A/N: Happy Friday! This chapter was an absolute delight to write and I hope that you enjoy it. The song that I chose for this chapter is very personal, since my boyfriend and I consider it to be "our song", and if you listen to it you'll understand why it's so sweet. Thank you again to all my readers and I'll see you on Monday! 3

Hard to Concentrate - Red Hot Chili Peppers

His heart had been pounding so heavily it was impossible that Zoey didn't hear it.

Although he had spent months concocting the plan - working with Anderson to organize the apartment, suggesting Normandy upgrades to Hackett to give them an excuse for shore leave, asking Liara for dance lessons, shopping for the ring with Tali, arranging the party and shore leave with Cortez, having James pay off the DJ to choose that specific song for their arrival - it still took every ounce of his bravery to utter those four words.

"Will you marry me?"

Every millisecond after the question stretched to an eternity. At first her expression was so stunned he expected her to shout "no!" with all of her might. But slowly her eyes began to light up, her cheeks flushed a delightful pink, and her lips spread over her teeth into a beautiful smile that set her whole face aglow.

"Yes," she whispered, her eyes glazing over, "a million times yes!"

A fire lit in his soul at her sweet words. Every cell inside of him began to dance in harmony, the rush of endorphins to his brain so strong that it was dizzying. He kissed her and the crowd - lead by James - cheered in excitement, fueling his moment of incredible happiness. They kissed long and deep, savouring their love, her fingers digging into him passionately. He finally pulled her up to her feet, wiping away a stray tear that had fallen down her cream-and-rose cheek.

In the human fashion - as suggested by Ashley - he went down onto one knee and from his civvies he removed a small, black, velvet box. When he shopped on the Presidium with Tali for the ring, she had been bored and restless, insisting that such material expressions of love were foolish. Each of the options she had dismissed as too simple, too showy, too colourful, too white. But as soon as the clerk had pulled this ring from the back, she had gasped, shouted 'Keelah!' and told Garrus he wasn't fit to be a husband if he didn't pick this ring. It had almost emptied out his savings account, but it was worth it.

The band was white gold, thin enough to be attractive but thick enough that it wouldn't break under the vast amount of pressure Shepard was sure to put on it. Sturdy claws held in three princess-cut diamonds, the central one slightly larger and brighter than the other two (but all of them small enough to slip easily into a glove). Tiny sapphires surrounded the diamonds, and as he opened the box, the light over head made them sparkle.

Zoey's right hand flew up to cover her mouth and she held her trembling left hand out for him, her eyes sparkling with tears of happiness yet unshed. He slipped the ring on to her slender finger (feeling extremely grateful for Traynor, who had hunted down Shepard's ring size) and kissed her hand before standing up and embracing her, both of them laughing ceaselessly.

"I love you, future husband," she whispered into his ear.

"I love you, future wife."

"Is everyone here?" Garrus muttered to Shepard.

A faint line developed between her brows as she scanned the room. "I think so. Miranda isn't here, but I suppose going to parties is low on your priority list when you're on the run from Cerberus."

"What we have will have to do then." He raised his glass high in the air and tapped his spoon against it to draw everyone's attention so he could speak into the crowd. "Excuse me! Could I have everyone's attention please? Yes, that means you too, Joker." He pulled up a nearby chair and awkwardly climbed to stand on it so he could have a better view of the team. "I think I'm speaking for Shepard when I say thank you for coming, and we really hope that you enjoy the evening.

"I would like to take this opportunity to make a quick announcement. As some of you may know, I love our Commander Shepard very much. Which is why I asked her to marry me today, and Spirits, she said yes!" He pulled Shepard up onto the chair with him and kissed her to the sounds of the team cheering in excitement. When they stepped down, the men immediately swarmed around Garrus, clapping his shoulder, patting his back, and wishing him congratulations. The women pulled Shepard away to admire the ring and ask her dozens of questions.

"When will you get married?"

"Did you expect him to propose?"

"Can I help plan the wedding?"

"We have to have a bachelorette party!"

Wrex, meanwhile, pulled Garrus aside. "I'm happy for you, Garrus," he said. "If she's strange enough to pick a turian, I'm glad it's you."

"Thanks, Wrex."

"Just do me a favour." Wrex lowered his voice as much as he could. "Shepard's like a sister to me. Take care of her for me, she's done a lot to help the krogan people and I'll rip off your good mandible if you hurt her."

Garrus felt a sickening swoop at the pit of his stomach, knowing that truly Shepard had only deceived the krogan. But if he were to follow Wrex's request and take care of her, he knew that he couldn't tell Wrex what she had done.

Joker's voice rang out above the commotion. "HEY EVERYONE! Let's have a few rounds for the happy couple!" This suggestion was met with a chorus of "hear hear!" The night proceeded with another round for the couple... And another... And another...

Garrus sat up and groaned, holding his head in his hands. His head felt like it had been beaten mercilessly with a bag of bricks and subsequently weighed several hundred pounds, so he gave up and lied back down.

"What happened?" Shepard whispered, rubbing her eyes in a failed attempt to ease the pain. "Why is Javik in our bathroom?" The Prothean proceeded to stand and regurgitate noisily into their toilet. "That explains it."

"I only remember flashes..." Garrus groaned and held his stomach, which was threatening to upend whatever it was that EDI cooked him the night before. "How much did we drink?"

Shepard's aching eyes fell to the two 40 oz bottles beside the bed. She had no idea who drank them, but it was an indication they had drank far too much.

"Did I wrestle Grunt?" Garrus asked while rubbing his bruised thigh. "I distinctly remember wrestling him, but why?"

Shepard's fingers ran over her dry and chapped lips. "You think that's weird? I'm pretty sure I kissed Traynor at one point. Something about 'making sure I'm straight before I take the plunge'."

James appeared at the door to their bedroom, a sly grin on his surprisingly pulled-together face. "Yeah you did! It was great!" He threw his head back and laughed at Garrus's astonished expression. "So, you guys want eggs? I'm gonna cook some eggs."

Shepard groaned and covered her rapidly reddening cheeks. "Thanks James, but I'm just gonna hide up here for a while."

"Same here," Garrus dropped his head back down on the pillow, covering his ears to drown out the sounds of Javik regurgitating again.

"Your loss amigos, I make a mean eggs Benny."

Shepard grabbed a bottle of warm water from the floor and emptied its contents down her throat. "Let's do ourselves a favour and take it easy on the drinking at the wedding if this group will be around. I think my implants might go on strike from the effort otherwise."

Although Garrus would have agreed, he was already snoring.

"Are you sure I can't join you?"

Shepard popped her scope onto her Javelin. "Aria was very insistent that I don't bring any of my Normandy crew with me."

Over and over again, he meticulously cleaned his Black Widow. "Send her my best, from Archangel."

"I will." She stood on her toes to kiss his mandible. "Time to flush out some Cerberus cronies. Shouldn't be more than a few days, my love."

She studied her ring and grinned on the ride up the elevator.