Candy Rings

Burning From the Inside Out

College move-in-day. A day that Karl didn't expect to come so soon.
He was unpacking one of the many boxes he brought to college with him.

He pulled out an old wooden box and opened it to reveal an assortment of rings.

He picked up the blue plastic that once contained a red ring pop.

The first ring he ever received, still kept safe along with the many others that held a different and deeper meaning than the one before.

He picked them up one by one, in order as he received them:

Violet costume jewelry for his favorite color.

An iridescent mood ring for the many emotions Karl made Sapnap feel.

Brown rope for sealing a promise made and kept.

A promise ring to show Karl he was in this for life, whatever this was.

Lilac and gold mixed jewelry for who they were together as a whole.

Glow in the dark moons and suns for Karl's love of space.

Plain silver for remembering the small things.

Each one for each year they were together.
Though they weren't 'together'.
They were just Karl and Sapnap.
They didn't need a label for what they were.

Or that's what they told themselves.

Kissing Karl during graduation didn't signify any type of relationship, no. But they weren't just friends.

Friends don't propose with different rings every year.
Friends don't fantasize what a life would be like if they could date each other.
And friend's especially don't fall in love with each other.

Karl knew his feelings for Sapnap were unavoidable after everything the previous year, but that didn't mean he didn't try to hide them. He was still scared of losing the one boy he couldn't afford to lose.

Sapnap then walked into the room with a flushed face and closed the door behind him. He looked exhausted.

"I couldn't get rid of my mom, man." Sapnap said, walking up to Karl who was still holding the box of rings.

He hid the box behind his back quickly, but Sapnap saw.

"Hey, whatcha got there?" Sapnap asked, trying to reach for the box.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." Karl mumbled.

Sapnap gave him a confused look, but if you looked deep enough into his eyes, you could see that he was hurt.

Karl didn't want to hurt Sapnap, but he didn't want Sapnap to make fun of him for having that box.

"You gotta promise not to laugh." Karl says, holding out his pinky.

Sapnap looked from Karl's eyes to his pinky finger, realizing that whatever was in that box was very important to Karl.

"I promise." Sapnap says, linking his pinky with Karl's.

They were now freshman in college, but pinky promises still gave them that safe feeling they could remember feeling once upon a time ago in 5th grade.

5th grade, a life once lived that felt forever away. It was the beginning of a new era for Karl and Sapnap, just like it was now.

They were adults now, not little kids on a playground who eat ring pops and play hopscotch, they had responsibilities. And getting through their first semester of college was their main goal.

To get through that, Karl needed to trust Sapnap with the secrets hidden within that wooden box that once contained Pokémon cards.

Karl handed the box to Sapnap who proceeded to open the box with caution. Karl looked away when Sapnap had fully opened the box, his face flushed with embarrassment. He didn't understand why he felt like this when it was Sapnap who gifted him these things. He didn't understand why he felt the need to hide what made him the happiest. He wanted to understand. Oh God, he wanted to understand more than anything.