"You look funny," Link comments on my stance. My bottom hurts from falling on it and my legs feel sore after thirty minutes of ice skating. "You really are unathletic." As if I didn't know that already.

"Shush," I glower and fall down again. Link tries to catch me but ends up taking the dive with me.

"Even that kid is better than you," he laughs, pointing at a little three-year-old.

"Shush!"

"It's true though."

"I don't want to hear about it," I pout. "We've been at it for 3 hours now. I'm tired."

"It's been 10 minutes. But sure, wanna grab a bite?"

"It's been 30, and we had breakfast less than an hour ago."

"I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry."

Link helps me to get up from the ice and guides me out of the rink. My phone rings while we're walking through the cute little town. It's Impa...

"You're up early," I tease her.

"Found your note."

"I didn't hide it."

"I'm just saying, I read it."

"I know. I was being sarcastic. Are you meeting us in town?"

"Nah, I'm going skiing."

"The others already left," I inform her.

"That's fine. I like to go by myself anyway. I ski off-piste."

"Oh, okay. Don't be reckless."

"Hm, maybe."

"Impa--"

"Kidding. I'll be safe, don't worry. What are you guys going to do all day?"

I look at the Christmas decorations in the windows that Link and I are passing. "Just walking around," I shrug. It sounds lame but this town is adorable and the people here are really friendly so it's a fun activity to just explore all the little stores. The only downside is the cold. The air is much crisper up here and it's hurting my nose.

"Why aren't you guys on the slopes?" Impa ask.

"I'm not going to have this conversation again. Enjoy your day and please call me if you need me. I'll keep my phone on volume."

"See you tonight," she chants and hangs up the phone.

As I push my phone back into my coat pocket, Link's hand interlocks with my free hand, and I instinctively pull away, eyes wide and rigid.

"Sorry," he mutters. "Thought... You know, no one knows us here, so we could..."

"No, I'm sorry!" I quickly take his hand into mine. I'm so paranoid that I wince at such a simple gesture. "I'm just not used to holding your hand in public. But you're right, nobody cares about us here. We don't have to hide our relationship as long as Mipha and Sidon are gone skiing."

"Relationship?"

Did I say relationship?!

"I mean, you know, our, our, well, our person to person relationship, association is the word." What is wrong with me? "Our alliance. Our--our affiliation?" I stutter foolishly. He kisses me to stop me from embarrassing myself any further. "Hey, I said no kissing!"

"We both know that's not going to work," he says with a smug expression, brushing his cold thumb over my cheek. He has never kissed me in public like this. He probably only did it to make me shut up, but still... There are people walking past us. He just kissed me in front of all of these strangers. He places his icy hands on my flushed cheeks.

"Like a heater," he mocks.

"Your hands are cold as ice," I change the topic, taking his fingers between the cloth of my gloves.

"I couldn't find my gloves. I think I forgot to pack them."

"Didn't I--"

"I don't want to hear it."

"I told you to--"

"I know you did, and I didn't listen," he rolls his eyes with a smile.

"I think I saw a shop for equipment. Let's buy you some gloves," I smile back at him and lead him to the little shop around the corner.

It's nice and warm in here. They have everything, from gloves to hats, to sleds, snowboards, and skis, helmets, jackets, goggles, and sunglasses... Just anything you could possibly need up here.

"Zelda?" The guy behind the counter stares at me with a wide smile. I recognize him, he's the nice guy I met at the dorms at the beginning of the semester and not soon after at the beach.

"Fin," I say surprised.

"You like my store?"

"Your store?" Now it's coming back to me; he told me that he owns a business in Mammoth Lakes where he sells equipment. "It's lovely," I say honestly. "Are your friends here too? Armes and, er--" this is embarrassing...

"Russ," he reminds me. "I haven't seen him today. He's probably slacking off. But yes, technically he's here too. Armes isn't. He flew home to be with his fam." Link joins us with a pair of gloves in his hands and places them on the counter. "No way!" Fin gasps. "It's you! Link."

Link gives him a confused look. So much for not getting recognized.

"Dude, you're my idol! I've seen every snowboarding clip of you and even came to Aspen last year to see you live! One reason I came to HU was to watch you train and steal some of your tricks," Fin confesses with nothing but joy in his voice. "Are you competing this year? I heard you got injured. But obviously you're here for the tournament. Bro, I can't believe I'll be competing against an Olympics champion!"

He should take a breath and give Link a chance to explain himself.

"Gloves are on the house," Fin says, placing them in a small bag. "Hey man, you lookin' for a new board? I'll give ya a discount!"

"He already has a snowboard," I answer for Link.

"There are different types of boards. Maybe he needs an alpine board or a race board. I assume you're currently using a freestyle board," he says to Link. "So what do ya say? We have 'em all."

We both look at Link. He doesn't look like he's going to say anything. I don't think he likes the attention. I never liked the attention either but at least he is getting praised while I was always just getting criticized...

"I'm competing," Link finally says with a nod.

"Dope! I'm counting on you to get first place!"

I know he means it as a compliment, but the way I know Link it only puts more pressure on him. He's in no shape to be competing, I don't know why he would say that... He will only worry about disappointing his fans again... But when I look at Link, he doesn't seem to feel that way at all. He gives Fin a confident nod and picks up the bag.

We thank Fin for the gloves and leave the shop. While Link is removing the tag from the gloves, I try to find a way to approach him and talk about what just happened. Is he really going to compete? I can't let him do that... He'll break every bone in his body...

We walk down the narrow alleys. It's a tiny village and the town square consists of a couple of benches around a small fountain and a large pine tree with a million little Christmas decorations and dozens of light strings connecting it to the buildings and lanterns enclosing the little space. Link walks me over to one of the benches, sits down, and places the empty plastic bag next to him for me to sit on.

"Are you cold?" He asks, putting an arm around my shoulders. After so many months he is still a mystery to me sometimes. He doesn't have a clue what is going on in my head. And vice versa...

"Link?" I whisper. "Have you ever gotten hurt snowboarding?"

"Almost every time," he nods.

Well that doesn't help... Still... I want to try to understand him. "Can I ask you a couple of questions?" He nods again. "Do you get nervous before a competition?"

"Yea... Used to be worse but now I'm pretty good at controlling my nerves."

"How many bones have you broken?"

"Just snowboarding? My collarbones and my wrist."

I swallow painfully. "Do you get scared?"

"Overcoming fear is part of the joy."

..........Joy?

"Do you like snowboarding?" is my final question.

"I love it."

He loves it...... Unlike soccer, he actually enjoys this sport... More than that, he is passionate about it. And here I am trying to take that from him. It's not comparable, but I'm trying to imagine how I would feel if he told me not to study biology just because there was a risk of failure. Wait...

Am I taking something from him because I think it's what's best for him or because it's what's best for myself? Is this the conflict Father is facing when it comes to me and biology? Link knows what he wants and he is well aware of the risks. He's not a kid, he's not an idiot either. He can make that decision for himself. I have been an arse...

"I'm really scared that you'll get injured," I sniffle, clenching my fists against my thighs..."But if you're really sure that your leg can take it... Then I think you should do what you're passionate about."

"Huh?" He looks at me with big eyes.

"Just promise me to be really careful. If you don't feel 100%, don't compete."

"Snowboarding is dangerous. I would never compete unless I feel up to it. It's not something I feel obligated to do, so... I do it because I want to is all."

"And I want to watch you."

"What?" His eyes just became even bigger.

"I will come with you. When you train and compete. If that's okay?"

He pushes his smile back just before he presses his lips against mine. I don't fight it. I don't want to. I want to kiss him too. I want him to hold me and pretend that this is our reality. Hugging under the pine tree with a landscape that looks like something straight out of a calendar stretched out in front of us.

"Let's go back to the lodge," Link's breath is hot against my neck and I shiver. "We can do some physical therapy together."

"Link," I gasp and turn my head to hide how red my cheeks are turning.

"Hm? I need to do my daily exercises," he says casually. "I want to get a feel for my snowboard before I go to the snowpark. Thought you'd want to help but you don't have to."

"Oh..." I ponder... "Oh!" and let out a tense laugh. "I, er, no, of course I'll help you," I say bashfully and get up to walk back to the lodge with him.

——————

I steady Link as he leans back on his snowboard, bending it. I keep thinking it's going to snap but it doesn't. It was a good idea to do the snowboard stretches indoors. It's warm and there is no danger of slipping for either of us.

"Okay, I think I'm good for today," he says, bending down to remove his feet from the binding of his board. Dusk is already unfolding and the moon is escorting the night.

"You did a lot today," I say proudly. Sometimes he would suddenly stop to tell me that he has reached his limit. Other times he would go further than I thought he could. He proved to me that his leg can be strained but that he will also stop when he is getting too close to his limits. I really am proud of him.

The door to the basement area opens and Mipha, Sidon, and Revali step inside with their skis and snowboards in hand.

"We're back!" Sidon chants.

"How was it?" I ask, helping them with their equipment.

"Amazing!" Sidon grins. "The weather was perfect!"

"Are you exercising?" Mipha asks Link as he puts his snowboard away. He gives her his signature nod and waits a few seconds to see if she has anything else to say to him. When she doesn't say anything, he turns away and walks upstairs.

"What did you guys do today?" Mipha asks me as she takes off her jacket.

"We went ice skating," I say and watch her reaction closely.

"That's nice," she says so genuinely that I have no other choice but to believe that she really means it.

"Nice for him, not nice for my sacrum bone."

"Not a fan of ice skating, huh?" she giggles.

"Not after Link kept making fun of me."

She doesn't say anything in return. Maybe because Link doesn't act jocular around her and she can't relate. Now I feel bad for bringing it up. I'm not trying to rub it in her face. I'm glad when my phone begins to buzz and I can excuse myself.

"Impa?" I answer, worry taking over immediately. What if something bad hap--

"Hey Princess," she whoops merrily. "I found a bar in town that serves minors." I hear an evil chuckle from the other end of the line but refuse to accept that that was Impa's laugh. "Get your ass down here."

"Let me think about it," I wait a few seconds, then return a short "No."

"Buzzkill," she complains. "Come on, they have good food too."

"Still a no. Can you come back to the lodge?"

"Go take a vote," she orders.

"A vote?"

"Yes, a vote! See what the others think before you ruin their evening."

"I'm not ruining anybody's evening," I say with pursed lips.

"Prove it then. Take a vote, I'll wait. But put me on speaker, no cheating."

"Actually, Mipha had the great idea to go out for dinner tonight. Can we postpone the vote?"

"Fine. Don't think I'm going to forget!"

"There's a restaurant right next to the ice rink," Mipha shyly suggests.

"Just send me the address. I'll meet you guys there," Impa says and hangs up.

Mipha and I head upstairs to join the others. It's dark out now. Link is lying on the sofa, politely listening to Sidon as he tells him about a new snowboard trick he learned today. Revali is probably in his room and Mipha is joining the guys in the living room.

"Are you guys hungry yet?" I ask into the room. I already know Link is, so I aim my eyes at Sidon and Mipha.

"I could eat," Sidon nods along with Mipha.

"Great. Mipha knows a restaurant in town. Impa will meet us there," I inform them.

"I'll go get Revali," Mipha says to my surprise and walks up the stairs. Usually it's me who gets him, I wonder if he will shout at her thinking it's me. It wouldn't be the first time.

Impa has been waiting for half an hour by the time we get to the restaurant. It's so much colder once the sun has set and I am relieved when we step inside, out of the unforgiving wind. The restaurant has a beautiful interior; almost everything is made of wood and the walls and windowsills are decorated with ornaments fitting to the cabin-like style.

Impa already claimed a big table next to a small window. She's sitting on the corner bench with a steaming beverage in her hands. We remove our coats and join her at the table.

Fin walks over to our table with a notepad in his hand. He's also a waiter?

"Hey guys!" He greets us with a smile.

"Fin!" Sidon grins up at him. "You work here?"

"Yeah man, every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. The business doesn't pay the rent, so I had to get a night job too."

"That's a lot of work," I say in admiration. I don't think I could handle two jobs. Not with school as a side job.

"I don't mind it at all. I get to go snowboarding every day and keep my shop open, that's what keeps me going."

"An optimist, I love it!" Sidon cheers.

After we order, we talk about our plans for the week until the food arrives. Sidon and Mipha discuss the U.S. Grand Prix after dinner and while the others are distracted looking at desserts, I sneak off to the counter where Fin is preoccupied with a couple paying for their meal. Once they're done, I step forward to get his attention.

"Hey there, how was the food?"

"Really good."

"Happy to hear that. What's up?"

"I have a request," I say shyly. "See that tall guy? Green eyes, blue roots?" I nod at my table without directly looking at it.

"The sullen one who told me about his archery skills even though I didn't ask?" Fin raises an eyebrow.

"Yes, that one. Yesterday was his birthday but we didn't get to celebrate since we were traveling all day." I really hope this doesn't backfire... "I want to order him a dessert. Anonymously. Can the chef write something on it? If that's too much to ask--"

"Not at all," Fin cuts in with a smile. "What do you want it to say?"

"Just Happy Birthday."

"Good choice."

I thank him with an insecure smile and return to my table, pretending I just came from the restrooms. Not soon after, Fin places a round dessert colored like a target in front of Revali. When he sees Happy Birthday written on it in hot fudge he turns red and narrows his eyes at us.

"Who did this?" he asks through his teeth.

"It's your birthday?" Mipha asks, gaping at the little dessert.

"Was," he corrects her. "Yesterday."

"Happy belated birthday, buddy!" Sidon plants a friendly punch on Revali's arms. "We should toast to it!"

"My thoughts exactly," Impa jumps in. "There's a bar just around the corner!"

Revali's eyes finally settle on me after giving each of us a suspicious look. "Sure, let's get a drink," he snarls.

"Half of us don't drink," I voice my objection.

"Half of us do," Revali counters with a malicious smirk.

Since I feel bad for the way his birthday went down yesterday I agree to it and follow them out of the restaurant and down the steep alley once we're done with dessert. I paid for our food in cash because I don't want Father to find out that I'm here under any circumstance. I walk in the far back, by myself, until Revali looks back, stops, and waits until I'm caught up with him.

"It was you, wasn't it?" He asks, minding eye contact. The others are out of ear shot and continue to the bar while I stop to give him a puzzled look. "The dessert," he clarifies.

"Yes, that was me," I admit. "It was my way of apologizing for last night. The keychain was a really stupid gift and I'm sorry."

"I told you not to get involved."

"I know, that's why it was stupid. Did you give it back to her yet?"

"Not yet."

"Will you?"

"Kinda have to, don't I?"

"I can just sneak it back into her room."

"It's fine," he says, pressing his lips into a thin line. "I think I'll ask her to be my girlfriend."

"What? Really? This week?" I stare with my mouth wide open. "You have only been on one date. And you never told us how it went, we just assumed it didn't go well!"

"It went fine. I didn't tell you guys about it because it's none of your business."

"Did you... kiss her?"

"Not yet. I want her to be my girlfriend first."

"But... What if she doesn't..." There is no nice way of saying this...

"If she turns me down, then that's the way it is. I can handle it."

"You guys coming or what?" Impa calls from the bar down the alley, holding the door open for us.

"One moment," I call back and pull my scarf over my chin. The air is piercing cold tonight. "Do you know when you'll do it?" I ask Revali.

"I'm not having a heart-to-heart with you," he scoffs and begins to walk toward the bar.

Impa is already inside when we reach the door. Revali's hand reaches for the cold, rusty doorknob but he doesn't open the door. He hesitates, and after a quiet sigh, he turns to look at me with flushed cheeks. "Th--thank you... For dessert..."

I don't hide my smile when I shrug my shoulders at his flustered expression. "Don't mention it."

Over the course of 3 hours, Impa buys Revali a number of drinks and orders twice as many shots for herself. Luckily, the bar closes at 11 PM and we are forced to go home before she can get any more intoxicated. She keeps telling us "I'm so not wasted!" but then she stops at the fountain and suggests we go ice skating on it...

"I'm barely even tipsy," she tells me again as she drops to the bed. "Wait, are we already back at the lodge? How did we get here?"

"Not that drunk, huh?"

"Well, maybe a little, but really not thaaat much."

I leave the room to check on the others before I head to bed myself. Sidon is taking care of Revali, and Link and Mipha are downstairs on the sofa. I stop halfway down the stairs, looking at their backs without making a sound.

"Do you remember that day a bully attacked you in the schoolyard?" Mipha asks him in a low voice.

I just wanted to say goodnight but now I'm eavesdropping again.

"Think so," Link shrugs.

I think I know which day she is talking about. The day she knew... The day she discovered how she truly felt about her childhood friend. She told me about it when we were surfing. Why is she bringing it up to him now?

"I won't ever forget," Mipha's voice is even quieter now. I need to leave right now, I can't be here when they are having this conversation. "It's just... That day..." she continues.

The floorboard creaks when I take a step back. They don't turn around but Mipha has seized talking... I don't know if they heard me or not but I should probably say something.

Maybe not.

I continue to the next step. Link notices me from the corner of his eyes and turns his head toward me to find me awkwardly standing on the stairs behind them.

"I'm heading to bed, do you guys need anything else?" I ask them. Mipha turns around now, she looks nervous as she shakes their heads. I nod at them, bite my tongue, and walk back to my room.

As I lie in bed and stare at the ceiling, I clutch my chest and try to get the image out of my head. Why is my heart aching after seeing them on the sofa together? I'm not jealous, I don't want to be jealous, I can't be jealous! Stop it, stop feeling this way, I tell myself. You're a horrible person for feeling upset right now.

I have to think practically. It would be a good thing if Mipha told Link about her feelings. He would finally understand the gravity of our secret. Now I'm really just mad at myself... If I hadn't interrupted them, maybe Mipha would have finally revealed how she feels about Link.

"Impa?" I whisper, looking over at her. Apart from a loud snore, I don't receive a response.

I cover my eyes with my cold palms and shake my head. I really want to talk to her about this right now. Maybe she would know what to do. I just can't control how I feel. All I know is that I am in the wrong and I don't know what to do about it. Stop being a bad friend is all I can think about.

✤ ✤ ✤

The next morning we all get up at 8 AM and have breakfast together. Despite the low temperature and snow-covered landscape, it's fairly warm in the sunlight. So much so that we decide to have breakfast on the terrace. We don't even need a jacket. Revali and Impa look the most exhausted but fortunately they aren't feeling sick today.

"I'll stop by the snowpark later today," Mipha tells Link and Sidon as she stirs her hot chocolate. "Do you do tricks too?" she asks Revali, who nearly chokes on his bagel as soon as she looks at him.

"Uh," he coughs a couple of times and frantically searches for the composure he just dropped. "On occasion I enjoy small jumps but most of my time is spent on the slopes."

"I'm the same," she smiles at him.

"If that's so, maybe we should ride together. Since everyone else will be at the park or in the powder."

"Let's stick together," she nods once, her smile brighter than the sun.

I wish I could read people. If I could understand Mipha a little better, maybe I could stop worrying about her and Link so much. Sometimes it seems as if she really does show an interest in Revali. She did agree to go on a date with him, she came to the Halloween party for him, and wants to ski with him over watching Link train.

I don't want to assume that she has feelings for Revali because I have been so wrong about people's emotions too many times, but sitting here as a bystander, it really does seem possible. It would be inappropriate to make a wish regarding their relationship, so I won't do that, but I do wish for her to end up happy with someone who loves her the way she loves.

Today everyone leaves the lodge at the same time and takes the lift up the mountain together. Link tries to convince me to rent skis but I decline, knowing that I would break my legs like two pretzel sticks. Since I have to walk, it takes a while for me to get to the snowpark but Link stays with me for the entirety of the walk.

It's so hot beneath layers upon layers of clothing that I have to take off my jacket when we finally reach the snowpark. Link and I take a seat at the top, looking over the mountains and the suicidal athletes jumping over these jumps. Holy--

"It feels good to be back," Link says under his breath, a stern look in his eyes aimed at the jumps.

"Y-You are going to--going to jump?" It looks so scary, I can hardly even form a sentence! Someone just missed their landing and crashed after jumping thirty feet into the air! That guy wasn't even wearing a helmet! Suicidal, I'm telling you! I scoot closer to Link and wiggle and shake his helmet. "Your helmet won't fall off, right?"

"It won't," he assures me, fixing his goggles.

"Please don't do this," I beg. I thought I could be fine with this but what if he gets hurt! Or worse...

"We've made it this far," he smiles.

"But I'm so scared!"

"You're not the one jumping," he laughs.

"I still get to be scared for you!"

"I'll start with some railings," he says and points at the smallest jumps at the right side of the snowpark, which still look gigantic to me. "I'll see how it feels. If it's bad, I'll stop. I promise."

"No," I whine, hugging his arm. That's when I remember that Mipha might show up here at any given time, so I quickly let go of him. Link takes that as me giving him permission to go and gets up.

"I still have to warm up," he says, stretching his legs.

It takes him 15 minutes to feel loose and yet I couldn't convince him to turn back. He secures the binding on his snowboard, twists his torso one more time, and off he goes down the mountain... My heart can't take it! I shut my eyes and fumble on the chain of my necklace to pull the locket up from the bottom layer of my clothes.

I open my eyes again when Link is already at the bottom of the snowpark, standing in line to take the small lift back up. A few minutes later he's back at my side.

"How was it?" He smiles down at me, securing his binding again.

"I'm sorry, I had my eyes closed."

"No problem. I'll go again."

He's gone before I can comprehend his words. I don't want those to be our last words! I keep my eyes on him this time and watch as he gently hops onto one of the railings and jumps off again. That really wasn't too painful to watch. It looked fun if I'm frank...

When he's back, his eyes focus on the snowpark the same way they would always focus on the soccer field. "I'll do a couple of jumps and tubes now."

"Please be careful."

"Keep your eyes on me."

"Alright... Please be careful, Link."

"Tell me one more time," he teases.

"Please be careful," I smile up at him as he turns his board to face the jumps.

He's going way faster this time, almost as fast as my heart. His torso turns slightly as he approaches one of the bigger jumps and when his board takes off, his body rotates on its axis and his hands grip the nose of his board. I am unable to breathe until his board hits the ground again. He aced the landing!

I must say, that was beautiful. He looked like he was flying. I never noticed how flexible he is. He approaches another jump, a taller one. I want to look away but it's important to him that I watch him so I force my eyes to stay open. I squeak and gain some looks from other jumpers when Link performs a backflip.

I wonder if someone has ever died here... The more realistic question is not if but how many. While Link heads to the lift I spot Sidon sliding over one of the railings. He's pretty good too.

Link returns to me with flushed cheeks and a grin on his face. "My heart is racing," he says ecstatically.

"I saw your backflip. I'm really impressed."

"If you like that, wait until you see my quad corks!"

"What is that?"

"4 flips and 5 360s in one jump." My jaw drops just by the mere attempt at imagining what that looks like.

"Why are you smiling? I'm genuinely scared," I ask, slightly irritated.

"One day I will take you snowboarding in Japan."

What? Now my heart is racing just like his... I don't even know how to snowboard, this is totally out of context. Mipha joins us at the top of the snowpark, interrupting our conversation.

"Hey guys," she smiles at us. No sign of Revali. I hope she didn't ditch him just to talk to Link. Another snowboarder comes racing toward us! I'm sure he is going to crash into us! Link instinctively steps in front of us. The guy breaks abruptly, only inches away from us, showering us in a wave of powdered snow.

"Yo, Zelda!" He grins. I've only met him once but thanks to Fin's mention yesterday I recall his name.

"Hello Russ," I brush the snow off my shoulders. I almost couldn't recognize him with his helmet and goggles.

"I'd be more surprised to see ya but Fin told me you're staying in Mammoth Lakes. What are you doing in a snowpark?"

"You know, just practicing my flips," I say coolly.

"Really?" His jaw drops and I laugh.

"No, I'm just watching Link."

"Ha, that's dope. I'm a fan, by the way," he says to Link before he bends down to open the bindings of his snowboard to remove it from his feet.

"Shouldn't you be working?" I ask, remembering Fin mentioning that Russ is slacking off.

"I am. I'm testing our shop's boards," he smirks at me, then focuses on Link again. "Hey man, Fin said you're competing tomorrow. Can't wait."

Link doesn't give him much more than a nod, his eyes aren't focused on Russ either, he's looking at Mipha, a few feet away from us. She's talking to Sidon now and doesn't notice it when Russ smiles at her.

"She your girlfriend?" Russ asks Link and gestures at Mipha. I'd appreciate an avalanche right about now.

Link turns his head to look at Russ and simply answers, "No, we're just friends."

"Don't mind me then if I get her Snap," Russ smirks and steps forward to pass us.

Link sticks his arm out against Russ' chest as a firm physical barrier, stopping him from approaching Mipha. With a cold expression and fierce eyes, Link shakes his head sideways.

"You good, bro?" Russ looks down at Link's arm.

"Don't talk to her," Link's tone is grave.

"She taken?" Russ asks and is left without an answer. "I just wanna get her number. I kinda regretted not asking for it after we met a few months ago. Just wanna take my shot this time."

Why is Link suddenly so serious and cold? His eyes don't look the same. They have lost their color and charm. They are threatening Russ without the need for a verbal warning.

"Can you move your arm?" Russ slaps Link's hand away and takes another step toward Mipha. Link doesn't waste time with flinty looks, he instantly clutches the collar of Russ' jacket, pulling him back by the neck. A few people gasp, some freeze. I step back so quickly that I nearly trip over my own feet.

Is Link going to fight Russ over this? What is going on?

"L-Link!" I shake my head at him, unable to say more. Mipha and Sidon come rushing over, looking as clueless as me. I look at Mipha, then back at Link and Russ. Then back at her.

Did Link... Did he just get jealous?