(Disclaimer: I do not own. I never will. Warnings: boyxboy, coarse language, and my definition of OOCness)

Link looked worriedly at Pit. He looked as if he was working on homework, pencil poised over paper, book opened and all, but he had a blank stare. Well, it wasn't quite a stare, those sky blue eyes would blink now and again, but Link got the feeling that Pit wasn't all there.

Abandoning his own pencil, Link brought up his hand and pushed it up under Pit's bangs, feeling his forehead. Hm. He brought it back to feel his own. Well, he didn't have a fever.

However, there was obviously something wrong with him, so Link resisted the urge to ask about the obvious. Instead, he chose to ask, "Pit, what's wrong?"

Pit half shrugged, not willing to talk about it.

Link, determined not to let the matter go, gently took the pencil from him and put it in the book. As soon as the pencil left his grasp, Pit flopped back onto his bed, practically spread-eagled, apparently not caring whether his books and papers were knocked off or not. Link carefully put all the loose papers into the book, closed it and set it aside on the desk. The blond then sat on the edge of the bed, near Pit's knee, and tentatively put his hand over one of Pit's, unsure whether the other would accept Link's presence or not.

After a tense moment, right before Link was going to withdraw his hand, Pit turned his over to face palm up and slowly, almost hesitantly, wrapped his fingers around Link's hand. Though Pit had done this, acknowledging and accepting Link's comfort, he still remained silent, and Link respected that. He was willing to wait however long it would take until Pit spoke.

He had come to figure that although Pit seemed very open and would never turn down a friend in need, he had trouble letting others in to let them soothe his own worries.

Pit sighed, throwing his free arm over his eyes. "I don't know what to feel anymore."

This startled Link, and he had to force himself to not physically jump in surprise. Gently, he asked, "About what?"

"This whole predicament."

Link didn't know what to say, so he kept silent.

Pit's fingers curled and uncurled, then curled again around Link's hand. "You know, I still feel like this is all my fault."

"It isn't, Pit."

"But it is!" Pit slid his arm so that it now covered his mouth so that he could glower at the ceiling. "If I hadn't said anything, none of this would be happening! Even…even if…if…I mean, everyone was aware of it, right? But I was like that stupid last proverbial straw that had to be placed on the poor proverbial camel and break its back! I didn't mean for it to happen…I…I wasn't thinking."

Link leaned over and used his free hand to wipe away Pit's tears. "It's not your fault," he repeated. "Ike's a stubborn person. Even if you hadn't said that, there would have been some other straw that would break his control."

Pit nearly whimpered. "Even so…if that's not my fault, what's going on right now is."

Honestly confused, Link let it show on his face. "What are you talking about?"

"You know how there's been a distance between them lately?"

Link silently nodded. He'd noticed, but didn't want to say anything.

"It's my fault. I told Ike that I thought that they should distance themselves, and he thought it was a good idea, so I told Marth later. Now I can't even talk to them both at the same time! When one walks in the other walks out, or he'll just turn around and leave. They won't even stay in the same room together! I'm glad it worked to keep them from fighting, but I feel wretched about it. I can't help but think that I somehow tricked myself into believing it was a good idea just so that I could distance him from Marth. And it feels wrong. I feel like I could've suggested something better, but I didn't even try. Because of what I said none of us can be together and just hang out, and it's just really awkward and tense." Pit choked out a sob. "I'm horrible."

Link gently pulled Pit up and allowed him to hug him tightly. Keeping one hand around Pit's, Link used the other hand to create soothing circles on Pit's back. "Why do you think that you purposely didn't search for other options?"

"It was the first thing that came to mind…and I just said it, without thinking of anything else." He took slow, deliberate breaths, trying to stem the flow of tears. "That and…Somewhere in the back of my mind, where I'm glad that the fighting's stopped…I just know that I wanted to separate them…I'm happy Ike's staying away from Marth." Pit pulled back to where he wasn't pressing his face into Link's shoulder, but wasn't quite far enough to break the embrace. "Now tell me if that doesn't sound wrong." He asked, looking down ashamedly.

Link gently pushed Pit's bangs out of his eyes. "You like him, huh?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Pit nodded anyway. Pit wanted to be childish and say. "You can't tell anyone, swear on it," but didn't feel the need to, trusting that Link already knew.

There was a moment of silence before Link blatantly said, "Don't feel bad."

Pit looked at him questioningly.

"Even though the way you put it makes it sound wrong, I don't think it is."

Pit frowned. "How can it not be? It's selfish."

Link smiled. "Ah, but I think it's the best for this kind of situation."

The frown stayed on Pit's face but his eyes were puzzled.

"Okay, so, if Marth was anything but hopelessly in love with Roy – which he is, whether he's willing to admit it or not – yeah, the way you're handling things would be wrong." Before Pit could agree – or protest, whichever he wanted – Link continued. "But. Since Marth is, there's no problem with what you're doing. I actually think your advice is the best Ike could take right now. Ike stands little to no chance in his struggle to win Marth over, but he's too proud or stubborn to give up."

"I still don't see how this makes me not as bad," Pit interrupted skeptically.

Link gently flicked him in the forehead. "Let me finish then. Since Ike won't give up on his own, you're helping him do that, whether either of you realize it or not. So while you may seem selfish, under these circumstances I think it's okay."

Pit stared at Link with wide eyes and sat there in silence. The way Link was speaking, and the way he was smiling, made him think that he knew more than he was letting on. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What do you know?"

Link just smiled wider. "I don't know anything."

"What's your inference then, oh great Link?" Pit asked, getting irritated by Link's sly smile despite himself.

"I think Ike likes you more than he knows."

Pit blinked, losing whatever irritation and skepticism he had, replacing it all with confusion. "What? Don't even joke about stuff like that, Link! It's already bad enough with him throwing all these dead hints around everywhere, but now you have to throw them at me too? I mean, he keeps giving these hints, or whatever, expects me to take it platonically, and still tries to win Marth over. I don't know whether to keep my feelings down or get hopeful or what anymore."

Link dropped his smile and his sea green eyes were dead serious, but gentle at the same time. "I don't think Ike's doing it on purpose. Like I said, he probably likes you more than he even knows himself. So he's unknowingly leading you on while he still stubbornly goes after Marth." Link shrugged slightly after a pause. "But don't think on that too much. I might be over thinking and over observing. I'm just saying it's a possibility." Contradicting his words however, Link grinned and said, "But why do you think he always goes to you for help?"

Pit rolled his eyes. "I don't know, 'cause you suck at it?" Pit smiled right after however, eyes conveying his thanks. He pulled back and leaned against the wall. "Hey, what about you?"

"Hm?"

"Well, you like Marth, right?"

Link leaned back as well and hummed in thought. "I've been thinking about that and I think it was just a mild attraction. I actually never seriously thought about acting on my feelings – even though I really was bothered about it for a while – and I think it's better this way."

Pit nodded lazily. Then he smiled as a thought occurred to him. "Is that girl Ruto still writing you?"

Link almost shuddered. He'd known her since elementary and she had been convinced they were meant to be together until they were old and gray from the moment she saw him. Link thought she was pretty and could be a decent person, but she was too clingy, possessive, and, more often then not, too stuck up for his taste. However, he regularly exchanged e-mails (he wasn't even sure when e-mailing her had become 'regular' anymore) with her anyway because they could actually hold a decent conversation; and since she had matured past the obnoxiously clingy level, he found he trusted her with just about everything. Link mentally brought himself back from the past. "Yeah," he finally replied.

"Does she know about the current drama?"

Link caught onto what Pit was trying to ask. "Mm. She thinks the same as you about the current situation."

Pit's eyes widened. "Really?"

"'Course." Link patted him on the head. "Now stop beating yourself up. Most other people would've told them the same thing."

"Thanks," Pit said. "Oh, and when I said you suck?"

"Yeah?"

"I lied," he answered, smiling.

Link laughed. "Okay."