Dolcezza Extra III
Read Dolcezza here | ~2.1k words
From me/Warnings: This has been in my drafts since I finished the original story. This is truly all fluff 😍 there is nothing to warn you about. It's probably like a week or two after him.
Summary: “About how annoying I am?” She questioned.
“Exactly,” Niall nodded.
“She’s not annoying, don’t even kid ‘bout that, Niall. She already believes it."
Eleanor was insistent that she would come back earlier than she originally planned. Especially since her arrival was the catalyst for the big argument (which seemed silly and like a century prior to everything that followed).
Eleanor told Harry directly; left the sweet, exhausted girl out of the equation completely. Harry did bring her with him, of course. He explained to Eleanor that she would have come along voluntarily anyway. But Harry was not surprised at all when Eleanor yanked her best friend out of the front seat in the middle of the pickup line at the airport and held her tight while Harry stowed her luggage in the boot of his car. In her true nonchalant fashion, she hugged Eleanor back tightly all the while downplaying her nerves and promising El she was alright. Harry was glad she had a friend like Eleanor. If it wasn’t for her, who knows what would have happened without her phone call.
Harry tried not to think about that for too long though. Eleanor chatted the entire ride to the pair up front, while she dotingly held Harry’s hand in both of hers in her lap as he drove them back to Dolcezza. Eleanor didn’t even make any funny jokes about her display of affection but Harry did catch Eleanor wiggling her eyebrows at him in the rear view mirror several times over.
Niall had a new dish for Eleanor to try, and a plate of eggplant parm steaming and situated on the bar when they arrived. Harry brought Eleanor’s bag up to the apartment and returned to find her chatting with Niall through the window while they ate their food. Harry pressed a hand on her lower back as he passed her to the kitchen. While they chatted about El’s job, Harry returned again, placing a plate of garlic bread between the two girls. “Thank you,” she said softly.
Harry kissed the top of her head, rubbing his hand on her lower back briefly once more and headed for the kitchen to get back to work. Eleanor and Niall had the same expression: smiling widely and eyes dancing with excitement. Niall’s eyes followed Harry with a smirk as he walked to his cooking station, and Eleanor tapped her hand repeatedly on her friend’s leg while her cheeks turned pink with the attention about her relationship with Harry. “Finally,” Niall and Eleanor said perfectly in sync.
*
The following day she and Eleanor spent most of the morning and a chunk of the afternoon lying in her living room (after she put it back to the exact way she had it prior to her family putting it back together as best they could). They had face masks gooped onto their skin waiting to dry while scrolling through social media and chatting about nonsense.
It was the first time she hadn’t felt fearful of someone seeing her from afar in years. But it was also the first time she realized she had been feeling something about it for years to begin with.
“Are you sure your work doesn’t mind you taking a few extra days off? Like if you have to work remotely, there’s still ample time for us to have this spa day,” she reminded her.
“They are very okay with it,” she assured her as she tapped her cheeks to see if her mud had dried yet.
It still felt like an inconvenience to have Eleanor skip work and town to come hang out with her for almost two weeks. Harry was insistent that she take a couple days off from work as well. She really didn’t want to—in fact it was making her a little crazy not having the structure of work to keep her mind from spiraling. But Eleanor definitely helped.
Her phone vibrated in her hands with a message from Harry. It was a picture of eggplant being fried in the pan and she smiled.
Yummy :)
What are you and El doing?
She knew he was doing his very best not to be overwhelmed with worry. The first day he helped her put her place back together with the help of her siblings. The second day he spent kissing every inch of her body and refusing to leave her side other than when she needed to use the bathroom.
Maybe she should have been turned off by the clinginess, but really it just made her feel loved like she had never felt before. He was so kind and caring. It was the first time in ages that someone other than Eleanor (and by extension Louis) had worried about her so much. But he also seemed to know he was being a lot. Harry noticed it when she got up to close the window and he all but gasped—like she was about to jump out of it or something. She poked very lightly at him and giggled. “I’ll warn you if I’m going to make a run for it,” she winked.
“El,” she said gently and lifted her phone above her head. They smiled at the camera to send it to Harry. Just some pampering to look pretty.
You look any prettier and I won’t survive, Principessa 💕
Is that my name in your phone? I’ve never noticed, I don’t think. Is it Principessa?
After a moment, he sent a screenshot in return of her contact screen. The picture of her and Eleanor she had just sent was cropped to get her face in the mud mask only. It did read Principessa 👑💕 which made her smile quite a bit.
That’s such a BAD picture for my contact. Can you please use a prettier one?
I think you look gorgeous. Also, it’s the only picture I have of you.
You don’t take pictures of me from that little window of yours while you’re working?
:(
That’s not funny, Principessa :(
It’s pretty funny actually.
🙄
I would send you a picture of myself without the mud mask...but it probably wouldn’t be appropriate for a contact picture.
...
What?
Don’t tempt me, Principessa.
😇
*
Harry tried really hard not to worry. She was safe with her best friend and soon enough his shift would be over, and he could join the girls upstairs or maybe he could even convince them to go back to his place for the night. But he was a little worse for wear; dropping silverware, messing up the prep work, and overall, really annoying Niall.
“She’s fine,” Niall assured him gently.
“I know,” he sighed.
“You could ask Antonio to take the day off?” He suggested.
Harry shook his head. “He’s still not feeling a hundred percent. I don’t want t’make his life harder. He doesn’t need t’come here. S’fine. She’s upstairs with El. They’re fine,” he repeated it almost like if he said it enough he’d start to believe it (but it wasn’t enough just yet).
“You could ask her to come down.”
He rubbed the back of his head and shrugged. “S’jus’... she’s been with her family and El and I don’t want t’add another person she’s gotta accommodate because I’m worried.”
“You know she really won’t care. She loves being around you,” he reminded his friend.
Harry shrugged, chopping up another onion and turning his face away slightly so as not to cry all over said onion. “Well, she’s with her friend.”
“Pretty sure Eleanor loves you too.”
“Niall, jus’ leave me alone. I jus’ need t’get over it.”
“Well, it just happened. So, you don’t need to get over it right now. If you want her down here, all you have to do is ask.”
“Ask me what?”
Harry was lucky he didn’t slice his finger off. She was standing in the doorway, smiling sweetly. Maybe it’s because he knew she just did a face mask, but her skin looked extra soft, brighter, and lighter. Or maybe it was her eyes that made her look lighter. She looked less stressed and Harry wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen anything quite as beautiful as her on any given day, but she managed to look even more beautiful right then.
“Hi Tesorino! We were just talking about you,” Niall spoke dramatically and grinned knowingly.
Harry rolled his eyes and turned away from the pair of them. But it was almost too obvious that he was very relieved she was there. “About how annoying I am?” She questioned.
“Exactly,” Niall nodded.
“She’s not annoying, don’t even kid ‘bout that, Niall. She already believes it,” he grumbled. He washed his hands quickly and came over to kiss her cheek before he grabbed the bowl of garlic bread they took from when making plates for dinner. She took a piece and finished it off in a few bites.
“El and I are thinking we’ll go see a movie, is that okay?” She asked, wiping crumbs off the corner of her lips.
Harry visibly winced. “Please don’t ask me if that’s okay,” he frowned. “You can do whatever you want.”
Niall laughed from the other side of the expo table. She smirked at his friend’s reaction. She was too perceptive and Niall was irritating. Harry knew she would already know exactly what they were talking about because Niall was a snitch without even trying.
Harry glared at his friend and threw a piece of the garlic bread in his direction (and missed, on purpose). “Don’t waste that!” She pouted.
He rolled his eyes at her dramatics but decided he would get a few more pieces to bring to her place later for when they returned from the movie. “Y’can do whatever you want,” he grumbled.
She grabbed his hand and squeezed gently. “I know. I just want to be considerate,” she smiled.
“Very considerate. Go have fun. You deserve it.”
Harry really hoped he sounded like he wasn’t nervous about her going. She eyed him suspiciously and then tilted her head at him. “Are you okay?”
With a deep sigh, he turned back to his next task. “Can you please stop asking me that, Principessa,” he shook his head. It was ridiculous. She went through something traumatic. Not him. He should have been asking her every second if she was alright.
“He’s nervous!” Niall called from somewhere toward the back of the kitchen.
Harry swore under his breath and called Niall a few choice names. “Niall, can y’find something useful t’do?” He slammed the fridge door shut a little too hard for her liking.
“I’m gonna borrow Harry for a minute!” She called back to Niall. “See you later, Niall!”
“Have fun Tesorino!”
She grabbed Harry’s hand once he settled the items from the fridge on his station and tugged him outside into the alleyway where they first met. It felt like a lifetime ago that he literally bumped into her and changed the entire course of his life.
How lucky he was to have her.
Harry paced away from her while the door closed behind them. She leaned against the side of the building beside the door and Harry scuffed his shoe against the pavement. “Y’can do whatever you want,” he mumbled. He meant it. He wasn’t crazy. He wasn’t going to tell her she couldn’t do something. Especially after all she’d been through.
He just wanted her to be safe. That was it.
“I know,” she shrugged. “But I want to check in with you.”
Harry didn’t know how to make more room in his chest to love her, but he was going to try every day to add more space. She was unbelievably special and precious to him. “I’ll be okay,” he nodded firmly like he was supposed to believe what he was saying (even if he was incredibly nervous).
“You can stay with El and I tonight too,” she smiled.
“I don’t want to intrude.”
“Harry, I’d really sleep better knowing you’re there,” she stated knowingly.
Harry sighed with relief and stopped in front of her. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she nodded; her sweet grin made him melt a little more.
He took a step closer, pressing his arm above her head so he could lean in toward her face. “I love you, Principessa,” he hummed knowingly, a small smile twinging at the corner of his lips.
“I love you too, Harry,” she giggled and reached for either side of his face and pulled him the final distance to her mouth. His free hand pulled her waist toward him and he thought that this restaurant was heaven.
“You taste like garlic,” he murmured against her lips.
She giggled, which made him smirk into the kiss. As light as she looked in the kitchen was exactly how Harry felt while kissing her. He pulled away slightly, pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth and then gazed into her eyes. “Lucky you.”
“Don’t I know it, Principessa,” he agreed and kissed her again.
--
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