Usual disclaimer stuff: Bioware owns all, I am not making money off this, etc

This story was originally posted on the K-meme for a prompt regarding Femshep being rejected by Garrus when she approaches him to "blow off steam". The idea ran away with me from there, and the following is the result. The plan is to re-tweak some of the chapters and post them as I do so. This is my first fic as well, so reviews and constructive crit is welcome

"Why don't you and I blow off some steam? We could test your reach…and my flexibility"

Silence. "Uh…no, Shepard. I don't think so."

No. No?

"But if you're trying to make me blush, you almost did it."

More silence.

"If that's all you need, Shepard, I really have to get back to these calibrations."

Garrus turned back to his console and resumed typing, leaving Shepard standing in a state of complete and utter shock. After a few moments she realized that she was gaping. Her mouth shut with a snap, and she turned and left the main battery. Left him to his…calibrations.

What the fuck just happened?

She really wasn't sure what to do, what to think. Had she really just been rejected? This was not at all how it was supposed to go.

Shepard did not have a Turian fetish. Never before could she remember looking at any Turian, or any member of another species for that matter, and seeing anything other than potential enemy or military ally. Her military expertise and training had conditioned her to expect the unexpected, so when she first laid eyes on the different alien species that littered the galaxy, she knew what to expect. It didn't mean that she was used to them, just as much as anyone could be short of actually socializing with them. Serving onboard the SRI was the first time she had ever had any one-on-one time with a member of another species, and when she had gotten the opportunity to interact and build friendships with them, she began to distinguish them as individuals with unique personalities and views of the universe. Even then, they were simply themselves, her friends. Tali, Liara, Wrex, Garrus…

A sudden movement in front of her startled Shepard out of her reverie. Looking up, she barely avoided colliding with the tattooed woman who was barreling out of the elevator.

"What the fuck Shepard? Watch it."

The two women swapped places, Shepard entering the elevator as Jack was exiting. If Jack was glaring at her, she didn't notice. Her brain was still trying to process how she had gotten herself into this situation.

For the life of her she could not remember the exact moment that her mind had decided that Garrus was more than just her friend. It probably had something to do with his almost-death. In that moment when he was cradled in her arms, his blood pooling between her fingers, she had felt true desperation, as if she could stop the bleeding through sheer want. Her relief that he had ended up okay was magnified when she found out that he had felt the need to avenge her death by bringing justice to Omega. It was an impossible goal, but she recognized it as a fitting tribute to her memory that only he could give her.

Maybe it was the admiration she felt after the revelation that he was Archangel, the humility she felt when she realized that she had such an effect on him, the comfort she felt knowing he would always watch her six, the relief that he would accept her return to the living with nothing more than a "Right behind you, Shepard"…

He was her best friend. She had fallen for her best friend, a tale as old as time. And she had just been officially friend-zoned by said friend.

Entering her quarters, Shepard stood for a moment facing the empty void of her room. Its length seemed vast, completely at odds with her congested mind. She didn't know what to think, but she did know how she felt.

Embarrassed.

She felt like running to her bed and hiding under the covers until it all was forgotten or she wished hard enough that it had all been a terrible dream. Instead, she stripped and headed to the shower, leaving her uniform in a rumpled heap by the door. The warm water held promises of tension relief, as it had for her many times after countless missions.

Shepard stood still, hands braced on the shower wall in front of her, and let the water blast her face. How had she misjudged the situation so severely? While he may not be a human, Garrus had been showing signs of affection that would have been obvious for any species. Little things that had struck her, like waiting for her to exit the shuttle before himself, holding her chair for her to sit during meals in the mess, offering her the extra thermal clip found on the ground. She had seriously thought he was starting to feel things for her more than just friendship. And she had started feeling those things in return.

Shutting off the water, Shepard's confusion ebbed and was replaced by a building frustration. At herself, for misreading his signs of friendship for something more and acting on her feelings. At him for being so fucking nice and supportive and leading her on.

As she dressed in her night clothes and crawled into bed, Shepard decided that she wouldn't waste another thought on what had happened. She got the picture now – he wasn't interested in her the same way she was interested in him. Either he was too chicken shit to finish what he started by flirting with her or he was too dumb to realize he was doing it in the first place. She had laid herself out before him and was shot down.

Tomorrow would see where things lay between them. As she settled in for a restless sleep, Shepard hoped the only consequence of her misguided action would be a mutual refusal to discuss it the next time she saw him.

Garrus stood facing his console with all his attention focused on the scrolling code fragments flying across the screen. It didn't even matter that he wasn't typing anything even closely resembling a code. All that mattered was that he kept moving his hands, feigning ignorance and acting as if he didn't know that she was still standing right behind him.

The uncomfortable tension was palpable. It hung in the air and magnified everything; the clicking of his talons on the console were obscenely loud, the humming of the Normandy's engines made the room seem to vibrate, and even her presence at his back seemed to resonate more energy than usual.

He could always fucking…feel her. It was one of those connections that soldiers and friends develop after spending enough time with one another facing certain death. Eventually your body just seemed to grow nerves that sensed where your allies were in relation to yourself. It came in really handy during combat, creating a seamless flow of action that had helped them accomplish missions that otherwise would have been impossible. Now though, it was really fucking annoying.

Eventually he sensed that she had left. Her energy and scent were gone before his brain even registered the sound of the door closing. Garrus released a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. His hands stilled, mandibles drawn tight against his face. He closed his eyes.

What the fuck just happened?

Part of his brain demanded that the situation was his fault. He had been telling her about the story of his bout with the recon scout from so many years ago. It was only natural that she had thought he was coming on to her. Why the hell else would he have told her a story with such an…ending?

On the other hand, when had he and Shepard crossed the line from being friends bullshitting about anything to her propositioning him? It seemed totally out of character for her to misinterpret what he had said so severely. If anything, she should had shaken her head and laughed before making some smart-ass comment that would have made him chuckle in spite of himself.

Since rejoining the Normandy, he had noticed that she had changed. It was understandable given her situation. There weren't exactly vids that helped explain how you're supposed to deal with coming back from the dead. Or for having people you trusted turn their back on you when you needed them the most. He knew what that was like, being betrayed by those you thought were your friends…

Garrus grimaced. No need to go down that dark road. It had been dealt with. With Shepard's help he had found closure with the whole Sidonis situation. She had proven to him that she was his eternal friend and he wanted desperately to prove the same to her. He knew he would be there for her no matter what.

Just…not that way.

He wasn't sure what to think about her behavior. He knew how he felt though, and it was guilty. Guilt that he hadn't seen this coming and prepared better, ashamed that he had led her on without realizing it, regret at telling her that fucking story…

A beep from the console alerted Garrus to the present. His program was about to log him out due to inactivity. He shook his head, the gesture more an attempt to clear the clogging mess of thoughts from his brain. Resuming his work, Garrus made the decision that this incident had been a simple misunderstanding. If he knew Shepard, she would probably want to pretend that this didn't happen.

He couldn't agree more.