Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or it's characters.

42

Aang took a step back, and Katara could instantly tell that this was a line of questioning he had not expected.

"My last roommate?" he mumbled, drawing a hand along the back of his neck nervously. His eyes flashed to hers before quickly darting away.

"Yea, your roommate. Toph said something... something even more concerning than that whole 'dating' fiasco," Katara explained softly. She looked down at her hands, a lump in her throat. Aang had asked if she was going to leave him, and when she'd told him 'not yet', she'd meant it. But, that wasn't entirely accurate, she realized. It all depended on him- and what other secrets he'd kept from her.

"What did she say?" Aang asked in alarm.

Katara didn't look up- she didn't want to see his face. She didn't want to see his raised eyebrows, the guileless sort of innocence in his gray eyes. She'd relent- she'd drop this whole thing now, only to have him kiss her and promise it was all okay.

But relenting was what she had done with Jet. Giving in, trusting an empty lie. Aang wasn't Jet, that much was true, but she wasn't the girl who would be lied to anymore, either. She wanted the truth.

"She said that your last roommate was, well... more than just a roommate," Katara said quickly, as if ripping off the band-aid would make it less painful to say aloud. "And that, after that girl left you, you couldn't afford rent. I'm making a lot of inferences here, but I guess that's more or less where we- where I- come in. She left you, you couldn't afford rent, you lost your home. We meet... I know the end." She scuffed the floor with the toe of her shoe. "But I need the beginning."

Aang heaved a heavy sigh, and Katara peeked up at him. "Yea," he said finally. "That's true. I was dating a girl, and it was getting serious. We were happy... and when we moved in together, I asked her... well, I didn't ask her to marry me, but I implied that I thought things were heading in that direction."

Katara crossed her arms over her chest, as if to protect herself. She didn't want to be hurt hearing this, but she couldn't help it.

"I guess it's not all that different from what happened with you and Jet," he continued morosely. "She panicked when I brought that up. She said she wanted something way less serious, and if I couldn't understand that, then we had nothing more to gain from being together."

Katara took a deep sigh. "Is that why... ever since we got together, I couldn't figure out why you were so hung up on my break-up with Jet- why you were so worried I needed all this time to process what happened. That's why you freaked out when I misspoke when we first kissed. You thought I wanted something casual- like her." She looked up at him, holding his gaze firmly. "It's why you were so afraid to tell me about Toph, because you didn't want me to leave. This whole time, you've been implying that it's me that needs time to heal and recover." She shook her head gently. "Aang... I think it's you."

"What do you mean?" he asked sharply.

"Have you even had time to process your break-up?" Katara asked softly, willing herself to speak. "I don't know all the details, but if you're telling me it was like Jet, then I know how that hurts. And then you immediately had to go into survival mode after you lost your apartment." Tears welled up in her eyes unexpectedly, and she hastily brushed them away. "Aang, I think you need some time. To figure out what you want."

"You," he said without hesitation, a hardness in his eyes she hadn't expected to see. "You're all I want."

"But you don't trust me," Katara said gently. "You don't," she cut him off when he began to protest. "If you did, you would have told me about Toph. You would have believed me when I said I was fine with my split with Jet. You've been so afraid that I'll go at the first sign of trouble, because that's what she did."

Aang ran an anxious hand over his scalp, then nodded curtly. "You're right.. about some things. She did leave unexpectedly. She said I was too intense and that she needed space. And then, yea, it was like getting hit with one thing after another. It was a struggle for survival. I could barely keep my head above water, and I was just starting to learn to swim. Then you came along, and..."

"And?" Katara prompted.

"And then I was floating," he said simply. "And then it wasn't so hard anymore. Well- that's not quite true," he amended. "It was still hard, but I didn't mind so much. You're right about some things, but you're wrong about others. I'm not afraid you'll leave, because of her. I'm afraid you'll leave because I don't want to lose you. You're- you're just it for me."

Katara was speechless, processing. But her heart was glowing, soaring.

"Maybe I am too intense," he sighed, stepping towards her, taking her hand in his. "I know everyone here thinks I'm this happy-go-lucky, roll-with-the-punches kind of guy, and for the most part, I am. But I also know how I feel." He smiled briefly. "Deeply. Seriously."

His calloused hand was gliding against hers, the sound of their skin rasping together a rough counterpoint to the soft intensity of his words.

"I feel that way about you, too. I can help you heal, Aang," Katara said quietly. "But I can't heal you. You need to learn to do that yourself. And you can start by learning to trust me." She stepped back, towards the door.

"Where are you going?" he asked miserably.

"We both need some space tonight," she said.

He nodded reluctantly. "But you'll be here in the morning?"

She bit her lip in a half-smile. "I'll stay with you as long as you let me," she promised softly.

A/N: projections a hell of a drug