Chapter Text
“I need you to do something for me.”
“Okay.” Sokka didn’t even need to consider before he answered. He rolled over on his bed, phone pressed tightly to his ear.
“I haven’t even told you what it is.” Zuko's laugh sounded through the phone. Sokka had half a mind to record it just so he could listen to it on loop when Zuko wasn’t around him.
“You know I’d do anything for you.” And it was true. Zuko could ask him to swallow the sun, and Sokka would do it in an instant, physics be damned.
“Um. Okay. Start from the beginning, Zuko,” he muttered to himself, before telling Sokka firmly, “So, I came out to my dad.” Sokka shot up in his bed, instantly on high alert.
“You did? How did it go? Are you okay? Do you need me to come get you?
“I’m- I’m fine,” Zuko said, but it wasn’t convincing in the least.
“I swear to god, if he did anything to you-” Sokka started with a growl, but Zuko cut him off.
“I’m okay, Sokka. It would… you could come get me, though. That would be good. And then I can… I can explain everything.”
“Okay. Of course. I’m on my way.” Sokka hung up and flung his phone on the bed, scrambling to find anything on the floor of his room that was even remotely clean. He settled on a hoodie that didn’t smell too bad, the pajama pants he was already wearing, and, at the last second, he grabbed the canister of mace he kept with him for emergencies. Zuko had said he was okay, but Sokka had honestly been waiting for an opportunity to mace his best friend’s dad since middle school, and he wasn’t taking any chances with Zuko’s safety.
He drove at least ten miles above the speed limit the whole way to Zuko’s house, mind racing with the possibilities of everything that could have gone wrong.
By the time he reached the mansion that Zuko never really called home, Sokka had worked himself into an anxious mess, jiggling his leg and shaking out his hands as he called Zuko from the driveway.
“I’m here, should I- should I come in, I don’t-”
“Don’t come in. I’m on my way out,” Zuko said in a clipped tone, disconnecting the call seconds before he appeared in the doorway. The moment he saw him, Sokka was filled with so much relief that he couldn’t stop himself from running up the steps to Zuko’s porch and throwing his arms around the other boy.
Zuko chuckled warmly, and Sokka could feel it against his chest as he squeezed him tightly. “I’m okay, Sokka. I swear.”
“I don’t trust him,” is all Sokka said in response. Moth-wasps of anxiety and something else found their way into his chest as Zuko’s arms wound around his back in return.
They stood like that for a while, and Sokka’s anxiety melted away with the feeling of Zuko, safe, so near him.
And then Zuko did something that made Sokka’s brain short-circuit. He pulled back just enough to look at Sokka, arms still looped around him tightly, and then he leaned in. Sokka had just enough time to think what the fuck before Zuko’s lips were gently brushing against his cheek, day-old stubble pricking the corner of Sokka’s lips ever-so-slightly in a way that made him want to spontaneously combust.
So low he almost didn’t hear it, Zuko whispered “Thank you,” into his ear, the words vibrating across his skin just like the rest of his body was, a mixture of anxiety and a different type of nerves, something that only Zuko could bring out in him. Especially when he was still kissing his cheek.
Apparently realizing this at the same time Sokka did, Zuko sprang away from him, face red enough to match the puckered skin of his scar. And then, because apparently Zuko hadn’t surprised him enough in a five-minute period of time, his hand slid down to encase Sokka’s as they turned to his car.
He broke away to slide into the passenger seat of Sokka’s car, and Sokka already missed the contact. He and Zuko were moderately touchy, like most people that have known each other for the majority of their lives, but never like this. Sokka wasn’t sure why, but damn if he wasn’t going to enjoy it.
“Are you alright?” Sokka asked as he shifted the car into gear and started pulling out of the driveway. “Actually, that’s a stupid question. Do you want to talk about it? Also, where are we going? Back to my place, or Iroh’s, or…” Sokka couldn’t think of any other places, which might’ve been a testament to how little he traveled around this town he’d spent the last year in.
“Your place. And yeah. I mean, he reacted pretty much how I thought he would. How could you do this to us, you’re disgracing the family, you’ll find a suitable girl and regret this all one day, et cetera.”
“Fuuuuck,” Sokka groaned extravagantly, hoping to pull a smile out of the other boy. It worked, but it was a small thing that didn’t seem very sincere. “Honestly, fuck him. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and you don’t need to change anything about yourself. You’re wonderful and amazing as you are, and the type of person you’re attracted to doesn’t change that.”
“I know that. He also… well, he also said that I was just deluding myself into believing that I liked boys, because how could I know when I’d never even dated one.”
“That’s bold. How the fuck does he know who you’ve dated?”
“That’s what I said. And, er… I told him I was seeing someone.”
Sokka nearly slammed the brakes in the middle of the street. “What? Are you? Who?” The questions flooded out of him, his brain spinning as he tried to compute the fact that Zuko might be dating somebody. Somebody that wasn’t-
“You.”
“What- ah, fuck!” Sokka cursed as he ran straight through a red light. “We’re what? Did I… uh, did I miss something?” He was fairly certain he would’ve known if he and Zuko were dating, but then again, he wasn’t known as the most attentive person.
“I- I told him we were dating, I’m really sorry, it’s just- I just needed to prove to him that I actually like guys, and you were the first person I thought of, I’m sorry, please don’t- please don’t hate me.”
Damn. Sokka’s heart rate slowed down a little as the sudden shock and hope bled slowly out of his system. “Oh. Um… it’s okay. I don’t hate you Zuko. I could never hate you. But- but you know you don’t need to prove anything to him, right?”
Zuko sighed, and Sokka wished he wasn’t driving so he could see his friend’s face for this conversation. “Well, logically, I’m aware of that. It’s just… it’s hard. It’s hard,” He repeated, apparently not able to find anything else to add.
“Yeah. So… we’re dating, huh?” Sokka asked with levity in his voice, shooting a teasing glance at the boy in the passenger seat. He ignored the shock in his heart from just saying those words.
“Well… just in front of my father. If you’re okay with that. And Azula, she can’t keep a secret to save her life. And then Mai and Ty Lee, because they would tell Azula. Well, and Suki would tell them, so she can’t know either. And Katara would tell Suki, and Aang would definitely tell Katara, and Toph would tell both of them, so. Um. Maybe in front of everyone?”
“You got it, boss,” Sokka winked at Zuko as he pulled into the parking spot outside of his apartment. “I take it you won’t be staying at your dad’s house anymore either?”
Zuko grimaced. “Not if I can help it. Can I… I mean, would it- I wouldn’t want to intrude, but-”
“Are you asking if you can move in with me?”
“Maybe?”
“I dunno, that’s moving awfully fast, babe,” Sokka grinned at a groaning Zuko.
“Yes, I dug us into a hole, I’m sorry, can I please stay at your place for a while?” Sokka prodded at him, goading. “Fine. Sunshine, sweetheart, light of my life, would you make me the happiest man on earth and let me move in with you for, like, a month?” Zuko deadpanned, a hint of a smile peeking through his glare.
Sokka froze, going red. Shit. He was probably going to have to get used to Zuko calling him pet names, but based on the entirely uncalled-for reaction he was having at the moment, that might be a bit of a problem. His face felt like it was just stung by a million bumble-flies, and he was surely gaping at Zuko with some sort of embarrassing, dumbstruck expression.
“Um,” Sokka cleared his throat. “Yeah. Of- of course, dude. It’s fine.” With that eloquent response, Sokka opened the car door and bolted out.
Zuko lagged behind him, probably wondering why he had to choose Sokka to be his fake boyfriend, when there were plenty of other fake fish in the sea, ones that would probably be completely cool about it and not turn into a weird, blushing mess when he called them sweetheart.
Sokka plopped down on the couch as soon as he got inside, gesturing for Zuko to sit down next to him.
“So. We should probably figure out some ground rules. First off: how long are we planning to do this for?”
Zuko tucked one leg under himself, turning to face Sokka with a thoughtful expression. “A few weeks? It has to be long enough to sell it to my dad, but not too long that everyone is devastated when we break up.”
“Zuko, you’re moving in with me. They’re gonna think it’s pretty serious, and they’re probably gonna be sad. You know Katara and Aang are gonna be, at least.”
Zuko grimaced. “Yeah. Well, we can say that when I moved in, we realized it was too much, too fast, and that we just wouldn’t work. We’ll still be best friends, though.”
“Yeah. Yeah, that sounds believable,” Sokka felt like he was nodding his head off. They hadn’t even been fake dating for half an hour, and Sokka was already dreading their expiration date. “So, uh, how are we gonna sell it? I think some couple-y instagram posts would be good, and, like, physical affection around our friends, and… well, you know I live with Aang.”
Zuko nodded. “I assume he’s out right now?”
“Yeah, he’s on a date with Katara. Oh, dates! We’ll probably need to do some of those, but that can just be us hanging out like usual. Anyway- I live with Aang. And this apartment only has two bedrooms.”
Zuko squirmed, the realization dawning. “And it would look pretty suspicious if I slept on the couch every night.”
Sokka nodded, making what he hoped looked like a sympathetic grimace. “My bed’s pretty big, it can definitely fit both of us. And- I mean, we’ve shared beds before, it’s fine. It doesn’t have to be- weird or anything.”
Zuko nodded a little too quickly, his voice coming out slightly higher than usual. “Yeah, yeah, of course. It won’t be- it won’t be weird.”
“Great. Okay, onto physical affection. You know I’m a pretty touchy person with the people I date. It would probably be strange if I just suddenly stopped being like that. So… are you okay with, like, hand-holding, forehead kisses, stuff like that?”
“Yeah. Of- of course,” Zuko nodded, a slight blush staining his cheeks.
Sokka took a deep breath, sterling himself for his next question. “What about… kissing? We totally don’t have to do it if you’re not comfortable with that,” He rushed to reassure Zuko, “I mean, it’s not required or anything, but-”
“It’s okay. I’ll do it. It’s- it’s not a big deal, right?”
“Yeah, of course,” Sokka said with a confidence he didn’t quite feel, “It’ll just be little ones, anyway. It’s not like we have to, like, make out in front of our friends.”
Zuko nodded, letting out a long breath. He ducked his head, hair falling in front of his face as he mumbled something Sokka couldn’t quite make out.
“What was that?” He asked, leaning closer to the other boy. The springs on that shitty couch creaked under him as his weight shifted. It seemed Sokka was always trying to get closer to Zuko, like a moth to a flame.
Zuko’s head snapped up unexpectedly, and Sokka had leaned so close by then that he almost bashed his nose into Zuko’s forehead. “Maybeweshouldpractice.” Zuko spit out in a rush, avoiding looking at Sokka’s rapidly reddening face.
“You think we should… um,” Sokka swallowed, his mouth suddenly seeming very dry. “Practice? Practice… kissing?” he managed to squeak out through his rapidly tightening vocal chords.
Zuko cringed. “I mean, um… yes? To get the awkwardness out of the way. We can’t just kiss for the first time in front of everybody and expect it to look natural, you know? We have to… get the hang of it,” he looked like he was regretting it as soon as he said it, like he was expecting Sokka to scoff at him, or laugh.
Sokka’s mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound came out. He briefly wondered if he was going into anaphylactic shock, even though there wasn’t anything that could’ve caused it. Maybe he was allergic to Zuko asking to kiss him. (What a horrible thing to be allergic to.)
He managed a faint nod, and Zuko’s eyes widened, his face getting impossibly redder. Sokka was sure he was just as red. “Now?” Sokka asked quietly. Zuko nodded, somehow getting even closer. All of Sokka’s senses were filled with Zuko, the molten gold of his eyes, the ashy scent that seemed to originate somewhere deep inside of him, the harsh sound of his unsteady breathing. Zuko exhaled shakily, his eyes flicking down to Sokka’s mouth for just a split second, and something inside Sokka snapped. He leaned forward eagerly to close the last inch between them, pressing his lips gently against Zuko’s.
Oh. Oh. Zuko’s lips moved gently against his own, chaste and soft and driving Sokka fucking wild. His heart slammed in his chest, and it felt like his whole body was vibrating. His hands moved of their own accord, one resting on Zuko’s waist and the other sliding up his chest and coming to cradle his jaw, thumb running against the soft skin there. Zuko let out a soft hum, and Sokka could feel it against his lips, and it wasn’t enough. His hand fisted in Zuko’s shirt as he dragged him searingly close, deepening the kiss with urgency. Zuko groaned as Sokka’s tongue slipped between his lips, and his hands came up to tug at Sokka’s hair, and it felt like he was ablaze. Zuko was lighting him up from the inside, and Sokka didn’t care that soon he would be ash. All he could think about was Zuko’s tongue running against his lower lip, Zuko’s hands fisting in his hair, the smooth skin of Zuko’s abdomen where Sokka’s hand had slipped under his shirt-
“OH MY GOD.”
Zuko jerked away from Sokka violently, and Sokka couldn’t open his eyes for a moment, still reeling from the unexpected intensity. Once he did, he saw Zuko with panic written on his face, looking at something that Sokka was sure he wouldn’t want to see. Instead, he took a moment to revel in how unkempt Zuko looked, with his shirt riding up slightly and his lips puffed and red. I did that, Sokka thought, and he felt his own kiss-bitten lips curl into a self-satisfied smirk.
“OH MY GOD,” Sokka heard again, and he finally turned to see what Zuko was looking at. There, in the middle of the living room, stood Aang, staring at them like they’d each grown two more heads.
“Um,” Sokka started. “I can explain?”