wait; karl jacobs ✓

seventeen

it had been a few weeks since the events following max's false claims took place. things had started to look a bit different.

sapnap went home. his trip had come to an end. he had said he had come to help karl and he felt as though he had accomplished that.

max deleted his post and had apologized to both karl and talia. talia accepted to allow herself to heal from the situation but karl sat silent on the phone call.

jimmy had a huge new video planned and found ways to involve both karl and talia. he had a full week planned of them being on set.

and things were good with karl and talia.

they started trying to figure out the ins and outs of what their dynamic would now look like, while also holding tight to their privacy. the only person who was aware of them exploring this new relationship was sapnap, which made talia nervous but karl assured he would never tell a soul.

"tal, you ready to go?"

"yeah, would you grab that bag while i get my charger?"

karl peaked into the room before grabbing the small suitcase on the floor. he passed talia who was grabbing her charger and kissed her on the forehead before heading to put the bags in the car.

with the agreed upon privacy that they each wanted, talia and karl found it somewhat difficult to change up their routine. they had a few "date nights" which normally consisted of talia making a home cooked meal for the two to enjoy in the dining room by candlelight or karl setting up his office with pillows and blankets and a projector to watch a movie.

but karl wanted to do something different for talia. he wanted to be able to treat her and make her feel special.

so karl rented a beach cabin and decided to take talia to the coast for a weekend. prior to her and max dating, the two used to go on weekend beach trips all the time. talia's parents had a timeshare while the two were still in high school and karl always tagged along on the family beach trips, because he was family.

"okay i'm ready." talia said with a grin and an eager spirit.

she hopped to karl's side to grab his hand and followed him out the front door. as he always did, he opened her door for her.

talia was so excited. everyday she found herself more and more impressed with karl's thoughtfulness and this trip was just a testament to it. talia had expressed that she wanted time away from their everyday routine and that evening was when karl sent her the airbnb he rented for them.

the entire car ride there karl explained just a few of the things he had planned.

"i also brought a bunch of our board games, if we wanna play with those. and then it has a hot tub too. and i figured we'll probably spend a lot of time on the beach."

karl kept one hand one talia's thigh and his eyes on the road, not realizing that talia was watching him as he geeked over the plans for the weekend.

"and i also figured," karl started before letting his eyes depart from the road for just a moment to look at the girl to his right. "maybe we can talk about what we wanna do next. ya know, like maybe being a bit more public with more of our friends."

talia's hand found its place on top of karl's on her thigh and she gave him a slight squeeze.

"i think that would be good."

a peace filled the car. peace accompanied with the euphoria of a new beginning.

"tal, where you at?" karl called as he walked in from the back porch of the beach house.

"in the bedroom."

karl walked in to see talia moving one of their bags into the closet. she had been trying to organize some of their belongings that they brought along with them. karl's arms snaked around her waist as he stood behind her, laying his head on her shoulder.

"take a break? the sun is starting to set."

"mhm." talia hummed and led the curly haired boy outside.

the patio of their beach house held a hot tub and a hammock. karl first laid down in the hammock and made himself comfortable before talia laid on his chest. both of them had their complete attention given to the multi colored sky.

karl's fingers combed out talia's hair that was tangled from the beach winds while talia's index traced faint cursive words onto karl's chest.

"i never would have thought that things would end up like this." karl commented.

angel, she lightly traced.

"like what?"

"i don't know, just this. if you would have told 16 year old karl that he would one day be sitting on the beach with talia bray in his arms, he would have a heart attack." a slight laugh escaped his lips, causing a childlike grin to spread across talia's face.

forever

"when did you first know?"

"know what, tally?"

home

"that you loved me."

karl couldn't let the sunset have his attention when the most perfect person to exist was laying in his arms. he looked down, at every perfect little freckle on her forehead.

"well, do you remember that time in high school that i stayed with you when we got back really late from that tennis match? i was having a really hard time, i don't remember why. but you woke up in the middle of the night and noticed i was still awake. you came and sat on the ground with me and stayed up until i fell asleep. you let me cry to you and you had me lay my head in your lap and you told me everything would be okay."

"thats when you knew?" talia kept her head down to prevent karl from seeing the tears that were forming.

safe

"yeah, thats when i knew that i loved you. and it just never stopped," the sunset was nearly gone. "when did you know?"

perfect

"i'm not too sure. maybe it was that first time that you had me laughing to the point that i couldn't breathe. remember? in chemistry and we were asked to leave? or maybe when i was home alone that time and terrified and you came and checked every room and locked everything up and made sure i felt secure and safe. but right now is also a pretty special moment. i'm gonna remember this as falling more in love i think."

karl wrapped his arms around his love, holding her tight.

"this was worth the wait." he whispered.