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“Have you guys seen Abed?” Troy asked as he and Britta sat down at their table in the cafeteria, setting his tray next to Annie’s. Abed was the only one missing. It wasn’t usual. They’d all had different classes this morning, and Abed hadn’t answered his texts, which was even less usual.
They all shrugged at him, looking to one another questioningly, with no answer. Troy tried calling Abed, with Britta’s sympathizing gaze on him, and sighed in relief when Abed picked up.
“Abed! Where are you, buddy?”
“Hey, Troy, I’m on my way to the cafeteria right now,” Abed said, the cheer in his voice reassuring Troy. All sense of comfort was erased though when Abed showed up at the cafeteria with Karl by his side, the two of them caught up in a passionate conversation that seemed to keep them separate from their surroundings.
“Is that one of the German guys with Abed?” Britta asked, turning back around on her seat to face the rest of the group.
“Yeah, it’s Karl,” Troy replied, pursing his lips together as he watched his best friend hug another guy, a big smile on his face. It was painful to watch, but Troy couldn’t keep his eyes away. He took a deep breath to compose himself as Abed approached their table.
“Hey guys,” Abed greeted them, taking a seat beside him, looking his innocent self.
“Abed, what are you doing with that Karl guy?” Jeff was the first to ask, straight to the point. “You know I hate them.”
“Germans,” was Pierce’s contribution to the conversation.
“Yes, Abed, we’ve dealt with those men before, they’re evil,” Shirley chimed in, and it somewhat made Troy feel better that he wasn’t the only one uncomfortable with Abed befriending Karl.
“Karl isn’t evil,” Abed frowned, looking down at his hands. “He’s a really good friend.”
Troy refrained from speaking, knowing he’d most likely lose control over his emotions and words. So Karl was the reason why Abed hadn’t been around as much the past few days. He still saw Abed often enough at Greendale, but at home, not so much anymore. He feared another Toby situation—never thought it’d happen again, and so soon too—but hoped the outcome would be the same.
“Guys, leave them alone, okay? They’re just friends. Besides, Karl seems really nice,” Annie said, squeezing Abed’s hand in hers, always the comforting one of the group. Troy remained silent, offering a weak smile to his best friend, while pinching Annie’s thigh under the table as hard as he could.
“Troy!” Annie yelped, turning to glare at him, which he returned all too willingly. They all moved on to another subject. Still, Troy was left with that nagging feeling that he was losing Abed again.
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“Hi, Abed!”
“Hey, Karl,” Abed greeted his friend as he walked up to the school’s entrance, returning the hug Karl pulled him in.
“Are we still on for this afternoon?” Karl asked, to which Abed hummed his confirmation. They’d planned to play Spawncraft at Karl’s place after classes, since it was Friday, which had become a reoccurring thing lately. They’d played online for over a year together now, and while Abed never felt the need to actually meet his fellow players, he found that it was rather nice to play with Karl in person. For one, they didn’t need to waste time typing on their keyboards to communicate, which proved to be a lot more convenient. For two, Abed didn’t feel so alone in front of his laptop screen while playing that way.
“And tonight, first season of Inspector Spacetime marathon at my place, right?”
Karl nodded, smile in place as they entered the classroom to their sociology class. Abed had invited Karl for a sleepover, thinking it was probably best for their marathon if Karl could just crash at his place.
“Cool. Cool, cool, cool.”
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“I’m home! And I brought pizza,” Abed said as he came home, with Karl right on his footsteps. They’d just spent the better part of the afternoon on Spawncraft, Doktor Blitz and Spacetimer8032 had had a productive and successful journey in the dark world of Helsteim. Abed really was enjoying spending time with Karl, and while he spent less time with the rest of the group outside of Greendale now, he found that he didn’t mind so much. He still saw them often enough in college, and he did live with half of the group after all.
He was actually happy to have Karl as his friend, someone he didn’t share with the rest of the group. Karl was his, in a way. Troy was spending more time with Britta anyway, and while he had gotten closer to Annie, it wasn’t the same.
“Hey, did you guys have fun?” Annie asked, walking in the living room to greet them. Abed nodded, returning her soft smile. She was probably the only one in the group to actually support Abed’s friendship with Karl. The others might not blatantly disapprove, but Abed knew that not everyone did. Abed put the pizzas down on the dining table, gesturing at his friends to sit.
“Lots of fun,” Karl replied, and helped himself to a slice of hawaiian pizza, exchanging smiles with Abed. Karl had such an endearing smile that never failed to make Abed’s heart flutter. It was the most peculiar feeling. Abed could get used to having Karl around. He heard a door slam then, looking up to see it was Troy’s bedroom’s.
“Troy?”
“Don’t worry, Abed, I’ll talk to him,” Annie told him, giving his hand a squeeze before leaving the table, and going into Troy’s room. Karl gave him a surprised look, to which Abed could only shrug. Troy had been acting a bit aggressively lately, which Abed suspected had something to do with how much time he spent with Karl now. He’d have to talk to Troy sometime soon, let him know he was still his best friend. Annie joined them back after a few minutes, assuring him Troy was doing all right.
Abed was saddened Troy didn’t feel secure enough to come hang out with them, but it didn’t keep him from having a good time. It helped a lot to have Annie around, she sure did know how to make guests feel welcome, and Abed liked to think she considered Karl a friend as well.
After dinner, he and Karl changed into pajamas before going to his blanket fort, getting comfortable on the bottom bed as he put on the pilot episode of Inspector Spacetime. Karl had never seen an episode in his life, and Abed had deemed it necessary to introduce him to the greatness of the show. Annie joined them halfway into the episode, snuggling up close to Abed. After a couple episodes, they took a break to watch Cougar Town, which happened to be a show Karl used to watch already.
Annie went to bed some time around 11 p.m., and by that time, Abed was pretty sleepy too. They’d watched four episodes of Inspector Spacetime—Troy had been nowhere to be seen, sadly—and when Abed turned to look at Karl, he found the latter dozing off, head resting on his shoulder. Abed moved to let Karl lie on the bed, he’d take the top bed tonight, but he felt arms wrap around him, meeting Karl’s tired gaze.
“Abed?”
"Good thing you're staying here tonight,” Abed said, smiling softly at Karl. Karl nodded, looking down for a second, worrying over his bottom lip before he looked back up at him. Karl seemed hesitant, and Abed tried to decipher why. Before Abed could say anything, he felt Karl’s lips on his, the latter’s hand coming up to cup his face. Taken a back for a moment, Abed returned the kiss eventually, finding Karl’s lips surprisingly soft. It was a slow, tender kiss; something unexpected, but nice.
Abed found himself smiling as their lips parted, and Karl was beaming at him, that same smile still making his heart jump in his chest. Abed figured out then what exactly that feeling was. He liked Karl, Abed realized, brushing a strand of hair off of Karl’s forehead. For someone who prided himself on his observational skills, Abed sure didn’t see this coming.
He thought back to the past couple of weeks with Karl, all the time they’d spent together. The lunches, play dates, text messages. They might have been dating, but not really, not that Abed really thought about it. Karl made him happy, and he wanted to spend more time with Karl. He even found Karl attractive, so Abed didn’t see any reason not to pursue a relationship with him at the moment.
They lay on the bed together like it was the most natural thing in the world, with Karl in his arms, and they fell asleep not long after that.
Abed had never slept so well in his entire life.
Most importantly, he didn’t feel alone anymore.