Here is a new thing instead of working on my other projects I keep promising to work on. I stayed up all night to write this so please be kind, I'm very tired.
"Your friend is here again." Lasli popped her head around the corner. Zelda looked over her shoulder from the teapot she was cleaning with a smile. Dropping the washcloth and quickly finger combing through her hair, she abandoned her frankly fruitless task of cleaning the pure white china teapots and stepped out behind the main counter of the coffee shop.
Zelda had worked at Koko's Coffee for the best part of four months and although she enjoyed her work enough, and even though her co-workers were very nice and quickly became her fast friends, easily her favourite part of the job was when he came in.
Every weekday, roughly around 1, sometimes 2 o'clock, when most people had finished their breaks and the shop was beginning to empty after the rush, an old, rust red pickup truck with a generic mountain range decal on the door would pull up outside the shop.
According to her colleagues, the same guy had been coming to that shop for the last year to pick up a huge order for the company where he worked. Every weekday without fail, with a long handwritten list, he'd have to stand by the end of the counter and wait until the orders were done, so he'd often chat with the staff while he waited.
Zelda had decided she disliked him the first time she met him. He had come in sometime during her first shift when it was busy and she was struggling to remember everything she was being taught and he placed a massive list down on the counter. She'd wanted to cry. He had barely said a word to her too which had just rubbed her up the wrong way, the least he could have done was said more than a quiet 'thank you' and at least met her in the eye when she'd glared at him. Every time she'd seen his truck pull up afterwards she'd had to hold back a groan and try not to be short with him.
It wasn't until two weeks later that she changed her tune significantly. She'd just had to ring up and make another huge order for him virtually all by herself (and perhaps she'd been a little more liberal in her espresso shots as she'd thrown her weight around about it). She was just leaving the shop after her half-day shift had ended. She'd gone to cross the road while looking at her phone screen to see what notifications she'd missed when the squealing of tires sounded a split second before strong hands grabbed her and hauled her back out of the way of an approaching 'Mighty Fruit' delivery van. She'd found herself pressed against the chest of the very man she'd been internally grumbling about for the past 20 minutes. After a stuttered and shellshocked 'thank you' she'd pulled herself away and disappeared back inside the coffee shop for a calming glass of water.
She'd spent the weekend working out how she was going to say a proper thank you and apologise for being so rude to him. As it turned out, just a simple 'hello' had done the trick. He'd stared at her for a moment before offering her one of his dangerously charming smiles.
Over the weeks that followed Zelda had observed a great many things about him. His name was Link and he was perhaps a year, maybe two years older than her. He worked in some form of construction going by his clothes and the dried dirt caked on his boots. He was kind and patient, he had a handsome if not slightly cheeky grin, and he had a carefree attitude reflected in his longer hair tied back in a ponytail and tan skin littered with freckles. She had to admit, he wasn't her usual type, but she was getting bored of being let down by those anyway.
Today was no different as he strode into the little sheikah run coffee shop, he had a jacket on today which Zelda noted with a bit of disappointment, she'd eyed his muscular arms in the sleeveless tshirt he'd been wearing the week before, and had confirmed to herself that she'd needed another look. He smiled brightly as he headed up to the counter.
"Hello!"
"Hi! Another long list today?" Link's face turned put upon.
"Yep. Sorry about this."
"You say that every time, and I tell you every time I'm pretty sure you and your guys are the only reason we stay in business." He laughed and her heart sang. She took the list from him and started punching in the orders while Lasli started getting the drinks ready. He paid using the 'work card' as he called it and then he moved around to the end of the counter to wait. She heard him asking how her coworker was doing while she started on the food orders. Moments later he was working on balancing all of the orders to carry them out to his truck.
"Might have to come back for those." He nodded his head to two more sets of drinks he couldn't quite carry.
"I'll help you." Zelda flashed a sneaky smile to Lasli who rolled her eyes behind the coffee machine. Grabbing the last of the drinks she followed him out to his truck. He was carefully placing everything on the passenger seat while she waited, taking in the dirt that clung to the vehicle and the decal on the door. She could get a better look at it now she was close. Two mountains with a taller volcano in the middle and halo of smoke around it and 'D.M. Quarrys' written along the bottom in bold black text.
She'd heard of the quarry in passing, located somewhere up northeast. She looked up as he turned to take the remaining drinks from and couldn't help but return the smile he gave her.
"Thanks for your help. Again. And I'll more than likely see you tomorrow. Again." Zelda had to stop herself from saying how much she'd like that. Instead she just smiled and waved as she stepped back around the truck and back into the shop. She watched him drive away and sighed heavily. Lasli laughed at her from the other side of the counter.
"You should just ask him out. I'm pretty sure he'd say yes."
"I don't know." Zelda sighed again as she fetched a cloth to begin wiping down tables.
"If you don't, I will. He's gorgeous."
Zelda just hummed in agreement.
Link was back again the next day, just like he said he would be.
Zelda was serving at the time so she just discreetly returned his sunny smile over her current customer's shoulder while he waited in line. When he got up to the front he placed his list on the counter and gave her an apologetic thumbs up.
"Stop it. It's fine."
"Ok." His shoulders fell in exaggerated relief. "It's shorter today anyway, some of the guys went home early." She was behind the counter by herself today given that it had been a quiet one. Some parade on the other side of town had drawn everyone away. She moved on to making drinks once he'd paid and he went round and leant onto the counter watching her work through his order. Even though she'd made these drinks a million times over the last four months, she suddenly felt like newbie under his scrutiny. She floundered for a topic to distract them both.
"So...did you see the meteor shower last night?" Nice one Zelda.
"Uh? Nah. I was asleep." He looked up at her, surprised. Zelda blinked at him.
"It started at like, nine."
"I know." Link said, sounding slightly defensive. "I worked hard yesterday. I was tired."
"Oh, you worked hard?" Zelda tilted her head and gave him a disbelieving glance.
"Yes!" Link laughed. "I'll have you know I work very hard. All the time."
"Oh yeah? And what is it you do, other than come bother pretty girls at coffee shops?" He opened his mouth, paused to give her a look, and soldiered bravely on.
"I work at the quarry. I help shift all of the ore."
"That sounds very labour intensive." Zelda said, dropping her playful tone and becoming interested despite herself.
"It is. It's good though. Keeps me busy. Pays well. The ore can be really pretty too." Link leant forward onto his elbows on the counter and absently watched her remove a panini from the grill.
"Oh." They were quiet for a while as Zelda finished working her way through his order.
"Was it good?" He asked after a few moments.
"Hm?"
"The meteor shower. Was it good?"
"Oh, yes." Zelda enthused at him while she moved the cups into holders. "Very pretty. I love things like that." She felt her cheeks heat up slightly.
"Like astronomy?"
"Yes. The stars mostly. My mother always used to tell me stories about stars when I was younger. I've loved them ever since." Link was smiling softly at her and her face felt even hotter. "I uhm... I stay up late to watch them sometimes."
"Oh yeah? Where do you watch them from?"
"Just my window."
"Do you live in the town?" She nodded, somehow finding it difficult to look right at him. He snorted and she felt a small stab of something. Was he making fun of her? "What stars are you looking at then? There's so much light pollution here you can only see, like, eight." She went to reply hotly that she could see more than eight stars thank you very much before he cut her off. "You need to be out in the middle of nowhere. No one for miles, then you'll see some real stars. You'll never see anything like it." His face took on a wistful look.
"That sounds lovely."
"Tell you what. How about, next clear night we get, I'll take you out to see them." Zelda's heart skipped several beats and she had to remind herself to breathe.
"Oh, uhm...I'd love to!"
"Great." He beamed one of his gorgeous smiles and her knees almost went weak. She reached for a napkin and the marker pen she kept tucked in her apron pocket.
"This is my number. Text me when the stars are out." He nodded and tucked the napkin into his pocket.
"Will do. See you then." He began the process of balancing his thankfully smaller than usual order.
"Bye" She waved as he bodily opened the door and made his way out to his truck. Zelda sighed. She really hoped he would text her soon. He really was too pretty for his own good.
'Hey, it's Link'
Zelda's heart skipped when she looked at her phone screen later that evening. She wasn't too proud to admit to herself that she'd checked her phone much more regularly than normal for the rest of that day.
'Hey Link' She texted back. She made him into a contact and had to resist the urge to put something inappropriate as his contact name. A few moments later her phone buzzed again.
'What are you up to?' She looked about herself. Sitting in her pyjamas with a sheet mask on and hair tied up in a messy bun on top of her head while reading books on ancient hylian botany for fun. Maybe won't tell him this.
'Not much. WBU?'
'Eating' Zelda blinked.
'Eating what?' She waited. She had a feeling he was just going to write-
'Food' Bingo.
'Smartass'
'Thanks' She waited for him to message back. Ten minutes later she guessed he thought it was her turn.
'Have you finished eating, smartass?'
'Yep. Eating something else now.' She leveled a deadpan look at her phone.
'This is truly riveting conversation.'
'You asked.' He had her there. She glanced at the time at the top of her phone screen.
'Shouldn't you be in bed? It's past 9'
'Yep. Nini Zelda.'
She was halfway through texting 'no wait' before she deleted it. She didn't want to seem needy. Besides, she'd see him at work tomorrow. She put her phone on charge and set about removing her mask and getting ready for bed. Combing her hair through she realised she'd been wearing a grin since he'd wished her good night. She had it bad.
For two weeks, they traded texts. Always about the same time on an evening. Just as short and frustratingly not enough as the first one. Yet whenever he came in the shop they acted like nothing was different. Boys were weird.
He was maddeningly stingy with personal information, yet somehow managed to make her spill all of hers. Eventually she managed to find a way around it.
'What's your favourite colour?'
'Hello to you too Link'
'Hi. What's your favourite colour?'
'Why?'
'Just asking'
'Tell me yours first'
Nothing for about 10 minutes.
'Blue, what's yours?'
'Also blue'
'Ok. Nini Zelda'
'Why?'
Nothing for the rest of the night.
So frustrating!
Another week later and she'd managed to find out that he used to live in the countryside in Hateno Village, but moved to Mabe Village with his dad. His favourite food was soup 'because you can drink it but it fills you up like food' and a multitude of other mundanities.
But one night the texts stopped.
It got to quarter to ten before Zelda was almost through biting all of her nails and she caved in and text him first.
'Aren't you going to ask me another question tonight?'
'Are you already asleep?'
'Did you work extra hard today?'
'Link?' She tried not to think anything of it. Maybe he had worked himself too hard. Maybe he had gone to sleep early. Maybe he'd gotten bored of her. She'd just have to ask him tomorrow.
Tomorrow came, but Link didn't. After glancing at the clock every fifteen minutes since one o'clock, it was now just gone three and he still hadn't turned up. Sighing, Zelda continued to wipe down the table, cleaning up after a particularly messy child that had thrown most of their muffin instead of eating it. Her heart jumped when the door opened behind her. Please let it be him.
It wasn't him. But it was his truck outside. She took a closer look at the two men who had walked in while trying to look like she wasn't as they spoke to Lasli behind the counter. They seemed to also work in some form of construction, wearing the same dirt caked boots as Link. And they had his truck. They must work with him!
Then why hadn't Link come? Did he not want to see her anymore? Was that why he'd stopped texting? He'd gotten bored of her and didn't want to face her so sent someone else to pick up their lunch? What a coward! Maybe he was just like every other guy she'd been with. Men were all the same. Pathetic, the lot of them.
It stung though.
He'd seemed so nice. And he'd never taken her out to see the stars like he'd promised. Well fine then. Zelda realised she'd been standing staring into space with tears welling up in her eyes and wringing the damp cloth she was holding between her hands when the door closed behind the two men from D.M. Quarrys. She blinked the tears away rapidly and set about finishing her shift with perhaps more aggression than she meant.
Ten days in a row different men came to collect the order for D.M. Quarrys. Zelda gave up hope that she would see Link again. She'd caved in once and text him, to see if he would answer. Of course, he didn't.
Lasli and her other co-workers had noticed the drop in her mood, but she couldn't bring herself to try and hide it. And why should she? She was allowed to be upset at what that boy had done to her. But of course, he wouldn't get any punishment. What was she going to do, march all the way to the quarry and have it out with him for leading her on? Ridiculous. What a scene that would be. No, she was better than that. He wasn't worth it.
On the thirteenth day, Lasli, fed up of Zelda's moping, offered to set her up with a guy she knew.
"Granté's nothing like that asshole, I think you'd really like him."
"Hm. No thanks."
"Are you sure? He's nice." Link had been nice too though and look where that had gotten her.
"I'm sure."
On the sixteenth day (not that she was counting), Zelda seriously considered quitting her job. It had been the worst day she'd ever had. A man spilled his coffee all over the floor then proceeded to yell at her for it, simultaneously ordering her to clean it up and make him another one. A kid threw up and she was the only employee free to deal with it. The coffee machine broke right as rush hour hit. 'Bad day' didn't even cover it.
Later, Zelda was stacking mugs near the coffee machine thinking through her options when she heard Lasli gasp from where she was standing behind the counter. She looked up and almost dropped the mug she'd been holding.
Standing by the door of Koko's Coffee shop stood Link, looking sheepish and altered somehow. He looked very different wearing a hoodie and clean jeans and trainers.
"Uh, hi." Zelda saw Lasli look at her out of the corner of her eye. She folded her arms and looked away for a moment. Lasli cleared her throat and muttered something about needing to clean the oven and disappeared into the back. Link shifted his weight and took a few steps closer.
"I'm sorry I haven't been aroun-"
"It's been over two weeks."
"I know. I'm sorry." Another few steps closer.
"Where were you?"
"I had an accident." He gestured to his face, which now he was closer, she could see was bruised. What must have been quite the black eye was slowly healing up on the left side of his face, a cut underneath the same eye that looked to have been stitched. A cut on the bridge of his nose and a split lip. Zelda swallowed.
"That must have been some accident."
"Yeah. I was in the hospital for a bit."
"Oh."
"I broke my phone, so I lost your number."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
Zelda shrank in on herself. She felt awful. She sincerely hoped none of the things she said about him got back to him.
"So...how have you been?" It was like they'd gone back to square one.
"I've been fine. Just work mostly." Link nodded in understanding. "How about you? Besides being in hospital that is."
"Bored. My Dad wouldn't let me leave the house. Said I was 'too fragile'." He rolled his eyes and gave his first small, easy smile.
"Fragile?" Zelda stepped closer to the counter.
"Yeah." He ducked his head and ran his hand through his bangs."I broke a few ribs when I fell."
"What?!"
"I'm fine now though." He said quickly. "I mean, sneezing and coughing hurts like hell but I'm allowed to be out and about. Just no heavy lifting for a while." He beamed at her again. She stared at him in disbelief then sighed heavily and put her face in her hand. "What?" he was laughing, she could hear it in his voice.
"I've just had a very bad day."
"Sorry." She peeked at him through her fingers.
"You don't look very sorry."
"I have strong painkillers for the broken ribs, blame those." She sighed heavily again. "Wow, it must have been a bad day."
Zelda hummed and ran her fingers through her hair as she stood up straight again. Link fidgeted a bit with the ties on his hoodie.
"So.. I looked at the weather app on my phone and...it says it's gonna be a clear night. I was wondering if you still wanted to go look at the stars? I promise it will make you feel a thousand times better!"
Zelda stared at him. She didn't know how to feel. Part of her still felt so hurt that he'd not contacted her for so long, even though it wasn't really his fault. But he could have asked one of the guys he worked with to pass the message on to her, couldn't he? Was that really so hard?
But another part of her felt guilty at being mad at him when he'd obviously been through something painful. And at least he'd come to see her as soon as he could. That had to mean something right? And the first thing he'd done was apologised. For being injured! He really was nice.
"I'm sorry." He'd started to fidget and avoid her eyes while she'd had her internal struggle but he looked up sharply.
"What? What for?"
"I thought the worst of you when I didn't hear from you. I'm sorry for that, you didn't deserve it." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "If you'd still like to hang out sometime, I'd still really like it too."
"Uhm, I thought that's why I was...here?" Link let out a nervous chuckle which Zelda echoed. "I came to ask you out tonight. Is that ok?" She nodded. "Ok. Great. Uh you can have my new number. Text me your address and I'll come get you about eight?" Zelda nodded again, the biggest smile plastered on her face for the first time in weeks. She gave him her pen and a napkin to write his number down on. "Alright then. I'll uh...see you later." He flashed her another one of those smiles she adored and she watched him leave and walk up the street through the glass window.
"Did I just hear that right? Did he ask you out?" Lasli popper her head out of the back, a huge grin on her face.
"I thought you were supposed to be cleaning the oven." Zelda admonished but without any real feeling, her heart was fluttering like a bird in a cage.
"I was, that's why I couldn't really hear anything. He did just ask you out though, right?"
Zelda grinned back. "Yes he did." Lasli squealed and hopped up and down.
"Finally! I knew he really liked you! Where's he taking you?"
"To see the stars." Zelda smiled softly to herself while Lasli blinked at her.
"To see the stars?" Zelda nodded. "Alright." She said in a tone that clearly meant 'whatever you say'. Zelda heaved a happy sigh. "Hey," Lasli elbowed her with a playful wink, "play your cards right and he might make you see stars, if you get what I mean."
Zelda gasped and threw a handful of napkins at her giggling friend.
It was cold, and getting dark fast. Zelda had text Link her address an hour after finishing work. He'd replied almost immediately, telling her to wear something warm and not to worry about dinner because he had it covered. So she waited curiously outside her house at eight. She'd made sure to text Lasli Link's number as well and asked her to keep checking on her. It didn't matter how nice guys seemed, girls had to stick together and you could never be too careful.
Lights at the end of her quiet street caught her attention and up rolled Link's pick up truck. He waved at her and she stepped up to the car. He leant over the seat and opened the door for her.
"Hi, you ready to go?"
"Yes." Zelda replied, climbing awkwardly into the truck and suddenly wishing she hadn't worn her white coat. This was Link's work truck after all, he made a living out of dirt. He turned the radio down as she got settled so they didn't have to raise their voices.
"You uh, look nice." Maybe she didn't regret it too much then.
"Thanks." He waited for her to put her belt on before slowly pulling away. He turned the car around in her dead-end street and drove back out the way he came in. "So where are you taking me to see these so-called breathtaking stars then?"
"Ah, it's a secret." She gave him a look but he just smiled at her before returning his eyes to the road. Even with a black eye and stitches he was still pretty. Damn him.
They drove for a while, listening to the radio and chatting idly. It was almost like he hadn't disappeared. He asked just as many random questions in person as he did over text and she found she had to employ the same techniques as before to get information out of him. In doing this she'd learned that the company he worked for was actually owned by his dad, who he lived alone with.
"Your favourite animal?"
"What's yours?"
"I asked first." He squinted at the road.
"Tell me yours and I'll tell you mine." She said laughing.
"Fine. I like horses. Your turn."
"Dogs."
"Dogs?" His eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Yes. They're cute." He thought for a moment before slowly nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, I guess they are." They were quiet for a few moments, Zelda taking the time to look out at the scenery moving passed them, taking note of how rocky it had become. "Here we are." They had pulled up to a pair of metal gates with a large sign.
'D.M. Quarrys. Authorised personnel only.'
"You brought me to where you work?"
"Yep." Link beamed as he got out of the cab to open up the gates. Zelda watched him in the headlights as he unlocked a heavy duty padlock and opened the gates enough for them to move through. He jogged back to the cab and drove them through without even closing his door, stopping just inside and running to lock up behind them again.
"I can't believe the 'secret' was work." Zelda said disbelievingly as he got back in the cab and shut the door this time.
"What? I come to your work all the time."
"By choice."
"Yeah well...shut up, it's dark here." He poked his tongue out at her. He was right about that though, it was pitch black outside of the cab windows. At least he seemed to know where he was going. He drove them up a ramp carved from the stone of the quarry itself.
"Does your dad know we're here?"
"Yep. What, did you think I was going to bring you here and not tell anyone where you were? What kind of person do you take me for?" The truck leveled out onto flat ground and although Zelda couldn't really see out of the windows, she could tell they were high up. He drove slowly, turning the truck around until he had it where he wanted it. He turned the engine off and removed the key.
"Wait here. I won't be long."
"Where are you going?" She felt suddenly vaguely panicked that he was going to leave her here.
"Just in the back of the truck. No peeking." She rolled her eyes and sat back into the seat. He slammed the door behind him. She could hear the sound of rustling and could feel the vibrations through the chassis of him climbing into the bed of the truck and moving around.
A few minutes later he appeared at her door opening it for her. "Princess." He said offering her his hand to help her get down from the cab. She took it after briefly glaring at him.
"That's not a nickname I'd like to stick."
"Too late. Don't look up, you'll ruin the surprise." He laughed when she huffed. "C'mon." He lead her around the back of the truck and motioned to it with both hands as though proud of his handiwork. He'd removed the tarp that had been covering the bed of the truck all the other times she'd seen it and taking up the entire flat bed was an air mattress, a pile of blankets and what looked to be a sleeping bag. "May I?" He motioned again to ask if he could lift her up to sit on the bed.
"You may, sir knight." She said in the haughtiest voice she could manage. He made an exaggerated bow before stepping in to hold her waist and lift her up. He made a sound of effort and she was about to protest that surely she wasnt that heavy until she saw him holding his side. "Oh! Your ribs!"
"Mmhm." He said through clenched jaw. "I'm fine, go on." He said sounding pained and making a vague hand gesture for her to move back towards the cab. She bit her lip before she obeyed. He caught his breath for a moment before following. When he had, perhaps more gingerly than he would have normally, climbed up and crawled along the air mattress toward her and sat next to her, he reached over to the pile of folded blankets and began shaking them out. He offered one to her and she put it around her shoulders while he did the same. He then draped the sleeping bag and the rest of the blankets across their laps.
"Ok," He said once they were settled, "you can look up now." The temptation had been almost too great but not wanting to spoil his surprise Zelda had managed to not pay attention to the pitch black around her, keeping her eyes on Link the entire time. But now, as she tilted her head back, she gasped, finally allowing herself to see.
Link had been right, she had never seen, nor did she think she'd ever again see anything like this. Hundreds upon thousands of stars. Millions of them. More than she ever thought she'd be able to see with the naked eye. The sky was a different colour too, darker, bluer somehow. It was stunning. She had no words. She finally took her eyes away to look at Link and he beamed at her in that way she loved.
"I knew you'd like it."
"I love it." She whispered. "Oh I wish my mother could have seen this. We'd always lived in the Town, I don't think she ever left it. Oh but she'd have loved this." Link's smiled had dropped slightly, becoming more melancholy.
"I never felt like I could ask but, what happened to your mother?" Zelda's expression fell slightly too. It was never easy to talk about.
"Well I'm sure you can work out that...she isn't with us anymore." Link nodded. "She died when I was six. Pneumonia they said."
"I'm so sorry, Zelda." She nodded. She swallowed hard and just concentrated on her breathing for a few moments.
"What about your mother?" Link looked away and up at the stars.
"Ah, much the same thing really. I was eight. I don't know what actually killed her, I just know she was ill. My dad won't speak about it, even now."
"I'm sorry." Link nodded. They sat quietly for a while just admiring the sky before Link suddenly perked up.
"I forgot, are you hungry?"
"Sure." He reached over to his left side and presented her with a large thermos flask and two mugs.
"Ta da."
"What do we have, sir knight?" He cocked a brow at her.
"Creamy heart soup. Speaking of my mother, it was her recipe. I learned to make it myself." Zelda returned his enthusiastic expression.
"Sounds great." Link unscrewed the lid and poured her a mug full, handing it over before he poured one for himself. They snuggled down under the blankets, sipping their soup. It was exceedingly good soup. Zelda expressed her appreciation by asking for seconds when she was done with her first. Luckily they had more than enough.
When the flask was empty (Link may have had thirds), they sat and marvelled at the sky again. "I don't know about you but my neck is starting to ache." Link whispered. Zelda snorted. He moved himself forward from where he leant his back against the back of the cab and lay down on his back on the air mattress they were sitting on. He shifted around a little until he was comfortable then turned to look at her.
She stared at him bemusedly then laughed when he tilted his head at her, as though asking her when she was going to join him. She scooted down the mattress and lay back next to him. They rearranged the blankets between them so that they were covered and warm.
"Oh, this is better." Zelda sighed.
"Right?" Link laughed.
"Thank you for bringing me out here Link. It really is the most amazing thing I've ever seen."
"You're welcome." They lay in silence for another stretch until Zelda shifted uncomfortably and shivered. Link caught her out of the corner of his eye and he offered his arm for her to lean her head on. She nodded gratefully, allowing him to put his hand behind his head so that she could lean on his bent up arm. The new position meant she had to move closer to him, but she decided she didn't mind too much, he was warm.
Before too long, the fact that she'd been up for well over seventeen hours, and the fact that she'd worked a full shift, and that Link was so warm and comfortable, she found herself drifting off to sleep. She knew it was happening yet she couldn't seem to stop herself from letting her head fall to the side toward Link's.
Even in her just more than half asleep state she could clearly feel Link tilt his head and press his mouth against her forehead, not kissing exactly, just resting it there. She felt and heard him take a deep breath, then he was quiet. She didn't know how much longer they stayed like that. She must have actually drifted off to sleep at one point because the next thing she knew Link was gently shaking her awake.
"C'mon Zel, I told my Dad I'd be back by one at the latest."
"What time is it now?" She asked through a yawn as she stretched.
"Half twelve."
She helped him cover the back of the truck with the tarp and climbed back into the cab. He grabbed a few of the blankets and threw them over her so that she stayed warm for the journey home. They listened to the radio together in comfortable, sleepy silence.
When they arrived at her house around half an hour later, Link got out and helped her down from the cab again and walked her to her door.
"The perfect gentleman." She joked sleepily.
"Well, what kind of knight would I be if I didn't escort you to safety?" He smiled back at her.
"Thank you again for tonight Link. I had a really great time."
"Me too. Thank you for coming." Zelda looked up at him. Really focused on him. His golden blonde hair slightly tousled from lying down. His tan skin from working outdoors looking even more bronzed under the yellow of her porchlight. And as she leant in, surrounding the small cut across the bridge of his nose, she saw his own constellation of freckles.
His lips were soft and warm on her own, his fingertips chilled where they cupped her face but she didn't mind and her heart raced as his other hand gently touched her waist drawing her slightly closer. She lifted her hands, ne tanlging in the loose hair at the nape of his neck, the other fisting in his hoodie at his side. They lingered for a few moments, before gently parting, smiling. He stroked her cheek as he dropped his hand, skimming her shoulder and down the back of her arm to hold her hand and give it a quick squeeze, pinky fingers hooking slightly as he let go.
"Goodnight, Princess."
"Goodnight, Link."
Link pressed his forehead against hers for just a moment before pulling away and walking back down the path towards her front gate.
"Link?" He stopped with his hand on the gatepost and turned to look back at her.
"When the sky's clear, will you take me to see the stars again?" He beamed another one of those golden smiles that could rival the sun.
"Always, Princess."
She watched him climb into his truck, wave and pull away. As she walked into her house, closing the door behind, she went to remove her coat and noticed it felt heavier than usual. She searched her pockets and found what felt like a rock in the pocket on the side that Link had touched. Of course he'd secretly give her a rock, she thought fondly. Pulling it out, she gasped. Sitting in the palm of her hand, was a large pebble of the most beautiful opal she had ever seen. Pale and smokey, with thousands of iridescent flecks throughout, it looked like a small contained galaxy all on its own.
Clutching the stone she took it upstairs, placing it on her bedside table where the light of her bedside lamp bounced from it and refracted light around her room. She fell asleep, sound with the thought that even though she hoped every night after this one would be a clear night so she could spend the evenings with Link surrounded by stars, it didn't matter if it wasn't.
She could take tonight with her wherever she went and hold it in the palm of her hand, because Link had gifted her with her very own private galaxy.
Leave me something nice if you liked it