Never Without You │ BOTW modern AU fanfic

Love Can Take Many Forms

Zelda's POV

Link and I are about to leave for school when I inform the maid to stay out of the guest bedroom for today. Though she seems confused, she obeys with a nod and resumes cleaning Father's office space. I tell Link to wait downstairs while I head back upstairs with some food for Malice.

I don't even knock before I enter the guest bedroom. I don't have the patience to respect her privacy right now, and by the looks of it, she doesn't seem to care much anyway. She's still laying on the floor, slumbering peacefully.

"Wake up," I tell her in a harsh tone. When she doesn't move, I walk up to her and nudge her with my foot. She doesn't move, so I nudge her again. Still no reaction. None at all.

Is she... alive?

Hesitantly, I nudge her one more time and she quickly slaps my foot with her hand and snaps at me, "Cut it out! I'm trying to sleep!"

Oh joy, she's alive. Though relieved, I roll my eyes and return to a serious stance.

"Get up, Malice," my foot pokes her again.

"Bro, stop kicking me."

"I'll kick harder if you don't get up right now."

She sits up hastily, glaring up at me with pure detest burning in her eyes. "Dude, what's up with you?" she asks annoyed. "Woke up on the wrong side of the bed, huh?"

"Shut up," I retort sharply, not in the mood to treat her kindly out of pity. I kneel down to face her eye to eye. Not blinking, I snarl, "Care to explain that stunt you pulled last night?"

Malice, still half-asleep and clearly unfazed by my stern demeanor, yawns loudly and stretches before responding, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "No clue what you're talking about."

I take a deep breath to maintain my composure. "This isn't a joke, Malice. I took you in to help you, to support you through your withdrawal and recovery. And then you do that to Link? You crossed a line last night and you know it."

She leans back on her hands, giving me an exaggerated look of innocence. "Crossed a line? What are you talking about, Zelly?"

I narrow my eyes on her. "Don't play dumb, Malice. Link told me everything."

"Did he now?" She raises a smug brow. "Everything?"

"Yes. He told me how you tried to sleep with him, how you didn't respect his boundaries even after he asked you to stop."

Malice rolls her eyes dramatically, "Oh, come on. You're overreacting. It was just a little harmless fun."

"Harmless fun? Link felt uncomfortable, and that's not okay. I understand you're dealing with a lot right now and yesterday must have been tough for you, given your past experiences with guys, but you of all people should know better than this. You should know what it's like to be on the receiving end of sexual assault."

I notice her complacent smirk slowly fading away, a frown taking its place while her eyes avoid mine. "Look... I didn't mean anything by it. I was just messing around. You know me."

I shake my head, "I don't know you, Malice. You have your walls up, hiding behind sarcasm and arrogance. I thought we could look past the bullying and immature games, but if you keep on acting like this, nobody will ever make it past those walls. I want to trust you and give you a chance, but I won't let your behavior jeopardize the trust I've built with Link. You need to understand that your actions have consequences. If this happens again, you'll have to find somewhere else to stay."

She holds back the slightest reaction to my words. I can tell she's clearly not pleased with the outcome, but she's still not letting me in on her thoughts. "Fine, fine. I'll apologize to your precious Link. Happy now?"