Never Without You │ BOTW modern AU fanfic

Temptation

Link's POV

Just one night, I keep reminding myself. Just one night with Malice in the same room.

Zelda, Malice, and I are standing in the hallway. Zelda's room on one side and the guest bedroom on the other.

"You'll sleep with two separate blankets," Zelda orders, handing me a folded set of sheets for tonight. She's going over the rules as if it wasn't self-explanatory that Malice and I keep our distance tonight.

"It's past 10 PM and my father will be back home soon," Zelda says. "Once he's back, I will have to keep my door open for the rest of the night. You guys will have to keep yours shut."

Malice and I nod in understanding.

"You'll have to be very quiet so you don't get caught," Zelda says to Malice, who nods again.

"I suppose that's all," Zelda finishes, looking kinda nervous about the whole thing. She looks at me and sighs. "Make sure Malice doesn't make any noise at night. She's still suffering from withdrawal and the cravings get intense at night. If she begs you for drugs, just give her some snacks or some water, and if she's in pain you can give her some pain killers. But only one pill every 8 hours, okay?"

"Cut it out," Malice interrupts Zelda. "I'm not a fucking dog, and he's not my sitter. I can take care of myself."

"Can you though?" Zelda challenges her. "Good dogs don't bite the hand that's feeding them."

"If I'm a dog, then you're a bitch!"

"Bite me," Zelda snaps, and Malice barks back with "Woof".

I don't say anything, I won't get in the middle of their catfight. Or dogfight.

"I think I heard the front door," Zelda whispers, shushing us. "It must be Father."

"Then we better get into our rooms before the old man catches us all in the hallway," Malice says. Her arm hooks around mine and pulls me closer. Zelda's face turns red from jealousy, even more when Malice smirks and winks at me. "Come on Link, time for bed."

Zelda clenches her fists and tenses her jaw. "Just don't get caught," she says annoyed and wishes us a good night before she heads to her room. I feel bad but she knows nothing is going to happen. Malice is just trying to piss her off as usual.

Malice and I head into our room and close the door behind us. Now it's just us.

Malice immediately crosses to the other side of the room to open the window. She leans over the edge, so far that it looks like she's about to take a dive. I'm ready to pull her away from the window in case she leans too far, but she tips back into the room, taking a couple of deep breaths.

"What are you doing? You're gonna get us caught," I whisper.

"How? Don't tell me the Hyrules got spies hiding in the bushes or something."

I just ignore her sarcasm and focus on not getting caught. The first thing I do is turn off the light and lock the door to make sure nobody comes in tonight.

"I'm claustrophobic," Malice protests when she hears the lock click.

"So?"

"So don't lock the door!"

"You want her dad to walk in on us?" I arch an eyebrow.

"No."

"Then the door stays locked," I say.

"Fine, then the window stays open."

"Fine."

I walk into the bathroom to get changed. It's only 10 pm but I'm exhausted and ready for bed. First day of classes, therapy with Deku, and talking to Zelda's dad drained my energy. Even though her dad is disappointed in me, he was pretty understanding and gave some solid advice. I'm glad I opened up to Deku and asked him for advice. If he hadn't told me to wear something more formal for my talk with Zelda's dad, I probably would've worn the plain shirt and blue sweatpants I'm about to wear for bed.