Cremia stayed by my side for the rest of the night, keeping any girl foolish enough to make a pass at me at arm's length and staring them down until they backed off. A number were particularly forward, notably Ruto, who, being a Zora, could get away with wearing less and still appearing decent to be out in public. That was a fun three minutes. Not.
Other than those occasional face-offs, the party was full and fun. It seemed like most of the school had indeed been invited and showed up. Geeks, jocks, partiers, library nerds, popular girls, music kids, and more; everyone showed up. All the food went, but there was enough to make sure everyone got some. There were a few bottles of alcohol smuggled in, but Shade and Sheik did the job of finding and confiscating them. A bonfire was started in the backyard when it got dark and with few bugs out, most of the people stood or sat outside, making smores and chatting. Someone broke out a speaker at some point too, and we all took turns playing music and dancing.
By the time midnight rolled around, many of the guests were leaving, wishing final 'happy birthday's and goodbyes. Cremia stood by the front door, thanking them all for coming. And I was finally able to get away and be by myself for a few minutes. Don't get me wrong, I loved being with my girlfriend, but I still needed some time to myself. I had just taken a seat on a couch and taken a few breaths with my face in my hands when the cushion next to me sank and rose as someone bounced on it. I looked over through half-open eyes to see Sheik grinning at me, still bouncing.
"Where have you been?" I groaned. I had hardly seen him since Romani tackled him when we first got here, but I had known he was still around. He was sneaky that way.
"You know, around. Eating, talking, confiscating alcohol, disposing of said alcohol, juggling said alcohol as it was disposed of. Oh, and remind me not to juggle flaming wood in the future, that stuff is really hot," he responded, laughing the entire time. I was about to ask him why he was juggling flaming, alcohol-soaked wood, but he started talking again before I could so much as open my mouth. "I also kept an eye on Romani and put her to bed around 9:30. Particularly impressive when she was hopped up on all that Mountain Dew. She was almost as bad as me." I couldn't help but wince. Despite being 18, Sheik could often cause more trouble than a pack of 9-year-olds. He and Romani together would be chaos.
Deciding to drop the whole thing, I sat up and looked in towards the dining room. There were still a number of bowls and dishes on the table, so I went in to help as the last of the partygoers filtered out. I was surprised to see not only Shade cleaning up, but Zelda too. The two gave me a brief look before going back to their tasks. I grabbed two picked clean bowls and followed suit. At least teenagers made food clean up easy.
We finished cleaning up just as the last of Cremia's girlfriends left, leaving me, her, Shade, Sheik, and Zelda left, with Romani sleeping upstairs. I pulled Zelda aside as she walked out of the clean kitchen.
"Would you be willing to take Shade and Sheik home tonight? I want to stay a while with Cremia," I asked, hoping Zelda wouldn't read into the question too much and get the wrong idea. She seemed glad I had asked.
"Sure. I know for a fact Cremia would love that. She was telling me earlier that she really wanted to spend some time with just you." After thanking her profusely, I made my way out into the backyard, where Shade was sitting on the back porch.
"What'cha doing?" I asked. He was just sitting there, staring out into the darkness.
"Watching the night. Wondering what's out there." He leaned forward and rose to his feet. "You know, normal stuff. What's up?" I decided not to question my twin. He was like that sometimes.
"I want to spend some time here with Cremia, so Zelda's going to take you home. She lives up by that park a few blocks away." Seeing Shade's narrowed eyes, I asked, "What?" He shook his head.
"Just wondering whether you decided to take my advice. Can't decide. But okay, we'll head out in a minute here." Turning back towards the dark, he yelled out. "Did you hear that Sheik? We're heading out." Sheik came bolting out of the darkness beyond the porch lights and flipped over the railing.
"Sounds good," he said, walking into the house with Shade behind him. Once again, I decided not to ask. It had been a long enough day as it was.
I went back inside to see the two boys and Zelda hugging Cremia one last time. Seeing me, Zelda turned to me and gave me a quick hug goodbye. It felt pretty nice. She quickly let go and moved towards the door. Cremia immediately replaced her at my side, pressing herself against my side. That felt even better. I quickly waved goodbye to the leaving trio and watched them shut the door, leaving my other arm wrapped around my girlfriend.
For a second, we just stood there, holding each other, before Cremia tugged on my arm pulling me towards the den. We just sat on the couch, settled in each other's embrace. It was a few minutes before I saw Cremia's hand reach up to finger her necklace.
"Thank you," she half-whispered. I couldn't help but smile. At times like this, she really was adorable. "Not just for the necklace. For coming to help. For the cake, even though Shade made it. And for always being there for me." She wrapped her arms around my neck, but kept her eyes pointed towards my chest. She quickly brought her eyes to bear on mine with an intense look in her eyes. "I love you Link. I always have." I was startled, but before I had a chance to respond, she brought her lips up and met mine gently. When I kissed her back, she pressed harder against me, not just with her lips, but her entire body. Before I knew what was happening, she was on top of me, her body flush against mine, our tongues dancing together. My hands roamed her back, feeling the exact spot her dress gave way to the skin of her back. I started when her fingers dipped under the edge of my shirt and tugged upward. I hastily pushed her back breaking contact with her.
"I'm sorry, I can't," I said, ashamed of myself. I just couldn't bring myself to give Cremia what she wanted. I looked up to see her face and lips flushed, chest heaving, cloudy eyes coming back into focus. "I just can't."
"Why not?"
Her question burned in my ears. I could have given her dozens of reasons. I didn't want to be a teenage father. I respected her too much. I wanted to wait for marriage. I didn't deserve her. But I couldn't say any of those things, because above all, it just felt wrong. I didn't know why, but it felt like I would be betraying a part of myself by having sex with her. "I don't know. I just can't." One look at her tortured face as she slid from my lap back onto the couch told me that she was either about to kick my ass or break into tears. Resting my elbows on my knees, I exhaled slowly, knowing I was possibly making the one mistake that could cost me Cremia, and found that I didn't care. Somewhere deep inside myself, I knew that I had to say no.
With a heavy heart, I slowly raised myself from the couch and made my way to the door. Turning to stand sideways in the doorway, I looked back at Cremia. She still had that shocked look on her face, but I thought I saw the barest trace of tears in her eyes. Looking back down at my feet, I whispered "I love you too," so quietly I didn't know if she had even heard me. Then I forced myself to walk to the front door and leave my girlfriend behind.
I woke up in my bed the next morning again at 6:30 and forced myself to go on my weekend run, hoping the pounding of my feet would distract me from the ache in my heart. But even through the ache, I knew I had made the right choice. It was again a feeling deep inside my soul that seemed to pulse out to my left hand as I ran.
As I neared the completion of my run, I again passed the park in front of Zelda's house. Nayru Park, I remembered. Supposedly one of three parks forming a triangle around Hyrule City in the shape of…something. Hey, I'm good at history, not trivia.
Seeing the grass still glistening with morning dew, I decided to make a detour. Running to the edge of the pavement surrounding the fountain, I slowed just enough and threw myself down on the wet grass and just laid there for a few minutes, allowing my mind to empty, letting the smooth sound of water push my thoughts away.
I don't know how long I laid there listening to the fountain before I heard light footsteps on the pavement. I opened my eyes, prepared to assure a stranger I wasn't dead or injured, but instead I saw Zelda standing there in a sweatshirt and some sweatpants.
"I thought it might be you out here," she said as she stood above me. "Mind if I join you?" I shook my head and a moment later Zelda was laying on the grass next to me, though in a much more refined position than my wanton sprawl.
"I wouldn't have expected to see you this morning. I figured you would have spent the night with Cremia." I started, turning my head to face Zelda, a questioning look on my face. She laughed lightly. "Yeah, I knew. It was pretty obvious where she wanted the night to go. At least, it was to me."
"At least one of us figured it out before it was too late," I groaned. "I basically led her on and then ditched her before it went too far." Even now, I hate myself for it.
"Why did you leave? I've only been here for a few weeks, but I can tell Cremia is one of the best girls in the school and most guys would fall over themselves if she was willing to so much as go out with them."
"I don't know. I just felt like it would be wrong. I can't even say why really." I sighed again, the brief relief I had felt from my run slipping away. "I don't even know if she'll even want to talk to me anymore. I was hardly gentle." Zelda scoffed lightly.
"Don't worry about that. Just apologize to her and tell her why you left. I've seen the way she looks at you; she'll forgive you in an instant."
"You think so?" I asked, intending the question to be rhetorical. I pulled myself back up to my feet, feeling much better than I had a minute ago. I spun around to see Zelda propped up on her elbows, looking up at me. "Thanks Zelda, I honestly feel a lo…"
My sentence died on my tongue, swallowed by the sudden stillness that swept over the park. It was as if the air itself had frozen in place. The fountain's gentle splashing ceased, leaving no sound. I looked around confused.
"Do you feel that?" I whispered. Even that slight sound seemed like a thunderclap amid the crushing stillness. Zelda only nodded, coming to her feet silently, seemingly afraid to break the oppressive silence.
As we stood there unmoving, my left hand pulsed with pain. I gasped, stumbling to the pavement clutching my hand as pain continued to lance through it, up my arm, and into my chest. It was the same kind of feeling I had experienced last night, but much more painful, as if it were burning me from the inside.
Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the unnatural stillness broke and the pain receded. I was left panting on my hands and knees. Zelda quickly knelt beside me.
"Are you all right? What in Hyrule happened?" she asked insistently. A faint part of my mind found it sweet that she was concerned. I steadily pushed myself back to my feet, leaning heavily on the fountain, which almost seemed to be glowing. Weird, I don't remember the water glowing this much.
"I'm fine. I don't know what that was, but it's gone now," I managed to gasp out.
"Are you sure? Maybe you should sit down, at least until you know that…whatever that was…has passed for sure." Zelda was still looking at me with concern. I did my best to dissuade her concerns.
"No, really, I'll be okay. I should get home though; I have homework to finish before tomorrow."
"Well, if you're sure you're okay…"
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then. Don't forget to practice for the presentation on Wednesday," I said, trying to express an air of normalcy, when in reality I was panicking. This was the second time I had felt that strange stillness in the air and the third time my hand had suddenly started burning. I was no fool to think the two were mere coincidence. I needed time to figure out what was going on, something I felt I was in short supply of.
Dun, dun...DUNNNNNNNNNNNN! It's really hard to write dramatic sounds. One short hop, skip, and logic jump later, I'm discovering the sound effects guy from Spaceballs and Police Academy was Michael Winslow. Cool stuff guys. Cool stuff.
Also, just saw Solo, great movie. Lots of fun, would recommend.
Cool note: new highest number of views record set Friday. Glad you guys are sticking around and enjoying.
Cooler note: Xmana033, Ultimate blazer, and shadowlord8917 all reviewed last chapter! Now they're part of the "Makes Aro Super Happy While He's On Break From Work" Club. It's great, we get cookies. No entry fee either, just have to tell me what you think of the story. Doesn't have to be positive either, though those are the best. If you take the time to tell me how terrible the story is, that's still a win? Kinda?
X, I certainly hope they're cute, that's the point. *insert evil laugh here* It might have been uncomfortable for him, probably was, but those are the things we do for the girls we like. Any man worth his salt knows a happy woman equals another day alive. Ultimate, I sure hope it looks interesting, otherwise you just wasted a good chunk of time reading through it. Thanks! Shadow, glad I've got your seal of approval. I'd love to have more Midna, but I'm not sure how she'll factor in yet. Probably won't have a major role, but she'll pop up again. The other two though, that's spoilers. If you can have spoilers for something that isn't written yet. To be determined, I have ideas...
Sweet, so next chapter things get a bit of a kick in the pants, plot wise. What's going to happen? Will Link have his innards become outards via feminine rage? Does Zelda use this opportunity to sweep in and steal Link from Cremia? How will the presentation go? Will we ever get to the damn plot? Tune in next time on "Revival of the Gods"! (Wednesday? Thursday? Eventually? One of these is true.)
Cheers all.
-Aro