(This chapter references the song Romeo & Juliet by Peter McPoland :)

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Link's alarm is the first to go off. No no no no... The night felt way too short. We fell asleep so early because Link was exhausted from practice and I– well as soon as I lay down with him I drifted into my dreams. The worst part is I slept through without waking up once. I basically just blinked and now it's already morning. Link turns his alarm off and slowly moves to get out of bed without waking me.

"No," I groan, holding on to him.

"I have to go," he whispers.

"Stay," I whine. It's still dark out, classes don't start for another two hours.

"Gotta go to the gym."

"Skip the workout."

"That's like me asking you to skip school."

"I've done that for you. Once. You owe me." I win the debate but instead of keeping him in bed, I sigh and let go of him. I know he has to go, I just wish we could have spent more time together.

"Sowwy."

"It's okay. It's admirable that you get up early to train. I suppose I will get up too and study at the library."

"No, stay in bed," he kisses my forehead and picks up his clothes from the floor. "When does your dad come back again?"

"Sometime tonight."

"Ah, too bad. Wanna sleep over at my place tomorrow?"

"I have a big exam on Wednesday. So I might want to stay at home that night."

"I have a game Thursday, so... maybe Friday?"

"Frat party," we both say at the same time, shaking our heads.

"How about camping?" He laughs. I love how his plan C is not a hotel but a tent.

"Let's just plan for a night next week." Maybe the night before I ask him out? We could have a romantic picnic after school, then I will give my heart to him, and then we can spend our first night together as a couple. I'm already making myself nervous again.

"We'll figure it out later. I gotta go now." He pulls on his sweatpants and t-shirt, ruffles his own hair in the mirror, and looks ready to start his day.

"Drive carefully, text me when you get there."

"Will do. Hey, wanna come watch me at practice tonight?"

"Baseball?" I cringe.

"Yeah, people like to watch the team practice. You don't have to actually watch though, you can do homework or study."

"Er, maybe. I'll see if I have time."

"Sweet. Good luck at school." He picks up his bag and quietly leaves my room.

I want to support him in any way I can, but does it have to be in baseball? My heart starts hammering against my throat every time I think about that sport. Thanks, Karusa. It's hardly 6 AM and my mood is already spoiled.

The morning passes as quickly as the night. At noon, I only have a fifteen-minute break to eat my lunch. This semester, I have fewer breaks overall, but it makes my schedule shorter, which leaves me more time to study after school. I also don't have astronomy anymore; those days always felt really long because I usually wouldn't get home until at least 9 PM.

As I sit outside on a stone bench, forcing myself to finish the dry sandwich after throwing away the watery coffee I bought from Beedle, my phone buzzes and pulls my eyes away from the novel I'm reading.

*Where you at?* Impa asks and sends another message. *Wanna have lunch together?*

I hate to put a good book down. I am the same as Father in that regard. I pick up my phone and answer *My lunch break is over in 5 minutes. I'm sorry.*

I miss her. I've hardly seen her this semester. I'm glad we keep up with our tradition to eat at Daruk's every Friday night. At least we try to. Juggling a best friend, school, family, and a non-friend-non-boyfriend is so demanding.

Someone steps in front of me and casts a shadow over me. My first guess is Impa but when I look up it's not her smile that greets me.

"Long time no see," Pik says to me. His hair looks a little different; it's slightly longer than when I last saw him and the blue is gone, leaving it to an utter silver elegance.

"Long time indeed," I smile up at him, squinting my eyes at the bright sky.

He takes a seat next to me and pushes his hair back. "Just got done with rehearsal. I got the lead, this time I'll keep it."

And just like that, I feel bad again. He lost his lead last semester because he was saving my GPA. "That's really good, Pik. What is the play?"

"I don't know," he shrugs and turns his head to smirk at me. "Guess you'll have to come and find out for yourself."

"Or I will wait until the campus gets coated in posters," I laugh.

"Tom And Huck, Breakin' The Law. That's the play."

"Tom and Huck? As in Sawyer and Finn?"

"With a twist," he nods proudly.

"I can't wait to see it. Mark Twain is one of my favorites, so I am sure it will be exceptionally entertaining. Just let me know the date and time and I'll be there."

"I still don't have your number. How will I let you know?"

"Just like you are right now."

"But we haven't really seen each other in two months. There's no guarantee that we will see each other before the premiere."

Hesitantly, I nod and bring up my phone to give him my number. As he saves me in his contacts, I collect my book and notes to put them back into my bag.

"You're leaving?" He asks when I close the zipper and get ready to get up.

"Yes. My next class is starting soon."

"Hey, listen... Before you go, there's something I wanted to tell you."

Why does my heart feel the need to hide at the pit of my stomach? "O-okay?" I remain sitting, nervous as a Chihuahua.

"Yesterday was a bit of a confusing day for me. I was going to give you something. A song I named Romeo & Juliet."

"What?" My voice comes out as a nervous breath.

"For Valentine's Day," he clarifies.

"Oh..."

"For the past two weeks I've been telling myself not to do anything, but then, one night I suddenly wrote this song in like two hours and... I know what we agreed on, but come on, I just had to give you something for Valentine's Day and it was kinda perfect." He is holding on to half his smile but doesn't make any more eye contact. "I found out that you were spending the day with Link and it just felt silly to give you a Valentine's Day gift when you're with someone else." How does he know about this? Did he see us? Or have the rumors already spread? "I know it's childish, but I felt a little betrayed."

"Betrayed? Why?"

"There is a chance that I'm totally misinterpreting this, so I'm just going to ask: Were you on a date yesterday?"

"How do you even know I was with him?"

"My friend told me. She saw you guys at the beach. That's why I'm bringing it up. I didn't see it with my own eyes and she might have misunderstood the situation but she said you looked like a couple. So just tell me."

If I say yes, would that be a lie? We are not a couple yet. But if I say no, Pik might get the wrong idea. He would feel all the more betrayed if I say no now and hear of our official relationship a week later. What should I say?

"Yes, we were on a date," I decide to be honest.

"Why?" he scoffs.

"What do you mean?"

"Why would you be with him?"

I thought my day was finally beginning to look brighter but Pik is now amplifying those negative feelings I've been carrying around all morning. He always gets like this when Link is involved. "We were just having a fun day, what's wrong with that?"

"You're lying to yourself, Zelda."

"Excuse me?"

"You try to convince yourself that he is right but you're just lying to yourself." Pik searches my eyes for something and takes my hands into his. "I like you and I know you like me too. Eyes don't lie."

"Pik," I gasp, shaking my head.

"This isn't a surprise. You know this. You're different when you're with me. I make you smile and you're a unique and utterly unfiltered version of yourself when you're close to me. You don't have to hide from me, you can be your perfectly imperfect self. Our flaws and fears, they shape us. I see the beauty in growth. Even when you fight me and get annoyed by me, your eyes don't tell me to go away. When you're with me, you're alive, you can't deny that. You're alive and that makes me happy. But you deserve to be happy too."

"You may not see it, but Link makes me happy."

"Not as happy as I could make you."

"You don't know Link the way I know him."

"You're right, I don't, but I know you. I can read you and I know what you need. Link will never help you thrive. With him, you're a potted plant, you may feel safe and warm but you're trapped, unable to grow. I am willing to give you the whole world to flourish. I will show you what it's like to truly feel alive and free."

"Pik, you have to stop, please. You and I..."

"You and I what? Speak your mind."

"It's not going to happen, I'm sorry."

"Why not? You've been rejecting me since day one but you have yet to give me a reason!"

"It could never work."

"How can you know?" I don't reply. He wouldn't understand, and even if he did, he wouldn't accept my answer. Somehow this whole situation reminds me of the moment shortly before Link told me he loved me. He was trying to make me understand that he and Mipha didn't match. Maybe this is exactly why I am certain that Pik won't accept my answer. "If you can look me in the eye and tell me that you don't have any feelings for me, I'll go. I won't ever bother you again."

I shake my head. "Don't make me do that."

"I deserve the truth, Zelda, please. When we met for the first time, you told me that you didn't want to go on a date with me because you had to focus on school. Was that just an excuse?"

"No, that was the truth..."

"And then you said your dad has all these rules..."

"That wasn't an excuse either, that was the truth."

"But two weeks later you went on a date with Link."

I remain silent. It's true. I broke all the rules for Link.

"I just don't get it. What's so wrong with me that you won't even think about it? Why are you so determined not to give this a chance? I see your smile, it's real. I want that smile to last forever, why don't you? I'm so confused. You give me all these excuses and tell me we can't work but then you go on dates with another guy anyway. Why are you after a man who doesn't have the time for you, who doesn't understand your ambitions? Someone who is so far from what you need? Someone who doesn't have your back, who doesn't fight for you or stands up for you?"

"You have the wrong image of him. He does all those things for me."

"I won't fight you on that. Maybe he really does treat you differently when you're alone, I am not here to label him as a bad person, all I'm saying is that you two are too different to complete each other. You love reading, writing, singing, you love all the things I love. Yet you are different enough to teach me the things I long to know about the world. The same goes for you. Open your eyes, Zelda. Link's vocabulary consists of nods and grammatically incorrect sentences. I'd write a hundred books and compose a thousand songs for you. Why would you give that up for a monosyllabic Linton? Hate me for saying it, but your relationship with him is never going to work. He is not your destiny."

I want to shout at him, tell him he's wrong, and defend Link with every breath I have, but as much as Pik is wrong for doubting our relationship, I would be wrong for claiming the opposite.

"There is no way of knowing if it is going to work or not," I say with a tense jaw. "All I know is that I want to try to make it work."

"So you are willing to try for him but you couldn't try for me?" his voice breaks. I can see all his raw emotions when he tries to blink the tears away.

"I thought you said you were fine being friends..."

"I am, I was," he shakes his head and desperately searches for the right words to convince me of something I just don't agree with. "I was fine with it but our story doesn't end in friendship. I'm your Romeo, don't you see? You think this can't work, but I am telling you that I would sacrifice everything for you, just the way you sacrifice yourself for everyone else each day."

He is the one who would sacrifice the world for one person. Is he the villain of my story?

"I know I'm far from perfect, but every day I will strive to become a man you fancy. Be my Juliet. Be the Rose to my Jack. You jump I jump," he brings my hands up to his chest.

"Call me what you will, but you are not my Romeo. You're the governor at best. And if I were Rose, you'd be Caledon," I say in a harsh tone. I hate having to hurt him in this way, but he is not going to let it go unless I slam the door into his face.

Pik's smile perishes. I've done it; I killed the smile I believed to be immortal. His hands let go of mine. "Are you lying to me right now?"

"No, Pik, it's the truth."

"You can't really think that." Once again, I am out of words and keep my lips sealed. "Fine. Antagonize me if it makes you feel better. But just remember... In the end... The good guy always dies."

My heart is pacing. Is that a threat? Is this his way of dealing with rejection? He gets up, cheeks red, and looks back down at me. He clenches his jaw, probably fighting the words he wants to spit at me. I know I could have said it in a nicer way, but he wasn't going to listen anyway. I need him to back off. Link and I are about to take the next step and I can't risk Pik getting in the middle of it.

"I tried," he says in a low voice. "I tried to save you from the poison. I am trying to get you off the sinking ship before it's too late but..." he shakes his head in frustration and turns away from me.

I feel the urge to slap him for saying so many horrible things about Link and our relationship, but at the same time, I want to chase after him and apologize for hurting him. Why is my conscience always fighting with itself? I hate this ongoing war of emotions.

I exhale the breath I've been holding ever since he sat down next to me. What just happened? I have never seen Pik angry, not like this. He used words to purposefully hurt me. Why? Because his ego got hurt? I find it hard to believe that his feelings for me are serious, but seeing him react like this, what other choice do I have than to believe that he truly did care about a future with me?

I am still trying to wrap my head around it when I realize that I will be late. I quickly get up and make my way to my next class. I can't stop thinking about the way he looked at me and how his hands felt. It's such a minor detail, I don't know why I keep coming back to think about it, but his hands felt so different from Link's. They are smooth and he takes good care of his nails while Link's hands are scarred and rough.

Our story doesn't end in friendship.

Pik may be right with that, but not in the way he wishes. At this point it's up to him if we are going to stay friends or not. If he would rather go separate ways than to be just friends, then that's his choice. 

After my last class, I text Impa to meet me at the baseball field. If I am going to watch Link at practice, I need emotional support. Even though Impa is currently at the pier, she tells me that she will come straight to campus. She is the best friend anyone could wish for. Despite everything we felt and didn't feel for each other, she found a way to be my friend. Because to Impa, it was more important to have me in her life than to be my life. Why can't Pik be like that? He has always been an amazing friend. Is he going to throw that away just because I am in love with someone else?

Link sees me standing at the entrance of the baseball stadium and instantly begins to smile. I realize that I look a little lost standing here thinking about Pik, so I shake my head in hopes of ridding my mind of Pik and walk over to the sideline of the baseball field. Link tosses a ball toward me. It lands in the grass only five feet away from me, giving Link an excuse to jog over to me.

"You came," he says to me as he picks up the ball. I am surprised he noticed me at all; a good handful of students is sitting in the audience to watch him practice.

"I see I'm not the only one," I note.

"But the only one I see," he replies.

Take that Pik. Link is perfect in every way imaginable. So much that I am robbed of the ability to speak.

"I–mh, I'll, I will be in- in the–" I point behind me, "the stands," I breathe, totally spellbound. I am making a fool out of myself. But that's what Link does to me. He makes me speechless. At least he appears to be enjoying this.

"Yo, Link," a teammate calls for him. "When you're done flirting, we'd like to continue the practice."

The other teammates laugh Flustered, Link returns to his position. Sharing his embarrassment, I find a seat in the audience and do my best to ignore the chatters and titters coming from the group of girls sitting behind me.

While I wait for Impa, I use the time to bring my diary up to speed. I still have to write about Valentine's Day and I want to write down what happened with Pik. Writing down all my feelings and thoughts really helps me deal with them. I can reflect on what happened and understand the whole situation a little better. It helps me let go of some of the anger and spread my emotions across the pages, rather than keeping them bottled up inside my head.

Now I can see why Pik would feel betrayed. From his perspective, I rejected him for no reason, lied to him, fought for him when we were drifting apart, giving him mixed signals, and ended up finding love in another man. Perhaps I am not as innocent in this as I had hoped.

Half an hour later, I remember that I am sitting in the stands. It is incredibly fascinating how the mind can wander off when we are focused. How we can drown out the world around us and escape to our thoughts.

Link is down there, putting his whole heart and soul into the sport I despise so much. I wonder how I would feel about baseball if Karusa had never crossed paths with me. Would I still hate it? Would I care? Would I... like it? Could I still like it?

The way Link holds his bat, the way he stands and concentrates on the ball, even just the way his body moves so differently to how it did in soccer... It's art. It's science. It's everything I love. Maybe baseball isn't so bad after all. When I look at Link, I don't see any resemblance to Karusa. His eyes hold a different kind of fire when he swings his bat. The good kind.

But it's not only Karusa I worry about. Karusa already fears Link and has paid the price for raising his fists. Ganon however has not once shown weakness toward Link. He doesn't flinch when Link steps closer. He doesn't smile like Karusa either. It's almost as if it's all just a game to Karusa, while to Ganon, it's serious. And that's what scares me. People tend to oversee or blatantly ignore boundaries when they are serious about something. Just like Pik did.

"Hey!" Impa startles me. I didn't even see her coming. Once again, my mind wandered off.

"Hey Impa. I'm so happy to see you."

"Aw, you too. I missed you," she takes a seat next to me and puts her feet up on the chair in front of her.

"I missed you too. How are you?"

"School doesn't make me want to kill myself for once, so good I guess," she grins.

"Er..."

"No suicide jokes? Okay. How are you?"

"I'm doing fine."

"How's Link doing?"

"Good. He is really good at baseball. I think. I have nothing to compare him to. So even if he wasn't good, I probably wouldn't know."

"He is good," she confirms.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Answers aren't always guaranteed but freedom of speech allows you to ask me anything."

"Smartass."

"Ladies and gentleman! Someone call the pope, she said the word!" Impa gasps loudly.

"You're causing a scene," I whisper abashed. We are disturbing the practice, even the athletes on the field are looking at us now. A guy waves at us. It's not Link and he's not waving at us. He's waving at Impa.

"Another one of your suitors?" I ask her quietly.

She waves back and laughs. "Eh not really. Met him at a party last week but we haven't really talked since. I didn't even know he was on the team. So, what did you want to ask me?"

"I wanted to ask you about Ganon."

"Ganon?" She snaps her head at me. "What about him?"

"How much do you know about him?"

"He's a pussy."

"I mean... What do you know about him? His family. His past."

"Not much," she shrugs. "He's a student at Lorule Academy, plays sports, gets into fights. Loses fights, ha. Um... dates Malice sometimes."

"So you know as much as I do then," I say disappointed.

"Why are you asking?"

Good question. I should just stop searching for more reasons to be worried. "What do you know about his father? Ganondorf?"

"I don't know. He's a coach, right?"

"He is, yes. He is also Lorule's chancellor. And a criminal."

"What'd he do?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking."

"Well, who told you that he's a criminal?"

"Father and Link both said he is a dangerous man."

"Have you looked him up?" She asks and opens google chrome on her phone at the same time. I lean closer to look at her screen as enters his name in the search bar. Articles about his school, his team, and his business come up. She clicks on a few. Each one praises the man and talks about his generosity or about the countless ways he has helped the community. "Pays for roads, helps the schools, volunteers at fundraisers, donates to the hospital... Doesn't sound criminal to me."

"He is a mysterious man... He gives me goosebumps." Impa opens an image of him. A bright smile, friendly eyes... What are you hiding? "I met him once. I talked to him at the soccer game against Lorule. I didn't know who he was when he spoke to me. I thought he was a kind man but there are things about him that don't make sense."

"Yeah like how the fuck did such an innocent man raise a dickhead of a son?"

"Not just that... Apparently Ganondorf strives to own Hyrule University. But why? He already has money, fame, and a school of his own."

"Rich people want to be richer, that's just how it is."

"But why Hyrule?"

"Because they're rivals? If Hyrule becomes part of Lorule, it'll probably be the strongest school in the country."

"I still don't understand why Ganondorf is said to be dangerous. Why are there no articles about him if he is a convicted man? Why does everyone love him?"

"Maybe he's like your dad. Super friendly and social in public but a total dick behind closed doors."

"Hey... Father has been doing a lot better," I defend him.

"No, I didn't mean it like that," she quickly corrects herself. "I just mean... Maybe Ganondorf has two faces. You know?"

"I understand what you meant... But he's so much worse. He threatens his own son. He banned Ganon from his home just because they lost the title. I just wish I knew how much power he really has. If he can make all his mistakes disappear from the media, what's stopping him from committing more crimes? Link is Hyrule's strongest player and during the soccer game Ganondorf ordered his team to injure Link. What if he is still planning on hurting Link? I just want to know how dangerous Ganondorf really is. Do you think he'd follow Link off-campus and hurt him?"

"I think you're paranoid."

"I'm not paranoid. Father and Link both told me to stay away from Ganondorf. There must be a good reason."

"So why don't you ask them? If they're the ones with info, ask them, not me."

"Good point..." Now that Father and I have been talking more frequently, I may be able to get some answers from him. I am certainly not going to ask Link about any of this. Whenever we talk about Ganon or his father, Link gets all cold and tense. I don't want him to be stressed out before the game.

When practice ends and the team is done changing, I walk Link to his car. The sun has set, the sky is a cotton candy pink, and a soft breeze is carrying the refreshing scent of the ocean. The campus is calm and the parking lot is almost empty. Hopefully we can make it to his car without getting bothered by anyone.

"I was really happy that you were watching today."

"I was mainly focused on my journal," I admit.

"Still, you came. Means a lot."

"I'll come more often if it means so much to you."

"Really?"

"Yes. Seeing you happy makes me happy," I smile at him.

We reach his car. Here comes my least favorite time of the day. The parting.

"I could come to the library sometime, watch you study."

"That's creepy."

"No, I mean, I'd study too. Next to you."

"I know," I giggle at his reaction. He can be so adorable sometimes. He is nothing like the heartless man Pik described. Which reminds me... "Hey Link?"

"Let me guess, you want me to stay a little longer," he grins.

"No. Well, yes, I'd like that, but that's not what I was going to say."

"Okay," he chuckles, "What were you going to say?"

"I just wanted to tell you about something that happened today." Why am I so nervous to tell him about Pik? Did I do something wrong? Do I feel guilty for something? Why am I second-guessing myself now? I can't change my mind now. "When I was eating lunch, Pik found me and started talking to me." I watch Link's reaction closely but so far he doesn't seem upset. "He found out that we were at the beach yesterday. I suppose a couple of people know."

"Okay?" He doesn't know where I'm going with this. No wonder; I'm being unreasonably vague.

"He had a Valentine's Day gift for me but decided not to give it to me when he found out that I was with you."

"Oh. I'm sorry?"

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Because of me, you didn't get a gift."

"That's okay. But, er, well, Pik asked if we were on a date and I said yes. Which isn't really important, but..." Where am I going with this? "Apparently Pik... He... He is convinced, or I suppose was convinced, that he and I would be a better match. I don't agree with him. I told him I have no interest in him. That upset him."

Link's brows furrow and his eyes widen. "What did he do? Did he hurt you?"

"N-no." Did I imply that? I have to watch my wording.

"Did he touch you?" Link asks, increasingly alarmed. His eyes fall to my neck. "Zelda, did he put his hands on you?"

"No, no he didn't do anything," I try to calm him.

His breath is fleeting and his fists clenched. Without much thought, I take his hands into mine. His breaths slow down and his fingers lace with mine. "Sorry, it just sounded like he... I don't know."

"It's okay," I whisper. "I'm sorry for making it sound like that. I promise, he has never done anything like that." One name he can cross off his list of suspects...

"So... then what did you say?"

"I just told him that I'm not interested and that I'd like to stay friends, but he didn't seem fond of that idea."

"Yeah, I'm not surprised."

"Really? But you of all people know that a friendship between opposite genders can work just fine."

"It's different," he rubs the back of his neck. "We still had something more than that."

"W-what?"

"We still kissed and stuff."

"And stuff?"

"You know."

"I really don't."

"I don't know? Hugged, cuddled, did all the couple stuff." I think my heart just stopped completely. "I'm just saying. You and I never really had a platonic friendship."

"I was referring to Mipha," I grumble half annoyed and half relieved.

"Oh." He presses his lips together and nods awkwardly. "I was referring to us."

"I see that now." I don't have any ill feelings toward Mipha but for some reason this misunderstanding stung my heart. Maybe it was just the brief belief of Link's and Mipha's untold past including more than just an accidental kiss.

"Sorry," he says quietly.

"It's not a big deal," I give him a reassuring smile. "Just a misunderstanding, right?"

"Right," he smiles back at me. "Down for some McDonalds? I'm starving."

"I'll buy you a happy meal," I nod.

"I'm not 5."

"But it's your favorite."

"I didn't decline. Just making sure you know I'm not 5."

"I'm well aware of your age."

"Good. But--" he clears his throat and tries to sound cool, "get me the boys Happy meal. I don't want some pink barbie toy."

"Okay Link," I laugh and he joins me.

I don't want to jinx anything but Link and I have been doing so well. No more misunderstandings or unfounded arguments. I stand by what I said; we don't know what the future holds for us, but I would be lying if I said I didn't believe in us with everything I have. Even now, standing here on campus, hand in hand, it doesn't feel so scary anymore.

"Link?" Shyly, I look away as I muster the courage to ask him...... "Would you like to have dinner at my house next week? With my father."