Bruises- Modern Zelink- discontinued :(

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Zelda walked inside and saw Link sitting in the kitchen. She wasn't surprised. She hadn't stopped thinking about him all day.
"Hey, Link. I have your phone."

He had given his phone to her so his dad would think that he was at school all day and not at her house.

She set it on the counter next to him.
"Thamks," he said, mouth full.
"You're welcome."
She went upstairs and put her bag away before coming back downstairs. She sat next to him and saw that he was eating oatmeal. She looked behind her at the counter and saw that there was nothing on it. She hadn't expected him to clean up after himself. But then, his dad seemed to make him clean a lot, so it made sense.

"So, how are you feeling?"
He put his spoon down. "Better."
"That's good. Actually, are you sure? You look kind of-"
"I'm fine. I just... nevermind. It doesn't matter." He took a big bite of oatmeal after he said that, as if to say that he didn't want to talk any more.
"Okay. If you're sure. I won't bother you about it."

Then, her mom called her from her office.
"Hey, Zellie?"
"Yes, Mom?"
"Can you come in here, please?"
"Yes."
She stood up and walked to the office. She opened the door and asked,
"What is it?"
"Come in. And close the door."

She did as she was told and walked over to the desk.
"Yes?"
"I wanted to talk about Link. Did you know that he had to hide food in his room? He said that his father doesn't feed him."
"No. I didn't."
"And he said that he hasn't eaten in the last two days."
"Wait, what? Not at all?"

Her mom shook her head.
"Not at all."
"Wow. That's... not good. And you said he has to hide food?"
"Yes. And I told him that you'd being him extra food. I also told him that he can come over here whenever he wants. Is that okay with you?"
"Yes. That's a good idea."
"Why don't you go talk to him a bit now?"

Zelda nodded and stood up. She left the room and closed the door behind her before sitting down next to Link again. He smiled at her.
"Your mom calls you Zellie?"
"Yes. That doesn't matter."
"Jealous."
"Stop it- wait, you're jealous? Why?"
"I wish I had a stupid nickname. I mean, my sister has one for me, but nobody else does."
"Oh. I didn't think someone would ever be jealous about something like that."
He sighed.
"Well, I am."

Link stood up and brought his bowl to the sink.
"I should probably be getting home before my dad starts getting mad at me for not being home immediately. And he's going to he even more upset when he notices that I've been here."
"You don't have to wash that. I've got it. You can go."
Zelda walked over to him and put a hand on the bowl, pushing him a little  to tell him to move over. Instead of arguing like she thought he would, he silently nodded to her and grabbed his bag and phone.

"Bye. See you tomorrow."
She smiled at him as he left. He was nice.

<<×>>

Link hurried home, walking quickly. He didn't want to get in trouble. He didn't just walk straight home, though. He snuck past his house and only then did he go to the house. He wanted to make it seem like he was coming home from the normal direction, and not from Zelda's house.

If his father knew that he had been at Zelda's house, he'd get in big trouble. He had already been told to not talk to her. If he found out he was at her house...

He didn't want to think about it. He just wanted to avoid it. Maybe if he just acted normally, he wouldn't get in trouble. Of course, he knew that wouldn't work. His father would see that he was at her house, even if it was just for a short amount of time. And he'd get in trouble for it, even if it was only a short amount of time.

He walked up to the house and tentatively opened the door. Luckily, he didn't see his father. He did see Aryll.

"Aryll? Why are you here?"
"Mom picked me up early for a doctor's appointment and I didn't go back to school."
"Is she here?"
"No, she went hack to work."
"Oh."
"Dad isn't home yet, though, so that's good. Also," Aryll said, looking at the time, "I noticed that you got here a few minutes later than usual."
"What? How would you know that? You're never here when I get home."
"I can smell fear."
"Your school is a mile away."
"I'm really, really good at smelling fear."
"Yeah, right. You're not a dog."
"Dogs aren't the only animals that can smell fear. For instance, bears can..."

Link let her ramble on about that while he went up to his room. If he had a chance to avoid his father, he would take it and run. Of course, running being figurative. He'd get in big trouble if just ran off.

Actually, he'd get in trouble for doing just about anything. They were all because he did something he wasn't supposed to do. It was never for no reason. It was always his fault.

He was the one getting in trouble, after all.
Why was Zelda so upset by this? It wasn't that bad.