Chapter 20

*Sydney's POV*

"Sydney!"

I jumped in my spot, brain rushing to remember where I was.

"You've been staring into space for 20 minutes. What's wrong?"

Once my brain correctly identified who was talking to me, I turned to face my boyfriend.

"I'm fine, Adrian." I replied. That's been my go to response for practically everything Adrian said to me these days. Ever since I arrived back at school a month ago after my hospital visit, he's been overly paranoid. Jill told me that it was sweet that he cared so much. I found it slightly irritating.

"Stop lying. You came over today in a bitchy mood and you're still in one now. Who pissed you off today?" Adrian paused the movie we, well mostly he, was watching.

"Nobody made me angry." I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. "I made myself angry." I grumbled under my breath.

"What did you do? Get a 'B' on a test?" Adrian asked with a laugh.

"A 'C'…" I placed my forehead on my knees to hide my face. I didn't want him to see how upset I was about it.

"….. What?" I could tell that Adrian was just as shocked as I was when I received my test.

"I got a 'C', okay? This stupid disease it messing up my mind! And it was so simple too! I was so distracted and my head would not stop hurting!" I grabbed a pillow and screamed into it. After doing so, I felt a bit better. A bit.

"Woah." Adrian was watching me with wide eyes. "No need to beat yourself up over one bad grade. It's gonna what, take your grade from a 100% to a 99.2%?"

"Every point counts Adrian! What if the Alchemists see this? They expect so much of me. This 'one bad grade' could ruin everything!" I could feel the anxiety coursing through me. I got off the couch and started to pace around the room. "They'll see that I'm unable to perform efficiently and replace me with someone Alchemist who doesn't give a damn about Jill!"

Suddenly a pair of hands were on my shoulders, stopping me from walking. "Sydney, calm down." He inhaled deeply and exhaled, trying to get me to do the same. Slowly, I did what he did. "Good. Sage, how much sleep did you get last night?"

"About 3 hours."

"And the night before?"

"The same."

"How about since you found out you had SLE? Have you even slept a full night since then?"

My mind worked in overdrive trying to think of an answer. "Maybe 1 or 2 full nights. But I'm fine!"

"No you're not! I'm sick of that bull crap Sydney!" Adrian yelled, startling me. "I'm not some lame ass friend who will ask if you're okay but don't give a shit. I actually want to know! I care so much about you. And yeah, I might be overprotective, but I've lost so many people in my life and I'm not ready to lose you too!"

"But I am really okay! I don't need you worrying about me!"

"What else am I supposed to do?! If you don't tell someone how you are feeling, you'll keep pushing yourself every day until you croak. I'm not going to let that happen!" His green eyes bore into mine making all the anger seep out of me. "Just tell me what's wrong Sydney before I go even more insane then I already am."

I take a few steps back from Adrian and sit down on the couch. "I feel like my head's going to explode. This never ending headache just keeps getting worse. Every moment of the day I feel like I'm about to pass out. I've taken medication, but it does nothing. My brain is my biggest asset, but now I feel like it's failing me. It's the reason I can't sleep at night. I get so worried that while I sleep I'll have another seizure and no one will be there. That I'll die the same way I lived. Alone." My eyes began to burn and I knew that tears were not far behind. No Sydney. No crying. Stop!

Adrian sat beside me and pulled me into a hug that I absolutely needed. "You're not alone. You never will be alone. You have Jill and Eddie, hell even Angeline! And Rose cares about you. And you're stuck with me babe."

I cracked a small smile. "Don't call me babe. I hate that."

"I know, but it made you smile." I could feel the vibration of his laugh through his chest. "I love your smile. I love that you want to be tough and do things on your own. But I hate when you're stubborn and won't accept help. Can you promise me that whenever I ask if you're okay, you'll give me the truth?"

"I promise." I sniffled. I gave Adrian a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."

"No problem. So let's put this to test. Sydney, how are you feeling?"

"My head still hurts, I'm tired, but other than that I'm feeling better." I said with a smile.

Adrian smile was double the size of mine. "Then let's go to the bedroom m'lady." Before I could say anything, he picked me up bridal style and walked in the direction of his bedroom. Part of me was panicking going to his bed, but the other part knew that nothing extreme was going to happen.

When we got to the bedroom, he set my feet on the floor and went to his closet. He tossed me the same exact T-shirt and baggy shorts I wore when I spent the night weeks before.

"You can get changed in the bathroom. Unless you want to change in here, then be my guest." He winked at me as I blushed.

Rolling my eyes, I walked into the bathroom and quickly changed.

When I walked into Adrian's bedroom again, Adrian was standing in the middle of the room shirtless. "Ready for bed?"

I nodded slightly. "Are you sure you don't want me to sleep on the couch? I don't want to be an inconvenience."

"I'm sure Sage. Now get in bed before I toss you in bed myself." Adrian said with a smile, waiting for me to get in bed.

"Fine." I got underneath the covers and almost immediately afterwards Adrian joined me. I turned to face him, trying to keep my heart rate down. I've slept in bed with Adrian before, but this time it felt… Different.

"Comfy?" He asked as he put an arm around me, pulling me closer.

"Very." I responded.

A nervous smile was on both Adrian's face and mine. I don't really know why we were both nervous. Nothing was going to happen, but there was definitely opportunity for it to.

"Sydney, nothing is going to happen that you don't want to." Adrian whispered to me. Despite the room being dark, I could still see his green eyes so close to me. "I promise."

I'm not exactly sure who started it, but soon after he said that we were kissing.

It was passionate and steamy, bigger than any of our other sweet kisses. Kissing while on our sides was uncomfortable, so I did what anyone would. I shifted until I was on top of him without breaking the kiss.

His hands were holding onto my waist, keeping me close to him. Slowly, they started to make their way under my shirt, getting closer and closer to my chest.

I gasped and jumped up. "Nope!" Frantically I scurried to be lying down next to him again. "N-Nope, that went a bit too far for my liking." My heart was racing as I fixed my shirt.

"Sorry, sorry!" He said, quickly getting out of bed. "I-I'm gonna get a glass of water."

Once he left the room, I closed my eyes. I didn't mean for things to get that heated, it just happened. My breathing was heavy and I felt flustered. Butterflies were making themselves at home in my stomach. "Wow." I whispered to myself.

When Adrian returned, I was trying to fall to sleep. The bed dipped as his weight added to one side. He put his arm around me and pulled me closer. "I'm sorry for going too far Sydney. I won't do that again. I love you." He kissed my neck as I felt myself fall deeper and deeper into unconsciousness.

"I…" I started. How I was going to end that sentence, I don't know. I fell asleep before I could finish, dreaming about those green eyes.

Well? How was it? I tried to add some kissing and stuff, I'm not sure how it worked. So can you let me know if you liked this chapter? It's a long one! Sydrian yayness! I know that this chapter isn't the best, but I tried! :D

Please leave a review, it would make my day!

Love,

Kaitlyn xoxo