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Dream and Davidson from down the hall are arguing behind a big (probably fake, because their school really doesn’t have the budget for the needed upkeep) plant in the lobby of their dorm building.
Sapnap had absolutely no clue Dream and Davison knew each other. Neither did Karl, judging by the way he stands frozen beside Sapnap on the staircase landing.
“Did you know…?” Karl mumbles, glancing at Sapnap.
“No… I didn’t know,” Sapnap replies. “Dream has never mentioned him.”
“Maybe they share classes?”
“Isn’t Davidson a comp-sci major?”
Karl giggles. “He looks like one.”
“Should we intervene?” Sapnap asks, just as two girls brush past them on their way down with apologetic smiles.
“I’m sure Dream can handle him,” Karl says, shrugging. “And I’m hungry.”
“You go ahead,” Sapnap says, distracted by the way Davidson stabs a finger at Dream’s face. “I’ll get Dream and we’ll meet you in the dining hall.”
“I’ll tell Punz to save us a seat,” Karl says, clapping Sapnap’s shoulder before he leaves.
Sapnap watches him hop down the stairs and exit the lobby.
Honestly, whatever Dream and Davidson are talking about is so far out of reach of what Sapnap should care about, but it’s also the most interesting thing that’s happened since the term started.
Well, the most interesting would technically be the fact that Dream definitely has a secret girlfriend that he visits whenever said girlfriend’s roommate is out, and who definitely comes to visit when Sapnap is at study group or away somewhere with Karl. Nothing else would explain Dream’s messed up hair, or the hickeys, or the weird stains and the rapid rate that Dream goes through sheets and laundry tickets… The thing is that Dream refuses to talk about her. He denies her very existence every chance he gets. It’s fucking ridiculous.
So since the girlfriend thing is a dead-end, the Davidson-beef takes the number one spot.
“What is going on here?” Sapnap asks, stepping around the large plant they’d been hiding behind.
Both of them jump at his sudden appearance, turning to look at him with equally wide eyes.
“Uh,” Dream says, dumbfounded.
“Is he bothering you, Dream?” Sapnap pushes, glaring at Davidson.
Davidson arches an eyebrow and says, “I was just leaving.”
“Good,” Sapnap replies. Davidson pushes past him without another word. Once he’s out of earshot, Sapnap looks to Dream. “Was that… George Davidson from down the hall?”
“Yeah,” Dream says, leaning against the wall.
“What was he doing talking to you?” Sapnap asks.
“Being a little bitch,” Dream replies earnestly. He shoots Sapnap a grin before he continues. “But it’s all fine. What are you doing here?”
“I was heading to the dining hall. You wanna come? Karl went ahead, and Punz is already there.”
“Yeah, sure,” Dream hums absentmindedly, patting his pockets. Sapnap assumes he’s looking for his wallet or phone and pushes it out of his mind.
It’s a short walk to the dining hall; Dream spends most of it typing rapidly on his phone (texting his girlfriend, probably). They’re early enough that the good food isn’t out and that there are plenty of seats free.
The line to grab food moves at a snail's pace, but eventually Dream and Sapnap both have fully stocked trays. As they head over to their friends, Sapnap spots Davidson sitting in a corner and laughing with a group of people Sapnap doesn’t recognise. He sneers to himself, automatically disliking Davidson, because Dream is Sapnap’s best friend, and Davidson has something against Dream, which is more than enough base for Sapnap’s mild hatred slash strong dislike.
“You’ll never guess what me and Karl just saw,” he announces as he and Dream take their seats at the table Karl and Punz had saved for them - located on the other side of the dining hall, as far away from Davidson as possible, Sapnap notes happily.
“Sap,” Dream groans, but his interruption goes ignored.
“What?” Punz asks eagerly, grinning around a mouthful of chicken.
“Dream and George Davidson from down the hall are beefing,” Sapnap says, eyes travelling around the table as he awaits their reactions.
“We’re not beefing,” Dream says, rolling his eyes. “It was a discussion. Not a fight.”
“This is so fun,” Karl grins. “I love drama.”
“It’s not drama, we’re not in high school,” Dream sighs. “It’s all fine.”
“Mhm, sure,” Sapnap nods. “I’m sure.”
“It looked intense,” Karl says, looking at Sapnap. “Didn’t it?”
“It did,” Sapnap agrees.
“Damn,” Punz laughs. “How do you even know the guy?”
Dream sighs, stabs a fork into his pasta. “He- uh…” he pauses, licks his lips. “I’m tutoring him.”
“You’re tutoring him?” Karl repeats, scoffing. “In what?”
“We all know comp-sci people can’t write good papers. I’m helping him,” Dream says, shrugging. “Sometimes he can just be a bit annoying.”
“Didn’t George win some award for an article he submitted to the school paper?” Punz asks, eyes narrowed and lips twisted into a smirk.
“Oh my god, he did!” Karl gasps. “Come on, Dream. Don’t lie to your best friends!”
Dream groans. “Fine. He’s tutoring me. For my geometry class. Okay? That’s it.”
Sapnap laughs. “Dude, did you think we’d judge you for needing tutoring?” he asks, bumping his shoulder against Dream’s.
“I don’t know,” Dream shrugs. He turns to Sapnap with a grin and asks, “Remember that time you mocked me for needing swim floaties?”
“To be fair we were like thirteen. You deserved to be mocked,” Sapnap snorts.
“Hm, I don’t know if I believe it,” Karl says.
“The swim floaties?”
“No. The geometry tutoring,” he clarifies, eyeing Dream over the rim of his cup.
“If Dream says it’s the truth, then I believe him,” Sapnap says.
-
It takes Karl ten minutes and an energy drink from 7/11 to convince Sapnap that Dream was lying about the tutoring.
They’re sitting in Karl’s car, parked outside the only 7/11 still open. The engine’s off, but the radio is playing whatever their college radio station is airing.
“So…” Sapnap says, sipping his Monster.
“So, I’m saying that Dream literally helped me with Geometry two weeks ago. He’s lying about George!” Karl says, repeating himself for what must be like, the 10th time.
“Why would he lie, though?” Sapnap asks. “Like why would he lie about knowing George Davidson? Out of all people?”
“How would I know?” Karl scoffs. He squeezes his own can of Monster gently, listening to the metal creak under his fingers. “They could be cousins? Related in some way.”
“They look absolutely nothing alike, and George is British,” Sapnap says.
“Distant cousins,” Karl suggests.
“No way they’re related,” Sapnap shakes his head.
“Coworkers?”
“Dream doesn’t have a job.”
“Maybe they’re hooking up.”
“No,” Sapnap snorts, instantly shutting it down. “We both know about his secret girlfriend, first of all. Second of all, he’s straight.”
“The secret girlfriend could be a secret boyfriend,” Karl suggests, but Sapnap shakes his head.
“I’ve known Dream since senior year. He’s straight. He took a girl to prom and everything.”
It had been even longer than that. Dream and Sapnap have been friends basically since birth, courtesy of their mothers being best friends. But the year they were both turning five, Dream and his family moved to Germany. And then a few years later to France. Then to Sweden, then back to Germany, then to Brazil for a year, and then back to where they started: Florida. Just in time for Dream to start college. They’d seen each other for short summer visits, but they’d always been close. Karl didn’t know any of that, though. Dream didn’t like talking about his years abroad, and he wouldn’t tell Sapnap why.
“Plenty of gay guys take girls to prom,” Karl says pointedly. “I did.”
Sapnap feigns a bored gasp. “You’re gay?”
“Shut up, loser,” Karl mutters, hitting his shoulder. “You’re ridiculous.”
Sapnap grins subtly, twirling his can around in his hand. It’s still cold, still half full. The song on the radio stops, and some guy starts talking in its stead.
Karl hums, pointing at the centre dashboard. “Isn’t that that guy who’s friends with George? Oh my god, what’s his name? It’s something dumb… a nickname… like Sapnap,”
Sapanp scoffs in protest just as the guy on the radio says ‘my name is Quackity, and this is five-seventy-five, State College Radio’. Convenient.
“Quackity!” Karl echoes. “That’s it. Quackity. He’s a film major as well. I’m like 90% sure I've seen him eat lunch with George.”
“And?” Sapnap asks, eyeing Karl.
He looks pretty, some distant part of his mind whispers. Lit up by the tall 7/11 sign and the only overhead lamp that still works in Karl’s old Fiat… he looks sort of pretty.
“And we’ll ask him about Dream and George. Hopefully George isn’t being as secretive as Dream is, and he’s told Quackity. Then we’ll know,” Karl explains. He smiles and nods, trying to get Sapnap to agree.
“I guess it’s a plan,” Sapnap shrugs.
“It is. I’ll ask him after class on Monday. You can wait for us. Room 422-B?“ Karl suggests. Sapnap can’t do much other than nod.
Whatever talk segment Quackity and his co-hosts were doing ends, and some bass-boosted version of a Europop song starts playing. Karl turns the volume down even more and sighs softly.
“What?” Sapnap asks.
Karl shifts, tucking his legs underneath him and turning fully in the driver's seat to look at Sapnap. “I have a date.”
“A date,” Sapnap echos. A date. With who?
“Yes. With one of the guys from that… cinematography class, you know?”
Sapnap knows. He’s pretty sure he knows exactly who it is as well, because Karl talks about his classes and classmates a lot and there’s a special part of Sapnap’s brain that manages to magically store everything Karl tells him.
Sapnap is not sure why he’s so bothered by the thought of Karl going on a date with this guy, though.
“Yes.”
Karl digs his teeth into his lower lip for a second before he says, “I haven’t said yes yet.”
Good, Sapnap thinks.
“Why?”
Why does Sapnap think it’s good that Karl hasn’t said yes.
“Because…” Karl says, staring intently at Sapnap. “I’m kind of… waiting for someone else to make a move.”
What the fuck.
“Who?”
“Uh,” Karl seems dumbfounded. Why tell him if he wasn’t gonna elaborate? “I don’t wanna say.”
Sapnap blinks. “I think you should say yes. If the guy you’re waiting for is dumb enough to let you slip away he’s not worth your time.”
What the fuck.
Karl nods slowly. “Yeah… Yeah, yeah you’re right. I’ll say yes.”
“Good.” Sapnap forces a smile. “That’s cool, I’m happy for you.”
“It’s my first college date,” Karl admits, smiling a little. “It’ll be fun. Even if it’s just a one-time thing.”
Sapnap nods. “Even if it’s just a one-time thing.”
-
Karl and Quackity are the last ones out of 422-B, and Quackity looks more than surprised by the fact that Karl is talking to him, judging by his face.
“Oh, Sapnap,” Karl grins once he notices him, leaning against the wall opposite the door. “Quackity, Sapnap. Sapnap, Quackity.”
“Hey, man,” Quackity says with a nod.
“Hey,” Sapnap replies.
“Why do I feel like you didn’t actually want my opinion on your project,” Quackity says, looking between them. “This feels more like an intervention or something.”
“You’re friends with George, right? George Davidson?” Sapnap asks, pushing off the wall.
“Yeah,” Quackity replies. “We’re roommates. Why?”
“Do you know how he knows Dream? Clay?” Karl asks, grinning.
Quackity frowns. “No? Dream is the blond guy, right? Tall as shit, majors in English?” Both Sapnap and Karl nod. “Yeah, no. I didn’t even know they were friends.”
“They’re not friends,” Sapnap says. “We saw them arguing a few days ago.”
“They’re enemies,” Karl adds with a little shake of his hands. “Isn’t it exciting? Drama.”
Quackity snorts. “I can ask him about it, I guess. But why not ask Dream?”
“We did, he wouldn’t say,” Sapnap explains. “He’s annoying like that.”
Quackity just hums in reply.
Karl smacks his lips.
“Well,” Sapnap says. “Let us know if he tells you.”
“Sure,” Quackity nods. “I’m seeing him for lunch now.”
“Great! Me and Sapnap were just heading to the dining hall, too!” Karl grins, wrapping his arms around one of Sapnap’s.
Sapnap smiles at the addition of Karl’s warmth. He feels it trail up his arm, to his neck and up his cheeks. It’s crazy how warm one person can make you feel. Sapnap assumes that Karl just runs hot, though, because one time Dream did the exact same thing, and it just was not the same at all.
“We can walk together,” Quackity suggests, although it does seem a bit forced.
Karl doesn’t pick up on it though - or maybe he does and ignores it. “Fun. Let’s go,” he says, still grinning.
They walk across campus to the dining hall in almost complete silence. Sapnap stares at his shoes for most of it, focusing on the scuff of his soles against the cracked pavement to take his mind over how excruciatingly awkward it is.
Eventually - finally - they split up at the entrance, Quackity heading towards George, and Karl and Sapnap heading towards Dream.
“Was that Quackity?” Dream asks, staring wide-eyed at his approaching friends.
“Yes,” Karl replies, grinning. He slides into the seat opposite of Dream.
“Why were you talking to Quackity?”
“You’d love to know, wouldn’t you?” Sapnap teases, taking the seat next to Karl.
“Is this about George?” Dream groans, slumping into his seat. “Guys…”
“Oh my god,” Karl gasps, hand shooting out to grab Sapnap’s wrist. “George is coming over here.”
Sapnap finds him immediately, seeing as he’s the only one stomping angrily towards them.
“Jesus fuck,” Dream sighs, turning in his chair to face George.
“This is literally just like high school,” Sapnap says under his breath, glancing at Karl. Then down at where Karl’s slender fingers are wrapped around his wrist. His nails are painted in alternating purple and orange. There’s a thin silver band around his thumb; Sapnap’s pretty sure it belonged to him.
“Dream,” George says once he’s close enough. “Das wird langsam nervig.”
“What the hell,” Karl whines. “German? Really? Isn’t he British?”
Dream ignores them both. “Ich weiß, okay? Aber wenn ich es ihnen jetzt sage, sind sie vielleicht verärgert.”
“Steht Karl nicht auf Jungs? Warum sollte es sie interessieren?” George replies.
“Did he just say Karl?” Karl whispers.
“Uh, maybe…” Sapnap replies in the same low volume.
Dream sighs loudly and shrugs. “Ich habe ihnen nie von meiner Sexualität erzählt. Sapnap ist mein bester Freund und er weiß es nicht einmal! Ich habe Angst, dass er verärgert sein wird.”
Karl nudges Sapnap. “He definitely just said Sapnap.”
Something about George seems to deflate at whatever Dream said. “Ich will nur mit dir sein. In der Öffentlichkeit.”
“Ich auch, vertrau mir, George,” Dream says quietly. “Sie denken, wir hassen uns.”
What Dream said makes George shift his attention to Sapnap and Karl, sitting frozen on the other side of the table.
“Sapnap and Karl, right?” he says.
“Yeah,” Sapnap nods. He straightens, makes sure to puff up his chest. “We’re Dream’s best friends.”
George hums, then turns back to Dream. “Ich habe eine Idee. Der normale Ort, um acht?”
Dream nods, and George walks away without another word.
“Since when do you speak German?” Karl asks, staring at Dream. He lets go of Sapnap, and Sapnap quietly mourns the loss of warmth.
“Uh,” Dream blinks. “I lived in Germany.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah.”
Karl turns to Sapnap. “Did you know?”
“Yeah,” he replies with a shrug.
“Okay… I guess. How did George know you speak German though?”
“Geometry tutoring.”
“In German?”
“Sure,” Dream says. He stands up abruptly, taking his tray with him. “I’m done. See you later.”
“That was weird,” Karl says, turning to look over his shoulder as Dream throws away his trash before heading for the exit.
Sapnap hums in agreement. “They’re definitely something other than geometry study buddies.”
“I'm assuming this means that George didn’t tell Quackity anything, though,” Karl sighs. “We’ll have to find out what’s up on our own, I guess.”
“Together,” Sapnap corrects. “We’ll find out what’s up together.”
Karl looks at him, a small smile on his lips. “Yeah, okay. Together.”
-
That night Karl goes on his date, and Dream leaves at 7:30, muttering something about a group project for one of his classes.
Sapnap might go crazy. Dream is lying to him and Karl is on a date.
He supposes the Dream thing should be more worrying, but Sapnap knows Dream well enough to know that this is just what he does. He calls group project, but he’s probably railing his girlfriend into next week somewhere across campus.
What’s really bothering him is Karl. On a date. With some guy. And Karl, liking some other guy who’s too daft to like him back. Can’t the guy see what he’s missing? Karl is hot, first of all. No. He’s pretty. Beautiful. Handsome… He has very nice eyes and even nicer hands. His laugh is all high pitched and giggly and so infectious. He’s nice, smart, he stands up for what he believes in. What is there not to fucking like?
Sapnap scoffs. He’s slumped in bed, staring at an empty Word document. How is he supposed to write about some stupid European war when Karl is on a date with someone and when there’s a guy out there that’s unknowingly breaking Karl’s heart?
He fumbles for his phone and sends a text to Karl.
Sapnap
When will u be back?
Karl
pretty soon. this guy is being an ass
Sapnap
oh … that sucks
Not for Sapnap though.
Sapnap
Dream is w his gf if u wanna come over
and watch a movie?
Karl
okay <3 i’ll stop at 711 for monster <3
Sapnap
Ur the best
-
By the time Dream returns, Karl is long gone and Sapnap is only awake to catch Dream in his walk of shame.
Which he does.
Dream steps through the door looking thoroughly dishevelled with messed up hair, splotchy neck and wrinkled shirt.
“Late night,” Sapnap says from his bed, clicking on his IKEA lamp - the only light in the room. It feels cool, like those scenes in rom-coms and in the first Incredibles movie, but he probably looks ridiculous - slumped over and stretched half out of bed to reach the light switch.
Dream snorts, toeing off his shoes. “Why are you still up? You have morning classes.”
“Wanted to catch you in the act,” Sapnap hums, leaning back into bed.
“The act of what?” Dream asks. He tugs off his shirt, throwing it in the vague direction of their shared laundry basket.
“A walk of shame,” Sapnap clarifies. “I can see the hickeys, Dream.”
“Fine, I guess it is a walk of shame,” Dream replies, sitting down in his bed and pulling off his jeans. “And you were right.”
“About what?” Sapnap asks.
“Me and George. We are… fighting I guess. And he’s not my geometry tutor.”
“What is he then?”
“He’s an annoying little shit.”
“That’s it?”
Wearing only boxers and socks, Dream slides under the covers. He turns to lay on his side and grins at Sapnap. “That’s it,” he says.
“Boring,” Sapnap sighs, stretching to turn the light off. “Karl will be disappointed.”
“Oh, wasn’t his date today?” Dream asks.
It’s too dark to make out his expression, but Sapnap swears he can hear a hint of… something in his voice. Something pointed.
“Yeah. It didn’t go well, though. He came here and we watched a movie.”
Dream hums. “Really?”
“Yes,” Sapnap sighs.
For a few moments no one speaks.
Then, out of nowhere Dream says, “George is kinda hot, though. Don’t you think?”
Sapnap snorts. “I don’t swing that way.”
“Oh, right,” Dream replies. The something in his voice is back. “Still though. Is he hot.”
Sapnap thinks about George’s too dark eyes and George’s too small hands, about his laughter that he’s heard echo down the hallway, about how he seems to always be angry at something. He thinks about how his face lacks freckles and how he dresses too plainly.
“Not my type, I’d say,” Sapnap says after a while. “Even if I did swing that way.”
“Interesting,” Dream says.
The room falls into silence again, but this time it’s not broken again until a few hours later when Sapnap’s phone wakes him up for class.
-
A few days later, Sapnap steps out of the elevator, trekking mud and water with him into the empty hallway. He’s drenched, hair sticking to his forehead with rainwater. Carefully, he pats his pockets, looking for his keys.
Which is when he hears arguing. In the hallway. And it’s not just anyone - no, it’s Dream and George.
Sapnap could have sworn they hadn’t been there when he first exited the elevator.
“You don’t get it,” George scoffs, stabbing a finger against Dream’s chest.
Dream easily bats the hand away. “You’re the one being an idiot, George.”
Sapnap stands frozen at the other end of the hallway, dripping water onto the linoleum floor. He watches, wide eyed, as George takes a step closer to Dream - close enough that they’re almost touching.
“What are you gonna do about it?” George asks, voice barely loud enough for Sapnap to hear. They clearly haven’t noticed him.
“George,” Dream sneers, taking a step back. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“What’s going on?” Sapnap says finally.
Neither of them seem too startled by his sudden appearance, like they had been that day behind the plant, but they at least have the decency to step away from each other.
“Nothing,” Dream replies, glancing at George. “Is it raining outside?”
“Uh, yeah,” Sapnap nods. “You sure everything is good?”
“Yes, Sapnap. Everything is okay,” George replies, plastering a smile on his face.
Sapnap narrows his eyes. “I wasn’t talking to you,” he says.
Dream grabs George’s arm and turns to him. “Wir können uns nicht zu schnell bewegen.”
Sapnap rolls his eyes at the language change and heads for his and Dream’s room.
“Du weißt, ich bin der am wenigsten geduldige Mensch auf diesem Planeten,” George replies, and it’s the last thing Sapnap hears before the door closes behind him.
He shrugs off his soaked coat and drapes it over his desk chair to dry. Everything is just wet, his sweats, his socks, his backpack is drenched and Sapnap fears for the state of his textbooks, prays that his laptop is safe inside its case.
By the time Dream enters, Sapnap has changed and unpacked his back, textbooks carefully spread out to dry.
“Do you wanna talk about it?” Sapnap asks, glancing at Dream.
“It’s fine,” Dream replies, falling face-first into his bed. “It’ll be fine.”
“Looked like George was ready to… like, kiss you or something,” Sapnap snorts. He sits down on his own bed and opens his laptop to check if it’s working. The screen lights up just like normal, and he breathes a sigh of relief.
“That’s ridiculous,” Dream argues, words muffled by his sheets.
Sapnap laughs. “Maybe he’s angry at you because he’s sexually frustrated,” he says, grinning. “Maybe he wants to have sex with you.”
“That’s even more ridiculous,” Dream says, words lacking the argumentative tone from before. He rolls onto his back and sighs softly.
“Just tell him about your girlfriend and maybe he’ll back off.”
“Maybe,” Dream hums.
Satisfied that his laptop is working, Sapnap closes it and puts it at the end of his bed. “Don’t let him get to you, okay? He’s just some tiny computer nerd looking to lose his virginity or something.”
Dream snorts. “Yeah, maybe.” Then, “How’s Karl?”
“What do you mean how’s Karl? Why should I know?” Sapnap asks.
He does know. He knows that Karl is in his last class of the day. He knows that Karl had Mcdonald's for lunch, because they had Mcdonald's for lunch together. He knows Karl is probably dreading the run to his car because he hates the way his hair frizzes when it gets wet and he can’t dry it the way he likes to dry it.
“I feel like you always know how Karl is,” Dream says.
“He’s your friend too. Just text him and ask,” Sapnap tells him. “Although he’s in class right now so he probably won’t reply.”
Dream props himself up on his elbows and looks at Sapnap. “You know his schedule.” It’s not phrased as a question.
“Yeah.”
“What was that you told me about Karl liking a guy who didn’t seem to like him back?” Dream asks, arching an eyebrow.
“I know, dumb right?” Sapnap snorts. He pulls his laptop towards him again. “He has to be straight. Or maybe taken. But no way a single guy, into guys, passes the chance to date Karl.”
“Right,” Dream says.
Sapnap opens his laptop and goes to check his emails. He clicks the top one, a confirmation for tickets to the cinema dated this weekend.
“Me and Karl are probably going to see the Star Wars marathon,” Sapnap says. “You know the one at Royale this weekend? If you wanna come with us you should probably get your ticket soon.”
“I’m fine,” Dream replies. “You and Karl go. Make it a date.”
“A date,” Sapnap sighs, scrolling aimlessly through his inbox. “If I was gay I’d definitely take Karl on a date.”
“Sapnap.”
“What?”
“Are you serious?”
Sapnap looks at Dream in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Jesus,” Dream groans, falling flat onto his back again. “George hatte so recht mit dir.”
“Rude. I don’t speak German.”
“In English - you’re stupid.”
Sapnap rolls his eyes and decides to ignore whatever the fuck Dream is trying to say. He exits his emails and opens Word, stares at the blank page for a few minutes and then naps until dinner.
-
Sapnap and Karl are back in the 7/11 parking lot, college radio playing silently, unopened Monster’s in the cupholder.
“I saw George and Dream the other day,” Karl says. He’s looking away from Sapnap, leaning against the car door with his temple pressed against the window.
“Where?” Sapnap asks, just out of courtesy. Honestly, he’s a bit tired of the whole Dream and George thing now; it’s been more than a week. But Karl is as obsessed as ever it seems.
“In the bathroom in the comp-sci building. They were just talking until they noticed me and then George just kinda raised his voice. Dunno, it was weird,” he explains.
“Why were you in the comp-sci building?” Sapnap asks, because he knows Karl’s schedule, knows every classroom he’s in, and none of them are even close to the comp-sci building.
“I was meeting a guy… A friend of Punz’? I don’t know. We grabbed coffee together. He was nice.”
Sapnap reaches for his Monster, opening it just to have something to do with his hands. “Oh,” he says, staring intently at the can.
“It’s so dumb,” Karl begins. “I keep waiting for this one guy to confess or whatever, but he never does, and I’m starting to think I’ve just been dumb and misread all the signals.”
Sapnap really wishes Karl would look at him. Everything feels easier when they’re actually face to face. It feels so awkward now, with Karl turned away as if he’s hiding or something.
“If he doesn’t like you back then he’s an idiot,” Sapnap mumbles. He flicks the pop tab gently. “You’re a great guy, Karl.”
“So you keep telling me,” Karl mutters.
“And it's true!”
“I’m getting tired. Can I drive you back?”
Karl’s Monster sits unopened in the cup holder, dripping condensation.
“Sure,” Sapnap mumbles. “Let me just text Dream and warn him… I’m not too keen on walking in on him banging his girlfriend.”
-
Sapnap’s mind is elsewhere. It’s with Karl and the way he’d seemed so upset that night in the car. All because of some stupid guy who didn’t deserve him.
Sapnap’s mind is elsewhere, that’s why it takes him so long to notice the fact that Dream and George are making out in the dining hall bathroom.
Their minds are clearly elsewhere too, perhaps somewhere down each other’s throats, because they don’t notice him either.
As quickly and quietly as he entered, Sapnap leaves.
-
When Dream returns to their dorm later that day, Sapnap is more than ready for him.
“I saw you,” he says. Dream has barely closed the door.
“What?” he asks. “What do you mean?”
“With George, in the bathroom.”
“Oh… Sapnap-“
“You’re cheating on your girlfriend!” Sapnap interrupts. “You don’t have to make out with him or whatever just because he asked you to!”
“Sapnap.”
“It’s not right, Dream. If you don’t tell her, I will.”
“You don’t even know her name,” Dream says, kicking off his shoes and slipping out of his jacket.
Sapnap scoffs and crosses his arms. “So you’re admitting she exists then? You cheated on her and that’s what makes you admit she’s real?”
“I did not cheat on my girlfriend,” Dream says. He’s so calm. How can he be so calm?
“Oh, really? What was that thing with George, then?”
“Sapnap.”
“What, cheater?”
Dream sighs softly.
“George can play the ocarina, and the ukulele, and the drums and he’s learning guitar. He speaks German and French and a tiny bit of Swedish. His favourite colour is blue, because it’s the one he sees the best. He doesn’t like summer, because the heat makes him sleepy. But because heat makes him sleepy, he loves cuddling with me because he thinks I run hot.”
Dream doesn’t run hot, something in the back of Sapnap’s mind whispers. Which is honestly incredibly irrelevant.
“First of all, what the fuck is an ocarina and second of all, what the fuck are you saying? How do you know these things?” Sapnap snaps.
“Because George is my girlfriend. Boyfriend. I’m gay.”
“No,” Sapnap says. “You took a girl to prom.”
“So did you.”
“Well I’m straight.”
“No, Sapnap. Neither of us are straight.”
Sapnap glares at him. “What the fuck?”
Dream brushes past him and sits down on his bed, patting the space next to him. “Sit. Let’s talk.”
Sapnap eyes him and sits on his own bed, across from Dream instead of next to him. “Talk.”
“I met George in Germany. When we were like five. It was just nice to have someone you could speak English to, you know? Then I moved to France when we were ten, and George stayed in Berlin. At fifteen we were rather miraculously reunited in Sweden - which is when we started dating. And an ocarina is like a little instrument that you blow to play, like a little flute but it’s round.”
Sapnap blinks. “Excuse me?”
“I’m gay, I met George when I was five, started dating him at fifteen. Still dating him now, very in love with him, and he’s the girlfriend you’ve been thinking I have.”
“Why were you fighting with him?”
“That was George’s idea. Well the first time was about me buying a car, George thought it was unnecessary-“
“I agree,” Sapnap snorts. “Karl has a car.”
“Yeah, we’ll get to Karl in a second. Anyway, George thought it was unnecessary and we argued and you interrupted. Then you wouldn’t let it go for some reason, so George thought we could pretend to be enemies to lovers, or something. He reads too much porn. Basically we just pretended to argue any time we saw you or Karl and the plan was to escalate the tension until it snapped in an organic way. Making out in the bathroom was… dumb.”
“So you’re dating George, and you’re gay. Why didn’t you just tell us? It’s not like we’d care? Karl is gay.”
“You’re gay too.”
“I’m not gay,” Sapnap snorts. Because he’s not. He took a girl to prom! And he loves boobs. Well…
Dream groans. “Okay, we’ll come back to that too.”
Sapnap quirks an eyebrow and asks, “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I was just scared that you’d be angry I didn’t tell you for so long,” Dream admits, shoulders sinking. “I didn’t want you to think I didn’t trust you or something.”
“That’s dumb,” Sapnap frowns.
“Well, whatever. That’s my story. Now onto you.”
“Me?” he asks, straightening at the sudden focus.
“Sapnap. You’re in love with Karl.”
“I don’t like guys.”
“Karl is a guy and you like him.”
“No I don’t.”
“Stop being so fucking dumb for two seconds. Just, close your eyes, thinking about Karl. Think about Karl compared to an ex, or that girl you took to prom.”
Sapnap gives Dream a pointed look before he does what he’s told.
Thinking about Karl is easy, because Sapnap thinks about Karl more often than not. There’s no ex to compare him to, though, just a bunch of random girls from parties he forgot the second they walked away, and the girl from prom was so boring that Sapnap left before they crowned the king and queen.
Yeah, thinking about Karl is easy. Sapnap loves him, of course he does. They’re best friends, after all. Sapnap loves Dream too.
Although…
Hm.
Maybe…
Sapnap opens his eyes and looks at Dream. “Okay. Fine. Maybe I am gay.”
Dream snorts. “Oh, really? What made you get it?”
“I do not think about you the way I think about Karl.”
“So you’re gay and in love with Karl. Two birds, one stone. My mission is done,” Dream grins, clapping his hands together.
“But Karl literally likes someone else, he tells me all the time.”
“How did you get into college?” Dream asks.
“You know how high my GPA was,” Sapnap scoffs.
“The guy Karl has been talking about is you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
Sapnap frowns.
“Me.”
“Yes.”
Maybe it makes sense. Maybe it doesn’t. Sapnap’s head just feels kind of busy. Dream is gay. Dream and George are dating. Dream and George met as children. George is Dream’s secret girlfriend. The secret girlfriend is actually a boyfriend, because Dream is gay. Sapnap is also gay. Or into men at least. Into Karl, at least. Karl might be into him too.
“So…” Dream says, clearly prodding.
“What?” Sapnap asks absentmindedly. He’s still kinda stuck on the face that he’s into Karl and the fact that Karl might be into him too. Maybe they could kiss.
That would be nice.
“So are you going to talk to him?” Dream elaborates.
“I guess I should,” Sapnap sighs, standing up.
“Yes, you should. Now go. Leave. I’m calling George over to celebrate the fact that this dumb thing is over. Don’t be back too soon.”
Sapnap says nothing as he slips into his Lightning McQueen crocs and heads down a floor to where Karl’s room is. He glances at the time on his phone. Karl should definitely be in his room, and his roommate should be at football practice or something. Which is good. It would be awkward to confess his feelings if some 6’4 jock was sitting there watching them.
He knocks quietly - something he usually doesn’t do because usually he texts Karl that he’s coming down and Karl just kind of lets him.
Hm. Maybe Dream’s frustration had been justified. Maybe Sapnap is dumb as hell.
Karl opens the door and looks him up and down. “Why did you knock?”
Sapnap opens his mouth. Nothing comes out. So he closes it, tries again. Still nothing.
“Are you sick?” Karl frowns.
“George is Dream’s secret girlfriend.”
“Really?” Karl asks, a small smile growing on his lips. “Did Dream tell you?”
“Apparently the arguments were like a fake thing so they could hide their relationship that’s been happening for five years and pretend they were enemies who become lovers.”
Karl giggles, leaning against the door frame. “That’s funny. We would have figured it out eventually.”
Sapnap nods, even though he thinks Karl is wrong. They probably wouldn’t have figured it out, because Sapnap is apparently dumber than a pile of bricks when it comes to feelings.
“He also told me that I’m gay.”
Karl’s smile disappears. “Oh.”
“And then I realised that I am gay. Or maybe I'm not, I dunno. But I realised I liked you. Like you. And then Dream said that the guy you’ve been talking about, the one that you have a crush on, is me.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Dream talks a lot,” Karl says quietly, looking down.
“Sometimes,” Sapnap agrees.
“So you like me.” He looks up.
Sapnap nods. “Yes.”
“Do you wanna come in?” Karl asks, smiling again. It’s a new smile that Sapnap hasn’t seen before, but it might be his favourite one yet.
“Can we kiss if I say yes?” Sapnap finds himself asking.
Karl giggles into the palm of his hand, a deep blush blooming on his cheeks and Sapnap might honestly die - just collapse into a pile on the floor - because Karl is the best thing he’s ever seen.
“Yeah, we can kiss,” Karl says.
“Can I take you on a date?” Sapnap asks.
Karl reaches for him, fingers wrapping into the fabric of Sapnap’s shirt. “I’ll even let you be my boyfriend,” he says, pulling Sapnap into the room.
The door slams shut behind them, Karl texts his roommate, and Sapnap gets the kiss - and the night - of his life.