Lucky In Love - Chapter 02
Rating: K+
Well, I wasn't planning on writing anything for a while, but I was just too excited about Germany wailing on England today so I had to get something written down. Sorry if it feels rushed, but I can't stand writing too much drama, so I wanted to try and get past it to the fun part of this story. Here Jin comes home and Zuko tells her what happened. Hope I kept them roughly in character for this chapter. Thoughts always welcome, and hopefully I can write another chapter today or tomorrow. Enjoy.
As the fog of sleep drifted from the scarred teen, eyes instinctively narrowed, feeling an odd, dream-like weight resting upon his stomach. Breathing felt labored, like something was actively pressing against his mid section. As the mind clicked into action, the instinctively narrowed eyes widened as they shot open, natural self-preservation came to life.
"Geez, about time you woke up. You know it's not a good idea to just sleep on the couch," a soft, sweet voice sounded in his ears. Looking up, he was greeted by a pair of glittering olive colored eyes. Soft wisps of chocolate brown hair fell down in front of the greenish pools as the feline smile dipped down towards him.
"Jin! You're ba-" his words were muffled as her lips pressed against his, slender fingers digging into the cushioning on either side of the young man's head. Zuko's mind began to race, whatever reason he possessed dissipating as he felt the scorching heat of her body pressing against his own.
"Ah, I missed that," the girl on top of him said, a satisfied smile on her face as she pulled back, yet made no move to remove herself from the perch atop the young man's mid-section. Knees pressed against his sides gently, her lips almost curling more as she gazed down at him. Normally well groomed black hair was in a normal morning mess, having not been washed that morning yet.
"Me too," Zuko answered easily, his hands instinctively reaching up, resting on either of the girl's luscious hips. Thumbs traced small circles as he looked up at her, feeling as though he was forgetting something really important. She always did manage to make him lose track of his thoughts at times.
"So, why are you sleeping on the couch? I mean, I know it's comfortable, but not as comfortable as the bed, is it?" she said in a teasing tone, ruffling the young man's hair as she leaned back a bit, grinding down a bit harder on a specific part of his lap.
"I was just watching t.v. late and sort of fell asleep," Zuko answered, trying to remember what exactly he had been watching. He cursed the blandness of the programming on at such late hours, finding it hard to pin down a specific program. The subtle hints of lament he had been feeling upon seeing the young girl flared up, and he remembered what it was that he was so preoccupied by the night before.
His mouth opened to speak, wanting to get it out before it ate him away inside, but he found his voice failing in his throat. Heart beats came fast and hard, feeling as though it would burst clear out of his chest as he tried to muster the courage to answer for what he had done. But looking into the subtle shades of green in her eyes seemed to sap all his courage. He felt low, and as he turned his gaze away from hers, he felt incredible shame and remorse. The last thing he wanted to do was to make this beautiful, vibrant young girl sad.
"What's wrong, Zuko?" she asked, her face falling in concern as she pressed her palms against his cheeks, pulling his face to gaze at her once more. The young brunette seemed to stare into his very soul, trying to pull out whatever it was that was clearly eating away at him from the inside. She was always very good at reading his moods.
"How was your little vacation?" he asked, finding it harder than he was expecting to get to the matter at hand. The young woman's lips tensed, pursing as she put on her slightly frustrated yet still worried expression.
"It was good. I'll tell you about it after you spill it," she said, tightening her grip on his cheeks just a bit, causing his own lips to purse with the force placed on his face. Black eyebrows naturally relaxed as he sighed, his chest heaving as he forced himself in a sitting position, pushing the girl backwards onto the sofa cushion. Closing his eyes, he figured at least he shouldn't leave his body completely at her disposal given what he had to say.
"I have something I really need to tell you," he began, his eyes staring intently at the young woman in front of him. He could see right away the effect that the words had on her, exactly what he had been afraid of seeing. It was not that being hated would be unusual for him, growing up in his family. But something about having this girl be disappointed in him was too much to think about, and he nearly backed out.
But the girl said nothing. She simply tilted her head a bit, knowing mostly what he was about to tell her and what it would mean. A harsh tightness gripped her chest, as though some outside force was attempting to squeeze the life out of her.
"Look, I didn't mean for it to happen, but she just showed up and then stuff just got out of control and... I'm sorry..." his voice trailed off as he spoke, his guilt crushing his chest more than her weight had done earlier. He knew that an apology wouldn't make up for it, but now it was in the open, and he awaited the backlash from the young woman.
But as the seconds crept away, Zuko grew more worried. Sure, he was worried over his potential bodily safety, but now he found himself more concerned about her. His mind had played back an image that involved a lot of screaming and name calling and intense apologizing and more name calling, but she seemed so shaken by it.
"Jin...?" he asked hesitantly, his body leaning forward in a protective instinct, wondering if it had hurt her even more than he had thought. He was stopped as she raised her hand, pressing it firmly against his toned chest. A soft sniffle sounded from beneath the tuft of brown hair as it had fallen over her face, her eyes cast down towards the cushioning between them.
"I always kind of figured something like this was bound to happen..." she said, her voice so uncharacteristically low and down beat, like the life had just been drained out of her entirely at his words.
"Jin..." was all he could say in return, feeling her fingers clenching the shirt across his body. The trademark ponytail wavered as she shook her head, a silent signal for him to just shut up and listen to whatever she had to say.
"You were always so popular, so handsome, all the girls had big crushes on you when we were in school. So I was so happy when you said that you cared about me more than the others. But it's not a surprise that you would want someone else on the side," she said, her voice dropping in volume with each syllable. Sensing where this was going, Zuko felt the need to intervene, to explain things more clearly.
"Jin, it's not like that. It was just an old friend that came to visit, who I hadn't seen in a long time. And it was so sudden, and she was so sweet just like when we were kids. It's not the kind of person I am, and it doesn't mean that I don't care about you or anything like that, because I do. God, it was so hard for me to tell you this, but I knew you deserved to know the truth," he blurted the words out before he had a chance to think about them.
As the syllables formed words which formed sentences, Zuko felt his face flushing, heating up as he hesitated even to pause for breath. He wanted to make sure the girl in front of him knew that he was sorry, and that she was the one for whom he cared most deeply. Finally he had spoken his peace, and yet the silence seemed to persist. Cheeks puffed as he gathered himself, his chest slowly returning to the natural rhythm of breathing.
"Pfft. Hahahaha. You're so cute," Jin spoke, her cheeks brightening as a deep laugh escaped her lips. Zuko's face lit up in relief with a distinct hint of puzzlement. Laughter and joviality was certainly not what he was expecting.
"What? I thought you'd be totally pissed off because I cheated on you," he said, feeling bad all over again as the words slipped from his mouth. He was quieted as the girl pressed a single finger to his lips, her laughter dying down enough for her to respond.
"Oh no, don't get me wrong, it does hurt. But I realize you aren't the type of person to just do that kind of thing. This girl must have been special to you, right?" she reasoned, earning a subtle nod of the head from Zuko. "And you hadn't seen her in a long time, right?" Again he simply nodded, wondering what she was getting at.
For a moment nothing was said, and her lips curled into an expression of thought, like she was deciding his fate in their relationship. The anxiety began to take its toll on him and Zuko wished for her to say anything, anything at all.
"I'm really sorry, Jin. It won't happen again," he said apologetically, earning a playful shove from the younger girl.
"I should hope not, you dope. My understanding only comes around once, alright? You better make the most of it," Jin said, poking the young man square in the chest. Zuko's body lightened in relief and he eagerly nodded, wrapping his arms around the younger girl.
"You got it, Jin," he said, promising to himself that it would never happen again. As they settled the matter, Zuko was grateful for the passing of the harsh moment. But as Jin recounted the details of her little vacation, he couldn't help but feel like his feelings would be tested again sooner rather than later.
Well, like I said I wanted to try and just get past this, so please do let me know if it was too rushed and the characters are too far off. If so, I will do a re-write. Next time Zuko and Jin's peace is shot by the return of a certain someone, and things start to really heat up for our guy. Until next time, good readers.
