Stealth. (FtM Karl)

Comforting isolation

Bro my readers are actually the best istg y'all are actually the highlight of my morning and evening, checking comments, all of them either make me laugh or make me smile. Thank you all, fr, you guys are 90% of my motivation rn.

Back at home, the two boys felt instant relief the moment they stepped over the threshold of the doorway, even just the house being within sight was a comfort to them both.

They both placed their bags (all mixed with both of their purchases to be later organised) down in a little corner near the living room.

Nick was about to walk to the kitchen to get some water when a pair of arms managed to quickly snake their way round his waist, causing his whole body to tense as he immediately froze in place, slightly due to surprise, but also because he didn't want the boy behind him to let go.
Karl rested his head on Nicks shoulder, sometimes he wished he was shorter so he could hide better within a hug.

Worried but still not at all willing to complain about any hug (especially from Karl), he lifted his arms awkwardly so not to hit the taller as he managed to swivel his body round, shuffling his feet, so that he was now facing his silent boyfriend and could actually return the hug.
Karl kept his head down, managing to immediately return it to the original resting spot of Nicks shoulder he had turned around.

Nick comforted him for a moment, gently playing with a couple of strands of the boys light brown hair, both of them found the activity somewhat therapeutic.

"You alright?" He asked. He was thirsty, he was tempted to manoeuvre them both over to the kitchen to get himself a cool glass of water, but he just didn't feel it was the right time.

Karl shook his head, Nick caught a glimpse of this but mostly felt the movement on his shoulder. No.
He frowned at this answer.
"Is this about what happened earlier?" He asked, referring to the whole "cheating" situation caused by that girl they encountered.
Karl didn't respond physically or verbally, only started to fidget with the back of Nicks shirt anxiously, definitely stretching a small section of fabric.

"Stress?" He asked, seeing if maybe he needed more specific yes/no answers.
He nodded this time, "yeah." He spoke.
"Okay" the other smiled slightly, you could hear it in his voice, Karl found it soothing, "do you want to talk about it?"
There was a moment of silence, long, yet lasted no longer than 10 seconds, "later"
"Okay. ... can I get some water please?"

"No."
"No??" He giggled.
"No, you've lost your water privileges."
"Why?? What did I do??" He asked, faking a dramatic gasp.
Karl shrugged.
"Well that's not a valid reason."
"Everything I do and say is valid, don't be homophobic."
"Don't be-." He couldn't hold his laugh, "oh my god, Karl." He chuckled, the sound sounding just as beautiful as when he had first witnessed it, he himself smiled at this. He liked making him laugh.

-time skip because I'm lazy-
-(yes, Nick did get the water he so rightly deserves)-

Karl and Nick where now back where they had started, right where they had first begun their day; in Karl's bed. More accurately, sat on top of Karl's bed. But, much like this morning, they were as close as they always liked to be but never felt like they could truly show that around others.

Karl clung to Nicks arm as they both looked at the shorters phone whilst he scrolled through social media in silence (expect for the occasional cooky quirky tiktok sounds that come deal package with 90% of social media videos) till Karl randomly spoke.

"Does me being trans effect our relationship?"

It was an odd question, "effect" could be both negative or positive in this context. It took a couple of seconds for Nick to even process the sentence.