CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
°⋆∴☽°:۵≼

i. were you trying to kiss me ?

— BY THE TIME ROSALIE HAD FINISHED CLEANING UP THE SHATTERED GLASS, the other Cullens had made Tony a plate of food before dispersing off into different parts of the house.

Jasper stayed with Tony until he finished eating, then they decided to flee to Jasper's room, which Anthony was to see for the first time.

It was sort of the way Tony had expected. Large windows, pristine walls, CDs and books stacked in various places. An area of dark black carpet over the wooden floor.

"Are all of these Emmett's?" Anthony asked, pointing to a stack of comic books on the grey love seat in the corner.

"Most of them."

"Most?" Tony asked.

"Some of them are mine. I found a store nearby and thought I'd check it out." Jasper shrugged, leaning against the wall.

Tony thought about the concept. The simple idea that he could impact Jasper's life to the point of which he's actually invested in one of Tony's interest.

"I see." Anthony nodded, hiding a small smile behind his- or rather Jasper's- sweater sleeve.

Jasper still caught it, and allowed a similar smile to grace his face while looking at the Swan. He leaned back and watched as Tony got familiar with the room.

That quiet and serene moment was interrupted, however when there cane a soft knock on the door.

"Hey," Alice poked her head in, catching the boys' attention. "Tony I just got some new paints, wanna try them out?" She asked, knowing that would be right up Tony's alley.

Anthony glanced at Jasper for a quick second, almost as if asking to make sure their conversations could wait for a later date.

Jasper immediately nodded, despite wanting Tony to himself for a while, he knew it was selfish to keep him from Alice. The two were practically glued together at the hip.

Though, after the talk he'd had with Alice, he was particularly confused as to why she was interrupting any of their time together.

"You need to make your move, Jazz!" She had said, landing on the forest floor with grace.

"How do I know? If he's ready for an advance- I shouldn't just assume!" Jasper exclaimed as he followed after her, a little reluctant to have this conversation.

"He's been ready since he saw you!" She laughed. "It was an immediate attraction for him." Alice spoke assuringly.

"Well what if he wants something spontaneous? He's a romantic- you know that. What if I'm not romantic enough?"

"Look," Alice began in a serious tone. "He's your mate, and he's perfect for you in every way. He's an artist, he's going to be the one to make a masterpiece out of your broken pieces- I know it, I've seen it. With him, nothing has to be spontaneous and perfect- it just has to be you. He's falling in love with you, not the front you want to put up for him."

Maybe the conversation helped him slightly, but that didn't change the nervousness bubbling up in the pit of his paralyzed stomach with every moment he spent in the company of Anthony Swan.

Maybe having Alice with them would be a blessing. Maybe, Jasper could calm his nerves and gather his thoughts for the next time him and Tony would be alone.

So Anthony turned back, agreeing to test out these new paints and, oddly, asking if they were water based.

"I think so." Alice said, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Perfect." Tony grinned, which Alice returned.

"I'll go get them!"

Then that left Anthony and Jasper in the room. Alone again.

"We can paint in here right? I promise I'll be extra careful not to get any on the floor." Tony stepped forward to stand next to Jasper and grab one of his hands.

Jasper offered a soft smile, "Don't worry about it."

"Great." Anthony beamed, "And will you be my canvas?"

"Your what?"

— IT TOOK A FEW MINUTES FOR ALICE TO GET EVERYTHING SET UP, and for Anthony to briefly explain the concept of 'body art'.

"Just your arm though- nothing too crazy, I swear." Tony attempted to convince.

Jasper was already on board. He's seen the kind of things that Tony could do with a paintbrush and he honestly didn't mind being the subject of one of those art pieces.

But now the only problem was Alice, which was funny because only six or seven minutes ago Jasper was praising her existence.

The problem was- in order for Anthony to paint on Jasper's arm, he'd have to have access.

Now, Alice had seen Jasper's scars before, his tragic backstory wasn't news to her. But Jasper couldn't help but feel a little awkward when wandering eyes would fall on his scars.

He knew his family never meant it. They supported him and he knew his past would never be held against him in any way. They never judged him or thought of him differently.

But they were still curious, anyone would be. It's simple instinct. People like to stare at the things that are unusual.

Not only was he worried about Alice, but Anthony as well. He felt better the night before, when it was dark and the flawed skin was barely noticeable.

He was scared.

Blatantly terrified every time his sweater's sleeves weren't hugging his arms.

He didn't want to be different, he didn't want to have these stupid bite marks littering his body, if anything he didn't even want to be a vampire. He wanted to be normal, he wanted to look normal.

He didn't want to feel scared and vulnerable every single time he didn't have long sleeves.

But then, his golden eyed gaze lands on Anthony Swan sitting cross legged on the floor, too preoccupied with opening a package of paintbrushes to notice Jasper's examining stare.

Jasper's eyes caught the oxygen tank on the floor next to the boy, then they followed the tubing to where it was feeding oxygen though his nasal passage and, ultimately, to his lungs.

Anthony looks different too, Jasper thought.

And he didn't feel so scared anymore.

Jasper carefully took off his sweater to show off his loose fitting light grey t-shirt, folding it and putting it on the love seat in the corner of the room.

Once he was done with that, Tony reached up a hand and guided Jasper to sit next to him, absentmindedly examining paintbrush sizes.

Alice had grabbed an actual canvas and held it in her lap, but was preoccupied with watching the two boys interact.

From her perspective, she was incredibly proud of Jasper for revealing that part of his life to his mate, and she was proud of Tony for seemingly accepting it so easily.

Needless to say, her smile only widened while Tony's right hand held Jasper's left with a gentle grip, before bringing a paintbrush up to his pale skin.

The whole time, Alice stayed relatively quiet, trying to make room for her favourite boys to chat with each other.

Anthony constantly muttered small comments under his breath about the paint, maybe critiquing the way he used it or just cussing himself out when he screwed up. The words were so quiet and jumbled that not even the vampires in the room could tell.

Then there was Jasper, who just stared at the brunet holding his hand. The way his hair fell a certain way, the way his eyebrows furrowed when he was focusing, when he put the paintbrush between his teeth to grab something, the way Tony's eyes lit up when he did something he thought looked good.

He was just enthralled by this boy, sitting in front of him, painting out his masterpiece on Jasper's arm.

He hadn't been paying attention to what the painting was, he was barely even noticing the feeling of the paint on his marble textured skin.

After focusing for a minute, he noticed the mix of blues and purples with flecks of white. Jasper didn't quite know that it was meant to be, but he was sure Anthony had some sort of vision.

Even Tony was impressed how content Jasper seemed, despite sitting perfectly still for minutes on end.

"You can relax if you want." Anthony muttered slightly louder than all those other incoherent, passing mumbles.

Alice had also noticed how stiff Jasper was, but didn't want to say anything about it.

Jasper shook his head, "I don't wanna mess you up."

Tony glanced up at him for a moment with a look of adoration.

"I'm sure I'd mess up anyway." He laughed.

— IT TOOK HOURS FOR ANTHONY'S ART TO LOOK THE WAY HE WANTED IT TO. By the time it had become a comprehensible painting, the trio had listened to two albums- both from bands that Tony didn't recognize but rather enjoyed.

Alice refused to show either boy her work, preferring to leave it as a surprise, but she had the perfect angle to see Tony's work.

Jasper's scars had been painted over in a dark galaxy, individual bite marks had become parts of constellations and some that were particularly circular had become a planet, moon or sun.

It was like Jasper had an amplified form of the night sky ripping through his skin.

Neither Alice nor Jasper could deny, it was beautiful.

Alice had noticed the way Jasper was watching Tony, eyes following every move and examining all the little quirks Tony would display while painting.

She noticed the lovestruck appearance of her foster brother's smile, and smiled herself.

"I'm gonna go look for a different orange," Alice said, standing and grabbing the attention of the two boys. "I'll be right back." She excused herself, leaving the room with canvas in hand and closing the door behind her.

Jasper looked back down at his arm, and the paint that clung there.

"D'you like it?" Anthony asked nervously, noticing Jasper's stare.

"He's an artist," Alice's voice resonated in the back of Jasper's mind. "He's going to be the one to make a masterpiece out of your broken pieces-"

"It's beautiful." Jasper nodded with a light smile.

"Good..." Anthony tried to hide his face as his lips turned upwards. "That's good."

It was quiet between them for a moment before Tony spoke up again.

"Rosie and I should get a cat together, opinions?" He asked, leaning closer to detail a planet on Jasper's arm.

"I've always preferred cats." Jasper shrugged the shoulder that wasn't attached to the painted arm.

"Y'know for some reason I could guess that. Emmett seems like a dog person though. Anyway- I just think Rose and I should get a cat that we can name Jack so I can persistently hum 'My Heart Will Go On' whenever they're together. I feel like I'd get smacked on a regular basis but wow- it would be so worth it." Anthony rambled, laughing between words and unaware of Jasper's adoring eyes on him.

Just as Tony was going to make a comment about getting a cat named Pepper, he looked up from his painting only to realize too late that Jasper's face was a lot closer than before.

So consequently, the boys' knocked into each other harshly. Not hard enough to be painful for Anthony, but enough to be embarrassing.

"Shit!" Tony hissed under his breath.

"I'm so sorry," Jasper's accent became heavier as he began rambling an apology.

"No- no, Jazz it's fine, I-..." Anthony laughed, trying to calm the blond down before he realized something. "Wait... were you-... were you trying to kiss me?"

It wasn't that far of a leap, Jasper's face had been way too close to be unintentional.

This was the point where Jasper's nervous feeling was cranked up to a hundred.

"Uh, maybe?" Anthony raised an eyebrow, a slight almost unnoticeable amused glint in his eyes. Jasper sighed, "Yes." He admitted. "I'm sorry- I should have asked,"

Anthony knew Jasper was going to start rambling again so with a small, nervous smile on his face, Tony pressed their lips together. Properly, this time.

Jasper was caught off guard and he momentarily stopped breathing as Tony's hand slid up to rest against Jasper's neck.

It took only seconds for Jasper to become grounded again, beginning to kiss back.

There were no fireworks like how they advertised in movies or explosions like they were written in the passages of books.

But damn, did it feel good.

author's note

I'm sorry, I literally can't write kiss scenes oop 😂

I finished this chapter at 7:20- i literally was up all night stressing over the way this was written because I don't think I've ever written a legit kiss scene before

On another note: I've been working on my peter p fic and my only problem is my best friend doesn't watch marvel sO I have things that I need opinions on but she's absolutely no help 😂😂

Still working on a few concepts and prewriting some chapters and I still have to find or make graphics so it's a long process.
First chapter of War Paint might not be published until WDWG (twilight) is finished 😂

Since I'm still awake at a somewhat reasonable time, this is getting published earlier in the day than I normally publish it 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

I'm gonna try and get some sleep, sorry if I don't reply to comments right away
I love y'all ♥️