Nate POV

A few days later 7:00 AM

They managed to salvage as much of Miranda, Oriana and Jacks stuff they could from the wreckage that used to be their mansion. They had surprisingly few possessions, considering how big their mansion was. Oriana had one or two toys and whilst Miranda had some novels and Jack had that book I saw in her room. They each had a full wardrobe filled with a multitude of clothes and shoes. Jade had some toys and personal belongings she wouldn't let anyone touch. Her eyes were really puffy and she looked like her world was falling apart. It actually hurt me seeing someone as young as her with the same expression I had when I saw Ashley's body.

They settled in fairly quickly. Jade and Oriana decided to share a room on the base level because Jade didn't want to be alone, I don't really blame her for not wanting to be alone. Considering that she may have lost her family, that's nothing a child should ever have to go through. Jack took the room upstairs directly across from Rylee's and Miranda's room was right next to mine.

I'm in a relatively better mood today than I am normally in when I wake up. For the first time in years I've had back to back dreamless nights. I didn't dream, I didn't think, all I did was rest. I revelled in the feeling. It's an undervalued pleasure having a totally dreamless night. Just fading into blackness and waking pleasantly refreshed.

I got dressed in shorts and my sleeveless white Blasto hoodie and got out of my room and headed to the gym. I put some earphones in my omni-tool and started listening to some of my workout music. Right now I'm listening to Black Skinhead. I started punching to the beat of the song and there was a spring in my step. I threw in some high and low kicks, along with knees and elbows. The beat and lyrics were so infectious that started singing along

Four in the morning, and I'm zonin'
They say I'm possessed, it's an omen
I keep it 300, like the Romans
300 bitches

I stopped singing along when I noticed someone at the door. Jack was leaning against the wall with a smirk on her face. She wore blue shorts and a faded red crop shirt. I turned away from her and started cursing under my breath. I turned around and she was already on the pull ups bar. Out of embarrassment I stopped working on the punching bag, sat on the mat and began doing some sit ups. The next song started playing

If Pirus and Crips all got along
They'd probably gun me down by the end of this song
Seems like the whole city go against me
Every time I'm in the street I hear
YAWK YAWK YAWK YAWK

When I rapped the last part Jack actually lost some of her grip on the bara and was now hanging by one hand and let out a small laugh

"Okay what the fuck are you singing?" she asked

"m.A.A.d City"

"Never heard of it"

"That's because it's really old. It came out in 2012"

"Shit! That old... why are you listenin' to it then?"

"A lot of music coming out lately is shit. It's all beats and party music and that's it, no hidden meaning or clever wordplay. I prefer rap and R&B because it had meaning" I explained

I was getting real sweaty which was unusual. Normally it takes me a while to work up a sweat. The only thing that's different is that Jack is here with me, but that can't be it. The sweat was starting to make me uncomfortable so I took my shirt off. I heard a sharp inhalation of breath coming from Jack's direction. I didn't bother looking but instead smirked that I had that effect on her.

"So you do have tats"

I looked up at her before looking at my chest. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about this didn't I"

"What is that? Her full name"

"Yeah, I got this not long after she died. It was done by some Batarian in Omega"

She was silent for a bit but we both continued or workouts. I'm surprised at just how much upper body strength she possesses in spite of the fact her arms are so skinny. She's been doing pull ups for 20 minutes straight now. I'd been unconsciously checking out her ass for at least 5 minutes

"So... who do... you listen to?" she grunted

"I mainly listen to... J. Cole, Deante Hitchcock, Kanye West, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Weeknd and Eminem mostly" I groaned, my abdomen on fire. I liked listening to Kendrick and J. Cole most of all because their songs have a meaning and they aren't about money. And they are fairly relatable

"Never heard of any of them" she dismissed

"That's because they've all been dead for over 100 years" I chuckled "Why who do you listen to?"

She remained silent. Rylee said that she likes party music but I doubt that she actually listens to it, but rather she just dances to it. "Mind your business" she spat

"You asked first" I argued

"Yeah so" she brushed off

"Don't get all pissed off at me you freaking hypocrite" I cussed

She jumped from the bar and stood over me "What did you day" she threatened

I stood to my full height "Are you fucking deaf". Is there a limit to her hypocrisy? I've given her a lot of leeway, way more than I give a lot of people but now she's just pissing me off. I've accepted her quirks since I met her but I honestly don't think I could handle her being around 24/7

"Glad to see that the two of you are getting along" Rylee quipped wearing a Minnie Mouse crop shirt and grey sweatpants

"You know what they say lovers always fight" My mum joked from behind Rylee

As I expected Jack jumped away from me like I was a disease. Her face set into a blank expression and stared at Rylee

"Where's the shower?" she asked

"End of the hallway near our rooms" Rylee informed. Jack strolled past the lot of them without giving them as much as a look. I started to take deep breaths in order to calm myself down. Why do I always end up losing myself to anger for fucks sake

I dropped to the ground and started to do some push ups. I didn't even notice that Rylee was standing even near me before she sat on my back. I didn't stop or slow down in spite of the added weight.

"You're putting on weight Rylee. You weren't anywhere near this heavy before" I teased

"Shut up dumbass, maybe you're getting weaker" she replied with mock offense

"Naah I think that you're getting fat" I said before she punched me in the back. If there was one thing that I couldn't deny was that she had a hard ass punch.

"Why do you let her get to you?" she asked

I shook my head "I've been trying to be her friend for months now… just when I think that I'm making progress. She does shit like that"

"Have you ever thought that she may be scared" Rylee suggested

"Of what?"

"Making new friends, she doesn't exactly trust easily Nate. She's not used to it. You can't expect her to want to be your friend. We only know a small fraction of what she's been through" Rylee explained before getting off my back, literally.

Dammit, why does she have to ruin a perfectly bad mood

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Jack POV

If there's one thing that dumbass never seems to fail to do is piss me off. Who the fuck does he think he is, trying to get to know me. What does he want? I offered to fuck him last week and he ran away like a little bitch. Then he acts like nothing's wrong and keeps asking these personal questions like what kind of music I listen to.

I don't get why I said that. His sister asked me the same thing and I told her but why him?

Maybe it's because you have feelings for him

Shut up! Why do you always have to tell me this useless shit and lies? He's an annoying prick with a fucking emotional disease. He's got some Tako- whatever disease because his girlfriend died, what kind of pussy does that?

Insulting him does nothing. You know deep down what you feel

WHY ARE YOU STILL TALKING? I curled up in a ball on my bed and dug my fingers into my temple

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Nate POV

"I'm telling you that Mages deserved freedom" Samantha argued

"Yes but not at that cost" I countered

"He did what had to do for mages to fight for freedom"

"The Circle was necessary in order to keep mages in check" Kelly added

The three of us were playing Dragon Age II on our CTX4s. We played the game at the same time on each CTX and we'd just completed it. Kelly was a rogue female, sided with the Templars and romanced Fenris. Samantha was a female mage, sided with the Mages and romanced Anders. I was a male warrior and also sided with mages but I killed Anders

Because of all of the damage done to the Citadel there wasn't much to do. All of the clientele in Afterlife at this point are sleazy, perverted businessmen and sad ass guys with no lives. Fun stuff rarely happens before the night. Due to that fact I invited Samantha and Kelly down to hang out since they had the same problem I everyone at school knew that I was a major video game nerd then the assholes would have a field day with it.

"You just side with the Mages because of Anders" Kelly accused. Sam told us that she had a crush on Anders as a kid before finding out that she was a lesbian.

"And!" she brushed off

"If I had the option I wouldn't have sided with anyone. Both sides are wrong. Meredith is bats and so is Anders. Both sides are right. Both sides are wrong" I had always maintained a neutral stance.

"Then why side with mages? Why not the Templars" Kelly asked

"And how dare you kill Anders" Sam feigned offense

"Oh get off his nut sack" I dismissed "Anders sacrificed the lives of innocence to serve a self-righteous cause. I couldn't let him live"

"But he's so hot!" they answered simultaneously. Kelly had rivalled Anders and not killed him

"Sam you know that if someone were to just meet you they'd never guess you swing for the away team" I smiled

Rylee ran downstairs wearing a black neck halter top, tight blue jeans and black suede boots with browny yellow soles.

"Where are you going?" I asked

"Whoa sexy" Sam complimented. Rylee was all of a sudden more self-conscious of what she was wearing.

"Someone has a date" Kelly teased

"I'm just headed for the mall with... Liara" she lied

"Okay so we can come with you then right Sam" Kelly asked and Sam nodded

"We could even bring the kids. I've been meaning to buy Oriana something" I added

"Fine! I'm not going to the mall" she admitted "I'm going to Garrus' house". I thought she had gotten over Garrus after years of epic failure.

"Why? You're dressed like that... and you're supposedly over Garrus" I reasoned

"Gotta go!" she ran out of the door

Kelly and Samantha both had their eyebrows furrowed together looking at me with confused expressions.

"You really don't notice when a girl likes someone do you?" Samantha pointed out

"I notice" I replied defensively

"Oh really, when we were all gathered here a few days ago did you notice the four girls there who at some point in the year wanted you?" Kelly challenged

Wait there were four. The only one that I know of for certain is Miranda. But that still leaves three others. There were 8 females there and I can exclude Rylee and Samantha. Minus those three it leaves four more and one of them wasn't interested in me.

"Miranda" I stated confidently

"Dammit!" Sam cursed "We had a pool at the start of the year to see when you'd figure it out. If you had waited another two weeks and I would have won"

"What"

"Oh yeah… Garrus was part of it, so was me, James, Aria, Javik, Nyreen, Kaidan, Jacob and Rylee" Kelly listed off

"Now that I've figured it out… who won?"

"Kaidan and Garrus. They both bet on April"

What kind of assholes are they. If the bet didn't involve me I'd probably be placing bets as well. I can't let them know that Jack was the one who pointed it out to me otherwise they'd think I'm a bigger moron then they already do

My options have now been reduced to four and they are Jack, Liara, Tali, Kelly and Kasumi. I'm no entirely sure about Jack but after what she tried I think it's a safe bet.

"Jack"

"Well, she was less subtle than Miranda about it" Kelly stated

"Yes, her constantly finding excuses to be around you and her jealous fits"

"That can't be, she can't be jealous"

"Have you seen her whenever you flirt with another girl. She begins to Hulk out and steam comes out of her ears" Sam joked. The image of it made me laugh

"Is that why she attacks me"

"Well from my knowledge I would have to say yes. I guess she's not used to this kind of jealousy and she tries to process it in s manner which is familiar to her. You're just unlucky in that she chooses violence as the medium she expresses her emotion" Kelly analysed

"Show off" Sam sighed and Kelly gave her a playful shove

I decided to get back to the little guessing game which we were playing

"I'm guessing that you're madly in love with me and can barely contain yourself when I'm in such close proximity" I smirked looking at Sam

"URRGH" she wretched and gagged imitating someone throwing up. "I would rather not get infected with syphilis thank you very much" she joked

"I am not infected, I'm more careful than you give me credit for"

"Sleeping with Isabela makes you highly prone so far as I'm concerned" Sam teased

"At least I could get Isabela" I childishly retorted to which she stuck out her tongue

"I guess that Rylee isn't one either" I joked. Kelly stared at me as though I were an alien and incredibly stupid

"Very good Nate, want a cookie" Sam quipped to which I stuck out my tongue

"And she's far more interested in Thane than she is you" Kelly added

"What? She's interested in Thane, since when" I was shocked

"God, for someone so observant during battle you can be such a simpleton" Sam massaged her forehead.

"I think I would have noticed, I mean look at her attraction to Garrus"

"You can barely keep track of who's interested in you. Never mind your sister's interest". Sam jabbed and I once again stuck out my tongue

Ok now I'm lost, none of the others were remaining had ever shown an open interest in me. I know that Tali is interested in Garrus and Kasumi wants Jacob and that just leaves Liara and Kelly.

"Liara?" I answered nervously

"Wrong!" Kelly responded in a singsong voice

"Tali?"

Sam made a buzzer noise signalling that I'm wrong. I've narrowed it to two and there are only two I haven't figured so it has to be

"You and Kasumi!" I said incredulously

"Yes it took you long enough. And you'd never have noticed were it not for us" Sam chuckled.

Rylee POV

Dammit that was close. What's with them and all of the questions lately? Is there anything wrong with me looking nice when I go out? Sure I don't normally dress like this when I go out with a friend in the afternoon but it's nothing special. Thane sent me a message saying that he wants to meet up with me at Garrus' place. That was 2 hours ago, since then I was trying to pick out what to wear. Why did it take me so long to pick this out?

When I read Thanes message that he wants to meet me made my heart race. I know that he's likely still reeling from his girlfriend's death. I feel terrible because of just how bad I want him. The longer I keep what I feel inside the stronger they become and I can't tell him otherwise it feels like I'm pouncing on a vulnerable man. Besides, with Kolyat in his life I doubt he'd be interested.

I rented a skybike since most of the skycars were being repaired it would be a quick trip to C-Sec. Looking over the wreckage I was thankful that the Keepers were here, all the council were doing was moving the heavy objects whilst the keepers handled the actual repairs. They'd made a startling amount of progress in the past few days. Most of the debris had been cleared and according to my mum the school was never hit and remained fully functional.

Garrus' house wasn't that far from C-Sec academy so it was always really easy to see. My DNA was synced with the system so I could walk into their house without worry. Inside were Garrus and Tali watching a Turian comedy called Barefaced Spirit. When Garrus first told me about the show I had to laugh. The words 'Turian' and 'comedy are oxymoron's, paradoxical by definition. Garrus is the only Turian I've ever seen crack jokes. Every other one I'd ever met was so cold and serious.

Tali turned around form the sofa to face me "Hi Rylee" she greeted

"Hey" I responded

"What are you doing here?" Garrus asked

"I got this message from Thane... he said he wanted to meet with me"

"That explains why you're dresses like that" he observed

I took up a defensive stance "Dressed like what Garrus?" I challenged

The Turian sniper looked mighty nervous right now, his eyes were darting around the room desperate to find something that could change the subject

"A…. Thane there you are" I said quickly looking behind me. I turned around to see nothing. He grabbed Tali's hand and ran upstairs.

"I know where your room is Vakarian" I hollered. I stomped up the stairs to confront Garrus. I stepped through the door and bumped into someone. It was surprisingly hard and knocked me back a bit.

It was Thane and he was khaki skinny jeans and a black skin tight, long sleeved, thermal showing off his muscles. He was surprisingly well toned for such a skinny guy. His 6ft frame towering over me who stood at 5ft7

His dark, deep brown eyes were staring intently at me and his mouth was slightly open. His pupils are too dark for me to see but I think they were going down then up.

"Sorry Siha, I didn't see where I was going" he apologised shaking his head. I couldn't help but stair at his sleek defined arms that were evident through the thin black cotton that comprised his thermal. I didn't know that drell could have 6 packs.

"Siha…. Are you alright?" he asked again. Oh shit I was caught staring

"Oh… um… it's nothing just… it's nothing" I said hoping to end the conversation

"I'm glad you're here… I'd like your help" he sighed "My old house was hit hard by the cars. According to Garrus' father there was a pile up on top of it"

"Thane I'm so sorry"

"Don't worry, that's why I asked you here. Can you come with me to collect my belongings?" the drell requested.

"Why do you need me?"

"I don't need your help I want it" he asserted rather defensively "Some of Irikah's belongings are still there along with Kolyat's and mine… I don't want to do it alone… I'd rather be with someone close" he admitted

"I'd be happy to go"

"Give me a few minutes and we can go" he informed before entering one of the guest rooms. Solana ran into her room with some toys in her hands. After a few seconds I could hear maracas shaking, as well as her laughing along with someone else whose laugh was slightly higher pitch. The laughter was accompanied by clapping.

I stepped into her room to see her and dancing, flailing her arms with maracas whilst Kolyat lay there laughing. I'm glad Solana has taken a liking to Kolyat and vice versa, at least Kolyat won't become bored. It's also good that Thane is allowing others to taking to take care of his son.

"Solana how's it going" I greeted. The Turian toddler froze in place. She turned swiftly and put the maracas behind her back as quickly but that made them even more noticeable.

"Hi Rylee" she replied innocently. I smiled at how cute it was that she was embarrassed about dancing for a baby.

"That looks like fun… can I join you" I proposed. The smile that donned her face was all that I needed. She gave me one of her maracas and we started dancing together. We jumped up and down shaking them for Kolyat's enjoyment and his laughter spurred us on

We heard someone clear their throat at the door. More like a few people clearing their throat, I could tell that Tali was one of the people at the door. I saw that Thane and Garrus were also there watching us with warm smiles.

"Aw Solly I should record this and play it at your school. They'll either run away, meltdown or fall in love" Garrus said like an evil villain.

"You wouldn't dare" I sighed

"Why not I ain't got nothing to lose" he said.

I made a break for the door but Garrus was fast enough to run away. I continued to chase him before he turned the corner into the main hallway outside his apartment. I didn't know where he went but he had to come back for Solana.

I got a message on my omni-tool

Relax Rylee I was just kidding! If you want to find me just head back to my house

Garrus Vakarian 11:25pm CTD

I turned to see that Garrus was right behind me in his apartment. How the hell did he do that? Thane came up from behind him and strolled out of the apartment wearing his trademark leather jacket over his clothes.

"Let's go" he urged whilst carrying a camping bag and throwing me one. Before taking the lift to the bottom floor to where my sky bike was. The way down was filled with an awkward silence but I caught Thane making sideways glances at me. When I turned to look at him, he faced the other way. I was a little flattered that he couldn't keep his eyes off of me.

"So… how has it been living with Garrus?"

"Garrus and his family have been very polite and supportive of Kolyat and me"

"Yeah his family has always been great"

The rest of the ride was once again filled with an awkward silence.

Why is it that I always want guys that I can't have? First Garrus and now the drell beside me. Seriously do I have a thing for unrequited love or something? The more I'm around him the more I want him but the less I'm around him the more I miss him.

When we got to the parking garage I went to get my bike. To my surprise I saw that Thane had one as well. Whereas mine was white, gold and black, Thane's was dark red and black. We each hopped on and started to ride

We arrived at what remained of his house after 20 minutes. It was almost completely collapsed by a load of sky bikes that had crashed on the roof and some of them had made it down the stairs. All of the windows were totally shattered and the shards of glass lay scattered at my feet. The electric wires that ran throughout the building were shredded and the inner wiring had sparks coming off of them.

"Oh my god Thane… I'm so sorry"

"Thank you" he said as though he were hypnotised. The hurt was evident in his eyes at the site of what used to be his home. He attempted to snap himself out of his trance by shaking his head "Let's just search and go"

We stepped over the scattered rubble that covered his front garden in order to reach what now posed as the door. But was in fact a massive chunk of the roof that had collapsed through the ceiling. Thane biotically lifted the 'door' and threw it into the road so we could step inside. There was a little hallway that led to the living room and to the left was the toilet.

The living room didn't fare much better than outside, there were scorch marks covering the walls so something must have exploded within the house. That explosion must have destroyed most of the contents of this room or looters had come in and stolen a lot of his stuff.

What used to be a bookcase was decimated and books littered the floor. They ranged from religious tomes, to great novels, philosophers works and school books. There were even children's books in his shelf too. He must have been planning to read them to Kolyat. Each book was badly scorched and torn apart form a select few.

"Rylee… can you collect those books please" he asked, his eyes were still glazed over

I opened up the camping bag and started loading up the books and clearing some of the rubble I turned to Thane and noticed that he was static completely fixated at that one spot in the corner. He didn't even look like he was breathing. I dropped the bag and gently tapped him on the shoulder

"Thane…. Are you there... are you alright" He still didn't move, instead he totally ignored me and continued staring into that spot.

I peered over his shoulder to see what had him so enthralled. He was looking at a data pad which was displaying a slide of pictures.

The first one I saw was a drell who didn't look like Thane and had a feminine body language. She had sea, green and teal scales with light, pink marks around her face. She was wearing a deep, blue tank top and skinny jeans and looked to the camera with a grin. She was beautiful.

The next slide was one of Kolyat who lay in the crib in the hospital. He was sleeping soundly with his fists clenched. The Asari nurse's hands were about to pick him up.

The next picture was of Thane and the female drell from before. She appeared to be smaller than Thane by a bit. She had the top of her head nestled into Thane's neck and was smiling contentedly and her hands were over her stomach. Thane was also smiling, one I had never seen grace his lips. Every time I've ever seen him smile it was always a small one and always appeared slightly forced. This one was honest and true and you could tell that he was truly happy. He had his arms wrapped around her body, hugging her from behind. In the backdrop was a lush, green, tropical setting. The sun was setting making the sky shine red, orange and yellow. There was a lot of rain in the background and it gently entered the ocean behind them.

I realised looking at the picture that the women was Irikah, his girlfriend, his love. She really was beautiful. The way that she's holding her stomach she must have been pregnant with Kolyat. The planet must have been Kahje.

The picture switched over again. This time it was a picture in this very living room. Thane, Irikah and Kolyat was sitting on the sofa. Kolyat was sleeping on Thane's lap.

Another picture was in display this time. It was of Thane and Irikah kissing whilst embracing each other. They were both smiling into the kiss and appeared to be enjoying it.

They looked so happy and she was so damn beautiful. Her scales, her lips her warm glow. And she got her hands on a good guy. Something which is so rare now. He loves her and she is the mother of his child and... Wow real classy Rylee you're actually jealous of a dead woman

Upon looking at this picture Thane fell to his knees. He could no longer withhold his emotions. He was holding back as much as he could but solitary tears started falling from his eyes but his eyes remained glazed over.

I see why he wanted someone he could trust coming with him. He felt that he might breakdown into tears when he came here and he didn't want to cry in front of a total stranger.

I knelt down and wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pulled him in for a hug. He never reciprocated the hug. His head lay on my shoulders unmoving.

"Don't worry… I'm here" I comforted. We just knelt there for about 20 minutes without Thane responding. I thought that he might have gone into shock before he sighed. He then stood up and systematically packed his belongings into his camping bag.

I stomped over to him "Thane… what's with you"

"Siha… please" he pleaded. I've been meaning to ask him what a Siha is but now doesn't seem like the best time to be asking

I nodded sternly and went back to packing the books. The rest of the hour Thane directed me as to what to pack and what to leave. In the end our bags weren't very full. All we could salvage were a couple of datapads as well as some books and toys

The ride back was also silent. Thane still had that unfocused look in his eyes and spoke in a monotonous, robotic tone. It was scary seeing him ride, he seemed totally out of it and every turn he made was the very last second as though he was just staying alive on instinct. We couldn't get back to Garrus' place soon enough.

When we finally arrived the drell ran up to Garrus' apartment without as much as a goodbye. Seeing those pictures must have really set him off. I followed him up to Garrus' apartment. When I opened the door I bumped into Tali who was leaving.

"Sorry Tali"

"It's okay, I was just going to pick something up from my apartment" she explained

"Okay, I'm just heading to talk to Thane"

"Help him Rylee. You're the one person he'll listen to". I acknowledged her statement before entering his home.

I saw that Garrus was just coming from his room "Garrus, have you seen Thane?"

"Yeah he just went to his room" he informed. After a few seconds I stood in front of Thane's room taking a deep breath before stepping in.

He was sitting at his bed his forehead resting on his fists. He looked up to face me and his faced showed shame, which slowly turned to anger. He stood up and punched the wall, leaving a dent in it as well as causing his fist to bleed. He carried on doing it relentlessly he then started throwing some of the data pads on the ground and attempting to destroy them.

I ran over to restrain him, I thought that he would hit me but he didn't, he tried to shake me off but I wouldn't let go. He has been holding this anger inside him for a very long time. Ever since Irikah was killed he's pent up his emotions and has only let a few of his feelings through the cracks and he was unleashing it now. This was what I feared, his pent up emotion could be the very thing that destroys him. My arms were tightly wrapped around his torso and I wasn't going to let go. Eventually the drell assassin stopped struggling.

"I had thought I'd made my peace with her death" his eyes were pools of grief "I shouldn't be feeling…. I shouldn't feel angry… I should feel calm Siha" he mourned

"It's a good thing to feel you're emotions Thane" I assured

"But…. I shouldn't feel…." He didn't finish his sentence. Instead he stared into my eyes. I was entirely enchanted by him, mesmerised by the way the light reflects off of his cool, black eyes. I could feel my eyes relax and my lips quiver. My want for him was screaming in my ear, all of a sudden there was nothing else but us. Nothing in the universe was more important than this one moment.

I could no longer hold back. I inched my face closer to his and he didn't pull away. I claimed his lips with my own and I melted into him. His lips were surprisingly soft considering how reptilian drell appear. It was a great relief, after over a month of frustration. It was all being released right now.

What am I doing? I'm jumping on the bones of a vulnerable man who's reeling over the death of his former lover. He also has a son to take care of which makes this even more complicated and I'm complicating it more by involving myself.

I pulled back and snaked my way out of his soft embrace. I placed my hand over my mouth in horror. I'm a terrible human being. I drop my hand down to my heart.

"I am so sorry" I said, it was barely a whisper, barely audible but the message was so loud in my ears. I needed to get out of there. I ran as fast as I could out of Garrus' apartment. The tears were streaming down my face. As one thought ran through my mind constantly and the gravity of my actions became clear to me.

What have I done?

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Nate POV

Rylee just ran into the apartment with tears running down her face and sprinted into her room completely ignoring Kelly, Sam, Miranda and I. I told them that I'd talk to her tomorrow and let her calm down. Kelly and Sam took that as their queue to leave. Miranda took Oriana to the playroom of the apartment complex.

Jack marched down stairs and caught my eye. She was too busy looking at her omni-tool to notice that I was down stairs.

"Jack!" I yelled. She tripped a little on the way down but regained her composure before she could fall on her ass.

"Are you trying to get me killed?" she sighed

"Sorry just wanted to talk"

Her eyes returned to the blank, vacant expression she wore when she left the gym "I just wanted to apologize"

"Wait what?" she interjected. Her body language and facial expression showed surprise and shock

"I was getting impatient…. Normally people open up to me pretty quickly but you haven't" I smiled "And no before the thought enters your head, open up to me doesn't mean open their legs. With you I don't want to hit it and quit it. I don't even want to hit it" I assured.

Her eyebrows furrowed and her fists clenched. Her jaw bone was showing because she was biting down on her teeth. She was angry but surprisingly remained docile

"Not that you're not pretty or hot or anything" she cocked her eyebrow and had a ghost of a smirk on her face

"Not that I want to fuck or anything" the smirk was growing stronger "Not that… you can stop me at anytime"

She finally succumbed and started laughing

"Very funny, I'm a moron and you made me look like an idiot"

"No you made yourself look like an idiot… and you're a moron"

"Funny" I laughed "But seriously I've had to be patient about getting you to open up… and I'm glad that I have… you're a good friend to know" I smiled

She threw me biotically onto my sofa "Don't say shit like that dumbass, you're embarrassing yourself" she dismissed but made sure that I couldn't see her face.

I then picked her up biotically and brought her over to me. She had covered her face with both of her hands but I could see the deep shade of red that stained her cheeks. I still have to get used to the fact that she has or had some sort of feelings for me

"Embarrassing myself or you" I challenged

"Shut up" she kept one hand on her face whilst the other punched my arm lightly.

"You're a cool friend Jack" I complimented

"Yeah, yeah… can I go now" she brushed off before entering the kitchen.

I've made some progress with Jack and that's clear to me now. She's way more stable than when I first met her. Sure there are some cracks but I doubt that I could ever truly save her, whatever Cerberus did to her is irreversible that's certain. But I can try and help her forget. Because that's what friends are for.