Back in the Saddle

A Celebratory Milkshake

Karl's POV:

I watch Nick eagerly, my eyes glued to him as he's thrown around, gripping on tightly to the bull. I see how tense his neck is so his head doesn't get thrashed around so much that he gets whiplash. The hand that he has up in the air is flexed; the one holding onto the bull is grasping it with a death grip.

The timer ticks by so slowly, seeming to take a lifetime to reach eight seconds. But finally, it hits it, and Nick allows himself to go flying off the bull. Cheers erupt around me, including one from my own mouth, as Nick wins yet another competition. If he keeps it up, he could become a bull riding champion. It definitely seems like a possibility to me.

He gets up off the ground slowly, dusting himself off and looking up at the crowd with a large and cocky grin on his face. Soon his eyes find mine, and his smile grows impossibly wider as he jogs up to where I'm waiting on the other side of the fence.

"Well, whaddya think? I'm pretty good, right?"

"Meh, I've seen better," I tease, smirking a little.

"Oh really?" he scoffs. "Who?"

"Why, Alex of course." He bursts out laughing, not believing me in the slightest. "Yeah, I don't even buy that. Say, why don't we celebrate? I know a place that has really good milkshakes where we could go."

He agrees eagerly, so we start to head to the parking lot where Nick's truck is. Luckily, Nick drove separately today because Clay is sick, meaning we have our own car. On the way, several people stop us to congratulate 'Sapnap', or the name Nick uses here for competitions. I only recently learned what those were, and that Clay's is Dream and Alex's is Quackity. It explains a lot of the nicknames they use for one another.

The more people come up to us, the more irritated Nick grows. I can tell all he wants to do is leave, but I'm not in a hurry so I merely find it amusing. By the fourth person that tries to stop us, he doesn't even say anything, he just grabs my hand and continues walking.

"You don't have to be rude, Nicky," I laugh, skipping a bit to keep up with him.

"Sometimes you do, sunshine," he grumbles.

"Karl! Nick!" someone calls from behind us. Nick groans, stopping and turning around; I do the same. Alex runs up to us. "Where are you two headed? Don't you have work?"

"Nick had a competition and I was off already so I came to watch him. Now we're gonna go get something to eat at that diner you showed me. Would you like to join us?

I see Nick's face drop slightly out of the corner of my eye, but I try to convince myself that I imagined it. Alex agrees and I see Nick open his mouth to protest: "Why does he get to come? He didn't win anything and you offered to take me out to dinner: I think he should have to earn the privilege of coming with us."

"Ah, come on Nick," I say, giving him a lighthearted nudge. "Look, if we decide to go home afterwards then we'll just have to come back here to pick Alex up anyway. It'll be easier if he comes along."

"Yeah, we get that you want Karl all to yourself but sharing is caring," Alex jokes. Nick glares at him and I feel my face get a little hot. "Guys, relax, I was just kidding. Now come on, I'm starving," he says, sounding a little less peppy upon seeing our reactions, but he wraps his arm around me nonetheless and begins to pull me towards the front.

Nick, still holding my hand and refusing to let go, has to catch up with us and as soon as he does, he loops his arm around mine. At this point, I'm practically being dragged behind them. Luckily for me, they're back to their typical friendly selves and are now just bantering like they would normally. Nick's bad mood vanished with the light atmosphere of Alex and the fact that we're still going out.

At least that's what my mind tells me is making him so happy. Whether or not it's true is yet to be determined.

===

"I wanna sit by Karl!" Alex complains, sounding like a two-year-old, latching onto my arm dramatically.

"You guys are really annoying," I giggle, shoving him off me so I can open the door to the diner owned by Mr. Turbolono. The man in question waves at me as soon as he sees me, a wide smile on his face, so of course I return it.

Nick and Alex follow me, still fighting about who gets to sit by me. It's more Alex arguing while Nick stands there and shakes his head, clearly annoyed. They did the same thing in the car so I ended up in the middle, however that was a win for me because it meant that I got to control the radio

"I'm sitting by Nick because this was his treat, after all," I decide.

"Ha! Thank you, Karl! Finally a win for me today," Nick laughs victoriously in response to Alex's groans and whines.

"Did you not win a whole competition today?"

"Oh yeah, I guess there's that, too."

"You're such an idiot," I scoff before heading to the booth Alex and I sat in last time.

I slide into the booth and Nick joins me with Alex getting in the seat across from us, a grimace on his face. Upon seeing it, I break out into a laughing fit, which seems to be contagious because soon they're both laughing as well.

And that's more or less how the rest of dinner continues: light-hearted teasing (mostly aimed towards Alex), stupid yet interesting topics of conversation, and some delicious food, cooked by the one and only Mr. Turbolono, who seems to have taken a liking to me. Not that I'm complaining or anything: being on a first name basis is a ticket to discounts on meals.

I didn't realize that Alex hadn't taken Nick here before, only coming to that conclusion when Mr. Turbolono asked about him and Alex had to introduce him. Nick, being the polite kid he is, obviously made a good first impression, but apparently not good enough to have first name privileges.

That's a benefit only I have, for now.

"Thanks again, Freddy. The food was amazing, just like last time. I might just have to make this place a weekly stop," I tell him as I hand him my card to pay for the food.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, kid. You are welcome any time."

And then the three of us pile into the car, somehow managing to avoid the argument of seating arrangements that we had the first time. Nick starts heading to Alex's house, seeing as it is the one that's closer.

I can't help but doze off, stomach full and head calm after the long day and the dimming light in the sky. My head slowly falls onto one of their shoulders, though I'm not sure which one it is and I'm too tired to open my eyes. I didn't know I was this tired; it's not like I've done anything rendering me more sleepy than normal.

I only open my eyes when I hear Alex's door open. I lift my head from Nick's shoulder to see Alex hopping out of the truck, giving me a small smile and a soft goodbye before he closes the door and goes inside. I unbuckle and scoot into his seat, still a little groggy but more awake after my power nap. Still, it takes me a minute to realize that Nick hasn't moved because his gaze is still stuck on me.

"Yeah?"

"Do you maybe wanna, uh, have a sleepover tonight? I get it if you don't wanna, but I thought it could be fun since you haven't met my moms and we have to work tomorrow. If you're tired we don't have to stay up late or anything, but-"

"Nick," I say with a smile, interrupting his rambling. He cuts himself off abruptly, watching me with a hopeful expression. "I'd love to. As long as we can head back to Phil and Kristen's so I can get a change of clothes and some stuff to get ready for bed."

"I think that can be arranged."

So it's settled. I'm going to stay the night with Nick for the first time; I'm going to meet his moms. I'm only a little nervous.

Word Count- 1422

a/n- ranboo just came out. i am genuinely shook rn.