Because You Are Love (Karlnap)

Chapter 17 - I will not tell the player how to live

Children yelling, high pitched laughter filling the air, water balloons soaring across the sky. Sapnap felt like he was in his own personal hell. He had just managed to get away from the chaos, hiding out in the kitchen.

Sapnap had given a dozen piggy-back rides before he felt he had earned a moment of peace. He looked out to the yard through the kitchen window, a smile working its way onto his tired face once his eyes landed on Karl.

Karl was sitting at a comically small table, clearly not designed for anyone over the age of 10. He had a line of about 3 or 4 girls all waiting for him to paint their nails.

"He's really great with kids, huh?" Jen spoke up from behind. Sapnap turned around quickly to see Jen standing right behind him, a smile on her face.

"Oh, yeah I guess. I've only really seen him with his friend's toddler before, so I knew he was good around kids, but, uh, yeah." Sapnap trailed off, turning to face the sink again. He splashed cold water on his face, hoping that Jen would assume his red complexion was from the heat and not their conversation.

"He's welcome to join anytime you visit, you know. It's really great having both of you here... together." Jen continued, walking forward to stand next to Sapnap at the sink while he patted his face dry. "Plus, he's a cutie, don't ya think?" Jen asked, stealing a glance in Sapnap's direction.

"Karl? O-oh, I haven't, uh, why are you asking me that?" Sapnap deflected with a laugh. He was regretting drying his face, because now it would just look strange if he splashed himself with water again.

"No reason, just thinking out loud I guess." Jen said with a soft smile, stepping back out onto the porch.

Sapnap was trying not to panic. Did she see them earlier on the porch when he had his arm wrapped around Karl's waist? God, did she hear them talking last night? Did she see them practically laying over each other on the swing?

"Fuck." Sapnap sighed to himself, hunching over the sink. Today had already been stressful enough with him coming out to Andrew, the last thing he expected was for anyone else in his family to suspect anything.

He didn't want to admit it out loud, but he actually found comfort in hearing Andrew's disbelief that he's gay. It made him feel like he had done a good job of hiding his sexuality. All that confidence had gone out the window with one innocent question.

"Plus, he's a cutie, don't ya think?"

Sapnap was pulled from his racing thoughts when he heard the porch door swing open. He looked up to see Karl with a bright smile. Unfortunately, his smile fell once he saw Sapnap's expression.

"I was just coming in to grab some water- are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost." Karl said while approaching him. Karl smelled like nail polish and freshly cut grass.

"You smell funny." Sapnap said with a smile, ignoring Karl's question completely. Another simple question with a heavy answer he didn't feel like sharing. Sapnap turned around, jumping to sit on the kitchen counter.

"Painting nails in the great outdoors does that to a person." Karl scoffed. Sapnap knew by looking at Karl's eyes that he was still concerned but was choosing to not push the topic for his sake.

"Jen likes you." Sapnap said, a genuine smile tugging at the corners of his mouth when Karl hopped up to sit on the counter with him. "Even said you were a 'cutie' if I recall correctly." Sapnap laughed, reaching across the sink to fill a cup with water for Karl.

"If you're trying to give me permission to get her number, I already have it." Karl laughed, accepting the glass of water.

"And I'll be deleting it from your phone the second I drop you off at the airport." Sapnap scoffed, taking back the glass of water and taking a sip as well.