CHAPTER SIXTEEN
°⋆∴☽°:۵≼
i. sunny days bleed away !
— AFTER THE RATHER FUN BEACH DAY WITH BELLA'S FRIENDS, and now Tony's friends he supposed, the two siblings were dropped off back home.
When they entered the house, their father was passed out on the couch with the TV on again. He always wanted to watch his shows and rerun games but he was so exhausted all the time that he couldn't get through them.
Isabella shuffled up the stairs quietly, Tony behind her, struggling to hold his oxygen tank and his heavy art bag.
Once they made it to the top of the stairs, Bella went to turn the knob on the door to enter her room.
"Psst, hey." Tony addressed.
Isabella shooshed him and glanced down the stairs, waiting for signs of movement.
When nothing came, she looked back up at Tony, who had an amused look and raised eyebrow.
"What?" She asked.
"Meet me in my room in about ten minutes, you have to tell me what Jake said."
Bella nodded, "Right, okay."
Tony would have followed Bella into her room in the first place, but he had to either switch out his oxygen tank again or hook himself up to the oxygen concentrator in his room.
The latter seemed like a better option.
Besides, he also had to change into something more comfortable and clean the paint brushes he'd used because dipping them in water was never enough.
Renée always thought his obsession with art was a bad idea. She discouraged him, saying stuff like 'he would never make a living on it' and 'it took years to have the same talent as those famous artists'.
It was obvious to Tony, she didn't know what the real meaning of art is. Or his art at least. It's not meant to be a perfect carbon copy of someone who was before him. He didn't make art for someone else to have credit, he did it as an outlet for his feelings. Or to preserve memories.
There were a lot of things Renée didn't understand about her son, but Tony really wished she at least understood his art.
Like Charlie always had. It was always Charlie that hung up his drawings on the fridge, or carried a small one that Tony made on a sticky note in his wallet to show his friends at the station.
It was Charlie that bought the art supplies. The pencils, the paper, the paint. It was Charlie that found him some jam jars and even lids so he could travel with paint water.
It was always Charlie.
This is what Tony thought about as he pulled out the sponge he kept in the bathroom, cleaning out the glass jam jar he'd used that day.
He took out the paint brushes, wrapped in bits of plastic wrap to keep them wet and easy to clean.
When he was finished getting all the paint out, he put the brushes on a paper towel off to the side and then crouched down to put his jam jar in the cupboard. It clinked slightly against the other four that were in there and made a hollow knocking noise as it bounced against a bottle of soap.
Tony dried off his hands and grabbed his oxygen tank that he could feel was beginning to stop working.
Getting into his room, the first thing he did was set the oxygen tank to refill. Then he grabbed a pullover sweater and sweatpants, changing quickly so he could hook up the oxygen concentrator and flop down onto his bed.
Isabella popped in only seconds later with her laptop in her hands. She sat at Tony's desk as he sat up.
"So?"
"So I asked Jacob what his friends meant about 'the Cullens don't come here' and I got a whole lotta weird." Isabella started.
"Weird can be good." Tony shrugged, leaning back into his pillows.
Isabella sent him a pointed look.
"Weird isn't good?" He corrected.
"He said his tribe are descendants of wolves." The brunette woman said, turning to type on their laptop.
"Like- real wolves?"
"Yes."
"Like, actual real wolves." Tony checked.
"Yes." Bella sighed, nodding.
"Pardon my French: but what the fuck." Anthony whispered, looking down at his bedsheets.
"I know."
"But- wha- hold up, that doesn't tell us what's up with the Cullens." Tony pointed out.
Bella grabbed a light blue sticky note from Anthony's desk and a pencil.
"No, it doesn't." She agreed, scribbling down something in the small piece of paper. "But this might." She held it up to reveal to him, an address.
Thunder & Whale bookstore in Port Angeles.
"Great, road trip."
— WHEN MONDAY KNOCKED ON THEIR DOOR, Anthony and Bella were trying to make plans for when they could go to Port Angeles. They were too tired from their trip to the beach to drive out on Sunday, so that didn't happen.
Anthony couldn't deny he'd been feeling a bit weird about everything. Almost like nervous butterflies that you just couldn't shake, he felt a weight on his chest like there was something lurking just beyond the corner. Something bad.
Normally he'd write it off as his cancer, but he had grown familiar with the constant dull ache in his chest that his condition provided. This was different, he could tell.
Either way, it was Monday, and the Swan siblings had to go to school.
What really poured down the rain on his day was the lack of. For the first time since they moved to Forks, the sun was out and there was not a cloud in the sky.
Anthony hated it. He liked the cold, the wet, the shade.
The heat always became too much for him.
He lived by a motto; when it's cold, you can put on as many layers as you want. When it's hot, you can only take off so many layers before it gets illegal.
Plus, the heat reminded him of Arizona. It almost made him feel homesick. Not for Renée and Phil, but for Liv's early morning rambles and Daniel's night time stories. Or when Liv pushed all their beds together and they got set up for movie marathons, when Danny would try and catch popcorn in his mouth but ultimately fail.
Anthony even missed Liv's coffee withdrawals, when she swore like a sailor at every person that walked in. Eventually she did it so often that no coffee place in a three block radius would serve her.
Yeah, he missed them.
Especially as he stared down Danny's army tags on his way to school.
Bella noticed Anthony's fixation but didn't mention it, not wanting to break him out of his trance-like state.
— IT SEEMED LIKE NOTHING COULD SHAKE HIM FROM HIS GLOOMY SICKNESS. Not only did he miss Liv and Daniel, but none of the Cullens were at school.
He almost didn't notice that Alice wasn't sitting next to him in Art. He expected her cheery attitude to immediately raise his spirits but was ruthlessly surprised when she wasn't there.
Then came history. Jasper was no where to be found. Anthony had his eyes almost glued to the door, expecting the blond Hale to just be late. He found that wasn't the case though when the bell rang out and Jasper was still a no show.
So he went to the medical building to replace his oxygen tank, in a worse mood than he was before.
"What's got you looking so upset?"
Tony was sitting in a waiting chair. The person that spoke was the man who was replacing the tank.
"Nothing." Anthony sighed, leaning back into the uncomfortable plastic.
"I'm sure it's not nothing."
The man's voice had some sort of accent. English, if Tony had to guess.
"I'm fine." Tony assured. The man sat in a chair across from him.
"Well if you're not gonna talk about it then I may as well introduce myself. Hello, my name is Reyes Jaylin." The man spoke, his voice changing pitches to match what he was saying. "Oh- but most people call me Blue." He added, as if he forgot. "Well, my American friends, anyway."
"Blue? Like the raptor from Jurassic World?" Tony asked with a laugh.
"Woah, I never even thought of that." Reyes gasped. "No, it's more so because jay birds are a thing and boy o' boy have you seen how blue they are around here? I've never seen anything like it, really. I mean- there's jays in Europe but they do not look like that."
"Hey, don't knock the blue, those things are majestic." Tony laughed. His laugh surprised himself, he wasn't expecting the sound as he'd been in a foul mood all morning.
"But um, I'm Anthony Swan."
Reyes let out a noise of excitement, "Look at us, Jay bird and Swan."
"Yeah." Anthony chuckled, shaking his head. "People call me Tony."
"Well that's disappointing. Tell them to be more original."
"Y'know you do not look old enough to be here." Tony mused, looking around at the practically empty medical building.
"Hey hey- I'm the one with a bachelor's degree, okay?" Reyes defended as he stood up to grab Anthony's oxygen tank.
Tony raised his hands up in mock defence before he grabbed the handle and tucked the tubing behind his ears. As he adjusted the nasal prongs, he stood up to leave.
"It was nice talking to you." Tony smiled, going for the door.
"Hold up- wait. Uh, what are your favourite kinds of cookies?" Reyes rushingly asked.
Anthony furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"Can never go wrong with chocolate chip?"
"Okay! You're free to go." Reyes grinned and shooed him out the door.
Anthony stumbled out down the steps just as the bell for lunch rang out. He spotted a bunch of students heading outside to soak up as much sun as possible and decided to head towards them, knowing Bella preferred the heat.
His assumption that she'd be outside was correct when he saw Jessica and Isabella on a picnic table, trying to collect as much of the sun's rays as possible.
Forgetting about the odd man in the medical building, he went over and sat down not bothering to grab himself a lunch.
Isabella barely acknowledged him, glancing around as if looking for something.
"He's not here." Tony informed, alerting Jessica of his presence. She'd had her eyes closed before. "None of them are." He knew his sister was looking for Edward and his family.
"Tony, hey." Jessica greeted, sitting up slightly.
Anthony smiled at her slightly. Jessica then figured out what Tony had been talking about.
"Whenever the weather's nice, the Cullens disappear." The brown haired girl said.
Tony and Bella shared a glance as Jessica closed her eyes again.
"What, so they just ditch?" Isabella asked.
"No, um, Dr. and Mrs. Cullen yank 'em out for, like, hiking and camping and stuff." Jessica told them. "I tried that on my parents, not even close." She added.
Then Angela made an appearance, popping up behind Jessica and next to Bella, where Tony was sitting across from his sister.
"Guys, I'm going to the prom with Eric. I just asked him. I took control." Angela told them excitedly.
"I told you that would happen." Bella said, hugging her.
Anthony just smiled at the girl in glasses and muttered a congrats.
"Are you sure you have to go outta town?" Angela asked Isabella as she pulled away.
Anthony looked at his sister confusedly. He hadn't heard she was going out of town, but Bella sent him a look to keep quiet so he did.
"Yeah," Anthony began. "She has a family thing."
"Then why aren't you going?" Jessica asked.
"And miss prom night? Are you kidding?" Anthony chuckled.
"You have a date?" Jessica leaned forward.
Anthony muttered a 'not yet'.
"Okay, anyway, we should go shopping in Port Angeles before all the good dresses get cleaned out." Jessica leaned back again to try and gather more sun in her skin.
"Please, you guys will look fine even if you wore a potato sack Marilyn Monroe style." Anthony scoffed.
Jessica and Angela blushed lightly.
"Though my suggestion for you, Angela, is purple. Something simple, something calm. It's totally your colour and it matches your calm personality." Tony added. Then he turned to Jessica. "And something pink for you. Accentuates your body and the colour of your hair, and highlights your fun loving personality."
Both girls seemed to take mental notes.
"But hey, that's just my opinion so no pressure." Tony smiled kindly.
Bella spoke. "So, Port Angeles. You think we could come with you?"
Angela laughed. "Uh, yeah. I need your opinion, and apparently Tony's."
They all stood up, and Tony said a farewell before picking up his oxygen tank and heading to his Trig class.
"So," Jessica turned to the girls. "Is it just me or was your brother flirting?"
Bella laughed, "With you? Not likely."
"Well that was a little harsh." Jessica rolled her eyes.
"No- that's not what I meant I just meant, like..," Bella tried. "Anthony is gay. Like- really gay."
Jessica looked like a deer caught in headlights.
"Really?" She asked.
Angela stepped in with a laugh.
"Are you kidding? How could you not know?" The brunette said, looking at Tony's retreating figure.
"No straight guy is that nice."
author's note
So Reyes Jaylin's faceclaim is Rahul Kohli, which I will put in the additional cast. Someone mentioned his portrayal of Ravi in izombie and I got inspired because I loved Ravi 😂
wE hit 14k I wanna cry I'm so proud of us
Also- I know it's a little early to be talking about this since I'm not even close to finishing Twilight, but I'm just wondering who all would be interested in the New Moon sequel for WDWG?
I have plans for it and stuff but I won't write it if no one wants it, just because I have other projects to work on as well- like Ghost Town for Kevin Keller
So yeah, lemme know 😂♥️