Author's Note: Bet you guys liked that last chapter, huh? I did too! Some big things are going to be happening in this chapter too.
Also, here you can start expecting the story to come to wraps. I'll write a few more chapters and then I guess I'll be done. Enjoy! Review!
Chapter 7:Chasing Cars
It had been one month since the 'almost kiss' between Garrus and Jane, and they decided to not talk about it.
Instead things went back to normal. They worked and talked and grew fonder of each other.
Jane was starting to realize she was falling in love with Garrus and tried to act like she wasn't.
It was a normal evening as Jane and Garrus sat on the couch.
Jane was reading a letter on her data pad she got from Admiral Hackett. Garrus sat there nervously wringing his hands.
How does one go about doing this? He thought. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Time to tell her.
"Uh, Shepard?" He asked.
"Hm?" Garrus gulped.
"I got a call from my sister Solana, and you know what with Christmas coming up and all…Well, the thing is…." He paused and looked at her. She noticed he'd stopped talking and looked up. "What is it Garrus?" She asked.
"My family is coming here for Christmas." He said quickly. Jane looked surprised.
"What? Oh. Christmas? Wait, that's next week isn't it?" Garrus nodded.
"Holy shit! We haven't even decorated!" She said her eyes widening as she set her data pad down.
Garrus was completely astounded. Garrus stood. "Wait, my parents are coming here, and you're worried about decorating for Christmas?" He asked trying to understand.
Jane thought for a moment. "Well yeah. Christmas is the best time of year! There are old Christmassy songs and cheesy movies and weird decorations, and let's not forget about the Christmas tree and all its glory!" Jane said smiling.
Garrus started at her for a moment. Then he burst out laughing and so did she.
"I can't believe I was so worried over nothing." Garrus said after a moment. "If you're not worried then I guess I have no reason to be." He said sitting back down beside her.
Jane smiled. "Tomorrow we need to go get everything for Christmas. When are you're parents coming?" Jane inquired.
"I have to pick them up this Sunday." Replied Garrus. Shepard nodded. "Ok. What about your sister, Solana? Is she going to be here?" Jane asked.
"Yeah, but she's staying with some of her friends." He said. "Okay then. Well I'll go make a list of the things we need." Jane said getting up. "Do I get a say in anything?" Garrus asked.
Shepard turned. "Of course you do sweetie!" She said; cupping her hands together by her cheek and pretending to be a chipper housewife.
Garrus smiled.
Sunday
Everything had been decorated and put together for Mr. and Mrs. Vakarian's arrival and for Christmas.
Garrus' room had been fixed up for his parents; and Garrus and Jane decided for him to sleep on the couch in Shepard's room.
They were waiting at the transport hub for Garrus' parents when Garrus noticed his sister coming out first.
"Garrus!" She called. Garrus smiled and ran to her. He scooped her up into a big hug and then set her down. He grabbed her bags and they walked towards Shepard.
"Hi Jane!" She cried when they got nearer. She walked forward and hugged her tightly. "Hi Solana. It's nice to see you again." Jane said into her neck. Solana released Shepard, mostly at the request of Garrus.
"I haven't seen you guys since the wedding, you can't blame me for being overjoyed at seeing you guys." Solana defended herself. Garrus sighed and Jane chuckled.
"Look there's mom and dad!" Garrus said loudly.
Mr. and Mrs. Vakarian were walking towards them and Mrs. Vakarian was smiling while Mr. Vakarian looked stern faced as ever.
"Mama!" Cried Solana as she hugged her mother. She hugged her father and Garrus gave a hug to his mother and shook hands with his father. Then came Jane's turn.
Mrs. Vakarian was whiter and she and both her children looked like her.
"Well, hello there Jane!" She said and grabbed Jane into a hug. She was warm and smelled nice. She also gave out this feeling that Jane assumed only mothers give off. She liked it.
"Hello Mrs. Vakarian" Jane said when they released each other. "Oh please, call me mom! I insist." Mrs. Vakarian said.
Jane had gone slightly pale. "Uh o-okay.. Mom." Jane said and chuckled nervously. Garrus looked at her unsure. Was all this too soon?
"Uh, let's go." Garrus said quickly, taking all the bags onto his arms. Mr. Vakarian said nothing; he just followed behind the women as Jane and Garrus lead them to the taxi.
When they arrived at the apartment Solana immediately ran to the Christmas tree. "Oh it's beautiful! Look at all the colors!" She cried. Garrus put his parents' luggage in the guest room and Jane started on dinner. Mrs. Vakarian came to help and wouldn't have any of Jane's protests.
Garrus Solana and Mr. Vakarian all sat in the living room talking until Solana came to the kitchen to see what she could do to help.
Solana chopped some turian vegetables while Mrs. Vakarian stirred the broth water in a pot on the stove. Jane was slicing some meat to go into the mixture when Mrs. Vakarian began to speak.
"So. Are you two enjoying being married?" She asked. Jane shrugged then nodded.
"I think we mostly enjoy being friends and we don't really, or at least I don't, consider him my husband. It's more like having a roommate, except I'm married to him." Jane said smiling.
"I see. And you only think of him as a friend?" Mrs. Vakarian asked innocently.
Jane swallowed. How to answer?
"Well, I mean yeah. He's like, my best friend. I've told him things I've never told anyone else and he's done the same. We trust and respect each other." Jane said.
Mrs. Vakarian nodded.
They finished up the dinner and served it; and then sat down to eat.
"So," Mr. Vakarian said after a while of awkward silence. "Are you guys comfortable here?" Garrus and Jane, who were seated next to each other, looked at each other. They nodded.
"Yeah. We like it here. The rent money isn't that much anyway." Garrus said.
"Good." His father replied.
Another moment of silence then Solana asked,
"Are you guys having sex?"
Jane miss-swallowed her soup and began coughing. "Solana!" Garrus yelled.
"What? I wanna know!" She cried in defense.
Jane's face was red as a tomato when she stopped coughing. She gulped down some water and took some breaths.
"Solana, it's none of your business if Garrus and Jane are….Intimate." Said Mrs. Vakarian.
"Sorry." Solana said bowing her head and stirring her soup.
"It's okay." Jane said. "Um, we aren't really attracted to each other in that way, so no, we aren't having sex." Jane said. "We're just good friends."
Garrus took a sip of his water.
Solana was about to say something else but Garrus shushed her.
The rest of dinner was eaten in silence.
Later…
"Welp, my rides here! I'll see you guys later!" Solana said and jumped up from the chair by the window.
She gave hugs and kisses to everyone and Garrus walked her out, carrying her luggage.
When he came back they decided to play cards but Mr. Vakarian wanted to read his data pad.
Mrs. Vakarian and Jane took turns winning and Garrus lost every game. He really was a really bad card player.
When they finished Mr. and Mrs. Vakarian went to bed and after a while Garrus and Jane headed to her room.
"Did you have fun?" Asked Shepard. Garrus sighed. "Sort of. I'm really sorry about Solana by the way. She's always had a big mouth." Jane smiled. "That's alright. She didn't offend me. Were you offended?" Jane asked after a moment.
"No." Garrus replied taking his toothbrush out of his bag.
"Good." Jane said.
Garrus got changed in the bathroom and Jane quickly changed while he was brushing his teeth. She climbed into bed and read her data pad.
When Garrus came out of the bathroom; Jane as already in bed and he walked over to the couch and lay down.
Jane put her data pad up and turned out the light.
Neither of them spoke.
A week later-Christmas Morning
Garrus and Jane had gotten Mrs. Vakarian a new set of sweaters and Mr. Vakarian a new mug that said, World's Greatest Turian.
Garrus' parents had gotten them some plates and silver wear and some clothes.
Solana arrived and brought them a new MP3 stereo. She couldn't stay long because she was flying back with her friends to school. Garrus had gotten Solana a new Fashion Designer set so she could draw new styles.
Solana thanked them and left an hour later. Mr. and Mrs. Vakarian were leaving in the morning.
They decided to go out and walk around the park for Christmas.
When they got there the lake was frozen and there was an ice ring around it and people were skating around.
Garrus and Jane went to join them and Mr. and Mrs. Vakarian sat on a bench and watched.
When they first started skating they fell a lot but soon got the hang of it.
They had a lot of fun and shared lots of laughs and smiles. They stayed outside for most of the day until they noticed everyone started leaving. As they were about to skate off Shepard almost slipped but Garrus caught her in time. He raised her back up as she used him for balance. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment before skating off holding hands.
The group returned home and ate dinner then retired to bed.
Garrus was laying on the couch and Shepard in her bed when she spoke.
"Are you cold?" She asked. "No. Are you?" He asked. "Yeah." Garrus hesitated. "Want me to come lay with you?" He asked. "Sure." She said and it came out kinda awkward.
Garrus got up and walked around the bed and slid under the covers and wrapped his arms around Shepard as she cuddled up close to him.
They stayed like that for a long time. Garrus closed his eyes and inhaled her scent. She smelled like her shampoo and soap, which smelled really good.
His heart skipped beats as he held her. He loved holding her close like this, it made him relax and block out the rest of the world.
Just laying right there next to him like that was doing strange things to her.
She felt… Well that's just it. She felt. Every fiber of her body wanted to cling to him, feel with him.
She lifted her head and he looked down at her. Their faces were very close.
Garrus' heart sped up. They looked into each other's eyes. It was like he was seeing everything he was in her eyes.
He brought his face closer to hers; and slowly, ever so slowly, their lips met.
The kiss was like stepping into a warm bath. He simply melted into her. His heart raced and skipped beats; it was painful but in a good way.
His arms brought her closer to him and her hand rested on the side of his neck.
They kissed for a long time before they broke apart. Shepard snuggled into his chest and he held her there. They soon fell into a gentle sleep.
