Back in the Saddle

A Weekend Away

Karl's POV:

I stare down at my phone, the faint light disrupting the darkness of my bedroom. I have Nick's text messages open, and I'm simply staring at the large wall of texts that he's sent me since I left him at the party. I've been trying to think of something to send him for an hour, but everything I come up with seems stupid when I read it back. It seems way too impersonal to do this over text.

I switch back to me and Alex's messages, where I'm met with the same apology texts. Karl, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that. Karl, please forgive me. Karlos, at least let me know that you're okay. Tell me you got home safe. I'm so sorry.

I have the same reaction to those texts. The emotions from the event have long since passed after talking with Wilbur and Delores at the coffee shop, and the realization over what happened to Dallas has taken a lot out of me, but I don't want to go to bed without trying to resolve what little of this I still can. The thing is, I don't know if I can muster anything up to tell them. Besides, it would be much better to do it in person: I owe it to them.

But oh my is it going to suck.

The door swings open, and there stands the silhouette of two short brunets. One switches the light on and I flinch, covering my eyes with my hands at the sudden brightness. Once my eyes are able to adjust, I glare at my two cousins and give them a finger.

"So you guys are finally home?" I mutter, laying back on my bed and smothering my face with a pillow.

"Oh relax, we were just trying to give you and Wil any time you needed to get things fixed," George says, collapsing onto his own bed. "We were just talking to mum and dad about something very exciting."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" I say, not removing the pillow.

"Why, our weekend getaway, of course," Toby cheers, ripping the pillow from my hands. He smiles down at me before falling onto the bed, rolling over me to lay beside me. "Me, you, Wil, George. Our lakehouse. A day off work. A way to get your mind off of everything. Doesn't that sound like fun?"

"Wait, really?" I say, propping myself up on my elbows.

"Yup," George answers. "We told them both what happened, and they were more than happy to let us take off work on Monday so we can spend tomorrow night up at the lakehouse. Clay said he would talk to Sam for you about taking off, and I didn't work either day regardless--curse this damn schedule." He mutters the last part to himself. "Wil doesn't have any lessons on Monday, so he's just going to cram in any assignments and studying he needs to get done before we leave tomorrow."

"And I took off at the video game store." I only recently learned that he and Tommy both work with Ranboo, at this nice little video/computer store somewhere downtown. "Are you excited?"

"Of course I am. Now maybe I can get a little sleep."

===

I double check all the contents of my bag, trying to ensure I have all the stuff I need for the trip. I have swim trunks, pjs, clothes for tomorrow, a charger, a toothbrush, deodorant and cologne, sunglasses, sunscreen, and a book. I feel like that's all I need, but then again I always end up forgetting something when I pack.

I zip up my duffel bag and lug it downstairs, beginning to regret packing so much because of how heavy it's become. Once I reach the bottom, I throw it beside Toby's stuff, the only other person to finish packing at this point.

I wander over to Wil's room, peaking my head inside to see his gaze focused on his closet, a pondering look in his eye as his eyes glaze over all his clothes, trying to decide which outfit to wear. I laugh softly to myself, which seems to catch his attention because he jumps, eyes widening before he realizes it was only me.

"You scared me," he murmurs before turning back to the closet.

"You don't have to pack your whole wardrobe, you know. And that's saying something if it's coming from me," I laugh, going over to see what he has already in his backpack. Literally nothing is in it but a toothbrush. "Dude, at this rate it'll be midnight before we even get out there."

"Shut up. If you're gonna complain, at least help me choose something to wear so we can speed this up a bit."

I walk over to his organized closet and begin to search through the clothes, amazed by what I see: Wil has an amazing sense of style, in fact I've stolen most of my brand from him, but all the clothes he has in here look like they're for winter. There's a sweater here, and a button up there, and a pair of jeans there. Sure, he has a few t-shirts, but not a single pair of shorts.

"Your clothes are much more equipped for the weather back in England," I say, meaning it as a joke, but I hear Wil sigh. "You miss it, don't you?" He nods. "Do you think you're gonna go back one day?"

"I definitely want to. I loved everything about it: the weather, the culture, the history, the food. Texas is quite dull when compared to it. America as a whole is, actually, and as soon as I finish college I intend to move back there."

This saddens me a little, but I know how he felt about living in England. Out of the three boys, he was by far the most excited to learn that they would be moving there, and whenever the family would call me, he was clearly the one with the best experience. He is a London boy, there's no doubt about it.

"Just promise you'll visit," I say, turning back to the closet.

"Of course I will, dummy. Who knows, maybe I can fly you out there sometime. That would be fun, wouldn't it?"

"Definitely."

"Guys, hurry your butts up," Toby interrupts, only his head visible in the door. "I want to get there while there's still daylight so I can work on my tan. Wil, you probably should too. Don't worry, though. George is by far the worst."

"I heard that!" George calls from another room."

The three of us burst out laughing, amused by George's annoyance at being the palest of the group. He really should get out more, or pretty soon he's gonna have a vitamin D deficiency. It's funny now, but it most likely won't be then. No, no it will definitely still be funny then.

===

Finally, everyone's ready and we can go. But, right before we leave, Kris stops us and snatches each of our phones aside from Wilbur's. Toby immediately begins to protest, but Kris holds up a finger that silences him instantly.

"No phones. You're gonna go and you're gonna have a good time together. This is supposed to be a distraction for Karl, remember? It won't do him much good for all of you to sit on your phone the whole trip. I promise that you will be fine without them: just have a good time and get your mind off of everything."

"Why does Wilbur get to keep his?" Toby complains.

"Because sending you out there all alone with no way to reach us is dangerous. I trust that Wil will only use his phone if necessary, but if he doesn't you have every right to rat him out to me and I will ground him from it."

"Mum, I'm twenty-six years old," Wilbur laughs.

"Yes and you still live under my roof. You're going to have a good time without it, so do I need to take it away from you anyway?"

"No ma'am."

"That's what I thought. Now, have a great time, boys! Oh, and Karl," she stops me while the others start to get their stuff and head out the door. "Try to get your mind off of everything. They're going to do everything they can to ensure that you have a good time, but it won't work unless you want to forget about it, too. Just have a good time and maybe you'll have a clear head to think about what you want to do when you get back."

"Thanks, aunt Kristen. I really will try."

Word Count- 1408

a/n- theyre literally brothers your honor :)