"So, Link, when would you like to meet again?"
Link shifted on the couch as he pulled out his phone and scanned his calendar. Work was taking up a fair amount of time, and it was getting harder to keep track of his schedule. There was tech for the play, there was work, there was school. Gods, Link wasn't sure how he'd ever managed a schedule with three jobs.
"Tomorrow," he chuckled, but the woman waited patiently as Link scrolled through his phone. "Actually, I can just do the same time next week. Does that work for you?"
The woman sifted through the appointment book and nodded. "That's fine. You have the 3 o'clock on Friday." She smiled and handed him her business card with the appointment written on the back. "Have fun at the dance, Link."
"Thanks. Have a good weekend, Dr. Purah."
He slipped the card into his back pocket and grabbed his keys as he headed out into the waiting room and then down the stairs into the parking lot. He pulled his helmet on, relieved for the change in weather. With the snow, it had been too hard to drive his bike around, but now, the cold was breaking.
Before he knew it, he was home, cutting off the engine and fixing his tousled hair before going back in the house.
"Hey," he said as he passed Aryll.
"Hey. How was therapy?"
"Same. Good." He threw himself onto the couch and sighed. "Zelda will be here soon."
"Okay. You all packed?"
"Mostly." Link glanced at his room, at the backpack he'd stuffed with clothes for the night, and at the much nicer outfit on a hanger that Aryll had to pry from his hands before he could roll it and stuff it into his bag. "I just need, like, a charger. Things like that"
"Take tons of pictures for me," Aryll insisted, leaning forward, suddenly much more interested. "I want to frame one of you and Zelda, so make it a good one."
Link grimaced, but he had a feeling that even if he didn't take a picture just to spite Aryll, Zelda was probably already in on it and would find a way to get a picture.
"Yeah, yeah."
He wandered around, grabbing the smaller things he'd need before packing up and heading outside when Zelda honked the horn.
"Got your wallet?" Aryll called.
"Yes mom," Link said, waving at her as he closed the door.
Zelda was leaning out the window, her head resting on her arm. She perked up when she saw Link, and she gestured to the trunk. She wasn't the only one in the car, so Link tossed his bag into the trunk before sliding into the backseat beside Pipit and Ilia. He leaned forward and shook Makeela's shoulders as his greeting to her as well before closing the door and pulling his seatbelt on.
Zelda knew that Revali, Sidon, Darunia, Groose, Medli, Ruto, and Ravio, to name a few were all sharing rented limos to get to and from prom tomorrow night. They'd planned to arrive in style, and Zelda bit her lip at the thought that if she hadn't become friends with Link, she'd probably be asking her parents to foot an exorbitant bill for a short drive. This was, of course, before she understood the value of money, now that she earned her own. She could never imagine herself paying for that now, not when she had a perfectly good car.
But she did split a hotel room across the street from the rented location for their prom. So she, Link, Pipit, Makeela, and Ilia headed to their room. One room, two beds, and a cot. Link and Zelda laughed when they realized there was going to be an awkward chat about who was sharing the second bed and who got the cot.
Makeela and Pipit were both too determined to deny that they had a relationship going on. It was very much on the down low, and no matter how many times Link and Zelda had asked them why, they'd both simply denied anything existed. It was cryptic, and it was odd, and it made no sense. Makeela had asked Pipit to prom, after all.
Zelda enlisted Link and Ilia to get it out of them over the weekend.
The drive didn't take too long; the location of prom was only about 20 minutes away from school. This was about the adventure—not practicality—for once in their lives.
The hotel room they rented wasn't spacious. The two beds, a dresser with a television on it, and a desk took up most of the room. The first thing everyone did was hang up the obnoxious things they couldn't fold into their backpacks and set them against the wall, taking up more room. They were going to have to get really crafty with the cot.
But that wasn't Link's concern.
He threw himself onto the bed and let out a long sigh as he sank into the soft mattress. "Zel," he muttered, his voice muffled by the blanket, "Your bed has competition."
"Really?" she asked before joining him. She plopped beside him and adjusted herself. "I don't think so. Maybe you secretly just hate your futon."
"Your bed is a futon?" Makeela asked.
Link glanced suspiciously at Zelda.
"What? I don't tell her everything."
Makeela let out an offended squeak. "Well that's going to change!"
Link rolled over onto his back and patted the spot beside him. Ilia flopped down, leaving Pipit and Makeela awkwardly standing beside each other.
"This place has a pool. You all brought your stuff, right?" Zelda asked, sitting up just enough to look at Makeela.
Link translated for Pipit, and then turned his head. "You remember I can't swim, right? Is this some pre-graduation murder ritual you two have been planning this whole time?"
"Obviously," Zelda said, leaning over to give him a placating kiss before springing up.
And within twenty minutes, she'd managed to wrangle all of them to the hotel pool. They'd figure shower logistics out later, but Zelda had no intention to pass up the heated, indoor pool. Hers had been closed for too long, and she missed the lapping of water against her. She missed the smell of chlorine and the burn in her eyes and the rotten taste when she accidently swallowed any.
The pool was gloriously deserted of anyone else, and to everyone's surprise, Pipit was the first one in, tucking his legs as he jumped off the ledge. Ilia and Makeela followed shortly after. Link and Zelda stayed outside along the edge where he let his feet dangle in but that was all.
"You can go in," Link said, trying to nudge Zelda away.
"What if I want to hang out with you?"
"Well, I won't stop you."
Zelda leaned her head on Link's shoulder, watching Makeela and Pipit dive to the bottom of the deep end. Ilia was floating on her back, her eyes closed.
"You nervous?"
"For tomorrow?" Link asked. "No. It's just prom."
"I mean for everything. I am."
"Oh." He watched Pipit kick the surface of the water, a huge splash landing on Ilia making her sputter out of her floating position. "Yeah, I am. But we have the whole summer to be nervous. Why start now?"
Zelda grinned and nodded before sliding away from him. He watched her walk around the pool and lie on the ground on her stomach, reaching for something under a lounge chair. When she sat back up, she waved a plastic diving stick in her hand. "Forgotten toy."
Winding her arm back, she threw it over to the deep end where Ilia had joined the other two. The splash it made had them all flinching back as if it had been a shark that had fallen into the pool.
"What was that?" Makeela shouted at Zelda, who's laughter gave her away as the culprit. Rather than waiting for a response, she dove down and popped back up with an excited gasp. "Diving stick!" She closed her eyes and threw it backwards over her shoulder before turning around quickly in an attempt to beat Pipit and Ilia to it. Three large splashes cascaded up out of the water and sprayed back down.
"Like playing fetch," Zelda laughed before finally jumping into the water near Link. When she popped up, she tried to fight a laugh at his stoic face dripping with water from her ungraceful entrance into the pool. "Come on! Stay on the shallow side with me."
She leaned on his leg, her eyes wide and pleading.
Fuck.
"Fine."
It took him some time to actually do it, but when he finally dropped into the pool, he pressed his back against the edge and crossed his arms over his chest, almost like he was defying the water. Or at least doing the bare minimum to appease Zelda.
She was undeterred. "Want me to teach you to swim?"
"Nope. I'm happy not swimming."
"What if we go on a boat adventure some day and then we hit a rock and the boat tips and you were leaning on the side so you and I fell out and needed to swim back to it? What would you do?"
"Drown probably. Not on purpose, but you know, that tends to happen to people who fall into the ocean and can't swim. Or maybe I'd flop over to the rock that we hit and just sit there until I die of dehydration."
"You're the worst. I'd save you before then."
"Thanks."
She pulled his arms away from his chest. "No, really. Want to see how easy it is for me to carry you around in the water?"
"Not—"
She already pulled him away from the edge and lifted him, carrying him away.
"Fucking hell," he hissed, holding tightly to her shoulders. But on some level, he let her get away with it. He could have planted his feet or pushed away from her. He could have shifted himself ever so slightly so he could grab her to get her off of him.
Zelda knew this too. "You do trust me!"
He tightened his grip. "You're fucking right I do, so if you let me drown, I'm going to haunt the fuck out of you. All of you. Because those idiots would be too busy with that stick to see if I'm dead over here."
"You're not going to drown in four feet of water while I'm literally holding you, Link."
He scoffed.
"Watch! I'll give you a piggyback instead."
"Zelda…"
"This is maybe the only time I'll ever be able to give you a proper one, so take advantage of my kindness."
"Is it kindness?" he said, though again, he obliged her because gods forbid he could say no to her.
He wrapped his arms around her neck and vaguely dangled off her, shaking his head the whole time. It was the least graceful piggyback, but he didn't really care.
"This was fun, now can you bring me back?"
Zelda did, and when she let him hop off, he happily rested against the edge again. She bit her lip as she studied him.
"I knew you couldn't swim, but I never knew you were afraid of the water."
"I'm in the water, aren't I? I'm just not keen on drowning."
She pulled her legs up and let herself float around. "Well, thank you."
"Mhmm," he muttered, watching the others splash around as they tackled each other to grab the diving stick, pulling each other under like piranhas. They were a hazard.
Zelda stayed beside Link, and they watched the mayhem on the other end of the pool. She wasn't even interested in getting into that mess.
So it wasn't until they were all sore and tired that they waded back into the shallow end for a break that they really noticed Link in the pool.
"I've never seen you in the water," Pipit signed before sitting on the ladder into the pool.
Makeela swam over to Zelda and hung off her. "You know Link, Zelda has a pool. I don't think I saw you in it earlier this year."
Link smirked and shook his head.
"And I've never seen your tattoos! That's a lot bigger than I thought they'd be!"
Link held out his hand. "Can I see the diving stick?"
"Yeah," Ilia said, handing it to him.
He tossed it back into the deep end of the pool.
They all gave him a pointed look before glancing at one another.
And made a break for it.
Prom started off as one of the most… interesting school events that Zelda had been to.
Mrs. Joy stood at the entrance to the rented out hall and had a line formed in front of her as, one by one, she tested each student with a breathalyzer while the girls opened any bag they had for inspection. The boys had to move the flaps of their jackets to be sure there were no hidden flasks in their inner pockets.
Only when each student had been cleared could they pass by her to give their ticket to Mr. Auru.
He tried to perk everyone's spirits up after dealing with Mrs. Joy, and even let off a joke or two at her expense. Getting into the hall was a nightmare in itself.
Zelda hadn't expected it to be easy. In fact, as soon as she saw Mrs. Joy at the door, she'd braced herself.
And wasn't disappointed. "Miss Harkinian," Mrs Joy muttered, shoving the stick into Zelda's mouth. "Blow into the tube."
The reading flashed green, and Zelda saw the zeros, but Mrs. Joy cleared her throat. "Do it again. The reading was inconclusive."
They stared at each other for a moment before Zelda relented and accepted it. This was nearly over. Soon, she wouldn't have to deal with Mrs. Joy ever again.
Link faced similar hostility from Mrs. Joy, no doubt because of Zelda, but Makeela, Pipit, and Ilia were allowed through with no problem.
They all took professional prom pictures together in the corner of the room, every combination of the group they were allowed before the photographer kicked them out in favor of the next one. Link and Zelda. Link and Pipit. Pipit and Makeela. Zelda and Makeela. Makeela and Ilia. Ilia and Link. All of them together.
By the time most everyone else had gotten through Mrs. Joy's rigorous scanning, dinner was being served. Link and Zelda had ordered two different meals so they could taste both. Zelda chose the roast cucco, and Link got the beef option, which was adorned with the very non-edible petals of a flower.
They found that out the hard way.
"Think this is meant to be eaten?" Link asked the table.
Pipit shook his head, but Ilia laughed. "Yes! Do it!"
"Gods, Link, don't eat the flower," Zelda tried, glancing over at him after taking a picture of her plate.
"I'm going to eat the flower."
The flower was not meant to be eaten.
Zelda squealed when Link shoved the whole thing into his mouth. She snapped a picture of him with a petal hanging over his lips as he made a disgusted face. He chewed it relentlessly before finally pulling it from his mouth and hiding it in his napkin.
"That was gross. It was like rubber."
Ten minutes later, Link got a text from Aryll. A flower.
He turned accusingly to Zelda. "You sent that to Aryll?"
"She wanted pictures to frame. And I want that picture framed."
"Betrayer," he muttered.
Once the food had been taken away and dessert was served, several people started piling onto the dance floor as music played. The group opted to watch everyone for a while and to eat the cake that had been served before joining in.
Ravio and Ruto had formed a posse to block them from the chaperones while they danced up on one another. Several others progressively joined in, and Mrs. Joy's suspicious nature won out at the gathering and she hurried over to break it up.
Sidon, Revali, and Darunia sat together at the next table as they laughed at something Sidon said. It was boisterous and loud, but not obnoxious. They were having fun.
Zelda saw Medli, and she saw Groose. They were dancing separately, but both were alone. Beside them was Ralis.
Ilia squared her shoulders and stood up. "I'll be back," she said before crossing the room to stand beside him.
Link smacked Pipit in the arm several times as they watched her start up a conversation with him. She'd wanted to all year.
Once the music got louder, Link pulled Zelda with him outside into the little garden behind the hall. They passed the window several times, each time checking to see if Pipit and Makeela would get up to dance. Instead, the entire time, they were scribbling back and forth on the whiteboard.
After giving up on that, Link and Zelda went back inside and moved onto the dance floor. There was an upbeat song that neither of them knew the words to, so Zelda pulled Link with her up to the DJ's station.
"Do you take requests? Because I really think you should play some Indigo-Go's!"
"Alright!" the DJ responded before going back t her job.
Zelda beamed, and sure enough, two songs later, the Indigo-Go's came on. It was a radio remix which basically just made it more danceable.
Zelda hauled Link with her onto the edge of the dancefloor and grabbed his hands, swinging them wildly. Link laughed, but he followed her lead, spinning and swinging. He pulled her into his arms and they did the exact same thing, laughing the entire time as curious heads turned to them. This was not a mainstream group anyway, so few other students even knew the song.
By the time it was over, they were out of breath. Zelda leaned in and kissed Link before they headed back to Pipit and Makeela.
But they didn't sit.
Instead, Link moved behind Pipit and physically hoisted him to his feet, while Zelda pulled Makeela by the hand. They stood directly in front of the speakers for Pipit, who could feel the beat through the vibrations in the floor from the rumbling speakers.
For several songs, that's all they did: wildly dancing to the music with each other. Zelda and Makeela held hands as they swung each other around. Link and Pipit mimicked each other's awkward dance moves, taking each other so seriously.
And then, the music changed.
"Slow song," Link signed. "Get out there! You don't even need the music. Just sway."
Zelda followed his words and grabbed Link's arm, pulling him a little way away before easily leaning into him, no intention of doing anything more than stepping side to side. She was happy to just be in his tight embrace.
And more often than not, they snuck a glance at Makeela and Pipit. Makeela held out her hand, and Pipit took it before they moved into the most stereotypical middle school dancing position on the planet.
Zelda grinned and hid it against Link when Makeela turned her head to Zelda for moral support. Zelda nodded enthusiastically and whispered what was happening for Link.
They spun around, rocking slowly to the beat, and watched Ilia tell Ralis a story where she sat at a table. She leaned on her elbows and her hands flickered around at her wrist as she tried to explain something.
Link leaned his head against Zelda's. "Remember when we were really awkward with each other?"
"No. We were never awkward," Zelda laughed.
"Like, our second conversation you asked me if I had condoms in my pocket. We were awkward."
Zelda grimaced. "Oh. Yeah, maybe we were. Maybe we still are. Maybe we'll look back at tonight and be like, 'remember how awkward we were at prom?'"
Humming, Link held Zelda a little tighter. "Maybe we'll be so old we just won't remember how awkward we were."
Zelda's lips twitched up and she pulled far enough away to look at him.
Link stared at her, confused by her smug expression. And then it hit him.
Like a tractor full of bricks.
"Oh! I didn't mean we'd… well, yeah, I guess that's what I meant… but I didn't… fuck. I made this awkward."
Zelda could feel his throat bob as he swallowed hard. She shook her head and leaned on him. "No, you didn't."
Before he'd properly met Zelda, he'd always imagined that maybe some girl would come into Gabe's shop. She'd be pretty, and that's all he'd know about her before swallowing his nerves and asking her out. Maybe she'd say yes. Maybe they'd hit it off. If they didn't, he'd pay for some girl's cigarettes at the corner store and somehow, that would bring him luck enough to go out with her. But in terms of dating, that was all he could see for himself. He had too much baggage for anyone else to help shoulder. He wouldn't have minded; it wasn't something he'd expected to find anyway.
He'd go to school for a while and then work at the shop until Gabe retired and passed it on to Link. He'd go home to his empty house because Aryll would have moved in with Collin by then. He'd watch some television, have a few cigarettes, maybe hang out with Pipit, and go to sleep. There was nothing wrong with that future either. Sure, the thought of what the future might look like just ended abruptly in his mind, but he'd always wanted to run the shop someday. He'd find fulfillment in his work, and he'd earned every second of it.
But since Zelda, he'd started to picture a different future. He'd go to college, maybe double major like he always wanted to. He'd graduate, and maybe he'd need a higher degree for whatever job he wanted. If he could afford it, he'd do it, but if not, he'd get a job somewhere in Central Hyrule, where all the opportunities were. He'd have a safety net in Gabe and the shop, so he could throw himself out there and try things he'd never thought of before.
And one day, maybe he'd have a house that he was able to afford with a salary that didn't just get him by. Maybe he'd own the house rather than rent an apartment. He liked apartments, but the thought of his own house, his own garage? It wasn't something he could have imagined affording with Gabe's shop, even full time. Even with a part time second job, it would take him years to even consider not needing a roommate to split the bills with.
And if he did split the bills with someone, there was only one other person he could picture that being.
"Zelda?" he muttered, his heart racing.
"Yeah?"
He hesitated, bombarded with images of them in the future: adventuring, cooking, relaxing. He could even see them fighting, though they'd always end up back together after.
"I love you."
Zelda chuckled. "Smooth recovery."
"That's because I'm smooth."
She scoffed and bit back her laughter. "Okay, Link."
He smiled and relaxed, leaning into her again. He wouldn't risk kissing her on the edge of the dancefloor when Mrs. Joy was right there, waiting for an excuse to charge over and embarrass a few students.
But they were the only ones on the edge.
Link sucked in a breath and tapped Zelda's back rapidly until she looked up at him. Zelda followed his gaze and held back a squeal as they saw Makeela and Pipit kiss. It was fast, and they both pulled away from it as a blushing mess, but Zelda squeezed Link and shook him by the arms with excitement.
"Fuck yeah!" she whispered.
Link bit his lip and turned his attention to her.
She giggled and waved her arm around by his neck. "I'm excited, okay? I have been waiting for this!" She stopped herself and gasped. "Oh gods, I've turned into Makeela. This is what she did to me. And she wanted a picture, and now I want a picture. Gods, she's rubbing off on me!"
"Too bad Ilia missed it. She's the worst detective."
"Should we tell her?"
"Not yet," Link said, glancing behind him. "She's been wanting to talk to Ralis all year, remember?"
"Right. Well are we going to pretend we didn't see and let them tell us?"
Link wriggled his eyebrows. "I bet you ten rupees that they try to keep it a secret today."
Zelda smirked. "I'll take that bet. Makeela will get too excited and tell me when we're alone."
"How do I know you won't cheat then? You just want my rupees."
"Yes, I do."
She ended up winning them.
Makeela ended up dragging Zelda out towards the bathroom to tell her, and Pipit just stayed nervously twiddling his thumbs at the table with Link, who stared him down with burning suspicion.
When Makeela pulled Ilia away from Ralis to dance with her, Ilia was left with crushing disappointment, not because of the loss of Ralis' company, but that she had missed the event.
Makeela was then too nervous to go anywhere near Pipit whenever the music turned slow. She even opted to dance with Ilia instead.
Pipit was no better, anxiously sitting at the table eating the snacks that were brought out rather than participating.
Link finally got Pipit to confess near the end of then night when he was pretty sure Pip was going to have an actual heart attack.
Prom King and Queen was announced in the latter half of the evening. Zelda had written in Makeela's name for fun, and had voted for Darunia, so she was disappointed to see Ravio and Ruto take the crowns.
On the ride back to the hotel, Zelda sent Aryll all her pictures before being drawn into a long conversation about switching up the sleeping arrangements. So Zelda, Makeela, and Ilia crammed into one bed, while Link and Pipit shared the other. Link faced Zelda and rolled his eyes before turning off the light.
In the morning, they woke to find Pipit and Makeela asleep on the cot, curled up in what looked like they'd both just tipped over at some point. The whiteboard was between them with a smudged word in Makeela's handwriting illegible on it.
The ride home was as short as the ride there. Zelda dropped off Ilia and Pipit first before stopping at Link's.
Link walked around to Zelda's window and she rolled it down and leaned out. "I'm staying at Makeela's tonight. She has a story for me."
"Shut up!" Makeela hissed, whacking Zelda's arm.
He chuckled and kissed her though the window. "I'll see you at school then."
"Do you want to come over tomorrow after work? We have that lab report to do."
"Is that an innuendo?"
Zelda scoffed and rolled the window up with a grin. "Goodbye, Link."
He hiked his backpack up and smiled. "Bye, Zel."
A/N: "I'm going to do three shorter chapters" she once said. Lies! I combined two of them together and made this normal sized chapter instead! So wow, we're really almost done now! I think two chapters left-ish!? Here we go! Also, I'm going to shamelessly plug a fic and say I started posting that Pirate LOZ fic I've occasionally yapped about down here, which will probably become my main fic after I finish posting this one!
Reviews: Scarlet Curls: I don't understand why FFN loves to give people errors and glitches! It's happened more than once to me! I'm sorry it's happened to you too! It's so FRUSTERATING! But bahahah yasss power move to Zelda! Guest 1: Your comments bring me such JOY Friendly-Neighborhood-Guest-Account! I see your comments and I just want to respond, but I'm molasses posting chapters recently so like a month later, here we are lol! Anyway, thank you for the comments! I really appreciate them and I am sorry to pull the rug from under you, but you're standing on my magic carpet, and I kinda need that back! Lol! Guest 2: I SEE YOU Friendly-Neighborhood-Guest-Account! Oracle of Hylia: SAME! (Pretend there's a crying emoji here). Animejunkie'smeow: Thank you! And honestly, me too! Jojoker: It was a devastating blow last time, but this time I can open them! Not going to lie, I'm glad it made you tear up a little lol! MaskedMarvel: Hahaha summaries are the bane of my existence! I'm glad it didn't throw you off! And thank you! I try to give them all as much personality as possible (except Mrs. Joy. She's just the worst)! So it's really good to hear that you feel like that about Ramus! That was my hope for him: not anyone's favorite, but definitely trying to change for his daughter's sake! Argonaur961: Idk if you made it here, since your comment was in ch 20, but I FEEL THAT! I would tell you to go to sleep instead, but I'd be a hypocrite! AND THANK YOU SO MUCH THAT"S SO NICE OF YOU TO SAY!