Enough is enough. I've been waiting for half an hour, every second feels like a year. I'm risking my future by being here when the outcome is bound to be bad whether I end it or not. I will just have to find a way to stop thinking about Link and focus on school.

How will I explain this to Father? I wish my phone wasn't dead... I'm sure he has tried calling me by now.

I get up from Link's bed, smooth out the blanket, and head for the door that leads to the hallway. Before I leave, I place the postcard with my apology on his desk. That should do... I'm not the most social or experienced person, especially when it comes to relationships, but I know I am in the wrong here and I want him to at least hear, or well, read my apology.

For thirty minutes I've gone over and over this, always coming to the same conclusion. It can't work. I'm not ready for a relationship and Link doesn't deserve to be my guinea pig. I think he cares about me more than I admit to myself and maybe it'll hurt him to know that we have to stop this before it really started, but I fear that if we continue this thing we have, more people will get hurt. I want to prevent him from getting hurt any further.

When I open the door, Link is standing right in front of me, reaching for the door knob. My eyes stare at him in shock and I pull him into his room and lock the door before somebody sees us.

"I'm so sorry," I whisper and let go of him.

He's wearing black sweatpants, a black hoodie, sunglasses, and a cap. He really didn't want to be recognized by anyone and now I feel even worse for making him come here when I knew he didn't want to.

"I'm so sorry," I repeat, tears staining my cheeks. "I'm sorry!" Why am I crying now?

When I opened the door, Link looked frustrated and a bit angry but now he looks more concerned. He removes his sunglasses and cap but doesn't move from his spot.

"It's okay," he says even though he doesn't even know what I'm apologizing for.

"I didn't want to hurt you," I cry. It takes every bit of strength in me to just stand here trying to stop the tears.

I don't want to stop talking to Link but this relationship is bound to fail. I wanted to end it all, I did, but as soon as I saw him in front of me, the fear of losing him took over my common sense.

"Let's talk," he says calmly. I nod in gratitude.

He's still willing to talk to me. But who should speak first? Should I do what Daruk said and wait patiently for him to open up or should I apologize for being prejudiced first.

Link takes his hoodie off and throws it into the corner of his room. He changes into a t-shirt, then he takes a sip from his water bottle and sits down in his chair. He gestures for me to sit on his bed and I do so without a word. I'm glad that at least one of us is acting calm and natural. He's the rock and I'm the crashing sea. I need him.

"I didn't know you'd be here and if Ravioli hadn't called me I wouldn't have come," he says and I'm relieved that he is the one to speak first.

"Ravioli?" I raise an eyebrow.

Link shrugs. "It's what we call Revali."

I'm starting to see why Revali would dislike Link. But the unpopular part of my brain is secretly grinning at the thought of Link using that nickname.

"Well... I'm sorry for making you come here. I know you try to avoid these parties and I can see why... It's loud, full of intoxicated people, and to top it all Malice and Ganon were here."

"What?"

Link sits up straight like a watchdog, his eyes full of spite and worry. He looks at my arms and back up at my face.

"Did he hurt you?" he asks in a grave tone.

"No, I was hiding in here."

"They shouldn't come here," Link says through his teeth.

"It sounded like Malice comes here often," I say, looking at my feet.

Surprise is visible through his anger. Clearly he didn't know that Malice attends their parties. That is a relief.

"Malice and I," he begins and my heart falls deep down. "We don't...um..."

He doesn't know how to finish that sentence but I know what he's trying to say and despite my subconscious telling me not to interrupt him, I want to let him know that I believe him.

"I know," I say and our eyes meet in the middle. "I didn't want to think that you two had something going on, but it just made a lot of sense with her being so mean to me, wanting proof of our interactions, and meeting you in private and all that."

"You didn't give me the chance to explain."

"I know..." I dig my nails into my palms and look down again.

"What if it hadn't been Malice?"

"What?"

"If it had been any other girl."

That doesn't ease the ache in my heart.

"It hurt worse because it was Malice. But... I think... I would have been hurt either way." I haven't really thought about this. But I want to be honest with him. Even if it had been a conversation between him and Mipha, it would have still hurt. I look at the ceiling and take a slow breath. "I suppose... perhaps I was... jealous."

"You're not my girlfriend," he states and I can feel my nails cutting through the skin of my palm.

"I know..."

"We've only known each other for a little over a week and your dad doesn't want you to date."

When Link mentions Father I have to swallow my anger to keep it away from Link. He's right, we haven't really talked about our relationship, but I'm not the type of person who just kisses random guys and leaves it at that. I thought what we had was something special and to be quite frank, yes, I did think we could possibly start a relationship. I was willing to try at least.

"Father has no right to control my social life. He shouldn't have told you to look after me without my consent. But he did, and I know it puts you in a really difficult spot because you have to follow his commands but you also don't want to upset me. I'm sorry for getting mad at you when it wasn't your fault. I'm also sorry for saying I don't want to be seen with you," I say in a shaky voice.

"I get it."

He's so understanding. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I apologize, no matter how many times he forgives me, this awful feeling of guilt just won't go away.

"Malice got in my head." This sounds too much like an excuse. I don't want to blame her when this is on me. "It's not all her fault. I keep messing this up and hurting you. I want to make it up to you," I mutter.

Link gets up and takes a seat next to me. His presence fogs my mind immediately. I'm stupefied, numb, staring at his eyes so close to mine.

"You can make it up to me."

"How," I say under my breath, unable to leave his gaze.

"Come to my game tomorrow. I am more focused when you're there."

"What... You are? Why?"

"When you're not there, I am distracted by thinking about you; what you're up to, if you're okay. But when you're there, I can focus on the game, knowing that you're fine."

Oh Link...

"I can't..." I mumble. Why does he care for me when I am such a mess? "I can't come to your game. I promised Mipha to go to the beach with her and her brother."

Link frowns but doesn't seem angry.

"But..." I begin and he looks at me. "I'll go to the next game," I promise and kiss him unintentionally.

I shock myself with my action and pull away from him. What is wrong with me?

"Sorry!" I cover my mouth.

"It's... okay," he says confused.

"I should go."

I have no idea what just happened. I wanted to make everything right, then decided it would be best to just forget about Link but when I saw him I knew I had to try to make up. The things he does confuse me, like having me as his wallpaper, but he just said it's too soon to date.

We should talk this over again another time. I can't think straight with him so close to me. We need to figure out what we're doing and what is best for both of us, but perhaps not tonight. I worry about Impa getting drunk and Father ripping my head off. Still, there is one thing I have to make sure of before I leave.

"Link, where's your phone?"

"My phone?" he asks and I nod. He pulls it out of his pocket and hands it to me without questioning it.

I turn it on and recognize the photo he has set as his lock screen. It's one of the pictures Malice took of us when we were caught in the volleyball net. I'm lacking the words. I need to scold him for using a picture of us as his wallpaper, but words come out not quite as planned.

"You said you don't care about wallpapers..."

"I didn't. Now I do."

"But... what if somebody sees this?"

"No one sees my phone."

"Revali did," I debate.

"Ravioli won't tell."

"Are you sure?" I arch my brows. Revali doesn't really appear trustworthy when it comes to Link.

"200% positive," he smirkes.

"Why use this picture though? Why a picture of us at all?"

"It's funny," he says with a faint smile. "Makes me happy."

I frown and turn his phone back off. If he's sure that this will remain a secret, then I want to trust him. I need to trust him. It's his phone, I can hardly force him to change his wallpaper and if it's something that makes him happy, then I would not want it to be any other way.

"Zelda," Link says in a soft voice and I look back at him. "Your dad has nothing to do with me caring about you. What happened with the boars... It makes me sick. I want you to be safe. When your dad asked me to protect you I had already made that commitment."

Father is not in control of Link like he is of me. That makes me feel so much better. I want to tell Link so many things too, that I care about him and don't want to lose him, but it feels too soon. He's right, we've only known each other for a little while and neither of us is ready to take this to the next step. Who am I kidding, we skipped all the steps. Still, I want him in my life. In any way, whether as a friend or more, I just... I know I can't just forget about him. There is so much I haven't learned about him yet. I want to know about his dreams, his fears, his favorite song and dearest memory.

"I'm a bit nervous to ask this..." I begin and try not to overthink this. "Would you like to go on a date with me?"

The change in his expression is subtle but I can tell he is surprised by my question. Nevertheless, his eyes are smiling and he nods.

"Tomorrow night?" He asks.

"Sure," I smile. "I'll come up with a place and time and let you know."

"And how will you let me know?" he grins and I roll my eyes.

"Can I... have your number?" I blush.

"Hm..." He teases and I swat his arm.

Since my phone is dead we decided to save my number in his phone instead. When he's done typing and sending a message to my phone, he turns his phone off again and finds my eyes through the dark. I'm lying on my back, staring up at the ceiling, at the flag up above.

"What's written on the flag? Is it in Japanese?" I ask and he lies down by my side.

"Yes. It's mainly my friends' and family's signatures from Japan. It was a goodbye present."

"Were you born in Japan?" He nods. "Do you miss it?"

"It's my home, of course I miss it." His head turns to face me. "But America isn't so bad," he says, looking at my lips and I can't help but do the same to him.

I lean in and he doesn't hesitate to kiss me. His hand moves to my cheek. His gentle touch cuts the oxygen off from my lungs. I could live from nothing but his lips. He moves to lie on top of me, careful not to touch my body with his but close enough for me to feel the heat between us. Only when I lay my arms around his back to pull him closer does he allow for our chests to touch. My heart is jumping and falling so heavily and my breaths are short. His tongue touches mine when I open my mouth. Wait, what am I doing?

I push him off and sit up.

"Sorry, this isn't me," I fix my hair and get up.

I want to leave and hide my embarrassed self but one look at Link's bewildered face and I realize that he doesn't understand why I jumped away from him. Maybe I should explain myself before I run away. Perhaps there is no reason to run to begin with.

"What's wrong?" He asks.

I sigh and take a seat next to him on the bed again.

"I'm not sure," I say honestly.

He doesn't say anything in return. He's just waiting, allowing me to think about it.

"I haven't really kissed anyone before. I don't know. I'm just not... Er..."

"Do I make you uncomfortable?" He asks.

"No, not at all." I've never felt more comfortable with anyone. But still. "I want to take things... Slow."

"That ship has sailed; we slept together," he jokes.

I roll my eyes and try but fail to hide my smile. He leans back and puts his hands behind his head.

"You set the pace," he says as calmly and understanding as always.

I remain sitting next to him for a good minute, unsure what to do. I just stare at him, feeling like a psychopath.

"I'm sorry," I apologize for the hundredth time today. "I have never done anything like this. I don't know how to act around you."

"Be natural," he says as if that were so easy.

He opens his eyes, probably expecting me to move or start doing something "natural". But I just sit on the other end of his bed, hands laced together on my lap.

"Lie down," he pats the spot next to him.

Three voices are starting a clamour inside my mind. One voice is begging me to go home before Father calls the police, another voice is telling me to check up on Impa, and the third voice is silencing the other two, desperately wishing for me to lie down next to Link.

He opens his arms and I place my head by his shoulder and put my hand on his chest. My mind is not in control anymore. As soon as his fingers comb through my hair I am utterly relaxed and unable to think about anything but the two of us. Even the loud music doesn't appear loud anymore. I'm at peace. Link's heart beat is my lullaby. My eyes are closed and my breath is in synchrony with his. Just one minute of tranquility with Link, then I will go face Father.