Because You Are Love (Karlnap)

Chapter 22 - A cage of words

Rays of sunlight filtered through the old blinds in Sapnap's room, gracing his face. His eyelashes fluttered open in waves of long slow blinks, adjusting to the light of day. Sapnap stretched his arms over his head, finding himself reaching out for something his mind hadn't even caught up to yet.

It was practically disorienting how light he felt without the weight of Karl laying across him, the way his limbs could move freely without bumping into anyone else. Sapnap began rubbing his eyes, trying to make himself fully wake up.

"Karl?" Sapnap's voice cracked as he spoke for the first time, a yawn soon following his simple question.

"It lives." Karl answered from across the room. Sapnap opened his eyes again, allowing them to focus on where he heard Karl's voice, golden light from the open window shining in on him. Karl could turn any time of day to a golden hour.

Karl was standing in front of one of the shelves on his wall, quickly setting down a small trinket he had in his hand. Sapnap looked over the shelf, seeing old sports trophies, mementos, and pictures of him and the people he called friends in high school. It truly was a shelf of old junk.

"Unfortunately." Sapnap said through another yawn, holding a hand in the air for Karl. A few seconds went by and Sapnap didn't hear Karl start walking towards him. He opened his eyes again with his brows knit together, seeing Karl frozen in place, holding both his arms around his chest tightly.

"What's wrong?" Sapnap asked, retreating his hand and opting to sit up in the bed instead. Karl looked around the room, walking over to the edge of the bed in silence. Sapnap stared up at Karl, grabbing onto Karl's wrist when he tried running his fingers through Sapnap's bed head.

"Nothing's wrong." Karl said with a meek smile, sliding his wrist out of Sapnap's grasp and returning his hands to his side.

Sapnap's eyes were searching over Karl's face, trying desperately to find a subliminal message. Sapnap involuntarily flinched away from Karl when he remembered his last words before he fell asleep.

"Because it's not what you think."

"Shit." Sapnap whispered under his breath, moving back on the bed and away from Karl. To his surprise, Karl followed his every move, also getting on the bed.

"I wasn't sure if you were actually awake, I'm sorry." Karl instantly began apologizing, grabbing onto Sapnap's hand. Sapnap leaned away, his tired mind only becoming increasingly confused by the second.

"You're not... freaked out?" Sapnap asked, his heart beating out of his chest. Karl shook his head, grabbing onto Sapnap's other hand as well.

"I mean, I was kind of surprised, seeing that it came out of nowhere. But why would I be freaked out? I was more worried that you'd be freaking out." Karl questioned. Silence fell over the two, each staring at the other with confusion and uncertainty.

"Wait- what are you talking about?" Sapnap asked, pulling his hands back. Karl let one go but held onto the other.

"I'm talking about your dad coming into your room this morning. What are you talking-"

"He what?" Sapnap flinched just hearing the words, looking around his room in a panic, as if something could give him a sign of whether or not it was true.

"It's okay, really. He just came in for, like, not even a minute!" Karl tried to assure Sapnap. Nothing seemed to calm Sapnap down until Karl placed a hand on his cheek, urging him to look at him.

"What did he want? What did he see?" Sapnap asked, despite his fear of the answer.

"He just, uh, said to come find him when you woke up. I guess he made plans for us tonight." Karl answered, looking away while he spoke.