5. Blurt it out in the middle of an impromptu dance party in the kitchen, as clumsy as your two left feet. When time seems to freeze, hastily tack on "in that shirt" or "when you make your award-winning meatballs" or, if you are feeling particularly brave, "when we do this." Resume dancing and pretend you don't feel her eyes on you the rest of the night.
….
Korra fiddled with the radio as he stood over the stove, creating a meal for them to share. Korra had tried to once, but ended up using her firebending to aid the stove and almost burning down the kitchen. They agreed after that to let him do the cooking.
He didn't mind, his skills had been sharpened over the years as he had tried to scrounge up edible food for his brother and him.
"Is there nothing good on?" Complained the Avatar, reaching yet another radio station of boring news.
"Define good" said Mako, shooting her a grin as he tossed some more herbs into the pan. After looking through their ingredients he had settled on making meatballs.
"I don't know, something interesting, or some good music"
He shook his head slightly and chuckled to himself as she resumed fiddling with the notches, the sound of static filled the room, sometimes interrupted by a few words or bars of a song. She didn't deem these appropriate however as she kept searching
The fiddling stopped as a slow, jazzy tune seemed to fill the room. Nostalgia struck him as he realised this was "Left my heart in Republic City", the song they had danced to on their first date.
She smiled softly, her eyes filled with remembrance.
He left the stove, walking over to her and offering her his hand. She accepted it and soon they were spinning in small circles. Their impromptu dance party was only marred by his 2 left feet, but Korra was light enough on hers to make up for it.
This was the instrumental version of the song, but he remembered that it had lyrics. He began to whisper them softly in her ear as they span, the dizziness they felt not caused by the spinning. "Lost my heart, to the dawn…"
This moment was perfect, the dim lights casting a soft glow upon both of them as they swayed to the song, less content with dancing and more content with just being in each other's arms.
He held her closer, never wanting to let her go. She seemed willing to continue to be held like this forever.
"I love you" He blurted out, staring down into her crystal blue eyes. It wasn't until they widened that he realised what he had said "…when we do this" he tacked on, panicking.
He wasn't sure why he did it, but he knew what he said was true.
He continued dancing with her, pretending not to notice the heavy blush that had spread across her cheeks. He was sure his face was slightly flushed, he was thankful for the soft lighting once more.
The song soon ended and he had to return to the stove before he was the one who burned down the kitchen.
The meal tasted nice enough, but he pretended not to notice her eyes on him as they ate, or for the rest of the night.