𝕊𝕦𝕘𝕒𝕣 ℍ𝕚𝕘𝕙 • 𝕂𝕒𝕣𝕝ℕ𝕒𝕡

Chapter 28: Pipeline Punch + Prom!

George was a man who appreciated predictability. He didn't like things that were unfamiliar, those interactions were draining. It's why he liked coding so much. Depending on what the error was it was easy to figure out where the fault in the code was.

He was lazy, almost to a fault and if he had a deadly sin there's no doubt it would be Sloth. Despite his lack of energy and enjoyment for simple and steady, George was friends with the most unpredictable sporadic people anyone could meet.

Karl was one of the craziest people George knew, his bestfriend Nick coming in a close second tied with his own boyfriend. However, there was one thing about Karl that was predictable. The energy he produced in his room. George had spent months associating candle scents and LED lights to different emotions. It was the only simple thing about Karl in George's honest opinion.

It had been a few days since Nick had asked him to prom. Karl had convinced his boyfriend on the color purple (not that Nick minded, he would've been happy with any color as long as Karl was happy.) Today, Karl's room was a deep pink magenta color. The sickly sweet and intoxicating smell of strawberries and vanilla overtook the room. And there, laid on the bed clinging to a throw pillow while soft music played from his computer, was George's other best friend Karl.

Pink and sweet aromas meant Karl had it bad. George could only remember one other time Karl had chosen this combination. It was a few months back when Karl had realized that maybe he did have a crush on Nick.

George nudged his friend over and laid down on the bed, replacing the pillow Karl had been hugging. It had been a long day at school and both boys had agreed they needed some good bonding time. The british boy had opted to take a nap while he listened to Karl half speak to him and the other half to the empty room about his prom fantasies.

---

Karl had started to drift off himself, Georges steady breathing leading his own breathing to even out. He could probably do with a nap. He'd been running on so little sleep and energy drinks for so long that maybe he deserved a little more than three consecutive hours. He set an alarm before he allowed himself to completely drift.

His dreams were pleasant, he almost snoozed his alarm and went back to sleep, but George insisted that they get up instead of wasting the whole day sleeping (even though that was more favorable in his opinion.) They ended up getting dressed for the day and walking in to town.

George only laughed slightly when Karl begged him to go to the candy store for drinks and snacks. They ended up getting slushies and a small bag of assorted candies to share. They walked into small business stores and looked at the trinkets and bits and bobs some stores had to offer. Karl ended up buying a bracelet made of amethyst rocks in hopes of it helping him sleep better. George had bought some silly socks that said 'fuck off' on the tops.

They continued looking in the windows of shops before grabbing lunch at a local diner and then walking a few more streets to go get some ice cream.

"I don't get how you can stand to eat so much sugar, Karl," George said as he coughed some sugar out of his throat.

"I don't get it either!" Karl confessed as he continued to happily skip next to the shorter boy to their destination.

They arrived at the park where they had seen SBI perform a couple weeks back. They walked up to pier overlooking a river, cool wind tossing their hair about as they finished their cold treats.

---

It was the night before prom. Karl was nervous to say the least as he was cuddled into Nicks side. They'd been dating for about a month now. They weren't really keeping track, they were just happy to have each other. They were at Karl's house with Dream and George, cuddled on his couch, knit blankets skewed about their tangled bodies as they watched High School Musical.