Tali wasn't sure how long she had cried for. She didn't care either, it felt as if her heart had been ripped from her chest. Tali didn't understand why Shepard had betrayed her. She thought everything had been going perfectly in their relationship.
We were going to have a bonding ceremony, and he was going to build me a house on Rannoch. We were going to adopt children and start a family. Tali reminisced.
She broke down again, realizing her dreams were over. When Tali had settled down again, she felt like she needed to talk to someone. In these situations, she would normally talk to Shepard. That wasn't going to happen, considering he was half the source of her problem. When he wasn't available, Tali would call her Auntie Raan. That couldn't happen for two reasons; first was Shala wasn't even aware of Tali's relationship with Shepard, second was Tali didn't want a lecture about why bonding to a human had been a bad idea. When Tali had needed womanly advice and Auntie Raan wasn't available, she had gone to Liara. That obviously wasn't going to happen, considering she was the other half or her problems.
The next person Tali thought of was Garrus. Though Garrus was a close friend, she never saw him as someone she could go to for advice. He normally filled that role for Shepard. Tali saw no other option, however, and tapped Garrus' contact on her omnitool. It rang a few times before Garrus' face popped up.
"Tali! How's it going?" Garrus cheerfully greeted. "What can I do for you?"
Tali didn't immediately respond, still trying to catch her breath from crying so hard. She was glad Garrus couldn't see her face, tears covered her face and her eyes were probably puffy from crying so hard for so long.
"Garrus…" Tali managed to choke out.
Garrus demeanor instantly changed from happy friend to concerned cop. He could tell by Tali's voice that she had been crying, and something was definitely not right. The worst case scenarios instantly ran through his mind.
"Tali, what's wrong?" Garrus asked, almost frantically. "Where's Shepard? Are you two alright?"
"John… he… cheated on me." she revealed slowly, feeling ashamed to admit it.
Garrus didn't initially appear shocked, he was still in cop-mode.
Okay, Shepard and Tali are both alive. And it appears they aren't in danger. he observed.
His initial fears abated, Garrus then realized the severity of what Tali had told him.
Spirits, Shepard. What did you do? he wondered.
Garrus switched from cop-mode to friend-mode.
"Ok, Tali, are you in your apartment?" he asked. When she nodded, he added, "Okay, I'll be right over. Tali, stay there."
During his time in C-Sec, Garrus had seen people do crazy things after being cheated on. He only hoped Tali hadn't, or wouldn't, do anything rash. After she nodded again, Garrus hung up. He practically sprinted out of his hotel, and flagged down the first taxi he saw.
"Tiberius Towers, double-time it." Garrus ordered the taxi driver.
The driver did just that, and Garrus was at the apartment building in record time. He ran to the elevator, and tapped his foot the entire way up, willing it to go faster. When the doors opened, Garrus ran to the apartment.
He rang the doorbell, and spoke into the intercom, "Tali, it's Garrus."
The door opened, revealing a quarian with her hands at her sides, her head looking down at the floor. Just by her body language, Garrus could tell she was fatigued, as if she'd been crying for a long time. He walked over and gave Tali a compassionate hug, which she returned. Garrus led her to one of the living room couches, and he took seat on the other.
He paused before speaking, "Ok, Tali, tell me what happened."
Tali took deep, shaky sigh, mentally composing herself before beginning.
"I walked in the front door, and John was sitting on the couch. And Liara was… straddling him… kissing him." she told softly, her eyes staring at her lap.
Her fingers were intertwined, dancing nervously together.
Damnit, Liara! What the hell is wrong with you and Shepard? Garrus cursed internally, though his face remained stoic.
"When I saw them, I gasped and dropped that model ship box over there. I couldn't comprehend what I was seeing." Tali continued, having to stop a few times to cry. "John pushed Liara off of him, he said 'I know what this looks like'. I knew damn well what it looked like, like my soon-to-be lifemate was kissing our friend!"
Garrus saw a distinct lack of blood or broken objects in the apartment, so he determined Tali's reaction couldn't have been too violent.
"So, what did you do next?" he asked.
Tali paused before answering, "I… I lunged for Liara. I wanted to rip her head off."
"I know why you would feel that way." Garrus replied.
She shot him a nasty look.
"Do you? Do you really? You know what it's like to see your bondmate, the only one you will ever have, kissing someone else?" Tali asked, furious. "John is the only one my body will ever adapt to, the only one my soul will ever want! Keelah, I love him so much, and he doesn't love me back!"
Tali broke down and started sobbing. Garrus immediately moved over to her, and gave her a comforting hug.
"He was my everything, the most important person in the galaxy to me. And he threw it all away, I'm nothing to him!" Tali squeezed out in between sobs. "Now I'll spend the rest of my life loving someone who doesn't love me back! Why, Ancestors, what did I do to deserve this?"
Garrus just held her until she stopped crying again.
"How could he do this to me? Why doesn't he love me, Garrus?" she asked quietly. "I gave him everything I had, my heart and soul. And it wasn't enough for him."
"Tali, if there's one thing I know, it's that Shepard loves you. Everyone on the Normandy knows it." Garrus replied. "Now, tell me what happened next."
"When I lunged for Liara, I didn't know that John was between her and me. I hit him full speed, and he wrapped me up in his arms as he fell backwards." Tali answered. "He pinned me down, but he didn't hurt me at all. I think he knew what I would do if I got to Liara."
Garrus commented, "It sounds like he was not only protecting her, but protecting you as well. He didn't want you to hurt her."
Tali just nodded.
"After she had left, he got off me and helped me up. I just slapped him, and started screaming at him." she recounted. "Keelah, Garrus, I was so mad at him. He tried to explain himself, but I don't even remember what he said."
"You had every right to be mad at him." he stated.
"I just kept yelling at him, when he tried to come closer I started hitting him." Tali added. "I told him to just leave, which he reluctantly did. He hesitated, tried to apologize, so I threw that datapad over there at him."
Garrus almost chuckled at the mental image of Shepard dodging an incoming datapad. But he realized this was no time to laugh, so he held it in.
"So, you didn't get a chance to hear his side of the story?" Garrus asked.
Tali just shook her head.
"Tali, I know you probably don't want to hear this. But, Shepard loves you more than I've seen anyone love someone." Garrus stated. "Have you considered that maybe this was Liara's idea? You did say he pushed her off of him."
Tali sighed, "I want to believe that, Garrus, I really do. But he only pushed Liara off of him after he heard me gasp and drop the box."
Just then, Glyph hovered over to the two of them.
"Miss Zorah? I have information that I think may be relevant to your situation." it stated, what sounded like concern in it's voice.
"What is it, Glyph?" Tali asked, half-annoyed.
Glyph answered, "I have a recording of the event in question. I record everything to help Dr. T'Soni with her Shadow Broker responsibilities."
The recording started, a hologram of the entire living room was projected on the coffee table. Tali and Garrus saw Liara enter the apartment.
"Liara? What are you doing here?" Shepard asked.
Liara answered, "Tali invited me over."
"What? I didn't invite her over!" Tali stated, incredulously.
Garrus shushed her, wanting to hear the rest of the recording. The recording continued, showing Liara lying about Tali's whereabouts. It also showed her sitting on the same couch as Shepard, after he had motioned for her to sit on the other. When Liara scooted over to Shepard, anger began to swell inside Tali.
"Uh… Liara… you're a little close." he said, trying to politely let her know he didn't approve.
So he didn't plan beforehand to cheat on me. Tali observed.
"Why did you pick her, Shepard?" Liara asked. "I thought we had something special."
"Liara, what happened before Ilos wasn't out of love. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but it's the truth." he responded. "I love Tali, with all my heart and soul. And nothing will ever change that."
Tali wasn't sure what Shepard had meant when he referred to Ilos, that was over three years ago. But, after hearing what he said about her, she began to have hope that what happened wasn't Shepard's fault.
"Come on, Shepard, just one more time." she proposed. Leaning close to his ear, she whispered, "And Tali will never know."
"Leave, now." he demanded, in a menacing tone. "I wasn't going to tell Tali about this before, but she needs to know now."
After hearing that, the hope inside Tali grew. Not only had he denied Liara's request, but he was going to tell Tali about it. The hope grew further when Tali saw Shepard try to get up, but get pulled back down by Liara. The anger inside her flared when she saw Liara straddle Shepard.
"Liara!" Shepard yelled, furious with the asari. "What are you..."
Both Tali and Garrus saw that it was Liara who kissed Shepard. It only lasted a few seconds. But, what came next was even more important. They both saw Shepard push Liara off of him before, not after, Tali gasped and dropped the box. In her shock, Tali had remembered what happened incorrectly.
Keelah, John pushed Liara off before I reacted. she noticed.
Tali turned to Garrus, "Garrus, he didn't cheat on me!"
She was elated to find out Shepard had played no part in what happened. He was innocent. Tali hugged Garrus, who reciprocated.
"I had a feeling he was innocent. It was too out-of-character for him." he admitted.
The two turned back to the recording just in time to see Tali lung for Liara. They watched in silence as Shepard pinned Tali to the ground, and Liara ran out of the apartment. Tears welled in Tali's eyes as she watched herself slap him, and yell at him when he tried to explain what happened. She winced as she saw herself start hitting Shepard, and throw a datapad at him. A tear fell down her cheek as she watched Shepard apologize and leave the apartment. He had only raised his voice once, and immediately apologized afterward. Shepard also never hit her back once, even after the barrage Tali subjected him to.
"I also managed to acquire this security camera footage." Glyph stated.
The recording switched to the hallway just outside the apartment. Tears fell when Tali saw what Shepard had done after she changed the keycode.
He started pounding on the door. "Tali, I love you! Please… let me in!" Shepard begged over and over.
She began sobbing as she watched him endlessly pound on the door.
"Glyph, turn it off." Garrus ordered.
Glyph promptly obeyed.
Tali felt horrible, it wasn't Shepard's fault at all. But she had screamed at him, hit him repeatedly, and kicked him out of the apartment.
When Tali calmed down, she asked, "Glyph, where's John now?"
"Based on his omnitool data, the Commander appears to be in the Silver Coast Casino. On the second floor, at the bar, to be precise." the drone answered.
She looked at Garrus, "I have to go. He needs to know I know it wasn't his fault."
"You're right. I'll go there with you, but you should go in alone." Garrus responded.
Tali hugged the drone, "Thanks for everything, Glyph."
"It was my pleasure, Miss Zorah. Have a pleasant evening." Glyph responded.
Tali and Garrus rushed out of Tiberius Towers, and sprinted towards Silver Coast.
Shepard sat at the bar in the Silver Coast Casino, eyeing a full glass of Jack Daniel's. It was the same glass he had ordered hours ago when he first got there, and hadn't touched it. Most of his time had been spent with his head on his arms on the bar counter, silently crying. Shepard felt like his entire world had come crashing down. He thought Tali believed it was all his fault. Shepard doubted she would take him back. Even if Tali did, he knew their relationship would never be the same. Tali would always look Shepard as unfaithful, always be concerned that he would cheat on her again. And there was nothing he could do to change that. Shepard was also furious with Liara. Her own inability to control her drinking, and therefore, her actions, had caused all this mess. There was going to be hell to pay when Shepard saw Liara again.
His thoughts were interrupted by a human woman sitting down next to him at the bar. She would've been considered very attractive by any human man's standards. She was fit, she had a pretty face, and long, brown hair. She also was wearing a revealing dress that accentuated her hourglass figure. Shepard glanced over at her. He didn't find her attractive, the only woman he had any interest in anymore was Tali. And that was the way Shepard wanted it. He wasn't aware of it, but his bond to Tali was the reason for that.
"Commander Shepard?" The woman asked. "Isn't this a wonderful surprise! Mind if I sit here?"
Shepard didn't respond.
Brushing off his reaction, she continued, "I'm also surprised to see you here alone. Rumor has it you're dating a quarian woman."
Shepard turned sharply to her.
"I am. And she has a name, by the way, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. We're actually engaged in her culture." he responded harshly. "At least, we were engaged. We had a fight tonight, and… I don't know."
The woman put a hand on his back and rubbed it affectionately.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Commander." she said, moving her hand to his thigh. "She must be crazy to let you go."
Shepard swatted her hand away.
"Even if she doesn't love me anymore, I'll always love her." Shepard barked at her. "Now leave me alone."
The woman was undeterred, however, "Oh, come on, Commander. She doesn't deserve…"
Her sentence was interrupted by a three-fingered fist connecting squarely with her jaw. The woman fell off her seat and looked up from the ground to see a menacing quarian woman standing over her.
"He said leave him alone, you bitch!" Tali hissed at the woman.
The woman backed away to safety as Tali growled at her.
She then turned to Shepard and hugged him tightly.
"John! I'm so sorry, Glyph showed me everything!" she exclaimed as she cried into his shoulder. "I know you didn't cheat. I love you so much, please forgive me!"
"Tali, you have nothing to be sorry for. I know how bad it looked, I didn't expect you to react any differently." Shepard replied as he hugged her back even tighter. "I'm sorry for putting you in that position. I love you, Tali, I thought I lost you."
The two bondmates stood there for a few minutes, hugging and telling each other how much they meant to each other.
Tali whispered in John's ear, "Come on, saera, let's go home."
"Of course, Miss vas Normandy." Shepard whispered back. As they walked out, Shepard added, "By the way, you have the best right hook I've ever seen."
Tali giggled as she pulled Shepard in close. Their future was alive again. Nothing would ever drive them apart.