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comfylionsden · 2 years

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Tender Love || E.M X Reader

Pairing: Eddie Munson x AFAB!Reader, Eddie Munson x Australian!Reader, Eddie Munson x Reader

Rating: PG for now - Subject to change if I wanna write more

Summary: Reader has just moved to Hawkins from Australia. She was the local freak back down under but now that she’s been given a fresh chance to start over she’s gonna give it her best to try and fit in, but of course it all goes to hell and like moths to a flame you and Eddie are drawn to each other. (I suck at summaries sorry asdfghjkl;)

Warnings: Reader has really bad anxiety, low self esteem and mentions of depression. She is also a massive cry baby. Eddie has a thing for reader having teary eyes. Use of Y/N and also Chrissy is an angel and her and Y/N are gonna be best buddies!!! No Chrissy slander or hurt in this fic!!!!!

Word Count: 5.2k

AN: Hello! This is my first ever piece of written fiction! I have 0 background in writing but after having my Eddie playlist on repeat for the past few weeks my hands literally HAD to type this out or I’d simply DIE. No one proof read this so sorry for any mistakes I tried my hardest to comb them out! I hope you enjoy! I may possibly write another chapter in the future!

<3 Hope you enjoy!

Standing in the cool morning air, the sun peaking over the tree line stood a young girl in front of Hawkins High School. Her name was y/n. You were ripped up from your somewhat uncomfortable roots of Australia and moved across the globe for your fathers work at a newly opened hospital and research facility in Hawkins. The roots were uncomfortable because you were a known freak, a nerd and a geek. You love anime and comics, are a certified metal head, a bit of an artist type, and finally you LOVE dungeons and dragons.

The only saving grace while being the town freak was how you spent the past five or so years building up a small group of friends who loved the same things as you and accepted you for all your flaws and shortcomings. In fact as a parting gift, your party of heroes gave you a special dice set containing one die from everyone’s own favourite set to make a complete set for you. To say you bawled your eyes out at your going away party from this gesture would be an understatement.

Now here you are, starting all over again. You knew you were awkward, your anxiety was your biggest enemy and it made it so hard for you to socialize but you wanted to make this year as normal as possible. You wanted to make the most of this fresh start and you are gonna do your best to fit in.

You glanced down at your watch with an audible gulp. ‘7:46am… should be enough time to find home room before nine.’ You thought to yourself as you glanced back up to the school's front doors. “It is not the strength of the body but the strength of the spirit y/n…” you sighed out, taking your first step into her new life. ‘Tolkien give me strength’.

The halls were almost empty, gazing around you saw only a few people, those going to sports practice or clubs before class. The quiet and emptiness of it eased your nerves, crowds were another source of discomfort for your poor self. As you walked around aimlessly trying to take note of what class was where and where things were you passed a school notice board. There were flyers for upcoming school events, any recent news and clubs advertising for new members.

Under all the advertisements something caught your eye, a small piece of ratty paper with the words ‘Hellfire club’ scribbled on with a big drawing of a flail, some dice and a demon. It piqued your interest but it had no contact information on it so you just shrugged to yourself and continued on your path.

You passed by your home room around 3 times, investigating the quickest ways out of the school, to the bathrooms and to the cafeteria and figuring out any potential quiet spots. After about an hour of this you meandered back to your home room and slowly opened the door. As you looked in, the handful of students already at their desks peered up to you and just /stared/. This unnerved you and all you could do was let out a little squeak and a wave of your hand with a quiet “G‘ morning…” following after.

Your eyes instantly spotted the entire back row of the class was empty and you speed walked your way right there. You sat yourself down and sighed with relief. About five minutes before the bell a few jocks walked in with a few cheerleaders. You only caught the names of two: Chrissy and Jason.

You didn’t pay much mind to Jason, but you couldn’t help but focus on Chrissy. She was so pretty! You stared at her in complete adoration. You didn’t really have cheerleaders back in Australia so seeing one in person was an awesome experience. You could hear her giggle and talk with her friends, she seemed so lovely. You cursed yourself for having terrible social skills, horrid anxiety AND not the most top notch self esteem or you’d have half a mind to introduce yourself to her. But alas before that thought could spiral the bell rang and everyone took their seats. There was only one chair empty and it was to the left of you.

Your home room teacher Mrs Fitzgerald walked in, giving out good mornings casually and clearing her throat.

“Alright everybody, we have a very special lady joining us today—” oh god no.

“Her name is Y/N L/N and she is all the way from down under in Australia!” Please stop.

“Why don’t you come up here and introduce yourself Y/N matey and give us a G’Day!” Oh Jesus H Christ. This was literally your worst nightmare, a terrible Australian accent AND introducing yourself. You had a feeling it would happen but taking a seat at the back was your attempt to stop it dead in its tracks. Curse well organised teachers.

You pushed your chair out from under you, your stomach was turning as you slowly walked your way up past everyone not even DARING to look at a single person. When you reach the front of class you turn to see the sea of eyes looking at you like you were fresh meat. You were going to be SICK. You looked around and your eyes fell on someone and you strangely felt like this was gonna be the thing that saves you right now. Your eyes met Chrissy’s. She was staring up at you in awe, eyes wide as she rested her chin on her hands, leaning forward in her chair to listen keenly onto every word you said.

“Uh good mornin’ everyone… My name is Y/N but you can just call me Y/N/N if you’d like.” You kept eye contact with Chrissy the whole time and it was working. It was like she was a calming energy to your very anxious self and this was your attempt to just introduce yourself to her and not the rest of the class.

“I’m from a city called Melbourne, my dad is from New Zealand and I am half native New Zealander. I like art and I hope we can all get along.” There were some whispers among the crowd about your heritage, astonished since honestly some people don’t even know New Zealand had native people. You hated saying native but if you just said you were half Māori you doubted anyone would understand and you weren’t in the mood to explain while trying to introduce yourself and out yourself as a socially awkward freak IMMEDIATELY.

You have a slight bow and gauged by Chrissy's big beaming smile and her starting to clap and welcome you that you didn’t freak her out at least. Before you could scurry back to your seat, the class door swung up and under its archway stood a scruffy mop of a man, his hellfire shirt catching your eye as you remembered the paper on the notice board. The smell of smoke wafted to you and part of you couldn’t help but enjoy it, kind of reminded you of home, in the backyard during summer. His rings glinted in the light, jeans ripped and dirty reeboks and he just looked so… hot! He was exactly your type and you hated yourself for it! What kind of thoughts were these to be having about someone you’ve just seen! You didn’t need to wait for an introduction, Mrs Fitzgerald did it for him.

“Edward Munson, you are late! How do you expect to graduate this year when you can’t even make it to your home room on time!”

He paid no mind to Mrs Fitzgerald but was eyeing you off instead. This meek little lamb standing at the front of class. You had your hair tied back in a low pony, some black, baggy jumper clinging for dear life to your shoulders, some ripped up shorts that were just a little too short for his imagination and some ratty old red chucks. The thing that caught his attention most were your dewy eyes. You looked like you were going to break down at the slightest breeze and it made his heart beat a few beats quicker.

He needed to draw his attention away from you and turned to Mrs Fitzgerald and made some horns with his fingers and gaudy face at the teacher in question as he spun on his heel to saunter down to the last free desk. The one to your left. You were internally screaming, this day was already going off to a GREAT start (not). Now you had to be stuck next to the hottest guy in the school for all your home room classes. Once home room was done you sprung out of your chair and got the fuck out of there. Your tummy was hurting from the anxiety so bad, you just wanted to get away from the stud next to you before you died from nerves.

Just before you could make it to your next class, English, an already familiar face came into view…

“Hey Y/N! My names Chrissy!” She beamed at you as she stepped next to you and matched your walking speed. She noticed the small jump you did, when she just came out of what felt like NOWHERE to you.

“Oh gosh I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you! Are you heading to Mr Ray's English class?” She asked, with you immediately returning with a nod. You were way too shy to say anything and you could feel your face going red.

“Oh that’s perfect! I’m all alone in his class and I’m in need of an English friend so we can sit together!” She took the initiative to interlock your arms together, your face going from a soft pink to a bright red almost instantly, eyes darting from your arms to her smile. Her smile was gentle and Chrissy picked up that you were shy almost instantly. Anyone could honestly, you thought you had it under lock and key but if you could see yourself all you’d see is a shaking leaf.

During class all Chrissy and you did was talk really, asking one about the other, you opening up to Chrissy about your less mainstream interests and she accepting them with almost open arms. Chrissy was a bright beacon for your first day and you were grateful to have met someone as fun and as outgoing as her. After class, you both went separate ways for your next class but she said to come have lunch with her and her friends after! She was rearing to introduce you to Jason and the basketball team.

Chrissy meets you at your class before lunch, she is jumping up with excitement to introduce her new friend to her boyfriend. In English she was gushing about him ecstatically and you were hoping he was as nice as his wonderful girlfriend. You walk into the cafeteria with Chrissy hand in hand, she pointed and started to wave at Jason but your attention was drawn elsewhere. In the corner you saw him again, Edward Munson. He was sitting at the head of the table with a group of guys in the same ‘Hellfire club’ Shirt. Your gaze was so drawn to the mystery man you didn’t notice that it had caught the attention of Jason. It didn’t take a lot to see who you were looking at. “Why you staring at Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson new girl? Amazed someone could be that ugly?” He chuckled out which in turn earned a push on the arm from Chrissy. Your face was back to its stock standard red not only from the embarrassment at how obvious you were being but also something you hadn’t felt in a REALLY long time… Annoyance. Not like the kind where you have to wait for something longer than it should take but more like you hear a sound and that sound just annoys you. What Jason said was really annoying.

“Why do you call him a freak? He seems nice enough, kind cool honestly.” You ask him, taking your seat next to Chrissy. Jason doesn’t hesitate to unleash his grievances of the man known as Eddie Munson. He’s a freak, he’s into hard metal rock music, he plays Dungeons and Dragons which is a satanic cult game, he does drugs and smokes and drinks! He’s a complete menace to Hawkins society and Jason won’t stand for it! You glance over at Chrissy while Jason is on his high horse and see her slightly roll her eyes. Good to know she doesn’t agree with his raving and ranting.

“So do you see why I do what I do Y/N? He’s no good and if I were you I wouldn’t hang around him or his satanic cult!” Jason bellowed and you looked up at him, your bottom lip quivering ever so faintly. There was no fucking way he could know you were a massive geek cause from everything you just heard this guy and his friends hated people like Eddie and by the sounds of it he was your people. Chrissy was so nice and accepting when you admitted your love for comics and anime and dungeons and dragons, how could her boyfriend be so judgemental? Chrissy didn’t look at you but she gave your hand a comforting squeeze. Despite how bubbly and almost ditzy her personality came across you could already tell she was extremely empathetic and that was exactly what you needed right now. Usually Eddie would have chimed in by now at Jason's bitchin’ about him but he was focused way too hard on you. He was hyper fixated from across the cafeteria on the smallest things about you right now that made him seethe but also made him weak at the knees. Your once again wet eyes, the soft bounce of your thigh against the seat and that little shake in your bottom lip. You seemed anxious and upset and it was making him mald. Since he first laid eyes on you this morning you’d be sitting in Eddie's mind all pretty and darling like you were this morning next to him.

He saw the way your gaze had lingered when you’d look at him and how you’d snuck quite the handful of stares at him in home room. Dustin yelled his name for the fifth time in a row trying to pry his attention away from you and back to the conversation. Eddie flung a pretzel square in his face. “SHUDDUP- I’m listening shuddup.” He yelled back to Dustin, joining back into discussions about the club this afternoon but his eyes never really left you, watching you almost protectively. You followed along with Chrissy, Jason and their friends all day. You felt like you stuck out like a sore thumb, no uniform like them, definitely not sporty and you thought of yourself akin to an ugly duckling compared to their good looks. You thought you’d survived the day, listening to Chrissy and Jason chat next to your locker with a few others on the basketball team. Chrissy wasn’t cheering this afternoon and invited you to watch the boys train. You’d agreed, your dad wouldn’t be home tonight so no one was expecting you anytime soon. All seemed to be going well when you pulled your art binder out of your locker. A whole stack of art you hadn’t secured in the binder fell out all over the floor. Art from all your Dungeons and Dragons sessions that you had drawn. Bloodied battle scenes, cultish depictions, your tiefling ranger praying at an altar to her deity. The blood left your face, you were as pale as a sheet as Jason quickly leaned down to pick up the art, at first complimenting it but at second glance he stared a bit hard, squinting at it almost like he couldn’t believe his eyes.

Chrissy chimed in, exclaiming how good it is and how creative you are! All the love and support from this cheerleading angel couldn’t quell the dread that washed over you as Jason looked up to you from your art and quietly asked you “Y/N… What is all this?” Chrissy instantly jumped into action telling Jason to drop it and to give you the art back. That it wasn’t a big deal and that you were new and he should be nice to you! Your eyes grew to the size of plates as a few other members of the basketball team gathered to look at the art. Cringe, disgust, fear all on each face. Everything was going so well, sure you had a rocky start but Chrissy's company made it easier! Panic began to set in, what if Chrissy didn’t want to be seen around you after this? What would others say about you? You just wanted to fit in and not be judged! You just wanted to have a normal first day!

Before you know it one of Jason's friends makes comment about how “It makes sense she’d be a freak, her accent is so fucking weird she sounds like some backwater hick…” and then another pipes up with a “She said she was a native to New Zealand? I bet they do some really freaky stuff dude…” Chrissy's yells for them to stop it fell on deaf ears; both theirs and yours. You just wanted a void portal to open up and swallow you whole right now but that wasn’t going to happen so you did the only thing you knew. You ran. You ripped your art from Jason's hands and grabbed the paper up from the ground. The paper became wrinkled and ripped and the graphite became smudge but right now you didn’t care. You just wanted to get the fuck out of there. Of course, at the end of the day the halls were crowded and it felt like every single eye was on you, judging and admonishing you for your likes. Your chest began to get tighter and your sight became blurry from the hot tears threatening to FINALLY spill. Your legs threatened to give way at any moment as you pushed your way through people in the halls and so to protect yourself from any further embarrassment you opened the first door with the lights out. Surely there would be no one there, clubs would need lights and you would have a quiet and dark place to cry alone until it was less crowded and you could slink home.

You slammed the door closed behind you and you could finally hear your own heartbeat and your breathing. It was uneven and heavy, like your lungs had been drowning this entire time. You wiped your tears off your cheeks and slid down the door, landing on your butt with a soft thud. You threw your head back against the door to try and help clear your eyes and help you breathe a little better . “Ehem-” Just when you thought nothing could get worse, you bring your head back and see the entire Hellfire Club staring at you, including the LAST person you wanted to see, Eddie. From the point of view of Hellfire, you looked like a deer that had just been hit by a car and was about to be hit by ANOTHER car with how you were looking at them all. Without saying a word, you slowly start to stand up against the door, not breaking eye contact and feeling around for the door handle but before you can spin around and flee once you feel the cold metal of the handle Eddie is next to you. He pulls you to his side and swings open the door, but doesn't let you leave. He’s got a tight grip on your forearm and he uses his free hand to wave the group out announcing “Alright boys, play times over get out.”

Dustin sprung up from his chair about to ask why the fuck they were canning Hellfire over a girl but when Eddie heard the squeak of the chair he craned his head to give Dustin a very stern ‘Do-not-push-it-kid’ Look. Gareth came up behind him and Mike and started ushering them out along with everyone. Members in Hellfire knew after long enough when Eddie said to get out you got OUT.

Once the last party member left Eddie closed the door behind him. You couldn’t even look at Eddie, you could feel his gaze on you and you couldn’t help but let more tears flow freely. “Hold my hand, count to ten and breathe in. You’re gonna give yourself a heart attack at this rate.” He whispered gently to you, holding out his silver clad fingers.

Hesitantly, your shaking hands reached out for his. The second your fingers touched his palms, Eddie engulfed your hands with his. With a soft ‘Ready?’ you nod and he begins doing deep breathes in and out, you following and trying to match his pace despite how shaky and uneven you were. You kept going until he could feel your hands shaking less. You gave Eddie a very small nod and let go of his hands. He lingered for a moment, feeling your hands let go of his but he didn’t want to let go. Once he did let go, you both stood looking at each other and it took less than thirty seconds for you to once again break down again, this time full blown sobs and weeps leaving you. You fell to your knees once again. “God today fucking sucks!” You cried out between hiccups.

Your eyes were closed, you could feel them becoming red and puffy from just how much hard you had been crying this afternoon. You felt like you were gonna pass out but before that could come to fruition, Eddie had knelt down beside you and pulled you into his chest with a warm, tight embrace. His bleeding heart ached for the new girl. Your need for a hug and affection outweighed the awkwardness and shock of being hugged by this stranger. You clung onto his vest and it just pulled at his heart strings more. Those assholes seriously couldn’t wait for the new girl to get settled before tormenting her?

Once your weeps turned to whimpers, and you had cried a puddle into Eddie's shirt, you sat there wondering how to pierce the silence between you two. You peered over Eddie's shoulder and found something you could carry a conversation about. "What campaign are you guys playing?”

Eddie’s head spun at the question and yanked her off him to look her over with a face of bewilderment. “Excuse me?” His eyes were nearly popping out of his skull, his grip on your shoulders tight and slightly painful. The switch that flipped him from gentle to surprised over such a simple question was quite sobering for your anxiety.

“Your campaign?” You stared back, a little confused at his own confused reaction. She pointed to the DM screen and books and then it dawned on her what she interrupted with her panic attack— “ohmygod I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize anyone was in here, I feel like such an ass GOD” you blurted out in a single breath. You held your head in your hands in utter defeat. “God could today get ANY worse?”

Eddie just stared down at her, his brain still processing that this new mystery girl knew what dungeons and dragons was. “You know what all this is?” He gestured to the table with character sheets, dice and books scattered around. He wasn’t not expecting to get the answer he got.

“Know it? Dude I PLAY it! This was the saving grace in Australia! Which is why I feel like such an ass! You dismissed the party because of me bursting into the first dark room I saw! I’m such a stupid idiot I’m so sorry—”

“Hey hey slow down there—“ Eddie pulled you closer to him again and rubbed your shoulders. “You aren’t a stupid idiot, don’t say that about yourself. Those little assholes can deal with an early finish for today. What kind of adventurer would I be if I didn’t prioritize a damsel in distress!”

You actually laughed for the first time since your dad told you they were moving to Indiana fucking HAWKINS. For the past few months all these changes did nothing for your mental health and you’d found it hard to find any peace. Today was an emotional rollercoaster of anxiety, relaxation, fear, annoyance, paranoia and now joy? “Mate I’m not some kind of princess, I’m a tiefling ranger.” You laughed out.

Eddie had to bite his tongue, wanting to blurt out how you actually were a princess. For every glance you gave him today, he gave it back to you when you weren't looking. All day he wanted to say something, he felt something was off when you sat with Chrissy at lunch. Sure Chrissy was an angel but he knew Jason was an ass to say the least and despite how well you thought you hid it, you looked one light breeze away from having a meltdown every time Eddie saw you.

You couldn’t tell from outward appearances but you’d be a great addition to hellfire and he feels like such an idiot for not approaching you sooner during the day especially after he caught you eyeing off the hellfire club note on the notice board!

There was an awkward silence for a moment. ‘How much worse can this day get, just go for it’ you thought while rummaging in your book bag, pulling out the black binder “Wanna see my tiefling?” Eddie just nods at the question and she flips through it, grimacing at the torn, crumpled, smudged and ripped pages from your quick getaway but thankfully your tiefling ranger escaped harm's way. You held the binder out to him, waiting for the very casual “Oh cool” remark like you usually get from others when they’d look at your art but instead Eddie gave quite the reaction.

Eddie grabbed the book from you and stared at the picture in awe. It was beautifully shaded and her character was gorgeous (just like yourself, Eddie thought) . It was honestly brilliant and Eddie didn’t hold back “YOU DREW THIS?” You giggled and nodded, cheeks tinged red at his amazement. “This is… this is AMAZING!! You have to come back when we have a full house here and show everyone this and anything else you’ve got! They’ll go insane for it!” You just kept giggling out of embarrassment and some coyness, mumbling little ‘Oh stop it!’ Between your laughs.

Eddie handed back your binder and asked “Think you’d be interested in picking d&d back up?” You nodded so hard your neck would snap with just a bit more force. “God yes, only if you have room of course!” Eddie smirked and nudged at your arm. “For you? I’ll make an exception.” He winked at you before loudly announcing “ Welcome to hellfire club sweetheart! Consider today fate! —“ he said, jumping to his feet in an explosive gesture, holding his hands out to her. “And consider this room your sanctuary! You are always welcome to escape here and your band of merry adventures will beat the shit out of anyone who tries to breach our doors!”

You reached for Eddie’s hand, laughing loudly along with Eddie at his protective declaration to her. Looking down at you in the moment, Eddie’s heart quickened once again, holding the soft hand of a blushing girl with dewy cheeks and eyes who was giggling because of him and not at him! In that same instance, you gazed up into his warm brown eyes and big grin, his warm hand encompassing her own and the pet name “sweetheart” lingering in your ears. If you could you would live in this moment forever. In one swift movement the moment ended as Eddie hoisted you up from the floor back to your feet.

“Want me to drive you home?” He glanced down at his watch to check the time. Before you could hum and uhh at his offer he said “Consider it a part of my duties to my sad little ranger~ Can't have you wandering these strange lands after such a distressing day huh?” You couldn’t help but giggle more at the scary looking metal head being a total goofball. God did he know how to tickle her funny bone and oh god did your giggle sound like a beautiful song to him.

“You’re not trying to stalk me are you?” You asked, giving him a smirk with some side eye. Eddie couldn’t believe his ears. He grabbed his chest like he had been shot and staggered back “NEVER! I am if nothing but a gentleman! You wound me sweetheart!” There it was again. That delicious pet name. Goddamnit.

On the walk to his van and ride to her house, they asked each a plethora of questions, their favourite bands, Eddie’s other hobbies including music, his band and his side hustle. Eddie learned you love nature and hikes, the beach and you want to be an artist as a career.

As you both pull up to your house, you muster up the courage to tell him something more intimate. “Thanks for everything this afternoon Eddie. For comforting me, inviting me to hellfire and just… being kind. Today started off so bad and since I found out I was moving here I’ve been struggling a lot. I felt like at any minute my life is just gonna collapse in on itself—“ you rambled whole making all these gestures. Talking about it seemed to help you and Eddie was nothing but keen to help you.

“—and I’ve felt like I’ve been up shit creek without a paddle and you were my life line this arvo.” Without warning you leaned over his centre console and hugged him with all your strength. You whispered a meek thank you to Eddie and when you pulled back you once again had Eddie’s heart in a death lock.

Dewy eyes and bright red cheeks and quivering bottom lip as you tried so hard to hold back from bawling at the man’s kindness. Words couldn’t express how thankful you were Eddie saved your first day from being a complete disaster.

“I’ll see you tomorrow!” You jumped out of his car with a smile and ran to your front door, turning around and giving him a big sincere wave. God damnit he was down bad and there was nothing he could do to stop.

You ran STRAIGHT up to your room, locking the door and screaming into your pillow. You just spilled her entire GUTS to someone she literally just met today! What a first impression. You were nervously awaiting tomorrow to be told “you’re too much of a cry baby for hellfire so you are out” from Eddie but little did you know Eddie SPED out of your driveway so he could flop in his own bed as he mindlessly strummed at his guitar, thinking about how fate blessed him with you today.

#eddie munson x reader #eddie x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x afab reader #eddie munson #stranger things #stranger things s4 #stranger things no spoilers #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fluff

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