dreamer | karlnap

twenty-nine

the sun had finally set past the horizon, and karl hadn't checked the time, but he would guess that it was about nine in the evening. it had been a few hours since karl had found sapnap and currently, they were lying down next to each other, with sapnap's arm under karl's head. they were looking up at the stars and enjoying each other's presence that they greatly missed. the conversation bounced from topic to topic and they shared some personal things that the dreamscape wouldn't allow. every now and then, karl would turn to see sapnap leaning in to give him a kiss, over and over again, like he couldn't get enough.

"angel," sapnap started off, "i thought i was going crazy when i saw you down here earlier. i couldn't believe what i was looking at."

"what, am i that attractive?" karl teased as sapnap pulled him closer to him. karl's head was now cushioned against sapnap's chest. sapnap pressed a kiss to karl's head before letting out a content sigh.

"yeah, you are."

despite the fact that karl knew his family would be looking for him soon, he couldn't care less. karl and sapnap had their own bubble with no regard for any outside influences. he could lie her with sapnap for hours, talking, kissing, or just enjoying the comfortable silence.

"what will we do when you have to leave?"

karl moved his head to where he was looking up at sapnap. in the dim moonlight, he could see that sapnap had an unsure expression on his face. karl thought he might even look scared. he wanted to comfort him and tell him he'll stay and never leave. in reality though, that isn't ideal. his entire life is back in north carolina with his friends and work. as much as he desperately wants to stay with dream, it would take a good long while for one of them to suddenly uproot themselves and move to the other.

"i wish i knew," karl answered softly.

"how about you sneak me into one of your suitcases and sneak me back with you," sapnap offered with a grin. karl slapped his chest lightly while rolling his eyes.

"as if you'd fit in mine," karl remarked.

"are you calling me chubby?"

in an attempt to try and smack his chest once more, sapnap grabbed karl's hand and held it in his own. he wanted to complain, but he stills as the hand cradling his back began to rub it gently.

"you're such a flirt," karl mumbled, burying his head into sapnap's chest. they lay there for a moment in comfortable silence, and karl never wanted to forget the warmth of sapnap's body next to his.

"karl! there you are!" a familiar voice called out as karl's body tensed up with nerves. it was his mother. craning his neck up to the hill behind him and sapnap, he could see his mom walking down the incline before stalking toward both of them.

"oh no," karl muttered, causing sapnap's eyebrows to furrow together in worry.

"what?" sapnap asked confused.

"karl!" she shouted as she finally reached him, "where have you been? you were supposed to be back an hour ago!"

karl had mentally cursed in his head. he had completely lost any sense of time since sapnap showed up, and he probably should have sent his mom a text saying he would be back late. he felt bad for making his mom worry, but there was something much more important going on.

"honey, who is this?" karl could see the shock written all over his mom's face as she takes in the sight of sapnap and karl lying next to each other. karl could feel the heat spread across his face as he realized that his mother probably saw them cuddling before they finally noticed her. karl couldn't even find the words to explain what is going on, so he looked at sapnap for help. karl pushed himself up to a sitting position as sapnap stood up and brushed the grass off his body. he stepped across karl's legs and walked over to his mother. karl's heart began to beat rapidly with nervousness.

"hello, i'm sapnap," he said, sticking his hand out for a handshake.

karl can't tell if he wanted to laugh the situation off or cry about it at this moment. he settles for staring at them nervously as his mom hesitantly takes sapnap's hand on instinct and shakes it, still obviously confused.

"karl, what's happening?" his mom asked, her eyes darting between the two of them.

karl rose to his feet and stands next to sapnap nervously. he had absolutely no idea how he is going to explain this. before any words could escape his lips, sapnap spoke for him.

"ma'am it's nice to see you again. i'm sapnap, the person your son has been having dreams about. my name is nick, but karl would rather call he sapnap." karl wanted the ground to swallow him whole, the more time he stood there to endure the situation. how did he manage to have to do the whole parents meet the new boyfriend thing the exact same day he met his boyfriend?

"sweetie, is this some kind of trick to prove yourself to me?" his mom scoffed in utter disbelief. "please tell me you didn't get your childhood friend to be apart of this." karl could see sapnap's face flinch in frustration. he gently grabbed sapnap's wrist to get his attention.

"you can head back to your friends if you want me to handle this," karl offered quietly.

"no, no way in hell am i leaving you," sapnap said in frustration, turning his gaze back to karl's mom.

"your son is 22, colorblind, likes to play video games, dropped out of college to work with his friends, became successful through mr. beast, and had to sit through a personal interrogation with a psychologist in his home to try and confirm that i wasn't real. should i keep going?" karl's mom stood there wih her mouth wide open. it takes her a moment to gather her bearings before speaking.

"karl... i think sapnap," he could hear the hesitation in her voice, "should come back with us so we can have a conversation."