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One Step Farther

A Bloodlines Fanfiction

By Danielle Cheri

Chapter One

"Adrian? Hello? Are you there?" Rose asked anxiously.

"This isn't some sort of fucked up dream or something, is it?" He asked, his throat tight with fear.

"You don't know how much I wish it was." She said softly.

He sighed. "A baby."

"Yeah."

He hesitated. "What does Dimitri think?"

"He's surprisingly happy about it. He was the one who convinced me that you deserved to know sooner rather than later. Reminded me that you will see me at the wedding. I'm not very small anymore."

He took a deep breath. "What do you need me to do?"

"Keep Jill safe. I'll handle it. I have been. I'll send you updates, pictures if you want. Just stay where you are. We'll be fine. I had an ultrasound recently. I can scan the pictures and send them to you."

He nodded and then remembered he was talking to her on the phone. "Okay."

"Do you want to know what it is or be surprised?"

"You already know?"

"Dimitri does. I said I wasn't sure either."

"Then maybe we should both think on it for a while."

"Sounds good." She paused. "You don't know how sorry I am, Adrian."

"Me too, Rose. But I'm still not entirely over it. And the fact that you kept this from me—"

"Please, let's not fight about that. I know it was wrong. I never could find the words…"

"'Adrian, we're having a baby.'" He said snidely with a touch of real anger.

"Well, now you know. Please don't be mad at me."

"It's just a lot to take in."

"I know. And again I'm sorry."

As soon as the call ended, Adrian immediately called another number.

"Adrian?" Her voice was tentative.

"Hey, Sage." He tried to speak lightly, but it was forced.

Sydney was on alert. "Is something wrong?"

Adrian let out a shaky breath. "Can you come over?"

"I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"Never mind. Forget I asked." He went to hang up his phone.

"Wait." She called.

He put the phone back to his ear. "Yeah?"

"I'll be right over."

"Oh, wow." Sydney breathed.

"I expected something more articulate out of you." Adrian accused.

"Yeah, well, I'm all out." She looked at him. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know." He stood and started pacing. A cigarette was quickly produced.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I don't know that either. I mean, being a dad would be cool. But in the future. And maybe with a girl who didn't run right back to the guy she really loved not long after the conception." He took a long pull from the cigarette. He blew out a long stream of smoke. "What am I supposed to do, Sydney?"

"Stop the pacing first of all. You're making me dizzy."

He paused and turned to her.

"Relax. You don't have to do a whole lot right now except help keep Jill safe. Keep yourself sane. Rose is the one who's pregnant. She knows what's at stake here. And she knows how to handle herself under normal circumstances."

"She's in her fourth month."

"Well, that makes sense. Otherwise you'd both have a lot of explaining to do."

He smiled crookedly. "She said she'd keep me updated."

"Good. That's important."

His smile dropped. "He knew."

"Who knew what?"

"Dimitri. When he was here. That bastard knew." He stubbed out his cigarette angrily in the ash tray.

"For some reason, Rose didn't want you to know. But you do now."

A rueful smile crossed his face, "Yeah, I do. And I plan on being a better dad than my own. I don't care if it's to a dhampir. That's my kid. I helped make it. I'll help raise it."

She gave him a kind smile. "That's a good plan."

"You're still not sure about all this." It was a statement, not a question.

"I'm getting better with it. And I've got my own magic to deal with now."

"Sage, I—"

"Don't. Just don't."

"Thank you for coming." He lit another cigarette. "That's what I was going to say." He blew out a stream of smoke.

"I'm supposed to help with all this."

"Not with an unexpected pregnancy. Unless it was Jill's. And that would be a horrible disaster."

Adrian smiled and rested his hand on top of Sydney's a moment. She sat as still as a statue. He squeezed and then stood and resumed his pacing.

"I know you've got a lot to do before Thanksgiving break."

"I've got all my homework done. I've just got a few things Miss Terwilliger wants me to do."

"She should let you take a break." He said, his voice full of concern.

"She should. But she wants me to stretch my abilities. I'm mostly just making charms." She sighed and sat back on the couch. "I hate it." She didn't know why she was so relaxed. Maybe it was because Adrian was going through such a tough time that he wasn't flirting with her.

"I think it's a useful skill to have." He said softly. "But I know it makes you uncomfortable." He sat down again and put out the cigarette. He leaned slightly toward her.

"Don't try to kiss me."

"I wasn't going to." But he backed away from her anyway.

"There's just so much... I don't want..."

"It's fine, Sage. I understand. I'm even more messed up now, right?"

She leaned forward. "It's not about being messed up. You just found out you're going to be a dad. You're barely 22. This wasn't something you expected or wanted right now. But here it is."

Sydney put her hand on his arm. "Let's not cloud that with whatever mess is going on with us right now."

"You don't want me anyway." He said softly, his voice full of hurt.

She sat back once more. "I can't want you. There's a difference. But I want to be your friend in this."

"I'll gladly take that. Thank you."

They sat awkwardly in silence for a while.

Sydney stood and made her way toward the door. "I'll see you Thursday."

"Sydney." He said softly.

She turned.

"I appreciate you coming. But think of today as a reprieve. I love you and I want you. And I will do everything I can to win you over."

"You already have." She smiled sadly. "But you and I both know we won't work." She left without another word.

Sydney let herself into her room and collapsed across the bed. She was just about to get up and get ready to go down for dinner when there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" She called.

"Jill." The young Moroi princess called softly.

Sydney got up and opened the door.

Jill came in and sat down on the bed. She put her face in her hands. "He's really torn up about this."

"I could tell. He smoked four cigarettes and I was only there a half hour." She sat down beside Jill. "How are you?"

She looked up and Sydney could see the pain in her eyes, but also a little relief. "I think it's what they need. To bring them together. To fix it. I feel everything he feels for Rose and it hurts. I just want it to stop. I want this to help make it stop. I hate this constant ache. I can't concentrate on anything, especially when it's this strong. He's mad that she kept it from him for so long."

"Yeah, that wasn't very considerate." Sydney sighed. "She had to have a reason."

"Excuses. That's all it is. She said he was scared he wouldn't want to be there for her. That he was too mad about what she did with Dimitri. But it's not true."

"I know it isn't. He really does want this baby. That's what he told me."

"He doesn't love her anymore." Jill said suddenly.

A ghost of a smile played on Sydney's lips. "I know that. He'd head-over-heels for me."

Jill grinned. "I thought you didn't like that."

"I'm starting to accept it. Like with the magic. I don't want to, but it's there." She got up. "Let's go down and get something to eat."

Jill looked pained. "I'd rather not. Do you think we could go out?"

Sydney smiled. "I'd like that. Do you want to call Adrian?"

"No, just us. If that's okay."

"That's perfectly fine." She gathered her purse and walked toward the door.

Jill always reminded Sydney a little of her sister Zoe. Maybe it was just the bit of uncertainty mixed with the need to be useful. She and Jill checked out at the front desk and drove to the closest restaurant to campus.

"I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving." Jill said as they sat down.

"You've got it all planned out, don't you?" Sydney teased.

"Of course." She chuckled. "The turkey is ready to go in the oven. I've assigned all the other dishes to those attending with a stove. The rest we can cook there."

"This should be fun. I hope, anyway." Sydney picked at her salad.

"Me too. So much is going on with us all. And now Angeline and Eddie…" Her smile faded. "Just try not to fight with Adrian."

"We won't fight. I promise."

Jill's smile returned. "Good." Her face changed a little. Sydney could tell she was seeing something from Adrian.

"What?"

"Nothing." She said quickly and dropped her head.

Sydney's phone buzzed with a text.

"She sent me an ultrasound pic. Want to see?"

"You saw the picture?" Sydney asked as she typed out the reply. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It's pretty cool. I've never seen one."

"Of course." Then he sent along the email containing the picture. "Isn't she beautiful?"

"She?"

"He wants to name her Lorelei." Jill said, shaking her head.

"That's pretty."

"It's from a song. And not a very good one." She had her own phone out and began texting.

"Yes, she." Adrian replied.

Sydney smiled and replied, "So everything is okay?"

"Getting there. Come over?"

"I'm with Jill. And I said it wasn't happening."

"Bring Jill. Nothing will happen."

"Can we?" Jill asked, looking at Sydney uncertainly.

"We still have plenty of time until curfew." Sydney said and started gathering her things. "On our way."

Author's note: I would like to point out the song Lorelei by Styx is a fun little song and you should all check it out. Other than that, please feel free to review and let me know what you think. I'm not sure how long this will be just yet.

I would like to extend my thanks to my best friend Lacey (actresswithoutastage) for helping with the title. I was lamenting that I needed a title and she gave One Step Farther as suggestion. She's my usual titlesmith as I am dismal at them. Go read her stuff, too. She makes up all her own titles. :) And she's a goo writer to boot!