A/N: You have been so cool, all of you. Thank you for joining me in this quick and dirty AU.

She was magnificent.

Ebony hair around her body, blood dripping from her lips — he had to kiss her! With a growl that was half lust, half anger, Garrett ripped her from Edward's arms with ease and swirled her away.

"I'll help you, Angel," he murmured into her hair while she growled, spat, and struggled against him. "We'll find you something immediately."

"Edward! It burns!"

With an apologetic glance at an agonized Edward, Garrett ran with Angela in his arms. Knowing this was the Cullens' territory, he wanted to get Angela far from it before she fed. He couldn't let her run on her own. Carlisle was quite. . .particular about those things.

He ran until he reached water and then turned north, not knowing how far the Cullens' territory extended. When he stopped catching traces of them, it was dark.

"Garrett...pleasepleaseplease," his Angel begged.

He met her pleading lips with his, trying to distract her while he sought prey. She tasted divine, her lips molding to his own and her hands immediately skimming over his torso in a way that had him forget to listen for heartbeats.

Until he felt her begin to move away. Then, he heard them. Two. Young men, camping on the beach.

"Come, sweetheart," Garrett whispered to his companion. "We'll soothe the burn now."

"You what?" Angela didn't recognize her own shriek. Birds flew, crying out their fear as she felt herself to be swirling in it. "What did I do?"

Garrett —she would remember his name forever—approached with one hand stretched out to her. "I had to, my Angel. Once I kissed you, I —"

Fury burst from her. Grabbing his hand, she jerked it. Hard. "You made me a murderer!"

His arm came off and seeing him thus disabled threw her considerably. Still, she kept it with her and, on instinct, ran from him. Ran away from the delectable scent of people.

"I what?"

Garrett winced. Finally, she had relented and given him back his arm, but her voice vibrated in the still-healing wound of it. "We stopped you," he assured her, keeping his voice as calm as possible. "But she's. . .she's one of us, now, I'm sure."

"She'd never kill anyone. Not Bella Swan."

Garrett privately disagreed, but he nuzzled Angela's head as if he concurred. "What choice would she have?"

"The Cullens. Their eyes aren't red like yours. Do they do something. . .different?"

With a smile, Garrett turned her slender body so he could face her. "They hunt animals, Angel."

"So that's where they went all those times..." Hope filled her expression when she smiled for him at last. "I want to hunt animals, as well."

Appalled, he shook his head. "No. That is not our natural prey!"

"In my heart, I'm a human being, Garrett Sawyer. In my heart, I don't feed from humans. How could you do this to me?"

"I wanted to keep you with me, my angel. I had to, once I had kissed you."

He was too slow to match her newborn speed when she tore off his ear before running again.

"Dammit, woman." Still, he chased her. He had to—in between her bouts of retribution, his Long, Tall Sally was a wonderful woman.

He tasted so good. Every time. Every single time it was a renewing surprise to her. She traced his throat with her tongue and felt nothing but a sense of rightness about it. His lips skimmed her skin, his hands seemed to encompass her hips and she moaned aloud in the small hunting cabin he had found for them somewhere in Canada. "Garrett..."

He lifted her and she felt them—the pearls. The swung out and clicked against his face.

She chuckled a little, the mood partially interrupted. "I accept them, by the way," she said. For months she had exploded in terror and anger both at him and what he had done to her. But, as she compelled herself to rely only on the blood of animals — animals she might have eaten anyway as a human — her spirit quieted and her anger cooled. She stopped ripping off his arms and he stopped trying to justify what he had done. She found her best happiness when when she was with him. They lived, hunted, and traveled all over the continent. It was beautiful. She determined to do good with her new life opportunity, since she would have eternity in which to do so.

With a soft puff of laughter, he aligned their bodies. "I'm glad. If I had had the wit to think of it, my angel, I would never have taken your choice from you."

"I understand."

"I love you, you know."

Her heart felt as if it grew, undead though it was. "I love you, too."

Garrett's eyes were a tawny shade between gold and red. He leaned against a blooming cherry tree in Washington, D.C., smiling in delight as his mate, Angela—his Angel, his own Long, Tall Sally—enjoyed the breeze that cast soft pink flowers into her lustrous black hair. Her eyes were golden in their entirety and the contrast was incredible.

"So beautiful," he murmured.

She smiled, rich and full, and stepped slowly to his side. "You, too," she whispered. Pressing herself against the full length of him, she nuzzled him under his right ear. "Have I said thank you, lately?"

He sighed and nudged her head so he could taste her lips. "Just this morning."

"Oh, good."

"Have I told you I loved you, lately?"

Leaning back from him, she cupped his face in her hands and he leaned into her gentle touch. Her forgiveness was more valuable to him than he thought anything could be.

"Thank you, Angel. I was never lonely until I lost you. I'm glad you relented."

"So am I. I love you."

"Always," he assured her, brushing a kiss across her forehead. "Always."

For them, that meant eternity.

The End

E/N: And that's a wrap. With a skosh more to it than I originally jotted down in a series of emails, but yeah. Thanks for reading and enjoying and freaking out at all the right parts. And if I don't see you before they're over, Happy Holidays!