One would think the two would have ended up dating after that night... one would think it and one would be wrong.
They did remain close friends, however.
Freshmen year of High School started the little group off with very little problems though it was increasingly apparent that Link had feelings for his best friend though he never seriously admitted it. They all were driving...permits or no and all seemed carefree.
Happiness only lasts so long.
"Zelda." Sandra had her face resting in the crook of her arm. Her dirty blonde hair was mussy and her light violet eyes were glassed over from last night's binge. An empty bottle of vodka dripped onto the wooden table in a kitchen that looked like it had been the center piece of a Home magazine. "Someone is beeping." The noise continued and the woman groaned, pressing her forehead against the wood as if it would drown it out. "Zelda!"
The soon to be seventeen year old, Sophmore High School and Junior College student, frowned at her mother. "Mom...that's your phone." Pale, slender fingers reached over and stabbed a button on the cellular device to hang it up then signed 'Zelda Harkinian' on the top line of her homework in neat, cursive letters. Zelda had begun her insane educational venture by signing up for College classes during summer and winter break. She amazed her professors by blazing through the courses and had earned several awards before her fifteenth birthday.
She could not, however, feel proud of herself.
This was a time of great stress in the teenagers life for her parents' relationship had dissolved into a barrage of angry words, slamming doors, nights in hotels, and finally a divorce... or the near completion of one. David Joseph Harkinian had been found with another woman by Evelyn when she had come to visit. The other woman did not stay with David much longer after he was caught.
That was almost a year ago, Zelda's father left with few words as a goodbye, and it was up to the teenager to clean up the shattered pieces of her mother. Sandra was doing better and was more sober than drunk though there were nights that Zelda had to drag her mother up the stairs to bed. Those were the nights that the sixteen near seventeen year old cried herself to sleep or threw herself into her homework.
Last night, she did a bit of both and it didn't help that her brother wasn't anywhere around to help having decided to help his father instead. This put a rift between the two for a while but they had been coming around recently due to them both being under somewhat similar pressure.
Zelda had thrown her golden hair up in its signature ponytail and attempted to put some make-up on though she only managed foundation and eyeliner before she had to leave for school. She snatched her coffee off the table, shoved everything into her messenger bag, and left her mother half asleep in the kitchen. She had skinny jeans on, knee length brown leather boots, a white tunic with a gold chain belt that had charms dangling from it, a red scarf about her neck, and a black coat. Long gold hoops dangled from her pointed ears and it was those ears that caught the sound of a slightly raspy, baritone voice.
"Zelda."
She turned to her name and smiled. "Link...hey."
Link stood confident in a long sleeve, black, button up shirt that had Celtic crosses stitched in, black as well, and wore dark blue jeans that hid his combat boots. A Triforce neckalace hung around his neck, a birthday present from Zelda, and blue studs were in his ears while his hands stayed warm in fingerless, black, gloves. He had his Symphony X hoodie tied around his waist and his sleeves rolled up to the elbow. "You want a ride?" His mother had finally given him the Impala after he got his license and a job which Link had little complaints about. He worked as a cashier in Buckle and usually bought his clothes during the clearance sales because he had access to the coolest selections first.
"Sure." Zelda yawned.
The Impala had been pulled up to the side of the street and the passenger door opened which meant Zelda would have had no choice but to accept Link's offer. Her friend sat in the driver's side then pulled out onto the road. "You need to get out of the house." He frowned, glancing at the cup in Zelda's hands. "And a real night of sleep."
"Can't." She yawned, again, laying her head against the cool glass of the window. "I got school, college, and Mom." Zelda glanced at her friend who seemed tempted to continue their daily argument of how Zelda was handling her situation.
Link turned down the road leading to the Heart, which was the only road that connected every Realm to the other, and shook his head. "Did you even know that we didn't have school today?"
Zelda blinked. "We...What?"
"No school." The blonde sighed. "So, when I saw you run out of your house toward the bus stop, I thought that we could hang out this weekend."
His friend frowned and shook her head, sleepily. "I can't, Link. My Mo-"
"My Mom said that she is going to take this weekend off to spend with Sandra. Me and you are going off to be seventeen and not home bodies." He smirked, reaching down and squeezing her hand "Got that, Beautiful?"
Zelda blushed, rolled her eyes, and kissed her friend on the cheek. "Thank you."
"Get some sleep." Link smiled, kissing her back on her forehead and turning the heat on because he knew how cold blooded his friend was. He watched her lean back against the window with their fingers still interlaced.
A gentle shake woke Zelda from sleep and it took her a moment to register that several hours had went by. "Afternoon, Gov'na." Link smiled his devilishly charming smile from a rugged face that gave him a Rocker's appeal. "We're like two hours from where I'm taking you and I thought you might want to do a little bit of site seeing."
Zelda stretched out, noting that her jacket was off but not remembering taking it off, and realized that she had not felt rested like she was in a long time. "We are we?" She asked, opening the door and feeling lightheaded when she stood.
"Ikana Canyon." The weather was cool, comfortable, and slightly windy but Zelda loved it. Link beamed at her. "We came here as kids...do you remember?"
"Sixth Grade field trip." Zelda laughed and took her hair down to resituate it. "This is where we met Saria..." She laughed, again. "She got in trouble for throwing rocks and screaming at her own echo."
Link's hand touched her wrist, lightly, and his cobalt eyes peered into hers when she went to tie the spun gold locks back up. "Leave it down..."
Zelda blushed, nodded, and threw her scarf into the car before shutting the door. She took Link's arm and tried to calm the rapid beating of her heart. "So, what does Malon think of this trip?"
"She, uh, doesn't know." He replied, stuffing his hands into the pocket of his jeans and blowing at a few strands of hair that had fallen out his pony tail. "We...broke up."
A gasp came from pink lips. "Wait, what, why? When? How?"
Link chuckled and said, matter-of-factly. "What? We broke up. Why? You. When? Two weeks ago. How? I broke up with her."
Zelda stopped and stared at her friend. "Wait ...Me?" Her fingers found a lock of hair and began to twirl it. "I'm...uh, confused."
Link brushed the lock behind Zelda's ear and smiled, softly, with a light shining behind his eyes. "Yes, you... I'm worried about you, Zelda. You're never around... you never smile anymore." He took a small step away and smirked. "Malon hated that you would always be brought up when we were together... It also doesn't help that she is really starting to connect with Lon Lon Ranch. I want to explore the world a little, finally get LOZ started up, and maybe break a few hearts on the way." He laughed at the last part then shook his head, an amused smile on his face. "Malon wants kids, I really don't think I do, Malon is amazing with animals, cuccos try to kill me, and then there's the fact that I always tend to be distracted by how pretty you are."
She blushed, staring at him with sparks surging through her body. "I really hate when I blush." She swept past him, breaking the eye contact, and tugged his hands. "Now, come on, before you do something stupid."
"Like what?" He laughed, knowing exactly what she was talking about.
"Let's just say, Link, that if you try to kiss me then I'm going to punch you so hard that your future children will have nightmares about it."
Link pulled her back to his chest, the red-orange of Ikana Canyon burning behind her. "It might just be worth it." His left hand cradled the back of her head, fingers combing through the locks, and he pulled her face, gently, toward his own. His cobalt eyes watched her face crimson as thier lips brushed, softly, but, when she seemed to give no objection, they closed as he closed the milimeter gap between their mouths.
It was a soft kiss and it made Zelda feel like lightening was surging through her...
But.
She wasn't ready.
"Link." Her voice was hoarse and a barely audible whisper as she parted their lips and rested her forehead against his.
He made a frustrated noise but opened his eyes and regarded her while trying to hid the hurt he felt. "No, then?"
"I..." She stepped away. "No, I mean, yes... but... just...for now." It hurt Zelda to say those words to her best friend and to see the effect that they had on him but she couldn't start a relationship with him knowing that it would fail because of her situation at home.
Link frowned, slightly, and nodded his head. "Okay."
"I'm so sor-"
He held up a hand and smiled, softly. "It's okay, Zelda... really."
It took a few minutes of silence before both could bust through the akwardness of their situation. The weekended turned out being one of the best that Zelda could remember but the kiss lingered in the back of her mind for a long time after that.