Hope you like the new chapter guys, it might not be what you were expecting, but please stick with me, I promise this story is going to take some interesting turns :)

Thanks for all the reviews and follows, a big thanks to Nis'erra19, who gave me an idea which I have incorporated into the end of this chapter, and which actually became my favourite part!

Casey stayed in bed for a while, before eventually deciding that she could not let this happen. She had waited so long to find Garrus again. She was not imagining it: they had been in love, so why was he acting like this?

She was going to find out.

Casey threw on the first clothes she could find and stormed out of her room towards the gun battery. She would confront him right now, get him to explain why he had run out on her like that. She was not the scared little girl she had once been. The Normandy had made her strong, going back to Omega had made her stronger, and she would not let herself shrink away just because she hadn't got the response she had been expecting.

However, when she arrived at the gun battery, the door seemed a lot bigger and a lot more intimidating than it usually did. Casey felt her confidence diminishing as she stood before it.

She turned around. Maybe later. Maybe he was really busy? Maybe he would explain what was wrong later on. Maybe she was a complete coward who didn't deserve to be happy. Maybe.

Casey was heading towards the elevator when she heard a door open to her left. James exited the lounge carrying a bottle of green liquid. "Hey Case," he said, giving her a friendly wink, and opened the door to his room. It closed with a gentle woosh, and she was alone again. Casey glanced back in the direction of the battery, and made up her mind.

She knocked on the door.

James answered. "Hey, you ok?" He asked.

Casey nodded, then shook her head, and then the tears came. James' eyes widened, and he looked slightly at a loss for what to say. He simply stepped to the side so that she could walk into his room, where she sat down on his bed. Casey gave up on trying to fight the tears, and simply let them slide down her face. James hovered awkwardly, and Casey got the feeling he wasn't used to women acting this way around him.

Finally Casey managed to compose herself, drying her eyes with the tissue James had finally had the sense to pass her. "Thank you," she muttered, embarrassed that he was seeing her like this.

"What happened?" James asked gently.

Casey took a breath. "Garrus and I….we….well….we….and then I….and he didn't say it."

Ok, that made no sense whatsoever.

James looked equally confused, so Casey tried again. But now she couldn't even bring herself to say Garrus' name. James took the bottle of green liquid and poured her out a glass. "Here," he said. Casey took a large gulp, and though it burned the back of her throat, the alcohol had certainly made her feel a little better. Though not enough to share what had happened just yet.

As if reading her mind, James poured her another, and then had one himself. "Batarian shard wine, this stuff always calms me right down. Though probably best not to think too hard about what's in it." He gave her a soft smile, and Casey nodded, sniffing. What was happening to her? Twenty minutes ago she had felt like the happiest woman in the world, and now she was snivelling like a lovesick teenager in front of a friend. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "You shouldn't have to look after me."

James, who had remained standing awkwardly in front of her, moved over to sit beside Casey on the bed. He put his arm around her. She could smell perspiration, he must've been working out recently. But she didn't move away, she wanted to be comforted. "You're my friend," James began, smiling. "I'll always look after you. Now, you wanna tell me what's wrong?"

"I told Garrus I loved him," Casey said quietly. "He didn't say it back."

James looked confused, "Why?"

Casey shrugged, "I don't know, maybe he doesn't feel the same way."

James shook his head firmly. "That's bullshit, we both know he loves you. Tell me exactly what happened."

Casey sighed, not exactly wanting to relive it, but knowing that James wouldn't be able to offer any kind of advice without more information. She decided to get it over with and say it quickly. "We had sex, I told him I loved him, he got a message on his omni-tool and ran out of my room faster than a Varren with the runs."

James smiled at her analogy, and poured her another drink. "Sounds like the kind of thing I'd do if a woman said that to me…but not a guy like Garrus, not after what you two have been through."

Casey shrugged again, "Then what does it mean?"

"Maybe he's just a little overwhelmed? I mean, this morning he woke up thinking you were dead, like he's thought for almost a year. Now you're back. It might just take him a little while to get used to it."

Casey looked at the floor. That explanation made sense…So why didn't she feel any kind of reassurance? James gave her a gentle squeeze. "Hey, maybe you just turned his brain to mush? As I recall, I felt pretty damn drained after a night with you."

James grinned wickedly, and Casey gave him a gently shove. "Har-har." She said sarcastically.

"Ok in all seriousness," James continued. "We both know Garrus is crazy about you. So what if he needs a little time? He'll tell you soon enough."

Casey smiled. "Thanks James."

"No sweat," he replied, taking another drink, then grimacing at the taste.

"So why are you drinking?" She asked, nodding at the bottle of wine. "What is it you need to calm down from?"

James drained his glass. "My best friend, back on Earth. Just found out he didn't make it."

Casey looked at the floor. Her problems seemed to find some perspective.

Casey may have felt a little better about her and Garrus, but that didn't mean she was ready to talk to him yet. Instead, she had decided to stay and try and cheer James up. Unfortunately, cheering James up apparently meant taking part in a one on one drinking contest which she was, unsurprisingly, losing. "Another point to me!" James slurred. "Which means I get to ask another question!"

Casey groaned, as was to be expected, every question James had asked so far had either made her blush, or feel queasy. But he was at least not thinking about his friend, so she nodded. "Go."

James thought for a second. "First love?"

That was actually the nicest question he'd asked her all night. Casey had to think for a moment, before replying. "Freddie Wilks. He sat behind me in math class. He lent me a pencil once and it was love at first sight."

James laughed, "How old were you?"

"About seven," Casey replied. "I used to pick up his lunchbox 'by mistake' so that he'd have to come and ask for it back."

"Nice," James grinned. "What happened?"

Casey smiled, "His big sister told me to stop bugging him, and he moved seats in math class."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, I guess my plan had a few drawbacks," Casey laughed. "What about you? Who was the first person to stamp on your heart?"

"It'd have to be…..Sarah Jeffers. Sat in front of me in math class."

"Did she know how you felt?"

"Oh sure, I used to fly paper aeroplanes into her head all the time."

Casey raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, girls don't like that Vega."

James' eyes widened. "The planes used to have 'I heart you' written on them."

Casey put on a tone of mock surprise, "And she didn't go for that?!"

"I know, right?"

Casey laughed, and James threw a pillow at her. She was on the floor next to the bed. She'd fallen off somewhere around drink number five, and had decided it would be best to stay at ground level as the game continued. James was lying on his back on the bed. He sat up now, handing Casey another drink, which she took with an unsteady hand.

"What about recently?" She asked. "No one special since joining the alliance?"

James paused for a moment, contemplating the liquid in his glass. "Not really."

"No one?"

"No…well, there was this one girl who was pretty special, but it just wasn't meant to be."

"Why not?"

"She was already in love with someone else."

Casey felt a knot in her stomach, and tried to act like this statement hadn't affected her. James smiled, "Unfreeze Casey, you're not in danger or anything."

She smiled. "You're a good friend James."

"That's me, always the friend. You think I should get some new moves?"

Casey considered this. "Well, the paper plane thing didn't work, what else do you use?"

"….That's all I've got."

Casey grinned, "Yeah, maybe time for some new moves Vega."

James got to his feet. "Fair enough. Now, if you'll excuse me…" He couldn't finish his sentence, instead clamped his hand over his mouth and ran for the bathroom.

"I'll see myself out then!" Casey yelled towards the door, smiling.

She left James' room, all set to go back to hers, when she remembered the reason she had come this way in the first place.

Garrus.

She felt braver than she had a couple of hours ago, and so headed towards the gun battery with her head held high. This was probably one of the reasons she walked straight into the dining table on the way. Cursing her clumsiness, and the positioning of the table, she continued onwards.

She half walked, half stumbled, until she was outside the door. If anything, she felt even more drunk since leaving Vega's room, and she knew this was a bad idea. When she had had this much to drink, Bad Casey tended to make an appearance, and Bad Casey was not one to mince her words. The alcohol, while calming her down when talking to James, had now set her mind into overdrive, and Garrus' hasty retreat from her room was beginning to make her blood boil. She was going to find out what the Hell was happening.

She punched the button on the door, which slid open silently.

Garrus was standing with his back to her, typing something into the console.

"Vakarian!" Oh no, that sounded a lot like her own voice, only much angrier. "What's with the fuck and run?" Ok, that was definitely her own voice. This was not good, Bad Casey was definitely out for blood. Garrus turned around looking confused. "Casey?"

"Yeah, what the Hell just happened?"

Garrus sighed. "Can it wait for a bit? I'm in the middle of-"

But Bad Casey didn't listen to excuses, and she cut him off. "No, it can't wait Garrus. What's going on with you? You just fucked me and left me, like I was some cheap whore or something!"

Ugh, that sounded like it should've been on one of those awful vid shows Kasumi used to watch, what on earth was she doing? But Casey couldn't stop herself. "I mean, do you know what I've been through?! Fighting, getting hurt, a suicide mission, getting kidnapped and almost killed! I spent months on Omega trying to find a way to get off that rock! I fought monsters, Cerberus, and found Shepard so that I could do the whole damn lot again! And it was all so that I could find you! And for what? You to treat me like…like I meant nothing to you?" She felt Bad Casey disappearing, and sad, scared Casey begin to surface. She wasn't sure which was better. She only knew she could not let herself cry.

"I mean…if you don't…feel the same way about me anymore, then at least tell me. Don't just string me along like this, I need to know what is happening with us…"

"Why? So you know whether to go for another round with Vega?" Garrus had finally spoken, but the words that came out of his mouth were the last thing Casey expected to hear. She was silent for a few moments while she tried to process what he was saying. "What?" She finally asked, deciding that Garrus must've meant something else.

"I saw you go into his cabin after I left."

"And what?" Casey asked, feeling herself starting to get angry again, was Garrus really saying what she thought he was saying? Did he literally have no idea how much he meant to her? How she would die without hesitation if it meant he would be safe from this war?

"It just seems like you're pretty quick to seek comfort with someone else," Garrus continued, his voice cold. "I suppose with you being the same species it makes sense, and it's not like you haven't been there before-"

Casey slapped him hard across the face. Garrus stopped talking, but didn't look shocked at her action. His cool eyes just met hers. Casey was so angry she could barely see straight, barely string a sentence together. She took a breath, moved closer, and whispered clearly, so that he wouldn't miss a word. "Stay away from me Garrus Vakarian."

She turned and left the battery, hoping that she could fight back the tears until she at least made it back to her own room.

Garrus turned back to the console, punching in the sequence of numbers so aggressively that he managed to overload the system and had to restart. He growled angrily, stalking off to his room at the end of the battery. He slammed the door behind him, and threw himself down onto the chair in front of his small desk. His mind was racing, what had he done? How could he have possibly said those things to her? Did he really believe them?

He knew the answer to that.

He looked at the small mirror on his wall and didn't recognise the creature he saw. No, that wasn't true. He recognised him all too well. It was the same angry beast that had resided in his body in the months after Casey died. Or didn't die. That creature had almost completely destroyed everything Garrus considered himself to be, had caused him to do terrible things, one of the worst things he had ever done…

No, he couldn't blame the monster for that. That had been a choice Garrus had made through weakness, but still, he didn't like seeing himself like this again. He had shaken himself out of that state, tried to do some good for the galaxy. Tried to give his life some purpose again, so that he could at least die knowing he had not just rolled over and allowed it to happen without a fight.

But then she had found him, and everything he had done seemed to lose all meaning. It should have been the happiest day of his life, but it had been soured, spoiled, by the awful truths that had forced their way into his head after he and Casey had made love. Truths he had tried so hard to forget.

She told him she loved him. Did she mean it? He hoped she didn't. For both their sakes, it would be better for her not to love him.

Because he knew, deep down, that there could be no forgiveness.