😈

Link opened the door and was surprised when he saw a girl his age standing next to Tetra.

She had sparking green eyes that went great along her long blond hair. She looked surprised too for a moment before she gave him a pretty smile.

She's pretty cute I guess, Link decided, but that's not anything I should be thinking about right now.

"Uh...hi there." What else am I supposed to say?

"Hi," she responded with a not quite so mellow tone.

"Oh hey there Link!" Tetra said excitedly, "this is my sister!"

"Yes I'm...Tetra's s-sister," the girl said a little unsure of herself.

"Um...nice to meet you. I'm Aryll's older brother."

"Yeah um...it's nice to meet you too Link."

The conversation quickly died and the three of them stood awkwardly.

"Hey where's Aryll?" Tetra asked trying to look behind Link.

"Oh she's-" Do I tell her that Aryll is is the bathroom with constipation?

"I'm right here!" Aryll said running down the hall and through the doorway. She grabbed Tetra's hand, "c'mon we've got stuff to work on!" The two of them ran off leaving Link alone with Tetra's sister.

Link looked behind him briefly to watch her run into the hallway, well she got over her problem pretty quickly...

He turned back to Zelda, "um...sorry but I should be...going..." Link said gesturing inside, "I've got...dinner cooking."

"Oh yeah," Zelda said stepping back away from the door, "I'll let you get to your cooking."

As she was making her way back to her car Link suddenly called out, "uh-you don't happen to want to have dinner with us do you?"

She looked quite flustered as she turned around and said, "n-no thank you, I've already eaten," and she opened her car door and entered. Link shut the door and made it back over to the stove, well...at least I was being polite.

Link always tried to be polite. It didn't always work in his favor...like today for example. He had discovered that couldn't tell someone that he wasn't interested in going on a date with them.

But he had discovered that being polite is better than being rude, his grandmother had taught him that important lesson.

Even since he had learned that lesson, he figured he could always be more polite and nice to his sister.

_^_

Zelda was breathing frantically, holding her book to her chest as she tried to catch her breath. She had just let out a very girly squeal that had desperately wanted to escape her mouth ever since she first glanced at Aryll's older brother.

Link. That was his name.

And he was dangerously gorgeous. His eyes were the first thing that she had seen: bright blue and striking. They complimented his dirty blonde hair that barely came over his eyes thanks to his shaggy bangs.

He had a set jawline and he had "not too broad" but broad shoulders. Exactly the kind of man that Zelda was attracted to.

Zelda clutched her book tighter as she sadly realized the situation: he had invited her into his home and she had not accepted.

What was wrong with her?

And the worst part was that she actually hadn't already eaten and she was hungry.

She had been dreaming for years for some sort of attractive man to pop into her life and accept her and this is how she welcomes that potential opportunity?

Zelda hit her forehead with book she was holding: A Love's Nightmare. She let out a long groan.

"I am so pathetic."

She said it out loud. She thought it was true. Every day she hopelessly read about romance in desperate hope of it finding her. Was it ever going to come?

Zelda sighed, sat back on her chair and started to read from her book. Reading usually calmed Zelda down, but for the first time she could remember, it wasn't helping.

She had caught her breath but her heart was still racing; she desperately wanted to get to know him better.

But...why had Tetra never mentioned him before? Maybe it was just a coincidence; he probably attended the University and was staying at his parents' house for Thanksgiving vacation...but how long was the vacation break for Thanksgiving in college anyway? Zelda couldn't really remember. She had gone to college the previous year but was not currently taking any classes at the moment.

But if it was a coincidence that he was here for the holiday, that didn't explain how Tetra knew him.

Maybe Aryll had told Tetra about her brother, and so Tetra assumed that the boy who answered the door must have been her brother Link. Or maybe he had visited while Tetra was there once.

After several several deep breaths, Zelda was finally able to calm herself down. But it didn't mean that she wasn't still thinking about him.

_^_

Link stared down at the spaghetti noodles that were cooking on the stove. He jumped as the timer for them suddenly went off. Taking them off the stove he drained them in the sink. Next he took the sauce off the stove and called the girls to the kitchen for dinner.

As he waited for them he scratched the back of his head. Was there something he should be thinking about?

Right Tetra's sister. For some reason he found it really odd that Tetra had a sister. Neither Aryll or Tetra had never mentioned her to him before.

She was definitely on the cuter side, but that didn't mean that he had to crush on her. Link general wasn't attracted to girls and he never was one to develop any crushes.

He tried to put it completely off of his mind as he served three plates of spaghetti for himself and the two preteens.

"Thanks big brother!" Aryll said smiling.

Tetra finished chewing a bite of spaghetti, "yeah, thank you Link!"

"Um...you're welcome."

As they ate, Tetra and Aryll yakked loudly about schooling and boys. Even though he was used to it at this point, Link did his best not to pay attention to their annoying conversation.

"Oh! You met Zelda?"

"Hmm?" Mouth full of food Link looked up to see both of the twelve year olds looking at him.

"You met Zelda?" Tetra asked again.

"Uh...who?"

"My older sister," Tetra assisted with a sly smile.

"Oh...yeah I guess I did."

"Well...do you like her?" Aryll asked.

"Uh...sure?" Link shrugged, "she seems cool."

"No Link I mean do you like her?" Aryll asked a little annoyed.

"No," Link answered honestly, "why should I? I don't like anybody. It will be a miracle if I ever do."

"UGH don't say that!" Aryll said loudly pounding her fist on the table, "how can you say that?"

"I can say it again, watch me-"

"DON'T!"

"Okay, I won't."

_^_

"Good grief," Aryll groaned laying on her bed facedown, "he's hopeless."

"As much as it seems logical after the previous encounter with Link, I don't agree with you," Tetra said pulling out her homework.

"What do you mean?" Aryll asked turning to face her friend.

"I mean-when your brother answered the door, I saw out of the corner of my eye Zelda-freeze." Tetra paused for effect.

Aryll shrugged, "okay?"

"Good grief you're dense. Look: Zelda has admitted to me that she hasn't really been attracted to any guys, so for her to freeze when she sees your brother-"

"Might mean that she's attracted to him!" Aryll finished, "then at least we can work from one side of the pair!"

"Exactly," Tetra agreed, "I think we actually have a shot at making this work. Someday...we may actually be related! Well...at least remotely."

"I think we have a shot too!" Aryll exclaimed excitedly, "but still...you do realize that this is a big long shot right?"

"Yeah," Tetra admitted letting her shoulders slump a bit, "but who knows, maybe Zelda did light a spark for Link."

"And if she did light a spark for him, let's hope that it turns into a big burning passion of love."

"Wow that escalated quickly."

"Is that a bad thing?"