"What on Earth were you thinking?" Link shouted. He had his son sat down on his bed. "Well? Speak up! What made you do such a stupid and thoughtless thing?" Link said loudly.
"I don't know." The boy mumbled.
"What?" Link said, almost in shock.
"I don't know." The boy said a little louder.
"You don't know?!" Link yelled, making both the boy in front of him flinch. Link rarely got angry, and even more rarely yelled. "How can you not know? God, you have been driving me up the wall lately. Every time I turn around you're in some sort of mess; causing trouble for people, in turn causing trouble for me and your mother; and all you have to say is 'I don't know?" The boy stayed silent, refusing to look his father in the eyes. "Dammit, Christopher, you make it so hard to love you sometimes." Link said angrily.
"Do you?" he said quietly, genuine worry in his voice.
"What?"
"Do you still love me?" He asked. Link softened his eyes a little at the boy
"That should be the least of your worries. No matter what idiotic thing you do, you're still my child and I'll always love you." He saw the child's eyes become red and moist, but he refused to let the tears fall from his eyes.
"Don't cry. Don't cry." Christopher told himself.
"I'm sorry, Dad." he said in a quiet voice, still unable to meet his father's gaze. Link couldn't help but notice how much he sounded like a little boy again. He was more like 7 than 17. The sorrow in the boy's voice was evident, and Link couldn't help but let his heart be struck by the saddened voice of his child.
"Just tell me what's been going on, Christopher," Link began, more calmly this time. "You can tell me anything. I thought you knew that. I'll do anything I can for you. You just have to tell me." He said, sitting down next to his son.
"I don't understand you." Christopher said, keeping his head down. "I don't understand how after all the trouble I've caused you, after all the terrible things I've done, how can you still tell me you love me? Why do you still want to help me?"
Link looked at the boy and put his hand on his shoulder.
"The love a father has for his child is pretty hard to break. It's something you'll understand more when you have children of your own."
Christopher couldn't hold it in anymore and warm tears began to fall from his eyes, but he kept them hidden by keeping his head down. Link, however, knew his child and he knew he was crying. Link took the child into his arms tightly, and he cried silently into his father's chest.
"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I'm so sorry. I don't deserve you." He said, choking on his tears. "I can't believe you still love me."
"I've made mistakes, haven't I?" Link asked?
"Well, sure." The boy responded softly.
"And do you still love me?" He asked.
"Of course I do." He responded, tightening his hold on his father.
Link ran his fingers through the boy's blond hair and kissed the top of his head gently.
"Forgiveness. It's part of love. We're all going to mess up, but the people who truly love us will forgive us. Christopher, you need to understand, I've loved you from the moment I found out you were coming to us. I will always love you, no matter how hard it is sometimes, or how many mistakes you make. Alright?" The child nodded against his fathers chest and smiled. "I only get angry at you because I worry so much about you. I yell because I want you to realize what you're doing wrong so you stop before you get hurt. I never ever want to see you get hurt. That's my biggest fear."
"I'll try harder from now on, Dad, I promise." He said honestly.
"I trust you to that. But don't think you won't be punished for what happened."
"Yes sir." He said with a small smile. The child closed his eyes and listened to his father's heart beat comfortingly against his ear. "I love you, Dad."
Link ran his fingers gently through the boys soft blond hair, his way of silently saying "I love you too."