Because You Are Love (Karlnap)

Chapter 46 - About to dream again

"If I say you're right does that mean you'll let me?" Andrew reluctantly answered after a minute, keeping his voice just as low.

"Let the car charge for another couple hours and then you can take it." Sapnap said after pretending to ponder his decision for a few seconds.

Andrew's eyes lit up hearing Sapnap agree. He suddenly gained a burst of energy, jumping up from his place in the grass. Sapnap and Karl each laughed a bit when he ran past them, stumbling up the front steps in his haste.

"Easy there!" Jen called out, leaning around Sapnap's dad to give Sapnap a questioning look as to why Andrew was running. Sapnap gave her a shrug, turning his attention back to Karl.

"So, I'm guessing Andrew has a date tonight?" Karl asked, taking the water bottle from Sapnap to have a sip.

"Seems like it." Sapnap smiled, standing up from the ground. He held out a hand to Karl, ignoring the feeling of his dad watching them, as Karl slid his hand across his palm and accepted the help up.

"Looks like we're going to be stuck here for the night." Sapnap sighed, fighting the urge to hang on to Karl's hand after he was standing.

"Honestly, that sounds kind of nice. I feel like we haven't stopped running around since we got here." Karl laughed, following Sapnap up the stairs and inside. Once they were in the house, Sapnap turned around, pulling Karl towards him. Karl instantly held out his arms, keeping a distance between them.

"Relax, Andrew's the only one inside and he's not even down here." Sapnap said quietly with a smile, gently pulling Karl in closer. Karl looked back to the front door and then over to the porch door in the kitchen before slowly lowering his arms and stepping towards Sapnap.

"Well?" Karl asked after a second, letting out a small laugh when Sapnap didn't say anything.

"Nothing, I just wanted to hold you for a minute." Sapnap answered with a soft smile, kissing Karl's cheek before pulling away.

Truthfully, Sapnap's mind was still focused on how Karl was feeling after their heavy conversation earlier. Now that they no longer had the option to leave before Andrew got back, Sapnap was feeling a bit anxious.

He really wanted to check in, to see if Karl was still feeling sure about his decision to stay- but Sapnap didn't want to bring up a sensitive topic out of the blue.

"So, tonight. I'm thinking we play some video games and watch-"

"Karl?" Andrew called out from the top of the stairs, catching both of their attention. Sapnap was a bit confused to see Andrew still in the same clothes from practice- and the fact he was calling out for Karl.

"Uh, yeah?" Karl answered after a minute, looking over to Sapnap, hoping he would have some kind of idea what Andrew wanted. Sapnap shrugged, walking with Karl to the base of the stairs.

"Do you, uh- would you mind maybe... letting me borrow an outfit- or even just helping me pick out something from what I have?" Andrew asked with a bit of a stutter, refusing to make eye contact with either of them as he spoke.

"Really?" Karl asked, practically dumbfounded.

"If you wouldn't mind? It's okay if you don't want to- actually, don't even w-"

"I'd love to!" Karl interrupted, heading up the stairs two at a time. He looked over his shoulder to give Sapnap a bright smile before facing forward again.

"I'll get everything ready down here." Sapnap called out with a laugh, heading back into the living room, while Karl and Andrew headed down the hall.

It wasn't how he was expecting the evening to begin, but Sapnap actually found himself a bit thankful that Karl had a distraction for a while. Plus, seeing Andrew take such a liking to Karl also warmed his heart.

Sapnap made his way into the living room, picking up all the toys and stray pillows off the floor, getting the room put together. He wanted to make sure he and Karl would be able to comfortably hang out down there for a few hours.

He laid out some blankets on the floor, rearranging the pillows in front of the television. It was a balancing act between wanting Karl to be impressed by the effort he put into getting the living room ready, without raising too many suspicions in the rest of his family.

Once the seating area was all set up, Sapnap made his way into the kitchen, preparing a few snacks for him and Karl.

"Kuya Nick, will you get me some juice?" Marisol asked, startled Sapnap when she walked into the kitchen through the side door.

"How about some water and then you can have juice?" Sapnap laughed, already opening the fridge and cracking open a water bottle for her.

"Oh, are you and Kuya Karl doing another date?" She asked after taking a sip, walking through the kitchen and into the living room, looking at the seating area Sapnap set up.

"It's 'going on' not 'doing'." Sapnap corrected with a laugh.

His laugh slowed down after he remembered what Karl said- what Karl asked him not to do. He cleared his throat, walking into the living room with Marisol.

"And no, this isn't a date. We're just going to play video games out here for a while, so I wanted to make it more comfortable." Sapnap half-lied, setting down the bowl of chips he poured.

"That's dumb." Marisol turned around, giving Sapnap an almost judgmental looking expression, which managed to pull another laugh out of him.

"What's dumb?" Sapnap asked, walking past her and heading back into the kitchen. He opened the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water for himself and a juice box for Marisol.

"It's dumb that this isn't a date. You know, mom said it's fine if two boys do dates." Marisol said with the same expression, reaching out and accepting the juice

"Mari, it's 'go on' not d-" Sapnap paused in the middle of correcting her, actually taking a second to register what she said. "Wait- when did she say that?" Sapnap asked.

"A couple weeks ago." Marisol shrugged, taking another sip of the juice box. "We were all at the big mall and dad made that face-" She paused, imitating the 'look'. "And then mom called him a word I can't say. But then after that she told us that anyone can do- I mean, go on dates with anyone. It doesn't matter if they're boys or girls or neither or both or-"

"Okay, I got it." Sapnap said with a small laugh, cutting her off.

"You should ask Kuya Karl for this to be a date. I think he'd like it." Marisol said with a smile and a nod, heading back out onto the porch.

---------------------------------

(1,788 words) jen doesn't deal with homophobia- not even from her husband. we call that shit out.