The last class Zelda had that week was ASL with Link. Given that they were both more than proficient, they found themselves laughing at each other's deliberate mistakes to keep their cover. Occasionally, Link would 'mistake' a word for an obscenity to see Mrs. Uli's mortified reaction before correcting him. The entire experience was an inside joke between them. And when Mrs. Uli turned around, they would carefully sign to each other, careful to be quick and sloppy, lest they get caught.

That was Link's favorite class to listen to music, she noticed. He'd stopped wearing his headphones in their Chemistry class, though it was perhaps because they were constantly talking, much to the annoyance of Revali. It had gotten to the point where Revali had deliberately caught the teacher's attention just try to get them caught.

His annoyance with the entire situation was growing, especially as Link and Zelda became more public with their affections over the course of the week. They stood together, held hands, and had begun eating lunch together some days. Other days, Ruto and Darunia could still tolerate her presence.

Makeela was awkward around Link, fighting desperately for any thread of a conversation she could cling to with him. It left their conversations primarily centering around Moonlight Howl, which was currently their only commonality besides Zelda.

Ilia hadn't been to school for the beginning of the week, but when she'd returned, she had mastered the art of small-talking Zelda. They hadn't gotten to much more than that yet, though. But both she and Makeela were trying, and Link and Zelda appreciated that more than anything.

So when the bell finally rang, signiling not only the weekend, but the long weekend without school on Monday, Link hurried over to Zelda's desk, sliding across several until he stopped in front of her. She laughed and hit his leg with her notebook. "You knocked over my pen."

He looked around on the ground and spotted it. He hopped off the desk to grab it, and Zelda paused to allow herself an unobstructed, unabashed view as he bent down to grab it.

If he noticed, he didn't say anything when he turned back around to place the pen directly into her hand, their skin unnecessarily brushing against one another.

"I have to bolt out of here for work, but I wanted to see if you were still good for Sunday?"

For Moonlight Howl.

"Yeah! And you can invite Pipit, you know?"

But Link shot her a mischievously flirty look. "I don't know, Zel, I like being alone with you."

"Shut up," she laughed, unable to stop the red from creeping up her neck. "You're selfishly depriving Pipit of a large television."

Her words were all humor, and Link smiled in return, crooked, self-assured. For one moment, he'd managed to put his awkward bumbling around her aside. "It's not selfish if you enjoy it too."

Zelda nearly choked on her words, feeling her stomach flip and her heart flutter in the wildest ways. She nudged him off her desk so they could walk back to their lockers, trying to remain outwardly calm. "You're awfully confident today, Link."

"Working on it," he muttered, back to his own blushing.

She grabbed his arm before walking to her locker. "It's going well."

"How well?"

She turned around to give him a look, but he kept his back to her as he dug through his locker. "Very. Why?"

He finally glanced behind him and she could see him struggling for words. "No reason."

"Hrmm," she mumbled, returning her attention to her own locker. "I need to find something to do later, and it's getting too cold to just hang outside. Maybe I'll take up knitting?"

"Why do you need to take up knitting today?" he asked, grabbing the books he'd need for the weekend from his locker and closing it to lean next to hers.

"Mom cancelled on me again. My parents are staying late to get more prep work done."

"Did you give them your research report on that company?"

Zelda smiled at him. "I did. They liked it. They didn't need it though."

"I'm sorry," he whispered, taking her hand, tugging her lightly to walk with him to the door. He knew she was in no rush to grab her bag. "If you want, you can come eat with Aryll and I tonight. She's making… something. We can just add another plate."

"I don't want to inconvenience her," Zelda said, pushing through the next set of swinging doors.

"Please, she's never inconvenienced. Text me if you want to come, okay? The offer is open."

"Okay, I'll let you know," she said, letting go of him as he waved and took off to the parking lot. Zelda went back to her locker to grab her bag, met halfway by Makeela.

"You need to send me pictures. I'm going to print them and cut them into little hearts. Have you taken any with him?"

"Not in a while," Zelda admitted, pointedly ignoring the heart comment.

Makeela had all her things, ready to go, but she kept up with Zelda walking further into the school before stopping at Zelda's locker. "Are you two really official? Because you look it. And you act it."

"I don't know. We haven't talked about it or anything. Do people even talk about it anymore?"

"Oh girl, do I look like I'm with anyone? I don't know what people do."

She pulled her backpack onto her shoulder and felt her phone vibrate. They both looked at the screen.

"Link?"

"Hey, I need to ask you a huge favor."

"Go for it."

"Can I have a ride to work? Someone messed with my tires. They're flat."

"Yeah, of course. I'm on my way out." She hung up and rolled her eyes. "Revali. It had to be."

Makeela kept pace, having heard the whole conversation. "Could have been Ravio too. They've been hanging out."

Zelda pushed open the door to outside, seeing Link leaning on her car. She grabbed her keys. "Let me know if you hear anything, Makeela!"

"I will!"

And Zelda was in front of Link's motorcycle, looking at the flat wheels pressed into the ground. "That asshole."

"It's fine. I'll just see if Gabe can bring it to the shop."

When they'd gotten into the car, Zelda glanced at Link. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be."

"Want me to try to talk to him?"

Link scoffed. "Not on my account. If you want to thou—"

"No," she said hastily, pulling out into the street. "I would love to never talk to him again."

Link leaned his arm against the window. "He really fucked up, didn't he?"

"He did," she agreed. "He used something against me that I told him privately. The only other person who knows is Makeela. It's… it's about Rav."

He could see that she didn't want to go into it. He leaned comfortably against his knuckles as he watched her. "You know, I think that's the first time I ever heard you swear. Was it? I can't remember now."

Zelda laughed. "I do know how, Link. I just don't often. Maybe you're rubbing off on me."

Smirking, he turned to face the window again. "Interesting. I have some fucking influence."

"Subliminal messaging won't work on me, Link."

He snorted hard. "What's my subliminal message, Zelda? 'Fucking?'"

"Yes!" And as the word really reached her ears, she realized it's double meaning. "Oh Goddess Hylia! No! That's not what I meant!"

Zelda had never been more thankful to be at a red light in all her life. She faceplanted the top of her steering wheel, determined not to look at Link as he cackled into his palm, attempting to remain composed, but failing miserably. And she kind of wanted to throw up in absolute self-embarrassment.

What made it worse was that after saying it, that thought was now the only thing banging around in her mind.

"I meant…" she choked out, "the adjective… not the verb."

Link couldn't look at her. It was a physical impossibility for him to even look in her direction at that moment. "I figured that's what you meant."

"Yeah," she muttered. "I'm going to put the radio on now so I don't keep talking."

And as much as she loved Link's company, she was more than happy to kick him out of her car so she could either breathe or scream, she wasn't sure which.

"Link!" she called when he stepped out of the car.

He leaned through the window, finally able to look at her. "Yes?"

Zelda closed her eyes before opening them. "Are you sure your sister wouldn't mind an intruder?"

Link bit his lip, trying to hold back an excited smile as he shook his head. "No. She wouldn't mind."

"Do you need a ride home? Or should I just show up at your house at some undetermined time?"

He tapped his fingers on the inside of the car. "Do you want me to text you, or you want to come inside for a little bit while I ask Gabe about my bike?"

Apparently, Zelda loved the feeling of internal mental torture as she shut off her car and went inside with him. She did not need to add a visual of Link working on something in the shop to her already preoccupied mind.

She stood in the doorway as Link hurried over to Gabe to explain his situation, and she caught Gabe looking over at her several times.

"Zelda. Good to see you again," Pipit signed as he moved in front of her.

"Hey. Are you feeling better? Link said you were sick."

Pipit smirked, glancing briefly at Link. "I am, thank you. What brings you around?"

Zelda hesitated. "Has Link been telling you about anything… interesting at our school?"

"Oh, I hear quite a few things. Are you specifically talking about the bird-brain he said has been annoying you this week?"

Her hands froze as she realized something. Link talked about her to his best friend. And sure, she figured she might have come up, much like how Link comes up in her conversations with Makeela, she felt her chest tighten at the thought that maybe some of Link's conversations with Pipit about her were as interesting as the ones she had with Makeela about Link. Because otherwise, a former friend gossiping about her wasn't exactly news you randomly tell someone who isn't invested in either party.

She nodded before turning to Link. He was leaning against the frame of a car, toying with a spare part in his hand.

"Well, that guy did something to Link's tires, so I gave him a ride today."

Link walked back over to them, still fiddling with the metal thing in his hand, which he put into his back pocket so he could sign. "Sorry to interrupt." He turned to Zelda. "What time do you want to eat?" He knew she usually ate around six, and he often ate closer to seven. With half his attention on Pipit, his hands moved almost of their own accord. "I asked her to eat at my house tonight," he said, quickly explaining.

"You two are going on a date to Link's? You should go to The Cucco's Nest."

Date.

Both Link and Zelda looked at each other. "Is this…?" she asked, hesitating. She didn't want to make things weird if he wasn't on the same page.

But Link cleared his throat and pulled at the hair on his neck, completely forgetting to translate for Pipit. "Um, my sister will be there, so…"

"Right," she muttered, admittedly disappointed.

"Yeah." He was breathing heavily, nerves around her kicking into overdrive. Gone was the confident flirt, and the boy with the crush took over. And he did everything he mentally could to have his mind meet somewhere in the middle. His lips moved several times without sound coming out until his words finally caught up. "But… we have a long weekend. Would you want to go on a real date with me? The Cucco's Nest, maybe?" he laughed, blushing. "Or somewhere else. Or not at all. You know, Pipit said it but if—"

"Link!" Zelda interrupted, laughing as well. "Stop! Yes! I would like that."

"Yeah?" he asked, like he wasn't sure he'd heard her correctly.

"Yes."

And she smiled. And gods, Link couldn't help but return it, relieved and—dare he think it—happy.

"Okay. Good. Yeah. I'll… umm… I can pick you up? You've been wanting to see me drive a car, and I've got my sister's."

"I can drive us so you don't need to borrow her car."

But he shook his head. "I'm going to take you up on that ride home today, so let me drive tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Is that when our date is?"

He fucking hated himself as he turned red again. "I didn't mean… it doesn't have to be. Are we… still hanging out on Sunday?"

And with that, Zelda realized just how often she could potentially see Link this weekend. She didn't want to push him to be with her every day… but she also wanted to be with him. And that was too difficult for her to decide on her own internally.

"Maybe… maybe we can just figure that out tonight? Figure out tomorrow or Sunday, I mean."

"Yeah. We can do that," he said.

He felt a sharp hit on his arm. "What's happening?" Pipit asked, having been left out suddenly from the conversation.

"We're planning a date. Thanks."

Zelda suddenly remembered Pipit, and chastised herself, fumbling to sign correctly as her heartbeat so hard her hands shook. "What time am I picking you up from work?" she asked, not sure if her hands were making the right words but trying to keep up anyway."

Pipit got their attention. "He's leaving at 5:30pm. I'm taking the rest of his shift as a thank you for covering for me when I was sick."

Link smirked, an almost unnoticeable 'thank you' passing from Link to Pipit.

"Okay," Zelda said, looking at the clock. "I'll be back then. And we can finish all the details."

"Okay."

"Okay," she laughed, waving as she headed back to her car.

And when she was gone, Link ran his hands across his face and through his hair, clapping Pipit on the back excitedly.

Gabe was leaning on the car he'd been working on, his arms crossed and watching. But he lowered his arms to sign as he spoke so Pipit wasn't left out. "Does this mean you're going to talk about her more or less?"

Link pulled the gadget from his back pocket and tossed it lightly at Gabe. "Shut up."

And letting out a deep breath, he shook his head, suddenly riddled with nerves. He was going on a date with Zelda. With Zelda. Zelda wanted to go on a date with him.

How long had it been since he'd gone on a date with someone he actually wanted to be with? He'd been a delinquent last time. And since then, he hadn't found anyone he wanted to be with. Until Zelda.

And that raised the stakes to a level that had him nearly in a full-fledged panic. Because if he screwed it up, he'd not only lose any chance with her, he's lose a damn good friend too.

Reviews: Djfede310: You're not alone! Me too! Oracle of Hylia: I think we're all thinking it! Zelda too! HAHAH! AndrewPixelKnight: Thank you! Much appreciated! I wanted it to be a transition, so I'm glad it was! Cak3zz: At the moment, I'm posting daily at about 10pm EST. Don't worry, you're not pressuring me! I pressure me, but that's totally acceptable lol! I think it was a great first review and thanks for taking the time to leave it 3