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Valentine's Day was always one of the neighborhood's best times of the year, even if they didn't have a special partner to share it with, because they had each other. And every neighbor had their own way of making Valentine's Day special for everyone else: Poppy would bake cakes and cookies for everyone with all their favorite flavors, Howdy would sell one-day specials at a greatly discounted price, Barnaby would greet everyone with a Valentine's-based pun and a great big hug, Wally and Julie wrote and decorated heartfelt cards for every neighbor in Home, Eddie spent the entire day delivering those letters and presents for everyone, Frank would release all his butterflies into the sky come sunset, and Sally would end the day with a romantic musical play. It was tradition, and everyone in Home loved it.
However, this year was different, at least for Frank. This year, his heart yearned for someone to call his own, a very specific someone. This year, he wanted to spend Valentine's Day with the neighborhood's beloved postman, Eddie Dear.
He couldn't help himself; Eddie was just so cute and sweet and honest, hardworking, caring, optimistic, gentle... need he go on? True, he'd acted distant towards Eddie, but that was only because he was scared of his feelings and of getting rejected. Julie knew this, and had tried to convince him to just talk to Eddie, but Frank couldn't do that. Not after being so cold and aloof to the poor, sweet mailman. No, the best thing Frank could do was spend Valentine's Day the way he always did and prepare his butterflies for their sunset release. Maybe this year he would put his and Julie's butterfly-friendly glitter on them to make them sparkle in the sunlight.
Frank hummed at the thought as he walked past Barnaby's paint-splattered house (extra pink this year, thanks to Julie). He'd caught a few more rainbow butterflies for the sunset release, and he was hoping he had enough glitter for his new additions. He knew he had more than enough for the ones he'd already captured, but he wasn't certain of how much there had been leftover. As he wondered, he started to tune out the world around him, even as he started to approach his house, or when Julie called out to him from her doorstep to say something about Eddie.
It wasn't until a certain whistling started up that Frank looked up from his jar of butterflies and saw Eddie skipping down the sidewalk towards him that Frank stopped walking and focused on the handsome southern man. In turn, Eddie put on his charming smile and raised his hand to wave at Frank, unaware that he was heading towards one of Julie's decorative rocks. Before anyone could warn him, Eddie tripped over the rock and started to tumble hazardly towards Frank before finally losing his footing and falling over. The problem was that he'd stumbled too far and by the time he'd lost his balance he was only a couple of feet away from Frank, so he'd fallen over Frank and knocked him over, too.
"E-Eddie!" Frank cried as they fell back, blushing madly.
"Sorry, Mr. Frankly!" Eddie exclaimed with a blush of his own, though his was accompanied by a nervous smile. "That was my fault, I was just so excited to give you your letter-- oh, golly, let me get offa you."
"It's fine, Ed-- Mr. Dear," Frank murmured, allowing Eddie to get off of him and give him a generous amount of space before getting up himself. "You said you had a letter for me? Is it a normal letter or one of Wally and Julie's cards?"
"Ah, it's neither actually," Eddie answered, taking off his cap and blushing even more. "It's... um... it's from me." He reached into his mailbag and pulled out a dark pink envelope with a red heart seal. "I know you probably have other, better plans this Valentine's Day, but I was hoping you'd have a bit of time to... to, um... well, to join me for a picnic in the park."
Frank raised his eyebrow at Eddie and took the letter from him. Unable to believe what Eddie was saying, he opened the letter himself (taking the time to do it carefully) and read:
Dear Mr. Frankly,
I know I'm not the smartest or fanciest guy in the neighborhood, but I've been holding this in for a while and I'd like to finally get it off my chest and tell you how I feel. The truth is that I find you handsome and charming and so wonderfully generous, and I really like you. I know you probably don't see me as anything more than the overly klutzy mailman, and that's okay, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm crazy about you and I'd love to go on a date with you this Valentine's Day if you'd let me. Please consider it and have yourself a lovely Valentine's Day.
Yours truly, Eddie Dear.
Frank couldn't help but reread the letter a couple more times to be sure of what he was seeing. When he looked up from the letter, Eddie was still standing five feet away from him, still blushing and nervously wringing his hat in his hands. Standing on her porch behind him, Julie was watching them with lively excitement. Her eyes found Frank's and she glared at his uncertainty. She nodded at him, and he knew exactly what she meant just by the look in her eyes:
"Do it. Say yes. You both deserve this, so go for it!"
And no matter how nervous he was, he knew that she was right. He was never going to get anything like this ever again. He'd never find anyone more perfect than Eddie. Even if things went wrong, he still had to try.
Frank took a deep breath and tried to put on a kindly neutral expression as he answered. "Well, that sounds like a wonderful idea, Eddie. I'd love to join you on your picnic."
Eddie's eyes lit up and Frank's heart all but leapt out of his chest. "R-Really? You mean it, Mr. Frankly?"
Frank chuckled and gently took Eddie's hands. "Please, Eddie, call me Frank." Stars, how he regretted making Eddie address him so formally. "And yes, I do mean it. I'll need to tend to my butterflies first, but I'll be ready to leave in about half an hour. Is that alright?"
"Oh, absolutely, Mist-- Frank." Eddie smiled in a way that made Frank blush even harder than he thought was possible. "I'll pick you up then, or later if you'd like."
"Very well, I'll see you in half an hour, Eddie," Frank said, taking his hands back. "Take care until then."
"Likewise," Eddie responded, bowing his head and putting his hat back on. "Evening to you. Miss Julie, happy Valentine's to you."
Julie waved merrily at Eddie as he walked off with more pep in his step. Then, once he was out of sight, she turned her smile to Frank and started clapping. Frank rolled his eyes at her and walked back to his house, hugging his jar of butterflies tight enough to almost crack the glass. Then, he released them into his butterfly tent, watching with glazed eyes and a blissful smile as the butterflies he caught joined and danced around their new friends.