I'm back with another alternate ending. You know me, I can't stand sad, or even bitter-sweet endings, so I just had to continue the story so that the couple of choice ends up together. In this case, it's Michel and Kerry. The stuff in italics is the end of the book, just to refresh you memory. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Don't, never did, (unfortunately) never will.

"Good-bye, Ethan," she said.

"Michel," he corrected, and because he gave it the French pronunciation, she thought maybe it was his real name.

"Good-bye, Michel," she said. She walked down the stairs, past Marsala's body, and out the door, heading for home.

She got as far as the porch steps when she realized something. She wasn't heading towards home, she was walking away from it. She could never consider Marsala's house anything resembling a home of course, but she was referring the vampire inside that was currently dousing the rug in gasoline. He was her family, her friend, her home… her love. She had to be with him just like he had to drink.

So she turned around, and headed back through the door. She know that he must have noticed her return by now, after all, her heart rate had doubled when she made her decision, and it would be getting louder now that she was going back towards the door. Sure enough, as soon as she cleared the door jam, he was standing at the top of the stairs, lighter fluid and matches already in hand. He was staring at her as if he couldn't believe that she was really standing there. And he was being so still that if she hadn't know better, she could have sworn that he had fallen back asleep.

"There's one question that I have to ask you, and you won't get away with any of your mystic crap this time." She stated as she climbed the stairs, in a tone that almost led him to believe that if he refused to comply, she could do something about it.

"Oh," he said, quirking his eyebrow and curling the corners of his mouth curled into a smirk, "and what would that be?" She had reached the top of the stairs by now so she wrapped her arms gently around his neck and pulled him as close as she dared, still wary of his sunburns.

"Do you love me back or not?" He looked stunned for the second time that night and he pulled back a little from the pure shock of it. With that reaction, Kerry started to get a little worried. Had she judged wrong? Would she always just be food to him? Seeing her emotions fly across her expression, he kissed her to calm her fears. It's a very effective method it turns out, for she kissed him back without hesitation. Soon, as before, he started to kiss lower and lower until his mouth was once again at her throat. suddenly he pulled back and looked into her eyes.

"Does this mean…" he couldn't finish, for once, he was at a loss for words.

"Yes," she answered, she knew what he was trying to say.

"What about you father, and your brother?" She had to think for a little bit at this, she didn't know how they would react to this.

"They don't know if I'm alive or not, sooner or later, they'll think and accept that I'm dead and move on." She said with more then a hint of regret in her voice.

"That's not what I meant." He said matter-of-factly. She knew what he meant, she had just been hoping that she was wrong,

"I'll miss them, but I'll have you, right?" It was more of a question then anything, a plead for confirmation, and he complied.

"You'll always have me." He promised before he kissed her again. Once again, as if, at this point, it was inevitable, the kissing became more passionate and his lips were on her throat.

"Are you sure?" He backed off ever so slightly, so that he could read her expression.

"Do you love me?" She asked again, she needed to know first.

"Of course," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She pushed his shoulder a little in return for the sarcasm,

"Say it," she responded in all seriousness. He straitened and wiped all traces of a smile from his expression. Then, looking her straight in the eye,

"I love you."

She smiled at him and shifted all of her hair to one side of her neck. "You must be starving," she said, titling her head so her throat was bared. Within seconds, she felt the sting of his fangs sinking into her jugular. Then the pleasure began…