Because You Are Love (Karlnap)

Chapter 32 - As though we were separate things

Karl had just finished primarily his entire beer in one go, already feeling like he was going to throw up from the lingering taste of the warm alcohol. He needed to get away for just one second, and getting more drinks seemed like the perfect excuse.

After successfully dodging Sapnap trying to grab his arm, Karl found his way over to the bar. Seeing that the first round had just begun, the bar was completely empty. The bar tender was an older woman with big blonde hair and red lipstick on. Her eyes seemed to perk up the second she saw Karl.

"Hi, can I get two beers? The ones in, uh, the green glass bottle?" Karl questioned, feeling like an idiot for not even checking the name of the beer before heading to the bar.

"Two Heinekens? You got it, sweetheart." She smiled, thankfully pulling two bottles out of a cooler this time, meaning Karl would hopefully be able to prevent himself from feeling any more nauseous than he already was. If Karl was going to be choking down beer, he'd at least prefer it be cold beer.

Karl watched as she stopped just before handing him the beers, noticing that she had caught a glimpse of Sapnap's hat.

"Say, whose hat do you have on?" She asked, setting the beers onto the bar instead of placing them in Karl's outstretched hands.

"Oh, this? Uh, it's mine." Karl answered, not phased at all when she instantly let out a chuckle.

"Texas isn't what you think, at least it's not nearly as bad as it used to be. You can tell an old bird like me which one of these cowboys is taking you home tonight." She smiled, shaking her head no to the cash Karl had pulled out. It seemed being let in on a bit of gossip was worth the cost of the beers in the bartender's eyes.

"Taking me where?" Karl asked, completely taken off guard. He pulled the cash back before he spotted a tip jar, quickly shoving the money into it. She raised her eyebrow, her smile fading a bit.

"Oh, honey. You know what wearing a cowboy's hat means, right? They're not supposed to give it to you if you don't." She said concerned, clearly looking around the nearby crowd, trying to spot any cowboys without a hat.

"I-I don't know what it means, but, um, that bull rider- Charlie, he tried giving me his hat, so my friend stepped in and put his on me instead. After Charlie left, I tried to give it back but he told me to keep it on. Is that bad?" Karl explained as quietly as he could over the bar, as the crowd cheered behind him.

Even though Sapnap asked Karl to trust him, he just had too many unanswered questions to turn down any insight she could provide him with. Her eyes perked back up as she leaned over the bar in his direction.

"Oh, baby. Your friend likes you." She said with a chuckle after putting her pointer finger under Karl's chin to lift his face. Karl knew he was already starting to blush like crazy, realizing what Sapnap stopped himself from saying earlier.

"Tell them you're taken."

"No, no, he's str- uh, we're both straight. He was just-"

"Take a cowboy's hat, take a cowboy home." She said as she leaned back up upright, grabbing a rag to wipe down the counter.

"Take a what do what?!" Karl exclaimed, quickly hunching back over the bar when he realized how loudly he had asked that question.

"If you take a cowboy's hat, or he gives you his, it means that he's planning on taking you home. You know, 'save a horse, ride a cowboy'?" She laughed, clearly finding Karl's lack of understanding and increasingly flushed complexion to be amusing.

"But, wait, he, but-"

"Take your beers and head back to your cowboy, cowboy." She winked, stepping away from Karl and making her way to the few other customers who had left mid-round to get more drinks.

Karl grabbed the beers and began heading back to Sapnap and his brothers in a daze. Sapnap must know the rule, he wouldn't have stopped Charlie otherwise. But why would he tell Karl to keep the hat on once Charlie was gone? Why didn't he want to be the one to tell him what it meant? If he explained to Karl that keeping his at on was just for his own sake, that would be one thing. So, why was he trying to hide it?

And why couldn't Karl identify the feeling he had about the situation now that he understood everything?

"Had me worried for a minute there, long line?" Sapnap asked, accepting the beer Karl had held out to him. Karl looked over Sapnap's shoulder to see Andrew smiling at him and Ben sitting on the barrier. 

"Yeah, something like that." Karl mumbled, fiddling with the cap on his bottle. Sapnap took the bottle out of his hand, cracking it open like he had the first bottle and handing it back to Karl. Karl gave Sapnap a small smile, fiddling with the bottle again.

"No one else tried to give you a hat, did they?" Sapnap asked, his smile fading as he picked up on Karl's questionable mood.

"Oh, no, nothing like that." Karl rushed, reaching out to rest his hand on Sapnap's arm, pulling it away before he even touched Sapnap.

"Hey, is something wrong? Andrew and Ben are fine if you wanna get out of here for a while." Sapnap asked, reaching out to hold the hand Karl had withdrawn. Karl stared at their hands, remembering how it felt when they were running through the crowds, pressed together even when there was all the space in the world.

"The bartender told me what wearing a cowboy's hat means." Karl said blankly, unsure if Sapnap could even hear him over the roaring crowd. Karl only realized Sapnap heard what he said when he noticed a blush creeping onto his cheeks, which surely couldn't have been from the single beer.

"Oh, uh, she did, huh?" Sapnap asked, looking in the direction of the bar, slowly slipping his hand out of Karl's.

"Take a cowboy's hat, take a cowboy home. Isn't that right, cowboy?" Karl asked, leaning to the side so he would be in Sapnap's line of view again. Sapnap looked away again, taking a large sip of his drink.

"I mean, were you not planning on coming home with me- uh, us... tonight?" Sapnap chuckled anxiously, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I guess that's true. You could've at least bought me dinner first or something." Karl said with a smile, nudging Sapnap's shoulder as he walked passed him, heading back up to the barrier.

"Are you hungry?" Sapnap asked instantly, following close behind. Karl felt comfort in the hand Sapnap placed on his lower back as soon as he was standing by his side again.

"Sap, it's just an expression." Karl laughed, letting himself lean a bit into Sapnap's side. He could feel Sapnap tense up a bit, soon relaxing into the embrace, adjusting his grip around Karl's waist to hold him closer.

"Of course. I knew that." Sapnap scoffed, tipping the front of his hat so it covered Karl's eyes. Karl quickly reached up to adjust the hat, giving Sapnap a glare as soon as he could see again. Sapnap had a beaming smile, looking up to Karl.

Karl rolled his eyes, looking out to the arena for the first time since he got back. As if it were fate, Charlie rode by on Delilah, tipping his hat with an obvious wink to Karl.

Karl looked over instantly to Sapnap, seeing him give the same glare to Charlie that he had given when he first saw him trying to give Karl his hat.

Now that Karl knew the meaning behind what being given a hat meant, he recognized the look in Sapnap's eyes as a mixture of jealousy and possessiveness. The rising feeling in Karl's chest was something he wasn't quite used to.

It felt like butterflies.

It was nice.

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(1,409 words) okay we are wrapping up the yeehaw cowboy possessive sapnap arc. also i told you guys i would explain the hat thing- you really didnt need to pollute your google search history like that. anywa, v excited for the next arc to begin :) love you guys