I stood in front of my mirror, examining my outfit. I had on a yellow and blue patterned dress that hugged my body just right. My curls were free, and I had light makeup on, with a face chain.

My phone started ringing, my moms contact popping up.

"Hey mama." I greet her when her face pops up on my screen. She greeted me back, and began to go on about how I hadn't called her in a while.

"I'm sorry ma, i've been so busy with modeling and so much is going on right now." I tell her, a pinch of guilt hitting me. When I first moved to LA I had promised her that I'd try and call her and dad frequently, and I had been skipping out on that recently.

"How's Vincent?" She asks, a small smile on her face. I didn't tell my mom all of the details about Vinnie and I's situation. I told her that we were taking some space from each other, but that was the last she'd heard of our situation.

"He's fine, we're talking again." I inform her, making her smile wider.

Noticing the look on her face, I roll my eyes, already knowing how she was taking this news. "Don't make a big deal out of this please. We're just hanging out again, I swear." I reassure her.

If by hanging out you mean going out on dates, holding hands, kissing and hugging.....then yeah. Hanging out.

"I'm not making a big deal, just happy for you is all." She smiles, a hint of mischief behind her eyes. She looks at me until I let out a small laugh, shaking my head at her relentlessness.

I heard a knock, and see Vinnie leaning against my doorway, a small smile on his face. "I gotta go mom, I'll talk to you later." I say, waving at her.

"Alright, sweetheart. Bye Vincent." She calls out to him, making my eyes widen. "Bye, Mrs. Rhodes." He responds, laughing slightly.

I hang up, my face turning slightly red. I move over, grabbing my bag from my bed. "Well don't you look pretty." Vinnie smiles, grabbing me by my waist, pulling me against his chest.

I laugh, subconsciously wrapping my arms around his neck. "Thank you, you look cute too." I compliment him, running my fingers lightly through his now shorter curls.

"You ready to go? I have a little surprise for you." He asks, smiling down at me.

"I'm scared. I don't trust you with surprises." I say, giving him a questioning look.

"Just trust me."

<••••>

Vinnie was driving us through downtown LA, and even though I had been here a thousand times, the feeling of riding through and just focusing on all of the sky high building and palm trees was extremely relaxing.

I had never felt as relaxed as I did now though. My head was facing the window, peeking out at the city, Vinnie and I's hands were intertwined over the center console, his thumb gently rubbing the back of my hand, with Novacane by Frank Ocean playing at a decent volume on the radio. This was honestly my idea of bliss.

We pulled up to a mall outlet, but I didn't realize the car was parked until I felt my hand being squeezed twice. I look over to see Vinnie already looking over at me.

"You know, you're really cute when you're all in your zone." He chuckles. I roll my eyes, waving him off. He steps out of the car, walking over to my side, and opening the door.

I step out, and he immediately reattaches our hands, making me smile slightly. We walk around for about fifteen minutes, going to different little kiosks, and buying small knickknacks.

"Okay, what was the surprise you had? It's killing me having to wait." I ask him, my patience running thin.

"Well, remember the Gucci shoot you just finished a couple of months ago that you were really excited for?" He questions as we walk further down the outlet.

I nod my head, curious as to where we're going. "So, I might've pulled some strings to find out the information about where they were putting it up." He says, a mischievous smile on his face.

"No way! Is it somewhere here?" I ask, getting excited.

"It's right there." He says, pointing in front of us. Right in front of us was the Gucci store, but not only that. My photo shoot picture was plastered on the front of the store. I saw passing people taking pictures and videos of it, making me smile.

"No way you did this! Vinnie, what?!" I exclaim, wrapping my arms around his neck, and pulling him into a hug. He laughs slightly, hugging me back. He leaves a light kiss on my shoulder before we pull away, and I run towards my poster, admiring it closer.

<••••>

"Can I open my eyes yet?" Vinnie asks from outside of the dressing room. "Calm down!" I yell back.

We had ventured into a fancy boutique, and I convinced him to sit while I tried on clothes. The only way he agreed was if he could see all of the things I picked out.

I walk out of the dressing room, with a maroon colored, bodycon dress that had a cowl neck.

I make my way over to Vinnie, placing myself in between his legs. "Okay. Open." I instruct him. He slowly opens his eyes, finding mine. His eyes trail down my body, inspecting the dress.

A small smile graces his lips as he grabs my hips, pulling me further towards him. "Well?" I question, noticing his silence.

"You look amazing, Liz." He sighs. I laugh at his words, shaking my head. "You've said that for the last three dresses." I chuckle.

"Well I'm being honest." He laughs along with me. "You're gorgeous, Elizabeth." He says, looking into my eyes when he said it.

I felt butterflies erupt in my stomach, hearing him say my name with such a sincere and careful tone. I know it seems silly, getting butterflies over your name, but it was different.

My name was sort of sacred in a way, at least for Vinnie it was. There were very rare times he called me by my full name. From the day I told him what it was, it was always Liz, or Lizzy. The only times he ever called me Elizabeth was when he was being serious, so hearing him say it in this moment opened my eyes a little bit.

I hadn't noticed before, but I began pushing him away the moment he broke my heart. I had every right to, but I still was, even in his second chance, and it wasn't fair to him. He had been showing me how sorry and apologetic he was for the past couple of months, showing me that he truly did regret what he had done, and I was neglecting that, because I was scared that letting him back in would be the wrong decision. I had to make up my mind. Either except him and his apology, and be with the boy who makes me happy, or continue to ignore my feelings, listening to my head instead of my heart, and push him away for good.

"Liz?" I'm pulled out of my thoughts by Vinnie saying my name. I look at him, his eyes full of concern. "You okay?" He asks, his voice laced with worry.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Thank you." I say, thanking him for his previous compliment. "Okay, next one." He perks up, nudging me back towards the dressing room, causing me to laugh.

What was I gonna do? I had no idea. But I knew one thing.

I had to figure it out. And soon.

ᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴀʟᴋ
a well deserved longer narrative chapter for you guysss. you guys honestly deserve this bc i've been kinda slacking with the story a little and you guys have been so patient with me, but inspo suddenly hit me so yayyy.

okay so, i'm thinking of ending the story with the next chapter, bc the next narrative chapter will be her big decision, and it's also chapter 30. i honestly love the story the way it is and can't think of any other storylines to add to it, but if i change my mind abt anything i will let you guys know.

i'm very active on my msg board and that's usually where all my important announcements get posted so if you don't follow me, or get my msg board notifs make sure you do that plss. also my daily thoughts are sort of funny so you'll get a laugh or two outta that LMAO.

but see you guys in the next chapter<33