knj imagines

what's the problem? || jc caylen

Staying up late and watching Jc's Twitch streams became my new thing. It wasn't so much that I enjoyed watching him play Fortnight for hours on end but more like I missed my best friend more than words could describe and I soaked up any face time with him as I could.

I laughed at the face he made when he died and quickly typed out a comment. I could tell he had read it because there was a smirk on his face and he rolled his eyes. "Yes (Y/N), I know I suck but thank you for telling me. I'd like to see you play."

I smiled and typed again, waiting for him to reply but he was glancing down at his phone and frowning before putting it away. He read my comment and gave a faint smile. "Yeah for sure, I'll guest you someday and we can play together."

The rest of the stream he seemed off and no amount of witty comments or smiley face emojis could perk him up. I scanned through the comments to see that other people noticed he was different too.

Finally he said that he was tired and was going to end the stream for the night, thanking everyone before signing off. I immediately FaceTimed him which he declined on the first ring. Threatening texts were the next step.

jc your best friend is requesting attention

jc? you aren't that busy. what if i was dying???

justin answer me right now

The last text was enough and I waited for the call to connect. WiFi in my apartment was spotty but I could finally see a pixelated Jc appear on the screen. "Hey dude. What happened tonight?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. I'm good. I just got tired," he said but he had a distracted look in his eye and as his best friend I knew he was lying. "Really, I'm fine. It's not a big deal."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Obviously it was. You never let anything get in the way of work and you ended the stream so early tonight. So what showed up on your phone that made you act like that?"

He took a long time to answer, his eyes closed and his head resting against the headboard of his bed. I waited patiently and he finally took a deep breath. "I've been talking to this girl," he began and I squealed.

"A girl? Oh my gosh, what's her name? Where did you meet? Does she have an Instagram? Facebook?" I waited for him to answer all my questions but he didn't look excited like me. If anything he looked in pain.

"I just don't know if this is a good thing," he said and I rolled my eyes at him. Jc never could just enjoy a good thing when it presented itself to him.

"What could be bad about it? You're a nice looking single guy with a girl that is obviously interested in you so how is this a problem?"

"I don't know. I mean, it hasn't been that long since," he trailed off and I softened my irritated expression.

Jc had broken up with his girlfriend only a few months ago and to put it in a few words it was messy. The whole relationship was messy and probably left some emotional scarring on the poor guy.

"There's no set amount of time you need to wait from one relationship to the next. I mean, if you like her and you're ready then you should go for it," I offered but he shook his head.

"That's the thing. I don't know if I am ready. Am I ready to have another person treat me like garbage? Am I ever going to be ready for that again?" His hands were balled up in fists and he pressed them into his eyes, taking deep breaths.

"Jc," I whispered. I wished I could be there in person to hug him and tell him that everything was going to be okay but I wasn't so I would have to make do. "Jc honey."

He glanced up at me and I cracked a smile. "Don't honey me," he grumbled but I knew deep down he loved it.

"Not everyone is like her. There are people that are going to love you unconditionally and not dump all of their baggage on you, expecting you to fix it. You're going to find a girl that is perfect for you and if you think you found her, you need to go for it."

He nodded as I talked and closed his eyes. "What if she isn't though?"

"You won't know until you try," I said and he nodded again. "Do you like her?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Well okay then, it's settled! You just need to go with the flow with her. Take things slow, okay?"

He seemed to have loosened up now and his usual smile was back. "Yeah, thanks (Y/N). I should've just called you from the start. You always know what to say."

"What can I say," I said with an exaggerated hair flip. "I'm a genius." Jc laughed and something about it made my heart ache. "I miss you so much."

"Ditto. You need to come out here soon."

We spent the next two hours catching up, laughing over dumb things the other person had done and talking about anything and everything. Both of us were eventually falling asleep and we said goodbye with promises of visiting soon.

And of course I spent the next hour stalking this new mystery girl. I needed to make sure she was a good cookie. Only the best for my Jc.