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Garrett pushes the wide brim of his floppy sunhat up, scanning the crowded boardwalk for any sign of his friend. Kate stands next to him, her gloved hand latched in his as they ignore the weird looks from passersby.
Despite the temperature being dangerously close to triple digits and the sun beating down on the small town of Yuma, Arizona relentlessly, the couple is dressed in layers to protect them from exposing their secret to the world.
It's been exactly five years since Garrett had last seen Phoebe; five years since he won the bet and made the decision for her to live in the sunniest city on Earth for half of a decade. Throughout this short time span, his life had completely changed, and the once nomadic vampire can't wait to tell her everything.
"You are what you eat," a familiar voice jokes, causing Garrett to spin on his heel as he achingly searches for the woman it belongs to.
When he finally spots her and points her figure out to Kate, he worries his newfound mate might die from shock by the way her body immediately goes rigid. Only a few feet away, with her back turned to them as she blatantly flirts with a cute boy working behind a booth, stands Phoebe. In shorts and a t-shirt, the sun doesn't shy away from her pale skin as it sparkles almost blindingly.
"And what do you eat?" The boy questions, openly admiring her. "Body glitter?"
"I'm not answering that until after you hand over the panda I won," she teases with a smile, barely able to suppress her laughter as his cheeks turn red.
In the mere seconds his back is turned, Garrett grabs Phoebe's arm and the three of them come to a stop on the opposite end of the boardwalk. The boy holds the stuffed animal out, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion when the glittering girl is no longer there.
"What are you wearing?" Kate asks, snapping out of her revelry before Garrett can get a word in, let alone introduce the two.
"Gucci," Phoebe answers innocently, gesturing to the logo on her shirt. "Why?"
"WHY?" She screeches, attracting the unwanted attention of every human within earshot.
"Oh, please. You're one to talk, you two look like the Addams family just disowned you."
Garrett's jaw drops and he steps forward to hold Kate back before she can physically attack. But, the girls surprise him by bursting into giggles. He immediately takes the step back, the sudden shift from hostility to friendship giving him whiplash.
"I'm Kate," the stranger introduces herself, hugging the girl her spouse speaks so highly of tightly. "Garret's mate."
"What gods did you piss off to have such terrible luck?" She questions in return, feigning a pitying expression. "I'm Phoebe, and I'm so sorry you have to put up with such a pain in the ass."
Garrett scoffs and, for the briefest of moments, Phoebe worries she had genuinely upset him with her comment. The moment passes, though, as he calls her an obscene word and pulls her into a hug while being scolded by Kate.
Upon getting a good look at his features under the large hat, she recoils instantly and points an accusing finger at the man. His eyes, for the first time ever, are the same golden hue as his mate's and best friend's.
"Who are you and what have you done with Garrett?" Phoebe demands, crossing her arms with a glare.
"Can we go somewhere less crowded to talk?" He answers her question with a question, receiving an unimpressed huff. Nevertheless, she gestures for the couple to follow and quickly leads them to a cafe only a mile away. "It's a complicated story."
Phoebe gestures for him to explain and listens intently, interrupting ever so often to ask more questions. Kate, for the most part, allows Garrett to tell the story, only interjecting to call him out over certain details he attempts to gloss over.
She learns that only a year ago, the Cullen clan called upon nearly every vampire they knew to testify against the Volturi due to a mistake Kate's sister had made in assuming they had created an immortal child. Edward, as it turns out, had wanted to involve Phoebe as well, but both Garrett and Alice prohibited it.
With no idea how the situation would end, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to her, nor did he want her on the Volturi's radar even if the odds fell in their favor. Alice's reasoning remains unknown to everyone except Edward, but Garrett had been too busy quite literally falling to his knees for Kate to question it.
"It didn't hurt that badly," he lies, the haunted look in his eyes giving him away. "I exaggerated to make her feel better about not being able to hurt Bella."
"Your left arm was paralyzed for a week," Kate calls him out, only resisting the urge to shock him again because they're in a public area.
"That's irrelevant," Garrett says, eager to continue the story in an attempt to distract the girls from their teasing. "Anyways, after we put the Volturi back in their place, I joined Kate and her family in Alaska."
He goes on to explain how their diet is the same as Phoebe's and the Cullen's, and that he has slowly learned to follow it. He also makes sure to mention how the Denalis are a small coven living in a large house with more than enough room for another addition to their family.
Phoebe perks an eyebrow coolly, struggling to hide her excitement about the direction this conversation has turned.
"I know you enjoy being independent and traveling the world on your own, but we don't see each other nearly enough," Garrett states, scratching his stubbled chin as though the idea is just occuring to him. "So, I was thinking- we were thinking-"
"We would love it if you joined our family," Kate finishes for him, smiling eagerly. "But, we know you've turned down Edward's offer to join a coven several times already, so don't feel pressured to say yes or to make a decision right now."
Phoebe barely pauses to consider the offer and her smile is quick to give away her answer.
"Are you kidding? I only tell Edward no because I'd rather die than live in the same house as someone that can hear my every thought," She explains incredulously. "Of course I want to be a part of your family!"
