April, 2021
it was not the best feeling for vinnie to see his ex girlfriend again. he had missed her a lot, so seeing her in person messed up with his hidden feelings. he had made himself believe he's over her, when in reality, he's not so sure. however, just like before, they just wouldn't work out together.
they still had the same problem, with him being too focused on his social media, and, as far as he knew, she was only focused on her studies. also, vinnie would not be willing to have an online relationship.
for that reason, he decided to ignore what whatever he was feeling so he could enjoy his time with his friends. they were currently in vinnie's room, with sofia and savannah laying on his bed, whilst pietro and lucas sat on the floor and vinnie occupied his gaming chair.
"so, what places do we have to meet here?" lucas asked, looking at vinnie "i heard of a really good restaurant we could go, i think the name is boa steakhouse."
"yeah, a lot of tiktokers like to go there. there's another one called saddle ranch. it's personally my favorite, but you guys tell me where to go and we will." vinnie explained, shrugging his shoulders at the end
"oh, i really wanna go to saddle ranch." savannah said excitedly "i always see influencers going there, so i wanna try and see if it's as good as you guys make it seem it is."
"are you guys ok with that?" vinnie asked the other three and when they nodded, he got up from his chair and grabbed his car keys from his nightstand "then, let's go. it's getting late, we should go before it gets too crowded."
when they arrived to the restaurant, vinnie looked around trying to find any paparazzi and smiled when he couldn't find any. the group of friends put on their masks before leaving the car, walking to the place's entrance.
when they were all sat down comfortably - with sofia and vinnie sitting next to each other, thanks to their friends -, the group removed their masks and looked at the menu, trying to find the best thing to eat.
"i think i'll go with a burger." sofia muttered to herself, but vinnie heard and looked at the girl, laughing quietly "what?" she asked confused
"i shouldn't be surprised you're going for a burger. it's one of your favorite foods." the boy explained "we literally had to go out in the middle of the night just to get one for you."
"i mean, yeah. they're just really good." the girl shrugged her shoulders in response, turning her attention back to the menu "so, did you guys choose anything yet?"
when all of them had agreed, they made their order and started chatting. there was a lot they needed to catch up on because, as much as vinnie says he checks on them, it's not enough to know everything. and, the same goes for the trio. not everything from the tiktok star's life was posted.
vinnie kept trying not to stare at sofia, distracting himself with his phone. on the inside, he just wanted to admire her. it had been a while, almost a year really, so he missed the girl a lot. she did too, but tried her best to hide her feelings - she was way too good at that.
what vinnie really needed to know was whether or not she was single, because he kept seeing pictures of her and another boy - her mother had even posted him on her account. even if they couldn't get back together, he didn't really want to see her with someone other than him.
"bro, last time we talked you were getting to know natalia..." vinnie directed his attention to lucas "are you guys still talking and stuff?" it was the only way he thought of bringing this subject without looking interested in her
"nah, she's moving to pennsylvania for college. we chose to break things off before any of us got hurt." lucas replied, shaking his head in disappointment "i feel bad, man. she's so pretty and i enjoyed being next to her."
"how about the rest of you? anyone in mind?" vinnie asked as if he wasn't really interested and he heard pietro laughing quietly, raising his eyebrows at him
"i'm as single as always." savannah replied "but, i've met this cute guy at chloe's birthday last month and we're kind of texting everyday." she smiled hopeful
sofia smiled at her best friend, happy she could maybe get a boyfriend soon. savannah was restlessly trying to find someone, so, for her to finally get to know one boy she liked was a really good sign - because, most of the time, she just used the guy, thinking she felt something, when in reality, she just loved the attention they gave her.
"i'm still dating chloe, as you might have guessed." pietro shrugged his shoulders "and, we'll be going to the same college, so things could really work out between us."
"well, i'm single too." sofia finally spoke, not getting any further in the subject, much to vinnie's dismay
he looked at pietro for help, because he really needed to know who that boy was. and, also, at least to him, her being single doesn't mean she's not talking to anyone.
"what she means is that dave made a move, but she rejected him and he's still around trying to get her to change her mind." pietro explained and the girl rolled her eyes at the mention of the boy's name "what about you, bro? any girls?"
vinnie quickly shook his head "no, i tried a while ago, but it didn't really work out. also, my fans hate any girl who gets too close to me... it sucks." he muttered the last part under his breath "what about college? where are you guys planning to go?"
"pietro and i will stay in washington, thankfully." lucas started "we don't really want to go far from our family... you know our mom gets sick pretty often."
vinnie hummed in response, knowing very well what lucas was talking about. lucas' and pietro's mom, ruth, has had all kinds of health related problems. he remembers trying to comfort harry during one of the many times she was at the hospital and it was a bad experience for him, because he sucked at comforting people.
"sof and i are taking a gap year when we officially finish high school, but only for six months. so, i guess it's a gap semester..." savannah also replied, after lucas finished talking "our parents allowed us to travel during a month and after that, we'll be waiting for college to start. i'll probably go to penn too, just like natalia."
"have you guys planned your destination yet? depending on where you choose, lucas and i can go too." pietro asked, looking at the girls "we do have our summer free, after all."
"we were thinking bahamas. my dad offered to rent a private island and i really liked one called 'over yonder cay'." sofia answered this time, then looked at vinnie, who was already looking at her "you can come too, if you want to."
vinnie couldn't lie and say he didn't feel surprised about her invitation. he thought about it for a second and decided that, depending on the date, he could go too. it wasn't like his job required him to stay in LA all the time.
"sure, just send the details once you have them and i'll probably go. please let me know before you book your flight, i can try to take a plane to seattle beforehand." vinnie replied, looking at his ex
"or, we could take andrew's jet..." savannah suggested, winking at her best friend, whose father she was talking about "if he accepts, of course."
"i can try to talk to him, not sure what he'll say though." sofia replied, noticing their food was already arriving "wow, that was really fast."
after the waiter served their food, they start eating making some small talk, not really getting into detail about their lives anymore. after they're all finished, vinnie asked for the check, without giving them an option to see the place's deserts.
"there's an ice cream place near here and it's really good. we can go there and then i'll give you guys a ride to where you're staying." he explained to the group, a few of them nodding
they split the check and got up from their seats, not before putting their masks, leaving the restaurant. vinnie suggested to go walking, since it's quite close, so they just followed him around.
"should we leave them alone?" savannah whispered to pietro, who was closest to her, pointing in the direction of vinnie and sofia "you know, so they can talk a bit more? i noticed the way he was looking at her at the restaurant."
"i think we all noticed." pietro laughed quietly "aside from sofia, of course. and, i do know one way to, hopefully, make them talk." he looked at vinnie "hey, vinnie, did you know dave's always talking shit about you?"
sofia turned her head to look at pietro and raised one of her eyebrows, before rolling her eyes. she knew he was either trying to make vinnie jealous or make him know she still talked about him sometimes. but, in her defense, they spent one year and a half together, it's hard to forget about their relationship completely.
"who's dave again?" vinnie asked, then, noticing pietro and sofia staring at each other, he remembered "oh, never mind. what does he say?"
"how he could be a much better boyfriend than you and yada yada..." lucas said in a dull tone, tired of hearing dave saying the same thing on repeat "he also says you basically left your relationship with sofia so you could have thousands of girls to fuck. it's just bullshit, i wouldn't worry if i were you."
"and, who does he think he is to talk anything about my relationship with sofia?" vinnie asked angrily, pointing between him and his ex "i don't even know who that guy is, how's he so sure he'd be better than me?"
"are you sure that was the best option we had?" savannah whispered to pietro "i think bringing back a nice memory would have been so much better."
sofia, noticing that vinnie was raising his voice and it could catch the attention of other people, held one of his arms and squeezed it lightly, just so he could calm down a little bit.
"it's ok, vinnie. no one really cares about what he says." she reassured her ex and he looked down at her "he just says that hoping i'll give him a chance."
"that's the dumbest idea he could've had." the boy laughed bitterly, but much more calm than before, as he could feel sofia's hand on him and his thoughts went back to some of their happy memories "please, don't believe him, sofia. you know i didn't leave you for any other girl, i'd never do that."
sofia nodded her head, not too bothered to give a verbal answer and, seeing the ice cream place right next to them, she let go of vinnie's arm and entered the shop, feeling the cold air hit her body, making her shiver.
they chose their ice cream flavors and then sat in one of the tables, once again with vinnie and sofia next to each other. savannah was trying her absolute best to get the couple back together as she knew how much they loved each other and it would be so unfair for them to have other partners, if not themselves.
to be honest, savannah could say she was jealous of their relationship - in a good way, of course -, because they almost never fought while dating. both preferred sitting down to talk instead of yelling, so it was really hard to see one mad at the other.
of course, with vinnie studying in a school with boys only, sofia didn't really have many reasons to get jealous. the tiktoker, on the other hand, always felt insecure about her classmates, but, he trusted her enough to know she wouldn't cheat on him.
savannah was sure they would get married in the future, and so was sofia's and vinnie's family, as well as their friends, but with vinnie becoming a tiktok sensation, things took a turn. although now, watching the ex couple sitting together, she knew there was still a chance they'd end up going back to each other.