Disclaimer: Me no own Zelda.

Chapter 6

"…and ohmigod! It was so amazing! I thought my head was gonna explode!" Link was gushing. He was currently lounged lazily across his cousin's cream sofa. Sheik sat to his left on a comfy off-white armchair, flipping through the pages of a video game magazine.

It was the next day, Saturday, and Link had had the nerve to come over Sheik's house at 11 o'clock in the morning, unannounced mind you. Luckily for Link, his cousin wasn't like most teenagers who woke up at the very earliest on Saturday's at 2 in the afternoon.

"So what flavor was her lip gloss?" Sheik interrupted. Link froze, his mouth open, ready to spout more details of the previous afternoon. He slowly turned to glare at his cousin. "Sheik," he began calmly, "You are asking all the wrong questions! You're supposed to ask how much tongue I got or-"

"Maybe I don't wanna know that?" Sheik countered laughingly. "I'm not entirely comfortable talking about what's going on in your mouth!" Link alternated between pouting and pursing his lips, before he finally sighed. "Whatever, Sheik…" he mumbled.

The red-eyed blond cleared his throat. "So let's change the subject," he began. Noticing Link opening his mouth to protest, Sheik hurried along. "Let's talk about Malon." Link wrinkled his nose, not necessarily in disgust but in confusion.

"Why do you want to talk about her?" he grumbled, annoyed that his only guy friend didn't want to talk about…well guy things. Sheik set the magazine down. "Because she's been acting weird lately, don't you think?" He stared at his blue-eyed cousin, waiting for the boy to have an epiphany. He was sadly disappointed.

"Man, Malon's always acting weird!" Link shrugged. "It's cuz she's a girl," he replied simply. Had Sheik been any less patient, he would have hurled his GamecubeTM (which laid harmlessly on the coffee table between them) at his cousin. Instead, he opted for clutching the sides of his cushiony armchair tightly.

"She's been especially quiet, and brooding, and…well just very un-Malony lately." He hated his choice of words but with Link, he had to speak quickly or he'd lose his interest. Now he narrowed his eyes at him. "And this behavior all started on Tuesday."

Sheik and Link stared at each other for the longest time. Finally, Link looked ready to speak as he cleared his throat and opened his mouth. Sheik actually became a little hopeful…

"Are you trying to say that this is my fault?"

Sheik fell off his chair, knocking his funny bone rather painfully against the coffee table. "Nevermind Link. Just nevermind," he growled through gritted teeth.

Link grinned down at his cousin. "Don't worry about it Sheiky-boy! She's probably just having her period! She'll be fine and back to normal in a few days," Link reassured, patting Sheik's back. Once again, Sheik found himself resisting the urge to hurl something hard and heavy at his cousin. He shook his head lightly and sighed. "Somehow I don't think that's the problem. And there will be painful consequences for calling me Sheiky-boy again."

Link tactfully avoided his final sentence. "So what do you think her problem is?"

Sheik calmly resituated himself on his armchair and folded his arms over his chest, leveling Link with a serious glare. "I think she's acting this way because of your interactions with Zelda," he stated simply. He stared intensely at his cousin, intent on him having his epiphany now.

Link stared back at Sheik, a vacant look on his face. Then slowly, and to Sheik's partial delight, Link began to frown. "Are you saying that she's…" Link trailed off and Sheik silently egged him on, but the younger blond by one year didn't seem to want to finish the statement. Link swallowed and began again. "Are you saying she's…jealous?" He spat out the word as if it tasted bitter in his mouth.

Sheik sat back in his chair, pleased that he had finally been able to convey his message to his blond cousin, and nodded. Link was speechless. He opened and closed his mouth several times with no sound ever escaping. His face had turned a shade of pink.

Much to Sheik's surprise, Link bolted up from his chair and grabbed his jacket that he had previously tossed carelessly onto the floor when he had first arrived. "I…I don't wanna talk about this," Link muttered. Sheik looked puzzled. "Link?"

"I'll see ya later, Sheik. Uh…maybe we can hang out at the mall later or something."

Sheik watched as his cousin, avoiding all forms of eye contact with him, practically sprinted out the door of his apartment, unintentionally slamming it behind him. He scratched his head, still stunned from Link's odd behavior. "Never seen him move so fast before…" he mumbled to himself, heading into the kitchen to get something to eat.

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Link walked at a brisk pace down the street, in the direction of the park. He wasn't about to go home to where his sister and her Saturday playmates were having girly talks right across the hall from his room with all these tumultuous thoughts swirling around in his head.

Finding a seat on a lone park bench, away from making out high school couples and elderly citizens feeding birds, Link sat down and placed his head in his hands, rubbing his temples. Only halfway to the park, had he realized that he hadn't told Sheik about the party. But the way he had stormed out of there, he wasn't about to go back.

"Malon being jealous," he repeated, tasting and mulling over the words. Could she possibly be jealous? But why? He and Malon weren't going out….nor had they ever gone out. There was no past romantic relationship between them that would cause such envious feelings so why…

"Unless she's jealous because of present feelings!" Link murmured out loud. Yes, that must be it. Malon was acting so pissy about him and Zelda lately because Malon wanted him all to herself. Though this was a flattering thought, when he delved deeper into the situation, he didn't like the looks of it.

Link shook his head. "It wouldn't work out. She's like a sister to me. A non-annoying-same-age-as-me sister. It would feel like dating a non-annoying-same-age-as-me Saria, which is damned freaky." Link shook his head again. "It wouldn't work out.

But then Link started thinking of all the time he and Malon had spent together, along with Sheik of course, but he was a guy so Link wasn't worrying about him. Going to parties, hanging out at the mall, having their own inside jokes. He had known Malon for forever. He felt there was nothing he didn't know about her. 'Course until today he had believed that.

Link sighed, leaning forward and resting his cheeks in his upturned hands and propping his elbows up on his knees. "It would never work. We're too close. It'd be weird." Nodding and satisfied with his decision, the blond began to survey the park and take in his surroundings. He jumped when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket.

Not even bothering to check the caller ID, he pressed the answer button and held the phone to his ear. "Hello?" All previous thoughts of the afternoon flew out the window as a wide stupid grin broke out across Link's face. "Hi Zelda!"

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Malon subconsciously smoothed out the non-existent wrinkles in her red and white plaid skirt and white blouse. She stood in front of the mirror in her room nervously accessing her outfit. The red head tugged on a lock of hair and sighed. She leaned forward a little and began to finger the hem of her skirt that rested just above her knees.

"It's a cute skirt. He'll like it," she murmured to herself.

Malon whirled around, grabbed her purse and a light pink sweater, and rushed out of the room. She hopped down the last two steps and pulled on a pair of white open toe sandals. "Dad! I'm going over to Link's! I'll be back in a few hours!" she called to her father in the kitchen. "Alright! Have a nice time!" he replied. Malon rolled her eyes and closed the door behind herself.

The doorbell rang and only moments later Mrs. Johnson opened the door. She smiled warmly Malon, the skin around her green eyes crinkling. "Malon! How nice to see you! Come in!" she greeted, eagerly ushering her into the house.

Malon stood in the foyer, glancing around shyly. "Um, is Link here?" she asked, almost timid.

Mrs. Johnson chuckled and shook her head, much to Malon's disappointment. "Link likes to avoid the house when Saria invites her friends over," she clarified.

Malon smiled. 'Sounds like a Link thing to do,' she thought to herself.

"He went to Sheik's, but I'm sure he'll be back soon. You're welcome to stay until then!" Link's mother bubbled, returning to the computer in the living room.

Malon plopped down on a chair in the kitchen and crossed her legs, staring into space. And for an almost interminable amount of time (which was only about 20 minutes), the door opened and Link came bursting in.

Malon stood up and began to fussily fix up her outfit. "I'm home!" Link called from the foyer. Moments later, he entered the kitchen and froze the moment his eyes fell upon Malon. She smiled. "Hi," she said, a little too breathy for her own taste.

He stood there blinking for several seconds, before a guarded look came over his features. "Hey," he replied finally. She edged closer to his side of the kitchen. "You wanna go somewhere?" she asked. He shrugged. "Sure."

Outside on the porch swing was apparently Link's idea of "going somewhere". Malon didn't mind though. It was a pleasant day outside. "So…whatcha do at Sheik's?" Malon finally asserted, breaking the semi-uncomfortable silence.

He shrugged. "Just talked about…yesterday," Link replied.

"How was yesterday?" Malon egged slyly.

Link shrugged again. "Good."

"Get any progress?"

"Sure."

Malon was about ready to scream. 'He hasn't even commented on my outfit yet,' she though furiously.

"Oh hey!" Link blurted out suddenly. Malon jerked out of her thoughts and turned to him. "Zelda's having this party next weekend at her house," Link began. Malon frowned and averted her head, crossing her arms over her chest. "Oh, so in other words, you're not available next weekend, right?" she snapped back.

Link looked puzzled. "What? I was going to invite you to come with me. You and Sheik." Link glared at her. "What makes you think I wouldn't invite you guys?" Link asked, a hint of annoyance evident in his voice.

Malon turned to glare at him. "Maybe because you've been ignoring your friends all week over that bimbo Zelda!" she accused. Link looked incredulous. "I have not been ignoring you guys and Zelda is not a bimbo!"

Malon snorted. "You're just a distraction for her. She doesn't like you, she only wants her you as her play toy!"

Link hopped up from his seat, his face red with fury. "Don't say that about her! She isn't like that!" he growled.

Malon rolled her eyes. "Face it, Link, she's using you."

Link elicited a short harsh bark of laughter. "I see. I know what this is," he began. Malon glared at him. "Sheik was right," he continued, shaking his head.

Malon stood and put her hands on her hips. "Sheik was right about what?" she demanded.

Link crossed his arms over his chest. "You are jealous."

Malon's mouth dropped open. "What! Why would I be jealous of that slut!" she spat.

Too angry to be rational, Link blurted out the first words that came to my mind, "You're jealous that I can get a date and you can't!"

The moment those words flew out, irreparable damage was inflicted. Malon's eyes filled to the brim with tears and her lower lip trembled. Her face made Link's heart clench painfully tightly in his chest. But before any of the waterworks could start, she shoved by him off the porch and dashed down the driveway, back to her own house.

Too stunned by his own words was he that he couldn't even call out to her to come back. He flopped back down and held his head in his hands.

"What have I done now?" he moaned.

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Yay! I updated! With a nice long chappy too! Now you'll give me lots of reviews, yes?

LunaRyuu