Chapter 49: 49. Ch 49- Sick Of It
Back at the Loud House, Lynn Sr was currently in the kitchen, singing away while he prepared some lunch, both for him and his son. When he had found out that Lincoln was still sick after his food poisoning, he called his friend Kotaro and asked him to manage the restaurant for the day. He let Grant have access to his cookbook, since he had been teaching him how to cook for such an occasion, and he had full confidence that Kotaro and him could manage the establishment in his absence. In the meantime, Lynn continued to prepare lunch, making some simple peanut butter sandwiches.
"Spread, spread, spread! Spread the peanut butter!
Spread, spread, spread! All over the bread!
Spread, spread, spread! Spread the peanut butter!
To help my son while he's sick in bed!"
Lynn stopped singing after the last line. "Hmm… probably not the best thing to think about while making food." He thought about it for a second, before smiling and shrugging. "Oh, well!" He continued humming as he sliced the sandwiches into triangles, placing them on a plate that he then put on a tray which already had a banana, a glass of water and a diet soda on it. Lifting the tray, he walked leisurely to avoid dropping it, but when he turned out of the dining room to head upstairs, he saw the snow capped child on the stairs, giving a sheepish smile, now that he had been rumbled. He was still green in the gills and looked tired, but he seemed better than yesterday.
"Hey, dad," he said, the man giving him an unamused look.
"Lincoln, what are you doing out of bed?" He asked. "I thought your mom asked you to stay there."
Lincoln frowned, somewhat guiltily. "Sorry, dad, but I just felt too warm up there."
This got his dad's expression. "Oh, well, why didn't you shout? I could have come and opened a window for you."
"Actually, I already did. I still felt too warm. Could I… sit down here for a bit?"
Hearing his son's request, Lynn couldn't help but smile. "I think that would be alright. Come on." Giving a small smile, Lincoln followed him to the couch, sitting down while his dad placed the tray on the coffee table. "I'll go grab mine and I'll come join you. You okay to eat right now?" The boy nodded. "Alright, I'll be back in a second." As he headed back to the kitchen, Lincoln decided to try one of the sandwiches- while he normally had his with jelly and sauerkraut, he did like peanut butter by itself, and he was thankful that he felt able to keep it down. As he chewed on the sandwich, Lynn returned with his own egg and bacon sandwich and cup of coffee. "Glad to see you're eating," he told the boy. "I know you normally like putting other things in your sandwich, but-"
"I know, dad," he interrupted. "I don't want it messing with my stomach either." This brought a smile to the man's face as he sat down next to him. "So, is Kotaro handling the restaurant today?"
"Yeah, he's managing everything while Grant handles the cooking. He's still learning, but Tuesday's are generally lighter at lunch, so he can handle that and I promised I would head back once the girls got back from school."
"Oh… well, sorry you have to stay home to take care of me."
Not liking hearing that, Lynn placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Hey, don't say that, champ! It's not your fault you got sick, so don't worry about it. Besides, I've been training Grant in case something like this happened, so this is like his first test to see how he does."
"I guess. Still, it sucks that I got sick like this."
A chuckle came from the chef as he finished his first bite of his sandwich. "Yeah, it's never fun getting sick. Sure, the idea of staying home from school, not having to do work and all of that sounds great, but when it actually happens, you just want it to be over. It almost makes going to class seem better." This time, the son laughed first, his father laughing along with him. "See what I mean?"
"Yeah, I guess. Still, it kind of sucks that I have to miss out on practice later."
"Yeah, I know, kiddo, but it's for the best. You don't want to go when you're sick, do you?"
"No, not really."
The brown haired man noticed the slight melancholy tone in his son's voice, and upon looking, he saw him frowning as he ate his sandwich. "You've really taken to doing gymnastics, haven't you?"
Turning to his father, he gave a nod. "I mean, I'm not a natural at it, and I don't really expect to be at this point. I've only been doing it for… five weeks, now."
"Well, that's how you get better at stuff like that, kiddo. That's why they say 'practice makes perfect'."
"I know… and that's part of what I like about it. I do feel like I'm learning, and even though I do mess up sometimes, most of it, I can just brush it off and try again. I don't feel like I'm screwing up when I don't get it quite right, and honestly… I feel like I'm just having fun."
He stopped speaking and grabbed a bite from another sandwich, but when he didn't hear his dad didn't initially respond, he looked at him and saw that he had a smile on his face, his eyes seemingly looking towards the off tv. "… you know, I just realised. I don't think I actually told you how proud I am of you." Though Lincoln was curious about what he meant, he didn't interrupt as his father turned to face him. "Your mother and I realise that… we'll, trying to get you to do a sport you didn't like was the wrong thing to do. We never really talked to you about football practice, and we should have realised that it wasn't right for you."
Lincoln softly shook his head. "It's fine, dad. You already apologised after…" A shudder came as he tried to suppress the memory emerging in his mind. "Well, after what happened. You were just trying to get me to be more active."
"Well, yeah, we were, but we thought at first that it would be something you enjoyed. That's why, when you told me you didn't enjoy track, we talked and decided that you needed to find something for yourself rather than us try and sign you up for something, and you did. You went out, you tried different things, and you've found something that you really enjoy. It doesn't always go right, but you stuck at it. You've done more than what we were actually hoping you would and… well, I'm really proud of you for it."
Lincoln practically beamed after hearing the praise from his father. "Woah… thanks, dad."
"Ah, come here, champ." He pulled the boy into a hug that Lincoln happily returned, the two males of the family sharing the embrace for a few seconds before returning to their lunches. "Now, what do you say we have a bit of tv while we eat? I won't tell your mother if you don't."
Lincoln gave a small laugh before replying, "sure thing, dad." He picked up the remote and turned on the tv, and as the two of them sat there and watched a sci-fi show while eating, Lincoln couldn't help but think that, though the situation wasn't ideal, he could at least enjoy what he could of the day.
After finishing lunch and watching tv for an hour or so, Lincoln felt tired again, so he decided to head upstairs and nap for a while. As he laid in bed, sound asleep and snug under the covers, he was eventually brought out of his slumber when he heard the front door opening, the sounds of his family's brand of chaos filling the house once more. "Guess the girls are back," he said as he yawned, his eyes blinking open once more. He pushed himself up into a seated position with his hands, shuffling his back against the wall. It wasn't long before he heard footsteps approaching his room, shortly followed by a knock on his door. "Come in."
The door opened, bringing light into the room as his oldest sister entered, turning on a light switch. "Hey, Lincoln," Lori greeted with a smile. "Were you asleep?"
"Just taking a nap," he told her. "I was probably gonna wake up soon, anyway. So, what's up?"
"Just wanted to come and check on you." She walked over to the desk chair and pulled it out, sitting so she could face her brother. "So, how are you holding up?"
"Not great. I've been able to eat, at least, but I've still felt a bit nauseous."
She frowned, feeling pity for her brother. "Well, that sucks. As much fun as a day off school sounds, that can't be fun."
"It's not. Still, it hasn't been as bad as it was yesterday, and I was able to watch TV with dad for a bit."
"Well, you got lucky. If it were mom, she wouldn't have even let you leave here."
Lincoln chuckled, knowing that this was true. "Yeah. So, what about you? How was your day?"
"Oh, just typical high school stuff. Some days it's cool, some days it sucks. Today was kind of in the middle." She then smirked as she remembered something. "Although, some of my friends were asking about how you were."
"They were?"
"Uh Huh. In fact, they were asking if they could visit the 'cute little patient'. Their words, not mine." She had to resist giggling as she saw his face turn pink, a somewhat nervous smile on his face. "Don't worry, I told them that you needed to rest, but they wanted me to tell you that they hope you get better soon, and that Becky's looking forward to seeing you at the next Ace Savvy convention."
"W-well, be sure to… to thank them for that." Lori could no longer holding back the giggles at seeing how flustered her brother was, making him pout a little as his blush grew. "O-or, whatever."
"Oh, don't be like that, Lincoln. It's not their fault that you're so cute."
"Well… I guess."
She rolled her eyes, but didn't comment on it when she saw him smile. "So, you bummed about missing out on dodgeball practice?"
"Y-yeah, I am, but I think I'll be okay by Thursday, so I shouldn't miss out on practice then, which means I should be okay for our visit this weekend."
"Our visit? Oh, I forgot! At lunch, Bobby called me. He said that his and Ronnie Anne's dad is visiting them in the city for the weekend, so we've had to cancel our visit. I think Ronnie Anne was planning on calling you later to let you know."
"Oh… well, that's okay. They're both probably really excited about that, so I wouldn't want to get in the way of that."
"Yeah, I know. Still, we can always rearrange for another time." He nodded, giving her a reassuring smile. "Still, you might be able to do something with your friends this weekend instead." As she said that, she saw something in her peripheral vision that made her smile. "Speaking of…"
Lincoln watched curiously as she motioned for someone else to enter, seeing a moment later that it was Clyde and Stella. "Oh! Hey, guys!"
"Hey, Lincoln," Clyde greeted first, while Stella gave him a wave.
"I'll give you guys some space to talk," Lori said as she stood up and left, shitting the door behind.
"So, what brings you guys here?" Lincoln asked.
"Well, Mrs Johnson asked me to bring your homework," Clyde told his friend, pulling said homework out of his bag.
"And we figured we'd come and see how you were doing," Stella added.
"Oh, well, thanks, guys!"
"No problem! So, how are you feeling?"
"Well, not great, to be honest. Still feeling a bit nauseous, but I'm doing better today than yesterday."
"Doesn't sound fun."
Lincoln shook his head. "It isn't."
"My dads know some great recipes for home remedies," Clyde offered. "Could help you to get better quicker."
"Thanks, but my dad has some of his own, and they've been working alright for me so far." Clyde nodded, before moving to put the homework on the desk. "So, did anything happen today?"
"Not especially," Stella explained. "Lessons were boring as usual, nothing really happened."
"Well, other than Jordan joining us at lunch."
"Clyde!"
Lincoln saw the look of realisation on Clyde's face, and looking back and forth between his two friends, he figured that Stella didn't want Clyde to tell him that. "Wait… what's going on?"
"It's nothing, Lincoln," Stella insisted, though the nervous look on Clyde's face told him that this wasn't really true. Stella could see that he didn't believe her, so she sighed. "Well, Jordan sat down with us at lunch. We don't really know why, but it's not really our place to say anyway."
"Oh… that's fair. You don't have to tell me." Stella smiled, feeling glad that they didn't have to delve on that subject. "So, did anything happen at all?"
"Well, not other than Rusty striking out again, but that happens everyday."
Lincoln gave a bit of a chuckle. "Yeah, it does."
Later that evening in the Rosato household, Girl Jordan was currently relaxing after a long day at school and gymnastics practice, now dressed in her light blue PJ top, yellow PJ bottoms with white spots and white fluffy slippers. She was sat at her desk watching an animated series online, having already completed her homework after dinner, when she heard her phone vibrate. She paused the video and got up, walking over to her bedside table where her phone lay, and saw that Lincoln was trying to call her. She smiled at this, not hesitating to pick up the phone and answer the call. "Hey, Lincoln!"
"Hey, Jordan," he said on the other end.
"What's up?"
"Oh, I just… kind of wanted to call you, to be honest."
"Aww, that's sweet of you, but honestly, I feel like I should be the one calling you. How are you feeling?"
"Okay at the moment. Hopefully in the morning, I'll be alright to go back to school. Being sick at home kind of sucks."
She gave a giggle, finding his answer amusing. "I can bet. It'd be better if you could stay at home without being sick."
"Exactly! Still, I guess not having to go to class today wasn't so bad."
"Yeah, it was pretty dull today, in all honesty. No projects or anything, all study classes. Kind of a slow day."
"I can imagine. So, how was practice? I missed not going."
"Yeah, it kind of sucked not having you there, to be honest. But, yeah, practice was… it was good." She waited for a response, but for about five seconds, he didn't say anything. "Lincoln? Are you still there?"
"… was everything okay at practice?"
She blinked, having not expected that question. "Huh? Well, yeah, why wouldn't it be?"
"I was just wondering. You didn't sound so sure when you said that."
"Oh… well, that was just… um…"
"It didn't have anything to do with what happened at lunch, did it?"
Again, she blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Well, when Clyde and Stella visited me after school, they kind of told me that you sat with them at lunch, so I was just wondering if it had anything to do with that." She bit her lip, both surprised that Lincoln had figured it out so easily and uncertain about what she should say, but Lincoln decided to speak first before the silence became too awkward. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. You don't have to, I was just being nosey, I guess. Sorry about that."
"Don't be silly, Lincoln, you're not. It's just…" She bit her lip again, contemplating about if she should tell him, taking a moment to think before she eventually spoke again. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, go ahead. What is it?"
"Well… your sisters. Do they tend to… tease you?"
"I mean, kind of. What about?"
She felt her cheeks heat up a bit as she continued to ask, "about… you and me?"
"… oh… so, you mean like… if we were… more than friends?" She gave an affirmative "Mmhmm" as her answer. "Oh. Well, they don't do it as much now, because I've asked them to back off, but yeah. They used to do it more when we started hanging out more, after I started going to practice."
"Oh… I see…"
"… were the others teasing you about it?"
She gave a small laugh. "You're a pretty good detective, Ace." Any smile on her face fell immediately after that. "Yeah, I got a little bit of it from Jen before school, and when I got to school, Mollie and the others were going on about it a lot, and it was just starting to annoy me too much." When she paused to speak again, she realised how that might have sounded. "N-not because of you! I didn't mean it in that way." The chuckle she heard on the other end of the call told her that he got what she meant, and more importantly, that he didn't mind it. "It's just that they wouldn't stop, and eventually…"
"You'd just had enough of it," he finished for her, to which she nodded.
"Yeah. After lunch, I didn't really speak to them for the rest of the day. I kept to myself at practice, because I just didn't want to talk to them, really." She felt a bit of guilt welling up inside her, making her frown. "Was that… was that wrong of me?"
"Not at all," he assured her. "You told them to stop and they didn't. You had every right to walk away after that."
"You think so? I mean, guess you're right. Still, I feel kind of bad about it. They're my friends, and I know they probably didn't mean any harm by it."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I know it's not my place to say anything, but… would you like some advice?"
"Uh… yes, please."
"Don't lose them over this. If you give them a chance to speak to you, things will work out."
She took a second to take that in, thinking it over in her mind, before she smiled again. "I think that's a good idea, Lincoln. Thanks."
"Glad I could help."
"Well, you've been a big help." She was going to say something else, but a sudden yawn escaped her lips, and when she saw the time displayed on her phone, she understand why. "I didn't realise it was so late."
"Hmm? Oh, wow! I didn't realise either. Well, I guess I better go so you can get some rest."
She smirked as she told him, "I think it's you who could use the rest more than me, Lincoln." They both laughed a bit at this, before Jordan decided to start to end the call. "Well, I'll talk to you later."
"Yeah, hopefully, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."
"Goodnight." With that, she hung up the call. She put the phone back on the bedside table and started to head towards the hall so she could go brush her teeth, but she thought of something else, so she walked back over to her phone, found Mollie's number on it and sent her a text:
Jordan: Can we meet tomorrow at the start of school?
Once it was sent, she put the phone back down, before heading off to prepare for bed.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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