(Here's the Thinking About You playlist I listen to when I write. It's mainly sad songs because I can concentrate better when it's acoustic music. Hope you like it! ^^ <3
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0FLOKBjub9d9j8mo6CtW4G?si=610e124aa4074816)

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I keep refreshing the page but my final grades remain a mystery. I wish my professors were faster at grading exams. I am so anxious to find out how I did. I had to guess twice during my economics final... I need to know if I got it right! 

Link's hand pushes against the back of my laptop to close it and when I glare up at him he defeats my scornful expression with a warm smile.

"They won't post your grades today," he says calmly.

"It's already Tuesday! The professors have had 4 full days now to grade the exams. Finals week is over, they should give us our scores already," I complain.

"It's winter break. I think they have better things to do than grade our tests."

"It's cruel! How can they do this to us? And why are you so calm about it? Isn't this bugging you at all? Aren't you curious to know how you did?"

"Eh, I'm not exactly dying to see my scores."

He joins me on the bed as I open my laptop again. "Are you done packing?" I ask him while I hit refresh for the 500th time today. Still nothing.

"Pretty much," he answers.

I look at the duffle bag next to his snowboard. "What about Revali? Sidon will be here any minute."

Link shrugs his shoulders. I get up and leave his room to knock on Revali's door. When he doesn't answer I open the door to peek inside.

"Which one do you like better?" Revali asks me, his eyes aiming at two scarves laid out on his bed.

"Why didn't you answer the door or say something when I knocked?" I ask.

"Because you come in anyways." He's not wrong. "So? Which one?"

"The beige one," I say.

"Really? I kinda like the blue scarf though."

"I know Mipha likes beige," I tease him, knowing he is only trying to look good for her.

"Hm... I'll bring both."

He walks over to his bags and places both scarfs, perfectly folded, on top of his other clothes. I spot his quiver and the tip of his bow is peeking out from beneath his clothes.

"You're not bringing your bow," I raise an eyebrow at him.

"Why not? I'm an archer."

"It's a ski vacation. Find another way to show off."

"That's not even why..." he mumbles more words and removes his bow and arrows with a loud sigh. "Don't you have anything better to do than to stand there and watch me pack?"

"Not really," I laugh. He's doing a good job at distracting me from my grades. 

"They're here," Kafei calls from downstairs.

"Hurry now," I tell Revali and head back to Link's room. This is so exciting! My first vacation with Link!

Link is wearing what he's always wearing; a hoodie and sweatpants. He picks up his bag and snowboard. I carry his boots, helmet, and my own bag. Before I leave to take our luggage downstairs, I spot his gloves on his nightstand and already know he is going to forget to pack them if I don't say something.

"Don't forget your gloves. And where is your jacket? You're not going like this, are you?"

"It's in the bag. I'm not going to wear it during the drive. It's like 70 degrees outside. Hey, are we taking your car or mine?"

"What?"

"We can't all fit in Sidon's truck. I mean we can but you'd have to sit on my lap," he laughs.

"Right... Er... You and Revali can ride together. Impa, Mipha, and I will go with Sidon."

"I want you to ride with me though," he pouts.

"We can't. Mipha still doesn't know about... this," I sway my finger back and forth between his chest and mine. "And you can't tell her now. So just... go with Revali, okay?"

"He's going to hate you if you make him sit with me for five hours."

"If it wasn't for me, he would be spending the holidays alone in his room throwing darts at a photo of you. He doesn't have the right to complain to me for an entire week."

"It's his birthday, did you know?" He suddenly reveals.

"It's Revali's birthday?"

"Mhm."

"You're telling me now?" I snap.

"Usually he tells people himself."

"I'll think of something to give to him... You still have to ride with him though."

Link and I greet the siblings in the driveway. Revali joins shortly after. This is the first time I am going to see Mipha and Link's friendship outside a classroom. I wonder if it will be very different from what I've seen so far. Even though Mipha and Link have been friends since kindergarten, they act like strangers, barely looking at each other.

Revali gives Mipha an awkward hug while Sidon squeezes Link so tightly that he's turning a little blue. Impa hugs me the way Sidon hugs Link and gives everyone else a fistbump. The first five minutes of the drive she repeatedly tells us how annoyed she is that she can't drive herself, but once she starts talking to Sidon about the ski resort she is so distracted that she forgets to sulk over her driver's license.

Mipha and I hardly talk in the backseat. After an enjoyable conversation about the biology final and a detailed comparison of our answers, we talk about our class schedule for next semester. Looks like we won't have any classes together... I'm a little sad about that but she is two years ahead of me so it makes sense that she is already done with all her prerequisite courses. Out of everyone in this group, Mipha is the shortest one in height, so I often forget that she is actually the oldest out of all of us. 

She still hasn't chosen a school for her doctorate. She can't seem to decide between Hyrule Medical School and Zora Medical. I'm thinking a certain athlete might have to do with that conflict...

While Impa and Sidon sing Christmas songs, Mipha and I read books in the back. What she doesn't know is that I have my phone hidden behind those pages with Link's chat open.

*Help* his text reads. He's typing another message.

*Revali's going to hit a tree on purpose*

I smile at his panicked texts. To think of them stuck in one car is a pretty amusing thought. Mipha caught me smiling--

"Funny paragraph," I tell her with a nervous smile and return my eyes to the pages.

*Why did you let him drive?* I ask Link rhetorically. 

*So I can nap* he replies with a random panda emoji.

I place my head against the window and look at the glistering ocean waves. The sun is already setting and a plane is flying the same direction we are driving. I wonder where it's going. Father is somewhere up there too, maybe he already arrived in Europe. I wouldn't know... For once I hope he doesn't call. I don't want to accidentally give away that we are driving to the lodge he is selling.

Since that awful lunch, Urbosa has been trying to talk to me. She apologized to me. I was taken aback when she said how sorry she was for getting in the middle of everything when I am the one who should be sorry. And Father, for dragging her into this in the first place. I promised her that she doesn't have to apologize; she has done nothing wrong. I should sit down and talk to her after winter break.

The ride feels longer than expected, probably because I spend most of it overthinking every decision I have ever made in life. Impa spends most of the time recording videos on Snapchat. Link stopped replying to my texts, he probably fell asleep. Mipha is absorbed in her book, Mountains Beyond Mountains. A fitting title, I thought that's why she chose it, but she says it's about medicine and the title is a coincidence.

Shortly before midnight we finally arrive at the lodge. I always get scared driving in the snow, but Sidon is a decent driver and I trusted that he would get us there in one piece. More relief finds me when Revali's car pulls up next to us. Even though I decided to go through with it no matter the consequences, I really hope we don't get caught.

"Woah, are you sure this is it?" Sidon gapes at the house.

"I'm sure." It looks the same as it does in my memories, just a little less... lively.

Impa is the first to get out of the car. She slips and falls, dropping her phone into the snow.

"It's slippery," she warns us.

"No duh, ground's covered in snow," Revali says, walking up to our car.

"Thanks for the tip, genius," Impa glares at him as she gets back up. "Where's my jacket, it's freezing!"

"Oh you're cold? That's odd, considering we are on an 8000 ft mountain in the middle of December," Revali rolls his eyes at her. I'd scold him for that remark if it wasn't his birthday.

"You wanna fight? Let's go," Impa lifts her fists and takes a stance.

"Guys," I groan exhausted, stepping between the two. We just had a 5 hour drive, I'm not in the mood to babysit them.

Link gets out of Revali's car now. His eyes immediately look for me in the small group of people. The nights are darker up here, darker than I'm used to, and the lights of the village are only faintly visible through the fog. The car headlights give just enough light for me to make out Link's tired eyes as he walks toward the trunk of Revali's car. 

Sidon grabs the snowboards and skis from the truck. Mipha helps him. Once I've found my bag in the back, I walk up to the doors of the lodge to unlock them. I turn on the lights and am greeted by the familiar interior. All the personal picture frames are gone, but everything else looks the same. I remember, when I was 5, Father added the antlers on top of the fireplace. I went to my room and cried for hours until Mother found me in my closet and told me that the buck shed his antlers and didn't have to die. I was so relieved. She understood me. I don't think Father knew why I was crying that day.

"Damn, this is all yours?" Revali asks, standing behind me at the entrance.

"Not for much longer," I mutter.

"Why? Are you dying?"

"What? No!" I swat his arm. "We are selling the property."

"Oh."

"Don't sound so disappointed."

"Chill, Princess."

"Ravioli," I growl.

Since Sidon is carrying the skis and snowboards I show him the basement first. It's accessible from the outside since the house is built on a slight slope. So when they return in the evenings they can just enter the lodge through the basement door and deposit their equipment down here. We have a room with heated ski racks to keep the equipment warm and dry.

Once we are done unloading the cars I show everyone their bedrooms. When Revali insists on having his own room I prank him by telling him he was to share a room with Link. I'm evil, I know.

There are 5 rooms and 6 people, so Impa and I will be sharing a room while everyone else gets their own room. I wish I could room with Link, but I can't do that to Mipha. She is the reason we are here. I want us all to enjoy this winter break without anyone getting hurt. This is something I thought about a lot during the drive here. 

I thought, maybe Link and I can just pretend to get together on the ski trip. Since we will be the only ones staying at the lodge all day, we could confess to being together and say it happened while decorating the Christmas tree. That way Mipha would hopefully feel a little less betrayed.

The only problem is that Revali, Link, Impa, and I would have to lie to her. I don't really want to do that and I can't expect everyone else to go along with it either. Especially Link who doesn't lie to his friends.

The more I think about it, the clearer it becomes that there isn't a painless solution to this. By postponing their conversation, Link has come to the point where it is laughable to even have the conversation at all. If I were Mipha, I'd be more than just hurt. I'd feel like a joke... 

Just imagine one of your closest friends having a secret relationship with the person you so deeply love even though your friend knew about your feelings all along. Your friend let you rave about your crush and played you while you were asking them for advice... What an atrocity.

A little later, while Impa is unpacking, I walk over to Revali's room. For the first time, he opens the door when I knock. I'm so surprised that I temporarily forget why I knocked in the first place.

"What?" He presses.

"Can I come in?"

"It's your house, so...?" He steps aside and closes the door behind me.

"Link said it's your birthday."

"Did you come to give me a present?"

"Yes."

"Wait, really?"

"Yes, really," I smile when his features soften.

"Why now? My birthday is over in a few minutes."

"I couldn't do it any sooner," I say, revealing a little key chain in my hands. It's a pink metal surfboard that I removed from Mipha's bag when she wasn't looking.

"Cute, but not something I need... or want," Revali declines the gift.

"It's Mipha's," I roll my eyes. "She dropped it in the snow. I was going to give it back to her, but..." I place it in his palm. "You found it. You give it back."

"What?" He looks down at his palm and back to my eyes. "What?" He asks again, growing more confused by the second.

"She'll be so happy to have it back," I wink and step into the hallway. "Happy birthday, Ravioli."

✤ ✤ ✤

I wake up totally disoriented. It takes me a couple of seconds to remember where I am. When I roll over to cuddle with the person next to me, Impa begins to chuckle.

"I think you got the wrong guy. Loverboy is across the hallway," she tells me.

"I know. Just wanted to say I'm glad you came along. I know this isn't really your type of vacation."

"I couldn't let you go alone with Mipha, Link, and Revali. You need me."

"I do," I nod.

I'm rethinking last night now. Maybe stealing Mipha's keychain and giving it to Revali as a birthday gift was a really messed up thing to do. It's the best I could come up with... I wasn't thinking straight when I did it. I shouldn't try to get in the middle of Revali and Mipha, I have enough anxiety dealing with my own relationship.

"This bed is mad comfy," Impa says, stretching herself.

"And big." I'm no longer used to a bed of this size. "Do you have the time?"

Impa grabs her phone from the charger and yawns. "It's the middle of the night."

"Impossible. I see sun rays behind those curtains." I tap my phone and roll my eyes at her. "It's 8.15 AM."

"Exactly," she rolls over and shuts her eyes.

"I'll see if the others are up yet." I get dressed and quietly leave the room.

Even though it's warm and cozy indoors, the snow-covered windows just scream for a thick sweater and wool socks. If the others aren't up yet I'll sneak into Link's room and lie with him for a few minutes. I open his door without knocking and can't believe what I'm seeing!

His room is a mess! Clothes everywhere... I'm ready to scold him but his bed is empty.

On my way downstairs a familiar smell fills my nose. Link's omelet... My stomach growls and if I was a cartoon character I'd follow the smell afloat while leaving a trail of drool. Link is standing in the kitchen with a pan and spatula in hand and Mipha is sitting at the counter, watching him with a dreamy expression.

"Good morning," I announce my presence. Both turn to look at me.

"Good morning, Zelda," Mipha smiles and Link just nods at me. "The view is amazing, isn't it?" she muses.

For a moment I thought she was talking about Link but then I notice her eyes have shifted to the large windows. 

"A bluebird day... what a great contrast to the white mountain chains below," she says, supporting her chin with her hand.

"Are the other's awake yet?" I ask, taking a seat next to her.

"They already left."

"They're already on the slopes?"

"Indeed."

"Are you skiing too?" I ask her.

"Yes. I intended on going with them, but Link reminded me of the importance of a balanced breakfast. Especially when you are planning on exercising all day. After breakfast we'll go. You're coming with us, right?"

"I can't ski, remember?"

"But you aren't planning on staying inside all by yourself all week, are you?"

"No. Link will be here too," I give him a questioning look.

"I'll be snowboarding," he casually tells me.

"How? You're injured," I gesture at his leg.

"It feels fine. I have to at least try."

"No way, you'll just break your leg again, or break the other one on top of it," I shake my head, disapproving of his madness.

"I can't just sit around all day for a week," he frowns. I don't understand that at all... Wouldn't he rather be here with me than risk his life out there?

"A little support?" I look at Mipha. "You're pre-med. Tell him how crazy he sounds."

"I have told him many times throughout the years. He is obdurate," she says as kindly as she can, giving him a bashful smile. He prepares two plates with food and places them on the counter in front of us.

"I'm going to get ready," he says, leaving the kitchen.

"Aren't you going to eat first?" I ask him.

"Already did," he says halfway up the stairs.

"Excuse me," I force a calm smile for Mipha and follow Link upstairs.

When I reach his room he already has his beanie and jacket on. He's searching for something and doesn't notice me standing behind him until he gives up finding anything in this mess. My presence surprises him so much that he stumbles backward, trips over his helmet, and falls back onto his bed.

"Why are you sneaking up on me," he lets out a short laugh.

"What are you doing?" I ask, not amused at all.

"What do you mean?"

"You can't go snowboarding."

"I'll be okay."

"Link..." I don't even know what to say.

"Wait... Are you upset?" he frowns.

"I don't want you to risk your life out there."

"But you were fine with it yesterday?"

"No I wasn't? I didn't know you were going to be snowboarding."

"You saw me pack my snowboard. You even carried my boots to the car."

"Well... I..." I didn't think about that... I didn't even really register it. "I didn't know you were going to use it to go snowboarding," I flounder.

"You're making no sense."

"I'm making no sense?" I raise my voice. Calm down, Zelda. "You're the one who's trying to go snowboarding two months after your surgery!" I whisper. "Are you actually mental?"

"What?" His brows furrow. I am being serious but I almost hope he takes it as a joke because I am already regretting my words. I don't want to hurt his feelings but what did he expect? If I just let him go through with this, wouldn't that indicate that I don't care about him at all?

"Every doctor would tell you not to strain your leg like this," I try to be as calm as possible. "Even people who don't work in the medical field would tell you not to do this. Ask anyone in the village. They'll all say the same."

"You think I'm crazy?" He asks quietly. I shouldn't have said that...

"No," I sigh and my shoulders drop. "Of course not. I just don't want to see you get hurt again... Is that so hard to understand?"

He grabs my hands and pulls me closer. I'm standing right in front of him now and he looks up at me from the bed.

"If you really don't want me to go... I guess I won't."

My heart... Why do I feel like an awful person now?

"Link," I let out another sigh. "Please don't think I don't want you to have a good time. I just don't think anyone should be doing this kind of sport so soon after surgery."

"I hate this... I don't like being injured at all," he huffs. "I worked so hard to recover quickly. Harder than anyone... I've been very careful when working out and missed out on practice until I felt ready to strain my leg again. I did a lot of physiotherapy and went through hell to get my leg to where it is now."

"I know..."

"I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I could handle it."

"I know..."

"I don't even feel much pain anymore. I can run, jump, lift weights..."

"I know, Link, I know. I've been there for every step of your recovery and it's impressive how far you've come in just a few weeks..."

"Have you ever seen me snowboard?"

"No, why?"

"I want you to watch me."

"What?"

"I want you to watch me snowboard," he repeats. "I like watching you study."

"What does that have to do w--"

"You're really adorable when you work on your science problems. Sometimes you get really frustrated but you always get it right in the end. Watching that... process... is really cool. It makes me proud of you..... I'm not good at school but I'm really good at snowboarding and I want you to see that same process in me. When I miss a jump but get it right the next time, it's one of the best feelings and I want you to see that. I want you to be proud of me too..."

"But I don't want you to miss any jumps," I gulp. "What you're saying is really sweet and I think I understand where you're coming from but getting a chemical formula wrong on a worksheet and breaking your legs on a mountain are two very different things."

I can tell he is thinking about my words as his eyes wander over the floor.

"I won't do it."

"Really?"

His eyes return to mine. "I'll take you ice skating instead. Sound good?"

"I-I-Ice skating? I can't--"

"It's easy."

"In what universe?"

"This one."

"No way."

"Yes way." Link pulls me down to sit on the bed with him, not letting go of my hands. 

"No! What if I crash into an old lady or break my back? Or break the old lady's back?"

"We'll go somewhere private, a frozen lake, so no people to break. And if you fall, I'll catch you."

"N-no. I can't..."

"Then I'll go snowboarding."

Is he blackmailing me? How can a smile me so vicious and cute at the same time? 

"The ice could break and then we both die. Or a wild animal could attack us. We don't even have ice skates."

"So let's go to the ice rink in town. No wild animals there. We can rent the skates and get you one of those walkers for kids. Any more excuses?"

"That's embarrassing," I mutter.

"What else do you want to do then? Sit around all day?"

That's exactly what I want to do... Hot chocolate by the fireplace. Safe, warm, dry. Sounds perfectly fine to me. But Link is different. He wants the exercise, no he needs the exercise... He's already refraining from snowboarding, the least I can do is go to the village with him.

"We can look at the shops," I offer, leaning over to kiss his frown away.

"Guys?" Mipha's voice stops my heart.

I jump up just as she peeks her head into the room. "I think your food is getting cold."

"O-Okay!" I shriek, stiff as an icicle. She looks past me at Link who is fully relaxed, leaning back on the bed without a single worry on his face.

"Did she talk some sense into you?" Mipha asks him with a lighthearted giggle.

"I'll ease into it. Some light exercises today, tomorrow I might go snowboarding," he says to her. That's not what we agreed on but it's a start.

"Okay. I'll go get ready to leave then. We should all go out for dinner tonight," she says before she leaves the room.

I ball my fists and shake off the shock. This whole trip was a terrible idea! What was I thinking, going on a vacation with Mipha and Link! I am the only mental one on this mountain. 

I already miss Link and he is sitting right in front of me. I can't be close to him without the crippling anxiety knocking against my chest. I don't want to sleep in the room next door, I don't want to get greeted with a silent nod every morning, I don't want to be skittish around him the way I am when we are at school, and I really don't want him to just kiss me heedlessly as he is doing right now.

Wait--Link is kissing me right now!

Why is he kissing me? And why aren't I fighting him?

I miss this... My muscles relax and I give in, kissing him back.

No--We can't! 

I push him away and he plunges back down onto the bed.

"Don't do that!" I beg in a whisper.

"What did I do?"

"You--you--" I look around the room twice before I say "kissed me" in the lowest volume humanly audible.

"So?"

"Don't do that when the door is open!"

Link gets up, walks past me, and closes the door. "Is this okay?"

"No!" I facepalm.

"I'm messing with you," he laughs.

"Jerk."

"Mhm," he nods distracted and resumes to kiss me.

Father finding out about the lodge has suddenly become my smallest problem. Link and Mipha, however... This just isn't going to work out. Link doesn't take this seriously because he doesn't know how hurt Mipha will be when she catches us like this... Maybe I should just tell him about her feelings... No, I can't do that to her. What should I do?

"No more kissing for the rest of the trip," I speak against his lips.

"Boo," he complains, lips still touching mine.

"I mean it."

He backs away slightly to study my serious expression. "Okay. If you don't want to, we won't kiss."

That was... easy. Why is he so quick to agree to everything I say? He's like a trained dog. Here I am again with the canine comparisons. Am I ruining his trip? I must be... I keep making rules he didn't sign up for. Even though he would never start an argument with me I suppose he did try to fight me on the snowboarding thing in his own, calm way.

"We'll go ice skating," I sigh. As long as it's not life-threatening I will agree to whatever activity he wants to do. His spirit looks a little uplifted. I grab my scarf and gloves from my room and leave Impa a note on the nightstand, telling her where Link and I are going.

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(THANK YOU FOR 300K READS!!! WhHhhooOooOooo! *throws confetti*
That's just mind-blowing. All the support you've given has made a huge impact on me. I'm really grateful for all of you and love interacting with you guys so so much! Some of the feedback I received had me in tears... I love you guys so much!

To celebrate this milestone, I'll post a bonus chapter tomorrow and do a Q & A.

Leave a comment with any Thinking About You questions:
I'll answer them in a live stream on Twitch next week <3 :)