CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
°⋆∴☽°:۵≼

i. perfect and messy !

— IT WAS COLD AND QUIET WHEN THEY PULLED UP TO THE HOUSE. Looking out on the forest, the Cullen's beautiful building acted like a beacon, as all the lights shone through the windows and lit up Anthony's face as he stepped out of the car.

Only the wind made a sound, whistling as it went, and the very distant howl of a wolf broke the night.

Tony was floating. He felt so wonderful. Like all his life might somehow have been worth it, if it got him where he was.

Then he grabbed Alice's hand and led her inside, kicking his shoes off at the door and loosening his tie a bit while she danced further into the living area, giggling as she went.

"That was fun." Her mouth broke into a wide, untamed grin.

Tony's eyes gleamed as he nodded in acquiescence, joining her as she stood next to the couch, grabbing her hand again and twirling the small woman to the music only they could hear.

Then Alice pulled him into a hug, rocking back and forth and laughing quietly.

"Thank you." She whispered. "Thank you so much, Tony." Her eyes squeezed shut as she hugged the boy tighter, carful not to hurt him.

He chuckled and pulled back a bit to gently kiss her forehead, the way he did with Bella.

"No need to thank me." He stated. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Alice giggled, looking up behind him at the stairs.

"I'm sure there's one other person I can think of that you wouldn't have minded taking." She winked, pulling away and laying a hand on Anthony's upper arm. "I'll see if I can convince Esme to go hunting with me, leave the house to you crazy kids." She laughed.

Tony didn't have to look behind him to know that Jasper was at the top of the steps, observing his two favourite people with the utmost admiration for both of them.

"Where's Carlisle?" Tony furrowed his eyebrows.

"Overnight shift at the hospital. Unavoidable. Apparently Hal cut his hand with a power saw again." She shrugged.

"Honestly, someone needs to tell that guy that pumpkin carving is a yearly thing." Tony shook his head.

"Right? And who uses a power saw to carve pumpkins?" Alice giggled.

"Hal, apparently." Anthony laughed. "Though, that one of the stay puft guy from ghostbusters was pretty cool."

"Wasn't that last weeks pumpkin?"

"Nah, last week was his cat- it was sitting in the window of the hardware store. Danny took a picture of it for me because he was mildly confused as to why there was a pumpkin out when it's March."

"Fair enough." She laughed, glancing back up at Jasper. "Right. Well... I'm gonna find Esme. Thanks again, Tony."

Anthony didn't have the time to disregard her thanks, when she had already sped away leaving a gust of wind in her wake.

For a second, he smiled, then he turned and looked up at his beloved boyfriend, who leaned against the stairs railing delicately.

"Hey Texas."

— IF SOMEONE WERE TO ASK TONY HOW THEY GOT TO JASPER'S ROOM, he honestly wouldn't have an answer. It was like a blur, and he couldn't pay attention to one part of the whole situation. Maybe it was a legitimate blur, considering the circumstances. Maybe Jasper just whisked him away with his vampire-ish-ness.

Either way, Anthony wasn't necessarily complaining. Especially when he can feel the wooden door against his back and Jasper carefully tugging at his already loosened tie. Not to mention the lips on his, begging for more.

It was like Jasper was a man struggling to breathe, and Tony was his only source of oxygen.

Poetic, when it all comes down to it. And funny enough to make Anthony pause for short bursts of giggles between their soft kisses.

Jasper hummed in amusement and pulled away, "What's so funny?"

Anthony chuckles and pushes Jasper forward slightly, only to switch places and press him against the door, hearing it creak ever so slightly with the force.

"Just... breathing." They were so close, their foreheads pressed so tightly together that Tony was practically murmuring against Jasper's lips. "It's funny, isn't it."

Jasper smiled sweetly, only half understanding what Tony meant. "I suppose."

There was another solid second of silence, both just soaking up each other's most welcome presence.

Tony wrapped his arms around Jasper's neck, bringing them chest to chest, "Okay, I'm done laughing, kiss me again."

Jasper was about to laugh, but swallowed it down and settled for a teasing smile.

"My, my, you're-"

"Don't start." Anthony smiled.

"Or what?" Jasper raised an eyebrow.

"Or I'll kiss you, idiot."

Jasper shrugged, "I could live with that consequence."

Anthony leaned in again, and couldn't get enough of it. Whenever they kissed it felt like he was falling and floating at the same time, all while staying perfectly grounded, being reeled back in by Jasper's arms around his waist.

"Hey," Anthony spoke between kisses. "You're strong right?"

Jasper did the same, "With the vampire thing it's kind of unavoidable."

"Okay, catch me then." Anthony managed to hop up into Jasper's hold, complete trust between them, legs wrapped around his waist.

They both laughed, Anthony's got one hand against his boyfriend's cheek and one in his hair. It was perfect and messy and beautiful, to them it was, anyway.

Jasper carried him over to a bed against the wall, which bizarrely, Anthony had never noticed before. It was the same shade as his walls, and almost blended in.

When Jasper went to drop Tony onto the bed, but Tony clung tighter, laughing.

"I thought you were done laughing?" Jasper asked, raising an eyebrow again.

"Yeah, but that was before."

"You are.., an absolute child." Jasper chuckled, his southern accent had become heavier for one reason or another.

Tony stuck out his tongue. "And you're an old man, but you don't see me complaining." Then he paused. "Wait woah, that is so weird." He laughed, tightening his grip even more.

"Can we just go back to what we were doing? Without distractions?" Jasper laughed.

Tony managed to lean back and fall onto Jasper's mattress, pulling the vampire with him.

"As much as I would love that because as we all know, teenagers are in a constant state of lust," He mimicked a nasally posh voice before returning to normal, "I do not wanna be a stereotypical teen that has sex after prom."

"I wasn't even at the prom." Jasper pointed out, rolling over so Anthony was above him, tucking his forehead into the Hale's neck. Cozy and cuddly as Jasper pulled a throw blanket over them.

"That's worse." Tony snorted.

It was quiet for a few moments before Tony shifted and lay next to the blond, his head still pressed into his shoulder and a hand laying on the boy's chest.

They just stared into nothing, listening to the world.

Tony listened to every creak the house made, or the sound of crickets and wolves from the open window, it was a nice ambiance.

Jasper, specifically, listened to his mate's heartbeat. His breathing. He watched the way his chest rose and fell with each breath. The way his eyelashes brushed his cheeks as his eyes scanned the ceiling.

"I should change." Tony muttered, looking down at his tie and jacket.

He felt the bed shift as Jasper climbed over him to get to the floor and ultimately his own closet.

Anthony watched as he pulled a sweater out from his closet and some sweatpants, tossing them over to Tony who caught them and stood up, heading for the washroom where he changed, ran a dampened cloth over his face and messed up his hair again.

He didn't mean to mess up his hair but it seemed like the dark strands were done being nice for the night.

Entering Jasper's room again, he could hear some soft music coming from the radio, and smiled slightly as he walked over and piled his clothes on the grey love seat.

"This is a nice song." Tony commented, glancing at Jasper who was looking through more of his CDs.

The blond hummed with a small quirk of his lip.

Anthony didn't know the song. He didn't know who it was by or what album it may belong to, but it was quietly beautiful.

Tony began to sway to the music, turning to properly fold his clothes while he had a minute of free time.

Then Jasper appeared behind him, loosely wrapping his arms around Tony's waist.

He waited for Tony to finish folding and once he did, Jasper pulled away and turned him around just as a new song came on, just as nice as the last.

"May I have this dance?" Jasper smiled, offering out a hand for him to take, which he did.

Though he still whined slightly, "Texas, you should have asked me when I was still pretty." He laughed, swaying to the music. "Now I'm oversized clothes and my hair won't tame itself because it's an asshole."

Jasper chuckled, pulling closer.

"Don't worry about it, Prince Charming, you're always pretty to me." He tightened his hold.

"That has to be a lie." Tony laughed. "You've seen me at some of my worst, when I was sick in bed and tired as all hell and I probably had dark circles and pale skin and that's just not a good combo."

Jasper put their foreheads together, "In any case," He began. "Even when you don't think you look pretty you're still very pretty, I can assure you that."

Tony blushed lightly, but the lighting in the room made it into more of a gold colour.

He tucked his head into Jasper's neck again, muttering something as he went.

It was so quiet that Jasper, should he have been normal, wouldn't have been able to hear it.

But he wasn't normal, and his enhanced hearing caught a sentence he was familiar with.

"I like your face."

Jasper smiled, a calm and sweet little grin.

"I like your face too."

And that was that, two boys, unafraid of the world, hugging each other as tightly and closely as one could get, swaying to music that was no longer playing and wondering, wishing, if they could only stay like this forever, they would be infinitely happy.

But they would have to settle for now, and only now.

Maybe that was good, living for the day, and each and every day that follows. Maybe they could be happy until they weren't, and that was enough for them.

Dancing around Jasper Hale's bedroom, laughing and stumbling and pressing gentle kisses to jaws, hugging tightly and never letting go.

It was perfect and messy, and good.

author's note

and that's the end.., for now.