A/N - This chapter was inspired by the song Karma by Taylor Swift. For this one, Reader and Eddie are both in their first senior year. I hope you all enjoy it.
Ever since you had ever come to Hawkins, Eddie had been fixated on you. He had never met someone as laidback and easy-going as you, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to unpack what exactly it was that made you the way that you were.
Even after he'd asked you out, he still hadn't been able to piece it together. Date after date, he would delve into your personality, over diner food and arcade games and shared popcorn in the movie theatre, and still nothing had ever really stuck out. Of course, he'd never been able to build up the courage to ask you outright. He would dance around the question and you would never really answer it the way he wanted.
And then, one afternoon in the cafeteria, something had shifted. Eddie had always known that you got a hard time from some of the other kids at school, but he'd never been around to see it before, all too aware that people tended to give you more of a wide birth when he was with you.
This afternoon, however, it seemed that Jason hadn't noticed him sitting at his table, waiting for you to finish collecting your lunch tray. So he'd gone sauntering over to you without a care in the world, grinning as he barged into your shoulder, causing you to yelp, trying to steady your lunch before you lost it to the floor.
"You really should look where you're going," he uttered, sending you the most disconcerting smile you had ever seen. "Aren't you going to apologise for walking into me?"
You hesitated for a moment, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry for walking into you," you answered quietly.
"I can't hear you."
You swallowed down the lump in your throat, your tongue darting out to wet your bottom lip. "I'm sorry for walking into you," you told him, a little louder this time.
Jason released a small snort of laughter, his tongue running over his teeth as he smirked down at you. "You aren't so brave when your little freak boyfriend's not hanging around, are you?" he chuckled, reaching out to pluck your apple off of your tray and taking a giant bite out of it. "See you around, Sweetheart," he pressed on, the juice spraying out of his mouth and making you cringe as he waltzed away, leaving you hovering awkwardly with your tray, shaking your head in frustration.
Eddie was at your side a moment later, his eyes lingering on Jason, now laughing loudly with his friends at another lunch table. "What the hell was that?" he murmured, risking a glance down at you, his brows furrowed in concern.
You shrugged slightly, allowing him to lead you back to the Hellfire table on the other side of the room, his hand firm on the small of your back. "He's an idiot-"
"Why didn't you fight back?"
You hesitated for a moment, nudging your food around your tray before sitting up a little straighter, fixing your eyes on Eddie. "Because me being an idiot won't cancel out him being an idiot," you finally answered, clearing your throat. "When I was a kid my mom used to be obsessed with Buddism and she used to give me these little lectures whenever she would learn something new, right?"
Eddie nodded, still looking completely lost about how you'd gotten to this point of the conversation.
"Well, she gave me this one lecture about Karma, right? There are a ton of religions that believe in it, but basically, it's the idea that if you do good things, then the universe will make good things happen to you, and if you do bad things, then bad things are going to happen."
For a moment, you were convinced that Eddie had understood what you were telling him, but then he'd let out a soft sigh. "And why does that mean that you can't stick up for yourself?"
You let out a soft chuckle. "It doesn't. I could stick up for myself if I really wanted to, but I'd rather let Karma do that for me. Chances are, that someday, Jason will get what's coming to him and it'll be far more effective than me calling him a dick and starting an argument, right?"
"I still don't get it," he mumbled, watching as a small smile pulled at your lips.
"Okay, so say that Karma is a bounty hunter, right?"
"Like Boba Fett?"
You bit back a giggle, nodding. "Sure, like Boba Fett. So, if Karma is a bounty hunter, that means it's always on Jason's trail, right? It's following him around, day to day, waiting for the perfect moment to strike."
"It's gonna kill him?"
"No," you chuckled. "Or I mean, maybe, I guess. But eventually, all the bad shit he's done is going to catch up with him. And when it does, my conscience will be totally clean, because I wouldn't have done anything wrong."
"Huh," Eddie murmured, nodding to himself. "So, You must have pretty good Karma, right?"
You shrugged slightly. "Yeah, I guess so," you hummed. "To me, Karma is a relaxing thought; I guess Jason should just be a little envious that to him it wouldn't be."
Eddie let out a soft sigh. "Do you think I have good Karma?"
Your smile softened slightly. "Yeah, I do."
"Yeah?"
You nodded, taking Eddie's hand in yours and giving it a light squeeze. "You're a good person. You're kind and protective and so sweet-"
"But I-"
"Karma isn't coming for you," you interrupted. "Or at least, negative Karma isn't."
He nodded, still looking a little lost as he thought silently. And then, his eyes had lit up, and he was grinning at you. "I must have good Karma," he exclaimed, watching as your head tilted, waiting for an explanation. "I've got to because the universe thought I was so good that it gave me you."
You snorted with laughter as he pulled you into a chaste kiss, grinning to himself as he pulled back, his hand still tangled with yours.
"I've got to have the best Karma going," he pressed on. "Like a total saint-"
"I wouldn't go that far," you teased, drawing a chuckle out of him.
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