youth ❀ karlnap

every star in the universe

due to recent events, i'm going to take fundy out of my fic and change him to someone else. any suggestions for who you'd like to see? personally i'm considering boomer but id like to hear your thoughts

sorry for being a long time since the last update . i have a lot on my plate right now. i hope you are all doing okay

cw: kind of transphobic stuff and anxiety inducing stuff

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Karl felt like he was experiencing the same feeling a lot recently. From Eret's party to Wilbur's house and all the other events he had been at in between, it always came down to him sitting in the front seat of his mom's car with his backpack in his lap. This time was different, though. She wasn't just going to park and drop him off like usual. She was going to follow him inside, sit down, and talk to Sapnap's dad while Karl hung out with Sapnap. She said that she wanted to make an effort to talk to him again and not shut him out like she had all those years ago. Karl didn't specifically remember the types of conversations they used to have, but he knew that Sapnap's father used to make her uncomfortable with his way of thinking, which was literally just progressive ideas. She tried to ignore it at first, but when Sapnap ditched his birth name and started to help Karl realize his true identity, she was livid.

Karl never thought his mom would ever give Sapnap and his dad a second chance, but here they were. The drive was only a few minutes long, and he felt he would get sick at the sight of the looming house in front of his eyes. He was literally staring down his childhood and it was almost haunting. He carefully stepped out of the car with shaky legs, closing the door behind him.

His mother took the lead, guiding them up to the front door and reaching to ring the bell. Karl anxiously searched the window beside them like he would be able to see Sapnap racing to the door, but no one could be seen there. They didn't wait long before the door swung open, and Sapnap's dad stood there with a smile.

"Wow, if it isn't Mrs. Jacobs, and sweet Karl too. I never thought I'd see the day again." His eyes were bright, although that could just be the reflection in his rectangular glasses. "Im very happy to have you two back. I hope you're doing well." He stepped back to hold the door open for them, and Karl walked in nervously after his mom.

Sapnap stood at the bottom of the staircase, watching with round eyes. It seemed that he was just as shocked as Karl was. None of them saw this coming, really. It happened on a whim, like the flip of a light switch. No one was about to complain, but most of them couldn't figure out why his mother decided to switch up like that. Karl's guess was that it was that man she was seeing, but even then, it was a change so drastic that he couldn't even begin to get used to it. He was in awe every time.

Karl beamed, practically running to tackle Sapnap in a hug and hold him tightly. "Hiii,"

He softened, feeling a gentle hand against his back. "Hey Karl," Sapnap's voice was so full of love and care. They embraced for a few more long moments, but eventually had to pull away. Karl turned, making big eyes at the two adults in the room, who were actually having a casual conversation. Immediately his heart soared, feeling like things were actually gonna be okay. He looked back to Sapnap with a dorky grin, and fought the urge to hug him again.

Soon enough they ended up on the couch, projecting YouTube videos on the big TV screen. Karl had his hand all up in a bowl of candy, snuggled up against Sapnap's side as he sipped at some energy drink. They had put on every video they could think of, from people with millions of subscribers to music videos to a couple of things from Dream's channel. Karl would giggle at how bad the quality was, and how their microphones sounded scuffed in comparison to the big YouTubers with the fancy set-ups, but he couldn't help but feel admiration for his friend and what he had created. He already had some loyal subscribers, commenting nice stuff under every video and saying he was gonna make it big. Karl really did believe that. If anyone in their friend group was going to get popular, he'd assume it would be Dream. Or Quackity, he was funny as hell too. They were all starting to see that there was a positive change in Dream as he was starting to make this content and a few of the others have already admitted to thinking they should follow in their footsteps. Even Karl was considering it too, which was strange for him because he didn't really take Minecraft as seriously as the others. He just loved seeing how much fun they were having.