Back in the Saddle

Eliminating Problems

Karl's POV:

It doesn't take long until Alex's house is filled with people of all kinds. I've never seen more than half of them in my whole life, but Alex talks to them as if they have been best friends since they were children. And he keeps dragging me along with him, introducing me to every new person that comes through the door.

I lost Nick and the others a while ago. The moment I set foot in the door I was whirled away by the party atmosphere and the people already here. I suppose it's not horrible, but meeting so many people and having to make conversation with them all at once is tiring and I would much rather be sitting on a couch somewhere, laughing and talking with my friends.

"Charlie! My man, it's good to see you! I thought you couldn't make it?" Alex says to a boy who's about my height with reddish brown hair and glasses.

"I thought I couldn't either because I had a date, but then I realized that girls come and go and a chance to go to one of your legendary parties is a once in a lifetime opportunity."

"There is no way you had a date. And if you did you wouldn't have canceled it."

"You're right there isn't. Today's my mom's birthday and I went to dinner. I thought it would last longer but I forgot that she's old..."

"Well, I'm glad you could make it. Oh! Charlie, this is Karl. Karl, Charlie. I actually met Charlie through Schlatt, believe it or not."

"Really? You know Schlatt?" I ask.

"I do. He and I both used to live in New York before he went to college and I came here. But, he knew Alex from the time Alex's family came to New York for business, and they were both at the same rager. He introduced the two of us not long after that since he realized how good of a time this guy is."

"That's really cool!" Out of the corner of my eye, I see Nick standing in the doorway of the kitchen. "It was nice meeting you, Charlie. I'll see you around."

I begin to make my way over to Nick, trying to navigate through the many people talking and dancing and drinking. I would probably feel very panicked if I wasn't heading to Nick, but the black-haired boy makes me feel very safe and all I want to do is get to him.

I'm probably halfway to him when a strong hand grabs my shoulder, stopping me dead in my tracks. At this point, Nick has caught sight of me, and he's currently glaring at the pink-haired man whose hand is gripping my shoulder.

"Sup, Karl," Techno says in his monotone voice. "Funny seeing you here."

"Uh, hey Techno. Sorry I can't stick around to chat: I've got somewhere to be."

I try to walk away from him but his hold on my shoulder remains strong. I look up at him, frankly a little scared, even though we're surrounded by people and Nick is less than twelve feet away from me. This man is very intimidating and I very much regret making an enemy of him yesterday.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were scared of me, Karl. Tell me, do I make you uncomfortable?"

"N-no, of course not. I just want to go have a good time with my friends, if you don't mind."

"Sure, I don't mind. But maybe you'd like to see one of my friends first." He points to the far corner of the living room, where Felix is glaring knives into my soul. I freeze, eyes locked with him, unsure of what to do. "You know, if I were him I'd be pretty hurt that you lied to him about being busy tonight. You know, on his sister's wedding day," Techno whispers in my ear. "Maybe you wanna talk and get that cleared up."

He gives me a light shove in the direction of the brunet, meaning I don't really have a choice about talking to him or not. Nick was very close to reaching Tech and I, but just when he's about to catch up to me, I began to make my way over to Felix. The whole time he continues to stare at me. Quite honestly, it's unsettling.

"Hey, Karl," he says in a flat voice once I get over to him. "I think we should talk. Outside."

"Alright," I mutter.

He grabs my hand, a little tighter than I would've liked, and leads me out the front door, you know, where there are like no people. I think that that's a great sign of how well this is going to go.

"Listen, Felix, I'm really sorry. We shouldn't have lied to you about being busy on the night of your sister's wedding. I just am not interested in you in that way and I didn't want to hurt your feelings. Please don't be mad at me."

"Am I really that unlikeable, Karl? Are you really that repulsed that you won't let me take you out on one date?" He doesn't give me the chance to answer. "Really just let me take you out once. Who knows, maybe you'll have a really good time and we can be, like, a power couple."

I want Nick to be here. I want him to get me out of this stupid, awkward, and uncomforable situation. But he isn't here. So I suppose that puts it on me to get this fixed and finally stand up for myself.

"Felix. I told you, I don't see you in that way. Even if we were to go on a date, it wouldn't end the way you want it too and would most likely just make things more awkward for the both of us. No means no. I tried to be nice, but maybe I have to get to the point that it's not gonna happen. I'm sorry."

I turn around, about to walk inside, a slight smile on my face, when he grabs my arm harshly. I try to yank it out of his grip, but he's mad, and anger can give you a new sense of strength, I've found.

"Come on, just give me a chance. Just one. Say, we don't even have to go on a date, we could just cut right to the good part-"

"Get your hand off of him," Nick says from behind us. My head whips around to see the angry, no, seething ravenette glaring at Felix and I feel my chest flood with relief at being saved by him yet again. "Let him go and get out of here before you lose that hand, Felix.

Felix instantly lets go and stumbles back a couple steps. He looks terrified, and reasonably so: Nick can be very frightening when he wants to be. I don't feel bad, Felix deserves it.

"You heard me, get out of here." When he doesn't move, Nick speaks up again, "Get out of here right now, before I kill you."

That gets him, because he snaps out of his face and goes running off to wherever his car is parked. Once he's out of sight, Nick twirls around to me, hand flying to my face while he tries to assess if I'm hurt or anything. He doesn't care at all that we're at a slightly suspicious position, apparently, because he holds me close while his hand remains on my cheek.

"Did he hurt you? I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner: Techno was distracting me."

"I'm okay. I actually stood up to him, Nick. I was so proud of myself."

He smiles at me softly. "I'm proud of you too, sunshine. It just sucks that he had to go and be a piece of shit human being and say something like that to you."

"You heard that?"

"Yeah, I did. I'm sorry that he wouldn't drop it. He strikes me as the stalker type, so I wouldn't lose your guard. And I'd talk to Sam; tell him about all of this so that he can hopefully handle the situation."

"You think that will work?"

"I do. Sam is a good guy: he'll get this sorted out. And until he does, you have me. I won't let Felix lay a finger on you."

I smile at him warmly and wrap my arms around his torso, hugging him tightly. Nick hugs are the best because he's like a big teddy bear. I want to start hugging him more, screw it being 'awkward.' There doesn't have to be anything romantic about a hug unless you want it to be... not that I don't want it to be.

"Hey, you two, get in here!" Alex calls from the door frame, startling us and making us separate. He is clearly drunk already. "It's time to make this a real party!"

Word Count- 1454

a/n- that is one major problem eliminated. sadly, its the only one to be resolved.