wait; karl jacobs ✓

ten

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talia had been staying with karl for 3 days and he could count their interactions on one hand.

she was depressed.

she stayed on the couch, sulking during the day.

she would sit on his back porch in the evenings, crying where she thought he couldn't hear her. but he could.

besides bringing her food at meal times and sitting next to her quietly, assuring she would eat, he felt like he was so worthless when it came to helping.

maxwell had turned karl's best friend into someone he could barely even recognize.

"are you sure you're alright with me streaming? i really don't mind canceling."

karl stood leaning against the doorway to his back yard. talia was sitting with her legs crossed in the hammock he had hovering above the deck.

"go ahead, you're okay." she said quietly.

he was thankful to get a verbal response, seeing as he had mostly just received either a head nod or shake.

"hi everyone, so sorry i have not been as active the last few days. we'll join the game here in just a bit. george and quackity are gonna be joining me today." he said before he began reading chat.

"yeah, i'm okay. i promise. i just have a friend going through a lot right now that i need to be there for. i need to make sure i'm being a good friend before i'm being a good streamer, i'm sorry guys. i promise i'll get back in a normal routine soon."

he soon started the stream, not knowing that talia sat outside of the door, listening to him joke and laugh with george and alex. her heart immediately broke as she realized how much of a burden she had been. he was so busy taking care of her that he wasn't able to enjoy these little moments to himself.

talia quietly opened the door, knowing it would be out of view from the camera. karl heard and muted himself from the discord and stream once he was talia.

"hey, you okay?"

"yeah, would it be okay if i maybe just sat and watched? i don't wanna be announced that i'm here or anything. i just wanna watch."

"of course you can." karl's face lit up, glad that he was hearing more than one word answers.

he quickly stood up and stepped out of frame of the camera. he bent down and gave talia, who was sitting on his bed, a hug. she gladly embraced his warm arms.

"i'm glad you're here," he said before returning to his seat and unmuting. "sorry everyone, i'm back."

sappy nappy
hi tal!

big t
hi nicky

sappy nappy
i hope its okay that karl told
me you moved out
i just wanted to see how you are
and make sure you're doing ok

big t
that's really sweet of you
i'm not really okay but i know i
will be
thank you for checking on me

sappy nappy
always
im not just karls friend but im
yours too
im gonna come visit you guys soon

big t
you better

"tally?" karl interrupted, grabbing talia's attention.

"mhm?"

"think we could maybe get out for a bit? we could just drive if you want."

"that sounds nice."

so that's what they did.

car rides with no intended destination were pretty typical for the duo. karl would drive through different foreign neighborhoods while talia was in charge of their musical accompaniments. this time was a bit different on talia's part. as soon as they entered the car, she asked if karl would find some music. she was worried her heart would only want sad songs and she didn't want to be responsible for that.

karl sadly agreed, but went to a private playlist of his. it was a collection of any song that talia ever said "this is my favorite song" to, which was a lot. as he hit shuffle, 'she' by dodie began playing.

talia slightly reclined back her seat as she hummed along. even her humming sounded pretty.

"how do you feel?" karl asked, breaking their usual silence. "honestly."

"honestly?" she sat for a minute, not knowing how to put it. "i'm somewhere between feeling used, worthless, and broken but also tired of feeling anything."

he quickly glanced at her with sad eyes before returning his gaze to the road.

"go ahead." talia said.

"go ahead and what?"

"say you told me so." she responded, causing karl to laugh.

"i wasn't going to say that. even though i did." he teased, causing her to break out a small giggled that he hadn't heard in a few days.

he wondered what would be different in that moment if he had been more persistent in trying to keep talia from maxwell. what if he had admitted his feelings at that time? would she had left maxwell to be with him?

"you're gonna be okay." karl reassured, unprompted.

"i know," talia started. "because i've got you here."

"and you always will."

liked by karljacobs and 31,572 others.
taliab karl said i needed to let everyone know i'm still alive but tbh that sounds overrated

comments

karljacobs :)
corpse_husband instagram missed you(i do too)
random1 talia stans finally get content
random2 um bestie is there a reason we can't find max on your ig