#adrian-ivashkov

"Adrian, I'm on a date. Why are you here? On my car?"

"I certainly hadn't expected to walk away from today's trip with joint custody of a miniature dragon."

"Sydney spent a lot of time on my bed these days.Unfortunately, it wasn't with me."

"I know I’m not supposed to say this, but I love you."

"Wow,” said Adrian. He sat down on the bed and tested its bounciness, giving it a nod of approval. “This is amazing. What do you think, buttercup?”“I have no words,” I said honestly.He patted the spot beside him. “Want to try it out?"

"What were you thinking?"I demanded once we were moving to the music. I was trying to ignore his hands. "Do you know how much trouble you may have gotten me in?"Adrian grinned. "Nah. They all feel bad for you. You'll achieve martyrdom after dancing with a mean, wicked vampire. Job security with the Alchemists."

"I just rely on natural talent,"said Adrian, strolling up to the start of the Dragon's Lair. "When you have such a wealth of it to draw from, the danger comes from having too much."

"No matter how long or how difficult, we will undo whatever that Moroi boy has done to you."I managed a wavering smile, tasting blood in my mouth. "You sure about that, Dad? Because he's done everything to me."

"Piece of Heaven?""No, that other place I'm going to go to for thinking what I'm thinking."

"I don't care if you say we can't be together. I don't care if you think I'm the most evil, unnatural creature walking on earth. You can think whatever you want, go whatever you want. I'm going to just go on loving you, even if it's hopeless."

"I’m not a warrior or a goddess,” I said at last.Adrian leaned closer. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re both."

"He was too perfect, despite being one of the most imperfect people I knew."

"You know,"he said, "under normal circumstances, you inviting me to the bedroom would be the highlight of my day."I crossed my arms and sat on the bed. I did so out of simple fatigue, but a moment later, I was struck by what I was doing. This is where Adrian sleeps. I'm touching the covers he's wrapped in every night. What does he wear? Does he wear anything?I jumped up."

"Somehow, Sydney had an internal clock that told her when time was up. I think it was part of her inherent ability to keep track of a hundred things at once. Not me. In these moments, my thoughts were usually focused on getting her shirt off and whether I’d get past the bra this time. So far, I hadn’t."

"Takes a lot of tries before you hit perfection."He paused to reconsider that. "Well, except for my parents. They got it on the first try."(Adrian)"

"Adrian was easily distractible by wacky topics and shiny objects."

"Relax, having kids is years away. But can you imagine? Your brains, my charm, our collective good looks... then add in the usual physical abilities dhampirs get. It's really not even fair to everyone else."

"Well, you can think what you want, so long as you remember - no matter how ordinary things seem between us - I'm still here, still in love with you, and care about you more than any other guy, evil or otherwise, ever will."

"I realized I’m in love. It's always been right in front of me."

"And besides . . . I don’t want to leave you. Er, you guys.”He smiled, and it lit up his whole face. “Well, ‘we’ are certainly happy to hear that. Oh, and I’m also happy to watch our darling little love child dragon while you’re in St. Louis.”I grinned back."