Amber Von Tussle was not the kind of girl that got her heart broken.

She seemed to have had the perfect life: a leading spot on a popular dance show, popularity, beauty, and the always-present arm candy to keep the camera on her. She had never thought, through most of her teenage years, that she would ever be let down, that she'd ever feel lower than low, but she felt exactly that as she sat on a stool in a crowded bar in New York city, her glass half empty.

"Bad day?"

Amber looked up at the bartender, who was refilling her glass.

"More like a bad year." She replied, taking a sip of her drink as it burned her throat.

"Well, I'll tell you what," he said, "this one's on the house, then."

"Thanks." She managed, forcing a smile, then sighed as she realized for the millionth time how alone she was.

"Is this seat taken?"

She shook her head without looking up and said, "Unless you don't want to deal with a psychotic loser who's drowning her sorrows in alcohol."

"Isn't that why we're all stuck at this bar? I think we're all pretty much pathetic losers here, any sign of status goes out at the door."

Amber laughed, "Nice to meet you, I'm- Link?!" She almost choked on her drink, spinning her stool to face him, "What are you doing here?"

"Amber." He said, smiling slightly as he laughed. "I should ask the same of you. What would Velma say if she knew her perfect little girl was getting drunk in a New York bar?"

Amber rolled her eyes, "Like she cares. I haven't spoken to her in…months. But really, what's heartthrob Link Larkin doing here in the middle of the night?"

He sighed, "I needed to get away. Life…hasn't been great lately."

"Huh. That seems to be a common theme around here."

An awkward silence came over the two as they stared down into their glasses.

"So. How's Tracy?" Amber asked, turning to face him once again.

"I…I honestly don't know. I haven't seen her in a while. We…we broke up a few months ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just thought…since you were together the last time I saw you…"

"At graduation, right."

"God, it's really been that long?" Amber shook her head and sighed, "Time's flown by."

"You can say that again." He paused, "Penny and Seaweed got married over the summer."

"Yeah, I heard. I was going to go the wedding, but I figured…it would be awkward, you know, considering that everyone there probably hates me."

Link didn't respond, taking a sip of his drink instead, then started, "So, how's Amber Von Tussle's life been over the past three years?"

"Well…" she stopped and sighed, "There's no point in lying to you. It's been pretty terrible, actually. My mother decided yet again that I wasn't good enough to meet her standards, which is usual for her. I…started seeing someone and they dumped me, so I moved here for college. I just…had to get away from Baltimore. There's too many bad memories there."

"I'm sorry." He said, not sure how to respond.

"It was Corny." Amber said, almost inaudibly.

"What?"

"The guy. It was Corny Collins. We were together the whole summer after graduation and into the next year. I thought I had fallen in love with him, thought he felt the same way about me, and then in June he decided that I wasn't enough for him, that he needed someone his own age, and just dumped me. Over the phone, by the way, while he was on vacation. Turns out he'd been cheating on me, anyway."

She felt tears gathering in her throat familiarly, and wondered why she was telling him all of this. Maybe alcohol really did make you tell everything, she thought, or maybe she just needed someone to listen. She didn't realize she'd started to cry, considering that she'd done so much of it lately, and she felt Link wrap his arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, listen." He said, pulling her closer to him, "You're too good for him, anyway. He didn't deserve you, and you didn't deserve to be treated like that."

"Oh, but I did." She managed, laughing bitterly, "I was such a bitch to everyone my whole life, and this is what I get in return. I deserved it."

She was crying in semi-hysterics at this point and people were starting to glance over at the counter. Link slapped some money on the table and pulled her up off her stool, holding her up as they stumbled out of the bar and leaned on the wall of the building.

"Okay, now come here."

He pulled her into his arms, "God, Link, I don't even know who I am anymore. I turned into this…clone of my mother, and I'm not even my own person. I don't know where my life is going!"

"Shh, it's okay. You're okay."

Amber held onto him as if afraid he'd run away and leave her in the middle of the sidewalk, relishing in the feeling of safety he was giving her. She'd spent the last few months alone in her apartment, and it felt better to finally have someone who cared, someone to hold her when she cried.

"Why did I have to be such a bad person?" she cried, and he pulled away to look at her.

"Listen. You are not a bad person. You made some mistakes, but you've more than paid for them, and any guy would be lucky to have you."

"Well, it's a good thing you think so, because no one else seems to." Her voice was hoarse, and she noticed the cold temperature for the first time as the wind hit her and she shivered.

"Let's get you home," he said, "how far do you live?"

"Two blocks east." She said, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he led her down the sidewalk.

XXX

"Can I ask you something?" she said, breaking the silence as they walked down the hall to her apartment door.

"Sure."

"Did you ever have feelings for me when we together? I mean, was it just for the camera?"

"I'm not going to lie; it was partially for the camera. We looked good together, we were the two main dancers, it was easy to make us look right on screen." He admitted, looking slightly embarrassed, "But Amber, I loved you. What we had wasn't fake. Those times we sat home watching a movie together or drove around the city, those were real. When we were alone, it wasn't for anyone but us."

She smiled, "I was hoping you'd say that, because…it would have been a waste. If neither of us had felt anything."

"Did you just do it for show?" he asked, "Or for your mom, or-"

"No. I pretended I did, because that's what she wanted, but I loved you. I always have." She said, slightly under her breath, "But that ship has sailed, so…it was nice seeing you again. Maybe we can go out to lunch sometime, or something…" she trailed off, fumbling with her key, when he grabbed her arm.

"Amber," he said seriously, forcing her to look up at him, "no other girl has ever compared to you."

She didn't realize how close they were until his lips were on hers and for the first time since the horrendous Corny incident, she didn't feel like she was putting on an act for anyone.

"Link," she said as they broke apart, "Are you sure? I mean, do you really want to get involved with this mess?"

He smiled, taking her hand in his, "We are two lost souls, Von Tussle. Why not be two lost souls together?"

A/N: Yeah. So. Apparently I have pairing confusion. I know I implied some Corny/Amber in earlier vignettes, but…Link/Amber has always been intriguing to me. I felt like they had a history that shouldn't be ignored. And I know, I know, everyone loves Trink, but it just seemed too easy to jump on that bandwagon with this story. This doesn't necessarily mean that Link/Amber is the only pairing I support; I just thought I'd explore it a little bit. Any thoughts? Link/Amber fans who think I'm not crazy? Trink fans who want to send me hate reviews? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?