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Kaidan pins me to the wall outside our apartment, his tongue doing delicious things in my mouth. His hands are roaming my body, awakening it in ways only someone as familiar with it as him could. I try to keep my head, try not to get sucked up into him, but it's impossible. I kiss him back fiercely, digging my fingers into his hair. He moans into my mouth and I smile. I know his body just as well as he knows mine. He moves from my mouth to my neck, nipping and sucking.
"Not that I'm complaining, but what brought this on?" I ask, breathing heavily. It's his turn to smile, pausing his work with my neck to look me in the eye.
"I seem to recall you telling me last night to save it for our private celebration after you passed. Well, you passed. Time for our celebration." He returns his attention to my neck. I arch it to give him better access.
"Speaking of which," I say, trying to make my voice sound firm but pretty sure failing at it, "I seem to recall telling you I didn't want any help in there." I'm bluffing and I'm pretty sure he knows it. The fact of the matter is that I wasn't prepared for that banshee and if Kaidan hadn't shot the damn thing's head off I'd probably be back in Huerta Memorial right now. It was a system glitch that let her in(everyone's still working out the kinks in their systems), but when I heard her scream the first thing that crossed my mind was I should've listened to Kaidan.
And then, lo and behold, there he was launching himself in the air and saving my ass. It's pretty hot when he does that. In the present Kaidan chuckles. It seems he's calling my bluff.
"Oh come on, Shepard. We both know I saved your ass." I bite my lip, one of my rare tells. He gives me a look that says I really should have known he'd know better. "Besides, if you were actually pissed you'd have let me know it in the simulation. And no matter what your bravado we both know you would've hated limping down that aisle." He's got me and we both know it. I break a smile.
"Actually, my worst fear was having Wrex push me down the aisle in that damn hover chair." He starts to laugh. "Can you imagine? He'd either push too hard and catapult me to the alter or grip the handles too hard and break them off in his hands." Kaidan's laugh tapers off to a chuckle and he looks into my eyes tenderly.
"I love you, Shepard." I smile back at him. How did I get so lucky?
"I love you, too." He kisses me again, quickly changing from tender to passionate. When he starts to move his hand up my shirt I back away slightly. "Don't you think maybe we should take this inside, Alenko?"
"Good idea," he says, swinging me so I'm pressed up against the door to our place. He has an arm wrapped around my waist and he's using the other to type in the security code while he goes back to working on my neck. I can't help but laugh. The door slides open and I fall backwards onto the floor, Kaidan on top of me. Something tells me he didn't think the whole door thing all the way through, which makes me laugh even harder.
My laughter is quickly cut off by his talented mouth though. He starts making those little groans I love and when he moves his hand up my shirt this time I don't stop him. What does stop him is the lights flipping on and a yell of "surprise!" coming from the general direction of the living room. Kaidan freezes above me and slowly lifts his head to take in a scene I can't see.
"Hey guys," he says weakly. I crane my neck uncomfortably to see who he's talking to. Well damn. It's the crew of the Normandy, standing under a banner that says "Congratulations Shepard!" And it's not just my small team either. Chakwas, Adams, Donnelly, and Daniels are here too. Oh and look, Garrus is back. How lovely. Donnelly chuckles.
"Well now Gabby, do you feel better about Shepard walking in on us?"
"Cram it, Kenneth!" she whispers back sharply. Kaidan looks down at me with an eyebrow raised.
"You walked in on Ken and Gabby and didn't tell me about it?"
"I didn't realize you were a voyeur, Alenko." He looks taken back.
"I'm not."
"An exhibitionist, then?" He shakes his head. "Then perhaps you wouldn't mind getting off me!" He turns red.
"Right." He pushes himself up and then give me a hand. I find myself facing my crew, standing in an awkward silence Joker decides to break.
"Sorry, Commander. We should have known better than to throw a party, in your living room, in the middle of the day." He pauses for a moment. "Actually, I can't think of a better set of circumstances. Do you two just go at it all the time? Kaidan, don't you ever get tired?" I can practically feel Kaidan's smug grin behind me.
"Well," he starts, but I elbow him in the stomach and the air in his lungs leaves in a huff. Liara shoots Joker a playful glare before speaking.
"We wanted to say congratulations for passing your fitness test. We knew you could do it." I break into a grin. The support of a crew like this is something money can't buy. Kaidan comes up to stand beside me and wraps an arm around my waist.
"It was a team effort," I say, smiling up at him.
"You actually got the stubborn Commander Shepard to change her mind?" asks Traynor. "You'll have to teach me that trick."
"It was less of a trick and more of a rushing in to assist without permission," says Kaidan with a fond smile.
"And she still let you feel her up in the hallway? Man, you have got to teach me that trick!" exclaims James. Kaidan gives him an un-amused look.
"That secret stays with me, Lieutenant."
"What are we waiting for?" asks Garrus. "Let's break out the drinks!"
"Speaking of which," Garrus continues, turning to me, "Kaidan, would you like to give me a hand?" I kiss Shepard on top of the head and walk towards the kitchen.
"Of course." It doesn't escape my attention that the last time I got the group drinks with Garrus in the kitchen the night ended with him professing his love for Shepard. I head towards the fridge.
"I hope you brought your own dextro-amino drinks, I'm pretty sure we don't have any on hand." Garrus takes a deep breath.
"Kaidan, I'm sorry about that night." I stick my head in the fridge to avoid looking at him. It seems my plan of pretending it never happened isn't working out too well.
"There's nothing to be sorry about," I say, grabbing an armful of beers and closing the fridge. I put them on the counter and turn to face him. "Shepard is an amazing woman. You're hardly the first to notice it and I highly doubt you'll be the last. Lucky for me I'm not a particularly jealous man." I don't mention that my lack of jealousy expires after a certain point. I can't get mad at people for falling for Shepard. I mean, I did so why wouldn't they? But there's a line that gets crossed and when things change from open admiration to trying to take her from me, then we have a problem. Garrus falls into the first category, so we don't have a problem. At least, that's what I keep telling myself. Garrus is shaking his head at me.
"I do need to apologize. I may not be the first or last to... admire Shepard, but I'm not just one of the many. I'm her friend, but more importantly in this situation, I'm your friend. You have every right to be mad at me." I give a half laugh.
"I'm not-"
"Yes, you are Kaidan," he cuts me off. "And I don't blame you. Shepard is an amazing woman, but she's your amazing woman. By the spirits, You're about to marry her and here I am telling her how much I want her right there in your living room." He sounds frustrated with himself and I attempt a smile.
"Well, when you put it that way I guess I do deserve an apology." I pop the cap off a beer and take a swig. Garrus does the same with a bottle on the opposite counter, apparently smart enough to have brought his own. After a pause I speak again. "So why did you do it?" He sighs and leans back on the counter.
"Tali had just left me, the longest relationship I've ever had had just blown up in my face. In front of all my friends, no less. Everyone fled the scene as fast as they could and I was left with the two of you, the happy couple. I was jealous and upset, and said some things I shouldn't have. Some things that a friend of the groom has no right to say to his bride. And for that, I apologize." I nod my head slowly and clink my bottle against his.
"It's okay, Garrus. We're good." He nods and we drop the topic, having done more than our share of talking about feeling for the day. "Did you come all the way from Palaven just for this party?" He laughs.
"Of course not. I'm here for the wedding." I raise an eyebrow.
"The wedding six weeks from now?"
"Travel from war torn Palaven to the Citadel isn't exactly reliable these days," he responds dryly. "I figured I should hop on a transport when I had the chance."
"Hey, muchachos, where the hell are those drinks? We got thirsty people out here!" calls James from the living room. I grab some drinks, Garrus right behind me with the rest.
"Keep your shirt on, Vega," I tell him, passing him by and handing a drink to Adams.
"Around Shepard, of course. Wouldn't want her getting second thoughts, eh Major?" I roll my eyes and take a seat next to Shepard, handing her a beer.
"Everything all right?" she asks lightly. I give her a quick kiss.
"Everything's great."
"A toast," declares Dr. Chakwas, taking a drink from Garrus. "To Commander Shepard being cleared for active duty. Well done proving me wrong." The grin on Shepard's face is something to see. I can already feel some of the tension of the last few weeks slipping away.
"And to Garrus," adds Joker. "Now we can plan the most important part of the wedding- the bachelor party." Shepard groans.
"Come on, Joker. The wedding is still six weeks away."
"Exactly," he says, wide eyed. "Only six weeks away. Honestly, I'm not sure how I'll manage, even with all the groomsmen's help."
"What is a bachelor party?" demands Javik. "And why do all the groomsmen need to attend? I was told I merely had to appear at the primitive mating ceremony."
"Relax, Javik. It'll be fun," says Garrus, nudging him with his elbow. Javik scowls at the contact. "There's drinking, cigars, and half naked Asari dancers." I wonder if I'm the only one that notices Javik's quick glance towards Liara.
"Half naked Asari?" asks Shepard, her eyebrow quirked.
"I already vetoed the strippers," I assure her.
"And who will be attending this bachelor party?" asks Javik, pretending not to care about the answer.
"Only us. No girls allowed," says Joker with a glare at Shepard. She just laughs.
"Joker, Jack is planning my bachelorette party. There is no need to worry about me wanting a joint one." The coy smile she's wearing is making me nervous. "And with Jack in charge, I can't make any promises about mine," she tells me. I groan. I wonder what the odds are that I can get Jack and Joker on board with a joint party after all.
Not good. Not good at all.