Try For Me | Zelink AU

Greaser

Too Sweet—Hozier
Runaround Sue—Dion

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Link's Perspective

I feel the headache while I'm still asleep. Dull and throbbing yet sharp, squeezing around my skull. It doesn't help that I'm hugging my pillow rather than resting my head on it. The pad on the mattress is thin enough to feel the springs in the box digging against my temple.

It's still mostly dark outside and forcing my eyes open doesn't make the headache much worse. The few strips of clouds I can see out my window are striped with dusty pink and orange. It's calm paired with the cool morning breeze on my face.

I lift my head and smear the drool from my cheek while clumsily reaching for the glass of water on my nightstand. I chug it, not caring how long it's been sitting there or how it got in my room in the first place. My mouth tastes less like stale beer after finishing it.

Dragging myself out of bed is harder than simply opening my eyes. My legs feel heavy and stiff like I haven't slept all the alcohol off yet. A couple more hours of sleep and maybe I would have but taking Aryll to school should sober me up.

I'm sure she's happy with herself or maybe that little high from making him laugh has already worn off. Or maybe she spent the rest of the night telling them every detail she knew until there was nothing left I could keep to myself.

The clothes I'd stripped off last night before climbing into bed aren't on the floor anymore and my belt is coiled neatly on my dresser. The crumpled cans I fell asleep next to are gone too and if I think hard enough, I can remember Ma kissing my head and pulling my blanket up. But I could have imagined that part. She hasn't kissed my head since I was little. Drunk and I was still wishing to the point I pretended it was real.

I stumble out of my room to the bathroom in my underwear where I take in the mess of myself I made last night. I may feel like shit but I look worse. My eyes are glazed and the skin under them is tinged purple in a way that looks too much like bruising. The real bruises are still there though fading along with the thick scab on my lip.

All I see is him. It'd be as easy as a haircut and letting go of all the anger I hold on to and I'd have the same face Ma fell for and become the man she got stuck with.

Disgusted, I tug out the tie keeping my hair in an uneven ponytail and turn the shower to cold. I stumble stripping down to nothing and kick the tub stepping in, cursing it under my breath. Just a few more hours and I would've been fine.

The water pricks along my skin, raising goosebumps. The thick haze ebbs the longer I stand under the freezing water, letting my body go numb. The in-between of drunk and sober is easy. I can feel but not too much. Think without overthinking.

Zelda is the first face I see once I can blink through the alcohol. Hoping is too much but it feels good for a few moments to think about what it might be like if she didn't mind this part.

I scrub my hands over my face, washing away the thought and replacing it with ones that make it easy to play the part she likes. The freckles scattered across her nose, the curve of her hips, the fullness of her lips. Anything deeper than that is out of my reach.

***

I pull a fitted black shirt over my head and tuck the hem into a clean pair of jeans before buckling my belt. Ma must have cleaned the melted slushie from it when she picked up the rest of my room.

I light a cigarette and hold it between my lips while I stand in front of the mirror leaning on top of my dresser. I fluff out the damp bangs starting to fall in my eyes and think Ma might be right about a trim. But cutting them now wouldn't fix the shadows lingering under my eyes. Cold water doesn't wash my stains out.