3:37 PM

hey vinnie's over there
right

hey kio!!

yeah him and riley are
literally so crazy rn

like so slap happy LMAO

HAHAH

thank you for doing that
whole thing with me lol

dude thank you for doing
it with me haha it worked
SO WELL

RIGHT

look how happy she is

awww 🥺
yeah vinnie's been so much
happier

the difference is astronomical

literally

they deserved it tho.

yeah they really did

you finally finished your
make riley smile challenge
hahaha

omfg yeah :)

she's smiling now
AS SHE SHOULD

👑👑

_____________

𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒆

"Wa-it, don't— s-start the live y-yet!" Riley was doubled over with laughter, trying to compose herself. They had been laughing about some of their memories together and because they were so slap-happy, Riley couldn't pull herself together. 

Her slap happiness was rubbing off on him too. Vinnie was finding it increasingly difficult to set up the phone since he was laughing so hard. He tackled her, getting her to stop laughing by placing a kiss on her lips.

"Come on, we gotta do this live," Vinnie insisted, pulling her up and kissing her on the cheek. Still giggling, she wrapped her arms around his neck as he set up the phone and started the live.

"I'm nervous," whispered Riley, as viewers began to join and comments began to pop up on the screen.

He smiled at her and shook his head. "Don't be. I already told everyone we'd talk about our relationship on the live today and that they'd better be nice or I'd delete my account." Riley laughed.

"Hey guys," Vinnie turned to face the live, putting his arm around Riley's waist and tugging her closer. "We just wanted to come on here today and talk about a few things since I've been seeing a lot of unkind comments on our posts...and a lot of confused ones. We've got a lot to explain."

"No kidding," joked Riley.

The two of them answered some questions while they waited for more people to join the live, cracking jokes and being their goofy selves.

"Okay, I think there are enough people on here to start addressing stuff," Vinnie said after a few minutes. He felt Riley tense up beside him and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"First off, I just want to say thank you to the people that have been kind to Riley. There aren't a lot of you, but I see the few ones, and it means a lot to us." He began, and Riley nodded in agreement.

Jokingly, he added, "But I also wanted to say f you to the people who left mean comments. You guys should go outside and touch grass or something."

"Where should we start?" Vinnie turned to her, and she shrugged. "Maybe just start with how we met," suggested Riley softly. He nodded.

"Okay, so Riley and I met at the Sway House, actually. Her sister, Mia is good friends with Justin, my friend, and somehow they dragged Riley along and I happened to bump into her while she was there."

"Literally." added Riley with a laugh.

"Yeah," Vinnie smiled, remembering. "We bumped into each other, literally. But honestly, I didn't really think anything of it because people come over to our house a lot."

Riley nodded. "Yeah. It wasn't really love at first sight, honestly."

"It was love at second sight, when I almost bumped into her a second time." he said, and they both laughed.

"I almost body slammed her at the skate park the next day," Vinnie went on. "And after that, we hung out the rest of the night just skating and vibing."

He took a breath. "I want you all to know that even though Riley's laugh and bubbly personality is what seems to annoys you guys most about her, it's what drew her to me. I couldn't forget how she was just so joyful after the first time we hung out. You guys don't know this, but I was going through a really hard time when I met her. And this sounds super cliche, but she really helped me out with it."

"I've met a lot of fake friends here in LA, but Riley just seemed to be super genuine." Turning to smile at her, he continued, "She barely knew me at the time but she was one of the few people who actually reached out to me and asked if I was okay."

"It was because of a pain tiktok you posted," added Riley, reminiscing. "Your second account was a mess. You needed a lot of love."

Vinnie agreed, grimacing at the memory. "Riley really just gave me advice and helped me talk through a lot of my problems. I've never had a friend like her before, and y'all deserve to have one as good as her." At this, Riley blushed, smiling at him.

"And I know you guys have also said that she's probably super fake and was trying to get with me for clout, but we hung out for a really long time before we started posting about each other." He sighed, shaking his head. "Maybe we should have just kept it secret for a lot longer, because you guys were really the reason we ended things. Riley was new to LA and hate and fame, and it all got too overwhelming for her. So, even though you all got super offended when I said you were the problem, it's true. You guys were embarrassing."

"But I've learned to accept that. I don't mean to sound ungrateful for my fans. This is just part of the whole package of being a public figure, and that's okay." He turned to look at Riley, smiling. "We've both come to the conclusion that we've gotta just live our own lives and try to help you understand us better, but not to let how you guys act affect us too much."

Riley sat up. "I wanted to add something too. Us stopping talking was really hard, but I also think we learned and grew a lot from it, too. I think I learned how to treat haters, and that I won't be able to please everyone. Vinnie learned that his happiness is more important than what others think about him."

"Lucky for us, we got a happy ending." Vinnie chuckled. "Thanks to Kio and Mia, we both got set up on some weird expedition to go meet some random person somewhere. We somehow happened to find each other there."

"We got to talk a lot of stuff out," he went on. "It was a magical moment. There were shooting stars and it felt like it was just us all alone under the stars."

"Yeah," Riley agreed, smiling as she remembered. "That cute kinda sh is only in, like, Wattpad books or something like that."

Vinnie laughed before adding, "We both got to cross something off our bucket lists that night. Seriously, if you're ever looking to find meaning in life, create a bucket list. Riley got me into writing one, and it's changed my life. You guys gonna try it."

"All in all," he began to conclude, "We just wanted to come on here and talk about how we met and I just wanted you guys to understand Riley a lot more. All the assumptions about her character were totally wrong. And if you guys learn anything from this, try to learn something about someone before you try to make judgements about them. If you guys ever get a chance to meet her in person, I'm sure you'll understand exactly why I feel about her the way I do." He pulled her closer to him and kissed her softly. "And to Riley, I just wanted to say, thank you for changing my life."

Riley felt herself beginning to choke up, and hugged him tightly, whispering, "Thank you for changing my life."

After they ended the live, they cuddled and read the Tiktokroom comments from their live, which were surprisingly positive. People seemed to be apologetic for how they had treated Riley, and a lot of fans were finally realizing how obsessive and controlling they were. Of course, there were still the occasional hate comments making dumb remarks about her looks or their relationship, but Vinnie and Riley had long learned they couldn't please everyone.

"You know what something on my bucket list was?" Vinnie asked later that night, as she lay in his chest.

She smiled up at him. "What?"

"To fall in love."

"Vinnie, that's so cheesy," laughed Riley. He pretended to be offended, jokingly pushing her off and crossing his arms over his chest. "Hey, you said before you wouldn't make fun of my list."

She giggled, sitting up and kissing him. "I'm just kidding. That was on my list too."

"I knew it." Vinnie shot back, raising an eyebrow at her. "You're cheesy too."

"Maybe."

Maybe it was cheesy, but Vinnie and Riley were made for each other. It may have taken months for everything to fall into place, but the two lonely teens who once felt out of place finally found their place with each other. One boy, who needed to learn that vulnerability was a good thing, and one vulnerable girl, new to LA, were brought together in a pure love story that changed both their lives for the better.

Whether it was God, or fate, or the universe, that brought them together, one thing was sure: they'd never be lonely again.

꧁☬THE END☬꧂

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