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“Zuko, I need you to go on a date with me.”
Zuko nearly chokes on his tea. Sure, he’d imagined what it might be like if Sokka asked him out, but it’s not like Zuko had ever considered it a real possibility. Sokka could get any girl or guy he wanted, why would he pick Zuko?
“What?” He manages, hoping Sokka doesn’t read too far into why his voice is strained. Surely this is all a big joke. A middle school-esque dare to ask someone out just to laugh at their reaction. Granted, that doesn’t seem like something Sokka would do, but Zuko can’t let himself get his hopes up, and that’s the best explanation he can come up with right now.
“Hahn texted me.”
Ah, okay.
That would explain it.
Zuko pushes his cup away from him and leans back in his chair, eyes following Sokka as he shrugs his backpack off, hangs up his jacket, and slips off his shoes. He leaves his backpack discarded on the floor and plops down into the chair across from Zuko’s. He reaches over for Zuko’s cup without asking and takes a long sip from it.
Only after that does he offer any other details. “He invited me on a double date. Apparently he has a girlfriend now?” Sokka shakes his head. “I don’t know. It’s all just a stupid play nice ploy because our dads are friends so we still have to ‘get along with each other’ even though he’s literally the worst person I’ve met in my entire life.” He takes another drink of Zuko’s tea. “Normally, I would just tell him I’m busy so I wouldn’t have to see his stupid face, but he--” Sokka groans. He fishes his phone from his pocket and turns it on. “He goes, ‘Unless, of course, you haven’t found anyone else who will date you since we broke up. Which, now that I think about it, is a highly likely possibility, considering how our relationship ended.’” He slams his phone down on the table. “Who even says something like that?!”
“So you’re…” Zuko frowns. “You want to prove to Hahn that you are dating someone, except you… aren’t?”
“Exactly! Which is why I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend.” Sokka grins, like this is the greatest plan he’s ever come up with.
It is not, in fact, the greatest plan he’s ever come up with. Because he’s missing the vital piece of information that is the fact that Zuko’s been pining for him ever since freshman year of college when they stayed up until five in the morning studying for a psychology exam and Zuko realized his feelings for Sokka were not strictly platonic.
Of course, Zuko can’t tell Sokka that.
Which is why he says, “Okay, I’ll do it.”
“Yes!” Sokka cheers. “Thank you so much, you’re the best! Hahn’s going to regret ever trying to come for me. We’re going to be the best fake couple ever.”
Zuko internally sighs. He’s going to regret this decision, isn’t he? How is he supposed to pretend he’s Sokka’s boyfriend in a way that seems real to Hahn but fake to Sokka? How is he supposed to pretend he’s Sokka’s boyfriend without revealing his massive crush on Sokka?
Zuko hopes his smile doesn’t look too forced.
--
One week later, Zuko is trying to figure out what to wear when Sokka bursts into his room unannounced. It would be less of an issue if Sokka weren’t shirtless for no apparent reason at all.
As soon as Zuko realizes this fact, he averts his eyes, trying to focus on anything at all except for ogling his roommate-slash-best friend.
“So, I was thinking,” Sokka says casually, “what could we do that would get under Hahn’s skin? Obviously, we have to prove we’re the most in love and our relationship is better than anything he could ever hope to have. So I was thinking I could borrow one of your shirts for tonight.”
Zuko blinks. “What?”
“Yeah!” Sokka waltzes over to Zuko and throws an arm around him. “Look, you have so many nice red shirts, and Hahn knows I never wear red. So if I show up in a red shirt, he’s going to know it’s yours. And that means, from the very start, he’s going to realize that we’re closer than he and I ever were. And we’re also closer than he is to whatever poor girl he tricked into dating him. Plus, then we’ll be coordinating colors, which seems like a very couple-y thing to do.”
Zuko scoffs. “You’re overthinking this.”
Sokka shakes his head. He steps away from Zuko and starts rummaging through his closet. “I think you’re under thinking it. We can’t let Hahn know we’re faking, because if we do, I’ll never hear the end of it-- Dude, how long have you had this?” Sokka turns around, holding a blue hoodie that definitely doesn’t belong to Zuko.
He shrugs. “Ever since you let me borrow it?” Zuko absolutely does not specifically remember that Sokka lent him the hoodie last month because Zuko severely underestimated how cold it would be when they went to meet up with Suki and Ty Lee for lunch, nor does he remember Suki’s joke about them sharing clothes like a couple that Sokka just laughed off.
“Whatever.” Sokka returns the hoodie to Zuko’s closet and exchanges it for a red and gold patterned button up. “Oooooh, can I wear this one?”
Zuko, quite honestly, does not have the mental energy to try to follow what Sokka is playing at right now, so he just nods. “Sure.” Why not? Zuko is just going to have to roll with the punches tonight and hope he doesn’t accidentally cause everything to go down in flames.
He’s almost grateful Hahn is going to be there, because as disastrous as going on a fake date with your crush of three years may be, Hahn and Sokka being in the same vicinity as each other is just begging for a whole other host of problems. And maybe those problems will save Zuko from his own.
Or maybe Zuko’s just been postponing the inevitable for the past three years, and now it’s finally time to answer for all of his silent pining from afar.
“Awesome, thanks!” Sokka folds it over his arm, then glances back at Zuko. “You should wear that one.” He points at the shirt in Zuko’s left hand. “It looks good on you.”
And then he’s gone, just as quickly as he arrived.
Zuko shakes his head, trying to clear away all thoughts of Sokka. Maybe that’s not the best way to mentally prepare himself for tonight, but it’s the only way he’s going to make it to tonight without a full on breakdown.
Briefly, he considers texting Mai, asking for advice. But he knows all she would offer is something along the lines of, “What do you want ME to do? You got yourself into this, and it’s too late to get yourself out of it. Besides, I know you don’t actually WANT out of it, because if you did, you wouldn’t have agreed in the first place.”
And, as always, she would be completely correct.
Zuko sighs melodramatically and throws himself back onto his bed, covering his face with his arms. How is it that he’s put himself in a situation where Hahn’s idiocy might be his one saving grace?
--
For most of the car ride to the restaurant, Zuko’s only thought is Sokka looks good in red. Which, to be far to Zuko, is a very pertinent thought at the moment. And, not only is Sokka wearing red, but he’s wearing a red shirt of Zuko’s, which feels a lot more intimate and multiples the butterflies in Zuko’s stomach tenfold.
It isn’t until they’ve parked and Sokka turns to look at Zuko that Zuko realizes he needs to focus on the task at hand: convincing Hahn that he and Sokka are the Perfect Couple without letting Sokka figure out that Zuko’s feelings are not actually fake.
“Okay,” Sokka starts, “before we go in, I need to know what you’re comfortable with.”
“What?” Zuko’s brain hasn’t entirely gotten over the whole Sokka in red thing, apparently.
“Like, holding hands, pet names, all that good stuff,” Sokka explains. “I mean, I feel like if we really want to prove we’re the ideal couple, we should be, like, touchy-feely, you know? Also, I feel like that would just get on Hahn’s nerves. ‘Cause, like, I feel like he’s trying to make me jealous, so I want to turn this back on him. But I also know you’re not always good with touch, so I don’t want to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”
“Oh.” How is Zuko supposed to say he’s fine with literally anything because it’s Sokka, and Sokka could ask Zuko to kill for him and Zuko would do it without hesitation? “I-- I guess I’m okay with whatever. You know what will annoy Hahn most.”
Hopefully, Sokka doesn’t look too deeply into Zuko’s deflection.
Sokka hesitates, briefly, then shrugs. “Alright. We can play by ear, then.” He checks his phone. “Hahn said he and his girlfriend are already here and they have a table.” He takes a deep breath. “You ready for this?”
Not really. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
They climb out of Sokka’s car and Sokka immediately weaves their fingers together. Zuko wishes it didn’t feel as natural as it does, wishes their hands didn’t seem to fit together like pieces of a puzzle.
(He wishes this wasn’t fake.)
It isn’t hard to find Hahn; he gave Sokka pretty specific directions to the table, like he thought Sokka couldn’t get there if he didn’t lay out every step he would need to take.
As they approach the table, though, Sokka stops short before quickly tugging Zuko out of view from Hahn. Before Zuko has a chance to ask why they’re hiding, Sokka hisses, “Did you see the girl he was with?!”
Zuko frowns. “For, like, half a second.” He hadn’t been able to take in much more than her dark brown hair, bleached at the ends, before Sokka had pulled him away.
“She’s so pretty,” Sokka elaborates. “ How did he get someone so far out of his league to date him?”
“You dated him,” Zuko points out before he can think better of it.
“Well, yeah, but--” Sokka cuts himself off. “Wait. Did you just say I’m pretty?”
Zuko can feel his face heat up. “Well, I just mean-- You’re, like, objectively better looking than Hahn is. And, objectively, you’re out of his league. Because everyone is out of Hahn’s league, because he’s a jerk.” Zuko clamps his mouth shut so he doesn’t dig himself any deeper than he already has.
“Fair enough,” Sokka concedes. He shakes his head. “I feel even worse for his girlfriend now. She looks so nice. She doesn’t deserve to be stuck with him. ...Do you think I can get them to break up by the end of the night?”
“Sokka.”
“No, you’re right, too ambitious of a goal. It would probably take a couple more dates--”
“Sokka.”
“Yes?”
Zuko rolls his eyes. “Did we come here to hide by the bathrooms, or are we actually going to go sit down?”
Sokka sighs. “Okay. Fine. We can go sit down.” He takes Zuko’s hand back in his and leads the way to the table. He mutters something else under his breath, which Zuko pointedly ignores, before plastering a fake smile on his face as they approach Hahn and his girlfriend.
For some reason, Hahn looks surprised to see them. Like maybe he hadn’t expected them to actually show up? Though, the surprise seems directed more towards Zuko, which Zuko would usually write off as shock at the ugly burn scar covering the left half of his face, but this isn’t the first time he’s met Hahn, so it can’t be that.
“It’s so good to see you!” Sokka says as they take their seats. “Hahn, you’ve met Zuko before.” He drops Zuko’s hand and opts to wrap an arm around Zuko’s shoulders instead. “We’ve been friends for a while, but we only just recently got together.” He meets Zuko’s eyes, and if Zuko didn’t know any better, he’d say Sokka was head over heels for him.
Sokka must be a far better actor than Zuko gave him credit for.
“Yes,” Hahn replies stiffly. “I have.” After a few moments of awkward silence, he clears his throat, and Sokka looks over to him. “This is my girlfriend, Yue.”
Yue waves politely, offering Sokka and Zuko a small smile. Sokka’s right; she looks nice and Zuko hopes she doesn’t stay with Hahn for very long. No one deserves to date Hahn.
(Okay, maybe Zuko is biased and feeding off Sokka’s hatred for him, but whatever. Hahn absolutely deserves it. Zuko didn’t listen to Sokka cry about how nothing he did would ever be enough for Hahn just to turn around and care about the guy in any capacity at all.)
Surprisingly, they make it through ordering their food without any issues. Yue’s family, like Sokka’s, are old friends of Hahn’s family, which explains exactly why someone like Yue would even look twice at Hahn.
It isn’t until after they’ve been served their food that things start to go downhill.
“So how did you two get together?” Yue asks lightly. Hahn grumbles for some reason, but Sokka very obviously ignores it.
“It was actually all thanks to my sister,” Sokka starts, launching into a story that isn’t even real. Did he come up with this beforehand? Did Zuko miss a text explaining their couples’ backstory that he was supposed to memorize? Or is Sokka just coming up with this on the spot? “It was a couple months ago, I think, that I was over at her apartment for movie night. Usually her roommate - Suki - joins us, but she was on a date, so it was just Katara and I. I don’t even remember what movie we were watching, but I started rambling to her about Zuko, and she finally goes, ‘Sokka, would you just ask him out already?!’
“And see, at the time, I didn’t even realize I liked Zuko like that. But after she said that, I realized I actually had begun to see him as more of a friend. It was about a week after that when I finally asked him out.” He looks over at Zuko with that same lovestruck expression Zuko wishes were real on his face. “And obviously he said yes.”
“That’s so cute!” Yue gushes. “I thought you two had been together for longer than a couple months, though. You don’t give me awkward-new-couple-vibes at all!”
Hahn tenses at that for some reason.
“Well, it helps that we were already so close,” Sokka explains. He takes Zuko’s hand in his and lifts it to his lips. He hesitates, only briefly, silently asking Zuko if this is okay.
When Zuko doesn’t pull away, Sokka presses a kiss to the back of Zuko’s hand. Sokka’s lips aren’t overly warm, but the place where they touched Zuko’s skin burns.
Zuko is going to die here, in this fancy restaurant, with Hahn as a witness, isn’t he?
Well, he supposes there are worse ways to go than Sokka-induced spontaneous combustion.
“That makes sense,” Yue muses. She takes a sip of her water and Zuko is pretty sure he sees her scoot just a bit further away from Hahn.
Which leads Zuko to the realization that Hahn and Yue are very much sitting a respectable distance apart while Sokka has nearly pulled Zuko into his lap. He’s still got one arm slung over Zuko’s shoulders, using only his right hand to eat, and under the table, Sokka has Zuko’s left leg trapped between his own legs.
Zuko hadn’t even thought twice about it, because it was easy and comfortable, and it’s not like it’s all that different from how they act at home. Sokka is already a very touchy-feely person, so Zuko has gotten used to Sokka just draping himself over Zuko whenever he feels like it. That’s just the cost of living with Sokka, and Zuko doesn’t mind in the slightest.
“You were already close?” Hahn questions. He’s glaring at Sokka and Zuko is getting the feeling he’s missing something.
“Um, yeah.” Sokka doesn’t seem bothered by the sudden souring of Hahn’s mood. He steals a bite of food from Zuko’s plate. “We’ve lived together for, what, two years now?” He looks over at Zuko for confirmation and Zuko nods. “And we’ve been friends for even longer, so of course we were close before we started dating.”
“Right,” Hahn grumbles. Sokka smiles smugly and leans his head on Zuko’s shoulder.
Yue continues to pick at her food, and Zuko feels a bit bad for her, getting caught up in this feud that is really just between Sokka and Hahn. Because while Zuko is also caught up in this feud that isn’t technically his own, Sokka was very open about his intentions for taking Zuko on this date. Zuko knows he’s here so Sokka can rub their relationship in Hahn’s face. Yue probably didn’t sign up for this date just to be shown off like a trophy wife to Hahn’s ex-boyfriend.
“I know you two have been close for some time.”
Sokka scoffs, lifting his head. “You wouldn’t believe the truth if it grabbed you by the neck and dangled you over a cliff.”
Yue looks up at Zuko then, raising an eyebrow. Zuko shrugs. Apparently Sokka didn’t tell Zuko about every fight he and Hahn had, because this seems to be referencing Zuko doesn’t know about.
Hahn rolls his eyes. “Can you blame me?” He gestures vaguely towards Zuko. “I mean, look at the two of you. You’re acting like newlyweds on their honeymoon and expecting me to believe this is new?”
Zuko has half a mind to just grab Sokka and leave now before things can escalate, but it’s like watching a trainwreck in slow motion - he can’t look away. Not to mention the fact that Hahn is making it sound like he thought Zuko and Sokka got together before Sokka broke up with him, which is occupying the majority of Zuko’s mind right now because how does that make sense?
“Sounds to me like you’re jealous,” Sokka bites back.
Hahn lets out a bitter laugh. “Jealous? Of what, the fact that he fell for your whole quirky nerd who can do no wrong act, or the fact that you’re dating Freddy Kreuger?”
Hahn’s words hang in the air, followed by silence, and the echo through Zuko’s mind.
It would sting a lot worse if Zuko had any ounce of respect for Hahn, but he’s long since lost any regard for anything that comes out of Hahn’s mouth. It helps, too, that it isn’t anything Zuko hasn’t heard before. He knows the scar isn’t flattering; he sees the way people pointedly avert their eyes from him so they don’t have to see it.
So it isn’t fun, but Zuko is willing to just brush Hahn’s insult off in favor of not causing a scene.
Sokka, however, is apparently not so willing to let it go.
“What did you just say?” He growls. He’s gripping his fork tightly enough that his knuckles are turning white and Zuko is afraid he might try to stab Hahn with it.
“It’s fine--” Zuko tries, resting a hand on Sokka’s arm.
Sokka shrugs him off. “It is not fine.” His fork clatters against his plate as he stands up, still glaring menacingly at Hahn. “I don’t care that you don’t believe me, but what in Tui’s name makes you think it’s okay to say something like that about Zuko?”
Hahn doesn’t waver. “Did I lie? You’re going to sit here and pretend that he doesn’t look like a horror movie villain?”
“I’m right here,” Zuko interjects irritably.
Neither Sokka nor Hahn acknowledge him. Sokka because he’s too busy marching over to Hahn’s seat and Hahn because he’s too busy getting hauled up by Sokka, who is grabbing the collar of his shirt. Zuko doesn’t even have time to consider intervening before Sokka’s fist is making contact with Hahn’s face.
--
Sokka winces as the cold ice makes contact with his busted lip. “Sorry,” Zuko mumbles. He retracts the makeshift ice pack momentarily. It’s just a plastic bag of ice wrapped in paper towels - the sort of thing you’d get in the nurse’s office in elementary school - that Yue swayed one of the waitresses into giving her after Sokka and Hahn had been promptly kicked out of the restaurant. “You know, you wouldn’t have a busted lip if you’d just let it go.” Zuko touches the ice pack back to Sokka’s lip, gentler this time. “It really wasn’t that big of a deal.”
Sokka frowns, clearly disagreeing with Zuko. The three of them - Zuko, Sokka, and Yue - are seated on a bench a few yards from the restaurant. Hahn had left straight away, after Yue had told him not to wait up for her and she’d get an Uber back home while he and Sokka were being escorted outside.
“No offense,” Yue cuts off whatever Sokka was about to say, “but Sokka should’ve done worse than give Hahn a black eye and a bloody nose. I can’t believe he said that to you!” She shakes her head. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve told Hahn he could shove it when he asked me to go on this date with him.”
“Aren’t you his girlfriend?” Sokka asks, voice muddled both by the ice pack and his swollen lip. “I’m sorry we ruined your date.”
Yue grimances. “No. I am not Hahn’s girlfriend. The only reason I ever agreed to a double date is because I owed him a favor. Like I said, our families are friends, so we’ve known each other since we were kids. He covered for me when I went with a friend to get a tattoo, but unfortunately, the cost was going on this date.”
Zuko can hold back the laugh that escapes his mouth. When Yue gives him a weird look, he says, “Sokka and I aren’t really dating either. He roped me into this so he could annoy Hahn.”
“You didn’t have to say yes though,” Sokka points out. He pushes the ice pack away from his face. “You could’ve said no if you really didn’t want to go.”
“C’mon, Sokka. Like I’d pass up an opportunity to piss Hahn off.”
Yue looks back and forth between them. “You… aren’t dating?”
Zuko and Sokka both shake their heads.
“Wow! I never would’ve guessed. You’re really good actors.”
Zuko looks at Sokka. He didn’t really feel like they acted all that different than they normally do; save for when Sokka kissed his hand. To Zuko’s surprise, Sokka hadn’t even tried out any pet names on him. He was pretty sure Hahn would see straight through their act because Zuko had been so worried about not letting Sokka see his true feelings he felt like he was hiding them from Hahn too.
Sokka smiles sheepishly, but it’s cut short by a wince. He grabs Zuko’s wrist and guides the ice pack back up to his mouth.
A car pulls to a stop in front of them, and Yue looks down at her phone. “Well, looks like my ride is here.” She offers the two of them an apologetic smile. “It was really nice to meet you. And I’m sorry again about Hahn. Next time I see him, I will make sure he regrets what he said.” And while Yue seemed sweet and innocent at first glance, Zuko doesn’t doubt her ability to carry through on her threat.
“Wait,” Sokka says as Yue stands up. “Can I give you my number so you can text me when you get home?” He cringes at his words. “I’m not trying to hit on you, I promise. I just know Hahn won’t bother checking to make sure you got home safely.”
Yue and Sokka exchange numbers quickly and Zuko does his best to ignore the jealousy flaring up in his stomach. Then, Yue is climbing into the Uber, which disappears amidst the other cars driving past.
“I’m sorry,” Sokka whispers once Yue is gone. “If I’d known he was going to say that, I never would’ve invited you to come with me. I wouldn’t have gone myself. My ego isn’t worth you having to hear that.”
“Sokka, it’s really not that big of a deal,” Zuko assures him. “I’ve heard it all before. I know my scar isn’t pretty to look at, and I know Hahn is a jerk.”
Sokka looks up at him, then, something unnamable flickering through his eyes. He reaches up, cupping Zuko’s left cheek, his thumb brushing the bottom edge of Zuko’s scar. “I think it makes you look like a brooding, mysterious, protagonist with a tragic backstory he won’t tell anyone, until he falls for with a beautiful, smart, girl who helps him learn to open himself up to love.” He laughs. “Or, I guess a beautiful, smart, boy in your case.”
“Thanks,” Zuko murmurs, though what he really wants to say is he thinks Sokka’s probably the protagonist of this story and Zuko is the friend-slash-sidekick who is very obviously queercoded and has a crush on the protagonist, but the creators are too afraid for anything to come of it. So they’ll give Sokka a socially acceptable partner of the opposite gender while Zuko gets written off the show.
“I’m serious,” Sokka insists. “Hahn can suck it. You’re beautiful, and it’s my fault he even said anything to you, because he wouldn’t listen when I told him there was nothing happening between us, and I should’ve known he would go after you, but I want too caught up with the idea of just letting him think he was right the whole time because what does it even matter and because that would be the one surefire way to tick him off, and--”
“Woah, Sokka, wait,” Zuko interrupts. “What?”
Sokka sighs. “Back before Hahn and I broke up, he was convinced I was cheating on him with you. I tried telling him I wasn’t and we were just friends, but he wouldn’t hear it. So even though it’s been eight months now, I knew bringing you on this date as my boyfriend would just confirm what he thought he already knew in his mind.” Sokka shakes his head. “I know, I should’ve told you, but I just-- I didn’t want you trying to figure out why he might think that.”
Zuko tilts his head. “Why not?”
Sokka looks down. “I really didn’t think of you as anything other than a friend while Hahn and I were together, I swear. And even if I did, I wouldn’t have cheated - you know I’m not that kind of person. But…”
But.
Zuko tries to swallow whatever semblance of hope has risen up in his chest. But could mean a lot of things besides Sokka reciprocating his feelings.
“I’m sorry,” Sokka says again, voice far quieter this time. He pulls his hand away from Zuko’s face (and oh, Zuko hadn’t even realized it was still there) and refuses to meet Zuko’s eyes, angling his body away from him. “I wasn’t entirely lying when Yue asked how we got together. At least, not about the first part.”
Wait--
“You don’t-- you don’t have to say anything. I’ll get over it, it’s fine. And I’m sorry for asking you to fake date me; I wasn’t really trying to, like, trick you into dating me or take advantage of you or anything. Like I said, I was too caught up in pissing off Hahn to think about how you might feel about the situation, and--”
“Sokka,” Zuko interrupts, his brain finally catching up with what Sokka is saying. He drops the ice pack on the bench between them, lifting both his hands to cup Sokka’s face, forcing Sokka to look over at him. “Sokka,” he repeats, because there’s too much in Zuko’s mind to get anything else out. “You…” He shakes his head, a laugh bubbling up out of his throat. “Sokka, I’ve liked you for two years now. I’ve liked you since that stupid study date that lasted until five in the morning when we ended up spending half the night making origami swans instead of studying and you gave me the only one you made that you actually liked.”
Sokka smiles at Zuko in the same way he did while they were inside the restaurant, but this time, Zuko knows it’s real.
And then Sokka’s lips are on Zuko’s and his hands are in Zuko’s hair and Zuko has imagined what it might be like to kiss Sokka a hundred times over, but his imagination could never compare to the real thing.
Zuko kisses back as softly as he can, wary of hurting Sokka’s lip any more than it already has been. It stopped bleeding a while ago, but he can feel that it’s swollen and bruised.
When they break apart, Sokka laughs breathlessly, holding onto Zuko so he can’t back too far away. “My lip hurts,” he whispers.
“You didn’t have to kiss me,” Zuko responds.
“Did too,” Sokka replies, but there’s no fire to it. “Besides, it was totally worth it.” He sighs happily. “You’re so pretty.”
“Sokka--”
Sokka presses a finger against Zuko’s lips, effectively cutting him off. “You might not believe it yet, but I’m not going to give up until you do. You are pretty,” he kisses Zuko’s unscarred cheek, “and beautiful,” he kisses Zuko’s forehead, “and hot,” he kisses Zuko’s lips, “and someday, I will make you see yourself the same way I do.” Finally, he kisses Zuko’s scar, reverent and soft, like it deserves praising instead of shaming.
Zuko wants to fight. He wants to argue that he knows he isn’t any of those things and has Sokka seen himself, but the look of pure adoration in Sokka’s eyes stops him. Instead, he just says, “If your lip starts bleeding again, I’m not going to feel sorry for you.”
Sokka hums. “Once again. It’d totally be worth it.” He plants one more kiss on Zuko’s forehead. “But I will try my best not to let that happen.” He pulls back, finally letting go of Zuko. “We should probably go home.”
Zuko nods. He stands up and offers a hand to Sokka, who beams up at Zuko as he takes it.
(And if, as soon as they’re back in Sokka’s car, Sokka kisses Zuko until he manages to reopen the wound on his lip, that’s no one’s business but theirs.)