old fashioned || karl jacobs x reader

13: i always knew

I drove to Ellie's, Karl next to me with this undying tension that had haunted us the majority of the day. I told him he didn't have to come. He insisted. Those were the only words I had said to him after that morning.

"I'm about to go."

"Okay, let me get shoes on."

"You don't have to come, Karl."

"No, I want to."

I couldn't understand why he still wanted to come with me even after everything. I was convinced he hated me, even if I wasn't sure he was capable of hate. We said nothing the whole car ride. I felt odd turning on music and I think he felt out of turn, so we sat in absolute silence. The only sound that hummed through the car was the distant drone of the wheels rolling on the asphalt and cars on the opposite side of the road blowing past us. If anything, I think the quiet made everything worse. It left us to our thoughts.

But I tried my best to keep my mind quiet because I knew I'd just give myself a headache. All I would be trying to do is push away the gradually clearing fog of my memory and making myself frustrated. I was almost dying to know what Karl was thinking in the passenger's seat. Was he going over every possible solution to this in his head? Thinking of how we would move forward? I know that's what I wanted to think, but I kept it down. We were friends, no big deal. Friends do what we've done.

When we arrived at Ellie's, neither of us said a word, still. I couldn't tell if he was ignoring me or just couldn't find the right thing to say because his eyes rarely fell on me. I stuffed my keys and wallet into my pocket and went up to the door with Karl trailing just behind me. I brought my fist to the wooden door and gave a soft knock.

Almost immediately, the cheery face of my coworker greeted us as the door opened. "(Y/n)! Karl! I'm so glad you two could make it," she beamed.

I let my straight lips finally take the form of a smile as I mirrored her. "Yeah, we wouldn't have missed it," I hummed back

"It's nice seeing you again, Karl. How've you been?" She turned her attention to my roommate. He stood just behind me and was keeping quiet, likely for his own sake.

"Good, I've been good," a strained smile spread on his face, nodding a little through his response.

Her head bobbed with content and she moved from the doorway. "Well, come on in. Enjoy yourselves. There's food in the kitchen just down the hall," she directed as she gestured back to the hallway in question, "make yourself at home."

I walked in with Karl carefully trailing behind me. Both of us took a moment to examine her entryway with marble floors that opened up to the living room. The other guests stood in there chatting amongst themselves while the TV played quietly behind their voices. Almost everyone had a drink in their hand, whether it be a beer or water. Along a wall in the living room was a staircase leading to the upstairs. At the top of the floor was a railing so you could look down at the partygoers.

Karl and I had matched expressions while examining the house, not too in awe but rather impressed. His head cocked down again and he faced Ellie.

"Where's your bathroom?" He asked quietly.

"The nice one is up the stairs, the last door on the left," her charismatic smile kept on as she directed him.

He nodded, hair swaying in rhythm with the bobs, and offered a smile in gratitude with a hushed thank you.

I looked back over to Ellie, glad to have built a strong enough friendship with her to be invited to her home. She walked with me to her kitchen, telling me about this project she had been working on. A book idea, she told me, that had come to her while she was sleeping. She was convinced it was the best idea she had come up with in a while, and I trusted her. I had seen her work before and I knew she was capable of great things.