The next morning, Link sat on the couch, waiting for Zelda to come out of her room. He'd debated changing into his clothes that he'd brought with him when he knew he was staying at Zelda's, but he also wasn't sure if that would make it look like he'd planned on staying over, which he figured would look bad for Zelda's parents. He opted to throw a sweatshirt on. Jeans were jeans. They'd never notice either way. Had her father even gotten a look at the shirt he'd been wearing?
Zelda closed her door and headed out into the hall, beckoning Link to follow her down the stairs. They both stopped just short of the kitchen, listening intently to the heated discussion behind the door.
"You just let him stay? That's our daughter, Ramus!"
"You think I don't know that? Do you think I want him here? But she won't even look at us. I had to do something. She was going to leave. I'd rather have them here where we can keep an eye on them, than let them go to his house, unsupervised without parents!"
"What if she's pregnant, Ramus? You'll never forgive yourself for letting that boy stay over!"
Zelda rolled her eyes, her hand on the door ready to interrupt, but she couldn't help but want to hear the rest of their conversation, and her hand fell to her side.
"Do you think I want to be a grandfather, Arina? I want Zelda to get her ass back in this house! She has school she needs to focus on, and that boy is a distraction, but I want her to come back, and that means accepting him in some form or another."
"I'm going to check her room later. What if they're doing drugs? He's a criminal."
"Zelda's better than that."
Zelda turned to Link and signed, "I'm sorry," at him.
He nodded, knowing she was. It didn't lessen the sting of hearing the private conversation about him turn so harsh.
"Want to just leave?" she asked.
"No. I want them to stop so we can go in and get this over with though."
"We don't have to. You don't need this."
Link mouthed the word 'no' before leaning against the wall. "I did this to myself years ago. And they're your parents. I'd like to try again, not that they seem to want to. Besides, I don't want them thinking I've kidnapped you."
"—but she's a child!" her mother's voice rang out.
"This is why we needed this time apart. When she leaves later, because you know she's going to leave again, go ahead and call your boyfriend over. I'm going to the office."
"With your trollop?"
Then, Zelda's phone rang.
But Zelda was too stunned to move, to even hear it ring. A song loudly rang out, alerting everyone to her location near the door, but she couldn't make herself care.
"Zelda, I know…" Link tried, his eyes on her pocket. "That could be the hospital though."
Zelda could only focus on her breathing. In and out. Deep breaths. That's how you survive, isn't it? Deep breaths.
Link dug into her pocket, pulling her close to him with one arm as his other swiped the answer button on her phone. "Hello?"
Zelda leaned her head into Link.
Deep breaths.
"Yes, this is Zelda's phone. She's in the other room. Let me just go grab her. One minute, please?" He quickly muted the phone and set it down. "Zelda… you okay?"
"Yeah," she muttered through a deep breath. "Shocked."
"We'll get you out of here, okay? We'll go to the park, or I'll give you a ride to Makeela's. Anything, okay?"
"Yeah. Is it the hospital calling?"
"It is. Want me to tell them to call back, or you good?"
"No, I'm good. I'll take it."
He handed her the phone and glanced at the door to the kitchen where it was creaked open ever so slightly.
"Hello?" Zelda said into the phone before rolling her eyes and unmuting it before trying again. "Hello? Yes, this is Zelda… I… yes… t-thank you. Yes, that sounds lovely… Yes, that's perfect… I look forward to it… Of course, that won't be a problem… Yes, thank you. You too. Bye."
Zelda put the phone into her pocket and stared open mouthed at Link. "I got it. It was me and three others who got it. I have a job. I start next week! I need to buy scrubs, they said. And they'll email me the orientation information. I got it!"
Link smiled. "You're too perfect for them to say no."
Trying not to make squealing noises, Zelda grabbed Link and pressed a firm kiss to his lips, wrapping her arms tightly around him as she bounced excitedly, her parents forgotten for a moment.
But that moment was short-lived when they came into the room.
Link stepped away from Zelda, looking at the ground, unsure where else to cast his gaze. He didn't want to look at their accusatory expressions, nor did he want to look at Zelda, lest they see him as some horrible person for it.
Zelda's joy faded with their appearance as well, and she set the phone down, crossing her arms.
Arina's smile was her professional smile, one that she used on clients. "Hello Darling. Hello… Link."
"Ma'am," Link greeted with a polite nod. He turned to Ramus. "Sir. Thank you for allowing me stay over."
"Of course," Ramus said tightly. "Can't have you driving at night."
Zelda narrowed her eyes at her father's lie and took a step closer to Link.
"Are you hungry?" Arina asked. "We made some pancakes."
Zelda shrugged. "I'm not sure that I want to stay. I kind of just want to leave."
"Please, Zelda, stay. Tell us, who called? We can catch up over food."
Glancing at Link, Zelda shrugged. He gave her a small nod, one that wasn't quite agreeing, but saying that he was willing to do whatever she wanted to do.
So, Zelda grit her teeth together and hummed some assenting noise. "Yeah, apparently we all have a lot to talk about."
"Great, come on in."
Grabbing Link's sleeve, Zelda held him back. "I'm sorry, but I need to know what's going on. Sign if you want to leave and we'll go."
He gave her a look that said he already wanted to go. "Okay. I can do that."
It took every ounce of effort that Zelda had to step into the kitchen. Even the enticing smell of syrup wasn't quite enough to calm her nerves as she sat at the counter beside Link, feeling the heavy stare of her parents' eyes on them.
"How was Holodrum?" Zelda asked, trying to break the awkward stretch of silence that passed between them all.
"It was nice," Ramus said, grabbing two pancakes and placing them onto plates, handing one to Link and the other to Zelda. "I think you'd like it there. The University that's downtown is gorgeous. You'd fit in there, if you decided to go there."
"Mmm," Zelda muttered, glancing at her mother without a word.
Arina smiled broader, still fake. "And the presentation was great. Thank you for all your initial research."
"Link," Ramus said.
Link's head shot up from where he stared at the melting butter, his eyes wide, like a deer on a highway at night. "Yes, sir?"
"I'd like to make smalltalk with you, but to be quite honest, I just want to get it all out of the way. You have a criminal record."
Link slowly placed the fork back down. "I do. A juvenile record that will be wiped in a few years with continued good behavior. I can assure you, I had a rough patch in my life that I'm not proud of, but it did happen, and I have learned from it."
"May I ask… was… was it drugs? Did you steal drugs?"
Link shifted uncomfortably in his seat and glanced at Zelda, nearly ready to use their signal to get out of there before turning back to his pancake. "No… it was… it was money and objects. And assault. I was incarcerated twice. A former friend and I got physical and both ended up with injuries."
Zelda watched carefully as Link fiddled with his food and kept his eyes off the incredulous faces of her parents. "You… assault? I didn't see that one. I saw theft when I had your file pulled."
Link let out a breath and finally looked up at Ramus and Arina. "I was fourteen. I'm eighteen now. I'm not that same kid anymore. I was… I was alone, and I had no one who gave a damn. I got attention from my father and my sister the only way I knew how, and I acted out. Now, I know better.
"And Zelda… I lov—" he caught himself and cleared his throat. "I would never, ever hurt her. I know assault sounds bad, and it was, but I wouldn't hurt her. I'd never even hold her hand if she didn't want me to. And you have no reason to believe me, and no reason to trust me, but trust Zelda. She wouldn't be with me if I did anything to her."
"We trust Zelda. But…" Ramus glanced at Arina before addressing Zelda herself. "Your choices are questionable recently. You dropped your friends, you came here with a whole new group, you got a boyfriend. Your mother and I don't want you at his house. There is no supervision. No parents. You're both still children. You're seventeen."
Zelda's mouth dropped as she sucked in a breath. "Eighteen, dad. I'm eighteen, remember?"
He faltered for a moment but doubled down. "Then you should act like it."
"Ramus!" Arina hissed, stepping towards Zelda. "You are acting like a child! Name calling… by the goddess, I thought you were better than attacking our daughter. Link is right. We should trust Zelda. Link, eat your pancake. You're welcome here anytime, as long as Zelda sees fit to have you in her life. No more sleepovers, but you're welcome here."
Ramus' hand hit the table as his eyes narrowed. "No. This is a discussion; you don't get to just create some magic law that says you're the good guy for letting him stay. We talked about this earlier. He cannot be here."
"I trust our daughter."
"That's well and good, Arina, but I don't trust her boyfriend."
Deep breaths.
Zelda stood up, fighting back tears as she leaned on the counter. "I don't trust either of you! Did you know that? Are you divorced? Did you get divorced without telling me? You both have other relationships? I don't understand! Is that why neither of you come home? Because you're with other people? Do you even care that I'm here?"
"Of course we do!" Ramus boomed, riding the high of his anger.
"You don't!" Zelda spat back. "I went to a dance, I wanted my mother to help me do my hair or tell me I looked nice! I had a show, and I wanted you both in the front row cheering! I got sick while I was talking to you, mom, and I wanted you to give a damn! I wanted my dad to support me when the principal was accusing me of dressing like a skank! I have a boyfriend who loves me and makes me happy, unlike both of you! I got a job, and I wanted to tell you and have you be excited, but I can't!"
There was a long lull of silence that hung between them all, but Arina was the first to break it. "A job?"
"Yes! I just got off the phone with them. I got a job at the hospital."
"A job… on top of school? You already have theater, you have volleyball coming up, and now you want to add a job to that?"
Ramus closed his eyes, frustrated. "Do we not give you a large enough allowance? Is your bank account not fully stocked for you? You don't need the stress of a job on top of everything. You need to focus on your schoolwork and work on getting into good colleges. Business schools are competitive, and you'll need your extra curriculars to get in. Are you even still on the school senate? That should be your focus outside of school."
Zelda wiped a tear that fell, and took another deep breath.
"We only meet a few times. Our next meeting is after break."
"Then focus on that and not a silly job in a hospital. It doesn't even make sense, not when you are planning to work at a major company."
Zelda's deep breaths turned into rapid ones, and she was biting her lip in desperation, trying to get her tears to stop, but this time, there was no stopping them. It was all too much.
She covered her mouth to keep her sobs silent as she headed into the back yard, away from her parents and into the much needed cool air.
Someone was hot on her heels, and she knew it wouldn't be either parent of hers.
"Hey, hey," Link whispered, kneeling beside her. She held her breath, and he could see the rapid pulsing of her chest as she tried to calm herself, albeit unsuccessfully.
"I want to go home," Zelda gasped out.
"Zel, you're home…"
"No!" She needed a moment, which hung heavily between them. "No, I want to go home. That's not home."
He let himself thud down beside her, wrapping an arm around her. "Okay."
She leaned into him. "I just want my parents. I want parents who'd come out here right now and hug me instead of watching us from the window. I want them to apologize and tell me it's okay and that they're proud. Why don't they love me? Am I just unlovable?"
"Zelda," Link breathed, pulling her even closer. "I think they try, but they don't know how to do it right. If they didn't love you, you'd know. If they didn't love you, they wouldn't keep trying to kick me out. My mom didn't love us. She left, and kicked me out when I went to find her. Your parents are trying to keep you. And you have every right to be upset—hell, you should be—but you're not unlovable. You're not unloved at all. I know it's not what you're looking for, but I love you. Makeela loves you. Pipit, Ilia, Gabe and Aryll all love you. Mrs. Joy… maybe not…"
Zelda chuckled, and it loosened the tightness she felt in her chest just enough for her to breathe again.
"Yeah, it's not what I'm looking for, but it makes me feel better." She sighed and used her sleeve to wipe tears from her face and off Link's neck where she'd been pressed against. "Will you go on a date with me? Celebrate my new job? Or… maybe we can trick Makeela and Pipit into going on a double date with us. That would be fun. We can grab food together and then just leave them at the table. Or the movies! Do they have theater movies with subtitles?"
"They do, but if we're tricking them onto a date, we'd want them to be able to focus on each other, right?"
"Right. Dinner then? Does that sound fun?"
Link nodded with a smile on his face that had her worries beginning to melt away. "Want to take the whiteboard away and see if they can communicate in other ways?"
Zelda snorted. "You're terrible."
Link's grin widened as he moved his lips to hers, slow and tender and speaking as loud as his words had. He didn't need to say anything at all for her to know.
"They're still in the window," Link said, pulling away when he caught a glimpse of them over her shoulder.
"Fuck them," Zelda breathed, dragging Link back to her.
Link's eyebrows shot up at her infrequent swear, but he held her closer, tighter, as she practically tried to push him into the grass like they'd done with their first kiss.
He chuckled and shook his head. "You can push me down later, okay?"
Zelda pulled away and playfully rolled her red eyes. "Oh fine. Let's grab our stuff and get the hell out of here, okay, Link?"
"Okay."
A/N: Alrighty, so I'm going to start doing some time jumps (just so I'm not telling a story of their literal every day like this has been going) so I can get to the end a bit faster as well. But look at that! Two chapters in a few days! Almost feels like the good old days!
