After Your Own Heart {Eddie Munson X Fem!Reader}
In which after deciding you don’t believe in love at first sight anymore, you meet Eddie Munson at a house party.
CW: Fluff, Self-Deprecation, Insecurity, Some angst, Female Reader, Mention of Kidnapping?
You had never thought yourself the prettiest or most interesting girl in the room, hell you barely even believed that you belonged. Yet here you are, another night, with another group of girls who don’t even know your last name, at another party. What you were originally told was a small get together with some drinks and maybe some party games, was actually a house full of writhing, dancing bodies that reeked of alcohol with suspicious substances being ingested in shadowy corners. Far from your normal scene.
You had a knack for finding a spot on the wall and laying claim on it, your fortress of solitude for the evening while the girls you came with danced and had their fun. Tonight though, every single corner seemed to already be full, leaving you to find solace in the second best place. The kitchens at these parties were usually just a place that people seemed to pass through, they’d come get their drinks and maybe linger for a moment before returning to the main space. It was also an apt place for people watching. Sometimes if you were lucky the homeowners even had a social pet that would hang out in the kitchen, waiting for scraps, and you were usually more than happy to oblige.
Carefully picking your way through the crowd of bodies, careful not to step on the few random cans littering the floor, you navigated towards the kitchen. There were a few people standing in the kitchen, a lanky girl with short dirty blonde hair- whose sharp features glowed under the yellow kitchen lights, talking to her was a taller man with coiffed hair and a smile that radiated confidence with a side of cockiness, standing a few feet away sorting through a pile of snacks was another man. He was tall with broad shoulders, his dark curls were cut into a longer mullet, he was wearing a fitted Iron Maiden t-shirt and a pair of dark denim jeans adorned with silver chains. He had beautiful facial features, almost Roman, making him a different type of handsome, one that could only be described with words lost to time and language. If you had believed in love at first sight, you’d believe that you were going to marry that handsome man.
They didn’t notice you at first, talking excitedly among themselves, discussing a new movie coming out in theatres. You slid over to the counter towards the variety of alcohol and drinks sitting out, pouring yourself a coke, opting out of alcohol in case you ended up needing to walk home. Finding a space against the sliding glass doors in the kitchen, not far from where the group of friends stood, you made yourself comfortable and prepared to people-watch for the next two hours or until your friends got bored. The glass was cold against your skin, an anchor in this too loud, overcrowded house. You expected the group of friends to leave the kitchen after a few minutes, but they remained, seemingly having the same idea as you of finding a safe haven among the cluster of bodies and overwhelming sensations.
You hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but it was difficult with being the only singleton in the room. The girl of the group and the man with the coiffed hair had started teasing the mulleted man. You had been listening in long enough to gather that their names were Robin, Steve, and Eddie. You liked it, the name Eddie seemed quite fitting for him.
“We brought you here to be social! To gain experience in the world, and you’re standing in the kitchen getting handsy with the snacks,” Steve exclaimed, seemingly baffled by his friend’s lack of desire to be social.
Robin hummed in agreement, “Your only other friends are kids, and not just kids, weird ones. It’s weird, dude.”
You coughed in an attempt to cover up the laugh that bubbled out from your lips, and suddenly all eyes were on you. A small smile grew onto Robin's face, seemingly proud that her joke landed with somebody. Steve looked you up and down briefly, nodding in what seemed to be approval before slinging his arm over Eddie's shoulder. Eddie glanced at you and his brown eyes went wide, you noticed red splotches appearing on his neck.
“Look man, now you have to be social. Are you really going to let a pretty girl believe that you’re weird and can only make friends with kids? That’s embarrassing,” Steve pronounced, using the on Eddie’s shoulder to give him a slight push forward.
Eddie brought his large hands up to his face, silver rings on his fingers glowing under the kitchen light as he dragged them down his face, keeping them there to cover his eyes in order to not have to look at you. You knew the look of embarrassment, you wore it often, wanting to comfort him you searched for the right words.
“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think the girls I came with remember I exist.” It was self deprecating, and humiliating, but if your embarrassment made him feel better, you decided it was worth it, it wasn’t often you got attention from a handsome stranger.
At that, his fingers shifted, revealing his eyes and a small smile that had made its way on to his lips. His eyes were staring right back into yours, curious and playful, they were like pools of liquid molasses that you could see yourself drowning in. Steve and Robin glanced at each other knowingly and moved towards the doorway, glancing back briefly to find you and Eddie still locked into each other’s gazes.
You spoke first, trying to fill the comfortable silence, “Sorry for laughing, it was just really relatable.”
Eddie removed his hands from his face, dropping them at his sides, his lopsided grin now proudly on display. “It’s okay, us losers have to stick together,” He paused, thinking over his words before a look of panic spread across his face, “N-Not that you’re a loser! You seem perfect! I mean perfectly normal! I’m the loser, not you, me.”
You couldn’t help but giggle, “I’m a self proclaimed loser, but my actual name is Y/N.”
“Eddie,” He smiled, reaching out his hand for you to shake.
His hand slotted into yours, they seemed to fit together perfectly, you both looked down at the contact, and you wondered if he felt the sparks too. The handshake went on for a little longer than socially acceptable, but you didn’t mind.
“So, Y/N, what is a pretty girl like you doing at a party like this?”
A warm, pink blush rose up your neck and spread across your cheeks, “I came here with some girls I know from work, but this isn’t really my scene. What about you, since apparently you’re not here to be social.”
Eddie leaned against the counter looking up at the ceiling seemingly deep in thought. “Well, Steve and Robin decided I needed to get out of the house. Apparently, locking yourself in your room all day and listening to music at full volume is crazy and unhealthy.” Making air quotations around the word unhealthy.
“That sounds like a perfect way to spend the day, maybe they’re the crazy ones. I would much rather be doing that right now then be here,” You tapped the side of your solo cup thoughtfully.
Eddie stepped closer, with every step you could feel the rhythm of your heart speed up, he was only maybe a foot or two from you now, you almost thought you could hear his heart hammering over the sound of the bass blaring through the loud speakers.
“If that’s how you feel, my van is parked out front. We could go listen to music until our friends are ready to leave?”
His eyes gleamed hopefully, his excitement was contagious, you wanted more than anything to spend time with the handsome man. But there was always that voice in the back of your head, nagging and fearful, reminding you that you don’t know this man, you don’t know what he’s capable of, and most importantly you didn’t want to get your hopes up only to be hurt again. You had been in a few relationships in your twenty-two years of life, the last one had left you not only heartbroken, but terrified of your own feelings, terrified that you would be left behind again. You had worked so hard to move on, to build yourself up, but since that relationship you felt insecure, afraid to be who you truly were out of fear that you weren't good enough.
Somehow no matter how hard that little part of your brain screamed at you to stop, to not pass go, Eddie’s smile was just so disarming, so gentle, that you couldn’t believe he had a bad bone in his body. And you wanted this, you wanted to be brave, wanted to be the girl you once were, the one who took chances and believed in love at first sight. Eddie must have sensed your unease because he took a step back.
“Sorry! That was a little forward of me, we can totally just hang out here, or if you don’t want to hang out that’s cool too,” The disappointment in his voice was thick, and that was the deciding factor for you.
You took a step forward, “No, I want to hang out. I think that sounds fun, as long as you let me choose a few songs to listen to.”
“Okay.” Eddie grinned so wide that it almost split his face into two.
“Okay.” A smile grew across your own cheeks, wide enough to almost match Eddie’s.
He offered you his hand, and you took it, allowing him to lead you through the crowds, out the door, and towards the front seat of his van. The van was older, black, and beat up, but inside you could tell it was well cared for. Despite Eddie’s rockstar appearance, the interior of the van was clean and smelled of cigarette smoke and sandalwood, a keychain with a dice, a crow, and some black and red beads hung from the rearview mirror. Eddie was sitting in the driver's seat, you in the passenger seat. He reached across your lap and dug through the glove box, before pulling out a Metallica CD.
“You still use CD’s?” You asked, choking back a giggle.
Eddie feigned offense, holding his hand to his heart, his face twisted in fake upset, “Of course I do, you can’t just listen to the greatest music of all time on your phone. It’s like some people have no shame.”
He plucked the CD from its case and placed it into the slot, and almost immediately, the stereo came to life at top volume, blaring Master of Puppets. You winced at the volume, convinced your head might explode from the noise. Eddie sheepishly turned the volume down and smiled at you.
The two of you discussed anything and everything over the next two hours, your childhoods, your dreams, why you prefer cats over dogs. Never in your life had you felt like someone really listened, and actually cared about all of the minor and major occurrences in your life. And Eddie, god, he was funny, he was smart, and he was so very kind. You couldn’t compare him to other men you had met in the past, Eddie was an enigma, special, once in a lifetime.
You didn’t know it, but Eddie felt the same way. He saw you, the kind, strong, loving girl that had been hurt one too many times and was scared to be true to herself. He had decided that your laugh was his favorite sound in the universe, he would tell as many jokes as he could think of just to hear that sound again and again. Growing up, everyone treated him as a failure, like he’d never amount to anything, like all he’d ever be was that kid from the trailer park. You saw him though, the bright, eccentric soul that had dreams of escaping his hometown and leading a fulfilling life, even if it wasn’t one that others thought to be fulfilling.
You were laying your feet across Eddie’s lap, the two of you discussing the best type of boxed mac and cheese when there was a knock at the van door. It cracked open to reveal Steve and Robin, they scrambled into back seat, eyes wild and frantic. You and Eddie shared a confused look, you opened your mouth to ask what was going on when Steve began shouting.
“Drive, Eddie! We have to get out of here!”
You pulled your feet off of Eddie’s lap, and Eddie turned the key in the ignition, the engine sputtering to life.
“What are you waiting for? Drive!” Robin cried out, glancing anxiously out the back window.
Eddie pulled out of the parking spot and began driving away from the house. Robin and Steve let out a collective sigh of relief as the house disappeared from view. You and Eddie shared another glance.
“Will one of you tell me why I’m driving away like we’re fleeing a crime scene?”
“Cops were coming, people were doing shady shit,” She huffed out, slumping against the bench seat in the back of the van. She sat there quietly for a minute before jerking upright and alert, “Wait shit, is this considered kidnapping?” Robin pointed at you, shocked that you were sitting content in the passenger seat.
You paused for a second, long enough to realize you just fled some party with a bunch of strangers. You weren’t too worried about ditching the group of girls you were with, they would have done the exact same thing to you. Eddie glanced over at you, his eyes wide at the realization that he had just stolen you.
Thinking it over for a minute, you shrugged, “It’s fine, as long as I can get a ride home,” You glanced over and smiled softly at Eddie, who seemed to relax under your gaze.
“Yeah, I can do that, just give me the directions.”
In the hurry to get away from the party, Eddie had driven a good distance away from your apartment. In the backseat, Robin and Steve were dozing off, exhausted from their scramble to get away before potentially getting arrested. Leaving you and Eddie alone. You couldn’t help but stare. Every time you passed under a streetlight his features glowed and he looked practically heavenly, and every time you were awestruck once again. Noticing you staring, Eddie moved his arm to place his hand on your knee, the gesture was small, but in that moment your heart lit ablaze. You could have stayed in this moment forever, classic rock playing softly paired with the rumbling of tires over the potholed streets, his large hand covering your knee, and the stolen glances at each other as he navigated back to your place.
When the van pulled up to your apartment, you felt your heart sink. What if this was it? What if you never saw him again. He must have noticed the shift in your mood, because he squeezed your knee softly, and gave you a knowing look.
“I want to see you again,” He said softly, his hand moving from your knee to envelop your hand in his own.
The sinking feeling dissipated immediately and you smiled at him, hoping that smile could convey everything you were feeling in that moment, “I’d love that.”
Eddie pulled out a flip phone from his back pocket, you immediately started to laugh, pulling out your smartphone and opening it to your contacts list. You traded phones, you precariously typed your phone number into his phone, careful to make sure every number was correct, you put your name in, debated putting something cheesy and romantic after it, but realized that it was too complicated using the flip phone. Eddie handed you back your phone, and you grinned ear to ear seeing the name he had chosen for himself, ‘Your Future Boyfriend’. You placed your phone back in your pocket, and opened the van door, hopping out and walking towards the drivers side.
“You’ll call?” You asked sheepishly, almost embarrassed at how hopeful you sounded.
Eddie reached out of his window, pushing a strand of hair away from your cheek, “As soon as I get home.”
“Goodnight, Eddie.” You said gently, letting out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding.
With that, you turned towards your building and walked up the steps. Before you entered the door you turned around, Eddie watched patiently from the van, waiting until you entered the building. It was a kindness you didn’t know you needed. You blew him a kiss before stepping into your building, watching as his van rumbled away into the darkness. That night as you were turning out your lights and snuggling underneath your comforter, your phone lit up. ‘Your Future Boyfriend’ displayed across the screen, and you smiled to yourself as you answered on the first ring.
AN: Thank you for reading! I used to write all the time and have recently rediscovered my love for it. I hope you enjoyed :3
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