precious || karlnap fluff fanfiction

im not scared theres nothing to run from

"Hm?" Sapnap mumbled in response, gently taking his hand off of the back of Karl's head.

"Are you-.." Karl grumbled, flipping around on his side to face Sapnap, who was sitting up against a pillow on Karl's bed. ".. you're here?"

"Well, duh, you knew I was coming, goof." Sapnap smiled down at Karl. His brown hair was in disarray, his blanket burrito now below his arms. "You look comfortable."

Karl groaned. "I'm not."

Sapnap scooted further down the mattress, laying his head down on his pillow. "Whys that?" he spoke quietly since they were only inches apart. Often times when he met with Karl, it was strange, he seemed to forget everything that had been troubling him, and all he focused on was the way Karl reacted to each word he said, and how he could make him more comfortable. He was still able to overthink every word he said, of course.

"I had.. weird dreams."

Sapnap brought his head up to look Karl in the eyes. "What were they about?"

Karl broke eye contact quickly, rubbing his nose against the edge of his pillow. "I don't remember." he half-lied.

"Oh c'mon, you have to remember something."

"..You were in it."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"And? What else?"

Karl turned over, facing up towards the ceiling, Sapnap still staring at him with a thoughtful expression.

"You were hugging me."

"Oh?"

Karl turned his face over to Sapnap, a smile breaking onto his face before he sat up. Sapnap followed, Karl wrapping him in a hug instantly, his fingers tightening around the fabric of his hoodie's hood. Sapnap's hands hesitantly slid onto Karl's back, hugging him gently back.

"I missed you so much," Karl whispered into his ear. Sapnap hugged him tighter in response.

"I love you."

Karl pulled away finally, looking him in the eyes. "Thank you, by the way, for coming all the way here."

Sapnap smiled. "I'm happy I'm here." He said, and it was true. Despite all his hesitation on his way there, he was more than happy where he was. Karl laid back down on the bed, once again staring at the ceiling.

"Why was your dream so weird if it was just us hugging?" Sapnap asked, laying back down beside Karl.

"All my dreams are weird." Karl took a deep breath, closing his eyes. As much as he hated being woken up, maybe he didn't mind as much when it was by his unfairly beautiful best friend gazing down at him endearingly. He was in that dumb adorable gray hoodie again, the hood tightened shut around his face, with his messy hair sticking out.

He just wished he could properly admire him without getting flustered beyond excuse. Pictures of Sapnap just weren't the same as the real thing, he couldn't stare at the real thing for too long without being called out on it.

"Dreams suck. Dream sucks too. Maybe that's why he calls himself that." Sapnap grinned, making Karl smile back at him. "Are you still tired? How much sleep did you get?"

"I have no clue when I got home. Wait, how long have you been here?" Karl frowned, suddenly subconscious of anything he may have done or said in his sleep that Sapnap could've seen.

"Not long," he said, "less than ten minutes. Your cat was locked in here with you."

"Oh shit. You need to go to sleep, then."

"I guess I do." He sighed. "In here again? I'm assuming that's fine-"

"Hey, my bed is always open to you. Unless you don't want to-"

"No, I do." Sapnap smiled, pulling his pillow flat and staring at Karl. Now they were both laying on their side.

"Remember that time you woke me up in the middle of the night because you were scared." Karl giggled, still drowsy with exhaustion.

"That didn't happen."

"It did! You woke me up so I would get up and turn the lights on for you because you were scared. You were like clinging onto me the whole night."

"You were scared too, we'd just watched those horror stories for like hours."

"Yeah not waking up my friend so he'll turn on the lights for me scared."

Sapnap scoffed. "Whatever." They sat there staring at each other in comfortable silence for a few seconds.

"Remember that time.. at the shopping center a few miles from your house..?" Sapnap asked, in a more genuine soft voice. He was purposefully avoiding saying the word, unsure if Karl even wanted him to bring it up.

"The time I had that panic attack?"

"Yeah, dude that was terrifying. I know it wasn't nearly as bad for me as it was for you but I was so scared."

"I'm sorry.. you handled it really well, though." Karl frowned, recalling the bittersweet memory. There wasn't anything that had particularly triggered the attack, and he was mortified by it at the time, but he wasn't too embarrassed by it anymore. He was more grateful for how Sapnap had talked him out of it now. He hadn't known it had scared Sapnap until now.

"I'm sure if any one of our friends was there they would've done the same."

"Still. I think that was the most affectionate you'd ever been towards me at the time," Karl smiled. He loved when Sapnap was gentle with him, and even after the panic attack had passed, he was still very patient and soft with him the rest of the day.

"We should go to bed. I'm sure as hell not driving back to Florida today, so we have the day free. Which means I'm sleeping in."

"Okay, goodnight."

"Goodnight." Sapnap turned around in bed, desperate to break eye contact with Karl. He had no idea how he'd fall asleep after whatever that was. Karl liked it when he was affectionate like that? Well, he knew that, but like, he'd never heard Karl say it out loud. But he knew Karl liked it when anyone was physically affectionate like that with him, not just him. He just wasn't an exception, he just used to be more stubborn about it. Right?

1020 words. THEY'RE STARING, THRU THE CAR LIGHTSSSS