I'm back! ...Again. Lol. Full a/n at the end, I just wanted to put a trigger warning at the beginning because the last section of this chapter (the section after Ashei and Midna talk at school) is about a bad physical interaction between Zelda and Pipit. Nothing explicit whatsoever, but it could trigger people with bad relationship or sexual trauma. I don't want to hurt anyone by accident.

Ambient teenage chatter filled the lunchroom. Ashei and Shad were talking idly when Groose's hands hit the table, causing both of their plastic lunch trays to rattle.

"Um, hello Groose," Shad said, straightening his tray's jolted contents.

"We should talk. About...the thing," said Groose. His amber eyes were alarmingly intense.

Shad scooted on the bench, making room. "Okay. We can talk."

Groose's eyes flashed at Ashei, who was watching the strange scene unfold quizzically. "Not around her."

"She can know about it. I trust her. She could help, too, if she wanted."

Groose looked Ashei up and down at Shad's words and then finally took a seat, still eyeing her suspiciously.

Shad turned to Ashei and filled her in on Groose's and his talk about Pipit and Karane. Her brow furrowed in concern. "Pipit—he wouldn't actually do that, would he?"

Shad said, "We don't know," at the same time Groose said, "Yes."

Ashei looked between them, still unsure of what to make of what she had just been told. "What makes you guys even think so? Just that Karane seems to like him?"

"Well, no," Shad began. He told her about what he had seen on the bus. After, Groose told her about what had happened in Link's basement with a few interjections from Shad to help clarify.

Ashei didn't like what she was hearing at all. She had always thought Pipit was a great guy. She didn't talk to him personally, but she had heard a lot of good things from other people, especially Zelda.

"But he hasn't done anything, yeah?" Ashei said.

"Not yet," Groose growled.

Ashei looked at Shad. She trusted him, and the look in his eyes told her that this was a legitimate problem. "What would you guys need my help with?"

"Groose and I are trying to, ah, steer this particular train onto a different course, if you will. I've been trying to bring the severity of Pipit's actions to his attention without being too obvious, and Groose has been keeping an eye on the two of them to make sure that they haven't crossed the line."

"How long has this been a thing?" she asked.

"'Bout a week," Groose answered. She nodded. She still had faith in Pipit. He would never cheat on Zelda.

...Right?

Ashei felt her confidence in Pipit crumbling. "Does Zelda know?"

Shad shook his head. "We thought it was best to not tell her unless it became a real problem. We didn't want to make her upset unnecessarily."

She glanced at Groose, whose nostrils flared hearing this. She guessed that he probably hadn't agreed to this very willingly.

"I want to help," Ashei said firmly. Since the sleepover at Zelda's, she, Ashei, and Midna had been talking a lot more. Ashei was used to having only guy friends, so having two girl friends was unfamiliar but surprisingly nice.

Shad gave her a small, satisfied smile. "I figured you would," he said.

Groose had warmed up to her as the three of them had talked. "Wanna be a spy with me?" he offered, grinning at her with an eyebrow cocked.

Ashei laughed. "If I'm needed, yeah."

Shad looked at her thoughtfully. "I think we may have the spying department covered. You would be most useful by staying close to Zelda and supporting her. She's too smart to not see Pipit pulling away from her."

Ashei agreed. Zelda barely talked about Pipit, and when he came up in conversation she seemed to drift away from the subject. She had to know something was up. "I'll be there for her. I'm glad you guys told me about this, yeah?"

Both boys nodded appreciatively as the bell signaled the end of the lunch period.

Link slammed the front door shut. He was so glad to finally be home and able to escape from everyone.

School had been a nightmare. The day had kicked off horribly when Mr. Kaepora paired Link up with Zelda for a group activity analyzing a Hyrulean myth about the entire kingdom being flooded until it was under the sea. Zelda had clearly been familiar with the story already, and Link had been forced to endure 45 minutes of her being an oblivious know-it-all. That was what annoyed him the very most about Zelda: she was completely unaware of how annoying she was. She couldn't see past her own perfection.

Then, during his lunch period, Malon had sat with him. This wasn't the problem; he was used to her sitting with him against his will by now. Today was especially bad because a meaty football player had followed her over today—Link suspected that it was intended to make him jealous—and she had spent the entire period obnoxiously flirting with both of them. Link just wanted to enjoy the cafeteria's tasteless mac and cheese in peace.

And then, he had been chosen to present his project to the class first by his biology teacher. It had gone miserably. Link liked watching other presentations first when he had to do a project because he had an idea of how to present to work off of. Today, he had to go in completely blind. And he bombed it.

He was yanking his boots off when Aryll appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. "Big brother?"

Uh oh. She only called him that when she wanted something. He didn't answer, pulling off his second boot and placing the pair by the door.

"Link?"

He straightened the row of shoes. Stalling.

"Link, please?"

He inhaled deeply and turned to her. "What do you need?" He kept his voice level.

Aryll was wringing her hands nervously. She could tell he was in a bad mood. "Um, well...I was just wondering if maybe you could help me with some homework…"

"Sure."

"Are you sure? You don't have to, I mean it's just a worksheet—"

"Aryll. It's fine. What else are big brothers good for?"

She smiled tentatively. "Absolutely nothing."

He followed her to the kitchen table, where a folder, calculator, papers, and a pencil looked as if they'd been thrown there from across the room. Ah shit, Link thought, it's math.

He picked up the worksheet warily. His sister's previous attempts to do the printed problems were evident all over the paper, albeit erased. He looked at the diagrams shown. It was all geometry, the math class that Link was taking now. Aryll, of course, was working at a simpler level.

"Okay," he said, taking a seat, "You know how to find the area of flat shapes, right?"

"Uhh, I can do like, a square and a rectangle. And triangles if they have the actual corner."

"'The actual corner'?"

"You know, like—" She made an L shape with her thumb and index finger. "—this."

Link nodded in understanding. "That's called a right angle, and if a triangle has one it's called a right triangle."

Aryll gave her homework a despondent look. "But there are no right triangles on the worksheet. There's some rectangles, but they're like, more complicated."

He looked at the sheet. The problem set up a problem where you find the area of a fake house plan. The outline of the house on the diagram was made up of a few different rectangles put together. If you found the area for each individually and then added each of the areas together, you'd get the answer. Simple enough.

However, trying to explain this to Aryll felt like he might as well have been spouting ancient Hylian for all she understood.

After five minutes, he felt his temper rising. His patience was thin on a good day. After ten minutes, he was fully shouting.

"ARYLL! It's not that fucking hard, just add them the fuck together!"

Her eyes sparkled with tears. She took the pencil and added up all of the lengths of the walls.

Link smacked a hand to his forehead. "Congrats, you figured out the perimeter. You're supposed to find the area."

His sister's tears turned to anger. "I don't even care anymore. I'll just get a zero." She glared at him.

Link stared at her. He shouldn't get angry with her. Rationally, he knew that. He struggled with math, too; his selfish act last year had been asking Zelda to help him pass his algebra final. It was torture.

He hated asking her for help. His hatred of her had peaked then. But what else could he have done? She was in his math class and was the best in the class by far. That, plus the fact that she lived less than a hundred yards away, made asking for her help the obvious right answer, regardless of his feelings.

Maybe that logic could be applied again…

"No, Aryll. You're not going to get a zero. I'm really sorry I yelled at you. Let me fix this." He left the kitchen and went back to the front door to get his boots.

Aryll jumped up and followed him. "Where are you going?"

He shoved his boots on, not bothering to tie the laces. "To get you real help."

"Oh goddesses, no. Please. I can struggle through it on my own," she pleaded.

Link stood and put a hand on each of her shoulders. "Aryll. You need help. It's ok to need help."

She looked skeptical.

He sighed. "Look, I hate getting help. So, so much. It makes me feel like a failure. But I still know that it's important! You don't have to like it, you just have to accept it. Now, I'll be right back."

She bowed her head. "Okay. I trust you." After a moment, she added, "Thank you."

Link hugged her. Then, he left through the front door and walked around to the back of the house. He would have just gone through the house to the back door, but his grandma would have had an aneurysm if he traipsed through the house in still-wet boots.

He stared at the back of Zelda's house. Her close proximity to him didn't affect his life much, but sometimes knowing she was there annoyed him. Their houses were back to back on parallel streets, separated only by an old decaying fence that, as far as he knew, had been up since his grandmother had moved into this house decades ago.

He felt defeated as he hopped the fence over to Zelda's backyard. He had had his fill of her already today. He reminded himself that he was doing this for Aryll, and then trudged forward through the snow.

He walked around to the front of her house and knocked on the door. It was amazing to him that on the very next street over was this house that looked like it came from a completely different universe than his own. The shutters were a light, clear blue, and impeccably clean. His shutters were a dingy red. He couldn't remember them ever being cleaned in his life. Even Zelda's door looked infinitely more expensive than his own. There was a golden knocker on the door, shaped to look like a regal bird. At Link's door, the only thing that could be considered a knocker was the person knocking.

After a moment, the door opened and a fierce-looking woman stared at him. She was at least three inches taller than him and half a foot broader.

He recognized her. He called to mind a name he had heard Zelda use a few times. Impa.

"Hello, blond boy." Her voice was deep and gravelly, though not unkind.

"Hi, ma'am. I was wondering if I could talk to Zelda. My sister is—"

She turned away from him. "Zelda," she called to the house in general behind her. She didn't need to shout. Her voice commanded enough power in a speaking tone to be heard.

Link waited in awkward silence with Impa, who paid exactly zero attention to him after he had stated his business.

After a minute, Zelda appeared behind Impa. Impa gave her a warning look before disappearing back into the house. Zelda looked at Link in obvious shock. "Um, hello," she greeted him cautiously.

"Hi. Can you help me with something as a favor?"

She surveyed him cautiously before answering. "What do you need?"

Link explained Aryll's struggle to her. "You're good at math and explaining things. I tried to help her, but she just didn't get it. I was hoping you could try. You don't have to."

"No, of course I'll help. It's no problem at all," she said genuinely. Link didn't like the way she was earnestly looking into his eyes, just radiating goodness.

"Okay, well, thanks. She's waiting now."

Zelda nodded and then grabbed a pair of boots from a shoe rack on her left. She slipped them on quickly and stepped outside, shutting her grand front door behind her.

They walked to Link's house in silence, retracing the tracks he took on his way over. Aryll had her nose pressed against the glass sliding door on the back of the house. It made Link smile.

They went in through the back door, Aryll standing by eagerly.

Zelda introduced herself, and Aryll responded unceremoniously by stating, "I know who you are. I'm Aryll."

Zelda smiled, holding back a small laugh. Aryll was clearly nervous. She led Zelda to the kitchen timidly.

Link was about to follow when his phone buzzed in his pocket. It was Malon. Ugh.

It was just a wyd? text. Link sent back homework.

In the kitchen, Zelda was kneeling by Aryll's chair and was writing on a separate paper as she explained the process of breaking down the house into different rectangular rooms and finding the area of each individually. His sister's eyes almost popped out of her head when the problem finally clicked in her brain. Her excitement had both Link and Zelda laughing.

As they moved on to the next problem, Link's phone buzzed again. It was another text from Malon. He opened it, and it was a selfie with a text saying i wish i was homework ;).

He sighed deeply as he sat down on the battered couch in the living room. He so badly wanted to reply with something sarcastic like, what, you want to be annoying and ignored by most people? He restrained himself from doing so and instead sent back a random emoji that she could not possibly attribute meaning to.

Aryll's loud groan from the kitchen brought his attention back on her. "Why do I have to figure out how much carpeting this stupid house would need? Why is that my job?"

Zelda laughed again. "I wish I knew. But sadly, you're stuck with that job, so let's do it, okay?"

"Fine…"

Link audibly groaned when his phone buzzed on his lap again. Why was Malon so persistent? He wished he hadn't started any of this. Reluctantly, he opened the text and to his dismay found an invitation to come over.

He sighed and typed, can't. homework remember?

Her typing bubbles popped up instantly. after that, silly ;)

Ughhhhhh. He pulled himself up off the couch and went back into the kitchen.

"Aryll?" She didn't respond. She and Zelda were giggling about the type of carpeting Aryll should get for her weird math house. On his second attempt at getting her attention, she looked up at him.

"Wanna play video games tonight?" he asked.

Aryll narrowed her eyes at him. "Again? We've played so much video games lately."

Link crossed his arms and huffed. "Is it so wrong to want to play video games with my sister? My only direct family? Is it so wrong to want to have a good relationship?"

She saw right through him. "You need to stop using me to not hang out with that girl. It's getting reeeally obvious."

At this, Zelda looked up at him. She debated whether or not to ask for a moment, and then decided she couldn't resist. "Is she talking about Malon?"

"Yes, that's her name. Malon," Aryll said. "Link always goes—" She imitated a dramatic sigh. "—when she texts him."

Link looked at Zelda coldly. It was bad enough that she was here at all, but now she was butting into his life? He stayed silent, even though her question was directed at him.

She awkwardly looked away from him in the silence. "Um, okay," she said finally. "I was just confused because I thought you and Malon were, I dunno, a thing. I guess not."

Link rubbed his temples with a thumb and forefinger. "Do you want to play or not, Aryll?"

Aryll nodded. "Only to help you escape," she teased.

Link left the kitchen without another word. He opened his phone and texted back, sorry. made a promise to my sister and can't ditch her.

Zelda watched him leave, still confused. The way Malon talked about Link made it seem like he was completely under her thumb, but today...well, the only time Zelda saw Link seem so disinterested in someone was when he was talking to her. Maybe she should tell Malon? It seemed like the right thing to do as her friend, even if it would be hard to hear.

"Zelda?" Aryll was tapping her shoulder.

She blinked a few times. "Sorry. I spaced out a little. What do you need?"

The final bell rang. Midna entered the hallway as it flooded with students anxious to get home. Ashei had texted her asking to meet up because she wanted to "talk about something important." Her stomach felt like it had been tied into a knot. Surely Shad hadn't told Ashei?

She went down the steps to Ashei's locker on the first floor. She had to hold onto her school stuff tighter because her slick palms were causing it to slip in her arms.

Shad wouldn't have told her on purpose. Maybe it was an accident? Oh goddesses, what if Ashei could tell that she had a crush on her and was going to tell her to leave her alone? Midna didn't think she could bear it.

She could see Ashei's black braids as she gathered things from her locker. As she approached, she tried unsuccessfully to say a greeting. Her throat felt like it had dried and shriveled up.

Ashei shut her locker and saw Midna. Slinging her backpack onto her shoulder, she said, "Hey, thanks for meeting me. We can go to your locker as we talk, yeah?"

Midna nodded and turned back in the direction of her own locker. She was breathing so rapidly she was sure Ashei could hear her.

As they walked, Ashei looked around for anyone within earshot and then said in a low voice, "I was wondering if you could help with something? It's for Zelda."

The words registered in Midna's mind. Zelda. Helping Zelda. Not, "Please stay the fuck away from me, your gay feelings for me freak me out." She almost laughed as the relief washed over her. She was safe.

"What's up?" she asked, able to now that her vocal cords were functioning again.

Ashei sighed and furrowed her brow. "Well...yesterday at lunch Groose came up to me and Shad and asked to talk about something privately with Shad, and then Shad was like, 'Oh she can know about it,' and then Groose sat down and filled me in and—" She cut off abruptly and took a breath. "They think Pipit is gonna cheat on Zelda."

"What?" Midna's lip curled in disgust. "Why do they think that? With who? When?"

Ashei looked around again for eavesdroppers. "Karane. I don't know when, or if it's happened yet, or if it's even going to happen. We're just trying to make sure Pipit doesn't do anything stupid."

"Of course it's Karane. Of course. Zelda isn't stupid, she must know something is up. Does she know about this?"

Ashei shook her head. "No. Shad said they didn't want to hurt her for no reason by telling her. This could all be some big misunderstanding. I don't think Pipit would do anything."

"I do," Midna disagreed sternly. "I've never really liked him."

They stood in silence for a moment. Ashei looked at Midna. "They asked if I could help support Zelda through this. I wanted to tell you so you could help too."

"How are we supposed to support her through something she doesn't know about? We need to tell her."

"No. I'm with Shad; I don't want to make her feel hurt and ruin her relationship for no reason." Despite what she said, Midna didn't think Ashei was sure of this.

Midna sighed. "It doesn't matter. I'll help Zelda. Just tell me what she needs and I'll do it."

Zelda looked up from her English essay at her boyfriend, who was idly swiveling back and forth in her desk chair. They invited each other to do homework after school one or two times a week—though it was mostly Pipit messing around and Zelda doing homework.

She closed her laptop. "Whatcha doing?"

He held up his phone to her to show that he was mindlessly scrolling through some social media app.

"Wanna maybe...do something else?" she teased, hoping to get his attention.

He raised an eyebrow. "What, like you?"

"Pipit!" she scolded. Her eyes were wide with shock.

He got up and crossed her room to sit on the bed with her. "Calm down, Z. Geez."

Zelda hated it when he seemed exasperated by her. She just wasn't used to flirting with anyone, let alone so...overtly. She didn't like feeling so innocent. She decided she would have to get over it, though. She liked him very much, but lately, their relationship had seemed a bit one-sided. She would force herself to give more to Pipit so that he would keep liking her back. That couldn't be too hard, right?

She grabbed his hand that was resting on the bed and kissed the back lightly. Pipit stared at her. "Am I some elegant lady you're greeting at the ball or something?"

Zelda's cheeks warmed with embarrassment. She tried to remember all of the things Malon had talked about doing with Link. She would try imitating that. Maybe he would like it more.

She pushed his shoulders down lightly to indicate that she wanted him to lie down. He obeyed, looking at her with more interest now. She took a breath to calm her nerves and carefully climbed on top of him so she was straddling his hips. She put her hands on either side of his head and lowered herself down to him.

"Zelda…?" he almost whispered, clearly confused.

She kissed him lightly. When she pulled away and looked at him again, his eyes sparkled with anticipation. Good. He seemed to like her again. Even if it meant doing…whatever this was.

Before she could act again, his hands came up and pulled her face into his. Her eyes were wide with alarm. Pipit's were closed. He kissed her deeply, not breaking away for several seconds. When they did, Zelda tried to hide the fact that she needed to gasp for air. "Pipit—" she said, wanting to ask him to give her more warning next time, but she decided against it. She didn't want him to be annoyed with her again.

"Zelda…" He kissed her again. His hands were still holding her face tightly. She could feel her hair trapped under his grip sticking to her face uncomfortably. She tried not to let it distract her from kissing him back.

Zelda noticed something under where she was sitting...on Pipit's lap. She froze. Pipit looked at her quizzically. "Let's, um, let's sit up." Her stomach was twisting with discomfort, but she tried to keep her reaction internal.

Pipit didn't seem to notice. He obliged with a grin. After he sat up, Zelda tried to climb off of him, but he grabbed her hips and held her down on his lap. "I like you here."

Zelda swallowed. "Okay." Now that she wasn't using them to hold herself up, she didn't know what to do with her hands. He was kissing her again before she could decide.

His hands were still at her hips. She was so focused on trying not to break away and force herself off of him that she hadn't noticed his hands slowly inching her shirt up from her hips. When his thumb brushed her bare skin, she froze again.

"Why do you keep stopping?" His voice was calm, but Zelda thought she heard frustration just below the surface.

She looked down at his hands just barely making their way under her shirt. "Pipit, I'm not sure...I-I don't—"

She shushed her. "C'mon, Zelda. We've been together for three months. Just relax."

That did not make her feel more relaxed. He kissed her before she could protest anymore. She swallowed thickly as both of his hands went under her shirt. They lingered at her hips, feeling her skin for a moment, before moving up her back. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes. Was letting him touch her like this what would make him like her? Was this worth it? He wasn't even doing anything explicit and she felt so horrible. She couldn't bear the idea of him wanting more from her when the time came.

"Zelda?" Impa's commanding voice came from downstairs.

In an instant, she had shoved Pipit away from her and scrambled off his lap. "Coming!"

She hovered at the top of the stairs, trying to get her breathing under control. Thank Din, Farore, and Nayru that was over.

She went downstairs slowly. She could see Impa in the kitchen, making dinner for her and her father. "Is that boy staying for dinner?" she asked, not looking up. Zelda was thankful she didn't, she was sure her eyes were still red from almost crying.

"No, he's not. He said he'd walk home soon."

Impa raised an eyebrow. "Walk? It's January. I can drive him home for you."

"No, he's fine with walking. In fact, I think I'll ask him to leave now so he gets home before sunset since it gets dark so early in the winter."

The Sheikah woman finally turned her gaze towards Zelda. "Is everything alright with the boy?"

"Yes, Impa, we're great. I promise. I'll go help him get ready to leave. Thank you for letting him come over."

"Of course, Zelda." Impa gave her one last look, not entirely convinced. She let it go and returned to the food she was preparing.

Zelda went back upstairs to find Pipit back on his phone, laying sprawled out on her bed.

"Impa told me you have to leave now, sorry."

He didn't look up from the screen. "That's cool."

Zelda waited for him to get up, grab his unopened backpack, and head towards the door. She followed him downstairs to her front door, where he pulled on his shoes and gave her a quick kiss goodbye before heading outside.

As Zelda watched him leave, she subconsciously pulled her shirt down further over her hips and held her sides. She truly did like him very much.

If anyone chose to skip the section about Zelda and Pipit, all you missed was that their relationship isn't very healthy and Zelda does things to please him rather than because she wants to.

Anyway, love y'all! My school is all online now, so I will be writing a lot more! I've really missed this story. Bye for now!