This was his third date with Asami this week.
This was the third time Korra wanted to throw herself out a window this week.
Korra was sitting on Bolin and Mako's couch, "reading" a book. She wasn't really reading, though. She couldn't get Mako and Asami out of her head. Stop thinking about them, she though. But, she couldn't. As much as she wanted too, she couldn't.
Mako was standing in front of the full length mirror, checking himself over. He was wearing the same suit Asami gave to him on their first date, and even his scarf was wrapped around his neck. He looked handsome, he looked happy, something Korra rarely saw in him.
She didn't even know why she was here. Bolin had invited her over, and at first she declined. She didn't want to be around Mako. They were constantly bickering at practice, almost to the point of full-out duels. He never seemed to stop talking about Asami. Asami this, Asami that. She's so great, she's so nice, she's so pretty, blah blah blah. That's all Korra seemed to hear from him nowadays. Even at practice he would talk about her, and it was almost nonstop. More than once, she "accidentally" hit him with a disk, just to get him to shut up.
Bolin came up the ladder to the attic and checked over Mako. "Looking good, bro. Things are getting pretty serious," he said as he raised an eyebrow.
Mako shrugged. "Not really serious, just testing all this relationship crap out. I'm not used to this kind of stuff."
"Yeah, I've noticed." Bolin said as he fixed Mako's coat. "Third time I've seen you wear a suit in a week, this must be a new record," he said with a laugh.
"Do you two ever go to some place normal for dates? Like the park, a normal restaurant, anything?" Korra said before she could stop herself.
"Uh, we just like the fancy places, I guess." Or Asami likes the fancy places and Mako's too high in the clouds to care.
"So, Bo, what do you think of Asami?"
Bolin looked a little taken back. "Uh, she's nice and she's really pre-" he said before stopping himself.
"What?"
"Nothing, she's just…really nice." Bolin said while rubbing his neck
Mako looked at him, confused. "Alright…Korra, what about you?"
Wait. Why was he asking me, she thought. What did he care? He barely paid attention to her all week and last week. What would her opinion do?
"I don't really see why my opinion matters." Korra said matter-of-factly.
"What?" Mako looked at her, quite confused about how his brother and Korra were acting.
"It's not like you really care about my opinion, Mako."
"Korra, I was just asking-"
"Look, I'm sorry, but I've got to go. Tenzin, uh, needs me." She said while running out of the attic.
"Korra, wait-" Mako said but she was already gone.
While she was getting out of the arena, Korra was mentally slapping herself, kicking herself, and firebending herself to ashes. Why am I acting like this? Why should I care? He was just asking a question, she thought.
Korra finally made it out the street and sat at a corner. She didn't feel like leaving yet, she didn't have the energy. Instead, she put her head in her hands. I need to stop acting like this, she thought, I need to stop getting so worked up.
After five minutes like this, she heard footsteps. She thought it was just Mako heading off to his date with her, but it wasn't. It was Bolin.
"Korra, honestly, what was that little show about earlier?"
She lifted her and met Bolin's eyes. He looked concerned, worried, sad.
"I honestly don't know. I guess my feelings got the best of me."
"Feelings? Oh…you like Mako, don't you."
Korra mentally slapped herself again. Great, why did I say that? I should have used a different wording…
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh, cut the crap, Korra. I can tell. I've been able to tell since like, I don't know, a while ago. It's kind of obvious, not to Mako, but to me. I'm a master at this kind of stuff, you know." He said while smirking.
Korra sighed. "I shouldn't have feelings for him. I should focus on my Avatar training and just be friends with you guys and pro-bending, but then emotions have to come in and screw it up."
Bolin kneeled down besides Korra. "Look, you can't help liking who you like. I should know. It's a natural thing, you can't help it."
Korra sighed again, but then picked her head up. "Wait, what do you mean that you should know?"
Bolin pretty much jumped away from her with shifty eyes. "Uh, it's just happened to me a lot, you know, ha ha." He said while rubbing his neck.
"Bolin, I can tell you're nervous because you're rubbing your neck. You did this earlier with Mako. What's up?"
Bolin sighed and crouched back down. "Well, you know Asami, right? Wait, that's a stupid question. Anyway, I've maybe, sort of, kind of had a crush on her for a long time?"
Korra was taken aback. "What do you mean? How could you when you just met-"
"Look, let me explain. When I was twelve or thirteen, I used to go beg downtown while Mako was out working odd jobs. I never wanted him to know because I know he'd be ashamed, and I was ashamed myself, but I had to do it. Sometimes, when I was begging, a pretty young girl with long black hair would donate some money. Sometimes it would be small amounts, but one time, she donated 50 yuans. She did this kind of secretly, because I saw her with her dad and her dad made remarks about how beggars aren't the greatest. She still did it, anyway. And, of course, I kind of started crushing on her without even knowing her name. Eventually, the visits came less and less. Then, they just stopped all together. I never really forgot about her, because of how pretty she was and how she saved Mako and me from being starving in the night. And when I saw Mako with Asami, I just knew it was her. And I can't really do anything about it."
Korra nodded. "Okay, two questions. One, what did Mako think when you brought home money, and two, why haven't you said anything?"
Bolin laughed. "I told Mako I was working at some earthbending class, and I was the teacher. I haven't said anything because he's just been so happy. I don't want to wreck it."
Korra looked down, and immediately Bolin noticed. "To be honest, Korra, I don't know how long this relationship will last. I'm not just saying that because of the whole crush thing, but I'm not sure how much longer Mako will deal with all these fancy outings and dinners. Plus, they really only started dating for looks, like some of my past relationships, so Mako is just kind of thinking with his di-"
"Okay, I get it! Boys don't think with their brains!" Korra laughed.
"Look, Korra, just wait it out. If this doesn't work out, then you have your chance."
"What will you do with Asami if this doesn't work out?"
"I'll be the guy to comfort her and then she'll fall in love with me." Korra laughed. "In all seriousness, I don't know. I probably shouldn't go run off to comfort her since Mako's my brother, but you never know." he shrugged.
Korra got up. "Bolin, thanks for this talk. It kind of helped me stop pitying myself. Look, I probably should head home before Tenzin kills me."
Bolin smiled.
"And don't worry, your secret's safe with me." Korra could see the blush rise on his face, but then she was off, trying to get home as fast as possible so Tenzin wouldn't go crazy.
