silence speaks in volumes {karlnap}

chapter 5

TW: mentions of injuries, violence, blood

(Nick POV)

I hope Karl met my friends. George told me that they would introduce themselves, but Karl has a way of slipping through places unnoticed. I think he uses that to his advantage. I push open the main doors and head straight for my locker. 

I don't even know how long I've known them, now that I think about it. All our mothers knew each other for years, and our fathers did too. We grew up with each other. It was weird when Dream and George, and Bad and Skeppy started dating because of that fact. But I guess maybe they just always knew they liked each other.

I've had off and on boyfriends and girlfriends. And by off and on, I mean I introduced them to my friends, and a week later, they broke it off. Always the same excuse: "You're too in love with your friends, not enough in love with me." That's the thing. I never loved them. I introduced my partner to them a week after we started dating. Every time. So I never loved them. 

Anyway, I'm off topic. I don't even know if they managed to find Karl. I barely could when I first wanted to be his friend. Now this. My "leave." I hate my mom's national meetings. She always drags me along. Okay, I lied. I love them. Except this year. Because this year, I have Karl.

"Nick!" I turn around. George and Dream are running up to me. I shove my backpack in my locker before facing them completly. 

"Hey, guys! Did you find Karl yesterday?" I ask.

"Yeah, but you aren't gonna like where we found him," Dream says slowly. That's when I realize their worried faces. 

"What do you mean? What happened?" I demand. Worry washes over me. George turns his head and nods, and Karl steps from behind Dream. I didn't even see him. 

He winces at every step he takes, he has a purple bruise on his jaw and a black eye. He's looking down at the floor as if he's ashamed. 

"Oh my god, Karl, what happened?" I ask, stepping towards him. I tilt his chin up to look at his injuries and he smiles weakly. 

"Your team meates attacked him in the bathroom," George says quietly. 

"What," I snap, turning away from Karl. George flinches. 

"Yeah. Tony and Noah. He just walked in -- they were already in there -- and they just jumped him," Dream explains. I can feel my face getting red in anger. But I don't care. 

I slam my locker shut and storm over to Keith's locker. I know they'll be over there. They always hang out there in the mornings. 

I hear small footsteps behind me and someone grabs my arm. Their cold hands on my warmer arm sends chills up my spine. I look down, where Karl has a terrified expression on his face. He shakes his head wildly. 

"I'm not going to punch them," I promise. "Unless prevoked." Karl's lips turn up for a split second before falling again. He shakes his head again. 

I sigh, my face softening. "Karl, they hurt you for no goddamn reason. I just want to talk to them." His worried gaze hardens as he gives me a you really expect me to believe that crap? look. I smirk. 

"What? What should I do instead?" He releases my arm and motions to me before punching his fist, them pointing to my team. It's not easy to understand, but I know what he's saying.

Either I'll pummel them, or I'll get pummeled. And he doesn't want to see either. 

"Karl, I won't hurt anyone, I promise," I say. "But they hurt you, and that's not right."

His brow furrows and he motions to his face. Then he punches the air, mimicks a phone call, and pretends to drop kick something. 

"What?"

"I think he's thinking that the people who hurt him got suspended." I jump and look to my left to see Bad and Skeppy standing there, hand in hand.

"Oh. Did they?" I ask.

"Maybe. I didn't see them," Skeppy says. 

"Oh."

"How are you, Karl?" Bad asks, turning towards Karl. He shrugs and points at his back. "Still hurt?" Karl nods. 

"Wait, what happened with his back?" I ask, even though it's not my buisness. Not really. 

Karl point to the locker again, curls up in a ball, and stands back up to pretend to kick someone. "They kicked you?" I ask, my voice cold and hard. He nods. 

Before he can react, I'm stomping towards them again. His footsteps are behind me again, but I don't care. I don't see Tony and Noah, which I'm thankful for, but also kind of disappointed about. 

I stand next to Miriam, who's half draped over a football player who's name I don't know. Dream probably knows his name. He's on the varsity team. 

"Oh, hey Nicky," Keith says, his arm around his Girlfriend of the Week. Some emo chick who doesn't look like she wants to be there; surrounded by the jocks. 

"Hi," I snap. Keith raises an eyebrow before flicking his gaze next to me. He smirks. 

"What happened to your little friend?" he taunts. Karl grips my arm so I don't do anything dumb.

"As if you don't know," I say coldly.

Keith chuckles. "He got pounded by Noah and Tony. I wish I could say I sent them myself, but-" 

I tear my arm out of Karl's grip and punch Keith dead in the face. He swears and wipes his nose. His hand comes back bloody.

"You wanna go, Nicky?" he asks, his voice rotten and hard. He steps closer to me, towering over me, but I'm not scared. 

"No. What I want is for you to stay away from Karl." And with that, I grab Karl's hand and drag him away. 

"Sapnap, what happened?" Dream asks as I get back to my locker. 

"Fucking bitches. All of them should go to hell," I mumble as I yank open my still unlocked locker. I don't even acknowledge the fact that Dream used my nickname. 

"I agree, yes, but what happened?"

"I punched Keith. He said he wished he sent Noah and Tony himself," I spit, grabbing my stuff. 

"Nick, calm down," George pleads. When I turn to look at him, I see that he's hugging a scared looking Karl. I take a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Karl. I broke my promise," I say quietly. He nods slowly. "I just - I'm sick of them hurting you. I wish they could just leave you alone." He nods again.

I sigh and look down. "Screw them," I mutter. I lock my locker and lean against it. Dream and George lean against the lockers on my right, and Karl takes my left. I feel his small hand slip into my (bit) bigger one. Sparks shoot up my arm. 

I smile down at him, and he copies the smile. The bell rings and his hand leaves mine. I wave as he heads down the hall, and the day moves forward from there.

Word Count 1192

~A/N~

good news: no updates till sunday!

ok that might be bad news.....

anyway, i'm going out of town, and i dont have the wattpad app, stupid parental controls 🙄 but UPDATES WILL COME SOON

MAKE SURE TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF💜