Zelda's POV

"I did not!" I gasp, eyes wide and frozen by the overbearing embarrassment. I can't believe I French kissed Link last night! Although I do very faintly remember being awfully attracted to him and craving his affection.

"It gets worse," Link chuckles.

His cheeks are flushed and he is doing that head-scratching gesture again. If he gets flustered just thinking about it, it must be something truly humiliating! It's a good thing we are already sitting, otherwise I might faint.

"You took off your top," he says.

I pick up one of his pillows and hide my face behind it! "I didn't!" I squeak! He's lying, he must be!

"You did. You wanted to wear my shirt and didn't mind changing in front of me." So that's why I woke up wearing his t-shirt.

"I'm mortified!"

"It gets worse."

"How much worse can it get?!"

"You..." he begins but pauses. I look past the pillow to read his expression. He's struggling to find the words. Oh no. What did I do?

"Just say it," I bid in a strangled whisper.

"You wanted to... um... you kinda..."

"I wanted to what?"

"To..." I'm one step closer to perishing with every second he hesitates. "I guess you wanted to sleep with me?"

I think I just flatlined. Uncontrolled laughter tumbles from my lips and I don't know if it's actually funny or if I'm just trying to mask how truly embarrassed I am. "Sleep with you as in... in... as in intercourse?" He nods, lips pressed into a thin line. "No."

"Mh... Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No..." My laughter dwindles and my brows furrow in shock. "No... No no no no–" That explains the missing bra and pants! Oh for the love of the goddesses!

"We didn't do anything."

"What?" I throw the pillow at his head. "You could have opened with that line!"

"My bad," he laughs. "Nothing happened. You passed out so fast after that. Oh and Malice called me baby earlier that night but I swear nothing happened between her and me, she was just in a weird mood. But yeah. Now you're all caught up."

My mind can't focus on Malice right now. There is no way I asked him to sleep with me! "You probably misunderstood the whole situation," I claim.

"I don't know, pretty sure she was hitting on me to get to you."

"Not the Malice situation! I'm talking about us. Last night..."

"Oh. Um... I mean, who knows what really went through your head last night but you did say you want to do more than just kiss."

"That doesn't mean anything! There are thousands of other things that can be done besides kissing. I may have been referring to... er... hugging, or something completely unrelated. Maybe I was hungry and wanted to eat a snack."

"I'm sure you did," he smirks. I lightly smack his arm and scowl at him. "Hey, don't look at me like that. Facts don't lie," he laughs, shielding his body from more attacks.

"Facts that are blown out of proportion do."

He puts his hand on my shoulder and sympathetically tilts his head. "Denial is the first step." I roll my eyes at him. Unexpectedly, he kisses my cheek and gives me a comforting smile. "It was really cute."

"Let's just forget it ever happened."

"Nah."

"Link!"

"What? You can forget if you want to but I wanna remember the moment you said you were thirsty for me."

"I said that?"

He nods amused. "And you said you're dirty! You were really into it and I knew you'd get embarrassed in the morning. You'd have to hit me over the head to make me forget last night."

I frown upon his words. "Not funny..."

"Sorry." He pulls me into a tender hug. "I'm just kidding."

"Don't joke about that."

"Yeah I know, sorry."

"It's okay." I bite my lip and take a deep breath. "Link? If we... If we didn't do anything... How come my bra and pants were--well--not on my body?"

"Oh um, you said that you were uncomfortable in them. I assume you took them off sometime during the night. I swear I didn't take them off."

"I believe you. I just... I was just wondering. I hardly remember anything from last night post beverages."

"I'm not surprised, you drank a lot."

He rubs my back and graces me with a coy smile. I lean my head against his shoulder and enjoy the embrace until my stomach twists and shoots a sensation of abject discomfort up my chest. Oh no–

"Did you want to talk about it though? The stuff you said last night? And the stuff you wanted to do?" I back away and rip my eyes open.

"I'm nauseous," I whimper in panic. "Very nauseous!"

"Shit–" Link jumps up from the bed, snatches the bin from beside his desk, and holds it in front of me just in time. My stomach's contents are involuntarily emptied in a couple of painful coughs while my arms snake around the bin and hold it firmly. My throat is on fire, my arms are shaking, tears fill my eyes, and my chest jumps up and down in an attempt to rid my body of what's already gone. I gag and heave but butchered straps of air are all that's left to give.

"A simple 'no' would have been fine," Link gives a quiet, empathetical chuckle. I cough and let my forehead rest on the edge of the bin, not looking up at him. "Feeling better?"

I shake my head. "I'm so sorry," I whale at the rubbish. Link really didn't have to see this... I'm so embarrassed. At least the nausea is gone.

"It's okay." Link is holding my hair back and when I glance at him he gives me a faint smile.

"I'm disgusting."

"You're beautiful. Even when you're puking into my trash can."

"I'll clean it, I promise. No, I'll buy you a new one."

"It's okay, really. Don't worry about it."

"I do feel a little better actually."

"Good."

"How are you feeling? Are you hungover?"

"No, I'm feeling fine."

"That's good, I'm glad," I smile into the bin. After everything he has been through this year, he deserves a lifetime of good health.

"Um, Zelda... There's something else I need to talk to you about..."

"Zelda!" Anju's voice sounds along with a knock on the door. "You in there? We gotta get going soon, are you almost ready?"

I want to die. I almost forget that the wedding is today. "Be right out," I cheep with a forced smile.

"Yeah no rush, we got about 15 minutes," she answers. 

"I'll give you some Aspirin," Link says and stretches his arm toward his nightstand, still holding my hair with his other hand. His drawer is filled with a bunch of packaging from all kinds of medicine. He grabs the Asprin and pops a pill for me and one for himself.

"You said you're not hungover," I note as he swallows the pill.

"I'm not. But I'm going to work out before the wedding and the pills will lower the muscle pain."

"Pain can be a good thing, Link. It signals your body when you've reached your limit."

"Can't afford limits." He gets up and picks up a hoodie from the floor. "I'll get you some water, okay? Just sit tight."

"I think I'll take a quick shower."

"If you wait two minutes we can shower together," he teases with a smirk. I try but fail to hide the massive grin on my face. I don't know how he can make that joke after what I just did to his bin, but I love him for it.

"Terribly sorry, but you had your chance last night," I tease him, probably glowing brighter than a stoplight.

"Hey, no fair, you never offered a shower."

"Neither did you."

"Like you'd remember," he mocks, winning the debate at once.

When he reaches for the doorknob, I get up from the bed. "What did you want to talk about?"

His smile fades. One foot out the door, he says, "It can wait until after the wedding."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It's not urgent. You should get ready now."

He leaves the room on a mission to find water. Meanwhile, I change into my pants and head to the bathroom. A guy is sleeping in the hallway, blocking the bathroom door. I gently push him aside and enter the bathroom. I'd be more appalled by the liquids on the floor if I wasn't in such a hurry.

The hot water feels amazing against my skin. Too bad it can't last long. With the stripes of water running down my body, I begin to wonder if... if I would have agreed to shower with Link last night. I've never really thought about it. I always declined the idea without really being aware of why.

Isn't it something couples do? It wouldn't be morally wrong and apart from the safety hazard and risk of slipping, it wouldn't hurt anyone. Am I scared? But of what? Showing my body? Seeing his body? Doing something wrong? Doing something I'm not ready for? Or am I just stuck on the promise of waiting one year into the relationship to do these kinds of things?

Whatever the reason is, the alcohol must have taken that worry from me. I wonder if guys think this stuff over as deeply as I. Is Link truly ready for this or is it just an ongoing joke of his? I wonder if he has done any of that before... Sleeping and showering with girls... He seems much more experienced and confident in that department. If that's the case, then he must have held back last night. Despite my intrusive behavior and my indelicate consent, he didn't move forward during my intoxicated state.

I'm having mixed feelings about this. Next to feeling embarrassed and a little intrigued by all of this, I feel blessed more than anything. Link has my full trust. I feel safe with him in a way I have never experienced before.

I wash my hair, cleanse my skin, and brush my teeth. Having changed into my jeans and top from last night, I make my way downstairs. The wedding doesn't start until the afternoon but it's common for the bride and her bridesmaids to spend the morning getting ready at the bridal suite.

A handful of people are scattered in the living room, Impa being one of them. She's sleeping on the couch, cuddled up to Fyson. I remember something about him from last night. He was there, I was talking to him but I don't remember about what. 

Puzzled, I walk over to them and lightly shake Impa awake. She has a tied-up plastic bag filled with water resting on her head, her makeup is smudged and her hair a mess. Her eyes open slowly and wander the room before they land on me.

"Hi," she murmurs with a weak smile.

"Hey. Are you alright?" I give an obvious glance at Fyson who is snuggled up to her and return to her eyes with a questioning look. It takes her a second to register the other person on the couch.

"Ew, what the hell!" She croaks and, in a swift kick, Fyson plunges to the floor.

"Ah! Shit--" he groans, looking around just as confused as any of us.

"You and Fyson?" I ask her quietly.

"Not in a million years. I just get very touchy when I'm wasted," Impa shrugs.

"What's up with the bag of water?" I ask, pointing at her head.

"It used to be a bag of ice." She removes the plastic bag, revealing a black eye.

"Impa! What happened?" I gasp.

"The way you're feeling right now is exactly how I felt when I saw Link's and Revali's faces on Christmas morning. Now you probably wish you didn't drink, am I right? You missed a great fight last night. How's your head? Did you vomit?"

"Back up. Who hit you? Did Fyson...?" I whisper and point at him on the floor.

"I can hear you," he cuts in, face down, eyes closed, trying to catch up on sleep.

"It wasn't him," Impa says. "I got in a little disagreement with Malice."

I think back to the night of Ganon's arrest. Malice protected me that day and took the blame for the window. Clearly she has some sense of morals. But then why does she continue to show her most repulsive side toward us? Can that really be the same person?

"I'll get you some fresh ice," I say, removing the bag of water from her hands.

I meet Link in the kitchen. He is filling up a glass of water for me, still holding the Aspirin in his other hand. I walk up to him and hug him from behind.

"Hi there," he chuckles.

"Thanks for taking care of me last night," I mutter against his back.

"Of course. You always take care of me too."

"I'm sorry for being so persistent."

"It's fine. It was funny."

"Still... I shouldn't have acted like that."

"What do you mean?" Link turns around to face me.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"Did you tell me to stop?"

"To stop what? Making out with me?"

"That, and... everything else. When I tried to... to sleep with you," my heart is beating so fast just at the thought of it! "Did you tell me to stop?"

"Mh... Not really. I mean, at first I just kinda went along with it for a bit but when you got more serious about it, it felt wrong. I didn't want anything to happen while you're drunk like that."

"You told me you didn't want to?"

"No, I guess not. I didn't say I don't want to. I just said we shouldn't."

"And then I stopped?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, that relieves me. I thought I... maybe I crossed a line." Despite us being a couple, that doesn't give me the right to be intimate with him. His consent is just as important as mine. No means no. I never want to behave like Karusa in the slightest way! "I'm glad I didn't keep pushing you when you made it clear that you are not comfortable with it."

"You didn't make me uncomfortable. I was a little afraid of hurting your feelings by rejecting you though. You seemed sad after I said we shouldn't do it."

"Oh. I don't remember being sad. I don't think I took it personally."

"Yeah, well... If you hadn't been completely plastered, maybe things would've been different. Not saying I would sleep with you if you were less drunk, I just mean that was sort of the only reason I said no, I guess..." He scratches the back of his neck. "I'm not making any sense, am I? What I'm trying to say is... You should be sober for your first time, and if you had been sober last night and told me you want to sleep with me, I would have reacted differently. Obviously. I don't know. But I promise I won't ever take advantage of you like that."

"Thank you," I smile up at him with hot cheeks and give him a sincere hug. "I promise the same. I will never use you or take advantage of you. You can trust me. And I trust you, completely."

"That actually means a lot to me, thanks. And please don't feel pressured or rushed or anything. Just because you were into that stuff last night doesn't mean we have to start doing anything like that. We'll wait till you're ready."

I give him a kiss on the cheek before retreating from our hug. "Are you even real? How can one be so perfect?"

"I don't know but a wise girl once told me that perfection doesn't exist. So I guess that answers your first question."

"Smart-arse."

"Cutie."

"Hottie," I quickly return, just to see his reaction. He's turning slightly red and doesn't know how to respond. Maybe some of last night's confidence stuck with me. But apparently only in the comical sense. I can't imagine actually flirting with him with the purpose of seducing him. 

Amused, I remove the medicine and water from his hands and give him a kiss. After thanking him for the Aspirin, I take care of Impa's black eye, and, shortly after, leave the fraternity house with Anju.

---

Hey guys! Hope you're all doing well and that you had a nice Easter or spring break :) I haven't asked you guys story-related questions in a while and thought it was finally time again! Since there have been many different POVs lately, I wanted to ask 

which character is your favorite POV?