Title: Faithful –Part 3

Beta:Peetsden (LJ)

Rating: R…or something ;o)

Paring: Miranda/Andy –duh

Summary: The truth..and movies and stuff. Oh, and I made a reference to a certain item that appears at the end of Beer, Sandwiches and Christmas Secrets. So…you could say that this is a companion piece to that-from a much earlier time. Enjoy!

Faithful- Part 3

"Oh, my God I love this part." Andrea tossed another piece of popcorn into her mouth.

"Darling, you don't love this part. You love Zoe Saldana."

"Oh, whatever…okay. So what, I can't help it! She's like smokin' hot!" Andrea pointed to the TV screen and Miranda rolled her eyes. They had this same conversation every single time they saw this movie.

"Yes, yes I know. If I could trust you to keep your hands off of her I would put her on the cover of Runway. But…I'm not sure you can be trusted." Miranda couldn't believe she'd just had such a great idea. Next year's birthday present was solved.

"Whatever. I could keep my hands to myself, I swear." Andrea put the popcorn on the coffee table and pulled the blanket back around her. "You know I still can't believe we bought this couch. It so doesn't go with anything else in this room.

"Since when have you cared about interior design? You're the one who showed this to me in the first place."

"I know, I know. I can't believe you liked it. It's so huge." She laughed and hid her face in Miranda's shoulder.

"Oh, I see. Now you're embarrassed? As I recall, this ridiculously huge couch was purchased for a very specific reason in mind." Indeed. Miranda almost didn't buy it but was brought around to the idea quick enough. It was purchased and delivered the same day.

"I'm not embarrassed…okay maybe a little. We bought a make-out couch, Miranda."

"Yes we did, and I'm so glad."

Andrea giggled at Miranda's frankness over the whole thing. "Alright, now be quiet. You're distracting me."

Miranda sat there quietly as they leaned against each other. They had probably seen this movie fifty times in eight months. She didn't mind though. It brought back some very good memories.

Speaking of good memories, Nigel would no doubt be on a cloud for days and pester Andrea with more questions for weeks. Fabulous. Oh, God. She never told him to keep his mouth shut about the whole faithful part. Andrea called before she could finish and there was no doubt in Miranda's mind that that would be the very first thing he asked her about. He wouldn't be able to help himself.

Now she would have to tell her. Why hadn't she told her already? It wasn't like it was some huge deal. It just made Miranda look completely crazy that's all. But really, what would it hurt?

Her thoughts were disturbed by Andrea moving around on the couch. "What are you doing darling?"

"Come on, lay down with me. Grab the other blanket too. It's cold."

Miranda moved to lie down against the back of the couch and Andrea snuggled in next to her. The blankets were rearranged and Miranda leaned up on her elbow to see the movie that she really wasn't interested in anymore.

"Are you comfortable?"

"Yep…like I said, this couch is huge." Andrea reached under the blankets and pulled Miranda's free arm around her. "I'm really glad everything went okay with you and Nigel. I mean I figured he would be okay…but still."

"As am I…please get your feet off of me darling."

"No way. My feet are freezing."

"Yes, I'm well aware. Alright then, if you must. But you will be paying for that later."

"I'll pay. I promise. You know, I was thinking…he'll probably call me ten times tomorrow. Actually my cell phone is probably already clogged with voicemails." Andrea turned and Miranda straightened out both of her arms.

"Come here. Forget about the movie for a bit." Andrea got settled back into the couch and rested her head on Miranda's shoulder. "Now…you're probably right about Nigel. He is probably calling you..."

"Oh well. He can wait till tomorrow. Besides, I'm not really sure what else there is to tell him. You don't want him to know how all this got started…and he already knows how long it's been going on. So unless he wants sordid details of our date nights here at home, I'm not sure what else there is to tell him."

"Darling, I'm not sure Nigel would be able to handle the sordid details. However, there is something else he will want to know more about."

"Oh, my. Do tell. I can't wait." Andrea replied sarcastically.

"Never mind. If you're not going to be serious about it then I won't tell you. I'll let you find out the hard way." Miranda would let her play around for another minute then they would have to talk.

"That sounds great to me. I was kinda done talking anyways…"

Five minutes later Miranda completely forgot about anything having to do with Nigel Kipling. Who was he anyway? All she knew was that a t-shirt and pair of lounge pants were in the way of her goal.

Andrea wrapped her arms around Miranda and pulled her night shirt off. "Honey, I think we're both way over dressed."

"Darling, I couldn't agree more." Miranda pulled Andrea up just enough to remove her t-shirt then set to work getting rid of her pants.

Andrea pulled her into a deep kiss just as Miranda finished throwing the pants across the room. "I've been thinking about this all day."

Miranda kissed her way down Andrea's throat but came up for air a few seconds later. "Oh? Is there…anything you want? Anything in particular you had in mind?" She went back to worshiping Andrea's body with hot, teasing kisses over her collar bone and down between her breasts as she waited for her answer.

"Oh, God…I…I you know I think it's so sweet that you always ask me that, but...oh, God…Miranda."

Miranda moaned when she felt Andrea's hands in her hair. She could do this all day and all night, every day. She moaned again as she kissed the smooth skin of Andrea's breasts. "But what, darling?"

"I…you know my answer…oh, yes…" Andrea pulled Miranda's head back up and looked into her eyes while Miranda moved her hands over Andrea's body. "It's always the same. Everything. Anything." She drew Miranda into a deep kiss and wrapped her legs around her.

Miranda realized fairly quickly in their relationship that she would come to live off things like this. Come to live off Andrea's embrace, off of her love. It fueled Miranda and kept her sane, kept her grounded like nothing else ever had. This was everything she needed to survive. Just this love, just this embrace was all she wanted.

The next morning Andy found herself in a tangle of legs and sheets. Miranda was pressed against her back and her arm was draped over Andy's side. She turned in Miranda's arm and stretched. Waking up with Miranda every morning was the best thing in Andy's life; especially the mornings after they had spent the night making love. Like last night.

After they made good use of the 'make-out couch', the two of them barely had enough time to throw their clothes back on before the girls returned home from a school outing to see a play. Miranda joked that one day they would have to start setting an alarm. Which was probably true. It was getting harder and harder to remember to pay attention to the clock on nights like those and Andy would need therapy if they were ever caught by the kids. Period.

Miranda stirred briefly then settled down again. It amazed Andy how peaceful Miranda was when she slept. She was like a completely different person. Totally calm, almost angelic. Almost. That would all end though when Miranda woke up. She was decidedly not a morning person. The process went better when Andy was able to wake her up instead of an alarm clock and thank God that was happening this morning because Andy wasn't in the mood for 'The Grouch' today.

Andy began to caress Miranda's back in slow circles and prayed for an easy morning. "Miranda…wake up honey." She kissed her forehead and her lips then waited. Miranda stirred again and opened her eyes just a sliver. "There ya go…wake up." She kissed her mouth again gently.

Miranda mumbled a 'no' and closed her eyes again. Oh, boy. It looked like an easy morning had already come and gone. Andy wondered how Miranda had ever gotten up before she came along. Maybe she just liked sleeping more now since spending time in bed was a lot more fun these days.

"Yes…you gotta get up. Remember? You're the Editor of the biggest, best and most important magazine in the entire world…universe….galaxy."

Miranda opened her eyes. "What...No I'm not…I quit."

Usually giving Miranda an early morning ego boost worked wonders but apparently she must have out done herself last night. Which really wasn't a bad thing but God help the Runway minions today. They wouldn't have a clue that they were suffering Miranda's wrath all because of a night spent making love. Oh, well. Poor minions.

"Miranda."

Suddenly Miranda's eyes opened almost all the way and stared at Andy with a mixture of hate and confusion. "Coffee…I'm not getting out of this bed until there's a cup of coffee next to me. That's all."

Okay, now she was awake. Andy patted her hip then climbed out of bed. One cup of searing hot coffee comin' up.

As Andy predicted, she had voicemails and texts waiting on her when she finally decided to look at her phone that morning. After a few hours at work she called Nigel and the first words out of his mouth were "Oh. My. God. You…and Miranda?"

"Yes Nigel. Me and Miranda." Andy laughed.

"Lunch. We must have lunch. I want all the details. Every single one. Well except for, you know…those details. I do not need to hear about Miranda's sex life." Nigel snorted.

"Yeah well all I can tell you about that is that she is fucking awesome."

"Hello, darling I said I didn't want to hear that!"

'I know…why do you think I told you? So, lunch?"

"You're pure evil. Yes, lunch. Franklin's at noon?"

"Sounds good, see you there babe."

At noon sharp Andy walked through the door of Franklin's. The majority of lunch was spent simply recounting everything that Miranda had already told Nigel. She thought long and hard about telling the details of their airport meeting but decided it would be in her best interest to respect Miranda's wishes in that matter. But when Nigel asked her about moving in, she felt comfortable enough to divulge how that all came about.

"So, what exactly did she do? Just come right out and ask you?" Nigel was all ears and wide eyed.

"Hm..sort of." Andy spread her hands across the table and smiled just thinking about it.

HOW IT ALL HAPPENED…INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW

The whole month of August was a complete whirlwind for them both. Miranda was busy wrapping up the upcoming September Issue and Andy was covering a scandal at City Hall that was getting bigger every day. Their time together was cut drastically but both of them took it in stride.

Toward the end of the month Miranda asked her to stay the night in the middle of the week which was something they had not done at all since this little hectic period began. Andy eagerly agreed so long as she was left alone long enough to complete an article she needed to work on that night.

When she got to the townhouse, Miranda was waiting for her at the door.

"Hey, you." Andy laid her bags down on the floor and they hugged each other tightly. It had been six days since they'd seen each other.

"Hello darling. It's good to see you."

No time was wasted in making up for all that lost time in the kissing department but Miranda finally broke away.

"Are you okay you look weird?"

Miranda waved her off and started to walk with her to the kitchen. "Oh, yes I'm fine…" Suddenly she stopped and faced Andy in the hallway. "Well not really. I was going to wait till the girls got back. They'll kill me for this but I can't wait any longer. Come upstairs with me."

"What?" Surely she wasn't talking about a quickie because they had yet to even come close to being able to have one of those and it wasn't from lack of trying. It was from lack of restraint.

"Will you just come on."

"Okay, okay." Andy let herself be lead up the stairs to the second floor and down the hall toward Miranda's study.

Miranda didn't stop at her study door though, but kept going toward the guest bedroom beside the study.

"Alright darling, I have something in here for you. I hope you like it…but if you don't, we'll fix it."

This was odd because Andy couldn't imagine why anything behind this door would be for her. All that was behind this door was a ton of boxes of old issues of Runway and files that Miranda should have done something with years ago. Not to mention a bed and a bunch of lamps Miranda refused to part with. Who wouldn't kill to know that Miranda was a closet procrastinator and a lamp hoarder in her private life?

Miranda opened the door and Andy found it hard to move. Everything that had been there before, all the boxes, the bed, the old lamps and all the other crap was gone. In its place was the best looking home office Andy had ever seen in her life.

"Are you kidding me? You're kidding me right? Wow."

Andy walked in and turned a full circle in the room, taking in her surroundings. Everything was different. The walls were now covered in dark paneled wood, there were book shelves everywhere you looked, along with a big screen TV on the wall opposite the desk. And the desk? It was huge.

"No darling, I am not kidding. I hope you like it."

"Like it? I love it! You've been busy doing more than work haven't you?"

"I decided to use this time to my advantage, yes. The uh…I had trouble with the couch." She pointed to it; it was on the wall to the left of the desk. "The twins picked it out. I'm not crazy about a leather couch but I lost the war."

Andy laughed and pulled her to sit down on it. "Oh, I love it. They're pretty smart."

"Yes, well. They are my children after all. Darling, there is a purpose for all…this." Miranda waved her hand over the room. "We want you to move in, the girls and I."

Andy blinked a few times and was at a loss for words. She wanted to move in with Miranda, had wanted to for a while but never mentioned it because she figured that Miranda wasn't ready. Apparently she was. "Are you sure? I mean…my answer is a definite yes, but I want you to be sure. We've only been together for six months and honestly, I never expected you to be ready for this, this soon."

Miranda stood up and started walking around the room, intently studying the empty bookshelves. "Well I am. It's odd but six months feels like a lot longer than that to me. A lot longer." She chuckled quietly and tapped her lips with her finger. "In fact, I think I was ready the moment I saw you in the airport."

Andy walked over to her and put her hands on Miranda's hips. "Then my answer is yes. Yes, I will move in. I do have one question though. Where is all the stuff that was in here?"

Miranda blushed, and guided her over to the pocket door that was now built into the wall between their rooms. She opened it and mumbled a 'ta-da'.

"Oh, my God." Miranda's study was full of boxes.

"I know. I'm going through all these. I had some new shelves built, see. The magazines are going there and I'm shredding most of this old paper work or sending it to the office where a lot of it actually belongs. I got rid of the bed…the lamps are in the basement."

"Well if this is what it took to get you to go through all that crap then praise God." Andy moved fast before Miranda could grab her.

"You can shut up any time."

"So there it is. That's how she asked me to move in."

"My, my. I'm quickly finding out that I know less and less about Miranda. Especially this romantic side. I had no idea."

"I know. She surprises me every day." Andy couldn't help but sport a huge smile.

"Well, I can certainly understand what she meant when she said it felt like you two had been together longer than six months." He laughed.

"What do you mean?"

"Darling you know. All that business about being faithful. As I told her, it's easily the most romantic thing I've ever heard. It even trumps her having the office built for you."

Andy had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. Faithful? Was Miranda prone to not being faithful or what? "What are you talking about?"

Nigel waved his hands in the air dramatically. "That whole business about how long it was. My, God she was faithful to you for well over a year before she ever saw you in that airport! You can't get more romantic than that."

Andy took long drink of water. Over a year? "Okay, you're gonna need to spell it out for me because I'm not understanding you."

Nigel got an apprehensive look on his face but Andy wasn't about to let him blow this off. "Oh, no. Tell me or I'll tell Miranda about you having hot and heavy sex with your boy-toy in The Closet last month. The look of horror on his face spoke volumes.

Nigel cleared his throat "She told me that when she figured out how she felt about you…she was faithful to you from then on. No dates, no Stephen."

Okay, now she was even more lost than before this conversation even got started. "No Stephen?"

"Yes, no Stephen. Six, she couldn't sleep with him anymore."

Andy's voice dropped down to a whisper. "That's why she never dated anyone after…that's why she…oh, God. That's why he left her finally. The sex, the everything. Remember when everything started to really get bad? Before Paris? He was calling the office all the time bitching and whining about whatever?"

"Yes, I remember quite plainly. What an ass. I am so glad he moved. I was getting sick of seeing his sad face in the papers."

Before Andy could say anything else her cell phone rang. It was work. The Mayor's Office was about to hold a press conference and she needed to get down there quickly. "Nigel, I hate to run but duty calls. Listen, don't say anything to Miranda about this. In fact steer clear of her for the rest of the day."

"Sure Six. My lips are sealed. I have two meetings outside the office that will take up most of the day so I should be able to avoid Her Majesty. It was good to see you. We'll do this again soon."

Andy kissed him on the cheek then headed out with a promise of more lunches and gossip.

By seven-thirty that night Andy still had not had a chance to talk to Miranda and hadn't even received a phone call from her. Andy figured Miranda was just waiting to be confronted. No doubt she realized that Nigel would divulge her secret today.

Andy was tired and hungry and wanted nothing more than to go home and relax but this had to be taken care of now. Tonight was Miranda's customary late night at the office so Andy hailed a cab to the Elise-Clarke building. On Monday's and Thursday's Miranda always stayed late. Every other night she was home by seven.

Once Andy arrived at the building she was prepared to have security call Miranda to gain permission to go up to the Runway offices, but she quickly found out that that wasn't necessary. Apparently Miranda had a permanent pass made for her today. Sweet.

Andy took a deep breath and got on the elevator. A flood of good and some not so good memories ran through mind as she tried to mentally prepare and figure out what she was going to say. It wasn't like she was angry, but there were a few things that needed to be said on the matter. Then just like everything else with their past, Andy intended to drop it.

When Andy stepped out of the elevator, she was immediately met with Emily's stunned face. She knew. Andy wasn't going to waste time chatting or explaining anything so she just nodded a hello and walked right past her.

Miranda was standing at the round table in the corner by the window with her back toward the door. The table was cluttered with binders which Miranda was flipping through at a rapid pace. Andy leaned against the door frame watching her. Miranda's level of concentration had always astonished Andy. Nothing got in the way of her mind's work.

Enough day dreaming. "So…almost two years?" Andy said quietly.

Miranda stood up straight but didn't turn around right away. She was probably running through a myriad of responses in her head. Finally she turned and leaned against table with her arms folded over her chest. "Yes. I'm sorry you had to hear that from him."

Andy nodded. "It's ok you tried to tell me last night. I realize that now. Can I get rid of her?" She motioned toward Emily with her head. Miranda nodded back.

Andy left the office and told Emily to leave. Emily couldn't form words to reply but was gone in three seconds without argument. Andy walked back into Miranda's office and closed the doors, locking them. Miranda had not moved from her spot by the table so Andy remained by the door. This would obviously be a meeting in the middle.

"This is why you said it felt like we'd been together longer?"

"Yes."

Andy looked down at the floor. Miranda had new carpet. Nice. "You've been with me for a long time then…"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? Why did you wait so long?"

"I was trying to develop a plan."

"Hm. Well I can't beat you up about that because I certainly wasn't making any fast moves either. We're both cowards."

"Yes."

Andy pushed herself off the door frame and took a few steps closer. "When did you know? Really know?"

"When did I really know? When you came up the stairs that time. After you left, the fight got worse…Stephen said things about you; about how I seemed to rely on you more…than the others. Then he had the gall to ask me…" Miranda stopped and took a deep breath. There was a flash of anger in her eyes. "He asked me if you were the kind of girl that would fuck your boss's husband…and I went ballistic. Completely and totally ballistic."

Miranda unfolded her arms and rubbed her temples. She looked like she had more to say so Andy opted to not interrupt. Besides, she didn't have the words for how she felt right now. "It was then that I knew what my feelings all came down to. All I wanted was you and I couldn't touch him again after that. It was over."

Andy fought the urge to go over to her. There was just one more thing she really needed to know. "And in Paris? When he told you he wanted a divorce? You were upset…"

"Because of the girls as I said…and because I was finally free but had no clue what to do." Miranda looked her right in the eyes. "It wasn't like I could lay everything out on the table right then. So instead I acted like a complete fool to get you out of the room as fast as possible."

Andy took a second to think. Now things made a hell of a lot more sense. It was like little light bulbs were going off in her head. Light bulbs? Yes, it was way too bright in here for what Andy had in mind. She went over to the door again and flipped the light switch off. Now all that illuminated the room was a lamp at Miranda's desk. She took her jacket off, threw it into a chair and walked over to Miranda.

"Come sit with me." She took Miranda's hand and led her to the couch in the corner but stopped her before she sat down. "No. Sit here. Andy sat down and pointed to her lap. Miranda looked back toward the door then back at Andy with a questioning look. "Come on. No one can see you from here and the door is locked."

Miranda raised an eyebrow but slipped out of her heels in spite of her apparent hesitation and straddled Andy's lap like it was something she did in her office every day.

Andy was actually a little stunned that Miranda even agreed. "My, my…you hardly even argued with me."

"Yes, and if you don't kiss me I'm getting up."

"Well we wouldn't want that now would we?" Andy pulled her closer and kissed her gently. "Is that better?"

"Yes." Miranda looked into her eyes; there was a slight blush on her cheeks. "I'm sorry I never told you all that before."

"Shh. Enough about all that. I know now and it's done. Miranda I'm used to you telling me things when you're ready to. It's just how you are. I trust you to not keep the really important things from me. That's all I ask."

"I won't."

"I know." Andy kissed her again and pushed Miranda's dress up a little higher up her thighs. "Have I told you how beautiful you are today?"

Miranda leaned down and whispered in her ear. "No…not yet."

"Well, let me correct that. You're beautiful Miranda." Andy's hands traveled up Miranda's thighs under her dress. Her skin was hot. "You know I used to think about this. All the time."

"Think about what?" Miranda was busy kissing down Andy's jaw and unclipping her hair.

"About having you right here on this couch." Miranda jerked forward when Andy started tracing the edges of her silk panties, Andy smiled. "Don't move."

"Oh, now you're into torture?" Miranda moaned and immediately disobeyed Andy's order by moving against her hand again as she cupped Miranda between her legs.

"No, not exactly. But if you won't do as I ask then I'll have to resort to other measures." Andy wrapped an arm around Miranda's waist, trapping her in place. "Don't move Miranda." She looked into Miranda's eyes and had to fight not to laugh when she saw Miranda swallow hard. After all, Miranda was not used to having someone tell her what to do.

"What if I want too?" She tried again but Andy held her still.

"You can when I tell you." Andy slowly moved Miranda's panties aside. Miranda was wet and ready, but Andy wasn't about to give her what she wanted yet. She teased her slowly and kept her still. Making a woman like Miranda squirm was a total thrill. She was so in control of everything around her all the time and having her at your mercy was the sexiest thing Andy had ever seen.

Miranda whimpered "Andrea..this is..you're killing me."

"No, not quite." Andy moved her fingers over Miranda clit and held her tightly in place. "You know…I wonder, did you think about me? Like this? All those months that you were alone? Did you?"

Miranda almost growled her answer out of pure frustration. "Yes. Yes I did."

Andy slid one finger into Miranda and allowed her to sink down just a little before holding Miranda tightly again. "Don't move."

Miranda took a deep breath and pulled at Andy's hair, kissing her hard and deep. She couldn't resist any longer and began stroking her with two fingers now. Miranda finally broke away and moved forward more on Andy, unable to keep herself upright any longer. Andy almost had her right where she wanted her. Ready to beg.

"Did you think about me doing this to you? Did you think about me being inside you?"

Miranda answered breathlessly, "Yes…yes."

Andy picked up the pace a little and added a third finger. Miranda bucked against her hard but Andy kept holding her in place. "When I asked you…the first time…if you had ever been with another woman, do you remember what you said?"

Miranda sat up for a second and grabbed Andy's shirt collar with both hands. "I said yes…oh, God…Andrea…I said yes…because I'd already had you hundreds of times in my mind."

"That's right. You feel so good Miranda. So good. I can never have enough of you." Andy fought again to keep control. But no, one thought, one second later she couldn't stop herself anymore. Andy caressed Miranda clit with her thumb and stilled her hand. Miranda whimpered in protest.

"No…no please don't stop. Oh, God…no. Please." She was digging her nails into Andy's back and shoulders now. This was it. Now Andy could let go.

She removed her arm from around Miranda for a moment, caressing her cheek and brushing her hair back. "Look at me Miranda." Miranda lifted her head and looked into Andy's eyes. "You can move now."

Miranda didn't waste another second. Andy kept her hand still and let Miranda do all the work which she appeared to be totally happy with. Miranda wrapped her arms around Andy's neck and kissed her, biting and sucking at her bottom lip and tongue. When Andy increased the pressure of her thumb Miranda forgot all about trying to be quiet and cried out every time she thrust down on Andy's hand.

Andy held Miranda's head up and kept her eyes focused on her. She wanted to be looking into Miranda's eyes when she finally let go. "I'm glad you waited Miranda…" Andy was having a hard time catching her breath. "I'm glad you waited…I'm glad you were faithful to me all that time."

Miranda dropped her forehead against Andy's and found enough strength to reply "I had to wait…You're the only thing I've ever wanted that badly. Oh, God…Andrea…harder…please."

Andy granted her wish and moved against her clit harder and faster and not a minute later Miranda took Andy's face in her hands and kissed her. With one last thrust of her hips she came, literally screaming into Andy's mouth.

Andy gently pulled her hand away and wrapped both of her arms around Miranda who was now limp and collapsed against her. "I love you Miranda."

"I…yes..darling, I love you too. Oh, God."

"Thank you for waiting…thank you for being faithful to me all that time even when we were apart." Andy felt a huge swell of emotion rise up in her chest and almost thought she was going to cry.

Miranda took a deep breath and sat up again with her hands on Andy's shoulders. "You should never thank me for that. It was just what I had to do, what I will always do. I won't ever leave you."

"I don't think I could survive losing you so that's a good thing." Instead of crying like she was about to, Andy decided to change the subject. "Hey, guess what?"

"What darling?" Miranda laughed.

"Now that we've christened your office couch, the next step is your desk." Andy gave her a hopeful look.

"Oh, you think so?"

"Yep, I know so. You can't resist me."

"Hm…well you might be right about that. Next week…come back next week and we'll see if I can resist you then."

"I can do that. I have faith in my abilities. Lots of faith."

Miranda kissed her gently. "I do too darling…I do too."

THE END