A few weeks had passed since Zelda and Link served their mini community service sentence and more importantly since they had shared their first kiss. She felt a bit guilty, but she honestly had been avoiding him a little bit since then. They still talked at school and exchanged texts every so often, but she had sort of avoided hanging out with him and he seemed to pick up on it as he hadn't really made any effort to make plans with her, which she appreciated.

It's not that she didn't enjoy the kiss, in fact it was quite the opposite. She really liked that kiss. And that's what scared her. It was just way too soon to be getting involved in anything remotely romantic right now, right? Sure she had had several flings in the past that faded out almost as soon as they had started, but this was her first actual break up. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't still hurt over it and didn't still have feelings for Ike.

Life had seemed almost back to normal. She was back to sitting at her usual lunch table most days, other than a few times when she had ate with Link again. Samus and Ike still sat with them and all their other friends, but there hadn't been any nastiness since the volleyball game and Zelda was relieved. Everyone seemed to have almost forgotten that the whole incident at the party nearly a month ago had ever happened. Almost.

"So you guys, I have some big news." Peach announced excitedly to the entire table.

"You cured your chlamydia?!" Roy shouted from down the table, earning a few chuckles from the immature boys that surrounded him.

"No," Peach said flatly, rolling her eyes. "I'm throwing a Halloween party this Saturday and you're all invited of course!"

The table erupted into some whoops and began to all discuss what they were going to dress up as and what games they could play.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Daisy cooed, clapping her hands excitedly.

"And as is customary, you girls are welcome to sleep over at my house after, not that there'll be much time left to sleep." Peach continued, directing it at all the girls around her.

"Ooh, we should all get ready together too!" Lynn added, joining in on the excitement.

"I can help make the jungle juice," Palutena volunteered, earning more excited giggles from the girls.

Zelda felt as if she was literally the only one not super stoked for the party and that was probably true. Peach threw a Halloween party almost every year since they were in eighth grade. Though, back then they just involved renting cheesy horror movies and playing spin the bottle rather than the alcohol filled ragers they had turned into sophomore year. They always were a lot of fun, especially the slumber party after where the drunk girls would gossip and giggle throughout the last few hours left in the night.

This party would probably be just about the same as Roy's party minus the boyfriend and add costumes. The thought of that made her...uncomfortable? Scared? She wasn't even sure really, but she definitely didn't feel ecstatic about it.

"Zel?" Peach said slightly irritably. Zelda snapped out of her train of thought and realized all of the girls had gone quiet and were staring at her.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Which one do you think is better?" Peach repeated. "An angel or devil costume...?" She continued when Zelda met her first question with a blank gaze.

"Oh!" She replied. "Umm... I feel like the angel costume would look pretty on you."

The girls all chimed in agreement eagerly. Peach smiled, "you're right! I think I know the perfect makeup look to do with it."

Zelda smiled and nodded along with the other girls as they each went over their costume ideas and gabbed about this and that, but her heart wasn't in it. She wondered how likely it would be for her to be able to get out of this whole party thing, but knowing Peach, it would not be easy.

~*~

Zelda stood on the large porch, gathering the courage to head inside. It was Saturday night and she stood outside of Peach's house, about to enter the party fashionably late. Peach wouldn't let her off the hook for this night under any circumstance, just as she kind of expected.

With a final deep breath, she opened the door. Loud music, that was audible but faint with the thick door closed, washed over her immediately. Here goes nothing.

She walked straight to the kitchen where Peach stood, filling up everyones' drinks from a keg, always being the good hostess she is.

"Zel!" She screeched excitedly, running over to her best friend. "You look...cute." She finished the last part with a tight smile.

Zelda had decided to dress up as Princess Zelda from her favorite movie, Hero of Hyrule. The one she had watched with Link the Monday after Ike had cheated on her and the day she found out that they had spread a rumor that she cheated on him with Link, a rumor she wasn't sure had ever been straightened out.

Just as Princess Zelda wore in the cartoon, she had on a long gown, white from the waist down and pink at the top with gold detailing on the hem. It was completed with long white gloves, a gold necklace, and gold tiara on top of her blonde head. She had even done her hair like the character's with the front pieces of her hair pinned back and a braid with twine laced through it hanging in front of each ear. Her makeup may not be as glamorous as Peach's sparkly eyeshadow and blinding highlight, and her dress may not be as sexy as her very short and tight sleeveless white dress, and her costume may not have been as eye-catching as Peach's large, white, feathered angel wings strapped to her back, but she was happy with it.

"So do you!" Zelda replied with a matching forced smile, though she really did love Peach's costume, she just wasn't very happy to be here.

"C'mon, have a drink," Peach insisted, tugging her over to the keg.

"Ah that's okay, I'm not a big fan of beer." Zelda said, trying to shove away the cup Peach had filled anyway.

"Oh nobody does, which is why we filled it with Palutena's jungle juice! Try it, it tastes like a mango smoothie!"

Zelda peered into the cup and sure enough it was a thicker orange liquid rather than bubbling brown and it smelled fruity. She took a sip and was pleasantly surprised, it was delicious.

"See," Peach said with a satisfied smile. Zelda nodded in response, taking a huge gulp this time. If Peach was going to force her to be here it wouldn't hurt to get a little buzzed, maybe she'd even have a little fun.

Just then, Link walked into the spacious kitchen accompanied by his friend that she recognized as Pit. Her heart almost stopped as she realized what he was wearing. A dark green tunic over some plastic chain-mail, white pants, brown boots, a goofy long hat that matched the tunic, and a plastic shield and sword strapped to his back.

"Princess Zelda," Link breathed, his face carrying an expression of shock as well.

"You're the hero from Hero of Hyrule!" Zelda exclaimed with a laugh. "What are the chances we'd dress up as people from the same old cartoon?!"

"Well, it is our favorite movie." Link joked.

"Hey look, we're matching too." Pit chimed in, gesturing from Peach's fake angel wings to his authentic ones. "Eh, eh??" He continued, wiggling his eyebrows at her. Peach smiled tightly, and then rolled her eyes in an 'as if' way as soon as he turned back to Link and Zelda.

"I'm gonna go talk to my guests." Peach said, excusing herself from the little group.

"I'll come too." Pit said, following her like a puppy.

"They would make an interesting pair, don't ya think?" Link said with a laugh, watching after them.

"I'm not sure he's her type. She kind of has a thing for raging douchebags ya know?" She teased.

"Ah, good point." Link played along with a smile.

"So..I feel like I've hardly seen you since..." Link trailed off awkwardly.

"Our punishment?" She offered, though she knew what he was actually trying to get at.

"Yeah..."

"I know, I'm sorry." She took another gulp from her drink.

"No, I'm sorry if I crossed a line or anything." Link hurried afterward, rubbing his neck sheepishly as pink crept up onto his cheeks.

"No, you're totally fine. I just..."

"EVERYONE INTO THE LIVING ROOM ITS GAME TIME!" Peach shouted as she marched into the kitchen.

"C'mon Zel," she said, linking her arm through her's.

"I'll be out in a second I just need to--"

"Nope, no excuses. Let's go." Peach cut her off, herding her along with everyone else from the kitchen. Zelda glanced back at Link who followed awkwardly behind.

A group of people was already gathered and sat on the hardwood floor in a circle, while the rest of the party hung around, lounging on couches or standing in groups. Peach dragged Zelda down to the ground with her and forced her to sit in the circle. Zelda glanced back again and saw Link wander over to where Pit stood with Marth.

"Roy, the rules if you'd please." Peach said, in a faulty posh accent.

"Of course, m'lady." Roy obliged, standing from the circle and taking a bow.

"Alright folks, here's the dealio, we've decided to mesh together two party classics: spin the bottle and truth or dare. Whoever spins the bottle gets to ask the person it lands on three questions. The person must either answer that question completely honestly, or they have to take a shot of this." He held up a bottle of tequila for emphasis. "Everyone get it?!"

The crowd cheered in response. "Excellent! Let the first round...BEGIN!" He said dramatically, as if he had just flagged the starting signal of a race.

"Since I'm the host, I'll start." Peach said happily, spinning the bottle in the middle of the circle. It landed on Luigi.

"Luigi, do you or do you not have a crush on my cousin, the beautiful Miss Daisy?" Peach interrogated him.

"I...yes, I do." Luigi answered sheepishly. The crowd erupted into cheers again and both Luigi and Daisy's faces immediately grew pink.

Zelda tuned out as Peach asked him something about how many girls he's kissed and surveyed who sat in the circle. It was Roy, Peach, Luigi, Daisy, Mario, Lynn, herself, and of course, Ike. Samus sat on the couch behind him, his arm resting on one of her knees. She was dressed in some kind of adaptation of a ninja, minus the majority of the clothing. Ike was wearing a matching, more modest version, of the costume. Cute.

After Peach's third question was up, Luigi spun the bottle and it landed on Roy, who, after answering his questions, spun the bottle which landed on Ike.

"Ike, my man, do you..." Roy trailed off dramatically. "Have a small penis?" He finished with a fit of drunken laughter, in which many from the crowd joined in.

"Not as small as yours, bro." Ike answered calmly with a smirk. This caused more wild laughter from the crowd, including Roy himself who seemed to be reaching a high level of intoxication.

"Okay, okay. Are you and Miss Aran dating?"

Ike looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment, but the emotion quickly disappeared off his face. "No, not officially." He glanced over to Zelda, who looked away immediately.

"Alright, last question..." Roy lead mischievously. "Do you still have feelings for Zelda?"

The room almost fell completely silent other than the music still playing in the background and murmurs among the people surrounding the circle.

Ike glared at his fiery haired friend who seemed rather pleased with his choice. Without a word, Ike snatched the bottle of tequila from Roy's hand and took a long pull right from the bottle.

"You know what that means folks!" Roy exclaimed as the crowd grew loud again. Zelda tried to keep a blank face since just about everyone was staring at her, including Samus. Her face felt hot and she just knew she was blushing.

It was Ike's turn to spin the bottle. He spun it harshly, obviously not nearly as amused as his interrogator was. Please don't land on me, please don't land on me, Zelda begged silently in her head. The bottle finally slowed, the tip of it turned toward Peach and slowly even more toward Zelda where it came to a stop. Typical.

The crowd, led by Roy, 'oohed' loudly. Things were about to be very entertaining for them and possibly extremely humiliating for her.

Ike thought carefully before starting his first question. "Are you proud of yourself for vandalizing our stuff like a child?" Welp, there it was. The crowd muttered amongst themselves, "vandalize?" and "what is he talking about?" Then hushed, waiting for her answer.

"I agree it was childish," Zelda began slowly. "But I don't regret it one bit." The crowd once again picked up, hooting at her response. Even Roy was hollering happily at the drama, as if he hadn't been one of the victims of her 'childish vandalism'.

Ike, who already seemed pretty annoyed after Roy's stunt, looked even angrier than before. "Do you have feelings for him?"

"Who?" Zelda asked dumbly, even though it was obvious who he was referring to.

"Him," Ike spat, pointing an accusing finger at Link. Everyone turned and looked at him, practically bubbling with excitement from the drama.

Maybe it was the cup of jungle juice that she had already finished off or maybe she was becoming a braver person than she had ever been before, but she did the one thing that she knew would piss Ike off more than anything else.

With a mysterious smirk, she leaned across the circle to where he sat, snatched the tequila from his hand, and took a long swig from the bottle, just as he had done. Everyone in the room seemed to lose it, including Peach who grabbed her shoulders and shook her excitedly after she sat back down.

"Alright, alright everybody! My man has one more question left!" Roy shouted after a few minutes, quieting the group down so Ike could be heard once again.

He thought for a moment, then his angry expression softened. "Do you still have feelings for me?"

The room got even quieter as people listened intently to his softly spoken question and waited for her response. The question caught her off guard. Of course she still had feelings for him. He had been such a big part of her life for almost all of the past year. She looked around nervously as everyone's eager gaze burned into her soul.

Finally, she looked down at the bottle that was still in her hand and took another pull. The silence was broken as the drunk teens cheered. She had once again practically admitted that the answer was a yes.

"Alright, your turn Zel!" Peach prodded her when she had just sat there taking in everyone's chatter.

"Right," she said, returning to the game. She hadn't even dared see how Ike reacted to her last answer and she definitely didn't want to see Samus' reaction. She spun the bottle, watching it go round and round until it finally slowed and pointed to none other than Ike. What are the odds.

At first she felt a pang of anxiety. Why, why, why did it have to be Ike? She then realized, seconds later, that this was a great outcome. Who else in this circle would she rather get genuine answers from? Even if he avoided her questions by drinking, that pretty much was an answer in itself. This was good luck after all.

She thought over her questions carefully, there were so many things she wanted to know, but she could only ask three.

"Why did you tell everyone that I cheated on you that night when you cheated on me?" She demanded loudly, a surge of rage rising inside her at the thought of that despicable lie that everyone thought was the truth.

Ike seemed shocked at the question and then confused. "I never told anyone that--"

"Liar." Zelda interrupted sharply.

"Zel," he said softly, his face looking hurt. "I would never spread a rumor like that, I promise."

"Yeah, well you've had no trouble breaking promises before, have you?"

Everyone seemed just as bewildered as Ike by this statement. She wondered if this was the first time they were hearing that he was the one that actually cheated, not her.

"I..." Ike stammered, completely taken aback.

"Was that one of your questions?" Roy interjected, saving Ike's ass.

After a moment, Zelda shook her head.

"Alright then, remember the rules people. Three questions only." Referee Roy slurred.

"Did you..." Zelda paused as her voice cracked on the words. No, this was not the time to get all emotional. Not with everyone staring at her. "Did you..." She repeated again, clearing her throat. "Have feelings for her? While...while we were together?"

"No, Zel. It was just physical. I swear to you." Ike replied softly, trying to look into her eyes, but she looked down. She felt tears welling in them. The rage she felt moments before was replaced with hurt. Maybe this was a bad idea.

"Was that the only time then? At Roy's party?" She asked after a moment, gaining the courage to stare right back into his navy blue eyes. They seemed to be filled with sadness and regret. Slowly, he began to shake his head. So it wasn't the first time.

Zelda swallowed hard on the giant lump forming in her throat. She felt the tears brimming her eyes and knew she wouldn't be able to hold them down much longer.

She nodded her head, trying to portray what little dignity she had left, and then stood from the circle.

"Someone can have my spot, I'm done." She managed to choke out before walking away briskly to the bathroom.

"Zel!" She heard Peach running after her.

"Well...you heard the girl. Who wants in?" She heard Roy's voice breakout in the silence in the background. Everyone resumed talking and laughing, turning into a white wash of background noise as she collapsed in the bathroom down the hall.

She heard the door close and lock and then Peach's skinny arms engulfed her. She began cooing comforting things in her ear as Zelda began to sob.

Even though they had been broken up for a month, it still broke her heart to think about Ike being with another girl for who knows how long while they were together.

And heart break hurts like a bitch.