"Are you sure you're not cold?" Link asked for the sixth time.

"Not now that you've got your arm around me," Zelda smiled slyly and batted her eyelashes.

"But, I don't have,-" Link started before laughing and slipping his free arm around the princess' shoulders. "You're a funny one, Princess."

"Why thank you," Zelda smiled as they continued walking back to Link's dorm. Link had insisted on driving her back home after the concert instead of allowing her to walk the short distance to her apartment.

The Indigo-Go's concert had been amazing. It had been Link's first time to see them in concert, and once Zelda had learned that Link played guitar, she surprised him by introducing him to Mikau, the lead guitarist of the band. He was understandably star-struck, though he recovered much better than Zelda had when she first met the band (granted she was only fourteen at the time).

Link had spent most of their walk from the arena to his dorm raving about the concert, everything from the songs played to the opening act to the poster he had gotten Mikau to sign. Zelda laughed at his antics. Between homework and hanging out with Link, her first month of college had passed by in a blur. They had quickly become best friends ever since their little guessing game at the beginning of the semester.

After giving him her number, Zelda soon found herself spending most of her free time texting Link. She quickly found out he was incredibly sarcastic, liberally used emojis to confer his emotions, and liked to send her internet memes he thought she would find funny. Though after one fateful day in her Intro to Political Theory class, when she had a coughing fit after snorting water up her nose from laughing so hard at one of his pictures, Zelda decided to permanently keep her phone on silent while in class.

Once they had discovered they both had lunch free on Thursdays, it was common to find the two, with the occasional addition of Malon, hanging out at Wheaton and Pita's Bakery, which was just across the street from campus. While eating lunch, Zelda got random tutoring on math, gave mini lectures over the Hyrulean federal government, and discovered many interesting things about her new friend.

Link had originally pierced his ears when he was sixteen because it was a coming of age tradition in Calatia. He had liked the piercings so much he had gotten more, ending up with five total. The green streak in his hair was the product of a dare he had taken just before his high school graduation. Normally colored hair was against his school's dress code, but since he was making a speech as salutatorian of his class, the principal couldn't prevent him from attending graduation after he came to the event with his dyed hair. He started skating when he was just ten as a means of getting around faster on the mountain he lived on.

One of Zelda's favorite things to hear about was his life in Calatia. He lived with his adopted parents, Arn and Medilia, on an orchard where they grew apples, plums, and sometimes sour cherries, though Link complained that the cherries were a pain to harvest. He had run around with a small group of friends in high school, but they had all decided to go to Calatia Tech since it was closer to home. Link, on the other hand, had dreamed big and had always wanted to visit the land he was originally from.

"I mean, I figured out I was adopted pretty early on," he explained one day during lunch. "You know, what with the pointy ears and all. And I just wanted to know more about myself, about Hylians. There is such an amazing history about our race, but I never really got to know it since I lived in a country of humans."

Zelda looked up at the night sky, bringing herself back to the present. It was such a nice night, unusually warm for mid-October. She glanced over at Link. Zelda was happy she got to go on her first date with such a great guy. If it was even a first date, they hadn't really said if it was or not. But Zelda wanted it to be a date, but what if Link didn't see it the same way as her?

"What are you thinking about?" Link asked, breaking her train of thought.

"Nothing, really," she smiled shaking the panicked thoughts from her head. She was worrying over nothing. "Just admiring the stars."

"They aren't as bright as the stars in Calatia," Link said quietly as if the stars would hear him and be offended. "But Farore, they sure are more beautiful."

"How could they be more beautiful?" Zelda asked, turning to see Link's smiling face.

"Because these are the stars that someone took and put in your eyes," he sent her a huge grin that made her heart jump.

"That's the most un-cheesy version of that pick up line I've ever heard," she grumbled trying, and failing, to not smile. Link stopped walking and pulled Zelda around to face him. His laughing eyes and crooked grin were doing crazy things to her heart.

He leaned in close, so close that their noses were almost touching, before saying, "I'm glad you think so." She could see straight into his electric blue eyes. Oh Goddesses, was he going to kiss her? A voice in her head she was fairly certain sounded like Malon's was urging her to close the distance between them. This was so sudden. Was she ready for this? It would be her first kiss. Goddesses, what if she didn't do it right? What if he didn't like her anymore afterwards? Sweet Din, she was going to panic attack just from overthinking.

"Link," she whispered, but he pulled away before she could say anything.

"I know," he gave her a small smile. "Come on, let's get back so I can take you home." He rested his arm back around her shoulder, and Zelda lifted hers so that it reached around his waist.

She walked in confused silence for the rest of the journey. How could Link know the reason for her hesitance when she didn't even know? Yes, she had gotten to know Link very well over the past month, but she admittedly never told him much about herself. Zelda never had any close friends growing up in the castle, and it was hard for her to open up to Link. She was too self-conscious of rejection or worse that he would silently reject her but stay friends because she was the princess.

Nayru, this was so difficult. If she were any other person, any normal person… She froze as she realized where her thought trail had led her just as Link went to open the door to his dorm. Zelda had fought long and hard with her father to attend a public university so that she could experience a normal life. So why was she hesitating when any normal girl would be acting? She liked Link, and it was obvious he liked her back, so why not take the plunge?

Link got his keys from his room and they walked the short distance to the parking lot where his car was. It was a short drive, but the butterflies churning in Zelda's stomach made it seem longer.

"What was your favorite part of the concert?" she asked to break the silence.

"Meeting Mikau, obviously," Link smiled brightly. Zelda was glad her little surprise worked out so well. "And hearing New Wave Bossa Nova. I'm gonna learn that song on my guitar someday. But how about you; what was your favorite part?"

"I love just hearing Lulu sing," she smiled. "I wish my voice was that beautiful."

Link laughed as he parked his car, "I bet you sing even better than her."

Zelda blushed as she got out of Link's truck, "Oh, no there's no way I could sing better than a Zora. Everyone knows they have the most beautiful voices."

Again Link laughed. He walked her to her door like a perfect gentleman. Zelda's face felt so hot she could feel the tips of her long ears go red. It was now or never.

Link turned to face her, and Zelda could just picture it. She would grab the collar of his faded button down and pull him close so she could kiss him. It was simple; it was easy. All she had to do was do it.

"I had a great time tonight," she said nervously. Nayru, was that clichéd line really all she could think of to say.

"As did I, Princess," Link smiled that crooked smile that made Zelda's heart start running a hundred miles per hour.

Zelda slowly reached up and placed her hands on his shoulders. Oh Farore, she was going to cucco out; she just knew it. She could see Link's electric blue eyes widen slightly. Zelda lifted herself up on the tips of her toes and veered at the last second to place a kiss on his cheek.

"I'll see you in class on Monday, bye," she stammered, talking quickly in her nervousness and forcing herself to unlock her door in record time despite her shaking hands. When she finally got the door open, she slipped inside and slammed it shut. Groaning, she slid to the floor against the door and buried her face in her arms.

"I am such a cowardly cucco," she whined as the heat only built in her face as the full weight of her recent actions tumbled through her mind. Her face was going to be stained red with blush forever at this point.

On the other side of the door, she could almost hear the faint sound of nervous laughter.