Link's POV

LA traffic is the worst. We've been stuck on the highway for an hour, which is not really something I looked forward to after a 12 hour flight. I'm also sweating and my neck's sore.

"No, that's alright," Zelda says into her phone. "Yes," she nods. "Yes, Father." She rolls her eyes. "Yes, I know... I know, Father."

I take a sip from my water and lean my head against the car window. We didn't get picked up in a limo this time but it's still a pretty nice car with really comfy seats. Maybe I'll just nap until we get to the house.

"Will do," Zelda says with a final nod. "Okay, I will talk to you later. Bye." Then she hangs up and moans annoyed.

"Everything okay?" I ask her.

"Yes, just Father being... a father," she says, sounding a little surprised by her own words. "He told me that he had to leave for a business trip and won't be home by the time I return. I suppose he was a bit frightened that I might pack my bags and leave him in a fit of anger, but I reassured him that I am not angry. I am actually relieved that he is not home at the moment. I'm too exhausted to answer a million questions about our trip.

"Mh," I agree, nodding my head. "How long will he be gone for?"

"Monday night," she says. So right at the beginning of the semester. "He's in New York right now and offered to take the next flight home, but I told him it's okay. He also wanted me to remind you that the tuition deadline is coming up soon and that you haven't paid for it yet."

"When's the deadline?"

She instantly goes on her phone to check the due dates for me. We find out that tuition's due the night before the first day of classes, so I guess I have until the end of the weekend to get that done. Can't wait to spend all my savings on school. Maybe I should study in Europe, I heard their schools are free there.

Even though Dr. Hyrule's company gave me a super generous salary, working for 2 months hasn't exactly turned me into a millionaire. What I made over the summer plus what I had left in my bank account from being a pro-athlete is just about enough to pay for the fall semester. After that, I have 3 more semesters till I graduate...

The driver takes us to my fraternity first so I can drop off my luggage. I go up to the porch and open the door but Ravioli is leaving the house at the same time as I am about to enter it and when we bump into each other he drops his AirPod.

"I swear to god I'm invisible to people," he barks while he picks up his AirPod. "Oh, it's you," he then says, looking a little less pissed but still annoyed. "I knew it was too good to be true..."

"What?"

"You're moving back in?"

"I never moved out?" We both look at the suitcase in my hand. "I went to Japan with Zelda for the summer."

"I know," he says. "But I thought you got kicked out of the frat?"

"No?" I freaking hope not! This is where I live!

"You sure? Have you read the group chat at all?" He says and hits 'play' on Spotify as if I wasn't here.

"What do you mean?" I ask but he points at his AirPod as if he can't hear me.

I don't bother asking questions, he's not gonna help me anyways. I just push past him and enter the living room. Some guys are sitting on the couch, Teli being one of them.

"Bro! You're back!" He gets up to greet me. Some of the other guys ask how I've been but I just give them a quick nod and talk to Teli specifically because he always knows what's going on with everyone in the fraternity.

"Did I get kicked out of the frat?" I ask straight forward.

"You didn't know?" He asks confused and the whole world comes crashing down on me. I really hoped he'd be as confused as me or tell me Ravioli was messing with me.

"No I didn't know, no one told me! Why'd I get kicked out?" I ask. "This is my home!"

"It's because you got expelled. You can't be a frat at a school that you don't even attend."

"I still go to HU, they let me back in," I explain, trying to sound calm.

"That's great, man! Happy for you! But... I don't think you can just rejoin the frat like that. Having bad grades is one thing but getting expelled is more serious, y'know? I don't know if they'll let you back in after that."

"What?" I heard him but I don't know how else to react. "You think I can explain it to the President of the fraternity and he'll let me back in?"

"Nah dude, don't even bother. They never let people back in just like that. You should come to rush week though and pledge again," he tells me. "Maybe they'll allow you to come back."

"Screw that, rush week is the worst." I shake my head and rub my back. What the hell am I supposed to do now? "Is my stuff still in my room?" I ask him and thankfully he nods.

"Nobody else has claimed your room yet. But I'd definitely clear it out before rush week just in case."

"Okay..." I say and let the news sink in.

"Sorry bro," Teli grabs my shoulder. "Let me know if there's anything you need."

"You got an apartment for me?" I joke but I can't bring myself to smile.

"Sorry man. Maybe try student housing. It's cheap and close to campus."

"Okay," I say again because there really isn't anything else to say.

Shit, does this make me homeless?

Zelda is still waiting with the driver so I walk back to the car and put the suitcase back into the trunk. When I get into the back, Zelda gives me a weird look like she already knows something is up. I don't want her to worry or offer to pay for my apartment, so I just fake a smile.

A second later I realize how stupid that is and that there's literally no point in lying to her about this. I take a deep breath and tell her, "Apparently I got kicked out of the fraternity while we were gone."

Her jaw drops and in the most British way she says, "Wot?"

"I have to find a new place to live," I add.

"You're... Are you joking?"

I shake my head. "I don't want to worry you or make you stressed out about this but I thought telling you is still better than to hide it..."

"Absolutely," she nods and takes my hands. "Thank you for being honest about it."

On the whole ride back to Zelda's mansion, she thinks about my options.

"Do you have money to rent an apartment?" She asks but she already knows I don't, so she goes onto the next option. "Perhaps you could live in the dorms? Most of them will be taken by now but I'm sure international students are given priority."

"That's still mad expensive. Like a couple K's per semester."

"Well... Honey... Any place will cost that much. This is California..."

"Yeah, I know." I lean my head against her shoulder and close my eyes. This is so messed up. I only have one week to find a new place to live? Are you kidding me?

"Perhaps you could live with me," she then says, which honestly makes me laugh a little. "It wasn't a joke."

"You, me, and your dad," I shake my head. "That's funny."

"Why? He helped you with tuition. I'm sure he would be willing to help you out once more."

"I just... I don't think I could accept–"
"Yes you can," she cuts me off. "You call me selfless but you're way more selfless than me. You never accept any help. For once, just let someone help you."

"I've accepted your help in the past," I say. "And your dad's."

"At least think about it, will you?"

"Um..." I shake my head and shrug exhausted. "Sure, I'll think about it." I'll go over the other options first though.

"Father won't be back until school starts, so you can just stay with me until then."

"Thanks," I say, trying not to sound too bitter. She puts her arm around me and hugs me for the entire ride home.

...

We get to her house about 30 minutes later. I'm trying not to think about me being literally homeless but the mood is pretty much the same as before.

I'm about to grab our suitcases from the trunk when her staff shows up and does it for us. We follow them inside the mansion. With two fingers to my forehead, I salute Cado at the front door, and even though he's not supposed to salute back he gives me a quick smile.

The staff takes our luggage up to Zelda's room while I head to the kitchen to look for snacks. Zelda comes along to get herself some strawberries from the fridge.

"Already made yourself feel at home, huh?" She jokes.

"I've been starving all day."

"You had a whole meal on the plane," she laughs.

"Which was like 4 hours ago." She pushes a strawberry into my mouth to make me shut up and then she turns around but before she can leave, I grab her by the waist and pull her close. "Ever made out in the kitchen?"

"That seems highly unsanitary," she says, staring at me while her cheeks blush.

"Is that a no?" I smirk.

She doesn't answer but she looks at my lips, which is a good enough answer for me. I lean in to kiss her. She kisses me back. Just a tiny kiss at first, then she becomes more passionate about it and gets closer while I lean my back against the fridge. This is a nice little distraction from the whole housing situation.

We keep making out and I manage to turn my brain off and just feel. Just like she told me to in Japan.

She lets out a quick gasp when I pick her up. I sit her down on the kitchen island and bring our bodies closer. She doesn't mind. She even puts her arms around my neck and claws my hair a little in the back. I try to pull her legs closer and lean in more.

Suddenly, a weird noise from the hallway startles her and she pulls away. "Did you hear that?" she asks.

"Yeah," I say and shrug. "Probably the maid."

"Do you think Father is home?" She whispers.

"He said he wasn't gonna be here," I whisper back to mock her a little.

"What if he lied to surprise me?"

"Okay but when has he ever done that?" I waive my eyebrow.

"He has changed in the past year," she says. "He hugged me goodbye!"

"That's your argument?" I laugh.

"Shh!" she presses her hand against my mouth.

"He's in New York," I say at a normal volume against her palm but I already know she won't be able to relax until she gets reassured so I let go of her to find out where the noise came from. She follows me out the kitchen and after I've checked the hallway and living room for her, I say, "See? There's nobody here. Must have been the staff."

But then we hear some paper rustling noise coming directly from her father's office and both of us freeze as if we were thieves and her dad a cop!

"I told you!" She whispers. "I told you!"

The door to his office isn't fully closed so I nudge her shoulder and point my chin towards the office. "Go say hi," I whisper.

"What if it's a burglar?"

I roll my eyes at her. I love how we were kind of thinking the same thing just that I was joking and she's actually serious. I step in front of her and slowly walk towards the door, and without making any noise, I open the door just enough to peek my head inside. Then I gasp and throw my head back into Zelda's direction!

"Call the cops," I tell her in shock.

"What? Really? Are you serious?" She panics.

"Yes, you were right! Someone did break in!" I say and push the door open so she can see the burglar for herself.

Impa is sitting on the rug in the center of the office space with a dozen loose papers laying around her. Looks like she was in the process of picking them up when we found her.

"Impa?" Zelda pants and looks past her to see if her dad's sitting in his office chair but it's just me and Impa in the room. "What are you doing?"

"Picking up a bunch of papers," Impa laughs. "Welcome home, Princess."

It takes Zelda a second to process everything but then she steps inside the office. The first thing she does is check behind the door as if her dad would ever decide to hide behind it. Then she tries to figure out why Impa is on the floor, picking up a bunch of papers.

"What are you doing here?" Zelda asks Impa.

"Obviously, I wanted to welcome you home," Impa says just as she picks up the last piece of paper. "I dropped these papers by accident."

"Who let you in?" Zelda asks.

"I let myself in."

"So technically you really are a burglar?" I say, impressed that she managed to break in. "How'd you get past Cado?"

"Why are you in my father's office?" Zelda asks her before she can answer my question.

"Well I was just gonna wait in your room but I got bored and started exploring your house. When I went in here, I took a seat in your dad's chair to see what it feels like to be on the other side of that desk. To have power and be the boss of someone. It's not as cool as you'd expect by the way."

"So these are his papers?" Zelda asks with a frown and instantly takes the pile of crumpled papers away from Impa. "And you dropped them?"

"I accidentally pushed them off the desk with my feet."

"You had your feet on his desk?!" Zelda whines. "Impa, if Father finds out that you snooped through his stuff..."

Impa just shrugs and takes a seat on the edge of the desk. "What's he gonna do? Terminate our friendship?"

Zelda tries to sort the papers and soothe their crumpled edges but you can definitely tell somebody stepped on them.

"He's tried that a million times before," Impa says as she plays with the little sculpture on the desk. "Never worked before." Then she pops her gum and puts the sculpture down to see what other interesting things she can play with. She picks up the stapler and chuckles. "He should've stapled those papers."

Meanwhile, Zelda's just in a state of shock. I'm actually starting to worry a little. Is she okay?

She reads through the papers and looks lost and confused. It's probably impossible to sort them when you have no clue what the order was before Impa dropped them.

"Want some help with that?" I ask her but when I try to take the pile of papers from her, she  looks at me with her eyes wide and her mouth open. That's when I know something is wrong.

In shock, she tells us, "This is a lawsuit against Karusa!"