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Karl had been tutoring the same low life for the majority of his senior year, and with little to no progress being made, he was seriously considering giving up.
He had been assigned the most helpless kid in the whole class; the one who couldn’t get off his phone to answer a question, the one who was incapable of bringing his own materials to study sessions, the one who didn’t bother to learn any of the criteria in class, and most definitely not outside of class.
Karl had been assigned Sapnap.
Karl would’ve gladly dumped Sapnap ages ago, had his morals been lower, but it seemed he would feel bad if Sapnap flunked and had to retake his senior year. So, Karl kept trying, through every late arrival, through every failed quiz, and through every missing homework assignment.
But when Sapnap began the flirting, Karl was completely over it.
It wouldn’t have bothered Karl in any way, had Karl not actually been falling for this cliché bullshit. With every pickup line, every cheesy rom com quote, Karl found himself falling further and further for this boy who he had once vowed to hate for the rest of his life.
It got to the point where it was even a struggle to skim through a textbook without his cheeks reddening and stomach doing flip flops, at just the sight of Sapnap’s stupid smirk.
He knew it wasn’t real, knew it was just a ploy to get Karl to quit spewing out needless academic information, but God how he wished it were.
It was on this specific afternoon, however, that Karl was having the most difficulty, Sapnap being even more ruthless than ever, nonstop pestering and prodding making it nearly impossible for Karl to focus on anything, much less piles of schoolwork, and a whole essay.
Sapnap poked Karl’s shoulder, Karl turning to look at Sapnap with a sense of annoyance. All he got in return was a look Sapnap wore so well, his nose scrunched up and lips turned upwards in a knowing smirk.
Karl hated it so much to have to admit it, but Sapnap looked nice, his hair falling messily to his shoulder blades, tucked into a bandana that matched his outfit, a flame embroidered on his shirt. Karl had thought it’d be teasing to ask if Sapnap had sewn it himself, but when Sapnap responded with yes, his heart simply melted in adoration and it did nothing to help how bad he had it for Sapnap.
“I need you to focus,” Karl instructed with a look of disappointment, “Finals are soon and it seems we’ve made absolutely no progress.”
Sapnap rolled his perfect eyes and flopped back into his couch, sighing in defeat. He took up a textbook and began flipping through it like a magazine, mocking Karl’s patience. It was almost as if he wanted to anger Karl, and to be honest, he definitely did.
Karl snatched the book from Sapnap and decidedly began reading it aloud, looking up every once in a while to see if Sapnap had processed the information. Sapnap would nod along, but there was only the slightest chance he was actually listening.
“Why do I even do this?” Karl asked, and Sapnap shrugged his shoulders.
“I do believe you chose to sign up for a position as a tutor,” Sapnap provided unhelpfully.
“Yeah, yeah,” Karl placed the textbook back on the coffee table and curled in on himself on the couch, “I didn’t realize I’d be paired up with you. Had I known, I would’ve purposely lost track of my permission slip.”
“You had to have a permission slip signed?” Sapnap laughed in a teasing manner, Karl already regretting starting up a conversation, “Aren’t you old enough to decide whether you want to tutor someone or not?”
“Apparently not, according to the school.”
Sapnap hummed in acknowledgment, sitting still for only a moment that didn’t last nearly long enough.
Suddenly, he propped himself up on the couch, and crawled over to where Karl was sitting, and placed his face right in front of Karl’s, far too close for comfort. Karl pleaded for personal space, but made no effort to move, as there was no way he could’ve anyway.
Then, Sapnap’s lips were on his own, and that was the absolute last straw.
Karl shoved Sapnap off of him and stood abruptly, feeling around for his backpack with the toe of his shoe. It had been discarded under the coffee table somewhere and was currently missing, just when Karl needed it the most.
“Karl?” Sapnap asked innocently, “What’re you doing? We still have thirty minutes of studying to attend to,” And he was laughing, an actual laugh of amusement. Karl despised him.
“You’re insane,” Karl furrowed his eyebrows as he finally came into contact with his bag, and he slid it out from underneath the table, bending down to grab it as soon as it was within range.
“Karl. Karl, come on,” Sapnap placed a hand on the textbook Karl was trying to retrieve, holding it to the table. Karl ignored it and began packing up everything else, “Karl, it was a joke.”
Karl ignored him, continuing to pack up his things. When he got to the final textbook, which was still trapped under Sapnap’s weight, he decided to leave it. He’d come back and get it later, if necessary.
He swung his backpack over his shoulder and picked up the rest of his things, the papers folding at the edges in his quick attempt to leave.
“Karl, I was only kidding,” Sapnap assured, trying his hardest to get Karl to stay, “Dude, what the fuck is wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with me?” Karl spun around and glared daggers at Sapnap, his breath uneven and cheeks tinted red in anger, “What’s wrong with you?”
Sapnap opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, he pushed his way past the couch and tried to get closer to Karl, Karl backing away wordlessly.
“Karl, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Sapnap’s voice was small, Karl could almost say genuine, “I thought it’d be a funny joke. I’m a tease, remember? I kid around.”
“Well, it wasn’t funny,” Karl managed to bring his voice just above a whisper and trained his eyes elsewhere in the room, anywhere but at Sapnap.
They stood there for a moment, Karl barely noticing as Sapnap’s hand met his bicep, softly gripping the fabric of his sweater.
“Karl,” Sapnap came even closer, their bodies so close that Karl was sure he could feel the body heat emitting from the other, “Karl, forgive me.”
“That was my first,” Karl muttered, tears invading his vision. For what reason, he couldn’t be so sure.
“First kiss?” Sapnap asked, an apologetic smiled crossing over his features.
Karl nodded, and Sapnap only pulled him closer, into an embrace that felt so unnatural, yet so comfortable. Sapnap pushed further, taking the books from Karl’s hands and setting them down on the nearby coffee table. Next, the backpack was slid from Karl’s shoulder, and nothing separated them anymore.
Sapnap timidly wrapped his hands around Karl’s waist, and brought them closer, Karl tucking his nose into Sapnap’s shoulder, enjoying the faint scent of laundry detergent that seemed to be covered up by Sapnap’s light use of cologne.
This felt weird. This was definitely weird.
If somebody had told him he’d be awkwardly hugging Sapnap after they kissed on his living room couch even half an hour ago, Karl would’ve asked if they were on drugs. He would’ve asked if they were okay, if they had gone insane.
After a few moments, Sapnap pushed Karl away at arm’s length and made eye contact, peering into Karl’s eyes with such adoration that Karl thought he would melt.
“Can I kiss you?”
Karl looked at Sapnap in confusion, as if the past few minutes hadn’t just happened. It seemed as thought Karl had already blocked out the awkward hugging, the tears, the apologies. Karl had just assumed they’d go back to hating each other, act like none of this ever happened.
“Can you what?” Karl asked cautiously, his hands finding a place on Sapnap’s waist.
“Can I kiss you?” Sapnap’s hands met Karl’s and he removed them, instead intertwining their fingers to the side of them, pulling Karl closer to him.
Karl wordlessly stared at Sapnap for a moment, before making the bold decision to initiate the kiss this time. Something in him assured him that if he kissed Sapnap this time, he wouldn’t end up regretting any of this.
Their noses bumped at first, and Sapnap smiled, willing himself not to laugh. Karl tilted his head, Sapnap doing the same, and then they fell into a more practical rhythm, their lips moving in sync against one another.
Karl loosened his grip on Sapnap’s hands and flung his arms around Sapnap’s neck, pulling them impossibly closer. Sapnap made a noise of affirmation, and set his hands on Karl’s waist.
When they finally pulled away for breath, it wasn’t for long, and Karl was kissing Sapnap again, this time little pecks to the lips, their foreheads resting against the other’s.
“Can I tell you something?” Sapnap asked in between kisses, pressing a hand to Karl's lips to get him to stop.
Karl quirked an eyebrow in confusion, but nodded anyway.
“I’m getting a better grade than you in geometry.”
Karl pulled away from Sapnap entirely, his eyes blown wide, and his mouth hung partially open, as if he were going to say something, but no further conversation was initiated.
“I signed up to be tutored because I knew you were the only one in the whole class who would be willing to tutor anyone,” Sapnap explained, talking as he nervously picked at his nails, “When I was assigned to you, I had the opportunity to talk to you, having an actual excuse this time round.”
“So basically,” Karl was talking with his hands, trying his hardest to understand what Sapnap was trying to say, “You were paying me to be around?”
Sapnap nodded.
“Why?” Karl asked.
“Is it not obvious?” Sapnap laughed to himself, but he seemed worried, “I like you, Karl. I wanted to get to know you,” He paused before adding under his breath, “I wanted to kiss you.”
And Karl began laughing, because this entire situation was so unreal that he would’ve assumed it was some sort of sick fever dream, if he hadn’t known any better.
He walked up to Sapnap and planted a chaste kiss on his lips, bringing a hand to cup Sapnap’s jaw.
“Maybe you should just ask me on a date next time,” Karl teased, rubbing a thumb over Sapnap’s cheekbone, staring at the way the light reflected in Sapnap’s eyes.
“Well, then,” Sapnap cleared his throat and offered up a small smile, “Would you like to go on a date with me?”
“Of course,” Karl responded, not even trying to hide the excitement in his voice, “Thanks for asking.”