Half a World Away // Vinnie Hacker

*32*

The next morning Vinnie and I woke up at five to get on our flight by eight. Vinnie carried our suitcases down to the lobby and we got in our Uber. I was so insanely tired, Vinnie was trying to get us to... you know what, for ages. It was quite entertaining if I'm honest.

We pulled up to the airport and I followed behind Vinnie as he checked us in and brought us through security. We got to the terminal and sat down as we waited to board the flight. I was pretty much falling asleep in my seat and had my head on Vinnie's shoulder.

"Hey, we can board now," Vinnie said quietly at roughly 7:30. We got up and handed our tickets over to the clerk and then proceeded to walk onto the plane. We found our seats, sat down and resumed our position we were in on the seats in the waiting area. I was about to turn my phone onto aeroplane mode when I saw a text from Luke saying that we didn't have any classes next week. "Hey, Vinnie? Do we have our return flights booked?" I asked. "No, I didn't book anything just in case we decided we wanted to come home earlier or stay longer or something, why?" He replied. "Luke just texted me and said that we don't have classes next week so how would you feel about going to Sydney after this? Only for a few days though. It's just that I'm not too sure when I'll next get time off to visit home," I rambled. Vinnie picked up my hand off of the armrest and held it in his. "Yeah, that sounds good. Then I can meet your parents too," he said nonchalantly. "No, I don't think that's a good idea," I replied.

Vinnie looked at me confused, "Why?" he asked. I just knew my parents would find a way to ruin my mood and the fact that I'm home for the first time in months. "They're going to try ruin things between us and I don't want that," I sighed. "Well, if we do it on our last day there, we can fly out that night and after we do it once we don't have to do it again or at least not for a while," Vinnie suggested. I thought about it for a second before deciding I liked the idea. There's no way I'd be able to hide Vinnie from them forever anyway. "Yeah, ok. I like that idea," I said, looking up at Vinnie. Vinnie pecked my lips quickly and then I put my head back down on his shoulder.

//

Vinnie woke me up again as we were flying over Seattle, ready to land. I watched the city pass by under me and I watched the city grow as we got closer to the ground. The skyline of Seattle was so insanely pretty and it was amazing seeing the sun shining down on the buildings below. Once the plane landed Vinnie and I went through security and collected our bags. Vinnies brother, Reggie, had come to pick us up from the airport and I was insanely nervous to meet him. Vinnie and Reggie were quite close and I knew that Reggie's opinion mattered to him. As we were walking out of the terminal, Vinnie spotted his brother and immediately brought him into a hug. "I haven't seen you in ages," Reggie said as he let go of his brother, "And I haven't seen you, ever. Well, at least not in person this simp sends me photos of you all the time," Reggie laughed. Vinnie shoved Reggie in the shoulder and I felt my face turn a bright shade of pink. We made our way out of the airport and to Reggie's car. Vinnie put our suitcases in the boot and we hopped into the car, driving towards Vinnie's childhood home. I was getting more and more nervous as each second passed, my leg was bouncing as my anxiety was heightened. Vinnie put his hand out behind him from the seat in front of me, waiting for me to hold it. I grabbed onto his hand, "It's going to be ok, you don't need to be so nervous," Vinnie said, looking at me through the rearview mirror.

We pulled up to the house less than ten minutes later and I was ready to shit myself. When we arrived it was about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and I found out that both of Vinnie's parents were at work. We went into the house and it was exactly how I imagined it; clean and minimalistic yet filled with family photos. Vinnie and I went up to his room and Reggie went to his. I walked in following Vinnie and was met with a room a lot cleaner than what I was expecting. The walls were almost bare and painted a light grey colour. There was a bed and gaming setup on one side of the room and a wardrobe on the other. I put my suitcase down next to the wardrobe, copying what Vinnie did with his. "I'm so tired," Vinnie said as he flopped down onto the bed. "Me too," I said as I flopped down next to him.

we laid on the bed in silence for a few minutes, "How does it feel to be home?" I asked, breaking the silence. "Not real especially cause my parents' aren't home yet," Vinnie replied, wrapping an arm over my stomach and pulling me closer to him. I felt Vinnie's arm go limp on my stomach and his breathing slow and I knew he fell asleep and I followed not long after.