Breath of the Wild College AU fanfic │Thinking About You

How to Be a Father

(Hey! Some of you have been asking which songs I listen to while writing my chapter. I have a whole Thinking About You playlist on Spotify that I can share with you guys if you're interested. Here are the three main songs I listened to for specific scenes in the chapter:

Link: Soul mate - flora cash
Rhoam: You're somebody else - flora cash (also, somebody said the lyrics from Numb by Linkin Park fits with Rhoam and Zelda and I couldn't agree more!)
Pik: Dancing without music - BRDG)

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I wake up from Link twisting and turning next to me. His breaths sound compressed as if trying not to wake me.

"Link?" I sit up and find his eyes in the dark. Little drops of sweat sit on his forehead and his hands are clutching the blanket. "What's going on?"

"My leg..." he quietly pants. "Feels like someone is drilling into my bones."

"Oh Link..."

"Sorry for waking you."

"No, don't be sorry, I'm glad I'm up. What can I do?"

"I need meds."

"You can't take more painkillers tonight. It's only been a couple of hours since your last dose."

"Shit," he says through his clenched teeth. "Please."

I shake my head with strain. "You already took two pills before bed..."

"Right... You're ri-- oh fuck," he groans again. His fist collides with the wall. It doesn't leave a mark but it's enough to make me flinch. "Shit, sorry. I like turned my leg in my sleep or something. I don't know, I just woke up from sudden pain. It'll be fine in a minute."

I brush his hair out of his forehead and continue to stroke it gently.

"I should sleep downstairs on the couch," he breathes.

"No, why?"

"You have your thing tomorrow. I don't want to keep you up."

"I don't care if you keep me up, I want to be here for you." I wish I could take his pain away or even swap our health. He doesn't deserve to suffer like this. I kiss his cheek and take his hand into mine. His palm is sweaty but cold.

"Do you need water?" I ask. "Or anything else?"

He shakes his head and looks up at me. "Distract me."

"How?"

"I don't know. Tell me a story."

"A story..." My mind hastily recovers all sorts of random memories from my life but nothing interesting enough to keep his mind off of his pain. For some reason, every story that comes to mind involves walking and I don't want to remind him that he can't walk. Maybe I should just tell him a fictional story? I could summarize some of my favorite novels. Or I could recite the politics presentation I have memorized for tomorrow. That would definitely put him to sleep.

When his hand cups my cheek I lose my train of thought. He looks at my lips and gently draws my face closer. This works too, I suppose. I kiss him and lie back down to be on the same eye level as him. I can tell that it calms him almost instantly and he is more focused on our kiss than on his leg.

"You're beautiful," he whispers against my lips.

"It's too dark, you can't even see me," I argue in a soft chuckle.

I can feel his smile on my lips. "My eyes are closed. I don't need sight to know how beautiful you are."

"Link," I breathe. Lips pressed against mine, he brings his hands to my back to pull me on top of him. I'm careful not to move or even touch his injury with my leg. As I drive my fingers through his hair his hands press against my lower back, wanting me closer. Our kisses multiply and last longer each time our lips part and reconnect. Tenderly, he bites my bottom lip and brings one hand up to my cheek. When he breaks our kiss he steadies his fleeting breaths.