A LITTLE LESS SIXTEEN CANDLES; A LITTLE MORE TOUCH ME // Karl Jacobs X Reader

12

The business was slow again today, as it had been for the past few days. Not that Bath and Body Works was ever really crowded, per say, but around Christmas it could get a little full. Still, it seemed like the late May - early June period wasn't really the time of year for this sort of thing. Not that you minded though. The store may have been empty, but your mind was full. 

Things with Karl had been going great. 

You'd been texting back and forth for a few weeks now, and it was safe to say that you knew him pretty well. There was really no stopping your tiny crush from growing wings and becoming a full blown batch of feelings. You didn't really mind though - Karl was funny and nice and really cute. 

There was only one issue. He still hadn't mentioned the whole YouTube thing. And you were starting to think he wasn't planning to.

You rested your elbow on the counter in front of you, placing your chin in your hands so that you could look down at your unlocked phone laying in front of you. You really wanted to ask him about it, but what if that screwed things up? Maybe he wasn't talking about it for a reason...

But it was nagging you incessantly. 

You stood back up, pushing your hands against the edge of the counter so you could hover over your phone, biting your lip. You wanted to... but should you?

Be bold.

You picked up your phone and opened your text thread with Karl, typing out the message and hitting send before you could second guess yourself. 

dude u didn't tell me u were part of the mr.beast team wtf thats so cool!!

As soon as the message went through, you slid your phone down the counter and away from yourself, not wanting to look at it. There was a reason he wasn't talking about it... you;d just messed everything up... and it had been going so well...

Your phone began to buzz - you were getting a call. Your hand shot out to grab it, looking down at the contact. Karl was calling you.

You answered it right away. "Hi."

"Hi." He said. He sounded adorable, like he always did. There was just something so happy about his voice... "You, uh, just found out?"

"Um, yeah." You said. "Why didn't you say anything, that's insane!"

There was a pause. "You don't think it's weird?" 

"Of course not!" You said. "I think that's really cool - I mean, how many people can say that they're part of the Mr. Beast team and a successful streamer/youtuber/internet person?"

"Thank god!" Karl laughed, relief evident in his voice. "I was so scared that you were going to be like, 'that's not a real job' or think I was one of those youtubers or something, and I didn't know how to explain-"

You laughed as well, any and all of the worry flying off your shoulders. "No, I actually think that's really cool. I have to ask though..."

"Yeah?"

"...Were all those candles for a video or something?" You finished, smiling even though he couldn't see you.

Karl giggled on the other end of the line, and your heart soared. His giggle was possibly your favorite thing about him - there was something about it that was just so happy and boyish that made it so endearing.

"The first batch was." He admitted.

"Only the first batch?" You asked. 

"Well, I mean, there was this really cute cashier working there, so I though, yanno, it couldn't hurt to get some candles for myself too..." You could hear the cheeky smile in his voice.

You giggled. "You really didn't have to buy more candles just to talk to me."

"But now my house smells really nice!" Karl said. "And I won't have to do any Christmas shopping. Unless candles expire. Do candles expire?"

You laughed. "Candles don't expire."

"Then I won't have to do any Christmas shopping!" Karl exclaimed. "Killed two birds with one stone."

You laughed, smiling down at the counter. He was just so cute... you had only been talking for a few weeks, but he already made you so happy... it was infectious.

"Sooo..." You drawled. 

"Sooo..." Karl echoed.

"What was the video?" You asked. 

Karl paused. "That's classified. Top secret information, actually."

You pouted, even though he wasn't able to see you. "What, I don't get to know? I was the one that sold you the supplies!"

"It's a secret!" Karl insisted. "You'll just have to wait for the video like the rest of the world."

"Boooo." You pouted.

"It'll be out in a few days anyway." Karl said. "You won't have to wait long."

"No special treatment?" You jokingly whined. "Not even since I'm friends with one of the team members?"

Karl hummed. "Well... I might not be able to show you the video early, but I could get you on one of the shoots, if you wanted."

You laughed. "Funny."

"No, I'm serious."

You laughed again. "Yeah, alright." Catching movement on the edge of your vision, you glanced up to see a woman walking into the store, and take one of the shopping bags. 

"Y/N." Karl chuckled. "I'm not joking-"

"Hey, a customer just walked in, so I have to go, but I'll talk to you later?" You said, grabbing your phone.

"Oh, sure." Karl said. "Talk to you later. Bye!"

You smiled to yourself. "Bye!" 

Sliding your phone back into your pocket, you slipped out from behind the counter, going over to the woman who had walked it to see if she needed any help. She was looking for some new summery perfumes, so you led her over to one of the beach themed displays and the variety of products there. As you helped her shop, you couldn't stop thinking about what Karl had said.

Surely he was joking. There was no way he would actually  get you on one of the shoots - you had only met him a few weeks ago. That would be ridiculous; those shoots were almost exclusively close friends and people who worked with the team on a regular basis.

He had been joking, you were sure of it.