Richelle Mead owns the VA and Bloodlines series.

So, I'm currently writing a very sad one shot that I hope to finish soon. I meant for that to be the next posted chapter but then this popped into my head and it was happy and not sad so I went with it. Anyway, hope you enjoy mindless Sydrian fluff.

P.S. Chapter one of The Fiery Heart?! Gah! It was incredible!

"Adrian?" I called, stepping over plastic sheeting and into the disaster area Lissa and Christian called the nursery. I had to admit, I could see the potential the bare room held. It was a huge L shape with a private bath attached. But, the half painted walls, the lack of furniture and, not to mention, the plastic sheets protecting the floor from paint and scratches, really weren't doing the big space any favors. But with Lissa only six months pregnant, I supposed there was plenty of time to finish the baby's room.

"Over here, Sage!" Adrian called from around the corner. I hurried over, careful to avoid any snags in the plastic covering, what looked to be, a beautiful hardwood floor. I found him sitting on the floor, paint brush in hand. His gray t-shirt had purple paint smeared across the front, but other than that he looked perfectly put together. "Hey," he smiled and stood up to greet me.

He gave me a kiss on the cheek and grabbed the package I'd been carrying. He popped open the styrofoam container and grinned, his green eyes lighting up in delight. "Cheese fries! Have I told you how much I love you yet today?"

I laughed. "I don't remember," I teased. "Tell me again."

His grin turned wicked and he placed the container of fries on a bucket of paint next to him. My heart began to race as he stepped closer, his hands tracing a path down my arms to my waist, leaving goosebumps in their wake. "I love you," he whispered, lowering his lips to my neck.

A low moan escaped my lips while his did a number on my self control. As I pulled his mouth up to meet mine, I wanted nothing more than to roll around with him on the paint splattered plastic, but that would be inappropriate for so many reasons.

Adrian was, surprisingly, the one who had the control to pull away. He plopped down onto the ground, after a lingering moment in which I think he was contemplating his own roll-around-on-the-plastic idea, and started to eat his fries.

While he ate I took a step back to admire his work. Lissa had approached Adrian about a month ago, asking if he'd like to paint a mural in the nursery they were having designed. Adrian, who was currently living with me in California as I finished up my last year in college, jumped at the chance, but on the condition that I come with him. I'd agreed, of course. It wasn't hard to get my teachers to agree to email me my assignments. They all loved me, and Adrian had wooed them as well on the many occasions he would pick me up from class. I was pretty sure all of my female professors had a crush on him.

Lissa had gotten us a great apartment to stay in while we were at Court. It was gorgeous, and even though I didn't appreciate the rude stares and whispers of "private feeder" every time I entered the building, I did love living with him. It was something we hadn't done yet, even though we'd been together for a while. He'd asked me several times to move in, but I liked having my own space. Now, after living with him for the last couple of weeks, I was starting to see the appeal of sharing a place.

"So what do you think?" Adrian asked, drawing me out of my thoughts and back to the painting in front of me. I turned my head to the side, examining the painting more closely.

Adrian had a certain style and you could see it in everything he did, including the mural. On the wall I could see a number of fantastic creatures that existed no where in this reality. A large green cat, part lion, part leopard, bounded across a valley filled with building blocks and teddy bears, towards a purple giraffe sipping coffee at a tiny cafe. It was odd, but uniquely beautiful in its own way. I probably wouldn't have chosen it for my child's nursery, but Christian thought it would be cool if the walls told some sort of story, like a giant storybook. What the story behind this picture was, though, I had no idea.

"It's good," I said honestly. "But I don't get it."

Adrian didn't look offended at all by my comment. Instead he just stood up, cheese fries forgotten for the moment, and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. He turned me towards the painting and lowered his head to my shoulder.

"You see," he said, and I could hear the grin in his voice. "The green cat can't wait to see the giraffe. She's his best friend. So he's running as fast as he can to get to her before she has to go back to her cage at the zoo."

"The zoo?" I asked, scanning the painting for anything that resembled a zoo.

"I didn't paint it yet," Adrian said, reading my thoughts. "It's gonna be on that wall over there." Without ever letting me go, he turned me in the direction of another wall and pointed.

"So why is the giraffe so special?" I asked, turning us back around to look at the mural.

"Well, she's purple," he said slowly, as if that was reason enough. "With golden spots. He's always thought she was beautiful, but he likes other things about her, too. Like her addiction to coffee," he laughed and pointed at the mug in the giraffe's hoof. "And he loves how smart she is, and how loyal and dedicated she is. She's the only one in the zoo who doesn't think he's weird because he's green."

I stared at the painting, knowing exactly who the purple giraffe and green cat represented, but not being able to speak a word. I was too afraid if I opened my mouth I might cry. Adrian had painted us into his children's story. "Was it really necessary to have the giraffe drinking coffee? I cut back to one cup a day. That's a normal amount," I grumbled once I'd gotten my composure.

"Very necessary, because it's a fantasy. Giraffe Sydney can have as many cups as she wants, which I thought you'd appreciate," he smiled and kissed me quickly. Without my authority my brain started conjuring images of me and Adrian on the floor again. "Come here," he said, taking my hand and pulling me closer to the painting of the giraffe. Leaning down, he grabbed a thin paintbrush and handed it to me.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" I asked, gripping it between my thumb and forefinger like it was diseased or something.

Adrian laughed and pushed me closer to the wall. "Paint," he said simply. Like anything about painting was simple. I gave him a look that said as much. "Oh, come on," he said. "Just paint something."

"No," I said firmly. "This isn't one of your paintings or a pirate on a t-shirt. You're being paid to paint this room. I'm not going to mess it up."

"You can't mess it up, Sage," he claimed. "Here, just help me finish the giraffe's spots while I eat, then I'll take over again, alright? I've gotta get through this wall today or I'll fall behind schedule."

I sighed and glanced back at the wall. "Just the circles?" I asked.

"Just the circles," he reassured me, then dropped to the ground and popped a fry in his mouth. "Take your time and you'll be fine. There's no way to mess up a circle."

I deeply doubted that was true, but dipped my brush in the gold paint anyway.

Turned out he wasn't that far off. I'd only needed his help fixing one circle. The simple motion of painting was sort of a stress reliever, actually. By the time Adrian finished his lunch I'd already grown to like it, so I kept painting the circles while he finished up some minor details on other parts of wall.

"See? That wasn't so bad," Adrian said with a laugh as he took my paintbrush from me and went to clean it off in the bathroom sink.

"I guess not," I smiled and took a step back to look at our work. The mural was finished, on this wall at least. "Hey, you never told me how the story ends," I called out, suddenly curious.

Adrian came out of the bathroom with the newly cleaned brushes and set them down before taking my hand. "Well, I told you the giraffe has to go back to the zoo. So, that'll be over here," he pointed at a blank wall and I tried to see it the way he did, full of color and spirit. "Then, one day the zookeepers decide that a giraffe shouldn't be friends with a green cat, so they build a bigger wall around the zoo to keep the cat out." He wrapped his arms around me again and pulled me to another section of wall. "But the cat and the giraffe like each other too much to care what the zookeepers think is right, so they run away together."

"What about this wall?" I asked, gesturing to the only wall he hadn't told me his plans for. "What goes here?"

He let go of me and shrugged. "I was thinking about having the cat build a nature preserve and ask the giraffe to live there with him, but I'm not sure."

I studied the blank space, picturing it. "It's a good ending."

"I'm just not sure the giraffe would say yes," he said behind me.

"Why not?" I said turning around to face him.

"Because she hasn't told me her answer yet," he whispered, handing me a small square red box.

Mouth hanging open, I looked dumbly down at the box. It was soft, crushed velvet, and felt like it weighed next to nothing, but nothing could be further from the truth. This box weighed something alright. It was full of possibilities and would forever change my life, both our lives. So slowly I lifted the lid and if my mouth could have fallen further open it would have.

A shiny silver key sat gingerly atop the red cushion. My silver key, to be precise. The one I was certain had been on my key ring when I'd come to drop off Adrian's lunch. "How...?" I asked with a shake of my head.

Adrian waved me off. "I'm really good with my hands," he smirked. "I know it's the key for my apartment you already had, but it was more for effect than anything else. What do you say? You want to move in with me when we get back home?"

I didn't say anything at first. My heart was still racing from when he'd handed me the ring box and I couldn't tell if I was relieved or angry that the only thing inside was my key to his apartment. Adrian, mistaking my silence, took a step closer.

"It's okay if the answer's still no, Sage," he said softly, taking my face in between his palms. "I just thought that since we're living together right now you might have changed your—"

"No, it's not that." I shook my head and his hands dropped to his sides. "It's just that..." Exasperated, with myself and him, I threw my hands up in the air. "I thought you were proposing, you jerk."

My face flushed and I looked down, unsure of how I expected Adrian to respond. I saw his legs step closer and watched him take my left hand in his, before his other hand came up under my chin, tilting my face so he could see me.

"How do you know I'm not?" He smiled and his lovely green eyes twinkled mischievously.

I rolled my eyes. "Maybe because there was no ring in the—" I broke off suddenly when I felt something cold slip onto my ring finger. I glanced down in time to see Adrian finish slipping a beautiful golden ring on the hand he held. No ridiculously sized diamonds, like I'd half expected, no flourishes or embellishments.

"Can I tell you a secret?" he asked, leaning closer. "I said I wasn't sure how the story ended," he gestured back to the blank wall, "but I lied. I'm pretty sure the giraffe says yes."

I laughed and reached up, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Oh yeah. She says yes, alright."

And then we were in our own fantasy world, blank walls and cats and giraffes disappearing as our lips became the center of the universe.