Hello, lovelies! Sorry for the delay, but I'm here with a double chapter for ya. This was originally supposed to be two chapters, but I couldn't find a way to split it that I liked. So, Monster Chapter was born. Enjoy!

Link watched Zelda flip through her huge Hylian history book. He looked down at his bulky textbook, which was a pamphlet by comparison. They had pushed their desks together like every other pair in the classroom to work on their project.

Mr. Kaepora strolled around the classroom monitoring everyone. Link had been right; the day they'd come to class with their chosen timelines, no one else had chosen to do the child timeline.

Zelda brushed her long blonde hair behind her off the page she was reading, just for it to slip down her shoulder back onto the page. "Doesn't that get annoying?" he found himself asking.

"Hm?" she said, still immersed in her book. "Oh, my hair? Yeah, I suppose."

"Why not, like, cut it or tie it back?"

She shrugged. "Not my style."

"But it would make your life easier."

"Maybe."

He dropped it. She was...more tolerable lately, but it was by no means perfect.

They worked in silence—they didn't usually carry on a conversation unless they had to—until the last five or so minutes of the class. People around them had started to pack up their things and move around the room to talk to one another.

Zelda shut her book. "So, Pipit told me you're driving us to that party tonight?" she said.

Link nodded. "Someone has to be DD," he joked.

She looked confused. Right. She was innocent and perfect.

"Designated driver," he clarified, and she looked surprised.

"Is that necessary?"

"Better safe than sorry."

She considered this. "That's true. Well, if you need another sober person to talk to, let me know. I'm definitely not going to drink."

Link almost snorted. A house full of drunk people and Zelda wasn't exactly his ideal night, but he'd take it.

That evening, Zelda paced her room. She'd never been to a real high school party. She wondered how many clichés were true.

"Relax, Zelda. You're going to have fun." Ashei's voice came from her phone, which was propped up on her desk. Zelda was on a video chat with her and Midna as she got ready.

"I have no idea what to wear. All I have are giant sweaters and t-shirts. That doesn't exactly scream 'party' to me." She went through her closet for what had to be the dozenth time.

"Alright, it's intervention time. Bring us over to the closet," Midna commanded. Zelda grabbed her phone off the desk and brought it over to the closet.

After a few minutes of her pulling out different tops to show them, Ashei spoke up. "Wait, what is that with the stripes? In the back?"

Zelda pulled it out. "Oh goddesses, I couldn't. I don't even know why I bought that." It was a long sleeve shirt with a scoop neck. It had thin black and white stripes. "I feel like I can't wear it unless I have perfect thick eyeliner and dyed hair. Plus it's more form-fitting than I'm used to."

"Just put it on. I just wanna see."

Zelda obliged, setting the phone on her bed and changing into the shirt. The fabric clung to her figure, and the hem of the shirt was cropped slightly. She looked down at the neck. She knew rationally it was just a few inches lower than she was used to, but it made her feel practically naked.

She picked up her phone again to show her friends. Neither said anything. Zelda started to worry, but then Midna said, "Damn. You're hot."

She laughed nervously. "I can't wear this. I feel so exposed."

"You look great in it, though. Maybe you could fix the parts you're uncomfortable with," Ashei suggested. "If you wear high-waisted jeans it'll make the cropped part less noticeable."

Zelda considered this. Maybe looking nice for this party was worth a bit of discomfort? "What about the neckline? It's, um, more than I'm used to."

"Wear a cardigan," Midna said.

"You could add a necklace, too. To fill the void," Ashei added.

Zelda nodded. She decided she was going to wear this shirt. Going outside your comfort zone was healthy, right?

She set her phone down again and changed into her most high-waisted jeans. She picked out an olive green sweater cardigan and the gold Triforce necklace Impa had gotten her for her birthday last year.

She presented the completed outfit to her friends, who showered her with compliments. She took a breath. Maybe this would be alright. She did feel better with the adjustments they had suggested, and her confidence rose a bit.

"Thank you, guys. I appreciate it." Midna and Ashei smiled at her on the screen.

Then, Midna's smile shifted from happy to mischievous. "What if you put your hair up?"

"I couldn't. I never do. I would look weird," Zelda said quickly. She remembered what Link had said this morning.

Midna pouted. "No. Do it. Something simple."

Zelda turned toward the mirror on her wall. Her hair was loose and down like usual. Maybe she could…?

She set the phone down again. She grabbed her hairbrush and brushed through her hair. She grabbed a small rubber band from her little bun of hair accessories she never used. Then, she separated her hair at her temples and pulled the two sections back. She braided them down the back of her hair, moving at odd angles in front of the mirror to see what she was doing. When the braid was complete, she tied it off with the rubber band. She adjusted her hair a bit more until she was satisfied. There. Her hair was still mostly down, but it was out of her face and styled slightly for the occasion.

She showed Midna and Ashei. They greatly approved. "Wow, Zelda. I never really get to see your hair back at all. You have a nice face shape," Midna complimented her.

"Aw, thank you." She looked in the mirror again. She did look good, didn't she?

Faintly, she heard a car horn honk outside. "Shit. I have to go." Midna and Ashei said goodbye, and she hung up and rushed downstairs.

She pulled on her boots before running outside. In the driveway was Link's car.

She pulled open the passenger side door and got inside. Link was on his phone. He didn't appear to have worn anything different or special for the party. He just looked like...Link.

"Hey," she said tentatively. The idea of being in a completely silent car alone with Link sounded unbearable, so she needed to make conversation.

"We're picking up Pipit now."

"I figured." She shifted in her seat and pulled her sweater around her.

Link put the car in reverse and reached behind Zelda's seat to look behind the car as he pulled out. She froze. He had moved closer to her to see out the back window and she could smell his soap. To her surprise, she liked the scent very much. She wasn't sure if the sudden warmth was from his close proximity or her embarrassment.

He turned back around when they had pulled out, and Zelda exhaled heavily. She'd held her breath without meaning to.

It was only 7:00 in the evening, but the winter darkness made it feel like the dead of night. She tried again to make conversation. "Have you been to a party like this before?"

"Yeah, a few," he responded. "Pipit seems to like dragging me along."

"Do you not want to go?"

"I'm fine with going for him."

"But do you want to?"

He sighed. "It's not my first choice, but it's not horrible."

"Ah." Before they could lapse back into silence, she said, "I've never been to a real party."

To her surprise, he smirked. "Nervous?"

"A little," she lied. She was extremely nervous.

"Don't be. Everyone likes you, so you won't be alone."

She laughed. "'Everyone'? I can think of a few people who definitely do not."

He didn't answer.

She gave up trying to fill the silence.

They pulled onto Pipit's street. She had been to his house a few times since New Year's, but she thought of that night every time she went. It was nearly the end of February now. Her mind drifted to their group's little game of selfishness they had played since seventh grade. It was strange; it had always seemed to matter so much every other year, but she barely thought of it at all this year. Maybe they were all just growing out of silly stuff like that.

Link honked in Pipit's driveway the same way he had in Zelda's. He pulled out his phone again and began texting someone. Zelda couldn't help but feel a little bit curious. She glanced over—she hoped—discreetly.

She fought to contain her surprise. Malon? Seriously? His text bubbles weren't just one-word answers, too. He was interested in the conversation. What happened to him not liking her? She rolled her eyes. She didn't know why she was surprised.

Pipit came outside and opened the door to the backseat. "Hello, friend. Hello, girlfriend. How are we on this fine evening?"

Link didn't look up. Zelda turned around to look at him getting into the backseat. "I'm alright. What about you?"

He smiled at her. "I'm great. Wanna join me in the backseat? We can make Link very uncomfortable by—"

Link cut him off. "Please do not."

Pipit laughed loudly. "C'mon, Zelda. Come back here with me. We'll tone it down for our prude friend."

Zelda was sure that she was by far the most prude one in the car. Before she could awkwardly answer, Link started pulling out of the driveway. "Too late. Buckle up."

Pipit pouted. Zelda noticed that Link didn't lean into her when he pulled out of the driveway this time. Phew.

They drove to the party listening to Pipit's chatter and poorly given directions to the address. He talked to Zelda and Link separately. There wasn't much of a conversation they could all have together.

Listening to Pipit and Link interact was interesting, though. She noticed that Link was more open with Pipit than her, obviously, but it wasn't a significant difference. She wondered if Link was completely open around anyone.

Zelda saw the house where the party was all the way down the street. The driveway and road were filled with cars, so Link had to park two houses down. Zelda hadn't brought a coat since she wouldn't have anywhere to put it. The night cold bit into her skin as soon as she opened the car door.

Pipit came over and pulled her close. "Bit chilly, isn't it?"

She leaned into him. "No kidding."

Link watched them, face completely expressionless. "Let's just get inside."

Pipit took her hand and they walked up the sidewalk to the house. It was a very large house in a nicer neighborhood. Zelda's house was very nice too, but the other houses around hers were more run down. Her house had been built later than the rest of the neighborhood.

The garage was open, so the three of them went inside through there. The faint beat of the music they had heard walking up now blasted outside clearly as the door was opened. Zelda couldn't make sense of what she was looking at for a moment. The dimmed lights, loud music, and laughing teenagers immediately overwhelmed her. Maybe this was a mistake.

Pipit pulled her inside excitedly. He let go of her as soon as someone said hello to him. The only thing anchoring her was suddenly gone and she was left floating.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and whipped around. It was Link.

"You good? You seem unsteady." He looked at her, his usually expressionless face showing what was possibly a hint of concern.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little overwhelmed." She scanned the room for an open wall to lean on or a place to sit in a corner. Nothing. Miraculously, the bathroom near her was open. She went inside and shut the door. She leaned back on the wall opposite the sink and slid down to sit. The dark, empty bathroom was bliss. She just needed a moment to collect herself and then she could go back out and be fine.

She realized that she had dashed away from Link into the bathroom. Oops. It wasn't like he would worry, though.

A minute or two passed. She stood up and turned on the light. Her eyes adjusted and she stared into the mirror at herself. Other than her crooked necklace and pale face, she looked fine. She opened the door and stepped back into the party. She could do this.

Link had vanished. Pipit was in the center of the room with some of his friends from the soccer team. He was laughing loudly and some of the contents of his cup splashed out onto the floor.

He saw her. "Zelda! C'mere!" She walked over. She could do this.

He put an arm around her waist immediately. He continued to talk mostly to his friends instead of her, but Zelda was fine with this. Small talk was awful.

As the guys talked, one of their girlfriends looked at Zelda and smiled. "Why do we put up with them?" she joked.

Zelda laughed nervously. "Ah, well, you know."

"You're Zelda, right?" she asked her.

"Yes. I mean, yep, that's me."

The girl smiled. "Cool. I'm Janka." She patted her boyfriend's arm. "Toby always takes me to these parties just to talk to his friends the whole night. Aren't guys the worst?"

Zelda frowned. She was joking, but what she was saying seemed like a pretty bad situation to be in. From the looks of things, she was headed for a very similar evening.

She laughed with Janka for a moment to be polite and then turned to Pipit. "I'm going to go, um, get a drink," she said. He glanced at her and nodded before looking back at his friends and laughing loudly at something one had said. She wouldn't be missed here.

The drinks were surrounded by too many people. She would grab one later. She wandered into the house's dining room. The people sitting at the table were playing some NSFW card game loudly.

She spotted a slider door that led to a nice backyard. Thank the goddesses. She made a beeline for it and stepped outside.

The cold air felt so different than before. It woke up her senses that were numb from the party. She looked around. There was an in-ground pool that was covered for the winter and a hot tub that was still in use. On the other side was a small bonfire. Only a few people sat around it, talking quietly.

The fire seemed nice, but she didn't know anyone already there. The hot tub was empty except for someone sitting on the edge with their bare feet in the water.

Zelda took a few steps to see who it was in the dark. It was Link. Unsurprising.

She almost went over to sit with him. The calm, hot water seemed like an oasis. Link was there, though, which meant she wasn't welcome. She was already embarrassed enough about him asking her if she was okay earlier. Reluctantly, she turned and stepped back inside.

In the main room of the party, she spotted Pipit talking with Malon and Karane. Someone came up beside her. "Hey, Zelda."

She turned to her new companion. "Oh. Hello, Groose."

The two of them watched their friends talk for a moment. "You doin' alright?" Groose asked her suddenly.

She looked up at him. He was easily the tallest person she knew, towering over her at well above six feet. "I'm okay, I guess. Why do you ask?"

"Just making sure." His gaze never left Pipit as they talked. Zelda was used to this, though. Groose hated every guy who had ever shown interest in her. He used to be predatory about his feelings for her, but she noticed that he had mellowed out over time. Despite how he felt, Zelda knew he was a good person.

Zelda walked over to her boyfriend. He hadn't noticed her and kept talking to Karane until she said his name.

"Oh, hey! I got you a drink. Mighta' taken a sip or two already, I hope you don't mind." He flashed a smile, offering her a cup.

She took it gratefully, not realizing how thirsty she was until she saw the drink. She took a huge gulp before nearly choking. Coughing, she struggled to keep whatever she had just consumed down.

Malon and Pipit were laughing. "Woah there! You good?" he asked her, trying not to laugh.

"I'm good," she managed to say. Her face was burning. She swallowed the rest of her coughs thickly. "I think I've had enough," she told them. She handed the drink back to Pipit and walked away again. So much for talking to them.

Her bathroom was now occupied, so she had nowhere to go. She walked around aimlessly for a bit. Within minutes, her head was swimming. She stopped for a moment to assess how bad the surprise alcohol had affected her. Her balance and vision were fine, but her brain felt foggy.

She went back to the slider door that led to the backyard and threw it open. The cold air had to help clear her head—plus anywhere was better than going back inside.

She looked around outside again. It was the same as before. Right. She had been inside for less than ten minutes, even though it felt like an eternity. Same bonfire of strangers, same covered pool, same Link near the hot tub.

She longed to sit by the hot tub. It seemed so nice compared to everywhere else, but Link…

Actually, screw feeling embarrassed. She was going to do it whether Link liked it or not.

Link moved his feet in circles, disturbing the warm water of the hot tub. He couldn't help but think about all of the things he could be doing that weren't this. Pretty much anything else seemed better.

He was pulled from his moody thoughts by someone stomping up to him. Zelda. Of course. Her arms were crossed defiantly, and by the look on her face, she was ready to let him have it. Great.

"What did I do now?" he asked flatly.

"Hot tub," she said.

He blinked. "Yes, that is where we are."

She faltered for a moment. "I want this. I mean, I want to be here. Hot tub," she said. Something was off about her.

"Okay? What's stopping you?"

She pointed at him.

"Me?"

She nodded.

"Last I checked, I wasn't."

She squinted at him. "You don't want me here."

"I don't want to be here, period. There's a difference," he corrected. "If you want to sit by the hot tub, be my guest. The water feels nice."

She considered this. She took off her boots clumsily and rolled up her jeans, then climbed up the little steps into the water. She plopped herself next to him on the edge.

Her feet didn't move in the water like Link's. She seemed to be keeping herself perfectly still to avoid bumping into him. He looked over at her, but she was staring into the water intensely. "So...your plan was to bully me into letting you sit here and then ignore me?"

She looked up, surprised. "I didn't mean to ignore you. I just figured I would bother you as little as possible. Sorry."

He couldn't help but laugh. "You're allowed to speak to me, Zelda."

"Noted."

"Why aren't you inside? I get that this is a nice hot tub and all, but it's not exactly the main attraction."

She huffed. "It's loud and overwhelming and bad in there. It's quiet and calm and good out here."

She splashed her feet in frustration, spraying both of them. Link threw an arm up to block the water flying at him. Next to him, Zelda had both hands on her mouth in shock, but she was laughing.

"I don't know what I was thinking. I am so sorry. I swear I didn't do that on purpose, I—"

"I know you didn't." He shook the water droplets out of his hair, spraying her a bit in mini-payback. "But you are a little drunk, aren't you? What happened to, 'I'm definitely not going to drink'?"

She pointed a finger at him seriously, but she was still laughing. "Okay, listen. I didn't mean to drink anything. Pipit handed me a drink and I was really thirsty so I sort of...downed half of it thinking it was soda or something. And then I started coughing and he laughed at me, so I left. And now I am here. The end."

"Didn't he know that you didn't want to drink?" Link asked.

She shrugged. "I guess he forgot. It's okay."

"It's not okay. That's a big thing to forget. Even I remembered."

"It's fineeeeee." Zelda waved her hands in the night air as if she was batting away Link's concerns.

He crossed his arms and turned to face her, pulling a leg out of the water and resting it on the hot tub edge. "Zelda. You know you're not exactly my favorite person, and Pipit is one of my best friends. But if he doesn't treat you well, you shouldn't be with him. Just because I don't like you doesn't mean I want you to be in a bad relationship."

"I have a good relationship," she protested. "He's very nice to me."

Link remembered the argument Pipit and Groose had had in his basement just weeks before. He remembered how sad she seemed about Pipit when she had been at his house for their project. "If you say so."

Zelda gazed into the water. She seemed like she was miles away. Link felt as if he was sitting outside alone again. It was clear that she wasn't having a good time. Despite everything he thought and felt about her, he found that he desperately wanted to cheer her up.

He scooped up some water and splashed it at her, aiming for her face.

She flinched as his attack hit her. She sat in stunned silence, water dripping off of her hair and face.

Link laughed loudly. "Well, are you going to fight back or just sit there?"

"Are you seriously trying to have a water fight with me right now?"

He stopped laughing. Was she being serious? Had he fucked up?

The answer caught him off guard. She had used both hands to return his blow, easily doubling the amount of water he had splashed at her.

He couldn't see past his sopping bangs, but he heard Zelda laughing next to him.

"Oh goddesses, that was way more water than I thought. I'm so sorry. Here—" He felt something on his head roughly. He realized she was using her sweater sleeves to try to dry off his hair.

He chuckled at her clumsy attempts to dry him off. He let her continue until she was satisfied.

"There! Oh no, wait…" She stared at him. He could only imagine how insane he looked, damp hair sticking up in every direction. "I think I made it worse," she said sheepishly.

"Yes, you did," he responded seriously, but he couldn't hold it. He laughed at the look of her horror on her face. He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back until it felt mostly flat again. "See? All fixed."

She was still staring at him, but something in her expression had changed. He looked down at the rippling water. He felt...embarrassed? He didn't know why.

She seemed to come back to herself, too. He felt her shiver next to him.

"Oh fuck, are you cold? Sorry. We could go over to the bonfire or back inside if you want."

She shook her head. "I'm not cold. This is the only part of this whole night that I've had any fun. I don't want to leave." She rubbed her eyes, and Link noticed that her sleeves were darker with wetness from his hair. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I know you don't like me and you're just pitying me because I'm sad. You don't have to try to make me happy. I'm fine."

He didn't know how to respond.

"I'm oversharing. And rambling. I'm sorry. Wow, I am never going near alcohol again because it's made me a total mess that can't stop talking. I am so sorry."

"Stop apologizing," he said softly.

"Sor—okay." She smiled at her mistake. "I'm such a mess."

Link didn't think she was a mess, but it was strange to see her not perfectly put together like she always was. He decided that he liked this Zelda more. Minus the sadness. And hopefully achieved without alcohol.

"If this is 'a mess' then damn, I must be a fucking disaster all the time," he said.

That made her laugh. To Link's surprise, she wiped away tears from her cheeks. He hadn't even noticed she was crying. "I can't believe I'm getting comfort from the guy who hates me," she joked.

"I don't hate you," he said quietly. At this point, he wasn't even sure how much he disliked her.

She raised an eyebrow. "That's a new development."

"Honestly? Yeah, it is," he said. "But it's true."

She smiled a small, happy smile. "So, do you think—" she started, but was interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

They both looked over to see Malon. Her arms were crossed and Link was sure he saw disgust on her face, but it vanished when she started talking. "Hey, Link. Zelda, come back inside. We're going to play high school party games and you should join us. Link, you come, too. It'll be fun."

"Oh. Sure, Malon. If you'd like me to, I'll come." She turned and got off of the hot tub and put her shoes back on.

Link wanted to tell Zelda that she didn't have to go if she didn't want to, but Malon was watching them expectantly. "What if we didn't want to?" he asked instead.

"What do you mean 'we'? I guess you don't have to, but it's more fun with more people. If you'd rather stay out here and freeze your ass off, that's fine. I can't control you," Malon replied shortly.

Link sighed and got off the tub edge too. He pulled his shoes back on and followed the two girls back inside.

As Zelda reentered the main room, she saw a circle of people sitting on the floor. Pipit was waiting for her with a seat open next to him. She stepped over legs and people's drinks and settled in next to him. He put an arm around her but continued to talk to a friend on his other side.

Zelda looked around the circle. She knew most of the people there. Malon had pulled Link down next to her. Karane was a few people down from Zelda. Groose was with some of his friends from the football team, noticeably drunker than she had last seen him. Everyone else she recognized was only an acquaintance.

A guy she didn't know stood up with a bottle of beer in his hand. He held it up to grab the attention of the room and then used a nearby table to force the cap off. He proceeded to down the entire bottle. Cheers sounded around the room. Zelda felt like an alien. The boy set the empty bottle in the middle of the circle. Oh, hell no.

Anxiety clenched her chest. Someone was explaining the rules of the game, which was some hybrid between spin the bottle and truth or dare. She wished she had just said no to Malon. Saying no was so hard. Why was saying no so hard?

Malon started the game. She chose to spin the bottle. Of course. It landed on a guy in Zelda's science class.

The game continued going around the circle. During Pipit's turn, he chose to answer a question truthfully. To her dismay, the question involved her. She heard Pipit say something about second base and some disappointed boos from his friends.

Then it was her turn.

She chose a dare. She was not interested in kissing anyone in this room, and after Pipit's truth question, it seemed like the best option.

Malon spoke up. "I have a dare for her."

Zelda swallowed.

"Spin the bottle, and go into that closet over there with whoever it lands on. Classic seven minutes in heaven style."

Fuck Malon. She leaned over to reach the bottle. Fuck her. She spun it hard, making it slide across the rug a bit. Fuck her fuck her fuck her—

The bottle slowed. Din, Farore, and Nayru, why was it slowing down so near Link? She couldn't handle that. Not right after he finally stopped hating her.

It stopped.

The boy next to Link's eyes widened. The neck of the bottle pointed squarely at him. Zelda recognized him. It was Sidon, a tall, skinny boy in Zelda's grade. She exhaled a deep sigh of relief.

She and Sidon walked over to the closet. Pipit hadn't reacted at all to any of what had just happened, so Zelda had to assume that he wasn't bothered by what was happening. The game continued behind them.

Sidon opened the closet door for her, which she found amusing. Such a gentlemanly gesture for such an awful game.

They closed the door. Darkness engulfed them, broken only by the light shining through the spaces at the top and bottom of the door.

"So, I—" Zelda started.

"Please don't kiss me. I am so very gay. No kissing, please," her fellow captive whispered, clearly panicked.

She was caught off guard. She started to laugh quietly and put a hand over her mouth to silence herself. Realizing how that looked, she quickly said, "I'm not laughing at you, I swear. Just at the ridiculousness of all of this."

To her relief, Sidon laughed too. "Yeah. This is awful. I didn't think I would end up trapped in my own coat closet tonight."

"Oh? This is your house? I'll be honest, my boyfriend just dragged me along tonight without giving me many details."

"Yup, my house. My sister and I decided to have a party because we thought it would be fun, but I'll be honest, I haven't had any fun at all. I've been too busy making sure that as few things are broken as possible."

Zelda laughed again. "I think parties are overrated."

"I think I agree." He had seemed to loosen up a bit now that the threat of being kissed wasn't hanging over his head. "Man. I can't believe the first person I ever came out to besides my sister was a girl I barely know in my own closet. I mean, I literally came out of the closet in a closet."

Zelda had to cover her mouth with both hands to keep her laughter quiet. "I am so sorry. That's hilarious, but also, I'm so, so sorry."

"No, no. It's not your fault we're stuck here. I just hope I don't go through anything worse on my actual turn."

She thought for a moment. "I bet if you pick truth they'll just ask you what we did in here. And you could say that we talked about them asking you what happened. That wouldn't be a lie."

"But what if they ask me something else? What if I out myself to them too?"

She thought for a moment before getting an idea. "Then when this is over, we walk out acting really flustered and make them all wonder what happened. Then, they'll have to ask you about it."

Sidon considered this. "Alright. Let's do it. You're pretty smart, you know that? And kind. Even though I came out in a panic, I'm glad it was to you and not someone else."

She felt calm in an unexpected place for the second time that night. "It's nothing. I'm just trying to help you how I would want someone to help me."

They waited for a few moments in silence. Then, the door swung open. Malon looked at them, her face expressionless.

Zelda immediately put her plan with Sidon into action. She covered her face with both hands and ran out of the closet. She jumped back into her spot next to Pipit and buried her face in his chest.

"Woah, Zelda! Was it that bad?" She felt Pipit chuckle. She didn't get to see how Sidon had acted, but the oooh's and laughter in the room were enough proof that they had the intended effect.

She waited a few minutes to reemerge. Sidon was only one turn away. The person before him finished, and then all eyes were on him.

He chose truth. Immediately, someone asked, "What the fuck did you do to Zelda in the closet?" Perfect.

"Well," Sidon said, "We talked about you guys asking me about what happened between us."

The room listened expectantly.

"And...that's it."

Zelda felt a surge of confidence for the first time that night. She looked around the room and laughed. "It's true. That's all that happened."

Some people laughed, realizing they'd taken the bait. Others called out their disbelief and sureness that there had been something more. It made Zelda feel very satisfied. Maybe parties could be fun. Sometimes.

The commotion died down, and it was Link's turn. His was the last in the circle, and then it would restart again with Malon. She decided to leave after Link's turn; just one round had been stressful enough for her.

All eyes were on Link. "Truth," he said, sounding almost bored.

Karane and Malon locked eyes for only a brief second. "So, Link. What exactly are you and Malon?" Karane asked suggestively.

Link didn't miss a beat. "We've done some stuff, I won't lie. But we're not together, and we never will be. It was just casual."

Karane's shock was evident. Zelda looked at Malon. Her face was hot with anger and embarrassment, but as always, she quickly composed herself. "Please, Karane. I tried to tell you nothing more was happening," she said lightly.

Most people in the room moved on quickly, not really interested. It was quickly decided that there would be another round. Zelda and a few others, including Sidon and Link, left the circle.

Zelda was almost free of the awful game, but Malon's voice behind her stopped her in her tracks.

"Leaving the game so soon, Zelda? I thought for sure you'd jump at another chance to be a whore in the closet and then lie about it."

The room went silent. Sidon spoke up immediately insisting that nothing had happened, but Malon ignored him.

Zelda was reeling. A thousand thoughts flooded her mind, a mix of panic, anger, shock, and fear. Her first instinct was to respond with something equally horrible. So the guy I tried to tell you wasn't interested told you that he was not, in fact, interested, and now you're taking it out on me?

Instead, she said, "You're the one who made me go in the closet. It was your dare."

"Yeah, as a joke. I didn't make you do anything inside."

"I didn't do anything inside!"

Malon laughed coldly. "Please. You show up to a party with your boyfriend and then ignore him the entire night. I find you outside in the hot tub with another guy, and then you make a huge scene of yourself with yet another guy. You do the math."

"Hot tub? Excuse me?" Pipit had finally spoken up.

Zelda's panic doubled. "Pipit, no, I—"

"It wasn't like that," Link said, stepping in on her behalf.

"It was with you? You've got to be fucking kidding me," he spat.

Tears started to spill from her eyes. She tried to say something else to Pipit, but her voice caught in her throat. Every single person in the room was staring at her—except Pipit and Link, who were glaring daggers at each other.

It was too much. She turned and ran out of the room. She threw open the sliding glass door and stepped outside. The few people left at the bonfire turned to look at her in surprise. She started running around the other side of the house and down the sidewalk. She needed to be as far away from that awful party as she possibly could be.

About five houses down, she slipped on an icy patch of sidewalk and fell hard. She had instinctively put her hands out in front of her to break her fall, and her palms burned from scraping against the rough concrete. She pushed herself up off the ground and turned her hands over to assess the damage. Small lines of deep red blossomed from about a dozen spots on both hands.

"Zelda!" She whipped around. Link was running towards her. Shit. She couldn't handle him pitying her again.

He slowed as he approached her. Breathing hard, he said, "You shouldn't run off alone at night like that."

Her eyes swam with fresh tears. She blinked them away.

He looked down at her hands, which were still palm-up in front of her. "Shit, you're bleeding. Did you fall?" He turned to scoop up a handful of clean snow before she could answer. "Here," he whispered, putting it into her hands and guiding her fingers to hold it tightly. "That should help."

The cold quickly numbed the pain. Link put a hand on her back and wordlessly guided her back the way they had come. He stopped at his car and opened the passenger side door. She sat down in the seat with a plop. Melted snow dripped through her fingers onto her legs.

Link shut her door and walked around to the driver's side. When he got in the car, he handed Zelda another handful of clean snow to hold. She watched him heave a heavy sigh and rest his head on the top of the steering wheel. Oh. Right. He hadn't been spared at the party either.

"I'm sorry," she managed to say quietly.

"Not your fault Malon is a bitch."

They sat in silence. "I thought you liked her," Zelda said finally.

Link sat up slowly. "Yeah, I thought I did, too. I know I told you that I didn't before, and that wasn't a lie. Things just...changed. And then they changed back."

She nodded in understanding.

"Don't worry about Pipit," he told her. "He's just stupid sometimes, and he was drunk tonight. I'll talk to him tomorrow and explain everything. Well, hopefully tomorrow. He walked up to me about to rock my shit before I ran out to find you."

"What?"

Link nodded, chuckling quietly. "Yeah. He had his fists up and everything. Sidon was smarter than me and disappeared right after you did. I stayed to try to fix things, but Pipit didn't exactly seem interested. So I left."

Zelda couldn't believe it. Her hands started to tremble with a new wave of anxiety. How did everything get so messed up so quickly?

Link started the car and drove them away from the terrible party. After a few minutes, he turned the heat on. It felt nice on Zelda's frozen, tear-stained cheeks.

The drive seemed to last only minutes and several hours all at once. Neither spoke the whole time, but the silence was comfortable.

They pulled into Zelda's driveway. She was about to open the door to leave, but something stopped her. "Link, I—"

He held up a hand. "If you're about to apologize, don't. You've apologized to me enough tonight."

"But I have to," she protested. "I dragged you into this whole mess and I feel terrible."

"It's fine. It wasn't your fault."

"It's not fine." She let out a small, bitter laugh. "And you had just stopped hating me, too."

"I still don't hate you."

She sighed. "If you say so."

She thanked him and wiped her wet, snowy hands onto her pants before opening the car door and stepping back outside into the night air. She opened her garage and stepped inside her dark house.

"Zelda?" Impa's voice called from upstairs.

"I'm home," she responded.

The tall Sheikah woman came downstairs to greet her. Zelda quickly crossed her arms to hide her injured hands.

"How was the party? Did you have fun?" Impa asked her, flicking on the light.

She couldn't bring herself to tell the truth. "Yes, it was great. Thank you."

Impa looked at her with concern. No lie could ever get past her, but she sensed Zelda's sadness and decided not to push her. "I'm glad. You need to sleep. Or I will make you food if you are hungry."

"No, I'm not hungry, but thank you, Impa. I'll head to bed." She shuffled out of the room and upstairs.

Once she got to her room, Zelda stripped off her wet jeans and took her hair out of the small braid. She ran her fingers through her loose hair and was reminded of when Link had done the same at the hot tub.

No. That was a memory she couldn't dwell on.

She finished changing into pajamas and fell onto her bed. She shut her eyes tightly and finally let the tears she had been holding back fall freely as she faded into sleep.

Whew. I won't lie, like 70% of this chapter was written between midnight and 4 am. Oops. I proofread it thoroughly and used Grammarly, but if I missed any small mistakes I'm very sorry, heh.

I really like this chapter, and I hope you all do, too. As always, I love you guys and I'll be back again soon!

(Also, I really hate the picture for this story. Ew. I threw it together on my phone when I first posted, but every time I see it it bothers me more LMAO.)

REVIEW REPLIES:

CloudCatch: Thank you! I've been trying to make sure each character has their own voice, you know?

Oracle of Hylia: Oh my gosh, yes. I cannot read anything Malon x Link. As badly as I'm portraying her in this story, though, I honestly don't hate her (Even though I just wrote her being a massive bitch...lol).

Generala: Yes! As a people-pleaser myself, I totally agree. Also, I hope Link's honesty in this chapter was refreshing because he totally lies to himself, too.

Guest: You are seriously too nice to me, you know that? This review kept coming back to me everyday I didn't post. It's starting to drive me crazy when I'm behind where I want to be, LOL. Thank you so much for your kind words about my writing. It made my day! :D