(Extra chapter today because I did well on my first final!! If I do good on my other finals, you know what's coming ;)
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Link's POV
Even though Cado's night shift is over, he's still guarding the gate. At least someone's got our backs, but damn, he's going to ask questions if he sees my bruised face.
I roll my bike up next to Zelda's car, helmet still on, visor down, and step into the house. I find a bathroom and finally take off the damn helmet, staring at my messed-up reflection. Bruises everywhere, cracked nose, and a bloody lip. I lean forward, spit some blood into the sink and wipe the rest from my lips. I gotta clean up before Zelda sees me like this.
I turn on the faucet. My split knuckles are swollen. I rinse off the blood, feeling the sting. As the blood goes down the drain, I realize how much I fucked up. I fucked up. For real this time. I hit the bottom of my fist against the sink. How am I going to explain this to her?
I clean up my face as best as I can but I can't make the bruises disappear. I search the cabinets for a first aid kit but this is just a guest bathroom and there's nothing but towels, soaps, and toilet paper. Today is not my lucky day.
There's some blood on my shirt too, and my legs are badly scraped from throwing myself onto the rocky trail. I take off the shirt to see if it's my blood or Karusa's. There's no open wounds on my upper body, which is a good sign. Just a bunch of bruises around my left rib cage. One year ago he bruised the right side, now it's the left. I can't help but laugh at the freaking irony.
I walk upstairs and down the hall to find Zelda. Voices are coming from the guest bedroom. I can hear Malice, so she's awake. Zelda is questioning her about Ganon.
While they're distracted, I sneak into Zelda's bedroom to change into a new set of clothes. Once I'm wearing a clean hoodie and sweatpants to cover the scraps, I toss the bloody shirt down the laundry shoot and slowly make my way to the room across the hall.
"He's going to kill me," Malice says just as I step into the room. She's laying on the floor between the bed and Zelda. Zelda is crouching next to her, not noticing me yet.
When Malice looks up at me, there's no anger or fear on her face. She just acknowledges me with a tired and neutral expression. Despite my messed up face, Malice doesn't stare, and within a second, she looks back at Zelda. But that one second was long enough to get Zelda's attention. When she turns around to see who's standing behind her, her jaw drops. She gasps.
"Link!"
And unlike Malice, she can't stop staring. She looks at me like it's some kind of horror show.
Knuckles hidden in the pocket of my hoodie, I let her know that Ganon is still in prison and we don't have to worry about him. Or Karusa.
"What happened to your face?" she asks in shock.
Before I explain myself and tell her that Impa and Kiroh dropped off her phone as I hand it to her. I didn't delete the message I sent to Karusa. I didn't even close out of the app. I'm not going to hide this from her.
"I got into a fight," I admit and she takes the phone, eyes locked on my messed-up knuckles.
"With Kiroh?" She says and I almost laugh. Kiroh couldn't do this much damage.
I shake my head at her. "With Karusa."
"Karusa?!" Zelda and Malice say at the same time.
"The prison wouldn't give me any info on Ganon, so I used your phone to message Karusa for a meetup," I start explaining.
Malice sits up, face shifting from neutral to furious. "What the hell did you do to him?"
I don't care if she's mad at me for beating up her buddy. I'm just as mad at her as she is at me. If it weren't for Malice, Zelda and I wouldn't have a single scratch on our bodies and everything would be fine.
"Hey!" Malice snaps, attention on me. "What did you do to Karusa?"
I have the urge to tell her to shut up and that it doesn't concern her. At the same time I want to tell her every detail, every punch, because all of this is her fault to begin with.
I have so much anger inside of me, and I don't know what to do with it. I don't want to direct it at Zelda, but she's not innocent in this either. It's her fault too that we're in this mess.
I think Malice is tearing up. She's forcefully wiping her face with her sleeves.
"Link," Zelda says hesitantly. "Tell me what happened."
"I already told you. I met up with Karusa."
"But... How did you end up like this?" She asks.
"Karusa refused to tell me if Ganon is still in prison, so I had to find another way to get the answer out of him."
"Ganon is not a threat," Malice tells me. "It's his father you should be worried about!"
Well shit. This could have all been avoided if we had known that like five hours ago. Ganondorf is not locked up, which means he's probably looking for Malice, which also means that it's still not safe to keep her around. She's got to go.
Zelda backs away from me, as if she's scared. "Karusa did this to you?"
"I did much worse to him, don't worry."
"Why in Hyila's name are you smiling?"
I didn't realize I was smiling. I guess I'm glad Karusa got the beating he deserved.
"This isn't funny!" Malice joins in like she has any right to talk shit to me right now.
"It wasn't funny at all, Malice," I agree, my frustration showing. "No fun at all when I was whaling on that jerk. But you know what? Now that his leg's broken and he's left on the trail, probably still crying for help, I feel a whole lot better."
"Link!" Zelda gasps in disgust. Her eyes are wide in fear and shock.
"He begged me to stop, Zelda. You have no idea how good that felt."
"Something is seriously wrong with you," Malice says. I don't care what she thinks of me, I only care about Zelda. And unfortunately she isn't defending me right now.
"What were you thinking?" Zelda asks me. She looks downright scared of me.
"I was thinking of us, Zelda. You and me. I'm keeping us safe."
"This," she gestures at my bruises, "is not keeping us safe!"
"It is though."
"You got any clue what you've done?" She's disappointed and hurt. "Did you ever stop to think?"
I don't know how to respond to that. I thought she'd be on my side with this. I thought she hated Karusa.
"We promised each other no more fights!" She cries. "You broke your promise, Link..."
I totally forgot about that...
"I can't believe you'd do this," Zelda continues. "Please tell me you didn't throw the first punch."
"Technically he started it," I say and watch her hope drain.
Zelda's breaking down, crying. "He could sue you, Link! Right before the trial, you attack him? Karusa is going to use this against you! You've got history, a record, and now this on top of everything? You'll end up in prison, just like Ganon!"
"Don't compare me to him!" I warn her.
"My father tried to help you! Us! Why couldn't you just let him?"
Maybe she's right and this did screw up our shot at the trial, but if anyone's to blame, it's her.
"Don't pin this mess on me. You brought Malice in from the streets. Your stubbornness put us here!"
"What?" Zelda wipes her cheeks. "You're blaming me for the fight with Karusa?"
"It all started with you and him behind the baseball field last year!"
"The assault?" Zelda asks, and Malice snaps to attention. "I never asked you to fight him that day!"
"You don't have to ask me." My fists clench. "Everything I do is for you."
In the past, I've blamed myself for her pain, but with my memories back, I'm starting to think that if I hadn't been there every time someone tries to hurt her, she'd be in a much worse place.
"I don't want you fighting, Link! When will you get that? I want you to be safe, healthy, and happy. The trial could have made that possible."
"It still can," I argue. "We can say Karusa attacked first. They'll buy it."
"No chance," Malice interrupts. "The law's on Karusa's side."
"What do you know about any of this?" I challenge.
"I'm pre-law," Malice snaps. "I've studied it for three years and I can tell you right now that you don't stand a chance here. First, you set up a meetup with Karusa. That's already suspicious. And there's proof for that. Second, you said his injuries are worse, so you can't claim self-defense. Your wounds will have healed by the time of the trial but his leg will still be in a cast! And third, you're forgetting that I'm right here and I heard everything. I know the truth, and I can tell the judge who's really at fault."
Her words barely affect me. I don't feel an ounce of remorse because there's too much hatred for Karusa. Everything he's done to us justifies my actions.
"The judge won't care what you say in Karusa's defense, because A: you're an addict, and B: Karusa's a rapist."
"He's not!" Malice jumps to his defense.
"Link!" Zelda's voice silences both of us. She's in tears, clutching her necklace. "What's happening to you?"
"What do you mean?" I snap at her. "I'm the only one acting rational here."
"Rational?" She asks in disbelief.
"Yes! I get things done. I don't drag homeless people in to get attacked by them, I don't keep sexual harassment to myself to protect others, I don't text my assaulter out of curiosity," she cries harder but I keep going, unable to stop myself. "I don't lie to my partner for months, I don't go against my partner's advice, and I sure as hell don't drag all my friends into my mess!"
Didn't plan on saying all that, but it's out there now.
"I know we promised no more fights," I add. "But everything I do is for us."
Zelda suddenly stopped crying as if she's holding her breath. "You used my phone," she says quietly, shaking her head. "Messaged Karusa from my account and got all bruised up just days before the semester starts. Right before the trial that could've finally brought him down. You say it's for us, but I don't see how any of this helps us..."
"Because you've got a heart too damn big to see what's right for you. I'll show you, I'll keep you safe until you see that what I'm doing is what's best for you."
"Please stop trying to keep me safe," Zelda whispers.
"I don't have to try anymore. It's already done. Ganon is in prison, Karusa is crippled, and Ganondorf won't mess with us once Malice is gone."
"What?" Zelda looks disturbed as if I said we're going to bury Malice in the backyard. "She needs time to recover."
"She can do that elsewhere."
"She's not safe anywhere else!"
"And we're not safe with her here!" I fight back.
"Malice needs help, Link."
"Then let's take her to the cops," I suggest.
"No!" Malice cuts in, but I ignore her.
Focused on Zelda, I press on. "It's literally their job to protect their citizens. That's what the cops do."
"I'd rather go back to the streets!" Malice says. "Ganondorf has connections to the feds. They'll lock me up and then he'll pay the prisoners to hurt me from the inside. He's done it before with Ganon. I won't survive there."
"Ganon seems to manage," I say. "You'll be fine."
I return my eyes to Zelda. I don't like the way she looks at me but she'll see that there's no other way. This whole thing with Karusa and Ganon has been going on for way too long! If I didn't take action, it would've just continued on for who knows how long. Now it's finally over. No more fighting, no more bullshit.
"She's not staying," I decide. "We can help her by taking her to the cops. Or back to the streets if she really prefers it."
"Get out," Zelda whispers. I thought it was for Malice, but Zelda's eyes are aimed at me.
"Me? Why me?" I ask.
"Please just go," she begs, sounding drained and desperate.
"Why? I'm only trying to help you!"
"I'm not the one who needs help!" she cries out, anger slipping through. "Look at yourself! You're drenched in blood, and there's this... this unsettling intensity in your eyes. You found something disturbingly satisfying in that fight. You're obsessed with protecting me, yet you're unwilling to help someone who's life might be in real danger. Whatever is going on with you, I hope you figure it out."
I'm so speechless right now, my mind id a mess of confusion and frustration. Did I seriously bring her to tears? Both of them?
My eyes shift between them. Malice avoids eye contact, and Zelda clutches her shirt, tense and full of fear and sadness.
"Zelda, listen to me!" I shout to get through to her, but she only shrinks away from me. "Ganondorf is looking for Malice. Ganondorf, the man who orders his team to break my bones, who loathes your father and wants Hyrule to rot, who tossed his own son in jail for failing to kill me. That man is looking for this girl!" I point right at Malice, who's also backing away from me. "You can't protect her from that man! Because this house is not safe as long as she's in it!"
"This house is not safe as long as you're in it," Zelda yells back, more fear than anger in her voice. I'm so shocked by her words, I don't even know what to say in response. "Please just... Leave..." she says, her voice back to a whisper.
I shake my head. She's too emotional right now to realize that keeping Malice here is going to make everything so much worse.
"No." I stand my ground. I won't let her push me around anymore. I have to take charge or else things are going to get worse.
Zelda edges closer to Malice, the girl who bullied and stabbed her, to get further away from me, her boyfriend... I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt.
"Link, if you don't leave right now, I'll call security," Zelda says and I can tell it hurts her as much as it hurts me.
"Why would you say that?" My shoulders drop. I step closer and both of them flinch. "Are you scared of me?"
Zelda doesn't answer, which is enough of an answer really.
I want to punch the wall. I want to tell her that I remember the baseball game. I want her to understand how much anger and pain I feel because of those memories. I want to convince her to take Malice to the police or the hospital. Anywhere that isn't here. But most of all, I want to stay and protect her.
But I can't do any of that, because Zelda doesn't feel save with me. She doesn't want me here. She's... scared of me...
In defeat, I grant her this one last wish, and leave.