Tolkien One-Shots Book 2!

Furs (Eomer x fem!reader)

(ANGST! Comfort!fic)

The battle had taken its toll on everyone. Everyone lost family, friends, some people even lost themselves. You were one of those that had lost everything. Most of your family had been lost to Sauron's armies and you lost friends as well. And you had lost parts of yourself after fighting so hard.

To that end, you often found yourself wandering the halls of the keep in Rohan late into the night. You couldn't sleep most the time as nightmares and guilt plagued you. Instead, you would make your way outside and stare up at the night sky in hopes of catching a glimpse of the Northern Lights, the souls of your loved ones. For a while, you were able to do this unnoticed. At least you thought so. But when winter came and the icy winds came with it, someone finally caught on.

Eomer had been worried about you. He noticed the dark circles under your eyes. There were times he could see you nearly falling asleep over your dinner plate. He knew you were coping the only way you knew how, but that didn't stop him from worrying. That lead him to following you some nights. He didn't have many concerns about it until it grew colder and you had neither a blanket nor a cloak with you.

After watching you head out several nights without any sort of protection against the weather, Eomer had enough. He wouldn't prevent you from grieving, of course, but he would be damned if he let you freeze to death. He grabbed the large fur from his bed and headed out to meet you. You barely looked at him as he approached. Instead you focused on the sky, the dazzling lights illuminating your face. Eomer could see the tears streaking your cheeks as you whispered out apologies and his heart broke for you. He was pretty certain he'd never seen you cry before.

"Love?" You jumped a little at the sound of his voice, but continued to look up. Eomer sighed before taking the fur and wrapping it around your shoulders. He then sat next to you. His arm moved around your shoulders and he pulled you gently to him. "Staring at the Lights won't bring them back, Y/N," he whispered. You sniffled. "I know. But can't I hope?"

For a moment, Eomer could say nothing. Hope was something he'd had very little of during the war. You had been his hope. But the kind of hope you were speaking of was...impossible. "My love, that kind of hope is dangerous. It drives people mad. You cannot hope for them to come back to us. They can't. You can hope that they are watching over us, guiding us as we continue on in life as we grow stronger and happier even in their absences."

A sob wrenched from you as you turned and grabbed hold of his cloak. "I miss them. I miss them so much," you choked out between sobs. Eomer held you while you cried. You hadn't been able to truly grieve for everything that you'd lost so he said nothing. At one point, he felt tears welling up in his own eyes as well. They fell dripped from his chin and cheeks in to your hair.

When you had cried your fill, you sat up and looked at Eomer's face properly for the first time that night. You reached up and wiped his tears from his eyes, causing both of you to laugh softly. "Thank you," you told him softly before giving him a quick kiss to his lips. "You never have to thank me for that," he replied, "You are the most important person in my life. I'm here for you, whatever you need."

With that, you shifted to where you were sitting again, but still leaning against him. The two of you remained like that until Eomer noticed you had finally fallen asleep. As carefully as he could, the king of Rohan lifted you up still wrapped in his furs and carried you inside where you could get a proper night's sleep. As he moved to lay you down, your grip on him tightened and you mumbled something along the lines of, "Don't go." Eomer gave a soft chuckle as he slid into the bed next to you. "Goodnight, my love. Sleep well."