"So, on a scale of one to ten, how much do you hate living with Link?"

Zelda rolled her eyes and ignored Makeela's comment. Link was at his locker behind them with Ilia, and there was absolutely no way he was deaf to Makeela's loud voice.

Instead, Zelda continued to pack her books into her bag for the night, grabbing her chemistry and her history book, which she regretfully knew would make her bag uncomfortably heavy.

It had been two days since the play. Two days since her parents had threatened to cut her off if she didn't return home. And two days since she ignored their threats. For now, her bank account and credit card were still safe. She was thankful they'd helped her get one when she turned 18, and she was more thankful that they'd put a fair amount of money into the bank for her. She'd been offering to give Aryll her card repeatedly only to be denied. And Link was worse, unwilling to bring up Zelda financially helping out with the bills at all. At least Aryll would fight her, telling her: "Oh please, Zelda, stop trying to give me your fucking card already! You're Link's girlfriend, not some renter!" Link refused to engage at all, just pretending she wasn't eating their food and using their shower.

But after a rather raucous disagreement between the three of them the night before, Aryll finally agreed to let Zelda buy the groceries, which Zelda counted as a huge win in her book.

"Okay," Makeela relented when she realized that Zelda wasn't going to indulge her. "I do wish you could come over tonight."

"Can I spend Thursday night with you? Tell your parents it's because of the dance on Friday."

"Sick of me already?" Link asked, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

Zelda chuckled. "Yes. You snore right in my ear."

In mock offense, Link abruptly let go of Zelda and stepped away, towards Ilia. "I do not snore. I breathe loudly to let you know I'm alive."

"Thanks."

"You drool all over my arm."

Zelda looked at Makeela for support, but Makeela only shrugged. "You do drool."

"You're both the worst. Ilia, can I hang out with you today?"

Ilia smiled sadly. "Work, otherwise, I'd say yes."

Link casually leaned against Ilia, like she were a chair. Ilia adjusted her shoulder and rolled her eyes.

"Gabe said you can come hang around. I swear, I won't even talk to you," Link offered, knowing that Zelda still felt uncomfortable going to the house alone, considering it his house rather than the place she was currently living. She wasn't willing to hang around her house for fear that she would get comfortable or weak and let her parents win. Or worse, that they'd stop home for lunch and see her there. They'd win in either of those situations.

When she needed clothes the other day, she made a fast trip and had Makeela as the lookout. She just didn't want to be there.

"I don't want to become a bother," Zelda sighed, considering going to the park for a few hours.

Link stared at his phone for a few moments before flipping the screen toward Zelda.

"Would it bother you if Zelda hung around the back?"

"No problem. She's better company than you two anyway."

"Gabe likes you better," Link chuckled, tucking the phone into his pocket.

With a heavy, resigned sigh, Zelda agreed. "Fine, but I'm not going to make a habit of this."


It was over two hours into Link's shift when Zelda finally looked up from her computer.

She'd spent the first hour on the floor of the back room with her textbooks sprawled around her. The second hour, she'd cleaned up and was glaring intently at her screen.

"Trying to win a staring contest? Or just pissed?" Gabe asked, taking a seat on the couch and setting a coffee down on the end table. "You did know there's a couch here, right?"

Zelda chuckled, remembering Link's warning from the first day she'd been in the shop. Don't sit on the couch. She still didn't know why, but she wasn't keen on letting her imagination try to figure that one out.

"I work better on a floor." Not a lie. Zelda used to refuse to use her desk at home when her parents first bought it for her. She'd stubbornly insisted she preferred the floor, and had grown rather fond of working cross-legged and unobstructed by wooden objects.

"What are you working on?"

Zelda's cheeks heated up. "Actually… a resume. I don't have one. I still don't."

"What job are you applying for?"

"Nothing I'm qualified for, apparently."

Gabe leaned forward, peeking at her screen as he did. "Want me to look at it for you?"

Chewing on her lip, Zelda let out a resigned sigh and flipped the screen. She hadn't even filled out half a page. "There's nothing to look at."

"Give," he insisted, holding out his hands.

Zelda slid the laptop over to him and watched his eyes move back and forth as they read the few lines on the page. His hands rapidly tapped the keys and he turned back to her. "I'm adding myself as a reference for you. This resume isn't bad, but you're too hard on yourself and it's showing here."

"How can you be my reference? I don't work for you."

"Personal reference."

"Oh."

Gabe handed the computer back to her. "Okay, angle it towards me."

Zelda paused at his information. "Your name isn't Gabe?"

He chuckled. "Nope. Stuck with me though. Almost legally changed it a few years back."

"How do you pronounce your name? William… Gae- Gabe-ora? Gaebora?"

"You got it."

Smiling, Zelda shook her head. "I feel left out."

"You're in the loop now, kid. That's privileged information. I don't tell just anyone my real name."

"Thank you," she laughed.

"Mmm," he hummed, watching her carefully for a moment. "Link told me that you used to help your parents out at their office. Tell me what you used to do there."

The memory stung a bit, but Zelda sighed and pulled her legs just a little closer to herself. "I used to sort their files—"

"Organized. Write that in there."

Zelda scoffed. "Just… 'organized'?"

"For now. We'll fix it later."

Zelda's hands stilled on the keyboard. "You don't have to. I didn't want to be a bother by coming here."

Gabe sat forward and narrowed his eyes at her. "You're welcome here anytime, Zelda. You're not a bother to me, or to anyone. I think it's admirable that you're looking for a job, whether you get one or not. And you're not taking my time from anyone. Link knows what he's doing out there, and Pip is at the electronics desk with his homework. Neither of them needs me. You don't need me either, but I have hired my fair share of employees, and that means looking at resumes. So, write down that you're organized."

Zelda felt her heart tighten at his kindness. "Thank you."

"Of course, kid. Now, let's get you a job."

"I really don't have the skills for any jobs out there," Zelda countered, absently gesturing to the computer.

Gabe hummed to himself. "Link ever tell you this isn't my only business?"

"No!" Zelda gasped.

"Well, I refused to let him work there, but I own a used car shop just down the road. I don't go in often; that place is fully stocked with employees I trust, but it's a mess. We still use paper. So I'll tell you what: if you can't get a job, I'll give you an interview, and if you do well, I'll hire you. We need those papers transferred and organized. You can get a job on that resume, and then you won't have to worry anymore. But I want you to try to get another job that you'd prefer first. You might surprise yourself." He paused and watched her bite her lip to stop a tear. "Did you write down 'organized' yet?"

Zelda smirked and typed 'organized,' hitting the keys with deliberate slowness before looking back over at him. "Yes."

He chuckled and nodded. "Good. Tell me more."

By the time she and Gabe had nearly finished, Link had come into the back room.

He looked like he might have been involved in a minor mechanical accident. Where he was often slick with grease and oil, he was now drenched in a pool of yellowish, clear liquid that ran down his entire arm and neck that had soaked his skin and chest. It told a story that something had happened while he was lying down, because the pattern was nearly impossible to achieve otherwise. More so than that, it was mixed in with dark red. Link's hand was up in front of his face, several towels wrapped around it.

"What did you do?" Gabe gasped, unsure if he should be amused or concerned. Either way, he stood up to grab the first aid kit. "Wash that arm."

Link went over to the sink with a heavy sigh, watching the water hit his skin and the red oil mix together in a cyclone down the drain. He winced as he pushed some blood out of the rather large wound on his arm.

"I cut my arm on some metal when my wrench got stuck. It's nothing."

Zelda leaned against the wall, watching the endless river of blood. "Link? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Gabe came back and set the kit down, grabbing Link's arm from the water to look at it. His scrutinizing gaze studied the wound for a few long moments before letting go. "How's your insurance?"

Link pushed his hair back, sending a stream of grease through it as he groaned. "It exists."

"Damn, Link. Fine. Take those disgusting coveralls off. I'll do it this time, but you'll have a scar."

"Scars are hot, right Zel?"

She gave him her best unaffected look, though her eyes were wide with concern.

"Thanks, Gabe," Link muttered.

"What's happening?" Zelda asked, watching Link's hand shake as he tried to thread a button through its hole. She brushed his hand aside to help.

"Gabe used to be a paramedic when he was younger," Link said, glancing behind him. "He's going to stitch it up."

"Why not go to the hospital?"

"I'll give you 400 reasons."

"Is it that expensive?" she gasped, appreciating the price of things a little more now.

"Aryll's insurance isn't the best, but if I'm dying, they'll take me."

"Don't say that," Zelda muttered, pushing one of the shoulders off and helping it down his arm.

Link grinned, keeping his bleeding arm away from Zelda. "Bet you wish we were back at the house doing this."

"Oh, shut up," Zelda snorted, watching Gabe return.

Zelda stepped away and watched Gabe shoot Link a disgusted look.

"I saw the floor."

Link simply shrugged, looking unaffected. "I knew you were going to bench me."

"Idiot," Gabe grumbled, pulling Link to the workbench, shining the bright light right onto Link's arm as he worked to disinfect it.

Link glanced at Zelda, taking in her confused face. "I finished the repair before coming in. There's blood on the floor."

Zelda scoffed and crossed her arms. "That's so stupid, Link."

"I know."

Gabe groaned in agreement. "And you're right. You're benched. Electronics for the next two weeks for you."


Link stared at the bandages that had been taped over the long line of stitches along his forearm, drying it much more carefully than he did anything else. It stung, but not nearly as bad as when Gabe had initially threaded the hooked needle through his skin again and again.

Zelda had already gone to sleep, so he pulled on his sweatpants and a shirt before grabbing his own homework and laying on the couch with it. An hour and a half in, he'd finished everything and went back to his room.

Zelda's back was to the door, but he closed it quickly to keep the light from the plug near the bathroom from creeping in.

While he considered himself improving at climbing over her without disturbing her, it was still the strangest thing about sharing a bed. There were times when he wanted to roll over, but he was afraid of waking her. And when he'd finally roll, he'd realized his worry was for nothing because she'd been undisturbed in the end.

"You can just… crawl over," she muttered, making Link jump a bit.

"Okay," he whispered, not realizing she was awake. But he didn't waste her consciousness and made his way over to his side.

But that's when he could see the outline of her shaking, her head bobbing in an unnatural way. Her shoulders and the covers bobbing up and down. Crying.

"Shit, Zelda," he muttered, pushing his pillow back so he could sit up. He tugged her arm and she nodded, crawling up into his waiting arms.

"I'm just homesick," she said quickly. "I love you, and I love Aryll, and I'm so grateful to you both, but I miss my home. I miss my bed. I even miss my parents, and it's stupid."

"It's not."

"It is."

Link ran his hand along her arm, closing his own eyes and leaning back on the headboard. "I've been in your shoes. It's not stupid, trust me. I missed my dad. My dad."

He listened to her shaky breaths, the sound of her calming down. "Will you sneak over with me for a night or two? Sleep with me there?"

"Sleep with you… in what way?" he asked with a laugh, smirking when he felt her giggling. "I mean, either way it's a yes."

"Shut up," she laughed, covering her face as if he could see her turn red. "I meant like this. But I mean…"

Link tightened his grip on her and bent a bit so his own laugh and red face was buried into her hair.

"Gods," she hissed, "I need a tissue, I think."

"I don't have any in here. Want to use my sleeve?"

"Ew," she blanched.

But that made Link cackle. "We literally swap spit. Your tongue has been halfway down my throat and—"

"—Link!"

"—vice versa."

Zelda felt a burst of giggles escape her. "Gods, that's not the same at all."

"No," he admitted. "But it made you laugh."

She wriggled free so she could turn to him. "Yeah, it did."

His eyes had finally adjusted enough that he could see her. "I love you enough to let you use my sleeve."

She shook her head and pushed the blanket off her. "And I love you enough to go find a tissue for the sake of your sleeve."

He watched her leave, settling himself into a comfortable spot until she came back. And when she did, they both got comfortable together for the next few hours until school, when they'd do it all again.

A routine.

And Link wrapped his good arm over Zelda, wondering how he ever use to have a life without Zelda in it. How he ever had a bed he didn't share, or food he didn't argue over.

And he scooted closer, wondering if this was what was missing for most of his life. Someone to share it with.


Reviews: those-that-wander: I KNOW! Sometimes, I can't help but cross into that fantasy realm. The realm of lost dreams maybe. James Birdsong: Thank you! hello-world8467: I knowwww poor thing! ElenaGilbert24: Link is our precious boy! And thanks for asking! Just work stuff has kept me really busy recently which slowed down writing!