Dead End
by Kyatto

Chapter Three

~*~

The Blue Dragon – named after a famous alcoholic beverage preferred by racing enthusiasts – was unlike any other gathering Zuko had ever attended before. Jet advised him to arrive about twenty minutes late, around when he showed up, so he would be as inconspicuous as possible. It was bad form to draw too much attention to oneself before being properly introduced. Zuko could see why – the place was packed. He had driven a good three hours to get to location that was a decent-sized McMansion on beachfront property. It had its own parking lot and track that wrapped around the premises. The lot itself was laid out like a showroom, where the most popular guys and girls displayed their gleaming prized vehicles. A huge bar stocked with every beverage known to man was on the patio right up against the house. On an empty space on the lot a disk jockey and dance floor was set up. The tiny private beach was bustling with noise and activity. It made Zuko grateful that he wasn't there alone.

His party attire had been carefully chosen. He didn't want to come off as uptight or a total novice to the world. Black was the safest color he could think of. He settled on black denim jeans that hugged his ass and crotch but was loose and comfortable everywhere else, a simplistic black leather belt with a brass buckle, his heavy combat boots, a tight-fitted black tee shirt with an airbrushed Chinese-style white tiger-like creature painted on it, and a beat up black denim jacket. His hair was freshly washed and styled so his bangs swept in front of his scarred eye – again making sure he didn't stand out too much. He was just attending to meet people and observe, not to draw a crowd. Despite his desire to not be a spectacle, he still drew a lot of attention. Many of the young ladies attending and even a few not-so-secretly gay men looked his way appreciatively. If it weren't for the fact he was so built and attractive they might have mistaken him for a poseur and kicked him out.

Jet had arrived only a few minutes before he did and was already getting well acquainted with the bartender. Unlike Zuko, Jet was a lot more laid back about his party attire. Baggy distressed jeans, a Basshunter tee shirt, and beat up sneakers was all he needed. Outside he wore a leather military-style jacket that had seen its fair share of wear and tear. The bartender was a cute pixie-like red-haired woman in her mid-twenties and quite enjoyed Jet chatting her up while she mixed his drink. Jet could talk people into doing anything for him, especially the ladies. Zuko never had any kind of skill in that department.

"Hey, you made it," Jet grinned when Zuko found him and took a seat.

"Told you I would," Zuko shrugged. "This place is packed."

"It's only eleven," Jet smirked. "You should see it at two."

"So do you come to these things just to drink or do you actually know anyone?"

"Oh, I know a lot of people!" Jet made an indignant-yet-amused face. "I'll point a few out."

"Alright."

"See over there?" Jet pointed to the DJ booth where the burly man spinning the discs was having an argument clinic with a younger tan boy. He was not really all that tall and a bit lanky. His eyes were a bright blue and his brown hair was pulled up high atop his head. He was in classic mechanic garb- navy blue tank and torn up jeans with boots. "The skinny one. That's Sokka. He's my ex's brother. Not a bad dude, really. He has a great sense of humor. Hates my guts though. The shop where he works at gets all the fancy cars so he can be a little boastful. He came in third place last summer with his Torino."

"Not bad," Zuko nodded, genuinely impressed. "Is your ex here too?"

"Yeah," the other man then motioned his hand towards a beautiful Lexus convertible that was comfortably seating a few girls who were giggling over cocktails. The one he pointed Zuko towards was of an average height and just as tan as her brother, with bright big blue eyes and long wavy brown hair that went down to her rear. She was clad in a cyan sequined halter-top that exposed her midriff and tight-fitting skinny jeans. Around her neck was a choker that definitely appeared to be some kind of handmade heirloom. She was cute, he could see why Jet went out with her. "Her name's Katara. Great girl, really. She's a bit naïve though, and if she doesn't agree with something she goes in over her head to change them."

Zuko glanced at Jet with a raised brow as if awaiting further explanation.

"Fine, fine… Look, she broke up with me because I wouldn't quit smoking. She absolutely hated it and was constantly finding ways to trick me into stopping. It never worked and she gave up. Now she's all over some other guy." Jet then pointed towards a small blue Hyundai Tiburon that had quite a crowd around it – mostly young girls. An older boy who appeared to be about sixteen or so stood in front of it, beaming. He was a bit lean save for his chest and abs, which definitely had some definition to them. Blue arrows were tattooed from his forehead down his back and on his arms. He wore a bright orange hoodie and baggy blue cargo shorts with brown sandals. The boy was all smiles and laughter. "That kid's a fucking driving prodigy. He just turned legal this past fall and he's already won a number of championships. All in that little Tiburon too. There's got to be something magical under the hood. Anyway, his name's Aang. Katara's been all over the punk since she dumped me."

"Damn," Zuko nodded. "Can't say I'm not impressed."

"Yeah," Jet sighed and rubbed his temple. The bartender set his drink down in front of him. Jack Daniels mixed with Coke – one of his favorites. "His mechanic's this chick named Toph. Girl's been blind since birth, but builds muscle cars like she had the sight of the gods. I bet it was her who made that ride as awesome as it is."

"Alright, alright, you know people," Zuko smiled briefly. "I think I'll drink something too. What's cool here?"

"You want something blue," Jet grinned and waved the woman over. "Yo. My buddy here will have the Blue Dragon."

"Fuck yeah, bitch!" She smiled eagerly. "Coming right at ya in five."

"I love it when they're energetic," Jet chuckled, his drink now almost gone. "Seriously, you'll love this shit. It'll knock you out pretty quickly though."

"Nah, I'm tough. I can take it." Liar. Zuko could hold alcohol about as well as Iroh could go for a day without tea. It wasn't all that well at all.

"Birthday suit yourself," the other man smirked and patted Zuko on the shoulder. The drink materialized in front of him and Zuko made his best attempt to down most of it in one shot. The cough he emitted from the spike of a nearly lethal amount of Absolut made Jet crack up.

"Shit this is strong," Zuko rasped but took another swig anyway. "I don't mind it, but damn."

"Can't say I didn't warn ya," Jet grinned. "Sure you don't just want a soda or a wine cooler?"

"Told you, I can take it," Zuko replied firmly, a determined look on his face as he motioned to the bartender to refill his drink. The spirits predicted it would only take maybe two more to knock him out. Luckily, he only drank three-quarters of his refill before Jet got his attention.

"Hey, it looks like some hotties are shaking their asses to Tiësto." Jet pointed towards the dance floor where a throng of beautiful scantily-clad and buzzed women, as well as a fair amount of guys trying to get with them, danced together under a sea of strobe lights and flashing multi-colored lasers. "Let's see if we can score a couple."

"I'm not so sure about that…" Zuko grimaced but got up anyway. He wasn't one for hooking up with random girls, especially once alcohol was in his system. Fortunately, he was saved when someone tapped him on the arm.

"Oh! Sorry, I was trying to get that idiot next to you," Katara shook her head and placed a hand on her hip.

"What's up, bitch?" Jet cocked an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't want to see me."

"I don't," she rolled her eyes. "But I don't want you influencing innocent newbies either." She then turned to Zuko. "Hi, I'm Katara. I haven't seen you around here before. What brings ya here? Please don't tell me this asshole brought you."

"Li," Jet cut Zuko off before he could speak. "We met at the track. He drives a hot ride."

"Do you?" Katara pointedly ignored him.

"Eh, it's just a McLaren…"

"Get the fuck out of here!" Katara squealed. "There was only like, one in this whole city before you showed up. And the guy who has doesn't even treat it right! How the hell did you pull that off? You some new richie too?"

"Eh…Not really. Long story," Zuko shrugged.

"I feel you," she nodded sympathetically. "But you'll definitely have to bring it to a race sometime. I'd love to see you show it off. You any good?"

"This fucker's amazing," Jet interrupted again. "He clocks nearly two-hundred."

"Get. The. FUCK. Out!" She gasped loudly. "Do you drift too?"

"Eh…"

"SHIT!" She was nearly about to tackle him to the ground out of glee. "Oh you must take her around. You have to!"

"I totally will," Zuko beamed.

"Oh my gosh, you have to meet my brother and Aang, hold on…." She went off for a couple of minutes and returned with both of them in tow. "You guys, this Li guy has a fucking McLaren."

"Nice!" Sokka grinned and clapped Zuko on the back. "Fuck yeah! Finally some style is returning to this dump."

Aang was surprisingly quiet. Out of respect for those who lost "battles", nobody dared to mention the scar. But Aang knew. He kept up with the drama going on amongst the car companies. Zuko looked identical to the son Ozai had shafted. The son of the man that was Phoenix Corp. He was supposed to be some kind of maverick car genius. He had been secretly hoping to one day encounter him on the racetrack. Fate seemed to love to give him his blessings.

"Hey," he finally said, offering him a hand. "I'm Aang."

"Li," Zuko shook it. Aang knew he was faking. He couldn't blame him. While few people knew names, the drama in and of itself was well known amongst the car community.

"Gotta hand it to you, Jet," Sokka sighed with look of amusement. "As big of an ass as you are, you know how to find some good people."

"I do try," Jet shrugged with a smug smirk plastered on his face.

"What's goin' on here, fellas?" Toph came strolling over. A mess of black hair was piled high in a thick bun, and she wore a baggy green shirt with even baggier overalls. "You find yourself a boyfriend, Twinkletoes?"

"Hey Toph, this is Zu-…Li," Aang motioned for Zuko to offer her his hand so she could inspect it.

"Hm…" Toph scrunched her face as she felt his hand and wrist. "Very sinuous. Definitely a driver. But the skin is soft. He feels like a Nancy-pants princess." Everyone but Zuko laughed at this.

At the mentioning of Zuko's soft skin, Jet bit his lip. He never noticed before but his skin was pretty soft… The hell, Jet? That wasn't a manly thought at all. Clearly the alcohol was getting to him.

"We'll catch up with you guys later…" Jet gently tugged on Zuko's arm to pull him away. "We're going to go dance and booze and shit."

"Okay then, but don't hog him all night!" Katara frowned. "I want to check out his car before the night's over."

"Can't make any promises!"

"Fucker," Katara muttered when they disappeared into the crowd out of earshot. "Cocky ass."

"That Li guy's good people," Sokka commented. "I can tell."

"Yeah, but I wonder what the hell he's doing with Jet," Katara sighed. "That just screams trouble."

"Don't be too hard on him," Aang shrugged. "Jet should be entitled to new friends."

"I know, but still…" She worried her bottom him. "I can see stoners and drunkards, but a seemingly sweet guy like that? I don't know."

"He could be an asshole," Sokka interjected. "It's not like he said much to us. For all we know they're both laughing at us right now."

"No!" Katara protested. "He's not like Jet at all. I can tell."

"I can tell too," Toph commented serenely.

Meanwhile Jet and Zuko had found their way onto the dance floor and away from the group. After Katara first bumped into them Jet had been desperate to get the guy alone again. Not to mention the alcohol and sugar from his drink was starting to run rampant and he wanted to get it out of his system as quickly as possible. He could tell from the dazed look on Zuko's face as he shifted from side to side that he was feeling the same. A loud techno-trance beat boomed from the speakers and all the dancers were desperate to keep up. Their pulses were racing and sweat started to bead on their skin. The crowd grew and it pushed them closer and closer together. Jet got a good whiff of Zuko's cologne- something spicy. They moved closer and closer together. Every so often Jet's hip would brush against Zuko's thigh and vice versa. Zuko wasn't all that great at dancing and neither was Jet, but the people around them paid no mind to how much they pretended. However, it didn't serve the purpose Jet hoped for. There were too many people and it was too damn hot. Not to mention he was starting to get nauseous from not eating anything before drinking.

"Hey," Jet said when Zuko met his eyes. "Want to hang out in my car for a bit until the alcohol wears off a little?"

Zuko hesitated for a moment and then shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

With a great deal of effort they managed to get away from the people and go around to the other side of the house to the lot where the people with the less fancy cars parked. Jet's black charger with a lime-green racing stripe was off to the side under the shade of a willow tree. The music and the party was a distant hum. He pulled his keys out of his back pocket and opened the doors. It was a little low to the ground, and the fabric seats were bulky so it wouldn't be the most comfortable thing ever. However it sure beat hanging around drunkenly near things that would surely result in an insane migraine.

"Hope you don't mind a little mess," Jet warned as they got in and shut the doors. "I kind of live in this thing, you know?"

"No problem," Zuko shrugged. His car was only clean because his father was anal about it and the habits stuck. "It's pretty cool."

"Yeah?" Jet smiled. He thought his car was cool? Awesome!

"Nothing beats a good classic."

Jet smirked and pushed his seat back a little so he didn't risk pressing against the steering wheel. "She's a really good car. I love her like a woman."

"You should," the other man nodded then glanced at the radio. "You know. That thing doesn't look like it came on the standard model."

"Oh, I put it in last summer. It was too fucking great to pass up. You know what it does?"

"No idea."

"Here," Jet sat up again and put the key in the ignition. He turned it just enough to turn on the electricity so he could show off the radio. "Check it out." He then pressed a button and turned on the MP3 player he attached to its USB port. Soon "raver" music blared from the speakers. After a moment, the lights on the system started changing to every color on the spectrum and flashed to the beat. Zuko had to admit, it was pretty cool.

"Not bad," Zuko commented with a hint of a smirk. "I like it."

"Thanks," Jet nodded. "The music's by this band I found online. They're called Xelya."

"You've got decent taste," this time, Zuko really did let Jet catch him smirk. The alcohol made him loosen up a little. "Put this on CD for me sometime."

"Anything for you, buddy," Jet grinned and took a minute to study Zuko's face. The different colored lights did interesting things to accent his profile. He had such nice cheekbones and a strong jaw, yet the rest of his face was very soft. The scar was a harsh contrast against his other, gentler features. His mess of black hair the fell over one eye was even, dare he think it, sexy. He hadn't felt this way about a guy since the kid Hahn he experimented with in high school. There really was nothing stopping him from trying again. Especially now that he had a good drink or two…

No. Jet mentally smacked himself. He liked girls. He liked girls a lot. Girls were beautiful, curvaceous, soft, and sexy. Not to mention very, very wet when he got through with them. They wore things like tight button-up blouses, thongs, and miniskirts. They pressed their luscious breasts against his face and chest and rocked their pert backsides against his groin. Girls were amazing. They were the best things on the planet next to pot and cars.

But there was something about Li that sent warmth to Jet's lower belly and made his mouth water. Perhaps it was the softness of his face, the even tone of his voice. How he may have happened to have a very nice ass- especially in those tight jeans. Maybe it was even because he drove such a fucking sexy car. Whatever it was, it was turning Jet on. Or perhaps it was just the drink he had.

If he was quiet any longer the silence would get awkward, as the song was winding down. Jet shifted a bit in his seat and Zuko crossed and uncrossed his legs. Zuko sighed through his nose and ran a hand through his hair. Smirking, Jet turned so he could look at Zuko's face and placed a hand on his arm. Spirits, did his lips have to look so soft too?

"What is it?" Zuko asked quietly, a little too buzzed to be as gruff as he normally was.

"Nothing, man, just…" Before he could stop himself or even think straight (and think straight he really wanted to), Jet lifted his hand to tilt Zuko's face toward his and close the distance between them.

"Hmm?" Zuko murmured briefly in protest, trying to lazily push him away. The hand he brought up to shove Jet back hovered for a second, before settling on his shoulder and clinging onto his jacket.

Jet took the lack of objection as a good sign to continue. The hand slowly slid around to brace the back of his head and so he could run his fingers through his silky black hair. His other hand slipped up to gently scratch at the side of his neck. Zuko murmured softly, not quite responding yet. Jet then flicked his tongue out and ran it across Zuko's lower lip. His lips parted then and he allowed Jet entrance. Jet could taste the sour blue raspberry with the hint of vodka that had been part of his drink. It was tangy and delicious. With his confidence restored, Jet kissed him harder. One hand tugging at his hair while the other slid under his jacket to claw at his chest through his shirt. A soft moan escaped Zuko as he began to kiss him back with some vigor, cupping Jet's chin and scratching at him as well. They picked up speed, neither wanting to be the first to give up. Soon they were panting heatedly against each other's lips, their teeth clicking together whenever they pressed just a little too much. Jet took Zuko's bottom lip between his teeth and sucked on it lightly before finally pulling away to catch his breath.

"What…" Zuko panted softly. "What was that for?"

"Eh.." Jet laughed nervously. "Guess I'm a little drunk."

"I'll say…" Zuko frowned and shifted a bit. It wasn't as if he didn't like it, he just knew he shouldn't have liked it. "Just…Don't do that again, alright? It's a little weird."

"You didn't push me away," Jet reminded him.

"I'm a little drunk too."

"Fine…Whatever," Jet sighed and leaned back.

"Look, I didn't mean to insult you, it's just…" Zuko tried to keep his thoughts in line. The vodka was making it difficult. "I like girls, okay?"

"Yeah, I figured."

"I can't hang out with you if you do that."

"I know. I won't. Swear. It was just the booze, dude."

"Fine."

Jet didn't want to admit that it wasn't the alcohol at all.

~*~

To be continued….