Lana Davenport was never good with goodbyes; in fact, she would argue that she was terrible with them. She preferred the Irish goodbye, which had her up and leaving without a word. It was easier that way, she surmised. However, her English friends and host family would not allow such a thing. On her last day in London, a giant goodbye party was to be held against all of Lana's complaints.

"Sorry, Sweetpea, you don't get a choice, I'm afraid," Diana, Lana's host mother, cooed softly at the blonde girl who had become like a daughter of her own within the last six months. The middle-aged woman was a sight to be held. When Lana first met her, she was sure the woman must have been a retired supermodel or an actress. Imagine her surprise upon learning that Diana was an accountant who worked in an office all day. She had long black hair down her back and was perfectly straight without an iron ever touching it. Her eyes were bright green, and her features were sharp but gentle at the same time.

Her husband, Thomas, was a lucky man. Though Thomas was also a tall, handsome-looking man, he also had dark hair with striking blue eyes. Their daughter Emily bore all her parents' features, leaving Lana sticking out like a sore thumb.

Lana had thin blonde hair that would never grow past her shoulders, and though her eyes were blue, they were so dark you could hardly see the color unless she was in direct sunlight. She was shorter than Emily by about 4 inches and had full lips she'd always hated. She did not look like the Patterson family, but they didn't stop them from making her feel like she was a part of them.

Before Lana even had the chance to say anything back to Diana, a pair of arms were wrapped around her as a body slammed into her own with full force. "I'm going to miss you," The person cried out, allowing Lana to recognize her as Emily. She hugged the dark-haired girl back with all the strength she could muster.

"I'll miss you too, Em," She replied truthfully. While she was looking forward to seeing her parents again, she would miss the Pattersons and everyone else she had met while studying aboard for the semester.

Emily pulled back from the hug, though her hands remained on Lana's arms as if she was afraid she might disappear at any point. "Okay, enough of the sad stuff. I still get you for 15 hours, and you know what that means?"

Lanas's brow raised. "We dance it out?"

"We dance it out," Emily echoed with a nod. The two girls had immediately bonded over their love of dancing when they first met. They weren't necessarily good at it, but they truly loved it. Diana laughed as the two girls pulled each other out onto the makeshift dance floor they had created in the living room for the party. It was almost as if they were magnets because as soon as the girls began to dance, everyone else followed shortly behind.

"It's gonna be right boring without her here, innit?" Thomas questioned his wife as he stood beside her, a glass of punch being nursed in his hand.

"Yes," Diana sighed, "It is." Diana would greatly miss the girl who'd become another daughter to her. It was shocking how quickly Lana grew on them, on everyone she encountered, actually. There was just something about the blonde-haired girl that drew people in and made them love her. Maybe it was because she was such a gentle, kind girl it made people want to protect her, to help her, whatever it was Diana didn't know. She knew only that she had indeed come to love the blonde girl.

Lana's time in England hadn't been all a good one, yet the blonde refused to end her contract early, nor did she let the accident hold her back from a good time. Diana could still remember the call and the feeling of her heart breaking when the officer informed her that the two girls had been attacked late one night. Emily was entirely shaken up, but Lana was different; Diana would have assumed the American girl would have packed her bags and left, but she didn't. The Pattersons were more than thankful for that.

The party raged on until late in the evening. Lana said her teary goodbyes to her friends with promises to call and write every chance she had and to visit as soon as she graduated high school. Hugs and kisses were given until it was just the family left in the teenage-ravaged home. Tears fell down Lana's face, and she cursed her inability to handle goodbyes.

"I-I'm gonna go lay down for a bit," She sniffed, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. Her host family watched her with sadness welling in their own eyes.

"Okay darling, goodnight," Diana cooed, pushing Lanas's hair out of her face and behind her eyes before kissing her forehead. Thomas said his good night next as Lana walked past Emily, who was already passed out on the couch. She laughed silently at her host sister as she headed to her bedroom, Emily had the inane ability to sleep anywhere at any time. Lana was blessed with a different ability, as it took her hours to fall asleep unless she was exhausted.

At this moment, with all the emotions running high, she was. She collapsed on her bed with a heavy sigh when suddenly the sound of her bag falling off the desk near the window was heard. She held back a scream as she looked at the tall, shaggy, shaggy-haired man standing in her bedroom.

She rolled her eyes and dropped her head back down on the pillow. "Ya know, just because you're a vampire doesn't mean you have to do vampire things."

The man chuckled at the girl he'd grown to love. "Vampire things? What exactly do vampire things entail, little one?"

Lana shot up at that, sitting crisscross at the foot of her bed to talk to the man who had saved her life all those months ago. He was ridiculously tall and exceedingly handsome, though he explained that all vampires were. His brown hair was long and shaggy, and his teeth were white and straight. His once blue eyes were blood red, though they looked a little darker than usual, which told Lana he hadn't fed today.

"Vampire things...like breaking into someone's home when you have their phone number..," She quirked an eyebrow at him, to which he simply shrugged.

"It's more fun this way. Besides, I had to come to say goodbye to my favorite human, and how could I give you my parting gift over the phone?"

"A gift?" She perked up deliberately, disregarding the goodbye part of his sentence. The man walked over almost lazily and tossed a small box down on the bed beside Lana. It was wrapped in blue tissue, and a tiny white ribbon was tied around it. She gasped excitedly; she had always loved presents. She carefully untied the ribbon and delicately removed the wrapping, ignoring the man's scoff at her slow actions. She took the lid of the box and opened it to uncover a bracelet she could tell was very old. It had dark green stones tied onto a remarkably well-preserved cord.

"It's beautiful," She smiled at the man, who suddenly looked bashful. "Thank you." She leapt out of bed and tossed her arms over the man's shoulders, pulling him into a hug. The man returned the hug gratefully and gently rubbed her back.

"It's one of the few things I have from my life as a human," He explained after they parted. Lana gasped at that feeling, touched he would give her something of such importance. "It's my good luck charm; hopefully, it'll keep you safe as it has for me."

"You realize you were turned into a vampire, yes?" She quipped thoroughly amused with the man she'd grown to call a friend.

"Ah, details." He haphazardly tossed his hands. Lana then yawned, a sudden wave of tiredness falling over her. "I'll let you get some rest, little one; you have a big day of travel tomorrow." She went silent as she looked at him, the impending doom of the incoming goodbye. As if reading her mind, "Don't worry, you're not getting rid of me that fast. You're stuck with me, little one. I'll be back in the States before you know it. Hell, you know the only reason I've stayed in this god-forsaken country for so long is because of you." She smiled at his words, a rush of relief washing over her. She knew this day was coming, the day she had to say goodbye to her dearest oldest friend who had saved her life. She found relief in understanding that it wasn't a complete goodbye; they would see each other again.

"Is that so?" She questioned, falling back on her pillow as she let exhaustion take over her.

"Lana, I'm a full-blooded American. Do you think I'd willfully stay six months surrounded by red coats? I don't think so, but someone had to ensure you didn't become dinner again- or rather an appetizer." The man joked at the expense of the young girl, who he thought was entirely too small to survive life.

"Har-har, you're hilarious." She rolled her sleepy eyes. Their banter had become of her favorite parts of their friendship no matter how absurd it may be. If you had told Lana before she moved out to London that she would be attacked by a vampire, then saved by another who would become one of her favorite people on the planet and the two of them would bicker like children on the playground she would have never believed you. But here she was now, living through just that.

"You love me."

"You love a human." She bit back, a slight sense of pride in her chest at the thought.

"Guilty. You, Miss Davenport, can go down in history as the only human I've ever cared for." He spoke truthfully. He'd been alive for many years, and in all that time, no one had caught his attention quite like Lana had. She had reminded him of a distant memory he couldn't grasp completely of his little sister in his human life.

"Lucky me." She murmured her words, slurring with sleep as her eyes began to shut.

"Goodnight, little one, I'll call you when I'm back in the States."

"Goodnight, Garrett."