Author's Note: Well, here it is... the last chapter. Thank you for taking the time to read this story. I've really enjoyed writing it! Best Wishes to all of you. ; )


Time slowed and stretched between them. She had finally said it, finally confessed what had kept her up for countless nights. It was as if someone had removed the last piece of lead that had been resting over her lungs and now she could breathe freely. Shepard had managed to not say it when they were on the Normandy, she'd typed it numerous times in their messages only to delete it seconds later, and she'd practiced saying it in the mirror. It wasn't looming over her anymore. She loved James. It was that simple.

Shepard felt the vacated space inside of her where the worrying had been slowly eating her alive. It was so light now, so ready to hopefully put new and better memories in its place. It all depended on James now. What would he say after she had dropped a bomb like that on him with zero warning? The uncertainty should have filled up that empty hole in her but surprisingly the feeling faded. She just needed him to know, she realized. If he didn't reciprocate it would hurt but she wouldn't let it destroy her.

"How long?" He eventually asked, his hand moved up to brush against the peach fuzz of her head. "How long have you known?"

"Does it really matter?"

"Humor me, Lola."

Shepard smiled, remembering when she had first known that she loved him. "Dr. Bryson's lab. When you stayed to keep Ann company, to comfort her."

This seemed to startle him more than her actual proclamation of love, his eyes wide. He stepped closer, almost enveloping her with his body, looking at her like she was some creature he couldn't understand. "That long ago? I'd been with the team for less than a month by then. Dios, Shepard…"

"It's the truth. Not many people would show up on one of their very few free days to make sure someone we were investigating was okay. You've got one hell of a heart, James."

He leaned forward and down to rest his forehead against hers, and took a shaky breath. All this time she had been focusing on her own reaction to James' touches and glances that she hadn't even thought about his own. Now she felt the hand against her head tremble just enough to feel, the other arm that he had wrapped around her torso holding her surprisingly tight. Shepard wondered if he had been like this the entire time they'd stood out here, if she had totally missed the signs of his own nerves. She wrapped her arms around his neck and began to slowly massage the tense muscles there.

"I'm going to wake up any time now," he murmured while slowly angling his head. "My luck's going to run out."

"I doubt it."

"I don't deserve-"

"James Vega." Shepard snapped her eyes open to meet his own. "You deserve every happiness, do you understand me? You're worthy of it all."

"Allie," the raw tone of his voice saying her name made her gasp. "I love you, too."

That was it. The dam broke then and there. It didn't matter if she closed the space between them first or if he did because all she knew was that she was kissing James. He was kissing her. Fireworks exploded in her head, the butterflies in her stomach were going insane. No kiss had ever felt like this one, she thought, nothing had felt as good as this did. She had been insane moments ago when she thought she would be fine if he hadn't felt the same. Not having this - not having this man hold her close like this, loving her - would have mortally wounded her. His lips were full and he was smiling into the kiss, she memorized the feeling of his skin on hers. Bring on another Reaper invasion; she'd face them all alone if it meant she could have this for the rest of her life.

Every thought that had been circling around in her head over the past few hours few out the window. It was all James now. An involuntary moan escaped her lips when he moved away to kiss her neck. How many times had she mocked people when they'd told her what love felt like? How many times had she shaken her head and walked away thinking they were completely crazy? They had been right. Jesus she was lucky that they hadn't hooked up while they were on mission. Point one, James. If they had, Shepard wasn't sure if she would have been able to focus on the mission. She would have made any excuse to get away from the War Room, to ignore her responsibilities in exchange for just a few moments like this. She would be hard pressed to find something better than this.

As much as she wanted this to continue she knew they were on borrowed time. Their luck of being undiscovered and uninterrupted would go dry, someone would walk out onto the balcony to find two of the war's most distinguished soldiers locked in a heated game of tonsil hockey. That didn't mean that she immediately stopped. She savored every touch, every kiss, and pulled James' head back up to crash her lips onto his. However brief this encounter turned out to be, the minutes they were stealing were theirs and no one else's.

Slowly, the starving kisses turned into delicate pecks. Shepard reached up to kiss both of his temples, his eyelids, and the side of his mouth. When she returned to his lips his smile had turned into a beam. "When did you know?"

"Think I've always known, mi amor. I remember getting the news of the destruction of the first Normandy. Didn't even know you then, Lola, but that really messed me up for some reason. Left a sick feeling in the bottom of my gut for weeks. Then I get this once and a lifetime chance after learning that the rumors were true, Commander Shepard was alive, and Anderson wanted me to watch you during your trial. As soon as I saw you when I walked into your holding cell I knew I was a goner."

"I'm serious."

James kissed her forehead and met her gaze. "So am I. You were so calm about it all. Turned yourself in even when you knew you did all that you could for those Batarians. I remember you were pretty cold in the beginning."

"Sorry."

"I understood. They had you on lockdown, someone watching your every move. Then eventually you opened up and that suspicion I had reared its head again. You were kind, smart as a whip, and funny as hell. Not to mention beautiful. I don't know how everyone you meet doesn't fall immediately in love with you."

Shepard felt a blush blooming on her cheeks. "It doesn't help that most of the time I've got a gun in their face."

"That would-"

"Hey, lovebirds!"

Shepard had never extracted herself from someone's grasp that fast. Her hand reached for a gun that wasn't there, an old habit she knew she'd never outgrow. When she came up empty for any kind of excuse she steeled herself to look at whoever had caught them. She found Kaidan watching her carefully, arms crossed over his chest, a relaxed upturn on his lips.

"Kaidan?"

"Sorry to interrupt. Joker sent me out here to make sure you didn't, and these are his words, not mine… to make sure you didn't. Aw hell, he sent me out here to see if we were going to be a few thousand credits richer."

She could feel James' eyes on the middle of her back, practically burning the question into it. It was then that she remembered that he had no idea about the betting. "We'll be right in. Thanks for not relaying Joker's exact message."

Kaidan nodded. "Sure thing, Shepard."

"Mind filling me in?" James wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they moved towards the doors.

"It's kind of a long story."

He shrugged, running his free hand through his hair. "The night's young, cariño. You could explain it to me on the dance floor."

"James, I told you. I won't dance."

"Not even with me? "

She squinted as they re-entered the banquet hall. At that exact moment she heard whoops and wolf-whistles not too far away from them. There stood the crew, giving each other high fives and transferring credits into various accounts. They were a happy bunch when they were a rich bunch. She didn't want to know how much they had all betted each other. She also didn't want to be the loser in that situation, either. Whoever they were, they didn't seem too upset to have lost money.

James seemed to have put enough of the puzzle together in those few seconds because before she knew it he had one arm around her waist and was dipping her, dramatically kissing her. This made the crew whoop even louder. Shepard couldn't even be mad. She laughed as he pulled her back up and against his chest. This was her new favorite place to be.

"I'd really like to know why they're so thrilled," he tried again. "One dance?"

She knew she had lost the fight. Her hand found his and squeezed lightly. "Only if you promise to not let go."

"You got it, Lola."

They moved to the dance floor, the Normandy crew right on their heels. Like James had said, the night was young. Anything could happen, especially when they were all together.