Pandora University *Avatar Social AU*

Thirteen: Fake Apology

He shouldn't be feeling nervous.

No, Ao'nung usually doesn't do feeling nervous, or even feel intimidated by talking to someone - his father made sure that was the case so no one would take advantage of him while being emotional.

And he has failed to that, over and over again.

With his family.

Friends.

Relationships.

Siblings.

Himself

He has failed to do the one thing asked of him, and that was to not be emotional.

That night he did that same mistake in letting his emotions take over, allowing it to run his tongue and doubtful mind to race wild in paranoia, even when there was no motive for it to have gotten to the point it did. He knows he messed up, and he deserved that blow back to his face.

Which is why he's going to owe up to it and apologize, but not for Artemis.

No, he could care less if he hurt the guy's feelings, but for his friends.

Only for them.

For Neteyam.

Ao'nung is still trying to win him over, and for that he has to show him he has matured and can handle his problems without his friends playing referee.

He owes it him.

So that's how Ao'nung swallowed his nerves down, seeing the guy walking down the hallway from his class. Something about him just crawls underneath Ao'nung's skin, and it's not just the jealousy talking.

There's just something there, but whatever it was had to be pushed away.

A hand on his forearm flutters his focus, ears perking upon hearing his sister's voice, "There he is, ready?"

For his friends.

For Neteyam.

He can do this.

Taking a deep breath and nodding, Ao'nung lead the way to stride towards Artemis, and taps on his shoulder just as he was going to go down a flight of stairs. He stops midtrack and turns around, perking an eyebrow upon seeing both of them standing there before him and removes an earbud.

"Um, hello?"

Having him in front of him now punctured a sensitive nerve in Ao'nung's body, subconsciously flinching back as flashbacks to his words nailed through his head repeatedly. This is why he didn't want to talk to anyone yet about this situation, since he really got mind fucked by it.

It forced him to go into a heavish state of vulnerability that he didn't know even existed in his head, and talking to them alone triggered those responses because his friends are his weakness.

He has a grave soft spot for them, and it didn't help that they were there when all this happened. Alone he could've handled it, but with them there felt as though they saw right through him, and he hated it.

So, he went to the easiest route and that was to avoid them, hopefully managing to gain strength on his own. Yet now as he stands in front of Artemis, all that built up confidence and strength faded away, leaving him to feel weak and nearly hysterical.

Until he felt his sister's soft hand on his elbow, being the charge in helping him look up and keep his head still, "I came to apologize about what happened the other night. I was being too paranoid and possessive of my friends, and I have trust issues to new faces. But that's on me, not them, and I'm sorry for it."