Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns the Bloodlines series and all of it's characters.

A/N: Thanks to my beta VAlover21 and Shadow-Kiss-The-Weak. Enjoy, and please review!

Last chapter: As soon as we get through the entrance, Adrian freezes and his eyes go wide. When he speaks, it comes out in a terrified whisper. "Jill…"

I look in the same direction as he does, seeing Jill on a stretcher.

Adrian stares in shock at Jill who has blood on her face and looks like she's on the verge of losing consciousness. I take his arm gently and walk him over to the stretcher. "Is she okay," I ask a nearby nurse.

The nurse gives a friendly smile. "Yes, dear, she'll be just fine." I nod slightly and look at Adrian, seeing a blank look on his face as he stares at Jill.

"Hey, did you hear that," I ask him gently, still holding onto his arm. He doesn't respond, so I shake his arm gently. "Adrian?" He blinks and looks at me, and I can tell he's struggling to keep himself composed.

"She'll be fine," the nurse says, trying to reassure Adrian. "She's a little dehydrated and she got a cut on her forehead from falling. That's where the blood came from. We'll have to keep her over night to make sure that she's completely okay." she continues explaining.

"Adrian. Say something." I say to him quietly, a little startled by his silence. "Please."

He looks at me then at the nurse. "Can we stay?"

She shakes her head. "Only parents are permitted to stay, dear. I apologize." He swallows hard, and I can see him Adam's apple move up then down.

"Can I hug her," he asks a bit timidly. The nurse nods.

"Be very gentle," the nurse responds, watching him. He leans down to Jill and hugs her very gently, and I assume that he's trying to heal her as much as possible. When he pulls away, his expression turns blank again, and he walks away quickly.

I look at him walking away, and my eyebrows knit together. I turn back to the nurse, putting a kind face on. "Thank you, ma'am."

She nods and smiles. "Come back tomorrow and visit if you'd like." I nod and watch them push Jill down the hall, and I turn and run after Adrian. Once I get in the parking lot, I see him sitting on a bench near my car and go over to him.

"Come on. Let's go."

He doesn't respond.

"Adrian?"

No response.

"You're scaring me a little…" I tell him, being honest.

He gets up, keeping his head down, and he gets into the car without saying a word. I watch him, speechless. I look in through the window at Adrian, and I see his eyes.

They're rimmed in red.

I get into the car shortly after Adrian does, and I look over at him. "Hello, Earth to Adrian," I say, trying to get him to talk to me. "At least look at me…"

I can see his hesitation as he looks over at me, his emerald green eyes filled with tears. I stare at him in shock, but he keeps looking at me.

"Oh my gosh," I say to myself, voice full of concern. I get out of the car and quickly go to his door, opening it. I awkwardly pull him into a hug, but he pushes me away, of course. "Adrian, come on. Don't be like this right now."

"Like what, myself," he asks in a harsh voice.

Two can play at that game.

"Yes, exactly," I say with the same harshness that's in his tone. I continue in a softer voice, knowing that being snarky back to him won't get me anywhere. "Look… I see that you're hurting right now, Adrian, so don't even bother trying to hide it." I hold up my hand to halt his protests that I know are coming. "Pushing me away will not make you feel better."

He waits a few moments before responding. "You done," he asks in a flat tone that makes my jaw drop. Once I manage to close my mouth, I glare at him.

"Yeah." I nod once. "Yeah, I'm done," I say before closing his door a little harder than necessary and getting in on the driver's side, starting the car. I sneak a discreet glance at him and see that his eyes are still red from crying, and I give an internal sigh as I drive him home. He stares at the dashboard, and I see his bottom lip trembling occasionally. I frown slightly, not liking his dismal mood, and I turn the radio on, hoping to distract him a bit.

I see him rub his eyes a few times as I pull into his driveway. After I shut off the car, he immediately gets out and quickly goes inside. I follow him at the same pace, putting my hand out to catch the door before he slams it.

He starts pacing around the house, trying to occupy himself with tidying up, watering a plant, and looking at his hair in a mirror, so I intervene. "Adrian," I say, trying to get him to turn toward me. When he doesn't, I go over to him where he's straightening a stack of magazines on the coffee table. "Hey," I say, still trying to get him to look at me, and I can see he's struggling to hold himself together. "Adrian, stop." I say softly, laying my hand on his wrist.

He shakes his head while shaking my hand off his wrist, still straightening the magazines though they're already straight.

"Adrian." I take his wrists gently in my hands, and he feebly tries to pull his shaking hands away, but I won't let him. "Look at me."

"N-no," he stutters out, still trying to pull his wrists from my grip.

I sigh. "Adr—"

"No," he interrupts, finally breaking down into tears. "N-no!"

"Hey…" I say gently, putting an arm around him.

He shakes his head and half-heartedly tries to push me away.

I shake my head and pull him into a hug, and he doesn't push me away.

Finally.

I feel his body shaking, and he makes a tiny whimpering noise as he fights a sob away. "Hey," I say in the same gentle voice, pulling back to look him in the eyes. "It's just me, okay? I don't care if you cry. No one else will see you."

"Exactly. It's you, Sage. I-I don't want you to see me like this," he says in a shaky voice.

My heart clenches as he lets out his first sob.

I squeeze his shoulder before pushing him gently down onto the couch and going to his bathroom, getting a box of tissues and wetting a washcloth with cool water. I bring the tissues and cloth back out to him and sit beside him on the couch.

"Here," I say gently, handing him the tissues.

He nods slightly and blows his nose a couple times, throwing the soiled tissues into a trash can next to the couch. I set the tissues aside and hand him the washcloth.

"Stop coddling me, Sage," he says in a shaky voice.

"I'm not coddling you. I'm taking care of you just like you did for me."

He nods slightly and wipes his face with the cloth then holds it to his forehead. I keep watching him, not really knowing what to do next. "Do you want some water or something," I ask gently. He shakes his head. I nod slightly and look out the window, feeling rude for staring at him. When I hear him sniffle, I look back at him and see a few tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Adrian…" I put a hand on his shoulder and squeeze gently. "Talk to me."

He shakes his head and so do I. "Come on. I usually can't get you to shut up," I say, smirking slightly.

He smiles slightly before frowning again, and I sigh.

"She's going to be okay, right," he asks quietly, looking down.

"Of course. The nurse said she'll be fine."

He nods slightly, his bottom lip trembling. He looks at me for a second before wrapping his arms around me and silently crying into my shoulder. I gasp quietly, surprised, but I rub his back gently, holding him to me. It kills me to see him in this much pain, but at least I can comfort him. I wonder if he's being affected by Jill's pain...

He curls up on the couch, laying his head in my lap and looking out the window, tears still running down his reddened face. I keep an arm around his shoulders and hesitantly stroke his hair, not knowing how he'll react. As he relaxes slightly, I sigh quietly and keep carding my hand through his hair.

After a few minutes, his crying ceases and I hand him a tissue which he dabs his eyes with. He stares out the window, no doubt trying to calm his emotions down.

"You okay," I ask quietly.

He nods and sits up, looking over at me, not quite making eye contact. "Don't um… don't tell anyone about this…"

I shake my head quickly. "I would never…"

He nods. "I know."

I smile slightly and look away, knowing I'm probably blushing.

"Sage," he says quietly.

I turn to him, and he leans forward, catching me by surprise as he presses a soft kiss to my lips.

Shocked from the sudden kiss, I pull back quickly and stare at him with wide eyes. He looks back at me as if awaiting a reprimand, but I just keep my eyes on him. As he opens his mouth to speak, I quickly lean forward and press my lips to his.

What am I doing?! He's a Moroi! He's a vampire, and I'm an Alchemist! I can't kiss him!

Despite my moral thoughts that are swarming around in my head, I can't seem to stop myself, and I can't hold back either. All of my feelings for him rise to the surface, and I move closer to him, kissing him again. He smiles slightly through the kiss and takes my hand. I kiss him back with no hesitation whatsoever though my mind is racing.

When he runs his thumb over my knuckles softly, I get goose bumps, and he pulls back and looks at me with a slight smile. I look down, shocked that he kissed me, but I'm more shocked that I kissed him back.

Why did I kiss him back?

He keeps stroking my knuckles with his thumb, and I look at our hands. He smiles slightly as he sees me look at them, and I put my hand over his to hold it still.

"You didn't pull away," he says happily. "You kissed me," he says in the same happy tone.

"Nice job. You're very observant," I say in a sarcastic voice that usually comes out of his mouth while smiling slightly.

He shrugs. "I am when I want to be," he smiles, and I laugh softly.

I get up and go the kitchen, grabbing him a can of pop, and I bring it back and hand it to him. "Thanks, Sage," he opens it up and takes a few gulps before setting it down and burping loudly. I cringe almost instantly, regretting the decision of giving him a carbonated beverage.

"Adrian," I say in disgust as he laughs loudly. I roll my eyes and look down, and he goes back to drinking his soda.

When I finally work up the nerve to look up at him, I do so with a slight smile. He smiles back at me, reaching up with his free hand to tuck my hair behind my ear.

"This is… incredibly weird…" I say, still looking at him.

He nods slightly. "But…?"

"But… I don't mind it. Stranger things have happened." I smile, wondering if he's still upset over what happened earlier.

Knowing that he won't pull away, I pull him into a hug, and he lays his head on my shoulder, letting me "coddle" him as he had said I was doing earlier. "Are you okay," I ask quietly.

"I am now." he says simply, and I know I'm blushing.

"Well… um… I suppose that I should be getting back to Amberwood now; they're probably wondering what's taking me so long…" I say awkwardly.

He nods slightly. "I'll go visit Jill tomorrow," he says, looking down. I take his hand and lace our fingers together.

"Tell me you're going to be okay here alone," I say in a concerned voice though our proximity is still making me a little uncomfortable, and I wonder if he feels the same level of awkwardness that I do.

"I'll be fine, Sage. One look at my walls and couch and people would ditch this place anyways," he says, smirking. I smile slightly and squeeze his hand, rolling my eyes.

"You know I didn't mean it that way. If you need anything—"

"I'll call."

I nod and stand up, and he stands with me, our hands still connected. I smile slightly at the feeling of our palms pressed together. He walks me over to the door and releases my hand, opening the door for me.

I look at him. "You're letting me go that easy?" I smirk, trying to brighten his mood in the same way he'd try to brighten mine, through sarcasm.

He shrugs. "It'd be a little creepy of me to hold you against your will, so…" He smirks slightly, returning the sarcasm. "I don't want Castile or Angeline coming after me."

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, because they're so scary, right?" I smile slightly.

"Terrifying." He smirks.

I smile and look out the door then back at him. He looks at me before quickly kissing me on the cheek. My smile broadens as I hug him. "See you later," I say, still smiling, before walking to my car.

I look back at him when I get to my door to see him smiling slightly, and he gives me a slight wave. I smile slightly and wave back before getting into my car and smiling broadly. As I start my car and begin driving down the road, I turn my radio on and start singing loudly, something I very rarely do, in the best mood I've been in months.