CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
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i. let's dance !

— WITH BELLA FINALLY WAKING, the Cullens and Swans were free to go home. Anthony got in the clear, with a warning not to expel his energy too much again.

Bella got a cast around her broken leg. It was dark and clunky, and made hollow noises as it stepped against the ground or wooden boards in their house.

Danny had left Forks with teary goodbyes- heading for London, England. Liv went back home, with the promise that she would try to get better. For herself, this time.

Everything was okay. If only for a second.

"It looks stupid." Bella groaned.

"Okay- Bella? Honey? That's kind of an asshole thing to say to the brother that just did your hair and makeup- it looks fuckin' awesome for someone with no experience whatsoever."

"No- I mean..." She paused, looking down past her dark blue dress at her foot cast. "It's so- big."

Anthony snorted slightly, "That's what he said."

"Oh my god, Anthony." Bella groaned.

"That's what he said too." He laughed, pinning back a piece of Bella's hair.

"When was the last time you even saw your boyfriend?" She asked.

"Hey! We're seeing each other tonight after prom! I'm staying over at the Cullens so we can have some time together." Tony defended, picking up the curling iron again, trying to make it look perfect. "Now shut up or I'll burn you." He smiled sweetly into the mirror for Bella to see.

"Oh, har har." Bella mockingly laughed before going quiet and just watching Anthony work away at her hair.

"Are you ever gonna tell me what happened at the hospital with Mom?" The woman asked quietly, trying not to move around too much.

By the look on her brother's face, she knew she shouldn't push it.

"I'll tell you when you're older." He smiled, kindly and real, into the mirror.

It wasn't really the thing she wanted to hear, this Anthony knew, but he also knew that in Bella's eyes their mother was the best thing to ever happen to her. He didn't want to ruin that picture by just slathering a big ball of 'bitch' on it.

"Okay, I think that's about as good as you're gonna get." He unplugged the iron and set it off to the side, picking up a bottle of hairspray and dousing his sister's hair so much that it would probably catch fire should any heat come into contact with it.

"Thank you." Bella stared at her brother through the mirror as he played with a few pieces of her hair, trying to make it look as nice as possible.

Anthony paused as he was reaching for one of the makeup brushes, going to put it away.

"No problem, Sunshine." He stated before returning to his clean up, snapping shut the eyeshadow and putting the mascara back together.

He had made a mess of Bella's desk, but at least the final product was pretty good.

"Y'know, it's a lot like painting." He laughed. "But I get to use limited, powdery products. It's like mixed media on your face."

She smiled up at him, just admiring him in the moment as he ran a comb through his own hair and straightened out his white button up in the standing mirror.

She missed the days they didn't have to worry, when they rocked out to Queen and traded Monopoly money. When they sang along to every song and finger painted with abstract colours and shapes, the moments that they laughed when one of them fell over or got dirt all over their faces.

It was so different now.

She just wished it wasn't.

She knew nothing would change his stance on becoming a vampire. She knew that she would probably lose him by the end of the year.

She knew that she had to appreciate him while he was here, because that time might be limited to a month. A day. An hour.

But even one minute with him was better than one alone. His demeanour was welcoming and inappropriate at times but he always knew how to have a good laugh, even if it was one following a dick joke.

"Tony?" Isabella spoke out, still content in just sitting and watching him fuss about his hair.

He hummed, still looking in the mirror.

"I love you." She whispered softly.

Anthony stopped and smiling, he turned to look at her, his eyes landing on the face of his baby sister. She seemed so young despite the makeup and hair she was sporting. So young.

He wished for things to be normal. Or at least normal-ish.

He didn't want to scare Bella with his sickness, or make her withdraw from him. But, he supposed, that was how it was meant to be.

With this in his mind, Anthony leaned forward to carefully press his lips to Bella's forehead.

"I love you too." It was sweet and quiet, as he moved back to the mirror with a warm glimmer in his eyes.

Moments of silence didn't last long, and when Anthony looked at the time he nearly had a heart attack.

"Damn- Alice'll be here soon and I don't even have my tie on." He whined, messing with his hair some more in the mirror.

Just as he said that, the door to Bella's room opened to reveal Alice herself.

Alice gasped, "Tony! Where's your tie?"

Anthony dropped his head as he rushed passed her into his own room.

"Yes, I know! I'm working on it!" He replied, leaving the door open for Alice to follow him in. "Bella, put on your dress!"

From Bella's room they heard a clunk, clunk, whack, and following was Bella's 'ow'.

Anthony sighed, grabbing his straight black tie off his bed.

"Can you help her?" He asked kindly, watching Alice nod and skip back into Bella's room.

He managed to tie it himself, and slipped his jacket on. Catching a glance of himself in his own mirror, he didn't look that bad.

Then his eye caught the oxygen tank in the corner next to his desk.

It mocked him in a way, as if it knew he wasn't taking it with him.

Alice stepped back into the room and giggled slightly at Anthony's tie, crooked and wonky, and stepped forward to fix it.

This was the moment that Tony finally noticed how absolutely radiant the small woman was. Her dress was a beautiful shade of purple, and it contrasted perfectly against her pale skin.

"You look stunning." Anthony smiled, still leaned over slightly so Alice could fix his tie.

She giggled again, thanking him with a shake of her head.

She finished, the tie straightened out and looking crisp against Anthony's chest.

"You look rather handsome yourself." She winked, grabbing his hand to lead him into the hallway.

"Is... is Edward already here?" Bella asked, peeking out of her doorway.

"Yeah," Alice replied. "He's downstairs with Charlie."

"Shit." Bella cursed while Tony tried to keep himself from snorting a laugh. "Thanks again for the dress, Alice." She ignored Anthony, snickering away at the idea that Edward was alone with their trigger happy father.

"Any time." Alice smiled, linking with the arm that Anthony had offered out to her as they glided their way down the stairs. For once in his life, Tony thought he looked worthy of standing next to Alice. He looked, ironically, just as alive as she did. He was smiling, his face hurt from the constant grin.

It was nice. Hurting for a good reason.

Bella followed after them, a wonderfully awkward reveal.

Edward was weird, Charlie was protective, Alice was giggly as Anthony tried to keep her from overflowing with laughter and Bella was just... Bella.

Once they were finally able to leave, Alice and Anthony found themselves at the dance faster than they anticipated. Alice had borrowed Emmett's Jeep, considering he was riding with Rosalie in her convertible.

Anthony, being dramatically well mannered, got out of the car and opened Alice's door to let her out.

She also brought a wide scarf to wrap around her shoulders, which is what she did as soon as they arrived. It was much too cold in Forks to go without something.

The music was loud, the teens were tipsy and the night was young yet.

And Anthony had promised a few dances, so that's what they did. They danced and laughed at each other's bizarre moves, almost falling over when the upbeat songs were forcing them to move like fish out of water.

They didn't have to be perfect. They just had to have fun. That, to them, was perfect.

And if perfect meant Alice rocking an elevator down move, then so be it.

"Hey, you guys are lookin' pretty good." A voice yelled over the music, just as Anthony had spun Alice around, laughing and giggling as they had fun.

The two turned to see Emmett's bright, smiling face.

Anthony greeted him with a laugh, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you, we try our best." His voice was equally loud.

Alice mock curtsied with a short giggle, then she spotted Delphine reluctantly standing closer to the edges and all laughter cut off in seconds.

Rosalie had appeared next to Emmett, clad in a beautiful one shoulder, floor length dress, coloured in dark red to match her painted lips with her hair in an elegant half up look.

Anthony was about to comment on the dress when she was quickly dragged off as Alice grabbed her arm and pulled her in Delphine's direction.

"We'll be back in a few songs!" She yelled out. "I just wanna know why Dell is here!"

Anthony chuckled, putting a thumbs up to the girls before turning back to Emmett.

"So..." Emmett trailed off, laughing.

As if predicting the situation, the music became slow and light, calming down significantly.

The boys both laughed before Emmett offered his hand, Tony taking it and letting the vampire lead him in dance.

They didn't worry about how close they were. They didn't worry about the fact that they were two guys in the centre of the student population. They barely even cared that Anthony's temple was leaned against Emmett's shoulder, looking out on the rest of the room.

"I never did thank you." Tony muttered, loud enough for Emmett to hear. "Standing up for me, to Renée. I really appreciate it."

Emmett smiled, closing his fist against Tony's back.

"No need to thank me, little brother." He chuckled.

Anthony smiled against the boy's shoulder, happy that he was lucky enough, in some way or form, to have met the Cullens.

— ALICE WAS HYPER FOR THE WHOLE NIGHT. She was on a high just from going to the dance, not able to stop thanking Anthony for asking her. The music was fantastic in her opinion, the decor was beautiful, everyone was so put together and looked wonderful.

At least, this is how she ranted on the way to the Cullen house.

But Anthony was almost ninety- nine percent certain that her excitement was heavily influenced by her one slow dance with Delphine.

Him and Emmett had taken bets on the two woman. How they were definitely mates, how long it'd take for them to notice, how long for them to get together. Stuff like that.

If things went well, Emmett could owe about fifteen dollars.

Then again, if they went poorly he could also be fifteen dollars out of pocket.

Him and Alice slow danced to a few songs. Then they couple switched with Emmett and Rosalie for another one.

The night had gone well, all things considered.

And that was all he could have asked for. One perfect night when he knew the night was showing him quiet mercy, and it could only get better from there.

author's note

this is so so late and not the best but I had plans for the last two chapters and this was one of them

apparently im so emotionally exhausted that this might not turn out the best im not sure, let me know what you think

do you like the Alice x Delphine thing? I know there hasn't been much of them which I promise there should be a bit more in the next book but they'll be relatively slow burn for a while

I think I came up with a small idea for Leah- but it'll have to tie in with Liv's story. I'm willing to put in the work though, I know how many people desperately wanted to support Leah

Are you guys ready for the last chapter of WDWG? because that's probably all there is
Though, it might be extra long just for a finale special y'know? We'll have to see how stable I am for that because I  wanna work more on my other books too ♥️