Chapter Text
It's been a week since Andy agreed to try a friendship with Emily at lunch. Emily was lying sprawled on her silk sheets, staring at her phone screen. They'd barely spoken since that lunch, and Emily had been too prideful to be the one to reach out first, but all this time was wearing all that down. Now here she was, retyping the same dreadful message a thousand times over. "
"Hey, it's been a bit? want to get drinks?"
No, too desperate.
"Feel like grabbing dinner tomorrow?"
No, she couldn't ambush Andrea like that, what if she rejected her!?
She was about to delete it and retry when she glanced at the time on her phone. Jesus Christ, it was already midnight!? It's far too late to message her now...She'd have to try again tomorrow. Emily set her phone down and rolled over onto her back, staring at her ceiling. She'd had her head in the clouds ever since that lunch she'd shared with Andrea; everyone noticed it—especially Nigel and her kids. Nigel would bring up Andrea unprompted and watch her reaction far too often, and her kids, god her kids... They begged and pleaded with her to let them meet Andrea, but she couldn't bring herself to let them. As much as Andrea consumed her every waking thought, she feared the friendship would die out, that Andrea would leave her like she did twenty years ago, and her kids would have to experience another "breakup". After both Frank and Benji, she feared she'd done permanent damage to her kids.
A soft sigh escapes her lips as she drags her hand over her face. Why was she thinking of stupid, Bambi-eyed Andrea THIS much? They'd only just started speaking again, and that spark was already starting to fizzle out. Andrea hadn't reached out once since their lunch, and neither had Emily. Emily did not chase; if Andrea wanted to be friends, that is up to her. She was not going to beg over this stupid girl. She checked her phone one last time, ignorantly hoping for a message from said "stupid girl." Emily understood they were both busy people, but still...The silence hurt more than she'd care to admit. After a few moments of no miracle message, she dropped her phone and rolled onto her side, giving up on the idea for the night. She lay there in the dark of her empty room. She craved a companion... but...After Benji AND frank, she'd given up on men, and what was she supposed to do, date women?
Just as that thought crossed her mind, her phone's buzzer cut through the silence. Emily rolled back toward her phone, pausing when she read the name. Andrea Sachs. Was she dreaming? She hoped not, but the excitement melted away into frustration pretty quickly. "Seriously? She ghosts me for a week, then has the audacity to call me past midnight?" Emily scoffed to no one in particular. She let the phone ring a few times before answering, immediately starting on her rampage.
"Andrea, just what do you think you're doing? It's past m-"
Emily stops dead in her tracks when she hears a weak, pitiful sob come from the other line. All that frustration she felt immediately melts away into concern. She sits up, tapping her bedside lamp to dim. Her focus is now fully on the crying girl on the phone. "Andrea?..." She whispers softly into her phone. She hears another few pitiful sobs before Andy can form words. "Peter broke up with me, I-..I don't know what to do." She cries into the phone, expecting nothing.
Andrea doesn't know why she called Emily of all people. Emily is the meanest, least emotionally vulnerable person she's ever met. She doesn't know what to expect now that she's openly weeping into the phone where Em can hear it.
Andrea was sitting on the stairs outside Peter's apartment complex, where she'd just been kicked out. It was dark, silent. All she could hear was her own meek cries, and now, Emily's oddly soft voice through the phone. Peter and she got into their hundredth screaming match over her work, the same way she used to with Nate. It hurt her every time Peter would sigh at the mention of Miranda; she felt like she was twenty again, begging Nate to just understand. Now here she was, crying into the phone of the only person she figured could understand. Emily and Andrea had survived Miranda all those years ago; she didn't understand how helpful that'd been until she was stuck there again twenty years later, with no Em. Twenty years ago, she couldn't talk to Nate about any of that stuff, but she had, Emily as much as anyone could. Now it was just her, and the loneliness was draining.
The silence stretched out over the phone, and with every second, Andrea feared she'd overstepped. She sniffled and wiped her eyes, pulling the phone away from her ear as she spoke. "I-I'm sorry, Em, I shouldn't have called."
"He what."
Andy's eyes widened for a split second, gentle tears still spilling over. She pulled the phone back to her ears, trying to conjure the words in her head, but all that escaped were continuous, body-shaking sobs. She couldn't even speak; it all felt so overwhelming. As much as she and Peter were nothing more than roommates at this point, she at least had the image of a companion. Now that her fantasy had been shattered, all she felt was a hollow piece in her heart. "I need you, Em." Was all she managed to mutter into the phone, her voice cracking like a child in need of comfort.
Emily was starstruck listening to her words. How dare that bastard break up with Andrea! She had so much she could say to that god-forsaken wanker. Her hands shook in a building fury that she didn't fully understand. Why was she so upset about Andrea? They rarely spoke; in fact, this was their first phone call in weeks. Still, all she felt was rage. Rage that the twat dared to hurt Andrea, her Andrea. All that anger faded when she heard Andrea's pitiful voice through this speaker. "I need you, Em." Her heart felt like it'd just been torn to shreds. Every snarky comment she'd usually use died instantly, replaced by a gentle care she never used for anyone but her children.
"You're coming to mine, I'm sending Roy to come get you." She said urgently into the phone, using the same rushed tone she did at work during busy days.
"What Em, I don't want to impose-" The call ended. Andy pulled her phone away from her ear to look down at it, only to see a message from Roy appear at the top of her screen. "On my way."
She wiped her eyes, not wanting to look like a kicked puppy in front of Roy. The wait felt like it stretched for an eternity, until finally, she saw the headlights approaching. Andy stood up, dusting herself off and wiping the leftover tears from her eyes once more, though it didn't do much to hide the fact she'd been openly weeping moments before. The car slowed down in front of her, and she watched the car lock click. She got in quietly, not meeting his eyes as he watched her from his mirror. The door shut, and he pulled away from the sidewalk, the silence deafening. Andy just wanted to get through the ride to Em's without crying in front of Roy. She could feel him glance back at her now and then, but still, she said nothing. "This Peter guy sounds like a dick." Roy's words cut through the silence. Andy finally looked up, surprised Roy knew what she was upset about. "How did y-" "Mrs Charlton told me, asked me to be gentle with you, but I don't think you're soft. You'll get through this." Andy cracked a slight smile, not at Roy's words, though they were kind, but at the fact Emily had asked Roy to be gentle. It made her happier than it should have.
Emily was pacing around her living room, waiting for Andrea to arrive. Both kids were upstairs, sleeping, so it shouldn't be a bother. So why was she so nervous? After all its not like they're hanging out, she's supposed to be comforting Andrea for God's sake! Still, her heart was beating faster than she'd care to admit. Her soul practically left her body when she heard the sudden buzzer; the lobby was calling. She ran towards the phone and pulled it toward her ear. "Hello?" She sounded embarrassingly frantic. "Hey, it's Leah at the front desk. We have an 'Andy Sachs' saying you're expecting her?" Emily's hands shake around the phone as she takes a deep breath; she can't sound too desperate. "Well, send her up then." She hangs up the phone and drops onto the little stool by her door, the one her kids use to tie their shoes. Her gaze doesn't break from the doorknob, and her heart rate spikes a pathetic amount every time she hears footsteps coming down the hall.
Andy double-checks she's got the right address before stopping just in front of Emily's door. Her hands tremble slightly as she raises her fist to knock, but she hesitates. Something is stopping her; maybe it's fear of looking this pathetic in front of someone she seriously admires, or maybe it's the fact that she knows she's hoping for something other than just consolation. It was selfish to want it, and she knew it. She dropped her hand, preparing to turn around. This was a bad idea. She'd just broken up with Peter; maybe she needed some time to think.
Just as she turned around to leave, the door swung open. Andy's heart jumped when she turned to see Em, her Em. She looked so relaxed. Her hair was tied in a loose, messy bun, and she was wearing a hoodie and sleep shorts, something she'd never expect to see the fashonista of the century in. They just look at each other for many moments too long, until Emily finally breaks the silence.
"Do you plan on standing there all night?"
Something about the contrast between the harsh words and Emily's warm tone breaks something inside her. She steps forward, and as Emily's arms wrap around her, she breaks. The tears return fast and hot as she bawls into the crook of Emily's arms. Her arms find their way around Emily, and she pulls her as close as possible, craving that warmth she gives off. "You're a mess," Emily mutters, coming off a lot softer than intended. Andy lets a mix of a chuckle and sob as she buries her face into Emily's shoulder. "I know, its awful." she returns "I never said it was a bad thing." Emily instantly corrects. She didn't have it in her to be the way she usually was when Andrea was like this. Something about how crushed she looked just melted her. "Come inside, we can't just stand in the hallway all night."