actions speak louder than words {karlnap}

chapter 6

"Karl?" he squeaks. 

I smile, lowering my head until my elbows rest next to his, until our chests rest inches apart. I cock my head, mimicking his smile from before. "Gotcha," I whisper. 

I release his wrists to cup his jaw. I move my head down and connect our lips. He squeaks again, sending chills down my spine. His hands make their way to my hair and my back, pulling my ever closer. I pull away for a second, sucking in a deep breath before kissing him again. 

Sometimes I wonder if he wants more with me. If he wants to take it the step further, but he knows that he can't. I wonder if he dreams of it, only to be disappointed when he wakes. 

But I know that he would never do anything to make me uncomfortable, and he'd stay within my boundaries, never cross a line or anything. Because Nick's amazing like that.

I knew I liked him when he introduced himself. Maybe I thought I was in love, but I wasn't. Not yet. But time passed, and the love built itself. But here, knowing that he loves me, that he wants to take care of me, that he wants to be there for me, that he would never hurt me...

That's love at it's finest.

[hashtag aroace author, hashtage wtf is love, hashtag idk what im talking about]

(Nick POV)

When he pulls away again, I sit up, pushing him up as well. He gives me a curious look, and for a second, I feel like we've time travelled back to last year, when if he was confused, he'd tilt his head and frown. I'd always smile before telling him why I did whatever I did, or explain whatever he was confused about.

"I have a surprise for you," I say, grinning. "And it's in five minutes." I press a quick kiss to his lips. He grins as he slides off my thighs to sit on the bed. I stand up and walk over to my computer. It's still on and still loaded on to Minecraft. I open Zoom as he slips off the edge of the bed to peer over my shoulder. 

"What are you planning?" he asks, giving me a look. 

I just smile at him. "You'll see."

"You've been saying that for the past 40 minutes," he groans, falling back on the bed. 

I shake my head, smiling still, as I sign into my account and wait. Two more minutes. 

I sit down next to him. "You'll like it, I promise."

He lifts his head to glare at me. "Are you sure about that?"

I give him a formal nod. "I'm certain."

As if on cue, an incoming Zoom call lights up my screen. I stand and hurry him up and into my chair once more. "Accept it," I hiss as I turn on the fairy lights. He presses "accept" just in time. Two faces appear on the screen, and it's just enough to almost bring Karl to tears.

"Karl!" Brody and Katie squeal.

Karl can't talk. His hand is pressed over his mouth and tears are flooding his eyes. I crouch next to him, taking his hand in mine. 

"Hey kiddos," I say, smiling. "Remember me?"

Brody nods. Katie shakes her head; she fell asleep before I introduced myself when I first met them.

"I'm Nick," I tell her. "I'm Karl's-"

"Boyfriend!" Brody shouts, clapping his hands together giddily. "Right Karl?"

That prompts Karl to wipe his eyes and smile. He giggles. "Yeah," he says breathlessly. "Yeah, my boyfriend." His already-pink cheeks darken at the words, like they always do. 

"Karl, your boyfriend has been texting Daddy for you," Katie says, smiling. "Daddy said that he wanted to meet up, but guess what?"

Karl smiles. "What?"

"We're in Mexico!" she yells, bouncing up and down on her chair. 

I gape at her. "Mexico?" I ask. "That's so cool! How is it?"

"Silly," she says, grinning. "You already knew that!"

I look at my wall and tap my chin. "Huh. So I did."

The two kids burst into giggles. I look back up at Karl, and he smiles down fondly at me. A tear slips down his face as he squeezes my hand. I move to stand on my knees, and kiss away his tear. He giggles.

"Karl?" Brody asks. 

He looks up. "Yeah?"

"Remember our mommy?"

The day I went over to Karl's last foster home was the day his foster mom got arrested. I don't even know how she qualified to be a foster mom if she was an alcoholic and had guns in her house. I understand why the kids' dad divorced her, but not why he took them away from her. 

Oh well.

Karl nods. "Yes, I remember her."

"We went to go see her a few weeks ago," he says. "She's in a big building with other mommies who had kids visiting them. She cried."

Karl nods solemnly. "Did you enjoy seeing her again?" he asks.

Brody shrugs. "She was scary before the building," he admits. Katie nods in agreement. "But Daddy says she's sick, and they're helping her get better there."

I glance up at Karl. He gives me a quick look I can't decipher before turning back to the kids, smiling widely. 

"Well, I'm sure she loved seeing you guys again."

~~

We sit there, talking with Brody and Katie until Mom calls us for dinner. Karl nearly cries again as he hangs up. But the second the camera light turns off, he throws his arms around me, and I feel him start to cry. 

"Thank you," he whispers, burying his face in my shoulder. 

I hug him back and rest my head on his. "Of course," I say. "I know you needed it before you left."

(Karl POV)

I love Nick so much.

Word Count 1600

~A/N~

i was gonna make this chapter just entirely the call, but i may have gotten a bit sidetracked with the fluffy limey idfk stuff.

also, if you see me mention time travelling at all this book, thank @Heido_o7. they wanted me to somehow implant karl's lore character into this, but, ya know, kinda difficult ;-;

so im just doing the odd time travel reference. 

anyways, i hope you enjoyed seeing the kiddies again!!

have a shower and brush your teeth. love youu <33