Author's Note: Hey all! I'm really sorry for the super long delay with this chapter. I've been playing a lot of Dragon Age lately and I almost completely forgot about this project until just a few days ago. Hopefully you should be seeing a lot more productivity out of me from now on, since I feel more creative then I have in a while. Thank you again to everyone who's stuck around this long and for the wonderful reviews; words cannot express how grateful I am for the feedback and encouragement I get from all of them!
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The collision had been more like nose to lips then face to face, given the height difference between the two. Both women had been startled by the sudden, somewhat violent contact between them and both seemed to regain their wits around the same time. Shepard looked up, Liara looked down and as soon as their eyes met both pairs widened. The Commander seized the other woman's arms as soon as she noticed her shift to start walking away and put her determined face back on; this was happening and there would be no way Liara could avoid her this time. "Hold it right there! You're not going anywhere until we've had a talk." The archaeologist froze at the contact, her shoulders stiffening. She was taken aback by the strength of the hands gripping her; given her size it wasn't hard to underestimate the Commander's strength, especially when she was around her alien crew members.

The pair stared at each other in silence; Liara's still startled face staring down at Shepard's determined frown. Their eyes were still locked as the Spectre slowly let go of her captive's arms, the other woman's shoulders visibly relaxing. In one fluid motion Shepard leaned against the railing behind her and crossed her arms, her expression remaining as she cleared her throat. "So, why've you been avoiding me?" Liara couldn't help but stare, before frowning herself and crossing her own arms, breaking eye contact as she looked off to the side.

"I-I've no idea what you're talking about Commander." Shepard made a strange noise in her throat that practically forced the asari to glance at her; that frown was still plastered on her face.

"You're a terrible liar, T'Soni. Come on, spill it. You haven't said a word to me since we left the Horsehead Nebula. Hell, I haven't seen you either." Liara squared her shoulders, determined not to speak. "Is this about the Consort?" Liara's frown twitched at the word. Finally, some progress. Shepard sighed, once again causing Liara to glance her way. The frown had been replaced with a look of sincere regret, which threw the asari off. Her shoulders sagged a bit at the sight; this was definitely a face she'd never seen the Commander make before.

"Look, I'm really sorry if that conversation made you feel uncomfortable in any way. It just came up in conversation when Wrex, Kaidan and I were working out. Then Kaidan started acting weird and I thought I'd have a little fun with him." She shrugged, the corners of her lips tugging down into a very slight frown. "And I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable earlier either, bringing you along. That whole thing was more for Alenko then anything; I just thought we'd finally get a chance to clear the air if I asked you to come with us. Again, I'm really sorry."

The Commander watched as Liara looked thoughtful for a few seconds, before the other woman sighed and her shoulders sagged a bit further; she shook her head and turned away. "No… no. I… I think I am the one who should be apologizing Shepard." She bit the inside of her cheek and looked down at the floor. "I should not have reacted the way I did after hearing about Sha'ira. What the two of you do in private is… it's none of my business, and the way I have been acting has been incredibly unprofessional. I am very sorry." She kept her gaze on the floor for a few seconds, hoping her apology would be accepted before swallowing past the lump forming in her throat and finding the courage to slowly look up. The human simply gawked at her with a raised eyebrow; she looked absolutely dumbfounded.

"What… what we do in… private…?" She asked slowly, trailing off a bit at the last word. The arched eyebrow steadily moved further up her forehead and the stare she had fixed on the archaeologist was as if she'd suddenly sprouted two heads. A strange, strangled nose escaped her throat as her mouth grew tight; her face began turning a brilliantly bright shade of red as her shoulders began to shake. The asari was almost completely convinced Shepard was about to have a seizure until she suddenly burst into laughter.

"You… you thought we were… when we went earlier?" Her words came out between wheezing breathes as she tried to stop herself, but all she could seem to do was double over. The archaeologist stared at her, not entirely sure what to say; she opted to simply keep quiet. It took a few more seconds for the Commander to finally compose herself, and eventually she cleared her throat, wiping tears from her eyes. "Oh man, I'm so sorry, but that's adorable." The woman took a few deep breaths before continuing, "Look, I'm definitely not one of Sha'ira's clients. She asked me to help her out with some rumors the last time we docked and that's what I went in for. Besides, I was only in there for like 5 minutes. That's not nearly enough time to get anything fun done." Shepard smirked at her last comment, noting the tinge of purple that had appeared on Liara's stunned face. "Now now, don't be embarrassed. It was an honest mistake. A hilarious mistake, but honest. I'm not desperate enough yet to get on a giant waiting list for one woman; come on, lemme buy you a drink. Maybe that'll quell that jealous little heart of yours."
-

One drink turned to two, which eventually turned into eight between them (six of them being Shepards), the two eventually easing into easy conversation thanks mostly to the liquid courage they shared. The pair easily blended into the atmosphere of the bar as they sat at their table; Liara nursed her drink as the Commander took hearty gulps of her own, pulling the bottle away to speak to the asari sitting across from her, the crooked smile plastered to her face. The archaeologist returned it with her own, enjoying the sight of it; it was becoming a rare sight to see Shepard at such ease. She was always so caught up in her work, and it seemed to be taking its toll on her the closer they seemed to get to Saren. It was only natural, of course; the fate of the entire galaxy rested on their shoulders, but that knowledge seemed to be sucking the life out of their commanding officer. She had far less time to chitchat with her crew, her constant running around aboard the ship was beginning to take its toll on her injured knee (she seemed to be limping far more often now), and the datapads she seemed to be constantly glued to were beginning to add to her already numerous headaches, which resulted in the deep bags forming under her eyes. Liara suddenly noticed Shepard waving in her direction and she quickly looked behind her, the Commander let out a bark of laughter.

"You alright Doc?" She asked, her voice raised just enough to be heard over the music being played around them. The asari looked back at her with a bewildered expression on her face, causing Shepard's expression to transform into a smirk. "You've been smiling at me for awhile now. I figured I had something on my face until you didn't answer me." The archaeologist felt her face grow hot, a sensation she found herself feeling quite often around this particular human, her eyes dropping automatically to the half finished beer she had her hands loosely wrapped around. She swallowed past a lump that she suddenly felt form in her throat before speaking.

"I-I apologize Commander, I'm afraid I was lost in thought." She heard the now familiar chuckle escape the other woman's throat and clenched her jaw slightly before daring to look up. Shepard had her head resting against her free hand while the fingers of her other hand seemed to be tapping absentmindedly against the empty glass bottle it held; her expression had changed slightly, with the corners of her mouth tugged into a rather wide smile as she stared at the asari. Her face grew hotter and she silently thanked the Goddess that the lights that enveloped them hid at least some of the very purple hue her flesh always seemed to become under the others gaze.

"What've I told you about that T'Soni? When we're off the ship, it's just Shepard. Hell, even when we're just talking period." Her tone seemed like gentle scolding, though her expression never changed. Liara couldn't help but look down at her hands again, though she could feel a small smile begin to tug at the corners of her own lips. She simply nodded. The two sat in companionable silence, Shepard never taking her eyes off the asari as she nervously finished the beer she'd seemed to be nursing for most of the night. The realization that the bar was almost completely empty seemed to hit the pair at the same time and they departed, the silence lasting until they were out of the building and walking through the mostly empty commons that lead towards several areas that were normally of interest to the crew of the Normandy during the day. "You know, you never did answer my question." Shepard said suddenly, lifting an eyebrow and looked towards the asari. The taller woman blinked and stared at her for a few seconds, suddenly dreading whatever sentence that would escape the humans' mouth next. Taking that as her cue, she continued. "You weren't actually jealous, right?"

Liara stopped walking when she heard the question; her eyes widened and her breath seemed to hitch in her chest. That… she hadn't actually expected that one. She could feel her face flush in embarrassment and she turned to hide her expression as soon as she saw Shepard notice her sudden absence next to her. She could hear the Commander say her name over the sound of her own rapid heartbeats as her eyes scanned the area for an escape route; maybe if she just started running she could catch Shepard off guard long enough to hide in some deep dark corner until the galaxy exploded or something. Her body tensed automatically when she heard the other woman say her name a second time, this time a bit more carefully. The sudden wave of anxiety was steadily building, her chest felt heavy and somewhat twitchy and she had the overwhelming urge to start running until she felt a rather strong hand grip her shoulder and turn her around. The movement was sudden enough to force a yelp of surprise from her throat, which came out barely audible thanks to the lips she found pressed against her own.

It was an… interesting feeling. The kiss was tense and slightly awkward at first; Shepard's hand was still firmly planted on her shoulder, pulling down at it slightly to maintain the contact between them while Liara simply stood there, her eyes wide in surprise. She couldn't help but notice how the other woman had her eyes clamped shut, as if she were expecting something else to happen. After a few awkward seconds the Spectre dared to slowly open one eye, the asari's still bewildered expression the first thing she noticed. She instantly pulled away, letting go of the taller woman's shoulder as her face suddenly became a very bright shade of red. "I-ohgod-I'm so sorry." She said quickly, turning away from Liara as a hand rose to nervously rub the back of her very pink neck, the other hand went to her hip as she took a couple of steps away, putting distance between them as she attempted to stutter an apology. "I-I didn't mean… I-I must've misread that or something." A strange noise escaped her throat, something the archaeologist could only assume to be a mixture of a high pitched laugh and a whine. She noticed the hand grasping the back of her neck move to her face. "I… let's just forget that happened, I'm-I'm an idiot and not good at… feeli-" The human was cut off from continuing her nervous chatter as the taller woman suddenly seemed to appear in front of her and grab her face, pressing their lips together yet again.

This time it was different; the tense feeling between the two seemed to last only a few startled milliseconds. Both women closed their eyes as they seemed to ease into the feeling, Liara's hands released Shepard's face and seemed to wander down to her shoulders, then her ribs as the other woman's hands snaked their way upward, gliding to gently take either side of the asari's neck and pull her down just a tad. The pair took a half step forward, closing the distance between them and stayed that way for a few more seconds. As their lips parted they opened their eyes; green locked with blue as both seemed to go over what had just happened. A smile spread across their faces as they seemed to catch their breath at the same time before Shepard broke the silence.

"So, that's a yes, right?"