teacher's pet

pain is beauty

𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳

≛

karl's breakdown hasn't been brought up by anyone, and the brunette dreads to think about what sapnap must've said to his family to convince them to leave the subject unmentioned when they surely all wanted to scold him for it.

karl ended up falling asleep in sapnap's arms on the floor, likely mid-cry, and when he woke up again he was tucked into bed with his sweater switched out for a large t-shirt. he tried to convince himself that it was sapnap's doing but he knew, deep down, that his best friend would never have the strength to lift him into bed like that, meaning dream must've done it.

was dream there when karl's clothing was changed?

karl supposes it doesn't really matter, since he's almost certain that sapnap told the blond about karl's cutting anyway. if the way sapnap acted and apologised during the argument wasn't proof enough, the way dream has acted since makes it pretty obvious - from his lack of scolding to how fragile he's been treating his younger brother.

but karl's moms haven't said anything and there's no way they'd stay quiet about it, so karl assumes that his big brother must've kept it to himself. this surprises him but, again, he probably has sapnap to thank.

though, he doesn't really deserve thanks, because dream wasn't supposed to know anyway. just like he wasn't supposed to know about alex. isn't it strange how everything goes full loop?

whilst karl believes that his moms know nothing about his self-harm, sapnap must've told them something because, the day after everything happened, they agreed to him staying home from school. he claimed he felt ill and maybe they believed him, assuming he'd made himself sick with his heavy emotions, but he doubts it.

today when he woke up, he tried to pull the same card, not wanting to go to school and risk seeing lucas. unfortunately, today, cynthia asked what was wrong. she was doing the right thing, trying to work out why he was ill so she could at least give him appropriate medication to help but, when he couldn't explain his illness, she said he had to go in.

delilah stopped him on the way out, when dream was already out of the house and in the car, and told him that she needs to know if something is happening at school. she swore on everything that she wouldn't make him go in until the issue was sorted, he just had to be honest.

but he couldn't.

delilah had seemed disappointed, but karl struggles to feel sympathetic when it's him who is suffering. he's the one with a secret heavy on his shoulders. he's the one with no one to talk to. he's the one who was sworn to secrecy by a man much older than him, a man with more authority, a man who, even after everything, karl still has feelings for and doesn't want to betray.

lucas basically threatened him to keep quiet, and karl doesn't want to know what might happen if he tells someone about everything that happened between them.

would people even believe him? the word of an unstable teen over the word of a married man with kids? karl highly doubts it.

it would do more harm than good, so he stays quiet and struggles his way through the school day, trying to mask his dying pains in all of his lessons until, eventually, he ends up in lucas' class.