AirPods won't disconnect from Macbook, but won't play sound either

I will try my best to explain the problem. Even when my AirPods are nowhere near my MacBook, the bluetooth icon shows "connected" on the upper right hand corner of the screen. It shows that my AirPods are connected and lists a battery percentage of each individual AirPod. However this percentage has been the same for a few days now and I know is not accurate. When I put the charged AirPods in my ear and try to play sound through them through my MacBook, they do not play any sound. I tried to disconnect the AirPods from my MacBook but my device will not forget them no matter what I do. I've tried "Disconnect" and "Remove" but neither of those things will disconnect or forget the AirPods.