#vincent threads.

vinny hadn’t meant to end up in the alley. one wrong turn, one too many thoughts he didn’t feel like having inside four walls, and suddenly he was out there with nothing but the dim glow of a flickering light and the lingering tension from that night still sitting heavy in his chest. bash. eddy. the way shit had spiraled faster than it should’ve. he was there, he heard it going down, he should’ve stepped in when he heard bash losing his fucking temper. vincent knew that sign, then it came from eddy too, and all he did was watch it happen like he was just hoping that some shit wouldn’t go down. like there wasn’t a fucking war happening right below their noses.

his jaw tightened as he dragged a hand down his face, pacing once like he was trying to shake it off, like that ever worked. it didn’t. it never did and he didn’t care how often people tried to tell him otherwise. the sound caught him off guard…small, sharp, and out of place. vincent stilled, head tilting slightly before the noise came again, softer this time, tucked somewhere near the row of garbage cans. “you’ve gotta be kidding me,” he muttered under his breath, already moving toward it despite himself. crouching down, he reached under the edge of the can, fingers brushing against soft fur before he carefully scooped the tiny thing up, holding it out in front of him like it had personally inconvenienced him. his eyes flicked up when he noticed someone nearby, expression unimpressed as ever. “is this little shit yours?”

vinny wasn’t sure if he came down this alley to breathe or to bleed out in peace. maybe both. the fight had ended twenty minutes ago, maybe less, though time had stopped feeling real lately. all he knew was that the other guy hit hard enough to leave bruises blooming across his ribs and a cut split open above his brow, and vinny had hit harder. harder than he needed to. harder than the crowd expected. he could still hear them somewhere in the back of his head, shouting his name while blood dripped from his knuckles onto the mat. they loved him when he fought angry. lately, that was the only version of him he knew. he was so angry. angry at himself for failing to protect his sister, for failing antonio, for existing when it should've been him instead of her. it wasn't right.

his shoulder hit the brick wall first before the rest of him followed, exhaustion finally dragging him downward until he slid to sit against the cold concrete. his chest rose slow and uneven beneath the dark fabric clinging damply to his skin, one hand pressed tight against his side while the other hung loose between his knees, streaked red across the knuckles. the alley smelled like smoke, rain, and iron. vincent tipped his head back against the wall and closed his eyes for what was supposed to be just a second. just long enough to see his sister's face one more time.

then footsteps approached. his eyes opened slowly at the sound, heavy and sharp all at once, and there he was. antonio. for a moment, vinny didn’t say anything at all. he just looked at his brother from where he sat on the ground, bruised and bloodied and worn hollow in places no one else would notice except for his brother. who probably knew him better than vinny knew himself. but unlike most of the time the two of them meet, there was no shit eating grin on his face. no sarcastic comment ready to deflect whatever the other would say. the only thing that greeted his brother was an emptiness that sat in his gaze, before he finally looked away toward the wet pavement beside him.

the beach had never really been vinny’s thing. it was too quiet at times. othertimes it felt too exposed to the world. even when it was packed with people, there wasn't enough noise out here to truly drown things out, which usually meant he avoided it altogether. besides, he couldn't drive cherry out here. what good did it do him? lately, sleep came in short bursts and his apartment felt too full of ghosts. he felt himself slipping, though into what he didn't know. somehow he’d ended up here, sitting near the edge where the tide rolled in just close enough to dampen the toes of his feet every now and then. the sky overhead was painted in dark blues and faded orange, the last stretch of sunset disappearing slowly behind the horizon while the ocean moved in restless waves beside him. and for the first time, the beach had managed to drown out the world for a moment.

a cigarette burned slowly between his fingers, forgotten more than smoked, his attention drifting somewhere far enough away that he almost looked peaceful for once. smalls, however, was the exact opposite of peaceful. his temporary kitten darted through the sand with clumsy little bursts of energy, attacking pieces of driftwood and digging at the sand like it was a personal enemy. every now and then vinny’s eyes would flick toward him, softly smirk at the little guy, then his gaze drifted back out toward the water again. but it was the tiny sharp hiss that pulled his attention back to the kitten. smalls had gone stiff a few feet away, puffing himself up dramatically at the sight of someone approaching down the shoreline. vinny glanced over his shoulder then, eyes landing on the figure before dropping briefly back to the kitten. "and they say i'm the one with the attitude problem."

vinny shakes his head, “don’t take it personal." he said, looking at the person who'd approached. “he’s all hiss and no bite. i’m starting to think that’s his way of saying hello or something.” almost on cue, smalls let out a tiny meow afterward and immediately lost interest, flopping onto his side in the sand like nothing had happened before going back to batting at a shell. vinny huffed softly through his nose at the sight, shaking his. he shifted slightly where he sat, one arm resting over his bent knee. “sit if you’d like,” vin offered after a moment, gesturing vaguely to the open stretch of sand beside him. “or don’t. just don’t mind the cat.”

vinny wasn’t supposed to be here tonight. at least, not according to the bruising blooming purple along his ribs or the split in his lip that kept reopening every time he smirked too hard. but sitting still had become impossible after josephina. every second alone with his thoughts felt like being trapped in a car with the engine running and nowhere to drive it. he had failed his sister, his brother, his family. he had not been able to keep her safe. his baby sister. dead. murdered. her last breath had been taken somewhere alone, merciless, and vincent hadn't been able to stop it. it felt like something inside him had been carved out and left bleeding. if he stopped moving for too long, he thought he might finally feel the full weight of it, and vinny wasn’t sure he’d survive that part. so instead, he kept moving. faster. louder. harder. more dangerously.

all the way from street races that blurred the city into streaks of light to underground fights where people hit him hard enough to make him forget for a couple minutes at a time. sometimes hours, depending on if he was out cold. but he'd take anything that made him feel something other than the hollow ache sitting where his sister used to be. the ache that only grew as he replayed bits of their last conversation, the sound of her laughter still ringing in his head, and he hadn't told her he loved her. he couldn't remember the last time he had. did she die knowing? did she live knowing? he'd never know. he'd never get the chance to say those three words to her or even wish her a happy birthday. he couldn't forgive himself. he had failed her...it's all he could think about.

by the time he stepped out of the building he had been for the last couple of hours, the noise of the crowd behind him had dulled into a distant ringing in his ears. one hand pressed against his side as he made his way across the parking lot toward his car, shoulders tense beneath a dark hoodie stained with sweat and a little blood that definitely wasn’t all his. he'd won tonight at the expense of a little more damage to his frame. he looked rough even by vinny standards, busted lip, bruised jaw, knuckles raw enough to sting when he flexed them. but the second he spotted nevin, he still managed to grin. toothy. crooked. he could never quite help himself when it came to her. and of course it would be her, of all people, he'd run into first out of everyone. he hadn't even seen antonio since the news.

but he approaches like he hadn’t just spent the last few hours beating people unconscious. he grunted a bit as he turned to lean his back against cherry, pulling out a pack of smokes, eyes still focused on the woman. "we've got to start picking better places to meet up, love." he brings the cigarette up to his lips, taking a long, slow drag, exhaling the smoke away from her face. "what's got you in my neck of the woods?"

the steady thud of leather against the heavy bag echoed through the gym, rhythmic and controlled, each hit landing with enough force to make the chain above it rattle. but not enough to break it off for the fifth time this week, he really didn’t want to replace yet another bag. so, vinny didn’t rush it, working through the combination like muscle memory, like it was the only thing keeping his head quiet for a minute. sweat clung to his skin, breath even despite the force behind each strike, until the sound of the door cutting through the space pulled his attention just enough to break the pattern. one last hit landed harder than the rest before he stilled the bag with his palm, holding it in place as it swayed under his grip.

“look at you showing up early and shit,” he muttered, a faint chuckle slipping through as he glanced over at sawyer. he reached down for his water bottle, unscrewing the cap and taking a quick drink before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “get settled. we got a long session today.” his gaze flicked over her, quick but assessing, like he was already clocking where she was at before they even started. she was a good one though, always ready for him. more ready than he was on some days, but today he was entirely locked in. “how you holdin’ up, s?”

vinny had already been here a while by the time yujin showed up, settled into a spot at the bar like he was trying to blend in more than anything. for once, he was. he wanted useless music that was too high, people talking over each other, glasses clinking to drown him out entirely. he only had voice for one person tonight and they were yujin. even as a beautiful woman approached him to flirt a bit, vincent waved her off. tonight his attention stayed sharp, drifting only when it needed to, a half-finished whiskey sitting in front of him as he idly rolled it between his fingers. when he finally spots the other he lifts one hand up to wave him over. he didn’t mind yujin. didn’t mind him at all, actually, which, coming from vinny, said more than most things ever would. so, he straightened just slightly, enough to give silent acknowledgment of respect, without making a thing out of it.

“took you long enough,” he muttered, though there wasn’t any real bite behind it this time, just the usual edge he carried everywhere. he nodded toward the empty seat beside him, tapping the bar once to flag the bartender’s attention before glancing back over. “thanks for coming.” a beat, then a faint tilt of his head, casual but direct. “what’s your poison tonight?”

Vinny kept to the edges of the room like he belonged there more than anywhere else, a half-filled glass of whiskey resting loose in his hand as he watched the crowd instead of joining it. His attention drifted, slow and mildly interested, looking over different outfits. The cut of a suit, the shimmer of a dress, the way some carried themselves like they had something to prove while others moved like they already owned the place. Some of the outfits were…interesting. More than interesting, in a few cases. Enough to hold his attention for a beat longer than expected before he brought the glass up, taking a slow sip, the burn settling low and familiar.

He didn’t need to look to know when someone stepped up beside him. The shift in space was enough. His grip on the glass stayed relaxed as he lifted it again, eyes still on the crowd ahead. “If you’re gonna attempt a conversation,” he muttered, voice low, edged with dry warning, “I’m telling you right now—you picked the worst person in the room for that shit.” The rim of the glass met his lips as he took another sip, unbothered, like that warning should’ve been enough to end any curiosity. He didn’t turn, didn’t acknowledge them beyond that, just let the silence stretch—either they’d take the hint, or they wouldn’t. And if they didn’t…well. That was on them.

The door swung shut behind him with a dull thud, muffling the music into something distant and bearable. Vinny barely spared it a glance, already reaching into his pocket for a cigarette as he stepped further into the cool night air. It settled over him quick, grounding in a way the ballroom never could. He slipped one between his lips, fingers moving on autopilot as he dug through his pants pockets, coming up with nothing but frustration. A quiet scoff left him, head tipping back slightly as he muttered, “Shit,” under his breath, the word curling out with a faint edge of annoyance.

He caught the sound of the door opening again and turned without thinking, eyes landing on the person who had just stepped out behind him. No hesitation, no pretense—just direct, like everything else about him. “You got a light I could bum for a second?” he asked, already stepping a little closer, thumb tapping absently against the cigarette still tucked between his lips. Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, “Left mine in my car. And ifI go to my car then I will end up just leaving this shitty ass party.”