Mute - Zelink Modern AU

Late (18)

SO IF YOU'RE READING THIS IT'S FINALLY FUCKING WORKING.

Sorry for swearing if you're bothered by that, but I'm so relieved holy jazz hands.

It will never be this long between updates again.

Eventually, sleep came to Link, and smacked him in the face as it did so. He slept for a good 10 hours before waking up, making him late for school. As he awoke, he tried to convince himself not to look at the time, trying to trick himself into believing that school didn't exist and that if he ignored it, it would just go away. However, he knew that not to be true.

Although he was indeed going to be late to school because of the crazily long sleep, he felt refreshed and ready for the next week of school, however confusing it potentially could've been.

Was he expected to start speaking normally, like everyone else, or was he expected to not say anything else at all. He didn't even know which one he would prefer, as they both would make people ask loads of questions.

Kind of enthusiastically, he jumped out of bed. Half of his jumpiness and weirdly erratic movement was clearly because of nerves.

His parents had already left, so all he needed to do theoretically was get dressed and go. Sure, there are things like breakfast, but on a late day it's the last thing you're thinking about.

Just as he was half dressed, with his pajama bottoms still on and his school shirt's collar turned up, he heard his phone vigorously vibrate on the nightstand next to his bed. It made him jump, dropping his half tied tie in the process.

'Are you okay?' A text read on his home screen. It could only be from one person.

'Yeah. I'm coming to school late. I'll probably get there around the end of second period' He replied, the actual thought that someone actively cared enough to check on his making his hands shake.

Zelda clutched her phone under the school table, trying her hardest to keep her actions hidden. It was a little risky considering that she was sat relatively close to the teacher's desk. It was good that she could type pretty well without looking though.

'I'll wait for you by the main entrance. It'll be the start of break' She typed out, quickly double checking her spelling. Why do I care so much about how I'm structuring my texts?!

'Hey... Zelda?' With the phone almost slipping out of her hand, she swallowed hard as she got a weird feeling about this message.

'Yeah?' She replied, trying not to sound intrusive. It was hard to hide a pounding heart and nervous jitters.

'Do you think that people will expect different things from me? Expecting me to talk and interact is something that I don't think I can handle' Came through rather quickly. It was clear that he was agonizing over this.

Zelda audibly gasped, almost feeling the expectations that he put on himself. She started focusing more on the text conversation than the History lecture.

'You're not handling this on your own. Screw people's expectations! They don't know you or anything about you. If they think like that, then they don't deserve to either. I'll be with you every step of the way' She replied, holding herself back from writing an actual essay.

Link hadn't replied after that and it was ten minutes before the end of period two, so that's when he probably set off. Zelda proceeded to put her phone back into the pocket of her blazer, trying to be as discreet as possible. All she could do now was wait. 

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Those ten minutes were the longest ten minutes of her life. All she wanted to do was be there to make sure he was okay. It was like an urge, an itch that she just had to scratch, but it was just out of reach. She accidently packed all of her things away five minutes early, somewhat hoping that it would make time pass at least slightly quicker.

As long as it felt, it inevitably came. As soon as the bell went, Zelda was out of there before the teacher could acknowledge it. That was honestly rather normal for History. She sprinted down the corridors until she reached the main gate. Although she was very out of breath, making sure she wasn't late to this was her top priority.

After waiting for precisely a minute, Link anxiously strutted through the gate, his hands gripping tightly in his pockets. He felt like it was his first day at school...Ever.

"Morning" Zelda cheered as she casually started walking beside his left side. He jumped a little bit, but welcomed her presence immediately. If anything, he really needed to just hear her chipper voice.

"Ah- Good morning" He replied, loosening up his hands and taking them out of his pockets. Subconsciously, his posture improved as well.

They continued walking into the school grounds, passing many first years that tended to think and act like they were 30. As they arrived at one of the doors to enter the school itself, Link audibly and visibly gulped, his hands clasped tight again.

"This feels so different" He commented as his feet came to a sudden stop, sweat slowly rolling down his forehead.

A sad smile found its way onto Zelda's face. In that moment, she would do anything just to make Link feel better. Something inside of her panicked mind, thoughts of think of something! Became the centre of all she could focus on in that moment. Maybe words aren't always the best way to go about something...

Without any hesitation or any real thought, Zelda slowly reached her right hand out and gently placed it next to Link's left. After a deep breath, she took his hand in hers, and continued to smile, holding it gently.

Link cocked his head up in shock and confusion. Of course this seemed surreal - too good to be true maybe - but that didn't take anything from the initial shock and thought. Although his heart beat had increased and these feelings of admiration and desire used to be completely foreign to him, he happily accepted them.

He held her hand back in the same gentle way she held his.