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Chapter Text

Karl Jacobs saw and touched his first pair of boobs at age 18. Which in his humble opinion was a fine age to experience that almighty milestone of men. Except that in his case, Karl had made the last discovery any guy with a half naked woman in front of him wants to. Karl, with his hands lightly cupping the breasts of a girl from his biology class, realized he was gay. Or, well, he started to, It’s not usually a realization one can have about one’s self and just accept upon the first instance of thinking it. 

So while Karl had hastily made up an excuse and left his classmates dorm room that night, it had taken time to come to terms with. Eventually he had accepted himself and so the process of coming out had begun. The thing about coming out is that once you start you’ll be doing it for the rest of your life, unless of course the first person you come out to is Mrs. Jacobs. 

It was Thanksgiving break of his sophomore year of college and he was sitting at the kitchen counter with his mother. Mrs. Jacobs was busy peeling potatoes and telling Karl about how their neighbor's cat had gotten into the trash the week before. “I told Linda that if the cat does it agai-“

 “Mom, I’m gay.” He interrupted, shocked himself at the words that had just tumbled out.

 “And I’m sorry I just thought you should know” he stumbled over his words trying to recover.

  “And I’m sorry that I interrupted you.” he took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair.

 “This really isn’t how I thought this would go.” Karl finally forced himself to stop talking and meet his mom's eye. Her eyes were wide, he hand stopped mid potato peel. She took a deep breath and then nodded. 

“Ok Honey, Thanks for telling me.” And she reached to grab his face, potato juice getting all over his cheeks which she squished in as she kissed his forehead. He tried to sit there longer but the drying juice on his face and remaining adrenaline drove him out of the kitchen and to the bathroom to splash water on his face. Had he really just done that? In the aftermath he found his brother and sister and told them, both took it well and when he finally made it to his dad, they had a stilted conversation with an awkward clap on the back from his dad to end things off. 

He didn’t think that was the end of it but he also didn’t realize that in the time he’d been talking to his other family members his mother had called her favorite people to gossip to, her mother and sister. So naturally by the time they arrived at thanksgiving dinner the next night the whole family knew. 

Now Karl hadn’t been particularly worried about his family not accepting him, after all they were a pretty liberal family, but he had worried what his grandmother would think. She was older and originally from Ohio. When his family had arrived at her house the next day, she treated Karl the same as always, sending him off that night with a kiss on the cheek and a wad of cash forced into his hand. He had returned to college two days later feeling as though a weight had lifted off of him. 

He spent the few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas break studying for exams and then taking them. He saw his roommate Noah rarely as they both lived off of Monster and the same 3 meals the dining hall served over and over. In the end he felt he’d done pretty well on his exams and once again set off for his childhood home.

It took Karl about 3 days to make it to his grandmother’s house for winter break. In between he got settled in and spent time with his parents and siblings, and made some plans to see his childhood best friend Nolan.  

On day 4 he came down for breakfast like normal and discovered his mother on the phone, as she often was. When she noticed him she told the person on the other line 

“Oh! Mom, here’s Karl. Do you want to say Hi?” Karl started to shake his head, but it was too late. He took the phone and heard his grandma on the other line “Karl, how are you, honey?” 

“I’m.. uh I’m good grandma, how are you?” 

“I'm ok, would be better if any of my grand babies bothered to come see me when they were in town.” Her tone was playful with an edge that told him he would see her sooner rather than later. Karl laughed and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. 

“I haven’t been back too long, but I’m sure I’ll be by to see you soon” 

His grandma huffed. 

“You’d better. In fact, if you aren’t busy today I need to go grocery shopping and with my eyes getting so bad I’m not allowed to drive myself, It would be an excellent opportunity to save Sean from it since he’s the one your mom sends,” 

“I'm sure Sean doesn’t mind” Karl said just as his brother entered and made eye contact, Sean shook his head vigorously and turned to leave the room. “I see Sean every week, you should come.” 

Karl closed his eyes.

“Sure grandma. What time should I come?”

 “Come around 11, See you then.” He handed the phone back to his mother and turned out of the kitchen, grabbing a waffle his mother had just finished as he went. He now needed to shower, get ready, and leave, in the next hour or so.

When he arrived at his grandma’s house she invited him to come in and have some cookies, she’d made. Karl sat at the chipped wood table in the corner of the kitchen with a chocolate chip cookie in hand. His grandma sat down across from him and took a sip from her coffee. 

“So,” she said as she set her glass down 

“So,” Karl replied 

“Back around thanksgiving your mom called me, and she told me you like boys instead of girls.” Karl swallowed hard on the bite of cookie he had taken a moment before. That certainly wasn’t what he was expecting. He opened his mouth and then closed it his grandma continued 

“Now, at first I had some trouble with it but then I found a group of ladies at my last quilting convention who explained it all nicely. Then last week at bingo night I met a lady, her name is Sherrie, and we got to talking and her grandson also likes boys.” She turned to grab her calendar, “And we were talking and it sounds like you two would like each other a lot.” She tapped the note on her calendar. 

“So later today I need to meet Sherrie at the bookstore downtown, and she’ll be with her grandson, and I mean you’re already here,” Karl stopped listening. 

Was he really getting set up but his grandma? He was pretty sure that was a low point. Karl had to admit he had always felt weird about girls liking him so he never had any serious relationships to display to his family, but since he’d started pursuing men, he had a lot of options. He was popular in the Portland LGBTQ+ scene.

He tuned back into his grandma saying she needed to get her bag from her room before they left. He nodded at her in response, still trying to process what just happened and how his grandma had roped him in so seamlessly. 

Karl drove his grandma all around the town, it seemed that she truly had endless errands, and while he didn’t mind he worried about meeting this guy. Karl decided he’d misread what his grandma was saying, and she just thought they would be good friends. 

 Finally, the time came and his grandmother said the next thing they needed to do was meet Sherrie, Karl pulled into one of the street parking spaces and fed the meter. He surveyed their surroundings. 

The bookstore was across the road from a local coffee shop, and next door to a comic shop, the comic shop he knew well, His friend Jimmy’s dad owned it and he’d spent countless afternoons reading everything he could in the bean bags that never seemed to sell. He refocused his view to the bookstore as he helped his grandma up the curb and then crossed the few steps over to hold the door.

 The book store was a maze, somewhere over the years, the owner seemed to have lost control of the displays and now there were selves at odd angles and random displays of postcards and gimmicky toys for kids that seemed to block most pathways. They worked their way a little further into the store when they saw an older woman. 

“Sherrie, dear, here we are.” The woman, Sherrie, looked up and her face lit up. As the ladies went about their greetings A guy around Karl’s age rounded the corner. 

Karl could lie, he was a good-looking guy. He seemed to be a few inches shorter than Karl, but his legs seemed long and well toned, not exactly highlighted by the basketball shorts he was wearing he had a sweatshirt on that was definitely sized to pull at his shoulders on purpose. His face still held the rounded out cheeks of baby fat, with facial hair grown in that helped to age him well. He had brown hair that glowed amber as he passed through a sunbeam to stand by his grandma. 

His grandma turned to him and called.

 “Oh Karl,” he crossed the few steps over to the group as his grandma continued 

“This is my grandson, Karl. And Karl, this is Sherrie and her grandson..” His grandmother trailed off as the guy stepped forward with a hand out for Karl to shake. 

“Nick, but everyone just calls me Sapnap.” They shook hands and Karl replied. 

“I’m Karl with K, everyone just calls me Karl.” Sapnap chuckles politely, and Karl knows it's a lame reply but he doesn’t know what else to say so the conversation dies off. They stand there listening to their grandmothers chat for a few minutes before they seem to remember their grandsons. 

“Nick, honey, Margret and I are going to be here awhile, why don’t you and Karl go for coffee or something?” Sherrie asked. 

“Well, uh..” Sapnap started to argue but Sherrie opened her wallet and pulled out cash 

“I insist, here, take some money,” She doesn’t give Sapnap the choice so much as she forces money into his hand and pushes him toward Karl. Karl doesn’t even look to see his grandma’s face, just shoves his hands in the pockets of his jacket and turns back toward the entrance of the bookstore. They are both quiet until they reach the sidewalk outside. 

“Sorry about her,” Sapnap says looking at his feet. He kicks a pebble at his feet and they both watch it skid to stop a few feet away. Karl has always hated awkward silence, can’t stand the anxiety and tension it brings. It felt suffocating he got in trouble a lot for being loud in spaces that were meant to be quiet because he just couldn’t stand it. They stand there, neither moving nor speaking as a car quietly rumbles up to the traffic light beside them and makes a right turn. In that time it overwhelms him and he bursts. 

“You know, I am in the mood for coffee, and the place two streets over is great,” Sapnap hums an affirmative and Karl starts off in the coffee's direction shop, which is not actually that good. In his humble opinion a Starbucks frappe was cheaper and tasted better, but who was he to say. As they walked, Karl tried his best to fill the silence, which was easier said than done as Sapnap seemed to have very little to say. 

“I go to college in Portland, I’m a film major, I’ve got a minor in computer science though, just so my parents can still be a little proud of me,” Karl laughs sheepishly.  

“I’m a com-sci major,” Sapnap responds, head lifting to address Karl properly for the first time since they started off. 

“It’s really cool stuff, I love to code little games” Karl says trying to chase the common ground. Sapnap nods.

“That’s sorta why I picked it, other than that a career in tech is basically free money. I mostly play sports though, I’m on a scholarship for Soccer so if that works out then the degree is mostly just a fallback.”

They reach the coffee shop door and Karl opens it, letting Sapnap in first. Once they’ve both ordered and received their drinks, Karl getting a green tea with honey and Sapnap getting a black coffee with sugar and cream, they sit down in the corner of the shop. Karl takes a sip of his drink and tries to hide the grimace, not nearly enough honey to hide the flavor of the scalded tea leaves. “So, our grandmas were definitely trying to set us up on a date right?” Karl finally addresses the elephant in the room as Sapnap takes a sip of his coffee, which he promptly swallows too hard and then coughs around a laugh. After he gets the cough under control he says.

 “I was trying to avoid saying anything, but it seems that way,” Karl nods and pulls one his leg up into the chair to lean his arms on. “Which is totally awkward, and sort of terrible. I mean like I don’t know about you but I feel like my dating life is perfectly fine thank you very much,” Karl huffs while taking another sip of tea. Sapnap looks out the window then back to Karl, and smiles, and Karl hates that he is that pretty when he smiles because damn it he doesn’t want to admit his grandma was right to set them up.

 “Maybe we can just be friends, I dunno, I’m always bored out of my mind when I come home for holiday breaks. My parents moved here after I moved out to be closer to my grandma so I don't really have anyone to hang out with, and I’m an only child so no siblings or anything.”  

“Yeah. Totally man, I would hate to be in that position. I already feel cramped up as I’m dragged around to see everyone my mom can think of when I’m home,” Karl acknowledged. 

“I have some friends here I can introduce you to, so that it's not just me. And Jimmy basically runs the party scene in town, so if you are into that you probably want to know him. Karl continues.  

“That would be great,” Sapnap answers. 

They talk about Karl’s friend, Jimmy, Chris, Chandler, and Nolan, and the parties Jimmy Typically throws.

 “He does a sick fourth of July thing out at his dad’s lake house.”

They move on to Soccer and how Karl’s roommate plays, and then Sapnap talks about his friends at school, telling Karl about how he and his best friend from childhood moved across the country together for school and adopted a British exchange student along the way. They get wrapped up in talking telling stories they don’t realize how much time has passed until Karl’s phone rings interrupting their debate about whether the irl quidditch team Karl’s college has is lame or not. He check the caller ID to see it’s his grandma and pick up “Hey grandma,” 

“Hi sweetie, are you about ready? We found the books we were looking for,” She explains.

“Of course, we will be right there.” 

“Alright, see you a minute, honey”

He hangs up the phone and informs Sapnap that their respective grandmas are ready to leave. They walk the two blocks back to the bookstore with conversation flowing easily. As the bookstore comes into view Sapnap offers his number to Karl. “Just so we can keep in contact, and I don’t miss out on those sick parties.” Karl hands over his phone for Sapnap to input his number and then sends a text.

Karl: Hey This is Karl Jacobs

Sapnap: Got it, This is Sapnap

They reunited with their grandma’s and all said their goodbyes. “It was great to meet you Karl, you are just as handsome as your grandma described. I hope I see you more in the future,” Sherrie winks as Sapnap shakes his head embarrassed again.  

“Thank you ma’am, I hope to see you again too,” Karl responds. 

He takes his grandma home and she thanks him and sends him off with some cookies for Sean and Corry, and a promise they will all come see her soon. 

When he arrives home, he finds a few texts from Nolan and one from Sapnap.

Sapnap: Was good talking to you man, hope to see you more in the future.

Karl smiles at the text because his grandma might not have found him a boyfriend, but he hopes she found a pretty cool friend.

Chapter Text

Karl and Nolan had been best friends since 3rd grade, but they didn’t have one of those stories that you could tell fondly. Karl didn’t stand up against a bully for Nolan and Nolan wasn’t the only person to laugh at Karl’s jokes. They just got on the bus at the same stop and liked each other. That’s also why they had stayed friends so long, even today when they went to college in different states and talked rarely it didn’t matter because they just got along. That being said as Nolan won his 4th Mario Kart race he wasn’t exactly Karl’s favorite person. 

“Oh!” Nolan groaned, in mock sadness.

 "Karl, you lose, AGAIN!”

 “Only because you make me play on the Wii-U Tablet? Who does that bro?” Karl replied. Nolan grinned.

“People who like to win, that’s who.”

“Yeah, whatever man.” Karl said, setting the tablet down. 

“How’s school been?”

“School is school, I think I passed my exams but I’m not gonna check until after break. I don’t want it hanging over my head, ya know?” Nolan replies, setting his controller down and laying back into the plush cushions of the basement couch. He turns his head to look lazily at Karl. 

“I met a girl, though, right before I left for break. Literally ran into her as I was trying not to be late to my English exam.” 

“You ran into her? Like in a movie? Knocked her books and papers out of her hands?” Karl teased.

“No. Mostly her phone, but it wasn’t cracked or anything and I said I was in a hurry but I’d buy her a coffee to make up for it later and so I gave her my number and we went for coffee.” Nolan shrugged.

“Speaking of going for coffee,” Karl starts. Nolan sighs.

“Do you need caffeine that bad? You couldn’t just listen to my story?”

“No, No, I have a story about a coffee date,” he puts the word date in air quotes.

“I went to run errands with my grandma, and she tried to set me up with this guy, one of her friend’s grandsons. It was really weird, but like, he’s a really cool guy, goes by Sapnap. I was thinking I would introduce him to you and the beast boys soon.”

 Karl laughed a little at the nickname for their childhood friend group. Chris had gone through a phase where he thought saying everything was going “beast mode” was the funniest thing ever and so they had dubbed themselves the beast boys, no relation to the music group the beastie boys.

“Yeah, if you think he’s cool I’d love to meet him,” Nolan says then bursts out laughing. “But maybe you don’t tell the others that your grandma was so tired of you being so incredibly bitch-less that she took matters into her own hands.”

Nothing much happened for Karl over the rest of his winter break, he texted Sapnap a few times but he was mostly shepherd out to the houses of all his family members for long visits where they all asked him the same 3 questions, “How’s school?”, "Are you excited to be home for break,”, and the ever-annoying “Are you still single?”. 

For Christmas they stayed home and watched movies. Karl ended up getting a new camera he’d been asking for from ‘Santa’ and some clothes. His siblings had pooled their money and gotten him some new editing software to try, and some miscellaneous video games.

It wasn’t until Jimmy texted him about a new year’s eve party someone two towns over was hosting that things got interesting. 

Jimmy: Ya know that guy Ted, He’s doing a new year’s party thing. Gotta go scout the competition, if you wanna come.

Karl: Yeah, send me the details and I’m there for sure.

A few days later he finds himself holding a red solo cup of some fruity mixed drink and deeply regretting his decision to wear a sweater, sure it was cold outside but here inside the house with all the sweaty teens to 20 somethings it was like a sauna. 

“Karl, this guy thinks he can beat me and Chris at beer pong, wanna come watch us destroy them?” Chandler yells to be heard over the pound beat of the music, gesturing to Ted, the party host and Jimmy’s sort of rival. For a few years now he and Jimmy had been trying to one up each other by throwing bigger and better parties than each other. The locals loved the competition as they got treated to awesome parties for just about any reason someone could think to have a party. Karl waved them off.

“Sure, you guys go ahead and get started and I’ll come in a minute,” 

Karl wanders into the kitchen and finds some chips and decides that he probably won’t drink much more, he just isn't in the mood tonight. 

He makes his way over to the beer pong game. Which is, of course, a loud and rowdy affair. He watches a few tosses and then decides to head out onto the back deck, which is mostly empty due to the cold, but there is a fire pit down the stairs where few people sit in the warmth of it. Karl takes another sip of his drink leaning onto the wood railing when someone calls his name from the staircase beside him. 

“Karl? Is that you?” He turns and sees in the dim light of the fire that it's Sapnap. “Hey Sapnap, Yeah, How are you, man?” 

“I'm good, how about you, how have you been?

Karl nods “Good. I’ve been good,” and there’s an awkward pause that Karl rushes to fill. 

“How’s the party been? My friend had us come to make sure he wouldn’t be upstaged at his next party.” Sapnap lets out a small chuckle.

“I dunno, it feels kinda weird to be here. A friend of a friend of mine knows the host and told me to come, but I guess It’s better than spending New Year at home watching the ball drop with my parents.” 

“No offense but anything sounds better than that,” Karl says.

“None taken, I considered it, but my friend Dream, he’s the one who knows someone who knows the host,convinced me to come. Kept complaining about how much work he put in to find me something to do,” 

“Wait, Dream? Do all your friends go by weird nicknames?” Karl teases. 

“No, we just call our friend George ‘George’,”

“I guess I can’t judge too hard,” Karl replies. “My roommate, Noah, goes by Foolish, it’s his soccer nickname or something,” Sapnap brightens at this.

“That’s what ours are, do you play?” he asks.

“Not really,” Karl shakes his head. “I sometimes play casually with my roommate and some of his teammates but sports haven’t ever really been my thing.” Sapnap nods and turns to lean his elbows back on the deck. “I grew up mostly doing nerd stuff, I was in band and my best friend’s dad owns the comic store downtown. So yes, no time for sports when you’ve got new spiderman comics to read.” 

“Well, not to brag but I’ve played soccer my whole life, and I still found time to read spiderman. What instrument did you play in the band?” Sapnap asks.

“Clarinet, I was terrible though.”

Sapnap laughs. “I played violin for a while, I don’t think I was terrible, I just got busy,”

There is another lull of silence as they both sip their drinks and take in the faint noise of music and conversation from inside the house. 

“Wanna play 20 questions or something?” Karl asks. “I’m not ready to head back inside just yet, a sweater was not a good choice for how hot it is in that house,”

“Sure,” Sapnap agrees. 

“Ok, I’ll start, What’s your favorite color?”

“That’s such a basic question, It’s orange.” Sapnap shakes his head and takes another sip of beer. 

“Sure, but it’s an easy question to start with,” Karl replies. “Now you ask me one,”

“Are you a morning person, or night owl?” Sapnap asks.

“Morning person, though I masquerade as a night owl for the sake of having a social life, but I can only focus on school and stuff in the mornings. When is your birthday?” Karl follows his answer up with his next question. 

“March 1st, when’s yours?

“July 19th, don’t just ask the same questions as me, that's boring,” Karl says.

“What’s the silliest lie you’ve ever told?”

Sapnap launches into a story about he and Dream when they were younger and getting into trouble. They go on asking questions back and forth and sharing childhood until they finish the game and decide to just keep going.

There comes a point in the conversation where they move down to the fire pit, and as they talk longer the few people that had been their head inside to rejoin the party. Sapnap goes and gets them fresh drinks and they keep talking.

“I love the stars,” Karl says, rambling a bit now. “I used to have those sticky glow-in-the-dark ones on my ceiling.” Sapnap listens actively looking between Karl and the sky. They switch gears somewhere in the talk about stars and begin taking turns making up constellations, and giving them horrible backstories. 

There is a quiet moment and they hear the countdown start but neither cares to rejoin the party. They sit and quietly count along 

5

“5..4..3..2..1”

“Happy New Year,”Sapnap says shyly

“Happy New Year, Sap” Karl smiles. They are startled by the noise of the door being thrown open and the noises of the party drift out.

“Karl you missed it,” Chris from the top of the deck stairs, he runs down followed by Nolan who seems a little dazed and has lipstick smeared on his face. “Happy New Year,” Chris yells as he plants a sloppy kiss on Karl’s cheek, he is obviously drunk off his ass. Karl pushes Chris off him and makes a show of rubbing his cheek clean. But he’s smiling, he looks over at Sapnap and he’s got a small smile on his face, Karl thinks for the briefest second that he’d do a lot of things, some illegal to keep seeing that smile. Then he shakes his head and takes Chris back into the house teasing Nolan about the lipstick as they go. He turns to give Sapnap a wave, which he returns and Karl watches as he turns back to the stars and takes a deep swig of beer. Karl steps inside and closes the door and the party atmosphere again flooded his senses.