Younger

Younger

Pairing: Eddie Munson x (gender neutral) Reader

Summary: stressing about the future is no fun, so Eddie takes you on an impulse trip to remind you to live in the moment, to remind you of just how alive the two of you are

Warnings: pure unadulterated fluff

A/N: consider this an apology for my Save a Prayer fic lmao!! this was inspired by Younger by Imagine Dragons, I highly highly recommend listening to this song whilst you read, or just listening to the song in general, bc honestly it’s just amazing!! I was also rushing to finish this and post it asap so sorry if it’s not my best work, but anyways I hope this fic brings you some comfort and I hope you guys enjoy <33

!! vol. 2 spoiler in the a/n at the end !!

“What’s up, baby?” Eddie asks you softly, nudging your shoulder with his own gently.

You’d lost interest in whatever movie was playing a long time ago, drifting into a complete world of your own as your thoughts took over the entirety of your attention.

“Hmm?” You hum, still not even fully comprehending what Eddie had said.

He sits up next to you, turning the tv volume down a bit and then twisting so that he could face you. He brings his hand to rest on your thigh, his thumb moving back and forth in a small comforting gesture.

“I said, what’s up?” He repeats gently.

You blink a few times as you pull yourself out of your reverie. You rub your eyes with your fists as you try to get the real world back into focus. You were also trying to hide the tears that had been threatening to spill for nearly half an hour now.

But there was no hiding from Eddie; he just knew you too well.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” You looks at you earnestly, dipping his head down so he could meet your eyes. “Was the movie really that bad?” He jokes lightly, bringing a tiny smile to your face.

You sniff as the tears finally break through. You shake your head.

“No. Honestly I wasn’t even watching it” you admit in a small voice. “I’m sorry, I just have so much other stuff on my mind” you can hear the sadness in your own voice, it was laced with something like defeat.

“So tell me” Eddie shrugs.

You let out a huff of air, shaking your head slightly.

“It’s all stupid anyway, mostly overthinking things I guess, it’s dumb” you ramble quietly, trying your best to look and sound casual.

“Tell me anyway” he pushes gently.

He looks at you so earnestly, with such softness and tenderness in those big dark eyes of his. You feel your heart swell and the tears brim in your eyes. You shrug and shake your head again as you speak softly.

“It’s just stuff about the future. Like what am I actually gonna do with my life once I finish school? Like where do I want to go next, what do I want to do, who do I want to be. I also have my parents’ expectations to try and live up to, and… I don’t know. It all just feels so big, so overwhelming. I feel like I need to have my entire life planned out already or something. Like there’s just no time, no room to breathe” you ramble quickly, the words leaving your mouth faster than your brain had time to make sense of them.

Eddie just nods and says nothing for a second as he takes in all your words.

“Wow, that’s a lot” he finally agrees after a moment.

“Yeah I told you it was dumb” you wring your hands in your lap awkwardly.

Eddie takes his hand and places it over yours, stopping you from fidgeting with them. He squeezes your hands gently.

“That’s not what I said, I just mean it’s a lot. It’s heavy stuff” he shrugs lightly, his thumb stroking the back of your hand reassuringly.

“Honestly it feels like a massive weight sitting on my chest. Like it’s only a minute away from crushing me all together. Like the stress of it all is literally taking over my body” you feel your lower lip start to quiver, a waiver in your voice.

“Being an adult, or I guess nearly being an adult, sucks huh” he chuckles softly, gaining the smallest of smiles from you.

“Hmm, take me be back to when I was younger” you muse quietly.

“Oh if I could, I would, my love” he lifts a hand to stroke your face gently. “But, if you think about it, we’ll never be younger than we are right now,” he raises an eyebrow at you, “so let’s go live like it, even if it's just for tonight”

You shake your head questioningly at him.

You suddenly see a mischievous gleam in his eyes, his lips tugging with a smirk. He’d just had an idea, you could see it plainly in his face.

“Come on, let's go” he wiggles his eyebrows at you before getting off the couch to stand in front of you.

“Uh, go where?” You half laugh in confusion.

“Nowhere. Anywhere. Everywhere” he whispers dramatically.

“It’s already past midnight you know...” you hesitate meekly.

But Eddie just extends his arm, holding out his hand to you.

“Do you trust me?” He continues with his melodramatic tone.

Despite your uncertainty at what he was up to you you nod, and place your hand in his. His fingers wrap around yours as he gently pulls you up off the couch.

“Good, then let’s go!” He winks, dragging you out the trailer.

---

Eddie grins practically the entire drive. His hand rests on your thigh as he drives, his thumb still keeping up the small reassuring stroking motion.

“Eddie, where are we going?”

You’d tried to work out where you were but dark country roads mad pit difficult to tell The only things you could see being fields, bushes, and the night sky. It was as if there was no one that existed right now but the two of you.

Eddie just grins even wider but keeps his eyes on the road.

“I told you baby, nowhere and everywhere” the dramatic tone returning to his voice. “Just trust me,” he adds a bit more seriously, “we’re almost there.”

You sigh but still can’t help the smile that plasters your face.

True to his word, not five minutes later Eddie is slowing down and pulling off to the side of the road. He drives through a small gap in the bushes that lined sides of the road. Eddie parks his van and quickly jumps out. A second later he’s round your side, opening the door for you. He bows and holds his hand out for you as if you were a princess stepping out of a carriage. You giggle and roll your eyes as he helps you down from the van.

You step round to the front of the car and can’t help the gasp of awe that leaves your mouth when you take in the view in front of you. You keep hold of Eddie’s hand, feeling him give you a light squeeze, as you stare wide eyed at where he’d taken you.

You were in a wide and open field that seemed to run on for miles. Just off to the left was a lake, with the most beautiful willow tree leaning just on the bank. Above you the night sky was alive. The stars shone so bright they almost didn’t look real. The complete lack of light pollution meaning they were free to burn in their full glory. The full moon shone just as brightly, letting you have just enough light to appreciate the scene in front of you. You look over to see Eddie grinning at you like a proud child.

“Eddie” you breathe, almost speechless. “This place, i- it’s...”

“Pretty cool right?”

You shake your head in slight disbelief. “I don’t think there’s a word magnificent enough to describe it.”

“Mhmm” he nods his agreement enthusiastically.

He goes to to walk further into the field, tugging on your hand. But you hesitate and pull back.

“But what exactly are we doing here Eddie?” You ask sadly.

“We,” Eddie starts as he comes to stand in front of you, his hands on your upper arms. “We are here to just get away. To live in the moment, to be free. No worries, no stresses, no future. Just here, just now. Just you and me.”

You look at him doubtfully.

“Come on” Eddie winks at you and tugs at your hand again..

“W-what?” You stare at him confused. “Where are we going now?”

“Just trust me” he winks again, pulling on your hand again until he gets you to move with him.

He starts to walk quickly, pulling you along with him, heading in the direction of the lake. But before you know it he’s running, dragging you along with him. The two of you were suddenly racing towards the lake, sprinting at full speed. You can’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. You and Eddie running at full speed, hand in hand, in the middle of some field in the middle of the night.

You feel the night air whipping against your face, surging through your lungs, the air so cold it almost burned. All of it contrasting with the warmth of Eddie's hand in yours. The air fills with the sounds of the two of you giggling like giddy school children during recess. The only accompanying sound was the stomping of your feet as you continued to race into the night.

Eddie lets go of your hand just as you reach the edge of the lake, leaning over to rest his hands on his knees as he pants to catch his breath. You do the same, both of you still laughing even through your breathlessness. Eddie’s face is split with the biggest smile you think you’d ever seen as he looks back to you.

After a second, Eddie takes one long stride over to you and cups the back of your head with his hand. He’s then crashing his lips against your own. He kisses you breathlessly, messily, intensely. Your mind spins, both from the run and from the brisk air swirling around you. His hands wrapping around your body feel almost feverishly warm, and you keen into his touch. You can still feel the smile in his lips, his warm breathy laughter washing over your face even as he tries to keep kissing you.

When he pulls away he’s got that grin on his face again, but this time it’s laced with an edge of mischief.

“I have another idea on what might help with all those troubling thoughts running through your perfect little head,” he kisses your forehead quickly, "but you’ll have to trust me again, ‘kay?”

“Okay...?” You look at him quizzically.

“Okay” he nods, placing a kiss to the tip of your nose before letting you go and moving to take a few steps away from you

He then turns to face the lake, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck, as if he was preparing for some kind of physical altercation. You narrow your eyebrows at him, completely lost on whatever the hell he was getting up to.

Eddie takes a deep breath before he suddenly just screams into the dark of the night.

His voice bellows into the quiet of the night, echoing across the lake. His scream fades as he runs out of breath and soon the only noise is Eddie laughing like a child.

“Jesus, what the hell was that?” You balk at him.

He turns his head, that ridiculously big smile still adorning his ridiculously beautiful face.

“That was cathartic as fuck! That’s what that was” he laughs. “Come on, your turn.”

“Oh, n-no, no I don’t think so” you shake your head at him, hugging your arms around yourself.

Eddie just nods rhythmically at you as he walks back over to you, hugging you from behind and wrapping his entire body around you.

“Mhm yes I think so, come on” he kisses your cheek. “Just let it all out.”

"Don't worry, no one can hear us from here, I promise” he continues when you don’t respond for a second. "You’re all good, just let out all those worries and stresses, baby. Shout them into the night sky, let them be gone!”

He steps away from you again, giving you space. He opens his arms in a ‘go ahead’ gesture. You look at him, unsure, but he just smiles and nods encouragingly.

You take a deep breath, rolling your head to crack your neck; “fuck it” you exhale.

You give Eddie one final glance. His enthusiastic nodding gives you the final push of confidence you needed.

And so you scream.

You scream with everything you have. You let all your fears and worries be expelled from your mind, from your body, hurling them into the night with your voice. Your head starts to feel clearer, nothing mattering other than the cold night air and the burn in your chest.

Eddie was right, it was cathartic.

Eddie quickly joins in from behind you, screaming and whooping into the air. You both scream until your lungs just can’t take it anymore, until your body had no sounds left to give, save for your laughter.

“Yeah that’s it baby!!” Eddie whoops proudly, clapping like an idiot.

You squeal when he suddenly picks you up from behind, holding you against him and lifting your feet off the floor. He spins you about half a turn before the two of you fall into the soft grass together, both of you practically dying from giggles.

You’re both still laughing a minute later when you finally roll over to face him. You bury your head in his chest as you slowly start to calm down from the all the giggling, finally starting to catch your breath. Eddie still chuckles softly even as he brings his hand up to rub your back, holding you against his body. For a second you forgot you were the middle of a field; it was just as if he was holding you like usual when you were in bed together.

You place a soft kiss to his throat before you roll to lay just beside him, nuzzling into his side. You rest your head on his shoulder as his hand still runs up and down your side gently.

You look up at the glittery night sky, at the awe-inspiring beauty of the full moon. Everything you were stressing about seemed suddenly small and insignificant. How could anything possibly worry you when you had this perfect view and Eddie beside you?

You feel a tear prick your eye, but this time it’s of happiness. A tear of gratefulness for this idiot you called your boyfriend at your side. Your idiot who knew exactly how to cheer you up, even if his methods were somewhat ‘out there’. Eddie knew there was no point giving you some big speech about how everything was gonna be okay, to not stress about it, etc. He knew it would do you no good. Your brain would continue to linger on it regardless of what he said. No, Eddie knew that what you needed was distraction. And that’s exactly what he’d provided.

“Thank you for this” you mumble softly.

Eddie shakes his head and rubs your back a lil harder.

“Don’t even mention it sweetheart” he places a kiss to your forehead.

The future didn’t seem so daunting now. Didn’t seem so immediate. Because for now all you cared about was here and now.

All that existed was this infinite moment with Eddie.

Masterlist

A/N: tagging my darlings @siempre-bucky and @chaoticvigilantes bc I know they're in need of the Eddie comfort right now :’) this was 100% a self-indulgent comfort fic bc I am also stressing about my future and also I needed the comfort of Eddie still being alive lmao! I hope you guys liked this <3

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