Hey guys! I know, I know. Why am I writing a one-shot instead of updating Of Magic and Misery? I'm working on that and it should be updated by tomorrow night. I felt bad that it was taking so long, so I decided to post a scene that was based off of an idea I had for OMM but just wasn't going to happen. Instead I took it, reworked it, and turned it into a one shot. Review and let me know what you think. Also, if anyone has an idea or prompt they'd like to see written send it to me. I think this is a fun way to break writer's block!

*This scene takes place during a trip to Court for Sonya's wedding. Sydney and Adrian are still not speaking at this point because of the fallout from the kiss.*

The Alchemists had decided that since I was being requested at Court for Sonya's wedding, they should send a second alchemist as back up. Or, as Ian had said at the airport when I'd picked him up, "to keep you company in the lion's den."

He didn't realize how little I needed or wanted the company of another alchemist right now. It was a nice gesture on their part, but the Alchemists were the only ones I was afraid of, not the Moroi at Court. Ian's presence was only going to wreck havoc on my nerves. I couldn't even talk to any of my friends with him around. Even when he wasn't in the room, I was always afraid he'd walk in or find out somehow. And he'd only been here for a few hours!

My only saving grace was that Adrian wasn't here yet. I could only imagine how he'd treat Ian, or me, once he got back. He'd gone off on his own right after we'd arrived at the palace this afternoon. I wondered what he was doing—and who he's doing it with, my brain had kindly supplied—but knew it wasn't any of my business.

Our relationship had been strained ever since that day in his apartment. The day he'd kissed me. I'd freaked out and run away and Adrian had gone into a depression. It wasn't as bad as after Rose left him, but, let's just say, he wasn't handling it very well.

We hadn't talked in over a month, aside from me saying hello and him nodding in my general direction. It was a far cry from the way our relationship had been pre-kiss. If I was being honest with myself, it crushed me, but I usually tried to push those thoughts aside and act as professional as possible around him.

Even though I sometimes got the feeling that my professional act just made his mood worse.

I was worried about him running around Court, getting right back into his old habits, but I couldn't focus much on it. Not now. Not with Ian right here.

"I hate that we have to eat with them. I'd rather go get fast food or something," he said as we headed out of the secluded hallway that led to our guest rooms and toward the dining room. Lissa, the Queen and Rose's best friend, had, at Ian's request, had two rooms in the south wing put together for our use. The south wing was the furthest from the rest of the gang's rooms and no one else was staying there. We were essentially alone on that side of the palace.

I hated separating myself from Jill and the others, especially at Court. Jill had been attacked the last time she was here, she had died, until Adrian had saved her life with spirit magic. What if someone attacked again and I wasn't there to help her? I could use magic, too, and had been practicing with it almost non-stop recently. I could help her in an attack just as much as Eddie or Angeline or Adrian. I should be with her.

But I couldn't ask to change my room to their wing. I couldn't even talk to Jill without making Ian suspicious. And he followed me around like a lost puppy, constantly at my heels.

"It'll be fine," I said distractedly, still worrying about how dinner was going to work. Ian didn't seem like he'd want to sit down to dinner next to a vampire, even ones as nice as Jill and the others. "But you need to calm down and not show your fear or dislike of them. It's rude and they are being courteous to us, after all."

To my surprise, when we entered the dining room, everyone was already there. I did a quick scan of the faces at the table. Jill, Eddie, Angeline, Rose, Lissa, Dimitri, Christian, Sonya, Mikhail. No Adrian. My heart dropped when I realized he wasn't going to come back for dinner—for the group dinner he'd promised Jill he'd attend—but I put on a cheery smile and said hello to everyone.

Ian nodded politely next to me.

"Hey, Sydney," Rose greeted kindly. "Ian. Come sit down, we were just talking about how the florist messed up Sonya's bouquets." She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

"It was a major problem," Sonya laughed. "Just wait until you get married."

"Oh, no! Don't go giving him any ideas," Rose said, pointing to Dimitri. "Not until I'm at least in my twenties."

I had already begun walking over to the empty seat on the other side of Mikhail, but Ian grabbed my hand.

"Let's sit over here," he whispered, dragging me down to the other end of the table. It was a long dining table and now there were more than a couple empty spaces in between us and the rest of the party.

Sitting down here I would barely be able to hear anyone's conversation. But what could I say? Ian pulled out my seat for me and I sat, miserably.

Sonya gave me a disappointed look and I felt incredibly rude. I opened my mouth, about to make that point to Ian when I noticed his eyes were wide. I looked behind me and sure enough a tall Moroi man with unbelievably green eyes loomed over me.

"Can I speak to you for a second," the man gritted out between clenched teeth. It wasn't a question.

I stood, dreading whatever conversation Adrian and I were about to have, but happy that he was back. And even happier that he didn't smell of alcohol or smoke... or girls.

To my horror, Ian began to get up as well.

"No, Ian," I said, trying to sound authoritative and professional. "It's okay. Enjoy your meal, I'll take care of this."

Ian looked like he wanted to argue, but Adrian gave him a look that would have scared a trained guardian. He nodded stiffly and sat back in his chair.

When I looked up everyone was staring at us. Embarrassed, I turned around and walked across the room and into the hall, trying to maintain a normal speed, when really I just wanted to bolt.

Once we were in the hall I looked at Adrian. "What's going on?" I asked. "What do you need?"

Adrian scoffed. "What do I need?" he asked, nastily. "What I need is to know why the hell that guy is in there sitting with you."

I sighed. "The Alchemists sent him," I explained. "He's supposed to be my backup."

"I'm sure he is," Adrian said. His mouth seemed set in a permanent scowl. "What a waste of my night," he grumbled, turning to leave. He wasn't even headed back to the dining hall, he was going in the other direction. Leaving me.

"What's a waste?" I demanded, grabbing his elbow before he could go.

He turned back and shook his head, like he wasn't going to answer, but then his eyes drifted to where my fingers still clutched his arm. I let go and took a step back, causing him to sigh.

"I know this guy..." he said, then stopped and looked me in the eyes. He took a deep breath. "Look, I know I've been a moody, asshole to you, Sage, and you didn't deserve it. I... When I found out we were attending Sonya's wedding here at Court I remembered I knew this guy, Andre. He..." Adrian looked down at the ground. "He collects classic cars."

He looked back up at me, searching my face, but all I could do was stare back, confused. What did Andre and his cars have to do with Adrian's wasted night?

"I thought," Adrian started, then he looked down again. "I don't know, it's stupid. I thought maybe I could make up for being a jerk by borrowing one of his cars. I thought maybe you'd like to go for a ride or something after dinner. As friends."

I just blinked at him. He'd borrowed a car to take me out?

"It was a stupid idea," he said, turning away from me again. It was only then that I realized I hadn't said anything, just looked at him strangely.

"What kind of car?" I asked quickly, grabbing his elbow again. I could hear the excitement in my own voice.

He glanced at me over is shoulder. "Corvette," he said. "1954. Red."

I sucked in a breath and he smiled a little.

"Thought you'd like that," he said smugly. And he had every right. A 1954 Chevrolet Corvette in red?

"That's the first year the Powerglide 235 engine became standard." I glanced down the hall toward the front entrance of the palace. "It's out there right now?"

"Yeah." He kept smiling, but it dimmed a little. "I could give you the keys, if you want. That way you could take Ewan with you." He gestured back to the dining room.

"You mean Ian?" I asked, confused. "Why would I want to take Ian with me?"

"I don't know," Adrian said, turning back to face me. "You seemed awfully cozy with him in there. Holding hands," he spit the words like an accusation. "Figured you'd rather hang with him tonight, since you seem to be back to the old us vs. them Alchemist mentality."

His tone was so bitter it caused me to frown. He had, admittedly, been moody and a jerk to me for the past month. He'd wanted nothing to do with me. What gave him the right to make a rash judgement about me and Ian?

"I don't want to go anywhere with Ian," I stated, angrily. "I didn't want to sit at the end of the table, away from everyone I know. I don't want to stay in the room next to him on the other side of the palace from you and Jill. I don't want him here at all. I have no choice. And I certainly wasn't holding his hand!"

Adrian's expression faltered and then he frowned. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh!" I lowered my voice, trying not to yell at him. How dare he make assumptions like that? Did he really think I could just change my mind so quickly? "I can't talk to anyone while he's around. Rose tried to ask me about Palm Springs and I could barely answer her. The Alchemists would freak out if they knew I was friends with you guys. I'm supposed to want to sit at the end of the table and sleep as far from you as physically possible. I'm supposed to be scared of you!" I took a deep breath and exhaled it out in one long, weary huff. "But I'm not. You know that. And I'm terrified he's going to find out."

Adrian looked properly chastened. He reached out and touched his fingers to mine, not quite holding my hand. I should have pulled back, but I couldn't quite find the strength to do so.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I thought..."

Finally, I managed to pull my hand away. "You thought what? That I could abandon my friends that easily? That I would do something like that?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "Or... Well, yeah, maybe. It just seemed like the easier course of action, you know? After..." he looked away again, "everything."

"I couldn't go back to that course of action if I wanted to," I sighed, thinking about everything I'd learned from Ms. Terwilliger. Going back to the Alchemists would probably be akin to suicide.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

I looked back over my shoulder, toward the dining room. "I'll tell you later, okay?"

Adrian nodded. "Do you want to go back in?" he asked pointing to the door behind us.

"No," I answered, leaning against the wall. "Not really. Ian's been following me everywhere. He's kind of annoying. If he's so afraid of Moroi than he shouldn't have volunteered for the assignment."

Adrian laughed a little. "Fear of vampires isn't the reason that guy's been following you, Sage."

"What do you mean?"

Adrian face softened, but there was still a hard edge to it, like something was bothering him. "He's got a crush on you."

I blinked in surprise. "Ian? No. No way. Besides, you only saw him for, like, half a second. How could you have noticed he had a crush on me that quickly?"

"It's true," Adrian said. He even crossed his heart. "I noticed it the first time I saw him. When you were being interrogated by the guardians after helping Rose."

I'd forgotten Adrian had seen Ian then. And he was good at figuring people out and he never forgot a face, so he probably wasn't mistaken.

"Why would he have a crush on me?" I asked, baffled. "I don't even really know him that well."

"It doesn't take long to fall for a beautiful, intelligent woman, Sage," Adrian said. He was smiling, but his eyes were serious and something in my chest fluttered in response. "Trust me."

I let my head fall back against the wall, feeling... I didn't know. Feeling a lot of things. Shock that Ian liked me, anger still about Adrian's accusations, excitement that Adrian and I were talking again. Butterflies seemed to be trying to take flight in my stomach at the way he was looking at me.

"So," Adrian said. "If you don't want to go back in, you're still going to need to eat something..." He pulled a set of keys from his pocket. "And I do have a ride."

I started to say, "Yes. Yes, definitely!" but then a thought occurred to me. "I can't," I said instead. "How could I cover up going on a joy ride with you? Ian would find out and tell the Alchemists. And if he does have a crush on me, he'll be paying extra close attention."

"Just leave it to me, Sage," Adrian smirked. "Give me your phone. You have his cell number?"

I told him I did and pulled the phone from my pocket, handing it over to Adrian who pulled up my contacts list and then started typing. When he was done he handed it back to me. It was still open to my messages and I read the text he'd just sent Ian.

Ivashkov is causing a fuss. I need to go take care of it. Be back later, don't worry :)

"Adrian, I don't use smiley faces," I said. But, really, the text was a smart idea and would probably get Ian off of my back for a while.

He smiled at me. "The crush, remember? He'll think it's flirting. And he isn't going to turn in the girl he likes to his superiors if he thinks he might stand a chance with her." He seemed to think of something suddenly. "He doesn't stand a chance with you does he?"

I couldn't help it, I laughed out loud. At the absurdity of Adrian's obvious jealousy, at my relief that he was okay, that we were okay. "No," I told Adrian, still laughing. "No chance. Not when..."

I trailed off, fighting a blush.

"Not when what?" Adrian asked slyly.

I lifted my chin and looked him right in those impossibly green eyes. "Not when there's a 1954 Corvette waiting outside for me."

Adrian laughed and led me outside.

The car was gorgeous. Cherry red, chrome trim. The white convertible top was down, showing off the sweet red interior. I loved Adrian's Mustang, I really did, but this car blew it out of the water.

"It's the Blue Flame," I muttered, running the tips of my fingers over the hood.

"That name doesn't really make any sense," Adrian said from the curb. "It's red."

I turned back to him and smiled. "It's the name of the engine," I said. "It's called a Blue Flame." I turned back to the masterpiece in front of me. "But I think the name suits this car."

"Let's take it for a ride then," Adrian said. His voice was in my ear and I spun around to see that he'd snuck up on me. He was standing so close now...

"Okay," I breathed. My heart had started hammering in my chest. I told myself it was excitement at being able to drive the car, but even I wasn't fooled.

Adrian lifted his hand, the keys dangling from his long fingers. I reached out to grab them but he caught ahold of my hand, the keys trapped between our palms. His eyes were so green and staring directly into me. I realized right then just how much I'd missed him recently. I was glad that we were over that period in our relationship and I didn't ever want to go back to it.

"Thank you," I said quietly. "For doing this. For being my friend. For everything."

He continued to watch me, silently searching for something. He must have found whatever it was because a look passed over his expression. A look of friendship and fondness and... hope. Eventually he smiled and dropped the keys into my hand, heading to the passenger side door.

"Let's see how fast this baby can go," he smirked.

I grinned and hopped into the drivers seat.