Harry Styles Short Stories

LITTLE ITALY

SUMMARY: Harry is a restaurant owner, Y/N is a notorious dater. They are both in love with the other, but too dumb to say it out loud. But then the cat gets out of the bag finally.

WORD COUNT: 8.8k

Harry has always been obsessed with Italy. The food, the culture, the people and all the beautiful places in the middle of Europe, it's a country that has always been close to his heart. He remembers the first time he visited with his mom and sister, at just twelve, he was amazed by the creamy gelatos, the mouth-watering pizzas and he fancied watching the local Italian men talk animatedly under the window of the little motel they were staying at for their vacation. After those seven short but heavenly days, Harry vowed to come back as often as possible and he was lucky enough to hold his promise to himself and even overdo it.

Of all the things he loved so much about Italy, it was the food that robbed his heart. The unique Italian cuisine took his soul upon the first bite he took and it was like an awakening for him. That was the first step on the road that eventually led him to his career and passion: cooking.

Even as a small kid, he took interest in whatever his mother was cooking in the kitchen and Anne often took him to her side, taught him the basics which led him to take it further. He was only sixteen when he took his first cooking classes and there was no stopping from there. It was where he felt the most himself: in the kitchen, cooking the best dishes.

For a long time he thought he would spend the rest of his life as a chef, and quite honestly, he was absolutely fine with that. At just twenty-five he was working at a fancy restaurant, cooking dishes that were more like art rather than food and he was genuinely enjoying the path he was on. But as he kept his promise and went back to Italy every year, he couldn't help but yearn to have what he has there all year. He wanted to bring it home, into the heart of the rainy England, a piece of the sunny paradise, his favorite place on Earth.

After long consideration he finally made his decision. He wanted to open his own restaurant.

Thanks to all the hard work he had done he had enough money saved to do the first steps and later he met Gino, a hardworking businessman who was more than happy to be Harry's partner in opening London's best Italian restaurant. Though Harry knew so much about the Italian culture and cuisine, Gino brought him that missing sparkle that was essential for a place to be authentic. With years of hard work at last, their very own restaurant opened in London, and Harry and Gino were ready to bring a Little Italy to the British people. Today the place has been running for over three years and it has made its name in the public. Their excellent menu and the inimitable atmosphere they managed to bring to the capital brought the success they were dreaming of and they are already talking about potentially opening a second place.

But Italy has never been Harry's only love. There was one more thing, or shall we say person in his life that left him completely enamored from the very start. And that person was Y/N, the woman he knew since they were kids and the woman he has been in love with since the day he met.

While Harry put all his energy and time into reaching his goal, Y/N was a tad bit different than him, but they completed each other just perfectly. Y/N never had big dreams of having a successful career, of course, she finished school and got herself a decent job, but that was never what appeared important to her. She always told Harry about wanting to find her partner in life, to have the love story she saw in movies and she tried everything to get her fairytale, which wasn't always what Harry preferred.

About halfway through high school, Y/N started dating boys from her school, she always had someone she was talking to, or a guy she said she had a crush on. As her best friend, Harry always knew about her latest interests and he was forced to swallow the bitterness in his mouth every time she dreamily told him about her last date or the boy he was currently into.