This story was originally supposed to be a few chapters but now look at it ~ ! They grow up so fast ~ ! Oh and for those of you who love this story, there's a partner fic for it, it's called: All You Have is Fire. It deals with Jet's life in the Fire Nation if he'd been taken to the Fire Nation when his village was burned down, so y'know, like this one had Zuko's life in the Earth Kingdom, the other has Jet's life in the Fire Nation ~ it's a bodyguard AU! And who doesn't love bodyguard Jet ~ ! I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender.

Not entirely sure what to do with his hands or the awkward silence stretching on and on, Zuko looks up at the group from under his lids, across from him, Sokka is checking himself out in the back of a spoon, beside the firebender, Katara has her arms crossed angrily over her chest, beside her, Toph is picking her nose, across from the earthbender, Aang is playing with a napkin. Biting his lower lip Zuko spots Pao talking excitedly with some random customer, the man had been trying his damndest to keep them as comfortable as he possibly could – the firebender was pretty sure the man was spreading word that the Avatar and his friends all loved his tea – of course this would explain the amount of people starting to collect within the small, rundown teashop, each person staring at them in shock and awe, it was when a group of girls giggled while pointing at Zuko that the black-haired teen ducked his head shyly. The giggling increased with squeals added into the mix.

"Alright," a smooth voice cuts in, the entire table looks up to see Jet, Katara bristles, "I've got three Jasmines, one Chrysanthemum, and one Dragon Well." the teas are passed around and Zuko is about to grab his when a tan hand catches his wrist, glaring at the hand he turns the heated stare on the teen staring him down, "Uncle wants to talk to you."

Still eyeing Jet suspiciously, Zuko rises from his seat only to feel a warm hand touch his arm, looking at the owner, he spots Katara giving him a worried look, it's a look his mother often gave him when he had a bad day or whenever he was feeling down, his body was on autopilot therefore he had little time to think about what he was doing until he felt his lips press against her hairline, he hears collective gasps and its then he realizes what he's done, when he pulls away he turns smoothly on his heel and makes for a calm escape for the back – he can practically feel Jet's heavy gaze on him, and if he remembers right (which he does) Jet was a rather possessive bastard.

Once in the back, Zuko looks around the small kitchen area in hopes of catching sight of his uncle, all he sees is Longshot sweeping and Smellerbee washing dishes, but no uncle, frowning and thinking he was tricked by his ex (just because Toph said they should get together and he somewhat agreed out of frustration doesn't mean he's fully ready to accept it) he turns on his heel to glare at Jet:

"Where is he?" Zuko all but demands,

"He said he wanted to talk to you." Jet states, even he sounds mildly confused.

"Uncle Mushi went out as soon as you left," Smellerbee throws over her shoulder, "He said he needed to run an important errand or something."

"Of course he did." Zuko sighs; he knows what his uncle is up to and he is not amused, "I don't have time for this. When he comes back, tell him it won't work."

"Wait," Jet grabs Zuko's wrist, the firebender glares at the offending appendage, "I – are you doing anything later, like, maybe we could do something."

A part of Zuko shies away while the part still hurting (the dominant part) scowls, "I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Oh," Zuko ignores the way Jet falters, "Okay."

Pulling his wrist roughly away from the deflated Freedom Fighter, Zuko shoves past him and into the main area of the shop only to stop, there surrounding his table is a large group of people all clamoring to get their attention, the firebender spots a few of them holding their wanted posters and paints – Zuko sees Aang doing that little airbending trick of his causing a loud cheer, not really wanting to deal with the stress of group Avatar's fans the teen turns on his heel and goes back into the kitchen where three pairs of confused eyes meet his, he sighs as he looks to Jet:

"What did you have in mind?"

oOo

Walking beside the raven-haired boy leaves Jet feeling a little sheepish in a way, especially since it seemed the younger teen had changed rather drastically, or rather appearance wise as seen by the red clothing and long black hair that swayed with each step he took, attitude wise Zuko seemed to be a little more gruff, angrier – if the scowl twisting his features was anything to go by. Looking ahead, Jet begins wondering just how much the firebender had changed; coming up with a little test that was bound to give him the results he wanted, he spoke:

"Did you eat?"

"No."

"Do you want to get something to eat?"

"No."

"Let's get something to eat."

"I told you I - ," Zuko paused as a warm hand forced him to look into murky brown eyes, "Wha – what are you doing?"

"C'mon Bright-Eyes," Jet began upon seeing the firebender lose some of his bite, "I know what I did was wrong but I'm really trying here."

Realizing people were beginning to stare, Zuko pulled away from the taller teen, a flush painting his cheek, "Let's just find something to eat."

Watching the golden-eyed beauty storm away in an embarrassed huff, Jet smiles and follows after him, when they arrive at the restaurant Jet had discovered just the other day nothing significant really happens; they were seated, ordered, ate, and left with little to no communication between them. Although during their 'lunch date' Jet could tell Zuko was struggling with something, it was obvious the earlier action was still weighing heavily on his mind. Walking down the busy streets, Jet spots a flower stand with numerous flowers (especially ember lotuses, Zuko's favorite).

"Wait here, I'll be right back."

Zuko hisses, "Why?"

Making sure to keep what he was getting from Zuko's view, Jet watches as the kindly old lady wraps a pretty pink paper around the stems of the flowers before tying it off with a gold ribbon, grinning brightly Jet gives her the money and makes his way back to Zuko with the bouquet behind his back – Zuko looks just as hissy as he'd been before Jet had forced him to look into his eyes, with a flourish he produces the bouquet to Zuko whose eyes widen in surprise as he awkwardly takes the bouquet from the older teen, its then the firebender looks torn between blushing and snapping at him, instead he's stuck between both as he hisses out an awkward 'thanks' before stomping away. And so the day went, Jet using all of his moves he'd learned just for Zuko (the very same ones that would calm him down when he got pissy), so far the moves worked as well as they did those months ago, but he decided he wanted to test his luck. Making his way towards the apartment he shared with both Iroh and his two Freedom Fighters, Jet made sure to soothe Zuko as much as possible when he got hissy – but once they made it through the doorway, that's when Zuko became prickly:

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Nothing," Jet shuts the door casually, "But I'm sure they should have been back by now."

The answer placates Zuko only so much, Jet watches the pale teen scan the surrounding area, the bouquet of ember lotuses forgotten in his hand:

"I – are you and Katara a thing now?"

"No."

"Then what was that, back at the teashop?"

An embarrassed flush dusts his cheek, "It was nothing, I just forgot what I was doing."

"Right."

"Look, if you're worried that I'm interested in someone else then no need to worry! Because of you I can't trust anyone! And you know what makes things worse, when someone so much as touches me, I flinch, and it's just my luck they notice! And of course they assume the worse and get this stupid sympathetic look on their faces and it just makes me so mad I could just – mmph?"

A pair of lips are pressed against his, his eyes widen in shock and fear, he tries to push Jet away but only manages in getting his arms wedged between their bodies that are pressed a little too closely for Zuko's comfort. Shutting his eyes, Zuko's torn between letting things continue and biting Jet, but the feeling beginning to swell within his chest has him standing numbly even as the other teen moves them so Zuko's back is resting against the door. Finally getting a hold of himself he turns his head, he grabs fistfuls of Jet's shirt and is ready to shove him off when he feels something slick massaging his neck, feeling a shudder run down his spine, Zuko can't help the gasp that escapes when teeth begin biting down on the tender flesh. He feels hands trailing down his sides where they rest upon his hips, an odd place Jet always had an infatuation with.

"You're still so beautiful Zuko." Jet breaths, rasps really, "So fucking beautiful."

"No," Zuko manages to say, he musters up a glare and scowls at Jet, "You're crazy if you think I'm going to let you - ,"

He's cut off as Jet presses their lips together again, his arms slip around Zuko, holding him close, tenderly – it's an action that stirs up old memories and feelings, from back before when things seemed simple. What resolve he had left was broken, wrapping his arms around Jet he kisses back, it's tender and it reminds Zuko that he's capable of doing something without hate or anger as his motivator. Letting out a sigh from his nose, he pulls Jet closer, their tongues searching out one another, he feels something hard press against him and he doesn't have to think twice to know Jet's excited – its then the door is pulled open and the two fall out into the hall, Zuko feels his head hit the wooden floor and the air leave him as Jet lands on him, Jet making a little hissing noise as his erection is pressed against Zuko's groin. Glaring up at the person who opened the door, Jet sees Smellerbee with a surprised look on her face before it quickly morphs into something a little like aggravation, she pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs heavily.

"I should have known," she says under her breath, she levels a look at Jet, "Look, everyone's coming over and if I were you and wanted to avoid a pack of angry benders I'd suggest you make yourself as presentable as possible and not mention whatever happened before I interrupted."

"Yeah," Jet mutters, "Okay."

Smellerbee steps over the two and into the room, looking down at the firebender he notices the pale teen is looking away with a flush painting his features, biting his lower lip, Jet pushes himself up and allows the younger some room to sit up as well, Zuko wipes the saliva from his lips before glaring at Jet:

"Don't ever do that again." he hisses before standing and leaving the tan teen sitting in the hall.

Next up an awkward 'family' dinner between the entire group ~ of course things are going to get dramatic, haha I hate myself so much.