#bree writes

Emily Rose overhears him and she ends up running away that night bc she just can't take his disappointment but Luke isn't disappointed he just really is genuinely confused

She runs away to the skatepark and when she introduces herself to new people, she says her name is Rose Molina because no, she’s not Luke’s daughter

She’s also MEGA talented like her mom so all Luke wants for her is to recognize that she’s a WRECKING BALL and to step into her greatness

he immediately knows she ran away when he goes to check on her and she’s not there 

"i lost her, jules. i did this. and i can't even blame her because i did the EXACT same thing when i was her age. i was so scared of becoming my parents, that this is exactly what i did." and he doesn't even realize how many "i's" are in that sentence

Luke’s relationship with Julie is strained but she’s there to guide him through this

She’s the only one that can remind him of his own mother and how that made him feel and understands where he is coming from

she doesn’t support it, not at all, this is their daughter they’re talking about, but she knows how one track minded Luke can be when it comes to music; it’s how he’s wired

He goes to the studio to blow off steam and Julie is there to play with him but she helps him realize that he needs another form of communication 

bc he just doesn't know how to communicate things with emily rose bc he's always communicated through music

and tho julie blows off the steam while playing music with him she also helps him realize that that's where the issue lies. he needs to learn a different way of communication---it's gonna be hard but it's for their daughter

he takes baby steps too like literally just asking her how her day was

when he finds Emily Rose at the skatepark they sit on top of the ramp and have the heart to heart 

 he's like "but you gotta be patient with me, ok? im gonna be asking the stupidest questions i literally don't know how to communicate unless it's through music, but i'm going to try, ok? i'm gonna try because i love you so much and you and your mom are the most important things in my life--" 

she cuts him off "i thought it was music?" with a smirk and luke rolls his eyes "ok second important," and emily rose is like  and he's like "im kidding im kidding really i am it's you and your mom. that's it, music is second. always"

she has a skatboarding tournament a few days later and invites luke to it (which he goes to) and he's SUPER impressed bc she actually is really talented

and he goes to some random dude "that's my daughter!!!!!!!"

he ends up booking a gig for the next tournament and she's super upset bc once again her dad is going to outshine her

but she learns to convey that disappointment and she tells him and he’s like "ok--i'll cancel the gig. i'll still be there, but just as your dad,"

Emily Rose goes to his next gig, which she never does, but bc it’s about the compromise

and now she's the one that's like "damn maybe my dad IS cool"

some girls are like "ISNT HE SO HOT" during the show and emily rose is like "idk he kind of looks like a dad to me"

she hates music sure but she loves getting to stand on top of the amps when her dad does a guitar solo bc "wow so this is what it's like to be tall"

one day julie can't perform bc she's sick and they have a really important gig and luke is HEARTBROKEN so emily rose takes the lead spot since her dad has been so supportive recently

Luke cries

Emily Rose, Reggie, and Alex are always there to tease him so bad 

"god luke, really??? why are you such a family man now?? it was bad enough when you just had one girl wrapped around your finger, but now you have two???"

TL;DR Emily Rose Patterson is not just wrapped around Luke’s finger, but also me and Chloe’s finger salkdjfhajshfljakfs

“Williams,” he said as he arose from his desk.  “What brings you here?”

She shut the door behind her, suddenly looking unsure of herself.  She was quiet for a moment, the beginning of a sentence coming out of her mouth, but she stopped herself before Garrus could understand what she was saying.

“There’s no good way to say this,” she said half to herself before turning to look at Garrus.  “The Normandy blew up.”

He was about to ask for further clarification, but Williams charged ahead before he could.

“Wasn’t long ago—less than a week,” she said.  “It hasn’t made it to the news circuits yet because they’re looking into things, but it was bad.  I’m not really supposed to say anything, but I felt like you should know.”

Her eyes squeezed shut, and Garrus waited a moment before asking the thousand questions that were crossing his mind.  It was clearly difficult for her to relive this, and he didn’t want to make it more so.

“Did the crew make it out okay?” he asked softly.

“Yeah,” she said, quickly swiping her fingers beneath her eyes.  “Most of us got into the escape pods, but Liv…”

She shook her head rapidly before turning away.  Garrus shifted slightly as well: while he was no stranger to human tears, he got the sense that Williams was trying desperately to hold herself together.

A few moments later, she pulled something from her pocket and pressed it into his hand, her face still carefully turned away. 

Garrus recognized it immediately as the pendant that Liv always wore.

“She was at the pods with me, but she went back to help Joker get out,” Williams said.  “She told me to give this to you.  Said you could give it back when you two talked.  I think she meant it as a promise that she’d follow through on whatever you two had planned, but…I don’t think she made it.”

He closed his eyes, breathing deeply in an attempt to keep his emotions in check.  “Is she…?” he asked, not able to bring himself to say the word “dead.”

“For now, she’s just missing in action,” she said.  “But Joker saw her get spaced so…I don’t know.  It doesn’t look good.”

Garrus nodded.  “Thanks,” he said.  “For telling me.  I’d rather find out now than have to wait till it hits the news circuits.”

“I tried to stop her,” Ashley said, her voice suddenly small.  “Should’ve known it wouldn’t do any good—after Akuze, she wouldn’t let someone else die if she could help it, even if it meant risking her own skin.”

Garrus said nothing, turning the pendant over in his hand a few more times before pocketing it.  The conversation he and Liv had when he was last aboard the Normandy passed through his head.  She’d been up front about her attraction to him, and he’d been eager to explore where that might go, spurred on by her assurance that she valued their friendship above all else.  She’d brought his life clearly into focus, and he’d wanted to integrate her into it in an ongoing way.  Perhaps they had started as no more than ships passing in the night, but over the months he’d spent aboard the Normandy, he’d come to crave a lasting relationship with her, whatever form that took.

But now, as he looked down at her pendant, he felt every hope he’d allowed himself to have being dashed to pieces.  Williams was a practical sort, and he suspected she wouldn’t have come to tell him if there was a reasonable hope that Liv might be alive somewhere.

Williams’ voice interrupted his thoughts.  “We’ll all miss her, but I know you two had something special,” she said.  “I don’t think she got close to many people, but the two of you…” she trailed off.

“Yeah,” Garrus said.  “Yeah, we were…close.”  His heart was too heavy at the loss of Liv to feel embarrassed that their relationship had been so noticeable to other members of the crew.

“I wish I could say something other than ‘I’m sorry,’ but that’s all I have,” Williams said, her voice breaking slightly.  “I’m so fucking sorry.  I wish…I don’t know.  I wish it wasn’t like this.”

Tentatively, Garrus put a hand on her shoulder, ready to pull it back if she objected, but she didn’t.  They stood like that for a few moments, both holding back a tide of emotions, when Garrus stepped back, removing his hand from Williams’s shoulder.

“I don’t really know what humans do in situations like this,” he said, “but if there’s a…ceremony or anything for her, I want to be there.”

Williams nodded.  “They’ll probably have a funeral if she’s…if they don’t find her in a few months,” she said.  “I know she’s Buddhist, so I don’t know if there’s anything special they do for that, but if any of the information’s not shared publicly, I’ll make sure it gets to you.”

“Thanks,” Garrus said softly.  “It’s not easy, going through something like that and then having to relive it. I appreciate you telling me.”

“It’s what she would’ve wanted,” Williams said, standing in silence for a moment before opening the door.  “I’ll…see you around, I guess.”

Garrus murmured something affirmative and bid her farewell, closing the door of his office behind her.  He walked back to his desk, feeling as though his body was no longer his own, as though someone else were controlling it.

She was gone, just like that.

A part of him hoped that they were able to recover her, but from what Williams had said, it sounded like that was a fool’s hope.

Now that he was alone, the loss hit him like a physical blow, setting the rest of his life off-kilter.  In a short time, Liv had become an important part of his life, and the thought of it without her seemed bleak, as though all the color had been drained out of it.

He withdrew the pendant from his pocket, setting it on the desk.  It was all he had left of Liv now, and having it within sight made the loss sting a little less.

Despite everything Williams had told him, there was still some part of him that hoped that, one day, he’d be able to return it to her.