Happily Ever After And Then Some

Almost There

The pilot came over the intercom. "20 minutes until we land in Costa Rica." The rest was all a blur to Shelby as she looked over to Garrus with a smile.

"20 minutes away." Garrus said with a little smile.

"This is going to be great. Warm weather, a black sand beach in the backyard of our hotel. It'll be perfect." Shelby smiled out.

"Trust me, it'll be paradise."

"I trust you. I always do."

Garrus smiled at Shelby. "I know you do. Maybe too much sometimes."

Shelby turned in her seat as much as she could so that she faced Garrus, looking at him with curious concern. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing personal, Shel. It just goes back to my team." Garrus still had weak moments about his team. He still blamed himself for what happened, and some days bothered him more than others. "They trusted me, and I let them down."

"Garrus." Shelby started as she grabbed one of Garrus's hands with hers. "You are never going to let me down." She reminded him.

"I try to remind myself of that."

Shelby looked into his eyes. "I love you, Garrus Vakarian. I trust you with my life and my heart. You're the best man I could have ever asked to fall head over heels for. Don't. Ever. Forget it."

Garrus smiled and put his other hand over hers. "I promise, I won't."

"Good." She smiled out.

The pilot came back over the intercom announcing the start of the plane descending and Garrus chuckled as Shelby tried to get out of her seat with her seatbelt still hooked.

"You have to let the plane land, and stop first, Shel." He joked.

"Psh. I've destroyed reapers, I can handle jumping from a moving plane." She joked back.

"I don't think so." Garrus chuckled out with a little smile.

"I was only hospitalized for a few months."

"Yes, a few long, hard, months for everyone, myself included."

"It was only for six months."

"I didn't think you were going to live, Shel."

"Were the first months that bad?"

"Yes, they were. No one could see you for the first two months after you were brought in because of how severe your injuries were. Even after those two months passed, you looked like hell's doormat."

"I didn't know it was THAT bad."

"Do you remember the first day Tristan came in to see you?"

"I was still passed out. But, yes. I faintly remember some of the things she said."

"I had never seen her or Selena cry before, when you woke up, they both balled when you tried to speak."

Shelby's usual little smile faded. "Tris was so distraught. She was so relieved when I finally woke up. She told me what happened and where I was because I was so out of it, I didn't remember what happened to me. I was hit dead center of a reaper beam while guarding her on the way to the beam. Lena had to get me on an E-vac shuttle and stayed back with the forces on earth. We all barely survived that war. Geeze. This conversation took a quick turn to depressing."

"I'm sorry Shel. I didn't mean to bring back bad memories. Come on. It's time to get our bags." He said as the plane stopped and the passengers were allowed to get off.

Shelby stood with him and grabbed her carry on backpack. "They aren't all bad." She said with a smile. "I remember hearing the door open and your fast footsteps to my bedside. You were just glad to see me. When I was awake, you ran over to me, and hugged me as best as you could, even though the only thing I could move was my head and my eyes. We hadn't been dating too long at that point, but to know you already cared that much made me love you even more." She chuckled a bit with a smile. "You were ALWAYS there. Same two hours, every week, and every day. Even when I was still knocked out, you were there with me, talking to me like nothing was wrong."

"You heard me?" He asked with a smile.

"Of course I did." She smiled out. "I was sleeping half the time, not deaf. Besides, how could I forget THAT much persistence?"

Garrus chuckled. "It'd be pretty hard to, I'd imagine."

"Try impossible." Shelby smiled out with a little chuckle as they stepped off of the plane.

Garrus chuckled as they walked through the airport, he was listening to the announcements. "Is any of that important?"

Shelby chuckled. She was fluent in Spanish as a second langue and knew a bit of Italian as well. "It's not important for us."

"That's good to know. Now, it'd be nice if the signs were readable." He joked.

"Shelby chuckled and pointed to one of the signs. "Puertas D, E, F, a la izquierda. Puertas A, B, C, al frente. Baños a la derecha. Gates D, E, F to the left. Gates A, B, C, straight ahead. Bathrooms to the right." She translated with a little smile.

"That makes more sense." He said with a little chuckle.

Garrus and Shelby went through security and customs quickly because of some "Shepard fans" working a couple of the stops. Shelby had to do most of the talking of course since she could understand what was being said. When Garrus and Shelby got to the main lobby, they decided they'd decide what to do the rest of the day after they've settled in at the hotel, so Shelby asked one of the airport receptionists for directions to their hotel and led the way.