I Spy a Liar

Prologue

Any possible trigger or content warnings will be placed at the top of the chapter

Tw: Mentions of alcohol, mentions of getting drunk, breaking-up, assumptions of cheating

Cool leather pressed against Karl's thighs as he shifted legs to pick up the television remote sitting on the arm of the couch across from him. He mindlessly flicked through the shows on Netflix, the house feeling empty without the usual flirty quips from his boyfriend, who was currently hanging out with a friend.

His only company was the fluffy grey cat, aptly named 'Grey', who was curled up beside him, purring softly. The fan whirred quietly as Karl flicked over to Disney Plus, the Netflix range not satisfying his want for an interesting watch. The quiet was broken by a buzz from the small black device resting in between the couch cushions by his ankle. He plucked it out, discarding the remote in favour of the phone, turning it on to view the notification.

'Will' The notification read; an image attached to the message which read; 'I'm sorry Karl.'  Karl's eyebrows furrowed as he opened the message, confused on why his online friend would send him such a thing. They weren't particularly close, Karl not even having seen Will's face before, Will having seen his own and Sapnap's, his boyfriends, but they frequently played Minecraft together on calls, and he knew enough about the man to know he wasn't a creepy stalker.

His face fell as he scanned the image sent to him; lips that were caught between ivory teeth now free as he gaped. 'I was at a bar in town and saw this.' The image, one that caused Karl to rethink the past four months, was one of a man's lips pressed against Sapnap's, a smile present on both of their faces. There was something off about the photo, a slightly shorter-haired George present in the background cheering his best friend on.

But Will's message matched the setting of the photo, a bartender visible, standing at a tall bench, serving drinks in fancy glasses to those clearly drunk. Boiling with anger, he clicked off the chat, over to he and his boyfriend's. He skimmed the messages of goodbye 'I love yous', those three words having been spoken with finality for the first time a few weeks ago and began to type.

After deleted drafts of angered messages he wanted to send, but knew he shouldn't, he just said; 'Come home please.' With Sapnap's over imaginative, worrisome mind, he would be home in an instant. Tears gently slipped down his face as the reality of the situation set it. His boyfriend and co-worker had cheated on him. He stood carefully, mind spinning and headed to their bedroom, beginning to pack all his essential items into a bag.

When fifteen minutes passed and Sapnap still wasn't back, Karl knew he wasn't at George's. That was only an eight-minute drive, the two having made the trip too many times to count to visit him and his roommate, Dream. For both work and friendship purposes, the two's house was a common meeting place.

It was twenty-three minutes (Not that Karl was counting or anything) after the message was sent that Sapnap arrived home, car pulling into the driveway with a screech. By this time Karl was convinced the lounge room floorboards should have deep holes cut into them from his consistent pacing. The door slammed shut and loud footsteps thudded around the house, stopping for a moment when reaching the kitchen, assumingly noticing the violet suitcase sitting by the counter.

"Karl?" An anxious voice called out; words laced with worry. Karl squeezed his eyes shut as tears pricked the corner of his eyes.

"In here." He mumbled, wincing at the voice crack at the end of the sentence. His phone was in his hands, opened to the dreadful image. Sapnap appeared in the doorway and ran to him instantly, bringing him close into his arms, blanketing him with a feeling of comfort and warmth.

Those feelings all but disappeared when he pulled away from the hug and could smell the lingering air of alcohol on his boyfriends breath. Tears pricked at his eyes as he realised Will was right.

"Have you been drinking?" The words left his mouth before he could stop them, his teary eyes touring the hazel one's across from him. The boy holding him nodded slightly, before quickly explaining.

"George figured out he has a crush on a girl he'll never be able to be with, so he wanted to get drunk at a bar," Sapnap explained, his eyes continuing to explore the emotions on Karl's face, desperately in need of deciphering his thoughts. "And I drank plenty of water so I wasn't anything more than tipsy on the way back." He showed Karl the water bottle still in his hands, not bothering to put it down as he came into the house, too busy worrying for his boyfriend. "I didn't think it was a big deal. I can text you next time?" He offered.

Karl wordlessly moved away from his embrace and passed him his already unlocked phone, opened on the photo. "What is this?" He asked timidly, slowly backing away from his lover as he examined it. Sapnap's face ranged from confusion, anger, and shock, flashing by in such a haze Karl could barely make each one out.

"That was not tonight." He said finally, eyes still set on the device in his hands. It was said firmly, but with a flicker of hesitation, as if there something that didn't add up, even to him.

"So, it happened once." Karl whispered, taking a further step away from him. Sapnap's face anxious paled, glancing up at Karl before looking back down at the photo, eyes still traversing the image.

"Well, yes. It looks too good to be photoshopped." He muttered, tilting his head to the side in an attempt to understand and remember that night. "But I haven't gotten that drunk or even gotten drunk without you since we started dating, so this is clearly before then."

Tears clouded Karl's vision, ignoring his excuses, taking back his phone, and carefully making his way out of the room. "So, you don't remember? How am I supposed to believe this then?" He yelled back, voice laced with staggered and anxious breaths. The mildly hidden suitcase was pulled from its location with shaky hands as he made his way out of the house. Sapnap quietly yelped when realising he had grabbed his car keys and was making his way towards it.

His hand caught on Karl's elbow as his own eyes dripped with liquid. "Karl, I promise, I would never cheat! Please believe me!" Karl's grey eyes made eye contact with Sapnap's.

"I don't think there's anything to prove it. Goodbye Sappy." Just saying the affectionate nickname brought a flash of happy memories flooding over him. Despite not being in any condition to drive, he loaded his luggage into the car, then climbing in himself. He drove away as fast as the speed limit allowed him too, not wanting to be in that house any longer.

Had he glanced back, he would've seen the heartbroken ravenette collapse on the concrete porch, bury his teary face into his knees and then get up to hang out with George and make a bountiful of bad decisions.

The roads were clear as he drove. Their seemingly endgame relationship was broken in half.

It was all lies. 

~~~

Welcome to the beginning of 'I Spy a Liar'! 

For whatever reason, I decided not to add Quackity into this, although he gets mentioned later, so if you're here for Quackity or 5/5 Feral Boys (or whatever their current name is) content, sorry not happening! 

If you want DNF, well, there's a lot of that! 

This book is enemies to lovers, so don't expect happy Karlnap, or even friendship Karlnap until at least chapter 25. 

Please read the trigger warnings on the summary of this book, so if any of those trigger you, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK! 

Also, for anyone who would like to refer to me at anytime, my name is Skye or Skylar (I prefer the the first one, Skylar is just and extension of the name) and I use he/they/it/cloud/dragon pronouns, but don't particularly care if someone uses 'she'. 

I am questioning whether I am gender-queer or pangender :] 

Love Skye 🖤