Sweet-tooth ~{Karlnap romance AU}~

Partners and The Picnic

-

The sun warmed the whole car, and all the boys sang along with a One Direction song as they drove to the meeting spot. The music drowned out the tension that had kept them apart before, filling them each again with the familiar feeling of unity. They bounced in time to the songs, shouting at the top of their lungs as the large car made its way down a winding hillside road lined with waving willow trees. Buds were just beginning to sprout on the end of each branch, making them appear pixelated as the car flew by. 

"Baby you light up my world like nobody else,

The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,

But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,

You don't know -Oh- oh-!  

YOU DON'T KNOW YOUR BEAUTIFUL!" 

Karl giggled to himself as the boys sang awkwardly, but he kept his eyes on the road. He felt a soft stare and turned to see Nick looking at him sweetly with a wide grin. Karl felt his cheeks warm slightly and continued to drive. The road eventually flattened out to a little plateau, revealing a large area that was surrounded by an old wooden fence. The field seemed to glow in the sun, highlighting the tall trees and the distance and complementing the light fluffy clouds. Pulling off to the side of the road to park, the boys quickly jumped out of the car, hyper from the ride. 

Hopping around and yelling at each other still, Karl handed each of them different bags full of the food they had prepared, and they ran towards the fence. Nick went first, trying to jump over a lower part of the fence with the bags in his hands, and when he did everyone cheered. Quackity followed close behind almost falling on his ass. The group laughed at him, and he stuck his tongue out and swore at them like a child. Stepping carefully to avoid potholes and muddy spots, they made their way to a large tree that sat in the middle of the field. Karl and Alex were running and got there before the rest, so they laid out a few blankets over the grass, and Alex took out the fresh fruit that was in his bag.

Karl made him grab everything he could before they left. They had strawberries, oranges, blueberries, baby carrots, anything you could think of. When the rest got to the spot they set their bags down and took their places next to each other around the blanket. Dream laid on his side and George quickly snuggled behind him, fiddling with his hair while he set out the rest of the food. 

They continued to talk and tweet out what they were doing as they enjoyed each other's company, snacking peacefully. As they ate, they began to relax. Quackity had stopped attacking people and jumping around, finally settling on his stomach with his phone in his hands scrolling through Twitter, occasionally sharing funny posts with the group. Jimmy was reading them over his shoulder, and Dream and George were cuddling, taking full advantage of the romantic setting. Nick had propped himself up against the tree behind them, and Karl eventually laid back with him, tucking himself into Nick's strong arms. 

"Someone's cozy," Dream said suggestively when he noticed Karl blushing softly. He looked away embarrassed when the group laughed slightly. Changing the subject, he grabbed his phone and played a bit of music, enhancing the atmosphere. Even though it was still early spring, they were plenty warm in the sweater they brought, the sun warming them. A slight breeze picked up, making the long grass shuffle,m and the branches above them wave gently. 

Everything was perfect.

Silence fell over them as they grew more and more comfortable, broken only by rustling grass and Nick's rough voice as he softly hummed with the music. Karl was completely entranced by the intoxicating sound. He could feel soft vibrations by his ear as the song, accompanied by Nicks's gentle voice filled his head. He closed his eyes, trying to enjoy every second of it. The world seemed unimportant compared to the sound. He slowly looked up at Nick, partly forgetting his friends were still sitting there. He stared into Nick's deep brown eyes, practically drowning as he stared back.

"Holy god dude," Alex said loudly, drawing them back to reality as he muffled a laugh. 

"What?" Karl asked, embarrassed to be caught admiring Nick so deeply.

"Look up for a second man," He said, still not giving an explanation. Karl was confused but did so anyway tilting his head to look up at the tree above them. He heard Alex hit something and giggle, then Jimmy joined in, muffling his laughs and dropping his head. Karl put his head back down knowing something was up.

"What is it?" He asked, but he just got more giggles from the two in response.

"It's your neck Karl," Dream pointed out finally. "Sapnap go a little rough?" He asked suggestively.

Karl blushed hard feeling his face heat up, which just made the boys laugh even harder. He had completely forgotten about the marks and didn't try very hard to hide them when he got ready this morning. 

"You bet your ass, Dream," Nick said laughing with the rest as he pulled Karl in slightly closer, embracing the fact that he had been caught. "You wish Goerge looked like that, huh?" He asked, flipping the tables on the couple, getting more comfortable with his and Karl's relationship, even though the waters were murky.

"Oh fuck that, what makes you think he doesn't!" Dream defended, the two dominant boys arguing as their partners blushed hard. 

Karl was completely embarrassed. He didn't want anyone to know what he and Nick had done, much less see evidence of it, and he was put off by Nick's openness. He thought of them as moments of his own weakness, when he couldn't control himself, and Nick thought of them as trophies that he showed off. 

"Are you guys dating or, what, just hooking up?" Dream asked as part of their fight, and Nick's laugh filled Karl's ears as he blushed even harder.

"Gah- we didn't hook up!" He said, finally joining in the conversation. Dream raised an eyebrow at Nick to confirm, and he gave a slight nod. 

"So dating then?" he asked after getting a response. The two just looked at each other somewhat uncomfortably, and Karl looked at the ground. Nick looked at the top of his head with admiration and pulled him a little closer

"It's complicated," He responded. The rest of the group took that to mean yes, even though it was anything but. Karl was still ashamed and kept his head hidden even though he pushed himself back into Nick's arms, starting to relax. 

-

When the sun had started to set, the field became freezing, and they shivered packing up the leftovers and heading to the car. They piled in and cranked the heater, finally starting to warm up. All of the boys were sleepy from the trip, and when they got back home they immediately went to their respective rooms heading to bed. 

Karl stayed up for a bit longer, snacking on the leftover fruit in his room. He heard a slight knock at the door, and he called for them to come in. 

"Hey, I'm heading to bed, I just wanted to say goodnight," Nick said softly looking as Karl stared at his monitor chewing lightly. He turned to face him and gave him a wide smile and held out his arms, asking for a hug. Nick laughed and walked over, scooping the smaller boy up in his arms. Karl felt relaxed as he was held up by Nick's calming but firm grip. He backed up slightly and gave him a soft peck before returning to his work, highly popping a grape in his mouth. Nick was happily surprised by the gesture and headed out of the room.

Edited

1372 Words

A/N Sorry for the shorter read, buckle up for angst next chapter!

Also, thanks for nearly 600 reads! I started writing this just for fun, so it's cool to see other people enjoy it as well.