CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
°⋆∴☽°:۵≼

i. a boy who's a friend !

— THE REST OF THE DAY PASSED BY RATHER SMOOTHLY. The Cullens, plus Anthony and Bella, gathered around the old, half plastic, cafeteria lunch table and listened to a witch's stories.

At this point, almost nothing sounded crazy to Tony anymore. Vampires? Shape shifters? Sure, let's add witches to the mix, why the hell not?

Though when the sun fell, by the end of it all, Tony was very much human.

Who happened to have a vampire boyfriend.

The idea was still fresh in his mind when he hopped up into the passenger seat of Bella's truck after just saying goodbye to the Cullens and Reyes.

His boyfriend. Jasper Hale.

It was a strange feeling. Welcomed, but strange to finally have a face to the position.

So far Tony was really only gay in theory. He'd never had a boy that would want to put up with him through his chemo.

Maybe it wasn't just his cancer.

Those were the thoughts that ate at him when his mind was in a bad place.

Was it because of his hyper comic book obsession, when he read out loud or ranted about some new socks? Was it his music taste and how it constantly varied? Maybe it was because he liked to talk a lot when he painted. Or was it his un athleticism and how he wasn't toned like a model?

Then he'd lock eyes with Jasper and he thought, maybe they never put up with me because someone out there wouldn't have to.

Alice had seen the future, and Tony knew Jasper was the one. The one that would love him for him, and not even consider the other things that made him so 'dislikable' in his own eyes.

"So what would your friends think of your new vampire boyfriend?" Bella pulled Tony out of his thoughts as she started the vehicle and pulled out of the parking lot.

Anthony allowed a lazy smile to grace his face as he thought about Liv and Daniel back in Arizona, looking out the window at the grey sky above.

"Are we talking- if they knew he was a vampire?" Tony asked, tapping his fingers against his leg.

Bella shrugged, "Sure, why not."

Anthony let out a low whistle.

"Danny would get protective, thats just how he is. He'd probably try intimidation but ultimately get too overwhelmed with questions about vampires." He laughed, imagining Daniel meeting Jasper.

"And Liv? What's her stance on vampires?" Isabella asked, liking the way her brother's eyes lit up.

"Kinky."

Bella almost slammed the breaks.

"What?" She yelled.

Anthony began to lose it, laughing at Bella's reaction and her bright red face.

"If I were to tell her that I had a vampire boyfriend, she would say 'kinky'. Guaranteed." Tony chuckled.

"You can't just assume she'd say that- you're completely generalizing her." Bella rolled her eyes lightly.

"Ten bucks; that's exactly what she'll say." Tony smirked, pulling out his phone to send a message.

"You're on." Isabella agreed, hoping Liv Marigold had a better moral compass than what Anthony thought.

Tony
Hey liv, how are you babe, alright so hypothetically: if I had a boyfriend who was a vampire, what would you say?

"And now we wait." Tony stated, turning off his phone for a second until it vibrated in his hand almost instantly.

"Apparently not for long." The brunette woman said, pulling into the Carver Cafe parking lot.

"You owe me ten buckaroos, my friend." Anthony laughingly wheezed.

Bella glanced over incredulously for a second before going back to searching for a parking space.

"You've gotta be kidding me."

Tony held up the phone once Bella parked, so she could see the previous message of 'if I had a boyfriend who was a vampire, what would you say?'

and under that, in big obnoxious letters:

Liv
wHAT A KINK

Bella reluctantly dug through her purse and pulled out the ten dollars for Anthony, who pocketed it with a grin.

Tony
thank you for being predictable, you just earned me ten moolah

Liv
bitch share

Tony
Five, take it or leave it

Liv
dEAL

Tony
Tell Danny I say hi

Looking up from his phone, Bella had already gotten out of the truck and had run into Mike Newton on her way to the door of the little diner.

Tony left his bag in the truck, pulling the straps of his oxygen tank over his shoulder before he got out.

"-he just looks at you like you're something to eat." Anthony heard the last of Mike's sentence and decided to cut in.

"Hey there, Mikey." Tony greeted, wrapping an arm around Bella's shoulders to pull her away. "Might wanna pull up those jeans, you're giving everyone a great plumber shot." He stated, leading Bella to the door.

"Were you looking at my ass?" Mike asked as he lazily hiked up his pants.

"Mike, it's hard not to see your ass when it's not in your denim." Shooting him a thumbs up, this was the last thing Tony said before stepping into the Carver Cafe and spotting Charlie already sitting at their favourite table.

"Sorry we're late." Bella excused, "I had a biology project."

Charlie waved it off.

"I ordered you the spinach salad, I hope that's okay." Charlie told Bella, already knowing the Caesar salad he'd ordered for Tony was the right choice.

"You should order one for your self next time." Isabella stated as the waitress handed them their food. "Cut back on the steak."

"She's not wrong, Dad." Anthony nodded as he grabbed the metal fork next to his plate.

"Hey, I'm as healthy as a horse." Charlie stated.

"Uh, say, chief... the boys wanna know, did you find anything down by the Queets river today?" Cora, the pretty brown haired waitress asked.

Tony looked up from his food to see a table of men next to them, who had leaned slightly to listen to what Charlie had to say.

Bella caught her brother's eyes and they shared a curious look.

"Yeah, we found a bare human footprint but it looks like whoever that is... is headed east, so Kitsap County sheriff's gonna take over from here." Charlie informed, remembering the day he'd had.

Anthony's eyes widened slightly as he glanced over at Bella, who had the same look.

"Okay... I just hope they catch him fast." Cora sighed, leaving the trio to their devices.

It was silent for a moment as they all took bites of their food.

"Looks like your friends are flaggin' ya." Charlie nodded to the window, where Mike Newton was making a fool of himself.

"That's embarrassing." Anthony muttered, rolling his eyes as he grabbed another bite of his salad.

"It's okay if you wanna join 'em." Charlie assured. "I'm just gonna turn in early anyway."

"Me too." Bella agreed.

Charlie sighed, "Bella it's Friday night. Go out. Looks like the Newton boy's got a bit smile for ya."

"Yeah he's a good buddy."

Tony internally groaned at how oblivious Bella was sometimes.

"What about you, Tony, what are you doing tonight?" Charlie asked.

"Uh.... Maybe I'll paint?"

"Do either of my kids have a life?"

"No?" Tony laughed. "Actually I was hoping to talk with you tonight."

"Alright." Charlie gave his son a smile, though in the back of his head he was slightly curious about what Anthony wanted to talk about.

Deciding to leave that for later, the chief came back to Bella, knowing they wouldn't spend as much time together as him and Tony would.

"What about any of these other yahoos in town? Any of them interest you?" The man asked.

Bella glanced at her plate with an awkward smile.

"Dad, we're gonna talk about boys?"

"Yeah, I guess not."

Tony hated to see the way Bella was pushing their father away. He really hated it.

He knew it was probably because she was more scared of getting too close to him, only to have Renée rip her away again.

Tony wanted for Bella to have an actual relationship with their father, but she wasn't even trying.

Trying to relieve some of the awkward tension at the table, Anthony raised his hand mockingly.

"Don't worry Dad, I'll talk about boys with you."

— ANTHONY HAD DECIDED TO LET BELLA HAVE THE TRUCK TO HERSELF, and instead he got into the passenger seat of Charlie's police cruiser.

The whole ride home, the two male swans just quietly sang along to the soft rock playing on the radio station Charlie had tuned into.

Every once in a while, Charlie would look over at his son with a slight smile, wondering how on earth he'd gotten so lucky to have a kid like that.

When they pulled up in front of the house and got out, Charlie quickly grabbed a beer from the fridge while Anthony brought his school bag in from Bella's truck. Then, the two situated themselves comfortably in the garage so Tony could paint and Charlie could sit back on the love seat and enjoy his drink.

"So I thought we should sit and talk for a bit, update each other on our lives. I think it's something we need to do more often. Preferably as a family but I guess Bella is... Well, she's Bella." Anthony shrugged, picking up a brush. "So you guys found a human footprint? What do you think that's about?"

Charlie laid back so his head was on the arm rest and he could see what Anthony was painting, making it look like some wild form of therapy session.

"Honestly, we have no idea. Hopefully whoever it is gets caught soon enough, though." He sighed tiredly.

Tony nodded understandingly, picking up a tube of paint.

"Y'know," Charlie cut through the brief moment of silence. "I have absolutely no idea where you got your talent from."

"Are you saying both you and Renée have no artistic talent?" Tony laughed.

"I'm saying your mother and I wouldn't be able to draw a straight line even if we had a ruler to assist." Charlie chuckled, agreeing with Tony's statement.

Anthony shrugged, "Well its never really about talent. More so it's how much you practice."

"Ah, that must be it. I remember you'd go through close to one whole sketchbook a month. You had plenty of practice." Charlie reminisced. "I think I still have a box full of them somewhere."

"Oh, god." Anthony cringed. "Let them stay in that 'somewhere'." He laughed, remembering the awful drawings he'd made in his youth.

"Actually- Dad... I also wanted to let you know... I kinda- sorta have a- uh.. boy who happens to be a friend-"

"Are you trying to tell me you finally got a boyfriend?"

"Yes?"

"What's his name?" Charlie asked, and Anthony couldn't tell what his father's emotions were.

"Jasper."

"The Cullen boy?"

Anthony nodded.

It was silent for a minute and Tony tried to hide his freaking out by biting his lip and shutting up before he said something stupid.

"I knew it was gonna happen sooner or later." Charlie shrugged and Tony looked up in surprise. "I saw you two, that day you came home from the hospital. When he held your hand and you got all smiley."

Anthony blushed heavily, remembering that his bedroom door had been open that day.

"He seems like a good kid. You just gotta let him know that he will treat my son right and if he doesn't also let him know that I happen to own guns."

"Dad!"

"Just tellin' the truth, kid."

Though deep down, Anthony was glad Charlie had seemed to accept their relationship.

And Charlie was just glad Tony was finally allowing himself to be loved, after denying it for so many years for fear that he'd only hurt someone in the end. He'd let his cancer control his life for so long, and Charlie was happy he'd finally found someone that was worth taking back control.

author's note

I tried to have this ready closer to 2:00 but here we are
I felt like Anthony and Charlie had to have a nice lil moment so that's what this is

Stuff is gonna start to go down really soon and I gotta get ready to write those scenes oo boy

Sorry if there are any typos or anything, I'm super tired and decided not to read over it which is probably a bad idea but I'm trusting readers to call me out on my bullshit 😂