When he wakes up he knows something is wrong.
She is not asleep.
She is not lying next to him.
She is not even smiling.
"What happened?" he asks, suddenly terrified, there is more bad news.
"Nothing happened. It's just. I shouldn't have come here."
What,
Does,
She mean?
He knows she can tell he is confused because she frowns and bites down on her lower lip. She winces at the raw skin.
"Sorry." He mutters bashfully.
After all,
He was biting down on that lip only hours before.
He sits up and pulls her to him by her hips.
"What's wrong?"
"I. I just. I do like you Zuko. I really, really like you, but-"
Suddenly he is very cold.
But.
Nothing good ever follows,
But.
His hands fall from her hips and rest in his lap.
He is still,
Very,
Very,
Still.
"But what Katara?"
"I'm just really confused right now."
He's heard that before,
But it wasn't said to him.
"You can't be serious."
She looks confused.
"You can not be trying to sell me the same line you sold him!"
She flinches.
And he is angry.
He is angry that she would come here and get his hopes up.
He is angry that she would dash them without a second thought.
And he is very angry that she won't even come up with a new line.
He,
Deserves better,
Than leftovers.
"I didn't mean to-"
He pinches the bridge of his nose.
"Then why did you come? If you're so confused why did you do this?"
"I don't know."
He's pretty sure she does know.
He's pretty sure it was just because she wanted to.
He forgets how immature she can be.
He is always forgetting how young she really is.
"You're using him as an excuse to hide behind."
"I am not."
"Yes. You are. Look Katara I'm not going to force myself on you if you're confused. I'll respect your wishes, but you'd better start being honest with me and quit trying to sell me second hand bullshit. You of all people should know that I don't need or want to be babied."
"I'm not babying you."
"Yes you are. Maybe it's because you're used to dealing with Aang, maybe it's because you're barely more than a baby yourself, I don't know. I get it, you're young, you're confused, you don't know what these feelings are. Just don't try to make it out to be something it's not."
Her eyes narrow at him,
And he realises,
He has said something,
Very,
Very,
Wrong.
"Fine then Mr Firelord,"
He winces at the title.
", If you're so grown up and mature then maybe you're better off without me anyways."
"I'm really not."
He won't get angry,
He won't give her what she wants.
"You're right! You're not mature at all! You're just as big a baby as I am!"
"That's not what I meant."
Surrey she knows,
He is not,
Better off,
Without her.
"Ugh! You ruin everything!"
She turns and storms from the room.
"I know." He mutters.
But then he stops,
Thinks.
No.
He may ruin everything,
But he doesn't do it alone.
NOTE:
I was really unsure whether to take this chapter in this direction or not. I had to do a lot of thinking about how I was when I was 14 and how the people I knew were when they were fourteen. The thing about being fourteen is that you're old enough to have all these feelings and maybe even old enough to act on them, but you're not yet old enough to know what to do with them or how to live with them. There's a reason that most relationships that start at 14 don't usually last more than a few weeks (if that). Being a teenager, especially in those early years is just one big blur of newness; new emotions, new feelings, new desires. Everything seems so big and real and intense, especially after it gets dark outside. The problem is, sometimes in the harsh light of day not everything seems the way it did the night before…