Sweet-tooth ~{Karlnap romance AU}~

Dandelions and Dreams

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Soon enough he fell into a deep slumber, but the song lyrics that danced from his phone still snuck into his subconscious mind.

I don't want to set the world on fire,

He heard the chanting of the music from a distance as he opened his eyes and felt as though he was awake. He felt a pair of warm arms wrapped around his shoulder and could feel a warm bare chest pressed onto his back.

I just want to start,

a flame in your heart.

He had dreams like this before in the past, but something about this one felt different. Normally, in his recurring dream, the person had no defining features. There was nothing recognizable about them, but he happily accepted the affection. He had always been the one to show his love and care towards people through touch, and he felt content receiving the same fondness back.

In my heart I have but one desire,

and that one is you,

He could feel that the arms were heavy and worked, and his shoulders were wide, framing his body perfectly. He felt soft warm breath on his hair, and a gentle scruff slightly tickling his ear.

No other will do.

He slowly lifted the arm off of him and pushed himself up to turn and look at the person who was behind him.

I've lost all ambition,

all worldly acclaim,

He shot up out of bed gasping for air. The romantic music taunted him from his phone and he shut it off in a hurry. He threw off the blankets and sat over the edge of his bed, trying to ease off and catch his breath as he sat completely frozen and drenched in a cold sweat.

The man didn't have a face, but that's not what scared him. In the usual dream they didn't have a face anyway. This time he had soft straight brown hair that spilled onto the pillow and they were tied back with a familiar white bandana.

That's what made his heart race.

He frantically looked around his room, trying to ground himself back into reality. His breathing had eventually calmed, but the faceless image stung the backs of his eyes and the song kept repeating in his ears.

"It doesn't mean anything. You've had this dream before, it's just a dream," He reassured himself, but he knew that wasn't true. He stayed at the edge of his bed and slowly breathed, the scene replaying over, and over in his head. He was set in a trance, remembering how perfectly the arms wrapped around his stomach and above his hips and how his own arms rested with them laying softly. He loved that feeling, he missed it already.

He snapped out of his loop and stood up quickly. He shook his head trying to lose the thought, convincing himself that he's just touch starved, and the man was just the closest person. Everything's fine.

Flipping on his phone, he squinted, blinded by the bright blue light trying to read the time.

4:39 AM

He sighed deeply and dragged a hand down his face, resting on his jaw. He needed to go on a walk. Karl flicked on the bedroom light and slipped on a pair of sweatpants and tennis shoes. He pulled a warm jacket over his hoodie and left out the front door of his home.

Tendrils of steam curled around his nose with every breath, and he heard the crunch of the sidewalk under the tread of his shoes. The sun had started to rise, kissing one end of the sky a light pink and slowly fading the rest of the world in a sky blue. He heard light cars in the distance. Not many because of the time, but the chirping and distant noises helped take his mind off the dream.