Authors notes: Mass Effect is the property of BioWare

Chapter 5: The party

It was the last week of the first term at UBA and Thane had barely even noticed. The last few weeks had flown by him at light speed. Since he had made friends with Rick, Lindsey and Steve he had been spending most of his free time with them, just hanging around and chatting. He finally felt like he was part of a group that accepted him and that showed in his attitude. Now, instead of groaning and cursing when his alarm went off, he jumped out of bed and practically skipped down the corridors to meet them. Sure there was only three of them, but through them Thane had actively spoken and joked with many other people at the academy. This was a big deal for him. Then of course there was Kat.

He had stuck to his decision to just be friends with her and didn't regret it at all. Sure he still had feelings for her; she was still the most beautiful person he'd seen and he would gladly chop off his right arm to be with her but she had a boyfriend, so he was fine with being friends. Thane assured himself it was better than nothing. They laughed and joked around in class together, much to the annoyance of their teacher but it never got past the friend stage. Sure they flirted but Kat was a girl, girls always flirted with guys. Thane knew better than to read anything into it, for his own sanity if nothing else. Although Thane considered them good friends they didn't speak or hang out much outside of lessons. They both exchanged friendly greetings and stopped to talk to each other in passing, but whenever Thane had gone over to talk to her or if Kat had come to see him, the walking tank Mark Orson had shown up and quickly killed the conversation before hurrying Kat away. Thane knew he shouldn't, but he enjoyed the jealousy in the other guy's eyes. He always had to fight back a sly grin whenever Mark came over for one of his interventions. The two of them always acted courteously towards each other but Thane that knew if Kat hadn't have been there he would have been flat on his back in seconds.

Besides Kat and a handful of other people, Thane didn't have much communication or connection outside of his small friend group. He had talked to other people but none of them had been more than acquaintances, so when a stranger walked over to their table one-morning brandishing envelops, Thane was more than a little surprised to say the least.

"Hello boys and girls." The invader said, too cheerily for Thane's liking. He took a quick look at Steve, then Lindsey sitting next to him, glanced across the table at Rick before ending at Thane. They all reply with greetings but nowhere near as friendly as the strangers had been.

"Ok I know it's the morning but no need to sound so depressed. Lighten up; your day is about to get a hell of a lot better. These-" he handed one envelope to each person on the table, "are your invitations to the half term party. Inside are all the details you will need including time, place, and dress code. Hope you can make it." The messenger smiled at the table as a whole and turned to leave but Steve had other ideas.

"Hang on a sec, why didn't you just mail them to us over the extranet?"

"Because this party is…" He paused. "Off the record, shall we say? We wouldn't want the academy catching wind of it. Feel privileged, you must know someone important to get invites to this party, it's a private event."

The stranger left as quickly as he had arrived, vanishing into the crowd of people queuing to get their morning meal. They waited till he was out of earshot before talking again.

"Who the hell was that? And what did he mean by we must know someone important? Why aren't we important?" Rick voiced what was on everyone's mind. This had all come a bit out of the blue and taken Thane by surprise, but he thought he knew what the delivery boy meant.

He looked over to where Kat, Mark and their friends sat and found Kat had been eagerly staring at him the whole time. She scrunched her features up and a massive grin lit up her face when Thane looked over to her. She held her own invitation up and gestured towards it with a thumbs up. Thane smiled and shook his head before returning the action slightly sarcastically but heartfelt none the less. Kat smiled properly when she saw this and put her fringe behind her ear, smiling all the while as it fell back in to its original place. Mark quickly put his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder protectively and pulled her close to him, meeting Thane's eyes with an ominous glare. Thane nodded straight-faced at him and saw Kat chuckle in Marks arm. He didn't return the gesture; instead turned himself and Kat back towards their friend group. Thane did the same and was met with a wall of faces, each on staring at him.

"Oh of course it would be Thane's lover girl who gets us into the cool party." Steve jeered at him as Thane looked between the three. They had been teasing Thane about Kat since the first time she came over to talk to him and hadn't let up once since then. Thane went slightly pinker than usual and focused on his plate full of food.

"Com on guys, again with this? We're just friends ok." He returned to eating his meal as if that would somehow stop them. It didn't.

"You can lie to yourself all you want mate but we know how you look at her, and she knows how you look at her. If I'm honest I think she looks at you a bit in the same way as well if you know what I'm saying." Rick laughed and smacked Thane on the back, causing him to choke on his food.

"What?" Thane managed to get out through splutters and coughs.

"Don't tease him Rick!" Lindsey scowled playfully. "He did this to me and Steve before we got together as well, it's just because he's lonely."

"Wow wow. Bit harsh Lindsey." Rick clutched at his heart mockingly. "There was no need for that sort of personal attack."

"Shut up you big oaf, that's what you get for being mean. But he right Thane, although he worded it terrible as usual. We know you like her-"

Thane opened his mouth to object but Lindsey raised a hand.

"Don't even try to deny that part of it." Smiled Steve, speaking on Lindsey's behalf. Thane looked back down at his food and Lindsey gave Steve a quick kiss on the check before proceeding.

"Yeah so you like her, quite a bit I'm guessing and as a girl I can tell you she likes you too."

"Well you're wrong." Thane began. "She only sees me as a friend and I'm fine with that. Plus she has a boyfriend remember? That massive mountain of a man that looks like he could tear my arms off and beat me to death with them without breaking a sweat."

"Are you fine with that though?" Asked Lindsey.

Thane could feel his answer bubbling up in his throat; there was nothing he could do to stop it. It was as if his words had taken a mind of there own and before he could even think about what he was saying they slithered their way out of his lips.

"No"

"Told you." Lindsey crossed her arms triumphantly and smiled to Steve how squeezed her shoulder in congratulation.

"Well sorry to say mate but while that walking steroid is in the picture you're pretty fucked."

"Thanks for summing that up for me Rick, I hadn't realised." Thane shot him a wicked stare but followed it up with a smile.

Rick place an arm round Thanes neck and pulled him close into a light headlock.

"Plenty of fish in the sea mate. You might even find on at that party there."

Thane had completely forgotten about the envelope that lay in his lap. His friend's little interrogation had side tracked him so he took this reprieve to cautiously open the plain envelope. Inside was an equally as plain piece of paper with a single paragraph on it detailing the party.

"Dear invitee.

We ask that you join us for a night of festivities to celebrate the first half term of UBA. The night will commence at 7:00pm a week from today and continue on until the early hours of the morning. There will be a serving of food and drinks but if you would like something special please supply your own. The dress code is informal but nothing garish please.

We look forward to your attendance

Yours sincerely, Room 573"

Lindsey, Steve and Rick had all read their invites while Thane was miming to Kat so they looked at him expectantly till he finished reading and put the invite down.

"Well, you guys going?"

Rick answered first.

"Fuck that mate, your on your own with this one."

"Yeah sorry to be a pain but this doesn't really sound like my sorta thing, plus we're spending that night together aren't we." Lindsey gave Steve a mischievous grin and his eyes lit up.

"Oh yeah. I'm not even going to bother with an excuse Thane; I've got better things to be doing. Like Lindsey."

Thane chocked a little again.

"Please people, eating here. I don't want to be thinking of all that right now."

"Sorry," Came Lindsey's none apology. "Looks like you're the only one going then, bet that is going to be fun and not awkward."

"Great, thanks guys. I'll remember this." Thane pointed to each one of them in turn trying to glare but they didn't look intimidated in the slightest.

It was the night of the party and Thane had spent a good hour and a half picking out clothes and getting ready in the mirror. He still couldn't decide on what to wear and it was getting close to seven. He wasn't normally picky with what he wore, just the UBA uniform and a hoodie was normally enough but tonight he would be around new people. He had to look good.

His room was a mess; it was good he didn't share with anyone. There were clothes scattered all around him, empty coffee cups all over his desk and magazines thrown with reckless abandon on the sofa. He had somehow managed to fill a two-person room up with just his own belongings and was a little embarrassed of it. He paced through the obstacle course at his feet and picked out a pair of dark blue jeans and a white and black flannel shirt.

"Shit, this will have to do then" He though to himself glancing over at the time and realising it was already ten past seven. He got dressed and took one final look in the mirror, flattened down his hair, grabbed his trusty teal hoodie and left for the party.

Thane didn't go to many parties. In fact this was his first proper teenage party so it was safe to say he was a little nervous, he hadn't even really drank alcohol before. His dad had given him a beer every now and then but he had never gotten drunk, he didn't think tonight was a good time to start. The last thing he wanted was to act like an idiot in front of new people and then throw up everywhere. Actually scratch that, the last thing he wanted was to do that in front of Kat. A sudden silencing thought hit Thane like a bullet and he froze on the spot. He was going to have to be sociable with Kat, for a long period of time. This wasn't going to be the same as class; they weren't forced to be there for one. Fear and panic slapped Thane across the face; he considered just forgetting it, going back into his room and spending the night alone, maybe watch a holo or something. That way at least he wouldn't have an opportunity to embarrass himself. The thought burned darker and hotter in his mind, singeing his will power and slowly lifting his foot off the ground and his mind back to bleak loneliness.

But he stopped.

His foot fell back into place in front of him and he carried on. Every ounce of his being was telling him, screaming at him to stop. But he powered through. In his head, Kat's Lovely smile kept him going. It had covered up all his other thoughts, for now there was only her smile. The thought of seeing that wonderful smile, despite all his fears and apprehensions, was enough to get him to the party. For the first time he didn't care what happened, he just wanted to see and talk to Kat.

Knock knock knock.

Thane could just about hear room 573 from the corridor outside. It was surprising how sound-proof these rooms were, what did they think the kids were going to be doing in there? Thane heard some hush voices and some rustling behind the door. It opened a crack and the sound of music filled the air.

"Invitation?" Came a gruff voice from inside.

Thane reached into his jean pocket and pulled the small envelope housing his invite. He poked it through the door opening and it was promptly snatch out of his grasp. A few excruciating seconds went by when Thane thought he had forgotten to replace the invite or picked up the wrong piece of paper by mistake but in spite of his frets the door swung open and he was rushed in. On the other side of wall the atmosphere changed completely. It was packed, the place was big but even it was having trouble keeping the amount of people inside its barriers. Room 573 was larger than Thane's by a considerable margin. It was a deluxe room, one for the children of rich family's and dignitaries. It more closely resembled a pent house than a boarding school room.

This was not what Thane had imagined at all. It was a teenage party so he didn't expect black tie and wine but from the invite he had gotten a sense of class at least. Around him were all manner of individuals doing all manner of things. There were topless girls running around being chased by equally as naked guys. People were sitting round a table doing shots of a clear, smoking liquid while chanting what sounded like an ancient ritual. Thane continued on through the room and found an area full of people dancing, grinding their bodies up against each other. Every now and then there was a couple dotted into the crowd, some feeling feistier than others. They weren't exactly hiding it; he could clearly see a girl with her hand in a stranger's pants while there lips locked in a sloppy kiss. Thane took a long look at the room and quickly decided that was not for him, he decided instead to find a quieter area of the party to see if he could spot Kat. Amongst this many people though, Thane didn't bet very highly on his chances.

He jostled his way through a particularly loud group of people all laughing about some hilarious act their friend "Trucker" had performed while drunk. Thane didn't ever want to know what he had done by the sounds they were making so quickly hurried through trying to block out their noise. Through a fleeting gap in the crowd he spotted vacant bar stools and the hope of some space. He burst through to the other side of the room and fell deflated onto a stool. Thane wasn't sure he could handle this till the early hours of the morning; surrounded by proper teenagers. These people did real teenage things like clubbing and having sex. Thane sat home alone in the evenings practicing biotics or watching a holo. It was safe to say he was a little intimidated; he didn't even have anyone he knew at the party for reassurance as Kat had yet to make her appearance.

A girl caught his attention out the corner of his eye. She had brown flowing hair and was wearing a short black dress. Thane couldn't make out any more detail from his position but he could see what she was doing. She was looking at him intently and whispering to her friends, he eyes never leaving him. Thane decided not to acknowledge their existence; they were probably just bad mouthing him anyway if experience was anything to go by. Then she started to walk over to. This took Thane by surprise; normally it wasn't girls that actively sought him out to make jokes. He turned in on his stool to face her and awaited the silver-tongued attack.

"Hey! Excuse me!" The brunette cried, more than a little drunk. "Are you that Thane Shepard kid?"

"Uhh yeah that's me." Thane didn't want to give them any more ammunition so kept it short and sweet. She clearly wasn't in a fit state to listen to a long answer anyway.

"I knew it!" She screamed smiling to herself. She turned around to face her friends that were all watching like it was a film. "See I told you it was him bitches!"

"My name's Vicky but I doubt you know that. I'm Kats roommate."

Thane's eyes widened as a million questions blazed through his mind at light speed. How did Vicky know who he was? Why had she come over to find out? Why were he friends wondering as well? Where is Kat?

"Where is Kat?"

Again the words jumped out of his mouth before he had a chance to think, he really had to work on that before it got him into trouble.

"Slow down there lover boy." Vicky slurred waggling a finger from side to side.

Thane flushed with embarrassment. Why did everybody keep calling him that? He had to put a stop to that nickname quick.

Thane opened his mouth to speak but was quickly silenced by an aggressively placed finger on his lips.

"Shhh shhh shush… Shush. Come dance with us!" The drunken girl pulled on Thane's shirt with surprising force for the state she was in and shoved him towards her friends.

Thane didn't know what had happened; one moment he had been sitting down on his own and the next he was in the middle of the dance floor. Vicky followed after him, pushing him forward and blocking his escape as her friends cheered her on. He resisted but was not expecting to be man handled so could barely do anything to stop Vicky's determination to get him dancing. Her friends all reached out and grabbed Thane when he got with in arms reach and pulled him into a large group hug. Thane's only thought was to watch his hands, there was so much opportunity for a misunderstanding in this situation.

The girls all cheered again and Thane just looked at each one in disbelief and fear. He had never seen so many attractive girls happy to see him before, he wasn't sure if he liked it. He definitely didn't trust it though. Thane's mind was still packed with questions. There was no logical reason why all these girls would want to even be near him, let alone dance with him.

"Umm sorry but I don't- I'm not really sure- what's going on here?" Thane finally managed to finish a sentence before being pushed and crowded by the other dancers around him.

"Because Kat wont shut up about you that's why!" One of the girls answered but Thane couldn't tell which one. He heard another one shouting to him above the booming music.

"You're like her Romeo! She says you're the loveliest person she knows and all that shit but she never said you were HOT. Damn!" A chorus of agreement from the other girls followed.

Thane didn't know what to say, He had never been called hot before and yet here was a group of complete strangers yelling it at him like it was something that happened everyday. Of course Thane didn't believe them, he chalked it up to the alcohol and brushed the compliment off.

"Umm thanks I think." His voice turned more serious as he asked the girls a question. He had to bend down to get to their ear level which proved harder than he thought in the confined space. "What does Kat say about me?"

The girls all giggled to each other in unison, which only left Thane more confused than he already was. He didn't think he had said anything funny.

"You like her don't you!" One of the girls teased and poked him rather hard in the chest.

"What?" Thane was completely knocked off balance by her accusation. "No I don't"

"Yes you do! It's so obvious you do."

"No seriously, I don't"

"Well that's a shame then, because she sure as hell likes you." A mischievous grin crept across the girls face and she stared right into Thane's now saucer sized eyes.

"Crissy you can't say that! She has a boyfriend!"

"What? Its true, you all know it."

"Well clearly yeah, but this guy don't."

Their attention focused back on Thane who was stood completely still. People were being pushed into him but his feet didn't move, only his upper body rolled with the tide as the sea of people moved as one object. He was looking at none of them, just staring straight ahead. His mouth was slightly ajar and his eyes were blank.

Thane's head was buzzing. It was so full of noise and ideas and questions that he couldn't contemplate it. Only one sentence was discernable above the ruckus.

"She sure as hell likes you."

He didn't know how to process that information. In all his eighteen years of life he hadn't yet had to face this. Someone liked him, and not just anyone, but someone he liked as well. He found it hard to believe at first but the way they tried to cover it up was all the convincing he needed. He didn't know how to react, he wanted to leap up into the air and shout but he knew better than that. He wanted to find the highest point in UBA and scream from the top of it. He couldn't help but let a smile appear on his face that slowly grew and grew until he was grinning like an idiot. A hard push on his back snapped him back into the room and he realised that the whole group of girls were now staring at him and whispering again.

"What?" he asked a lot happier than he meant to.

"Awwwww! You're so adorable. You really like her don't you? Oh you're too cute!"

"Speak of the devil." One of the girls pointed over her shoulder subtly as the pink haired girl approached her friends.

"Hey! I thought I told you guys to wait by the speakers, if I'm not drinking you have to at least keep me company." Kat sounded more annoyed than actually irritated when she spoke to the group and she hadn't even noticed Thane yet. He was relived she didn't as he still bore a ridiculous grin which was quickly wiped from his face.

He gazed at her, the single clean piece in an otherwise dirty jigsaw that was the party. She wore a tight black dress that hung down of off one shoulder. It showed off just enough of her thigh to be enticing without being slutty and just enough cleavage to remain alluring without giving the game away. It hugged her body perfectly and made her already stellar arse look fantastic. Thane was surprised at how sexual he was thinking, but she brought it out in him. She wore her hair like normal, which Thane loved, and her eyes were like blue stars in the dark party room.

Kat finally took notice of where the other girls were looking and turned around too see what was so important. Her eyes met Thanes and sparkled like diamonds as she smiled at him.

"Thane!" She brought him down for a huge hug that Thane returned, still a little shaken by the night's revelations so far.

"Where have you been?" Kat continued. "I've been looking everywhere for you, when did you get here? Never mind come-on, come sit down with me"

She grabbed him by the hand and let him off out of the crowd. Thane glanced over his shoulder at the group of drunken girls who were all giving him thumbs up and laughing. They quickly resumed to their night of drinking and dancing before Thane had even looked away. He couldn't help but look down at Kat's hand, gripped around his own. Her hand was soft, delicate and yet it tightly wrapped around his, making sure she didn't loose him as the trudged through the rest of the partygoers.

Soon they arrived to where Thane assumed Kat had been leading him. They entered into a slightly smaller room with its own music. The mood in this room was very different to the party room. The music was chilled out and relaxing unlike the dance music the rest of 573 was listening to. There was only a small scattering of groups, each group peacefully talking amongst themselves and laughing but not even close to the levels of the rest of the party. In one corner, sat on a selection of sofas and chairs, was the group that Kat hung around with around the academy. They all looked dressed up but none of them compared to her. Kat let go of Thanes hand once they grew near and he wanted nothing more than to grab it again straight away but he restrained himself, he could wait.

The closer Thane got the easier it was for him to see people; he knew them all from around the academy and they all smiled or offered a quaint gesture when Kat and him turn up. Except for one rather large guy sitting on the edge of one of the sofas. Mark looked up at Thane with contempt. If looks could hurt Mark's would have punched Thane in the face and then stamped on his balls. Thane didn't look on Mark with any more kindness than he himself was shown but refused to match his stare for fear of accidently challenging Mark to a fight. Kat sat down next to Mark and motioned for Thane to sit on the other side of her. He raised an eyebrow at Kat and then looked at Mark who stared straight through the back of his head. Kat motioned again at the vacant seat and smiled up, instantly breaking any will power Thane had to refuse. He sat down and Kat smiled at him before turning to Mark.

"Hey Mark I'm going to catch up with Thane for a bit now that ok?"

"Yeah sure, whatever. I'm going to get another beer" Mark downed the beer in his hand and walked away without saying another word.

"I'm sorry about him, he doesn't like me talking to other guys really. That's why I've kinda been keeping my distance recently." Kat half looked down into her lap as she spoke but quickly brought her face back up and smiled.

"So how are you finding the party? Drunk yet?"

"Actually I haven't drunk anything at all. I barely got here and your friends in that room basically kidnapped me and forced me to dance against my will. Thanks for that." The blame thinly veiled a layer of sarcasm in Thanes voice that Kat easily picked up on.

"Hey!" She punched him softly in the arm. Thane was suddenly reminded of how his mum and dad acted around each other but quickly pushed them from his mind, this was definitely not the time for them.

"It's not my fault, I didn't even know they would recognise you let alone talk to you. How awkward was it with them?"

"Not great if I'm honest. They were all a bit too drunk to really notice though so it wasn't too bad."

"They weren't that drunk were they?"

"One of them yelled at me that I was hot so yeah quite drunk."

"Oh god yeah they must have been off their faces then." Kat's mouth curled up into a grin and she couldn't help but laugh at her own joke. Thane too laughed. He didn't even bother defending himself, he saw how happy the joke made her and didn't want to ruin it.

They continued to talk and laugh as the party went on, oblivious to the people coming and going either side of them. As their conversation went on Thane truly relaxed. He let himself go and started talking about personal things and opening up to Kat and in return so did she. He told her about his parents and Garrus while she talked about her childhood. Thane learnt that her parents were no longer together and she lived with her grandparents. He learnt that her favourite colour was ice blue, oddly the same colour as her eyes and he learnt that she had a fear of heights. Thane loved spending time with Kat. She was one of the only people he could be completely open with, no fear of it being used against him or being let out into the grape vine.

He loved spending time with Kat.

He loved Kat.

Somewhere deep at the back of his mind was a small voice yelling "I told you so!" and Thane couldn't blame it. Since the first time he had laid eyes on Kat he had loved her, but he thought things like that only ever happened in old movies. He had kept that voice locked away for so long because of Mark. While Kat and Mark were in a relationship Thane would not intervene. Him and Kat would remain just friends even if it tore him up on the inside.

Thane continued to listen to Kat speak, just relaxing into the grammar she used and the way she spoke. Her words washed over him like gentle ocean surf on a warm day. They took it in turns telling stories of their past. Tales of adventure as kids or getting in to trouble back home, however Kat's stories greatly outnumbered the amount of stories Thane had.

The hours went by like sand through an hourglass but Thane never wanted this night to end. He wanted to stay on that exact sofa with Kat, for the rest of his life and just talk about anything. He wanted to talk until they ran out of words and then stay with each other in silence until time itself stopped, but unfortunately the party was winding down and people were leaving. It was about two o'clock in the morning now and the party was emptying fast. The music had stopped and the dance floor was empty. The group of Kat's friends the two sat amongst slowly stood up and gathered their belongings. Mark returned and spoke at the couple, still engrossed in conversation.

"Kat come on, after party. PRIVATE after party." Mark stared at Thane and he got the message. He wasn't about to mess with a mountain.

"Ok cool." Kat said, looking up at her boyfriend and smiling briefly before returning to Thane.

"Thanks for hanging out with me tonight Thane, I had a really nice time. Good to catch up." She smiled broadly at Thane and brought him in close for a hug. "I'll see you round yeah?"

"Of course, we'll have to organize a day for just us two to hang out."

"Oh I would love that!" Kat yelped excitedly. "Ok, bye Thane."

Kat and Mark left the party along with the rest of their group and Thane shortly followed their lead but made the trip to his own room alone. He unlocked the door and flicked the lights on, the sound of the party still ringing in his ears. He was exhausted; Thane didn't even bother properly undressing before getting into bed. He simply threw his hoodie and shirt on the floor, followed by his jeans and fell into bed still wearing boxers and a t-shirt. The warm mattress cradled his body and the pillow massaged his head sending him with a tender hug off into sleep, happy with how his evening had played out.

Thane awoke, blurry eyed and unaware to the sound of banging on his door. No one ever knocked on his door let alone at this time. He stumbled around in the darkness, desperately trying to get his bearings after being so rudely awoken. Still the banging continued. He whispered into the darkness.

"If someone isn't dead then shit is going to hit the fan."

The banging carried, regardless of his threats and annoyance. Thane eventually gave up on trying to find his jeans and instead threw on his training pants. Whoever was there would have to deal with whatever state he was in, its their own fault. Thane flicked the light switch on the wall illuminating his room and opened the door ready to scream at however was getting him out of bed. But what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks.

Instead of the drunken frat boy with a wiseass mouth he thought would be outside he was met with a very different sight that tore his heart in two. Standing in his doorway, high heels in hand, mascara running down her face and sobbing slightly, was Kat.