precious || karlnap fluff fanfiction

somebody else might take my place

"Shut up! Oh my god, what time is it? Shit, I'm boarding soon," Karl laughed, checking the time on his phone, still on call with Sapnap as he drove.

"Nooo, I don't wanna hang up," Sapnap whined.

"Would you rather show up at my house with me still at this dumb airport?"

"No.." he grumbled.

"Well then I have to hang up, but I'll call back once my plane lands!"

"No, go to bed when you get home, you can wake up to me there with you, besides you need to sleep anyway."

"Okay fine. But if you get even a little bit tired, pullover, okay? I'll see you soon!"

"Bye! Fly safe, love you."

"Bye!" Karl hung up on him.

Sapnap groaned, leaning forwards in his seat, his hands gripping the steering wheel tighter.

"Stupid.." he muttered to himself, pulling over to the side of the road.

It was sort of strange how he could talk to Karl for hours, completely absorb himself in his company, but as soon as the communication broke, his mind flooded with all the reasons Karl didn't feel the way he felt towards him.

He put the car in park, burying his face in his hands, hitting his head weakly a few times out of frustration.

He reckoned it was stupid, getting worked up over something that he always had been aware of. He wasn't sure why the thought of Karl having other friends as close to him as Sapnap always upset him. He'd never felt that way towards any of his other friends, at least not since maybe high school. He knew Dream talked to George just as much, if not more than he talked to him, and he was just fine with that. So why did it upset him so much when he saw it happening with Karl?

He desperately hoped it wasn't going to happen like what had happened with his friend in high school. He'd been best friends with this guy for years, but he slowly distanced himself from him because of how shitty he had always felt when he would see him interacting with their other friends. It never really sat right with him, and he still wasn't sure why. He always wanted to know why so that maybe he could get rid of that shitty feeling.

Sapnap didn't want to push Karl away, of course, but he couldn't stand having the constant reminder that he was just his friend, along with all of Karl's other friends.

Of course, that sounds.. bad. But that's not how he meant it at all, he just didn't like how much of an understatement that word insinuated. They'd been there for each other and bonded so much over the last few years, it just felt undermining to call them just "friends", like how you would call a mutual acquaintance you met at your office job your "friend".

Maybe it was silly, and he would never stop feeling guilty about it, but sometimes he wished Karl was a girl. It was a selfish thought and he would never truly want it to happen, but it would make all his mess of feelings make a little more sense.

-

Karl tried his best to fall asleep, which ultimately was not enough. A combination of things kept him awake; the kid kicking the back of his seat, the two people in the window and middle seat of the row that was having a very unnecessarily loud conversation about their aunt's political opinions, and of course the thought of Sapnap showing up at his house when he got home.

He felt guilty about being so resistant to Sapnap coming to North Carolina, considering how far he was willing to drive just to see him. Sapnap knew he loved road trips. So why had he been so against the idea of the visit? The last time he visited it was lovely. He didn't particularly love the feelings that came along with it, though.

He'd always been affectionate with all of his friends, and he knew it shouldn't've been any different with Sapnap, but of course, it was, nothing could be easy. For however long he'd felt this way, he always felt guilty about it. He knew he should've cut all communication with Sapnap off completely as soon as he thought the first thought about him, but he could never bring himself to do it. They made each other happy, and of course, he didn't want to let go of that feeling, he wanted to chase after it.

And he didn't have to. They found each other naturally, and couldn't stand being apart. And he never wanted to break that bond, let alone break it with his dumb feelings. He was happy enough just being Sapnap's friend, right? At least, he should've been.

"Uh, excuse me sir?" he felt a nudge against his arm, opening his eyes. Oh. He must've fallen asleep. And he was in the isle seat, holding up the two noisy passengers in his row. The plane had landed already?

"Oh, um, sorry," he mumbled, yawning, grabbing his backpack, and standing up. He quickly put it on, stepping out into the aisle and grabbing his suitcase out of the overhead bin with some mild struggle. A flight attendant offered to help him, but he dismissed her, soon regretting it. He was slightly embarrassed by the situation but decided not to dwell on it.

It took some time to get off the plane, to which he used the bathroom-which was unnecessarily crowded-, ordered an Uber, and was finally heading home. It was dark out since it was around two in the morning, and Karl fell asleep during the drive a few times, never able to stay sleeping. Part of him just wanted to get home to his bed, but he was still a bit nervous about the inevitable visitor that must've been only a few hours away by now.

He woke up when they parked in front of his house, and he got out with his bags and swiftly walked inside, after fumbling with his keys for a minute.

1022 words. sorry this took so long to post I am a little bitch boy ig