Your Telephone Calls are my Favorite Place (Karlnap)

Nineteen

Karl remained seated on the gift for is friend, hugging his knees and crying hard into his sweatpants. He felt like he was alone in his own personal haunted house.

He remained in that position for several minutes, sarcastically wondering if indulging in self pity also counted towards Jimmy's advice on being more selfish. Eventually, he rose from the skateboard, lightly pushing it across the floor, and into the living room. Karl felt so defeated that he didn't even have the energy to continue crying. He simply felt numb.

He sulked his way upstairs, catching one last glimpse of his living room.

"It would've been one damn good surprise." He quietly spoke to himself, flicking off the light switch and continuing up the stairs.

He stepped into the bathroom, splashing cold water on his face. He looked at his shower, knowing he should get in and wash away the sweat from hours of rearranging furniture and tedious tent building. His gaze fell to his bandaged hand, the medical tape folded over on itself in several places, the gauze no longer securely held down. He closed his eyes and clenched the edge of the sink, remembering Sapnap's words.

"If you mess it up, I'll just fix it tomorrow."

He looked up, staring at himself in the mirror, alone. He thought of how if Sapnap's flight wasn't canceled, they surely would be taking pictures together in their matching shirts in this very mirror. Karl pushed himself off the sink, dragging his feet as he walked to his room, abandoning all ideas of a shower.

Karl looked between his desk and his bed, debating which was the safer option. His bed was comfortable, sure, but it also meant being alone with his thoughts until he fell asleep. He shifted his gaze to his desk, recalling the 5 hour Tales stream he had to edit. Although editing was awful, it did mean his mind would be too occupied to sulk about the situation. Desk it was.

Karl's monitor quickly powered up, 9:06pm. Sapnap would've just landed. He groaned as he logged in, diving right into his work.

Karl's fingers were beginning to cramp from how much work he had done, just over 4 hours of the stream completed. He sighed, lowering his head to his desk. He didn't even want to look at the time. It was just another reminder that either Sapnap's power still hadn't turned on or he had fallen asleep, forgetting he was supposed to call Karl once it returned.

Karl laid his heavy head in his arms, which were crossed on his desk.

Suddenly, Karl felt himself being lifted from his chair. He was so exhausted he didn't even want to open his eyes. He could feel their warmth, it was quite nice. He could also smell something that was so vaguely familiar, he could nearly identify it.

"Who's the stinky one now?" Sapnap's low voice made Karl's body shudder. Once he heard him he recognized the scent as the way Sapnap's t-shirt used to smell, a mixture of laundry detergent and Sapnap's cologne.

Karl finally had the strength to open his eyes, he looked up to see his best friend smiling down at him. Karl smiled, his heart beginning to race. He wanted to lift himself up and pull his best friend into a tight embrace. He couldn't though, he could hardly move his body, it was far too exhausted.

"Did.. did you see the living room?" Karl questioned, wondering what he thought of it.

"I did!" Sapnap beamed. "I'm so lucky to have a boyfriend as loving as you." He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Karl's forehead.

"B-boyfriend?" Karl questioned, wondering what had gotten into Sapnap.

"What, did I propose and forget about it?" Sapnap joked. "Be patient, you'll get your ring soon enough." He teased in a whisper, finally walking over to the bed and sitting. He began to shift so he could lay Karl down. Karl resisted, clinging to Sapnap's hoodie, not wanting him to let him go.

"Stinky and needy? I picked a winner, huh?" Sapnap laughed at his own joke, complying with Karl's silent protest. He laid on his back, pulling Karl on top of his chest. Karl remained silent, listening to Sapnap's steady heartbeat.

"I love you, Nick." Karl whispered.

"Whoa, calling me Nick now? Am I in trouble or something?" Sapnap responded, his voice primarily amused, a sliver of concern present as well.

"Sapnap?" Karl questioned.

"And now you're calling me Sapnap? If this is about the 'stinky and needy' comments, you know I'm just messing around." He responded with a soft chuckle, beginning to push Karl's hair away from his face, tying it into a bun.

Karl hesitated in responding, loving the way it felt when Sapnap ran his fingers through his overgrown hair.

"If not Nick or Sapnap, then what?" Karl finally managed to get out.

"Uh, love. You call me love." Sapnap said, his voice definitely concerned at this point.

Hearing the pet name 'love' sent Karl instantly back to his shower dream, where Sapnap called him love as he waited for him to join him in the shower. Karl's breath hitched.

"Wait!" Karl said hurriedly, but it was too late. His eyes shot open and he was sitting alone at his desk, hunched over, with the early morning light beginning to gently peek through his blinds.

"Not again.." Karl groaned, pushing his head harder into his arms. Maybe if he shut his eyes tightly enough he would return to Sapnap's warm chest that rose and fell so peacefully. A minute passed and, alas, nothing.

5:21am

Karl groaned louder this time, disgusted he was even awake at such an hour after editing late into the night. He spun his chair around, facing his bed. Karl stood up and walked to the foot of his bed, but he couldn't get in. He turned his head slowly towards his ever-growing dirty laundry pile.

Karl sighed, knowing he was going to lose a battle against himself. He reluctantly pulled off the long-sleeved shirt he was wearing and replaced it with Sapnap's old football t-shirt, fresh off the top of the pile.

Karl pulled it to his nose, wondering if he would be able to smell it's original scent again like he could in the dream. He could not. It just smelled like a mixture of nothing and Karl's own brand of laundry detergent. Karl couldn't help but feel let down, upset the shirt hadn't reverted to smelling like Sapnap.

Realizing how stupid of an idea it was in the first place, Karl fell over into the bed. He ran his fingers gently through his hair, doing his best to replicate how Sapnap had pulled it into a bun. Karl closed his eyes as he did this, almost making it feel like he was momentarily back in the dream.

A singular searing hot tear ran down Karl's cheek.

"Damn it, Nick. Why did you have to make me love you so much." Karl muttered to himself, soon falling into a dreamless sleep.

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(1,180 words) Ahh over 330 reads? Thank you!!!