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It was an average day here in the neighbourhood, peaceful and quiet, the sun was shining and the spring breeze blew softly across a field of grass and flowers. Upon the green grass was the neighbourhood’s bookworm, Frank Frankly. He was doing his normal routine of studying and catching butterflies, it was one of his biggest interests after all.
His focus was on a blue morpho butterfly he spotted. He had never caught one before so this sighting made him almost ecstatic, but he was compelled to contain his excitement in order to not startle the peaceful insect which was sitting on a dew moist leaf.
As he was concentrating on waiting for the perfect moment to catch the bug in his net, another neighbourhood resident skipped along the pavement. Julie Joyful, who happened to be Frank's best friend. She approached the bookworm, with a wide smile on her face. This wasn’t abnormal of course, she was always so cheerful and happy, but her expression was marked more with excitement.
“Hi Frank! How’s it going?” Julie said.
“Hello Julie, I’m currently in the middle of something if you don’t mind.” Frank murmured, his words were brief and unclear so Julie didn’t get the memo.
“Well, today I heard a little word going around about you.” Julie explained. Her smile became more broad.
“Oh yeah? Tell me about it.” Frank replied, he was only half listening to what Julie was saying, as his full focus was on catching the butterfly, he was very close to it at this point.
“You, like someone!”
“Ah I see, nice to know.”
“You like a certain…postman.”
“Oh nice-Wait-WHAT?!” Frank yelled in shock. His sudden yelp caused the butterfly to fly away into the sky and Frank groaned in disappointment. Frank spun round to face the now laughing Julie.
“What the-You-Wha-How did you know?!” Frank exclaimed, he realized he let his words slip and slapped a hand across his mouth in surprise. Julie gasped at this and laughed even more “Ohh so the rumours are true!”
“No! Well yes-But-I-Gahh..!” Frank gave up, he couldn’t win this. His face was now red from frustration and embarrassment. He slumped down by the nearby tree that shaded both him and Julie. Julie was frantically jumping with excitement.
“I knew it! I knew it! I knew you grumpy bookworm had a soft spot! Hah take that, Sally!” Julie said, as she pointed into the sky as if in triumph.
“What do you mean by ‘Take that, Sally’?”
“Me and Sally made a bet on whether you or you don’t like Eddie, and since you do, I win!”
“Oh of course you would..” Frank scoffed. Julie is the playful one in the neighbourhood after all, why wouldn’t she do bets with others based on neighbourhood gossip? He still sat on the ground, back laid upon the tree. His face was red with blush, but still had that grumpy attire. Julie still hovered around him. “Is that the only reason why you’re excited?” Frank sighed.
“Of course not! I was just wondering when you were gonna tell Eddie.”
“What?” Frank’s eyes shot open.
“Tell Eddie that you like-”
“I heard what you said.” Frank cut off Julie. “I just don't want to.”
“Aww are you scared or something?” Julie said, now in a teasing tone.
“No! I just-Wait, does he know already?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Oh thank the stars..” Frank sighed with relief.
“So what’s stopping you?” Julie eagerly said.
“I-” Frank thought for a moment, “Okay maybe I am a little bit scared.” Julie went quiet, having an expression of pity. She now sat next to her best friend, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
“Aw don’t be! I’m sure he’ll like you back, and if not then you two could figure out-”
“Figure out what?! If I tell him and he says no then I will look like the biggest idiot there is and I will most likely destroy our friendship!” Frank snapped, he was a bit irritated at this point. Julie panicked at the sight of her best friend becoming upset by her own words, she felt bad for what she had caused.
“I’m so sorry Frank! I didn’t mean to upset you! I was just hoping that you’d get your feelings out some day, keeping them hidden isn’t healthy for you! Say, what do you like about Eddie anyways, he’s just a postman after all.”
“It’s not because he’s a postman. He’s genuinely caring towards me, his soft spoken voice is nice to listen to. His red hair looks soft to the touch, he has such a handsome face. Strong too, I mean, he carries heavy boxes and packages everywhere, but he does it so effortlessly. There are no words that can describe how much I love him.” Frank got lost in his own thoughts and forgot that Julie was still there, intently listening to how he described Eddie. Frank cleared his throat as his face turned red again.
“Wow..you must really like him,” Julie said, smiling again. “I don’t think you should rush things, but it would be nice to tell him some day. Sorry if I upset you.”
“No it’s ok I’m not mad at you. You know, it was actually nice to say these thoughts out loud. I should thank you.” Frank reassured Julie “You know what, sure. I might as well tell him.” Julie’s mouth hung open.
“Really? Yayy!!” Julie cried in excitement, giving Frank the biggest hug. “I hope it goes well!”
“Yeah…thank you Julie”
Julie stood up from the tree and happily skipped away, “Bye Franky! I’m going over to Sally’s house now, I won the bet after all. See you later!” Julie waved at Frank and he waved back, and chuckled awkwardly.
As he watched Julie make her way to Sally’s place, he started to second guess what he had said. “Am I really going to tell Eddie?? Frank you idiot what have you done? Will he really like you back?” Thoughts raced through his mind as he cupped his reddened face in his hands in embarrassment. “Well, it’s worth a shot I guess…” Frank finally stood up from the tree and gathered his book and net, making his way into his home.
~~~~~~
A moment has passed since his conversion with Julie and Frank was pacing around his bedroom in circles, thinking if what he was going to do is a good idea. He liked Eddie for quite a while now, he had always kept his thoughts to himself, but to actually tell him? He feared that the outcome would be horrible, but he had to tell him at some point. Like Julie said, keeping feelings hidden isn’t healthy, but what if it made matters worse?
He wanted to scream in frustration but didn’t want anyone to hear so he buried his head into his bed sheets and let it all out. Eddie is just so goddamn adorable and he could do nothing about it, at least, that’s what he thought. It was still noon at this time and Eddie was currently doing his job of delivering letters and packages. Frank could wait until Eddie’s shift was finished and maybe tell him then, he wouldn’t want to get in the way of Eddie’s job after all.
“Okay Frank just breathe, he’s your friend after all. He won’t hate you, you’re just overreacting.” Frank tried to reassure himself, praying that all goes well. He laid on his bed, gazing at the ceiling. He couldn’t help the thumping of his chest, and the light blush on his cheeks. Frank couldn’t believe he was going to do this.
~~~~~~
Late afternoon and Eddie Dear had just finished delivering the last of the mail to Howdy’s place, he tipped his hat in farewell and started to make his way back to his own place. He was tired after all and would like to relax at home. There he was surprised to see his bookworm friend, waving at him down the street.
“Frank! How do you do? Didn’t expect to see you here.” Eddie greeted with his usual friendly attire. Frank didn’t reply though, he just made his way over to the postman, facing away from him as if to try and hide his now reddened face. “Frank? Are you feeling alright? You’re awfully quiet, are you unwell?”
“No no. I’m just fine, thank you.” Frank replied. Eddie tilted his head slightly to see his friend’s face, he noticed that Frank looked almost bashful. Frank was the greyest and grumpiest among the neighbors, with that signature frown, so to see Frank all nervous and queasy was odd to Eddie. “I just…wanted to ask you something.”
“Ah I see, what is it then?” Eddie questioned, completely oblivious to the fact that Frank was practically screaming internally. Frank fiddled with his thumbs and finally looked up at Eddie.
“Eddie, we’ve known each other for quite some time and I wondered how you feel about me..” Frank shuddered, beads of sweat trickled down his neck.
“Well of course I know how I feel about you, you’re my best friend of course! Is that…not what you want?” Eddie scratched his head in confusion.
Frank groaned, “The point is that I like you, you idiot!”
Frank didn’t mean to shout, he didn’t mean to yell at Eddie like that. Both of their eyes were wide open, Frank placed his hand over his mouth again, regretting what he had said. While Eddie stood there, in mute surprise.
“E-Eddie, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to yell at you like that. I just wanted-I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry-” Frank kept apologizing, over and over again, he could feel tears start to build up. He felt like a complete moron, thinking that there was no way a man like Eddie could ever like him with that kind of attitude.
“What the hell were you thinking?? You really think you could just sweet talk Eddie? He probably hates you by now!” These thoughts flooded Frank’s mind as tears rolled down his face.
It was until large arms wrapped around his slender body. “Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay. There’s no need to be upset.” Eddie hushed. Frank, now in Eddie’s arms, felt his own arms tighten the embrace between the two. Frank was overcome with so many emotions, he just managed to compel himself from becoming a bawling mess over the mailman’s uniform.
“Y’know, I like you too Frank. I like it when you talk to me about your interests in butterflies, you always wear such colorful vests. I like you a lot.” Frank felt heat rush to his face as he heard those words.
As they finally parted from their embrace, Frank saw that Eddie’s cheeks were also red. There was a moment of awkwardness as Eddie finally broke the silence. “I’m happy that you feel the same way Frankly.”
“I-I um, didn’t know how to tell you. I’m not exactly the best with words”
“If I’m being honest, I kind of already knew.”
“I-what?” Frank’s eyes shot up.
“I mean come on Frank! Look at you, you turn red whenever we do anything together. I’ll admit, it’s kind of adorable.”
“Oh-Was I really that obvious.?”
“Yeah, sought of.” Eddie chuckled quietly.
“Dammit of course. God I’m such an idiot I’m sorry if this is really awkward I just wanted to tell you how I feel about y-” Frank was cut off by Eddie cupping his face with his hands. They were soft to the touch and one brushed his black hair to the side to reveal more of his reddened face. Eddie smiled, looking intently, and lovingly, at him.
Before Frank could say anything, Eddie placed a soft kiss on Frank’s lips. The bookworm was overcome with emotion that he practically melted into this one simple kiss. He almost felt like crying tears of joy. Julie was right, it was nice to finally let his thoughts and feelings be said aloud.
As they both parted from the kiss, Frank was left with nothing but affection, he struggled to string together words and he was all nervous again. His cheeks were burning red and couldn’t help but laugh quietly. Eddie let out his own hearty laugh and hugged Frank again, but it was more of a bear hug. Frank was small compared to the mailman and he practically disappeared into Eddie’s large arms as he could feel his feet lift off from the ground.
“Ahh Frank Frankly, you wonderful lovebug. I love you too you goof!” He exclaimed as he tousled Frank’s hair into a messy shot of black strands. Finally he let the small bookworm go from his embrace and he had to take a moment to catch his breath. The mailman laughed again and apologized. Frank reassured him that all was fine.
“It’s getting dark, y’know. You can spend the night at my place if you want!” Eddie suggested. Frank almost jumped at this.
“Really? That would be wonderful, Eddie” Frank replied. Eddie chuckled again and kissed the top of his head.
“Well then! We should best get going then, you adorable hotshot.”
Frank sighed, “Oh, you beautiful fool...”