"But." Sapnap started, slowly walking into the elevator. "Dream has a girlfriend though." He finished as the doors closed behind him.
Karl's hand froze on the button to the top floor.
"What are you talking about?" Karl finally spoke, pulling his hand from the button, the elevator beginning to rise.
"Clay has been seeing the same girl for months. He wouldn't cheat on her, let alone with George." Sapnap said, feeling confident in his knowledge.
"Back up, have you met this girl? Like, does she come over to your house?" Karl asked, starting to feel uncomfortable with the whole situation.
"Clay has told me she's come over before, he just doesn't bring her around when I'm there. He says that's awkward." Sapnap shrugged.
"Okay, so then you've seen photos of her right? Like photos of her and Dream together?" Karl continued. The elevator came to a halt, the doors opening before them.
Sapnap grabbed their suitcases and started walking out of the elevator. "Well, yes and no. He's shown me photos of her before, yeah, but I haven't seen any photos with them together. You know how Clay is about that though, he probably doesn't want her to have any dirt on him if they were to break up."
"I guess that kind of makes sense. I just don't understand why he's being so flirty with George if he has a girlfriend." Karl's tone was disappointed.
"This is how Clay is, he's just a flirt. I mean, they have even more fans shipping them than we do because of just how much they flirt. I guess I'm not surprised they're acting like this now that we're all here in person. I will agree with you that it feels a bit more romantic than how they stream. I mean, did you see the way they hugged in the airport?" Sapnap chuckled, scanning the keycard on their door.
"Yeah, I did. It reminded me of us. I guess that's why I thought they must also be hiding something." Karl said as he pulled the door open for Sapnap to bring in the bags.
"Hiding what?" George said, walking through the open door that conjoined their rooms.
"Nothing!" Sapnap and Karl said in unison.
"Whatever you say." George shrugged, walking back into the other room.
Sapnap and Karl stared at each other, realizing letting Dream book the rooms was probably a bad idea. They each began unpacking and getting settled into the room.
Karl felt drained, wanting nothing more than to lay in Sapnap's arms and relax. Karl looked over his shoulder to see Sapnap looking at him from his bed, as if they were sharing the same thought. Karl's gaze shifted to the still open door that connected the two rooms.
'it's not like Dream or George is going to do nightly bed checks like some high school field trip.'
Karl rolled his eyes at himself, feeling like he must've been begging the universe to jinx him. Sapnap stood up and walked over to the door that conjoined the rooms. He looked inside to see George helping Dream unpack and set up the computer equipment he brought.
"I'm going to shower and I don't trust you guys after how weird you've been, so bye!" Sapnap said while shutting and locking the door.
"Oh, but you don't care about Karl being in there? Pretty sus, Nick!" Dream called through the door, letting out his signature tea kettle wheeze laugh.
Sapnap rolled his eyes and walked over to Karl who was still unpacking. Karl had chosen the bed next to the window, Sapnap decided to lay in Karl's bed over his own. Karl walked over and laid next to Sapnap like how they had in the tent, shoulders barely grazing each other.
"Aren't you going to shower?" Karl asked, turning his head towards Sapnap.
"Yeah, I just wanted to spend time with you where we didn't have to hide first." Sapnap answered, also turning his head towards Karl. Sapnap's eyes flicked between Karl's eyes and lips. Karl had noticed this was a habit of Sapnap's whenever he wanted to kiss. Before Karl could lean in, Sapnap turned his head back to the ceiling. Karl mirrored Sapnap, also turning his head up.
Karl felt his cold hand heating up as Sapnap slid his hand into Karl's, interlocking their fingers.
"I still don't want to push our bubble too much." Sapnap said quietly, knowing his words would disappoint Karl. Karl squeezed Sapnap's hand, keeping his eyeline to the ceiling.
"Just this is enough for me." Karl lied, knowing he would give anything to be laying on top of his best friend, feeling his warmth, smelling his cologne.
"Thank you." Sapnap said, giving Karl's hand a squeeze back before getting up and making his way to the bathroom. Karl remained unmoved, listening to the sound of the shower turning on and Sapnap starting up his playlist.
Karl decided it would be best to not wait around for Sapnap to finish and decided to go spend time with Dream and George. Karl pulled himself off the bed and made his way to the conjoining door, unlocking it.
Karl opened the door to see George sitting on the desk Dream had begun setting up his computer on, Dream seated in the chair next to George's dangling legs, one hand on George's thigh.
"Oh, hey Karl!" George said, sliding off the desk and away from Dream.
"Hey guys." Karl answered with a raised eyebrow, falling onto the only bed in the room.
"Wait." Karl said, looking around the room suspiciously. Karl looked over to see George at his usual state of unamused and Dream beginning to laugh. "Why is there only one bed in here?" Karl questioned.
"I live like ten minutes away, I wasn't planning on staying in the hotel. Especially not after Dream pulled this stunt." George said, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes as Dream broke out into laughter next to him.
"That's so dumb! We should call and see if they can bring up a cot or get the room switched to one with two beds." Karl pitched. Karl hoped they would take the second option, giving him and Sapnap more privacy.
"Come on." Dream said looking over at George, nudging his head in Karl's direction. George looked at Dream with a horrified expression and mouthed the word 'no' dramatically. Dream shrugged and turned his attention back to the computer.
Karl thought back to his conversation with Sapnap about Dream having a girlfriend. He looked over to see a bag he didn't recognize in the corner of the room, some of George's clothes pouring out of it. In an instant, the situation clicked in Karl's mind.
"So, Dream, tell me about this girlfriend of yours that Sapnap was telling me about." Karl said with a smirk, leaning forward and eyeing George. George buried his face in his hands out of embarrassment, while Dream let out another wheeze.
"You said they wouldn't figure it out!" George hissed, hitting Dream in the arm, attempting to get him to stop laughing.
"No!" Dream said between his laughs. "I said Nick wouldn't figure it out! I never said Karl was that dense." Dream continued to laugh as George groaned.
"So, just to make sure we're all on the same page, George is the 'girlfriend', right?" Karl said, a smile forming on his lips.
George nodded his head begrudgingly, while Dream wiped away a tear that had fallen from laughing so hard.
"What about the pictures? Sapnap said that you showed him what she looked like." Karl continued.
"Oh god, I don't even know who I showed him. I literally just pulled a random picture off of google." Dream explained. "Can we not tell Nick about this? I want to see how obvious we can be without him putting two and two together." Dream pitched, pulling George back over and onto his lap. George looked down as a blush creeped onto his cheeks.
Karl couldn't help but stare at them with envy, living so freely, so secure in their relationship. He wondered if he and Sapnap would ever get to that point. Karl thought back on Sapnap's words.
'You deserve the world. I just hope I can man up enough one day to give it to you.'
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(1,393 words) we all knew Dream wasn't actually going to have a girlfriend, right?
YOU ARE READING
Your Telephone Calls are my Favorite Place (Karlnap)
RomanceKarl is finding it more and more difficult to hide his feelings for his best friend, Sapnap. He's willing to risk it all for his chance at love, but does he really understanding just how much he's risking?
