𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐀𝐆𝐍𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐒, k.jacobs

FIFTEEN.

FIFTEEN ;
no one's celebrating

real life !

Admittedly, Karl didn't know what he was doing anymore. After he had dropped Marley off back at the house, tears in both of their eyes, he had gone back to his temporary home and desperately tried to work out a plan to fix the mess he had unintentionally made.

His planning hadn't gotten very far. In fact, he hadn't planned any further than grow a pair and win her back.

Karl knew she wasn't bluffing when she told him she wouldn't wait forever. Marley was a lot of things ( beautiful, funny, sad, angry, heartbroken ) but she was not a liar. She didn't sugarcoat anything, either. It was one of the many reasons he loved her as mush as he did—she told him how it was and was real.

Karl knew he was on borrowed time at this point. It was a given considering how badly he had hurt her and he was lucky that she loved him enough to give him time to figure out what he was going to do.

But it was nearing two months already and he had made next to no progress. Going into it, Karl had been nervous she was going to say no when he had eventually popped the question. He had never even considered the fact that they would leave their spot on the beach separated.

He was running out of time. He knew that. Marley told him that.

And yet, he couldn't bring himself to do more than sit on the couch and throw himself a pity party. She wasn't the only one hurting between the two of them, despite him being the entire reason either of them were hurting in the first place.

"You look like shit," Alex said from the phone, startling Karl out of his depressing thoughts. "Did you forget I was here? Man, I didn't realize I was that bad of company. You can just it to my face next time, Karl. I'll only be heartbroken forever but at least i'll know to cancel my plans to go over there next week."

Karl sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair, "I'm sorry, man. Im just..."

"Distracted," Alex finished for him, a knowing look on his face. "I take it dinner didn't go too well, then?"

"You didn't ask her?"

He shook his head, "Nope. You gonna tell me or am I gonna have to go beg Marley for an answer?"

Karl hesitated before sighing, "It didn't go horrible. Not at first, at least. It almost felt...normal, I guess? We were joking around and having a good time and then I asked her if it felt weird being there with me and..." he paused as he tried to compose himself. "She basically told me that I let her leave and when I told her that was ridiculous she basically told me she won't wait forever."

When Alex didn't immediately say anything, Karl rubbed at his eyes and said, "I didn't let her leave."

"You didn't make her stay, either," Alex replied hesitantly. "You could have—,"

"No I couldn't of!"

"You could have," he insisted, leaving no room for an argument. "You could of told her then and there what happened and why you said what you said."

Karl huffed, "Like that would have made the situation any better."

"It couldn't of made things worse," he said with a shrug. "You and I both know she wouldn't of said no. Owning up to letting her walk away is part of getting your shit together, Karl. You know I love you, but what you did was stupid and could have been avoided."

"You're saying telling her I don't want to be her boyfriend anymore and then immediately proposing wouldn't of made the situation worse?"

"In all honesty, she probably would have been more amused than anything. You guys have been together for how long? Four years? That wouldn't of been enough for her to leave you, Karl. Worst case scenario has already happened, man. You just need to fix your shit before she actually does leave for good. She's still there, she told you she would be until you were able to come up with a way to tell her what happened," Alex told him softly. "She's still there. Don't forget that."

Karl wiped at his eyes again before shooting his best friend a small smile. "I don't know how to make things better, Alex."

"Tell her the truth?"

"It's not that simple—,"

"Yes the fuck it is, Karl."

"—it doesn't feel that simple!"

Alex sighed and adjusted his beanie, "I guess it's a good thing i'm coming over there then, huh? Maybe two brains will be better than your tiny little one."

"What would I do without you?"

"Well you definitely wouldn't be any closer to getting back together with the love of your life, that's for sure."

Karl let out a surprised laugh, eternally grateful for his brutally honest best friend. "You're awfully confident that you'll be able to help me out here, Alex."

He shrugged and offered him a grin, "how hard can it be to tell the truth, dumbass?"

"Harder than you think."

Alex waved him off, "We can worry about that when I get there. Wanna have a movie night? You look like you need some company."

"As long as it's not a movie that'll make me cry," Karl said with a thumbs up. "I don't think I can physically handle any more tears today."

"Yeah, I can tell. Don't worry, though. You're still dreamy."

Karl laughed loudly and ran a hand over his face, ignoring the way his eyes were stinging,
"You're the best. Actually."

Alex hummed thoughtfully, "Can I get that in writing? I'd like to get that framed."

"Absolutely. I'll have it ready by the time you get here."

"Hmm you better. Or i'll switch teams and go talk shit to Mars," he joked, carefully watching to see how Karl reacted.

He only laughed, surprising them both. "I literally would not be able to blame you for that."

A/N