A/N: The title is pretty lame, I know but I was rushing to post it (Internet problems)
Enjoy.
Summary: He had the perfect life; rich, famous and attractive. She was something new, something fresh; something he needed. Modern Day AU.
The Hitchhiker
His sleek black Audi sped through the heavy rainfall along the empty highway. Tall dark trees loomed over the tar path, swaying violently in the winds.
Zuko sat in his car, gold eyes squinted, hands gripping the steering wheel tightly, left foot poised over the brakes, ready to slam down if necessary. He was speeding, he knew that but he just wanted to get away from it all, spend a few days away from it all, the media, the stress, work and more importantly, her. His girlfriend.
The same girlfriend who he had caught in a very compromising position with one of his employees-his name was Chan or something like that-and the same girlfriend who brushed it aside like it was nothing, instead stating that their relationship was too "boring" and that she needed something to "spice it up". He had scoffed, furious and hurt then did what he always did best: he stormed out. And here he was, speeding along a deserted highway to what his late cousin had once upon a time called "The Getaway House".
As he squinted his eyes, struggling to make out the tar road, his eyes fell upon an out of place shape. At first he brushed it aside to be an oddly deformed tree but as he neared, he realised it was a person, a young woman no less. He found his foot pressing down slowly on the brake and he leaned over his steering to get a better view of the woman.
She was short, he noticed, and hunched over as she walked hurriedly through the pouring rain and it wasn't until he was cruising right next to her that she paused, only for a second to glance at the car before continuing onwards, her pace faster than before.
Quickly, he lowered the window on the passenger side, leaned over in his seat-as far as his seatbelt would allow-and bellowed over the loud pounding o the rain.
"Do you need a lift?"
The girl did not hesitate or give any indication of whether or not she was aware of his presence and just continued onward in what could be described as a sort of trot. Zuko scowled. He nearly sped off. He was trying to be nice and here she was being rude. He analysed her as best as he could in the rain and darkness. Her clothes were thin and completely soaked through. Her hair, exceptionally long, clung to her face and all the way down to her thighs. In her arms she clutched something, which he later realised was a school bag. She was shivering, so again he tried.
"Do you need a lift?"
The woman finally faced him and he realised just how young she was. She could not have been more than nineteen. Her face was slender, cheeks high and quite full. Her lips were parted and trembling as she spoke, "No t-thank you." her words were clear and her tone was quite harsh but he caught her eyeing the warm leather seats of his car. Hastily, she turned forward and continued her half-trot-half-walk. She was done talking to him.
This time Zuko's foot touched the accelerator lightly and left the brake. He very nearly sped off when he realised how this must look. The girl was terrified, he realised, for all she knew he may have been a murderer or a human trafficker or a rapist. He shook his head and chuckled lightly then tried again.
"I can assure you, I'm not a killer or a rapist, I'm just trying to help." this caused the young girl to stop in her tracks. Now she turned and faced him fully. He noticed her eyes were blue... They were beautiful...
"I don't know you so how do I know you're not lying?" she yelled over the rain. Her body was tense and she looked ready to bolt at any second.
"I guess you'll just have to take my word for it." the girl was not convinced. She stared at him long and hard. In all his twenty four years in life Zuko had never been affected by a stare as he had been by her own critical stare. He had never wanted so much for someone to believe him, to trust him. His fingers fidgeted and he felt uncomfortable by her long stare. When it seemed she would not speak anytime soon he shrugged, "Besides, would you rather walk to wherever it is you are going or have me drop you off? It's dry and warm in here." he offered then mentally hit himself; that sounded like something a kidnapper would say!
After another long thoughtful stare the girl gave in and slid into the passenger seat.
...
Katara had no idea why she accepted the strangers' offer.
Maybe because she was freezing her butt off in the stupid cold or her boyfriend was too much of an ass for her brain refused to function correctly or maybe because she was having such a shitty day, getting into a car with a complete stranger would not have been so bad after all, as long as it meant getting away from the stupid rain. Normally she loved the rain and would just about spend every waking moment in it if she could, but not at that moment.
Right then all she had wanted to do was get home to her father, her Gran-Gran, her brother Sokka and his long-time girlfriend, Suki; was that too much to ask?
Apparently yes! Because nearly all the fucking roads were closed, the stupid phone lines were down, none of the buses or cabs were running and her boyfriend was too busy fucking her best friend to even bother to give her a lift! Fucking fantastic!
So when a hot stranger in a nice, new-looking car offers her shelter from the irritating rain that caused most of her problems, who is she to refuse? Besides, the guy looked nothing like a killer or rapist, more like one of those young billionaire bachelors who worked from four in the morning to three in the morning and lived off coffee...nasty stuff, she could not stand it...amongst plenty of other things, i.e her newly turned ex-boyfriend, Jet and her now ex-best friend, Song. But then again, as the saying goes "never judge a book by it's cover".
She let out a breath of contempt when she settled into the warm, soft and dry leather seat of this strangers' vehicle. Once she was seated she felt the man's gold gaze on her. It made her blush. She suddenly felt conscious of how she looked. Her eyes were probably red and swollen from all the crying, her lips were probably blue and twice their original size and she did not even want to think about her hair. Shakily, she ran her fingers through her hair, attempting to straighten out the knots and tame the wild strands to lie flat. This seemed to shake the stranger from his thoughts for he cleared his throat and turned forward.
"Please put your seatbelt on." was all he said and without waiting for a response or for her to even put her seatbelt on, he was already speeding once again along the dark road.
...
The girl, he realised was very pretty, though he had seen much more beautiful girls, her beauty was different. Those other girls were primped and pampered, she had a sort of roughness to her beauty. Maybe it was the fact that he had found her walking alone along the road in the pouring rain, miles from any city or town, or maybe it was the way her hair clung to her, thick and wet curls, or maybe it was the fact that she had not swooned at the sight of him or taken any notice of the way the left side of his face was viscously marred beyond repair.
Or maybe it had been all those things, Zuko was unsure. He stared the girl, from the wet, worn and battered sneakers covering her small feet, to the ratty blue jeans hugging her slim leg and rounded butt-which made him blush furiously when he realised he had been staring at it and actually liking it-to the large baby blue sweater hanging off her shoulders, to the blue choker necklace with a smooth grey stone, around her slender, brown neck, to her curved jaw, rounded chin, full puckered lips, small button nose, wide blue eyes, large forehead...
He only realised he was staring when she passed a trembling hand through her hair and tilted her face away from him. He rapidly cleared his throat, reminded her about her seatbelt and took his foot of the brake.
She was definitely no Mai:
Whereas Mai was thin, this girl was curvy, Mai was pale, this girls' skin was a smooth creamy chocolate; whereas Mai's hair was stark black, needle straight and always perfect looking, this girls' was messy, thick, curly and falling out of it's restraints at the top of her head and into her dark face. Mai was graceful and always light on her feet. She always carried herself with an air of superiority and aloofness, her back always straight nose in the air. This girl was clumsy and stomped her feet hard when she walked. She slouched in her seat with her head bowed down; but she was still graceful in the way she moved, so sure and fluid in her motions, she was confident and powerful and he was so very attracted t her. And Mai was just... Mai, gloomy and dull, even during sex!
Zuko frowned. Why was he comparing this complete stranger to Mai, he did not even know her! To get his mind off of his confused musings, Zuko broke the silence.
"Where are you headed?"
The girl was busy threading her fingers through her wet hair and tugging at the tangled strands. She paused and furrowed her brows, contemplating on whether or not to answer. Finally she did.
"Southern Water District." she murmured and continued passing her slim, brown fingers through her hair. Zuko furrowed his eyebrows and chanced a glance at the girl to see if she was joking.
She looked dead serious.
"That's like a four hour drive from the closest town." he said. "And you planned on walking all the way there?" The girl sighed and shrugged, she dropped her hands into her lap and twined her fingers together.
"I wasn't thinking straight." she defended. Her tone held a note of finality to it. Her lips were stretched into a thin, grim line and her eyes darkened to a blue of a darker hue. She looked at him and their gazes locked. He had never seen such a beautiful state of blue before. His heart stuttered along several beats. "You can just drop me off at the nearest Petrol Station, I can find my way."
He frowns, "That's miles away."
The girl shifted, uncomfortable. "Then I'll walk from here."
He shook his head quickly. "I have a house not far from here. It's where I'm going right now. You could, er, stay there til the storm blows over." he offered nervously. A long silence follows then the girl laughed out, loud and shrill but he liked her laugh and found something warm blooming in his chest.
"Do you normally invite strange girls you pick up on the side of the road to your home, without knowing anything about them, like their names?"
Zuko chuckled lamely, his nerves and insecurities kicked in at a high gear. With the hand not on the steering wheel he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "No. I'm pretty sure you would be the first." his sad excuse at humour was proved successful when the girl laughed softly.
She tapped a lone finger against her chin and pretended to think about it. "Do you have a pool?" she asked. Zuko nodded sharply.
"And a lake." Was he bragging? He hoped not...unless it was working... And she was considering coming home with him...he nearly smacked his head, hard.
"Ooh!" the girl squealed mockingly. Zuko blushed and bowed his head feeling stupid. "Thanks, but no." she said, her tone had suddenly become thoughtful and she was openly looking at him. "What's you name?"
The question startled Zuko. It hadn't occurred to him that she had wanted to know anything about him; she had seemed a bit uncomfortable-though that may have been because she was soaked to the bone and shivering violently.
"Um, Zuko." he mumbled shyly.
"Zuko..." she murmured as if tasting something new and intriguing. Then she grinned coyly;
"I'm Katara."