A/N: Since I know not everyone will have read The Indigo Spell yet, I've decided to mark Fallout as complete and start a new series for my Indigo Spell-era oneshots (although I do still have a few TGL-era fics left to write and when they're complete I'll add them to Fallout). I stole the title Lessons in Secret-Keeping from one of my Fallout oneshots – it seemed apt, given Sydney and Adrian's current relationship status.

Prompt: I was asked forever ago to write Sydney and Adrian on a road trip as part of my Fallout series… so here's my take on their journey back from the Getty Villa.

Driving Lessons

It was dark by the time we left the beach hand-in-hand and made our way reluctantly back to Adrian's car. It was even darker by the time we actually left Malibu – first, Adrian had insisted on pressing me up against the car and kissing me until I was breathless. When he'd pulled away long enough for me to start thinking clearly, I'd panicked over the thought of my jeans scraping against the paint and insisted on a thorough examination of the possible damage before we left. There was no damage, thank goodness. Adrian seemed to think my concern over his car was hilarious, but after his suggestion that we take off any potentially-damaging clothes and climb on top of the hood to check for more scratches was met with a withering glare, he'd hastily changed the subject to the Etruscan art we'd seen in the museum.

"–And the Etruscans were the real geniuses behind pretty much every masterpiece of Roman architecture," I raved. "You should see some of the late Etruscan temples – they weren't nearly as magnificent as the Parthenon in Athens or the Pantheon in Rome but the combination of styles is fascinating –" I broke off as I met his eye. He was driving, but he'd been sneaking side glances my way since we left the museum. "What?" I asked, grinning. Neither of us could seem to stop grinning today. Or touching. Or kissing.

Adrian's own grin widened and his eyes flicked lazily up and down. "Don't mind me. Just admiring the view."

"Eyes front, soldier." I gestured to the road ahead of us. "If you crash the Ivashkinator I'm never kissing you again."

Adrian laughed throatily, sitting up straighter and gripping the wheel like his life depended on it. "Yes, ma'am."

With Adrian focused on the road there was nothing to keep me from watching him. Not that I cared about him noticing anymore. My eyes drank him in, lingering on every inch of him that I could see. He was smirking and I knew that he could see my dreamy expression in his peripheral vision. I had to give him credit where it was due, though; he behaved himself and kept his eyes on the road for an entire two minutes. Then I felt a spark as his hand brushed against mine.

I pulled away reluctantly. "Have you forgotten how to drive stick again?" I asked, amused. I nodded towards the road ahead, where repairs signs warned us to slow down. "You're going to need that hand to change gears soon."

His hand found mine again and I didn't resist as he curled his whole palm over the back of my hand, our fingers entwined.

"I think what I need is some more lessons," he teased. He moved both our hands to the gear stick. I relaxed my hand under his as he went through the motions of changing gears, but then I pulled away again.

"No more of that," I protested. "This poor car's been through enough in the last few weeks. Do you want it to stall now too?"

Adrian glanced over at me slyly. "If you're so worried about it stalling, why don't you take over from me?"

I hesitated. Driving Adrian's car was a temptation I usually wouldn't be able to refuse, and he knew it. But right now, I didn't want to lose myself in the Mustang's quick, smooth steering and the road rushing by beneath us. I just wanted to watch him drive and bask in the rightness of today some more.

I shook my head. "I don't think it's the best idea for us to attempt to swap seats in the middle of these road works."

"Not what I meant," he said. He reached over and lifted my palm to his lips. His eyes flitted over to mine again as he kissed it gently, and then kissed the back of my hand. Then he brought my hand back down to the gear stick and left it there.

"Adrian, what –" I began, but he cut me off with a quick, "Third gear, now."

I was still confused, but my hand moved instinctively, switching to third gear while he kept his foot down on the clutch. When I realised what he'd done, I nudged him on the shoulder – not hard enough to distract him from the road, but enough to let him know how stupid I thought that idea had been.

"Adrian!" I protested, my mouth agape. "You could've stalled! You could have crashed us!"

He shook his head. "Not possible. We're the perfect team. And my secret girlfriend is a badass witch who'd probably burn me to a cinder if I crashed our baby. No way I'd risk that."

I blushed. Girlfriend. God, after everything else that had happened between us, it felt ridiculous to get caught up in sentimentality, but the way he said it with such tenderness... it made me want to ask him to stop the car so I could kiss him some more.

"Your girlfriend would like all three of us to make it back home in one piece," I said. "And as you said, you don't want to mess with her." I tried to sound stern, but my voice softened on the word 'girlfriend' too and my hand stayed on the gear stick.

Adrian threw me another breathtakingly happy grin. "Noted. Fourth gear."

I groaned, but again, my reaction was instinctive and the car made the transition easily. Adrian was right, of course. We were a perfect team and we always had been. And as Adrian and I fell into an easy rhythm, I realised that it didn't matter that I wasn't the same girl I'd been a year ago; that Sydney Sage had never been this happy. She'd never felt this complete. Jill was right; I definitely still had some control issues to work through. But I didn't need to be in control all of the time and now was one of those times when it felt great to let someone else make the decisions and take the wheel. Literally.

When we eventually pulled up to the school and I applied the hand break for him, I almost felt like asking if we could just both go back to his apartment. I had all my belongings with me and there was nothing waiting for me at Amberwood, after all. Only Jill and our need for secrecy stopped me.

"Here," I said, reaching into my handbag and pulling out the quartz crystal I had taken to carrying everywhere with me since the fire. I pressed it into his palm. One summoning spell later, the callistana was scurrying up and down his arm, spiky tail wagging ferociously. "It's the weekend," I reminded him. "Time for you to step up and perform your fatherly duties."

"Right," Adrian said with a smirk. "Good thing Hopper and I both have a sweet tooth." He let the little demon climb up to his shoulder and then prised it from his shirt and set it down slightly gingerly on the dashboard. It curled up over the air conditioning outlet, gazing adoringly up at the both of us with its wide round eyes.

I looked away from the dragon and took Adrian's hand. "Thank you for today," I said. "It was…" I didn't know how to describe it. Perfect seemed like such an understatement.

He leaned forward to kiss me goodbye. No, I reminded myself. Not goodbye. Just goodnight. The thought made me giddy, and I curled my arms around his neck, grinning into the kiss.

"I'll call you first thing tomorrow morning," he promised when we broke apart. "Sweet dreams, Sage."

I took my bags from the backseat and leaned in for one more kiss. Sweet dreams? Oh, I knew they would be.

A/N: As with Fallout, feel free to suggest prompts!