Confessions
It felt good to be back on the Normandy after being confined in the hospital for nearly months. The Reaper invasion was over; Earth was taken back and began rebuilding. Shepard had come back from the Citadel 'looking like shit' as Jack said, and was hospitalized for the intense injuries. When asked what happened after he went into the beam, Shepard refused to tell anyone; except his closest friend, Garrus Vakarian.
It took a moment, even with Garrus, to tell him. Shepard explained it as best he could, the reason the Reapers did what they did, the star child he encountered. At first, Garrus was very confused, but understood what he said. Once Anderson's death came up, Shepard became very quiet, hanging his head. Suddenly, Shepard had felt himself being pulled into a hug by said turian. He was surprised as Garrus gently held John there, doing his best to comfort the human. Then, Shepard cried, he let all the tears he'd held in the past months of the war, the rawness. Mordin's death; Thane's. Shepard let it all out to the only person he really trusted in the galaxy.
After, Garrus let go, he excused himself quickly, nearly running out the door. Shepard was confused to say the least, but didn't question it much.
Once aboard the Normandy, Shepard was surrounded by his crew; all the women were hugging him like he would disappear the second they let go. Kaiden, Cortez and James saluted Shepard, at which the Commander waved the formalness off and hugging the men as well. Shepard had learned from James that Kaiden and Cortez were a couple now. Shepard congratulated the pair openly, wishing them well.
"Anyone seen Garrus?" Shepard had realized that the turian was the only one not present. "Oh, he's in the Main Battery with his endless calibrations," Tali said, smirking behind her mask. It was still hard to believe that soon-with the help of the geth- that the quarians would soon not need the suits at all. He was happy for Tali and her people.
Shepard chuckled, shaking his head. "Of course he is." After everyone had said their hellos, Shepard took the elevator down to deck three to speak to Garrus. The ride down, Shepard couldn't help but think about the hug him and Garrus had shared weeks ago. It felt good, natural to Shepard how warm he felt in the turian's arms. Shepard blushed at the thought. Idoit! He lectured himself. He was just being a good friend, nothing more.
Shepard sighed as the elevator came to a stop. The door opened and Shepard walked forward- right into Garrus, who was about to enter the elevator. Shepard almost fell, but he was caught by Garrus' strong arms, the turian pressing the Commander close against him.
All that could be heard in the elevator, was Shepard's labored breathing as his face brightened from the contact. "Um, Garrus?" The Commander's words made Garrus jump away from him, the turian coughing awkwardly. "Y-you okay, Shepard?"
"Fine," Shepard said.
"Good."
They stood there for what felt like hours, but was really seconds. "So, thought you had calibrations you were doing," Shepard spoke up.
"Y-yeah, I was just going to..engineering. Tali told me something was wrong with the engines and she needed help." Normally, Shepard would call out the crappy lie, but he did see the quarian enter the elevator before him.
"Ah, I see."
"Well, I'm gonna go now," Garrus said with a cough. "All right, have fun," Shepard exited the elevator, though he had no reason to. Before the doors closed, Garrus turned to Shepard.
"Good to have you back, Shepard," said Garrus. Shepard couldn't help but think that the way Garrus said that was different than the others, more warm. Shepard smiled. "Thanks, Garrus."
Steve and Kaiden watched from the kitchen at the two. Kaiden sighed. "Is it me, or are they really obvious?" he turned to his boyfriend. "A Reaper could see that they like each other." Kaiden raised a brow with a smirk. "Maybe we should take matters into our own hands." Steve returned the smile. "That's why I love you. You come up with the evil plans, and I help."
Shepard sighed, coming back from Chakwas' office from his check up. Everything was fine, but the cybernetics form his surgery had appeared a little during the war and he now sported a few scars. He didn't mind much. As Shepard exited the elevator to his cabin, he saw it was red, locked. He raised a brow, remembering he had left it open like usual. Shepard went up to the door and began to check his omni-tool. Suddenly, the door opened before Shepard could even turn it on. The light turned green and he entered the cabin. The second he went in though, the door turned red again and he was locked in. But he wasn't alone.
"Shepard?" Garrus emerged from where Shepard's terminal was, no doubt trying to send someone a message to let him out. "Do you know what's happening?" Garrus shook his head, his mandibles flickering in thought."I came up here because I got a message saying you wanted to talk." Shepard raised a confused brow. "I didn't do that." "Commander?" came Kaiden's voice form the intercom.
"Alenko?" Shepard exclaimed, looking up at the ceiling. Garrus did the same, mandibles fluttering in anticipation. "What's going on?"
"Sorry, Commander but both of you are going to stay in there until you realize how you feel," said Cortez. "Cortez too? 'How we feel?' What do you mean?" When they didn't answer, Shepard let out an annoyed breath. "Lieutenant! Major!" came Shepard's booming Commander Voice. "Let us out! It's an order, soldiers'!" "Sorry, no can do, Commander." Shepard was surprised that Kaiden would disobey a direct order, even if he technically out ranked him.
"Fucking hell guys! Open the damn door!" Shepard pounded on the door angrily. Garrus placed a hand on Shepard's shoulder, effectively calming the Commander. Shepard sighed, walking past Garrus and sitting on his couch. "The hell do they mean with our feelings?" Shepard asked, his blue eyes looking at his empty fish tank. He really should have bought that VI to feed the fish.
Garrus shrugged, moving to sit near Shepard, but not too close. "Maybe they think we aren't being such good friends as we used to," Garrus guessed, though he was pretty sure he knew what they meant. Shepard scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Please, Garrus. If anything, we're probably closer than ever," Shepard blushed a little at what he said. "I mean, you are the only one I told about the Citadel," he paused. "And, you did hug me too."
It was Garrus' turn to blush and he coughed. "Y-yeah. Sorry about that." Shepard shook his head. "Don't apologize, I needed that." He scooted closer to the turian, who reluctantly stayed where he was. "You're always there for me, Garrus. Through good and bad."
Garrus chuckled kinda awkwardly. "I've been through hell with you how many times now, Shepard?" Shepard smiled. "Good point." Shepard reached up to touch Garrus' shoulder, squeezing it lightly. Garrus could hardly breath, letting out slow breaths in anticipation
"Shepard," he began.
"John."
"Huh?"
"Call me by my first name. John."
Garrus couldn't help from smiling as he said Shepard's first name again. "John." The Commander chuckled a little. "Good, sounds good, Garrus." He was trying to play it off, but Garrus saw in his visor that Shepard's body heat was escalating.
"John," Garrus said again, touching the human's hand. "I, well, I um.. Spirits, this is hard to say." John cleared his throat, his heart speeding up as Garrus once again said his name. "Go ahead."
"I like you, Shep- John. More than as a friend, a lot more." Shepard almost did cartwheels right there, but he stopped himself; remaining stoic under the confession. "Well," he started, taking the turian's hands in his own. "That's good because, I really like you too, Garrus." "Well, I guess my voice is as attractive to other species as well," he said. John laughed, moving closer to Garrus until they touched their foreheads together.
Their eyes locked and they both smiled. John touched the side of Garrus' scarred face, gently stroking the scars. "Do they hurt?" "Not anymore." John and Garrus leaned closer, the gap between them closing with each second until-
The door to the cabin flew open; nearly all of the crew fell in. Tali, Joker, Cortez, Kaiden, James, Liara and Chakwas toppled into the room. Shepard turned to the group with a glare that could scare a Reaper. "Isn't there a human saying for these scenarios?" Garrus asked. "About something being blocked?" "Cock blocked," Joker told him. Shepard got up, crossing his arms and putting on his most intense Commander mask ever. "You all are lucky I'm so happy, or I'd kill all of you." He threw a look at Kaiden and Cortez. "Especially you two." "Hey, don't look just at us. Tali helped too. She hacked the door to shut every time someone entered the room," said Kaiden.
Shepard sighed through his hands. "Whoever helped Kaiden and Cortez pissed me off at first. But, I'd like to thank all of you anyway. Thanks guys." "No problem, Shepard," they all said. "Okay, now leave!" They all exited as quickly as they could, Tali staying to fix the door quickly and then left.
Shepard sighed, shaking his head in annoyance. "God, I have a headache now." Suddenly, Shepard felt strong arms wrap around his waist, warm breath on his neck. "Well, now that the crowd is gone," he purred into Shepard's ear. "Is this going to happen a lot?" Shepard smirked as he nuzzled the turian behind him. "If you want," he said. "I have been doing research on humans you know." "Really? You're well prepared," chuckled Shepard. "Always, John," Garrus said in a low voice. John shivered, it might take him awhile to get used to Garrus saying his name. Shepard shrugged, oh, well, they had all the time in the world now.