“Hey Korra,” You greeted, moving from behind the counter you were standing at, “how was your trip to the spirit world? Did you and Asami have fun?”

She pulled you into a tight hug, “Yeah it was awesome,” she began as she freed you, “it makes for some great bonding time! How’s you and Bolin?”

You rolled your eyes and got her something to eat, “There is no ‘me and Bolin’”

“Why not?” she bit into her bread.

“I don’t know, it’s weird actually he asked me out earlier.”

“He did?!?!” she all but yelled “What did you say?”

“I said no.”

“Why, I totally thought you had a thing for him?”

“I did and I don’t quite know why I did that either.”

“I gotchu,” she said rushing out of the store.

“Wait no-” you said trailing off as you realized your words weren’t reaching her. It’s not like you could go after her either, you still had more than half of your shift left. And you spent it all in fear of what she was doing. It’s like you wanted her to “solve” whatever was going on. As you were relieved from your shift, the pit in your stomach only grew as your mind filled with the different things Korra could’ve set in motion.

It was surprisingly quiet as you walked up the stairs to your apartment, and you almost let out a sigh of relief. Then you saw him. His hair was messy as usual, and his shirt was off, revealing his undershirt. Of course in the summer heat you expected nothing less than that from Bolin. He was crouched on the floor, leaning against your apartment door playing with Pabu. Once you reached the top of the staircase you cleared your throat.

“What are you doing here?” you asked as he scrambled to his feet.

“I was waiting for you,” He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head, “I wanted to talk to you about what you said earlier.”

You moved past him, unlocked your door, and walked in, “are you coming?” he nodded and walked in behind you, “what exactly do you want to talk about?”

“I wanna know why,”

“I don’t have an answer for you yet,” you dropped your bag on the floor and went to take your shoes off.

“What do you mean?” he asked taking his off too.

“I don’t know how to phrase it, I mean I like you a lot but what if I’m wrong about my feelings?” you began sitting on the couch, “I thought I’ve liked other people before, but I guess I didn’t, and I’d hate to break your heart.”

He moved so he was standing in front of you, “that’s the thing about dating, it’s to see if you can last with a person if that makes sense.”

You looked down for a moment, “that seems selfish though, to use you to figure out my own feelings?”

“y/n,” he bent down so you were at eye level with him, “I want you to break my heart.”

“Did you mean for that to be romantic? Why would you want something like that?”

“It means that while we were dating we would have a good time, and also yes,” he chuckled.

“If you really want to date me then I guess we can.” you laughed as he pulled you into a hug.

And you bumped into him afterward

You just shot off compliments

And his head was growing with each word lol

You two broke off and you snuck back to the hotel you stayed in

The next time you’d meet would be just before you left

You snuck off one more time, with just a robe covering your formal attire

You were enjoying a break from following your mother around

You gotta eat all sorts of new things

You were wondering around the market when Bolin recognized you

You didn’t notice him because something in the next stall got your attention

You picked it up and began to look at it when he startled you

“Do you like that one?” he asked

You couldn't answer right away, homieo just gave you a heart attack

“Well yeah, I think it looks nice.” you finally answered

“Is that your favorite color? Why do you want it?” he asked bombarding you with questions

“Yes, and I wanted a souvenir, I’m going back home today,” you gave the owner double what the item cost as you finished, “I like supporting small owners too,” you said with a wink.

He blinked as you led him away. “I didn’t know you were rich,” he stuttered.

“Perks of being the daughter of the Firelord,” you shrugged as you kept walking

He started freaking out, “Hush, I’m in the middle of sneaking out,” you placed a hand on his shoulder

He calmed down and you two spent the rest of the evening together laughing and talking about all sorts of things

You listened to him talk about his childhood and you felt a little bad

You didn’t say that tho, you didn’t want him to feel like you were pitying him

You told him as little as possible without seeming like you were hiding anything

Obviously, you had to hide some royal stuff and that’s what he thought you were doing

After a while, you had to go back before your mom went insane looking for you

And that was it for a while

A few months flew by and you thought about that exchange

Your older brother, Iroh II, was going to take the crown next, so you didn’t worry about chasing after it

You made plans of visiting Republic city again once you could

A whole year passed since the last time you were there, the new avatar fought a blood bender, your brother helped fight them, so much happened

When you returned to the city, you noticed how different the air felt than last time you were there

Coincidentally, you met Bolin again.

He was just a little different,

He was still funny

Father and Boyfriend titles

Kinda scary am I right?

Cuz Bumi gives off protective vibes

Like he’d commit murder

Anyway, let’s skip to after the first dinner they had

When you were walking him back to his apartment

And he was fangirling about Bumi

You let him bc why not and you made plans for him to come back over sometime

The first thing Bumi said when you got back

“When is Bolin coming back?”

Bruh

Usually, he asks about your walk

But no smh

“We made plans to meet up tomorrow,”

“Well, let him know he can come over anytime.”

And from then on every time he came over he spent at least half of his time with your uncle

Once you came down to see if he was over yet

And he was sitting on the couch laughing and listening to the radio with your dad!!!?!

>:0

You cleared your throat

“Oh hey, y/n can you grab us some water?” Bumi asked

After a few weeks of this behavior, you were fed up >:(

You slammed the door behind you as you went back to your room

Minutes later Bolin came trotting up the stars

You could almost hear the conflict as he paced in front of your door for a bit

To save his remaining brain cells you opened the door for him

“Hey, y/n…”

“What Bolin?”

“Are you upset?”

You just stood there

What?

“Oh yeah! You’ve been hanging out with my dad all week! You might as well be dating him not me!” you said sarcastically pushing the door open so he could come in

“I didn’t mean to” he whinnied, coming in and shutting the door behind him

“Yeah, I know, it's just- every time you two hang out more, i've been feeling left out.” you sighed sitting on your bed

“I’m sorry, I should’ve thought-” he began

He was interrupted by the sight of you

You were blushing and your eyes were watering

Mostly you were embarrassed about the whole situation

He took a few steps towards you and hugged you

“I should’ve brought it up when it bothered me instead of waiting” you muttered face pressed into his chest

“I should’ve talked to you more, I’m sorry,” he pressed a kiss to the top of your head.

For a moment you stayed like that,

his arms around your shoulders and yours around his waist.

It wasn’t hard for you to stay like that

And it wasn’t long before that moment lasted for years

“There is nothing you can give me,” you began, keeping a porcelain smile on your face, “I’ve grown a mouth so sharp and cruel it’s all that I can give to you, my dear~” Venom hung in those last two words. He froze like a man caught in the path of a cobra, the snake ready to strike at any minute. You knew the severity of your words, if he left and never saw you again your parents would be unhappy. Anything was better than this though. Better than wasting your life serving a man who’d never truly care about you

“Excuse me?” the nameless man asked, mostly in confusion. His green eyes were fixed on your face, looking for something.

“I didn’t stutter,” you said, sipping from the drink placed in front of you. His eyes flickered from your eyes to your lips for a moment.

“I’m Bolin,” he introduced himself, “I reckon you didn’t know that before?” An amused smile spread across his face. His smile was way different from the other smiles you saw. His smile stretched across his lips and infected his cheeks, it caused the lights in his eyes to dance, it even introduced its happiness to his eyebrows.

“Whatever,” you began, “I’m not marrying you and that’s it!” Your voice was stern and true. You caught a flicker of doubt taint his face, and for a moment you felt bad. Then the moment was gone.

“I don’t think that’s up to you,” he said coolly and leaned back in his chair.

“I’m not going to be the perfect housewife that you want,” you tried to counter, “and when you come in quick to steal a kiss my teeth will only cut your lips, my dear~” You leaned in after those words left your mouth.

He frowned, “I don’t need a housewife first of all. Secondly, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” You paused and took in what he said. If he didn’t want to control you then what was the point of this? Was this just some manipulation thing?

“I know that you mean so well, but I am not a vessel for your ‘good intents’”

“You’re right, but I still want to marry you,” He said, smiling at you. Everything was a blur after that. As soon as he finished his sentence, your parents returned to you both. They heard his last sentence and were more than happy to start discussing wedding plans.

As your wedding day came closer and closer, it felt that more and more was out of your hands. Most of your belongings were taken and packed up so it would be easy to move them right after your wedding. Your mother was quite the control freak throughout the whole process. Not that you cared, you didn’t want anything to do with this whole wedding ordeal anyway.

Finally the day of the wedding came, you looked stunning, and if this Bolin fella was there you bet he’d tell you.

“You look amazing,” a voice that sounded like his rang through the air. You sighed, thinking that it was bad luck to see your fiancé before the wedding or something.

“It’s not too late to call off the wedding you know, you said standing up. Time was dragging by at such a slow pace before he spoke,

“I don’t know why I would do such a thing.” He laughed, crossing his arms.

“You don’t know much about me, I will only break your pretty things, and I will only wring you dry of everything.” You walked towards him until your faces were only inches apart.

“But if you’re fine with that, you can be mine like that,” you looked at his lips and back at his eyes. There was something off in his eyes, you didn’t know if it was a good thing but that didn’t matter. You walked past him and continued down the hall to where your mother was waiting.

“Honey, let me fix your hair,” She sang, rushing to you. You sighed and let her pull the strand away from your face. “ I can’t believe my baby’s getting married!”

“You were the one who set this whole thing up,” you muttered, hoping she didn’t hear you.

“Good thing too!” she cheered, “if you’d have done this it would’ve definitely been a disaster. You sigh, not even bothering with a response.

The wedding goes on with blurs of tears and hollers. Colors void of saturation, voices void of emotions, and embraces void of warmth were all that flooded your memory of that joyous day. After that, days of moving your stuff to his place, days of your childhood being up-rooted and discarded, days of memories saying goodbye and being laid to rest. Once the movers left you and Bolin sat on the couch, you were a noticeable distance away from him.

He was the first to speak, “what do you want to eat y/n?” His voice was small and fragile.

“Anything really,” you shrugged, you didn’t do most of the moving so it didn’t really matter.

“How about some pizza then?” He exclaimed, jumping up and grabbed his phone and ordered some. You both ate in awkward silence.

“Let's unpack together,” he said once you were both done eating, trying to lift the mood.

“Sure,” you muttered. You both started on the living room which, for now, only consisted of a couch and a tv that sat on the floor. The first thing you both agreed on doing was building the ikea furniture. Whenever he saw you were getting frustrated he’d add in a joke or do something silly. At first you didn’t notice but after you’d accidentally skipped a step and he said, “this screw stupid won’t in go” that gave away his whole plan. The attempts after that were still kinda funny though.

Before bed he made moves trying to get closer to you. Moves that you tried to ignore at first but you couldn’t stop your outburst, “Abandon all your stupid dreams about the person I could’ve been,” you hesitated before adding in, “my dear~” in the same cynical voice you always say it in. The only good thing that came out of that was that he left you alone for the night.

For a while after that you tried your best to avoid him even though he kept trying to get to know you.

“Why won’t you talk to me?” he whine-asked.

“Because in the night I know you burn with feelings I cannot return,” you answered, momentarily forgetting you were supposed to be ignoring him.

“Why can’t you return them?” he asked normally this time.

You pressed your lips together, “my parents had an arranged marriage and never fell in love, why should I have to?” he shrugged with a dumbfounded look on his face and you left before he could say something that’d make you want to completely confide in him. You ignored him and the way your face heated up for a bit longer. A month has passed since the wedding, and Bolin was desperate to get to know you, bothering you every hour of the day.

“What did you do today?” He asked

“Nothing really,” you lied, your daily life was rather eventful to make sure you never spent a moment resting unless it was planned.

“We should spend some time together sometime,” he suggested.

“You gotta know that this won’t last! Desperation will erase the fact: I’m keeping all of the answers in my cigarette box!” you said, for some reason. You didn’t even know why and you wanted to take it back as soon as you said it. Especially because of the look on his face. Which looked like a kicked puppy.

“If you need space I’ll give you some,” he started standing up, “but I won’t let you speak to me like that.” He was upset, rightfully. He went to your shared room and shut the door. You sat there for a minute. You put your head in your hands for a minute and thought about what you said. You didn’t want to take it back because then he’d want to stay with you. But would it really be bad to have him by your side? Just when you thought you couldn’t feel more conflicted he stepped out of the room with his duffel bag for gym full. Your heart sank but somehow you were comforted with the thought that you knew this was going to happen.

“I’m not leaving forever,” he said, reading your face, “just for a while so you can sort yourself out.

You rolled your eyes, “ You might as well never come back.”

“Why do you feel that way?” he stepped towards you.

“Why do you feel so entitled to me?”

He paused, The answer’s in the second before the other shoe drops,” y/n, I’m not- this was never about that- remember how you said, ‘if you’re blind to that’ well, I’m fine with that,”

You were so torn you were crying, “I will ruin you! I will poison all your happy thoughts, I will love you like the ashes in her cigarette box!” While tears streamed down your cheeks he just looked at you.

“‘Her’?” he asked. You felt your face heat up as he kept walking towards you. Once he reached you he dropped his bag and wrapped his arms around you. “What is going through your head?” he asked.

You let out a choked sob, “why did you marry me?”

“Mostly for the money, but because I thought you’d be a fun person”

You chuckled, “the money?”

“Me and my brother weren’t well off,” he started, “I just wanted to make it so I could support him. Though it’s awful to use someone-”

You cut him off, “here I was thinking you had bad intentions,”

“You never answered my questions,” he swiftly changed the subject and your smile faded.

“I had a really nice dad who loved my mother,” you began, “she loved him too. One day he left, died, all without word or warning. Then my grandparents set my mother up and the next time we weren’t so lucky. There, that was the first question. My mother was distant after her first husband’s death. So yeah”

You really wanted it to end there and Bolin must’ve caught on somehow because he changed the topic again. “So since I’m fine with your many flaws, we can be together?” he said, your head still pressed against his chest.

You laughed, “yeah,”

“Hey...” he whispered as he put a hand on your back

“It’s gonna be okay, that was just a fluke you’re gonna do great!!”

That attempt to cheer you up didn’t work

He sighed, “look here,”

He cupped you face in his hands and gently lifted your head up to look at him

“You are awesome. So even if you make a mistake, which you won’t because of the awesomeness I mentioned,”

You laughed a bit

“It won’t be the end of the world, and if it is,”

He paused and made a weird face

“Then what?” you frowned a little

“Then I’ll make you a new one, silly!!”

He pulled you towards him so fast you almost fell off of your chair

He showered your entire face in kisses

You both were laughing, then you were called on stage

And the pit returned to your stomach

He gave you a hug before you headed out

It didn’t get rid of all of your stress and worries

But

You felt a little better to know that already one person on the floor would see you as flawless

As you are your majesty <<3

As you preformed the only voice you heard was Bolin’s cheering you on

You hung out with Bolin a lot more

And, get this, “Family nights”

It sounds awful but it wasn’t

They were always out, trying for a job or exploring in general

But they were scared they wouldn’t get to see each other anymore

So you brought up the idea and they loved it

A few nights, every month was spent catching up and hanging out

As they saved up and checked their spending they started leaving

Mako went off to be a carpenter

Obvi he’d be in a trade

Korra would also be in a trade

Eventually, she’d be the leader ofc

Asami got a few part-time jobs and was studying to be in business

Bolin stayed

At first, he’d struggle with finding something he wanted to do long term

Me too ngl

Then he’d settle on a trade

(damn I really just sat here and put everyone in a trade huh)

Something he could do and stay with you :)

You still gave them any advice they needed

A few years went by and there was a bit of character development among them

Mako was less serious (and actually settled down with someone)

Asami and Korra were dating

(No surprise there)

Korra dropped her big ass ego

Asami gained quite a bit more confidence

And Bolin was more honest with his feelings

Bolin helped keep you together when you started to miss the others at first

He stayed, mostly out of love,

Which would’ve taken forever for him to admit

At first, your schedules didn’t work but eventually, it worked itself out

One morning, a few days after family night, you were laying on your bed with Bolin

“Hey y/n,” he said, rubbing your side to get your attention, “You never answered my question.”

“What question?” you asked trying to remember

“ ‘Who was your favorite character?’ “

You laughed, “It was you”

“Really?!” headass

“Ofc you were!”

He hugged you tighter as you both laughed

“I bet you’d have been my favorite character,” he said

“Geez I hope so”

As you fell back into the comfortable silence you realized it was raining

And you let the beautiful sound of morning rain wash away your worries

You pulled yourself closer to him

This wasn’t the first rainy morning you’ve had with him

And you knew it wouldn’t be your last

But

The rain always reminded you of when Bolin confessed to you

You didn’t know if it was the way morning rain always promised sunshine

Or if it symbolized the rough time you had,

Because I don’t know if it’s my imagination but

Rainy mornings almost always have rainbows

Weird visualization but okay

Anyway you were waiting on the paperwork

It took you a bit to find someone but when you did they got it done fast

Once you exchanged the stuff you noticed one of the cashiers eyeing you

You shoved the pages in your bag and walked away

You paid no attention as you checked on the krew

They said they were basically done

Thankfully

You checked out with a different employee and continued with your day

It was about mid afternoon

Y’all stopped at a cafe and ordered some snacks

Obvi y’all wanted fresh air for a bit

So y’all sat at an outside table and ate

Korra and Asami were making a scene

A cute one but still-

Mako looked like he was being forced to eat

He still conversed with the krew but

He just looks mad all the time :/

Bolin was talking with you about the things he got from the store

He didn’t take them out, just incase so they wouldn’t get dirty

Overall everyone, even mako, was having a good time

There was a single roll of thunder as a warning

There was only one second to reacting before it started raining

You guys shoved the bags of clothes under your shirts and started running

You were at your front door before you realized that you left your phone at the cafe

“Oh shoot, I gotta go back for it,” you say as you unlocked the door to let them in

“I’ll go with you,” Bolin said

He took off his outer shirt

(y’all know? Like when the earth queen was coming and he had to hide pabu? I like to think it was sleeveless)

“Don’t wait up,” he called out as you both started running back towards the cafe

When you got there you talked to the manager and they said they had it

As you both left the rain was getting harder

But that summer humidity wasn't the thing making the air thicker

“Um...y/n?” Bolin said after a few steps

“Yeah?” you answered

“Remember how you said that I can talk to you if I need to?”

You stopped and gave him a comforting smile

“It’s,, uh pretty lonely in your place sometimes,”

He tried to walk away, to like continue walking or smth

You took one of his hands in both of yours

A little heat shot to your cheeks

“Is there any way I can help?” (You said that)

He adovided looking in your direction for a moment,

You moved to try and catch his gaze

“Imeaniwouldliketotalkwithyousometimecuziiiiiiilikeyou”

He muttered

“Huh?”

He looked at you

His face was 🍅 red

A cold breeze pressed against your back

It was the only reminder that you were outside

Bro he was a vision at that moment

His pupils were blown which

Sadly

Left little of his green eyes to behold

His hair obeyed gravity for those few short moments

It fell haphazardly around his face

Framing it to perfection

You could have sworn your heart skipped some beats

“ I like you, and I’d like to talk to you sometime!”

He shouted and pressed his eyes close

You were at a loss for words

Shi— I don’t remember him being that bold

“I like you too”

You didn’t realize you said it so quietly,

You went to repeat yourself

When his eyes opened and he smiled brightly

Before he took a step towards you

He asked “is it okay if I give you a hug?”

Who were you to say no?

I swear you’d have missed out on a famous Bolin hug 🫂

You just barely wrapped you arms around his neck

Before, in one fluid motion he wrapped his arms around your waist and lifted you into the air

The rain died down a little bit and the sun peaked through some clouds

When a stray ray of sun caught you eye you looked away

His eyes stayed in you

His eyes looking at your eyes

And the pastels that danced around your skin

A small sigh left his lips

He looked at the sun with you

Thanking it for casting its ray upon you