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“Marriage just sounds scary.”
Karl frowns at him, opening his tired eyes to look sadly at his sunkissed boyfriend of four years. They lay on their bed lazily, space between them, sun filtering in on their bare skin. “Really? Why?” Because just maybe, marrying Dream is all he’s ever dreamed of for just a little under three years.
Dream shrugs unknowingly. “I don’t really know. It’s just… it sounds so huge.”
Maybe waking up at seven in the morning was not a good idea, for either of them. They’re both still low on sleep, yet somehow awake enough to discuss marriage so casually. Karl doesn’t even remember how it was brought up, and neither does Dream. They had been talking their usual morning nonsense, spewing random words that just happened to turn into coherent conversations.
This one, however, was making Karl quite upset.
Karl frowns deeper, and he has to look away from Dream to keep himself composed. He curls into himself, trying to hide his disappointment from Dream. Is this your way of saying you don’t want to marry me? Maybe we could make it less intimidating.
“Yeah,” Karl weakly agrees, knowing he has to say something, at least, to avoid suspicion.
“Karl? Are you okay?”
No, getting married to you is my dream. “Yeah, um, I’m fine.”
But Dream can hear right through him. He reaches a tender hand out to touch Karl’s skin, and to Dream’s sadness, he flinches when it makes contact. “What’s wrong?”
Karl knows he can’t hide from his boyfriend. And deep down, as selfish as it might be, maybe what he says will persuade him to change his mind.
“I- um, we don’t have to, of course, but… I just… I don’t know, I’ve always thought I was going to marry you.” Karl looks up then, and Dream feels small. “Don’t feel pressured, though, honestly. I love us the way we are, either way.” I want a ring, one with you embedded into it.
“Oh, okay…” Dream thinks for a minute. Is marriage really all that scary? “It just… seems like a lot to go through. Does that not scare you?” He bites his lip shyly, afraid of a negative response.
Karl shakes his head timidly, staring at his hands. “No. I think we could do it together.”
Dream gets lost in his own mind for a second time. “Do you know how it works? I’ve never really… I wouldn’t know how… or- or what to do…”
Karl shrugs, upset. “I don’t know either, I guess. But we could do it.”
We could do it.
“ We ” is what gets Dream. Them. Karl and Dream. Dream and Karl, together. We could do it.
Karl looks at him hopefully, and Dream melts. Marriage. Could it really be so bad, if it was Karl?
He would never admit this out loud, but the reason Dream is so hesitant is because every marriage he’s ever witnessed has turned to shit. Whether it was the marriage aspect of it or just the people being wrong for each other, well… Dream’s not so sure anymore. He always thought it was marriage, the legal bonds that snaked their way up people’s throats and severed their love, but maybe… maybe they just didn’t have it in the first place.
His own parents were divorced. And they’re fine now , but at the time… it was pretty bad. They told him it cost a lot of money, legal action, and effort. Dream’s not sure he could handle that kind of stress; not again, at least.
But with Karl? These past four years have been practically stress-free. And even so, they’ve had some rough patches, but they always work out in some way or the other. Because they work well together, and they know how to fix things. They know each other. They could do this.
Karl looks so timid as he speaks up, “Hopefully, I can pull you back a little. Maybe help convince you…”
Dream smiles sadly and reaches out to cup Karl’s glowing face. He’s beautiful, really. Karl leans into his warm touch, and Dream falls in love all over again.
“Maybe we can meet somewhere in the middle,” Dream admits, and Karl’s eyes shine with hope.
Dream thinks it over in the shower later that day.
The future is terrifying. Planning ahead for the long run is something that almost gives Dream a panic attack each time he thinks about it. It’s so uncertain, so rocky, so… insecure. How will things play out? How will they turn out in the end?
But… something about marrying Karl didn’t seem so scary. Like maybe, for once in his life, this could be fun. This could be theirs to enjoy, instead of worrying about it.
Karl’s a laid back person. Most times, maybe even sometimes when he should be, he doesn't worry about things too much. Somehow, he knows they’ll work out, knows they’ll be just fine in the end. Maybe this was one of those things. Maybe he could help Dream get through this.
Dream’s not one for big, important moves. Having to get legally married sounds absolutely terrifying to him. Not only is it a huge step, but it’s lifelong and never ending. If this fails, it has consequences. Time, money, and energy, will all be greatly lost.
But what could possibly fail with Karl?
He’s always thought he’d never want to be “trapped” in that sort of thing, not like his parents were. It was traumatizing enough to witness; there’s no way in hell he wants to go through it.
But even so, if he and Karl did come to an end at one point, it wouldn’t be so… big , like his parent’s divorce was. It could be tame. Karl would make it so, he knows it.
He could figure out how to get married. He’s smart, it’s something he could do. The opportunity is there; very clearly, Karl wants to. And Karl looked so upset…
He could do this for Karl.
We could do it.
The reassurance rings in his head repeatedly. They could conquer it together. Karl would make sure it’d all be okay. It wouldn’t have to be scary.
As he plays with the idea of being married to Karl more and more in his head, the less intimidating it sounds. He could do this. He could enjoy that life.
He could get married to Karl. They could be together in an even more domestic way, tied together with something a lot stronger than just titles for highschool sweethearts. Husband.
He can imagine it. Nice to meet you! This is my husband, Karl.
It sounds… frighteningly okay. Dream thinks it might even— dare he say it— have a good ring to it.
The last and final step of love. Marriage. Legal bonds. Ew.
He likes to think of it more as… forever. But in a nice connotation.
Forever with Karl doesn’t sound so bad.
He tries to hide his excitement once he’s out of the safety of the shower. He really does. But Karl knows him, and it’s not often that he’s bouncing on the balls of his feet as he walks “casually” around the house. He looks like he’s just won the lottery or something.
“What’s up with you?” Karl asks with a smile, turning his head to follow Dream’s electric movements. He makes quick work of everything he does, which, right now, is plating some toast and buttering it. Dream even romanticizes buttering toast , maneuvering the knife like magic with a sprinkle of glitter.
“Nothing,” Dream says, his voice a few pitches too high, and Karl scoffs.
“Sure,” Karl says sarcastically, watching his beautiful boyfriend put away the butter with a swing of his hips to close the fridge door. “What happened?”
“Literally nothing, actually,” Dream says with a laugh, and it’s actually not far from the truth. The only thing that changed was Dream now knows he wants to marry Karl.
Oh god , he’s gonna marry Karl.
A glistening smile makes its way onto his face as he repeats the thought over and over in his mind. He gets to marry Karl. The thought on it’s own was enough to make him ecstatic. He doesn’t even have a ring yet.
Oh shoot, he has to get a ring.
“Did you burn your toast, love?”
Dream’s head falls to look at his already-buttered toast. He picks it up and inspects it. Yeah, definitely crispy.
“Oops.”
Karl cackles, bright laughter filling their kitchen. “How did you not notice?” Dream stares mindlessly at his ruined toast a little longer as Karl pulls open the fridge. “Want some OJ?”
Dream throws his toast dismissively back on his plate, upset. With a smile, he teases, “I will never understand why you call it OJ. Just say ‘orange juice,’ it’s not that hard.” Karl just giggles and pulls down a glass, filling it to Dream’s usual preferred amount. While Karl is leaned over, Dream plants a kiss on his cheek. “Thanks, baby.”
Karl just smiles and turns away, spinning the cap on the orange juice, content with the lingering kiss that resonates on his cheek. He slides the orange juice into the fridge and closes it, moving to sit next to Dream at the counter and lean his head on Dream’s arm.
Dream smiles at his tired figure. But he’s hungry, so he apologizes under his breath and gently pats Karl. “I’m gonna make more toast. Want some?”
“Mmm… maybe one piece,” Karl says after a small moment of thinking, and lets Dream get to make them both toast. “Preferably not burned, thank you.” Dream scowls playfully at him and makes sure the timer is set at the right time. Maybe he bumped it while he was cleaning the other day.
Dream watches the two pieces begin to cook for a little while, watching the sides of the toaster blaze into an orange-ish color as if something could go wrong. He turns to Karl and asks, “Want to watch a show or something? We could have our toast on the couch.”
Karl nods happily. “Yeah! But not on the couch, I just cleaned and toast is… crumby.” Dream laughs at his joke and Karl smiles. “Can we watch after we finish?”
“Yeah, of course.” Dream glances back to the toast. “Do you want orange juice, too?”
“Yeah, I’ll take some OJ ,” Karl taunts, emphasizing the opposing pronunciation.
“Shut up. Maybe you don’t deserve such a luxury if you’re gonna disrespect it’s name like that.”
They’re having dinner together a few weeks later when Dream realizes.
He should propose now. It may be unconventional and unplanned, but with the way Karl looks underneath the glow of their kitchen table light, with the way he keeps bouncing his leg and twirling his fork in his food more than he needs to, the universe is practically screaming at him to pull out the ring. It’s location is only a room away.
Karl just looks too good. The atmosphere just feels too right.
Dream waits for a pause in their random conversation to excuse himself. “I need to go grab something really quick, I’ll be right back.” He’s already standing up before Karl can respond.
“Oh, okay,” Karl replies, but not unkindly. He watches Dream exit all the way through their bedroom door before looking back down to his pasta; which is unbelievably delicious, might he add. Dream made the sauce from scratch, and when Karl emerged from his stuffy room post work haze, the scent of it alone cleared his overwhelmed senses.
Dream returns fairly quickly after. Karl notices the shift. “You look… Did you fix your hair?”
Dream laughs nervously, as if trying to deny it. “Uh… maybe?”
Karl feels something rise in his chest. He giggles it off and gathers another mouthful of pasta, choosing to ignore it. It’s probably nothing. Don’t get your hopes up.
Meanwhile, every organ in Dream’s body feels like it’s vibrating. Don’t fuck this up.
“Uh… Karl?”
Karl looks up from his noodles, startled, and sets down his fork as he relaxes. Karl can sense Dream’s obvious nerves, watching as his knee bounces and his hands twitch.
“Yeah, what’s up?” Don’t look into it too much.
Dream glances down before raising his afraid eyes up to Karl again, gazing at him with slight terror.
“Um… so- so I didn’t plan for this to go this way— at all, actually— but uh… I just…”
Karl watches quietly, eyes slightly wide and hands in his lap. Patience. Have patience.
“Yeah?” Karl urges softly, nodding as if to make him keep talking.
“You… you look really good right now, way too good for anyone under yellow kitchen lighting, way too… just… so pretty.” And Dream’s already breathless, with the way Karl looks at him so carefully. “And- and again, like I said, I wasn’t planning to do this like this, but… can— Karl?”
Karl perks up, visibly brightening just a little. “Yeah?” he asks again, and his voice is hoarse with anticipation.
Dream slowly reaches for his front pocket, standing up in the process. He walks over to where Karl sits, lowers himself onto one knee, watches as Karl’s face crumbles when he pulls out the small box, and asks, “Will you marry me?” He opens the box, and there the ring shines, in all its glory, surrounded in white velvet lining.
Karl just about bursts into tears, smiling so hard that he looks like he couldn’t stop even if he tried. “Oh my god, yes! Yes, Dream, I will marry you, like, a thousand times.”
Dream laughs. “I think you’re supposed to say ‘a thousand times yes’ or something, but that—“
“Shut up shut up shut up!” Karl exasperates, jumping around in his seat, shaking his hands around in excitement. He’s almost too caught up in it to ask, “Can I have the ring?”
“Oh! Yeah, of course, here.”
Karl bites his lip as Dream takes the silver ring from the small velvet box and slides it on Karl’s hand. It’s simple, a single diamond engraved into a thick ring to match Karl’s style, and it fits. Perfectly.
“I thought… you didn’t want to get married…” Karl trails off sadly as it slides onto his ring finger.
“It’s… it’s not as scary when it’s you,” Dream says with a gentle smile, watching as Karl’s eyes well up as he holds out the hand that bears the ring. “I think it could be fun to be married to you. It’s not like I want to be with anyone else for the rest of my life.” Forever with you sounds nice.
“Dream…” Karl says, and his voice is wet with happy tears as he looks at his ring, covering his mouth with the other hand. “It’s so beautiful. It’s perfect. God, I’m in love with you.”
Dream blushes, even though he’s heard it a million times, even though he knows it well. Because it’s different now; forever. It’s not so bad.
“I’m so glad you like it,” Dream admits breathlessly, moving to sit back up on his wooden chair, one that Karl actually fixed not too long ago. “I was a little worried, since, well, obviously I’ve never seen you wear wedding rings, so I didn’t really know what to get. And the guy was kind of rude? He might’ve been homophobic, but anyway—“
“Dream!” Karl squeals excitedly, effectively stopping Dream’s ramble short. “I love it! It’s okay!” His smile is too big for his face, and it’s cute, and it’s perfect. They’re engaged.
“Yay! I’m glad!” Dream exclaims, mocking him kindly, going to pick up his fork. He realizes his hands are shaking, but he’s not nervous anymore. It’s only as if the best thing of his life has just happened to him, and his body is freaking out. His skin feels like it’s buzzing, his heart feels like it’s flying, and his feet feel like they don’t touch the floor.
Dream watches as Karl tries to go back to eating, twisting his fork with spaghetti, but he’s shaking too and smiling too wide and he fais. “We’re engaged, Dream!”
“We’re gonna get married, Karl!”
Karl screams of excitement, standing up from his chair so abruptly that it almost tips over, and runs to Dream. Karl pulls the chair away from the table and goes to sit on his lap, straddling Dream the same way that they have many late nights as one of them works or plays games. He buries his hot face in Dream’s neck and he can feel Karl’s smile.
“Yeah, we are, baby,” Dream says, and adoration drips from his lips and falls onto Karl’s skin. He kisses Karl’s mop of hair and smiles to himself; this wasn’t scary at all.
“Okay, so maybe I’m a little scared,” he admits to Sapnap as he looks over himself in the mirror. Fancy black suit, fancy purple tie to match Karl’s suit, fancy shoes, fancy look. He looks good- very good, actually- but there’s a little murmur in his chest that he can’t get rid of.
Sapnap is doing his tie in a different mirror as he responds, “It’s okay to be nervous, you know? When Punz and I were getting married, I was a wreck .”
Dream laughs to himself as he looks at Sapnap’s hand and smiles a little at the ring on his hand. “Yeah, I was there.”
“Oh. Right. Well, then you definitely know what I’m talking about.”
He definitely does. “Yeah. I just… something feels…” Dream trails off, eyes falling to the floor as his words fail to continue.
Sapnap frowns, stopping what he’s doing as he looks Dream over. “Dream? Are you okay?”
“I really want this to be perfect,” he admits, turning to Sapnap, his eyebrows drawn. “Karl’s been waiting for this forever, and… what if something bad happens? I don’t want this to be ruined for him…”
Sapnap sighs. “You know it’s not in your control, though.” He comes over and puts a hand on Dream’s shoulder as they look at each other through the mirror. “We can just hope for the best. And I’m sure it’s gonna go great, dude!”
Dream takes a deep breath. “Okay. Okay. I’m just… okay, now I’m nervous,” he says with a shaky laugh. He moves to look at Sapnap, who looks at him with kindness.
“It’ll be okay, I promise.” Sapnap pats him twice before removing his hand. “Come on, let’s go get in position. It’s gonna be amazing. Karl’s probably so excited, man.”
Dream smiles at the thought of Karl in his own room with George and Quackity, smiling as he bounces around getting ready for his big day. Finally , it’s here. He’s glad he’s getting married to Karl. And, when he thinks about it, Dream’s excited, too.
“Yeah.” Dream grins at Sapnap, who smirks right back. “I’m ready.”
“I’m proud of you.”
“Oh, shut up,” he says, and Sapnap knows he really means I love you.
<hr/>
“Oh god, oh god,” Karl says, shaking out his hands as if they need drying. “I’m so nervous. Do you think Dream regrets it?”
“Karl—“ George starts sincerely, but Quackity cuts him off.
“What the hell are you talking about?” he exasperates, smiling a little. “Karl, why would he regret it? He loves you, you know that more than either of us.” Quackity gestures between George and him.
“No, I know, I just… he was hesitant a while ago and I… I don’t know.”
George scoffs. “C’mon, man, it’s gonna be okay. You know—“
“I really wanna see him,” Karl blurts, frowning. “I miss him, I haven’t seen him like, all afternoon. What if he’s worried? I just— I have to go.”
Karl stands up, and he’s in his suit, and he’s sure there’s some unspoken rule that you’re not allowed to see your partner before they walk up the aisle. He’s not really sure how traditional weddings go; he doesn’t care. Karl can’t wait, and he wants to see the love of his life before they’re legally bonded together forever, and he needs to be near him, even if only for a second.
Neither George nor Quackity try to stop him when he runs out of the room, and Karl ignores every single person that shouts his name as he leaves the area. He doesn’t actually know exactly where he’s going, but his feet take him somewhere and he blindly follows. As long as he gets to see Dream.
He turns the corner, and then there he is. And Sapnap. But Dream, oh god. He looks so handsome, so perfect, beautiful, lovely—
“Karl,” he hears Dream say weakly, his voice shaky and breathless. Both of them are frozen. Karl vaguely registers Sapnap walking somewhere else.
“Oh god, Dream,” Karl wails and runs to him, his feet finally working enough to move. Dream opens his arms and Karl flies right into him, wrapping his arms tightly around his lover and feeling strong hands caress his back. His bottom lip trembles as he rushes to say, “I missed you so much, how are you?”
“Karl, you look so beautiful…” Karl thinks he might be crying.
“Are you crying?” Karl separates from his chest to look up, seeing Dream’s eyes shine. “Dream! Stop crying! We haven’t even gotten married yet!”
Dream chuckles, and his voice is wet. He sniffles and brings his hands up to cup Karl’s delicate face, rubbing the pads of his thumbs over his red cheeks.
“How do you feel, love?” Dream asks, laughing a little to himself.
“I’m excited, I swear!” he reassures, bringing his hands up to cover Dream’s. “I just needed to see you.”
“I’m really glad you came,” Dream admits, leaning down to kiss him on the forehead tenderly. “I missed you, too. I’m glad you’re excited.”
“Are… are you?”
Dream smiles, and it’s so genuine. “Yeah, I’m really excited.” Dream sees right through Karl’s worried gaze. “I promise. We’re gonna get married, Karl!”
Karl squeals and smiles brightly, looking only slightly up at the sunshine boy he’s about to marry. Husband. His husband. Almost. Fiancé. Love of his life.
“Yes! We are! Now stop crying, we have a wedding to attend!”
Dream blinks his tears away, his face glowing. “Am I allowed to kiss you before the kiss?”
Karl shakes his head. “Forehead.”
Dream rolls his eyes playfully and leans down to peck one more kiss onto Karl’s forehead, smiling against his skin. Karl beams and takes Dream’s hands off of his face, kissing both of his palms before gently lowering them manually back to his sides. Karl giggles and waves promptly, turning to run off and sprint back to his room. He hears Dream laugh behind him, but he doesn’t look back.
He feels better. So, so much better.
“You look happy,” is the first thing George says when he re-enters the room.
Karl just smiles and nods. “I am.”
They cry the entirety of the ceremony.
They can barely see the beautiful man in front of them as they promise their lives away to each other, as they kiss their way into legal bondage, as they finally, finally , are officially together.
When the time comes for the after party, they sneak off to the room Karl got ready in before they have to leave. Maybe people are wondering where they went, but they don’t care. They shut the door and lock it and fly into each other’s arms, swinging themselves around the room in pure glee.
“We’re married !” Karl squeals in a whisper, just so they’re not caught.
“I’m your husband, baby!”
Karl squeals again at Dream’s words. Neither of them care if they’re giddy like children; this was something they’ve been waiting so long for, something that they’ve been preparing for months now. The fact that it’s finally happened is simply surreal.
“You are!” Karl sounds like he’s above the clouds. “Let me get ready for the party.”
As Karl hurries to freshen up and wipe his eyes and make himself a bit more presentable, Dream lets himself think.
He’s married to this man. They’re husbands. And this, inevitably, will come with challenges in the long run, but all Dream can think about is introducing Karl as his husband to new people that he meets. It feels so much more official than boyfriend , and it’s exciting to think about.
The longer he thinks about it, he realizes nothing really changes except for the title and other, unimportant things like marriage benefits and things that have to do with money. They’ll still wake up together, eat breakfast together, be together. Karl just seems so much happier. Dream’s glad he’s able to put that smile on his face.
So he’s still convinced marriage is scary. Even if a person’s willing, forever is still a somewhat daunting promise. But as he watches Karl buzz about the room, it’s not quite as terrifying as it is endearing. Dream’s excited to live with this. Even if it “costs” him forever, even if everyone else’s marriage turns out to be a shit-show. He’s got Karl, now and for however long Karl will have him, and that’s what’s important.
“Let’s go kick ass on the dance floor, Mr. Husband!”