I Can, I Will, I Did // Vinnie Hacker

Chapter 4: Not Really Strangers Now, Are We?

"I know I am hot," Vinnie teased. Sarah looked back at him and glared. Vinnie smiled back and she continued glaring at him. The walk back to Vinnie's home was silent as Sarah admired the falling snow and the white scenery in front of her. 

The snow danced in the light, a choreographed ballet conducted by the gentle wind. The newly clothed trees rose as a white fairytale began in that wintry landscape. She turned to the left to see small children with heavy jackets and mittened hands playing in the snow. Multiple snowmen were made. "Mummy look at Olaf!" a kid shouted. Hearing this, she giggled and so did Vinnie. She saw the park again and the same bench she had sat on the previous. Snow had rested upon the park bench as if it were a feather cushion, soft and warm. It covered the rich, deep wood in perfect white.

"So here we are. Welcome to our ho- I mean my home," Vinnie welcomed. Sarah followed behind Vinnie into his home as he gestured to her to the sofa to sit down. He went into the kitchen leaving Sarah behind in the living room. 

The living room was big and spacious. A black and white fitted carpet had covered the whole room. In front of the sofa was a huge television. On the TV console lay CDs of different video games and a silver and green XBOX 360. What caught Sarah's eyes the most was the many photographs that overwhelmed the walls. She looked at the pictures of Vinnie's family, his parents, old pictures of baby Vinnie, his friends and this other guy who looked a bit like Vinnie whom she assumed to be his brother. 

As she looked around, she caught sight of a girl beside Vinnie. She was wearing a green gown and Vinnie was in a blue tuxedo. They both were smiling, happy to be there. It reminded her of Dylan, the pictures they had taken together that she had deleted from her phone the previous night before sleeping. Erasing all those bitter-sweet memories from her phone.

"That's my cousin. I had taken her to prom because her boyfriend had broken up with her just before prom. Sucks. Anyways, your coffee," Vinnie explained as he handed the mug to Sarah.

"Thanks," Sarah thanked as Vinnie sat away from her on the other end of the sofa. There was an awkward silence between and Sarah seeped on the piping hot coffee. Vinnie was right, he did make really good coffee. Everything was just perfect about him. She decided to get to know him more.

"Did you grow up in New York?" Sarah asked. Vinnie shook his head and Sarah gave him a confused look.

"I grew up in Seattle. When I turned eighteen, I went to stay in LA with a group of friends. I moved to New York later to stay with my girlfriend," Vinnie mentioned.

"Where does your girlfriend live now?" Sarah asked again.

"Ex, actually. She used to stay here so she made me live in NYC because it was hard to hang out with her living here and me in LA. Being lovesick, I agreed and then everything was going great until we broke up after a month," Vinnie shook his head and sighed.

"Oh... I am really sorry." 

"No no, it's alright. It is in the past anyways. How about you?"

"I grew up in Singapore and then moved to the USA to study and then here I am now living in NYC," Sarah answered.

"What do you do?"

"I am a doctor and you?"

"A Valorant streamer."

Sarah nodded and Vinnie once again smiled at her. Suddenly, a cat brushed past Sarah's legs and jumped up onto Vinnie's hands. Sarah smiled at the cute cat that was in Vinnie's hands right now.

"This is Hera," Vinnie said as he looked at Hera, running his hands on Hera's body. She was so fluffy and cute. She meowed and Vinnie once again chuckled, "Hera says hi! Do you want to hold her?"

"Oh uh sure," Sarah said nervously as Vinnie gave her the cat. As Sarah held onto the cat softly, Vinnie decided to scare her.

"Come on don't be scared. At most, she'll just bite you," Vinnie joked. Hearing this, Sarah got even more scared and she held onto the cat protectively, not wanting to anger Hera. Vinnie laughed at Sarah's reaction and Sarah glared at him again.

"It's not funny."

"Look at you. Your face is all white like you just saw a ghost. Chill sweetheart,  Hera won't bite you. She only bites me. She is one hell of a cat. If you don't give her food on time, she'll eat your face up. Really moody. But I love her with my whole heart," Vinnie said, taking Hera from Sarah's hands and placing the cat down.

"Tell me more about yourself," Vinnie coaxed. Sarah looked at him blankly, unable to find words to talk about herself. How do you introduce yourself? Vinnie noticed it and helped her again. Vinnie asked about her life in Singapore, which university she studied at and even about her job. As Sarah went on telling about her life, Vinnie listened to her with all his ears. He would even occasionally comment and hype Sarah up. Sarah liked the way Vinnie hyped her and make her happy. Being with Vinnie, she forgets about the breakup and Dylan for the time being. 

"So your boyfriend lives around here?" Vinnie asked casually. The question got Sarah to suddenly freeze as the breakup flashed in front of her eyes again. Tears formed in her eyes again and Vinnie noticed the sudden discomfort. He decided to not force it out of Sarah. He scolded himself to ask her about her love life. "Idiot," he chided himself in his head.

"I am sorry, I shouldn't have asked that. Anyways, we are friends now right so do you wanna hang out together?" Vinnie asked.

"We are friends? But yeah sure I would love to hang out."

"Why? You don't want to be friends? I am fine with that too," Vinnie joked with a smirk on his face. Sarah rolled her eyes at Vinnie and laughed at what Vinnie had said.

"You're ridiculous but what I mean is I am not good at being friends-"

"Not good at being friends? OOOOOOO" Vinnie interrupted and once again had a smirk on his face. Sarah realised what she had said and sheepishly threw a pillow at Vinnie. Vinnie winked at her and they both laughed together. Sarah threw pillows at him as he went on dodging them.

 "As in I can be cold and boring sometimes. I don't have that many friends. Just a few really good friends. Although one of them-" Sarah stopped herself before continuing. She didn't know if she could trust Vinnie just yet. Trust issues. Stupid trust issues.

Vinnie smiled and continued, "That's a story for another time. We can't practically tell each other everything today. Let's bit by bit solve each other's mysteries. Alright?" He clenched his fingers to fist bump. Sarah nodded and bumped her fists into his. He winked and Sarah squinted her eyes at him and he made a funny face at her.

"I still have a lot to find out about you," Vinnie said looking at Sarah in the eyes. This time Sarah winked at him.

"You can try." 

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A/N: Hi loves, chapter 4 is out!! Hera is a queen honestly. I love his cat. Also, don't forget to vote and love you!! 🥰