I don't own Bloodlines!

"Roooose! Rose, I need your help."

Rose sighed into her phone. "What is it, Adrian?"

"…Can you please come to Palm Springs? This is strictly confidential."

"Adrian, so help me, if you're drunk and making me fly all the way out to Palm Springs because you're feeling romantic and want to see me and could just talk to me via dream-stalking, I will punch you," snapped Rose. "So, still want me to come?"

"Yes," replied Adrian, voice quivering slightly due to the threat. Clearly, he knew that she was not kidding. "I have a gigantic problem that I need your help with. Right now. And don't bother talking to Sydney, she's no help." Rose pursed her lips and then sighed again, feeling herself relent. She had wanted to make it up to Adrian, anyway, ever since he had spotted her and Dimitri kissing.

Besides, she'd wanted an excuse to see Dimitri for a while now.

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Adrian?" called Rose, stepping through the door to the Moroi's apartment. She'd gotten keys from Sydney, all the blonde had refused most profoundly not to come.

"Rose!" Adrian's face appeared through one of the doors. He grinned at her. "Hi."

"Hi," she replied. "What's up?" She sat down on the couch, her jetlag already starting to get to her.

"Well," said Adrian. He paused for a long moment, whether dramatically or because he didn't know what to say Rose didn't know. "I'm in love with someone. That I can't be with. Like, ever."

"And you needed me, why?" prompted Rose.

"Well, you've got experience with this, haven't you?" asked Adrian in that tone of voice that just screamed 'you seriously have to ask? How dumb are you?'. Rose always hated it when he used that voice. It made her want to smack him.

"You're in love with an impossible person," said Rose slowly. "Are you sure you're not just making this up to piss off your dad?"

"What? No!" exclaimed Adrian indignantly. "I can't help it. She's gorgeous, and she's funny, and -"

"Adrian," Rose attempted to interrupt.

" – her aura is amazing, and her laugh sounds like a bell -"

"Adrian."

" – and she helps me out all the time, and she makes me want to be a better person, not just to impress her, but actually become one -"

"ADRIAN."

" – and she's the only person here that can put up with me for extended periods except for Jill but she doesn't count because she's bonded to me and she has to or she'd go mad -"

"ADRIAN!"

" – and she's brilliant and she's really good at our self-defence classes and she'll always humour me during our incredibly boring experiments -"

Rose looked mournfully at her coffee. She really didn't want to do this, but it seemed it would be the only way she could possibly shut Adrian up at the moment. 'I'm so sorry,' she thought to it. 'Your sacrifice won't be in vain."

She stood up, marched over to where Adrian was standing, took off the lid to her cup, and poured it all over his head. Luckily for him, it was no longer at a boiling temperature after the twenty minute drive over here, but it was still quite hot and thus Adrian's girly shriek of pain was perfectly justifiable.

"What was that for?" he yelped, glaring at her after wiping the coffee out of his eyes.

"For not listening to me," replied Rose promptly with an angelic smile.

Adrian licked the coffee off one of his fingers. "She gets this sort of coffee."

"Does she," said Rose in a voice that made it utterly clear that it was not a question. "I'm sure if I'd let you go on you would have mentioned this eventually."

Adrian considered her words, then shrugged. "Probably."

"So," said Rose, "you called me half way across the country to tell me you have feelings for Sydney."

Adrian spluttered. "I never mentioned her name!"

"You didn't need to. Jill told us. I can't believe you fell in love with a human," Rose snapped at him. "I mean, of all the lines to cross, Adrian, it had to be that one, didn't it?"

"I can't help it," said Adrian defensively. "I love her. I'd be willing to go live with the Keepers if I have to. It's different from when I was with you, Rose. I honestly love her and I'm willing to do anything to be with her."

"Officially," said Rose eventually, "Lissa's furious with you and can't believe you had to cross that taboo, out of all of them. Unoffically, she's still furious at you and still can't believe you, but… she says good luck."

Adrian looked up at her in surprise. "You guys… don't approve, clearly, but… you're rooting for us?"

"You're one of our group," said Rose mildly. "If it's going to make you happy, we're rooting for you. Dimitri and I think the same for Sydney, though not the rest of them back at Court, 'cause they don't know her as well as us. And of course Eddie doesn't have a clue and you probably already know what Jill thinks."

"That reminds me. I have to tell Jill something." Adrian glared at the wall. Rose laughed. "What are you telling Jill?"

"That I will get my revenge." He gave a wicked grin. "Do you think super-glued feathers or ping pong balls would be better?"

"Good luck getting her, though. Lissa tried to catch me once or twice. Never worked." Rose smirked as she remembered an incident from times past.

"Except when we broke you out of prison," Adrian reminded her.

"Yeah, but she'd learnt how to block me out by then," Rose told him matter-of-factly. "It takes years to learn that. You have no hope. There's no way you'll be getting revenge any time soon."

Adrian sighed in disappointment. "Will you help me?" he asked, switching back to their original topic abruptly.

"With Sydney or with your revenge?" asked Rose, needing clarification.

"Sydney."

"Well," said Rose heavily, "I can tell you one thing: don't go making a big, sweeping declaration of love. I know that's your style, but it's not going to work on Sydney."

Adrian suddenly found the roof very interesting.

Rose groaned. "You are not making this easy for yourself," she told him. "Sydney still believes the Alchemists are all that and she doesn't believe in love like you do. She doesn't think that love can cross species – and, if it does, it's still wrong and nothing can come of it. You need to show her that it can be okay, that it's alright. That what you have isn't bad."

Adrian sighed. "That's not asking for much."

"I'll talk to Sydney," said Rose softly. "It doubt I'll do anything, really, but it's the least I can do." Silence reigned for a long while before Rose finally demanded, "Okay, it's killing me. What were you planning to do with those super-glued ping pong balls and/or feathers?"

Adrian burst into laughter and Rose's phone buzzed. "I've got to go," she told him quietly. "But if there's one thing I learned from my impossible relationship, it's not to give up."

"Thank you," said Adrian, quietly and sincerely.

Rose paused at the door. "By the way," she called back, "super-glued ping pong balls would be better."