A/N: Hey all. I decided to take a break from Thunder's Foretelling and write another piece. I will probably alternate between the two. If you haven't read TF yet, I would appreciate it. I don't know how long this story is going to be, but if it's received well, I'll probably work on it as much as TF. Anyway, enjoy.
With a gasp, Link awoke from his nightmare strewn sleep to hear Iron Maiden's "The Trooper" blaring loudly from his iHome, which was on the top of his dresser on the other side of the room. He lay in the sweat-soaked sheets of his full-sized bed for several minutes, watching the fan spin lazily overhead and trying to get his breathing under control.
It was the same nightmare that haunted his sleep each and every night. He never remembered what it was, except that he always had it, and always left him with a sense of loneliness and despair, knowing that there would be no one beside him to offer comfort.
The twenty-one year old sighed bitterly as he swung his legs over the side and sat at the edge of the bed. It had been two months since he had moved to New York straight from college, and the only job he could get was at some museum working night security shifts on the weekends. It was a boring job, and the pay was only slightly above minimum wage, but it was all he had available.
He smiled in bleak amusement. Five minutes out of bed and already depressed. It was a personal record for him. Usually, it took six minutes to get this depressed. He brushed the golden locks out from in front of his blood shot, cobalt eyes, and sighed once more.
He rose from his seat on the bed and crossed the brown shag of a carpet to the bathroom door before stepping inside. He quickly stripped out of his flannel pajama bottoms and white Hanes t-shirt and stepped into the shower.
He turned the shower to its hottest setting and leaned his head against the tile of the shower, letting the hot water flow over his broad shoulders and down his back.
What am I going to do today? he wondered silently to himself.
He had just gotten paid, and he had taken care of all the bills for this month, including groceries. He had bought enough TV dinners to last him for the rest of September, as well as for some of October. But he had most of what he wanted, and he wasn't the type to spend money just for the sake of spending money.
He began to lather his hair, still lost in his thoughts. He didn't have any money for gas, so going out somewhere was out of the question. His friend Sheik was still out of town, visiting his grandmother in Albany. His ex, Saria, with whom he was still friends, was having a romantic weekend with her boyfriend, Mido, in Vermont somewhere. He had other people he could hang out with, he supposed, but most of them were either extremely annoying or had a crush on him, which made him uncomfortable. He never liked hurting people's feelings, but it still felt odd to have someone stare at you all the time.
He rinsed out his hair and rather forlornly concluded that it was going to be another lonely evening at the bachelor pad watching TV and listening to heavy metal. What fun.
He turned off the shower and toweled off before going back to his bedroom. After much thought, he finally decided on dark Levi's and a black Disturbed t-shirt. He dressed quickly and walked to the kitchen.
Looking into the fridge, he winced. The only thing there was half a gallon of expired milk and some muffins he had baked a week ago. He took the muffins out of the fridge and noted that a few were missing.
Ilia must've gotten into them again, he thought wryly to himself as he placed a blueberry one on a plate to warm up. His friend Ilia, one of those who had a crush on him, absolutely loved his muffins and stole them whenever she had the chance.
"Whatever keeps her off drugs," he said to the empty apartment. He took the silence as a sign of agreement.
Thoughts of Ilia made him feel somewhat better. She was kind of dumb, but her happy and carefree attitude was infectious. He even hummed " Down With The Sickness" as he munched on his muffin, which he would never do normally. He loved music, but he couldn't carry a tune in a airtight canister. So, for the sake of others, he usually never indulged his musical urges.
After breakfast, Link wandered into the living room and plopped onto the second-hand black couch and turned on the TV. He flipped through the channels, bypassing anything that had to do with politics, the news, or Brittney Spears. He eventually settled on a Comedy Central stand-up special and spent the next two hours laughing his ass off at the wit and wisdom of Carlos Mencia.
As the day dragged on, the loneliness eventually drove Link back to his depression. He wandered throughout the apartment, which didn't take him long, considering it only had three rooms. That didn't stop him from wandering, though.
He eventually decided that maybe some fresh air and a walk around the block could help. As he stepped out his front door, something odd made him stop in his tracks. The door to the apartment across from his own, the apartment that hadn't been rented since he had arrived in New York, was open.
He was about to enter to investigate when the voice of a woman stopped him.
" Excuse me, sir, may I help you?" the voice said.
" I'm sorry, it was just-" he began as he turned around to face the owner of the voice. What he saw stunned him. She was about five feet, six inches tall and had lovely blonde hair that fell to the middle of her back. She was dressed in a pink, ruffled top with khaki pants, and carried a large suitcase.
She was also the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. Her face was heart-shaped with delicate, pale skin with full lips and the most brilliant violet eyes he had ever seen. She arched an eyebrow at his sudden silence.
" You were saying?" she urged him gently.
" Sorry," he apologized, "Anyway, it's been awhile since this apartment's been rented, so I was just checking to see what was going on."
" Well, you found out," she said, smiling a beautiful white smile at him, " I'm moving in. Do you live nearby?"
" Yep," he said, smiling back at her, his depression mysteriously evaporated, " Just right across the hall. Do you need help moving?"
" I don't know," she said shyly, " I wouldn't want to bother you."
" It's no bother," he assured her.
" Would you mind, then? I don't know anybody here in New York, and I had a lot of furniture that would have been difficult for me to move by myself. The movers brought it in, but they just randomly placed them."
" I would love to help," he said.
" I feel bad, though," she said, " I don't want to take advantage of your kindness."
" Well, if it bothers you, having dinner with you sometime would be ample payment," he said, smiling easily. She smiled back.
" I'm sorry, but I never caught your name," she said gently.
" Oh," he said, embarrassed. He stuck out his hand, " The name's Link." She took his hand lightly in one of hers.
" Link," she said, " It would be a pleasure having dinner with you. Oh, by the way, my name is Zelda."
A/N: Wow, that was better than I thought it would be. Anyway, R&R.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything besides my ideas. Sorry.
