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queenofhyruleee · 1 year ago

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Knight in Shining Armor Chapter 2

I did it!!

I continued the story!!

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Thud. Thud.

The sudden noise kickstarted your heart, and your mind raced with all of the possibilities as to who could be at the door. Wrapping yourself up in your blanket for a bit more decency, you crept slowly down the stairs.

The shop was bathed in moonlight, and through a window you could just barely make out a tall silhouette standing outside. It was not bright enough that you could make out who it was, but you could tell that it was definitely a man.

A feeling of annoyance bloomed in your chest. Was it Elis? You had absolutely no desire to talk to or see him at the moment. The sadness you felt earlier had gradually faded into anger and you were afraid that if you had to look at his face in your current state of mind you would say something you would come to regret.

Wrapping the blanket tighter around you, you stopped right in front of the door.

“Go away, Elis. I don’t want to see you right now. If you wanted to talk to me you should have bothered to show up to Telma’s this evening like you were supposed to.” Your voice was clear and devoid of any emotion. You didn’t want him to know how hurt you were.

“Well, then I might have some good news for you.”

Your eyebrows shot up, surprised to hear the voice on the other side. You immediately fumbled with the locks and pulled the door open.

“Link?”

Said man was leaning comfortably against a wooden beam that stood just a few meters away from the door. He was dressed in his casual civilian clothing, his fancy Royal Guard uniform swapped out for a loose fitting green tunic and tan pants. His blonde hair was partially pulled back into a half ponytail and the rest of his shoulder-length locks framed his face in a way that gave him a very ruggedly handsome appearance. He looked up as the door opened and gave you a soft smile.

“Hey. Can I come in? I bring gifts.” He patted the bag that hung at his side. Still working through your feelings of surprise, you simply nodded and stepped to the side so that he could pass by you.

After putting the locks back into place, you turned around and suddenly felt very self-conscious about your clothing.. or lack thereof. Underneath your blanket you were only wearing a large nightshirt that hardly covered your butt. You cursed yourself mentally for not having the foresight to put on some pants.

“What are you doing here?” You asked, squinting up at your friend. Afraid that your tone was a bit too harsh, you immediately rushed to add, “N-not that I’m unhappy you’re here! It’s just late and you’ve had a long day, I’m surprised you’re not already asleep.”

You certainly were not unhappy that he was here. In fact, you made a point to not acknowledge the relief (and maybe a bit of happiness) that had immediately washed over you when you saw that it was him at the door instead of Elis. His presence brought nothing but comfort, which you knew would not have been the case for anyone else. The only thing that made you nervous was the fact that he had seen you so upset earlier. You weren’t sure you were feeling up to rehashing the day’s shitty events and how worthless you were.

Link just shrugged. “Even if I wasn’t here, I wouldn’t be sleeping. There’s a fancy party taking place up at the castle right now. I should be working, but I called in a favor with Zelda and managed to get out of it.” He grinned mischievously, clearly proud of his actions.

You were surprised to feel a pang of jealousy at hearing how casually Link referred to the Princess. It was another reminder of just how close he was to the royal. You didn’t know everything about their relationship, but you did know that whatever connection they did have with each other was unlike any other. You’ve heard whispers and rumors about the true nature of their relationship, but Link had never confirmed or denied them to you and you never brought them up.

But it would make sense if they were together. I mean, that is the kind of woman that Link deserves. Truthfully, she’s probably the only person worthy of him.

“Well, I’m flattered that you chose to spend your night off here… but again, that begs the question: why?” You weren’t meaning to sound so skeptical and negative, but surely he had better ways to fill his time.

Link cocked an eyebrow. “Is it not enough to just want to come and see you?” He asked.

The effortless way he said that, as if it were the most obvious answer in the whole word, made your heart flutter. He intentionally made time to come see you? He wanted to come see you in the first place?

You opened your mouth, struggling to find words.

“Do you have any clean forks?” He asked suddenly, changing the subject. His random question seemed to snap you out of the stupor you had found yourself in.

“What?”

“Forks. We need some forks.” He turned then, making his way upstairs to where the living area and small kitchen were. You followed behind, still feeling very much confused.

Link rummaged through the kitchen drawers as if he lived there, taking no longer than a few seconds to produce two forks, one of which he gave you. Then, he pulled a small container out of his satchel. You frowned at it, trying to figure out what it was.

“I managed to snag a piece for us before I left the castle,” he grinned, setting the container down on the counter. He took off the lid, revealing a gorgeous slice of white cake. It was topped with thick white frosting and decorated with blue and gold flowers. It looked delicious. You stared at it with wide eyes, then looked up at Link. He waved his hand at it.

“Well, ladies first.”

You didn’t even pretend to be polite and deny the offer. Instead, you happily dug in. You tried and failed to hold in the moan that came from the back of your throat as you took the first bite. It was absolutely delicious, practically melting in your mouth.

“Lingk, dish ish amazin’!” Your voice was muffled, but happiness outweighed the shame of forgetting your manners.

He nodded, taking a bite of the cake for himself. But unlike you, he waited until he was finished swallowing to speak.

“I know how much you love sweets, so I figured that if I brought you a piece you wouldn’t be so angry with me for potentially waking you up. A peace offering, if you will.”

You shook your head. “You could murder my family and I’d still forgive you if you gave me a piece of this cake.”

Link laughed, the warm sound almost as satisfying as the food. “Alright, noted.”

The two of you finished the treat in a comfortable silence, and Link insisted on cleaning the forks himself once you were done. You sat on the counter next to him as he scrubbed the utensils with a rag and some water. Watching from the corner of your eye, you were amused at how concentrated he was. He carefully inspected each fork, rescrubbing when he found even the smallest fleck of cake or frosting left behind.

“Slayer of monsters and dirty dishes. What can’t you do?” You joked.

He hummed, considering the question. “I’m not really a fan of laundry.”

“Oh ho, so the great Link does have a mortal enemy then.”

“The very sight of a pile of dirty clothing strikes fear right into my very soul!” He exclaimed dramatically, turning to give you a look of exaggerated fear. He paused suddenly, frowning as he looked at your face. He took a step towards you and leaned in. “Hold still..”

You froze as he reached out towards you, unsure of what was happening. His warm hand cupped your cheek gently, and your heart started to pound so loud you were positive he could hear it. Before you could ask him what he was doing, he brushed his thumb over the corner of your mouth a few times.

“There,” he said quietly, a look of concentration on his face. “All gone.”

You just looked at him with wide eyes, and he met your gaze with a soft smile. Your cheeks burned underneath his palm. Both his touch and his proximity made your heart race and clouded your mind.

What is going on? Why am I reacting like this?

He held your gaze for what felt like forever, and you weren’t sure but you could swear you felt his thumb softly brushing over your cheek slowly. His touch was so light, however, that you could have just been imagining it.

You found yourself feeling a small sting of disappointment when he seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in and pulled his hand back quickly. Your cheek suddenly felt ice cold and you almost wished he would put his hand back where it was.

“Sorry,” he said, clearing his throat. “You had some frosting on your cheek.”

You let out a nervous laugh, and the quiet that enveloped the room as Link finished cleaning the dishes was awkward and not as comfortable as before. When he finished, he turned to face you and leaned up against the counter. You scrambled for anything to say, hoping to break whatever weird tension had built up between the two of you

“Thank you for bringing me the cake. It was so good, I might have to break in to the castle sometime to get some more.”

Your joke seemed to do the trick, and Link visibly relaxed a bit. “Well, good thing you know one of the Royal Guards. I’m sure he could be persuaded to help you on your mission.”

You grinned. “Maybe I could offer to do his laundry for him, think that would work?”

The tension in the air was shattered by the sound of both yours and Link’s laughter. Whatever that awkward moment was, it was gone now. Though you could still feel the ghost of his hand resting gently on your cheek.

Link’s laughter died down, and his face slowly morphed into something a bit more serious. He crossed his arms and his eyes bore into yours. “So.. do you want to talk about it?”

You froze, and your smile slowly dropped as your brain took a second to register what exactly it was that he was talking about.

Of course he wasn’t going to let you pretend that he didn’t see you crying like a baby in the midst of a large and happy crowd.

You bit your lip and suddenly found a very interesting piece of fuzz on the blanket that was sitting in your lap. As you picked at it, you tried to fight off the tears that had begun to prick at the corner of your eyes.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” You worked hard to keep your voice steady.

“Where was he?” It was a simple question, but it cut through you like a knife. What hurt the most is that you couldn’t even answer it because you didn’t even know where he was.

You ignored the tears as they began to slowly slip down your cheek. You kept your head down, continuing to focus on the blanket, but soon the piece of fuzz was joined by small water marks as the tears dropped down around it.

“I don’t know.” You muttered.

“What do you mean?”

You sniffed, feeling slightly embarrassed to admit the truth. “He never showed up. I don’t know where he was.”

The silence that followed spoke volumes. Looking up through your lashes, Link’s face was difficult to read. The muscles in his face flexed beneath smooth skin as he clenched his jaw.

You laughed weakly. “Pathetic, right?”

“Something is pathetic, that’s for sure,” he muttered darkly.

“This keeps happening. I don’t know what I did but obviously,” your lip started to quiver violently and your voice shook as you struggled to speak, “I’m not good enough for some reason.” The last word came out as a sob, and you slapped your hand over your mouth to try and keep the rest from coming out. It didn’t help.

There was a long pause where the only sound in the shop was the sound of your crying. Then, “Get dressed.”

You hiccuped, trying to catch your breath and calm yourself down. You looked up in confusion, wiping your nose in case any snot had started to make its exit from your nose. “What?”

“Get dressed,” Link repeated, a serious look on his face. “We’re going out.”

It took a few seconds for his words to register, and you shook your head vigorously. “No, Link, I don’t-”

His warm skin was once again on your cheek, the back of his hand softly brushing away the tears that sat there.

He leaned in suddenly, his face just centimeters from yours, and there was a sparkle of something almost mischievous in his blue eyes. A stark contrast from the stoic expression he had been wearing moments before.

“Last one to the castle entrance is a rotten cucco egg.” His voice was a soft whisper, nearly inaudible. You stared up at him, a dumb look on your face.

“Wha..?”

But before you could ask any more questions, he gave you a delishly grin and took off, running out of the room and clunking down the stairs loudly.

“I - what? Link! Hey, wait!” You shouted after him, but got no response. “Oh fuck me,” you muttered. But you couldn’t deny the childlike giddiness that was bubbling up inside you as you ran to your room and pulled on some decent clothes as quickly as you could, determined to catch up with your friend. He had challenged you, and he knew that you weren’t one to back down from a challenge.

As you exited the shop, you saw Link standing a few doors down, obviously waiting for you. He didn’t let you catch up, however, and with a quick grin he was off again, running through the streets of Castle Town.

“This isn’t fair!” You shouted as you sprinted after him. “You got a head start!”

He looked back as he ran. “Don’t blame me because you’re slow!”

You stuck your tongue out at him, and then watched in horror as an unsuspecting couple walked right into the path of an inattentive Link who was charging like a bull. You opened your mouth to warn him, but luckily he turned back at just the right moment. He managed to jump out of the way, mostly avoiding them. But he still tripped over the man’s shoes, stumbling forward wildly. You didn’t even bother holding back the laughter as you followed behind, watching as he struggled to regain his balance.

“Sorry!” Link shouted, not even bothering to stop as he apologized. The couple gave him a nasty glare, then made to keep walking. However, they were once again abruptly stopped as you ran right into their path. You didn’t even need to look to know they were also giving you a dirty glare as well.

“Sorry!” You copied Link, also not even bothering to look back.

You couldn’t stop the laughter that was spilling out as you ran. The sadness from earlier seemed to melt away with each stride you took. All you were focused on now was keeping an eye on Link and trying to catch up. He kept glancing back to check on you as well, and the smile on his face as he did so gave you butterflies.

“Is that the best you got?” He shouted over his shoulder.

“You know, it’s amazing you can run so fast with a head that big!” You shot back. His laughter carried down, filling your ears.

“It’s part of the Royal Guard training!”

Big head aside, by the time you got to the castle entrance out of breath and sweaty, he was already there waiting, looking completely unfazed. Not even a drop of sweat on his brow.

He pretended to yawn as you dragged yourself up to him. “Well, it’s about time.”

You glared at him as you leaned down and placed your hands on your knees to try and catch your breath. He just smiled innocently.

“How does it feel?” He asked.

“What, the stabbing pain in my side? The sweet embrace of death herself?” You panted.

“Being a rotten cucco’s egg, I mean.”

You couldn’t even pretend to be mad, a loud laugh escaping your lips. He joined in, and next thing you knew, the both of you were in tears and struggling for air.

Once you two gained your composures, Link straightened up and gestured to the paved road that led up to the castle.

“There? Link, we can’t just walk into the castle!” You looked nervously at the very large guards that stood on either side of the entrance. They looked straight ahead, their faces completely blank. But you knew that they weren’t zoned out and would not hesitate to use the very sharp looking swords they had strapped to their hips if need be.

“C’mon, it’ll be fine. I promise.” He held out his arm to you. Hesitantly, you linked your arm with his and let him lead you. As you walked up to the guards, Link simply nodded to them. They returned the nod, and let you walk by without any issue.

“Wow, must be nice to be the Hero of Hyrule,” you muttered sarcastically. He shrugged.

“I guess putting my life on the line to save Princess Zelda and all of the people of Hyrule, yourself included, comes with the added perk of being able to enter and exit the castle freely. I mean really, that’s what makes it all worth it if I’m being honest.”

You rolled your eyes at him and gently smacked his arm. He rarely ever made jokes or even talked about the events that led to him being hailed as a hero, so it was strange to hear him acknowledge it, even if he was just joking around. He just smiled down at you, and the two of you continued the walk in a comfortable silence.

You weren’t exactly sure where he was taking you but as you approached the grand steps leading up to the front door of the castle, he quickly whisked you to the side and instead led you down a small path that disappeared around the side of the castle.

“Where are we going?” You finally asked. He glanced down.

“You’ll see. We’re almost there.”

After a few more minutes, you ended up in front of a small arched gate. Thick green vines covered most of the silver metal, and you wondered if it would even open at all. But without any effort Link pushed one side and it swung open easily. He held out his hand, which you took, and led you through.

The air grew thick with the sweet scent of blooming flowers. Crickets sang from their hiding places, competing with the sound of the leaves on the trees gently rustling in the soft breeze. The garden you had stepped into was filled with lush greenery, more vines climbing up the castle walls in a race to get to the top. The small area was dimly lit by the light of several small fairies, much to your wonderment. Some floated through the air, their tiny wings shimmering in the moonlight. Others sat perched on flowers or the trees, beautifully twinkling in the dark.

The sound of water trickling drew your attention to a small pond that sat in the corner of the garden. The water was calm, the reflection of the bright moon and stars dancing on the surface. Small ripples danced throughout as water traveled down a small waterfall made naturally by large rocks. You saw other sporadic ripples in the water further out, hinting at tiny creatures who have made the pond their home.

You truly had no words as you stood and absorbed the sight before you. The garden was small and magical, a sense of peace and serenity washing over you as you took in the beautiful sights and sounds under the lights of the moon and the fairies. From the corner of your eye, you could see Link looking down at you with a strange look on his

face.

After a few minutes of stunned silence, you finally found your voice. “What is this place?” You whispered.

Link gently grabbed your arm again, guiding you to take steps forward. “Come on, let's sit.”

A small bench sat at the edge of the pond, and the two of you took a seat and looked out at the water before you. You felt almost hypnotized watching the small stream trickle down the rocks and listening to the soft bubbling that accompanied it.

“After.. everything,” Link started, his quiet voice pulling you out of your trance, “I spent a lot of time here.”

You looked up and saw that he wasn’t looking at you, but rather looking out at the pond with a faraway expression on his face. You decided to stay silent to see if he would continue. He did.

“It was really difficult at first. Well, it still is honestly. But those first few weeks, months, after Zelda was back and we were picking up the pieces left behind after so long of turmoil and destruction.. I really struggled.

The transition from being constantly on the road, constantly fighting, constantly throwing myself into the face of danger and being unsure if I would live to see another day, another hour even..”

Your heart ached as you listened. You had only ever known Link to be courageous and brave. Hearing him talk about his struggles was difficult, and you didn’t want to think of him in any pain - emotional or otherwise.

He sighed, shaking his head. “When nobody knew who I was, it was easy. I mean obviously what I was doing wasn’t easy, but before I felt like I was only responsible for myself and…” his voice trailed off, and you sensed there was something painful in the word that was supposed to come after “and”. But it never came.

“I had pressure to succeed of course, knowing what fate would await Hyrule if I didn’t. But I didn’t have much time to stop and consider things. I just did what I had to do to get through each day.”

He nibbled anxiously on his bottom lip. A rare display of doubt and worry. “Now everyone looks up to me. They put me on such a high pedestal and for so long all I could think about was how much it was going to hurt when I fell. Because nobody really knows what I did. They don’t know the choices I had to make. The mistakes I made. How could I possibly be deserving of their love, their unwavering trust, with how many things I’ve done wrong?”

Gingerly, you placed your hand on his knee. You weren’t sure what to say, or if he even wanted you to say anything. But you wanted to comfort him somehow. For him to know that you were listening and there for him.

“I used to come out here almost every night. I had.. I had trouble sleeping for a while. And when I did, it was mostly nightmares. So I would come here and think about the questions I was too scared to ask out loud. What could I have done differently? Did I save everyone I could have saved?”

You could feel your heart breaking with that final sentence. The look on his face and the pain in his voice. You had no idea how he could doubt himself when he had saved so many people, but you also couldn’t pretend to understand what he had gone through either.

He turned to you, and you could see the vulnerability written on his face. “Luckily my nights out here have been becoming fewer and fewer in recent months. I don’t think I will ever be able to fully feel like I deserve any of the praise I get, but I am coming to terms with it. Learning to live with it. The voices in the back of my head will always be there, but they’re getting quieter and quieter with time.”

Silence once again fell between the two of you, and you waited to see if he was going to continue. He did not. So you focused on the sounds of the night while you tried to think of the best way to respond to him.

Link was one of your closest friends, but he had never been so open and honest and.. raw with his feelings before. While it hurt you to think of him struggling through all of those emotions alone, part of you - the selfish part - was over the moon that he had chosen to share these things with you. This was a whole new side of Link you were experiencing, but you decided that this was the most important one. This was the side that showed you the real Link. And he trusted you with that. That was no small thing.

“Link, I’m so sorry.. I had no idea you were dealing with all of that.” Your eyes searched his, hoping he could hear and see the sincerity in your words. He gave you a small smile and shrugged.

“I didn’t tell anyone. With all of the eyes on me, I didn’t want anyone to think I was ungrateful. Everyone believes me to be a strong and heroic person, so that’s what I’m going to show them.”

You shook your head. “But Link, I don’t think there’s a single person out there that would blame you for feeling the way you did. I mean, none of us know what it was like for you and you’re right. As soon as the dust settled, you were thrust into the spotlight and given all those fancy titles and promotions. There wasn’t much of an adjustment period, which I’m sure would be hard for anyone.”

He was quiet for a minute before laughing softly, which confused you immensely. Had you said something funny?

“Did I ever tell you what my life was like before? Back when I was just an average person who had never even been in a physical fight, nevermind battled monsters and evil rulers.” When you shook your head, he continued, a hint of longing in his voice. “I was a cattle ranch hand. I spent my days on my horse, rounding up the goats, cleaning stalls, and working on random projects around the ranch. Occasionally had to go and wrangle a goat or two that had gotten loose and tried to make its way down to the village.”

You couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped your lips as you tried to imagine Link wrestling with an angry bleating goat. He raised an eyebrow and pretended to look offended. “Don’t you laugh, it was serious business. To this day I think I’d rather take on Ganondorf than a pissed off goat charging at me.”

You nodded furiously and closed your lips together tightly, pretending to zip them up, lock them, and throw away the key. Link rolled his eyes but grinned at your foolishness.

“Anyways, I just never would have imagined what my future would hold. And don’t get me wrong, I am immensely grateful for Zelda and the people of Hyrule and everything they have done for and given me. But a part of me I think will always mourn the life I could have had. Simple but pleasant. With the freedom to exist without the weight of all this pressure.” He sighed wistfully, looking once again back out across the pond.

“Well, for what it’s worth, you are deserving.” He turned away from the pond to look back at you, and you continued. “You’re deserving not only because of what you did, but because of who you are. You are kind, you are caring, and you have the biggest heart of anyone I know. You intentionally go out of your way to help strangers, you play with the city’s kids during your free time, you visit other villages around Hyrule to make sure they have everything they need and if they don’t you make sure they get it, you share your food with starving potion makers.. I could go on, but I think you get the point.”

Link pursed his lips and tapped a finger on his chin as if he were thinking hard about something. “No, no I think I’d like you to continue.”

You scoffed loudly. “Fine. You also have the biggest head of anyone I know. That’s quite an impressive feat.”

His laugh was loud and genuine, and you didn’t even mind that it disrupted the peaceful quiet of the garden. You shoved his shoulder with yours, and he gladly returned the gesture. The two of you battled it out for a minute or two before Link put up his hands in surrender. With a triumphant smile you leaned back on your hands and looked up at the sky.

“Thank you.” He said after a few moments of comfortable silence. “For listening to all of that. It was nice to get it off my chest finally.”

You sat up straight and gave him a serious look. “Anytime Link. I’m more than happy to listen when you need it. That’s what friends are for.”

He stared at you for a few seconds before nodding and smiling, though for some reason it didn’t quite reach his eyes. It almost looked.. sad. Before you could ask him about it, he looked away and changed the topic.

“Well, this is my special place to come and think about my life and whether I’m deserving of love and kindness. So I brought you here because I want you to do the same.”

You took a sharp breath, suddenly being reminded about the situation with Elis and why you were even out of your bed in the first place. Since stepping into the garden you hadn’t thought once about it all.

“What do you mean?” You asked.

“I mean,” his voice was stern, “That you need to realize that you are also deserving. And to accept anything less is just cheating yourself.” When he looked at you, his gaze was intense and it seemed to cut right through to your very soul.

Listening to Link talk about his feelings had been easy, but now that the attention was turned on to you, you suddenly felt very uncomfortable. You didn’t want to sit and list out all of the reasons why you were certainly not deserving and make yourself look even more pathetic than you already were.

“It's hardly the same,” You said quietly. “You’re.. you. And I’m.. me.”

He shook his head. “Our situations are unique, sure, but that does not mean that you are any less deserving of happiness.”

“I am happy.” You knew it was a pathetic lie, and you knew that Link would absolutely not believe you. And by the look on his face, you could tell he certainly did not. But before he could lecture you any further, you suddenly stood up.

“It’s getting late, and I’m very tired. Walk me home?”

He looked like he wanted to protest, but eventually he nodded. Once again he held out his arm, and you took it, welcoming the sense of comfort and security being close to him brought. You did feel guilty that he had been so open and vulnerable with you tonight, only for you to immediately shut down when he tried to get you to do the same. But you hoped that he would realize that it wasn’t worth the discussion and would give it up.

The walk back to your home was silent, neither of you knowing what to say. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence per se, but the journey to the garden had certainly been more fun. You kept stealing glances at Link from the corner of your eye as you walked, but his face was unreadable. You had no idea what was going on in that mind of his.

When you reached your shop, you were both relieved and disappointed. You dropped Link’s arm and unlocked the shop door. When you turned around to say goodbye, you were surprised to find that Link was much closer than you expected.

Your heart began to beat rapidly at the proximity, which was silly because you had just spent the whole walk home arm-in-arm with him. But something about the way that he was standing, looking down at you just a step away, felt different. More intimate.

You looked up at him - goddesses, he was tall - with wide eyes. He said nothing as he brought his hand up to your face. With a gentle touch, he caught hold of a lock of your hair and tucked it back behind your ear. His fingertips brushed your neck softly, sending tingles down your spine and butterflies erupting in your stomach.

“Please just think about what I said,” he murmured, his voice so soft you almost had to strain to hear what he said. His hand was still holding the side of your neck, however, and really that’s all you could focus. Link probably could have shouted his words directly into your ear and you still wouldn’t have heard him properly.

You nodded, unable to form words or even a single coherent thought. His thumb delicately stroked the sensitive skin behind your ear, triggering another wave of tingles and butterflies.

“Promise?” His blue eyes were pleading and sincere.

You nodded again, not even able to imagine how you could possibly say no to him in this moment.

He stared for a moment longer before nodding, seeming to accept your answer. You expected him to pull his hand away, but instead he pulled you into his chest, catching you completely off guard. His one hand stayed placed at the base of your neck while the other snaked around your back, pressing you to him.

You momentarily forgot how to breathe.

Had he ever hugged you before?

Why was he hugging you?

WHY did he smell so good??

You felt brief pressure on the top of your head, and then he released you and stepped back. As he did so, you finally took the breath you hadn’t realized you were holding.

“Sleep well.” His smile was warm and damn it, when did his smiles start to make your stomach flip so violently?

Ever so smooth with words, you replied “Uhh okay.”

Link gave a final wave goodbye and you stood there like an idiot, watching as he walked down the road until he turned and was out of sight.

Then, as if a switch had been flipped in your brain, a million thoughts and emotions slammed into you at once. Giddiness, guilt, sadness, confusion, admiration - you felt it all. You had no idea how to even begin to process anything that had happened that night or the emotions that you were feeling. You were like a zombie as you wandered upstairs to your room and changed back into your sleep clothes, your head swimming with so many things.

When you laid down finally, you decided to just push all of the thoughts and emotions away and shut your brain off. You would think about it later. Put off sorting out your feelings for later as you always did.

But there was one feeling you couldn’t push out of your head no matter how much you tried. The feeling of Link’s touch. His hand on your cheek wiping away the tears. His thumb stroking your neck softly. His arms wrapped around you as he pulled you close. And how utterly empty you felt when he pulled away.

Groaning, you smashed your face into your pillow and pulled the covers up over your head until you were enveloped in total darkness.

“Sleep well.”

“Fuck off,” you muttered to yourself, knowing that the very person who said those words would be the exact reason why you would not.

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