A/N Sorry for the wait but its well worth it for some Asami pov goodness.

Chapter 8 – Asami

"Hey, wait up," I heard a deep voice call out from behind me just as I reached the stairs. I turn my head and see Korra's two friends sidling up to me. I quickly realised I had already forgotten their names.

"Hi again," I said cautiously, not understanding why they were talking to me.

"Don't worry, we don't bite," one of them said, jovially. I really was wracking my brain, trying to remember their names. I didn't think I would have to remember them. To me they were random people I would never see again. I gave them a polite smile and began descending the stairs.

"Ignore Bolin, he's an idiot," the older looking one declared, eliciting a huff. Bolin, that's right, I remember now. "I've never seen you around here before, have you just moved in?" He continued.

I was starting to feel uncomfortable but the last thing I needed was to annoy Korra even more than I already had by being rude to her friends. Every time I thought about what happened last night/this morning I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

"Well, sort of," I replied, continuing to walk down the stairs, albeit slightly slower than normal. "I moved here from New York a few months ago."

"Ah, an East Coast girl!" Bolin exclaimed. "How 'bout them Red Sox?"

There was a moment of awkward silence and I furrowed my brow. "I… I thought that was Boston?"

Bolin's face noticeably reddened and he was clearly embarrassed. "Well… yeah. I just… I mean, I was…" he stuttered, before sighing in apparent defeat.

"Ignore Bolin, he's an idiot," his friend repeated, giving him a sideways glare that said what the hell are you doing? "No wonder you're single," he murmured under his breath.

"Shut up, Mako!" Bolin whisper-yelled, jabbing his friend in the upper arm. Mako, that's the other one's name. Despite the odd situation, I actually found myself letting out a small laugh as I continued down the stairs in front of them. We were nearly and the bottom when Mako appeared beside me again.

"So, how often do you and Korra see each other? I mean, do you guys hang out?"

I stop dead on the last step, making both boys give me a strange look. And with good reason. It was an adverse reaction to a simple, innocent question.

"We… well, we… interact," I reply, flustered. A smile tugs at the side of Mako's mouth.

"You interact? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" Mako and Bolin are both looking at me now with identical grins on their faces. I have the sudden and paranoid impression that they're having a joke at my expense and I feel my guard going up again. I straighten to my full height.

"Excuse me?" I question in a stern voice, my head tilted to one side. Mako simply stared at me for a moment, like he was trying to decide something. Slowly his expression changed to a much softer smile.

"Never mind," he said, still smiling. "It really was nice to meet you, Asami." He extended his hand and I automatically shook it without saying anything.

Mako and Bolin both moved past me towards the door, leaving me still standing on that last stair. Bolin was already out the door when Mako turned to face me one more time.

"Oh, by the way," he began. "With Korra, a cream cheese bagel goes a long way." With that, he gave me one last smile and backed away until he disappeared through the door and out of sight.

"Don't I know it," I said quietly into the silence of the lobby.

I continued to stand there dumbly until I remembered I was on my way out to the coffee shop. It wasn't that I was craving coffee particularly, I just needed to get out of my apartment. Ever since I had thrown my phone against the wall I had done nothing but pace around my living room, curse myself, and think about Korra. The fact that the first person I saw when I walked outside my front door was Korra is not lost on me.

Walking to the café with the humid evening air around me, I still couldn't escape my neighbour. The look on her face and the tone of her voice when I saw her leaning up against her doorframe told me that she is upset with me. Of course she is. I would be upset with me too. I am upset with me. She reached out to me and I shoved her away like a diseased cat. She's done nothing but reach out to me and I have rewarded her with feigned apathy and fake smiles.

My walking had sped up without me knowing, my fists were clenched in my pockets and I had walked straight past the coffee shop. I stopped in the middle of the street, took a deep breath and ran a hand through my hair.

I need to apologise to Korra.

…How do I do that?

xxx

Thirty minutes later I was standing outside Korra's apartment with a paper bag clenched in my hand, and had been for nearly ten minutes. I had got as far as raising my fist two or three times to knock but ultimately my arm fell feebly back to my side each time. I didn't know what to say to her, that was my main problem. Maybe that was a good thing, though. Nine times out of ten, when I thought about situations too much, they didn't end well. And just like that I was overthinking again.

I gave myself a shake and knocked twice on the door before I drove myself crazy. No turning back now.

I heard her footsteps come towards me and the door opened just enough for Korra to peek through. When she saw it was me she opened it fully and did little to hide the surprise on her face.

"Asami," Korra said, her upward inflection making it sound more like a question.

"Hi," I said, with what I hoped was a smile. There was a pause that went on a bit too long.

"Hey." Korra's eyes darted up and down the hallway, as if she was looking for a reason for me to be here. Like someone was holding a gun to my head, perhaps.

"Oh, um, here," I said, thrusting the crumpled bag towards her, at a loss as to what else to do. Korra's eyebrows rose in curiosity but took the bag and looked inside. "It's a bagel," I continued, redundantly.

A smile pulled at her lips and she tucked her hair behind her ear. "I can see that. Why…" Korra shook her head slightly. "Why are you giving me a bagel?"

"Because I'm sorry," I said, honestly. It was probably the most honest thing I had ever said to her. She shifted her weight and rested her forearm against the doorjamb.

"You're saying sorry with a bagel?"

I was becoming uncomfortably aware of my hands so I put them in my pockets. "I guess so, yeah." Korra looked at me in a way that made my stomach feel funny. I swallowed.

"What exactly are you saying sorry for?" She finally responded, looking down at the floor, as if she wasn't sure she wanted to talk about it.

"For last night. This morning, whatever. I didn't mean to annoy you or worry you or… whatever." By the time I had finished talking my voice was barely above a whisper. I sighed and glanced up and down the hallway, much like Korra had, looking for some kind of divine intervention. "Look, I'm sorry, I'm not very good at this," I confessed, my eyes everywhere but on Korra's face.

We were both silent for what felt like hours until Korra broke the deadlock. "Well," she started, her voice sounding oddly throaty. "Weird apology accepted."

A/N Thanks for reading.