(Nick POV)
I call Karl the moment I get upstairs.
He picks up immediately.
"KARL."
He jumps. "Jesus. Hi."
He's leaning against a bookshelf, obviously back in the library.
"I'll give you three guesses to tell me what my mom just told me," I say.
He pauses. And chews his cheeks. "Uh, she's pregnant."
I bark out a laugh. "Thankfully not."
He tries again. "You're adopted."
"No."
"Uh... she's got a boyfriend."
"SO CLOSE," I exclaim.
He jumps again. "Okay, you can stop yelling," he says.
I give him an apologetic look. "Sorry."
He smiles. "It's okay," he says. "You're clearly worked up."
I scoff. "For good reason."
"Okay, so she has a boyfriend, but doesn't?"
I shift in bed. "Yes," I reply. "I was walking home after basketball, right? And I saw Cherry leave the house."
His nose curls. "Cherry?"
I nod. "Yeah. So of course I ask her about it, and she sits me down and tells me about my dad. Apparently he's some asshat who ran off as soon as he got her pregnant at 17."
Karl's eyes widen. "Why did it never click that she had a teen preganancy?" he mumbles to himself. "She's literally only 35."
I laugh. "Right? It never clicked for me either, somehow. She never talks about it. Anyways, she tells me about how she had a support team, gave birth at 18, still graduated, still went to college, et cetera. She moved here at 20, where I assume she finished her law degree-"
"Wait, she's a lawyer?" Karl asks.
I nearly bust a gut laughing. "You didn't know that?"
He shakes his head. "You never told me! You just said she travels all over the world for work."
"Yeah, I'm still not sure why she does that," I admit. "She has her own law firm though."
"I'll have to bring that up with Alex."
There's something in his eyes when he mentions Alex. It's familiar, but still foreign. I can't quite put my finger on it.
"Oh yeah, he wants to be a lawyer, right?"
He nods. "Yeah."
I nod too. "Cool. Anyways, she then told me -- you'll never believe it -- she met her first girlfriend when she moved. Girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?" Karl exclaims.
"Girlfriend!"
"Holy shit," he mutters.
"Yeah. Turns out she's panseuxal. Anyways, apparently this girlfriend loved me, and my mom figured they'd stay together, but then they moved back home and they lost contact."
Karl's face falls. "Oh, that's sad."
"Yeah. But, you'll never guess what she said after that."
He glares at me. "You're right. I won't."
"She found them 14 years later. This past February."
He pauses. Then he glances away and frowns. "February," he mumbles to himself. "Wait... that's when Kendall was arrested. That's when Cherry had to come over there. Wait, is it-"
"-Cherry? Yes."
"CHERRY?"
He clamps his hand over his mouth and leans to the left. Probably to see if anyone's looking over there.
I giggle. "They've been dating for nine months."
Karl's eyes widen. "Holy fuck. Go them."
I laugh. "For real."
"I mean, I knew Cherry was a lesbian, but they never told me about their love life. Huh. What are the odds?"
"Slim," I answer.
He laughs. "Yeah. Yeah, slim to none, I bet."
We smile at each other.
"Oh, that reminds me," he says. "Guess what?"
"What?"
"I applied for a job a few weeks ago, or something like that, and I just got an email 20 minutes ago saying I got it!" he exclaims.
I grin. "Good job!" I say. "What will you be doing?"
"Uh, I'm now a cameraman for a YouTube channel."
"Which channel?"
He hesitates before saying "it's called MrBeast."
[24 hours later]
(Karl POV)
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Fool me three times, I'm a fucking idiot, and I'm cheating on my boyfriend. Thanks.
Two dates doesn't seem that bad, right? Because nothing happened. It was just two guys hanging out and calling it a date.
But he kissed me.
He fucking kissed me, and asked me out two days later.
The audacity.
The worst part is I enjoyed it.
I like Alex. I like him when I'm not supposed to. When I can't.
Going out with him is always fun. It shouldn't be, but it is. Maybe we haven't done anything super extravagant, but both times we went out, he made it fun.
Each day that passes without telling Nick feels like I'm betraying him further. And I guess I am. Which really sucks.
I know I should tell him, but I also know there's a good chance he'll hate me if I do. So I'm ignoring it for now.
I'm back at the spot in the library. My music is quiet enough I can hear it but focus on my book. It's only 5:30, but there aren't many people here. I guess people are either still in class or getting early dinner. Maybe going on a date. Something like that.
My phone buzzes on the floor next to me, cutting my music off. I pick it up -- incoming FaceTime call from Nick. I pick it up right away, ignoring the anxiety churning in my stomach.
"Hey," I sing.
He smiles. "Hi."
"How's it going?"
Clouds pass over his head. He must be walking home from basketball.
"Tired," he says. "But also excited. My first basketball game is tomorrow, and I have high hopes."
I smile. "That's great! Ugh, I wish I could go."
He grins. "Not to worry, I'm sure the guys will update you."
I laugh. "They probably will, won't they?"
"Hey, only two and a half more months until December!" he says.
I groan. "Only, he says," I joke.
Nick laughs. "10 weeks, then," he corrects. "Sounds shorter."
I hum sarcastically.
"Oh hey, Mom's home," he says. "Wanna say hi?"
I grin. "Obviously."
I hear the click of the door unlocking, and I'm sure that if I closed my eyes, I could picture the front entrance; down to the plants on the table next to the door that get watered maybe once a month, the constant disarray of shoes on the shoe rack, the pictures of Nick and Betty on the walls plus the two photos with me included, and the floor mat that hasn't been changed since spring time.
"Mom?" Nick calls, bringing me back to reality. I hear a distant reply before Nick shouts "I'm on FaceTime with Karl, wanna say hi?"
There's another reply, and Nick gives me a wide smile. I smile back, heart already stammering. I haven't seen Betty since I left. She was more of a mom than any of my foster mom's every were, and I only knew her 10 months. It's up to almost a year, now.
Nick giggles. "Here she is," he sings. Betty pops into screen, already smiling widely.
"Hey, hon!" she exclaims, black ponytail swinging. "How are you doing? How's college?"
I grin. College is good. A lot of people, but good otherwise, I sign. And I'm going okay, how about you?
Nick translates as I sign. Betty smiles. "I'm good, thanks," she replies. Then she sighs. "There's always too many people in an introvert's eyes. I know the pain." She gives me a mysterious grin.
"Mom, you're the most extroverted person I know," Nick deadpans.
Betty laughs. "Alright, whatever," she says. "I'm an introverted extrovert."
"No such thing."
"Totally a thing."
Nick sighs heavily. "Bye, Mom."
She laughs. "Alright, alright. Karl, it was great seeing again. I can't wait to see you again in December! Bye, sweetie." She waves, and I wave back. Then she disappears.
Nick chuckles ot himself as he runs upstairs. "Well then," he says. "Any fun news?"
I'm cheating on you.
"Nope. You?"
He brightens almost intantly.
"There's another queer kid on the team!" he says. "Their name is Ranboo. They introduced me to their other friends today, when they sat with us at lunch. Tommy claims to be straight, but he flirted with Ranboo pretty much the entire time. Tubbo is also queer."
I grin. "There's other queer kids! Yay!"
"You'll love them," he promises.
"I'll meet them when I come home?"
"Obviously."
I laugh. "Okay then!"
He starts to smile, but frowns. "Dream is asking me to hang out with them at the park," he says.
"What would you be doing?"
He shrugs. "Probably hanging out on the playground, tossing around a football, watching Dream and Skeppy show off for George and Bad. The usual."
"You should go," I say. "We can call again at 10, okay? Go hang out with them."
"But I wanna talk to you," he whines.
I laugh. "I'll always be here."
Hopefully.
He whines again.
I give him a look. "Nick. Go."
He grunts. "Fine. I love you."
I giggle. "I love you too," I reply, face warming. "I'll talk to you later."
"I'll text you when I get back," he says, smiling. "And I'll take pictures."
"You better."
"Love you," he sings. "Byeeeeee!"
"Bye," I laugh, waving.
He hangs up first. I take out my headphones and begin packing up my books. Alex should be back by now, and I'm getting hungry. He'll probably turn it into a date, but whatever. I need food.
"I don't know what I'm more shocked about," an all too familiar voice says. I jump, and look up, panic wracking my body.
Fuck.
Alex is looking just off to my side, looking like I just told him his dog died. "The fact that I just heard you talking... or the fact that you have a boyfriend."
Word Count 1506
~A/N~
whoops
dont forget to eat <3