As the afternoon faded into evening and then night, the bottles grew emptier and Garrus and Jane's inhibitions faded. Jane lay draped across Garrus's lap, her arm lazily dangling off the loveseat. Garrus was content to simply sit, idly running his hand through Jane's impossibly soft hair. Spirits, he didn't understand how anything could be so soft.
They lounged there a long time before Garrus reluctantly broke the silence with, "Jane?"
"Yes?" she replied sleepily.
"I can't feel my legs. Can you, uh, move?" Garrus asked.
"But I'm comfortable," she complained, stretching and offering him a smirk, knowing how difficult it was for him to say no to her.
"Please? Appease your turian boyfriend?" Garrus pleaded, opting to imitate her petulant tone.
"Maybe," Jane drawled, shifting so that even more of her weight was on Garrus' lap. "What's in it for me?"
Try as he might, Garrus couldn't think of an appropriate reply, and Jane knew it. She teased, "That's what I thought."
Garrus sighed, resigning himself to the cruel fate of being trapped under the most beautiful woman in the world. Almost immediately, though, an idea hit him. Jane was playing dirty, using his substantial weakness for her to her advantage.
Well, he would use his substantial strength to his advantage.
Garrus set down his glass of brandy and scooped Jane up in his arms, purring, "I'll just make you move."
Jane let out a surprised shriek and a giggle – sounds Garrus never expected to hear from her – as he picked her up. She weakly tried to protest as Garrus got up and headed towards the bed; he couldn't help stumbling a little from the lack of feeling in his legs.
He made to toss her onto the bed, to get even with her earlier childishness, but at the last moment she latched her arms around his neck and proclaimed, "If I'm going down I'm taking you with me!"
Garrus protested to no avail as they fell tangled together. Jane was silent for a moment when they landed; Garrus's stomach was instantly in knots as he wondered if he'd hurt her.
Almost immediately, she burst into laughter, pressing a kiss to Garrus's forehead and giggling, "I had you there for a second."
Garrus pulled her close, her back to his stomach, and nuzzled her cheek. "You've always had me."
Jane scowled, turning to face him. "A slave joke, really?"
He recoiled, surprised, before realizing how Jane interpreted his words – despite everything she'd done to help him and other turians, it seemed her guilt was always at the forefront of her mind. He quickly corrected, "Not like that, Jane."
She sighed, though she pressed herself closer to him. Jane anxiously ran her hand up and down his arm, mumbling, "I'm…sorry. I know you didn't mean it like that. I just…I…"
Garrus took her hand in his. "It's okay. I promise. I don't hold it against you, but I know you still feel guilty. We'll…we'll work through that together."
"Together," Jane agreed quietly. She paused and said, "There's a line from an old human play. 'The course of true love never did run smooth,' or something like that. If we're anything to go by, it sure doesn't. But if anybody's worth it, it's you."
Garrus smiled, hugging Jane tighter and hoping the gesture said all the things he didn't yet know how to say.
After a long silence, Jane asked timidly, "Garrus?"
"Mm?" Garrus replied, preoccupied with nuzzling her cheek and shoulder again.
"When did you fall in love with me?" Jane asked, almost shyly.
Huh. Wasn't that a hell of a question. Garrus wasn't entirely sure when he fell in love with Jane – had there ever really been a time before that? Loving Jane had been both as sudden as a gunshot and as gradual and natural as falling asleep. Much like Jane, Garrus realized. She was both so fierce and so gentle, so proud and so humble, a walking human contradiction that perhaps explained how she'd fallen in love with a turian.
"I'm…not sure," Garrus admitted. "But I do know when I realized it. You were at basic and I kept writing you letters, even though I knew you wouldn't get to read them. It didn't really occur to me until years later, of course, when I was applying to be a Spectre."
There was a beat before he realized, "Spirits. You did get to read those letters, didn't you?"
Jane laughed. "Yeah. I read them when I got back from basic. It was…hard."
"I sounded like a lovesick teenager in the last one," Garrus admitted sheepishly. He paused. "Then again, I guess I was."
Jane laughed again. Garrus went on, hesitant, "What about you? When did you realize it?"
"When I got back from basic," Jane replied, trying to fight off the horrible memory of learning the person who meant everything to her was gone. "When mom and dad told me they'd sold you and couldn't understand why I was so upset, I remember almost screaming at them that I loved you. But it didn't register until later for me, too. When I freed your mother and sister. Solana asked why I cared, and I didn't even have to think – because I loved you."
"Looks like we just missed each other, then," Garrus commented dryly. "If we'd figured it out any earlier, I wonder if things would have been different."
Jane's heart broke at the idea. What she wouldn't do to have those eleven years back with the love of her life. Eleven years of happiness and being together, instead of mourning and remembering and searching.
Garrus felt her sudden tension, once again pulling her even closer. "We won't get that time back. But what matters is now. We're together and we have all the time in the world."
Jane smiled, relaxing into his embrace. "I'll never let you go again, Garrus."
"I like the sound of that."
AN: Wow, this story has been an emotional journey. I came up with the idea well over 6 months ago, never realizing how lengthy this story would get or that writing it would get me through a particularly rough patch in my life. An indescribably huge thank you goes to my wonderful beta, best friend, and pseudo-sister, paradox_thought16, for getting me through this story and all the life drama that coincided with it.
Another indescribably huge thank you goes to you, my wonderful readers! You all have been so kind and so supportive, and I'm so thrilled you stuck with Jane, Garrus, and I until the end. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing for you. Stay tuned for a second and third Jane and Garrus story at some point in the (hopefully not too distant) future!
With that...LittlebutFiery, out.