9,445 Miles From You - honesty is the best policy
Pairing/Characters: Bartender!Harry Styles x Waitress!Reader Warnings: virgin talk, catching feelings, a bit angsty Summary: Harry takes you out to get some food after work and you both get into discussing things Word Count: 2.1k A/N: Just wanna say that this story will get fictional later, everything else thus far is non-fictional lmao my dumbass really did that
As the days passed by, work seemed to get a bit easier but of course, you still had anxious thoughts filling your head. What if you screwed something up? What if you get fired? What if youâre not good enough? You couldnât help it. It came flowing in like a running river. Â
You sat on the staff room couch, mindlessly chewing on whatever food youâd retrieved from the kitchen. You hadnât noticed Joeâs presence in the room until he tapped you on the shoulder. Â
âDeep thoughts?â He asked. You nodded, âAbout?â Â
âUm, I donât know, I wouldnât want to bother you with my bullshit mind.â Â
âPlease,â he shoved you playfully with a smile, âbother away.â Joe was welcoming from the first moment you met him. You couldnât help but develop a little crush. Like Harry, he always felt the need to check up on you. The only difference was, you couldnât see Harry the way you saw Joe. Joe had this sweet essence to him, like you could make the worst mistake in the world and heâd still see you as this precious angel who could do no wrong. It had only been two weeks since you started and in that short time, you felt a familiar bubbly feeling in your stomach every time you saw him. Â
âWell, I just- I feel like Iâm gonna screw up so much, I like it- I mean, I love it here, you guys make me feel loved and I love my job.â Â
âY/N, youâre new to all of this, right?â You nodded, âThis is your first job, you canât be perfect straight away, you have to make mistakes or else you wonât get better.âÂ
âI guess, it just stems from coming from a family who expects everything from you but your everything isnât good enough.â He rubs your back comfortingly, something that, so far, only Harry had done. For a moment you forget that it was Joe comforting you.Â
âLook at this way, here you can make mistakes, you can fuck up and not be thought as if youâre not good enough, in this place, you can improve yourself, use it and abuse it.â He chuckles, âSeriously, if you need to talk whenever, pull me aside and we can hide out somewhere and talk, Iâd rather you waste your time talking to me than be stressed and panicked while you work.â He stands up. Â
âThanks, Joe.âÂ
âAnytime.â Harry walks in with a goofy smile which made you laugh. Joe nods at Harry as he exits the room. You felt, from what youâd observed, Harry wasnât exactly fond of Joe. Every flirtatious comment Joe would make, Harry would butt in with a snarky comment which would make you laugh but feel guilty about later. Within the last two days, you had scolded Harry about it five times. Five times out of the two days. Â
âWhaâ was thaâ about? Yeh new lover?â Harry jokes. Â
âShut up, I just needed a bit of reassurance, I guess.â Â
âAbout whaâ?â Harry takes a bite out of his food and turns his body to face you. Â
âWork.â Harry hums in response, âSo, whatâs going on with you? Youâve looked a little out of yourself lately and youâve been snapping at the customers.â It was true. Harryâs appearance was not as clean as you were used to. His eyes were darkened, more than usual due to working late hours at the bar, they were sunken in and his bright smile had not made an appearance in a while. His hair was dishevelled and his glasses were streaked which he had yet to clean,Â
âSo, whatâs the go, Styles?â He sighs and looks at you, setting his food down.  âI guess I could use some female wisdom âbout this.â You nodded, âMâkinda goinâ through a tough break up.â Your eyes widened, you didnât even know he had a girlfriend.Â
âBreak up?â Â
âWith Camille.â Camille? She even had a pretty name. Â
âOh.â You pouted but fixed yourself up before he could notice, âWell, whatâs happened?â Â
âShe couldnât take thâ fact thaâ Iâd be gone foâ two years, I jusâ wanna live mâlife, yâknow? But I do love âer, I do, I jusâ wanâ âer tâwait foâ me.â Â
âThen sheâs not worth it, Harry, let her leave, donât drag this out, donât hurt yourself.âÂ
âI love âer, Y/N.â He leans forward and rests his forehead on your shoulder. Â
âLet her go, Har, if she loves you, she wouldnât have minded the distance.â He pulls away and looks at you with a soft smile upon his lips. Â
âThis is whaâ makes me noâ believe thaâ yehâve nevâa had a boyfriend, yeh too smart, too wise.â You laughed and shove him playfully just as Joe did with you. Â
âIâm just waiting for the right guy.â Â
âHeâs probâly righâ in fronâ of yeh and heâs a lucky guy, mâtellinâ yeh.â Â
âYou must be a lucky guy then.â You take a sip from your water bottle, smiling.Â
âWhaâ?âÂ
âYou know, coz youâre right in front of me?â He laughs, his smile widening, the same smile youâd been missing for the past week. Â
âYeh too fuckinâ cheeky foâ yeh own good, lovie.â He pinches your cheek, making you roll your eyes, âNow, donâ go rollinâ those eyes aâ me, do yeh wanna get some food aftâa work?â Â
âWith you?â He nodded, âIâd be honoured!â You got up and held your hand out for him to take in which he did. He laughed as you pretended to be wearing a dress, âIâd gladly take your hand in marriage!â You said dramatically in a 50s southern accent, your other hand resting on your head. He twirled you around and you laughed, almost forgetting you were in a messy staff room. Â
âYeh so silly.â You nodded, and he checked his watch, âTime foâ us tâget back tâwork! Yeh anâ me, Burger King, three-thirty a.m.â
Harry waited for you after work. He doesnât really like the idea of you walking around the streets of the city by yourself. Heâd rather wait a couple of hours for you to finish than for you to end up in a ditch somewhere. Of course, not only was the benefit seeing you safe but also, he could get a couple of drinks in. The managers allowed a maximum of three drinks but only limited them to beer and cider which was enough for Harry to feel loose but not over intoxicated - still remembering that he wanted to hear you talk and he wanted to have a nice conversation with you over some greasy food. Â
You came down, wrapping your scarf around your neck and zipping up your jacket. You smiled at him and waved, exhaustion almost taking over your body as you walked over to the booth. Â
âYeh ready tâgo?â He asked. You nodded, and he stood up and hung his arm around your shoulders. You both walked on the wet pavement of the city in silence. It was only a seven-minute walk to the 24-hour fast food restaurants but of course, Harry being the chatty lad that he was, decided to make small talk, âHow was yeh shift?âÂ
âExhausting, I worked eleven and a half hours tonight, Har, Iâm so tired!âÂ
âMâsure yeh are, weâll grab summat tâeat and Iâll wait foâ thâtrain with yeh, okay?â Â
âOkay.â You both sat down on the red leather seats of the Burger King restaurant after ordering and grabbing your food. Drunk people surrounded you and the floors were covered in mud and dirty serviettes. You let out a huff. Â
âWhaâs with all the huffinâ anâ puffinâ, lovie?â Â
âWell,â You awkwardly began, popping a nugget into your mouth, âI- I think I like Joe.â Â
âI knew it!â He took a bite out of his burger, âYeh always givinâ âim eyes.âÂ
âI donât give anyone eyes, Styles.â Â
âBuâ yeh do, theyâre like lovey dovey eyes, I see it all thâtime! âSpecially arounâ Joe.â Â
âOkay, maybe I do.â You couldnât help but notice the way his body shifted. He moved over slightly, his body now not facing you as straight as it was before, and he looked down at his food, a short and dishonest smile made an appearance. He looked back up at you, âI-is there something wrong with that?â Â
âYeh jusâ noâ subtle âbout it, everyone knoâs.â Your cheeks flushed pink and you were so embarrassed it was like your throat closed up. You took a sip of your drink to drown down the food that you had popped into your mouth. Â
âAm I really that bad?â He nodded.Â
âMâsure he knoâs.â God, he was being brutally honest. You found a change of tone in his voice unlike his usual sweet one. He sighed and smiled at you, probably noticing his actions, âWhy donâ yeh test thâ waters, lovie?â You knew what he meant. See how things go with Joe but from conversations youâve had with Joe, you knew he was not a relationship kind of guy.Â
âI canât.âÂ
âWhaddyeh mean? âAve some fun with it.â You placed your drink down after taking a sip. You looked at him with wondering eyes as if you were saying, you donât know?Â
âHarry⊠Iâm a⊠virgin.â You said quietly, shyly watching people walk past you, âIâm kind of saving myself a-and Joeâs not exactly the relationship type.âÂ
âI geâ yeh, lovie, nothinâ tâbe embarrassed about.â He smiled at you, âI lost mine quite young, I donâ regret it but I kinda wish I knew whaâ it felt like tâdo it with someone I loved.âÂ
âThatâs my thing, I wanna do it with someone I love.âÂ
âThaâs good, Y/N, keep yeh innocence foâ as long as yeh can.â He smiled sweetly at you and let out a breath. Almost like he was relieved, âYehâve musta had a loâ of guys chasinâ after yeh.âÂ
âYou would be surprised how short the line is.âÂ
âMâsure theyâre there anâ yeh jusâ noâ lookinâ propâly coz yeh too busy goinâ after thâ wrong guy.â He sneakily took one of your nuggets, laughing. Â
âHar, Iâve never even kissed a guy!â Â
âYeh jokinâ!?â He exclaims after almost spitting out his drink. You shook your head. Â
âI honestly wish I was, but no one wants me.â Â
âHeâs out there, lovie, jusâ be patient.â He takes your hand in his, âYeh donâ have târush intâeverythinâ, like I said, heâs probâly right in front of yeh and yeh jusâ too caught up on thâwrong guy buâ yeh kno⊠yeh canât help buâfall foâ thâwrong guy.âÂ
âI hate when youâre right.âÂ
âAnâ I hate when yeh get hurt so if Joeâs noâ intârelationships, donâ do it.â You nodded, âYehâve got a train tâcatch in ten minutes, leâs go, lovie.â You sat up on your bed all night, thinking about what Harry had said but your eyes decided to shut when the clock struck eight-thirty a.m. When you woke up, just in time, the text tone of your phone went off. Â
From: Harry Morninâ, lovie, wanna grab smth to eat? Â
You unlocked your phone and began to type back. Â
To: Harry Could use some coffee right about now :/Â
From: Harry Amazing! Get up and get out of bed, weâre having brunchÂ
You couldnât help but smile and giggle at his texts. Mornings werenât really this happy before he came along. Â
To: Harry Be there in 45 minutes Â
From: Harry Iâll be waiting, lovie!Â
You found that Harry preferred to be the one with the last say. He never left you on read. His texts were always to be the last text of the conversation but he did, however, more often than not, take the longest to reply. Suddenly, your text tone went off again when you picked up your jeans off of the floor. Â
From: Joe Busy?Â
Unusual. Joe never really talked to you outside of work unless the conversation was about work. Â
To: Joe Why?Â
From: Joe Wanna come to my basketball game? Would love to have someone to cheer me on.Â
Your heart skipped a beat. What did this mean? Was this him asking you out? You didnât know.Â
To: Joe Okay, sure!
You exited out of the conversation, clicking on Harryâs text message from before.Â
To: Harry Sorry, babycakes, something came up, rain-check?Â
Harry waited by the steps of the train station, somewhere he usually dropped you off. He held your favourite drink in his hand. He tapped his foot excitedly on the steps. His phone goes off and his heart drops.Â
That was the first time Harry had ever left you on read.Â
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