A/N: A very short drabblefic written for a prompt on tumblr. Just finished The Golden Lily and I found myself itching to write something for my new favourite pairing: Sydney Sage and Adrian Ivashkov. Hoping to write more (read: longer) fanfic for the Vampire Academy/Bloodlines fandom in the future!

Prompt: Sydney and Adrian's first meeting after the end of The Golden Lily.

Fallout

I'd timed our arrival at Clarence's carefully, getting everyone ready an hour before we were due to leave; part of me hoped that if Jill's feeding didn't take too long, we could walk in and out before Adrian had even arrived.

No such luck. The Mustang was sitting in the drive as we pulled up.

"Great," I muttered, killing the gas as I looked out at the sunshine yellow beauty, its tires streaked with desert dust. I couldn't imagine the sight of such a gorgeous car bringing me down in any other situation. Angeline looked confused as Eddie cast me a sympathetic glance. Jill just frowned. She had hardly spoken to me in the last few days, but her stony silences told me all that I needed to know.

Jill jumped from the car as soon as it had stilled. I stayed in my seat a moment longer, heart hammering against my ribs, before I climbed out, brushing down my skirt and covertly checking my hair in the reflection of Latte's side window.

Unmanageable as always. Not that it mattered.

Jill rang the bell as I arrived, following behind Eddie and Angeline. From inside there was silence; then footsteps. I took a deep breath.

The door opened and there stood Adrian. Dishevelled as ever, in jeans and a button-down shirt that looked even more wrinkled than the one he'd worn to meet his father. His hair, usually artfully messy, was stuck up at odd angles as though he'd run his hands through it, and there were deep shadows under his eyes. He looked like a man who was hurting and didn't care who saw it. He also looked gorgeous.

I suddenly felt uncomfortably warm.

"Ah," he said in a dull voice. "You're early too."

His piercing green eyes flickered over all of us, finally resting on mine. This morning, while preparing for this trip, I'd imagined what I might say to him if we did cross paths. I'd imagined sitting down on Clarence's sofa and calmly explaining why both our races agreed that relationships between Moroi and humans were taboo. Then I'd planned to ask him if we could go back to the way we were before, admitting just how much I'd missed him over the past few days.

But those thoughts all died when I met his eyes.

His eyes blazing as he reached for me; his lips warm and soft against mine; white-hot heat racing through my veins as his fingers traced the nape of my neck; his other hand on my waist, tugging me closer –

I looked away, heat rising in my cheeks, my body still tingling all over from the memory. Jill pushed past me and reached for Adrian's hand, pulling him back into the house. She murmured something in a low voice too quiet for me to hear.

I didn't regret pulling away from him. I didn't regret the words I'd said to him. I couldn't regret it. Moroi and humans didn't belong together. We were just too different.

I stepped into the house, exhaling shakily as I did so. Up ahead, I sensed rather than saw Adrian and Jill halt. I didn't make the mistake of looking up, but even so, I could feel his gaze on me again.

My lips moving back against his. The way I'd reached up to pull him closer. That single endless moment of pure, selfish thoughtlessness.

Adrian and Jill turned the corner, Eddie and Angeline following. I walked a few paces behind, the kiss still vivid in my mind.

Try as I might, I couldn't bring myself to regret that either.

~Fin.

A/N: I'll be happy to write a few more Sydrian drabbles if I'm given prompts! As always, reviews would make my day. :)