Journey- Karl Jacobs

Chapter 5- Monsters

9:37am

Ellie had already been in and out of the shower and was currently mentally preparing herself for the two hour drive she was going to have to drive to get back home. She'd spent the last 20 minutes compiling the perfect playlist to put on in the background of the journey as she often did with most long trips she had to take. 

George and Clay both said their goodbyes and waved her off as she drove away from the couple's new furnished home. Ellie pressed the voice button on her steering wheel as she pulled onto the highway, and clearly said 'call Karl' before there was a loud ringtone buzzing coming from the car speakers. He picked up almost immediately. 

"Hey Karl, I just wanted to let you know I'm on my way home. I've just come onto the highway." She said as she merged into another lane to overtake a slower car.

"Nice, I've missed you so much. How long are you gonna be?" Karl asked pressing his phone closer to his ear to hear her better.

"The GPS says about one hour forty-five with no traffic. What you up to?"

"Just getting some shopping, I'll be back before you get home though. Drive safe ok?"

"I will, I love you and I'll see you soon!"

"I love you too, bye!" Karl put the phone down and looked back up at his surroundings, he'd never felt so lost in somewhere so familiar. He continued strolling around the mall trying to find the perfect christmas present for Ellie. He was usually pretty good at christmas gifting, few gift cards, something of a celebrity they liked or something they had mentioned they wanted earlier in the year. But this was different. He wanted to get Ellie something that showed her just how much she meant to him, but everything he saw just seemed like it just- wasn't enough. 

Nick was in town for a few days and he was meeting Karl in the mall for lunch, they sat down at one of the empty tables with their bags of food and started eating. 

"I just don't know what to do man." Karl sighed as he still hadn't managed to pick the perfect gift for her. 

"Dude, you know it doesn't really matter what gift you get her, as long as you put some good thought into it she'll appreciate it no matter what. She really loves you dude, little materialistic things don't really matter in the long run." Nick advised pouring a sachet of salt onto his fries. Karl looked Nick straight in the eyes as thoughts began to tick round in his head. 

"Or maybe they do." He mumbled as the best idea popped into his head. Nick shot him a confused look but decided to just let it be as they continued to munch on their lunch. 

The boys spent another good hour at the mall before they headed back to Karl's house, swamped with christmas gifts for their loved ones. When they got there they put their bags to the side and went to grab some monsters from the fridge. 

"What? I thought I had loads left!" Karl exasperated as he slammed the fridge shut with some force. "I bet Ethan's been stealing them again." 

"There's a convenience store right round the corner that'll have them, we can walk there and back in like 10 minutes." Nick said as he put his jacket back on. Karl agreed and the boys headed back out to restock their choice of drinks. 

As suspected the trip was very quick and they were soon on the way back, carrying their bags with the cans of monster in them. Just down the road from the house amongst conversation about gaming and general life they noticed two men dressed all in black approaching them. They thought nothing of it but saw they made no attempt of minding out of the way so they could pass, so Karl and Nick chose the courteous decision of moving to walk at the side of the road so they didn't bump into the men. But as they did, the taller one of the two grabbed Karl's wrist as he was passing and used brute force to shove him to the ground.

Everything went blurry and he tried to get back up off the floor but his legs failed him. He managed to curl up into a ball after the other man gave him a heavy kick to his stomach, sending a searing pain throughout his entire body. Nick made an attempt at beating the strangers up but they were both bigger and stronger than him, he managed to punch one of them in the face but ended up getting one in return, one that felt like it would certainly leave a mark. 

As the thugs were about to look for any valuables on them a car pulled up and beeped the horn, sending them running off in the opposite direction. Nick and Karl were both still on the floor when they heard a car door slam and a familiar, panicked voice shout. 

"Guys! Oh my god what happened?" Ellie knelt on the sidewalk between the two, quickly examining their injuries. She helped them both up off the floor and into the house to see if she could help ease their pain. Karl flopped down on the couch, still clutching his stomach, and Nick hobbled over to the seats at the kitchen counter, holding Ellie for support. She opened a few cupboards in a hurry as she searched for the first aid kit. Grabbing it from one of the highest shelves, she addressed Nick's bleeding wounds first by cleaning the gash under his eye, putting a bandage on it and giving him some ice to help. She then brought an ice pack and some ointment over to Karl, who was still curled up in a ball on the couch. 

He lay flat on his back and Ellie lifted his shirt up to reveal his already bruised stomach. Opening the tube of cream she tried to gently apply some to his abdominal region, but he immediately flinched at the pain. 

"I know I'm so sorry baby." She gave him an apologetic look but he knew she only wanted what was best for him, and at this moment that was the cream. He grabbed hold of her free hand as she went in again to apply the ointment. She felt his stomach muscles tense under her hand as she carefully smoothed out the cream but he managed to withstand the brief pain. Ellie gave him a kiss on the cheek and helped him to sit upright, holding a cold pack to his bruise. "Who were them idiots anyway?" 

"No idea, just some punks looking for stuff they could pawn off for some drug money probably." Nick replied as he made his way over and sat down on the other end of the couch, and ice pack pressed to his face. 

"They didn't manage to get anything though, you turned up just in time," Karl managed a feeble smile and Ellie ruffled his hair as she went back over to the kitchen counter to put away the first aid kit. "I forgot to ask by the way, how was the drive back?" 

"It was alright, not too much traffic but I had to take a diversion as I got off the highway because of an oil spill. Did you two have fun shopping?" She made her way back over to the couch and plonked down between the two boys.

"What with mister indecisive over here? Yeah it was lovely!" Nick stated, his tone dripping with sarcasm making them all laugh. 

The rest of the day Ellie did whatever she could to make sure the boys were comfortable, getting drinks, making food, she even drove Sapnap home because she was worried it wouldn't be safe if he had a minor concussion. 

She arrived back after the short drive to the place Nick was staying at to see Karl limping his way upstairs, so promptly followed him and offered her hand for support. They made their way upstairs and got changed into some nightwear. 

"You ok, do you need anything else?" Ellie popped her head round Karl's bedroom door to see him lying in his bed on his side. He didn't say anything by he put the saddest look on his face and opened his arms, beckoning her over. Damn. How could she say no to that gorgeous face. She quietly shut the door behind her and crept over to his bed and got wrapped in his warmth as usual, but avoided any pressure on his stomach. Pulling her close seemed to make all the pain go away, and they both slowly drifted off to sleep. 

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