Disclaimer: I do not own 'Doogie Howser, MD' nor all affiliated characters, places and events. (Sadly, this includes the incredible Vinnie Delpino.) However, I did have a lot of fun writing this story, and I hope you enjoy it, too. ~ smarty

Pennies in the Jar

A Doogie Howser, M.D. Fanfiction

Chapter 1

"Vinnie!"

Eighteen-year-old Vincent Delpino whirled his head around in the direction of the astonished cry. When he caught sight of the culprit, his brown eyes widened in shocked surprise. He gulped and smiled weakly, a sick feeling beginning to well in the pit of his stomach. "Hi, Janine…what are you doin' here?"

"I can't believe you!" Janine Stewart cried, storming into the room and halting in front of the couch. She crossed her arms and glowered furiously at her boyfriend. Or rather, her alleged boyfriend. She jerked a strand of her short, dark blonde hair behind her ear and huffed as she met the pleading, smiling gaze of Vinnie Delpino, who was sitting on the couch with his arm around another girl.

"Believe me, dis is not what you think." Vinnie tittered nervously. He pulled at the collar of his t-shirt and withdrew his hand from around the girl's waist. "Kim here, she was chokin' on her gum, so I had to give her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation." The excuse was weak, even for him. For someone who'd constantly lied and given excuses all his life, it wasn't one of his finer moments. He ought to know.

Vinnie, short, dark, and Italian, had been born girl-crazy, which hadn't left much to be desired in the form of schooling or anything else. Several times, when he'd backed himself into a trap, he'd prevailed on his best friend Doogie Howser to help him out. Somehow, though, he'd made it out of high school and was pursuing a career of filmmaking in college. In fact, he was at that moment supposed to be writing a science-fiction screenplay for his final exam, but obviously had made other plans instead.

"Right, and I guess you believe I was born yesterday." Janine rolled her eyes. She'd known Vinnie ever since she'd moved to Brentwood four years ago, and they'd been dating for the past two. Sometimes, she thought she couldn't be in a more perfect relationship, and at others thought their connection was frayed at best. The ambivalence that pervaded them seemed to cloud the pair in a murky fog, constantly threatening to draw them apart. Right now, nothing seemed to describe Janine's feelings better: a dark, confusing fog. "I can't take this anymore, Vinnie! I came over here expecting you to apologize for last night and you're already carrying on with another woman!"

Kim coughed uncomfortably and stood. "Maybe I should go…"

"No, you're not." Vinnie caught her arm and pulled her back onto the couch. "You're gonna sit and listen to dis. You're da only witness we got." He turned and frowned at Janine, the girl he'd loved and lusted after since he was fourteen years old, and stood doggedly to face her. "Why should I have to apologize for last night? You broke our date to go out with some other guy! I followed you!"

"And you totally humiliated me!" Janine retorted, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes. "That other man was my new boss! He took me out for a friendly business dinner, for crying out loud! He has a wife and two children!"

"I see!" Vinnie gritted his teeth. "So now you're cheatin' on me with married men!"

"I'm not cheating on you with anybody! And if you'd quit acting like such an ass, maybe you'd understand what I'm talking about!"

Kim slowly edged away on the couch, gazing hopefully at the door. "I really ought to go…"

Vinnie turned to her and pointed angrily at the couch. "Park it right dere, baby, or you're flyin' solo in acting class!"

Janine leaned against his television set, contempt disfiguring her normally cheerful countenance. "You disgust me, Vinnie."

"Yeah?" Vinnie whirled back around to face her. Seeing Janine reclining easily against his furniture, as if she had a right to, only stoked his anger further. Who was she to think she was right all the time? "And I suppose it's all right for you to just barge in on my apartment like you own da place!"

"I didn't. Your roommate let me in." Janine sniffed, raising her chin triumphantly.

Vinnie cursed, his hands balling into fists at his sides. "I'll kill him," he muttered before lifting his hurt gaze to meet Janine's once more. "What was I supposed to think when I saw you out with dat guy? You know how much dat killed me? I had every right to do what I did! What else was I supposed to do?"

"It's called 'behaving like an adult.' It was just a friendly business dinner, Vinnie. I don't know what else I'm supposed to say to make you believe me." Janine folded her arms over her chest.

Vinnie copied her movement mockingly. "Dat's another thing. Sometimes I think you like your work better den you like me! It doesn't take a genius to figure out why you have less time for me all of a sudden while you're going out to all your big, fancy business parties. I don't got any place in your life anymore. It's like I'm some awful zit on your forehead dat you can't ignore, even though you want to. Last night was a perfect demonstration of how you'd rather spend your evenings!"

"Vinnie…"

"In fact, I don't blame you!" Vinnie held out his hands, palms up, in front of him. "Let's just look at your options here! On da one hand, you got da short, whiny Italian guy. On da other hand, you got your super amazing job. Short, whiny Italian guy…super amazing job…" He pretended to weigh the two options before tossing the first one over his shoulder. "I'd get rid of me, too!"

Janine had dropped her gaze and was shaking her head at the floor. She couldn't bear to see the raw pain making itself evident on Vinnie's handsome face. Finally, with a heavy heart, she looked up. "No, Vinnie. Stop…" She sighed. "If you can't handle a little jealousy, then maybe we shouldn't see each other anymore."

Vinnie's mouth dropped open. He stared at his girlfriend in shocked silence, feeling as though he'd just been punched in the gut.

Kim got up and hastily started for the door. "I really need to go…"

"NO!" Janine and Vinnie shouted, giving Kim a collective murderous glare. Kim flopped back down on the sofa and crossed her arms, sighing heavily.

Vinnie tried to gather some semblance of dignity and forced a laugh. The sound caught in his throat, where a lump was forming, and came out high and strained. "Very funny, Janine. For a second dere, I actually believed you." He swallowed and tried to smile, but for some reason, it was far too difficult. "You know, your boss is wasting your talents. You should be up on a stage behind a microphone."

Janine shook her head. She lifted her gaze and Vinnie could see the sorrow reflected in her eyes. "I love you, Vinnie. But you can be a real jerk sometimes."

She brushed past him and walked out of the apartment without another word. Kim got up and meekly followed her out. She shot Vinnie a dirty look as she went, antagonizing him further.

"Hey, Janine? Wait!" Vinnie called. All he heard in reply was the slam of the front door. The sound reverberated throughout the apartment, leaving a deathly silence in its wake.

"I don't believe it," he murmured numbly, slowly sitting down on the couch. The quiet almost seemed too loud. It left his own mind to deal with the terrible reality of his breakup, a reality he'd rather not think about. He strained his ears for a sound, any sound to break the awful spell. When he couldn't bear the silence any longer, he buried his head in his hands and moaned miserably.

-

"Hey, dis is Vinnie. I can't come to da phone right now. Probably busy or somethin', you know. So just leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can. Unless you're Professor Meade, in which case you've got da wrong number."

The answering machine beeped and Doogie Howser's voice crackled over the line. "Vinnie? Are you there? … I just heard from Janine that you guys broke up…um, you okay? Look, call me back whenever you get this. I'm on call, but I should be home all night. So, um, I guess I'll talk to you later, then."

The machine beeped again as Doogie hung up. A red light began blinking on the phone from where it sat on Vinnie's coffee table alongside the television remote and an opened can of salted peanuts. The Incredible Shrinking Man lay atop a stack of sci-fi videotapes next to a pile of blank paper and a stubby pencil. On the screen of his television, the movie played quietly, the only noise in the silence of his apartment.

Vinnie himself lay stretched out on the sofa, fast asleep. He stirred softly and snored. The sound came out as a nasal whine because his nose was pressed against the arm of the couch. His clothes lay rumpled and creased, but his form seemed to shrink up inside them comfortably. His steady breathing broke up a little and his dark brows furrowed together in concern. Then they relaxed again and he smiled, sleeping peacefully once more. Sleep certainly seemed to agree with Vinnie. If it were up to him, he'd sleep for days.

A lady on the flickering television screamed. The movie posters hanging on the wall behind it appeared to look almost sinister in the moonlight. Shadows cast from the light streaming in through the window created grotesque forms that fell across the room, one in particular bathing the clock on the wall in an eerie half-light. When the movie fell silent, all that could be heard was the steady, monotonous ticking of the clock. And the strange, effervescent glow of the darkness gave way to the illusion that the clock's hands were actually moving backwards.