hi guys, you all probably thought i've died or given up but nope i'm still here you aren't getting rid of me anytime soon i'm just slow and busy as fuck !!!!!!!!!!!!
anyways there's not much else to say to be honest enjoy the chapter
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The months flew by quicker than ever. It was true that time seemed to go faster when you were happy. Karl wasn't living a perfect life, but it was definitely a dream compared to the hell that he used to go through. His mom told him he had the choice to keep going to church on Wednesday nights or not, to which he decided he would keep going because he didn't want to leave Quackity there alone. She was surprised to hear his decision and assured him that she wasn't going to allow the pastors and church-goers to try to change him anymore. Karl honestly didn't care because he knew that wasn't her intention anymore, he just wanted to go because Quackity didn't have a choice in the matter.
He was soon introduced to his mother's boyfriend that she had been talking about, and he was very sweet. He respected Karl's name and pronouns even when his own mom was a little hesitant and awkward with her phrasing towards him. He was very accepting, and Karl understood completely why she liked him. He was still Christian, but also a breath of fresh air. That was the first person he had talked to since he was thrown into church at such a young age that really gave him faith that there were good religious adults in the world. Of course, his mother was getting there, but it was in wobbly steps, and from here and there she would blurt out something that wasn't exactly kind. Her effort was still way more appreciated than when she used to condemn him and make him feel like an alien for being different from everyone else.
So Karl's mom was getting more and more lenient, and he started to hang out with his friends constantly. It was happening on a weekly basis at least, and they would all go out to do random cool things together.
Like this time, he was getting ready to spend the entire day out at Six Flags. He couldn't remember the last time he had been there; he was probably not even at an age with double digits in it yet. He was excited, though, because from what he could remember, he loved roller coasters. Or at least, he loved the smaller ones he had been on when he was little.
He wrapped the cord of the portable charger around itself before slipping it into his pocket, and he patted his pockets for a moment to make sure he had everything before he skipped downstairs eagerly.
"Good timing!" His mom met him downstairs, and when Karl glanced out the window in front of him he realized that Sapnap and his dad had just pulled up to the house.
He grinned, turning and pulling his mother into a tight hug. She rubbed his back, which genuinely made him feel safe in a way he wasn't able to feel around her for ages. He pulled away, nodding and stuffing his hands in his pockets to check the contents one last time before he raced to get his shoes on. "Bye momma," He waved when he propped the door open with his foot.
She was smiling, and it didn't feel so bittersweet anymore. "See you later, have fun, and don't forget to text me!"
"I won't!" Karl exclaimed before stepping outside, and the screen door slammed shut behind him. He speed-walked to the car and hopped into the back seat enthusiastically. Sapnap looked over his shoulder from the front seat, reaching to meet Karl's hand in a strange, but loving gesture.
"Hi Karl." His boyfriend was grinning, and his hair was tussled and cute.
"Why are you in the front, Sapnap?" Karl pouted, scooting to the middle so he could lean in between the front seats just a bit.
"We're gonna have a full car," Sapnap explained, still holding his hand as his father started to drive again. "We're getting Dream and George."
"Ughhh," Karl groaned, shaking his head. "I don't want to be in the middle of that."
"Then don't?" Sapnap giggled. "You can move."
"But I don't wannaaa," Karl stressed, bending to rest his head against the side of Sapnap's car seat. "I don't want to move. I'm happy here."
"Well it's either you move or you're stuck in between the two touchiest boys on planet earth, and I don't think you want their hands reaching over you."
Karl wrinkled his nose in playful disgust. "Gross. They can just not reach over me, you know?"
"Fair point. But do you think they'd really do that for you?" Sapnap snorted in amusement, casting his gaze away from Karl to look at the road in front of them. They were only just now pulling out of the neighborhood and onto a busier street. "If you scooch to the side, I can hold your hand on this side instead." He demonstrated by waving his hand behind him on the other side, but it didn't look nearly as comfortable, or even available.
Karl shook his head. "Nah, we can just make up for all of the hand-holding when we're in the park."
Sapnap's dad must've been a little tired of hearing all of the youngsters' flirtation, because he turned up the radio more. Karl hadn't been paying attention to it beforehand, but now it was basically inescapable. Some classic rock station was on, and although he didn't recognize whatever was playing, he nodded along to the beat. He picked up on the way that music flowed very easily, and he wasn't very picky with his genres.
He let their conversation dissipate into blissful silence, and he put all his weight against the side of Sapnap's seat, comfortably closing his eyes. There was nothing much to talk about before they picked up Dream and George, and Karl complained ruthlessly as he was forced to shuffle from the middle seat to the side. He honestly didn't care, though, especially not when he saw how close the other couple was to each other despite the confinement of the back seats.
He tried to hold Sapnap's hand on the other side as he had demonstrated earlier, but it was, in fact, really awkward and definitely not as comfortable. He ended up leaning against the door and drifting off into space, watching the world around them as they drove at high speeds. He almost caught himself napping for a couple of minutes.
But eventually, Sapnap pointed out the window, gesturing out at the visible rollercoasters over the cluster of trees beside the highway. "Look!"
Karl had to rub his eyes to make sure he'd stay awake before he looked at all of the rides he could see with round eyes. "Woah!"
He forgot just how tall they were. He couldn't decide whether he should feel afraid or excited.
"Hell yeah," Dream said, nudging George. "You see that yellow one over there? I wanna go on that one."
Karl literally watched George grimace. "Seems strange."
"You don't have to if you don't wanna," Dream rolled his eyes. "You'll just have to watch all of us go on and leave you behind..."
"I'm not gonna just stand and watch." George grumbled.
"So... you're getting on?" Dream raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know..."
"Sapnap!" Dream poked at the back of Sapnap's chair. "George said he's going on the Batman."
"Really?" Sapnap tried to turn around in his seat to look back at them, a big grin on his face.
"Uhh..." George huffed, his face flushing with color. "Yeah. It's whatever..."
"Wooooo!" Sapnap proceeded to yell loud enough to make his dad shake his head. He was probably frustrated but he let them have their fun, and Karl appreciated that. He snickered to himself, knowing that George got himself into something bigger than what he signed up for. He honestly was doing the same as well, considering he hadn't even seen a rollercoaster in years.
The friend group quieted momentarily as Bad stopped at the booth that charged for parking, but they went back to their usual hustle and bustle the second they were out of earshot. Trying to find a parking spot was like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but eventually they found one that wasn't too far away from the entrance of the park. Karl got out of the car with big eyes, quickly going to Sapnap's side once everyone else was out as well. He took his hand firmly, and swung their arms when they walked alongside each other. Sapnap's father seemed to pay them no mind when they exchanged affections, which was a strange contrast to the way his own mom stared at them like they were deer in headlights.
He didn't need to think about his mom today, though, not until late. They were going to be out all day, going on ride after ride and eating the outrageously overpriced food in between. He was happy to be having this experience again, and even more so that he was in the vicinity of all his friends.
And the ones he was with already wasn't even the end of it. When they approached the front of the park, Karl grinned and pulled Sapnap forward at the sight of the second group standing in a messy cluster, kids running excitedly around them. He recognized Tommy and Tubbo from when he had visited Wilbur's house, but there was a new one, with clunky sunglasses and light brown hair. He smiled, watching them frolic around without a care in the world. He remembered when him and Sapnap were like that; imaginative, boundless, and youthful. He glanced over at his lover who still held his hand, looking into his eyes and reveling in the way they sparkled when their gazes met. Being youthful didn't have to be a memory anymore. Now that Karl was free, he didn't have to hold himself back anymore, and Sapnap was always within an arm's reach.
Being at an amusement park in itself reminded him so much of his childhood. He was reliving it, but happier, with short hair he didn't cut himself and his partner at his side.
It was like destiny.
A lot of his recent life felt like destiny.
Obviously the kids didn't come alone; they were accompanied by Wilbur, Techno, and their father. As the groups met together the two dads started to make conversation, and so did the friends. Techno was a little awkward and didn't say much, but it made sense because he wasn't usually hanging out with them. Him being here was the equivalent of going out with your big brother and his friends. But he was in the same grade as Karl and Sapnap, so it probably wasn't as terrible as other age ranges the hypothetical friends could possibly be.
Eventually they all collected their bearings and went to buy their tickets. Going through security didn't take that long, and before Karl knew it, they were in the park again.
It felt like someone had just taken a slice out of his childhood and handed it out to him on a silver platter. The smells in the air were distinctive; popcorn, funnel cake, and magic. As the group weaved their way through others and gazed out at the rides flanking the paths, Karl just got more and more excited. All the anxiety he felt towards the thought of a big rollercoaster was vastly overshadowed by the sheer amount of hype he felt due to Sapnap bragging about all the rides he had already been on. They sounded so amazing when he talked about it, but then again, Sapnap could make anything interesting if he talked about it enough.
Instead of immediately getting on the biggest coaster in the park, they decided to start with one of the smaller ones. There were so many screaming children in line that Karl couldn't even count them all. It was a long wait, but the ride was definitely worth it, since he was all squished up against Sapnap the whole time. The coaster was surprisingly long, and pretty entertaining despite being accessible to much younger kids.
When they got off Karl's feet wobbled a bit when he walked, but he was over the moon. He didn't remember rollercoasters being like that!
One by one, they tackled almost all of the rides in the park. They had to skip a couple, but that was because they didn't have all the time in the world and they would have to leave at the end of the day. In the afternoon, they took a break to eat the park food, which was ridiculously expensive and not even worth it. But it did keep them full for quite a while, so at least it did the bare minimum.
They continued to go on every ride they wanted until there was only one left and the sky was starting to lose its color. This line was pretty long, and the night chills were starting to make them shiver a little. They stood waiting, most of them tapping away at their phones. Their surroundings were dark enough that George's face was slightly illuminated by the glow of his screen.
Dream was craning his neck to try and see what George was looking at. "Sooo," He nudged his partner, looking at him with amusement in his eyes. "The Batman, huh?"
"Shut up." George grumbled, not even looking away from his phone. "You're the one making me do this."
"I'm not making you do anything." Dream scoffed, like he was playfully offended. "You walked into this line on your own accord."
"You're the one who told Sapnap I was definitely going on." George made a sarcastic glare towards the shortest boy, who looked up innocently.
"Huh?" Sapnap asked, spaced out.
"Because I knew that would make you join us." Dream continued, like Sapnap had not said anything.
"So you did make me go on." George groaned.
"Not exactly..."
Sapnap turned to Karl in confusion, and he laughed, because he didn't know how to explain their conversation to his boyfriend. "George is scared of this ride."
"George?" Sapnap chuckled now, grabbing the attention of the other boy. "Are you really scared of the Batman?"
George huffed, narrowing his eyes. "Maybe."
The whole group laughed softly, including Wilbur, who seemed like he had just tuned in. When George's buttons were being pushed, the friends were bound to listen, because he was often the butt of all their memorable jokes. Karl thought it was funny as long as George was fine with it, and he entertained the idea so often it was obvious it was okay. He just looked at them with a little glint in his eyes and a stupid sideways smile on his face, visible even though he was trying to look tough. His chest shook with quiet laughter, muted but not quite suppressed.
They were happy.
The wild coaster made Karl's feet stumble unevenly on the metal floors when he got off. He felt like he had been on top of the world with every ride today, and now his upset stomach was really starting to confirm that. Being at such drastic altitudes in such a short amount of time was tolling on the human body, especially one that hadn't been in such a situation for years and years. He was starting to feel sick, so everyone made their way to the front of the park and slumped at a table while they waited for the two dads and the kids to show up. They didn't have much to say anymore; they were getting burned out from talking about anything and everything for hours.
Dream had his phone pulled out, and he groaned when it lost its final percentage and died in his hands. "Wilbur, are they almost here?"
"He said he was coming," Wilbur grumbled, obviously talking about his father.
"That was like, thirty minutes ago." George scoffed. "We're still waiting. We could've been on something else in the meantime."
"Tommy probably convinced him to wait in another line." Wilbur rolled his eyes. "Besides, Karl isn't feeling good. It wouldn't be fun without him."
Karl huffed, not out of annoyance, but rather flattered embarrassment. "You're too nice to me."
"No, Karl, sometimes we aren't nice enough." Wilbur teased back at him. It was sweet, but Karl saw this friend group to be the nicest and most welcoming bunch of people he had ever met, so it was nowhere near true.
It took longer than expected, but Phil and Bad came back with the young ones, each one of them holding some sort of complicated animal balloon in their hands. Karl smiled at the sight, remembering that they had passed the balloon girl on their walk at some point but decided against buying anything. At least he got to see some of their work, though, because it had to be good to withstand the rowdiness of the three.
Everyone paused to let them say their goodbyes to Wilbur and Techno before they broke off into two groups, and Karl immediately stuck himself to Sapnap's side the second he could. He slowly intertwined their hands, staring at where they met like he expected them to separate at any moment. But when he felt Sapnap's nose and chin nudge at his head and he looked up at him with round eyes, he was instantly comforted by the adoring expression in front of his face.
"...So?" Sapnap asked, a loving fire in his eyes.
"That was awesome..." Karl breathed, a grin spreading across his lips. "When can we go again?"
"As soon as possible, Karl. As soon as possible."