Past: As You Cry

He could tell that Red was irritated with him. She pushed her hair behind each ear, tucking the shoulder-length blond strands out of the way before sliding her hands along the length of her hair, collecting it in her right hand, and pulling it over her shoulder. The frequency with which this process was repeated made it clear to Shepard that Red was still angry. Hoping to head off an argument before it could truly begin, Shepard reached across the kitchen table to take her hand. He rubbed his thumb over the engagement ring on Red's finger, trying to coax her into a better mood. Red's eyes stayed glued to the invitation she was addressing as she ignored him.

"C'mon," he wheedled. "Don't go all quiet on me. Tell me why you're mad."

"You know why I'm upset." She stressed the word to highlight to Shepard that he'd used 'mad' incorrectly. Both of Red's parents were language and literature professors on Elysium.

"It's a stupid reason to be mad."

"Upset."

"Whatever, Red! It's dumb, and you know it! I'm marrying you."

"You want to ask a woman who's not only seen you—but—c'mon, Kiss! I mean, cut me some slack here. I'm not overreacting. Ask any woman, and she'll tell you I'm not overreacting. Regardless of what you think, I don't feel comfortable having Miranda Lawson standing up at the altar with us."

"God, are you listening to yourself? When you say it like that, you make it sound like I want a polygamous marriage! She's only going to be the best man. I haven't even asked her yet. You've met Lawson; she'll probably say no."

"Kiss. She's not going to say no."

"I'm not complaining about you asking Mona to be a bridesmaid, even though every time I see her she slaps my ass instead of shaking my hand like a normal person."

"Okay, what? She hasn't been hitting on you, has she?"

"This jealous streak is really unattractive."

"Screw you." Red pulled her hand away. "Mona is one of my oldest friends. We were all in N7 training together. I thought you liked Mona."

"I like her at a distance."

"She's one of my best friends! We've been through a lot together, and she's one of the few people I trust completely. And anyway, I shouldn't have to justify myself to you."

"But I have to justify myself?"

"Why do you want her to be your best man?"

Shepard sighed, and ran a finger over the place on his nose where the burn scar from Mindoir had been until Project Lazarus had replaced all of his skin. "Look," he said finally. "You want Mona because the two of you served together. You trust her. More than that though, you like her. You're comfortable around her. I—Most of the people I was close to that way are dead. Out of the handful who're left, there are two who look out for me even when I'm not looking out for myself." Shepard looked away and frowned. "Even though I think Miranda will probably say no, the odds of her saying yes are better than the odds of Ashley saying yes."

"You wanted to ask your ex-girlfriend to be your best man?" Red rolled her eyes towards the ceiling and assumed the attitude of a put-upon martyr. "Are you—Why not Anderson? Or that pilot—what's-his-face—Moreau? Even Dr. T'Soni—I mean, at least the asari are all mono-gendered. Why do your top two choices for best man have to be women? Why is your number one your ex?"

"This is stupid!" Shepard snapped. "Ashley and Lawson are my friends. That's all! I don't have many left, Red!"

"Fine! Ask them both to be your best man for all I care! But I reserve the right to be bitchy to both of them for the entirety of our marriage!"

"Forever's a long time to hold a grudge," Shepard teased, his anger burning away as quickly as it had flared. He folded Red's left hand in his right again. "I bet in twenty or thirty years, the three of you will have a knitting circle or something."

Slowly, Red's lips folded upwards in a reluctant smile. "Don't count on it. I hate knitting."

He smiled and kissed her palm. "Things change."

Author's Note: You know who's awesome? Telemachus78 and Tryvozhna, my awesome beta readers. Who are wicked awesome, did I mention that? Thank you, you two!

Other awesome people: all of you who've been reading/reviewing this. It's nice to see people don't hate me for using this story to completely destroy the OTP of Shepard/Ashley.