they don't get a happy ending

the ticking stops

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖌𝖊𝖗 𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓 𝖔𝖕𝖊𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖆𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗'𝖘 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖊

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"you don't want an aspirin or anything?" sapnap offers, arms crossed as he leans against the wall, looking down at the other.

"no thank you," karl answers with a polite smile as he ties his laces. "i need to get home so i can get ready for work," he explains, picking up his skirt. he was dressed in the same cropped top from the night before and shorts that sapnap had given him (they were too tight for the ravenette, so he didn't mind the fact he'd never get them back).

"alright. well get home safe, okay?" the ravenette replies, stepping past the other boy to open the door to his apartment.

"i will, and thank you for a good night."

sapnap smiles, nodding understandably awkwardly. morning-afters were always a little tense but sapnap didn't find it unbearable when karl smiles back, offering him a silent little wave before leaving.

sapnap watches the other male get halfway down the hallway towards the elevator before retreating into the flat, closing and locking the front door on his way in.

as awkward as the goodbye may have been, sapnap is glad that he woke up as karl was getting ready to leave, if only to check he was feeling okay and give him something to wear that wasn't obnoxiously stained.

karl's a nice person, he at least deserved some borderline etiquette. whilst sapnap isn't interested romantically, he almost wishes he got the brunette's number just so they could be friends.

he shrugs off the idea, figuring it's too late now, and dismisses himself back to the bedroom.

sapnap opens the door, smiling to himself when he sees punz now awake, rather than completely knocked out like he was when he and karl had been whispering beside him minutes before. he's sitting up against the headboard, eyes still squinted and hair a mess.

he looks over at sapnap with a yawn. "hey."

"hi," the ravenette replies, making his way over to the bed. he crawls onto the mattress, making his way to punz's lap and settling there with his arms around the other's neck, resting his head down on the blonde's shoulder.

punz's hand finds his back, slipping up under the material of his shirt to scratch lightly at the skin there, dragging his fingertips along sapnap's spine.

they stay wordless in the quiet of the morning (afternoon*) for a good few minutes, both letting their eyes slip shut as they breathe slowly against one another, risking sleep once more.

"we should shower," sapnap eventually mumbles, both of them being unclean from the night before and also hoping it would wake them up from the half-sleep state they're in currently.

punz groans, holding sapnap closer to him, squeezing his arms around the ravenette and nuzzling his cheek against the other's hair. sapnap relaxes into the embrace. "can't we bath instead?" the blond boy asks. "i haven't had a bath since i left home."

"yeah, sure," sapnap agrees, forcing them out of the hug. "as long as you start the water."

punz rolls his eyes exaggeratedly but nods in agreement. his hands move from sapnap's back to his waist, holding him there and (gently, but with enough force to make him yelp) pushing him off of his lap and onto the mattress beside them. punz grins at the reaction he got before getting up, leaving the ravenette lounging in bed as he went to start the bath.