Work Text:
In Carl’s room they sat in their usual places, Carl on his bed and Blake in Carl’s computer desk chair that Carl hardly ever uses. Blake immediately booted up Carl’s computer and started playing his favorite explosion game. They stayed like that for almost an hour with Carl brooding over a problem he was having and Blake blowing things up on Carl’s computer. It was Blake that broke the silence.
“What’s wrong Carl? You’re being much more brooding than usual.” Blake observed while watching himself get blown up.
“Aprill Fools Day is coming up and I need a great prank!” Carl burst out. “Usually, I would talk to Hoodsey about this stuff, but I decided this year my prank would be on him. You know how I decided to forgive him, and he is still acting weird about it?” Carl asked while looking at Blake, who had already turned his attention back to the game. At Blake’s nod Carl continued, “So this prank has to be super amazing so that Hoodsey will know that I forgive him but I am coming up blank on a prank that he will actually fall for.”
Blake looked over at his friend’s desperate face and felt a little bit of pain. “Why Carl, I don’t believe that you have ever really been stuck at any sort of prank before.”
Carl gave Blake a glare reminiscent of their childhood. “I Barely ever get stuck because Hoodsey was always there to help me out, like my conscience or if I were older, my wife in a male form.” Carl was quiet for a few more minutes before he sat up and exclaimed, “That’s it!”
“What’s it?” Blake asked looking confused.
“A wife! Well, not a wife but a girlfriend” Carl looked so excited about his sudden idea.
Blake however, was frowning. A wife? What kind of prank is having a girlfriend? Half the girls in our class think you’re hot, so how is you finally asking one out going to affect Hoodsey?”
Carl frowned at this news but a new idea came into his head almost immediately to counteract the disappointment. “You’re right about a girlfriend not bothering Hoodsey or being much of a prank but a boyfriend would!”
“A boyfriend?” Blake asked sounding shocked.
“Yeah, a boyfriend!” Said Carl. “Hoodsey would freak out about it! He would never see it coming! It would be the best prank ever!
Blake looked over at Carl’s smiling face and said, “Well, even if Hoodsey would freak out over it, as well as everybody else, where are you going to find a guy that’s willing to pretend to be your boyfriend before tomorrow?” He watched as Carl’s smile turned from gleeful to pointed as he looked straight at Blake. “Oh no! I so not think so Carl! I’m not going to fake being anyone’s boyfriend, let alone yours!” Blake all but shouted at his friend abandoning the game completely to whirl around a glare at him.
“Why not Blake? If it was anyone else, then Hoodsey wouldn’t fall for it! You’re the only guy I hang out with beside Hoodsey, and since you’re not seeing anyone and since this is the best prank I have possibly ever thought of, it makes perfect sense! Please Blake?! We just have to hang out that day which won’t change since we always do. Maybe some hand holding and extra laughing. That’s all, I swear!” Carl finished and looked at Blake in a slight panic about him not cooperating.
Blake sighed over Carl’s panicked look and rolled his eyes, “Fine, I say, but if anything else has to happen I am out Foutley. Out! Do you understand that?” Blake glared harder at Carl who had started smiling again.
“Crystal clear Blakey boy.” Carl was ecstatic that everything was falling into place so quickly. “So, let’s talk about how we will do this. I think we should walk into school holding hands and laughing.” Carl smiled over at Blake to see how that sat with him.
Blake was frowning still but wasn’t going to object. Now that Carl knew Blake was going to do it, he returned to lounging on his bed and after another moment, Blake retuned to his explosion game. “Are we going to ignore Hoodsey? Or tell him immediately that we are dating now?” Blake continued to frown at the computer as he died again.
“I guess our best bet would be to walk in laughing as I said, and we can walk to your locker first, I’m sure Hoodsey will join us and then we can tell him our news as we walk to class.” Carl smiled at his own brilliance while Blake rolled his eyes and dodged around another bomb coming at him.
“I do believe that sounds like a fine idea Carl” Blake said sounding as if he thought the exact opposite. Carl gave him a look that he didn’t see, and they lapsed back into silence.
They approached the school doors together and stopped before walking in. Carl smiled over at Blake before reaching for his hand and lacing their fingers together. “Are you ready for this?” he asked.
Blake was frowning down at their joined hands but looked up and nodded at Carl. Another moment passed before Blake plastered on a forced looking smile and sighed. “Let’s do this then.”
Carl flashed his trademark smirk before opening the door and pulling Blake through with him, he quickly pointed out Hoodsey. At Blake’s nod, they both started laughing, naturally moving closer together and navigated to Blakes locker. Carl noticed Hoodsey following out of the corner of his eye. He wanted to turn and look at his expression but knew that would give away the game and he knew it was still too early. Blake was putting in his combination when Hoodsey caught up with them.
“Morning Carl, Blake.” Hoodsey said “You guys seem to be running later than usual.”
“Morning Hoods,” Carl said, “We decided to walk together under the circumstances.” He reached out to Blake and pulled the books out of his arms and reclaimed his hand while leading them to his own locker and shoving books into his bag.
“What circumstances are those?” Hoodsey asking while looking down at Carl’s hand that was laced with Blake’s.
They started walking to homeroom as Carl said, “Well Blake and I were talking, and we realized that we have both been fighting a losing battle with our feelings. We’re in love Hoodsey, I hope you are happy for us.” Carl squeezed Blake’s hand, and they shared a smile although Blake looked away after only a moment.
“Wait, what do you mean you two are in love?” Hoodsey exclaimed, “Carl, I thought you has a crush on either of those twins?”
Blake narrowed his eyes, “Well of course he doesn’t have a crush on either of those twins or anyone else for that matter. Carl is in love with me!” Blake snapped sounding rather upset.
Carl’s eyes widened slightly, and he pulled Blake into a hug saying, “Of course babe, you’re the only one for me.” He smiled and whispered into Blake’s ear, “nice sell!” with a small shiver Blake pulled back and pulled Carl into the classroom trying to hide the flush on his face. Carl settled into the chair next to Blake and shot him a confused smile to which Blake avoided his eye.
The day went on without much fuss, Carl and Blake held hands and made a big show about whispering into each other’s ears, laughing and holding hands. Carl put his arm around Blake at lunch smiling over at Hoodsey who, much to Carl’s slight frustration, hadn’t said much all day.
“So Hoodsey, you don’t seem to be all that surprised about me and Blake. Everyone else seems to have questions.” Carl gestured to all the other people, mostly girls, staring at him and the blonde under his arm. Carl was actually surprised at the open jealousy on most of their faces.
“That’s because I’m not Carl. You and Blake make a lot of sense together.” Hoodsey said matter of factly.
Carl frowned at Hoodsey, if he isn’t surprised then is this actually the best prank ever? “Why do you say that, Hoods? Blake and I didn’t even realize our feelings for each other until recently.” He looked down at Blake to see him frowning but also looking at Hoodsey.
Hoodsey shrugged “Ever since we were kids the only person you ever seemed to care about impressing or getting a reaction out of was Blake. Honestly Carl, it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.”
Carl sat frowning his arm on Blake’s shoulders falling slightly. Blake felt a little stunned but he knew Carl wouldn’t forgive him if he gave up the act too quickly, so he turned to Carl with a slight smirk on his face. “Wow Foutley, I didn’t realize my opinion was that important to you.” When Carl looked down at him Blake smiled at him, stealing himself for a moment before leaning in and kissing Carl on the cheek quickly before pulling back. “We could have gotten together quicker if you had just been honest from the start.”
Carl felt his cheeks heating up a little and noticed that Blake’s were also a little pink which made him smile. He was pretty impressed with Blake’s acting especially since Blake had seemed so against this plan at first. “Maybe if you hadn’t been so insufferable I could have been honest.” Carl laughed and pulled Blake closer, nuzzling his head into Blakes neck and setting Blake’s cheeks from pink to red secretly enjoying the color change.
The rest of the school day went by with a lot of glares to both Carl and Blake from the girls in their classes and several people stopped them to ask about their relationship. Blake seemed to get more comfortable talking about it as the day wore on. He stayed close to Carl and was practically in his lap by their last class period. Carl didn’t seem to mind, he always kept Blakes hand or a loose hand around him throughout the day. He smiled at Blake and whispered things into his ear, pulling him closer and leaning in to stay close whenever Hoodsey seemed to be paying attention. Carl was still slightly frustrated that Hoodsey didn’t seem to care because he was wondering if this prank was even worth it. But then he noticed all the glares they were getting again and decided that even if it was wasted on Hoodsey, the rest of the class was benefitting perfectly.
After school, Carl decided to see if they could still salvage their prank. Blake was held after class to talk to the teacher about another one of his perfect papers so Carl and Hoodsey went to Carl’s locker to organize his backpack to go home. Carl was thinking about the best way to phrase what he wanted to say when Hoodsey spoke up, “If I’m being honest Carl, I thought you and Blake would wait for high school to get together. But I am happy that you seem so happy, I’m sorry I’ve been so distant lately. I thought you and Blake were becoming closer friends than we were, and I guess I was a little jealous. Now I understand it’s because you guys were realizing your feelings for each other.” Hoodsey looked a little embarrassed to admit that out loud.
Carl was astounded. Hoodsey was acting weird because he thought him and Blake were becoming closer than he and Hoodsey? Of course not! He started hanging around with Blake more when Hoodsey got mad at Carl and decided to listen to his mom and stop hanging around with Carl. Now he felt a little bad for doing this whole prank because Hoodsey thought Carl was actually interested in Blake as more than friends. Maybe he should have just talked to Hoodsey first instead of going for a big prank. “Hoodsey, you’re my only best friends. Noone could take your place.” Carl sighed slightly and smiled at Hoodsey.
Hoodsey couldn’t hang out immediately after school like Carl had been hoping for so he and Blake went back to his place alone while Carl told Blake what Hoodsey had said. “And now I can’t even tell him it’s a prank because then he might get mad at me again.” Carl fell back onto his bed with a groan, pulling Blake down with him since he still hadn’t let go of his hand since they had left the school lest anyone notice them. He was slightly surprised that Blake hadn’t let go of his hand when they went into Carl’s house but since he hadn’t noticed he figured Blake hadn’t noticed either. When Blake didn’t get up immediately, Carl let go of his hand but settled his hand back on Blakes waist where Blake was basically laying on him, it wasn’t uncomfortable. He flung his other arm over his eyes and groaned again over his plight.
“Well,” Blake said, “We can’t pretend to date forever. This was only supposed to be for today.” He sat up a little, more hovering over Carl now instead of laying on him but not moving enough that Carl’s arm fell off him. Blake flushed slightly being this close to Carl glad that Carl couldn’t see his face. He didn’t know how he would be able to keep his slight crush a secret from Carl if he had to go on pretending to be Carl’s boyfriend. Having him in his space all day had been both nice and torturous. Carl kept his eyes covered and didn’t respond, making Blake groan now. “Carl!” He snapped.
Carl sighed as he removed his arm, jumping slightly when he saw how close Blake’s face was to his. “I know. You only agreed to the day, honestly, I have no idea where Hoodsey got the idea that we make sense. We are good friends sure, but could you actually see us dating for real?” Carl laughed slightly at the absurdity of the vision only to stop when he saw Blake looking down blushing and looking a little dejected. Carl didn’t quite know what to say or do until Blake moved to get off him. “Wait! What’s wrong?” Carl held tight to Blakes waist with both hands now confused but having a feeling if Blake moved he wasn’t going to get a chance to talk to him again like this.
Blake gulped as he said, “Don’t be ridiculous Carl, nothing is wrong.” He couldn’t look at him while he said it and he knew it was pointless trying to pull away from Carl again, but he still leaned away as much as he could without trying to break Carl’s hold.
“Don’t lie to me Blakey boy, what’s wrong? What did I say?” Carl glared slightly at Blake as if the boy avoiding his eyes would feel the heat and admit what happened. When he didn’t Carl groaned again. “Blake, come on! Is it that you can see us dating or something? I honestly would think you would have some high society boyfriend if you actually did have one. What could you even see in me?” Carl wasn’t really talking down about himself but compared to Blake, Carl knew he didn’t have much to offer, especially right now in junior high.
“Of course I would have a high society boyfriend. A proper one that wouldn’t be pretend.” Blake scoffed, then sighed. “I don’t see us dating per se, but if you must know I do have some small feelings that have not gone away when it comes to you. Having a day where you act like my boyfriend has not made the feelings go away. You actually weren’t the worst boyfriend, but I am not looking to actually date you, Carl.” Blake was looking away blushing again over having admitted that out loud.
Carl could tell he was in shock, he was just gaping at Blake now. His arms around him had no strength, the other boy could easily break his hold had he tried to. After racking his brains for something, anything to say he could only latch onto to one thing Blake had said, “Haven’t gone away? So, how long have you had these small feelings for me Blake?” Carl asked. He didn’t know if he wanted the answer to that, but he knew if he didn’t get one it would drive him mad.
Blake still hadn’t looked at him but his pink face turned darker still as he mumbled incoherently before finally looking back down at Carl. “Um, not long you know how these flighty crushes are. But I suppose if I had to give an amount of time it would be something like two years.”
“TWO YEARS?” Carl shouted, “What do you mean TWO YEARS? That’s not a flight crush Blake that’s a full-blown crush. Why did you never tell me?” Carl was freaking out now, how had he never noticed that his enemy-turned friend had a crush on him? Two years would put that in the still enemy timeline. So even before Blake and him were friendly, Blake had a crush on him.
Blake rolled his eyes at the panic he saw in his friend’s face although his blush wasn’t fading. He once again tried to get off of Carl just to find once again Carl’s arms were like a vice around his waist, making him sigh. “It was nothing Carl. Hardly anything to speak about. It only comes up now because we spent the whole day pretending to be boyfriends. Now can I please get up?”
Carl frowned but he loosened his arms and sat up with Blake, not letting him leave the bed but letting him stop pressing against his side. “How did I not know?” Carl asked with a frown. He prided himself on knowing almost everything about his enemies, which at one point he had counted Blake as one of them. Knowing if they had any weaknesses was crucial if you were to get anything done. How had he overlooked one of the biggest weaknesses Blake had was him?
“I did not want you or anyone else to know, Carl. As I said, it was nothing. Small, flighty, hardly worth mentioning at all.” Blake gave him a small smile silently willing Carl to let it go. He did not want to make a big deal about this, lest he has to look closer at his feelings which after being out and open with Carl Foutley as his boyfriend all day has him really avoiding looking to close at the warmth he felt all day. “Please Carl, drop it.” Blake practically whispered.
Carl looked at Blake, at his desperate face. Did he not want to talk about it? Was he worried Carl would end their friendship? That wasn’t happening. Without thinking, he reached out as he had been doing all day when he wasn’t touching Blake and he laced their fingers together again. “I don’t want to end this.” Carl said. Blake’s confused look made Carl realize that instead of their friendship, Blake may be thinking about their fake relationship. Carl knew he should explain himself, but he didn’t know where his voice went. Blake was still so close to Carl and a light tug of Blake’s hand had him moving closer still. Blake’s eyes widened slightly as Carl leaned in, pressing their lips together just as the door opened and Hoodsey walked in. Blake flew backwards away from Carl, his face glowing scarlet as he scrambled off of Carl’s bed.
Blake looked at Hoodsey and said, “Uh, April Fools Hoodsey. Good day!” He looked once more at Carl who was still looking at him with that look and he turned and ran out, he would deal with this another day when his heart wasn’t trying to escape his chest, and his mind wasn’t so scrambled. He ran all the way home, his lips tingling the entire way.
POV: So I found this fanfic while cleaning out an old drawer and I guess I never typed it up. I don’t love the ending but I’ll admit I am to lazy to change it. I hope you all enjoyed it!