There was a distinct change in Link that Zelda noticed all too easily. He'd spent the day at her house, but he was sluggish and almost empty. Zelda did what she could, trying to get him to laugh, or even just to smile. But even that seemed forced out of him.

They'd fought about food all day. It seemed to be the only constant. Link wanted cereal, but Zelda wanted to make eggs. Which normally would have been fine, but Link seemed to believe the eggs were for him, and Zelda couldn't help but feel too frustrated at his repeated insistence that he didn't want eggs.

Lunch turned into a "you need to eat" versus "I'm not hungry" debate. It was a back and forth that seemed to never end until Link found his way outside to take a long walk around the neighborhood, making sure to leave his wallet and lighter behind, just in case he was caught by the urge to buy a pack of cigarettes again, which admittedly, crossed his mind several times on his walk.

Dinner was torture. They'd both spent nearly an hour complaining about their inability to agree on any one food, then proceeded to spend the next hour staring at the delivery apps on their phones, unable to choose anything that suited them both. Two separate orders later, they sat in silence on the couch while they ate their meals.

It wasn't until she'd finished her Lizalfos Licks for desert that she felt the couch sag, and turned to see Link looking as tired and defeated as when he'd woken up.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, staring at the ceiling.

Zelda watched him for a moment, taking in the dark circles under his eyes. They'd been present all day, but in the light from the television, they were particularly noticeable. "Me too."

"I'll be better tomorrow."

Zelda shrugged and sighed. "We can have bad days. It's okay."

Link finally glanced at her before returning his eyes to the unmoving fan on the ceiling. "I don't want us to have bad days."

"Well, it's going to happen."

"That doesn't mean I want it to," he snapped back. But he closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. "Sorry again."

"Stop apologizing already, okay?"

Pushing his hair back, he sat up, getting a better look at Zelda. Her face was lit by her phone, but she locked it and put it down when she saw Link staring. He held out his hand, which Zelda gingerly took.

Link pulled her towards him, letting her rest against him while his lips brushed her neck apologetically. "I love you."

Zelda smirked. No matter how often he said it, she still felt a flutter in her heart. But today, it felt like something more. Something like 'even though I don't like you today, I still love you.'

"I love you too, Link."


And the next day, Link did try to do better. He'd gone out early and bought new patches and a new box of gum along with some small groceries that they'd depleted, like the milk.

So when Zelda woke up and trudged downstairs, still in her oversized shirt and baggy sweatpants, hair a disheveled mess, and eyes still heavy with sleep, she was more than a little surprised to see Link leaning over the stove before dropping something into a plate. He seemed blissfully unaware of her presence.

His head was bobbing rhythmically, and she could only guess that he had a song stuck in his head. She could actually hear him humming when she got closer, leaning against the counter still unnoticed.

Link began rummaging through the cabinet, grabbing salt and pepper, but Zelda could see that there was something missing as his head stopped bobbing and instead went rapidly side to side. And she knew when she saw the ketchup in front of her that it had to be what he was looking for, because Link was the only person she knew who put ketchup on eggs. And she could smell eggs, despite being unable to see the plates in front of him.

She held it out, waiting for him to turn around.

So when he did, he let out a surprised laugh and pulled a headphone from his ear, letting it hang in front of him as he reached for the ketchup.

"Hey."

Zelda could finally see that she was right; there were eggs in the plates. Plates. One for her, and one for him.

"Hey yourself."

He glanced back at the plates and slid hers across the counter. "I was going to keep it warm for you until you woke up, but I was too hungry to wait."

"Thank you," Zelda said, handing him a fork with an appreciative smile. "It looks good."

They ate in silence, Zelda finishing first. She watched Link play with the eggs in his plate each time before he took a bite. It was unlike him.

"You okay?"

Link reached into his pocket and tapped his phone a few times before sliding it over to her. "I got this this morning. I… I don't know what to do with it."

Zelda grabbed it and read the first line:

Dear Link Hunter,

Congratulations! On behalf of the University of Central Hyrule, I would like to welcome you to our family! Your early decision application has been accepted, and we look forward to hearing back from you soon! Here at UCH, we believe…

Zelda looked up. "UCH?"

Link clasped his hand over his mouth and nodded slowly. "It was my reach school. I didn't think I'd get in. I just figured, 'what the hell?' Keep scrolling."

Zelda fought to keep a wide smile off her face as she scrolled, noticing the next email linked just below it.

Dear Link Hunter,

Congratulations! You are this year's recipient of the Better Futures Scholarship. Through your hard work and dedication, you have been hand selected as the student who shows the most promise from those in our program. It's hard to turn your life around, but you've persevered! Continued support from our community to you is contingent on your sustained progress, and your commitment to becoming a full-time student. The funds will be directly added to the school you fill out on your acceptance form, attached below…

"Link…"

There was an unfallen tear in his eye as he bit back a smile of his own. "I didn't think they'd want me. That school… it's a reach school for me."

Zelda handed the phone back. "You're going to do it though, right?"

With a deep breath, Link shrugged. "This scholarship isn't the one I've been telling you about. That only applies at the local community college, and I don't even know if I'd get that one yet. I… I just kept applying to everything.

"But this…it's not a full scholarship, and I don't know if I can afford it anyway. It's much more expensive. And I'd probably have to move into housing or find a cheap place because Central Hyrule is a hike. Gas alone would suck, plus if it snows, I can't rely on Aryll's car; that's not fair, plus I know she wants to move in with Collin at some point. I don't know which one is cheaper. I'd have to do some math and start comparing… but then I'd also have to factor in things like textbooks. I can't do it. I can't go there."

"Don't put it aside yet, Link. You got in! Enjoy that! You got the scholarship! You'll probably get more! And maybe Pipit will move in. Or, hey, I applied to UCH. I didn't do early decision, so I won't hear for a while, but maybe we could split rent or something if I get in. Or eve if I'm somewhere else, we can think of something. I mean, if that's even something you'd want to consider. But wither way, I meant that you have options."

Link chuckled, pushing his plate aside. "Did you just ask to move in together?"

"In the near future, yeah. I kind of guess I did." Her face flushed a bright red. "It's weird. I didn't mean to make it weird. I just meant that we're kind of doing that now, and it would have been convenient."

"Convenient?" Link raised and eyebrow and started to laugh. "You're making this so romantic."

"I just…" she bit her lip and shrugged. "But you got in!"

Looking back at his phone, he spun it in his hand. "I got in. I got in. Like, what the fuck? I got into my reach school."

"Because you're smart. Smarter than you like to give yourself credit for."

His grin was touching his eyes now. "They have my major there, you know? I wouldn't be in a general STEM program. I'd be in mechanical engineering."

"Would you have a minor?"

Link thought for a minute, his eyes lighting up as he glanced back at her. "Well, electrical, obviously."

Zelda snorted. "Obviously."

"What if it was a mistake? What if they meant to send it to some other Link?"

Zelda rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around Link. "It's not a mistake. And we're going to go get ice cream before Moonlight Howl later to celebrate, okay? Whether you decided to go there or not, you got in! We're celebrating that."

"You buying? I have to save up."

Laughing, Zelda nodded. "Yeah, I'll buy."


Several hours later, Link was far too comfortable in Zelda's bed.

He was sprawled out while she sat at her desk, writing something down from her computer while he rested, playing a game on his phone. But he wasn't really interested in resting or playing the game.

"Hey," Link said, getting Zelda's attention.

"Hi."

He smirked and rolled around completely so he was on his stomach at the end of the bed, facing her. "What are you doing?"

Zelda made a face, looking him over for a minute. "Are you bored, Link?"

"No."

"Liar."

Link shrugged, not bothering to deny it this time. "Want to do something fun?"

Zelda returned to her notes. "We're going for ice cream later still, right?"

"I meant… right now."

Zelda put the pen down and turned to Link, laughing. "Honestly, you're something else."

He pointed accusingly at her, though his amused smile had them both fighting not to laugh more. "You're thinking it, too. One of the last nights we can do it here before your parents come back."

Snorting, Zelda crossed her arms. "I wasn't thinking that, actually."

Link leaned back, getting comfortable again. "Okay. Another time then."

Rolling her eyes, Zelda went over to the bed and crawled onto it, straddling Link and bringing her lips down to his. "That's not what I said."

He chuckled, the sound caught low in his throat before they crashed together again, enjoying themselves a little too much. After yesterday, it was like making up. After that morning, it was like celebrating.

Zelda nearly didn't hear her phone ringing.

She sat up with a start, pushing her hair back and rushing over to her desk with an annoyed groan. "Hold that thought," she breathed to Link.

Checking the ID, she showed it to Link. "Recognize the number?"

He sat up, squinting, and shook his head.

"Hello?" she asked, feeling something light hit her in the back. She turned to see Link's shirt on her shoulder, and shot him a playfully annoyed look, not bothering to hide the eager way she looked him over. "Yes, this is she. May I ask who's calling?"

Zelda watched Link bask on the bed, and she moved to sit beside him, crossing her legs and getting comfortable. "Yes, I'll hold."

Link sat up and heard the tell-tale sound of 'hold' music on the other end. "Who is it?"

Zelda shrugged. "My doctor's office or something."

Chuckling at her blatant apathy, he pressed his lips to her neck, eagerly distracting her and easing her boredom while she waited.

She let out a soft squeak when she felt Link's teeth and tongue, but covered her nose to stop any more noise, relieved that the hold music was still playing.

But when it finally turned off, and she heard the person on the other end, she pushed Link away. And as they spoke, she turned to stare wide-eyed at Link as she listened. "No problem. Um, yes, I have a minute. I have several minutes. I'm free right now." She made a mortified face, and Link squinted, trying to figure out what was happening.

He leaned closer so he could hear the loud voice on the other end.

"—and just a brief phone interview. Does that sound good?"

"Yes," Zelda said, too eagerly. "yes, that sounds perfect."

Link practically threw himself off the bed to get away from her. "Job interview?" he signed.

She nodded vigorously and Link had to stop himself from vocalizing his excitement for her. He grabbed his shirt and threw it on. "I'll hang in the other room."

"Okay," she mouthed, feeling her hands shake with a sudden onslaught of nerves.

Link closed the door behind him so any noise he made would be muffled before disturbing her. There was a large red album on the shelf, and Link pulled it down, opening to the first page, trying to ease his boredom. He'd left his phone in her room, and he didn't want to risk putting the television on. So he was left with a photo album of people he didn't know and names he didn't recognize.

He found a few with Zelda in them, but she was in the background. It seemed to be a book more related to her parents than to her. They looked happy and present, even engaged in the world around them, unlike the two people he'd known.

But after going through it once, he put it away and stared at each of the framed scenery photos that hung on the wall.

"Link!"

He turned around with a start. "Was that really an interview?"

"Yeah! I applied to this program that takes high schoolers to help out at Mipha's Grace Hospital. It's nothing crazy. It's like… getting food for people and stuff, but I figured it was a totally different place. Not like an office. And they said they liked me! My resume sucks, but they like me!"

"I'm not surprised!" Link laughed, grabbing her excitedly. "Did you get it?"

"They said they have three more people to call, but they'll call back tomorrow with a decision! I've never had an interview before! Oh gods, I think I'm going to be sick! I didn't know that was going to happen! Do you think I accidently agreed to a random interview? I should read the fine print next time."

"Always read the fine print. At least you didn't have to get nervous expecting the call."

"Yeah, but I'm nervous now! Now I have to wait!"

"Want to watch The Twilight Throne? That'll help take your mind off it until Moonlight Howl and ice cream, which is now a double celebration, so maybe I'll buy yours if you buy mine."

"Oh gods, yes! Please! I need death and violence and drama and romance."

"Oh," he said, picking her up and throwing her down onto the couch with ease before picking up where they left off before her phone call, his lips making a beeline for her neck.

"Link!" she giggled, caught entirely off guard. "What are you doing?"

"You said you wanted romance."

He winked and she rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Not what I meant, but I'm not complaining."

Scoffing, he crawled over her to grab the remote, getting comfortable and leaving her with her mouth open as he made his way back to his side of the couch, turning on the tv.

"Hey!" Zelda protested. "You're a tease."

He hit play on the episode they'd left off at. "Only with you, Zelda."


A rerun of the newest episode of Moonlight Howl was playing in the background when Link's eyes blinked open, still on the couch with Zelda. They'd fallen asleep almost as soon as the new episode had aired.

The coffee table was covered in napkins and empty bowls of once-full ice cream.

Something tickled Link's nose, and he let out a breath to push it away from his nostrils, but he was met with more of Zelda's hair. When he realized what it was, he stopped caring so much and pressed closer to her.

His arm tightened around her stomach, his elbow stretching the fabric of her shirt while he moved, resting his hand easily against her skin. He used his other arm—which was under her head and took some maneuvering—to pull up the blanket that they'd draped over themselves.

But as he settled back, he realized that the hairs on the back of his neck were sticking up, and that he'd awoken for a reason.

Eyes shooting open, it took him a minute to adjust to the dark, but when he did he could see a figure in the doorway. Thankfully, his brain clicked together fast enough not to reach for anything as a weapon, but he sat up quickly, shaking Zelda frantically.

"Shit, Zelda, get up."

She groaned and opened her eyes, gasping when she could finally see what Link saw.

"Dad."

Ramus stood in the well-lit hallway, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared into the room. "When we said you shouldn't stay here alone, this isn't what we meant."

She looked down at herself, relieved and thanking every god and goddess in existence that she and Link hadn't ended up doing anything that night. She was decent, if a little disheveled from sleeping on the couch.

"What are you doing home?"

"I live here. So does your mother, who's also here."

Zelda pushed herself up a bit, as far from Link as they could. She could feel Link trying to stand, but she grabbed his arm and kept him where he was trapped by the back of the couch and her.

Still, he gently shook her hand off him. "I'm sorry, Sir. I'll head home."

"Link…" Zelda tried to protest.

"You know they don't want me here, Zel," Link whispered quietly.

But Ramus held up his hand, stopping Link from crawling over Zelda. "It's three in the morning. Stay. It's dangerous to drive at night. Just… just leave this door wide open."

Zelda glanced back at Link, her mouth open in surprise, before turning back to her father. "Dad?"

"I'll see you both in the morning. Don't sneak out, Zelda. Please. Your mother and I miss seeing you."

"Do you?"

His face tensed at her challenge. "Of course. Please. Stay for breakfast, if nothing else. Both of you. We just want to talk."

Zelda turned back to Link once again. "Whatever you want to do, I'll do."

"Okay. One breakfast. That's all I'm promising. And if you do what you did last time to Link, we're leaving."

Ramus tapped the door. "Just keep this open. We'll see you in the morning."

The door to his room opened and closed before Zelda felt herself breathe again.

"Are we dreaming?"

"Did your dad just let me stay here… with you?"

"We died, didn't we?"

"We're having breakfast with your parents."

Zelda leaned back down, getting comfortable, despite knowing that she wasn't going to sleep for the rest of the night.

"Gods, this might be the last night I ever spend in this house. If they… what if I can't look at them?"

"Don't fight for me, okay? If they want me out, I'll leave. If you want to stay here, you stay. I mean it, I'll do whatever. Just don't let it be a fight."

"If I need to fight them, I will. I can stay with you, right?"

Link chuckled, settling back himself as well. "I think we were talking about moving in together just this morning, so yes, you can stay with me, Zel."

"Should we sleep on different sides of the couch?"

"He already saw us. I don't think it'll do much good anymore. But it's your call."

"Oh gods," Zelda whispered.

She couldn't believe she'd forgotten that her parents were coming home. She couldn't believe she'd been this stupid.

She couldn't believe they wanted to stay home long enough to eat breakfast with her on a Monday.

Maybe they weren't her parents.

Maybe they were aliens.

"Zelda," Link grumbled, pulling her closer to him. "Go to sleep."


A/N: Happy Halloween! I finally finished my daily-chapter fic on Tumblr, so now I have more time to come back to this one, but I also have three more weeks of work until we get to move online and do basically nothing because our two online weeks are kind of a joke, so still no promises on rapid chapters yet. I do think I'm going to move a little faster in terms of the story timeline though, because I have another fic that I REALLLLY want to post, but I have too many fics happening right now, so I want to finish at least one more before I start posting that new one (it's Zelink so it's in my heart). So this one is going to start moving into wrap up mode. Not like there's only a few more chapters, just that we're going to start to get to the end of their school year a little quicker. ANYWAY! It's good to be back!

Reviews: Scarlet Curls: Yeah, I'm really glad that I had him slip up. I think that's a very natural part of growth and progress; that it's not always perfect! And thank you for the comments on all the other chapters! I'm not going to respond to them all here because that would be a lot, but I really appreciated you leaving them! I had fun seeing your reactions along the way! Oracle of Hylia: Yeah, he's a tough cookie for dealing with everything he's been through! I'd imagine that losing someone that was would definitely leave a permanent scar. ElenaGilbert24: Yeah, that chapter was definitely bittersweet! Poor Link needs a hug sometimes! He's got this on his mind all the time, and I think he needed to hit a breaking point. Also, I saw your comments on my other fic! Thank you for reading that one, too! I haven't really responded to comments on that fic, and now it's almost done so I'm just going to keep it that way, but thank you!