She fell asleep again after some time, but was woken by the irritating sound her omnitool made when someone was calling. She wanted to ignore it, but she knew it must be important - Liara wouldn't disturb her otherwise. She pushed the button awkwardly to answer.

"What's wrong?" Shepard asked, her voice drowsy.

"The Alliance. They don't leave anyone from the committee alone since they heard about you getting hurt," she said. Liara sounded awful – there was exhaustion combined with helplessness in her voice.

"Have you gotten any sleep?" she asked.

"Too much to do. I'm trying to stop this from getting to the media, dealing with the Alliance and everyone they're bothering," the asari answered.

"Can you get me someone to talk to? I'll calm them down and make sure they deal with the press. Go get some rest," Shepard said, although that was the last thing she wanted to do. She already had her "serious talk" fill for the day thanks to Garrus, but she was the reason for trouble.

"That's why I'm calling. I've got Anderson waiting to talk to you," she said and Shepard smiled. Captain Anderson was the commanding officer she had worked the longest with and considered him a friend. If she had to speak to anyone, he would be her first choice. "Patching him through."

"Shepard?" the question came moments later.

"God, it's so good to hear a human's voice," she said. She hadn't noticed how much she missed it.

"Are you alright? What happened exactly?" she could hear the worry in his voice.

"My shoulder's killing me, but I'm fine otherwise," she answered. "It was an accident – I was bored and wanted to try out Garrus' sniper rifle, but it has a really nasty recoil, especially when shot accidentally."

"Garrus? You mean Commander Vakarian?" there was a bit of amusement in his question. "Sounds like things are going well."

"Could be worse," she didn't feel like sharing any details. She wasn't sure what she would say if he asked for more.

"At least he's not hurting you. Treating you bad?" Shepard smiled. It was nice to know that someone still cared.

"It's actually the opposite," she answered honestly. "Most of the time we're just keeping away from each other."

"Good," Anderson said, relieved. "I know the Alliance convinced you to do this, but there are many who still disagree with what was done, me included. If anything happens, let me know and I'll come after you personally. I have a suspicion that Joker and Alenko are planning the rescue already."

"Please don't let them do anything stupid, sir," she said, wincing. The two of them showing up here, swinging guns, could cause an incident that might start another war. "And could you do something about the press? The asari watching after us is going through hell because of me."

There was a knock on the door and Garrus peeked in, waiting for her permission to enter. Shepard gestured for him to come in, her conversation with Anderson almost over.

"I'll see what I can do," he answered. "Are you sure you're going to be alright?"

"Of course, he's just one turian," she answered, smirking at Garrus.

"It's Vakarian we're talking about," he pointed out.

"It's Shepard you're talking to," she retorted.

He laughed a little, then said before terminating the connection: "Take care."

"Well aren't we cocky?" Garrus asked, coming closer.

"Confident. And I have many good reasons," Shepard answered shifting her attention to the turian. He had a tray with the bowl of her usual instant food warmed and ready and one of every kind of utensil there was in their kitchen. She frowned at the food, but he caught up quickly with what was going on in her mind.

"No ulterior motive," he said passing her the plate and tried to change the subject: "What makes you think you could take me on?"

"Asteria," Shepard said, taking a spoon of soup and blowing on it to cool it.

Garrus winced at the name: "Don't remind me. Did you know I'm stuck at the Commander's rank because of what you did there?"

Shepard chuckled. The Alliance had a big base on the planet and turians had wanted to take it. Garrus was in charge of the operation. Human military caught a soldier who revealed during interrogation that they planned to attack and the Alliance sent Shepard to stop them. It was a glorious victory for her and humiliating defeat for him.

"Funny, I got promoted after that mission," she told him smugly.

"I still kicked your ass on Daleon," he answered crossing his arms on his chest.

"You got lucky."

"I don't need luck, I've got skill."

"Sure could've used some luck on Asteria. Or Arvuna. Remember that stationwhere I destroyed your armor?" she asked mockingly.

"Better shut up and eat before I start to count all your losses. We'd be sitting here for the rest of the day," he retorted.

She did as he said, ate her lunch and reminisced on the old times. "We've been through a lot together… or against each other," she said, finishing her meal.

"Yeah," he agreed thoughtfully and took the tray. "I'll come back later with dinner."

***

Garrus came to her thrice a day, bringing food with him every time. He'd sit with her while she ate and they'd talk about all kinds of things, learning small details about each other and their lives before they got married. After the conversation they had when she just returned from the hospital, she thought that the gap between them would widen, but it somehow had the opposite effect. Garrus seemed more relaxed afterwards, like some weight had been removed from his shoulders and she had decided she would trust him, that he wouldn't try to manipulate her.

Her shoulder was healing nicely, most of the pain gone. She even managed to dress herself waiting for Liara to arrive and take her to the hospital. Liara asked them to both be present as there was something important to discuss.

"Shepard's accident pointed out a serious problem," Liara said, standing in front of them. "Humans don't trust other species."

"Really? Never would've guessed," Garrus said sarcastically and Shepard rolled her eyes.

"I'm not talking just about the turians. Before Anderson interfered the Alliance were asking for one of them to come and confirm that Shepard was alright despite anything the committee said," she told them after giving Garrus a murderous glare. "They've never had a conflict with the asari or salarians. There is no reason for distrust."

"Except that they let this war last for a decade before intervening," he said. "They haven't exactly seen the best of the Galactic society. Humans probably think others are on the turian side because they're newcomers."

"Wow, Garrus, didn't expect you to side with the humanity," Shepard said, taken aback.

"It's not about sides," he explained, "just facts. The war was a stupid misunderstanding and would have ended much sooner if everyone stopped being so stubborn."

"Don't blame the asari for what your people started. We had no obligation to step in at all. You should be thankful," she said, angry. Shepard didn't expect that – from how she acted before she didn't think the young asari would ever raise her voice at either of them.

"Can we get to the point and argue who's at fault later?" she stepped in before Garrus could say anything. "I don't want to miss my appointment with the doctor."

"Sorry, of course," Liara said, regaining composure. "We decided to allow visitors once in a while. Family and some close friends that you can trust to tell the truth about how you are doing."

"I thought the point of this isolation was that nobody saw us before we could show some mutual understanding," she said. Shepard was glad about the news, but she wasn't sure they could do what was expected yet.

"The point of having you here alone was for you to get to know each other, get used to this situation," the asari explained. "It's all for your own good, not because of the expectations put on this marriage. I'm sure you can act out whatever is asked for, but I wanted you to actually develop something, anything before facing distractions. And you've been doing surprisingly well so far, you can consider this a little reward as well," she smiled at them.

"Somehow that makes me feel like we're pets in training," Garrus said. "But I'm not complaining. A friendly turian face would be a welcome sight."

"I only ask you to consider carefully who you let in – what they say afterwards will affect how the others will see this marriage and even how your people will regard each other," Liara said with more serious expression. "Ask them not to share more than absolutely necessary."

"So, no pressure regarding the whole human-turian interspecies relationship at all," Shepard said with heavy sigh.

***

The visit at the hospital went well; the doctor gave her a list of exercises to do every day for her shoulder to finish healing correctly. She and Garrus were feeling more comfortable around each other. She would sometimes go to the basement to watch him work on his weapons with puppy eyes, but she was forbidden to hold a gun for few weeks so her fragile bones wouldn't dislocate or break again. They continued their conversations from before, finding out that they had more in common than they thought.

Garrus usually joined her in the training room, lifting weights and running while she did her shoulder exercises. He even asked if she was alright with him removing his shirt during his workout which made her laugh. She sometimes watched him while pretending she was resting and she knew he did that too. Slowly her life in the house was becoming more interesting and easy.

It hadn't even been a full week since their talk with Liara when the first guests planned their arrival. Joker and Kaidan would be here in a few days. Shepard wasn't really surprised about them coming as soon as they could – they were her best friends and neither agreed with her marriage to a turian. They probably were worried sick, only hearing news about her from the asari.

"Liara called, said two of my friends will arrive in five days," Shepard said at dinner.

"Oh, are they from the Alliance?" he asked.

"Yeah, don't really have any good friends outside it," she explained. "Joker is a pilot, smart mouth, but with a good heart, though he does try to hide it. Kaidan's a soldier, biotic, really nice and kind guy. I've been serving on the same ship with them for almost two years. Well, was serving."

"It should be interesting. I just hope they won't try to kill me in my sleep. Wouldn't want to hurt them on instinct," he said, biting a chunk out of the meat he prepared previously. She envied him for knowing how to cook. She was still eating instant food mostly; she hadn't tried to make anything since the last fiasco.

"Don't worry, I'll keep them in line," she said giving his meal a sad look. She didn't recognize a single thing on his plate, but it still looked better than anything she had had in weeks. Why wasn't she forced to marry someone whose food she could eat? "Any of your people coming soon?"

"Haven't heard anything," he answered. "Besides it hasn't been long since we were allowed to have guests. I'm surprised your military let them go on such short notice."

"Me too, actually," she agreed. "But I imagine they're not awfully busy now that the war's over."

***

Shepard spent most of the day before her friends' arrival cleaning. Neither she nor Garrus were untidy by nature, but over the few weeks they lived here dust had settle over most surfaces. She knew they probably wouldn't even notice it, but it made her feel better. Later she and Garrus went to training room, but this time she stayed longer trying to get rid of the stiffness in her shoulder.

After the workout Shepard was in bedroom about to remove clothes, when she heard a knock on the door. Garrus peaked in. "Your guests are here."

"Already? Liara said they'll come tomorrow. Can you tell them to wait for a bit while I take a quick shower?" she said, pulling off her socks. He nodded and left.

When she went down to the living room, Kaidan and Joker were sitting there alone. She greeted them both with hugs.

"I expected you tomorrow," she said taking a good look at them. They both looked fine, better than when she left. With newly found peace she was sure there wasn't much trouble to get into especially with Anderson – he took a good care of those working under him.

"We got lucky - caught one flight earlier than planned," Kaidan explained. "How's your shoulder? We heard you had some nasty accident."

"It's alright, the asari doctors work wonders," she said, rubbing it on habit. She was about to ask about their trip, but Garrus came in the room and put his arm around her shoulders.

"What's my little human and her friends doing?" he purred near her ear. She was too shocked to say anything, she just looked at him in disbelief. What the hell was he doing? He winked her in a way others couldn't see and slightly moved his right mandible in guests' direction. Their expressions were priceless – eyes wide and jaws open. She decided to play along, this was too good to pass.

"Just saying hello, came down a minute ago," she answered, putting her arm around his waist. This time he froze for a moment, but relaxed before others noticed. Garrus nuzzled her hair, the action sending pleasant shivers down her spine: "You smell good."

"Used that shampoo you like," she replied, flirty. She didn't think it was physically possible for her friends' jaws to drop any lower. He sat down on the chair, pulling Shepard onto his lap and rested his hands on her hips.

"So, Shepard said you three served on the same ship. You must know each other well," Garrus said. She could barely look at her friends' faces. She had to bite her tongue to stop herself from laughing out loud. She noticed Kaidan had balled his hands into fists; she knew the guy had a little crush on her and this act was probably a bit cruel, but Joker was gasping like a fish out of water. So worth it.

"Shepard," he purred again, when no one said anything for a while, "it's rude not to offer our guests some food. They're probably hungry after the long journey."

She just nodded still trying not to laugh and let him lead her to the kitchen. When the doors closed, Shepard let out all the laughter she was holding in, but careful not to make too much noise. Garrus looked extremely satisfied with himself. "Didn't know human faces could do that," he commented.

"What was that about?" she asked when caught her breath.

"While you were in the shower, they threatened to do all kinds of nasty things to me if I so much as… what did they say – touch a hair on your head? – never mind, you get the point. Even the sick one. This was a little payback," he answered.

"Sorry, didn't expect them to jump on you at the first chance. I'll talk to them," she apologized, but there was something she had to ask. His confidence bothered her a little. "What if I didn't join your little performance?"

"It was a quick idea, didn't think much about the details. But it was worth the risk," he answered. "Hope I didn't step too far over the line, I'm not really sure what humans find insulting."

"Don't worry. If you do something really rude, I'll let you know," she answered with an evil smirk, "the painful way."

"I'll keep that in mind," he smiled and turned to leave. "I won't bother you again, have fun."

Shepard almost asked him to join them, but decided not to – it might be too much for her friends on the first evening; they hadn't lived with a turian for three weeks after all. And she did have to explain his joke to them.