Learning To Love Again

Happy Birthday Chris! 🩵

hi! i don’t know if you take requests/fic suggestions (if not feel free to ignore), but i love your writing (where the heart is ruined me in the best way!!) and thought you would write this idea super well. basically i saw this instagram reel (and watched it on repeat like 10 times) where a dad tells a waiter that his daughter thinks he’s cute and i thought it could be a cute meet-cute-scenario for eddie (or steve if you write for him)! that’s pretty much it lol, i hope you’re having a good day!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmXJ1_zL9F7/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

This may just be the cutest request I've ever gotten. I enjoyed writing this so so so much. I have to thank @munson-blurbs for suggesting I make the reader Hopper's daughter and adding another layer of hilarity to it for me. Fun fact, this scenario happened to my brother once. Only he was like, 11, so nothing was going to come from it and it was just purely my dad trying to embarrass him lol. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this!

Words 2.2k

“Hey, welcome to Breadstix. My name is Eddie and I’ll be your waiter.”

You look up from your menu and do a double take at the beautiful man standing there. He’s tall and thin, his black t-shirt showing off his tiny waist and the light jeans showcasing the length of his legs. He has brown curly hair tucked in a bun at the nape of his neck, with a few loose frizzy pieces framing his face. The tattoos that are scattered along his arms catch your attention; your eyes being particularly drawn to the colony of bats taking flight on his forearm. But it’s when you look into his eyes that you get lightheaded and forget your own name, let alone what you were going to order for dinner. 

Going out for a family dinner with your dad and sister was never something that was particularly exciting, but it just got a hell of a whole lot better. 

“The special today is the brown sugar pork chops with a sweet potato on the side.”

“Huh,” your dad hums, eyes scanning over the menu once more. “That sounds good. I’ll take the special and a coke.”

Eddie takes down the pen that’s tucked behind his ear and scribbles down on the pad in his hand. He looks at your sister next and she gives him a sweet smile.

“For you?” Eddie asks.

“I’ll have the mushroom and Swiss burger, please,” El says. “And a water.” 

He jots that down as well then turns to you. When his eyes land on you, your mouth goes dry. Eddie shoots you a smile and you swear your stomach is too full of butterflies to eat any food. 

“And what can I get for you?” Eddie asks.

A cold shower? A date? An orgasm? 

“Um, I’ll have the spaghetti and meatballs. A-And a Diet Coke,” you manage to get out.

“Ah, my favorite,” Eddie says with a wink that nearly kills you as he writes your order down. “I’ll put those right in for you.”

He walks away from the table, and you feel your body deflate, letting out a breath and finally relaxing. You drop your head down on the table to hide the smile spread across your lips.

“What’s with you?” your dad asks.

“Hmm?” You lift your head up and look at him. El is giggling in her seat next to you, clearly knowing why you’re acting strange and bubbly.

“What’s with this sudden…mood change?” Your dad waves his hand around in front of your face, gesturing to your dopey expression. 

“I know,” El snickers and you reach over to playfully shove her. Your dad leans back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest as he watches the two of you. He raises his eyebrows at you girls as you nudge one another back and forth with your elbows.

“Well shit, someone slipped something into your Wheaties this morning,” he says.

But your dad isn’t dumb. As chief of police, things rarely escaped his notice. He’s just waiting to see if you’ll cop to it or not.

“No, it’s just…” You trail off, shaking your head.

“It’s what?” 

A red flush comes to your face and El covers her mouth as she lets out another giggle.

“He’s so cute.”

“Who?” Hopper asks, just flat out playing dumb now. 

“The waiter!” you say in exasperation.

“Eddie.” El says his name, leaning in towards you and wiggling her eyebrows. 

“Ah,” your dad says with a laugh. “That’s your type, huh?”

“Dad!” you admonish, face becoming even redder. 

He lifts his hands in surrender as El dissolves into laughter. Before, you wouldn’t have described yourself as having a “type” but after seeing Eddie, you can’t imagine having a type that didn’t look like him. It was hard to pick out one thing that turned you on about him the most. The package of Eddie as a whole was so overwhelming that you could practically feel the sharp stab of Cupid’s arrow jammed in your back.

You spot Eddie approaching with the drinks, so you swat at El to get her to behave. She bites her lip and stares down at the scuffed wooden table in front of her, so she doesn’t lose it again.

“Here we go. Water, coke, and a Diet Coke. Your dinner should be coming out soon,” Eddie says. “Everything okay here?”

You’re praying your dad keeps his mouth shut as you smile and nod your head at Eddie. When he gives you a smile in return, El covers a laugh by pretending to cough into her hand. You’d throttle her when you got home. Hopper seems to pay Eddie no more mind than he would any other waitstaff that his oldest daughter didn’t find absolutely beautiful.

After Eddie leaves again, conversation thankfully steers away from your romantic inclinations and into the topic of ridiculous calls that came in at the station today. El also tells you about a school project that’s coming up and tells your dad she needs to get a book for her next book report at the library. It’d be easy to think that your father forgot all about your attraction to your waiter, but when Eddie comes to deliver your meals, it’s obvious he didn’t. Sometimes the universe just liked to pull the rug out from underneath you.

“Alright,” Eddie says. He’s balancing the large tray carrying your plates on one hand, muscles rippling under the skin of his arm as he holds it up. The only thing that tears your eyes away from his bicep is when he places your dish down in front of you. “Anything else I can get you guys?”

“I think we’re all set,” your dad says. Eddie nods and tucks the tray under his arm. As he goes to turn away from the table, Hopper lifts his hand and swivels towards Eddie. “Oh, one thing.”

Eddie licks his lips as he spins back towards the table, a friendly smile on his face. “What can I get you?”

“Oh no, nothing,” your dad says with a shake of his head. “It’s just that my daughter here thinks you’re very cute.” He reaches over and pats you on the back so there’s no mistaking which one of his children he’s talking about. 

“Dad!” 

El bursts out into laughter as you raise your hands to cover your face, wanting to die on the spot. The heat in your cheeks is enough to make sweat break out along your hairline, only made worse by how fast your heart is pounding. The adrenaline rush flooding your veins is real. Being a high school student, you’ve been embarrassed plenty of times before in your life, but you think this takes the cake. Having the police chief as a father also came with its own moments of teasing and joking, but this seemed extreme even for him. Somewhere deep inside, you find the courage to peek at Eddie from between your fingers. There’s a shy smile on his face as he looks at you, his own cheeks dusted in a light bit of pink. 

“Well, that’s very sweet,” Eddie finally says, resting his hand over his heart. He opens his mouth again, but nothing comes out and you realize that not only did your dad put you on the spot, but Eddie as well. “I’m flattered.”

Slowly your hands fall from your face and into your lap. Peering up at Eddie from under your eyelashes, he dips his gaze quickly before meeting yours again. The smile on his pretty mouth makes you feel as if there’s an animal jumping and banging around inside your heart, trying to break free. 

“Let me know if there’s anything else I can get for you,” Eddie says before walking away.

Part of you feels a bit disheartened. But what did you expect? Eddie to ask you on a date because your father told him you’re attracted to him? Right in the middle of his shift? God, your dad better give him a big tip on the check. 

“You’re the worst,” you mumble as you twirl some spaghetti onto your fork. But there’s a fond smile on your face as you shoot a glare at the chief.

Eddie comes by twice more while you’re eating to see if everything is okay, and both times you can barely meet his gaze. El thinks it’s all hilarious and has a grin on her face for the rest of dinner. 

Once everyone is finished and your and El’s leftovers are boxed up, Eddie comes over with the bill. You expect him to put it down on the table right in front of your father, but he walks around him to come up behind you and reaches over our shoulder to lay the check down right in front of you.

“I figured you’d be taking care of this,” he says. You can’t see him from where he’s standing behind you, but El catches sight of the smirk on his face and her expression lights up in glee. 

It’s hard to concentrate on anything with Eddie standing so close to you that you can smell the trace of cigarettes under a spicy cologne wafting over you. When he speaks, the scent of mint is added into the mix, so you assume he’s chewing a stick of gum and you’ve never been more jealous of a piece of candy in your life. 

When Eddie walks away, you have to fight the urge to reach out and grab onto him and make him stay. El moving the check in front of you snaps your attention back to the task staring you in the face. You give El’s hand a light smack so she drops the slip of paper. You’re able to snatch it up and hold it up to your face so El can’t read it from where she’s sitting. 

I hope your dad is currently unarmed since I’d like to say that I think his older daughter is very beautiful. And inquire if she might like to go on a date with me? 555-0527 xoxo - Eddie

Your wide eyes can’t believe what you’re reading. It takes a minute for it to click in your brain what you’re actually looking at. The smile spreads across your lips next, making your cheeks ache from the intensity of your grin. 

When the paper gets plucked from your fingers you whine and furrow your brow at your father. 

“What, you going to pay?” he asks as he digs for his money in his wallet. 

“No. But I was reading that,” you say.

“Well hang on, I gotta know how much to leave don’t I? You can kiss his phone number once I’m done.”

The blush flares up on your face at his words. You weren’t going to actually kiss the paper. But the fact that said paper could lead to a kiss is what’s got you so wound up. Hopper slaps some bills down on the table and hands you the precious check back. You securely fold it and clutch it in your hands, afraid to let it out of your sight for even a moment. El grabs the takeaway boxes and the three of you head towards the door. As you take one last look over your shoulder into the restaurant, you see Eddie coming out of the kitchen. His eyes lock with yours and he gives you that smile you swear could stop time. 

“Maybe I should embarrass you more often, huh?” Hopper says from behind you. 

“No!” you and El answer in unison. 

“I’ll be right back,” you say, glancing back at your family. 

“We’ll be outside,” your dad says.

“Have fun,” El adds with a smirk before she follows your dad out the door. 

Taking a deep breath to relax your system, you start to walk over towards Eddie. 

“Hey,” he says once you’re standing in front of him.

“Hi. Look, I’m sorry if you felt embarrassed or put on the spot. He can be a bit much sometimes.”

“No, no,” Eddie assures you with a shake of his head. “First thing I thought when I walked over to your table tonight was how beautiful you are. The Chief kind of did me a favor, actually.” 

“Oh. Well, I’m glad then,” you say, face glowing from his compliment. 

“I take it you got my note?” Eddie asks, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. 

“I did,” you say, still clutching it in your hands. “And I, uh, would like to go on a date with you. So, I’ll definitely call.”

“I get off work at nine,” he tells you. 

“You’ll hear from me soon after that then,” you say with a shy shrug of the shoulders. 

“I’m really looking forward to it, uh…”

He trails off and you realize it’s because he doesn’t know your name. You introduce yourself to him and extend your hand. Instead of shaking it, like you expected, he takes your hand in his and leans in to press his lips against your knuckles. You’re pretty sure you’re going to spontaneously combust. Or have an aneurysm. Or just flat out melt into a puddle on the floor. 

“I’ll talk to you tonight then,” Eddie says.

“Tonight,” you repeat, slowly backing away from him. You don’t want to go, but you know your dad will come in and say something even more embarrassing than he already did if you make him wait too long. 

“Bye, Eddie.”

“Bye, beautiful.”

Thanks for liking my stories 🫶

Awe, you're welcome! They're all so cute!❤️

Imagine Eddie being there as you get dress coded for the black bra under a white shirt lmao

wears a black bra under his own shirt out of spite

Yes, maybe your regular Steve Harrington one and if you have one for Billy Hargrove and Eddie Munson? Thank you!

Can I be added to the Single!dad Steve Harrington taglist?

P.S. I love your writing! It's so good!❤️

of course!! would you like to be added to any other taglists or just single dad!steve? 🫶🏻

Behind the scenes of Bucky Barnes

It’s like one of those pet sweaters- if he tries to move he just tips over. 🌽

I'm just gonna go crawl under my covers and cry like the baby I am after reading this 🥺😭🥹

Meet my mom

Pairing: Eddie x F!Reader

Summary: Eddie wants to introduce you to his mom, so you go to the graveyard with him.

Warnings: angst, fluff, death of a parent

It was late evening and the sky was starting to darken when you sat down on the ground, in front of the stone with Mrs. Munson's name engraved on it.

"Hi mom, this is Y/N," Eddie said as he crossed his legs and stared at the faded photo of the smiling woman on the tombstone "my girlfriend."

He had been wanting to take you there for some time, he said that since he knew your family he wanted you to get to "know" his too, only if you wanted too, of course.

"I've talked about her so many times before, I do it every time I come here actually, but I've never brought her here before." He added pulling his hands out of his jacket pockets and playing nervously with the rings on his fingers.

He kept talking without ever meeting your gaze as if he was afraid of what he might read in your eyes.

"She's here because she's really important to me and I wanted to introduce her to you too. Uncle Wayne has already said that she likes her a lot, they're basically best friends, sometimes I think she loves him more than me." He said the last part with a slight laugh but from his expression he didn't look amused.

"You two have a lot in common, you know?" He asked before pausing as if he was really waiting for an answer.

In return you only heard the rustling of the leaves of the trees caused by the wind.

"She's as kind as you were. She always lets me copy her homework even though I should probably start doing it myself if I wanna graduate. Sometimes she brings home-cooked food for me and Wayne, she and her mom make really good chocolate cakes, you would have liked them a lot." He explained, his voice low.

"Sometimes we cook together like I used to do with you. But Y/N and I always end up making a mess or fighting with flour. But it's fun, so we keep doing it even if we have to clean the trailer from top to bottom afterwards." A sad smile appeared on Eddie's face, probably remembering his days spent with his mother when she was still alive.

"And she's as funny as you, she can make me smile with a simple joke even though my day has been shit and I just want to sleep for three days straight." He added and your heart squeezed in your chest.

"She's caring. That's another thing you both have in common. Once I didn't go to school because I had a fever and she missed an important test to come and check if I was okay. Actually I wasn't very okay, she had to keep my hair back as I threw up. I told her she could go anyway but she stayed with me until Wayne was back, at night. She stayed there all those hours, making me rest my head on her legs and running her hands through my hair just like you did." At this point you just wanted to cry. You never thought that all those simple gestures that were part of your relationship with Eddie could mean so much to him.

You reached out to him and grabbed his hand which had started to shake slightly and definitely not from the temperature. He fliched at first, then hold it as if his life depended on it.

"She's also a good listener, she never judges when I talk about my problems and always listens when I talk about things I'm interested in . She says she likes to hear me talk about what I like, Dungeons & Dragons, the band and music in general, books. Once I even started reading the Hobbit aloud to her, but she fell asleep after half an hour with her head on my chest. I didn't get mad, she was too pretty. And I could never be mad at her, she makes me happy." If he was talking about being happy, then why did his voice sound so broken?

"When I'm with her I feel good, mom. It doesn't matter if I'm at school, in the trailer or on a bench in the woods, when I'm with her I feel at home. And it feels good. It feels great." He added as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"She's one of the best people I know." He breathed as you reached up to him and wiped it away with your thumb, slowly caressing his cheek.

"You would have loved her, mom." He said finally, before wrapping an arm around your waist and pushing you against him, resting his head on your shoulder and sniffling.

"It's okay." You said caressing the fabric of the denim jacket covering his back.

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too. And I'm so sorry I didn't get to know your mom. If she was even half as amazing as you are, then she really must have been great." You said leaving a kiss on his forehead.

"She was." He murmured as his arms still held you.

Your lips brushed his temple leaving a light kiss there too, then you turned towards the tombstone.

"Mrs. Munson, I promise I will take good care of your boy."

“I’m so lonely” - Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: you finally confess to Eddie how lonely you’ve been feeling. Emotional hurt/comfort

A/N: my first posted ST fic! I’m so nervous. I hope people enjoy this, it may or may not have been heavily inspired by my own feelings of loneliness. If only I had an Eddie lol. Please reblog or comment if you enjoy my work! My requests are open, my rules can be found in my navigation post which is linked in my bio >3

Warnings: discussions of loneliness. Reader sits in Eddie’s lap but no mention is made of size or appearance of the reader. 'Princess' is used as a term of endearment but the reader is gender neutral. No use of Y/N. Not proofread sorry

Word Count: 1.3k

Eddie Munson was the best boyfriend on the planet. You were certain that no one could hold a candle to your Eddie. 

He told you he loved you a hundred times a day - quite literally, he always counted. He’d gaze at you like you’d hung the moon, even when he was meant to be focused on the movie showing in the cinema or the road in front of him as he drove his van. He’d make sure you drank enough water every single day. He’d tie up your shoelaces if they came undone in the street. He was perceptive enough to realise whenever something was wrong, and he’d listen while you vented, before attempting to kiss the hurt away. Eddie was everything to you. But that was part of the problem. 

Eddie wasn’t just your boyfriend, he was your best friend. Which sounds cute. Yet he was your best friend because he was your only friend. Sure, you had fun with Robin and Steve, and occasionally you and Eddie would invite Max and Lucas over to his trailer for a movie night. Although you loved your family, it was a small one. 

In essence, you often felt that the only person you made a difference to in life was Eddie. That the only person who’d notice your absence was Eddie. Sometimes you’d berate yourself for feeling this way - ‘why isn’t that enough?’ - but it simply wasn’t. 

Eddie made you feel loved, constantly. He made you feel seen, he made you feel heard, he made you feel beautiful. 

But whenever he was gone, the loneliness would gnaw away inside you, consuming your mind. A sense of isolation from those around you grew. You could be sitting next to someone on the sofa but they might as well have been a million miles away. The nights you didn’t spend with Eddie, you’d cry and cry until you fell into an exhausted stupor and finally drifted off to sleep. 

Loneliness had even begun to creep into your moments with Eddie. Sometimes you’d drift off into your own little world, especially when he’d mention something he’d done with his own friends, which served as a painful reminder that you didn’t really have any of your own. 

He’d noticed lately that your face seemed to pinch into a frown more often. He tried to convince himself that your sorrowful expressions weren’t because of him, but you had been pulling away lately, skipping plans and coming up with bullshit excuses. 

“You’ve been avoiding me,” Eddie murmurs as he plops down on the bed next to you. You silently curse whichever member of your family had let him in the house. Because Eddie is right, you have been avoiding him. 

“No I haven’t,” you mumble back, studiously avoiding eye contact. 

“C’mon, don’t lie to me. Please.” If you hear the quiver in his plea, you don’t acknowledge it. 

“Am not.” Eddie huffs at your second lie, dropping off the bed and coming to kneel at your feet. The way his big soft eyes gaze up at you reminds you of the labrador you had as a kid and the way it would beg for treats. Eddie, on the other hand, was begging for something more serious. 

“I love you.” Your voice breaks slightly and you sigh deeply, feeling the tears welling up in your eyes. You squeeze them shut, willing them away, but you can feel Eddie’s eyes glued to your face and the tears can’t help but fall. They betray you, as if your poor attempts at lying hadn’t already. 

“I love you too baby.” He knows better than to press you. Shuffling in closer, Eddie places his hands in your lap, letting you fiddle with his rings. You lean forward to press your forehead to his as you sniffle, basking in the scent of his shampoo as his curls draw a curtain around your face. You try to speak but choke on your sobs, squeezing his hands. 

He shifts back up onto the bed next to you, and pulls you into his lap so your chest is touching his. You have no idea how long you spend sitting in his embrace, willing yourself to speak. 

“I just…” Your voice cracks. Silence. He waits. You swallow. 

“I feel like a burden to you sometimes. You’re my only person.” Eddie’s brow furrows. 

“What do you mean sweetheart?” His soft caress on your face is soothing, and encourages you to continue. 

“I know I have family and sometimes we look after the kids and see Robin and Steve, but…” Deep breath. “You’re… you’re the only person who I really have. I feel like you’re the only person who loves me. The only person who’d miss me if I wasn’t here.” 

Tears roll down your cheeks but you make no move to stop them this time. Eddie does the job instead, his thumb gently wiping the moisture away, repeating the action as more tears fall. 

“And I love you so much, it should be enough that the only person I’m important to is you. I don’t know why that isn’t enough, but it isn’t. You make me feel so loved, Eddie. More loved than I’ve ever felt. But I feel so fucking lonely.” At your final admission, your throat closes and you can’t carry on speaking as sobs rack your body. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. It’s okay my love.” Eddie rocks you back and forth slightly in an attempt to calm you as you sob into his shoulder. You both stay in the same position for a while, Eddie as patient as he always is with you, waiting until you exhausted yourself with your sobs before speaking again. 

“Will you promise me something?” Nodding, you pull away to face him. His thumb wipes the tear tracks on your cheeks with such a gentleness you find yourself wanting to cry again, although this time for a happier reason. 

“Will you promise to tell me when you feel like this? I know I can’t make it all go away but you don’t need to bottle this shit up, princess. You don’t have to fight it on your own.” You crash into his chest and squeeze him tight, prompting him to chuckle into your hair as he draws his arms back around you. 

“I promise,” you mumble into his torso. “I love you, teddy bear.” He flushes and presses a gentle kiss to the top of your head. 

“Do you want to talk about it more?” You ponder his question for a few quiet moments, but you’re physically and mentally exhausted from the sobs that had racked your body. 

“I’m too tired Eds, but maybe tomorrow? If you’re really sure you want to listen.” 

“Of course I want to listen. You’re my girl, and that means you never have to deal with anything on your own. I’m right here, sweetheart. Always.” 

Eddie sticks to his word in the morning. Not that you ever doubted he would. 

You guess that Eddie has at least told the others that you need some TLC in the following few days when Will calls just to remind you he loves you, with a sincerity that no one could mistake; when Mike concedes that you’re pretty cool, followed by the awkwardest shoulder punch known to man; when Nancy and Robin rope you into their weekly movie nights - you’d never confess to them that the films they chose were far too highbrow for your taste. 

You don’t think it’s a coincidence either when Lucas invites you on his and Max’s upcoming pinecone collecting adventure in the woods next to Hawkins. You’re absolutely certain it’s not a coincidence when Steve offers to teach you how to drive in his precious BMW, knowing that he’d never willingly let anyone else behind the wheel. 

While Eddie would absolutely claim it’s a coincidence if you called him out, it’s entirely intentional on his part that he now tells you I love you a hundred-and-one times a day.

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