Candy Rings

Love as Evergreen as the Forest

With a new year brought new beginnings. Things had changed a lot since last year.
Karl and Sapnap were a little more open with what they were, though nothing about them was labeled just yet.

Sapnap refused to say what he thought they were, that tiny fear of rejection and loss still fresh on his mind. He wasn't really hiding his feelings for Karl anymore, no. He just didn't want to rush what had just begun.
The confessions of last fall still rang in Sapnap's ears and he knew it was too soon to label anything.

"Baby steps." He would chant like a mantra in his head when Karl would come too close for just friendly contact or when he would whisper sweet compliments about his appearance in his ear after a football practice. Those things drove him crazy and he wanted nothing more than to take more steps past that invisible boundary line that was still drawn, though not perfectly. Some parts were blurred and others were erased. Things were much clearer but Karl and Sapnap were still left on the side of hidden truths.

It was spring of their sophomore year of college and Karl was out on the soccer field practicing his kicks by himself late at night.
He had been coming out there almost every single night to perfect his goal kick. He wanted to show his team he was worth something.

Lately he had been feeling beside himself, his self-deprecation showing more and more as the days passed. Classes were getting harder along with the practices, so he resorted to hating himself. It was a habit of his to think poorly of himself when things got tough. And Sapnap noticed.

Sapnap didn't typically go with Karl out to the soccer field at night but tonight he noticed a major mood shift in the boy and knew an intervention needed to be put in place.
He waited awhile after Karl had left, then decided to go out there.

When he got there, Karl was standing on the field just staring at the goal, the ball at his feet left untouched.
A frown settled into Sapnap's face. He knew of Karl's love for soccer and knew something was wrong when Karl still stood there staring off into space.
The only movement coming from the boy was his fingers twisting the silver ring on his finger.
It was his only source of security in these moments knowing the ring was there.

The sound of grass rustling caused him to look up and he saw Sapnap making his way over to him, relief and shock washing over him like a wave.
He didn't know which one he was supposed to feel, relief because he needed the boy whose eyes were like a black hole in the night sky or shock because he didn't expect him to be there?

"Hey." Sapnap said.

"Hey." Karl replied back.

Sapnap was within touching distance and Karl desperately wanted Sapnap to hold him but held back. He was still scared when it came to being intimate with Sapnap out in public, even with the sealed promise that he was only his. The promise still had many loopholes and Karl didn't want to accidentally step in one and not find a way out.

"Need help with your kicks?" Sapnap asked, snapping Karl out of his thoughts.

"You don't even play soccer, if anything it would be me teaching you." Karl giggled, the sound eliciting butterflies in Sapnap's stomach. That giggle always found a way to make Sapnap fall even more for his best friend and he wanted to hear more of them.

"So teach me." Sapnap stated, not breaking eye contact.

Karl knew this was a challenge and he would do anything to get those negative thoughts out of his head.

"Challenge accepted." He said with a smile.

If Karl kept up with his cute antics, Sapnap would soon lose this challenge.

Sapnap stepped up to the ball and went to kick it but Karl stopped him.

"You goof, you know you're not supposed to kick the ball like that." Karl said as Sapnap went to kick the ball with his toes.