"Karl, are you alright?" || Karl Jacobs angst || high school au

Chapter 9

Karl POV

"You're not...happy?" I asked quietly.

Alex broke. All the tears he had been holding back came out.

Nick had a shocked look on his face.

Everything went silent.

Nick walked over to me and Alex, and joined the hug.

I froze for a second. He didn't hate me?

The two were completely broken. Had I really mattered that much to them?

"Karl, we love you. You're my friend," Alex said softly through tears.

"I'm sorry Karl," Nick added.

I looked up. What? He was sorry? I-I thought he just wanted me dead.

Maybe people weren't who I thought...

-

Dream's POV

"Pick up pick up pick up,"

"I'm sure he's fine, Dream."

"But what if he's not?"

Nick wasn't answering any of my text messages. None of my calls either.

We had gotten into a fight, and I was going to say sorry, and make sure he was okay, but he wasn't answering me.

Which reminds me. I still have to talk to his friend to see if he wants to hang out with us at lunch.

George and I had been trying to ask him since I first noticed him, but neither of us had classes with him, and he was always out of the lunchroom first thing.

The year before, we would have asked him, but he hung out with Schlatt.

Schlatt was heking scary.

Luckily, he had seemed to have moved on from Schlatt. It's a good thing too.

I would see them pass by in the halls one moment, then come back the next, but this time with the younger one having bruises all over him.

Poor kid. His name was like...Aleza or something.

I'm really bad with names so whatever.

And then there was that kid that A— whatever his name was, was friends with.

Karson, I think? Yeah that sounds about right.

I was pretty sure he was in art with me.

But back to the real problem here. NICK ISN'T ANSWERING ME—!

Furiously typing on my phone, George stopped staring at me and went to the kitchen to grab something.

I could hear a small jingle, but was too focused on texting Nick. I didn't pay any mind to it.

George tapped my shoulder. I turned around, and the Brit shoved something silver into my hands.

Keys.

"Drive," He commanded.

I nodded, and made my way across the wooden floor to the door.

Upon opening it, a cold breeze shifted into the room.

George and I stepped out, and walked to the car. We got in, and I started my way to Nick's house.

I hoped for dear life that he was there.

I honestly felt bad. I shouldn't have told him to stop.

It wasn't my place anyway.

However, he did mention that the boy was hurting himself. I wonder how...

I probably shouldn't interfere though.

George waited anxiously beside me, as I drove into Nick's driveway.

From what I know, Nick's parents weren't home. They almost never were. He was basically raised by himself.

I stopped the car, and unlocked it, letting George out.

I got out as well, shutting the door, and locking it.

The cold wind was back, freezing my bones.

The sidewalk was slightly cracked on the way up to his house.

George grasped my arm for comfort and warmth.

He was worried too, Nick had always walked home with us. Today he didn't, and that scared us.

I took a deep breath as I knocked on the door. I could hear... crying inside? Odd.

Slowly the door knob turned before me, and the door opened.

Nick was standing behind it, and I could see 2 people behind him.

The boy who was Nick's friend, Quackimeow, and...Coral Johnson?

I don't know, I'm not good with names.

They were sitting on a couch, and hugging each other like their life depended on it.

I looked back to Nick. He had tear stains on his cheek, and seemed concerned.

He ran up to me, and gave me a hug.

Startled, I stayed like that for a while. Holding each other in our arms. At some point, George joined in too.

When we finally let go, Nick led us into the house. He showed us to the front room, and sat down on a chair by the couch.

George and I did the same.

What happened here?

"So..." Nick started. "This is Karl, and Alex."

George and I nodded. My name guesses were close enough...

"Are you guys alright...?" I asked quietly.

Nick's eyes widened and filled with tears.

Alex sniffled, and buried his head into Karl.

Nick looked down. Karl looked at me.

"no," he answered subtly.

I would have laughed normally, but this had to be serious, because Nick was in tears. Never, had I seen that before.

"What Karl means is that we'll be fine. Just give us...a while," Alex answered through sniffles.

Something really bad must have happened. But whatever it was, I'm sure it'll be okay.