A/N - This chapter was inspired by the song Like I Can by Sam Smith. This is set during Eddie and Reader's first senior year. I hope you all enjoy it. (Sidenote: I mention a toy called a Boglin in this chapter, and if you've never seen one, please look it up. They're incredible. The 80s were a wild time.)
"I can't believe you don't want to go to prom," you murmured, lounging across your bed whilst Eddie busied himself at your dresser, nosing around the different products that were littering the surface.
"What is this even for?" he hummed, lifting up one of the bottles and scrutinising the label.
You groaned, sitting up to look at him. "That's body lotions. It keeps your skin soft," you uttered, letting out a soft sigh. "And you're avoiding talking to me which is a really shitty thing for a friend to do."
He glanced over his shoulder at you, settling the bottle down in the middle of the dresser. "I'm not avoiding anything."
"Then why don't you want to go to prom?"
"I think the real question is why do you want to go to prom? It'll be boring."
You were frowning at him, watching as he leant precariously against the edge of the dresser. "It can't be that boring. I'll be there."
"Yeah, and that'll be the only redeeming feature of the whole night," he agreed. "I'm not going."
You bit down on the inside of your cheek. You'd always had a sneaking suspicion that Eddie had been harbouring a bit of a crush on you; the same sort of crush that you'd definitely had on him since you'd first met. But here you were, basically begging him to ask you to prom and he was avoiding it like he thought you'd give him the plague.
"Fine," you breathed out. "Someone already asked me to be their date anyway," you added softly, flumping back onto the mattress.
"Who?"
"What do you care? You're not going."
His brow furrowed as he slumped down beside you, watching you carefully as you stared up at the ceiling. "Who is he?"
You sighed, turning your head to make eye contact. "Pete; he's on the basketball team-"
"You're kidding, right? Pete Lindon? You're going to prom with that idiot?"
"Hey," you bit out. "Don't say that."
Eddie raised his eyebrows at you. "His entire personality is that he plays basketball. He's the most boring guy alive."
"Yeah, well he asked me out. And I plan on saying yes, so you're just going to have to get over it, aren't you?"
"You're going to be bored out of your mind-"
You sat up suddenly, watching as Eddie flinched backwards, careening off the side of the bed and onto the floor. "Quit it. If you were so worried about me being bored you wouldn't be ditching me."
You were glaring at him so passionately that Eddie almost didn't recognise you. Sure, you guys bickered from time to time, but you didn't tend to be so reactive. You tended to laugh things off. Hell, he didn't think you'd ever actually been mad at him before.
"I'm sorry," he murmured, pushing himself up to his feet. "I should head out. Jeff's hosting band practice tonight and he lives on the other side of town-"
Your expression softened slightly. "I'll see you later," you uttered, watching as he hesitated by your window.
"I'm sorry I was being a dick about Pete," he finally told you, his lips twitching up into a half-hearted smile. "I barely know the guy-"
"It's fine," you interrupted, sitting cross-legged in the middle of your bed. "You don't have to like him. He's my date."
*Time Skip*
"So, Billy is right there at Centre circle and I've never seen a free throw like it. It goes straight in. Nothing but net. He's like a God or something," Pete told you, grinning wildly as you nodded along, completely out of your element. Hell, you'd never even watched a game of basketball before and his descriptions of game-changing scores were making no sense whatsoever. You hated to admit it, but Eddie had been right. You were bored out of your mind.
"I'm going to get some punch," you uttered, offering him a half-hearted attempt at your normal smile.
"I'll come with you-"
"No," you interrupted quickly. "It's fine. I've got to run to the restroom first, anyway," you pressed on, patting his elbow. "I'll come and find you when I'm done."
You had almost made it to the door of the hall when it had swung open and Eddie had come rushing in, his eyes darting around the room until they landed on you. And then, his wild-eyed expression had softened, a small smile pulling at his lips.
"Wow," he murmured. "You look really nice," he added, watching your brow furrow slightly.
"I thought you didn't want to come."
"I didn't," he uttered. "But then I was telling Jeff that you were here and that you were upset that I didn't want to come and he pointed out what an idiot I am," he murmured. "I never should've let you come here with Pete. I should've asked you to be my date."
A frustrated sigh slipped out of you. "You can't just show up here and-"
"He doesn't know you, Sweetheart. He doesn't know that you hate basketball. He doesn't know that you'd much rather sit and talk about Lord of the Rings for hours than ever sit through any sports game." He let shook his head slightly, still standing a couple of feet away and drawing way more attention to himself than you would've liked. "Hell, he didn't even know who you were until you got your braces off and your boobs came in-"
"Eddie," you cried out, your eyes widened in horror.
He shook his head again. "I loved you when you were still that awkward little thing that got embarrassed when a guy even looked at you. When you used to get all flustered whenever I called you pretty, but God, you were always so pretty."
He took another step towards you, his face all scrunched up in concentration as he looked down at you.
"You don't get it, do you? I have been in love with you since day one," he bit out. "I know everything there is to know about; even the weird stuff that makes no sense. You think Pete's going to understand why you get all giddy every time you see one of those dumb Boglin things?"
"I-"
"Because they're ugly, but you love that about them. You think that they're so ugly that they become cute again. And you hate the Carebears because the texture of their fur makes your stomach turn. But you still keep Grumpybear on your bookshelf in your bedroom because I gave him to you for your birthday after you made me watch the movie with you and you couldn't bear to throw him away." He paused for a moment, pushing his hair back out of his face. "Because you're weird as all hell, but that's why I love you."
Your mouth opened and closed for a moment, searching for something to say.
"You love me?"
Eddie let out a soft chuckle. "Of course, I love you. I've always loved you."
You bit into your bottom lip, shifting on the spot. "You couldn't have told me this before I said yes to someone else?"
"I didn't realise you wanted me to ask-" he paused shaking his head. "I'm an idiot, Sweetheart, but you knew that already, didn't you?" A small smile pulled at his lips when you chuckled. "I should have told you sooner. And I'm sorry that I didn't. But I'm telling you now, okay?"
"Okay," you responded softly. "But you're a little underdressed," you murmured, reaching out to fiddle with the zipper of his leather jacket. "Pretty sure this is supposed to be a suit-"
"Take it easy on me, Sweetheart. I didn't have time for a wardrobe change," he teased, tapping you lightly on the chin to make you look up at him. "I love you."
Your tongue darted out to wet your lips. "I love you too."
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