Italy x Reader - Real Italian Food

Italy x Reader – Real Italian Food

“Veh~ (f/n), how was your trip? Did you have fun? What was it like?” Feliciano asked. The two of you were sitting in a park not far from both of your homes, finishing off some gelato. You had gotten home the day before from visiting your family out of state.

“I had a lot of fun. There wasn’t much to choose from for dinner when we went out, though…” you said, licking the drips of sticky sweet dessert off your fingers.

“Where did you go, then?”

“Uh… We went to Olive Garden,” you said absently, watching a couple being all cutesy on the edge of the nearby fountain. You wished Feli would do that with you. He was your boyfriend, but instead of being cutesy in that way he was cutesy in the way he acted and randomly treated you to things, like gelato. You were brought back to reality when you heard his hurt gasp.

“But Olive Garden isn’t even real Italian food! It’s just… American… Versions of it!” Feli cried out sadly.

“I know, I know… I tried telling them that, but no one could agree on anything else…”

Feli was silent for a while. You stole a few glances at him, but he was always staring at the couple at the fountain. He had such beautiful brown eyes; you could always find a way to lose yourself in them if you stared too long. After a while of staring at him, he turned to look at you. You jumped, embarrassed for being caught staring. He stood up, pulling you up with him.

“Come with me, (f/n).”

Feli began pulling you along in the direction of his house. “Where are we going, Feli? Are you taking me to your house?” you asked him. In response, he just looked back at you and smiled, not slowing in the slightest.

Upon arriving at his house, Feli burst in and took you straight to the kitchen.  He first pulled out some bottles of juice for the two of you. Then he began gathering a bunch of supplies, like flour, tomatoes, nuts, water…

“Feli? What are you doing? Are you going to make something?” you asked.

“Not me! We! I’m going to teach you how to make my family recipes, bella!” Feliciano explained with another of his signature noises.

“Whoa, whoa. Feli, I’m not a member of your family. Plus you know I can’t cook! If I could I wouldn’t practically be living off fast food, microwaveable foods, and your leftovers!” you said.

“Well, that’s not a problem! You’re going to…” Feli mumbled the last part, turning away from you as he spoke. He was rolling up his sleeves and filling a deep, heavy pot with water.

“What was that?” you asked, leaning forward.

“Hm? Oh, nothing, nothing, bella,” Feli chirped. He whirled around and placed a cutting board and a knife in front of you, pouring some almonds onto the board. “Can you chop these for me? I need to get some things from the pantry while the water boils.”

“. . . Sure…” You took the knife in hand, carefully chopping the nuts into smaller pieces the way you had seen him doing it before. Your dominant hand carefully pressed the blade through the nuts while your other hand added the bit of extra pressure and stability you needed. Feli returned shortly after you finished with what he had given you, his arms full of supplies and his iPod carefully clutched in one hand. He placed the ingredients on the counter and the iPod on the dock, playing its content on shuffle.

“You’re done? Good, then let me start the dough for the pasta and then I can show you how to make almond biscotti!” Feli chattered on as he cheerfully mixed ingredients in a large bowl, instructing you on the cookies as he wandered around the island you were working on.

For just being a teenager, Feli sure is a good cook. I doubt I’ll ever know my way around a kitchen like he does…  Then again, we’re only college freshmen. Maybe I can learn…

After spending many hours cooking, the two of you now had a full three-course Italian dinner set out in front of you. There was baked ziti for the first course, a large pot of cioppino with a side of prosciutto and broccoli and fresh-baked breadsticks for the second course, and almond biscotti with fresh grapes for the third course. Feli had prepared fresh grape juice in place of wine for the meal and two small cups of espresso to go with the biscotti.

“Wow… Feli, this looks delicious…” you said softly.

“You’re the one who did the most work. I just told you what the recipe said,” Feli said with a smile. You hugged him, returning the smile. “Well, let’s eat, (f/n)!”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You were standing in front of a large stove, working several dishes at once. With Feli’s help (and a span of five and a half years), you had learned how to cook traditional Italian dishes. Along with his grandfather, brother, and friend Antonio, the two of you had opened a small café. It was a lot of fun getting to use the techniques and recipes Feliciano had taught you all day, so you couldn’t ask for more.

When the last customers finally left and you were done cleaning the kitchen for the next day, Feli came in with a smile. “That was a fun day,” he said as he embraced you in his usual after-work hug. You smiled back at him as you wrapped him in your arms.

“It’s always fun for me. I love getting to use what you taught me,” you said. Feliciano laughed and pulled back, keeping his hands on your hips, and your arms were still on his shoulders. You tilted your head to the side in a doggy-like way, waiting for him to say what he wanted to say. He opened his mouth to say something three times, and three times he closed his mouth. He then sighed, giving you a small sigh.

“I was going to ask you something, but I don’t remember what it was…”

“That’s alright, just tell me when you remember. C’mon, we’ve gotta get back home. We were going to have that movie night. I don’t want those gallons of ice cream we bought for the occasion to go to waste or something,” you said. You pecked Feli on the cheek, quickly taking off your hairnet, apron, and chef’s jacket and hanging them on your hook by the back door. “Everything closed off?”

“Yep!” Feli chirped.

“Good. Alrighty, let’s head for home then,” you replied, taking his hand and twining your fingers with his.
The two of you walked home hand in hand like that to your shared apartment. When you opened the door, the two of you were greeted by the smell of tomato sauce and meats. “I had Lovino stop by with a couple extra servings of pasta I had left over while I was keeping up. He said he only did it because our apartment is on the way to his.” You shrugged, transferring the still-warm pasta from the box onto two plates.

You ate quickly and without speaking. Both of you wanted to get on with the movie marathon and pig out on ice cream. After dumping the practically licked-clean plates in the sink, the two of you each took out your tub of ice cream and a spoon, practically flying onto the couch.

“Oh, my ice cream melted some… Oh well. It’ll still taste the same,” you said after pulling off the lid. Feli’s was melted some too, so it must have happened on the way home from the store.

After two movies, you were about a quarter of the way done with your ice cream. Feli had just dived back onto the couch after switching the DVD. You smiled at him, sticking a spoonful of ice cream in your mouth. Letting it melt for a moment, you relaxed back into the couch when you felt something hard in the spoonful. You leaned back forward, licking your lips, and your face contorted into confusion. Carefully, you sucked away all the ice cream and left the hard thing in your mouth.

You reached up and held your hand in front of your mouth, glancing at Feli, and you spat the object into your hand. Quickly, you recognized it to be a simple silver ring set with a heart cut diamond and two marquise cut (birthstone)* on either side. You jerked your head up to look at Feli, but he was now kneeling in front of you instead of on the couch beside you, smiling sweetly. He took the ring from your hand, cleaning any stickiness off with a damp napkin, and held it out to you.

“(f/n)… Before we started dating in high school, you were my best friend, and you’ve been my world since I met you… Will-“

You cut him off by throwing your arms around his neck, shouting a yes. You could feel him smile into your shoulder as he slipped his arms around your back. When you sat back, he slipped the ring onto your finger.

“Remember how we met? You were in the school’s cooking classroom trying to make cookies and-“ Once again you cut Feli off.

“Oh, shut it and come here. I understand I would be a terrible cook without your help.”