Kaidan drove her out of the city as soon as his leave was approved.
The old truck her father kept around had been loaned to him and when he pulled up to their house he didn't bother shutting off the engine. He honked once and waited until she appeared in the doorway, her dark hair loose around her face, her eyes hidden behind sunglasses. It was a completely different look and he found he liked it. A lot.
She was smiling as she tossed their bags in the back and slid into the seat next to him.
He'd been meaning to do this for a while. Well, he'd been meaning to do a lot of things for a while. Back on the Normandy he and Shepard had talked about so many things, one of which was going to a beach. It had been lost among the concerns of the Reaper War but he had brought it up again last week. Shepard had looked at him with skepticism when he suggested it. She was picturing palm trees, books and crowds. He had something completely different in mind.
When the truck rolled to a stop Kaidan wasn't watching the waves, he was watching Shepard. Her blue eyes widened and she was out the door before he could say a word. The wind whipped her hair into her face as she walked towards the water. The sea was angry and loud, the evergreens behind them were reflected in the wet pockets of sand. It was a grey day and the beach was empty but it was beautiful, perfect.
He caught up to her at the water's edge and they stood barefoot letting the cold Pacific rush around their ankles, lapping at the jeans they had rolled up around their calves.
The woman beside him reminded him of the ocean. Both could seem so inviting but given the right conditions they could grow dangerous and deadly if you took their power for granted, even for a moment. They were wild and mysterious, as if they existed to protect some closely guarded secret; something worth discovering despite all their efforts to keep it from the seeker. They could draw you in, distract you, and send you off on a completely different course without realizing it.
And Shepard had done that to him. Five years ago Kaidan would never have imagined this moment but then she had come into his life and everything had changed. Every course he'd laid had been changed and he didn't regret it for a second.
How could he? She had a way of reminding him of all the things he loved about the planet he called home. She had become his favorite thing about Earth.
He had known this day was coming for a long, long time. Still as he dropped to his knee on the wet sand his heart was in his throat and he could see the surprise written on her face, the shock as she saw the ring in his hand.
Nervousness made his voice catch but almost before he could even finish asking she was tackling him to the sand, her arms around his neck, her smile evident in the curve of her lips against his.
Even though he could have guessed her answer, bet on it even, happiness and relief flooded through him when her voice tickled his ear.
"Yes."