GARRUS PART 2
Garrus Vakarian sat alone in the ballroom bar as he had for quite some time. The wedding was finished; Liara and Shepard were married and off enjoying their night together. The guests had mostly cleared out but the turian still sat alone. He had moved on, or at least he told himself that he had. But despite that, his thoughts still turned to Shepard. He felt embarrassed for even attempting to tell her how he felt.
He had waited until her wedding night. "What kind of reaction did you expect?" He thought to himself.
The asari bartender finished packing up her supplies and turned to the turian.
"Alright pal: closing time." She said.
"Sure, thanks for putting up with me." Garrus said, chugging the remainder of his last drink.
Garrus tipped the bartender and made his way to the exit. The warm Thessian night had turned into a torrential downpour and the turian had drunk way too much to consider driving back to his hotel. Something came to him from the back of his mind.
"A255."
Garrus struggled to recall it's meaning. Suddenly the turian remembered that it was the hotel room Tali had urged him to visit her at earlier in the evening. Tali's hotel was a few blocks away from where he stood, but he had no better plan so he began to make his way to the quarian. The streets were empty; Garrus had not looked at the time but he guessed it was early morning.
As he trudged through the wet night, he wondered what Tali would make of him in his current state. He had always been fond of her, but being with her made him feel guilty: as if he was just using her to replace Shepard. It was why he broke it off with the quarian soon after the Normandy returned to Earth.
He still counted Tali as a close friend, but their romantic involvement had no doubt changed things between them. She still seemed to feel the same way towards him but he didn't understand why. He hadn't spoken with her since going their separate ways over a year ago. He had arrived that night expecting a rather different encounter than what he received. The more Garrus thought about her, the more he hated himself for breaking her heart. He had been so blinded by his foolish love for Shepard that he may have ruined his only shot at settling down. He intended to apologize to Tali when he saw her.
He had arrived at the Hotel and didn't waste time getting inside and out of the rain. The lobby was empty except for one very bored looking asari who stood up straight when Garrus stumbled in.
"Can I help you sir?" She asked.
"Uh...I need to get to room A255. How do I do that?" Garrus asked, his words slurring a bit.
"Elevator floor 4." The asari replied, sounding disappointed.
"Thanks." Garrus said and made his way inside the elevator.
As the elevator made its climb, Garrus tried to think of what to say to Tali but nothing came to his mind. The turian exited the elevator and walked down the hallway, inspecting each room number as he passed. Finally he arrived at A255.
As the turian raised his fist to knock, a thought stopped him. What if she was asleep? He didn't want to wake her but he really didn't have any choice. Garrus did three stern knocks and waited patiently for a response.
The hotel door swung open much quicker than Garrus expected. It was almost as if she was waiting for him.
"Garrus!" Tali said excited.
"Hey Tali I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you but I…well I don't have anywhere else to go." He admitted, trying to hide his intoxication.
"No it's fine. Please come in!" Tali said, pulling the turian by the hand inside her hotel room.
"Tali, I need to say something." Garrus said as he sat down on one of the room's armchairs.
"Okay." She replied.
"I'm sorry. It wasn't right the way I pushed you away. " Garrus said.
"Garrus it's fine, really." She replied.
"No it wasn't fine." Garrus said.
"I need to tell you something too. I was hoping you would show up tonight," she said.
"Oh?" He let out.
"I missed you." Tali said.
"I missed you too Tali. I never really thought too much about the past during the war but lately it's all I can think about." Garrus said.
The quarian reached out and took the turian's hand in her own.
"Me too." Tali said, moving her free hand to her face-mask.
Tali removed her mask and Garrus sat in pure shock as he gazed upon her face. She was the most gorgeous thing the turian had ever seen. And for the first time that night, Shepard completely left his mind. He stammered, trying to find words, but before he could Tali was on top of him.
