𝘼𝙈𝙀𝙍𝙄𝘾𝘼'𝙎 𝙎𝙐𝙄𝙏𝙀𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙍𝙏𝙎 | 𝙯𝙪𝙠𝙖𝙖𝙣𝙜.

𝙩𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠.

⠀Aang was startled awake by the sound of Katara dropping her textbooks on the hardwood table Aang was napping at. He had fallen asleep in the library, just as she thought when there hadn't been a response to her invitation to study. "What was that for?" he asked, stretching his arms above his head to shoo off the stiffness that came with sleeping in a library chair. "You didn't reply to my message after I got out of class so I figured you'd be here, especially since you have nothing else to do yet." Aang leaned forward, resting the weight of his head on the palm of his hand, "I went with Zuko to the farmers market earlier. I tried to apologize for Sokka, ended up embarrassing myself and being really awkward." He tried not to notice the shock mixed with excitement that sprung to Katara's eyes, knowing it took all her might not make a scene in the library. "And!? How did it go? How did you embarrass yourself? Did you fall on the ice or something?" Aang shook his head, pulling his peachy beret over his face, muffling the words that were to follow out of his mouth. "I didn't fall...but I feel like I should have just let him be. I ended up talking to his uncle for a bit and I mean he talked to me about himself a little but by the time we got to the farmers market and walked our way back, it was really silent. I feel like I ended up being more of a nuisance and just invaded his personal space."
⠀"I disagree, I think it was nice of you to reach out to someone new in town, and if Zuko doesn't want to reach out that's on him." Katara reached out her hand to grab Aangs, gently pulling as she stood to lure him out of the old library chair. "I guess you're right..." he mumbled under his breath, grabbing his bag as he made his way out of the library with Katara. "I know I am! on the other hand, I hear you have a plethora of fangirls already. Some girls followed Suki to the basketball court to watch Sokka play... college is a definite change of pace from highschool." Aang chuckled, pulling his coat tightly around him once the cold outside air hit their bodies. "I got made fun of for being bald, and I think you just got called a prude." That comment made Katara grumpy, but Aang wasn't wrong.

    ￫

    About a week had passed, no sight of Zuko and Aang had nearly forgotten about the event. In such a short period of time, he was already behind on work, something that gave him a lot of anxiety. Sokka thought it was a good idea last night to have a small gathering in Aangs dorm room last night and brought a 'few' drinks. It was just him, Sokka, Suki, and Katara but in a span of a few hours, they pressured him to drink more than enough to get a hangover and created a big enough mess that Aang didn't catch a wink of sleep until 2 am. So here Aang sat, outfit wrinkled, sunglasses over his eyes to ease the ache of the iridescent lights in class, and without his psychology textbook. He would have called Sokka to curse him out but he could barely brush his teeth this morning without the risk of his stomach emptying in the sink. Note to self: does not hold alcohol well.

Right behind the teacher strolled in Zuko, Aang could tell from the quiet murmurs behind him. He heard the professor shut the hard wooden door at the front of the class, and a few seconds later, a body shifting in the seat next to him. Aang would have looked over to give a smile, but his eyes were actively closed. "I didn't think of you as the type to drink Aang." A deep voice whispered near his ear, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. "How could you tell?" He whispered back, trying not to sound miserable. "Well, aside from looking like you have a hangover, I have a good sense of smell." Aang groaned, picking his head up from the cold table to finally make eye contact with his table partner. "Can you share your textbook with me today? I have my bag but I left everything that was supposed to be inside of it on my desk." The dark-haired boy next to him nodded, lugging the heavy hardback book onto the desk between them. "You know, I wouldn't offer this to just anyone...but you can just sleep and I'll take notes that you can have. You look like shit." Aang pouted, while he wanted to pass up the offer just for the insult, the idea of taking a nap sounded really nice... "Okay, just for a little bit. Wake me halfway through class alright? I don't want to make you do everything."

Zuko nodded but knew full well that he was going to just let Aang sleep through the class, he kinda felt bad for Aang since this was probably the kids first time with a hangover and he had definitely been there before. It wasn't until the class had come to an end that Aang woke up, the sound of books closing and bags being zipped woke him from his slumber. Zuko had to hold back a laugh as he saw Aang's body whip up straight and look around in panicked confusion. "I thought I told you to wake me up?" He asked, the realization set in that he had just slept through an hour and a half long class. "And I told you I would take notes," Zuko said, setting his notebook down in front of Aang who, at this moment, was quite touched. "I wrote my number down inside so when you're done copying the notes, text me when you're done." was all that Zuko said before he shoved the rest of his items into his bag and walked out of class, leaving a confused and dizzy Aang alone at the table.

Later that evening, Zuko didn't realize it but he had smiled the entire way to his uncles' restaurant. 'I mean, how innocent can he be? he was practically drooling in class...' he thought as he walked from campus to the bus stop.  'I wonder if he'll actually text me, he seems stupid enough to come all the way here just to hand it to me in person,' he thought as he brought a couple of drinks to a group of old folks at a table he was serving. Even though Zuko wouldn't admit it, he lost sleep that evening waiting for a text from Aang, he didn't want to fall asleep and miss it...just in case. Zuko hadn't really ever had friends, never thought he needed them. But the more time he spent alone, thinking about the times he's caught glimpses of Aang and his friends meeting up between classes to chat, the more he selfishly wished he was apart of it.