Because You Are Love (Karlnap)

Chapter 15 - But it would be so easy to tell them...

The morning sun was beating down on Sapnap, his back already drenched in sweat. He thought he was a fit person, playing sports with Punz and working out with Dream, but manual labor was a completely different story.

His dad had rented a few ridiculous inflatable bounce houses that required much more set up than anyone was anticipating. Sapnap wiped the sweat off his forehead, quickly putting his hat back on to shield him from the sun.

"So, I know I'm not much help, but I come bearing reinforcements and lemonade!" Karl called out from the porch, making his way to the backyard. Sapnap looked over to see Karl walking over with two glasses of lemonade and both his brothers following closely behind.

"About time you two got up!" Sapnap yelled, walking towards them. He watched intently as Karl brought a glass of lemonade to his dad first, a conversation striking up between them.

"You know, dad is the one who chose to have these for her."

"Yeah, wish he cared that much when we were-"

"Hey." Sapnap interrupted, turning to face his younger brothers. He knew exactly how they were feeling, the envious jealousy for the childhood they all missed out on. "There are two more stakes that need to be hammered down on this one." Sapnap continued, raising his eyebrows when neither boy moved. Sapnap sighed, looking back to see Karl walking towards them.

"Look, I know it sucks and it's unfair. I know that today is one big bitter reminder of all the things we didn't get. Regardless, do your best to be happy that Mari is never going to have to go through what we did. She doesn't deserve that." Sapnap finished. His youngest brother looked a bit guilty, stepping forward to grab the hammer.

"She may not deserve it, but neither did we-"

"Andrew-"

"Fuck this." His brother said under his breath, stepping away from the group and heading back inside. His youngest brother turned to Sapnap, clearly expecting him to say the perfect thing.

"Don't worry about him, Ben. I'll go talk to him. Go ask dad what you can do to help." Sapnap said, ushering his brother away just as Karl approached. Karl watched with concerned eyes as Ben walked past him in silence.

"What's going on?" Karl asked quietly, handing Sapnap the other glass of lemonade. Sapnap took a large sip before answering.

"It's nothing, don't worry about-" Sapnap paused when Karl brought a hand to his face, resting the back of his fingers against his cheek. Karl's brows furrowed, as he took back the glass of lemonade, pressing it against Sapnap's cheek. "What are you-"

"You're burning up, you need to cool down." Karl insisted, swatting away the hand Sapnap tried using to push him away. "And it didn't seem like nothing. Ben has been friendly since I got here, but Andrew's hardly spoken to anyone."

Sapnap sighed, letting himself enjoy the cool glass Karl hard pressed against his cheek. He closed his eyes, while he thought of a response that wouldn't make Karl more concerned. He let out a laugh when he felt a faint breeze, opening his eyes to see Karl fanning his face.

"Really, don't worry about Andrew. We just, uh, we don't do well with birthdays around here." Sapnap finished, taking the drink out of Karl's hand so he could have another sip. Karl brushed his fingers against Sapnap's face again, just as Sapnap looked over to see his dad staring at them.

Sapnap instantly took a step away from Karl, cool fingers no longer grazing against his skin. His dad quickly got back to work, calling over to Ben. Sapnap looked back to Karl, a dazed look of confusion on his face.

He felt like he was being pulled in a million different directions. He needed to appear straight for both his family and Karl, but 'acting straight' looked very different for each. There was also the nagging voice in the back of his head that wondered when it would be time for him to finally drop the act altogether.