Mute - Zelink Modern AU

Overthinking (28)

Link finished up his speech, leaving him just stood did there with the room silent. After a few lines of the script it felt as if it was a little bit natural and that he was just talking, but the realisation of what he was doing did eventually hit him. Luckily it was later in the presentation.

He darted his eyes over to Zelda, who's smile grew all the more wide as she started clapping, which the other students eventually joined in too. Everyone was speechless from the beginning, barely remembering what was even going on around them. Some visibly had their mouths slightly open as they placed their hands together.

Link rushed back to his seat, the rush from the adrenaline pumping throughout his body making every one of his senses become extremely sensitive. His cheeks were flushed as he too looked confused, as if the fact that it was over hadn't settled in yet.

"Well done... That was amazing" Zelda whispered once he had sat down.

From the angle he was sat, the tear that had formed in the corner of Zelda's eye wasn't visible, but it was there. The amount of shear pride she felt was indescribable. She'd practically forgotten that she had her own presentation to do.

Link looked completely and utterly dumbfounded, as if he was conflicted on how to feel about everything that just happened and things that we about to happen. He was completely caught in the moment and lost as the eyes of the rest of the class lingered on him for an unusually long amount of time.

"Zelda" The teacher called out, gesturing for Zelda to stand up and now do her own presentation.

"You've got it" Link managed to get out, though he didn't quite say it loud enough for Zelda to hear it.

She was a lot more relieved after Link had done his own presentation, and felt as though her pride and happiness was fueling her heart to beat intensely.

Her speech was thorough and spoken articulately, as though she was actually an expert speaking about wildlife and nature. Whether it was her natural charm and polite smile or the fact that her voice was soft yet firm, there was something about this minute that Link admitted so dearly.

It was moments like this where Link remembered that not only did he appreciate Zelda with every inch of his being, he also looked up to her like a role model, she inspired him to try and be better.

She was nice to everyone unless they were in the wrong, in which case she'd firmly but still politely confront them, resolving situations with little to no effort. He'd known from his own experiences that she'd look out for anyone and everyone even if it caused her inconvenience.

Link knew that she had such a pure heart. She genuinely just wanted the best for everyone without expecting anything in return.

It was only natural that he'd fallen for her, really.

What would anyone expect? Someone actually shows concern and tries to help you, genuinely wanting you to be happy and healthy for the first time in ages. When did it start happening? When exactly in his life did he fall so hard that he couldn't think straight while around her? That was something Link just couldn't recall. He could list millions reasons why, but when was where the confusion came in.

Just when did these feelings of admiration turn into something that meant so, so much more? There was no sudden snap or moment that confirmed it, it felt like after a while he'd just accepted it subconsciously, barely giving it thought.

He was giving it way too much thought in this particular moment, because for the first time in a while, he was seeing her in a position where he could solely just admire her and her resolve to help others.

It wasn't going to be easy to keep this hidden for much longer. If it wasn't already pretty obvious in the first place, it would just become more clear over time. Link was terrible at lying, especially to the one person he would trust with his life.

Link knew full well that it probably wouldn't change much anyway. At first he thought that she'd find him weird, but he knew that to not at all be the case, not in the slightest. The possibility that she felt the same way never even felt close for some reason. Almost as if it was too far away from reality.

I need to tell her.

Soon after Link was buried deep in thought, Zelda's speech finished, earning her an applause from everyone in the room. They had seemed to have calmed down from Link's presentation as they moved on down the register, the others now being brung up to do their own speeches.

Zelda quickly took her seat next to Link, sighing extremely heavily in relief as she did so, a grin widely on her face as she looked directly at Link. It was unclear whether the smile was aimed at him or just the fact that they had finally finished these presentations.

"That was phenomenal" Link whispered, trying not to interrupt the next person who was setting up. He was clearly in awe, making Zelda smile just a bit wider.

"Look who's talking" Zelda replied, before the two stopped talking to watch everyone else's presentations.

Eventually, they had gotten through everyone. It was just in time for the end of the lesson, as the bell signalling just that rang. Unfortunately, the two didn't have any other classes together that day, causing their departure.