Bolin was still awake by the time Mako returned to their apartment. His younger brother lay stretched out on their worn down sofa, cocooned in a thick blanket. In the background, the news was on—something about another power outage down by the Silk Road Bridge—and Bolin had a vaporizer planted in the middle of their coffee table, sitting on top of a bed of used tissues.

"Mako, I want komodo chicken soup!"

"Yeah, okay, I got you," Mako said. The elder brother dropped his coat, hat, and gloves on the table and got to work in the kitchen. Over the stovetop, Mako addressed Bolin, "Bo, shouldn't you be in your room sleeping? You aren't going to get any better if you're out in the open."

"What's so open about the living room?" Bolin answered. The poor thing's nose had been stuffed since last night. Mako was reminded of the first cold Bolin caught after their parents died; Mako was nine and Bolin was seven at the time. Contrary to popular belief, it was possible to catch one during the summer, and Mako learned that the hard way. Bolin was probably the worst patient to have, what with his constant whining and bellyaching, 9-year-old Mako had to exert all of his effort into not throwing the boy into the bay below the bridge where they had spent most of their vagabond days at.

At this point in their lives, Mako was well practiced in the art of caring for his ill younger brother. He stirred the broth into the pot, skillfully tuning out Bolin's moans from the living room. While the soup heated, Mako replayed the events of today in his head.

He encountered a customer who came onto him strongly with very unwelcome sexual advances. This wasn't the first time it happened to him; Mako knew the mechanics of dating. He wasn't quite as naïve about woman as people thought. Though, most of the time, it was a lot easier to ignore them—Bolin would often say it was because his brother was a grouch, but Mako just wasn't interested in taking on any women.

Until he met Korra, that is.

Relief was a breath of fresh air when he felt her firm grasp on his forearm; Mako was taken back by how tightly the girl had curled her fingers around his wrist, sharply tugging Mako by her side, away from the woman. It almost felt as if she were trying to protect him. In a sense, she was, and Mako was glad that Korra cared for him enough to intervene on a situation where he was too uncomfortable to defend himself.

'Too bad Korra will never see you the way you want her to,' he thought to himself bitterly. Aggravation settled into his pores; he was still angry with himself for liking Korra, even if it wasn't he couldn't help. She was crazy, yes, but that still didn't change the fact that the girl was every bit as amazing as she was wild.

"Makoooo, did you get my tea?" Mako looked away from the stove to the Styrofoam cup innocently sitting on the kitchen table. Covering the pot with a lid, he crossed the room to hand Bolin his tea. The boy grumbled his thanks to his brother and opened the lid, deeply inhaling its warmth, "I'm surprised it's still warm. It's freezing outside."

Mako shrugged and perched himself on the arm of the sofa, "Yeah, Korra and I just stopped by there like half an hour ago."

"You and Korra?"

Mako mentally slapped himself for giving Bolin an opening to discuss his blossoming feelings for his friend.

"Yeah."

"Did you ask her to go with you?"

"…yeah."

Bolin sighed and put his tea down on the table; his sudden out-of-character stern demeanor vaguely Mako of their father back when he was a little boy getting scolded. Bolin gently patted the empty spot next to him, inviting Mako to sit. Silently, Mako accepted. For minutes, the two brothers sat in a tension so thick it was palpable. Mako swallowed nervously.

"What is it, Bo?"

Bolin looked over his shoulder. He looked awful; red nose, baggy eyes that were misty with fatigue. Bolin wiped his nose with the back of his hand and coughed wetly before continuing. He didn't start with a question.

"You like Korra."

Mako sighed, resigning himself to Bolin's on-point observation. He nodded, "I do."

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" Bolin inquired, "Korra just got out of a relationship with a woman."

"I know, I know."

"Do you? Korra had a girlfriend, bro."

Mako knew what Bolin was getting to, and the revelation to this one basic fact was absolutely depressing for him to hear. He had heard Narook talk about Korra's ex-girlfriend, he'd heard Korra talk about how hopelessly in love she was with Asami, but had he really heard it? Had he really heard that Korra, the girl that he now harbored feelings for, was with a woman for the past few years? Most likely not, since Bolin was just now bringing it up.

"I thought I did," he answered honestly. "Bo, I didn't ask for this to happen. Narook asked me to help her get over her ex, and I wound up liking her more than I thought. She's incredible."

"And she dated a lady."

Mako felt like one of those cartoon characters that had an anvil unceremoniously dropped on their heads. It's not like he chose to like the girl; it just happened. It was so fast too, one minute, they're screaming at each other in the middle of Narook's restaurant, and the next, they're engaging in a totally-platonic-not-romantic embrace in the middle of Republic City's most popular date locations. Mako had allowed himself to be whipped up in a whirlwind of Korra and he was now headed down a road that led to catastrophe.

The worst thing about it was that he couldn't stop.

He was pulled over the edge and has been free falling ever since. His only option was to wait for rock bottom.

"Bo, what am I going to do? This isn't what I planned."

Bolin clasped a warm hand to Mako's shoulder, "I'm not too sure. But you'll figure things out. You always do."

Mako certainly hoped this were the case.

—

Mako was acting very strangely, Korra noted the next day during lunch.

The fall days were slowly fading into winter and with the nippy wintry winds taking over the city, all of the students retreated to the university cafeteria for their meals. As usual, Mako and Korra were sharing their lunch with each other; it was only when Korra was half finished with her food that she noticed that Mako hadn't eaten much since they met up.

She frowned.

"Mako, what's wrong? Eat," she said, pushing his food closer to his body. When Mako remained unresponsive, Korra leaned down to look up at his face. Pale skin and bloodshot baggy eyes; he looked awful. She had never seen the boy look so pathetic before—she was vaguely reminded of the first few weeks after Asami left—concern for Mako filled Korra. She spoke in a panic.

"Spirits, Mako. Are you okay?" Korra shifted closer to her friend, pressing a gentle hand against his clammy forehead, "Oh, Raava. Mako, you probably caught Bolin's cold!"

Suddenly aware of Korra's skin against his own, Mako reflexively ripped his head from Korra's hand, heat gathering in his cheeks. He hadn't slept since he and Bolin had spoken, a result of his most recent dilemma paired with worrying over his sick baby brother. Of course Mako was going to look ill the next day.

He scooted away from Korra and pulled his signature scarf up over his mouth.

"I'm not very hungry," Mako answered hastily, pushing his unfinished food towards Korra. "You can eat it."

"Nonsense!" Korra pushed the plate back to Mako, "You need to eat, Mako. Get your energy up."

Mako shook his head, "I'm really not hungry, Korra."

"Well, why not?" she demanded, "Do you need medicine or something? 'cuz I have some really good stuff from back home at my apartment. We can go get it after class."

"Korra, you don't need to bother yourself," he said, exasperated. Korra frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, a gesture she often did when she was starting to get annoyed. Good. Mako was getting annoyed as well.

"But I want to bother myself with it."

"Well, you shouldn't because I can take care of myself."

It's just like Korra to be damn bothersome about the wrong things. And it was just Mako's luck that Korra would notice his being under the weather. Her mistaking his lovesickness for the common cold was just another instance that verified Bolin's insinuation last night: Korra won't like you like that. Korra digs chicks, bro. Mako gritted his teeth and ran his fingers through his coarse hair, a habit he had picked up whenever Korra was close by. They've had more good days than bad ones, but when shit hit the fan between the two of them, it got everywhere. Today was shaping up to be just one of those days.

His lips turned downwards in a scowl that matched Korra's.

"Stop being difficult, Mako," she snapped. "You're sick. You need medicine."

"I'm not being difficult!" he growled, "You're just being stubborn. I told you, I'm fine."

"Not when you're looking like a fucking kicked puppy."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he sniffed, irritated because that's exactly how he felt. But Korra didn't need to know that. "I can take care of myself, Korra."

"Well, obviously not if you're still here," Korra burst, standing up from the table. Mako gaped as the girl reached out to grab his hand, "We're going to get that medicine. Stop being a crybaby, let's go."

He opened his mouth to protest, but the sharp glare Korra shot at Mako shut him up immediately.

"Just let me take care of you and you can go back to being an idiot like usual."

Though she was annoyingly persistent, and though he was still peeved at himself, Korra, and the situation, Mako couldn't help but warm to the thought that she cared for him enough to try to help him when he was ill. Or when she thought he was sick. The tell tale tickle in the back of Mako's throat told him that maybe it wasn't just a lovesickness that he had. He sighed.

'Bolin…'

Korra's apartment was about a 10-minute walk from school; it wasn't too bad, even in the freezing United Republic weather. Korra lived on the seventh floor of a swanky little apartment complex on the corner of 9th and Azulon. She grinned at him, "Well now you know where I'm at, so stop by whenever."

"Sure."

Korra's apartment was a comfortable size for herself and her polar bear dog. It was clean and open, with a living room of mismatched sofas and a small TV nicer than Mako's own back at home. Afternoon light filtered through Korra's lace curtains, revealing the sea of blue and white that her home was primarily made up of. The apartment itself, which was for the most part very simplistic and homey, was very Korra.

"Come on in, silly!"

Naga was waiting inside her living room, tail whipping back and forth eagerly. The polar bear dog, a mass of white fur, walked up to Mako, eagerly waiting to be scratched behind the ears again. It seemed that she remembered Mako well from the park. He beamed fondly at the gentle beast, caressing gentle strokes behind her floppy ears. Naga leaned her head into Mako's hand.

"Ah, you remembered Mako, Naga," Korra said excitedly, patting Naga's head briefly before disappearing deeper into the apartment. "Mako, come sit!"

He obeyed, settling himself in one of Korra's lumpy sofas in the living room. From where he sat, he could clearly see the plethora of pictures adorning the walls. He could tell that all of these were taken back home in the Southern Water Tribe, with who Mako could only assume was Korra's family.

He saw that she looked exactly like her mother, something both Korra and Mako had in common. Looking at her parents, Mako could tell Korra's father was a hulking man who towered over both Korra and her mother by about a head and a half; though his size was intimidating, something in the man's gentle blue eyes told Mako otherwise. The softness in his face reminded Mako of Korra; when he took her to meet Toza and Tuyen, when he held her in the park, even now, as she stood at the entrance of the living room, arms full of—

"What is that?"

Her mouth stretched into a wide grin, "It's my mom's home remedy for sickness. It's a well-kept Water Tribe secret, so don't tell anyone!"

Korra plopped herself down on the cushion neighboring Mako's and twisted open the first bottle, which contained a thick, deep green fluid that smelled like fish. Mako covered his nose and recoiled from the offending scent.

"Spirits, Korra am I supposed to ingest that?"

"Oh, calm down, you big baby. It doesn't taste bad, I promise. This was the go-to remedy whenever I was sick as a kid. You'll be fine."

Mako wasn't too sure. The wicked glint in Korra's eyes hinted to Mako that it was quite possible she was lying to him about the substance not tasting bad, but considering the fact that she single handedly dragged him down to her apartment, he knew she wasn't going to let him opt out of trying. He watched as his crush dumped some of the secret remedy into a teacup.

"What are you gonna do with that?" Mako asked cautiously. Korra's head suddenly snapped up, her blue eyes catching Mako's. He felt all the oxygen leave his body from the sly smile she had given him.

"I'm gonna make tea," she announced proudly. "I gotta put the water on though, I don't know why I didn't do that in the first place."

She stood from the couch, and ruffled Mako's hair as she skipped to the kitchen. Self-consciously, Mako patted his hair back into place; his cheeks flushed pink at the sudden gesture of affection. What was she doing to him? Mako wasn't too sure. Impromptu shopping trips, walks in the park, cake baking—Mako wasn't the guy who agreed to go anywhere with anyone if it didn't have anything to do with school or work. And yet, here he was, taking any opportunity he could get to spend time with Korra. He sighed; he really had it bad for her.

And it was so typical that the first person Mako would have an interest in would be someone who wouldn't see him the way he saw her. Life was just unfair like that.

"I meant to tell you this at lunch today," Korra started, settling herself back on the couch, twisting her torso towards Mako, "but since you were being so grumpy, I couldn't."

"Tell me what?"

"Asami called me yesterday," Korra replied airily.

Asami, the ex-girlfriend Asami, called Korra last night. Mako tried hard to reign in the unpleasant sickness that settled in his bones, but he couldn't. Sometime after they had a good time at the Jasmine Dragon, the love of Korra's life phoned her. What for? Did she want to try again? Mako hoped that wasn't the case since he still remembered how badly hurt she still was the first time he had met her. His head spun with the possibilities; a panic seized his heart. He burned; although this burn was different from the pleasurable warmth he felt when Korra was close by.

No, this time, this fire actually hurt.

His heart thudded in his chest, hammering loudly over the silence that had filled the apartment. A placating hand reached out to settle on Mako's. Of course her touch would calm him down.

"Hey," Korra said quietly. "You don't look so hot right now; do you need to lay down?"

"I'm fine," he croaked, "Um, what were you saying? About Asami? Why did she call?"

"Nothing really," she replied, her fingers still clasped around his forearm. Korra observed their touching skin before continuing, "She wanted to know how I was doing. And told me that she was coming down to the city with her new boyfriend in a few weeks. She wanted to know if we could chill or something."

"New boyfriend?" Mako hated how this fact helped ease his panic. Korra nodded enthusiastically and released her hold on his arm, opting to lean against Mako on the couch. Reflexively, Mako threw his arm over Korra; he flushed a darker shade of pink when the girl smiled fondly at him before scooting closer to him.

"I think I'm getting over it. Like, finally, getting over it," she spoke softly, "Everything's happened so fast. Like, one second, any thought surrounding her would paralyze me, and now—nothing. I don't feel anything, Mako."

Korra lifted her head to meet Mako's gaze and in that moment, with the softness of her curves pressed firming against Mako's side, leaning heavily into his shoulder, Mako wanted nothing more than to kiss Korra.

'Keep dreaming, Mako. She's just now telling you that she got over her ex. And remember what Bo said yesterday.'

He told himself this, but that still didn't stop him from wanting to pull Korra in by her waist and—

He wanted her to know that he'd never hurt her.

He wanted her to know that he'd never leave her in pain for two months.

He wanted her to know that she was amazing and that he loved every bi—

Mako's thoughts halted abruptly as something he thought stuck to him. Did he really just say love?! No. Absolutely not. It was too soon, and the current situation was totally inappropriate for that stupid, stupid word. There was no way Mako was that close to hitting rock bottom.

"I even threw away that betrothal necklace," he heard Korra say from a distance. This wasn't really happening right now, "I thought that if I got rid of it, that would mean that I was letting go of her, and I was too hurt to do that before."

Mako had lost feeling in his arms and legs, watching helplessly as Korra shifted herself, hugging her body more closely to Mako's, "Had I not met you, I wouldn't have been able to take that first step."

Was it possible for Mako to have fallen in love with Narook's heartbroken niece?

"Thank you, Mako," a pair of soft, warm lips pressed gently on Mako's flushed cheek. It was just a fleeting touch, gentle, like the summer sun against one's eye lids or the brush of a butterfly's wings against the back of your hand, but the feeling of Korra's kiss against Mako's cheek was enough for him to answer his own question.

The whistling of the teapot summoned Korra to the kitchen. Carefully, she disentangled herself from their embrace and, with a gentle pat to the spot where her lips had been before; she disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Mako to his own thoughts.

Was it possible for Mako to have fallen in love with Korra in such a short amount of time?

When she emerged from the kitchen carrying the rest of Mako's medicine with a heartbreakingly beautiful smile, Mako knew the answer.

Yes, it was totally possible.

Mako had finally hit rock bottom.