(A/N: before this chapter starts, I want to thank all of you who said that the last chapter worked well. I was worried about that chapter not working right, for two reasons: one being that there are a lot of stories on this site where Lincoln gets mad at his sisters for one reason or another, and I didn't want it to feel cliché, and the other being that it was quite a pivotal chapter in this story, which should become clear as the story progresses.
Also, quick disclaimer: I've said this about gymnastics and fashion, and I'll say it again for this chapter: I don't know much about cooking, so anything about that here is all from online research. I would not advise using my recipe.
That's all I have to say, so once again, thank you all for reading, and enjoy!)
The sun was not yet up in the sky, the darkness not yet lifted from the night sky yet lighter than it was at twilight. In the Loud House, everything was silent until the end of the sixth hour struck, when an alarm went off in the room of the sole son of the family of thirteen. His eyes struggling to wake up at first, the boy gave a groan as he threw the covers off, swinging his legs over the edge bed and sitting up. 'Guess I'd better get up,' he thought to himself, 'before I wake the others up.' Standing up, he walked over to his desk and turned off the alarm on his phone, letting out a yawn. 'Good thing I went to bed an hour early. Guess I'll use the bathroom while I have it to myself.'
Leaving his bedroom, he walked quietly across the landing towards the empty bathroom. He didn't wait or look to see if anyone had heard him, entering the room and closing the door behind him. He walked over to the sink and looked at his reflection in the mirror- even though he had gone to bed early to make up for waking up early, he hadn't slept too easily, and it showed in his face. His eyes looked tired, not alarmingly so but enough to be noticeable, and he didn't have the energy to smile. He rubbed his cheek slightly, breathing deeply out through his nose. "Guess it's going to be that kind of day," he said to himself.
Not wanting to risk his sisters waking up and yelling at him for taking too long, he began to do his morning routine, first brushing his teeth then washing his face, and before he left, he remembered how bad the line to the bathroom could be, so he used the toilet while he was there, washing his hands afterwards. Now done in there, he decided to head back to his room, where he quietly closed the door before taking his time with getting changed. It didn't take him too long to do so, and once he was, he grabbed his phone from his desk. He hadn't used the device all night, so as well as the time, he saw the missed call notification from the evening before, making him frown again.
"I probably should've messaged them back," he said to himself, regretting his choice to simply ignore it. "Hopefully, they're not too mad at me. I'll apologise when I see them."
Making a note of that in his mind, he decided that he didn't have anything to do for a while, so he grabbed his school bag and took it with him downstairs, sitting at the dining room table and taking his math book out so he could do some revision. He had heard that Mrs Johnson was planning a test for some point that week, and he didn't want to mess it up, so it was better to be safe than sorry. As he began reading over the notes he had made during his lessons, checking that he knew how to do them, he didn't hear a door opening. Coming out of his and his wife's bedroom, Lynn Sr gave a small yawn as he quietly closed the door door behind him. When he began to walk towards the dining room, he was slightly awakened by the sight of his son sat at the dining room table.
"Lincoln?" he tiredly said, getting the boy's attention. "What are you doing up?"
"Morning, dad," he replied. "Sorry for waking you up."
"No, don't be silly, you didn't wake me up. I'm surprised you're up, though. Your mom normally gets you and the girls up at seven, and it's not even quarter past six yet."
"I know, but… I figured I'd walk to school today, so I went to bed early and set my alarm for six."
The father nodded. He sensed the slightly somber tone in his son's voice when he said this, and he figured that it was due to what had unfolded the previous day. Deciding it was better to avoid bringing that up, he gave a small sigh. "I see. Well, make sure you take your coat when you do. It's supposed to be getting cold this week."
"Okay. So, um… how come you're up?"
"Oh, well, I need to get started on things for the restaurant." He saw that his son gave him a raised eyebrow, so he smiled and explained. "Basically, I don't have time to make everything at the restaurant, so I prepare what I can at home. Sauces, dough, that kind of thing. It helps, especially during rush hour."
Lincoln nodded, now understanding what his father was saying. "Oh."
"Hey, if you're not too busy, why don't you help me? It'd help me get more done, and we can hang out before you head to school. What do you say?"
"Well…" He gave a look at his book, the long multiplication now seeming much more boring, so he gave his father a smile too. "Sure. I'd like that."
"Great! Come on, then, let's get started!" The boy stood and followed the chef into the kitchen, where they put on the light. After putting on aprons and washing their hands, Lynn Sr pulled out a couple of bowls, chopping boards and pots, as well as some other ingredients. "Okay, first thing we're gonna make is some marinara sauce. I have some left over from last week, but this'll help me to keep stocked for a good few days."
"Sounds simple enough. Where do we start?"
"Well, we need to prepare the vegetables. You start dicing the carrots, and I'll do the onions. Better I start crying than you." Lincoln gave a small chuckle before doing as his father asked. He grabbed a carrot and placed it on one of the chopping boards, but before he could grab the knife to dice it, his father held his hand out to stop him. "Hang on a second, kiddo. You need to peel it first."
"Oh. Right, my bad."
"Don't worry, Lincoln. Trust me, it's better to get rid of the skin." He handed his son the peeler, and watched as the boy used it to remove the outer layer from the vegetable. "There you go, you've got it. Alright, once you've done that, use the knife to remove the top of the carrot, then cut the carrot into thirds. A little time saver."
Lincoln nodded, trading the peeler for the knife and completing his father's instructions. "So, now I dice it?" When his father gave him a thumbs up, he nodded again, and focused on the task at hand. Starting with the smallest third to ensure he didn't waste as much carrot if he got it wrong, he cut it length ways, then cut those thinner strips sideways into smaller chunks. "Like that?"
"Just like that, kiddo! You've got it!" This brought a small smile to Lincoln's face, enough for him to continue dicing the carrot whilst the father diced the onion. They did this for a few more veg, before Lynn told his son to put it in the pot. "Alright, while I start cooking these, can you peel and chop the tomatoes?"
"Uh… sure. How do I peel tomatoes?"
"Ah! Good question. Well, you can cut them and then peel them, but I find it's best to cut an x on the bottom and use that to peel them. Don't cut too deeply, just enough to break through the skin. I buy large tomatoes to save time, so do that for about five of them, and I should have enough."
"Okay." Lincoln grabbed one of the tomatoes, taking the knife and carefully slicing an x into the bottom of it, then put the knife down and gently peeled away the skink revealing the fruit's flesh beneath. "Woah… that's weirdly satisfying."
Lynn couldn't help but chuckle. "I know exactly what you mean, Lincoln. It's one of the many reasons I love cooking. That, and taste testing." This got the boy to chuckle again, making his father happy. "Glad to hear you're enjoying this."
"Yeah, I'm glad you asked me to do this. I needed something to enjoy after…"
Hearing the boy's voice trail off, the man looked at the white haired boy, seeing his smile fade to a frown, which made his own smile falter. "You okay, Lincoln?" He hesitantly nodded at the question. "Still thinking about yesterday, huh?" Once again, the boy nodded, so he put a hand on his shoulder. "Look, Lincoln… I know that things didn't go well yesterday, but they will get better. It's just gonna take a little time, okay? The important thing is, you told them the truth, and your sisters do love you. They're just trying to take this all in. Once they have, they'll try and speak to you, and I know you'll find a way to work this out. Just give it time, and when they do, give them a chance."
"Okay, dad. I will."
"That's my boy. Now, come on, let's keep cooking."
In another part of Royal Woods, as the sun was beginning to rise over the horizon, Jen Rosato was making her way downstairs, dressed and ready for the day ahead. She headed into the kitchen, where she saw her younger sister sat at the kitchen table, eating her bowl of cereal, whilst their mother was stood against the counter, drinking coffee while waiting on something to cook. "Morning."
"Good morning, Jen," her mother greeted first as the high schooler sat opposite the elementary schooler. Jen waiter for Jordan to respond, but she didn't reply, simply staring at her cereal.
"Hello! Earth to Jordan! You in there?" The girl eventually looked up and gave a small nod as acknowledgement before returning her focus to eating. This concerned the older sister, who shot a look to her mother that was returned in kind, before she asked her younger sister, "what's the matter? You seem upset."
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" her mother asked, walking over and putting a hand on her shoulder. "You're quiet this morning." She placed a hand on the girl's forehead. "You don't feel warm, and you don't look sick. Come on, honey, what's wrong?"
"I'm fine. I just didn't sleep too great."
Jen managed to catch Jordan's eyes for a second, and though it was brief, she got an idea of what it could be. "Oh, I get it. You're having boy trouble, aren't you?" Jordan looked up again, this time giving her sister a stink eyed glare. "Come on, sis. I've been through that before, and I've no doubt Mom has too."
The woman nodded, putting her coffee mug down on the table. "She's right. When it comes to boys-"
"It's not about boys!" Both Jen and her mother widened their eyes at the loudness of her yell, which made Jordan sigh. "Sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you."
Rather than be mad, Mrs Rosato sat down and pulled her daughter into a side hug. "Jordan, we're just worried about you, okay? We don't want you to be upset or hurt by anything."
"Yeah, sis," Jen agreed. "Sure, you and I fight from time to time, but I still love you. Come on, you can tell us."
Jordan was going to insist again that she was fine, but she knew what her family was like, and that meant that they weren't likely to let it go, so she placed her spoon in her bowl and sighed. "Okay, fine. It's about Lincoln."
"I thought that you said-"
"It's not like that," she added before Jen could suggest anything. "Me and him are friends, that's all… or, at least, I thought we were."
Jen's eyebrows rose upwards, both out of intrigue and worry. "Did he say something to you?"
"Nope. Literally the opposite. I tried to call him yesterday after dinner, because I wanted to ask him something about our geography project, but I think he cancelled the call, and when I tried again, I couldn't get through. It's almost like he was trying to avoid me."
"But why would he want to do that?" Mrs Rosato asked. "You two seemed happy when I picked you up from gymnastics yesterday. You didn't have a falling out recently, did you?"
"No, and I didn't think that he was mad at me."
"Well, what about on Saturday? You said the two of you had a good time at… wherever it was you went. Did he seem off or anything?"
"No. He seemed happy enough. All I know is he's… walking past our house!"
Both her older sister and mother were confused by how her voice rose when she said this, but one look out of the window explained everything. Though the window was slightly fogged up by the cold air, they saw the Loud boy walking past, his hands in the pockets of his red winter coat and his head slightly hung down. "Huh," Jen muttered. "He doesn't normally walk this way… I don't think."
"I think Jordan would have mentioned if he did," Mrs Rosato agreed. "It does look like something's on his mind, though." She was going to ask Jordan something, but she heard the sound of a spoon hitting a bowl, and turned to see that the youngest girl had left the kitchen, having scarfed down her food. "Jordan?"
"I'm heading to school!" they heard the girl call from elsewhere in the house. "I'll see you when I get home! Bye!"
Before either of them could call out, they heard the front door close, so they turned and looked out the window again, this time seeing her jog past. "Well, that was… interesting."
"She'll figure this out," the mother reassured her daughter. "Now, you'd better hurry up. You need to be heading to school too, Jeniffer."
"Yes, Mom."
Jordan jogged along, not letting her brain scold her for leaving her coat as she felt the cold winds against her bare arms. She saw the boy up ahead, though he had yet to notice her. "Lincoln!" She called, hoping to get his attention, but he didn't even look up. "Lincoln!" Again, she received no response, but she didn't slow down. 'Why is he ignoring me? Something's not right.' She picked up her speed a little, closing the distance between them until she was able to place a hand on his shoulder, startling him slightly. "Lincoln, what are you doing here?"
She watched as he pulled his hand out of his pocket and removed the two headphone earbuds from his ears, putting them back in his pocket. "Hey, Jordan," he finally greeted. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you, I was listening to something on my phone."
"It's fine. I was calling out to you, but at least you weren't ignoring me. Still, what are you doing here? You live closer to school than you do to my house."
"I know. I was walking to school today, but there isn't really much I can do when I get to school, so I figured I'd take a longer route."
"Well, why didn't you just get a ride with your sisters like you normally do?"
"Oh, well I… didn't really want to today."
She noticed that his eyelids drooped a little as he said this, his brow furrowing, and there was a slightly melancholy hint in his words. "Lincoln… is everything okay?"
"Not… not exactly."
She sensed the apprehension in his voice, so she put a hand on his shoulder. "Lincoln, you can talk to me. You know that, right?"
"I know, but…"
"Lincoln. Please. What's wrong?"
He thought about it for a few seconds, the girl's serious yet caring gaze not leaving his uncertain one, so he sighed. "Well… my sisters found out my secret, and… well, at first they laughed at me about it."
Jordan gasped, a hand cupping her mouth. "They didn't!"
"Afraid so. They thought it was a joke, and when they realised I was being serious, Lori got mad at me for holding it from them for so long." He saw her expression change from one of shock to one of pity, but he shook his head while looking down. "It's my fault. You were right, I shouldn't have held it from them."
"Lincoln, no! That doesn't make what they did okay!"
"Wish I was as certain as you are."
"Lincoln… Lincoln, look at me." Though he felt ashamed, he looked up and met her gaze again. "How they reacted is not your fault. If they can't see that, then that's their problem. Give them time, and hopefully they'll see reason. In the meantime, if you need to talk about anything, just find or call me. I'm always here if you need me."
He stood there, silent for a few seconds, before he eventually gave a small smile. "I don't know what I did to deserve it, but I'm glad you're my friend. Thanks, Jordan."
Her heart melted at his words. "That's sweet of you to say, Lincoln, but I'm glad that I'm your friend, and that you're my friend too."
"Thanks." His smile then faded as he remembered something else, his hand lifting to rub the back of his head. "Oh! Uh, sorry about not answering your call last night."
She shook her head. "Don't worry about it, you had other things on your mind." She was going to say something else after this, before a sudden change in the wind blew against her, making her shiver and hug herself. "Guess I should have grabbed a coat." She didn't hear anything from Lincoln, and a few seconds later, she was surprised when Lincoln had taken his coat and put it around her shoulders. She looked at him with surprise, being met with a warm smile in spite of his recent events, and she couldn't help but blush as she smiled back. "Thank you."
"Anytime. Come on, we'd better get going."
"LINCOLN! GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE!" Lori yelled from the living room, the other sisters waiting by the front door. "WE'RE LEAVING IN ONE MINUTE!"
"Seriously, Lori?" Lynn asked, raising an eyebrow. "You really think that's necessary?"
The eldest sister huffed, rolling her eyes. "Well, since you two are so chummy, you can go get him!"
"You need to get over yourself." Lori didn't change her glare, making Lynn sigh. "Fine, I'll go get him." She headed upstairs and towards her brother's bedroom, giving a knock on the door. "Come on, bro, you've gotta go to school too. You don't wanna be late, right?" Not hearing an answer, she pushed the door open and was prepared to say something, but she saw two things that were off: the room was empty, and there was a note on the boy's desk. She walked over to the note, picking it up and reading it, her eyes steeling a little. 'Okay, bro.'
Taking the note with her, she left the room and went back downstairs, where Lori was looking at her expectantly. "Well? Where is the little tw-" Lynn cut her off, forcefully pushing the note into her chest. Shocked by the sudden gesture, she grabbed the note and was going to say something, but Lynn simply walked out of the house, likely towards Vanzilla. She didn't know what to say, but she didn't need to when she heard Leni say something.
"What's that?" She asked, pointing at the note.
Lori held the note out in front of her and began to read it out loud. "'Decided to walk to school. Don't wait for me. Lincoln.'" She gave a small growl, scrunching up the note and dumping it on the coffee table. "Could've done with knowing that earlier. Alright, everyone in Vanzilla. Lincoln's already left, so there's no point us waiting."
"About time," Lisa muttered as she and the rest of her sisters made their way towards the family van, ready to head to school.
Lunchtime rolled around at Royal Woods High School, and the teenagers were all eager for the respite that it brought after a long morning of lessons. The cafeteria quickly filled with students from each grade, many queuing up to get their hands on whatever the school was serving that seemed most edible, while others made their way straight to grab some seats and sit down with their packed lunches. The sounds of eating and chatter quickly filled the room as everyone sat down and relaxed. At one table, Leni was sat with her friends, listening to her friends talk about what they had been up to over the weekend while she quietly ate.
Eventually, one of them- a brunette with a light blue turtleneck, a green skirt with white polka dots and a green belt, and pearl earrings- looked to the Loud girl and noticed that there was no smile on her face. "Leni?" she asked, drawing all eyes to the blonde. "You okay?"
"Yeah, you haven't said a word," Jackie agreed. "What's up?"
Leni gave a small smile, appreciating her friends looking out for her. "I'm fine, girls, don't worry about me."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. Just thinking about something."
Jen noticed the sad look in her friend's eyes, and frowned. "Does this have anything to do with Lincoln?"
Leni's eyes shot open wide in shock. "How did you guess?!"
"I saw him walking past my house this morning. He looked like he was thinking about something, and I know you two are close, so I thought it might be something to do with that."
"Is he okay?" Jessie asked. "I only met him at the fashion show, but he seemed like a sweet kid."
"Wasn't he the one who saved your sister, Jen? When she tripped on the catwalk?"
"Yeah, that was him, Mandee," Jen confirmed.
"Those two looked so cute together!"
Some of the girls giggled in agreement, with Jen also giving a chuckle. "You're not wrong." She returned her attention to the blonde. "Anyway, we're getting off topic. What's up with Lincoln?"
"I… I don't know if I should say."
"Oh, come on, you can tell us! I swear, we won't tell anyone else about it. Right, girls?"
Leni would have argued, but hearing the positive response from her friends, she relented. "Well… okay. You know how Linky started doing gymnastics?"
"Doesn't Jordan also do gymnastics, Jen?" Jessie's question was met with stern glares, causing her to blush a little as she shrunk in her seat, laughing sheepishly. "Sorry…"
Jen rolled her eyes, ignoring the question and looking back to the Loud girl. "Yeah, I know about that. He's been doing it for a couple of months now, right?"
"Right. Well, yesterday, he told the others about it."
"Why didn't he tell them when he first started?" Jackie asked, looking slightly confused.
"He was worried about how they were going to react."
"But, surely they would support him, right?" Mandee then asked.
"Well, yeah… at least, I thought they would."
Jen picked up on how her voice trailed off. "What did they do?"
Leni looked slightly worried, but she knew that her friends would be able to tell if she was lying. "Well… at first, they kind of… laughed."
"WHAT?!" Her friends all gasped, equally shocked and appalled by this news.
"Why would they laugh at him?!"
Leni flinched slightly from how Jessie raised her voice, looking around to see if the students sat at the nearby tables were now listening in or not, relieved to know it was the latter. "Well, they weren't doing it to be mean, I don't think. Luan started laughing first, but she said she thought he was telling a joke."
Jackie scoffed. "I wouldn't be surprised if she was doing that to get the others to laugh too. We all know what she can be like on April Fools Day."
The others all shuddered and nodded, seeing flashbacks in their mind of previous pranks from the comedienne. Even Leni frowned more at the thought. "She doesn't prank like this, though. She uses props and thingies, not feelings."
"So, what happened after they laughed?" Jen asked. "Something tells me there's more to it than that."
Leni nodded. "Linky kind of got mad at first, but then Lori asked him why he'd kept it secret, and he told her about how he was worried about their reactions, before he left the meeting."
"Wow… poor kid," one of the other girls sighed, to which the other girls nodded or said "yeah".
"Have your sisters tried to make up with him?" Mandee asked.
"No," Leni answered. "Lynn and Lucy already knew, so I think they've spoken to him, but Lori told the others to give him time to cool off. I think that might have been the right choice, because some of them seemed a little uncertain."
"Shame your older sister doesn't feel the same," the other raven haired girl argued, staring at a table further away from them. Following her gaze, the other girls saw that the table she was looking at was occupied by none other than Lori Loud and her other friends, the high school seniors all smiling, chatting and laughing. "It looks like your brother is the last thing on her mind."
"Maybe," the blonde muttered, not wanting to believe that her sister was as ignorant as her friend was suggesting. "Still, I know that she cares for Linky. She probably just doesn't think it's the right time to think about it."
"I'd like to see what she thinks," Jen growled, getting to her feet. She stepped around the table, but before she could advance to give Lori a piece of her mind, Leni had gotten up and stepped in front of her friend, lifting her hands to hold her back. "Leni, what are you doing?"
"Please don't yell at her!" she pleaded. "I don't want to make things worse."
"Leni, if your brother is as upset as you said he was, and she's acting like nothing's wrong, then someone needs to go and talk some sense to her!"
"I hear you, but I don't want to make things more uncomfortable! I'll try and talk to Lori at home, but please don't make a scene. Not now, not here. Please."
Jen wanted to argue further, astounded by how Leni was almost defending her sister, but one look at the begging face of her best friend reminded her who she was talking to. Leni hated conflict, and tried to avoid it where possible, and she always had a way of seeing the good in people in spite of any drama or actions they may have been involved in. Seeing Leni's side of things, she sighed. "Alright. This is a family matter, so I won't interfere. Just promise me you'll talk to her when you can."
Leni smiled again, pulling Jen into a hug. "I promise."
Jen slowly returned the hug, smiling at her friend before sending a harsh glare to Lori, who caught sight of it and returned a confused expression. "What's her problem?" She said to herself, though Whitney heard it and looked over at the high school juniors.
"Looks like Leni's friend isn't too happy with you, Lori," she pointed out.
"Yeah," Dana added, "I saw another of them staring at us, but I just thought they were looking at someone else."
"Why would her friends be mad at you, though?" Carol asked. "Did something happen between you and Leni?"
"Nope. It's probably nothing, so just ignore them." While her friends were content to do so, Lori couldn't help but quickly think, 'I may have to talk to Leni later. See what she's been saying.'
Not all of the students were in the cafeteria at that time. Elsewhere in the school, Luna was standing in the band room with her friends, currently practicing some songs they were fond of. A girl was beating away at the drums, a boy was jamming on the keyboard, Sam was playing her guitar while singing, and Luna was playing her guitar as well. She had sung the first song, but didn't have the same energy in her voice, so she suggested that Sam should take over on the mic. Her girlfriend was worried about her, but after Luna told her that she was okay, she willingly took over on vocals.
After about twenty minutes of practicing, they finished another song, though Sam could still hear music playing. One look over her shoulder allowed her to see Luna looking down at her guitar, her fingers still strumming away. "Luna! The song's over!" she called to the brunette, though it went unheard by the Loud girl. "LUNA!"
This time, the yell got her attention, a doe eyed look on her face as she stopped playing and looked up at the blonde. "What happened?" she asked, slightly bewildered.
"The song's done, Luna," the boy, Sully, let her know.
"You okay, Lunes?" Sam asked, her earlier concern. "You spaced out there."
"Oh, totally. Guess I got carried away with the tunes."
"I dunno, dude," the other girl, Mazzy argued. "You've been acting kinda funky all day."
"Yeah, like in Mrs F's math class," Sully pointed out. "You were actually doing the work for once."
The boy chuckled at his joke, to which Sam shot him a stink eyed glare. "Sully, shut up." She looked back at Luna, a softness in her eyes. "Luna. You know you can talk to me if something's up. I know you know that, so please. What's wrong?"
Luna gave a small smile back. "Dude, I'm fine, really. I've just got some stuff on my mind at the moment. It's nothing serious, really, just some stupid stuff at home." She saw that Sam still wasn't fully convinced, so she picked up her smile a bit. "I appreciate you looking out for me, Babe, but I'm really okay. I'm gonna go use the bathroom real quick, and when I get back, we'll keep on jamming. K?"
Sam finally gave a bit of a smile as the pixie haired girl pulled her into a hug. "Okay, Babe."
"Be right back." Luna let go of Sam and left the band room, her smile disappearing as she walked through the hallways towards the bathroom. When she eventually got there, she checked if it was empty before staring at the mirror, a heavy sigh escaping her lips. "Well, aren't you a jerk?"
She hung her head, shaking it slightly. She felt horrible for lying to Sam, the one person she knew that the Loud would say might know her better than her own family, but she didn't want to bother her with this issue, and even less did she want to find out how she would react. 'After school, maybe I can figure this out. I just need to think about what I'm gonna say.'
As she thought alone, she heard the door open and saw her roommate enter, the freshman having a similar frown on her face as she did. "Oh. Hey, Luna."
"Hey, Luan," she greeted back as her sister walked over. "You okay, bruh?"
"N-no… not really."
"Still thinking about yesterday?" Not able to find any other words for it, the younger girl gave a nod, which the older girl returned in kind. "Me too."
"I was gonna try and talk to Lincoln before school, but… well, you saw how that worked out."
Luna sighed, nodding again. "I get it, dudette. I wanna make up, but I don't wanna do it the wrong way. I feel guilty enough that it happened in the first place, I don't want to make things worse for little bro."
Luan looked down at her hands, her thumbs twiddling together. "Have you… told anyone about what happened?"
This caused the rocker to put a hand on the back of her neck, her frown deepening. "Honestly… I'm worried about what they'll say if I do. I haven't even told Sam, and I hate that I'm hiding it from her. She can tell something's up, and she's been so sweet with checking if I'm alright… I don't want to lose her, and I'm scared that she'll hate me for this. I'm already mad at myself, I couldn't take it if she was too."
"I get it. I haven't told Benny either. He could tell I was upset in drama class, and he wanted me to talk about what was up, but I just told him I was fine, and that I was method acting. I feel horrible for lying to him." She moved her hand to rub the back of her other arm. "Still, I can't even bear to think what he'll say if I do tell him."
"I feel you…" She sighed heavily, shaking her head. "Some sisters we turned out to be."
Luan sniffled. "Uh huh…"
Hearing her sister sound like she was going to start crying, she wrapped her arm around her, inviting her to embrace her. "Come on, sis. We'll figure this out."
Luan nodded, holding the hug for a few seconds before they heard the bathroom door open. They instantly let go and turned to see that it was Sam who had entered. "Oh, uh, sorry," the blonde teen apologised. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
"Nah, we were just hugging it out," Luna quickly answered. "We're cool."
"Yeah," Luan added, "we're fine. She was just talking with me about something, but we're all good now." She turned to Luna. "I better go before Benny wonders where I am. I'll see you after school."
"Sure thing, sis." After Luan made her way past Sam and left the bathroom, Luna turned to her girlfriend. "Was I taking too long? I was just heading back when Luan came, and we were—"
She was cut off when the blonde girl embraced her, pressing their cheeks together gently. "It's okay, I get it."
"You… you do?"
"Of course! Now I know why you've been so quiet all day. You've been worried about your sister."
"Uh… something like that."
Sam pulled out of the hug slightly, keeping her hands on the brunette's shoulders. "Luna, relax. I get why you didn't tell me, I'm not mad. Honestly, it's adorable how worked up you've gotten with this." She saw the way her freckled cheeks lit up a bit at being called adorable, which made Sam giggle. "Seriously, though. If it was about your sister, all you had to do was tell me, and I would have understood."
Luna nodded, feeling a pit form in her stomach. "Sorry, dude."
"Don't be sorry. Come here." She pulled her towards her, wrapping her arms around her again. "You're a really good sister, Luna."
That pit in her stomach grew larger as she reluctantly returned the affection. "Th-thanks, Sam."
A few hours had passed, and in the elementary school, the school bell was ringing signalling the end of the day. Lucy looked up from her book at her teacher, a woman in her early thirties with short black hair and glasses, wearing a white button shirt and red cardigan, grey trousers and black shoes with grey socks. "Alright, class," the teacher declared. "That's it for today. Have a good day, and I will see you all tomorrow."
Most of the third graders eagerly packed up their things and made their way into the quickly filling hallway. Lucy, while not acting particularly quickly, joined her classmates in leaving the room, packing her books and pencils away in her bag before going to her locker. As she pulled some of her belongings out of her locker, she sensed a presence behind her. "Hello, Haiku," she greeted, turning to see her friend stood behind her.
"Hello, Lucy," the older goth greeted in kind. "How has your day been?"
"Same as usual. What about you?"
"Just dark enough to keep me interested." Lucy nodded, understanding perfectly what she meant. "I was wondering if you would be interested in joining me for a brief journey to the cemetery? I heard a rumour that some of the spirits were planning a gathering this afternoon, I thought I would try and communicate with them."
"Weren't you kicked out of the cemetery last time you tried that?"
"No, I was instructed to leave due to the filming of a music video there." She shook her head, a look of disgust on her face. "It wasn't even a death metal song."
"Ah, of course. As tempting as that sounds, I must decline. I promised Fangs I would make him a necklace when I got home. I think he might have an admirer."
"How innocent. Well, I'll let you know if I manage to make contact. Enjoy your activities."
"You too." Haiku walked away, fading seamlessly into the crowd of students eager to go home. Lucy closed her locker and began to make her way towards the exit, when she caught sight of her brother talking with Jordan and her friends, so she made her way towards him. "Hey, Lincoln."
He jumped slightly, though not as much as the girls all did. He gave Lucy a small frown. "Lucy, did you have to do that?"
"Sigh. It's not my fault I don't get noticed." She then turned to the girls and told them, "sorry."
"It's… it's fine, Lucy," Jordan replied, her and the girls giving her a small smile.
"Hey," Lincoln then said to the girls, "I'll catch up with you in a moment. Okay?" Jordan nodded, looking at her friends and signalling for them to leave. Once they had walked away a little bit, Lincoln bent down to his sister's height. "Listen, I'm gonna be a little late getting home today. Jordan and the others asked me to walk with them, so I'll probably be back by about four. Can you tell Lori I'm walking home, and ask Lynn if she can get our workout ready for when I get back?"
"Uh… sure? Do you want me to mention-"
Lincoln instinctively shook his head. "No. I know what they'll be like if you do, and they don't really need to know."
Lucy nodded. "Okay."
"Thanks, Lucy." He smiled and gave her a quick hug before letting go. "I'll see you at home."
"Okay." So, whilst Lincoln followed after his friends, Lucy left the school, stopping near the front steps. She didn't have to wait too long before she saw the twins exit the front doors of the school. Both looked as they usually did at the end of a school day— relieved that school was over and that they could go home— though Lana looked a little less so than Lola. Shortly after them, Lisa came out with her typically stoic expression. "How was your day?"
"The usual," Lola answered, while Lana gave a small nod, which Lucy took note of.
'She's preoccupied with something,' she quickly thought. 'I think I know what, though I doubt she wants to talk to me about it.'
She looked down the road and saw Vanzilla pulling up their way, the five older sisters all inside. "Alright, get in," Lori quickly told them as the van stopped. "Where's Lincoln?"
"He said he was going to walk home," Lucy quickly answered, which she saw made Luna disappointed.
"Oh, really?" the rocker asked. "I was hoping to talk with him before we got home."
"He said he would be back by about four."
"Guess I can try and talk to him then."
"Okay, so the twerp's walking, fine!" Lori cut in. "Unless you four are walking too, get in!"
The elementary schoolers rolled their eyes as they entered the van, not wanting to make Lori more mad than she already was. As Lucy buckled herself in next to Lynn, the jock turned and asked, "so, how come Lincoln's walking?"
"He didn't say. He just asked me to tell you to set up for your workout when he gets back."
"Really? Huh. Yeah, I can do that." Once she felt the van begin to drive away, she started staring out of the window, not really interested in the chatter from the other girls. At one point, she caught sight of her brother walking along the sidewalk with his friends, but she chose not to say anything, the others either not noticing or not saying anything. 'See you at home, bro.'
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