A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far! At the moment I have five fic prompts still to fill. When they're complete, I'll post them here.

Prompt: Thanksgiving with the Bloodlines gang.

Pumpkin Pie

"Thank you for dinner, Dorothy," I told Clarence's kindly feeder as I helped her clear the table. "It was delicious."

"Yeah," Adrian muttered, behind me. "That one potato Sage ate looked really appetising."

I stiffened, but Dorothy only smiled and patted my arm. "Thank you, dear," she said. She took the empty plates from my arms and waved away my protests. "I can carry these from here."

I returned to the table somewhat reluctantly. There was no doubt about it – this was by far the strangest Thanksgiving I'd ever celebrated. Back home, Thanksgiving was a family event. We'd sit around the table, clasping hands and thank God; for the food we were about to eat, for our family's safety and for the Alchemists' tireless work in protecting humankind against the evil of vampires, Moroi and Strigoi alike.

Today, I'd sat down to eat with two Dhampirs, three Moroi, and a woman who willingly gave them her blood. But that wasn't the strangest part. Despite the odd group we made, and the tension that was always present nowadays when Adrian and I were in the same room, this Thanksgiving had… actually been kind of fun.

Since Moroi eat very little, the meal had been short, but entertaining. The small room was filled with talking and laughter enough to raise all our spirits. Jill, who had been noticeably upset this morning to be spending Thanksgiving so far away from her parents, had brightened up considerably. Even Adrian was back to his usual sarcastic self, looking more jovial than I'd seen him in weeks.

When Dorothy came back from the kitchen, the delicious smell of pumpkin pie filled the room. She gave each of us a plate, ignoring my refusals. I waited while everyone else tucked in.

Clarence finished his slice first. "My compliments to the chef," he said with a nod in Adrian's direction.

I frowned. I wasn't the only one – Eddie and Angeline both looked bewildered too. Jill just smirked knowingly.

"You cooked pie?" Eddie asked him incredulously.

Adrian shrugged nonchalantly, but his shoulders were tensed as if he were bracing himself for the inevitable teasing. "I came here yesterday for my feed and got bored. I smelled pumpkin and wanted pie. Dorothy offered to show me how it was done. The next thing I knew… I was baking."

Eddie sniggered. I looked down at the untouched slice of pie on the dessert plate in front of me and felt a rush of warmth. The idea of Adrian doing something as domestic as baking was just so…

I reached for my fork and took a small bite of pie to distract myself from where my thoughts were headed.

Mmm. Admittedly, I didn't often eat dessert, but this had to be one of the best pumpkin pies I'd ever tasted. I put my fork down, wishing I hadn't tried it at all, when I suddenly realised all eyes were on me.

"It's low calorie," Jill said quickly, breaking the silence. "Sugar-free. No eggs or butter. Completely Sydney-friendly." Then she looked down, as if embarrassed. Across the table, Adrian scowled at her.

I looked back at the pie, reminded of the pot of pomegranate gelato Adrian had brought for me. The same sudden warmth of affection rushed through me and this time I found it hard to quash it down.

"He had some trouble with it too," Jill said with a smirk, as though Adrian wasn't currently looking at her like he was imagining all the different ways he could silence her without invalidating the Queen's throne. "Wasn't sure at first what measuring cups were or how to use them. Practically re-decorated Dorothy's kitchen in flour. Ended up buying all new ingredients and starting from scratch."

I smiled as everyone laughed. Adrian was good enough to accept their teasing with only a few moderate swear words and pointed sarcastic remarks. He glanced at me and I looked away quickly, cheeks flushed.

I could imagine the kind of text I might have received from him yesterday if our relationship was still as it was a few months ago: Emergency, come quick. Bring pie mix.

But that was before the kiss that had changed everything. Now, just three weeks later, things were painfully awkward between us. More than anything, I wanted that easy camaraderie back. I wanted to hear him call me Sage and see that smirky smile he'd give me whenever I complimented him, intentionally or otherwise. I wanted my inbox swarmed with his pointless but entertaining emails. I wanted him to look at me with anything other than longing and regret.

Without him as a constant presence in my life, I was… lonely. And judging from Adrian's statement that he'd been bored enough to try his hand at baking, I guessed he was lonely without me too. That terrified me more than I cared to admit.

There's no one else out there who understands you like I do.

I was starting to worry that that might be truer than I'd originally thought.

A/N: Considering moving this story to the Bloodlines archive, which I wasn't aware of until yesterday. To my readers - which do you usually use to search for Sydney/Adrian fics?