Zukaang Week
Secret Admirer
Zuko shook his shaggy hair out of his eyes and snuck another peek at Aang. The grey eyed junior was laughing as he walked with Sokka and Katara, his friends and almost constant companions. 'Jeez,' he thought, 'would it kill them to let Aang out of their sight for five minutes?' He had promised himself that he would tell the younger boy about his feelings today, but there was no way he was doing so in front of the boy's friends. Zuko ignored the feeling deep down inside, the one that felt suspiciously like the relief he felt when his father went on business trips. He wasn't sure, for one thing, whether he was more relieved at the opportunity to delay the pain of the rejection he was almost certain he would hear, or because not approaching Aang meant that he didn't have to tell his homophobic father that he was gay yet.
"Why don't you just say something to him instead of just staring at him like a lovesick puppy, Sparky?" Zuko sighed. Great. Toph, the one person who always managed to catch him making goo-goo eyes at Aang. To try to avoid answering her question, he tried to think of a time when she hadn't. He failed.
"I am not staring at him, Toph." There was no point in asking which 'he' she referred to. They both knew it was Aang. Just like they both knew he had been staring. Toph's only reply was a derisive snort. But at least she would drop the subject. For now.
"If you really want to talk to Twinkletoes alone, all you have to do is ask him." Apparently she wasn't willing to drop the subject today. "I'm sure he would jump at the chance to talk to you alone." Zuko glared at her, which only made her smirk widen.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Only that you're even stupider than I thought, Sparky."