Breath of the Wild College AU fanfic │Thinking About You

The Hoodie

Impa hands me a large blue hoodie with the soccer team's logo on it and Link's name on the back. This is the hoodie he was wearing minutes ago, why did he give it to Impa to give to me?

"He thought you might want something to cover up," Impa answers my thoughts. "He thinks it's his fault that your dress is ruined."

"It is his fault." Kind of...

"Well, he's trying to make up for it."

"If he thinks I'm going to wear his sweaty, old hoodie, he has a few loose screws. If Father sees me in this hoodie, a boy's hoodie, he'll throw all kinds of accusations at me!"

"You could say you bought it from the campus store? Just don't let him see the back. It's better than going home with a dress covered in cheese."

I have to admit, the idea of wearing a hoodie over my dress to hide this awful incident from Father isn't bad, but it won't be a soccer hoodie from the guy he's already suspecting as my secret boyfriend.

"I'll buy a hoodie from the arcade instead," I say and nod at myself. But Impa doesn't seem to agree with that idea.

"You know how much he hates it when you visit the pier. Please don't riks him adding it to the list of forbidden things," she begs and nearly forces my arms into the sleeves of Link's hoodie. "Wear it. Your dad won't even be home, right?"

"It's the weekend and for once he's not away on a business trip."

"Oh," is all she says.

"Should we go to the mall and buy you a new dress?"

"There's no time. I have to be home by 10 PM, remember?" Or does that rule only count for school nights? I forgot, but rather safe than sorry.

"We could drive by the dorms and I could give you one of my dresses. We have to go to campus anyways to get your car."

"No offense, Impa, but he'll definitely know that it's not mine."

"Well, those are your options."

I chew on my cheek and shake my head. This is irrational. I'm sure I could find a plain sweatshirt at one of the many souvenir shops on the pier, but as I am going over my options, I'm already lifting the hoodie over my head and pulling it down. Heading to the stores while my dress is filthy sounds dreadful. All I want right now is to go home.

The hoodie is a bit big, but it doesn't look ridiculously large. This feels strange. I don't often wear hoodies, let alone that of a guy.

"The nachos looked better," Impa teases. I take a look in the mirror and try to ignore the bright red of my cheeks in contrast with the dark blue of Link's hoodie. I feel myself tensing, my shoulders are rigid as if my skin is trying to avoid touching the soft fabric inside. The hoodie isn't as uncomfortable as I had expected, and it's not sweaty at all... It actually... It actually smells really good.

"Ready?" Impa asks, swinging her keychain around her fingers. I'm more than ready. I'm desperate. I nod at Impa and we leave the restroom with her. When I discover that Link has been waiting for us outside, I lose the feeling in my legs. I don't want him to see me wearing his hoodie! I thought I told him to stay away from me... Although... I suppose he's trying to make up for everything, so I should at least thank him.

"Zelda, I..." he begins. I can tell that he's trying not to stare at his hoodie on my body, but his eyes still escape mine to read the slogan of his team. He scratches the back of his head and doesn't finish the sentence he started.

"What is it?" I snap.

His eyes dart to Impa, then back to me. Whatever he wanted to say, with Impa present, he won't speak. I don't get it... He spoke to her just a couple of minutes ago, but now he suddenly refuses to talk in front of her? Or am I the problem?