.

Miranda busied herself with The Book until Andrea would arrive. There was a lot to do and she hadn't been exactly focused the last couple of days. But it didn't take long until the doorbell rang.

"Hey, Miranda!" Andrea kissed her on the lips right after Miranda had opened the front door.

Miranda didn't hesitate, but took her soon-to-be proper girlfriend in her arms and kissed her back. She hadn't even cared to close the door first. She still had to adjust to the strange and sensational feeling of those soft lips and her own caressing each other so naturally and with so much pleasure.

"Mi...Miranda?" Andy finally brought out and smiled uncertainly.

"What is it?" Miranda was already getting worried as she closed the door behind them.

"I...I've decided to go to Portland over the weekend."

Miranda tilted her head: "And why would you do that, sweetheart, when we had actually planned to spend the weekend sorting things out?"

Andy nervously played with the hem of her new blue Ralph Lauren sweater. "Um...I...I'd like you to come with me to Maine. What do you say, huh?"

"Oh...I see...why Maine?" Miranda asked, curious and anxious at the same time.

Both walked to the kitchen and sat down at the table. Miranda poured them a glass of diet peach ice-tea while Andy started to explain: "My aunt Mary lives there. Tomorrow will be her 70th birthday, that's why my sister took the detour to visit me yesterday. She already took a plane early in the morning to help my aunt with the preparations for the feast. She more or less reminded me that I still have a family and responsibilities. She's right. I should go, but I really, really want you to come with me. Don't freak out, of course I don't expect you to attend my aunt's birthday party...I just want to be with you there over the weekend. I mean, we could walk along the beach and talk everything over just as well in Portland."

Andrea bit her upper lip. She didn't want to pressure Miranda into anything, but she had already imagined how wonderful it would be to have the woman she loved by her side and they'd be there free and undisturbed by paparazzi.

"How did you plan to go there?" Miranda eventually asked.

"I...I wanted to rent a car," Andy stated, puzzled.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Andrea, needless to say we'll take my car."

Andrea's face brightened up: "Really? I mean, you'll really come with me to Maine?"

"Do I look like I'm joking? Honestly, I thought you'd know me better by now," Miranda commented coolly.

Andrea giggled and flung her arms around Miranda's neck. "Oh jeez, that's awesome, Miranda. I love you. Thank you so much! You can't imagine how happy you make me right now."

Miranda rolled her eyes and smiled. "Believe me, sweetheart, it doesn't need much imagination to figure that one out."

But deep inside of her, Miranda was moved beyond words by Andrea's spontaneous declaration of love.

Tbc.