A/N: WOAH!! This is like, 11 pages!! but a lot happens, so be prepared and
make sure not 2 skip over anything!!
KEY THINGS 2 REMEMBER: 1. Greer and Zelda were, at one point, not talking 2 each other b/c greer was forcing herself into zelda's affair w/ link. and 2. din was framed in hungary for robbing a store....ok, hope u all ready for dis!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Three Months Later....
Link picked up his ringing telephone. "Hello?"
"Hi Link, it's Zel."
"Oh, hi!"
"I guess you've heard that the Oscar nominations are out and everything. I'm sorry you didn't get into the race. I really think that you should've gotten a nomination, not that ridiculous Gary Cooper person. And if you ask me, James Cagney strutting about in an Uncle Sam outfit doesn't exactly seem like Academy material either." She said all this very quickly.
"Your consolation is very comforting," Link laughed. "Thanks. Oh, but what am I thinking? Congratulations on your second nomination for Best Actress."
"Oh, thanks," Zelda said modestly. "I couldn't believe my ears when I found out. But then, the film was quite a popular one, with the critics and the audiences. I've been skimming a few magazines, and most are aghast that our families agreed to actually shoot a picture together."
"Yes, I know," Link sighed. "That reminds me--how does our dear little Mrs. Miniver feel about her nomination?"
"Oh, Greer's just ecstatic about it, dahling," Zelda said, imitating Greer Garson's British accent. "We finally decided to get out of the argument we were in, and we've been talking more than ever, now."
"That's good to hear," Link said, who had never even known that Zelda and Greer had been fighting. "She's going to be disappointed though, when you're the one taking home the Oscar."
"Link, don't be ridiculous," Zelda laughed. "She's got just as good a chance as I do for winning. In fact, she's more likely, seeing as how she was the one with the war propaganda film."
"Judges aren't supposed to consider that sort of thing, though," Link pointed out.
"That doesn't mean that they don't," Zelda said. "Oh, I've got to go. I'm supposed to meet Joan Fontaine on Lacienega in about fifteen minutes. Bye!"
"Bye..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What is it, Nayru?"
Nayru stopped as she heard Greer's voice from behind her. Slowly, she turned. "What do you mean?" she asked in an unusually high-pitched voice.
"You seem a little nervous about something," Greer said. "I'd like to know what it is, if you don't mind."
"It's nothing."
"It's something. And you know I won't let you alone until you tell me what it is you're trying to hide."
"Nothing, I've just come from the Harkers, that's all." Nayru tried walk briskly away, but Greer grabbed her shoulder and forced her to face her.
"You've done what?!"
"Don't be angry at me, Greer!" Nayru said in a frightened voice. "I only did what I thought was right! I didn't believe that Link Harker should go around fooling with Zelda's emotions anymore, and I told Shirley in an attempt to get her to break them up!"
Greer stared at her. "You've just done this NOW?!" Fearfully, Nayru nodded. Greer sighed. "Then I feel sorry for you. If there's one thing I've learned from this affair, it's to keep out of my friends' business. Zelda can deal with this sort of thing herself, but now I'm afraid that Mrs. Shirley Harker is going to have to intervene....I'm not saying you did the wrong thing, though."
"Yes you are!"
"....well, so what if I am? At least I'm not slapping your head off, which is what'd I'd be doing if I was Zelda."
Nayru's eyes widened. "Do you think she'll be angry with me??"
"Angry doesn't even begin to describe it," Greer said lightly, walking away. "But on the up side, at least everyone in the United States thinks you're a shoe-in for Best Suppporting...." (A/N: that implies that Nayru got nominated 4 best supporting actress, just so u know).
Nayru slapped herself on the forehead. "Oh, what did I do?!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Din looked cautiously out her window. She had to be very careful these days. The police weren't exactly after her, but the Hungarians were almost hot on her tail. She sighed and stared at the front door. Going out of her house put her in serious jeopardy most of the time. But she had to try once more, and this would determine the decision she had been trying to make for so long.
Holding her breath, Din put a hand on the doorknob and pulled. She was immediately greeted by flashing bulbs and jabbering newspapermen.
"What do you have to say on being accused of the robbery?"
"Any comment? No comment?"
"C'mon, give us a pretty smile for the camera!"
In silent shock, Din immediately shut the door. This was seconds after she noticed Zelda standing across the street, who had stopped to stare.
Gritting her teeth, Zelda ran to Din's home and threw herself into the crowd of reporters and photographers. "Get away, you carnivores!!"
"Ah, an elegant remark from a refined lady!" called out one photographer.
"Leave me alone!" Zelda shouted, wishing she wasn't causing such a scene in front of her friend's house. "I'm warning you, just leave me alone!!"
"Is Din a friend of yours?" asked one reporter. "Do you think she's guilty of the crime? Did she tell you anything?"
Zelda knocked on the door behind her. "Din, let me inside!!" There came no answer. Shielding herself against the glare of the camera flashes, Zelda reached blindly for the doorknob. She finally found it and pushed. She successfully got into the house, and whammed the door shut behind her.
Breathing in sharply, Zelda heard a clatter and the sound of footsteps running above her head. She turned around and looked as Din's lovely--but worried--face came into view just by the stairway.
"Zelda! What're you doing here?" she asked.
"I saw the commotion from the other side of the street and walked over," she answered breathlessly, walking towards the stairs. "Din, are you all right? I'm so sorry, I haven't come by to see you--"
"It's okay, I've been very busy anyway," Din said hurriedly.
After hesitating, Zelda began to climb up the stairs. "Are you sure you're all right? You seem sort of...."
"I'm fine," Din said a little too quickly. "Really."
"You're shaking," Zelda said, getting closer. "I think those reporters were getting a little too close to you." She stopped on the second floor. "You look scared to death, you poor dear!"
"N-no, I'm all right, really," Din insisted.
"Darling, you're a terrible liar," Zelda said, grinning. "Is there a bathroom nearby? Perhaps all you need is a good dose of water." She walked down the hallway in search of a bathroom.
"A good dose of SOMEthing," Din muttered to herself. "No, Zelda! Please don't go in there!" she suddenly cried, as Zelda opened the door to the bathroom.
She came to a dead halt. Zelda swore her heart stopped beating and she stopped breathing for a few moments. On the vanity and floor of the bathroom lay a large collection of pills and bottles, many of which had been spilled onto the floor. Her eyes glazed over as the image before her drilled itself into her mind.
"Din," Zelda said quietly, slowly turning to face her. "What....is this?"
Like a child who had been caught taking candy from a drugstore, Din lowered her head and looked away from Zelda. "What do you think? Why do I have to tell you what I was doing, when it's right before your eyes?"
"But--but why?!" Zelda gasped. "Din, why--" She grabbed Din's shoulders and turned her around. "Look at me! Why would you want to do something like this to yourself?! You've no reason for it!"
"I do!" Din insisted, pulling herself out of Zelda's grasp. "You don't know what it's like, Zelda! Being chased down, on the run from a past you're trying to forget! I came to America because I thought I could escape all the injustice and all the cameras I left back home! But I guess I was wrong--I can't spend another second of this--this daily agony! I haven't left my home for days because if I do, my face will be splattered all over the front pages of a newspaper!"
"Why didn't you ask for help, Din?!" Zelda asked. "Why didn't you tell me everything when you told me about the frame job?"
"I was scared," Din said, rubbing her arms. "I was afraid. Ever since America found out about my past, my life has gone downhill. I've started drinking--and I never did before, I began smoking again, I--I did things I shouldn't have, and now look at me! I am a mess!"
For the first time, Zelda noticed Din's slightly matted hair, the lack of makeup, the bags under her eyes, and the bruises on her arms. Zelda shook her head in disbelief. "Please, why don't you just stop and let me talk this out with you?"
Din recoiled. "No! You don't understand! My life has been ruined by one person, who thought they would get a laugh out of framing me of a robbery!" Steady tears flew down her cheeks, and she wiped distractedly at them. "I don't like my life, Zelda, but there isn't anything I can do!"
"Yes, there is!" Zelda insisted.
"There isn't!" Din cried. "It's as if you--you make a wrong turn when you're driving your car. You try to find when you went wrong, but you just can't! And then every turn you make after that is just wrong, wrong, wrong! And you'll never be right again! What do you do then, huh?
Zelda let her cheeks be stained red with small tears as she walked closer to Din. "You stop and ask somebody for directions."
Din stared back at her, breathing sharply, her breaths uneven due to a small sob now and then. Zelda put her arms around her and drew her into a sisterly hug. Din continued to cry loudly, and Zelda tried to calm her.
"I can't believe what I was doing," Din sobbed. "If you hadn't come just now, I--I'd be gone!"
"Shh, you'll be all right now," Zelda said quietly. "Just calm down, please. Why don't you come home with me, and we can talk this whole thing out?"
"You don't have anything else planned?" Din whispered, pulling away.
"Well, um....actually, I was supposed to meet Joan Fontaine in a few minutes, but I think this a little more important than lunch. I can see her later." Zelda slowly guided Din down the stairs. They stopped before going out the front door. Zelda glanced out of a window nearby. "Don't worry, Din....the photographers are gone."
The two of them made their way out of the house, and quickly across the street to Zelda's car.
"Oh please, could I drive?" Din asked quietly. "I haven't driven a car for the longest time, it seems....you'd just have to tell me where to go."
"All right then," Zelda agreed, walking to the other side and sitting down in the passenger's seat. She waited for Din to start up the car, then said, "You'll need to turn the car around, then drive straight for a little while."
"Okay."
There was silence as they drove. Zelda was still milling over the last few minutes in her mind. What would've happened if she hadn't gone into the house just then? Would Din really have gone through with it and killed herself? She shivered slightly, then noticed that she was shaking a little from the shock of it all.
Din glanced over at Zelda. She looked really nervous about something, but then she probably had the right to. Then Din saw something out of the corner of her eye, and noticed a blue car swerving right towards her.
"Din--!" Zelda cried out, snapping her attention towards the other car.
(a/n: 4 those of u w/ queasy stomachs, this following part may....um.... freak you out a little)
It all happened in about four seconds. The blue vehicle literally smashed into the driver's side of Zelda's car, causing it to almost jerk forward. Din, whose mind had been too out of focus to put on a seatbelt, was hurled forward into the front window of the car. Zelda cried out in horror as she saw blood seep onto the glass and hood of the car.
Quickly she reached out her leg and slammed it down onto the break. She stared in pure shock in fright as the body in front of her continued to bleed profusely--the traffic around her stopped.
Though the accident had left Zelda almost unscathed, it had cost Din her life.
Screaming in rage, Zelda flew out of the car and looked behind her. She saw a man jump out of the blue thing that had hit them, and he raced down the street in the opposite direction. Zelda streaked after him--this wasn't very easy, because she was wearing a dress and heeled shoes.
"SOMEBODY STOP THAT MAN!!" she shouted. "STOP HIM!!"
He turned a corner that led onto Lacienaga, and Zelda followed him. A stitch in her side was beginning to hurt intensley--she wasn't used to running this fast. A couple of people had joined her chase, heeding to her calls for help.
As the man prepared to turn another corner, a woman jumped out of no where and pinned him to the ground. He struggled to get up, but she whammed him on the head with her bag, and he was immediately knocked out.
"Joan!" Zelda breathed, upon seeing her friend, Ms. Fontaine, sitting on the criminal.
"Sheesh, I've been waiting here for you for twenty minutes," Joan complained, standing up. "But I heard someone screaming to stop this guy, so I attacked him. What's wrong?"
Zelda stared at the man, then back at Joan. "I don't think I really want to answer that question right now. All I can say is that that man is going to face the death penalty for what he just did."
"Someone call the police," said one of the guys who had been helping Zelda chase the man.
Zelda turned with tears in her eyes (again) and ran back to where her car was. She was a little surprised to see an ambulance and a police car there already, but shook her head and walked towards them. Then she came to an abrupt halt.
"Miss Jones, is this your car?" an officer asked her. "We have a witness here who says she saw you run out of it."
"Yes, it's mine," Zelda said hoarsely, after searching briefly for her voice. "But I didn't do anyth--"
"Yes, we know," the policeman interrupted. "Do you know what happened to the man who did it? Did he run?"
"He's being held on Lacienaga Boulevard," Zelda stammered, sweating. "But.... but is Din--is she...."
"I'm sorry ma'am, but there's nothing we can do for your friend," the officer said solemnly. "The accident was obviously not premeditated, but....she is dead."
Zelda turned away and tried choking back her tears. She ran--ran, and she knew she was going to run all the way home.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Fifteen minutes later, Zelda shut the front door of her house behind her. She had to forget what had just happened to her. She had to get those pictures out of her brain--of Din's bleeding corpse lying on the hood of the car, a somewhat shocked look on her face. The image of the pills and bottles laying on her bathroom sink .... Zelda only wanted to forget everything that had happened that day.
"There you are, Zelda," Madeline said, appearing out of nowhere. "I have something I'd like to speak to you about."
"Can't it wait?" Zelda asked sharply, trying to walk upstairs.
"Zelda," Madeline persisted. "This cannot wait; we have to talk right NOW." Zelda stopped and her mother continued. "Shirley Harker came here this afternoon, and she told me that you've been seeing her son."
Zelda stared at her. She had just witnessed one of her best friends dying, and her mother wanted to talk about her love life? "Mother, this is really not a good time to discuss this."
"It's the perfect time," Madeline said quietly. "How long has this been going on? Why did it--when did it start?! How could you do this to me, Zelda?!"
"What do you mean?"
"What do you think I mean?!" Madeline asked. "Having a relationship with scum like Link Harker, and--"
"Mother, you don't even know him!!" Zelda shouted.
"You know we do not approve of him, or his family!"
"Stop treating me like a little girl! I'm old enough to make decisions on my own! And I'd really like to talk about this right now mother, I really would, but I just had to see my best friend get killed in a car accident in the seat right next to me, so I would prefer to have just SOME time alone!!" Then Zelda let out another quick sob and ran up the stairs to her bedroom.
Madeline stood there in shock. Her best friend had just died? It took a moment for this to compute....then she slapped herself on the forehead. It was easy to see that Zelda was experiencing something emotional when she first walked in the door--why did she have to attack her so suddenly?
Zelda heard someone knock on her bedroom door. "Go away!" she cried out hotly.
Undaunted, Madeline opened the door anyway and stepped inside. "We really do need to talk about this, Zelda."
"I have no patience right now!" Zelda shouted. "So I suggest you get out of here, or else you'll regret it deeply! Link is--"
"I'm not here to talk about Link," Madeline interjected. "I didn't know that you'd--I didn't know about your friend."
Zelda drew her knees up to her chest and wept silently. "It's really painful to talk about it....even though it just happened. We were driving, and--and another car rammed into her side of the car, and it just....she....got killed."
"I'm--I'm sorry, Zelda," Madeline said quietly, wishing there was something more to say."
Breathing in gently, Zelda said, "Can we talk about this later, mother? I really just want to be alone right now."
"All right." Madeline got up slowly, and shut the doors behind her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That next month, Zelda was still feeling as if a part of her was missing. She could never get that memory out of her mind, and it would be stuck with her forever. But thinking of Din's death wasn't that only thing that was haunting her.
After she'd mostly gotten over the loss, Zelda had been harassed by her parents about Link. They said she didn't have a right to do this to their reputation, and she kept complaining about being treated like a child. It was awful, and got to the point that she couldn't stay under the same roof as them any more. Zelda moved in with Greer, and was going to be forced to see her parents gain this same evening: it was the Big Oscar night.
"Is Link going to be meeting you there?" Greer asked, as a maid brushed out her hair for her.
"Actually, I asked him to come pick me up, if that's all right," Zelda answered, standing by and watching. Her dress was a modest black one with thing straps, with sparkling sequins. A long golden necklace hung onto her, along with a bracelet that matched it in color.
"Oh, it's fine with ME," Greer said. "But I believe your parents are going to be a tad bit upset about you showing up with him at a public ceremony such as this. You know the media is going to be all over you."
"They already know," Zelda sighed. "We had a terrible rendevous with them just last week. Link and I braved the crowds and went out for dinner together. A herd of journalists and photographers showed up out of no where and asked us if they could get a picture."
"Well, at least they asked," Greer said, as her maid walked away.
"Well, when Link said no, they kept persisting," Zelda continued. "Link was a total dear, though, he just said, 'Look, I'm trying to have a nice quiet dinner with my girl here, and you guys are ruining the atmosphere for us.' Eventually, though, one of them snapped a picture."
"Phew, I'll bet that knocked Link out of his chair," Greer laughed.
"Tell me about it," Zelda sighed. "He snatched the camera right out of the guys hands, and smashed it onto the table. 'This time your camera, next time, your head,' he told them. Then they all dashed! It was rather amusing sort of, but it was also a little nerve-racking."
"I'm sure it was," Greer said. A doorbell rang from the floor below them. "Well, that's either Link or Richard. Let's go, shall we?" The two friends walked down the stairs.
"Just one thing," Zelda said. "I want to remember....if you end up bringing home the Academy Award, no hard feelings, all right?"
"And vice versa," Greer said, shaking Zelda's hand as a servant opened the front door. "Richard!"
"Link," Zelda said, walking forward and giving him a quick kiss. "How nice that you both got here at the same time." She walked with him towards a long limousine, remarking, "You're the first of my beaus to ever get to a place on time, you know."
"That's--um, great," Link said, opening the side door and then sliding in after her. The car started. (a/n: keep in mind that link isn't driving. he has a chauffer doing it) "I see you've taken refuge in a friend's house as well. I did too--I fled to Darunia's after my parents found out about...us."
"I still can't get over what an influence they have on my life," Zelda scoffed. "It's like they want to control every little move I make!"
"I know how you feel," Link sighed. He rested a hand on Zelda's cheek. "But nothing they said could ever make me stop loving you." He stared into her eyes, then kissed her hungrily.
Her arms flew up about his shoulders, her lips surrendering to his roving ones, taking in all she could get. This past month had one of the coldest, darkest ones of her life, and she realized for the first time that love had been the key thing missing.
A few moments later, Link's tongue had met Zelda's in a gentle parry. He moaned with satisfaction, pressing himself onto her harder. Suddenly he tasted a salty moisture on his tongue. He pulled away from Zelda, and realized she was crying.
"Zel, what is it?" he asked quickly, helping her to sit straight.
"You're--you're so wonderful," she choked. "I didn't realize how much I missed you until j-just now....because of my family, I've been unable to see you! It's like--it's almost like that Shakespeare story....oh, what was it called?"
"Um, I forgot."
"I love you," Zelda whispered, embracing him warmly. She pulled out a hand mirror and then laughed. "Oh, but look! You've gone and smeared my lipstick! I'll need to do it over!"
"I don't think you should be laughing, here," Link said, taking a handkerchief out of his pocket and rubbing the makeup off of his face. "Here, use this."
"Thanks."
"We're here, Sir," said the driver from in front of the window seperating them. "At the Cocoanut Grove Ambassador Hotel."
"Yes, I guess I could tell from all the screaming," Zelda sighed, applying a new coat of lipstick. "Well Link, we won't be able to avoid those cameras now." She took his hand and squeezed it. "Are you ready?"
"Yep."
"Then you get out first. I'm scared."
Rolling his eyes, Link got up and walked over Zelda, opening the car door on the other side and taking her hand. Immediately the bulbs started flashing, and the two of them made their way down the red carpet and into the building.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
a/n: sry about the whole din thing. but it had 2 b done. anyway, the next chapter will be up really soon. i was gonna put it into THIS chapter, but then it would b way 2 long. b prepared 4 more soon--also b prepared 4 this story to be FINISHED soon. and also b prepared 2 REVIEW!!! like, now!
KEY THINGS 2 REMEMBER: 1. Greer and Zelda were, at one point, not talking 2 each other b/c greer was forcing herself into zelda's affair w/ link. and 2. din was framed in hungary for robbing a store....ok, hope u all ready for dis!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Three Months Later....
Link picked up his ringing telephone. "Hello?"
"Hi Link, it's Zel."
"Oh, hi!"
"I guess you've heard that the Oscar nominations are out and everything. I'm sorry you didn't get into the race. I really think that you should've gotten a nomination, not that ridiculous Gary Cooper person. And if you ask me, James Cagney strutting about in an Uncle Sam outfit doesn't exactly seem like Academy material either." She said all this very quickly.
"Your consolation is very comforting," Link laughed. "Thanks. Oh, but what am I thinking? Congratulations on your second nomination for Best Actress."
"Oh, thanks," Zelda said modestly. "I couldn't believe my ears when I found out. But then, the film was quite a popular one, with the critics and the audiences. I've been skimming a few magazines, and most are aghast that our families agreed to actually shoot a picture together."
"Yes, I know," Link sighed. "That reminds me--how does our dear little Mrs. Miniver feel about her nomination?"
"Oh, Greer's just ecstatic about it, dahling," Zelda said, imitating Greer Garson's British accent. "We finally decided to get out of the argument we were in, and we've been talking more than ever, now."
"That's good to hear," Link said, who had never even known that Zelda and Greer had been fighting. "She's going to be disappointed though, when you're the one taking home the Oscar."
"Link, don't be ridiculous," Zelda laughed. "She's got just as good a chance as I do for winning. In fact, she's more likely, seeing as how she was the one with the war propaganda film."
"Judges aren't supposed to consider that sort of thing, though," Link pointed out.
"That doesn't mean that they don't," Zelda said. "Oh, I've got to go. I'm supposed to meet Joan Fontaine on Lacienega in about fifteen minutes. Bye!"
"Bye..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What is it, Nayru?"
Nayru stopped as she heard Greer's voice from behind her. Slowly, she turned. "What do you mean?" she asked in an unusually high-pitched voice.
"You seem a little nervous about something," Greer said. "I'd like to know what it is, if you don't mind."
"It's nothing."
"It's something. And you know I won't let you alone until you tell me what it is you're trying to hide."
"Nothing, I've just come from the Harkers, that's all." Nayru tried walk briskly away, but Greer grabbed her shoulder and forced her to face her.
"You've done what?!"
"Don't be angry at me, Greer!" Nayru said in a frightened voice. "I only did what I thought was right! I didn't believe that Link Harker should go around fooling with Zelda's emotions anymore, and I told Shirley in an attempt to get her to break them up!"
Greer stared at her. "You've just done this NOW?!" Fearfully, Nayru nodded. Greer sighed. "Then I feel sorry for you. If there's one thing I've learned from this affair, it's to keep out of my friends' business. Zelda can deal with this sort of thing herself, but now I'm afraid that Mrs. Shirley Harker is going to have to intervene....I'm not saying you did the wrong thing, though."
"Yes you are!"
"....well, so what if I am? At least I'm not slapping your head off, which is what'd I'd be doing if I was Zelda."
Nayru's eyes widened. "Do you think she'll be angry with me??"
"Angry doesn't even begin to describe it," Greer said lightly, walking away. "But on the up side, at least everyone in the United States thinks you're a shoe-in for Best Suppporting...." (A/N: that implies that Nayru got nominated 4 best supporting actress, just so u know).
Nayru slapped herself on the forehead. "Oh, what did I do?!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Din looked cautiously out her window. She had to be very careful these days. The police weren't exactly after her, but the Hungarians were almost hot on her tail. She sighed and stared at the front door. Going out of her house put her in serious jeopardy most of the time. But she had to try once more, and this would determine the decision she had been trying to make for so long.
Holding her breath, Din put a hand on the doorknob and pulled. She was immediately greeted by flashing bulbs and jabbering newspapermen.
"What do you have to say on being accused of the robbery?"
"Any comment? No comment?"
"C'mon, give us a pretty smile for the camera!"
In silent shock, Din immediately shut the door. This was seconds after she noticed Zelda standing across the street, who had stopped to stare.
Gritting her teeth, Zelda ran to Din's home and threw herself into the crowd of reporters and photographers. "Get away, you carnivores!!"
"Ah, an elegant remark from a refined lady!" called out one photographer.
"Leave me alone!" Zelda shouted, wishing she wasn't causing such a scene in front of her friend's house. "I'm warning you, just leave me alone!!"
"Is Din a friend of yours?" asked one reporter. "Do you think she's guilty of the crime? Did she tell you anything?"
Zelda knocked on the door behind her. "Din, let me inside!!" There came no answer. Shielding herself against the glare of the camera flashes, Zelda reached blindly for the doorknob. She finally found it and pushed. She successfully got into the house, and whammed the door shut behind her.
Breathing in sharply, Zelda heard a clatter and the sound of footsteps running above her head. She turned around and looked as Din's lovely--but worried--face came into view just by the stairway.
"Zelda! What're you doing here?" she asked.
"I saw the commotion from the other side of the street and walked over," she answered breathlessly, walking towards the stairs. "Din, are you all right? I'm so sorry, I haven't come by to see you--"
"It's okay, I've been very busy anyway," Din said hurriedly.
After hesitating, Zelda began to climb up the stairs. "Are you sure you're all right? You seem sort of...."
"I'm fine," Din said a little too quickly. "Really."
"You're shaking," Zelda said, getting closer. "I think those reporters were getting a little too close to you." She stopped on the second floor. "You look scared to death, you poor dear!"
"N-no, I'm all right, really," Din insisted.
"Darling, you're a terrible liar," Zelda said, grinning. "Is there a bathroom nearby? Perhaps all you need is a good dose of water." She walked down the hallway in search of a bathroom.
"A good dose of SOMEthing," Din muttered to herself. "No, Zelda! Please don't go in there!" she suddenly cried, as Zelda opened the door to the bathroom.
She came to a dead halt. Zelda swore her heart stopped beating and she stopped breathing for a few moments. On the vanity and floor of the bathroom lay a large collection of pills and bottles, many of which had been spilled onto the floor. Her eyes glazed over as the image before her drilled itself into her mind.
"Din," Zelda said quietly, slowly turning to face her. "What....is this?"
Like a child who had been caught taking candy from a drugstore, Din lowered her head and looked away from Zelda. "What do you think? Why do I have to tell you what I was doing, when it's right before your eyes?"
"But--but why?!" Zelda gasped. "Din, why--" She grabbed Din's shoulders and turned her around. "Look at me! Why would you want to do something like this to yourself?! You've no reason for it!"
"I do!" Din insisted, pulling herself out of Zelda's grasp. "You don't know what it's like, Zelda! Being chased down, on the run from a past you're trying to forget! I came to America because I thought I could escape all the injustice and all the cameras I left back home! But I guess I was wrong--I can't spend another second of this--this daily agony! I haven't left my home for days because if I do, my face will be splattered all over the front pages of a newspaper!"
"Why didn't you ask for help, Din?!" Zelda asked. "Why didn't you tell me everything when you told me about the frame job?"
"I was scared," Din said, rubbing her arms. "I was afraid. Ever since America found out about my past, my life has gone downhill. I've started drinking--and I never did before, I began smoking again, I--I did things I shouldn't have, and now look at me! I am a mess!"
For the first time, Zelda noticed Din's slightly matted hair, the lack of makeup, the bags under her eyes, and the bruises on her arms. Zelda shook her head in disbelief. "Please, why don't you just stop and let me talk this out with you?"
Din recoiled. "No! You don't understand! My life has been ruined by one person, who thought they would get a laugh out of framing me of a robbery!" Steady tears flew down her cheeks, and she wiped distractedly at them. "I don't like my life, Zelda, but there isn't anything I can do!"
"Yes, there is!" Zelda insisted.
"There isn't!" Din cried. "It's as if you--you make a wrong turn when you're driving your car. You try to find when you went wrong, but you just can't! And then every turn you make after that is just wrong, wrong, wrong! And you'll never be right again! What do you do then, huh?
Zelda let her cheeks be stained red with small tears as she walked closer to Din. "You stop and ask somebody for directions."
Din stared back at her, breathing sharply, her breaths uneven due to a small sob now and then. Zelda put her arms around her and drew her into a sisterly hug. Din continued to cry loudly, and Zelda tried to calm her.
"I can't believe what I was doing," Din sobbed. "If you hadn't come just now, I--I'd be gone!"
"Shh, you'll be all right now," Zelda said quietly. "Just calm down, please. Why don't you come home with me, and we can talk this whole thing out?"
"You don't have anything else planned?" Din whispered, pulling away.
"Well, um....actually, I was supposed to meet Joan Fontaine in a few minutes, but I think this a little more important than lunch. I can see her later." Zelda slowly guided Din down the stairs. They stopped before going out the front door. Zelda glanced out of a window nearby. "Don't worry, Din....the photographers are gone."
The two of them made their way out of the house, and quickly across the street to Zelda's car.
"Oh please, could I drive?" Din asked quietly. "I haven't driven a car for the longest time, it seems....you'd just have to tell me where to go."
"All right then," Zelda agreed, walking to the other side and sitting down in the passenger's seat. She waited for Din to start up the car, then said, "You'll need to turn the car around, then drive straight for a little while."
"Okay."
There was silence as they drove. Zelda was still milling over the last few minutes in her mind. What would've happened if she hadn't gone into the house just then? Would Din really have gone through with it and killed herself? She shivered slightly, then noticed that she was shaking a little from the shock of it all.
Din glanced over at Zelda. She looked really nervous about something, but then she probably had the right to. Then Din saw something out of the corner of her eye, and noticed a blue car swerving right towards her.
"Din--!" Zelda cried out, snapping her attention towards the other car.
(a/n: 4 those of u w/ queasy stomachs, this following part may....um.... freak you out a little)
It all happened in about four seconds. The blue vehicle literally smashed into the driver's side of Zelda's car, causing it to almost jerk forward. Din, whose mind had been too out of focus to put on a seatbelt, was hurled forward into the front window of the car. Zelda cried out in horror as she saw blood seep onto the glass and hood of the car.
Quickly she reached out her leg and slammed it down onto the break. She stared in pure shock in fright as the body in front of her continued to bleed profusely--the traffic around her stopped.
Though the accident had left Zelda almost unscathed, it had cost Din her life.
Screaming in rage, Zelda flew out of the car and looked behind her. She saw a man jump out of the blue thing that had hit them, and he raced down the street in the opposite direction. Zelda streaked after him--this wasn't very easy, because she was wearing a dress and heeled shoes.
"SOMEBODY STOP THAT MAN!!" she shouted. "STOP HIM!!"
He turned a corner that led onto Lacienaga, and Zelda followed him. A stitch in her side was beginning to hurt intensley--she wasn't used to running this fast. A couple of people had joined her chase, heeding to her calls for help.
As the man prepared to turn another corner, a woman jumped out of no where and pinned him to the ground. He struggled to get up, but she whammed him on the head with her bag, and he was immediately knocked out.
"Joan!" Zelda breathed, upon seeing her friend, Ms. Fontaine, sitting on the criminal.
"Sheesh, I've been waiting here for you for twenty minutes," Joan complained, standing up. "But I heard someone screaming to stop this guy, so I attacked him. What's wrong?"
Zelda stared at the man, then back at Joan. "I don't think I really want to answer that question right now. All I can say is that that man is going to face the death penalty for what he just did."
"Someone call the police," said one of the guys who had been helping Zelda chase the man.
Zelda turned with tears in her eyes (again) and ran back to where her car was. She was a little surprised to see an ambulance and a police car there already, but shook her head and walked towards them. Then she came to an abrupt halt.
"Miss Jones, is this your car?" an officer asked her. "We have a witness here who says she saw you run out of it."
"Yes, it's mine," Zelda said hoarsely, after searching briefly for her voice. "But I didn't do anyth--"
"Yes, we know," the policeman interrupted. "Do you know what happened to the man who did it? Did he run?"
"He's being held on Lacienaga Boulevard," Zelda stammered, sweating. "But.... but is Din--is she...."
"I'm sorry ma'am, but there's nothing we can do for your friend," the officer said solemnly. "The accident was obviously not premeditated, but....she is dead."
Zelda turned away and tried choking back her tears. She ran--ran, and she knew she was going to run all the way home.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Fifteen minutes later, Zelda shut the front door of her house behind her. She had to forget what had just happened to her. She had to get those pictures out of her brain--of Din's bleeding corpse lying on the hood of the car, a somewhat shocked look on her face. The image of the pills and bottles laying on her bathroom sink .... Zelda only wanted to forget everything that had happened that day.
"There you are, Zelda," Madeline said, appearing out of nowhere. "I have something I'd like to speak to you about."
"Can't it wait?" Zelda asked sharply, trying to walk upstairs.
"Zelda," Madeline persisted. "This cannot wait; we have to talk right NOW." Zelda stopped and her mother continued. "Shirley Harker came here this afternoon, and she told me that you've been seeing her son."
Zelda stared at her. She had just witnessed one of her best friends dying, and her mother wanted to talk about her love life? "Mother, this is really not a good time to discuss this."
"It's the perfect time," Madeline said quietly. "How long has this been going on? Why did it--when did it start?! How could you do this to me, Zelda?!"
"What do you mean?"
"What do you think I mean?!" Madeline asked. "Having a relationship with scum like Link Harker, and--"
"Mother, you don't even know him!!" Zelda shouted.
"You know we do not approve of him, or his family!"
"Stop treating me like a little girl! I'm old enough to make decisions on my own! And I'd really like to talk about this right now mother, I really would, but I just had to see my best friend get killed in a car accident in the seat right next to me, so I would prefer to have just SOME time alone!!" Then Zelda let out another quick sob and ran up the stairs to her bedroom.
Madeline stood there in shock. Her best friend had just died? It took a moment for this to compute....then she slapped herself on the forehead. It was easy to see that Zelda was experiencing something emotional when she first walked in the door--why did she have to attack her so suddenly?
Zelda heard someone knock on her bedroom door. "Go away!" she cried out hotly.
Undaunted, Madeline opened the door anyway and stepped inside. "We really do need to talk about this, Zelda."
"I have no patience right now!" Zelda shouted. "So I suggest you get out of here, or else you'll regret it deeply! Link is--"
"I'm not here to talk about Link," Madeline interjected. "I didn't know that you'd--I didn't know about your friend."
Zelda drew her knees up to her chest and wept silently. "It's really painful to talk about it....even though it just happened. We were driving, and--and another car rammed into her side of the car, and it just....she....got killed."
"I'm--I'm sorry, Zelda," Madeline said quietly, wishing there was something more to say."
Breathing in gently, Zelda said, "Can we talk about this later, mother? I really just want to be alone right now."
"All right." Madeline got up slowly, and shut the doors behind her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That next month, Zelda was still feeling as if a part of her was missing. She could never get that memory out of her mind, and it would be stuck with her forever. But thinking of Din's death wasn't that only thing that was haunting her.
After she'd mostly gotten over the loss, Zelda had been harassed by her parents about Link. They said she didn't have a right to do this to their reputation, and she kept complaining about being treated like a child. It was awful, and got to the point that she couldn't stay under the same roof as them any more. Zelda moved in with Greer, and was going to be forced to see her parents gain this same evening: it was the Big Oscar night.
"Is Link going to be meeting you there?" Greer asked, as a maid brushed out her hair for her.
"Actually, I asked him to come pick me up, if that's all right," Zelda answered, standing by and watching. Her dress was a modest black one with thing straps, with sparkling sequins. A long golden necklace hung onto her, along with a bracelet that matched it in color.
"Oh, it's fine with ME," Greer said. "But I believe your parents are going to be a tad bit upset about you showing up with him at a public ceremony such as this. You know the media is going to be all over you."
"They already know," Zelda sighed. "We had a terrible rendevous with them just last week. Link and I braved the crowds and went out for dinner together. A herd of journalists and photographers showed up out of no where and asked us if they could get a picture."
"Well, at least they asked," Greer said, as her maid walked away.
"Well, when Link said no, they kept persisting," Zelda continued. "Link was a total dear, though, he just said, 'Look, I'm trying to have a nice quiet dinner with my girl here, and you guys are ruining the atmosphere for us.' Eventually, though, one of them snapped a picture."
"Phew, I'll bet that knocked Link out of his chair," Greer laughed.
"Tell me about it," Zelda sighed. "He snatched the camera right out of the guys hands, and smashed it onto the table. 'This time your camera, next time, your head,' he told them. Then they all dashed! It was rather amusing sort of, but it was also a little nerve-racking."
"I'm sure it was," Greer said. A doorbell rang from the floor below them. "Well, that's either Link or Richard. Let's go, shall we?" The two friends walked down the stairs.
"Just one thing," Zelda said. "I want to remember....if you end up bringing home the Academy Award, no hard feelings, all right?"
"And vice versa," Greer said, shaking Zelda's hand as a servant opened the front door. "Richard!"
"Link," Zelda said, walking forward and giving him a quick kiss. "How nice that you both got here at the same time." She walked with him towards a long limousine, remarking, "You're the first of my beaus to ever get to a place on time, you know."
"That's--um, great," Link said, opening the side door and then sliding in after her. The car started. (a/n: keep in mind that link isn't driving. he has a chauffer doing it) "I see you've taken refuge in a friend's house as well. I did too--I fled to Darunia's after my parents found out about...us."
"I still can't get over what an influence they have on my life," Zelda scoffed. "It's like they want to control every little move I make!"
"I know how you feel," Link sighed. He rested a hand on Zelda's cheek. "But nothing they said could ever make me stop loving you." He stared into her eyes, then kissed her hungrily.
Her arms flew up about his shoulders, her lips surrendering to his roving ones, taking in all she could get. This past month had one of the coldest, darkest ones of her life, and she realized for the first time that love had been the key thing missing.
A few moments later, Link's tongue had met Zelda's in a gentle parry. He moaned with satisfaction, pressing himself onto her harder. Suddenly he tasted a salty moisture on his tongue. He pulled away from Zelda, and realized she was crying.
"Zel, what is it?" he asked quickly, helping her to sit straight.
"You're--you're so wonderful," she choked. "I didn't realize how much I missed you until j-just now....because of my family, I've been unable to see you! It's like--it's almost like that Shakespeare story....oh, what was it called?"
"Um, I forgot."
"I love you," Zelda whispered, embracing him warmly. She pulled out a hand mirror and then laughed. "Oh, but look! You've gone and smeared my lipstick! I'll need to do it over!"
"I don't think you should be laughing, here," Link said, taking a handkerchief out of his pocket and rubbing the makeup off of his face. "Here, use this."
"Thanks."
"We're here, Sir," said the driver from in front of the window seperating them. "At the Cocoanut Grove Ambassador Hotel."
"Yes, I guess I could tell from all the screaming," Zelda sighed, applying a new coat of lipstick. "Well Link, we won't be able to avoid those cameras now." She took his hand and squeezed it. "Are you ready?"
"Yep."
"Then you get out first. I'm scared."
Rolling his eyes, Link got up and walked over Zelda, opening the car door on the other side and taking her hand. Immediately the bulbs started flashing, and the two of them made their way down the red carpet and into the building.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
a/n: sry about the whole din thing. but it had 2 b done. anyway, the next chapter will be up really soon. i was gonna put it into THIS chapter, but then it would b way 2 long. b prepared 4 more soon--also b prepared 4 this story to be FINISHED soon. and also b prepared 2 REVIEW!!! like, now!