another revealed truth

oh

trigger warnings listed in opening author's note

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karl was understandably upset about his dad leaving, but the older man promised to be in contact more now that he knows karl often feels reluctant to reach out because he feels like a liability, so that helped the sadness away a bit.

plus, karl didn't really have much time to be sad because, mere hours after his dad left, karl was sitting in the kitchen when george walked in and announced, "i'm going down to see sap, they just got back."

for the sake of their fake relationship, and also just partially because he wants to see dream, karl starts to move out of his chair, saying, "i'll come with."

george responds with a simple nod and both boys move silently as they make quick work of getting ready to leave. karl has to go back to his room to fix his hair, put on some aftershave, and change his hoodie, so he has a suspicion that george probably just stands around waiting since he already seemed ready.

they slip on their shoes and both boys grab their lanyards, in case they want to come home at different times, before finally making their way out of the apartment. the elevator is out of service so they take the few flights of stairs to reach the bottom floor, and george knocks on the apartment door when they arrive.

it's sapnap who opens it, predictably, and karl stands quietly back as the couple before him practically jump into each other. they don't kiss in the hallway which is nice, and the brunette feels himself smile at the emotions he can see being exchanged in their simple embrace.

they're cute, he can admit that.

not even letting go of george, sapnap looks over and says, "hey karl. how was your holiday?"

the brunette answers with a simple, lying, "fine," and moves past the couple as they step out of the way, still hugging. the front door closes and, as george and sapnap continue to cling onto one another, the brunette glances around the apartment.

dream's in the kitchen, and he seems to look up right as karl spots him, the two making eye contact. dream makes a mildly annoyed face, but it hardly stays there for a second before he's cheering karl's name and rushing over.

it's easy for karl to feel loved when someone is pretending to love him. it's easy to kiss back when dream takes his face in his hands.

it's easy to lie to george when the lie feels so close to truth.

"i've missed you," dream says when they break apart, and karl repeats the sentiment back to the blond. dream doesn't hang on to him like sapnap does george, but he takes the brunette's hand in his and tugs him over to the couch, so karl thinks he likes it just as much.

getting pulled into a cuddle is everything he didn't know he needed. he's hugged george, and his dad, but this is different. it doesn't feel platonic and it doesn't feel parental and it makes some of karl's broken pieces fuse back together.

george and sapnap join them on the couch, which is okay. it feels weird to have his friend watching the reunion cuddle that he's having with dream, but he reminds himself that this whole act only exists for the others to see, and the mild discomfort of being perceived is forced to fizzle out.