A/N: Because I have this rated T, I just want to put a heads up here that there's bullying in this chapter, so just proceed with that knowledge.

Every Wednesday, Zelda's math teacher would say "Happy Hump Day" and then laugh to himself before starting the class with a review. This particular Wednesday had everyone on edge because Monday was a professional day off, so teachers were cramming the remnants of knowledge into their students for tests and quizzes on Friday. It was like a miniature vacation that ended out the month and signaled a transition into midterm prep.

That day, Zelda intentionally flubbed her ASL presentation, and she hastily finished her practice chemistry quiz for the big one on Friday, beating even Link—with a triumphant smirk in his direction for good measure.

It was a study day, not gym, so Zelda sat with Link, splitting the class between getting all their homework done, and playing several games of tic-tac-toe, which Zelda amusingly found that Link couldn't win no matter how many rounds they played.

She'd even caught Mrs. Joy's attention in the hall, a shocked look cast over her face when she saw Zelda.

"Ms. Harkinian?"

Zelda looked over and put her hands into her pockets… her uniform pants pockets.

"Yes?"

Mrs. Joy looked like she was going to say something more, but she shook her head. Nothing against the dress code, just a surprise. A change that she hadn't expected at all. Zelda hadn't even realized she still owned the uniform pants that she hadn't worn since sophomore year.

"Nothing; never mind. Have a good lunch."

It had been a good day.

And then lunch came around.

Zelda and Makeela were loitering near Zelda's books, while Link and Ilia were at her locker, Link like a butler with all Ilia's things. The four of them met up and went to the table, sat down, and had their lunch.

It was normal. It was fun, even.

Until Zelda's phone buzzed across the table. She grabbed it, hesitant at the unknown number that flashed across the screen, and quickly swiped open the text.

And she nearly dropped the phone as quickly as she picked it up.

"Zelda?" Makeela asked, her eyes darting quickly to the phone and her face. "Do you need a pill? Water? What just happened?"

Zelda's hand covered her mouth, unable to speak.

"Zelda! Are your parents okay? Did someone die?"

She shook her head and pushed her phone toward Makeela, who hastily unlocked it.

Link and Ilia watched like Makeela was a show on television. A horror show. Her mouth dropped, and she immediately scanned the cafeteria, standing up so she could get a better look. Zelda pulled her back down.

"What is it?" Ilia asked. Link's attention was on Zelda.

Makeela glanced at Zelda first, silently asking for permission to hand the phone over. Ilia took it when she nodded, and she held it so she and Link could see.

It was a picture of Zelda in the dressing room last night at rehearsal, just a bra and some tights with spandex shorts over them, holding the costume corset in her hands. And below it:

Break up with your boyfriend during lunch or this goes out to everyone in our phones.

"What the fuck?" Link spun around, looking for Revali, but all he could see was Ruto and Ravio. And they were watching Zelda with smug expressions plastered on their faces. He could feel Ilia's hand on his arm, stopping him before his brain could even register 'get up.'

"Zelda," he said, letting go of the phone like it were physically injuring him. "It's okay. Just do it. Don't even worry about me. Just do it and then we'll fix this."

"No," she muttered, though it was a bit strangled as she wiped a tear away.

Link ran a hand through his hair and had to physically grab the edge of the table to restrain himself from doing anything. He couldn't comfort her; if he did, he'd break and storm over to the nearby table. Everything screamed that he wanted to put Ravio straight through it. But he couldn't storm over to the table; he'd very publicly assault someone if he did. He had to do nothing. And it was far more difficult than he thought.

"Zel, I'll go over your house right after school. It doesn't' need to be real. Just… you can do it just stop this picture from going out."

Ilia put a hand on his shoulder when she saw his vice grip on the edge of the table.

Zelda was just short of hyperventilating the longer she stared at the phone, so she grabbed it, locked it, and put it in her pocket. "Stand up, Link," she managed.

Shakily, he rose up, facing her, hands in his pockets, as mentally prepared as he could be.

But not quite prepared enough, it seemed, when he found her lips hard against his, holding little back despite their audience.

His hand hurriedly went to her waist, initially to push her off of him, for her own sake, but he felt her tear on his cheek and lost another fraction of the control he was trying to hold on to, grabbing her too tightly as he held her close, his fingers digging into her side just too roughly, though she didn't complain.

She finally pulled away and let out a breath that was shallow as another tear fell. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words caught in her throat and it came out as a sob; she blocked her nose to stop the sound. After blinking several times, Zelda shook her head, refusing to say anything. Then she turned defiantly to where Ruto and Ravio were watching with abhorrently surprised faces, fully expecting something else. Zelda met their stares with everything she could manage, no matter the burning shame, and the flaming rage she was feeling. But worst of all was the embarrassment that was mixed with disappointing sadness. She'd thought Ruto had begun to turn around. She'd thought Ravio had forgotten about her. She'd thought Revali had been her friend. But none of it was true. And she felt stupid for believing any of it.

"I just can't be in here when it happens," she gasped, pulling Makeela with her out of the cafeteria, leaving Link and Ilia stunned in place.

Ilia recovered first and grabbed Link's arm, pulling him by the sleeve. "No, no standing here; we're following them! Let's go!"

During second lunch, the hallways were always empty. So, when Link saw Revali leaning against his locker, arms crossed and on his phone, more of that carefully cultivated control was torn away.

Link could see Zelda's gaze bore into him, silent and deadly. And Revali… smirked.

"Nice picture," he said. Makeela all but lunged at Revali, but Zelda caught her arm and pushed Makeela towards the bathroom, slamming the door behind them.

And that comment was enough to shred the rest of the control Link felt. "Ilia," he hissed as they neared Revali. "Do me a favor."

"I'm on it," she said, not needing him to elaborate, her face burning with her own rage, despite not being incredibly close to Zelda. It was an uncalled for move against anyone, but thanks to Link, it was personal. "Go ahead."

As they were about to pass Revali and his smug expression, Link grabbed Revali by the collar and dragged him through the doors leading out of the hallway into an empty stairwell before pinning him hard against the wall with the side of his arm.

Ilia stayed in the hallway, grabbing her phone and looking as if she were bored, guarding the door.

"What the fuck, you psychotic criminal?" Revali squawked, managing to just keep his head from slamming into the brick wall.

"Well, I'm not the only one, am I?" Link asked in a cool, threatening voice. The fact that he hadn't already punched Revali in the face was a testament to his willpower.

"Are you talking about me?" Revali laughed. "Go ahead, punch me. Push me just a little harder. I'll put your ass back into prison faster than you can call your lawyer."

Link pushed him into the wall a little harder, earning a choked noise of panic from Revali. "Good. Then I'll be there to meet you when you join me. And you won't have any fucking rules to protect you then."

"What are you talking about?" Revali asked, though his voice shook for a moment, genuinely frightened by whatever he could see in Link's eyes.

"Are you that dense that you think blackmail and sexual harassment are legal? I only wish I'd get the chance to watch Zelda's father pay the big bucks to get your scrawny ass thrown in jail. You think he'd spare any expense? He doesn't want me talking to her, and I haven't done a damned thing in years. What do you think he'll do to you? And her mother? Gods, I'd hate to be on the receiving end of that double team. But like you said, I'll be in jail after this, won't I? And then you and I can share a cell and you can tell me all about how it went."

Revali was either incredibly brave, incredibly stupid, or a dangerous combination of the two. "You don't scare me. Her parents don't scare me. And she sure as hell doesn't scare me. You don't know her, do you? You don't know what a w—"

Link had many skills. And one of them came from years of anger problems in his youth. He'd perfected the art of not breaking bones in his hand when he hit a wall. Though, in the past it hadn't been carefully controlled, and the lesson had been learned through a couple of broken bones. And he employed that former skill into the brick just beside Revali's head, letting his knuckles come back bleeding, but otherwise intact. Revali gasped, his eyes slamming shut, his chest rising and falling at a very rapid pace.

"Finish that thought, and next time, that'll be you," Link warned, flashing his bloody hand in front of Revali.

Revali shook, but he managed to open his eyes and keep them level with Link's. "There's evidence that you assaulted me now. My lawyers will believe me."

Link laughed darkly. "Clearly, and though I don't know how, you've never been punched in the face. Show me yourbruise, idiot. Show me your broken face, actually, because that's what that hit would have done to you."

"Zeld—"

"Be careful what you say next," Link said, his voice a low grumble. He glanced toward Ilia. She still hadn't moved, so he knew he had more time.

Revali took a steadying breath. "We were never going to send the picture. Just wanted to see her break up with you in public. You can even look at my phone. None of us sent the picture."

Link scoffed, pushing him harder still into the wall. "Fucking pervert. It's just on your phone?" Link heard something from the other side of the wall and stopped talking, letting the broken noise sit between them. It was Zelda in the bathroom, crying.

Revali finally had to look away from Link.

"You know you did that, right?" Link asked, adjusting his grip.

"Ruto took the picture at the costume fitting, not me."

"I don't care which of you motherfuckers took the gods-damned picture. You still did that to her." Link relaxed a little bit, giving Revali a little more physical slack. "You know, she used to defend all of you to me? You especially. She'd talk about how good you were, and that I just met you at the wrong time, or you were just having a bad day because you were so good, and one of her closest friends. She told me about Ravio, and what he's spreading around, so if that's the message that's going to be getting around with this picture, I think it's time you stop it. Because if there's one thing I've learned about Zelda, it's that she sees the good in people when no one else does. Like me. Like you at one point. So youfix this mess, and prove that you're even remotely worth the credit she gave you, or next time, you and I won't be talking at school. Okay?"

"Fuck you," Revali muttered, weak and without vigor. It was simply a reply.

Link tightened his grip one more time, leaning in so he could whisper, low, threatening, nearly a growl. "She means the world to me, so if you fuck with her one more time, we will have real problems. She's strong enough to deal with your bullshit, but I'm not, so don't test my patience again. You can't even get away from this wall, so you know which of us will win. Why don't you go talk to your friends right now? I think they could use a pep talk from you before I have to give them one."

"You're all talk," Revali muttered, though it was clearly a defense. His voice was shaking, and his eyes were glued to Link's tense muscles, the fist at his side.

"You don't know why I was arrested then, do you?" Though Link realized it might have been a little more fun on his end, he cracked his knuckles into Revali's ear for good measure. "Assault. So go talk to them. And if you can't get them to back off… I don't even know what could happen. But I wouldn't want to find out. And I know I'm not the only one who wants to hurt every one of you. I think I'd have Makeela in my corner. And better yet… Zelda. Because damn, she's got some pent-up rage. I wonder who caused it?"

"I'm in class. I'll talk to them after school."

"No, I don't think you are in class. You're with me under a stairwell. And unless you want to be with me in a jailcell, I think you should go stop this from getting out of control."

There was a knock on the door from Ilia, and Link let go of Revali, pushing away from him.

"You have one shot," Link warned, taking a step back, letting Revali have a clear line to the door. "Don't waste it."

Without looking back at Link, Revali smoothed out his uniform and pushed his way through the doors. Ilia squeezed through before they could close.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing," Link muttered, hiding his bloody hand. "Mind doing one more favor?"

"Of course not."

"Check on Zelda?"

Ilia nodded and they both headed into the hallway before Ilia went into the girl's room. Link waited, watching the hall start to fill with more people coming from lunch to their lockers.

And less than a minute later, Zelda, Makeela, and Ilia came through the door. Zelda crashed into Link, wrapping her arms around him. She wasn't crying anymore, and she held on to him, clutching at the fabric of his shirt just to have something to hold because she needed something more than just his returning embrace.

"I want to go home," Zelda admitted, looking longingly at the doors.

Link nodded into her. "Want all of us to skip class and eat Frozen Zora's Ice Cream at Dorephan's with you?"

"So specific," Zelda chuckled, letting go but staying close to him. "No, I'm going to stay. I want to go home, but I'm going to stay so they do think they got to me. I might take you up on that after school though."

"Link!" Makeela balked, seeing his hand.

"What?" Zelda asked, pulling away and following Makeela's gaze. "Oh gods, what did you do to Revali?"

"I don't hit him, I swear," Link said quickly and defensively. I just had a talk with him."

"A talk?"

"A very polite talk."

"Is it a talk you'd have with my parents?"

Link choked out a sound and bit his lip, which earned a small smile from Zelda, a shimmer of life returning to her red, puffy eyes.

And it was enough to break him in the best possible way.

He caught himself before he could accidently blurt out three words he was almost positive he'd never uttered in his life. Perhaps at one point when he was learning to talk, his mother or father had said them to him and he'd returned them before he knew what they meant. If he'd known then, he'd have stopped himself from wasting such a precious sentiment on people like that. He couldn't remember ever saying them to his sister, no matter how true they were. Perhaps he should try. But even then, those same words were so different directed at Zelda.

He wanted to shake her. She apologized too often, worried about others, and broke her phone more often than a priest broke bread. No matter how hard she tried, she was influenced by the negativity others projected at her. She believed Mrs. Joy, she believed Revali, Ruto, and Ravio. She was stuck in her own head, unable to see the same thing he saw every time he looked at her; formal dress, funny costume, uniform, sweatshirt, makeup, streaked tears, clean-faced, it didn't matter: she was beautiful. More than that, if he'd never met her in person and never seen a picture, if he'd only ever spoken to her, she was just as beautiful. It wasn't just her appearance… it was her.

She was strong. And despite being affected by others', she still did what she wanted because she knew herself. And she could read others like a book, always knowing what to say or how to react. She was smart, capable, ambitious, funny, and gods, he wanted to do any and everything for her, with her, around her… he didn't care. As long as she was there.

And that was why he had to stop the words from spilling out.

It was so foreign but so strong. And in some ways, he wasn't even sure what it was. How was he to know, if he had nothing to compare it to?

"If you can't say it to my parents," she said, interrupting his thoughts, "then it wasn't polite." She ran her thumb over one of his knuckles and watched him flinch. "Link… go clean this or something."

"I'm fine."

"You're being an annoying tough guy. Go clean you hand so you don't die of dysentery or something."

He made a face, stifling a raucous burst of laughter from spilling over his lips. "Dysentery? You're joking, right?"

"Listen, Link," she laughed, pushing him towards the bathroom, "I used to get everyone in my game killed by dysentery, so it's dangerous. That's all that matters. Go."

Part of Link's chuckle escaped him. "Sending me to the restroom before I die of dysentery. How appropriate."

He looked quickly at Ilia and Makeela before leaning into Zelda, meeting Zelda's lips in a kiss. He grabbed Zelda's waist and spun them so his back was blocking the view of their onlookers. Zelda laughed against him but didn't pull away, instead, playfully making loud smacking sounds with their lips that had Link laughing this time. He pulled away and placed one more kiss on her temple before pulling her into a tight hug.

"You're incredible, you know that?" he whispered for only her to hear.

She didn't have a chance to respond when he ran his clean hand through his hair and gestured down the hall. "Sorry, I have to go clean this so I don't get dysentery."

"Don't make fun of me!" she laughed as he walked backwards down the hall, giving her a very judgmental look. She turned to Makeela and Ilia. "I meant sepsis, didn't I? Dysentery… I just blurted out, and I had to roll with it."

Makeela patted her arm. "He reacted well. I can see why you think you love him."

"Oh wait," Ilia muttered, as if she were an intruder to the conversation. "What did I miss?"

Zelda shrugged. "I don't know. Don't tell him. I… I just don't know. I feel something that I've never felt before. I don't know if that's what it is."

"I'm not going to say a word to him about you," Ilia promised.

Zelda let out a deep breath and glanced at the door. "I don't want to be around when everyone else comes back from lunch. I'm just going to go hang outside the classroom and hope no one says anything to me."

"I haven't gotten a text, and I'm in their phone," Makeela said promisingly.

Zelda nodded, not quite relieved. "Good. Then I'll see you later."

"Bye," they both chimed at once.

Then, Makeela turned to Ilia, mind turning rapidly. "Do you know if Link loves Zelda? Like, has he said it?"

Ilia chuckled. "You know, we don't actually talk about it, but I'm not opposed to putting my detective skills to the test and finding out."

"Good. You work your magic, and I'll work mine."

"What's your goal?" Ilia asked, looking far too excited for the new tasks.

"I'm going to try to convince her to tell Link, if you give me the go ahead that he's there too, or I'll stop her if you say he's not."

"Oh, I'm so on it! You have my number, right? I gave it to you at Zelda's?"

"Yes, but I haven't texted you… here," Makeela said, pulling out her phone. "Hi it's Makeela," she muttered as she typed, only to hear Ilia's phone ding a moment later. "There you go! Text me when you have word."

"On it, Ace!"

Makeela held out her fist, and Ilia bumped it. "Power team here."

"You know it!"

A/N: We got Link finally snapping! And I don't think he snaps too bad! I don't want to have him start a knife fight or anything, but I think we finally got a little bit of him unable to take much more of Revali's & Co.'s bull! Especially since what they did is, I'm almost 100% positive, ILLEGAL. Correct me if I'm wrong there. But I also remember when I was in high school and someone did this at our rival school, but it was with a picture they actually had to get developed at Walmart. So... the days have changed.

Also... Oregon Trail anyone? Dysentery? Am I the only one who couldn't survive that game?

Reviews: Oracle: I KNOW! He can try but we've got the dream team here!DK21 XcL: They're all to blame! They're all currently awful, tbh! Hello-world8467: hahahahah I can genuinely hear this review lol!