Bruises- Modern Zelink- discontinued :(

Hold It

<<Friday>>

When he got to school, he tossed his things at his desk and practically ran out of the classroom. He went straight to the bathroom and locked himself into a stall.

One more day. Tomorrow would be the weekend. He wouldn't have to do this anymore.

Men weren't supposed to cry. His dad said that all the time, so it must be true.
He was worthless. A worthless pile of shit, worthless excuse for a human, worthless excuse for a son.

Tomorrow he could just shut himself in his room all day instead of having to deal with people askinng about Mipha.

Why couldn't they just ask someone else?
Five different people had asked him on the way to class. Today.
He didn't want to talk about it. Couldn't they see?

Maybe he should be able to talk about it. Yeah, he was just weak. A weak, useless, worthless shithead.

He couldn't deal with this much longer. He should have gotten over it by now. It wasn't like they talked to each other much.
Maybe that was the problem. He never talked to her.

Oh, why did this have to be so hard?

<<×>>

"Oh, hey Sean. Where's Link?"
"I dunno. He wasn't here when I got here. His stuff is by his desk, though."
"Huh."

Link's things were haphazardly thrown on the ground, like he had left immediately.

Zelda set her bag down next to her desk.
"I'll go look for him."
Sean stood up. "I'll go with you."
"Okay. Good idea."

They left the classroom and started their search. Sean checked the boys bathroom, while Zelda looked around by his locker.

Soon, Sean came out of the bathroom, saying, "He shut himself up in one of the stalls. He's definitely not using the bathroom."
"Did he say something?"
"Yeah, he said to leave him alone. He seems pretty upset about something."
"Huh. Well, we should respect his wishes. Let's go back to class."

Sean nodded and followed her to the classroom, where they sat down and waited for class to start.

Link came back just before the first bell rang. He looked quite calm. The only thing that gave away what he had been doing was his eyes, which were a little red and wet.

He sat down in front of Zelda, as usual, and put his earbuds in. He obviously didn't want to talk.

<<×>>

He didn't go to lunch with everyone else. Instead, he sat in the library like he did yesterday.

He was eating in the library so he didn't have to talk to people. He knew that if he tried to have a normal conversation, they'd just ask about Mipha.

He still couldn't believe that that really happened. It all felt like a dream.
And though he knew that it was real, he couldn't help but hope that it was.
But hoping was useless. It never worked.

<<×>>

Zelda laughed. "Hey Miph- right."
That darkened the mood quite a bit.
Midna crossed her arms and looked away. Urbosa pretended to reply to a text. Zelda just looked down.

Someone walked by and asked,
"Hey, where's the girl that always sits with you?"

Zelda buried her face in her hands. Judging by what she heard next, she guessed that Midna had given them that "look."

"Okay, jeez, sorry."

They walked away, leaving the girls be.

Another person came over and said,
"I heard about that Mipha girl. What happened?"
Zelda stood up, grabbed her things, and left. She heard Midna's yelling from outside of the cafeteria. The volume inside almost doubled as people stood up to see what was going on.

She hurried to the library, where she found Link sitting at a table in a corner. She sat down across from him, not saying anything. She continued eating her lunch in silence.

<<×>>

When he opened the door, he saw that his father was sitting on the couch, watching tv.

He thought he had been arrested or sonething.

"You're back."
"A friend of mine bailed me out." He stood up. "And boy, do I have something to say to you."

He rolled his sleeves up and walked over to him.
He braced himself for the incoming attack.

Then, he realized he didn't care.
So he let it happen. And he barely felt it.

And he was out.

<<×>>

When she walked into her house, she found that... well, nobody was home. As usual. But there was a note on the table.

It read:

Zelda-
You'll be home alone for longer than usual, since I'll be coming home late. I convinced your father to not send a babysitter, because you're 15. You really don't need one.
Anyway, stay safe.
-Mom

Hylia, her dad could be overprotective. She didn't mind much, though. Her mom usually talked him out of going to great lengths to "keep her safe."
More like breathing down her neck and keeping her from doing things in her own.

Whatever. It wasn't too bad. And she had better things to worry about.

Like Link. She was afraid of what he might do. He seemed really sad, so much so that it was almost unhealthy.
She was afraid that he might do something stupid.
Like.....

Nevermind. She didn't want to think about things like that. It'd only bring her down.
Not that she wasn't already down.
Not that she wasn't always down.