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— WHEN ANTHONY SWAN HAD FINALLY DECIDED ON GOING TO BED, the tears on his cheeks had dried, but that didn't stop him from looking like a train wreck.
When he looked in the mirror the next morning, he didn't like what he saw. Partially bloodshot eyes, dark rings surrounding them. His nose was red from attacking it with his sweater sleeve.
Maybe he looked more sick than usual, but that didn't mean he was staying home from school.
Normality. It's what he needed. Or at least it's what he thought he needed.
So, in a routinely order, Tony got dressed, hooked up his oxygen tank, washed his face then had breakfast with Bella.
They were both quiet, as per usual, but this time there was no because to the why. It was just, very simply, they had nothing to say but appreciated each other's company.
So he finished his bowl of Cap'n Crunch, put his dishes in the sink, then grabbed his and Isabella's coats.
— MAYBE THE MORNING AT THE SWAN RESIDENCE WAS EASY, but when Anthony and Bella pulled up in the beaten down red-orange vehicle, Tony quickly realized who he would have to face in his art class, and then history class after that.
"Hey Tony!" Bella called just as Anthony sighed and had started walking away.
"Yeah?"
"D'you maybe- I don't know," Isabella began, stumbling over her words. "You could sit with my friends and I today? At lunch?" She asked. "I promise they'll behave." The woman added quickly.
Anthony glanced around for a minute to see Mike Newton and Jessica Stanley leaned up against the wall of one of the school buildings along with Angela Weber and Eric Yorkie.
"Sure, might as well." Anthony agreed with a shrug.
"Okay! I'll see you later then?"
"Yeah." Tony laughed. Then he stuck one hand in his pocket, the other one glued to the handle of his oxygen tank, and stalked off to his art class with a face in his mind and an apology on the tip of his tongue.
When he made it to art class, after lugging his life support up all those stairs, he saw Alice sitting at the back of the class preoccupied with a sketch she was working on.
Tony practically flew to his seat and pulled out all his art supplies. Despite the fact that he basically stopped drawing when his cancer became terminal, he still had all the materials.
For the entire period, the two worked in silence for the first time since they'd met. Though Tony sent the Cullen glance after glance.
Tapping his pencil against his paper, he looked up at the clock and saw that they'd still had thirteen minutes left. He decided to make the most of it.
