Your Telephone Calls are my Favorite Place (Karlnap)

Four

"Shit.." Karl muttered to himself as he fell into bed. He put an arm over his eyes as if it would prevent him from seeing this shower scenario. 

He reached over to his bedside table to retrieve his phone. 2:36am. He shook his head as he thought about just how bad his sleep schedule was. His room was too dark for his face recognition to unlock his phone, forcing him to manually enter his password, 030101, Sapnap's birthday. He felt a tinge of embarrassment as he entered the code. He pulled up his recent calls and dialed his best friend.

"Jeez, I don't even want to ask what took you so long in there." Sapnap answered the phone with a teasing tone, skipping the pleasantries. 

Karl grunted as he rolled on his side to plug his phone in. "Wouldn't you like to know." Karl knew his shower fantasies were safe in his mind because Sapnap wouldn't actually press him about the events of his shower.

"Hey, remember that time I bought you an international plane ticket? What if you edit this video for me as a thanks?" Sapnap begged. Although the request was far from serious, Karl still felt the need to accept because he found it impossible to tell Sapnap no.

"Of course you wait until I'm comfy in bed to request that." Karl didn't want to outright say he would edit it but he also didn't want to say no, incase Sapnap was serious.

"Ohhh you're already in bed? What are you wearing?" Sapnap let out a wheeze similar to Dream's from laughing so hard at his own comment. Living with Dream had caused several quirks to rub off on Sapnap, the wheeze laugh being one of them.

Karl toyed with the idea of telling Sapnap he was wearing his t-shirt but feared teetering into an uncomfortable territory again. With the smile still on his face from listening to Sapnap's joyful spirit, he decided to go for it. 

"I'm wearing your old football t-shirt you left at my house a couple months ago." Karl did his best to make his tone convey a lighthearted mood despite his pounding heart.

"YOU THEIF!" Sapnap yelled, startling Karl a bit. These nerves were quickly soothed by Sapnap's continued laughing. "I've been looking for that for how long and meanwhile you stole it!"

"I didn't steal it! You're the one who left it behind. Too bad, it's mine now." Karl was clearly joking. He planned on returning it when they met up to see George. That was one of the main reasons he was wearing it tonight, it could be his last chance to wear it before it's returned to its rightful owner.

"Send me a pic of you in it right now and you can keep it," Sapnap said, still coming down from his previous laughing fits.

"Deal." Karl said without even thinking. He realized he missed several opportunities to return the banter with Sapnap but he didn't even care. He truly loved this shirt. It was a faded black that almost appeared grey from years of washing with an orange and white tiger on it, Sapnap's high school mascot. Although the shirt no longer smelled like Sapnap, it still brought great comfort to Karl anytime he wore it. One week when Karl was especially missing his best friend, he used his shirt as a pillowcase.

Karl quickly opened snapchat and took a picture with the front facing flash. He was laying on his back, long wet hair clinging to the sides of his face, and his arm raised over his eyes to protect them from the stark light in his darkened room. He topped the photo off with a "<3" right in the center and sent it off before Sapnap could take back his offer.

Sappy took a screenshot

"SAPNAP!" Karl yelled, resulting in yet another burst of laughter from Sapnap. 

Karl felt his cheeks redden as he thought of all the reasons he could've screenshot the photo. Would he tweet it? Post it in the general chat on discord? Karl let out a frustrated groan as his phone vibrated against his chest. 

New message: Sapnap <3 *One image attached*

Karl quickly unlocked his phone. He couldn't ask Sapnap what he sent because he was still laughing, clearly amused by himself. Karl's eyes widened as he opened the photo. Sapnap had made the photo of Karl his lock screen. Karl knew this was just a joke to Sapnap, something to laugh about with friends in the morning. Yet, he could hear the small voice in the back of his head asking "what if he thinks I'm cute and wants to be able to see the photo whenever he wants?" 

Karl quickly brushed off the idea of Sapnap returning his feelings, getting embarrassed just at the thought of it. The phone call soon fell quiet again. Karl could hear the tapping of Sapnap's keyboard through the call, meaning Sapnap finally went back to editing his video. Karl took this moment to try to fall asleep. 

As his eyelids were too heavy to even open and he could feel his consciousness slipping away, he heard Sapnap singing to himself. A small smile formed across his lips as he drifted to sleep listening to his best friend, his love, sing their song.

"Take me to your best friend's house, I loved you then and I love you now."   

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(895 words) Thank you for reading :)))