A/N: Happy New Year everybody ( in case you´re reading this before 2015, have an awesome New Year´s Eve)

Adrians POV

We had been lying arm in arm for some time now and I had been sure she had been fallen asleep when she spoke.

"Adrian?" she whispered.

"Hm?" I answered looking at her.

"Can I ask you something?" she went on.

"Anything" I said.

"Who knows about us? I mean... I was wondering how I should behave in Palm Springs" she said.

I shifted a bit, so that I could see her face.

"Not many people" I said "We were supposed to be brother and sister in Palm Springs, so only a few people know. Well the alchemists know, but besides that, only our group in Palm Springs and Jackie":

"Brother and sister?" she asked.

"Jep, we were one big happy family back in the days" I said winking.

"Speaking of the alchemists" I said "We must be careful in Palm Springs. They sent another alchemist instead of you and Zoey and... well, we shouldn´t take any risk"

She nodded and stayed silent for a few moments "What about your family?" she than asked.

"They don´t know" I said .

"Why? I mean I get that it´s... unconventional, but it´s your family" she said.

"Unconventional huh?" I said smirking

"You know what I mean" she said.

"To be honest, my relationship with my father is... difficult and my mother... I haven´t seen her for a while" I said.

"I see" she said frowning.

I brushed over her cheek and smiled at her.

"It´s not that I don´t want to tell you about them. It´s just... difficult".

Sydneys POV

I looked at him and saw a hint of sadness and anger in his eyes as he began to tell me about his father, who always expected the worse of him and his mother who was at a moroi prison. He told me that she was there because of him and didn´t want to see him.

"Why is it your fault?" I asked.

"She did it to keep me safe. Or at least that´s what she thought she´d done it for" he said in a sad tone. There was nearly something tangible in his sadness while he spoke.

"She is your mother, she loves you" I said.

He looked at me, pain in his eyes.

"My father was right. It is my fault. I don´t deserve to see her. She´s better of without me".

Seeing him talking like this took my by surprise and made my heart hurt. It overwhelmed me how suddenly his mood had shifted.

I remembered the one time I had the "pleasure" to meet Nathan Ivashkov and how unbelievably cold and cruel he´d been towards Adrian.

My eyes grew wide and the thoughts in my head were racing. I pressed a hand on my mouth and looked at Adrian.

"What is it?" Adrian asked "Are you okay?"

I shook my head and smiled "I... I don´t know" I said truthfully.

Was I?

"Adrian, did we meet your father in a hotel in San Diego once?" I asked.

Adrian got up and I followed him. We were sitting on the bed and he took my hands and looked at me. His eyes now wide, too.

"Yes, we did" he said slowly.

"I remember that" I whispered.

"Sage, are you sure? I mean... really?" he asked still looking at me with those big eyes.

I nodded. I really did remember it. I remembered the hotel and the amazing view, his father and his arrogant nature and I also did remember slushes on our way back to Palm Springs.

He took my face in his hands and my smile grew bigger.

"How do you remember that?" he asked looking at me like he could find the answer to his question in my eyes.

I once again shook my head "I don´t know. I just do" I said overwhelmed.

"What else do you remember?" he asked.

I took his hands and squeezed them "Nothing" I said.

He was still smiling at me "That doesn´t matter. It´s a start" he said.

I nodded and smiled at him, too. Once again I was surprised how quickly his mood had changed from nearly overpowering sadness and anger to joy and happiness.

But I couldn´t go on thinking about that, because only seconds later I was back in his arms lying on the bed. The place that recently had become my favorite place.

"We should get slushes tomorrow" I muttered.

He laughed and the sound of his laugh made me laugh, too.

"Sugar-free for you of course" he said after a while.

"It wasn´t than" I admitted and it made him smile even more.

He pulled me closer and starting at my ear he began to put kisses on my face until he ended up at my lips.

Every time he had placed a kiss on my skin he muttered a word

"You are the most amazing girl I have ever met" he had said when his lips found mine.

My body responded immediately. My head fell to the side and a small sigh escaped my mouth.

My hands once again got lost in his hair and when his lips were on my lips, the whole world around us vanished.

Adrians POV

I woke up when Sydney was turning around in her sleep and I pulled her closer into my arms to calm her down.

The moment I had put my arms around her she seemed to relax and I began to brush over her arm.

Glancing at the clock next to the bed I realized that it was almost 9 am. We´d been on the road at that time the last two days. I was sure Sydney would be waking up soon now.

When I was certain, that she had calmed down, I slowly got up and after getting dressed, I left the room to get coffee.

On my way to the little coffee shop around the corner I couldn´t help but smile. Sydney remembering our trip to San Diego was huge. I smiled about her confession about her slush not being sugar-free and once again felt grateful for having her in my life.

Talking about my family had brought back memories and feelings I didn´t like to think about to much. It was just to easy to spiral down into a bad place. Spirit of course reinforced that. But like before Sydney had helped to keep those dark shadows away. I knew I couldn´t go on like this in the long run, but for now, I could cope. And not knowing what else we would have to face in the near future, I couldn´t risk to separate myself from spirit.

When I came back to our room, Sydney was already up and fully dressed.

"There you are" she said pulling me in her arms as soon as I had entered the room.

I handed her a cup of coffee and she smiled.

"Thanks" she said taking the cup and hugging me again.

"Are you alright?" I asked "Not that I´m complaining" I said, putting my free arm around her and giving her a kiss on the head. She smelled heavenly.

"I´m sorry, I just had a bad dream and when I woke up you weren´t there" she said, trying to hide her worry behind a smile.

"What did you dream about?" I asked frowning.

"I don´t remember the dream... but it was dark and cold...and I... I was alone" she said.

Sydneys POV

"I´m sorry I left" he said.

I took his hand and we sat down on the bed.

"You brought coffee, everything is good" I said, giving him a reassuring smile, even though I was still feeling kind of strange.

"Are you sure?" he asked frowning

I nodded. I didn´t want to think about my dream. Besides I couldn´t even remember it clearly.

I placed my cup on the floor in front of me and he watched my curiously.

"No coffee?" he asked.

I grinned at him.

"Sage, what´s going on here?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.

I scooted further onto the bed and extended my hand.

He looked at me and took it. He was frowning but had a small smile on his lips.

I pulled him on the bed and he followed my direction with an amused expression on his face.

I was still a bit shaky from my dream and waking up with him gone. I knew it was stupid and I knew that he would be coming back, but at this moment I needed him closer.

I pushed him on the bed and he looked at me surprised.

"I should get coffee in the morning more often" he said gazing at me.

I chuckled and leaned down until our foreheads touched. I supported my weight with my hands next to his neck.

"I missed you" I whispered and his smile grew bigger.

"So this is you missing me huh" he said sounding a bit breathless.

I nodded and by turning my head a bit our lips found each others.

He pulled me on top of him and my hands slid under his head and got lost in his hair.

His hands were on my back and caressed the skin between my shirt and my pants and slowly slid down my legs.

It felt like his fingers where pure electricity, that touched my skin and burned me everywhere he´d touched me. The feeling was amazing, I had never felt like that before.

My head was spinning. How in the world could I ever be able to stop kissing him?

His left hand softly brushed over my cheek and got tangled in my hair.

God he was so good at this. I was butter in his hands. I practically melted in his arms. All I could think about was kissing him and his hands on my body.

When we were both out of breath he chuckled softly.

"I should definitely go get coffee in the mornings if you´re welcoming me back like that" he muttered.

"Or you could stay in bed with me" I whispered feeling bold after all that kissing and touching.

He shook his head and smiled "Or I could do that" he agreed.

Kissing him had chased away all the dark shadows of my dream and had left me feeling alive and happy.

"Thanks for bringing coffee" I said after a few moments when my breath was steady again.

"Like I said, it was a pleasure" he said an excited spark in his eyes.

"Now I really do need that coffee" I said slowly getting up.

He watched me taking my coffee and taking a sip.

He was still grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"We should leave soon" I said after a few sips.

"Or we could stay in bed" he said raising an eyebrow, giving me a mischievous look.

I laughed "We have forever to do that. Now, we need to get to Palm Springs. Remember?" I asked.

"It´s hard to remember anything but you of you act like that" he said impishly.

"Is that so?" I asked again melting by the look he was giving me.

"Oh yes Miss Sage" he said temptingly.

I was about to put down my coffee again and crawl back into his arms, when Adrians phone rang.