The Prince and The Jock

In The Alleyway

Zuko's POV

Honestly I didn't want to leave Sokka's house but after I threw icing at his sister and his friends figured out that we did it, I figured I had overstayed my welcome. I didn't want to go home, either. Because I knew what awaited me there. And I was more than right.

When I opened the door to the house, there was my father, waiting for me in his chair. "Where have you been?", he asks. He was acting like I was out late, it's not even 5:00. "I was out with my friend", I answer. "You don't have friends, Zuko. And that's no excuse, your sister actually has friends and she is always home on time", he says. He stands up, his body towering over me but only slightly.

I crossed my arms as a reflection of his, "Because her curfew is midnight and mine is supposed to be 9:00", I answer. My voice is almost yelling and his response matches mine in volume. "Well now, it's 4:30. Get home this late again and there'll be consequences", he said. I just roll my eyes and go to walk away. When he grabs my arm harshly. "Don't roll your eyes at me, Zuko. Or do you want to get slapped again?", he says. His face is inches from mine.

I see the glint in his eyes. I'm mad, he's livid. He digs his nails into my arm and I wince. "Weak, son of bitch", he grumbles, "And what about Mr. Abano? He almost saw you, imagine what that could've done to me." When he finally lets me go, I speed walk to my room. I can't believe I used to want his attention. With him, either I don't get any attention at all or I yelled at and hit.

It's so unfair! And if Azula knows, she doesn't say anything. Although you can't expect much, she always hated me and blamed me for our parents divorce. When it wasn't my fault, it was my father's. She left after he gave me this burn mark. All of it was his fault, but her being "daddy's precious daughter" meant everything was always my fault. The same way father thought.

I rub my arm, his nails had drawn blood when they showed into my skin. Tears threatened to fall, not because I was hurt or because I was scared. It was because I realized how messed up my life is. Sure other had it worse than me, but my life was at its lowest. I had no one.. no one except Sokka and I can only have him in private. Any other time, he's just one of those jocks who like to beat me up. Knowing the only reason I don't fight back is because of my father.

Although they think it's because I'm worried about ruining his reputation, no, no, that's not it. It's because if I even lay a hand on one of his students (god forbid one of his athletes) then I get hit or punished in some cruel inhuman way.

I quickly wipe away my tears when I hear the handle on my door jiggle. I turn around and see Azula standing there. "I heard Austin beat you up, today", is all she says. "Yeah, so?" She gives me a wicked smirk. "Father wants to see you", she says in a sing song voice.

Oh shit.

I swallow hard, and make my way downstairs. I know my father, and he isn't the kind of person above throwing me into a wall. And I know I'll let him. Because that's what I do. I never fight back if he's involved, cause whether I like it or not, he's stronger than me.

I stand at the door way and Father is was more pissed than he was the 2 minutes I was in my bedroom. Luckily his back is turned at the moment and he's in the phone. "Yes ma'am. I am so incredibly sorry, yes, my son will be in a load of trouble. Yes, I'm about to give him his punishment right now. Okay, bye, try and have a nice night Mrs. Gallan", he then hangs up the phone. And turns around slowly.

"Zuko, come here", is all he says. I have no choice but to obey. I walk up to him and as soon as I'm close enough, he grabs me and throws me into the wall. My back hits it and the wall is left slightly dented. My phone falls out of my pocket, the screen cracked beyond repair. I can't move, because of the shock. When I glance over, Azula is staring.

For a millisecond she looks sorry, but it's soon replaced with a solemn look. I can't tell if the pity was sincere or not. Because at the moment, I can't read if she's enjoying my abuse. "Did you beat up Austin Gallan!?", my father screams. "No", I mumble at first. "Zuko!" "No, I didn't!" "ARE YOU LYING TO ME!?" "NO IM NOT I NEVER TOUCHED HIM!" He growls and picks me up by my throat. "This is gonna make me look bad, Zuko. You know I don't wanna look bad", he whispers menacingly. I reach for his hands and try to catch my breath. "F-father, please-" "Begging for mercy? You really have failed me." I glance over to Azula. Her face no longer solemn.

She looks scared, "A-azula...please..", I try to catch my breath. Whispering a "help me", but I'm confident it wasn't audible. "Father, stop, you can't get your hands dirty, what if the neighbors hear you, then your reputation really will be ruined", she says. He immediately lets go and I fall back on the floor, trying to catch my breath. I can feel my check beginning to bruise where his hands were. "Of course, you're right. So silly for me to forget", he chuckles. Leave it to him to worry more about his reputation than his own kid.

I glance up and he stars down at me, "Anything else you wanna say?", he asks. Should I say it? It would make him mad... Oh what do I care, "I wish I would've stayed with Mom", I say. I try to smirk but I don't think I was successful. Smirk or no smirk, it still made him mad. With one solid movement, he gave me another hearty slap.

In the same place as the one from earlier. It hurt twice as bad because the one from earlier wasn't healed. I grab my phone and slowly get up, loosing my footing. I felt weak, which I hate. But then again, I did use all my energy trying not to black out. But despite the burning from my chest, I walk out the door and as soon as I close it, I run for the alleyway that rests right in the middle between mine and Sokka's house.

Zuko: Sokka, can you meet me in the alleyway?

Sokka: Sure, babe. Is everything okay?

Zuko: No..just come here

Sokka: I'll be right there

After the conversation, I lock my phone. And just sit there. Resting my head against the wall, hidden by darkness. The cool air hit my cheek, making it sting even worse. When Sokka finally came running, all the silent tears that I didn't even realize had fallen had stopped, thank god.

He kneeled in front of me. My body was too tired to do much else. He rested his hand on my left side, causing me to majorly flinch. "Hey, hey, what's wrong", he asks. I can head the sympathy swelling in his voice. "Father threw me into a wall, then slapped me", I answer. No use sugar coating. I expected him to yell, or march right up to my house and yell at my father but he didn't do either of those. He just hugged me. He held me in his arms and at that moment, I remembered him as the only thing I had.

He put one hand in my hair and played with it softly. Before I knew what I was doing, I sobbed into his shoulder and continued to, over and over again.