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what was eddie’s love if not gentle?

pressing soft kisses to the back of her neck while she’s studying, stopping to tie her shoes if he notices one is undone, painting one of his nails in her favorite color. all the things that made eddie, her eddie.

and they weren’t even dating.

the love that they had for each other was unanimous, but they were both blissfully unaware of the special spot they held in each other’s hearts. being best friends for 8 years, their falling in love was bound to happen eventually. but they didn’t know that they would be so oblivious when it did.

eddie thought that eventually, she would see that the kisses and the hand-holding and the special softness he held only around her weren’t just because she was his best friend. he loved her, needed her. he needed her on his good days, his bad days, days where he felt less than. and in return, she needed him maybe more than he needed her.

on days when her parents were fighting, days when she was too tired to brush her teeth all she wanted was to hold and be held by eddie. she needed his reassuring back rubs and the sweetest i love you’s whispered in her ear.

today was one of those days. the taunting at school and the teasing at home had finally gotten the best of them. needing each other now more than ever.

and so there she was. in tears on his front steps, knocking so softly she wondered if he had even heard it. and of course, he did.

the door swung open, revealing eddie in his pajamas. it was barely 4pm. he had skipped hellfire, skipped band practice. he was too tired to pretend that he cared today. and despite how tired he was, how drained, all he wanted was to be in her presence.

“hi, angel,” he said softly, noticing her tears.

she hiccuped. “hi, eddie. can i…” she trailed off because she knew that he knew what she wanted.

he opened the door wider and gently guided her inside, shutting the door behind her.

they both just stood there in his living room for a moment. her arms tucked under her armpits, guarded and closed off, tears streaming down her face. his arms at his sides, open and welcoming, eyes brimming with worry. and then she looked up at his face. her eddie, standing there having a horrible day and all he was worried about was her.

it finally hit her. and she broke.

she all but ran into his arms which wrapped around her almost immediately. she was sobbing, wetting his shirt, mumbling incoherently. but he didn’t care. she could flood his trailer, send it floating down the streets of hawkins and he wouldn’t mind.

“shh, baby, it’s alright. i’ve got you,” eddie whispered into her hair. he didn’t know if she could hear him over the sound of her cries, but he hoped she did. the reassuring back rubs were present and they helped her calm down, just like they always did.

“i-i’m sorry. i’m so sorry” she gasped in between cries. she pulled away from his grasp to look at his face. his eyes were filled with worry, with tears.

“y/n, it’s ok. really, i don’t mind.” he was confused. she had broken like this in front of him before. but, yeah. it felt different this time.

“n-no eddie. i’m sorry. i’m sorry i didn’t see it. i didn’t see that you were hurting while i was busy and distracted with other things, other people. god eddie, i’m so sorry.”

he wiped her face, tucked her hair behind her ear, searching her face for any sign of what she was thinking. “angel, what are you talking about? i’m sorry, i have no idea what you’re apologizing for.”

she bit her lip, trying to form the words she’s been wanting to tell him for so long.

“god eddie, i love you. i’ve loved you since i was 14 years old. but you were so busy with hellfire and corroded coffin and selling that i didn’t even think you had time for me. i didn’t think you had time for a girlfriend. i’ve told you that i love you so many times over the past 5 years with so much meaning behind it, wondering who would be the first to say something. well, this is it. this is me saying something. i love you, eddie munson.”

eddie’s mouth was agape, the tears that has been threatening to spill earlier were falling down his face. he just looked at her. so many words were bouncing around in his brain; he didn’t know how to form a proper sentence.

so, he kissed her.

he had kissed her before, “friends can kiss sometimes” they would say, but this was so much different. this was pure passion, pure love, and pure admiration for the person on the other end. their lips slotted together like they were made for each other. like he was made for loving her.

he was sobbing by this point, tears that would not stop. he started pressing soft kisses all over her face. her cheeks that he loved to pinch when they were teasing each other, her nose that he loved to poke at when she was pretending to be annoyed with him, her eyelids that covered the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen.

“jesus christ, y/n,” he looked at her, eyes spilling with love, chuckling softly at her flushed face. he didn’t know whether her rosy cheeks were from her crying or him.

he pressed another kiss to her lips. “i love you. so much. i’ve been waiting for you to say that you love me like this for 8 years. since the day we met. god, i didn’t know love like this existed.” he was smiling sweetly at her, his dimples showing. she wanted to put her finger there and keep him smiling forever.

“please, y/n. let me be your boyfriend. let me do this every time that i see you. getting to love you would be the honor of my life. i’ll beg on my knees if i have to.”

her eyes went wide and then she was laughing at him. he took that as a sign to do what he promised. so he got on his knees.

“please, baby, please,” he took both her hands and kissed each knuckle, “i’ll do whatever you ask of me.”

she was pulling at his hands and laughing as he let her pull him off the ground. “get up, please. that’s what i’m asking of you.”

he smiled and wrapped her up in his arms again, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head. “is that a yes? you gonna let me be your boyfriend?”

she smiled softly up at him, bringing a hand to cup his face. “hmm, ‘this is my boyfriend eddie’ does have a nice ring to it.”

they were swaying as they spoke. “it does doesn’t it. been thinking that for some time.”

she laughed at him and her eyes might as well have been heart-shaped. “yeah, eddie. i’ll let you be my boyfriend. you gonna let me be your girlfriend?”

“baby, you don’t even have to ask.”