what are you afraid of? || eddie kaspbrak x reader

TWENTY-FIVE

"I'm gonna get going." You finally said, standing up and dusting yourself off. The only reason you were leaving was that it was kind of obvious Beverly wanted to talk to Bill alone. "Bye, losers."

"See you." Beverly, Bill, and Eddie said in sync. You made your way through the long grass to your bike and started to get on when a familiar voice stopped you.

"(Y/n), wait!"

You turned around to see Eddie rushing after you through the long grass, taking lengthy puffs out of his inhaler every two seconds. It definitely wasn't common to see him running so you knew whatever he needed to do must be pretty important. The only times you had actually seen him run was when it was for his life.

"Hey, Eduardo, what's up?" You grinned when he finally caught up to you, panting and wheezing. It was slightly concerning to see him like that and your happy expression shifted into a worried one. "You okay?"

"I'm," He gasped for air then took another long puff out of his inhaler. "Fine."

Eddie took a few moments to calm his breathing and you leaned against a tree, waiting patiently. Might it be anyone else, you would've flipped them off and jokingly walked away (but came back after two seconds since you weren't that mean), but Eddie was an exception. You didn't mind staying and waiting for him to be comfortable.

"Okay, I'm done." He said after one more puff of his inhaler. "Sorry."

You shook your head with a smile. "It's fine, Eds."

There was a slightly awkward silence before you spoke again. "So, um, did you want me to walk you home or something? Because if your mom sees me through the window-"

"No, no," Eddie replied quickly, cringing at the thought of his mother seeing him and (Y/n) together. She was overprotective enough, but when it included girls, she would go ballistic. The pair had already witnessed it once when Eddie had broken his arm and she had blamed it on the losers club. But, boy, would she be mad if she found out what her son was about to say. "I actually wanted to... uh... tell you something..."

"Okay..." You raised your eyebrows. "Go on."

"Uhhh... umm..." Eddie closed his eyes for a brief second and went over his speech in his head, knowing full well that if he didn't say it quick enough, he would chicken out. Richie would never let him hear the end of it if he did. "You see... I..."

"...Yeah?"

"IREALLYLIKEYOUANDWASWONDERINGIFYOUWANTEDTOGOOUTWITHME." Eddie blurted out, completely forgetting about the speech he had planned. You squinted at him in confusion. "Uh... could you say that a little slower, please?"

"I really..." He took a deep breath. "Like you. More than a friend, I mean. And I was wondering... if you wanted to... go out with me bUT it's totally fine if you say no because, like, I don't even know why you would agree 'cause I'm not even cute and-"

"HOLD THE FUCK UP!" You screamed, interrupting his ramble. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE NOT CUTE? YOU'RE LITERALLY THE CUTEST- wait, you like me?"

"Yeah."

"...Oh."

Eddie flinched slightly at the short reply, lowering his eyes to the ground in embarrassment. He immediately regretted listening to Richie's advice and telling you how he felt. Judging by the shocked, wide-eyed look on your face, he was almost certain you were going to reject him. What ever made him think that you could like an asthmatic freak?

"I'm sorry, (Y/n). I'll... I'll just leave now." Eddie sniffled, trying to hold back tears. He hung his head and started to hurry away when you finally snapped out of your daze, quickly grabbing onto his arm. "Wait, don't leave yet! You haven't even heard my answer."

Eddie's head shot back up and he stared up at you hopefully, his heart beating ten times the normal rate. You smiled nervously. "I really like you, too. More than a friend."

"So you'll go out with me?!" His whole face lit up like Dina the Christmas Tree.

"Of course I will."

"Yayy!" Eddie screamed, engulfing you in a big hug and burying his face into the crook of your neck. "Germs can fuck off. I don't even care about them right now."

You laughed and wrapped your arms around him tightly. "You're adorable, you know that, right?"

"Hehe..." He said awkwardly into your neck, not knowing how to respond. You both pulled apart from each other and blushed furiously. "So, uh, meet me at the park tonight at nine-thirty. I'll see you there?"

"Yeah, okay." You smiled. "Well, I need to get going. See you later, Eds."

"Bye!"

Eddie ran away, his face still flushed red, while you mounted your bike. Just as you were about to leave, you heard two familiar screams of excitement. (richie doesn't have a crush on eddie in this cuz then it'll be too sad)

"SHE SAID YES! SHE FUCKING  SAID YES!"

"YEAHHHHHHHHH MY BOY EDS IS GONNA GET LAIDDDDDD!"

"SHUT UP, RICHIE!"

Giggling to yourself, you rode back home feeling giddy and excited. Neither of you could wait for tonight.

i know this was cliche and cringey but hey who cares