Underneath that quiet and hard exterior of his, nobody knew that Link had a way with words... sort of. Something in the back of his head always forced him to not outwardly say these desperate words, though, no matter how badly he wanted to get them out there. It wasn't necessary, to put it simply.

With his whimsical words, he had written a few poems and excerpts in his life. They were all intricately written, expressing everything he felt in such confusing yet understandable ways. But, with how much he despised everything his hands created, he tore those papers apart, leaving them to be shredded up and dumped somewhere in Hyrule, where no one would ever find his works.

He missed writing like that, and he wanted to do it again. It was for no particular reason, but he felt very stressed from today. Link knew good and well that he was just overthinking the situation—things would be fine the next day. It was hard to explain, but when his mind was clouded with one thought, he couldn't think properly. And then he overreacted, just like he did today.

It was as if he had developed the mindset that whatever the worst outcome he could think of would be the only one to actually occur. Even when one half of his heart debated against that fact, saying that everything would most likely turn out fine in the end, the other half of his heart that was asleep always managed to deceive his mind and make him think negatively.

And, during moments like these, writing would help him calm down. So, he did just that.

Clicking the end of a pen, he rested his wrist on top of a lined piece of paper. Before writing, he tried to think about why he was even doing this. There would have to be a specific reason why he would write and vent all his feelings down onto paper, but he couldn't figure out the right feeling he felt.

There was jealousy, because he envied Groose. He had learned sign language so quickly and spoke it so fluently, so of course Zelda would fawn over his dedication to her. Then again, she could've been just casually talking to him, but Link couldn't help but think otherwise. But, learning sign language was something Link didn't even think twice about attempting to do. Granted, he did learn a few gestures and words in the language, but never did he fluently speak it.

There was anger, not only targeted at Groose, but himself and the world that caved in around him. The world that broke down his protective walls and damaged him, as a poetic way to say it.

There was not lust, goddesses no. Link was perfectly fine with Zelda being in a romantic relationship with someone else. Another part of him didn't even want to imagine that, though, because unfortunately, love was a confusing thing and he had fallen hard on the subject.

He felt hopeless. That would be an alright way to describe it. While it may be true that he was overthinking the situation, he couldn't control his feelings well, and thus he felt worthless in the end.

It was hard to describe, but he felt like he didn't deserve love. Why should someone such as himself deserve the wonderful feeling of love? He had always heard throughout his life that love was the most powerful emotion you could ever experience, but that stereotype had already worn off of him. Link knew that love wasn't the most powerful emotion. There was a different emotion that took that prize, although he didn't know what it was, exactly. Not yet.

Because I believe in love.

That's what he scribbled down on the paper. Which was the truth; love was a real thing, something he got to see everyday of his life. Whether it be his parents spending time together or other couples at school gazing lovingly at each other, or even seeing families and siblings laughing with each other, love was definitely not a misconception of human emotion. Link felt love; love for his entire family, the things he had been blessed with, and the romantic part of his love, Zelda. Love didn't have to be romantic, any type of love counted. Love was real and Link craved it.

I hope I can show you what I mean.

Who am I directing this towards, exactly? It could be anyone, he thought. Anyone he felt some sort of passionate connection to could read this and wonder if it was them or not. Link decided to think that it was directed at the person he loved in a romantic way.

I don't believe love's for me.

That is the sentence that captured this empty and annoying feeling he felt right now. He dreamed of true love and knew that it was very real in this world of theirs, but he didn't deserve it. Not at all.

So won't you come around and prove me wrong.

Link stopped writing after this, realizing that he was basically writing some sort of cryptic message about how he loved Zelda, but felt like he didn't deserve to have her return that feeling to him. It was like a letter to her, begging her to simply just—well, prove him wrong about these thoughts.

Even before this incident, Link had always felt like this. Unworthy of the love he experienced all around him, every single day.

For once, he actually liked this work of his. So, he folded up the piece of paper he had been writing on, and shoved it into his desk drawer. Just as the drawer shut, Aryll hollered to Link from downstairs that dinner was ready.

Perfect timing, Link thought, grabbing his phone and earbuds before proceeding to exit his bedroom.

After he finished dinner, Link asked his parents if he could run to the dollar store for just a bit. They didn't agree at first, as always, but with a little bit of negotiating, they both gave in and let Link go.

As he made his way towards the front door of their house, Aryll came jumping up behind him with sparkling eyes and a grin on her face.

"I'm coming with!" she cheered, and Mother gasped at the statement.

"Aryll, Link isn't old enough to supervise you in public," she scolded. "Who knows what could happen?"

"Link's sixteen! He can drive now! Why can't I go along with him?" Aryll cried. "I'm gonna bring my own money and get something for myself, is all. I'll bring you back some weird contraption I find there!"

"Aryll, no is no—" Father said, but Link cleared his throat quite loudly to interrupt the conversation.

"I promise I'll keep a good eye on her," Link said. "Like a hawk." He acted as if he was scanning the horizon, hand hovering above his eyes and the side of it pressed to his forehead

"That's weird," Aryll commented, but instantly began to smile again. "Oh, so you don't trust Link? That's a little mean..."

Aryll was good at negotiating until she got what she desired. Mother let out a slightly annoyed sigh, placing a dirty dish in the dishwasher. "Alright, fine. You both better be home before ten o'clock, got it?"

Link and Aryll saluted to their mother. "Yes, ma'am!"

Soon, they were at the dollar store, and Link remembered to stay by Aryll's side at all costs, no matter how many times she begged to look around the place by herself. ("I promise I can handle myself!") ("I said—no.")

"There's nothing here but food and other crap," Aryll complained, staring at her singular red rupee. "I thought this place would be interesting!"

"You can just get a candy bar or something with that. You can get a couple candy bars, actually," Link suggested.

"Why did you even wanna come here?" Aryll questioned, looking up at her older brother with a questioning face.

In truth, Link only wanted to come here—alone—to let himself be with his thoughts. That wasn't the best thing he could do, but it helped him feel better. Sometimes.

"I just—I wanted some candy as well," Link lied, and Aryll stuck out her tongue.

"Who said I was buying candy?" she teased, looking to her right and spotting a girl about Link's age with brunette hair. Aryll gasped at her beauty.

"Isn't that girl pretty?" Aryll cooed, but Link slapped his hand over her mouth to silence her incredulous words.

"You can't shout like that in a public place!" Link whisper shouted, looking over at the girl and feeling his heart stop when he realized it was Zelda.

Uh oh.

He remembered the poem, the one that was mainly about her, and felt his cheeks turn a deep red color. Exceptional timing, Zelda. Right after I literally poured my heart out on paper—and it was all about you.

"Ooh, is that the Zelda lady you're friends with?" Aryll asked, then waggling her eyebrows. "Or should I say... she's your GIRLFR—"

"That is enough!" Link stammered, his heart rate beginning to return to normal, but the heat in his face remaining.

He prayed that Zelda wouldn't notice him, but she did, which was both a good and a bad thing for him. The good thing was that he'd be able to talk to Zelda without Groose budging in. The bad thing was that Link felt too...the feeling was indescribable, but it made him not want to talk to Zelda at the moment.

As she approached the two, she smiled once she was close enough.

Link waved awkwardly to her, while Aryll just mischievously grinned the entire time they stared at each other. Aryll did begin to wonder why neither of them were speaking with each other.

"Link?" Aryll whispered and Link just patted her tuffs of blonde hair. "Talk to her."

"She can't hear," Link mumbled, while Zelda had occupied herself with a strange contraption she found.

"Can't hear?" Aryll repeated, making a prolonged 'oh' sound once she got the hint. "She's deaf."

Link just nodded, pulling out his phone. "I'm going to text her."

"Gee, this must be really hard for you guys. I mean, you can't even talk to her," Aryll commented, just staring at Zelda. "But, I think you guys will prevail. I can see you guys getting married someday! That'd be cool! Zelda could be my sister-in-law—"

"Please stop," Link mumbled, his embarrassment returning and his face turning a shade of red, once again. Even the tips of his Hylian ears had turned red, he was so embarrassed. Zelda couldn't even hear what nonsense Aryll was spouting, but it was nonetheless still embarrassing.

"You're just saying that because you're too scared to admit it!" Aryll squealed, and Link shushed her.

"Admit what?" he retorted, finally texting a quick hello to Zelda.

"That you love her! I know it! You made it too obvious last year that you had a crush on this girl," Aryll said. "And now, a simple crush has blossomed into an undying love..."

"You're so immature," Link grumbled, grabbing his sister's hand. The moment he did that, Zelda finally looked his way again and gasped at his face. It was still incredibly red, but she had no idea he was blushing.

Zelda just smiled cutely at him, oblivious to how nervous she was making Link. Chuckling at his stunned face, she looked down at her phone at the text he had sent her.

: henlo

She grinned, seeing a new text pop up underneath it.

: gotta blast

Zelda looked up and he was gone.

Confusion entered her brain, leaving her to stare aimlessly down the aisle full of candy. Why did he suddenly leave for no reason? She did notice that he looked nervous or anxious or—or something. Maybe he had a fever? That wouldn't make sense, though. He was fine earlier.

She felt like she had done something wrong to make him leave. But, deciding to go down the positive route, she shrugged off the situation and grabbed the candy bar of her choice, before making her way to the register to pay for it.

Once she left the dollar store, she whipped out her phone again and quickly texted her reply, making her way to her car.

: why

: what

: you left

: yea I had to go home

: ok...........

: what was your sister talking bout btw?

: The FitnessGram™ Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues. The 20 meter pacer test will begin in 30 seconds. Line up at the start. The running speed starts slowly, but gets faster each minute after you hear this signal. [beep] A single lap should be completed each time you hear this sound. [ding] Remember to run in a straight line, and run as long as possible. The second time you fail to complete a lap before the sound, your test is over. The test will begin on the word start. On your mark, get ready, start.

: fuck you

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