it's you... || Karl Jacobs ✔️

| its you... || comfort |

fifteen
"Let It Hurt"

The trio arrived back at Karl's, it was dark out and Karl saw many cars in his drive. Well, two, but neither he owned so it was a lot. He knew who they belonged too though.

"Shit, i had to record today." Karl said under his breath. He sighed before parking and turning to look at the girl next to him.

"What?" She asked, yawning as she looked at Karl. He smiled but remembered what he was going to say.

"Okay, i know you're hesitant around guys, i can tell. As a heads up, there are going to be three in here. Their names are Jimmy, Chris, and Chandler. Im sure you saw them in any video you watched when trying to figure out who i am. They will not hurt you, they wont touch you without permission, but they might get to be loud." He warned softly, caressing her hand he was holding and had been since he got into the back seat with her. She just nodded, hesitance in her eyes.

"We'll be with you, Kate." Dream said reassuringly. She nodded and started to get out of the car, the blanket she'd been cuddling in her hand. Karl held her other hand the entire time as she laid her head on his shoulder. She was beyond exhausted and just wanted to sleep.

"Hey guys." Karl said as he walked in. He squeezed the girls hand softly as he saw Chris, Chandler, and Jimmy raiding his fridge, Tareq was filming, which explained the other car.

"You have good food Karl." Chandler said with a laugh.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, giggling as the camera panned over to Jimmy. Tareq didnt want to film the girl with puffy eyes who looked like Karl was her only link to the real world at the moment.

"Im going to sleep, dont film my face." Dream said, walking up the stairs to the guest bedroom.

"Oh, please don't film me either." The girl said softly.

"Yeah, keep camera off me for now until i get her settled in."

"Tareq, we have to cut most of this out anyway just stop filming." Jimmy said with a small laugh.

"Karl, buddy i missed you. We were supposed to film today, what happened?" Chris asked with a smile, sitting on his countertop with a glass of water.

"I had some important last minute issues to attend to. Sorry." He said with a small smile.

"So, who's your friend?" Chris asked.

"What do you mean? Thats Katelyn, we all replied to her post in twitter a while ago remember?" Chandler said.

"Yeah, this is Katelyn. Katelyn this is Chris, Jimmy, and Chandler. She's staying with me for a while so she'll be around a lot."

"Do you mind me asking why?" Jimmy asked.

"Ha, maybe when im not sleep deprived and will trauma dump on you like i did poor dream that one night." The girl said with a laugh as she closed her eyes, leaning more into Karl.

"Im taking you up to bed now, Kate, okay?" Karl said softly. She nodded and Karl started walking her up the stairs and to his bedroom. He laid her down in the bed, and took off her shoes.

"Karl?" She asked before he left.

"Yeah, Kate?"

"Is he gonna be okay, do you think? Like, mentally?"

"I think he will, but only time can tell, Kate. Im not sure what happened or what went down, and i dont need to, but i do know he is lucky to call you his sister."

"It hurts, Karl, i cant be there for him like i used to." She said softly, trying not to cry. Karl came and sat next to her on the bed.

"Of course you can Kate, youre still his sister like it or not. He'll always go to you. Now why dont you get some sleep, okay?" She nodded in response and he walked out, shutting the door.

———

Katelyn left the room and the house was still dark. She made her way to the living room and saw Karl still awake watching cartoons.

"Katelyn, are you okay?"

"He usually sleeps with me. 9/10 times he'd be in my bed. It's weird, sleeping alone. Dream would sit with me until i fell asleep. I know he never stayed out of respect but the knowledge of him being there helped. I dont know, its weird." She explained, still standing in the hallway.

"Come here." He said softly, moving back against the couch more. She hesitantly walked towards him and stood in front of the couch.

"What?" She asked, still tired and confused.

"Would you like to lay with me to fall asleep?" He asked, not wanting to cross her boundaries.

"Oh, uh, would you mind? I dont want to make you uncomfortable."

"Of course not, im offering. Here, just lay down whenever youre ready and i'll help you fall asleep." He said softly. She nodded before she sat down and slowly laid down. Her entire body curled into Karl's, desperate to find comfort in the darkness of her life.

"Can i lay my arm around you?" He asked, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. She nodded and he gently laid his arm across her side and let it drape down her back. He drew circles on her back as he started playing with her hair. Katelyn was tense at first but soon relaxed into the touch, nuzzling her head under his chin. She could hear and feel his breathing which lulled her to sleep.

"You're safe with me, Katelyn. I promise you that, okay? You're safe here, I won't hurt you." He whispered into her hair. That was all the reassurance she needed to fall asleep.

When Dream awoke and came downstairs for water, he was not surprised to see the pair cuddled in the couch in such an intimate position. He was unfazed. He simply took a picture, sent it to Karl and Katelyn, and walked back upstairs to start editing a video on his laptop.