Not Equal To

Chapter One: Left Behind

Zuko lay staring at the ceiling while Sokka lay peacefully beside him. Is this real? Zuko thought. He heard Sokka moan softly in his sleep and felt him turn over to face him. Sokka's arm draped over Zuko and his whole body tensed. I have to get out of here.

He slowly began to slide out from under Sokka's grasp, scooting to the edge of the bed. When he freed himself, he sat up, placing his feet on the cool ground and took a deep breath. Shit. He looked back at Sokka, taking in all the details of the sleeping boys. Hair down, falling so nicely on the pillow, looking so serene. How can he look so damn good without even trying? Zuko groaned and put his face in his hands before slowly getting up, grabbing his clothes – he was only wearing his underwear – and heading out the door.

"I'm sorry Sokka," he said under his breath. Then he was gone.

    ≠

Sokka was shivering when he woke up. He reached around the bed looking for the warm body he fell asleep beside, the warm body of the man he'd began to love, but all he found was an empty bed. "Zuko?" It came out of him quietly, his voice soft and raspy from sleep. He forced his eyes open and looked at the empty space beside him. "Zuko?" He said again, louder this time, sitting up and looking around the room. He left? Sokka let out a sigh, falling back onto the bed. He ran a hand through his hair.

He lay there for another 10 minutes thinking over the events of last night – the way Zuko's eyes looked in the moonlight, the feel of Zuko's body on his, the way Zuko smiled when he kissed his neck – before finally getting out of bed and getting dressed for the day. 

By the time he left the room, it was almost noon. He walked out to find Katara sitting at the little table they have in their apartment. She was reading a book and eating some grilled cheese with bacon. Sokka's mouth started to water.

"I made you two grilled cheese," she said without looking up from her book, "with extra bacon."

I have the best sister in the world. Sokka thought as he ran over to hug her and kiss her on the cheek aggressively. "I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!" Sokka said between kisses.

"You're disgusting, get off of me!" Katara shoved him away with a hint of a smile and Sokka grabbed his two glorious sandwiches and sat down across from his sister. The first bite was like heaven, he almost forgot about waking up alone until Katara shattered the bliss by saying "so did you have a good night?"

He stopped chewing for a moment, remembering the night and then the morning. Last night was amazing, but does that matter now? "Yeah, it was good." He looked down and sighed.

That made Katara looked at him quizzically, so he forced a smile and took another big bite of the sandwich in his hand. He moaned at how good it was and that made his sister roll her eyes. They sat in silence for a while, just doing their things. Sokka looked around the small apartment they share, and his eyes fell on a group shot from a few years ago of him, Katara, Zuko, Aang, Toph, and Suki. Damn... time flies. 

"How's Aang?" 

Katara looked up from her book trying to fight a smile and failing. "He's good. How's Zuko?"

Well shit... I thought she would've talked about him more. "Wouldn't know." He said and took another bite. 

Katara looked confused at that comment. "Wasn't he over last night?" Sokka nodded slowly. "Then why wouldn't you know?"

"He left while I was asleep without saying anything. I don't know." He groaned and picked at the small woven placemat under his plate.

Katara watched him for a moment. "Why don't you just send him a text?"
Oh. Sokka hesitated, "I don't know. It feels kind of needy."