Hello guys! It's been quite a while since I updated, but I promise I had a valid excuse. I was extremely busy with college, and well, engineering is not easy at all. I find myself struggling with it, so that is why I decided to invest more time in my studies, and I just found time to continue with the story.

I did a couple of paragraphs each week, and I liked how this chapter turned out. I really hope you all enjoy it. SYDRIAN. ok.

I'M SO EXCITED FOR THE TFH CHAPTER 2 COMING OUT SOON. AND I ALSO READ DIMITRI'S POV CHAPTER. IT WAS SO GOOD, I NEED MORE OF THEM. AND ALSO THE TEASER TRAILER OF VA:BS COMING OUT NEXT WEEK AND POSSIBLY SCREENING IN THE TMI:COB PREMIERE (THAT'S A RUMOUR BTW, I HOPE IT'S TRUE.)

Cheers to my lovely BETA, for being so patient; CherrySlushLover

DISCLAIMER: VA AND BL BELONG TO THE GODDESS RICHELLE MEAD.

SYDNEY'S POV

What was that? That phrase was the only thing left racing though my mind ever since the moment he had stood up and left.

What was that? I kept on asking myself the same question over and over as I stood frozen in the middle of the room.

What was that? I had no idea what just happened, and I had no clue as to which sub-category this would be catalogued into in 'the bizarre events in the life of Sydney Sage'.

And I promise, my life is pretty bizarre.

I was sure, however, that I was possibly over-thinking this. I was just cleaning his wounds, but it was out of place for him to kiss the back of my hand and then stare at me like that, wasn't it?

I shook my head in denial and closed my eyes; of course I was over-thinking this.

Sighing, I looked at my wrist watch and gasped. It was only 8:00pm. I had plenty of time to get ready for my coffee with Skylar, yet I had told Adrian that I had a meeting soon. Although, I had lost all interest of going out, but a meeting is still a meeting so I had to keep my word.

I got in the shower, and the uncomfortable memory of Adrian's eyes on me reappeared every time I saw the bathroom tiles. They were the same color of his eyes, so green and deep and painfully beautiful.

"Stop, Sydney, stop!" I whispered to myself as the water fell on my skin. I closed my eyes to prevent myself from thinking about his eyes.

Sure, they are striking, and green is a pretty color, but they should have no such effect on me. Instead, I should be reprimanding myself for allowing such contact with a Moroi.

Alchemists do not care about them. Alchemists do not socialize with them.

It was 8:22 when I got out of the shower. I still had time before Skylar got here to pick me up for our coffee.

I had just finished getting ready when I heard a knock on the door. I looked at the time on my wrist watch, 8:57. Skylar was awfully punctual, which reminded me of myself.

Instead of finding Skylar at the door—God help me—I found a very formal and attractive Adrian Ivashkov leaning casually on the door frame. His hair was a perfect mess. I wondered how much time he invested on it to make it look like it did. He wore a tuxedo that had clearly been made by a prestigious designer, with a red vest and white collar. I saw no traces of what I had seen earlier in him right now—no fatigue, no sadness, nothing.

I should have expected him to come, but I didn't. I must have had the most mesmerized face on, because he started laughing.

"Sage, I know I'm gorgeous," Adrian said, as he winked at me and then invited himself inside. "But you could use a bit of dissimulation, you know?"

"Adrian, what are you doing?" I said,

trying to keep my voice low, "I've got a—"

"I know, I know. A 007 secret agent meeting, I know, Sage." He said as he turned around and faced me. He scanned me all over, from head to toes. I suddenly felt aware of how he was staring at me, feeling self-aware of the time I invested on actually trying to look good. He then cleared his throat and added, "Lissa asked me to give you this."

He retreated a green and gold card from his tuxedo and handed it to me.

"It's a formal party to celebrate the official coronation, plus, we get to use masks. All royals and officials are invited, and since you're an Alchemist, I take it you're in the Officials' category? It starts at 10 o'clock."

"I... I can't." I murmured as I mentally scanned what I could possibly wear, which was nothing.

As if he knew what I was thinking about, he walked out of my room and turning around, he grinned and said, "I'll fix up everything. You should really go." And I thought I heard him say something more as he turned and walked away, but I couldn't quite decipher what it was.

As Adrian turned the corner of the hall, Skylar was turning too. To my surprise, he was too formal, especially for a cup of coffee. He wore a white tuxedo with a black shirt and a sapphire blue tie, his hands in his pockets. He wore expensive-looking shoes and I thought I saw an earring in his left ear. He wore no glasses, as I have seen him wearing before. His hair was styled very fashionably, instead of the chestnut mess he usually had. Compared to the shy guy I met before, this guy was a supermodel.

I thought I felt the air getting tense as Skylar and Adrian went past each other; Skylar was glaring menacingly at Adrian. I couldn't see Adrian's reaction, but something told me it wasn't nice. Adrian finally turned the corner and Skylar smirked darkly. His smirk faded away as he noticed me standing at the door. I didn't know what was the business with those two was, and I had no intention of asking neither.

We arrived at a little Italian themed café that was a couple of blocks away from my hotel. It looked cozy, but at the same time too fake, as if they spent too much time on trying to fit all italian stereotypes and just placing them here to make it look italian.

A moroi waitress about our age sat us at a table inside the café, right next to the window, and I couldn't but notice how a few Moroi at the café were way too formal to drink or eat something here.

"Skylar?" I asked as he finished ordering his coffee, "Is it me or are people just a bit too formal for coffee, including you?" I said, as I stared around the café.

He chuckled as he stared around the café too and whispered back as he supported his elbows on the table. "I wouldn't be wearing it if I didn't have to—this is too formal even for me to be honest, but there is an official coronation formal party for royals in a while, and it's custom that all royals attend. Not that I'm obedient to all royal customs, but it doesn't hurt to do so once in a while." The waitress quickly brought our coffee and batted her eyelashes at Skylar, which I think he didn't notice.

I knew he wasn't lying about the party, I was invited to it after all, but he was a royal? Out of all moroi at court, I was drinking coffee with a royal one?

"You're royal?" I asked in disbelief. When I met him, he was a waiter at the hotel. Why would a royal moroi be a waiter back at the hotel?

"To my dismay," he added with a sigh as he slouched in the chair and softly ran a hand through his hair, messily styling it.

"I don't think I have introduced myself properly. My name is Skylar Badica, from the Badica clan, and yes, I am royal, but I don't like to use the title. Also, I prefer Sky, just Sky." He gave me a full-fledged smile.

I uncomfortably turned in my seat and commented, "But why were you serving as a waiter back at the hotel?"

"Like I said, I don't like using my last name. I feel like I need to be independent and work for things I want on my own. Of course, being a royal brings benefits, but I don't like that feeling I get after having something given to me when I didn't work for it. It's wrong. Plus, it gets the attention off of me as a Badica."

After a moment of silence, I asked, "I don't mean to sound rude, but aren't the Badica's a dying line?"

He grinned and asked, "Why would that be rude, Sydney?" A shiver ran down my spine as he said my name. He paused and then added, "It is true, there are only 13 Badica family members left as of now."

"That's horrible and sad," I said, genuinely disturbed by that piece of information.

He seemed pensive for a while and then added as he chuckled, "Perhaps not the best topic for a conversation right now, isn't it?"

After an hour of an actual fluid conversation, three cups of coffee and a low-fat chocolate cake, which I don't know how he got me to eat, we stood up from the cozy, italian café store, which is called Luigi's Café, and left. I was aware of how he kept his distance and respected my views on Moroi and Dhampirs, and how we seemed to avoid topics that made me too uncomfortable. It was actually pleasant to spend this time with him.

He accompanied me back to my hotel room. If I didn't know better, this was close to being called a date if only he was human. I would have had celebrated that my awkwardness didn't ruin it, but it wasn't a date. He was really friendly and charismatic, but that's as far as I go to describe a Moroi. I wouldn't have even accepted drinking coffee with one a week ago.

I may not feel safe or totally comfortable around them right now, but one thing I have learned this week is that they have feelings too, unlike strigoi.

We got to my room and I fished out the hotel key card and opened the door.

"We're here," Sky said as he stared at his feet and slowly raised his head to stare at me. This was the shy, blushing Sky I remembered I met. "I had fun, Sydney. Hope you did too. Goodnight."

"Um... goodnight, Sky." I said as he turned around with a cheeky smile on his face and I closed the door behind me.

This can't get any weirder than that, I thought.

I guess I was wrong, wrong in so many ways.

I found a big, rectangular black box on top of my bed. It had three lilies on top and a note.

I told you I would fix everything up, Sage. I hope you like them, they were difficult to find at this time, but I did and I genuinely think they are perfect for you.

I guessed you wouldn't have a formal dress for the mask party, especially at such a short notice and I am positive I got your measurements right. So help me and wear this. Plus, I found a mask that goes with it as well, you'll find it with the accessories and shoes (They're in a bag at the table beside the window).

-A

I sat down next to the box and read the note five times to make sure it was from Adrian. Nobody else called me Sage.

I did not dare look at the dress just yet. Who knew what kind of freak show he would make of me if I wore it?

At last, curiosity got the best out of me, and I decided to peek at the dress, mask and shoes.

Not only did the dress look as expensive as one of his shirts would be, but it was gorgeous and sexy. If only I was skinnier and curvier, I'm sure I could pull it off and look as sexy and elegant as I pictured a model in it. It looked too small for me, I could never fit in there, and I could never wear such a bold color and something that showed this much skin; my left shoulder would be completely bare, and a slit on the left would show a bit of leg too.

It was a bright, scarlet-red colored dress, with glitter all over. It was a simple, yet classy, one-shouldered piece of art. The shoes were at least five inches tall, with gold patterns that enclosed my feet. I don't know how he expected me to wear this, but at least they did fit. I also found a cross necklace that was made of gold, and some earrings. And last, but not least, the mask was a bright red and gold explosion of feathers and glitter that looked very elegant and classy. It fit perfectly and made me look bold and wild.

I made a mental note to tell Adrian that it was nice of him to go out and trouble himself to look for all of this at such time, but I could never wear such garments and accept this out of nowhere.

9:52pm.

A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts.

'Okay, Sydney, you go and open that door and give the dress, shoes and mask back to him and thank him,' I thought.

I opened the door to find Rose dressed in a guardian suit and Jill Mastrano-Dragomir dressed in a purple dress instead.

"Rose?" I asked confused as I looked at her, then at Jill, and back to Rose. "What are you doing here?"

"I was checking on you to see if you're okay. I haven't heard from you since the hospital. And also to see if you were going to the party." She stared at me from head to toes and frowned, "And I see that you aren't. Why aren't you dressed?" She asked as she invited herself inside, followed by Jill, who gave me an apologetic look. "The party is starting in a bit."

"I can't go, Rose."

"Sure you can and sure you will. We will help you get ready," said Rose, staring at Jill. "Right?"

"Um... yes. We will." Jill added nervously.

"What do we have here?" Rose asked as she saw the box with the dress and opened it. "This is so beautiful, Sydney. Is this your dress?"

"Yes, I mean, no... I—"

"Just wear it! Come on, put it on!" She started pushing me to the bathroom and gave me the dress through the unclosed gap of the door.

"I doubt it fits me, it's too small." I said through the door.

"Nonsense, it will fit perfectly." She yelled back. "Jill, go get some make-up, we're giving Sydney a makeover."

After a few moments of debating with Rose, and losing, I finally tried it on. Surprisingly, it did fit perfectly, and it showed curves I didn't even know I had. For once, I felt beautiful.

I walked out and immediately Rose and Jill started working. I had no idea what they were doing to my face, since they made my back face the mirror.

I felt powders brushed on my face and cheeks, and suddenly my eyes were being lined, and then I was applied with eyeshadow and mascara and lip-gloss. My hair was being pulled into some hair-do I was still unaware of. It felt weird having my make-up and hair done by them, when I usually do it myself. But then again, I have never done my make-up for a party.

"All done!" Jill exclaimed, "You look beautiful, open your eyes!"

"We should be make-up artists, Jill." Rose said with a proud look on her face, "Look for yourself, Sydney."

The moment of truth, I guess.

I turned around, and what I saw in the mirror was not me. This person was beautiful, golden eyes lined, lips full. And that was not me, but it kind of felt like me. Beautiful.

ADRIAN'S POV

I was already drinking at the hall when the ceremony master announced the official start of the party. Lissa was at the center of a ring of guardians dressed in black and Christian beside her. Rose was nowhere to be found.

"Have you seen Rose? Or Jill?" Lissa asked me as she caught sight of me. "I haven't seen Rose in a while, and Jill is supposed to be here too."

"Maybe Jailbait is with her." I said, hoping Lissa got the hint that I still didn't want to go over that scar by mentioning her name so soon.

"I hope they're okay." She sighed. "I need to go socialize. See you in a bit."

Christian stayed by my side as Lissa started a conversation with some royals nearby.

"Well, this is stressing me out," Christian started, "And what about you? You look as if a train ran you over."

"Thanks—" I replied looking at him, but as soon as I was going to reply with a smart retort, I saw a flicker of blonde hair in the distance. And it unmistakably was Sage, after all, she was wearing the scarlet dress I got her. I thought she wouldn't, I was prepared for her not to wear it at all, to be honest, but she did, even the shoes, the necklace and earrings.

I didn't realize I was holding my breath and feeling uneasy until now, but I felt a pressure getting lifted off my shoulders as I saw her. I felt as if a breeze went through me and I could grasp the air and breathe it in.

She was so beautiful, so damn beautiful that it hurt. I couldn't believe it, neither could I stop staring at her.

I feel like from now on, you guys will hate me with what I will do in the future. I have a feeling.

P.S.: Don't hate me too much. :(

Enjoy and please review. :D