I close the door behind me and wait for Link to take a seat on his bed. I'm not sure if I want to sit next to him, across from him, or remain standing. Maybe I should sit on his chair? No, too formal. 

He looks up at me, making me feel just awkward enough to take a seat next to him on the bed. I turn my torso toward him and grab one of his pillows to hug while I find a way to open this conversation.

"So," I begin. I had 24 hours to figure out how to tell him and yet here I am at a loss for words.

His eyes are on me but he doesn't speak or rush me in any way. I wish I had his calm.

"Last night, when I got into a fight with Father..." I scratch off some of my nail polish as I gather the words. "We didn't just fight."

His expression remains patient and I realize that he isn't going to interrupt me until I've said what I need to say. This helps me to calm down slightly.

"When I got home, Father was very angry at me for things I didn't do. He said some horrible things to me that I don't really want to repeat." This is going okay. Link's listening to every word, frowning as I tell him about the fight. "I found out that he had been stalking me and he went through my closet. It shouldn't really surprise me. But I was still in shock when he told me. He crossed a line and I may have overreacted, but at that moment I was sure I would suffocate if I stayed a second longer in that house. Literally suffocate."

I feel the air getting cut off from my lungs again just by the mention of last night. 

"So I left. I didn't tell Father that I left, I just ran away without a plan and without taking much with me."

The surprise on Link's face was expected. Still, he's waiting for me to finish. Even when I need a few seconds to build the sentence and think about what to say next, he's always patient.

"I drove to the beach, not knowing where else to go. I wanted to come back to you so badly but I didn't know if it was appropriate or if it would be weird..." I don't want to tell him the real reason, that I didn't want to come back because he was hurt. I'm afraid he'd begin to hide his pain if I said such things.

"I didn't even have water on me. I only packed what's most important to me in a sentimental way rather than packing essentials. But Impa and I went shopping today so now I at least have some new clothes and toiletries," I try to chuckle to lighten the mood. I didn't come here to whine about my life, I came to tell Link why I wasn't by his side when he needed me.

My heart is thudding so heavily again and I'm not really sure why. Telling him about this wasn't too bad. But it's only half the story. Where I'm going to stay, that part I'm still figuring out myself.

"That's pretty much it," I say. I push the guilt I feel for leaving out Karusa under an imaginary carpet in my headspace.

I chew on my lip, waiting for Link to say something. His eyes roam the blanket as he thinks about his response.

"I think that's pretty brave," he says and looks back at me.

"What?" I tear up.

"You made a big decision last night and you're sticking to it even though it's a challenge. That's brave."

I throw my arms around his neck and plunge back onto the mattress with him. His words always hit me as a surprise but somehow they are always what I need to hear. I tighten my arms and press my cheek against his neck.

"I think it was stupid but I'll take brave," I laugh and sniffle at the same time.

"It wasn't stupid. But there are some things you'll have to master on your own now. I'll support you any way I can," he places his hands on my back.

"I'm scared," my earlier laugh turns into sobs. I wish I could control my emotions. "I felt so lonely last night. Not in a physical sense. I just felt like I was all alone in this life. Like nobody would ever know how I felt or what thoughts I was having. I just lost my family. I just lost everything I thought defined me," I cry. Why am I always crying around Link? I feel so gross...

"Hm..." Link's fingers draw little circles and other shapes on my back. "I want to tell you something if that's okay."

"What is it?" I sniffle and move to his side to look up at him, still hugging him with my body.

"The first time I left home was when I was 13. I went to trials across the country and was offered to stay at the club to play soccer for their team. I didn't know anyone, I didn't have my family there with me and I felt lonely at times, or misunderstood."

My heart aches for the 13 year old boy but I am also impressed by the fact that he left his home at such a young age... My problems must seem so tiny next to his.

"I only saw my family every couple of months. At 15 I joined the national team and left home permanently. I was still just a boy, reckless and a bit chaotic. I had to learn discipline in a short period of time and figure out how to behave like a professional player. Everything was very serious. The fans had great expectations and disappointing them meant disappointing the team, your family, and yourself most of all."

He pauses but he doesn't seem any less calm.

"You start to feel like you don't belong. I thought to myself I got lucky when they picked me but they got the wrong guy. Somebody else may have fit in better, I don't know. At that point I didn't talk much anymore, I became very reserved. This isolated me even more from the others. To many, this was not a good trait, but it wasn't all bad. It taught me how to be patient and how to understand a situation from an outside perspective. It shaped me as a player and made me more attentive."

They say every con carries a pro. Is he trying to say that I should find the good in my situation?

"Despite the difficulties I faced at first, my team always had my back. Sometimes I felt homesick and wished to be with my family but my team became my family. And the same happened when I moved to America; I didn't have anyone but the team treated me like a brother. Sure, a family isn't always perfect. Not everyone gets along all the time, but you give them your hand when they reach for it. And I know not everyone's always on my side, like Revali and Domidak, I don't think they accept me all the way, but when I need them they're here for me."

"I understand that. But Father and I have a very different relationship. The family we have is purely literal. As in, we are only a family because the law says so. It's very distinguishable from the fraternal bond you have with your teammates."

"That's not my point."

"Then what's your point?"

"When I met you, we didn't really get along too well. We frustrated each other but we always had each other's backs when we depended on it. You stand up for me, you support me, yes, sometimes you yell at me, but family does that sometimes. My point is; you are family, Zelda. Which means that my team is your family too... You leaving your dad made you feel lonely and you felt like you didn't have a family anymore but you do. Me, Impa, Daruk, Urbosa, even Revali, we are your family. And we have your back.

"So you're my brother?" I giggle.

"Had to make it gross," he chuckles.

"If I don't make fun of it I might start sobbing on your t-shirt," I say and wipe the tears from my cheeks. "Sorry," I whisper, losing full control over my emotions.

"It's an old t-shirt, go nuts."

I laugh and cry simultaneously. His words mean so much to me and I don't know how to handle it. I think these are happy tears but I also feel so much sorrow in my heart, it's tiring to feel so many different emotions at once.

Link reaches over to his nightstand and grabs a tissue for me. Bless his heart.

"I have a request," I sniffle.

"Go on."

"May I please take a shower?" I dry my eyes and blow my nose.

"Sure, I need a shower too," he smirks.

"Alone," I add.

"Come on, I just worked out. I smell," he whines, barely keeping a serious face. I just raise an eyebrow at him. "Fine, I'll take one after you."

"Thank you."

"Better hurry though. Party starts soon."

"I'll be quick."

I get up and pull my new clothes out of my backpack. I'm so happy that Link didn't ask where I'm going to stay. When Impa asked me all those questions I felt overwhelmed and scared all over again. I felt like I was lost. With Link, I feel like I'm found. Safe at last.

"Zelda, wait," Link gets up when my hand reaches for the door. He walks up to me, without crutches... idiot. Sweet, adorable, idiot.

"Crutches," I scold and point at them on the floor.

He walks up to me without them anyway.

"It's not weird," he says. 

I give him a confused look.

"You coming here... It's not weird. Last night, you should have come back."

"Oh, well... I'm here now," I shrug.

"I'm glad," he kisses my forehead and opens the door for me. "Let me grab a towel for you."

He leads me to the bathroom down the hallway and steps inside with me to grab a towel from the shelf. This bathroom is tiny and dirty. But I believe that any bathroom will appear to me as tiny and dirty considering that my bathroom is bigger than Link's bedroom and has a maid scrubbing it every day.

"This is my shampoo," he points at the black bottle in the shower. "Use as much as you want."

"Thank you," I say in a shy voice. I avoid looking at the mirror. I must look like a trainwreck.

"Need anything else?" He asks. I shake my head and lock the door after he steps out of the small space.

I turn the water on and wait for it to get hot before I step into the bathtub. This is crazy. I'm standing in the shower of a frat house full of boys. It's strange but it's not making me feel as uncomfortable as I expected. Apart from the lack of hygiene in this bathroom.

After ten minutes I feel like a new person. I pull the curtain back and step out with the towel covering my body. I tried to come up with a plan for the next couple of days but I spaced out and focused more on the hot water burning my shoulders and how good it felt to wash my hair.

I smell like Link now, and like a creep I sniff my hair as I stand in front of the fogged-up mirror. I change into my new leggings and t-shirt and leave the bathroom, my hair still wet. I'm glad that nobody is in the hallway when I walk back to Link's room. I wonder if all of his roommates know about us or if it's just Revali. They're all in a brotherhood so I wouldn't be surprised if Link told them. Or if Revali told them.

"Hey, I'm done," I say upon entering the room. Link is sitting on his bed with his phone in his hands and an ice bag on his knee.

"Okay, I'll take a quick shower too," he gets up, without his crutches.

"Link!" I scold him again.

"My bad," he picks up his crutches.

"You're not going to get better if you keep straining your leg."

"I think I'll do the surgery."

"Oh what? Are you sure?"

"I texted my coach. He said it's okay if I miss half the season. We already beat the Boars. My team will be fine without me for the upcoming games and I'll be back for the Championship."

"You should base your decision on whatever is best for you, not on whether you're back in time for the Championship."

He nods, which doesn't mean he agrees. He's just too polite to argue with me. Before he leaves the room he stops in front of me and gives me a smile. He's so different from how he has been for the past two days. I missed his smile so much. 

Suddenly, his smile turns into a startled expression and his eyes go wide. One of his hands cups my cheek while the other moves my wet hair behind my shoulder. It takes me a second too long to realize what he's looking at! The shower must have washed away the makeup!

"I'm so sorry," he says and lightly brushes his thumb over the bruise.

"W-what?" I'm shaking. Why's he apologizing? Why doesn't he look angry?

"You have a hickey," he explains. "I didn't mean to do that."

I'm trying to find a response but Link moves my hair back to the front and gives me a kiss on the cheek before my mind can make sense of this.

"Cool it, it'll make it go away faster." He hands me the ice bag as I gape at him in terror. "You okay?" he asks, concerned. "Are you mad?"

"Hm?" I squeak. Does he really think he gave me the hickey? He only kissed my neck for a few seconds today and I think it was the other side of my neck. "Yes, no, sorry, I'm--er, I'm great."

"Okay. I'll be back in like five minutes. Maybe thirty. I take long showers but you'll be waiting in my room so it'll be an inner battle."

He waits for me to laugh or give any indication that I heard him. I nod. Nothing else. Then he leaves. I slowly take a seat at the edge of his bed. Link just saw the hickey and didn't freak out. He thinks he did that. I place my hand over my chest to feel my racing heart. Calm down, everything is fine. Link won't find out about Karusa and I have a new phone. Everything is going to be fine. A smile is tugging at the corners of my mouth. Everything is going to be fine!

"Haha!" I lie on my back with my arms rolled out over his mattress. "Everything's fine," I whisper at the ceiling and sigh.

Now I just have to figure out where to stay and how to get Father off my back. I will have to tell him that I'm not coming back otherwise he probably won't stop looking for me. I can't believe he consulted the police. He has to stop that. Would sending him an email be inhumane? I feel like it would fit since he's such a formal man. I could just copy and paste a resignation template, change a few words and voilà.

While Link is showering I lie on my tummy and get some of my homework done on my laptop. I check my Astronomy grade. Still a 100. Professor Astor hasn't graded my test yet. Part of me is relieved, the other part just wants to get it over with. I hope I get at least a B-. Even then, that would be the lowest grade I have ever received.

The door behind me opens but I don't want to lose track of the sentence I'm writing for my essay so I decide to ignore Link for just a few seconds longer to finish what I'm writing. He lies down on his tummy next to me and lets out a moan of comfort.

"It feels so good to lay down!" He buries his head in his blanket. "Doing homework?" he mumbles.

"Give me just one second," I mutter and keep typing.

He lifts his head and looks at my screen. "Thomas De Quincey's Misinterpreted Experience with the Pleasures of Opium," he reads the title of my paper.

"It's for my English course," I say while trying to finish my sentence.

"As a masochist, Da Quincey believed that one must experience both; pain and pleasure, or more commonly, that he could find pleasure in pain, however, despite his ignorance and his wish to avoid accepting the fact that opium was deadly to those who fell victim to its addiction, he began to suffer... from... the.... side effects," Link recites the sentence I'm working on. "You missed a couple of periods."

"Link," I say through my teeth, holding on to the slim piece of concentration. 

"What? Aren't you impressed that I read all that in one breath?"

I stop typing and want to roll my eyes at him for distracting me. That's when I notice that he's not wearing anything other than the towel that's wrapped around his waist! An involuntary squeak falls from my lips as I cover my eyes.

"Still?" He laughs and gets up to get dressed. "Is my body that hideous?"

"N-no." I still have my eyes covered.

"Very convincing. Not hurtful at all."

"That's really not it," and he knows it! He just wants me to tell him that his body looks good.

"You can open your eyes now," he says, standing in front of the bed.

I remove my hands and find him in just his sweatpants. "Link!" I cover my eyes again.

"Sorry, did I forget a t-shirt?" he laughs and walks back to the closet.

"Funny."

I throw a pillow at him. He throws it back and pushes his damp hair out of his forehead as he joins me on the bed, wearing black shorts and a white t-shirt with the Olympics logo on it.

"I brought snacks," his chin nods at his desk. "Just in case we get hungry tonight."

"Thinking about food again, are we?"

He chuckles and moves my hair out of the way to plant a kiss on my temple. I bite my lips but fail to hold back the smile they form. He gives me another kiss. How will I be able to finish my essay when he's distracting me like this? When his fingers begin to draw little circles on my neck I turn to look at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Massaging your skin. That's how you get rid of a hickey."

"H-how do you know how to get rid of hickeys?" I ask even though I don't really want to know how he knows.

"It's a bruise," he shrugs. "I've had my fair share of bruises. I know how to take care of them."

"I read that rubbing a bruise will only damage more blood vessels."

"Huh. That explains a lot," he says, looking at his bruised arms. "But hickeys are different. At least I think they are."

"Much appreciated," I pull my neck away from his hand. "But you don't have to do that."

"Oh I'm not doing this for you," he smirks. "Quid pro crow; you'll massage me after."

"It's quo, not crow. And I'm not massaging you," I blush. I don't even know how to give massages.

"But my legs are sore from yesterday," he whines. Who is this boy? The man who never speaks, never shows emotion, he who bears the world on his shoulders is pouting at me. His puppy face is even worse than mine but it's working.

Having given up on finishing my homework tonight, I shut my laptop and focus on the pup who's clearly seeking my attention. He knows he just won whatever game we were playing and doesn't care to hide his complacent victory face. He wins the Olympics with a plain expression but when I look at him he smiles. Oh, how I have fallen for this man.

This smile... His kiss on my cheek... His hand on my back... This is what I wanted so badly last night when I hugged myself in the backseat of my car. This is where I wished I could have been.

"Okay," I smile and sit up. "I'll massage your legs."

"Really?"

I nod. "Anything you want."

He rolls over on his back and I lift his leg onto my lap.

"Be careful around my ankles though, it's nasty."

I roll up the bottom of his sweatpants and wish I hadn't. I shut my eyes at the sight. He wasn't lying; it's nasty. My teeth hurt as the electricity zaps through me. His skin is ripped open and more colorful than the rainbow mountains in Peru.

"Where are your bandages?" I ask him, already getting up from the bed.

"There's a first aid kit in the bathroom. Top shelf."

"Be right back."

Link's pain tolerance is something else. I've never seen somebody this beat up, and I'm sure nobody else in his condition would continue to joke around or work out in the backyard. I walk down the hall to the bathroom. Music is coming from downstairs and I think I can hear people talking. The party must be starting.

I close the bathroom door behind me and stand on my tippy toes to reach the first aid kit but accidentally push it further away from the edge of the shelf. I stretch my whole body but it's just an inch out of my reach.

The door swings open and hits the tiled wall behind me in a loud bang. The noise scares me and I plunge to the floor after losing my balance. Revali, having made no effort to catch my fall, stares down at me with his hands in his pockets. I was afraid it would be some stranger, or worse, Malice or Ganon.

"Why are you on the floor?" Revali asks, still standing there not offering any help.

"I was going to grab the first aid kit but I can't reach it."

Leisurely his green eyes move to the shelf and back to me. "Of course you're not going to reach it from down there."

I get up while he grabs the kit for me. "Thanks," I mutter.

"Are you staying?" he asks.

"Staying where?"

"Here," he says, annoyed. "Are you staying the night?"

"Oh. Yes."

"What about Link?"

"What about him?"

"Jesus. Is he staying too?" Revali groans in frustration.

"Obviously." I wouldn't stay here if it wasn't for him. "Why?"

"Just curious. He usually disappears during parties."

"He can't really go anywhere. His leg's pretty beat up, he'll have surgery soon."

"Sure he isn't just pretending?"

"Why would he do that? He doesn't want to sit on the bench."

"How would I know what he wants or doesn't want? He doesn't talk."

"Maybe not to you," I shrug, feeling pretty smug. "He talks plenty when he's alone with me."

"My condolences." We exchange a harmless battle of glares before he speaks again. "Is he coming downstairs then? There's some people who want to see him."

"No, his leg's broken," I exclaim for the third time today. "We won't attend the party and if anybody asks where he is, say he's not here, or that you don't know where he is."

"Your wish is my command, Your Highness. Anything else?" he growls.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I don't like being addressed as a princess."

"I'll call you whatever I want to call you."

"Fine. Ravioli."

His jaw tenses but he doesn't retort. "May I pee now? Zelda?"

"Of course, Revali," I say in an overly friendly voice and smirk at him before stepping out of the bathroom.

---

(Heyyy it's me :) I loved reading your replies to my question in the last chapter! I think young Dylan Sprayberry was most suggested for Link and Lily Collins for Zelda. Any actor suggestions for Revali, Mipha, Impa, Malice, Pik, or any other character? xo -Ace)