CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
°⋆∴☽°:۵≼
i. don't worry, cowboy !
— ANTHONY WAS INCREDIBLY TIRED BY THE TIME HE FINALLY FELL ASLEEP, staring out the window at the green forest outside.
When he woke up, it was later in the afternoon which Tony guessed was because he had been exhausted the night before.
It was nice, waking up in the Cullen house. He got up and switched out his oxygen tank, again wondering why Dr Cullen had accumulated a bunch of medical supplies in his own home.
Seriously, he thought, I'm pretty sure I saw pregnancy stuff in the back. Why would they even need that? They're vampires? Why would they need any of this?
His questions went unanswered, despite Edward probably hearing them.
That was, of course, besides the point. The point, for Anthony, was that he was now wearing one of Jasper's knitted sweaters.
Once he'd woken up, Tony complained about how wrinkly his shirt was and how it twisted uncomfortably around his stomach. Jasper, instead of telling him to suck it up like Rosalie had, gave Tony a sweater to wear instead.
Both boys saw it as a win.
Anthony got to wear Jasper's sweater, which smelled like something apple-vanilla-y, and Jasper got to see Anthony wearing his sweater.
When Tony asked about the smell of the sweater, the blond had just shrugged and said it was probably from the scented candles that Jasper was constantly burning in his room.
Good enough for him.
Tony even got his own toothbrush, which was also a confusing experience.
Rosalie had taken him to one of the bathrooms and opened a drawer full of colourful packaged toothbrushes.
"Why do you have so many?"
Rosalie shrugged and moved over to kick-slide a trashcan in his direction, the can was full of broken toothbrushes.
"Sometimes we get angry."
Emmett, who was passing by and had leaned in to see what was going on, chuckled and shook his head.
"That's just you, babe."
Rosalie growled in response.
"You just proved his point." Tony laughed, grabbing a light pink toothbrush from the top of the pile.
He would have gone for a green one but he was too lazy to dig through and find one.
Didn't really matter, pink was his second favourite colour anyway.
The rest of the day was just spent lounging around and hanging out with all his favourite Cullens.
Tony, Rosalie and Alice had come together in the blonde's room to listen to music and hang out. Until Alice decided she had to have a talk with Jasper, and disappeared.
Then, just as Rosalie and Tony had finished chucking at some dumb joke he had come up with, Esme leaned into the room.
"Your sister is coming over tonight and I wanted to make it special. Would she enjoy Italiano?" Esme asked.
"Well I'm a sucker for Italian, I'm not really sure about Bella though. We only just got back on speaking terms so her favourite food, to my recollection, is a citrus muffin from when she was thirteen." Tony informed, a little upset that he couldn't provide more information.
Esme frowned slightly before shaking her head, "It'll have to do. Would you two like to help?"
"I'd love to." Anthony smiled, turning to see Rosalie's reaction and nudging her thigh with his foot as they were sitting at opposite ends of the floor.
Tony was surprised to see the beautiful blonde's look of hatred on her face. Not for him, but for the mention of his sister.
Of course, he reminded himself, she hates Bella. Then again, I can't really blame her can I?
Tony simply stood from the floor and wiped his hands on his pants before extending his arm to help Rosalie up.
Esme, who was still standing at the door, expected her adoptive daughter to push Tony away, but was pleasantly surprised when Rosalie gently locked her wrist around the boy's forearm and pulled herself up.
It surprised Rosalie herself for a moment.
Maybe it was his weird humour, or his fragile self, maybe it was the way he treated her with the amount of respect she deserved.
Most likely that last one.
Especially because he had reached out an arm and not a hand.
It seemed like Anthony knew not to push boundaries with a woman. Outstretching a hand looked like a threat. Hands could grab and pull.
An arm, however, was an offer.
It was Rosalie's choice to take it or leave it.
It made Rosalie wonder why Tony knew these things. Which woman in his life has been hurt to the point where he felt the need to step up as part of the male population?
To the point where him: a small, weak, dying boy, felt the need to pick fights with assholes on the street who didn't know what respect meant.
Maybe she'd never know. But god, she was thankful for someone like Tony.
— BY THE TIME BELLA HAD FINALLY ARRIVED, Anthony was stood at a wooden block with a very sharp knife in hand. This would have worried him had Esme not been there, guiding his hand.
Though when he nearly sliced his thumb, the vampires decided it would be best if Tony sticked to something a little less stabby. For everyone's sake.
So instead he washed his hands and moved his oxygen tank so he could stand next to Rosalie and help Emmett put things into the bowl she was holding.
From farther in the kitchen, Carlisle noticed his family's smiles every time Tony burst out with a random fact or joke or embarrassing story.
He couldn't deny, the boy had him smiling too.
"Did you know that sea otters hold hands when they sleep?" Tony asked. Emmett did know that, but decided not to steal the boy's thunder, and so he just shook his head with a shrug.
"To prevent them drifting apart when they sleep, they hold hands." Anthony smiled. "Man- otters are some of the cutest creatures."
"I'm more partial to cats." Rosalie smirked.
"I can see that about you." Tony nodded. "I love cats."
"If you had one, what would you name it?" Esme decided to join this topic of conversation.
"Uhhh... for a boy maybe Thor? Female would be Pepper."
"You seem sure about the Pepper one." Rosalie stated.
"Well yeah because then it'd be like- Pepper and Tony... Right?" Anthony chuckled nervously, realizing how stupid that sounded.
"That's genius." Emmett laughed, shaking his head.
Tony grinned now that Emmett was on board with his antics.
"Hey Rosie, we should get a cat together and name him Jack just so I can make Titanic jokes."
Even Rosalie laughed at that one.
"We'll have to see about that one." She chuckled.
Suddenly, all vampires stopped what they were doing for a moment and looked up.
Tony looked around at them confusedly.
Rosalie noticed his confusion and decided to subtly tell him what was going on.
"Get a whiff of that." The blonde woman spoke. "Here comes the human." She sang, glancing down at Anthony who gave her a thankful look.
Esme smiled excitedly, setting down the cheese she had been working on grating just as Edward and Bella turned the corner.
"Bella," Esme greeted. "We're making Italiano for you."
Anthony's sister looked around at the Cullen's awkwardly.
"Oh."
Edward stepped in to save Bella the embarrassment.
"Bella, this is Esme, my mother for all intents and purposes."
Anthony noticed Emmett wave with the knife in his hand and struggled not to laugh.
"Buon giorno." Bella said.
"Molto bene!" Esme smiled.
Tony turned to Emmett and Rosalie giving them a look at stated he had no idea how to speak Italian. Rosalie simply smirked while Emmett chuckled a bit.
"You've given us an excuse to use the kitchen again. For the past few days, it's just been for Anthony." Carlisle spoke up, wiping his hands off on a dish towel.
"I hope you're hungry." Esme grinned.
Bella played with her hair a bit, "Absolutely."
"She already ate." Edward said with slight anger in his tone.
The bronze haired vampire picked up on a voice resonating in his head.
Hey, Eddie, back off. She's your kind-of vampire mother and you will treat her with respect, asshole.
He looked over to see Anthony standing somewhat behind Rosalie, both of whom were glaring at the new pair to enter room.
Tony noticed Rosalie's shoulder tense up and realized her own anger was reaching its peak. He placed a hand on her shoulder.
Rosalie knew it wasn't a warning move, trying to hold her back. It was a move of support. He understood why she was so angry and was telling her that it was okay to freak out.
Rosalie quickly took a step forward, away from Anthony and more importantly, away from his oxygen tank sitting on the floor and promptly crushed the glass bowl between her hands, the pieces clattering in the ground.
"Perfect." She growled.
Tony knew maybe he should have been protecting his sister. But he was gonna let Rosalie have her moment because one- Edward deserved it and Bella had to understand the risks and two- it was so fun to watch.
"Yeah it's just..." Bella tried to explain, looking to Edward and her brother for help.
Tony just leaned back against the counter and watched the blonde woman's fiery attitude unravel, not doing a thing to prevent it and even trying to hold Emmett back from calming Rosalie down.
"Because I know you guys don't eat-" Bella explained.
Esme tried to diffuse the situation, "Of course. It's very considerate of you."
"Just ignore Rosalie, I do." Edward muttered to Bella, despite being in a room where almost anyone could hear it.
"Hey Eddie." Tony called, still leaned back against the counter. "Quit wearing your ass as a hat and realize that Rosie here is trying to give Bella the reality."
At least now they knew where Tony stood on the matter.
Rosalie almost gave up her annoyed, angry face for a second to smile gently at Anthony. She didn't though, but he knew she wanted to.
"Yeah- let's just keep pretending like this isn't dangerous for all of us." Rosalie glared.
"I would never tell anybody... Anything" Bella tried. "I'm sure Tony wouldn't too."
Rosalie scoffed, "Tony isn't my problem, my problem is with you." She stated quietly.
Carlisle decided to ignore that last part, instead focusing on reassuring Bella.
"She knows that."
Emmett spoke up from Rosalie's left side, while Tony moved to her right.
"Yeah, well, the problem is, you two have gone public now-"
"Emmett." Esme warned.
Anthony admired Esme, for trying to welcome him and Bella so easily. But he also knew Rosalie was right, there were risks that Bella had to know. This secret of theirs couldn't get out, it would ruin everything.
"No, Esme, she should know." Anthony spoke softly.
"The entire family will be implicated if this ends badly." Rosalie stepped in, continuing off Tony.
Bella avoided eye contact.
"Badly, as in... I- I would become the meal."
Even Rosalie had to fight off the amused smirk on her face.
Then Anthony noticed Alice from the window behind him, balancing on a tree branch. Close behind her was Jasper.
"Hi, Bella." Alice hopped down, into the room, holding some flowers.
Anthony was more focused on Jasper, who had his gaze fixated on Bella. It was obvious he was already struggling with bloodlust.
Tony remembered what Jasper had said once, that a mate's bond could be overpowering to that feeling.
He hadn't really given it much thought, but supposedly he was Jasper's mate, right?
With this thought in mind, he pulled Jasper closer to him, wrapping the blond's arms around his own waist so Tony's back was against Jasper's chest.
Jasper seemed to understand what he was trying to do, and tightened his hold, laying his chin on Anthony's shoulder.
Distract him using his own blood. If Jasper's attention was on Tony, it was less likely that he was going to attack Bella.
By the point the boys had tuned back in, Alice had hugged Bella and formally introduced herself.
Then it came to Jasper, all eyes turned to him. Anthony could feel Jasper's arms tense.
"Sorry, Jasper's our newest vegetarian. It's a little difficult for him." Carlisle explained.
Jasper cleared his throat.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." He greeted.
Alice turned and handed Anthony some of the flowers she had collected, which he smiled at and leaned his head back into Jasper's shoulder.
"Don't worry cowboy, you're not gonna hurt her." Anthony spoke in a dismissive tone.
Edward looked like he desperately wanted to get Bella out of this situation.
"Alright, uh, I'm gonna take you on a tour of the rest of the house." Edward stated, pulling Bella away.
"Well, we'll see you soon." Alice spoke before the couple disappeared upstairs.
"Clean this up." Esme pointed at the mess of glass on the floor, speaking to Rosalie.
Anthony turned in Jasper's arms, handing him the flowers before turning to help Rosalie clean up the crushed glass.
Though Rosalie immediately insisted that he didn't, not wanting him to accidentally cut himself.
author's note
I legit have a kiss scene written down- it was supposed to be in this chapter but I reached 2000 words too fast I'm sORRY
Idk if I'm gonna change the scene at all but for now I think I'm sticking with it
Anyway: I had a quick question. I had a plan to introduce Alice's mate at some point but I wanted to know if y'all'd be down for female o female? Cuz boy do I have pLANS
Also I haven't been having the best few days and so far they don't seem to be changing so I'm gonna be writing a helluva lot more because idk I just like to write when I'm sad or whatever
I'm kinda living vicariously through my characters so that might be it 😂
Though I've also been really wanting to work on my new peter p fic so I can have prewritten chapters so I'll probably be working on that too 😬
But yeah just a warning there may be a flood of updates or something cuz writing seems to be the only thing I want to do right now
Reading your comments is what's kept me going so thank you guys so much for all the support- I mean we're about to hit 60k views how crazy is that?? I'm so proud of us 😂♥️