What's Worth Saving (Is Never Worth Letting Go to Waste)

Chapter 14: I'm Not Quite Ready (To Turn To Bone)

Sapnap finds Karl staring listlessly at the wall, yellow eyes glazed over. After suffering through explaining everything to Wilbur, he'd excused himself from the conversation. Tommy had told him to go find Sapnap, saying that he could finish talking to Wilbur.

"Okay, so we have a time traveler now. That's new." Wilbur had said after Karl left.

"Yeah, at least you didn't find out by finding him bleeding out in his library." Tommy deadpanned. Wilbur stared at him incredulously.

"What?"

Sapnap took that opportunity to go after Karl, following him back to the main house. He hadn't even bothered to shut doors as he walked away; clearly he'd been majorly impacted by whatever Dream said. Sapnap clenches his fists at the thought, a thousand threats and ideas of how to murder him.

He could plan murder later; first, he has to make sure his fiancé is okay.

"Karl?" Sapnap calls, stepping into their room. "Are you–" He breaks off, seeing him curled up on the bed, back to him. He walks over to the bedside, sitting down on the edge. Karl doesn't respond, not even moving.

"Hey." Sapnap murmurs. "You're okay." Karl finally rolls over, looking up at him. He looks so hopeless, and Sapnap has no idea what to say to help him.

"It's funny, did you know after I told you about my time traveling I remembered more things?" Karl says softly. "Like Quackity. I remembered him. Not that it did any good in the end. Hell, none of this has been good. I thought– I thought it would be okay."

"No, no, don't talk like that." Sapnap replies, scooting closer. Karl sits up, his movements slow.

"Sorry." He mutters. "I just– it's not looking good, right now. And Dream– he's going to come for us."

"I'm not going to let him hurt you." Sapnap says immediately. "If I'd known what he said back there, I'd have killed him on the spot." Karl shrugs.

"He would've gotten away. He always does." He looks away, resigned. "We can't stop what's about to happen. He's going to come for us." He repeats the words again, yet they sound so much worse the second time. Maybe it's because deep down, Sapnap isn't certain he can beat Dream.

He doesn't know if he can keep his friends– his family– safe.

Sapnap's used to failing people; it happens too much. He watched his dads fall apart, and despite his best efforts, it collapsed in his hands. He watched Dream destroy himself for power, and had no choice but to cut him off and accept that he wasn't the man he used to know.

He watched Quackity walk away forever, declaring that he hates them.

Sapnap failed them. He failed to preserve what he had, and he failed to save them.

He can't fail Karl.

"Can I hug you?" Sapnap asks. Karl nods, and Sapnap pulls him closer, a thousand emotions pooling in his chest. They sit in silence for an eternity, the gravity of the situation weighing on their shoulders.

Dream knowing about the time travel is a terrifying prospect.

But Sapnap is not going to let that break what he has, damnit. Karl sits close, hair cascading in front of his eyes and hiding his expression. Sapnap sighs, pulling as much confidence from his heart as he can. He needs to be strong and reassuring, he can do this.

"Hey." Sapnap whispers, brushing a strand of hair out of his eyes. "It's gonna be okay, okay?" Karl nods, although he doesn't look convinced.

"Yeah." He says, his voice deprived of any conviction. Sapnap rests his head on Karl's wrapping his arms fully around his partner. He hates seeing him like this, so tired and stressed. He just wants to help him however he can, and that's what he'll do.