Fire Meet Gasoline || Karl Jacobs

three

"Where's Nick?" Alex asked Karl. They'd been in a call for a few minutes now just chatting about their days. Karl talked about how exhausting filming made him despite the amount of energy he still had in him. Alex then offered to stream and Karl made it clear he didn't have enough energy for that tonight.

"He's in the shower." Karl said, leaning back in his chair as he scrolled through twitter.

"Hey, maybe when Nick's back we can add Nadia to the call!" Alex said with such excitement, he couldn't deny his friend.

"Yeah, sure." He said, brushing off the topic as if it was a normal Monday afternoon. Though, it basically was for him.

"Alright, I'll text her!" Alex said, his excitement shining through his words. Karl didn't have to look over at Alex's camera to know he was smiling big. Nadia was Alex's very best friend, coming before most people in his life. They'd been friends since before Karl ever came into the picture, so who was he to say no to her being in a call with him.

"Hey, I'm back." Nick said, plopping down in the chair next to him as he towel dried his hair. Karl quickly muted himself, taking the towel that Nick had just set in his lap after not knowing what to do with it.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier." Karl said, hanging the towel over his closet door before walking back to his chair. He scribbled down on a sticky note to grab the towel next time he leaves the room so he remembered and stuck it to the side of his monitor.

"It's really no big deal. I was pushing and I shouldn't have. Do you think we can talk about the topic eventually?" Nick asked, voice genuine. Karl nodded before unmuting himself in the call.

"Nick! You're back! Hello!" Alex said with a wide smile. The call signaled that someone had joined before Nadia turned her camera and mic on. She was sitting in a room, swiveling in her chair as she moved away from the camera.

"Hello boys!" Nadia said with a smile. Karl knew better than to do anything but wave and smile. He'd been fooled too many times with that line.

"Hey, Nads!" Alex said as he spun around in his chair.

"Hiya!" Nick greeted, not naming any names so it wasn't like he was leaving anyone out.

"How was your day, Nick?" Nadia asked, picking at the peeling leather on her chair. Karl made a mental note of how bad it's gotten since their last video interaction.

"It was great! Karl and I did some filming!" Nick boasted with a smile. Karl pulled his knee onto his chair and stayed silent, scrolling through twitter and liking some fan tweets or fan art he saw.

"Why does he look so depressed if you had a good day?" Nadia asked. Karl could never tell if she was being genuine or about to spit out an insult.

"Tired." Karl mumbled, quickly typing out a response to a tweet before continuing his scrolling.

"You should go to bed then." Nadia said. He looked over at the call, confused as to why she was showing concern. "It'd be a lot more nice to look at Nick without your depressed ass in the background."

There it is.

"I'm sure you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Karl laughed back humorlessly.

"Of course I would. I think everyone could go without seeing your face, Karl." Nadia laughed. Karl rolled his eyes, turning back to his twitter feed.

"What? No comeback? Weak." She laughed again. God what he would do to just stop hearing that mocking sound.

"I don't tend to humor people who can't get a damn life." Karl said, the words falling out of his mouth before he could even take it back.

"Karl, what the fuck, man?" Alex said immediately. Karl whipped his head to stare at the screen, seeing if Alex was even remotely fucking serious.

You have got to be kidding me.

"Im getting a monster, need anything?" Karl asked, standing up and walking to the towel hanging over his closet door.

"Just some water, please." Nick said with a sad smile. Karl nodded and walked down the stairs. He grabbed a monster from the fridge before opening his cabinet for a glass. He grabbed one, but his hands were wet from the condensation on his monster and it slipped from his hands. The glass shattered on the counter, sliding everywhere. It was on the floor, in the sink, in the crevice between the fridge and the counter.

"Fuck!" He yelled, immediately pushing his hands against the counter. He heard the glass splinter under the pressure and he felt the shards pierce his skin. He sucked a breath through his teeth and immediately regretted the decision. Though it was an accident, his body simply running on airplane mode by that point, he still couldn't fucking believe he just forgot he broke a glass.

"What happened?! Are you okay?!" Nick panicked, rounding the corner from the stairs and staring at Karl as he rinsed his hands in the sink.

"I'm fine." He muttered, trying to keep the tears from falling down his cheeks.

"I'll get a broom and clean it up." Nick said, seeing the small shards of glass due to the reflection of the lights on the ceiling. Karl tried to keep his mind off of the burning in his hands.

Nick came back in and swept the floors. He left once again after dumping the contents of the dustpan in the trash. Karl thought he was going back upstairs, but Nick came back in with a first aid kit Karl never even knew he had. Nick wrapped his cut up hands in silence. Neither uttered a word.

After he was wrapped up, Nick closed the white box and grabbed a glass on his own, filling it with water. He took Karl's monster in the other hand and walked upstairs. Karl followed, he had his monster after all. When they got back in the room, Alex and Nadia were laughing about something.

"What happened to your hands?" Alex asked, noticing the less empty room now.

"He probably punched a wall because I made him cry." Nadia snorted.

"A glass broke in his hands, it cut him." Nick answered.

"Stupid ass." Nadia laughed out.

"You okay, man?" Alex asked, genuine concern lacing his tone.

"Yeah, fine." Karl said, not focusing on the conversation at large. He glanced at the time in the lower right corner of his monitor. 11:02. It was early for him, but he wanted nothing more than to lay in bed and ignore everyone. Yet again.

"Karl-

"I'm headed off to bed. Talk tomorrow." Karl said, voice void of emotion before getting up and leaving the room.

"He left his monster. What a fucking idiot." Karl heard Nadia laugh. He closed the door to the guest room and just flopped on the bed. His cat was in the other room, laying down on his bed where he should be right now.