AN: I know I have another story I'm working on at the moment, but this hit me and I just had to write it down. And apparently finish it…
So like it I guess? Comments and feedback are great, too! I try to write my very best, but alas am simply human. So there might be a few mistakes here and there. Apologies.
I, unfortunately, do not own the Legend of Zelda. But thank goodness someone else did!
The thick white snowflakes fall gently to the earth, covering everything in its path. I sit in my big leather chair next to my window, sipping on a cup of steamy green tea, waiting for my best friend to show up.
It's half a week until New Year's, and my cousin's wedding is tomorrow. Why on earth they would choose a winter wedding is beyond me, but I'm also not the one getting married, so there's that, I guess.
The weather forecast plays through the static of the radio. The old house I am renting doesn't pick up radio frequencies very well, even with an amplifier, but I can't complain. It got me away from home.
I guess some context would help that last remark.
My dad died when I was a baby and my mom remarried. If I could summarize my step-dad's personality in one word I would, but even every negative in the English language wouldn't even come close to describing how vile he truly is. His name is Ganon. He is a Gerudo of the desert, and an abusive alcoholic bastard. Let's just say that I had a running hospital bill because of that man which, might I add, he was unwilling to pay for most of the time. He said I had to 'toughen up'. I would hide from him, wondering why my mother would marry such a man. She told me later in life that she did it for the money, not love. I felt sorry for her, that she felt the need for money that badly.
I have always blamed myself for this since she told me that. Because of my dad passing on, she had little to live off of for the both of us, let alone herself. When she was working late shift at a diner, he came in and was instantly smitten. Rather, liked her for her looks, and the rest is history. They got married, had a kid together, my little sister Aryll, and five years after that my mom got severely sick. She died a year later, leaving both of us in the care, or lack thereof, of Ganon. My grandmother finally returned from overseas only to take Ganon to court and gain custody of us. Ever since then, we've been much better. Actually, we've been happy for the first time in our lives. For the most part, I try to forget what happened. Aryll also tries, but it's harder for her. She is his daughter, she continued to say. She was tormented day after day. I would continually tell her that even though it is true, she doesn't have to associate herself with him anymore, ever again. Slowly she has been getting better, and she is loads more happy than she used to be, but I can tell it still haunts her.
So we moved in with my grandma. We became a family again, and finally things were looking up.
Then I met her. Zelda.
We moved to my grandma's when I was in the fifth grade. Being the new kid in class, and an introvert, it took a while for me to make friends. Until one day, a girl with long, golden hair from my class was walking past me in the hallway crying. I stopped, turned around and watched her turn around a corner. I followed her, finding her kneeling in a corner facing the wall. I knelt next to her, concerned. We got talking and the next thing I knew I had made a friend.
And we continued to get closer over the years. Apparently Aryll and our other friends had bets going on how soon we would date, who would ask who out first, et cetera. I don't know how to feel about it, because Zelda hasn't given me any indicators about how she feels towards me other than brotherly. It almost stings. But simply having her in my life is better than not at all.
I sip on the last of my tea as the snow picks up outside. Looking at the grandfather clock it reads four fifty eight, and daylight is already nearly gone. Throwing the blanket off of my lap, I stand to put my mug in the kitchen sink as I hear someone else moving in the house. My grandma makes her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. She is getting older, and it's harder for her to reach things than it used to be. Knowing what she is after, I walk to the cupboard and grab a glass for her. Smiling, she walks over to take it from me.
"What on earth am I going to do without you two around this week, Link? I already miss Aryll." Her crackling voice is soft, with a hint of humor underlying everything that comes out of her mouth. I smile.
"You'll manage, Grandma. Plus Aryll only left yesterday. She had some bridesmaid duties to attend to. Also, Mrs. Harkinian is coming over to help out, remember?" She fills up her cup with water.
"Speaking of, I believe they just pulled up," she winks at me. I roll my eyes good naturedly, but she doesn't skip a beat. "Stop rolling your eyes, boy, and go help the ladies with their things. Useless, I tell you," she mumbles as she turns to sit down.
Chuckling, I turn to walk toward the entryway, donning my boots and sweatshirt, and opening the door to the swirling snow. Pulling on my hood, I trudge through the thick snow toward the car that is slowly being engulfed by snow.
"I still think that you two are insane going to a wedding in this weather!" Mrs. Harkinian yells from the trunk, pulling out bags for both herself and Zelda.
"We'll be fine!" I hear Zelda yell from the passenger side of the car just before she shuts the door. Snow falls on her winter hat, turning it from a deep purple to white in seconds. "Besides, Mom, it's only really bad in town. Once we get onto the highway the roads will be plowed. Don't worry!" She laughs. "Link is a big boy who knows how to drive in this weather."
"She's right, after all," I chime in, reaching out for one of the bags. Mrs. Harkinian jumps, gasping. I sometimes forget how easily she scares. "I've got it covered."
"I know you do," she admits, "but it's a mother's job to worry about you, kids."
"And a good job you do, too," Zelda chimes in, patting her mom on the shoulder as she turns away to pick up her bags. I turn to look at her. Her hair is down and circles around her shoulders, her cheeks are rosy from the cold, and her smile takes my breath away. Her dress sways gently in the wind.
"Hi," I say.
"Hey," she responds, holding her bags out to me. I take them immediately and reach for her mom's bag, too.
"Link, you don't have to carry both of them," Mrs. Harkinian says after I already grabbed the handle of her bag.
"Sure I do!" I call over my shoulder. "What kind of a man would let the ladies in his life do all the hard work?" I walk up the steps as Zelda opens the door. As I step over the threshold, I hear Mrs. Harkinian mumble something about needing more men like me around. I smile, setting their bags on the bench in the entryway. I take off my boots and drop the hood of my sweatshirt, shaking out the snow that managed to get in my shaggy blond hair. Thank goodness we are using Zelda's car, since it's already warm and ready to go. Also my car is in the shop being repaired, so there's that.
"Are you all packed, Link?" Mrs. Harkinian asks as she brushes snow off her coat.
"Yep, just have to go grab my bag," I say, making my way toward the stairs. I bolt up them, skipping steps as I go, and turn into my room just at the top of the stairs, grab my bag, and make my way down all within thirty seconds.
Yeah, I'm a little excited.
"Link, dear," my grandma calls from the kitchen. Setting my bag down, I make my way to where my grandma sits.
"Yes?" I ask, bending over to pick up a napkin she dropped. She smiles.
"Be smart this week, Link," is all she says. I shake my head.
"Am I ever not?" I ask in mock insult.
"With her, always," she motions for me to come closer. "She's a keeper," she whispers into my ear. I smile.
"She's not even mine," I whisper back, "but I can't deny it, either" I mumble. She laughs.
"Good, that," she turns back to her glass of water as I walk out of the kitchen. "Now you be good for Mrs. Harkinian, Grandma!" I call over my shoulder. I hear her familiar laugh from here.
I turn the corner to see Mrs. Harkinian's arms wrapped around Zelda.
"Stay safe," she says.
"We will," I hear Zelda's muffled response.
"I hear The Snowpeak Chateau is a sight this year, a real treasure," Mrs. Harkinian says before I pick up my bag.
"That might have a contributing factor as to why they chose the location for their wedding, considering the time of year," I deadpan, slinging the strap over my shoulder.
"Oh, stop it, you," Zelda says, gripping my arm. "Well we've got to go if we want to make the rehearsal dinner." I pull my boots back on, carry my winter jacket, and don my hood again.
"Have a good time!" She waves. And we're out in the cold again. Zelda hands me the keys and I pop the trunk to put my bag in. Shutting the trunk, I walk over to the driver's side and hop in quick, letting out precious little heat. Zelda releases a shuttering breath. I turn to look at her before putting the key in the ignition.
She has seriously become beautiful. Her thin lips part to puff warm air onto her hands. She pulls her hat snug against her silky blond hair, and unfolds a blanket to set on her lap. She only then realizes that I haven't actually started the car yet. I mean, how could I? She is very distracting.
"What are you looking at, Sleepyhead?" She laughs. That has been my nickname ever since I had to spend a night at her house and didn't wake up until eleven forty five. Apparently I 'wasted the entire day'. I shrug.
"Nothing," I say, popping the key into the ignition and turning on the ignition. "Are you ready for this?" I turn to look at her again. She laughs.
"Of course, you're the one I'm worried about."
I run the wipers for a bit before I turn the lights on and pull out.
"Why are you worried about me?" I ask, now focusing on the road ahead.
"I just am, okay?" She mumbles, and leaves it at that. I try to ignore what she meant, but it stays nagging in my brain. Just then she pulls something out of her purse. I look over for two seconds to see her holding a CD case.
"What CD is that?" I ask, stopping at the light. She only smirks as she pops it into the player.
"Patience," is all she says. Then the newest tunes of the IndiGo-Go's recent release flood the previously silent car.
"You did not," I look at her, mouth gaping.
"Oh, yes," she nods. "Yes I did."
"It's reasons like this why I love you," I said. She pauses. Wait. I turn to look at her, confused. She stares back at me, but turns away.
"The light is green," is all she says. Right. I'm driving.
I shift the car into first and move along slowly on the residential roads, wondering what that look meant.
"You're going the wrong way!" I hear Zelda laughing from her seat. "You were supposed to take a left back there, not a right!"
"Well, maybe I would have gone the correct direction if my navigator wasn't so ADD—hey!" she had rolled up the paper and smacked my head.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" She folds her arms across her chest.
"We're going to be late for the rehearsal dinner?" she smacks my head again. I moan.
"I have the best navigator in the world, and it's my fault we got turned around," I mumble.
"That's right," she says victoriously. I laugh.
"One of these days you're going to be—shit!" The car begins to spin out. The back end swings back and forth like a drawn out fish tail, and we aren't slowing down. I throw the car immediately into neutral. Zelda gasps.
"Link?" She asks repeatedly, picking up in intensity as we come too close to comfort with the side of the road. I tap on the breaks, but even that isn't really helping the situation. Then I lose it completely, the car spins around a full circle and we crash into a fresh bank of powdery snow. Neither of us moves for a bit. I can't believe that just happened. Realizing the longer we wait here, the more the car will be packed into the snow.
"Zelda," I put on my sweatshirt, "Are you okay?" I touch her shoulder. She sits so still.
"My mom is going to kill me," she breathes.
"No she's not," I argue immediately. "If she's going to be mad at anyone it's going to be me, but we need to move quick. Do you have a shovel? I don't remember seeing one in the trunk earlier."
She closes her eyes and I know the answer immediately. No shovel. No way out.
I turn the car off. No use if we get Carbon Monoxide poisoning.
"Check for cell phone service, internet, anything. I'll grab my laptop. Here's my phone," I hand it to her. Do your back seats fold down?" she nods. She's still in shock. I walk over the center console in the car to get to the back and pull on the loop to open the seats. I drag my duffle bag from the back of the trunk and open it to grab my laptop and blanket. I step on the opposite seat to wrap Zelda in the blanket.
"You need to stay warm," I say softly, fingers lightly gliding over her shoulders as I tuck the blanket behind her. She freezes.
"What about you?" She asks as I open the laptop.
"I'm a guy, in other words a walking space heater. I'll be fine," I say as my login screen comes on. I type my password and immediately search for wi-fi. Five minutes of trying results in nothing. It's not surprising, since we are currently half way up a mountain.
"I've got service!" Zelda yelps. I set my laptop down and bolt to the phone, calling someone I know will answer on the first ring.
"Hello?" His voice is deep and, honestly right now, fantastic to hear. Not that I don't love my cousin, but anyone's voice on the other end of that phone would have sounded like an angel.
"Sheik, no time to explain, but Zelda and I are about forty minutes out. We got stuck in a snowbank."
"Dude, were you trying to impress her with some crazy trick or something?" He laughs.
"No. Black ice, I promise. Now come rescue us. We're coming from the south. We'll try to stay warm."
"You know how you could do that? You could stri—" I hang up before his wild idea is even begun, knowing where it would lead. Now I can't get it out of my head. Blushing, I set my phone on the center console.
"Sheik is on his way." I say simply. She only nods. I lean forward, pressing my hand against her shoulder.
"It will be fine. I called Sheik. He has a four wheel drive truck with cables just for instances like this. Don't worry, Zel," I squeeze her shoulder.
But not even five minutes have passed until I begin to feel cramped. Then an idea hits me. I pull down the other seat and lay down, legs extending into the trunk.
"What are you doing, Link?" I hear Zelda say through muffled sobs. She was crying? How do girls do that so secretively?
"Giving myself some more room," I say as I place my hands behind my head and close my eyes. We fall silent for another few minutes, until Zelda moves to climb in back with me.
"We can share the blanket," she says quietly as she places half of it over me.
"Thanks, but I'm good," I begin to say, but she interrupts me by placing her head to my chest.
"Well, I'm not a walking space heater, so keep me warm, Sleepyhead." She closes her eyes.
I am okay with this turn of events. Blushing, I bring my arm up to rest on her lower back, closing my eyes as well.
Things could be worse.
Twenty minutes pass and we haven't seen any headlights from either direction. Also the temperature continues to drop. I don't want to turn on the car and get poisoned—what a way to go—so instead I hold tighter to Zelda's thin frame, rubbing her back to give her a little bit of heat. She sighs.
"That feels good," she mumbles. I chuckle.
"Link?" She lifts her head. "Why did you invite me to come with to your cousin's wedding?"
"Are you going to blame me for getting you into this mess or something?" I joke. She laughs.
"That's exactly where I was going with this," she deadpans. Did I dodge the bullet? "But seriously, Link, Why?"
No, I guess I didn't dodge it.
"Because I thought it would be fun having you there with me. Does there need to be a reason?"
"I guess there doesn't have to be, but I was just curious," she lays her head back down on my chest, pulling the blanket up further. I suppose she is freezing. She is wearing a dress with tights. Not winter clothing to say the least.
"Do you want sweatpants, Zel? You're probably freezing."
"Good idea," she lifts her head and grabs my bag.
"Hey! Don't you have a pair?" I prop myself up on my elbows.
"Sure I do," she replies, "But your bag is easier to get to right now." She pulls out a pair of gray Hyrule U sweats I got from the gift shop three years ago. Now that trip was worth every penny as I watch her slip them on over her tights, then turn away quickly, blushing, realizing what I was doing. She laughs.
"I don't care if you see me changing, Link," she says, "especially if it's just putting more clothes on top of clothes I'm already wearing. Now if it were the other way around," she drops off, laughing. I nervously laugh too.
Why does this one girl make my stomach feel like it's dropping out of my body, straight to the ground, and my heart soaring up toward the sky? Why, whenever she does the littlest thing like laugh, play with the tips of her hair, bite her lip, wrap her arms around herself, that I fall more in love with her than five minutes prior to whatever she does? How can I communicate that to her without being rejected like a loser? Does she feel the same, or is this unrequited love? Probably, with my luck. I'm twenty three and never been kissed. What a life.
She wiggles underneath the blanket again and presses against my side, tightly, wrapping an arm around my stomach.
Now it's my turn to freeze. She notices.
"Link? You okay?"
Let's see, other than the girl I love pressing against my side while not being in that type of relationship with her is making my brain go bonkers.
"Sure," I respond, for the sake of responding.
"Link, I know that distracted look," she lifts her head, pressing her hand into the middle of my chest. "Talk."
I heave a sigh. How can I cover myself now? Or do I even want to? Am I tired of running? She's not going to be single forever, I know that's a fact, but am I really willing to put our friendship on the line for my selfish desires?
No, I'm pretty selfless, and I'm not trying to toot my own horn. I just do what I would like others to do for me. I think that has to do with me wanting to be anything but my step-father, Ganon. I formulate my response.
"I guess I feel a bit dejected," I turn my head to take in her beautiful features. When she gives me a confused look, I shrug. "We've missed the Rehearsal Dinner by now."
"Ah," is all she says. She doesn't entirely believe my response, but neither do I. She even looks, dare I say it, disappointed. Disappointed that I didn't say what she wanted.
The only problem here: knowing what Zelda wants.
Half of the time she doesn't even know herself. We both sit in silence, but she breaks it again after a bit.
"Link," she starts hesitantly. "Some of my friends were talking to me just before winter break about 'us' again." Wow, she just whipped that out there like it was no big deal. There's no way she has feelings for me. I play along. This isn't the first time this conversation has happened, and it probably won't be the last. Everyone is checking up on their wagers, I guess.
"So what's the hot gossip this week? What did we 'do'?" I gesture the quotes with my fingers. She laughs.
"Apparently you have some sort of big romantic scheme up your sleeves, according to Malon," she walks her fingers up my chest and I'll admit, it's hard to concentrate now.
"How do you know this," I gesture around me, "isn't it just to get close to you and hold you?" I pull her into a tight bear hug—or as much of a bear hug you could get while laying down on folded car seats—and roll over putting all my weight on top of her, chest in her face. She squeals in mock pain. It brings back memories of when we used to wrestle in our backyards. She claims that she has fended off unwanted attention from other boys simply by wrestling with me and building her strength, but I can't even picture her hurting a fly in reality.
"Link," she calls, her voice muffled. "Need. Air."
"What was that? Was that a fat joke?" She starts squirming and I know this won't last much longer on the 'fun scale'. My legs straddle her hips as I push up off of her, and she instantly stops moving. I do to.
Our gazes lock and intensify. She simply smiles softly, resting her hands on her stomach. I push a lock of hair away from her face, trailing my fingers down her jaw line, and she closes her eyes. Every touch is electric.
"Have you ever wondered?" She asks quietly, unsure of how to proceed.
"Wondered what?" I inquire.
"What it would be like; to have a significant other to care for and love." Sometimes, I forget she is in the same boat I am in, she's so beautiful. I just always assume that she has at least kissed someone, and get pushed right back into reality every time she mentions it. I swallow hard.
"All the time, actually," I mumble, scratching the back of my neck. Zelda just continues to take me in. Then it clicks where I am in relation to her and her face turns instantly red. That's got to mean something, right? If I can make her blush like that? She starts to move, but I pin her down again. It's now or never, Link.
"Don't you want to know who with?" I meet her gaze and hold it, trying to convey a wordless message. I didn't realize how close we were getting throughout that conversation until I was almost lying on top of her again, chest to chest. After a little while, she brings me down to whisper something in my ear.
"I think I have a pretty good idea of who you are thinking of," and she brings her arms up to close the rest of the little distance between us. I meet her halfway and our lips lock. Each of our first kisses, as twenty three year old adults, stuck in a snowstorm halfway up a mountain. That's not us at all.
I run my hand through her silky hair. I have always wondered what it would feel like. All of this, actually, and I wish it could continue longer, but a light flashed in my peripherals signaling the arrival of Sheik.
And I only realize just before we hear someone brushing off the snow from the windows what kind of compromising position we are in. I roll off of her, smiling as I sit up.
I'm surprised they found us at all once we get out of the car. Then again, it had finally stopped snowing by then. It was almost completely buried. Sheik hands us each hot cocoa, and notices how close we stand. Quirking an eyebrow at me, I roll my eyes, wordlessly saying that I'll tell him all about it later.
"Ready!" I yell once the tow rope is attached to the rear of the car. Sheik starts pushing on the gas pedal. It helped significantly that we shoveled a sort of exit route for the car to take out of the snow bank. I rolled the window down so I could steer as the car slowly escapes the snow, which collapses around it as it is removed. Zelda stands to the side and holds both of our hot chocolates.
Once the car is out, Zelda and I hop back in to start it up and get some heat flowing, but Zelda grabs the blankets anyway and bundles up in them, falling asleep. I smile as I turn the blinker on to merge onto the road just behind Sheik.
Once we make it to the hotel and got settled—or in other words, threw our bags on the floor out of the way—we decide to pick up where we left off in the car. We missed dinner anyway, so we figured we would satisfy some other hungers at the moment before we do anything else.
And the day she said 'I do' will always be the best day of my entire life.