~ What A Day Can Change~

"So... now what?"

I looked over at my date and blinked. I thought over that in my mind. It was a little weird, yeah, but it shouldn't be awkward.

I was on a date with my childhood friend Eddie Van Halen. The conversation containing the question had been short and kind of funny when I think about it. But I had agreed, because I knew I had always had a soft spot for Eddie. And now here we were, not knowing what to do or where to go.

"I don't know," I responded, turning to face him. "What do you wanna do?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "What do you wanna do?"

I laughed, rolling my eyes at his childishness. "Well, there's ice-skating, bowling, fishing, hiking, the movies-- they have an arcade. Or we can go get food or something."

Eddie thought about it for a moment. "How do you feel about casinos?"

"Way to take into account all the suggestions I gave you," I huffed, then grinned. "But I do like casinos."

He laughed. "Sorry, those were all good ideas. But you mentioned the arcade, and the casino on High Street has an arcade."

"It does?" I asked. "Well, I've only been there a few times, so I wouldn't know. Well, then, let's go?"

He nodded and pointed toward High Street, and we started walking. We made it to the casino in no time, and we were allowed inside after having to show our IDs because 'no kids are allowed'.

"We don't look like kids. You don't look like a kid at all. I'm not saying you look old, you look young, but not kid-young. I don't look like a kid, do I? I may not look like a huge grown-up guy but I look like an adult, don't I?" Eddie asked. He got all of that out in one breath, leaving me staring at him in wonder.

"Yes," I responded after a minute of thinking. He nodded with wide eyes, agreeing with my agree.

"Come on," he said, taking my hand and leading me downstairs. "Let's go play in the arcade."

I laughed. "And then you say we're not kids."

"We're 25! We can have fun!"

"We're barely adults. We just crossed the line."

Eddie rolled his eyes and found a Pac-Man machine. "This one's new, see, just came out."

I looked over it. "It's weird. What's the game about?"

"That yellow ball has to eat all the yellow dots and run away from the ghosts. But when it eats the big yellow dots, it can eat the ghosts."

I stared at him for a moment. "It sounds like fun."

He nodded and put in a coin, then grabbed me by the shoulders and positioned me in front of the game machine.

"What? No, I-"

"Come on, (Y/N), it's easy," Eddie laughed. "Here," he stood behind me, slightly to the left, and put his right arm around me. He wrapped his right fist around mine, directing the yellow ball around the screen.

I was paying attention the game, but I was also paying attention to the way his hand felt on mine, the way he was resting his head on shoulder. It felt like we were a real couple, and having known each other for all those years, the idea was more plausible.

We won the game, after a few close calls. (Thanks to me, of course. I did all of the work. Yes, I did.) I turned my head and gave him a kiss on the nose, to which he reacted by cracking a big grin and giving a soft laugh.

We messed around in the arcade for a while, then went upstairs to play cards and pool. We both sucked at gambling, so we lost pretty much all we had, save for a few dollars Eddie decided would be spent on food. After taking a few hard losses, we left, claiming we were too good for that casino.

It was nighttime then. The stars twinkled high above the city and the moon shone brightly, illuminating the streets as we walked down them at a leisurely pace. We talked about anything and everything, and we made fun of each other by asking typical first-date questions that, being friends, we already knew the answers to.

We were having a great time. Eventually, we decided to follow up on my previous idea and go for a quick hike. There were several hills nearby, and Eddie claimed he wanted to see the stars more clearly.

We headed up a somewhat steep hill together, and halfway through he made an odd request.
He took off the bandana he had  wrapped around his wrist and beckoned me to come closer. "You gotta cover your eyes."

"Why?" I asked.

"Just trust me," he motioned for me to turn around. I did so, and he tied the bandana around my eyes. He took my hand and led me forward, letting me know when to lift my feet to avoid tripping.

We made it to the top, and I heard a soft "thanks."

"Who are you talking to?" I asked, raising a hand to take off the bandana.

"Wait!" Eddie said, making me snap my hand back down. "Okay, you can take it off now."

I pulled it off, blinking once, then twice.

Eddie was standing there, a shy, nervous, adorable grin on his face, holding out a flower and rocking back and forth on his feet.

I took this moment to admire him. The 'VH' charm on the chain around his neck flashed when the moon hit it just right. He shook his brown hair back, giving me a good view of his greenish eyes. He was still smiling nervously at me, and I finally looked behind him.

There was a blanket spread across the ground, a plastic bag next to it. I moved closer to Eddie and he handed me the flower, then gestured for me to sit on the blanket. I did, and he sat down as well. He straighten his arms, then put his hands behind him and leaned back on them.

"Now tell me who you were talking to."

He put his head back and looked up at the stars, letting out a soft laugh. "Alex. I had him bring the stuff up."

I laughed, thinking of Eddie making his brother do this stuff for him. It was a sweet thought.

"And he just... left?"

"Yeah. Did you want him to stick around?" He gave me an amused look.

"Right," I laughed. "So, what's in the bag?"

"Oh, right," he said. He dragged it over and emptied its contents onto the blanket. "Your favorites. Milk chocolate, taffy, uh... gummy bears, some cotton candy, grape soda, and a few more things."

I grinned stupidly, looking into his shining eyes. He gestured for me to dig in, taking one of the chocolate bars and laying back. I too lay back, resting my head on a flat rock right behind me. I looked over and saw Eddie with his hands intertwined behind his head, having finished the chocolate. I let out a breath and looked up at the sky. I felt perfectly at peace.

"(Y/N)--" Eddie began."I--"

I looked over at him again. His eyes were closed and his eyebrows were lowered, and he was angled toward the sky. I looked back to the stars, not interrupting him.

"We've known each other for a while, right? Since I first moved here. We've been friends for so long, but to tell you the absolute truth, I've always had... had a crush on you."

I looked at him again. His eyes were still closed and he was still facing the sky.

"You know everything about me. I know everything about you. We're best friends. And I know this is a little weird because of that, but I gotta ask..."

This time when I turned to face him, he was on his side, holding himself up by leaning on his arm. He was staring at me, his eyes glittering in the starlight. "Will you..."

He stopped, looking down at his hand. He looked up at me and gave me a shy smile and a soft laugh. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

I slowly inhaled, turning my eyes to the sky, then looked back at him and smiled. "Of course I will."

He exhaled and fell on his back, closing his eyes as he drew in a breath. "Thanks."

I laughed, hard. "You're so weird."

He turned back to me, laughing as well. "Thanks." 

I looked at him and drew in a long breath. "Eddie," I said, closing my eyes and exhaling before saying what I said next: "I love you." 

He blinked. "Really?"

I nodded, and he responded, "I love you, too, (Y/N)." 

We both had the same idea at the same time. I scooted closer, and he reached out to me. He hid his brown-green eyes behind his eyelids seconds before our lips touched. And then there I was, kissing my long-time best friend, now boyfriend, local rockstar, Eddie Van Halen.

And I was happy.

***