Never Without You │ BOTW modern AU fanfic

You

Link's POV

I take Zelda out to the backyard. It's already dark out and nobody is out here. I hold on to her hand, looking at her from the side while she looks around with a smile.

"Look at all these cute light strings!" She says, pointing at the wedding decorations over our heads.

"Yeah it's nice," I say. It's cool how she always notices artsy stuff around us. I don't really pay attention to that stuff but I love how hyped she gets over pretty things.

"It feels good to be away from everyone for a second."

"You're not having such a good time, are you?" She asks with a frown on her face.

"The wedding is fine, I just got stuff on my mind..."

"I can tell. Does it have to do with whatever you wanted to discuss this morning?"

"Yeah..."

"If you want to tell me what's going on, I'll listen."

I can count myself lucky to have someone like her. I step closer and just hug her for a minute. She hugs me back and I swear it's one of the best feelings to just be held by her.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me. But I hope you know that I'm here for you. No matter what."

I sigh... "I want to tell you... but... I think it'll make you sad."

"I'd rather be sad together than see you sad alone."

Goddamn it... She makes me feel so freaking loved. I think I'll just enjoy this moment before I tell her what's going on. I brush over her hair with my hand and give her head a kiss. I really hate having to ruin her mood but she deserves to know. And I really want to tell her. Maybe she knows a way to fix this. She did help me with the expulsion, maybe she can fix this too...

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "I can't afford HU anymore."

"What?"

I tighten our hug. I don't want to lose this. "I... I lost my scholarship."

"Even though they expunged the expulsion?"

"Yeah, I think it's partially because it was a sports scholarship and now it's not clear if I'll even make the team again, you know? Maybe they'll give me a new scholarship for my senior year if I'm good enough to play by then, but even if that happens, I still have to come up with a shit ton of money for my junior year."

"No wonder you've been distracted all night."

"Yeah... sorry."

"No, it's okay, it's not your fault. I understand... I'm so sorry this is happening to you. Are you willing to take my offer? I'd like to pay for—"

"No."

"You're not even willing to consider it?"

"I did consider it. But I can't take that much money from you. There's just no guarantee that I'll be able to ever pay it back. Especially without sports, I don't know how else to make that much money."

"Link, you don't understand. It would be a gift. You don't have to pay it back."

"I do understand but..." I can't blame her for not understanding my point of view. She can't really know how much freaking money that is to the average person.

"I'm serious. I'll give you the money."

"I don't want that, Zelda."

"But why?"

"Would you take that much money from me?"

"No offense, but you don't have that much money to give. I do."