On my way to the science building, I pass the baseball field and instantly feel uneasy. I remember the change in his eyes when I slapped him. Scary. A hand grabs my shoulders and forces me to turn around. I want to scream but my voice has vanished. It's that baseball player! He came back to finish what he started! I try to run but my feet fail me.

"You owe me a kiss," he purrs in my ear, then he adds, "And I owe you a slap across the face."

"Zelda," Link says, suddenly standing next to us.

"Link!" I cry and fall into his arms.

I'm so glad he's here! I feel much better in his presence. My arms snake around his back and I press my head against his chest. I don't want him to leave again.

"Zelda," Link whispers and I slowly open my eyes. My room is pitch black and the rain is still drumming against the windows. It takes me a second to realize that I was dreaming. I'm hugging Terrako, the plush animal Impa won for me years back; an egg-shaped robot with three legs and one big eye. I hug it tightly and shut my eyes. I'm so tired, my eyes feel too heavy to stay open.

The baseball field... Link... Our hug loosens and I look up at him, grateful that he came when I needed him. His thumb wipes my tears and I want to just kiss his cheek and keep hugging him.

"Link," I whisper and bring my lips to his but the dream fades away again before we kiss.

Link nudges me a little and I open my eyes. Barely. I hope I didn't talk in my sleep. Link is kneeling by my bedside, trying to wake me up. I forgot that he's still here. When did I fall asleep? I'm so confused and too tired to think about it.

"Zelda," he says again, his hand on my shoulder.

"The lights are off, I think your dad is finally asleep," he says in a low voice.

"What time...." I mumble, too tired to even finish the question.

"It's 2 A.M."

"Mh..." I shut my eyes again.

My bed has never felt this comfortable.

"I'll go now, okay?"

"Mhm."

"Where did you put my shoes?"

"Zelda?" He says again after I don't answer.

I hear him sneaking around the room until he finds his shoes next to the closet. He comes back and kneels by my bedside again but I don't open my eyes.

"I hope you're dreaming about something good right now," he says in the softest and quietest voice. "Maybe you're dreaming about Machu Picchu or about the pier with Impa."

Why is he so sweet?

He stands up slowly but my hand reaches for his t-shirt before he can walk away.

"Link," I whisper half asleep and find his hand with my eyes closed.

"Hm?" He comes closer again, our hands interlock.

"Stay."

✤ ✤ ✤

I wake up to the sound of birds. It's still dark in my room, but I can see a thin stream of sun rays leaking through the gap in the curtains. It must be shortly before 7 A.M. since my alarm hasn't rung yet. I look to my side; next to my bed sits Link fast asleep, leaning against the nightstand. A quiet gasp escapes my lips when I see our hands are laced together. I take my hand back, careful not to wake him. Pain radiating from my shoulder suggests that we have been holding hands all night. How did that happen? I try to remember last night, but other than him looking for his shoes, I don't recall much.

I sit up and rub the sleep from my eyes. My phone is on the floor where Link and I... I have to stop thinking about that kiss. Link wakes up as I'm climbing out of my bed to fetch my phone. It's 6.56 A.M. Father has probably left the house already.

"Good morning," I say to Link when our eyes meet. He must have slept so uncomfortable on the floor. Why didn't he just go home? Oh, I remember... I told him to stay. Or was that part of my dream?

"Morning," he says in a raspy voice as I open the curtains. It's sunny and bright but the ground still has puddles and palm leaves scattered everywhere. The storm must have gotten pretty rough last night. Usually I can't sleep when it's raining that hard, but last night I slept like a rock.

"I'll take a shower," I say without looking at Link when I'm already halfway out the door.

The events of yesterday play in my mind like a bad movie. What was I thinking? First I attacked Revali and arrived late for my astronomy course, then I left with Pik, ran away from Link, and got myself into that horrible situation behind the baseball field. How did Link end up at my house? How did I end up kissing him out of nowhere, and why did I wake up holding his hand? This is what a hangover must feel like.

I should have offered Link to take a shower in the guest bathroom. By the time I'm showered, dressed, and have my hair all done, there will be no time for him to do the same.

I stand beneath the water until the bathroom is steamy and humid. The water can't get hot enough today. I wish I didn't have to go to school today. It's only Wednesday, I groan and dry myself with a towel when I step out of the shower. My phone is charging as I blow dry my hair. We have to leave in 20 minutes. Hopefully no one will see Link getting out of my car, that'd make it look like we spent the night together. Well, I guess technically we did... I wonder how he thinks about all this.

When I get back to my room, he's still there, checking his phone while one hand combs through his messy hair. I stop and stare at him for a long second. Should I say something to him? Of course I should, but what should I say?

"Ready to leave?" I ask. It's still early, but I can't stand this awkward situation. I don't like not knowing how to act around him. I want to talk about... us... But at the same time I really don't.

"What about breakfast?" he says perplexed.

"We don't have time for breakfast."

"There's always time for food."

"We have to leave in 20 minutes."

"I only need 10," he says and gets up.

"What are you doing?" He walks down the hall and I follow.

"Making breakfast. Your parents already left, right?"

"We don't have the time," I repeat.

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If you want to do well at school, you need energy."

I don't say anything when he opens the fridge as if it were his. He's cute when he's bossy. No, Zelda, no. Link is with Mipha. And you are not supposed to even think about boys, my subconscious reminds me.

I watch as Link gathers the ingredients and places them next to the stove.

"Where are your pans?" He asks and I shrug. I don't ever visit the kitchen for anything other than snacks. The cook makes the food, the maid brings it to the table. That's just how it is.

Link starts opening each cabinet until he finds what he's looking for and starts to cook. It smells amazing. In less than 10 minutes he fries two omelettes with ham, tomatoes, cheese, and parsley. It tastes as incredible as it smells. Wow. I eat the whole thing in a matter of minutes.

"Are you a foodie?" I ask more as a joke.

"I'm a glutton, actually." He smiles a little.

"So are you a culinary major?"

"No."

"Why not?" I know he's an athlete, but food seems to be his passion considering that 50% of his photos were of the most diverse dishes.

"I enjoy cooking, but majoring in culinary art or becoming a chef has never even crossed my mind. My dad prepared me to become an athlete early on. The moment I learned how to walk, he taught me how to snowboard. At the age of 4 I won my first fencing competitions, and when I turned 15 I became a professional soccer player. But I stopped when I moved here to study at HU."

My jaw drops and words have abandoned me. I knew he was famous for his athleticism, but I had no idea how much he had already accomplished. He didn't even mention all of the sports he exceeds at.

"You didn't know any of this?" He looks surprised.

I shake my head in amazement. How would I know?

"Yeah, I had eating schedules, sleep schedules, and a strict workout plan. Little time for a social life, outside of conventions and stuff like that. Sometimes I wish I had injured myself before I was discovered. I could have had more of a normal life."

Link doesn't think of himself as better. I was in the wrong when I yelled at him at the pier. I was in the wrong in so many ways. He doesn't want fame and recognition. He wants to enjoy his youth, free of the expectations. I see his pain. I know how he feels.

"But wait..." I want to ask him why he can't afford school. I'm sure professional athletes get paid fairly well. But I recognize that this is none of my business and I shouldn't be so nosy.

"Never mind," I say.

Link attempts to clean the kitchen, but I remind him that we have a maid for such chores.

"It's already 8 A.M.!" I say in shock. I'd love to get to know him more, but we have to get to school.

The car ride feels long and uncomfortable. After 5 minutes of silence I turn on the radio, which makes it a little better but still not great. We need another topic to discuss, something like food or traveling. Yesterday our conversation was so natural and enjoyable, but today I just feel tense around him. I can't come up with some random icebreaker and all I can think about is whether to address our kiss from last night or to pretend that it never happened. He seems to be going with the second option and unless I say something we'll probably never speak of it. Kissing Link was a mistake, clearly, and I don't even know why I did that. I'm probably just trying to rebel against Father.

"Link, I..." 

I didn't think this through. We're 10 minutes away from campus, I really shouldn't start something now.

"I'm sorry..." I say but he shakes his head.

"It's not your--"

"About everything," I continue.

"Oh."

"I wasn't thinking when I..." 

I can't even say it out loud. What's wrong with me, this isn't so hard! I wasn't thinking when I kissed you, just say it.

"It was a mistake," I say instead. I hope he knows what I'm implying.

I keep telling myself that it was wrong of me to kiss him and I know I'm right but I can't help but think that if I could go back in time I'd kiss him again. Even now, knowing how it puts our future at risk and how it will surely break Mipha's heart, I'd do it all again to feel his lips on mine again. What's wrong with me?

"That shouldn't have happened. We both know it was wrong," I say without taking my eyes from the road.

"You can't blame me for this one. You kissed me," He defends himself.

"I'm not blaming you... But you did kiss me back, just for the record."

There, I said it. I'm glad that my hair is hiding my flushed cheeks from him.

"Listen, I like Mipha and I don't want to hurt her feelings. I also don't want you to lie to your girlfriend about last night. You should tell her that I kissed you and that you stopped it."

"But then I'd be lying."

"Fine, leave that second part out. But tell her, okay? She deserves to know."

"Sure, if you really want me to, I'll tell her, but just to let you know, Mipha is not my girlfriend."

"What? You lied to me?"

"No?"

"You said you were dating Mipha," I'm getting annoyed.

"No, I didn't?"

"Then who are you dating?" I don't believe this. All this time I was so worried about Mipha and now they aren't even together?

"No one? I'm not dating anyone." He sounds confused by my anger.

"At the pier Malice said you are dating someone on the swim team..."

"Malice also said you're stalking me."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Malice says a lot of shit about a lot of people," he says coolly. "I'm not going to believe her until I ask you about it first. So, are you stalking me?"

"No, of course not!"

"My point is, Malice said something about me that wasn't true and you just believed it. That's out of my control. You could have just asked me if it's true and I would have told you that it's not."

"You should have denied it when she said it."

"I tried talking to you afterwards but you wouldn't let me."

Is he being serious? He's the one who wouldn't say a word when I came out of the restrooms. 

"Those who truly care about me will only believe what I tell them myself," he adds calmly.

"Aren't you worried about the rumors people spread if you never deny them?"

"Even if I tried to deny every rumor about me, there will always be those who believe it no matter what I say."

I can feel the tension between us. Link should have just told me that they aren't together. His point makes no sense, I couldn't have just asked him about his relationship. We barely knew each other. It would have been weird if I asked him if he has a girlfriend only a few days after we met. Besides... I didn't think it mattered until I had already kissed him.

"Do you still think it was a mistake?" Link asks, looking out of the window.

"Yes," I sigh.

There's no arguing it, he knows the rules. I shouldn't even have brought him home with me in the first place. I can't let anything like that happen again. It's a miracle that Father didn't catch him. I just hope Link will keep all this a secret and go his own way without talking to me again once he gets out of my car.

We get to the campus and I park as far away from the entrance as possible. Link gets out after me, after I made sure that no one sees us.

"Well," I say but he doesn't look at me, "See you in PE."

He barely nods before he turns away and walks over to the sports building. Looks like he's back to his silent, reserved self. Not looking at or talking to me. It's exactly what I wanted from him. But then why do I feel so upset? Why does my heart sting when Link walks away without looking back?