five

                                    

                                          
karl was taken aback by the sudden compliment that sapnap gave him. his face flushed with hot heat as he tore his eyes away from the flower-crowned male who was sitting across from him 
                          
"shut up... but thanks," karl stuttered out as he messed with the grass in front of him. 
                          
sapnap let out a chuckle before pushing himself to his feet. the sound of his hands brushing his pants off was the only sound that was keeping the atmosphere from going silent. after a few seconds, he moved to stand in front of karl, who was still sitting on the ground, staring at the grass as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. 
                          
"come on," sapnap spoke as he held a hand out for karl to grab. the boy on the ground simply looked at him confused, but hesitantly took his hand after a few seconds of thinking. the warmth the male's hand sept into karl's cold one. after gently tugging on karl's hand for a moment, sapnap pulled karl to his feet before looking out toward the lake.
                          
standing side by side, karl noticed that the two about the same height with a one to two inch height difference. at least karl didn't have to physically look up to the male like he had to do with his other friends, who slightly towered over him. the only bad thing is that it would be hard to avoid eye contact if it came down to it. the hot heat from earlier returned to his face. karl put his free hand up to his cheek, trying to calm himself down. hopefully, sapnap just thought that it was the heat. that would be a stretch though since they were sheltered from the sun by the woods behind them. 
                          
chris would flip out whenever he found out that he was right. karl really had dreamt up a guy that was his type. chris would never let karl live it down if they were to ever converse about it. 
                          
"you haven't been to the lake have you?" sapnap questioned as he looked back at karl, who was still daydreaming and thinking. sapnap lightly tugged his arm to get his attention as the boy snapped out of whatever trance he was in.
                          
"uh.. the lake? no, not yet," karl replied as he shook his head. the hold on his hand shifted to his wrist. sapnap gently circled it before beginning to pull karl toward the lake's shore.
                          
"let's get our feet wet and cool off!"
                          
not wanting to fight against sapnap, karl allowed himself to be pulled to the sandy shore of the lake. the ground beneath him went from being firm dirt and grass to an unsteady and loose sand that was grainy. the sand made sure to go into his shoes with every step closer to the lake water. 
                          
karl looked behind him to see the woods sloping upward to taller hills that seemed to be endless. no signs of life were seen as karl scanned to see if there were any houses in sight. there was no luck. no cabins or small homes to be seen. though the location they found themselves in was desolate, it seemed to be more peaceful than it let on. 
                          
karl turned back to the lake ahead of him as he stumbled into sapnap, who suddenly stopped in his tracks. 
                          
"take your shoes off it'll be a lot easier to walk," sapnap remarked as he kicked his shoes off and pulled his socks off. 
                          
karl followed in suit as he kicked his shoes and socks into a small pile that had sand littered all over it. 
                          
without any notice, karl was yanked off toward the lake a bit quicker now since sapnap was now running toward the water. the sand began to get moist and sticky as they got to the shoreline. the sand stuck to the boy's feet as the two stopped to enjoy the view for a little. the water lapped up against the shore with small splashes as if inviting the two males into the cool water for a little bit.
                          
"isn't it going to be too cold?" karl asked, a bit hesitant about going into the lake.
                          
"don't be scared darling," sapnap reassured as he rolled his jeans up to the under part of his knee.