LOVE LOCKDOWN (dnf + karlnap)

5: Meant To Be Yours, chapter one

DECEMBER

Every year, just before Christmas break, their school did the whole... candy-gram bullshit. And Karl, vice president of the student council, was tasked with making sure the candy canes got to the right people.

He'd spend the last day of school before the break frantically running around with a basket overstuffed with brightly coloured candy canes on his arm.

For the most part, it went on without a hitch. Karl would knock on a classroom door and watch the students explode with excitement as he entered. He'd parade up and down the rows of desks giving out the red and white peppermint canes. The students whispered amongst themselves, glancing around. The avid gossipers always had a field day - trying to make stories out of everything.

Sometimes, though, there was the "wait, are you sure you didn't miss me?" which made everything incredibly awkward.

During his lunch period, Karl was doing his round in the cafeteria, handing out candy canes to the people he recognised from his list. Despite knowing he'd have to do it eventually, Karl dreaded walking up to the football players and giving them theirs. It almost always created a commotion, and Karl hated that he always ended up in the centre of it.

The brunet looked over to the table where a group of guys all wearing letterman jackets were sitting. With a deep breath, Karl steeled himself and set off towards their table.

He cleared his throat when he was close enough, effectively catching their attention, and they all turned to look at him. All of them except one. The guy had his back turned to Karl, and his face tilted down.

One of them, a tall blond who Karl recognised from work and knew went by Dream, smiled at him. "Hey. Is it the candy cane thing?"

"Yeah. I have some for," Karl dug into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper, "Alex, Clay- uh Dream, sorry, Luke and Sam."

"Alex here," one of the guys said, raising his hands. He smirked a little, eyeing Karl's basket. "If there are any for Quackity, they're for me too."

"Oh! Okay," Karl smiled. There was indeed a small bundle of candy canes labelled 'Quackity'. He had spent the entire day trying to figure out who to give them to. "Sorry, didn't know anyone going by that name."

"Are you new?" Alex - Quackity - asked as Karl handed him the candy.

Karl shrugged. "Been here since the start of sophomore year."

Alex hummed. "IB, yeah? Everyone's always moving around."

"Guess so," Karl chuckled, looking at Alex. "But I don't know if being a student here for two years makes me eligible for new student exceptions. Perhaps I'm just ignorant."

"I'm Luke," someone said, interrupting them.

Karl broke the eye contact between him and Alex, and turned to Luke, smiling apologetically. "Sorry. Um, five for Luke," he leaned over the table slightly to reach him, "here you go."

"Thanks," Luke smiled, accepting the candy.

Karl turned to the blond sitting next to Alex. "I know that you're Clay. Dream. Uh. Nineteen for you," he said, digging into his basket.

"Nineteen?!" Alex laughed, head thrown back. "Jesus, Dream!"

"Man's drowning in it," Luke snickered.

Dream at least had the audacity to blush. He rubbed bashfully at his neck and turned away from the table slightly as he said, "oh come on now..."

Karl gathered nineteen candy canes in his hand and put them down on the table in front of Dream.

"That's what getting women looks like, Big Q," one of the two remaining guys said, a finger pointed at the moderately sized pile.

"Sam!" Alex exclaimed, leaning over the table to shove at him.

So that was Sam, Karl thought, which meant that he was done here after giving Sam his candy canes.

Which also meant that the last guy would go without one. He was still hunched over, eyes on the table, and something told Karl that this wasn't exactly his first rodeo. The guy, who Karl vaguely recognised as a Nick , seemed to be used to watching his friends get showered in, what was in their eyes' female attention while getting nothing.

"You must be Sam then," Karl said.

"Yep," Sam smiled.

Karl returned the smile as he gave him his candy.

"Was that all?" Alex asked, eyes darting around their table. Karl noticed the way they did a double-take on Nick.

So Karl, who couldn't stand to walk away when Nick, someone he didn't even know, looked so upset, pulled his note back out of his pocket and shook his head.

"I have one for a Nick, too. Sorry," he said, eyeing the table.

The name must have been right, because the guy who had previously been hunched over, sat up ramrod straight and stared right at Karl-

- and Jesus, Karl fell in love.

"For me?" the guy asked, frowning.

"Uh-huh," Karl replied, eyes wide. "For you."

Nick was the hottest person Karl had ever seen. Nick was all dark, floppy hair that curled at the ends and big eyes and freckles. Nick was all broad shoulders and broad chest and broad arms and big hands and pretty lips. Karl felt like he was drowning. There was a weight pushing on his chest, dragging him down and down and down and Jesus Christ, Karl was in love with a guy he didn't know.

"From who? Does it say?"

Karl scrambled to grab one of the candy canes in his basket. He shoved it unceremoniously into Nick's big, warm hand. "No, um. Sorry. Sometimes people gift anonymously or notes get lost."

"It's alright," Nick said, staring at the candy cane in wonderment.

"That's all for me, then," Karl chuckled nervously, suddenly in a hurry to get away from the table.

"I didn't catch your name," Dream said, glancing between Nick and Karl. "But we work together, yeah?"

"Oh. Karl Jacobs. And yes, but I don't think we've had many shifts together."

"That's sad," Dream smiled at Karl, "see you around, Jacobs. Hopefully, they'll schedule us together more."

-

Later that day, just as Karl was about to climb into his car and drive home, he heard his name being called.

Frowning, Karl scanned the parking lot for the source and saw Dream, of all people, jogging towards him, waving his arms in the air.

Karl stood still, watching Dream as confusion settled around him.

"Hey," the blond said breathlessly, stopping a couple of feet away from Karl.

"Hello," Karl said, smiling a little. "Can I help you?"

"I just- Jesus- You'd think I'd have a bit more stamina, yeah?" Dream laughed. He bent over slightly, hands on his hips. "Okay, anyway," he rose again, "just wanted to thank you for what you did for Sapnap."

"Sapnap?"

"Nick. In the cafeteria?"

"Oh," Karl blushed. "It was nothing. We always buy more candy canes than we hand out..."

"It made him really happy. He's been talking about it all day, now. Usually, he hates these stupid days."

"Guess I'll have to give him a rose for valentines day, then," Karl said. Why though? Why did he fucking say that?

Dream laughed. "Yeah."

-

Later that same month... Nick started working at McDonald's. Karl knew he was screwed.