Hey! This is my last chapter without a Beta, so yeah.. :)

I dedicate this chapter to my 50th reviewer: Goode-Lover! Thank you so much for that review, it made me giggle! :}

And to the Guest asking for more Christian: I've got surprises for you ahead in the story.. don't worry. :)

Thank you all for reviewing and following and favoriting! It's almost at its 4000th visit, and I'm simply in shock since it's my first fanfic.

DISCLAIMER: I ONLY OWN THE PLOT. VA AND BL BELONG TO RICHELLE MEAD.

SYDNEY'S POV

I'd be lying to myself if I said I didn't care even a bit for Adrian right now. This week I'd gotten to know him, and he hadn't been half as bad as I thought a Moroi could be. I've learned why he is the way he is (sad and tormented) in just 6 days. I've learned that his element—spirit—can drive him to his limits, leaving him vulnerable and unprotected. I've learned that he numbs down spirit when he drowns himself in alcohol and cigarettes. And I've learned that he is not that different from humans, to the exception of blood as food.

I've been taught for my whole life that Moroi and Dhampirs were completely different from us, but I, Sydney Katherine Sage, deny that fact. I've seen them and been with them for several days in a row. I think I can judge for my own what's good or bad.

These people have feelings too, and they're not evil. Unnatural, maybe for us humans, but that's their nature. A nature different to ours, and that fact itself makes us unnatural to them. If they were evil, why exactly would one try to save me from death?

I was alone in the hospital room; it was eerily silent. Rose, Dimitri and Christian left a few minutes after Adrian did, so they could search for him. They told the staff that there was a fainted nurse in my room and needed to be aided because Adrian ran from the hospital to get some alone time and used a little too much of spirit on her. Something told us that he would want to be alone, and we all knew craziness was attacking him. He shouldn't be left alone, especially if he endangered people, or worse, endangered himself.

It had been roughly minutes since then, I believe, but I felt like it had been much longer. He probably thought he would be doing me a favor by leaving this room, but honestly, I was getting bored and it seemed like this would be a long evening ahead for me. He could always lighten the mood wherever he was, no matter how drunk he was. I was always smiling around him.

Although my beliefs are still strong, there's no denying that I have grown attached to Adrian; he is very likeable, and well, easy on the eyes. After all, he saved me from death, and he cried in front of me. I've never met someone so complicated and difficult in my entire life.

I made a mental note to never tell anyone about what I was just thinking. I was running a risk just by thinking about it. I should have never gotten this close to him, but I didn't quite regret it.

My train of thought got interrupted as one of the doctors came in and told me I could leave, that I was fully recovered. I grabbed my things and exited the hospital. The sun was already gone by now, and it was night-time for humans, morning for vampires.

I increased my pace to get to my hotel room as quickly as I could, I didn't want a repetition of last night happening—in case it happened, especially when I had no Rose or Adrian with me.

I was not surprised when I bumped into someone turning a corner nearby the entrance of the hotel, as I was practically running by now. I fell flat on my behind after colliding, while the other person—which was a tall, young Moroi man—barely budged.

"Ow!" I whined as I looked at the Moroi's feet and then up. The chestnut hair and the royal blue eyes staring down at me were excruciatingly familiar.

"I'm so sorry," he breathed as he kneeled beside me and stared at me with real concern on his face. "I was distracted reading this book." He signaled at the book titled The Great Gatsby thrown on the floor. "I shouldn't walk and read at the same time. Let me help you get up." He offered his hand to me and helped me stand.

"I should be the one apologizing, I shouldn't be running around corners." I said embarrassed as I stood up and brushed the dirt off my skirt.

"Miss Sage?" he asked cocking his head to the side. I looked up at him, his soft blue eyes on me, recognition settling on his face. "It's me, Skylar... or Sky. I took your salad to your room a few nights ago?"

"No wonder you were so familiar." I whispered, eyes going wide, as I shrugged off the fact that I did not intend to say that out loud. Stupid thoughts that can't stay in my head. I lowered my head as I said, "I'm so sorry for bumping into you, really. I don't know why I was running. Perhaps it was the paranoia from yesterday's Strigoi attack."

I raised my head to look at him, a shy smile settled on his face. God, he was so painfully cute. Why are Moroi men so stupidly attractive, and Moroi women so skinny and gorgeously perfect? Stop, Sydney, just stop thinking about it. Act professional.

"Let me invite you to a coffee, please, as a way to apologize," he said, almost too shy. I swear he was blushing or something, there's no way someone can get this red in a few seconds. "It's on me. Will you accept the deal? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want. I know how you feel toward us and I—"

"I would love a coffee." I said as I gave him a faint smile. I had no idea why I was accepting a cup of coffee with him, but I was going to reprimand myself for this. I shouldn't be socializing with them, but I hadn't had coffee in 3 days. "I would like to get a shower and change out of these clothes though, I was at the hospital overnight and I haven't got a chance to change."

"Of course, I'll... I'll come back at 9:00. Is it ok?" he asked surprised as he stared at his silver Rolex on the right hand. He probably didn't expect me to accept given the fact that he was a Moroi and I was an Alchemist, but he just kept challenging me, and I wanted to prove that I could be professional enough to push aside my discomforts and enjoy what I liked without appearing terrified enough not to do it.

"Yes. Thanks." I said. He bent and picked up some glasses I didn't see before and put them on.

"It's settled then, see you later, Sydney." He smiled a wide smile and started turning the corner, out of my sight.

What was I getting myself into? I walked into the hotel and took the elevator to my room, which was on the seventh floor. I noticed dirt and footsteps on the red carpeted floor exiting the elevator. It went on and on, and went to the same corridor my room was in.

I turned the corner to my corridor cautiously, and found Adrian sitting by my door, he was the reason there was dust all over the carpet. His knees were pressed to his chest, arms surrounding them and his chin supported on his knees, as he emptily stared at the wall across him. He raised his head as he heard me approaching and quickly stood up.

"Sage," he said with a sad smile, "I thought you got kidnapped or something. Took you ages to get back."

"I had a little accident coming ba—wait, what are you doing here?" I asked irritated. "And how do you know my hotel room?"

"I can't reveal all of my magic tricks to you, can't I?" He said as he grinned, but quickly got serious again. "I've been thinking, Sage. I really want you to study Spirit, and I'm willing to help you with whatever I can to be useful. It's a win-win situation. Think about it, your Alchemists learn about it, and then you can get the credit for being the lead investigator or whatever, and I can learn how to control it and the perks it has. I can even get Lissa or Sonya to help out! What do you think, Sage?"

"But Adrian, you told me that the more you used spirit, the more you got these episodes of darkness. Shouldn't you just stop using it for a while at least?" I asked. I then noticed he was barefoot and had cuts on them. "Your feet. You're bleeding."

He looked at his feet and wiggled his toes. "So it seems."

"You have to get that cleaned," I looked for the hotel room's key card in my purse and opened the room to let Adrian in. "Go in, it's going to get infected if you don't take care of it."

He hesitated and looked at me; he grinned at me and then walked in.

"Sage, as much as I'm flattered that you're concerned about my well-being, it never crossed my mind that you'd be the one inviting me over to your room." He said, as a devilish smile spread on his face. "I'm amazed."

I narrowed my eyes at him and showed him to one of the chairs next to the window.

"Sit. Adrian, only you can think of running off from the hospital completely barefoot." I said as I gave him the First-aid kit I carried with me everywhere. "What was that for anyway?" I sat down on the chair opposite to him.

He took the box and sat down on the chair. He raised his left foot and crossed it on top of his right knee.

"Wow, this looks terrible," he said as he chuckled and stared at me with both his eyebrows raised.

"It's not funny! It can get infected!" I was irritated at how lightly he was taking this. This was delicate!

I stood up from the chair and moved it right in front of him, taking the box from his hands. My instinct to clean took over me. I took one of the wipes with alcohol from the inside of the kit and then carefully cleaned the blood on his foot, focusing to try not to make him scream or yell—which he didn't. He was strangely quiet actually, but I didn't look up at him. After I cleaned the wounds, I took cotton with ointment and rubbed it in each of the cuts. Finally, I placed a band-aid on the cuts on both of his feet.

"There, it shouldn't get infected now," I said as I put the last of the band-aids on his right foot. "You need to get shoes, Adrian. I'm serious, you can't just go over the place like that, and you can get sick."

I looked up at him after I was done; his face was just heartbeats away from mine. He was staring at me in a way he has never done in these 6 days, I felt how my blood boiled under his gaze. I caught my breath at the sight of those gorgeous emerald eyes and the way his hair hung wildly. He really was ridiculously attractive.

"I—um, you should get going, I have... a meeting soon. And I need to get ready." I said as I blinked and stood up to place the chair in its original place. I wasn't actually lying to him, I had a meeting with Skylar soon and I was sure I wouldn't make it in time if I didn't start preparing.

He just continued staring at me as he stood up and walked to where I was, stopping just a few feet away from me. I had the urge to back off, but I stayed where I was, staring at him back. He stretched his right arm to where my right arm was, next to my lap, and grabbed it. I froze as soon as he grabbed it.

"Don't worry, Sage. I won't hurt you. Just a gesture of my appreciation for what you have done for me tonight." He kissed the back of my hand softly, the warmth from his lips quickly spreading all over my body, going several miles per second. "Thank you." He whispered.

I stared at him, eyes wide-open as he straightened up and released my hand. I was rendered speechless. He didn't throw in any smart retort or any comment after I cleaned his cuts as I expected. It was strange of him. He always had a snappy retort for everything. It's like he was out of snarky comments right now. He smiled at me without any other word and then walked to the door and opened it, disappearing through it. The door closed after him softly.

I was left frozen in the middle of the room, with my hand blazing hot from that small gesture from him. I couldn't be that affected by him. I mean, he's a really cute and hot guy, but still a Moroi. I... I just couldn't.

Every time I blink, I see emerald spots obscuring my vision.

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