Because You Are Love (Karlnap)

Chapter 25 - Sapnap. Player of games

Sapnap told Karl he was going to grab his phone from his room, leaving him alone in the kitchen. As Sapnap was walking through the hallway, he was stopped by Andrew whipping open his door.

"It's been, like, 15 minutes. What took you so long?" Andrew asked, leaning against his door frame. Sapnap turned on his heels, facing Andrew with a raised eyebrow. "You wanted me to go upstairs so you could tell me something. What was it?" Andrew continued, waving around one of his hands.

"I told you to go upstairs because you were being annoying, not because I had anything to say to you." Sapnap laughed, leaning against the wall. Andrew rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"So you fessed up, right? First you're holding him in bed then that, come on." Andrew asked, making a face as he grabbed his own thigh, referencing how Sapnap had been holding Karl's thigh throughout lunch.

"No, and I'm not going to. Like I said, that's just how Karl is. Physical touch is his love language or whatever, it makes him happy when I do stuff like that." Sapnap shrugged, leaning to get a view of the staircase, making sure Karl wasn't eavesdropping.

"Isn't that kind of... Nevermind. Uh, you should really let Karl borrow a flannel, or at least a hoodie for-"

"Isn't it kind of what?" Sapnap interrupted, furrowing his brows as he looked back to his brother. Andrew seemed noticeably uncomfortable, like he had clearly regretted saying anything at all.

"Nothing-"

"Bullshit, what were you going to say?" Sapnap asked again, his gaze narrowing in on Andrew.

"Fine, I don't know, isn't that kind of... gross? Isn't he only comfortable with being so touchy with you because he doesn't know you're... you know. If he knew how you felt, do you think he would still be okay with all that?" Andrew asked, lowering his voice to a near whisper.

Sapnap had a million thoughts running through his head. He wanted to tell Andrew that he was an idiot and of course Karl would still be just as comfortable with him if he knew he was gay.

But there was always the lingering uncertainty of what if he wasn't okay with it. What if he would be grossed out. What if he felt like this was a breach in his trust.

"Shit, that came out wrong. I just-"

"No, it came out perfectly clear." Sapnap said, walking towards his room like he intended to all along.

"Nick, come on." Andrew called out. Sapnap ignored him, entering the small stairwell that led to his room. This day had already been so overwhelming, giving him emotional whiplash at every turn, and it was just beginning.

Sapnap walked into his room, closing the door behind him, and collapsing into his bed. Just as he closed his eyes, his phone began to ring. Sapnap sighed, looking over to see Dream calling him.

"Hey." Sapnap said flatly, putting the call on speaker and resting his phone on his chest.

"Uh oh. What's wrong?" Dream asked instantly. Normally Sapnap would find Dream's all-knowing instincts to be endearing, but he had absolutely no desire to talk about what was upsetting him. He wouldn't even know where to start.

"Nothing, just, my brother is giving me a hard time about Karl being here." Sapnap did his best to summarize the situation in the shortest way possible.

"Andrew or Ben? About Karl being where?" Dream asked basically as soon as Sapnap finished his sentence.

"Andrew, it's always Andrew." Sapnap sighed. "And about Karl being here, like in Texas with me." Sapnap explained, rubbing his forehead.