Chapter Text
Karl was in a rush.
Well, he wouldn’t call it that, but he also wouldn’t admit to staying up way too late playing video games and working on commissions, and sleeping in when he was supposed to be spending the day getting ready for the new foster to enter his home. Any other person in the store could see how his hands jittered and shook as he grabbed items off the shelves and haphazardly threw them into his basket. He couldn’t tell if he was shaking from the nerves or the three cans of Monster Energy he’d downed in the car.
Taking in a new foster always made him nervous, as any parent would be bringing their own child home with them from the hospital. When he first started fostering, he was told that he needed to portray confidence more than anything, but all of his friends that he had met through the program had expressed their own nerves, so Karl dismissed the advice as a bunch of baloney that was used to draw in more foster parents. That was fine though, he was all for more people helping out the program, they needed it.
Pushing his cart into the infant care section of the store, a brief scroll through the list of supplies he would need confirming his own mental tally as he picked up all the items off the shelves. Aisles of baby care supplies were a bit overwhelming, as well as the judgemental looks the older women were throwing at him from every direction he looked.
You’re doing this for a reason, you’re doing a good thing , he tried to reason with himself, but he just wished more people understood and didn’t make their judgments at a glance. Being out in public, being people-watched by strangers who didn’t have any context as to the baby clothes in his cart was scary, he hated it. He felt like he was being observed like a bird trapped in a wire cage.
His hands continued to shake as he picked up the items on the list, things like baby formula, a new bottle or two, baby wipes, and diapers. He also made a point to get a new personal blanket and stuffed animal for them, as well as some outfits.
He tried to pick out things that were as gender-neutral as possible, avoiding any flashy pinks, glitters, or bows, as well as the sporty, boyish onesies and shirts. A purple top with ‘Mommy’s Princess’ printed on the front eyed him down from a rack and he made the decision to just hurry and finish up shopping.
He just had two more things to get, he could do that. His roommate needed eggs for her job, and he desperately needed banana pudding cups if he was going to survive this first hellish week with the new baby. His mind wandered as he weaved through the aisles and grabbed a carton of eggs from the refrigerated section. Thank god he was almost done and he could leave.
Hands overlap each other as Karl reaches for the last pack of banana pudding cups left on the shelf, quickly drawing his hand back, and immediately apologizing with a nervous chuckle,
“Oh my goodness I’m sorry! You can go ahead and take it!”
Stormy eyes shoot to meet gorgeous green ones. Then the rest of the man’s face set in, he was all golden locks and tanned, freckled skin and goodness gracious this man was handsome.
“Oh my goodness I’m sorry! You can go ahead and take it!”
Dream just wanted to run this damn errand for Sapnap. He didn’t ask for crowds or long lines or pretty fucking boys like the one standing next to him, holding his hand against his chest like he’d been burnt. But, getting a better look at him, maybe he was thankful that he’d come when he did.
The shorter man was stunning, clad in a vintage-looking sweater and hastily pushing fluffy brown locks out of his eyes. Those eyes, oh those eyes , they looked mystical. Grey as the moon and just as bright, too. Dream’s poor heart stuttered on a beat and he realized he forgot how to breathe.
He was too dazed to even register the man’s face twisting into a look of concern, the brunette’s radiant smile faltering, and was he speaking to him?
The pretty pink lips in front of him were moving, but nothing was registering in Dream’s dizzying daze of sickly sweet perfume and fluttering eyelashes.
A soft hand on his shoulder pulled him out of the cloudy lust and back into the reality of the too-small grocery store where he was holding a package of pudding cups and blatantly staring at the most attractive boy he’d ever met.
“Sir? Are you okay?”
Dream’s tongue felt heavy, like it was treading through peanut butter and caramel, and the next words that came out of his mouth were stammered and nonsensical;
“Y-you’re- I- I’m in- You’re so- how are you- I-I’m sorry-”
The weighted feeling set in his hands and he realized the predicament he put himself in. He was standing in front of a cute boy, a boy he had just basically stolen the last pack of banana pudding from. Someone save him…
The grey-eyed boy only giggled, twinkling and vibrant like a wind-chime in a spring breeze, and shook his head gracefully,
“That’s okay! You can have them, I don’t need them that much anyway!”
Dream couldn’t so much as get a second stammered sentence out before the boy was walking away. Every alarm in his brain fired off all at once. His conscience screamed at him, Go after him! What are you standing around for? And, really, that was all it took.
One brief interaction had Dream bounding after a boy with his non-existent tail between his legs at the notion of even slightly upsetting such a beautiful being.
His legs carried him in the direction of the boy, ducking past other shoppers, throwing quick apologies over his shoulder. Realistically, he probably looked like a damn idiot, a lost puppy desperately chasing after his owner but he just couldn’t help himself. He didn’t want to.
Something about the light dusting of freckles and sun-kissed flush on the other’s cheeks was intoxicating, and Dream was under his spell.
Sage eyes darted this way and that trying to find the darling mop of brown hair or even the green and beige sweater that looked as if it belonged in the 1950s.
When Dream finally spots the boy, part of him thinks that it’s too late. He’s nearing the check-out line fast and looks to be in a rush. But Dream had never seen him before and he didn’t want to watch the opportunity slip through his fingers like sand. He reaches his long limb out to lay on the brunette’s shoulder, accidentally startling him enough to cause a tiny squeak slip through his dainty lips and suddenly the boy’s eyes were on him again.
“E-ex- shit - excuse me-”
Dream cursed his inability to speak without stumbling over his own tongue.
But the pretty boy just smiled that smile at him and fuck the chase was so worth it,
“Oh, hi again. Can I help you?”
Shit. Dream didn’t get this far. All he could do was awkwardly hold out the package that he had previously stolen from the other, hoping he got the memo.
He didn’t.
Instead, he tilted his head like a puppy begging for treats and holy fuck he just keeps getting cuter . Dream’s mind was immediately flooded with sugared praises and terribly corny pet-names. His throat felt dry, the perfumed air making him dizzy,
“Um- hi- sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I think you’re r-really pretty, and you should have this-”
Shaky hands shove the pack of pudding into the other’s, nervous eyes darting around everywhere else but the boy’s face. Dream could just tell his face was flushed red and burning. Pretty boy just giggled that adorable laugh and shook around his hair, broad smile breaking onto his face and flashing his pure white teeth.
“Did you really chase me around half the store just to give me these?”
Dream froze, this wasn’t good. Fuck he thinks I’m a creep oh no oh god-
“That’s very sweet, thank you. But really, I wouldn’t have minded if you kept it.”
“I didn’t feel right taking it.”
He didn’t know when his confidence had returned, but he was thankful to at least be able to get a sentence or two out.
“Well thank you, again, I appreciate it.”
Dream didn’t want the conversation to end, he didn’t want the opportunity to disappear, “C-could I pay for your things?”
The grey eyes in front of him widened, then eyed the cart next to him, “Uhm- No, thank you, no it’s way too much to pay for. I wouldn’t want to put a dent in your wallet.”
Dream’s heart sank, the guilt-ridden look on the boy’s face made something in Dream’s chest hurt.
“Maybe I want a dent in my wallet.”
The other’s smile returned in full, bright and glittering, precious hiccupped giggles adding to the roar of the store around them, though every other sense Dream had was diminished save for the ones being wrapped up in the brunette in front of him.
“I really appreciate the offer, tall stranger, but really, it’s fine. Would you like my number, instead?”
Holy shit yes please oh my god-
“Yeah sure- I’d like that a lot- Maybe I can pay for you next time?”
“Maybe, we’ll see about that.”
The two exchange numbers, Dream still swaying on his feet at the notion that he’d just gotten the cute boy’s number even after he stumbled his way through a first impression. The boy leaves, and a notification from his phone strikes him with the realization that he’d spent way too much time in the fluorescent lighting:
Sapnap: Dream what the hell is taking you so long the list wasn’t that long idiot
Dream lets out a deep, audible sigh, and continues to grab the items Sapnap asked him to get. His brain was crowded with so many thoughts the cashier had to repeat almost every sentence he said to communicate properly with him.
The car ride home was a blur of meaningless drabble on the radio and concerned texts from his roommate. Dream didn't even notice as he ran two red lights, his mind was so far away.
Slam.
Dream slams the door hard, not registering the force he uses. Sapnap looks curiously at his best friend, who is nearly floating into the kitchen, bouncing from tip-toe to tip-toe and looking absolutely out of his own mind.
“Dream, whose weed did you smoke ?”
The blond doesn’t answer, of course he doesn’t, how could he when his brain was filled to the brim with bubblegum lips and cotton candy laughter? His hands move on their own, putting away the few items he’d bought and humming a tune to himself.
Sapnap shoots up from his spot on the couch, abandoning his laptop on the coffee table and padding over to the island in the kitchen, chuckling at Dream’s demeanor before quickly realizing that he wasn’t going to be able to get his attention anytime soon without some kind of interruption. He slammed both of his hands down on the countertop, the quick movement and the noise startling Dream from whatever stupor had him in its grip. The cloudy film that had glazed over his eyes was now gone, replaced with a stunned gaze.
“Dream, dude, are you okay? You looked completely gone for a minute there.”
Dream’s eyes met Sapnap’s and suddenly there was a wide, beaming grin on his face,
“Sapnap. I just met the most gorgeous man on the planet, seriously, prettier than George!”
Sapnap scoffed, “Don’t let George hear you say that, you know how he gets. Share the details, then.”
Dream let his feet carry him around to the couch, the back of his knees hitting the arm and dropping to lay with an arm draped over his eyes. He sighed, dreamily, “He was so fucking pretty, his hair was so fluffy and it looked so soft, and oh my god- his giggles? It was like an angel laughing. His eyes were so pretty and his smile was so kind and-”
Sapnap needed to stop him there before his friend ran out of breath, “Dream you sound like a lovesick teenager. Do you hear yourself? What happened to Mr. Playboy CEO?”
“You didn’t let me finish! I accidentally stole the last of the banana pudding from him off the shelf but I chased him down and gave it back. I tried to offer to pay for his groceries but he didn’t let me…”
The dejected tone of Dream’s voice was enough to make a laugh tear from Sapnap’s throat,
“Well yeah, I’m not surprised he didn’t let you, you chased him through the store like a stalker just to give him pudding? That’s a weirdo thing to do, Dream, admit it.”
Dream didn’t want that thought coming back. Instead, he replied as casually as he could, hoping Sapnap couldn’t hear the giddy feeling that was threatening to bubble up in his voice, “He gave me his number, asshole, do you think if he thought I was a weirdo he’d give me his number?”
“Some people give weirdo guys fake numbers to make them go away, Dream. Have you even tried texting it?”
Dream scowled, lifting his arm for just a moment to glare at Sapnap and his blatant teasing, he deepened his scowl upon seeing the shit-eating grin his so-called ‘best friend’ was sporting. He returned his arm and bit his lip hard, he hadn’t tried to text him yet because he was too love-dazed to even register his trip back home. He squeezed his arm against his eyes, letting colored circles dance in his vision before relaxing again, “Well no, not yet, texting and driving is dangerous, do you want to have no roommate?”
Sapnap chuckled again, this time sitting in the chair across from Dream and patting him on the head, “Of course I don’t want to kill you, then I’d have to actually pay rent. It makes sense why none of my texts were answered though; the least you could do is let me in on what’s going on.”
Dream nodded against his roommate’s hand, letting his own arm fall off his face and leaning back so he was looking at Sapnap upside down, “Sapnap I don’t even know where to start with texting him. I didn’t even get his name.”
“You didn’t even get his name? Dream, you are the most helpless playboy I’ve ever met. You could have your pick of any person on the planet and yet one boy at a grocery store has your brain melted to mush. Unbelievable, I’m gonna tell George and he’s gonna have a field day.”
“You’re supposed to be on my side, why can’t you be a wingman like a normal best friend? You’re just bullying me!”
“I bully you because you deserve it for being an absolute love-sick idiot. Now get up and go text him before he finds some other rich, blond entrepreneur to entice.”
Dream didn’t end up immediately texting the number. In fact, he spent about five hours procrastinating and hyping himself up, repeatedly running through all of the possibilities of this entire situation going south.
What if he did think Dream was a creep for chasing after him?
That’d be ridiculous, he seemed way too nice to do that. He was laughing… it could have been nervous laughter.
The last thing he wanted was to make the boy uncomfortable. What if he did give him a fake number just to get him out of his hair?
How likely was it that he had an entirely separate number memorized for keeping away creepy guys?
With how pretty he was, Dream wouldn’t be surprised. Those radiant grey eyes appeared in his mind again, and he was settled. He reached for his phone off of his nightstand, sitting up in his bed and running a hand through his hair. It was now or never, any more deliberating and Dream wouldn’t ever text him. Every nerve in his body jittered, every press of his fingertips against the screen sent electricity up his arms. He never felt like this texting his dates, every single emotion he felt doing this single task was new and alight and so wonderful .
One last tap. It was done. There was no turning back.
+321-764-8863: Hi, I just realized I never caught your name, but it’s the tall blond from the store. I still want to pay for your groceries sometime.
Dream stayed up for four more hours, waiting by his phone and cursing Sapnap for maybe being right. The message laid idle, never changing from how it was when it was sent. Dream felt like a mess, he felt like an utter loser, if he was being honest with himself. He couldn’t tell Sapnap, he’d only get a laugh in the face. He really needed a cold shower, a bath, anything to wash the sickly feeling of rejection off of him. But his body wouldn’t move, the ache in his limbs weighing him down and pinning him to the bed. Checking his phone, shit it’s already three am he decided it was better to just sleep it off. He clicked the power button on his phone and slipped his eyes shut, hoping that he could at least sleep before addressing his feelings in the morning.
That hope was lost, however, as Dream dreamt of brunette hair and sunkissed cheeks, and the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen.
