AUTHOR: CR0U7ON/CELL
 
>The girls hadn't heard from Lincoln in hours since the mishap with Lisa's chemistry set.
>They were worried about him, but nothing unusual. Until Lori got a text from him.
>"Could you come to my door?"
>Confused, she heads upstairs and knocks.
>"Lincoln, a-are you okay? You haven't left your room since you drank that gunk..."
>A note, written on an Ace Savvy comic book page slid underneath the door, not a sound emanating from the other side.
>"IT WORKED" was scribbled hastily on the ripped page.
>Lori looked at note quizzically, before rolling her eyes.
>"Yeah right, dweeb, no way am I going to believe that our 4 year old sister, made a..."
>Before she could finish her complaint, another not slid underneath the door. Again, not a sound.
>"COULD YOU GET ME A SET OF DAD'S CLOTHES?"
>"Lincoln, seriously enough is enough. Now come on and get out of-"
>Before she could finish, a loud "PLEASE?!" boomed from the other side of the door.
>Her heart stopped cold. At first, she thought it was an intruder. But then a softer spoken plea came from the other side.
>"Please, Lor? This is already embarrassing enough as it is."
>"Oh my God," she thought, "it's Lincoln." His voice sounded deeper, but it was his. She could barely speak at the surprise.
>"S-sure, I'll be right back." She hurriedly left and grabbed one of her dad's button-ups and suit pants, ones he had when even she was in diapers.
>Getting back to Lincoln's door, she knocked.
>"I have them!" she whispered.
>Before she could realize, the door began to crack open. She held the hangers up to the gap in the doorway, and was taken aback by the size of the hand that reached out to grab them.
>Again, her mind flew back to thoughts of intruders, that she was being played with. Until she saw the scar that was on the hand, the one Lincoln got a year ago. It was him.
>After the clothes were pulled inside, the door slammed shut abruptly, yanking her from her thoughts.
 
>” …You’re coming out now…right?” She asked in a surprisingly meek manner.
>There was a silence that seemed to last ages, before another note, was slipped underneath the door.
>”Lincoln, you don’t have to keep writing notes, I bel-“
>”I’m not, Clyde’s number is on the page. Could you call him and tell him I won’t be able to hang out for…a while, at least?”
>Lincoln’s newly deepened voice became quieter during that last part.  Lori felt saddened, but only for a moment before Lincoln spoke again.
>”Oh yeah, might wanna get one of the others to do it. Clyde will cream his pants if you were the one calling him.”
>Her mouth hung open for only a second before she had to stifle a giggle. This was Lincoln alright, no one knew Clyde like he did.
>” And also, could you, um prep the others? I don’t want to freak them out as badly I did you.”
>”Uh…yeah, yeah, no problem. I’ll go do that now while you get ready.” She turned and began to make her way to the stairwell, until she stopped in her tracks.
>”Uhh, Lincoln? I don’t think I’ll have to.” She said, as she saw nine heads peeking out from the stairwell.
>”I KNEW IT, IT WORKKSH!” The bookish Loud yelled, almost maniacally.
>”Was that Lincoln’s voice?” Leni asked.
>”He could be a backup singer in my band!” shouted Luna.
>The girls all began talking and muttering amongst themselves, and Lori could already feel the embarrassment from the other side of Lincoln’s door.
>” Alright, alright, back downstairs, all of you. We’ll give the twerp some space before we can figure something out.”
>”You mean before ‘I’ figure shomething out?” asked Lisa, matter-of-factly.
>”GO,” commanded the eldest. The entire experience was finally starting to get to her. If Mom and Dad weren’t on vacation she’d be catatonic from panic by now.
>The younger Louds thundered down the stairs. Before she made her way, she made a point to turn back to Lincoln’s door.
>”Call if you need anything, dweeb. Alright?”
>’’….I’ll be down in an hour.”
> She sighed. She had gone through this too, though not as suddenly. She smiled, and made her way down the stairwell. They’d get this fixed. It was a pain, but she didn’t mind helping her little brother during his sudden puberty-induced panic.
 
> “WHAT?!” Lori shouted at her four-eyed sister.
>”I shaid he’s not your little brother anymore. He’s older than you now.” Lisa said.
>”HOW MUCH OLDER?!” The panic was starting to return.
>”Obviously, I made it to make me as old as I am shmart.”
>”So he’s, what, 18?” The rage was becoming visible in her flushed face.
>”Psssh,” Lisa scoffed, covering Lori in spittle, “I’m at least college-aged. I did shome calculationsh before you got down here. Accounting for varioush different factorsh, Lincoln should now have the body of a 21-year-old.”
>Lori became expressionless. This couldn’t be happening. She covered her face in exasperation. “How long?” she muttered from behind her palms. “How long will he be like this.”
>”Oh, I can fix it. It’ll take a week, but I can fix it.” Lisa explained.
>” Oh my God.” She slumped back into the couch. “I have to deal with 9 sisters, AND a new big-brother for a week.” She said, the hopelessness seeping in.
>Before she could voice anymore of her woes, she, and the rest of her sisters, froze at a noise. A door upstairs just opened. The girls were all downstairs, which means Lincoln….who she HOPED was Lincoln, was heading down.
>The heard heavy footsteps on the top of the stairwell, growing louder and heavier as they reached the bottom. All the girls’ eyes were locked on the pair of feet which just descended into view, followed by the legs they were attached to.
>And finally, he had dropped to bottom of the stairwell. And so had the girls’ jaws.
>”L-L-Lin.” Lori stuttered before being interrupted by her sisters.
>”LINCOLN?!” They all shouted in unison.
>Lincoln had only put on the pants and belt Lori had gotten from their Father’s side of the closet. And Lincoln was…well developed, to say the least. His face had become more defined, and if not for his hair and buck teeth, one might not recognize him. His shoulders were much broader, his arms and chest were toned, and one could see a hint of his abs, if they looked hard enough…which half the girls, from Lynn on up, were.
>As they caught themselves, and subsequently reeled at the fact that they were ogling their formerly younger brother, the older half of the Loud sisters could only think one thing.
>”Please, let this week go by fast.”
 
    Night had fallen on the Loud home. After the craziness that followed their now older brother’s introduction, the Louds had all gone their separate ways in the house. Luna strummed on her guitar in her room while Luan practiced singing along with her dummy, Lori was doing laundry in the basement, Leni watched runway models on TV, as Lynn begrudgingly had to sit through it due to a lost coin toss. Anything was preferable to actually thinking about what had to be done about Lincoln’s condition. All the younger Louds were fast asleep in bed by this time in the evening. Lincoln however, did not have this luxury.
    “Grrrrr..” He growled through his teeth as he tried his hardest to fit into his small bed. The linen closet he was packed into had quite enough space before his sudden growth spurt, but now he couldn’t even stand up without hunching over slightly, and it was turning out to be impossible to sleep in his own bed now as well.
    “This isn’t going to work.” He said to himself. His only option was to grab a pillow and blanket, and crash on the couch. “Agh, but the springs in that thing will keep me up just as much.” He thought for a bit. “At least I’ll be able to stretch out.” He grabbed his pillow and bed sheets and headed downstairs.
    The girls noticed him coming down the stairs immediately. Gaining a hundred pounds put quite the damper on the stealth he had honed in his 11-year-old body, as he lumbered down the stairs.
    “Hey Lincoln!” Leni said excitedly, waving her hand. “Have you grown?”
    “Hey Bro…” Lynn muttered before turning her head away from him quickly. She had been like this since Lincoln first came out of his room, and he wasn’t really sure why. She might’ve just been scared of him, since there’s not really any other guys in the house.
    “Hey, sorry. I didn’t know you girls were still up. I was just gonna sleep on the couch, but if you’re still using it, I’ll wait till you’re done.” By the time he finished his sentence, Lori had just walked up from the basement.
    “Lincoln,” she started, “if you’re having problems sleeping, why don’t you just stay in Mom and Dad’s bed? You’re already using Dad’s clothes for a while, anyway”
    “Ugh, don’t remind me, he groaned. I’d rather go shirtless then wear anymore of Dad’s tacky sweaters.”
    All the girls instantly tensed up, which Lincoln didn’t notice. The incident earlier in the day was still a fresh and …vivid image in their heads. They’d like a break to at least TRY and not be degenerates.
    “A-ahem, d-don’t worry about that, dweeb,” Lori stuttered out. “Leni and I will take you out and grab you some decent clothes for the week.”
    “Sweet!” Lincoln’s face brightened into a large smile. The smile turned into a cocky smirk. “Make me look good alright?” As if he was finally getting the attitude to match his newfound body.
    Leni spoke abrubtly, “But you’re already pretty hot-OW!”
    Lynn had punched her in the arm before she could finish her sentence. Again, Lincoln hadn’t noticed the awkward display made by his sisters.
    “Well, anyway, taking Mom and Dad’s bed seems like a good idea. I’ll head off now, get ready for tomorrow, thanks Lori, Leni.” And with that, Lincoln hopped off into the back room where his parents’ bed lie.
    “WHY WOULD YOU CALL HIM HOT?!” Lynn shouted to her ditzy sister, once she was sure Lincoln was out of earshot.
    “Well he is!” she defended. She said as she rubbed her arm, “And my arm seriously hurts now!”
    “I hit your other arm.”
    “…Oh.”
    Lori couldn’t help but sigh…and reluctantly agree at Leni’s statements. She was worried before when she found herself eye-banging her former little brother, but now that feeling was replaced with a sense of…pride, really. It pleased her to know that Lincoln would grow up to be a fine looking young man. Uhh, a fine UPSTANDING young man. His goofy smile and toned physique had nothing to do with it. At all.
    “Why are you freaking out so much, Lynn?” Leni questioned, now rubbing the correct arm.
    “I’m not freaking out!” she cried, “I-I mean, I am. How couldn’t I be! My little brother is suddenly grown up, a room of his own that isn’t near mi-…ours, and I’m still sharing rooms with an Edgar Allen Poe fangirl!
    “It’ll only be a week,” Lori consoled her sibling, as she sat down next to her, “and after that, Lincoln will be back upstairs with us and you can wail on him all you want to make up for lost time, punk.” She ruffled her little sister’s hair before she got up and headed to her room she shared with Leni.
    Despite the added ‘punk’, Lynn appreciated and was calmed by her sister’s words. She looked over to the ditzier older sister, who was mesmerized by the newest chic clothing brands on television. Her eyes moved over to the family photo that rested on top of the television, and her brown orbs were inexplicably drawn to Lincoln’s face in the dollar store frame. Her sister’s words had calmed down some of her feelings.
    But not the ones that left a lasting blush across her freckled face.
 
    Lincoln quietly shut the door to his parents’ room behind him. He leaned up against the door, sighing as he did so. Things had gone less than well today. He ripped one of his many trademark outfits once the potion had taken effect, hit his head at least 20 times, and he now had to run around without underwear until tomorrow. He may borrow his dad’s shirt, but there are boundaries, even in situations like this. Lincoln crashed into his parents’ bed with a sigh of relief. The bed was great. ACTUAL foot room, High thread count, fluffy pillows, little brainiac sister prodding you with metal devices, yes, this was the life. Wait, what?
    “Lisa?”
    “Yesh, Lincoln?” the nerd replied.
    “Question,” he asked nonchalantly. “One, why are you in Mom and Dad’s room?”
    “Why are you?” she retaliated.
    Touché. Lincoln just raised one eyebrow at her, annoyed. She sighed.
    “To meashure you to see how well the potion worked, and to see if there are any problems before I try it on myshelf.”
    “Ah.” Lincoln lie there, not saying anything at all, while Lisa continued her measurements. Normally, even in his younger form, he would just pick her up and put her outside, locking the door behind her. But the lack of interaction with, well, anybody today left him feeling a tad more lenient.
    “Why did you even make that sludge anyway?” The young man questioned.
    “Evidently, to make myself older.” She was unamused by the question, as it seemed fairly obvious to her. The little smartass. Lincoln grabbed her and pulled her into a one-armed hug. His newfound strength was putting itself to use, before she could wriggle out of a hold easily, but now she had no choice but to give up and actually talk.
    “I mean, why do you want to be older? I’d get it if the others bullied you as much as they me, but they mostly leave you alone. Benefits of helping them with their homework, huh?” Lincoln finished with a half-smile. Lisa’s eyes narrowed at the quip.
    “That’sh the thing! I help them all the time, they alwaysh tell me how smart I am, how successful I’m gonna be when I-“
    “When you’re older.” He finished her sentence for her. She looked up at him sadly, and then back down to her small feet.
    “Yesh…” The lisp annoyed Lincoln sometimes, no doubt. But now, it just reminded him that Lisa, despite her intelligent ramblings, was still his cute little sister. He released her from the one-armed hold and lifted her to sit her on his chest, her tiny feet by the sides of his face.
    “Listen here, ya nerd,” he started with a smile. “I wanted to be older too, if only to get the others to stop messing with me.” Lisa looked down guiltily, as she knew she had taken part in the teasing many times. “But the thing is, especially after today, I would miss it way too much. Take your time, Lisa. You’ll get there, but don’t give up childhood to do that.”
    Lisa looked at her older –even more so now- brother, and smiled warmly. In an uncharacteristically sweet moment, she fell on top of him, and wrapped her tiny arms around him in a gentle hug. “Thanksh, Lincoln,” she muttered into his shoulder. “I’m sorry that I made you older.” Lincoln smiled and rubbed her head, messing up the girl’s already untidy hair.
    “Anytime.” He felt accomplished, being the nice older brother for his siblings.
    “Uhhm… can I shtay with you tonight, Lincoln?” the munchkin asked, her face looking at Lincoln expectantly. Lincoln was surprised, she usually kept to herself, even when she was younger.
    “Heh, I usually wouldn’t have a problem with that. But you need to keep an eye on Lily,” he explained. She looked downtrodden. That was true, she was responsible for getting Mom and Dad if anything was terribly wrong, or during times when the baby monitor wasn’t working.
    “Oh. Shure.” For someone usually so expressionless, she knew how to put on a sad face when in counted. Lincoln sighed, and threw his head back in surrender. He took a moment to memorize the feel of the soft pillows, and high-quality sheets.
    “Tell you what. I’ll go stay with you in your room. It’s the least I can do, you’re the one who’s going to fix me.” He said with a slightly forced smile. Lisa beamed for a moment, at least, as much as she was capable of, and hopped off Lincoln, trying to hide her excitement.
    “Ahem,” she started, straightening her pajamas. “That ish accheptable. Try not to hit your head on my filing cabinetsh!” She grabbed Lincoln by the hand, as if he didn’t know where her room was, and led him up the stairs to one of the most fun, albeit cramped, slumber parties in her childhood. It would be one of Lincoln’s favorites too, but he didn’t know whether to consider this his childhood anymore, given the circumstances.
    He leaned back into Lisa’s bed with her curled up in his arm, this time by choice, and together they slowly nodded off, putting a nice end to a hectic day. Lincoln prayed that tomorrow would go much smoother. He also prayed that Lily slept soundly through the night. Unfortunately, only one of those prayers was answered.
    The early hours crept on to the Loud home. Rays of light shone in through the windows of the suburban home. Lisa and Lily were still sound asleep, as Lincoln maneuvered his way around Lisa, and quietly made his way out the door. He wanted to get a shower before his shopping trip with his eldest sisters. He knew how much a guy could smell, thanks to Bobby. Out of all the problems between Lori and Bobby lately, THAT one was the most obvious. He expertly dodged all the toys and knick-knacks that littered the hallway on his way to the bathroom. He felt lucky that it was a Saturday, as he could easily avoid all his sisters fighting for bathroom rights. Once inside, he twisted the knob on the shower, let the water begin to warm, and began preparing for his busy day. Elsewhere in the home, however…
    “I WANNA ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIGHT, AND PARTY EVERY-“ SLAM. Luna had forgotten to turn off her alarm for the weekend, though the only one who it woke was Luan. The comedian always wondered why her sister even used the alarm, she slept through it each time, SOMEHOW. The girl sawed more logs than a lumber yard.
    She took a moment to mentally take note of that joke before she shuffled out of bed. At her half of the dresser she shared with Luna, she grabbed a pack of bracer bands from the top drawer. God, she hated these things. What she hated more, however, was how she had to always make her way to the bathroom to put them on, and floss in addition to that. She realized dental hygiene was important, but was upset that her orthodontist never BRACED her for the responsibility. Hehe.
    She began to get dressed, first sliding her bra underneath her nightgown.  As she added more and more pieces of her trademark outfit, her thoughts drifted to her now big brother. She felt guilty about yesterday. Her brother needed help, but all she could do was stare. Intently. She always tried to make him laugh, but all she did was make him feel uncomfortable. That’s not funny at all.
    As she adjusted her three prop flowers, wrapped up her hair in her yellow scrunchie and quietly made her way out the door, more out of politeness than necessity, as Luna would sleep through anything. As she walked down the hall, she took relief in the fact that she wouldn’t have to be distracted by Lincoln without a shirt anytime soon. Her hand reached to the doorknob, only for it to turn before she touched it.
    “Oh, sorry! Didn’t realize someone was in the-uhhhh…” She couldn’t finish her sentence, as before her was her big little brother draped in only a towel. Her eyes flickered as quickly as they could over every inch of his body, quick enough that he wouldn’t notice, but slow enough to absorb every detail. His more detailed jaw, every vein in his buff arms, the contour of his pelvic bone. Her toes curled as she gripped at the hem of her skirt, and as she kept focusing on every attractive detail of Lincoln, she began to feel…to feel..
 
SPLOOSH!
 
    “Aww, Luan, really?! I just dried off from my shower!” Lincoln exclaimed. Luan’s flowers had jettisoned water over the both of them.
    “O-o-oh! Sorry, bro! You looked hot, so I thought I’d cool you down!” Luan eyes widened at what she just said, but laughed nervously in an attempt to cover it up.
    “That’s fine, it’s okay. Though hey, I’m glad you’re talking to me. No one seemed to want to even be near me yesterday!” he said with a chuckle.
    “C-can’t imagine why!” She said, still trying not to look as he wiped water droplets from himself.
    “Well, bathroom’s yours. I need to get another towel. You might want to grab one too, you got a bit wet yourself.” Lincoln departed with a smile and a wave, and walked down the hallway in what seemed to be slow-motion to Luan, and made his way down the stairwell.
    “You have no idea.” Luan said quietly, before she quickly shut herself in the bathroom and locked the door behind her, without even noticing she had dropped her bracer bands in shock from the encounter.
 
    After drying off in his parents’ on-suite, which he was embarrassed he didn’t use in the first place, Lincoln grabbed another set of his father’s clothes from the closet. His father had a much larger stomach than he did, and as he slid on the button-up, it relieved him that he was going shopping for clothes. Lincoln thought to himself.  He didn’t want to put Leni and Lori in anymore of a financial bind than they already were. Leni had been going on constantly about how a new clothing line was being unveiled at the mall, and Lori had been stuck paying the bill on her dates with Bobby for at least the last few weeks.
    “Hmmm. I could afford at least a shirt on my own, with what I have underneath my mattress, back upstairs, then.” Lincoln made his way out into the living room and within a few strides, he was already a third of the way of the stairwell. In the bathroom, he finally took notice of how different he looked, in multiple ways, but this was really his first time he felt the advantages of being fully grown. His feet pounded upstairs and he hung a right, and in half the time it would usually take him, he was at the door to his room.
He decided to keep experimenting, and lifted his mattress with ease and flung it against the wall, and with only three fingers! It took him both his arms to even hold it up before.
    “One, two, three…” He counted the slats that supported his bed, “aaaaand four.” He lifted the slat in search for the Ace Savvy wallet that Clyde had given him as a souvenir from the last convention. He kept all his paper cash in that wallet, as a piggy bank would be too risky in a house of 10 kids with varying wants. He trusted them not to steal, but sometimes it’s good to still have a few secrets. As he finished that thought, he grabbed the wallet and counted its contents.
    “A hundred bucks. That should get me at least a new outfit. And especially some new underwear that isn’t used. No more skidmarks, thank God.” He’d just blame it on Dad, he was comically known for it, anyway. Lincoln positioned his mattress to its former spot, and walked out of his room. The toys littering the hallway had rearranged themselves, namely a small table and chairs that were properly organized. Which meant that…
    “LINCOLN!” Which meant that Lola was up. The middle Loud was startled by the voice, and looked down to see his pink-clad sister. He wasn’t used to his new height yet, the bumps on his head were proof of that, and his new altitude left him oblivious to what was happening below his kneecaps. “Lincoln, you’re tall now, so get my bears down from the top of my dresser! Especially Teddington, he’s the guest of honor! And help me organize set up the tea set, iron my dress, make some lemonade…” Now, Lincoln loved all of his sisters very much.  But God Almighty, did Lola get on his nerves just as much as some of his older siblings.
    “Lola, I can’t right now, how about you have your tea party after Lori, Leni, and I get home from the-“
    “DO IT NOW OR I’LL TELL DAD AND MOM ABOUT YOU SLEEPING IN THEIR BED WHILE THEY WERE GONE!” The little girl screeched.
    “Ooooh no! It was your and Lana’s fault that I’m like this in the first place!” Lincoln had to act fast.
    “Nuh-UH, how?!”
    “Who knocked that sludge into my soda before I could notice?”
    “Lynn! She bumped into it!”
    “Who bumped into Lynn?”
    “The lamp in the living room.”
    “Who knocked into the lamp?”
    “Leni.”
    “Who bumped Leni?”
    “Leni, she tripped over the armchair.”
    “Who rammed her into the armchair?”
    “Leni.”
    “Okay, now what happened before all of the stuff Leni did?”
    “We could have fine china in the house?”
    “LOLA!”
    “Fine, me and Lana were fighting and…”
    “Uh-huh. See?” For someone obsessed with being pretty and clean, the dirt she had at times was impressive to say the least, and sometimes the only way to go up against a heavy hitter was to hit harder. But Lincoln noticed something was up, it usually takes something much worse before she starts blackmailing. He had learned deflecting worked with Lola, and if he didn’t address this now, it could turn into a bigger mess than it needed to be.  “…How are things with Lana? Still not good, I guess. She usually has no problem helping you knock down your bears, and I think she loves lemonade more than she likes frogs.”
    The pretend princess crossed her arms, and looked away from Lincoln. He could try the same tactic he did with Lisa, and lock her into a hug until she surrendered, but strangely enough, Lola was only okay with hugs from Lana, as rare as they were. “I don’t wanna talk about it.” Oh boy. This one was bad.  The twins fought all the time, sure. But for them to hide the fact, even when it was so obvious? That meant trouble.
    “Hey,” Lincoln said sternly, as he gripped the Ace Savvy wallet in his back pocket. “Forget the tea party, wanna come with Lori, Leni, and me to the mall? We could check out new dresses for you.” He said ‘check out’ but he knew that meant that he would be getting Lola a new dress. And she knew it too.
    “Really?! But will Lori and Leni-“
    “I’m the oldest now, they have to listen to me.” Lincoln said with a smirk. The girl sqeeeeed.
    “Eeeee, I’ll go get ready!” And with that, she dashed off to her and Lana’s room, slamming the door behind her. Lincoln pulled his wallet from the back pocket of his father’s pants, and double checked it’s contents.
    “Regardless, I’m getting underwear no matter what.”
 
 
    Lola burst through the door to her shared room, and made a mad dash for the piggy bank, beginning to shake out whatever coins she could. She could afford to keep her money in the open, as no one would even dare get on her bad side, lest Mom and Dad find out their darkest secrets. Thrashing the porcelain pig wildly about, coins began falling out of the slot one by one, accompanied by a racket, which woke her roommate.
    “Aaarrgh, wuz the big deal, Lola?! It’s a Saturday, why are you up?!” The groggy twin loudly muttered with her head half stuck in a pillow. She hated it when Lola got excited for no reason. At least, a reason she could never wrap her head around, which happened often.
    “I’m going to the mall with Lincoln, Leni, and Lori! Lincoln said I’m getting a new dress! I’m getting some money so if we stop by the Build-a-Bear, I can get Teddington a new monocle.” Lana’s eyes sunk somewhat at the news, then flared up with a renewed anger.
    “The mall? Why can’t I come?!” Why did she get special treatment? Lana liked the mall just as much as anyone else in the house, and even she had a few stuffed animals that could use a pair of overalls. The prissier twin put her hands on her hips and blew a wet raspberry.
    “BECAUSE,” she started annoyingly, “Lincoln invited me! Not you!” Lana’s eyes narrowed at her twin’s words. “Plus, it’s not like you want to be around me anyway.” Lola’s eyes trailed downward as she finished that sentence, avoiding Lana entirely.
    “Whatever.” Lana just stayed quiet, throwing herself back into her pillow, not willing to admit that her sister’s words hurt her much more than Lana thought they would. A couple of teardrops formed at the corner of her eyes, and she hid her face deeper into her pillow so Lola wouldn’t notice. She hated that brat. Lola, less excitedly than before, collected the last of her spare change, and ran out the door to join Lincoln and the others.
    “You just don’t want me,” Lana muttered, as she heard the door slam, “PERIOD.”
 
    Leni and Lori were sitting in the living room, waiting for Lincoln to get up. They were going back and forth about what clothes they were going to get Lincoln, and more importantly, how they were going to pay for them.
    “I barely have anything since that last sale,” Leni argued. “I don’t get why you just don’t get some clothes from Bobby.”
    “Ugh, forget Bobby.” Lori hadn’t been on the best of terms with Bobby lately. The two had been drifting apart slowly, and recent arguments weren’t really helping. It was all mostly Bobby’s fault, anyway, at least, according to Lori. “I’d rather have as little people knowing about this. Plus, Lincoln’s bigger than Bobby right now.”
    “You saw him without his pants?!” Leni put her hands over her mouth in shock. Lori looked at her sister quizzically for a moment, before she realized what her ditzy sister meant. She flushed red and put the angry look she was known for amongst her siblings, if only to distract her from thoughts about her brother’s …uhm, package.
    “NO, YOU DITZ. His clothing size!” It would be Leni’s turn to look confused, but that would imply she ever stopped.
    “…OH!” She realized after a few seconds.
    “That’s right,” Lori patted her sister on the head. Leni smiled an accomplished smile. “And you’re not the only one who’s short on cash, I just paid my part of the phone bill before Mom and Dad left. I only have thirty dollars to my name until they get back.”
    “What about the emergency credit card that Mom and Dad left?”
    “For food and emergencies only and this may surprise you, but clothes don’t count as an emergency.”
    “Even if I need- if Lincoln needs them?” Leni was VERY worried about her favorite brother.
    “It won’t look like that on the statement, it’ll look like you and I got a hold of it and went crazy…. again.”
    “Oh…heh.” Leni shrugged at that last part. During their parents’ last vacation three years ago, the two of them ran to the mall to look the newest purses, and ended up getting them. And new tops. And bottoms. Oh, and some REAL nice shoes to go with-
    “Leni!” Lori snapped her fingers to wake her sister out of her trance. “Focus!” Lori shook her head, and fell back into the armchair. “Point being, we might have to ask Lincoln to pay up for some of his stuff, as much as I don’t want to. It’s not like this is HIS fault.”
    “What’s my fault?” As Lori finished her sentence, Lincoln came down the stairs with Lola perched atop his shoulders. The princess demanded the young man be her noble steed, which Lincoln had no problems with.
    “Oh, you’re up already. Are you ready to go?” Lori smirked at how cute Lincoln and Lola were, but her expression turned sullen after noticing. She never got to spend that much time with the twins, and was always jealous that they got along with Lincoln so well.
    “You okay, Lori?” Lincoln had noticed his sister’s sudden change.
    “She probably just wants to ride you next!” Leni shouted.  Lori went wide-eyed and flushed red once more, turning to her sister to stare some especially sharp daggers at her for her phrasing, only to be met by confused eyes. Leni was never one to be dirty, at least, on purpose. She just took things as they sounded. Lori had no choice to count to ten, and try not to make a big deal of it.
 
    “Haha, sure?” Lincoln didn’t really understand, but he figured he’d be giving rides to all of sisters eventually, given his new size. “Oh, can Lola come with? I’d promise her we could check out dresses while we were out.” Lola quickly glanced at Lori with a smirk. Lori knew oh too well that this meant that this was one of those times she’d be willing to part with some info that their parents would find interesting, if Lola didn’t get her way at least.
    “Hehehe…sure.” Lori looked crestfallen. “Not a problem.” Great, now I have to keep my eye on her too.
    “Great!” Lincoln boomed with his deeper voice, grabbing and removing Lola from his shoulders in the meantime. “You take shotgun, Lola. I’m getting the SWEET SPOT.” Lincoln ran to the door, slamming it open before the others had a chance to react.
    “Hey,” Leni started, “I wanted the-!“
    “OLDEST!” Lincoln interrupted. He smiled, and ran out the door. Leni and Lori couldn’t help but smile. He was still their little brother at heart. Lola looked at Lori for a moment, before interrupting the cute scene.
    “You might want to get that piggy-back soon, from the way everyone was looking at him yesterday, they ALL want to ride him!”
 
 
    Luna groggily leaned up from her bed, the backfire of the family van finally waking her up. With all the noise the family made, not including herself, she had learned how to sleep through most of it. She looked over to Luan’s bed only to notice her roommate was already up and about.
    “Huh, she usually gets up with me. Oh well.” Luna leaped out of bed and into her slippers and began to make her way downstairs. She wouldn’t be able to go out today, as Lori had asked her and Luan the night before to watch over the kids while she and Leni remedied Lincoln’s clothing situation. She giggled at the memory yesterday. At first she had felt guilty about yesterday, but once she noticed all the teens in the family were as wide-eyed as her at her little bro’s transformation, that feeling of shame subsided.  
    Once in the kitchen, she grabbed one of the many coffee mugs in the cabinet, and began to make a pot of coffee for the older half of the house.  On some level she regretted that she started drinking the stuff, but it was too good to give up at this point. Before the pot could finish however, she felt the sudden need to use the bathroom. She groaned, and made her way back upstairs, and to the end of the hall.
    “Alrigh-. Why is the door locked?” Luna rapped on the door three times. “Hey, finish up in there, I need to GO!” Despite her knocking, there was no response. She put her ear to the door only to hear what sounded like …panting? More importantly, it was Luan. “Hey sis, you alright in there?” She began to shake the knob more violently.
    “G-give me a second,” Luna backed up from the door, a bit annoyed that Luan was hogging the toilet for this long, she usually gets in and out pretty quickly. “I-I’m coming!” Soon after that last shout from Luan, she heard the toilet flushing. The sink ran for around ten seconds, shut off, and finally the door to the bathroom clicked as it was unlocked, and slowly opened.
    “Hey- HOLY CRAP, are you okay?!” Luna shouted, and no one could blame her. Luan looked drained, to say the least. Her eyes were half-open, she reeked of sweat, and her face was flushed red. Basically, it looks like she got into a fight with the ghost of George Carlin, and lost.
    “Y-yeah, I’m fine. Do I smell coffee?” The coffee was done by now, but Luna didn’t buy it. She kept on looking over her younger sister, trying to see if anything was wrong, until something hit her. That something being a wave of fumes that could be described as ‘wow, that’s a lot of masturbation’. Luna had nothing against her sister’s exploring themselves, not at all, but Luan was never one to really…go at it, at least not like this. Then, realization dawned on the punkish Loud.
    “…Lincoln?” It was all she had to say. Luan went wide-eyed, her red face turned redder, before she began to tear up.
    “I-I know it’s wrong, b-but I just got up, and he walked out here with just a towel, a-and he has muscles a-and…” Luan was almost sobbing at this point. Lord almighty she felt guilty, and Luna knew it.  She’d have to talk with Lincoln, the kid always ran around in his underwear before, but while he looked like he did now he’d have to fix that habit. But right now, she had a sister to comfort.
    “Sis, sis, it’s alright. I get it.” Luna placed a caring hand on her hunched over sister.
    “Y-you do?” Luan wiped the tears from her face.
    “He’s hot. We all think that he’s hot, and don’t let anybody tell you different. I was gawking at him yesterday just as much as you.”
    Luan’s expression lightened up just a bit. She still felt a bit guilty. Guilty that only her little brother was on her mind in the bathroom, while her fingers one one hand slid back and forth across her slit, plunging in deeper into herself ever so slightly with each repetition as she became more soaked. She felt guilty that her other hand couldn’t stop cupping her budding breasts, taking the time to pinch her pink nipple, while imagining it was Lincoln taking them between his teeth.
    “Hehe, I guess I have to ‘finger’ some things out…” the comedian joked in desperation.
    “Ew, Luan!” Luna protested, but honestly the smell from the bathroom had started to affect her, and with her mind on Lincoln, things might just go the same way for herself. “Go get some coffee, I have to ACTUALLY use the bathroom.
    “Haha, alright!” And with that, the jokester bounced downstairs to get rehydrated.
    “…Wait, she got up like two hours ago, what the hell?!”
 
 
    Lana had fallen back asleep after her exchange with her haughtier double. Just now getting out of bed, she slid on her trademark overalls and ball cap, and headed downstairs to play outside. Rolling around in mud is what she needed to work off the stress. Then she’d go wash off with the hose and find some frogs to play with. She just wanted to forget about Lola. And Lincoln too, why was he choosing favorites now? Did him growing up mess with his brain or something?  On the way down, Lana met with Luan, who was making her way back upstairs after grabbing a cup of coffee.
    “Jeez sis, what happened to you? A tornado hit or somethin’?” Luan just looked at Lana, as if unsure what to say.
    “Uhh, no! I just…uhmmm…” Lana was confused, Luan always had a joke ready. “Less of a twister, more of a monsoon.”
    “You’re a bit off today, sis.”
    “Makes sense, I got off all morning.” Luan muttered beneath her breath. Lana just looked at her even more puzzled. Everybody was acting so weird since Lincoln grew up. She wondered if he would still play in the mud with her sometimes. Just as she kicked open the door to front yard, a soccer ball came flying straight to her head. She managed to duck at the last second, but the ball still took her cap with it.
    “LYNN, YOU KNOW WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE BACK YARD FOR THAT STUFF!” Lana usually didn’t get angry with Lynn’s antics, but today wasn’t a good day for her already. It wasn’t a good day for Lynn either as it turned out.
    “Whatever.” Lynn felt better after talking with Lori last night about Lincoln’s sudden change, but something was still bugging her. She took a break from her own self-doubts when she noticed that Lana was missing her other half. The twins hated being called that, but they really were inseparable at times, despite their difference in hobbies. “…Where’s Lola?” Lana looked downcast.
    “She went with Lincoln, Lori, and Leni to the mall. Lincoln invited her.” Lynn got even more upset at that tidbit of information. Sure she understood Lori and Leni going, one was the driver, and the other was the fashion expert. But if others were allowed, why couldn’t she be invited? “It’s fine with me, Lola doesn’t even wanna be around me lately.”
    “Yeah, I get that. I feel that Lincoln feels the same with me. Well, not that he’s ever really hang with me.” Lynn felt her heart pang as she finished that sentence. Lincoln really never did hang out with her, did he? And now he had even less reason to as he was older, if only for the time being. “Why are you and Lola getting into so many bad fights lately?” Lana looked at her feet, as if to avoid she were asked the question. She really didn’t know. Well, maybe she did.
    “Well, a couple a’ weeks ago, Lola asked me to one of her stupid tea parties with one of her pageant friends. I never go to them in the first place, so why would I go to this one? Suddenly, she yelled at me out of nowhere, saying stuff like ‘Why can’t you just be more like me’, and ran off.” Lynn nodded in an understanding way. She had gotten the same treatment with Leni when she was younger.
    “Aww, Lana that’s not fair of her. Why can’t she be more like you?”
    “I know, right?! Then I wouldn’t have to always worry about messing her clothes up when we play, we could actually go down to the creek for more than ten minutes, and…”
    “But don’t you ever change. That’s what makes you, well, you. Luna told me the same thing when I was your age.” Lana looked up at her older sister and smiled, before wrapping her in a hug. Lynn broke into a smile as well, and returned the gesture. But only for a second, because Lord, Lana was smelling putrid today. “Hey, wanna go grab some frogs?”
    “DO I?!” Lana jumped up and down at getting a new playmate. “Should we bring Lucy? She might like to come.” Lana had a big heart, and didn’t want anybody else feeling left out today.
    “Yeah, if we can find her. She wasn’t in bed when I woke up this morning. Let’s go see if she’s checking her grammar with Lisa or something.” And hand in hand, the two Louds ran back inside with smiles on their faces, if only for the time being.
 
 
    Vanzilla had just pulled out of the Loud’s driveway, with a backfire that could wake the entire street. Lori was glad she could drive, but she hated being seen with the godforsaken vehicle. The thing was a hunk of junk, there was always trash from any one of her siblings, and the power steering was almost out. Lola rode shotgun, as Lincoln suggested, and Lincoln and Leni sat next to each other two rows back.  Lola kept prattling on about dresses and Build-a-Bear, and Leni was in a trance from the motion of the vehicle.
    “L-Lincoln?” The woozy girl could only speak in-between her spells of dizziness.
    “Yeah, Leni?” Lincoln didn’t take his eyes off the road, as he was seeing if he could spot some friends from school during the car ride.
    “Do you mind if I lay down?”
    “Uhh, sure.” Lincoln didn’t know why she felt the need to ask, but whatever, it was fine with him.
    “Thanks.”
    “Yeah, no problem…huh?” As soon as he finished his sentence, Lincoln felt a new pressure against him. Leni’s head nestled into his shoulder, her blonde locks draping over his arm as she tried to sleep.  He didn’t mind at all, but it was just…different. He took a second to look over his now-little sister. It’s weird, he had never really considered it, but Leni was really pretty. Actually, all of his older sisters were pretty, and in many ways. Luna had a free spirit that was very appealing, and she was hot; Luan had a beautiful laugh that made you smile, and she was hot; Lori had this take-charge attitude at times, and she was hot; and Leni was…oh wow that is a really low-cut top.
    “Mmmm…” Leni had begun to fall asleep and was shifting constantly. Lincoln couldn’t help but notice the curve of her breasts that was revealed from beneath her shirt. He didn’t know why, but he was suddenly much more focused on Leni than the view outside of the van.  He began to notice how her choice of clothing for the day really accentuated her curves. Finally, Leni settled on a position and had started snoring cutely.
    “Oh wow…” The young man could only stare at the beautiful view. Her top now hung even lower on her, and Lincoln could see in perfect detail her teal bra. One strap had slid further down his sister’s shoulder, and one of the cups was just about to fall loose as a result. So close, but yet so far! Lincoln looked up at the rearview mirror to see if Lori was checking the back seat at all. She seemed focused on the road.
    Slowly, Lincoln slid his arm around his ditzy sister’s shoulder. He felt a bit guilty about this, taking advantage of his older sister, but he couldn’t resist. Plus, if Lori caught him, he’d just say he was just making it easier for Leni to relax.  He felt the bra strap from underneath her top, and carefully caught them between his fingers. His eyes darted from Leni’s face, to make sure she was still asleep, back to the rearview to make sure that Lori wasn’t watching. When everything checked out, his eyes darted back to his vulnerable sister’s cleavage. He began to slowly pull downwards on the strap, slow enough that the sleeping girl wouldn’t wake up. Soon enough, the bra cup began to fall further off her breast. Lincoln instinctively licked his lips in anticipation, awaiting the golden moment that was to come. Further, further, and yet further, it seemed like an eternity. But then he saw a glimpse of pretty pink. It matched Leni’s lip gloss, funnily enough.  And with a final tug of his right hand, he soon saw
 
    “What are you doing, Lincoln?”
    “AAAAH!” Lincoln yelled and reeled back immediately from the surprise interruption. Leni slammed down into his lap, waking her up. Lori instinctively slammed on the breaks, flinging her arm across Lola to make sure she wasn’t flung forward in the car. “LUCY, WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING HERE?!”
    “Lucy?!” Lori and Leni said simultaneously. Lola just looked back from the passenger’s seat in shock.
    “I saw you guys were going to the mall. I wanted to come, so I hopped in the back” The morose girl explained, nonchalantly.
    “Why didn’t you tell us?!” Lori shouted from the driver’s seat. The van had since pulled over to the side of the road.
    “So you couldn’t say no.” Though usually all doom and gloom, the raven-haired Loud smiled at her bit of cunning.
    “Why you…oh, whatever, let’s just get going.” Lori turned back to the front and soon pulled back onto the road. Lincoln kept his hands as far away from Leni as possible, not wanting anybody to guess what he was doing.  The rest of the ride was extremely quiet, with no one wanting to talk. Leni had fallen asleep in Lincoln’s lap this time, and the boy was struggling to not have a repeat incident earlier, lest Leni be uncomfortably lifted a few inches off of his lap. Suddenly, Lucy broke the silence.
    “So, can we stop at the Hot Topi- “
    “NO!” The entire car, even Leni in her sleep, shouted in response.
 
 
    The group of Louds pulled into the mall parking lot, dealing with potholes and occasional idiot drivers while trying to find a spot. Lori only managed to find one near the back of the lot, but it would have to do. Saturdays at the mall were a madhouse. The second the car came to a halt, Lola unclicked her seatbelt and ran towards the entrance as fast as she could, laughing the entire way.
    “LOLA, STAY WITH US!” Lori gave chase after the little Loud, she was her responsibility and no one was going to grab her while she wasn’t looking. Lincoln and Leni got out of opposite sides of the car, Leni flicking her shades over her eyes as she was blinded by the sun. She smiled at Lincoln, then took off running for the same reasons Lola did, the prospect of new clothes.
    Lincoln helped Lucy out of the car, and began walking with Lucy by the hand. He looked down at her, noticing she wasn’t moving as fast as she usually did, though that could be because his legs were so much longer. But after a minute, he noticed she looked down. Er, well, more down than usual.
    “Really wanted to go to Hot Topic, huh?” She looked up at him, then quietly nodded. “Okay, tell you what, I’m getting Lola something while we’re here, so you can grab something from there too. We’ll just split from the group for a quick second.” The little girl’s expression turned from sorrow to joy, but she didn’t vocalize it. She had standards, of course. Lincoln noticed Lucy did pick up the pace, but he was still moving too fast for her to keep up. It didn’t take him long to think up a solution.
    “Thank you, Lincol-ah!” Before she could finish her sentence, she was whisked up in a moment and placed atop her big brother. She trembled at first being so high up, grabbing Lincoln tightly. Her hands were clammy, but very soft. But eventually, her grip loosened, signaling Lincoln it was good to start moving. He smiled as she bounced with every movement, making cute squeaks as well.
    “So, what do you think you’ll want?” Lincoln was curious, but this wasn’t just for conversation’s sake. He still had to buy at least one set of clothes for himself, maybe a dress for Lola, and now something for Lucy. Being an awesome brother was hard on the wallet, but he thought this would be the best time to spoil his sisters while he could.
    “Some more hair dye. If not that, maybe a shirt that truly resounds with my dark soul.” Lincoln sighed in relief. The dye could be a tad expensive, but nothing he couldn’t handle. He might just have to skimp a bit on Lola’s purchase, and limit it to stuffed animal accessories. This was looking to be a drama-free day out with his sist-
    “Lincoln, am I weird?” Son of a bitch.
    “Of course not, you just have… special interests.” The girl did like the grim and spooky, but nothing really out of the ordinary. She did have one too many Edgar Allen Poe poetry books, though.
    “That means I’m weird, though, doesn’t it? And people won’t like me because of that?”
    “What brought this on?” He was beginning to get worried. Lucy got depressed, sure, but mostly about the world, not herself.
    “…All the others have friends at school. Even Lisa. Lori’s got a boyfriend, Leni is popular. Me? I’m stuck in the book corner during recess. Kids at school tell me I’m too weird, and the teachers probably agree with them.”
Lincoln ceased walking for a second, stopping underneath one of the trees cemented in the parking lot. He thought for a long moment, then began to speak.
            “You can sometimes be rather spooky,
            And some will think that’s a little kooky
            But with your sisters, and especially me
            We’ll never judge you, always love you
            So go ahead, be what you want to be. “
    Lincoln has always helped Lucy with her poetry, though it was rarely as uplifting as what he just recited. Lucy herself was still, not saying anything for quite a bit. But Lincoln knew from the drops on his head that he had done his part. He lifted his long, baggy sleeve up above his head to her face. She grabbed it and wiped her face with it. When he brought the sleeve back down, it was smudged black and grey from wet eyeliner. He’d have to wash that out, but it was worth the sacrifice.
    “Now come on, let’s catch up with the others. Hold on!”
    “H-hold on? AHH!” With that, the Lincoln ran at full speed toward the entrance, dodging bystanders, and Lucy laughing MUCH more than usual, as they went to meet up with their sisters.
 
 
    Entering the mall, the Loud family was met with the cool breeze of the air-conditioned building. Lucy still took up residence on Lincoln’s shoulder, but she now had a neighbor in the form of Lola, who had insisted she ride with him as well. Lincoln was met with strange, inquisitive looks. He couldn’t really blame them, as his poorly fitted outfit begged for unwanted attention. As they moved throughout the throngs of people, Lori repeated the game plan.
    “Alright, first we’ll stop at the clothing store,” Lori began, “and get the basic necessities.”
    “Underwear.” Lincoln affirmed with a strange determination.
    “Yes Lincoln, underwear. We’ll look through the clearance racks for the rest.” Lori felt satisfied at her conservative spending.
    “Uhh, no we won’t!” Leni couldn’t help but interrupt. “No little brother of mine is getting dressed from the clearance rack. We’re taking him to Weekend’s.”
    “We can’t afford Weekend’s, Leni! It’s sixty bucks just for a pair of jeans!” Lori was right, Weekend’s was one of the most expensive shops in the mall. Their clearance prices matched retailer’s full priced items.
    “I have a gift card, though?” Leni looked confused at her older sister’s outburst.
    “Leni, I said nowait you have a gift card? Since when?”
    “200 dollars, Gram-gram gave it to me for my birthday last year.”
    “Huh. How the heck haven’t you spent it yet?” Lori couldn’t believe it, Leni had bad restraint when it came to PHONE STRAPS, let alone designer-brand clothing.
    “…I forgot I had it…” Leni teared up at what Lori could only imagine being the prospect of a missed shopping spree, but it worked out for them. Lincoln could get an outfit, and he could still get the gifts he promised to the kids.
    “Whatever, let’s get going. Linc… where’s Lincoln?” Lori looked behind her where her brother formerly was, only to find Lucy and Lola arguing on the ground. “Where did Lincoln go?!”
    “He’s over there,” Lola pointed.  Lori looked over, only to be terrified by the sight of Lincoln being surrounded by a collection of girls. Girls that she knew went to her high school. Girls from her high school, that seemed AWFULLY interested in her little brother. When she saw one of them fix his shirt for him, while taking the opportunity to open it and get a look at his toned physique, she saw, and flushed, red.
    “Isn’t that Monica Horne?” Leni asked, still rifling through her purse for the gift card, referring to the one getting awfully close to Lincoln’s face.
    “Isn’t she the one who was with the soccer team and…. OH HELL NO.” The younger sisters could only stand puzzled, as Lori rolled up her non-existent sleeves, and bolted over to the gaggle of giggling whores.
 
 
    “Isn’t that Lori Loud?” One of the teens asked as she saw Lori stomping towards them.  “And surprise, surprise, Bobby isn’t with her.” While the group of vultures laughed at the joke, Lincoln turned to notice his sister. The girl who had identified herself as Monica still had a hold of his collar, which Lori was getting visibly upset at.
    “Hey Lori, where’s Bobby?” Lori’s eyes narrowed at the question, and moved to grab Lincoln. “You two still dating? Or did he finally have enough sense to-“
    “C’mon, let’s go.” Lori started pulling a confused Lincoln, she just wanted out of this situation.
    “Aww, won’t you introduce us to your friend? Or is he who you’re going with now?” Monica’s eyes shot towards Lincoln. “Trust me sweetie, you could do much better.” Lori was seething at this point. Sure, she and Bobby were most likely over. Sure, the only reason she stood out from Leni in anyway at all was that she was dating one of the school’s heartthrobs. The fact that leaving Bobby only spelt more trouble for her in high school from bitches like these, and other asshole guys who only wanted her for the rebou-
    “I don’t think I could, actually.” Lori looked back at her brother who had now begun to resist her pull, and was puffing his chest out at the three women opposing him and his sister. “She can be a bit harsh sometimes, but with a life like mine, that’s necessary.” Lori had stopped pulling, and just stared in shock at her brother as he continued. “She’s sweet and caring a lot of the time, just not where other people can see it. She’ll slap you upside the head a little too much,” Lincoln looked back at her and winked, causing embarrassing her to no end,” but hey, that doesn’t mean I’ll ever stop loving her.”
    “Uh…well…” The other girls were just as flabbergasted as Lori was. While they were distracted, well, more distracted than her at this point, she gave Lincoln another tug on his arm to signal it was time to go.
    “Oh, uh, yeah.” Lincoln had gotten caught up in the moment himself, and once he regained his senses he moved back across the food court, catching up to Lori who was towing him. Despite coming to her defense, Lori didn’t have a pleased look on her face. “You alright?” Lincoln was a bit scared that it was him who did something by talking to those girls.
    “Yes. I’m fine.” Liar.
    “Are you su-“ Lori stopped, and swung around to him.
    “Do you know how quickly rumors spread in high school?” Lori was shooting daggers again at this point.
    “Uhhmm, n-no-“
    “PRETTY DAMN FAST, LINCOLN.” Lori was still gripping Lincoln’s hand tightly, and it was starting to turn into a vice by this point.
    “But summer vacation just started, I’m sure whatever they’ll say will end by the time you go back. “ Lincoln didn’t even know what she was talking about yet, but he was just trying to save his own hide at this point. Lori just stared into his eyes, and the angry features on her face began to soften. She looked down at her feet, and just exhaled the breath she had been holding since she saw Lincoln with the gaggle of whores.
    “Whatever, twerp. You didn’t have to stick up for me, you know.” She began to move forward again when she was stopped once more by Lincoln.
    “Yes I do. You’re my big…well, LITTLE sister, now.” He lifted his hand and ruffled her hair the same way he had done so to Lisa the night before. Lori laughed and kept looking down, in order to hide the pride that she felt at her brother being so chivalrous, and the slight blush forming on her cheeks. Her face had been red all day, but it was nice for it to be from something other than anger or social mortification this time.
    “You know…” time for mortification. “Those girls, um, when they said ‘you could do better’, they meant…
    “That I could find a better girlfriend?” Lori’s heart skipped a beat as Lincoln said that, shocked that he could say it so easily.    “Yeah, I figured. They were talking about Bobby right before that, after all. It’s not like I was wrong, whether you were my sister or my girlfriend, you’re still pretty awesome, Lor.”
    Oh, fuck this kid, seriously. Where did he get off being charming? The little nerd was on the roof in his underwear not two days ago! Lori was only partially through her half hearted complaints before Lincoln smiled and pulled her back towards the rest of their family, neither of them really wanting to let go of each others hand.
 
 
    Weekend’s was your usual clothing outlet. Completely overpriced goods that you could find at any standard retailer, goods that only an idiot would buy anything with such an obscene markup.
    “OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS PLACE!” Leni could barely contain her excitement as she sped into the front of the store, running between shelves upon shelves of endless accessories, from shades to purses, and between racks of designer brand clothing.
    “Leni!” Lori hated how she had to keep her year-younger sister on track sometimes. Most of the time. ALL OF THE TIME.
    “Oh, uhh, right! Come on, we’ll pick out some stuff for you, Lincoln.” It was Leni’s turn to take Lincoln by the hand, as she led him to the men’s department. She continued to lead him, as she quickly paced between aisles, her throwing a various assortment of clothing over top her shoulder only to land on Lincoln covering his head. Leni charged forward however, despite Lincoln’s blindness.  Eventually, the ride had ended, and Lincoln could barely move beneath a mountain of casual wear.  He felt some rustling from the outer reaches of Mt. Sweatervest, which seemed to slowly be moving in ward.  With a single swoop, Lincoln’s cave of corduroy was shared by his ditzy older sister, her looking straight into his face.
    “Alright, we’re at the dressing rooms.” Leni was uncharacteristically serious. “Now, I know you WILL have the urge to buy everything I’ve handed you, but remember we only have $200 dollars. And here.” Leni handed Lincoln a nice package of briefs his size, or what he assumed would be his size, and smiled again. At this point, Lincoln couldn’t help but notice again how beautiful Leni was. His eyes were drawn especially to her lips. Glossed by the prettiest of pinks, they looked very…appealing. Memories of the car ride to the mall began flooding back into his mind, and his body began reacting accordingly. Leni interrupted his lewd fantasies, however. “Now go on in!” And with one fell motion, she shoved the young man into the stall, mountain of clothes and all.  
    The door shut behind him, and he heard Leni walk away, presumably to look at items herself. Leni may have left, but Lincoln’s mind was still preoccupied with her, as he disrobed in the stall. The second his pants fell, he was shocked at the new size of his, ahem, friend.
    “Holy crap…” It was all he could say, as he grasped it between both his hands. He tried to measure his new length in the only way he could, reference. Now, his hands were bigger than before as well, but he was able to grip his fully erect member with both of his hands. He felt that it was a good sign. He wasn’t the only one.
    Leni had walked away from the stall, but only to make sure that Lori and the girls were still in the store. They were, and Lola was eyeballing children’s dresses she might like. If Lincoln didn’t spend too much on clothes, she would get the dress for Lola with her gift card. She really admired her little brother for being so kind to the rest of his family. But now, she was admiring her brother for being not so little. She had heard his surprise at something, and peeked in to make sure everything was alright. She didn’t think much of the act at all, it was just her little brother. But the sight she was presented with proved the opposite.
    Her eyes went wide at the sight of her brother. She had ogled him yesterday when he had revealed his transformation to the family, of course. How could she not? But this was something completely different. Her eyes tried to memorize every angle on him. But that all failed in a wonderful way, when she finally noticed what he was doing with his hands. Her mouth went agape when she saw him slowly moving his hands up and down his shaft.
    Lincoln was exploring his new body for the first time, reveling at the new sensitivity. He didn’t really know what he was doing, but he didn’t have to. It felt mind-blowing. His mind kept focused on the image of Leni from the car. Beautiful, golden locks draped across him, the oh-so-close view he had of her bare breasts. Her lips, though. They were still the best part of the mental image. He imagined how it would feel if she slid those lips of hers down his cock. The feeling of her just slowly taking him into her mouth, the thought of it started sending him into spasms.
    Leni still watched from outside the door, leaning against it on her knees trying to get the best view possible of what was transpiring before her, even discarding her trademark glasses, just to get those few centimeters closer to the door. She thanked God for the secluded nature of the dressing rooms in the store, as her hand slowly caressed the curves of her body, as it made its way beneath her dress, and up her legs. She gently slid her hand into her now moist panties, over her mound, until they had finally reached her destination.
    Her middle three fingers spread and toyed with her swollen lips, her middle finger only slightly dipping into herself, as not to waste the moment. Her eyes at this point had gone hazy, only managing to focus on her little…. big brother, and his hypnotic stroking motions. Her mouth hung open, her tongue hanging with a strand of drool that began falling to the floor, forming a second puddle beneath her. Finally, it had reached the point where she couldn’t take it anymore.
    “Haaahhh….” As her middle finger slid deep inside her, Leni couldn’t help but make out a moan. Her face had fallen against the stall door. With cheek pressed against the cheap wood, desperate to keep her eye at the crack of the stall, she marveled at Lincoln’s quickening motions, while she sped up hers in turn. “A-almost…c’mon…cum…” Every word she spoke was almost inaudible, broken apart by heavy breaths. She was almost there, she was on the verge. She just needed a little more….
    “Ah, ah, ah, LENI!”
    “…….!” Her eyes went wide as Lincoln shot her name, which was all she needed to finish herself. She climaxed immediately as she heard her brother moan her name in pleasure, watching him shoot strands of pearly white cum onto the mirror of the stall. Her own moans we’re inaudible, as she slumped against the wall of the stall, left completely shell-shocked by the experience. Once she had somewhat regained her composure, she fell back in exhaustion.  Against the wall opposite the stall, dress halfway up her torso, her legs spread eagle with her teal panties at the bottom of one leg, fingers lightly teasing her slit just to get every ounce of satisfaction possible out of this amazing moment, she was in ecstasy. She took her working hand to her mouth to taste herself, savoring it. She was a sight to see.
    “L-L-Leni?”
    That’s what her brother must have been thinking as he stood in the doorway of the stall, looking down at his dazed sister, who was revealing all of herself to him. Leni still find the ability to speak, only panting as she tried to grasp the right words to say. She had gathered enough strength to stand up, only for her eyes to meet with Lincoln’s hardening cock. She stopped, only inches away from it, before she looked back and forth between Lincoln’s two heads as if she was contemplating one of the hardest decisions of her life. Finally, she stood up completely and met Lincoln face to face. Her face was on fire, a combination of lust and embarrassment. Her eyes were still in a daze, yet focused on Lincoln’s brown orbs. Finally…it happened. She threw her arms around Lincoln’s shoulders, as her mouth pressed into his. Struggling at first, Lincoln could only melt into her embrace. Their tongues danced around each other, trying to get as much of each other’s taste memorized.
    Leni suddenly broke the kiss, strands of drool still connecting the siblings. She released her arms from Lincoln, only to rear back, and with a surprising amount of strength, and shove him back into the dressing room. She followed him inside impatiently, slamming the door behind them, and with the *click* of the door lock, they were in their own little world, with only each other to think of, and more importantly, only each other to touch. Leni’s lips reconnected with Lincoln’s as he crashed into the wall, Leni’s arm’s curling around the young man’s broad shoulders. Lincoln could barely process what was happening, all he knew that he loved every second of it.
    Leni was clumsily trying whatever she could think of, mostly whatever she had seen on the internet. On some level, being with Lincoln comforted her, as he didn’t have much experience either. As if running on autopilot, one of her hands slid down Lincoln’s chest, their prize between his legs. Once she grasped Lincoln’s firm rod, she couldn’t’ help but giggle at the slight gasp he made. Slowly, she started stroking him off, as her other arm supported herself around Lincoln’s neck, never breaking their passionate kiss. Lincoln could barely get a breath in, but all rational thought was pushed out of his head, and replaced with pleasure. And that pleasure soared at what Leni did next.
    Leni, breaking their kiss, and In a single, quick motion she released Lincoln from her hold and linked her arms behind his neck. With a little hop, Lincoln’s dick slid between her legs, right against her red swollen lips. Lincoln again gasped at the pleasure, as Leni methodically rocked her hips back and forth, feeling her clit rub up against her little brother sending her into mini-spasms from the pleasure. Looking into each other’s eyes, time slowed down for just a bit between the two of them.
    “A-are you okay with this?” Leni asked the question between deep, heavy breaths. There was so much more to say, but these small sentences were all she could manage as she teased herself with her brother’s cock. “Y-you know I -love you Lincoln, r-right?” Even in a moment such as this, the guilt of what Leni was about to do couldn’t help but begin to seep in. Lincoln’s heavy breathing slowed for a moment, and he just looked at Leni, taking in how beautiful she was, even now. It was Lincoln’s turn to go on the offensive.
    He took his hand, and slid it behind his sister’s head. Her eyes followed its movements, somewhat nervous at what was happening. But that nervousness dissolved when her brother pulled her into yet another passionate kiss, in an attempt to silence her doubts. Her eyes went wide at the sudden embrace, but slowly closed as she grew more content with the development. It’s strange how two kisses can be so different. The ones before were fueled by lust and teenage desire. This one was from actual love, which made it that much sadder when she separated from Lincoln.
    She leaned back against the wall she had been leaning against, and nervously lifted her sundress above her head. Lincoln’s wide eyes tried to absorb everything about his sister, especially the soft breasts he had tried to peek at earlier in the day, but the moment didn’t last long. Leni’s hand reached out to Lincoln, grabbing his cock, while at the same time spreading her lips. She pulled her big brother by his member, guiding her towards her entrance. Lincoln’s breathing became more and more shallow in anticipation, but Leni’s voice broke his concentration.
    “C-could you kiss me again?” Lincoln looked up at Leni, and her shyness began to show on her face, as she began to avoid Lincoln’s eyes. “I-I mean, we’re in public still, and I don’t wanna make a loud moa-mmmph!” Before Leni could finish her sentence, Lincoln was already on top of her, his lips covering hers. It was a lustful kiss this time, which neither of the two had complaints about. But as soon as their tongues began dancing again, Lincoln took advantage of his older sister’s moment of weakness and plunged deep inside her wet folds. Her eyes went shut with pleasure, and both moaned loudly into the other’s mouth, which began to set both of them over the edge. Lincoln couldn’t believe how good it felt, having to take a moment to appreciate the tightness. That moment didn’t last long, before he instinctively began thrusting in and out of Leni. Every time he felt himself disappear inside her, her muffled moans, now turning into tiny squeaks, filled the dressing room.
    As he continued his motions, making it all the way down to the base of his cock, he could feel himself coming closer and closer to climax, the same as before.  Leni could barely think straight as her brother’s member stretched her out again and again and again, pleasure building and mounting up, digging her polished nails deep into his back, mixing pain and pleasure for her little brother’s first experience. Lincoln quickened his pace, plunging into Leni harder and faster as he reached orgasm, needing to make this moment feel as amazing as possible.
    Leni’s body tensed up one final time as she came, lifting her legs off the ground and wrapping them around Lincoln’s waist, pulling him as deep into her as possible while she finished. Feeling his sister tighten around his cock finally sent Lincoln over the edge as well, and together they collapsed to the floor of the dressing room in each other’s arms. Beneath Lincoln now, Leni could only look down at her little brother who had collapsed from pleasure and exhaustion. He managed to lift his head up from her bosom, and lock eyes with her. Taking on the older sister role once more, Leni kissed his forehead affectionately with a giggle, then let her head fall back to rest.
    “Isn’t Weekend’s great, Lincoln?” And with that, Leni was completely back to her ditzy self. Outside the dressing room, however, things were changing rapidly, in an unseen way. Lori could only stand still as she heard the events that transpired in the changing room, being consumed by an assortment of emotions too complex and varied to explain. She ran back out to the main lobby, but not only to make sure Lola and Lucy were alright. But it was all she could do, as long as it got her as far away from that stall as quickly as possible.
 
 
    The car ride home was deathly silent, the van having an oppressive aura about it. Everyone could tell Lori was absolutely furious, though no one knew what caused her change in demeanor. Leni and Lincoln took their original seats in the van, with Lola and Lucy switching for the ride back. Lincoln constantly tried to talk to Leni, but Leni was preoccupied with the rearview mirror. Namely, the continuous glare she was receiving from her older sister through it.
    The van pulled into the Loud’s driveway as dusk began to set on the small town. The five siblings exited the van, with Lola and Lucy running off to deliver and show off the new gifts Lincoln had bought them.  Since Leni was able to cover the entire bill of Lincoln’s clothes, and even get Lola’s dress, Lincoln was able to get a little something for everybody. He bought band shirt for Luna, one he hoped she recognized, as God knows he didn’t; and he bought Luan an old DVD set of cheesy sci-fi flicks from the 50s. It wasn’t the sci-fi she loved, it was the riffs done over them, which was a good source of inspiration for her. Knowing Lisa, he got her some candy, as it was hard to shop for a genius girl at a mall. Lola had mentioned to Lincoln that Lana wanted some overalls for her stuffed animals (though that could have just been to get him to go to Build-a-Bear). Lynn was the hardest to shop for, as there wasn’t a lot of sports memorabilia at any store in the mall, so he was only able to get her a jersey from Weekend’s lacking sports department. Simple, but effective.
    As Lincoln got out of the car, he took a moment to be gentlemanly and help Leni out as well. She was still rather uneasy, from the car ride, from Lori’s menacing stare, and especially from events that transpired that day. Lori remained motionless in the car as Lincoln and Leni moved towards the front door. They were about to take the first step onto the porch when they were suddenly interrupted.
    “Lincoln.” The boy stood straight. Oh boy. That was Lori’s murder voice. Lori was going to murder someone. If not physically, then on every other possible level. “Head to Mom and Dad’s room.”
    “Is everything alright, Lor-“
    “NOW.” Lincoln gulped in fear, then took one last look at Leni before he went inside.
    “Leni.” Leni stood at attention in the exact same manner her brother did. “Get your ass to our room.” Leni’s heart sank to dangerous depths. At that moment, she knew that Lori knew what had happened at Weekend’s. Tears of shame began to form at her eyes as she ran inside, past all the other girls parading their gifts around. Lori sighed and let her head fall against the steering wheel of the family van. She needed to stay focused for the talks she’d have to give in the coming hours, but it would be excruciating. She regained her composure, and walked inside, straight up to the room she shared with her sister, as the rest of the Loud family muttered amongst each other, discussing what they just saw.
    She opened the door to see Leni just curled up on the bed facing the wall. Jesus, this was going to be hard.
    “So.” It was the only way Lori could think to begin this conversation. Leni remained hunched up, unmoving at her older sibling’s question. Lori would have to be straight to the point.
    “Where did he finish?” Leni sobbed softly as soon as Lori finished the question, as the reality of what had happened was beginning to set in. It may have seemed cruel, but after sixteen years of living together, Lori knew how to deal with Leni when she shut others out like this. Break her down, then build her back up.
    “Y-you know I ta-take the pill-“ Leni could barely get the words out between sobs.
     “If you can even fucking remember that.” Lori felt regret as soon as that sentence left her mouth. During those shared seventeen years, she’d also never really gotten a good handle on how much was too far either. It led to some of the worse arguments between her and Leni, but today was not a day to back down.
    “I’M NOT STUPID!” Leni shouted at the top of her lungs in self-defense. Lori stiffened. Mom and Dad weren’t home to intervene during this fight, and Lori was a bit worried things might get physical, but god damn if those words didn’t evoke a righteous fury in her.
    “Not stupid?” Lori’s teeth were clenched hard as they could be, her words soon to be spitting out like venom, which Leni could sense. “No, you’re not stupid. Stupid is forgetting you have two-hundred dollars in your wallet.” Lori walked over to the door, facing it. “Stupid is not knowing how to turn on the damned vacuum cleaner.” And finally, she turned around, the wrath of god showing on her face. “ FUCKING YOUR BROTHER IS GOD DAMNED INSANE!” Lori thought she heard something when she said that, but Leni didn’t give her the chance to continue.
    “HE WANTED IT TOO, YOU BITCH!” Even Lori was surprised at that one. Surprised that it came from Leni, and how much it hurt to hear her say it. The tears began to flow freely from Leni. “It was different, Lori! I m-mean… it was loving. You know how it is at school, all the boys just stare at me, my tits, my legs, my ass! You don’t think I don’t hear what people say behind my back? That I’m stupid? That I need a fucking helmet?!” Leni’s face was in utter misery, an amalgam of tears and self-loathing. “Lincoln cares about me, and I love Lincoln just as much as anyone in this family, and-“
    “Leni!” Lori had heard enough.
    “NO, YOU LET ME FINI-“
    “He’s eleven.” Lori’s voice had softened to the point where it was just barely above a whisper. Leni stopped. Her eyes were confused at first at the obvious statement. But confusion was replaced by horror.
    “O-oh God…” Leni covered her face with her hands and hair, trying to shield herself from herself. Lincoln WAS eleven. He just LOOKED older. And that realization was all it took to break her down completely. Lori sighed, and went around to sit next to her sobbing sister on the bed, wrapping her arms around her as she sat. Leni tried to get away at first, but the day’s events left her too weak to really fight back against anything. She gave up, sobbing into Lori’s tank top as the eldest sibling soothed her. Time to build her back up.
    Outside the door however, three siblings crowded around the door of the eldest Louds, all having various reactions to what they just heard. Luna was dumbstruck, Luan seemed intrigued. Lynn however, just leaned against the wall, not knowing how to feel.
 
 
    Lincoln rinsed his face in his parents’ on-suite, just trying to calm down. He had heard his sisters fighting from the floor, though he couldn’t make out what they were saying. Lori rarely got this angry, and even rarer was a time where Lincoln actually thought that such anger was justified. He walked back into the bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed, facing the mirror in the opposite corner of the room. It showed a boy in a man’s body, one who was about to take on the responsibilities granted by said body.
    “Best case scenario,” he spoke to himself, trying to help himself though failing, “…there isn’t one. I’m screwed.” His mind began racing through all possible punishments, Lori telling Mom and Dad coming up the most. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.
    “Lincoln, open up.” Into the breach. Lincoln walked over as slowly as humanly possible before he unlocked and subsequently opened the door. He took a small relief to see that Lori wasn’t as angry as she was an hour ago. “Come on, we’re going for a drive.” That was not what he expected, and it terrified him even more. Lori ripping him a new one was what he was prepared for, not this.
    “B-but what fo-“
    “Now, twerp.” Lori put emphasis on twerp, to reinforce the chain of command. It worked.
    “Coming!” Lori led him outside into the night, before entering the van, with Lincoln entering the passenger’s seat. Luna, Luan, and Lynn had followed Lori from her room, but not after being scattered once she saw they had listened in on the fight. That was partly what helped Lori decide to talk to Lincoln outside of the home. They could only watch as Lori and Lincoln pulled out of the driveway, driving off to who knows where.
    “Where do you think they’re going?” Luna asked as she walked away from the window, towards the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. She felt that many people were going to need a cup tonight, mostly Lincoln. He didn’t like the stuff before, but maybe he would appreciate its subtle nuances now.
    “To pick out coffins, maybe? Haha…ha..huh.” Luan giggled as she said the words, but the actual possibility ran through her head immediately after, followed by the angry looks of her sisters. Her laughter died out.
    “Luan, don’t even start. Leni’s still freaking out upstairs!” Luna collapsed into a kitchen chair. How she could be exhausted from events not even including her, she’d never know. Luan remained silent. Lynn hadn’t said anything at all since they began listening at Lori and Leni’s door.  The trio of Louds just sat there, listening to coffee brew. Luan broke the silence.
    “At least Lori was nice to her after the fact. Let her explain exactly what happened, I mean.” Luan rubbed the back of her neck. “And boy, did she explain.” Luna nodded in tacit agreement. From peeking through the cracks of the dressing room at Weekend’s, to the... well, to the finish, Leni didn’t skip any details. AT ALL. It was funny in hindsight, all three of them pushed just a little bit closer to the door during that part. Once Lori found them though, their inquisitiveness died immediately, with them rushing back to their rooms.
    Before anyone else could speak, Lynn suddenly got up from the table and ran upstairs. Luna and Luan were worried, but both of them silently agreed to just let her go. She was probably just scared at what was going to happen. God knows they were. This had the potential to change everything. Luan voiced her concerns first.
    “Do you think Lori will tell Mom and Da-“
    “No way.” Luna didn’t even have to let Luan finish. “Leni would be ruined, and that’s not even including Lori having to tell Mom and Dad about this whole situation with Lincoln. Not to mention, this all happened on Lori’s watch.” The coffee was ready by this point, Luna rose from the table slowly and grabbed another one of the mugs from the cabinet. It seemed that caffeine was her way of dealing with awkward situations these days. But hey, there were worse addictions to have. “Plus,” she continued, “I don’t think Lori would have let Leni explain if she was just planning on ratting her out.” Luan nodded in agreement at her sister’s assertions. Luna always was the most practical sibling in the house.
    “So…where ARE they going?” Luan repeated Luna’s original question. And Luna honestly didn’t know. A stern talking to, though that being an enormous understatement, was obvious. But they could have just sat in the van for that one, not actually leave. Luna offered Luan a cup of coffee.
    “I don’t know. We’ll find out when they get back.” She looked over to her comedian of a sister, who only stared deep into the cup she was just handed. Luna gently touched her shoulder, grabbing her attention, a sly grin spread across the rocker's face. “But ohmygod did you hear what Leni said about that kiss he gave her?!” Luan immediately broke into a wide smile, braces and all.
    “I NEARLY LOST MY MIND AT THAT!” The two felt somewhat guilty about talking behind their siblings’ backs, but the need for a sense of togetherness trumped that easily, especially when a feeling of doom filled the air like it had since the others got home from the mall. Finding an excuse to truly act like sisters their age, the rocker and the comedian returned to their room, gossiping the entire night away.
 
 
    Meanwhile, Lori and Lincoln drove down the half-illuminated streets. Lincoln just stared ahead, not really caring where they were going, just as long as Lori said something. She hadn’t spoken a word since they left the driveway. Finally, they ended up at the local drugstore. Lori pulled into the furthest parking space, silenced the engine, placing the two of them into complete darkness. After what seemed like hours, Lori’s stern voice broke the silence.
    “Lincoln.” The young man couldn’t see his sister’s face right now, but he didn’t have to. He could imagine the scowl that graced it just fine.
    “Y-yes?”
    “I’m angry. Really angry, at a lot of things right now. But the things that matter, that’s what we’re going to talk about.”
    “O-okay.”
    “First, and most important. You came inside Leni.” Lincoln gulped. He didn’t completely remember events that transpired with Leni, just that it happened. But the gnashes in his back from her nails embedded the memory into him. Permanently, if they scarred.
    “Lori, listen, I don’t know how it happened, I was just getting dressed, and-“
    “Stop.” Lincoln froze at his sister’s voice. “I already heard the details from Leni. A-all of them.” Lori blushed, as even she was found herself excited at the description Leni gave of the encounter between herself and Lincoln. “The reasons on why fucking your sister is bad are obvious. What I’m talking about is you finishing inside her.”
    “Wh-what?” Lincoln was confused, he thought this talk would involve a lot more shouting, and a lot more blood being shed. His own, namely.
    “Hasn’t your school started Sex Ed, yet?” Oh no. OH NO. Lincoln wasn’t having this. Not today.
    “Lori, this is not the time to be giving me ‘the talk’, I know what I did was-“
    “ISN’T IT, LINCOLN?!” Lori was insistent on this happening. But Lincoln wasn’t going to be painted as a COMPLETE idiot today.
    “Look, I know that I shouldn’t have done what I did. And I know that Leni probably doesn’t even care about me, she just liked me because of how I lo-“
    SLAP. Lincoln’s explanation was cut short by his sister’s palm. A tear welled up in his eye, before he looked to the darkness where it came from. He swallowed them down.
    “Don’t you dare finish that sentence.” Lori’s voice was seething.
    “What, do you honestly think she would have done what she did if it was two days ago?!” It was Lincoln’s turn to be angry. He saw how Leni looked at him during that moment at Weekend’s, it wasn’t one she looked at him with before, that’s for sure. “There’s no reason what she did was-“
    “That was Leni’s first time, Lincoln.”
    “…What?” Lincoln was dumbfounded. Lori sighed, she realized she was getting quite good at dropping bombshells. “B-but she was…there was no-!” Lincoln was panicking at the implications. The sex Ed Lori had mentioned had at least talked about certain obstacles a girl would face during their first time.
    “The girl works out every morning obsessively to keep her figure.” Lori began explaining. “Trust me Lincoln, when you do that much, any …barriers down there…,” even though she couldn’t be seen, Lori automatically pointed downwards on herself, “they get taken care of. When Lynn joined her soccer team, it happened within the first week.” Lincoln reeled at the intimate knowledge.
    “I honestly didn’t know, Lori.” Lincoln could only fall back into the seat. “ I really didn’t.”
    “Of course you didn’t, how would you?”
    “…so should I just avoid her for the time being, or-?”
    “Oh hell no. You’re talking to her tonight about what happened. I will not have you hurt my little sister, just because you’re nervous. That’s the second part of tonight’s lesson: proper etiquette.”
    “What?” Lincoln somehow found himself even more anxious at the path this discussion was talking.
    “One. Condoms.” God dammit, back to sex ed. “You’re going in there, and with the rest of the money you DIDN’T spend on your sisters, you’re going to buy as many condoms as you fucking can.” That was fifty dollars’ worth of condoms, and more importantly, all of Lincoln’s money.
    “Lori, this is stupid, I’m not even gonna stay like this for long and...!”
    “I don’t care, Lincoln! This is an important fucking lesson!” Lincoln shook his head in defiance, but he knew he’d have to give in. She drove here, after all.
    “….at kind...” He mumbled awkwardly.
    “What?”
    “I said, ‘what kind’! How the hell should I know what condoms I need?!” Lori hadn’t thought about that.  She thought back to Leni’s story, back when her ditzy sister was peeking between the cracks at the mall, trying to remember any detail that might indicate Lincoln’s size. Leni had said he was using his hands to… wait, HANDS? Plural?
    “U-uhm. Lincoln?” Lori was glad her brother couldn’t see her face, as it was red as a beet at what she was about to ask.
    “Yeah?”
    “Leni said she…well…saw you, before it all happened.” Lincoln gulped as the tone of the conversation shifted back to Leni. “She said she saw you using both your hands…to you know…” Lori was mortified.
    “She saw that?!” Lincoln panicked instinctively, though there was no real reason to at this point. “Oh God, why?!” Lori smiled at the fact that, even in horrible situations like these, she could still see her little brother behind the older mask he had been given. “Why does it matter?” Lori was also relieved at the fact that she wasn’t the only embarrassed one in the car now.
    “If your…you know, is that big. Go inside and buy the boxes that are black and gold. They say Magnum on the front.” If there was ever a sentence she thought she’d never have to say to Lincoln, that was it.
    “…Alright.” Though Lori couldn’t see it, Lincoln nodded, and opened the car door. Lori slumped down in the chair, thinking that awkward part of the night was finally over. And it would have been, had she not thoughtlessly made an addendum to her previous sentence.
    “Get the ribbed ones, they’re the bestUHH…!” She immediately slapped both her hands over her mouth in shock at herself. Why the fuck did she just say that?! She grew even more terrified once she noticed Lincoln wasn’t moving. She still couldn’t see his face, but he had seemingly paused at what she had said. But, he must have ignored it, as he slowly closed the door to the van, and strolled inside, money in hand.
    Time passed, and Lori had pulled up to the front of the store in wait for her brother. He walked out with a comically large plastic bag of black and gold boxes, and hopped in the car. His face was flushed, no doubt at what the drugstore clerk said to him during checkout. With a thud, he landed in the passenger seat, throwing the box to his side, crossing his arms in the process. Now being bathed in the light of a streetlamp, Lori looked down to the boxes, and blushed red after what she saw. Mentally preparing herself for the second part of her talk with Lincoln, she started up the engine. And together, Lori, Lincoln, and a bag of ribbed Magnums made their way to the next stop.
 
 
 
    Back at home, Leni remained in her room, lying in her bed. She was exhausted, emotionally and…physically, and she needed sleep, if only to get her mind off that day. Lori had said that she was going to talk to Lincoln next, but honestly what was the point of that. She was obviously the only one at fault in this situation, forcing herself on her brother, wasn’t she? As she tried not to think about the day…and subsequently failed, there was a knock at the door.
    “Go away.” Leni had no time for anyone right now. Despite that, the door opened. “I SAID GO-!” Before Leni finished her outburst, she realized that Lynn was standing in the light of the door. “Lynn?”
    “…Can I talk to you?” Normally, Leni would just tell Lynn to wait till tomorrow, but the look on Lynn’s face told her that wasn’t a smart idea, even for her.
    “Sure, come on in.” Leni leaned up against her headboard, watching Lynn slowly move across the room, and plop on her bed. “…did you hear what happned?” Leni knew she did, she heard Lori shooing the three younger sisters away from the door.
    “Yeah.” Lynn hung her legs from the side of the bed, crossing and uncrossing her feet, trying to focus on something at the very least. Leni knew that Lynn was interested in boys at this point, and having something like this happen in the home only honed that curiosity.
    “Did you want to know anything?” Leni felt guilty enough about the whole ordeal, the least she could do was use her experience to help her little sister understand things a bit better.
    “…How does it feel? When the guy…puts it in?” Oh wow, straight into it. Trying to think back to when Lincoln plunged deep inside her left her feeling bubbly and somewhat nauseous at the same time. It felt wonderful to say the least, but…
    “Well, when he first… I mean, when the person you’re with does it…well, you know how you feel when you do it yourself?” Leni was struggling to say the least.
    “Do it myself?” Oh wow, tonight was never ever going to be fun was it?
    “What? Don’t you know how to…you know? Masturbate?”
    “N-no?” What was it with Leni, having to help her siblings out with sexual exploration?
    “Wow, uhm. Lynn I’m sorry, but I don’t think we can talk about this yet.”
    “N-NO! I wanna know! Did I say something wrong?” Lynn was panicking at the thought of important knowledge being lost to her. It could help her with how she’d been feeling lately.
    “Nonono, not at all!” Leni pulled her sister into a warm hug. “It’s just that, I don’t think I know how to really explain it to you, not until you’ve tried it.” Lynn just leaned into Leni. Leni sighed, trying to gather her thoughts. “Alright. Here goes. Masturbating is making yourself feel good. Sexually. With men, they do it by stroking their… themselves. Women do it by rubbing themselves.” Lynn shifted, becoming embarrassed at the conversation topic. She couldn’t help but mentally combine this lesson with the revelation of Lincoln and Leni earlier in the evening.
    “You said Lincoln was doing that before you… y’know.” Leni did not need this right now. But Lynn did, and she wasn’t going to hurt ANOTHER one of her siblings today.
    “Y-yes. He was.” She tried to keep it short and to the point, trying as hard as she could to keep her mind off how amazing it was to be embraced by Lincoln as he kissed and delved deep inside her and…
    “Did it feel good with him?” Oh, C’MON.
    “Yes, it felt very…very good.” Leni’s face was beginning to heat up again, as more and more of the incident came to mind.
    “What was your favorite part?”
    “Alright, that’s enough about me and Lincoln!” Leni was shocked at her own outburst, she must have still been channeling some of that energy from when she butted heads with Lori. Lynn looked away, and started to wriggle out from her sister’s hug.
    “S-sorry, I’ll stop bugging you about this stuff.” Before she could leave the bed, Leni grabbed Lynn’s arm and held her there.
    “The kiss.”
    “What?”
    “Right before we…yeah. Right before that, Lincoln kissed me. I mean, we kissed a lot as you probably know already.” Lynn laughed sheepishly at being caught. “But the one right before it happened, it was loving and supporting and…” At that moment, Leni thought more on that moment. Sure, Lincoln’s body sent her wild in the first place, but that was no different than any hot soccer player she saw on TV, or anywhere else for that matter. What really made that moment put itself on repeat through her head, was that feeling of love she received from Lincoln in that moment. That feeling of support, the feeling he was there for her, not just then, but as long as he would be part of her life. She didn’t care about the sex. She cared about Lincoln, same as always…. okay she cared a bit about the sex.
    “Leni?” Lynn saw the blush get deeper and deeper on her sister’s face.
    “When you’re with someone you love. That feeling of support is what you will remember. If you love the person, and have a strong relationship, the moment you two decide to take it that far will be one of the happiest moments you can share with each other. So, when you asked ‘What does it feel like’, it feels like an empty spot being filled. But not just physically, hell a hairbrush can do that. But…emotionally too. I know that may have sounded stupid, but…” Before she could finish, Lynn rushed in and hugged her sister as hard as she could. Leni was taken aback by the amount of strength Lynn had in such a tiny body.
    “Thanks, Leni.” And with that, Lynn ran out of the room, back to her own. Even though no one was in the room with her, Leni could only say one thing.
    “Thank you, Lynn.” With both girls’ minds having settled down, they both rested their heads on their respective pillows, where dreams would soon follow.
 
 
    Lincoln leaned over a partially full shopping cart, enjoying the cool mist that sprayed from the coolers of the vegetable section beside him. He eyed the various greens in the section, while Lori was behind him, checking apples for bruises. After their stop at the drugstore, Lori had brought him here. She figured they were out already, might as well stop and do the shopping while they continued their talk. They were lucky the local Wal-Mart was a 24 hour one, as well as being one with a produce section.
    “That’ll do for the week,” Lori said as she lowered a bag of fruit into the cart. “oh, but one more thing.” She reached hopped over the aisle over while Lincoln followed with the cart, and grabbed a bunch of bananas. She ripped a single one from the bunch, placing the rest back.
    “Needed a snack?” Lincoln’s eyes were barely open, from a combination of boredom and exhaustion. It was eleven at night, and they were shopping for fruit, while Lincoln awaited the eventual continuation of Lori’s weird, yet effectual, punishment.
    “Nope.”
    “Then what?” Lori smiled devilishly at her brother’s confusion, and placed the lone banana in the top of the cart. They did a quick run through of the other aisles, constantly reminding each other of stuff that was needed for home. If nothing else had happened today, it would have made for a very relaxing moment between the two, as they walked together making small talk to pass the time. They eventually checked out, and made their way to the parking lot where the van was parked. Again, Lori parked near the back of the parking lot, despite the abundance of empty spaces at this time of night. Lincoln chalked it up to being part of the punishment again. They loaded the van, but before Lincoln could slam the back door of the van, Lori interrupted.
    “Grab that banana, bring it to the front.”
    “What?”
    “Do it.” She hopped in the front seat and waited. Lincoln shook his head, grabbed the lone fruit and followed orders. It was dark in the van, not as dark as at the drug store, but still pretty dark. They could just barely see each other.
    “Alright, now what?”
    “Grab one of the boxes you bought.”
    “OH, COME ON!” What was it with this insane lesson?”
    “Lincoln, you are going to put a condom on that banana. Then, you’re gonna take it off. AND THEN, you’re gonna put another one on. And take it off again. And you’re gonna do it over and over, until each one of these boxes.” she grabbed one from the bag, shoving it in his face for emphasis, “are completely empty.”  He knocked it out of her hands instinctively, where it landed somewhere in the darkness.
    “Lori, I spent fifty…!” Lori didn’t let him finish.
    “Like you said, Lincoln. You’re not staying like this for long, so you won’t even need them.” Lori put her hands behind her head, leaning back and feeling triumphant at the punishment she had devised. Lincoln groaned, and angrily ripped open a fresh box from the bag, dumping out the ropes of condoms onto his lap. He had trouble ripping one off at first, but eventually he had separated it from the chain and opened it. Lori could tell Lincoln had never seen a condom by the way he was holding it up to the light that shone in through the van’s window, trying to get a sense of how to proceed. It added a sense of innocence to the whole situation, something the day was in desperate need of.4
    “How the heck do you…”
    “Put it on the tip, and roll it down. Like, when you slip your foot into a sock. That would be the only help Lori would give. Luckily, Lincoln caught on fast, so it was the only advice needed.
    “…Thanks.” After finishing with the first condom, Lincoln gave a short sigh as he ripped it back off, and threw it into the drugstore bag to serve as a trashcan.
    “And while you’re doing THAT, we’ll continue where we left off.” Another groan erupted from Lincoln.
    “Great.”
    “Now look. You know about safe sex…”
    “If I didn’t, I sure as hell do now…” Lincoln’s snarky attitude shone through brilliantly at a time like this.
    “Quiet. What you don’t know, is the emotional side of things.” Lincoln silently agreed with a nod of his head, as he ripped into another Magnum.
    “Emotional.”
    “Yes, emotional. Look, from what Leni told me, it doesn’t seem like her having any doubts at how she…uh… performed…. will be an issue.” Lincoln was immediately brought back to what had transpired that day.
    “It was…” Lincoln was about to go into details that Lori had no desire to hear again, especially from Lincoln for some reason, so she cut him off.
    “I know. But, look, sex might not always go great. You’re lucky your first time did, but every girl is different. And if things go badly, you need to know how to react.”
    “Badly in what way?” Lincoln threw another condom into the bag.
    “If she’s a virgin, her hymen might tear. That hurts the first time…”
    “I know that much, Lori.”
    “I know you know what a hymen is. And that’s ten times better than what Bobby knew during our first time together.” Lincoln stopped with the banana fondling for a quick second. He never really thought about Lori having sex before, hell Clyde did that enough in spades. As he continued to wrap a fresh rubber on the fruit, Lori continued. “He freaked out, I freaked out, it was horrible. Lori groaned as she remembered the experience. Bobby was a perfect gentleman during their first time, but sheesh, did having to calm him down ruin the mood.
    “What does this have to do with the ‘emotional side of things’?” Lincoln grabbed a fresh box from the drugstore bag.
    “If something like that happens, be calm, be caring, be loving. It can really make or break a relationship in the early stages. And the girl will like you even more for it…” Even though Lori emphasized the point, on some level she knew she didn’t really have to. Leni’s detailed description of today’s events made it clear that Lincoln would be a loving partner to any girl he was with. She continued thinking for a second, feeling she needed to make an addition to the point...”o-or a guy, if you’re…. y’know…” Lori looked sheepishly over to her brother.
    “NOPE.”
    “Okay, just checking.” An awkward silence filled the car, and only seconds passed to the background noise of condom wrappers, before Lori started giggling uncontrollably.
    “LORI, C’MON!” The giggling turned into hysterical laughter. That was just such a brother-sister moment that she couldn’t help but love it.
    “Hahaha, it’s fine, it’s fine.” Lori coughed to clear her throat. “Y’know, I’d be fine with it, if you were.” She felt the need to let Lincoln know that she would love him regardless of his sexual orientation.
    “Pfft, would have made growing up easier.” Lincoln didn’t think much about what he had said, but Lori put tremendous thought into it, before she asked.
    “What do you mean?”
    “Being a guy with five cute older sisters would have been WAAAAY easier if I was gay.”
    “O-oh. I guess that’s true.” She didn’t know how to feel at that. After what happened today, Lori didn’t want to even THINK about her siblings calling each other cute. Wait, did Lincoln just call her cute? She blushed at the thought, and felt shame bubble up with the flushed face. Before she could push those thoughts out of her head, Lincoln broke the silence.
    “Well, that’s the last of them.” Lincoln threw the last empty box of Magnums into the trash bag, as well as a heavily abused banana. He was smart enough to throw all the wrappers in the bag with the condoms, as not to make a mess. Lori would have to double-check in the morning that all the wrappers made it in the bag, ANYBODY finding one would lead to disaster.
    “Okay. What did we learn?” Back into older sister mode.
    “Despite what one may be led to believe, condoms are not meant for bananas.” Again, with the snark.
    “LINCOLN.” He held his hands up in defense.
    “Be calm, be caring, be loving to the GIRL I’m with.” Lincoln stressed the ‘GIRL’ part of that sentence, almost sending Lori into another laughing fit. She stifled it though, in sake of the lesson.
    “And? How do you do that?” Time for the kid to think on his own.
    “…Don’t stress her out. Make sure she knows I’m there for her, whenever and however she needs me, no matter what. It’s the same way I am with all you guys. I’d never hurt any of you, Lori. I love you all too much.” Lori swelled with love, adoration, and pride at her brother’s response. Any feelings of worry she had after today were silenced after hearing Lincoln’s answer. “I’ll make sure I’ll tell Leni that too, whenever we talk about what happened.”
    “Good.” The two sat silently in the car. Lincoln took the opportunity to lean back, the first time he could rest for the entire day. Lori stared silently at bugs hovering around a nearby parking lot lamp, before leaning back to join her brother in relaxation. Nothing they bought was perishable, so they could afford to take the chance.
    “Hey, Lincoln?”
    “Mmmyeah?” Lincoln sounded groggy as he answered his sister, but he was still noticeably awake.
    “Are you still mad at Leni and me for that time when we were younger?” It was an innocent question on Lori’s part, but it was one she always felt guilty about.
    “What time?” Lincoln could barely keep his eyes open, let alone remember childhood memories. Plus, if it involved Lori and Leni, he probably repressed it for good reasons.
    “With your hair?” Oh, that. Five years back, Lori and Leni had just discovered what hair dye was, or so they thought. They wanted to bleach someone’s hair, but they tried it on their test subject of a little brother before they put themselves at risk, since he had the same blonde hair as them. Innocent, right? Until you realize that they thought you bleached your hair with ACTUAL bleach. The result was Lincoln’s now trademark white hair.
    “Hmmmm. Nah, not really.” Lori turned towards her brother as he marked the end of his sentence with a large yawn. She felt somewhat unhappy at the response, as she wished he would hold SOMEWHAT of a grudge for ruining his head of hair. “I actually appreciated it a bit. Helped me stand out y’know?” Lori was surprised at how relaxed Lincoln could be at times. Before, she had looked at the form her brother had taken with lust, but now, pride was the defining emotion.
    “Lincoln?” No response came from her brother. He began to snore somewhat loudly, as Lori chuckled to herself. She watched her brother sleep as she lay down in the driver’s seat of the family van. Eventually, her thoughts drifted to what had transpired today. But eventually, the fight with Leni became the forefront issue on her mind. Lori felt that she might had gone too far with her, especially in comparison to how she treated Lincoln. She didn’t really understand the disparity between the two arguments. All she knew is that once she heard Lincoln and Leni in the dressing room that day, she felt scared at what was happening, but she also felt…betrayed? And not by Leni.
    Her eyes drifted towards her brothers face as her mind moved onto what Leni had described about their intimate moment. Even when Leni was describing it, she felt more and more hurt. Lori moved her arm to unclick her seatbelt, and quietly shifted her body, placing her face near Lincoln’s head. She wanted to give him a peck on the cheek, a loving family gesture to wish him sweet dreams. But as her thoughts raced through Leni’s tale of lustful stares, passionate kisses, and warm embraces; and mixed with her own night she shared with Lincoln, filled with blushing, condoms, and adoration; a dangerous mixture of emotions began brewing. Lori mindlessly kept moving towards her brother, and before she knew it, her mouth was mere centimeters apart from Lincoln’s.
    Her breathing grew heavy and panicked. Panicked at what was about to happen, panicked at the thought of Lincoln waking up, and panicked at the fact she didn’t want to stop it from happening. Her glossed lips moved closer and closer, just stopping short of their goal.
    Lori couldn’t do it.
    At least, not before doing something else.
    “I love you, Lincoln.” As she said those words, their lips lightly touched upon each other with each syllable of her sentence, before she pressed into his mouth with hers, making a slight moan as their lips made the deep connection. It didn’t last long, only about four seconds. She traced his tongue with her own as she separated from her brother, licking his lips in the process.
    She stared at his sleeping form for a while longer, all while the shame began to build up. Tears formed at her eyes, as she quickly returned to her side of the van, fixing her seat and starting the engine in the process. As tears fell from Lori’s flushed face, her, Lincoln, and a lone box of Magnum ribbed condoms, all hidden in the darkness of the van, made their way home.
 
 
    It was nearly one in the morning when the family van pulled into the driveway. Lori had abruptly shaken Lincoln awake to bring the groceries in by himself, as she strangely ran inside and up to her room. Lincoln slowly returned the passenger seat to its upright position, and stumbled out of the van.
    “How is she still angry, she seemed fine just a bit a…go…huh, why do my lips taste sweet?” As he grabbed the groceries, Lincoln kept licking his lips, trying to get a sense of the taste and where it might have come from. He gave up on that endeavor pretty quickly, as he had to focus on propping open the front door with his foot to gain entry. He finally managed to make his way in, setting the groceries down on the kitchen table. As he started to put the items away in their respective locations, he turned at the sound of someone coming down the stairs slowly. Looking at the entryway to the kitchen, Luan had peeked around the corner.
    “Good, Lori didn’t kill you. Though, the DEAD of night would have been the best time to do it, huh?” Oh god, puns at this time of…wait a minute.
    “Why would you think Lori would kill me?” On some level, Lincoln already knew the answer to that, but he needed to be sure. If one sister knew what happened, the others would too. A sheepish grin on Luan’s part confirmed his suspicions. He groaned as he started to slam the remaining groceries in the fridge, in an attempt to get this night over with as quickly as possible.
    “Hey, hey, I’m sorry! Don’t get upset!” Luan dropped her normally perpetual grin, and started helping her brother put groceries away. The silence between the two was yet another awkward moment that helped define the last 24 hours. But, Luan was never one to stay quiet. “…None of us are angry at you. Well, Lori obviously, but not any of the others. We’re just…surprised, is all.”
    “How do you think I felt?” Lincoln grabbed a can of soup and placed it in the cupboard next to the fridge.
    “Haha, yeah…” Luan hated this, she couldn’t think of anything to say. The situation was just so…weird. ‘Oh yeah, my hot brother slept with my older sister, time for small talk hahaha.’ But as she finished off that snarky sentence in her head, she took a look at her brother’s face, illuminated by the light of the refrigerator. He looked exhausted, of course, but also…sad. Maybe Lori’s talk really got him down or something. She wanted to cheer him up, but she didn’t really know how. OH, guys like having their egos stroked, right? “You know, the reason none of us are, uhm, really angry at you or Leni…”
    “Yeah?” Lincoln’s interest was piqued, but he didn’t refrain from restocking the fridge.
    “Uhm, you see…it’s funny, but the thing is that-“
    “Luan, come on, just say it. I don’t really have a lot of time for thi- “
    “You’re hotter than the…than the…” Before she could even finish her joke, Lincoln just slammed the last item in the fridge. He looked at Luan, in the most menacing way she had ever seen him. She backed up instinctively. He spoke in a quiet tone, as not to wake the house, but it somehow made him seem more threatening.
    “Look. I know, alright? Leni thinks I’m hot. WOO.” He slammed the fridge shut, and walked over to the kitchen sink. Luan thought this would be a good time to mosey back on upstairs, but she knew Lincoln wasn’t finished, and didn’t want to invite anymore ire. As he ran the faucet, he took a handful of water and drank some, before rubbing the rest over his face to cool down. Luan felt more depressed than before, she didn’t want to make him feel even worse.
    “W-we have coffee, i-if you want.” Lincoln looked at her for a moment, as if pondering whether he should or not. He eventually gave in, grabbing a mug from the cupboard, pouring himself a glass of the dark liquid, and taking a sip.
    “….’s okay. “He took another sip. Luan felt mentally relieved that the tension had passed. At least, before he continued. “How’s Leni?”
    “Leni? Oh! Uh…I don’t know. She’s been in her room all night, I think.” Lincoln sighed.
    “Great.” The male Loud just looked at his cup for moment, deep in thought. He stayed silent for a moment, before taking a look at Luan, and continuing. “What are you still doing up? I’m sorry if we woke you pulling in…”
    “Nono! You were quieter than a mime in a library!” God, that one was horrible, and even SHE knew it. “Uhm… actually, me and Luna had been talking the night away since you left. Luna fell asleep, and…I don’t know, I haven’t been able to sleep much lately.”
    “You alright?” Lincoln took another sip of his coffee, before trashing the rest down the sink. It was okay, but still not to the young man’s liking.
    “Oh yeah, I’m… I’m…” Luan had been feeling guilty since this conversation started, and once she saw Lincoln’s reaction to being told that the girls in the house found him attractive, that feeling had gotten worse. Honestly, what she did that morning in the bathroom had still left her feeling remorseful, even despite Luna’s supporting words. What happened with Leni today just sent her mind racing again, and actually talking to Lincoln had made her feel as bad as Leni did. She began to stutter, as she tried to hold back tears. “No, I’m not.” Lincoln dropped the cup, and walked over to his shaking sister.
    “Hey, c’mon Lu, talk to me.” He brought her into a hug, while trying to think of ways to end this night on an actually good note. “I’m sorry that I snapped at you, if that’s what up.”
    “No! I-It wasn’t that!” Before Lincoln could reply, Luan wrapped her arms around Lincoln, and sniffed quietly. She just needed to say what she felt about the whole situation, and then she’d be on her way back upstairs to try and sleep again. All she had to do was vent her feelings, and then be as far away from Lincoln as possible for the rest of-
    “C’mon, you’re staying with me tonight.” What. That’s not what she needed. In fact, that was the DIRECT OPPOSITE OF WHAT SHE NEEDED.
    “No, wait, I mean, I shouldn’t-aah!“
    “HYUP.” With a single motion, Lincoln swept Luan up in his arms. Her heart started beating faster and faster, and buried her face in his chest, so he wouldn’t see her obvious embarrassment. “You’re not feeling well, Lu. You’re sweating, shaking, and you’re burning up!” Her little brother was sweet. Dumb as a rock, sometimes, but sweet. “Plus, you got stuff to talk about, and DAMMIT LUAN I AM GOING TO MAKE SURE SOMEONE IS HAPPY WHEN THEY GO TO BED TONIGHT.” And with that, Lincoln carried his sister into his borrowed room, for the second sister-sleepover in a row that weekend.
 
 
    Luan sat quietly on her parents’ bed, watching herself curl and unfold her toes in wait for her brother to return. Lincoln had left to grab some things from his room, to make sure they had a fun night together. Despite their different ideas on what a ‘fun’ night entailed, Luan was honestly quite happy that she got to spend some quality time with her brother. She just hoped she could focus on NOT making the same mistake Leni had. Lincoln deserved that, at least.
    Luan undid her yellow scrunchie, pulling it off her brown locks and casting it to the nightstand beside her. Her hair would be a mess tomorrow morning, but she wasn’t in the caring mood at the moment. She fell back into the pillows behind her, trying to relax before Lincoln returned. As soon as she thought that however, the door began to open. Lincoln carefully backed in, doing a balancing act between his laptop and a bowl of popcorn.
    “Thought these would come in handy.” He handed the popcorn bowl to Luan, before plopping himself on the bed next to her, opening his laptop as he got settled in. “They have some new comedy specials on Netflix.” Luan had to simultaneously bite down on her tongue and cover her mouth to prevent the imminent ‘Netflix and chill’ joke. Yeah, ‘joke’.
    “Really? That’s great!” She continued to try and calm herself down, and that was honestly pretty hard when Lincoln kept getting in her face, asking if she was alright. Eventually the two settled in beneath the covers and began watching comedians and uproarious crowds laughing. They had to muffle themselves with pillows quite a few times while watching, and a few more times when making jokes amongst themselves. But even as they enjoyed their time together, Luan felt she needed to be honest with Lincoln, and tell him how she had been feeling since his strange transformation.
    “H-hey, Linc? ….Lincoln?” She turned to her brother, and was unsurprised to find him sleeping. She giggled at the sight and shook him awake, if only for a minute.
    “Hey, I’m gonna head upstairs then if you’re gonna saw logs.” She smiled softly. She wanted to stay, but it would be best, if mostly for her, if she didn’t stay the night there. Things might have gone a bit more awkwardly if she didn’t.
    “Mmmno, no, you don’t have to do that. I’ll get up, and we can…” He was barely awake, but he still tried to help his sister out, the absolute gentelemen.
    “No, little brother, you go back to sle-EEP!” Before Luan could protest, Lincoln grabbed her sister, and pulled her into a big hug. Her face was nestled into his chest, and she was too shocked by the sudden action to even protest.
    “Just stay. I’m worried about you.”
    “….o-okay.” Her voice went soft at the request. She needed to keep calm. She would just leave once he fell asleep again. Luckily for her, Lincoln did fall back into slumber pretty quickly. Unfortunately for her, however, Luan now acted as a teddy bear for her brother. She eventually gave up on trying to escape, instead choosing to focus on how comfortable his embrace was. She was beginning to nod off herself. Her breaths became deeper and deeper, her eyes growing ever heavier. She returned the hug Lincoln was giving her, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She was actually beginning to like this as her heartbeat grew less wild. She pulled herself deeper into their hug, trying to get just a bit closer.
    She stopped, and opened her eyes, taking one last look at her brother before she drifted into the realm of dreams.
    “…Just one kiss, wouldn’t hurt right?” Of course not, she always kissed her brother, it would be fine. She lightly pressed her lips against the sleeping Lincoln’s. She enjoyed the contact, but it was time to pull away…but she didn’t. She kept on kissing, eventually trying to pry his lips open with her tongue. Luan kept on screaming at herself mentally, telling her to stop, but she really wasn’t in a state to do that.  Her tongue made its way into her brother’s mouth, beginning to slowly explore while she shut her eyes, the only act of defiance to the situation she could do. Her tongue caressed his, lightly glazing his teeth in the process. A slight taste of coffee and popcorn.  But as she began to slide out his mouth, she froze in fear at what she felt.
    Something between her legs. Something that belonged to her brother. In regards to the situation at hand, she could only think one thing. ‘Why does it have to be this hard?’ Luan had to get away before this escalated. She slid one arm down from around Lincoln’s shoulders, moving it downward slowly, as to not wake him up. She had to move his, uhm…’friend’, before it rubbed against her any further. She had been on the edge all night, and this was making it torture. Taking her soft hand, she lightly grasped Lincoln’s member, still surrounded by fabric. Oh wow. It was stiff, are they supposed to be this stiff? Forcing such questions from her mind, she gripped Lincoln’s rod harder, attempting to move it.
    “Mmmhhh…” Luan froze, still holding onto Lincoln’s dick as he began to stir. He began to slowly thrust his hips into his sister’s hand, still sleeping through the experience. Luan began blushing even more as Lincoln moved more and more. Luan slowly released her grip from Lincoln’s rod, as not to encourage more…at first. Without really knowing, or caring for that matter, about what she was doing, her hand moved up to her brother’s hip, grasping the elastic of the pajama bottoms that were bought earlier that day. She just wanted to see it, that’s all. And with slow tugs, she moved the pants down further and further, continuing to her goal.
    With a fling, Lincoln’s erect cock flung up from beneath the elastic. It collided with Luan’s crotch causing her to cover her mouth to suppress a squeak. After checking to make sure her brother was still awake, her eyes drifted back downwards back to her objective. Lincoln’s cock stood at attention, just pressing into her mound, covered by her bottoms.
    “Oh wow…” Luan couldn’t help but whisper, constantly checking to see if Lincoln was asleep. Repeating her actions with Lincoln’s pajama bottoms, Luan slowly began using her free hand to pull her own pants down by the elastic, her other arm still around Lincoln’s neck. She had given up all sense of regret at this point, seeking only pleasure from her brother. With her pants now successfully down around her ankles, Luan positioned herself right above her brother’s member, the tip of his penis pressing against her now soaking cotton panties, her quivering lips just beneath. She had wanted to take her underwear away too, but she was still scared about what was happening, still averse to taking the final plunge into womanhood. She would have her release, and be on her way, nobody knowing the difference. She swung her arm back around Lincoln’s neck, again making sure he was still snoring soundly, before she locked her arms together.
    With a short thrust, she pushed her brother’s cock into her, her lips parting beneath the fabric of her underwear.
    “Mmmph!” Luan’s lips pursed as to suppress her quiet squeaks. She lifted herself once more, and again bringing herself down on top of her brother. She desperately wished that she could plunge him deeper into herself, but she knew that would be going too far. Her messy brown locks bounced slightly with each hop on her brother’s tip.  Eventually her mouth fell open, eyes beginning to glaze over as she more vigorously tried to impale herself on Lincoln’s cock through unyielding fabric. She felt the sheets of the bed begin to stick to her thighs, as they became wetter from her dripping excitement. Beginning to ignore the squeaking of the bed, Luan got closer and closer to finishing herself off. She began speeding up, forcing Lincoln’s tip to press into her even further with each thrust, beginning to feel shivers of pleasure from it, despite the fabric barrier. She was right about to make it over the edge, beginning to voice her pleasure.
    “Oh…oh…I’m gonna…I’m gonna..!”
    “That good, huh?”
    “That good, huh?” Luan froze immediately, feelings of terror shooting through her, quickly replacing those of pleasure. As she lifted up her head, her eyes opened, her brown orbs meeting those of her brother. A brother, mind you, who did not look at all pleased at what he was seeing She immediately flung herself off and away from Lincoln, removing herself from the wrap of blankets, while Lincoln began slowly sitting up from his position.
    “L-Lincoln, I am s-so sorry, but I- “Luan kept stammering to explain herself, but there was little she could do with her pants around her ankles, her underwear and legs soaked from a combination of Lincoln’s pre-cum and her own. Lincoln just looked at her with a judging look. Luan stopped trying to clarify after seeing the look on her brother’s face, and just turned around while sitting on the edge of the bed, using her flowing brown hair to hide behind as she began to sob, not wanting to be anywhere near this situation.
    Lincoln himself was thinking carefully on how to approach this situation, but frankly, he was beginning to get annoyed at how things were transpiring lately. But calling THIS annoying? That would be an understatement.
    “Luan. I only have one question, are -?”
    “BECAUSE I KNEW YOU’D SAY NO!” Luan yelled into her hair, hands clenching at her locks. Lincoln was taken aback by the outburst. “Ever since you started looking like…this,” she waved her arm behind her at Lincoln, pointing out what she meant, “I’ve been feeling… crazy! I mean, when you walked out of the shower this morning, I could barely control myself, and – “
    “Luan.”
    “ – and I felt SO guilty about what I was feeling, and I can barely tell people what I’m feeling when I’m not horny over my LITTLE BROTHER, all – “
    “Luan!”
    “ – all I can tell are STUPID jokes, cause don’t know how else to talk to a person, like a fucking IDIOT..!”
    “LUAN!” Luan froze from her hysteria as her brother embraced her from behind. He hugged her huddled up form, his head lying next to her own, propping itself on her shoulder. Tears flowed down her face, as she tried to turn to him. “I was gonna ask if you were okay.” Luan’s eyes went wide with bewilderment at her brother’s statement.
    “Wha…” Luan couldn’t believe it.
    “But I can obviously tell now, that you aren’t.”
    “I-I’m...” She just tried to molest her little brother.
    “I want you to know, I’m not angry at this.”
    “B-but I…” And he was hugging her.
    “And if you have to tell me something…”
    “Y-you…” Consoling her.
    “…I’ll always hear you out...”
    “W-why aren’t you…”  Why wasn’t he angry? He deserved to be angry, she wanted him to be angry! She was stupid, an idiot, why wasn’t he….?
    “Because I love you, Luan.” That was the last straw. Luan broke down in her brother’s arms, still huddled up into a ball of regret, and shame. She didn’t deserve this forgiveness. She didn’t deserve to be happy. She didn’t deserve this kind of love, especially from someone she just took advantage of. Lincoln didn’t deserve a sister like her. But what he did deserve, was an explanation.
    “…I-I just… I don’t think I would ever really get along with a guy. Not to the point they’d want to …be with me.” Luan’s tears had degraded into sniffling, as she continued. “I mean…I can make people laugh... that’s easy. What’s hard is actually… getting them to see past that.” Lincoln remained motionless as he listened to Luan pour her soul. “If I can’t even hold a conversation with ANYBODY about A-ANYTHING, without having to resort to jokes, how can I get someone to actually L-LIKE me?” Tears began flowing again, and Luan sobbed in-between sentences. “Like me…f-for me?” She put her head back down into her knees, trying to hide even more from the world. Lincoln couldn’t help but feel terrible. His sister was in pain, and no one could have guessed it. “A-and then you get changed, and now you’re hotter than the sun. And once I heard what happened with Leni…I thought maybe I could... that we could...y’know. Even if you were my brother. Actually, it helps that you’re my brother. That made it…safer, I guess? I dunno, I just…I felt safe with you. I’m sorry, Lincoln.” Luan began to rise from the bed, pulling away from Lincoln’s hug. “I’ll j-just go then.” Before Luan could move an inch further, Lincoln pulled her back into his lap, his legs now surrounding her, his arms wrapped around her.
    “YOU.” He began, speaking sternly to his surprised, and incredibly scared sister. “You are perfect, Luan.” Lincoln shifted, placing his hands on her arms, beginning to rub them in a calming manner. Luan just looked up at her brother, surprised. “You make me and your sisters groan and laugh at your jokes every day. And you don’t tell us those jokes, or prank us constantly for you. You know that. You do it to make us smile.” The corners of Lincoln’s mouth turned upward, as if to match what he was saying. “And, like I said, I will always be there to talk to you, and I’ll enjoy talking to you, cheesy jokes or not.” Luan began to cry again, but these tears came from a happier place. “We love you, Luan. ‘I’ love you, Luan.” Lincoln wasn’t sure if what he was about to do was the right thing to do. But Luan needed the point to be driven home. “And to prove that…” He carefully turned his sister’s face towards his own. Luan’s eyes went wide, as her brother moved in, and kissed her lips softly, while caressing her cheek.
    Luan’s eyes slowly closed in pleasure, as Lincoln’s lips danced against her own. They lingered for a moment, which felt like ages, before Lincoln began to pull away. But Luan had different thoughts. Her arms once again made their way around Lincoln’s shoulders. She wanted him to know for sure how much she loved and appreciated him. Once they finally separated, the siblings were out of breath in the best of ways.
    “L-Lincoln, I –“Luan’s face was burning red. Some of it was from embarrassment, most was from her longing.
    “Kissing’s better when the other person’s awake, isn’t it?” Lincoln smiled, and Luan couldn’t help but chuckle.
    “I’m still sorry. I mean, I’m still horny out of my mind, but…I’ll go upstairs and…take care of it.” Luan began to shift again, before Lincoln interrupted her.
    “Really?” He pulled her back into his lap, but this time, she felt his hard member against the crook of her back. Lincoln moved in close to her ear, and spoke under his breath. “Let me see.” Shivers were sent down Luan’s spine, and before she could react, Lincoln’s hands had made their way to her thighs, spreading her legs in the process.
    “L-LINCOLN!” Luan was aroused, but scared at the sudden development. Her arms instinctively wrapped behind her, around Lincoln’s neck for support
    “Wow, you weren’t kidding.” He said as he began tracing his fingers across the soaked spot on his sister’s underwear. He was in the moment, and he thought that Luan needed this. She did say that she had been holding this feeling since this morning. Luan couldn’t protest, even if she wanted to, as the feeling of Lincoln’s fingers tracing over her slit left her gasping in pleasure, his cock beginning to leak more pre-cum over her back. Lincoln began to stroke even harder as he continued. “Like I said, SOMEBODY’S going to bed happy tonight.” Once more, Lincoln move close to Luan’s ear, and whispered breathily, “I think that should be you.”
    “Ah…ah…Lincoln, I’m…!” Lincoln’s breathy voice brought Luan right back to the verge of climax, a feeling which continued as Lincoln pecked her ear with kisses. But her ecstasy was interrupted by Lincoln taking her left hand, and placing his own in her palm.
    “Now, I’m not really used to this,” he admitted, “so why don’t you use my hand…” Lincoln’s kind smile had long turned into a sly grin by this point. He enjoyed being in a positon of power. “And do whatever you want with it.”
    Luan stared at her brother in a wild confusion, her head turning to him behind her, down to his hand, and back again. Eventually, Luan took Lincoln’s hand in both of hers, taking the time to feel the new shape of them. They had grown considerably, the fingers becoming thicker and longer than they were before his transformation. She had an idea what to do with them. Luan wrapped her fingers in Lincoln’s, and moved his hand up to her chest. She placed it over her left breast, slightly squeezing as to make Lincoln grasp her tit firmly. There wasn’t as much to grab as Leni, but there was no doubt a slight mound to take hold of. Luan arranged Lincoln’s thumb and pointer fingers around her nipple, moaning as she made her little brother pinch them, and then begin to twist them.
    “K-keep doing that…” She instructed her brother to continue with the pleasurable vice on her nipple, as she then took Lincoln’s right hand, looking to provide it coaching as well. She slid his hand down beneath her underwear, where Lincoln took great surprise at just how soaking wet his sister was. Luan continued with her guidance, spreading Lincoln’s fingers out across her lips, his middle finger lying at the bottom of her slit. “N-now, stroke it…” Lincoln followed his sister’s orders. “O-OH GOD!” Just this little amount began to send Luan into tremors. Lincoln took a mental note at how sensitive girls were down there. He had barely begun, and she was already to the point he was earlier in the day when he was in the stall at Weekend’s. However, he thought it was time to do some experimenting of his own, as Luan started to instruct him again.
    “N-now just keep ahhAAH!” Luan slmost shrieked as Lincoln dipped his finger between her folds. Her arms tensed tightly around Lincoln’s neck, as she began to convulse in pleasure. “L-Lincoln, I’m c-coming…!” Lincoln felt Luan’s inside tighten around his finger. This inspired him to begin moving his finger while inside his sister. Luan began to thrust her hips into her brother’s hand. Her moans grew louder, and she instinctively moved Lincoln’s hand from her breast to cover her mouth, lest the whole house wake up at the sounds of their taboo engagement.
    Luan’s muffled moans, coupled with the repeated motion of her back rubbing against his cock, began to set Lincoln over the edge as well. Luan grew more and more frantic as she pierced herself on her brother’s fingers more and more. Closer and closer, the siblings moved ever nearer to their simultaneous climax, until finally both their bodies tightened. Lincoln pulled Luan deep into his embrace as he exploded across her back, while Luan reciprocated by pulling his hand as deep into herself as it could go. The two fell back together against the backboard of their parents’ bed.
    Luan held on tightly to Lincoln’s arm, not ready for him to remove himself from her. She looked behind her at her brother’s panting face, leaning back to place a firm kiss on his sweat-covered cheek. Lincoln smiled, and placed a peck on her forehead. Luan broke into a grin, braces and all, which only made Lincoln smile wider. He only broke the afterglow to make a slight complaint.
    “God, you made my hand work for that, it’s cramping up!” He chuckled as he pulled out of her, purposefully tracing her slit on exit. He felt her shiver once more. She looked up at him and broke into a huge grin.
    “Of course I worked it, that’s why it’s called a handJOB! Haha, get it?!” Luan laughed wildly, as her brother smacked her in the face with a pillow repeatedly, an undeniable smile on his face as well. Eventually, the two settled down, they once again wrapped themselves in each other’s arms, both exceedingly happy as they drifted off to sleep.
    The early hours of the morning had hit the Loud house, the sounds of birds chirping coming from the windows of the home. Luan quietly crept out from the room she and her brother had shared the night before. She hummed happily as she hopped up the stairs to her shared room, her brown locks bouncing with her. Previously, she had to wriggle out of Lincoln’s arms, planting a soft kiss on his sleeping forehead as she left. She didn’t think it would be wise for everyone to see her coming out of his room in the morning.
    The young teen couldn’t help but think about the night before, and how happy her brother had taken the time to make her. Those thoughts were cut abruptly short, however, and replaced with those of terror as she reached the top of the stairwell, only to meet Lori in her nightie, with an unamused look on her face, and Lily in her arms.
    “H-hey, sis.” Luan was scared stiff. The evidence was there of her encounter with Lincoln last night; her hair was messy, and her pants were still a bit wet from… Luan refrained from thinking about last night’s events, lest she hamper her bottoms from drying further. Lori continued to cradle Lily in her arms, as she began to speak.
    “How is he?”
    “Look, I just watched comedies with him- wait, what?” That wasn’t expected.
    “He was feeling pretty guilty, last night, about …. y’know.” So was Lori, but what she was feeling guilty about, she couldn’t admit to anybody.  It was the main reason she wasn’t freaking out as much right now. Leni may have taken advantage of Lincoln, and now Luan had as well, but Lori came dangerously to doing the same thing last night in the car. She didn’t have the right to reprimand anyone right now. But she had the right to ask, at least. “Shower’s free, might want to take the chance to use it. Leave your clothes in the hamper, and I’ll take care of them.”
    “O-okay.” No reason to argue there. Luan began moving past Lori, but was stopped as a finger grabbed her pajama top, pulling her back.
    “BUT…”
    “Oh no.”
    “…take care of yourself. You’ve been down lately, and if Lincoln and his dork self were the way to cheer you up, I won’t complain. But don’t make a habit of it. Remember, he’s only like this for a week.” Luan turned and faced her sister, wide eyed. Lori wasn’t really the most emotionally available of her sisters, so hearing her having Luan’s back really shocked the comedian.
    “Thanks, sis.” Luan gave Lori one of the biggest hugs she could, kissed the sleeping Lily on the head, and trotted off towards the bathroom. Lori continued to rock Lily in her arms, as she made her way downstairs to the kitchen to whip up some formula. She stopped however, once she heard sizzling coming from the kitchen, followed by the scent of freshly cooked bacon. She carefully peeked around the corner, to see Lincoln at the stove. Lincoln looked at her direction, then smiled widely.
    “Morning!” Lincoln flipped an egg in the pan. “I’m still designated breakfast chef, right?” Lori didn’t say anything as she moved to the cupboard where the formula was, and silently continued to work. Lincoln had snuck by his sisters talking at the top of the stairwell, so he figured this wasn’t going to go the smoothest. “I’ve already made some bacon if you want to start snacking.” He pointed to a paper-towel clad plate with his spatula. “I’m making more, so don’t worry about-“
    “Luan seemed happier this morning.”  She spoke sternly, not dissimilar at all to the voice she spoke to him with last night.
    “…Yeah.”
    “You have something to do with that?”
    “…Yeah.”
    “…Were you smart, like we talked about?”
    “It never got that far. I wasn’t going to let it, anyway.” Lincoln rubbed the back of his neck, the silence in the room was only broken by the sizzling of fresh egg in the pan. “It’s weird. Luan always seems the happiest. But last night, she was…”
    “Depressed?” Lincoln turned and looked at his sister, who was now feeding Lily while she leaned up against the kitchen counter. She looked very… motherly, surprisingly. “You might not remember this, but Luan used to be quite the crybaby when she was younger.”
    “Really?”
    “Yep. It could have been the smallest thing, but if something went wrong, she blamed herself. Tears would flow, snotty noses, the works.” She looked tenderly at Lily, who was slowly draining the bottle of its nutritious contents. Lincoln scrambled the egg in the pan, beginning to make Lynn’s dish. “She started telling jokes to hide it, I think.” Lincoln stared off into the sizzling pan, poking the egg to see if it was done.
    “So, anything going on today?” He changed the subject. Luan was happier right now, and that would suffice for the time being.
    “Nothing that I know of. And before you ask, I don’t want you going out.” Lori didn’t want a repeat of the incident with those girls at the mall.
    “Right…” Lincoln looked down, mostly out of boredom. There was nothing to do inside, and he wasn’t one able to spend an entire day on the computer. His sister took notice of this, as she set Lily down in the highchair before breakfast started.
    “Actually, there is one thing you can do. Luna has a party to go to tonight. I was going to drop her off, but It’d be nice if you went with her. It’ll be a bunch of sophomores, so I don’t think anyone will know yo- “
    “YESSSSS! PARTY!” Lincoln jumped at Lori. Before she could say anything, he had lifted her up the ground in a bear hug, swinging her around happily with Lily bursting into laughter at the sight.
    “P-PUT ME DOWN, TWERP!” She may have protested, but on the inside she was giggling as much as Lily was. “The eggs will burn, Lincoln!”
    “O-Oh, right!” He hopped back over to the stove, quickly pouring the contents onto another plate. He slid it into the oven with the others to keep breakfast warm for everyone. “Hey, I’ll be done soon, so could you wake everyone up?”
    “Yeah, sure, you dork.” Lori stepped out of the kitchen, and began making her way up the stairs. She stopped halfway, looking back at the doorway to the kitchen, smiling at the sound of her brother whistling away while he cooked for his family. “Lovable goof.” And with that heartfelt sentiment, she made her way upstairs.
 
 
    Luna walked out of her room, eyes searching the hallway for any sign of her roommate. It wasn’t rare for Luan to wake up before her, but from the looks of Luan’s bunk, she didn’t even use her bed last night. And given how Luan had been acting, Luna could only think of one other place she’d want to sleep, or more appropriately, one other ‘person’.  She ran towards the stairwell, before she was interrupted by Lori, who just reached the landing.
    “O-oh! Morning, Lori!” Luna had to play her cards right, If Luan was where she thought she was, Lori was the last person she wanted to find out, lest her comedian sister be strung up by her microphone’s cord. “Don’t worry about me, just using the phone to tell Sarah that I’m not showing at her party, haha….” She and Lori hadn’t been getting along lately, with Lori denying her the right to go to a party she had been looking forward to. ‘Too dangerous’, the eldest Loud had said. That’s crazy, Luna had been to concerts, stalked musicians at concerts, stage dived at concerts to escape said musicians, everything! What could happen at a party? “So, I’ll just be heading downst…”
    “Oh yeah, about that. You can go.” Luan’s double-take was so extreme, even Lori felt the whiplash.
    “What?! REALLY?! AW SWEET, thanks Lori-“
    “If you take Lincoln with you.”
    “- you’re the bes..wait, why do I have to take Lincoln?” Luna loved Lincoln, and he was cool, no doubt. But he didn’t really know anybody there…though honestly, depending on how the party progressed, the same could hold true for Luna as well.
    “I said it was too dangerous to go by yourself, and I still thank that. But Lincoln’s huge now, so he’ll act as a bodyguard.” Luan’s jaw dropped at the mere assumption that she couldn’t stay safe.
    “C’mon, Lor, that’s so lame! I don’t need anyone there to protect me, I know most…some… of the people that are gonna be there!”
    “Take it or leave it.” Lori wasn’t about to budge on this, and Luna could tell. Still, going to a party chaperoned is still better than not going at all. Plus, she got along well with Lincoln, so it could be worse.
    “…Fine. Thanks for letting me go.” Lori smiled and ruffled her little sister’s hair. Luna protested at first, but eventually she started chuckling.
    “You’re welcome.  Now, help me wake everyone up, Lincoln’s cooking breakfast, he’s about to make some more bacon.”
    “How domestic of him!” Both of the sisters chuckled at the thought of Lincoln being a stay-at-home dad. “But if he’s cooking bacon, I don’t think we’ll have to…” Before Luna could finish her sentence, the door to the twins’ room burst open.
    “BREAKFAAAASSSST!” Lana yelled a war cry, before she ran down the stairs, shortly followed by Lola, who shook out curlers as she ran down the hall. Lynn burst open out of her shared room, almost wall running in order to get downstairs to the goal. Luan emerged from the bathroom as she finished dressing, just as Leni ran out of her room, a bit slower than usual, with Lucy dropping onto the ditzy girl’s shoulders from a vent to hitch a ride.
    “I CAN’T SEE! AND MY HAIR!” Leni screamed, slamming into the walls, before she eventually found her way to the stairwell, knocking into Luan, then bringing Lori and Luna into the mix. The four of them tumbled down the stairs, knocking into everyone else, catapulting the entire Loud family downstairs in a tornado of shouting and kicking. Eventually, they all landed in front of the kitchen doorway, only to see their brother standing over them, smiling wide, plates supported on his arms, each decorated perfectly to match their individual tastes.
    “I know I made eggs, but you guys didn’t have to ‘scramble’ to get here!” Lincoln chuckled at his own bad joke, partially influenced by the time he spent with Luan the night prior. Luan couldn’t help but break into the happiest of smiles.
    “Haha, I got it!” Lincoln quickly winked at Luan before turning his gaze back to the rest of his family. They were about to groan in pain at the joke, but the sight of their brother happy again, along with a delicious meal, suppressed their exasperation. Lori and Luna especially were distracted by their brother, as their previous thoughts of Lincoln being a father didn’t seem all that impossible now. Eventually, all the Louds made their way to the table, all eager to enjoy a delicious breakfast with their family.
 
    The family happily chatted at the table, mouths full of eggs and orange juice. Lincoln continuously cleaned the dishes his ravenous sisters left behind, constantly in motion as he picked up plate after plate. Everyone chattered on about their plans for the day, and Lincoln smiled to see all his sisters in such a good mood. Leni still looked at him awkwardly, but she was in a much better mood. It was the same for Luan, who was whispering into Luna’s ear, with Lynn trying to listen in.  However, Lola and Lana stood out from the happy bunch, as they were the only ones with frowns on their faces, as they sneered at one another in between bites.
    “Why didn’t you sit on YOUR side?” Lola swings first, at her finest.
    “This IS my side!” Lana dodges, and follows up!
    “Seriously, your stink is making my eggs taste horrible.”
    “Maybe you just have HORRIBLE TASTE!”
    “Oooooohhh!” The table was impressed at the comeback, a rarity for Lana when it was usually Lola who dominated their banter. Lincoln and Lori however, weren’t as enthusiastic. The twins were on edge lately, and Lincoln had noticed it the most, recent events being a direct result of their animosity and all.
    “YOU’RE ONE TO TALK, WITH ALL THAT MUD BETWEEN YOUR TEETH!”
    “I HATE YOU!”
    “Hey, enough you two!” Lori tried to stop the fighting before it escalated, though her attempts proved futile.
    “I HATE YOU MORE!”
    “I WISH YOU WEREN’T MY TWIN, AND I WISH YOU WEREN’T MY SISTER!” Lana finally exploded with a sentence that was not taken back easily, she instantly covered her mouth as a look of fear spread across her face. Lola just sat there silently, eyes wide at what her sister had just said to her. Tears began welling up in her eyes, and she instinctively wiped them with her glove as not to get them on her dress. She kicked the table, pushing her seat out, and ran upstairs to her room.
    “Lana, what is wrong with you?!” For once this week, Lori was enjoying her day, only to be ruined by the twins fighting. Slap-fights were common between them, but for Lana to break out the hateful language, that was a new, unfortunate development.
    “I… I…” The tears began to well up for Lana as well, before she followed her twin’s actions, kicking out from the table, and escaping to the back yard through the kitchen door. The twins were all about to follow her, until a voice boomed throughout the room.
    “Everyone, SIT DOWN.” Everyone froze at the sound of their brother’s voice, as he took command of the situation. They all remained seated, as Lincoln put down the pile of plates and silverware he was carrying. “Lori, please go talk to Lola. I’ll go see what’s up with Lana.”
    “R-right.” Lori wiped her hands on her paper towel, and made her way after her pageant queen of a sister.
    “The rest of you, finish eating. I worked hard to make sure everyone enjoyed breakfast this morning, and that’s damn well what’s going to happen.” Everyone was put on edge by the anger in Lincoln’s voice. Though it was understandable, he hated seeing his sister’s fight in such a vicious manner. He marched out the kitchen door, slamming it behind him. The table was silent until Luna broke the silence with words which described the entire situation in the most eloquent way possible.
    “Holy shit.”
 
 
    Lincoln marched outside, sights set out for his little sister. He was upset, but more worried at the way the twins had been behaving lately. They always were prone to fighting, but this morning was the last straw.
    “LANA!” Lincoln yelled out to the tomboy, waiting for a response he knew he wouldn’t get. “Lana, I need to talk to you!” As he made his way across the yard, he stopped when he heard a faint sniffling. He quietly crept up on the oak tree, slowly peeking around only to see Lana huddled up, hiding behind it. Lana was quietly crying into her overalls, her hat discarded at her feet. Lincoln quietly sat down on the other side of the tree, out of sight, leaning back against the bark. “Hey.” A little gasp emitted from behind the oak, coupled with sounds of shuffling. The movement stopped quickly however, and Lincoln could hear Lana settle back down to where she was.
    “Am I in trouble?” Lincoln had heard this voice many times before, but mostly when it dealt with Lana dirtying the house up to ludicrous levels. To hear her sound like this about a family member, and Lola no less, was concerning.
    “That’s what I’m trying to find out.” Lana didn’t understand what her brother had meant with those words, but she figured there was something behind them. She slumped further against the tree, wiping the tears in her eyes away before she continued her talk with her brother.
    “…Should I be more like –“
    “No.” Lana grew angry at her brother’s interruption, a scowl growing on her face.”
    “Let me finish!”
    “Don’t have to.” Lana just got angrier at her brother now, he wasn’t taking her seriously just like Lola, and everyone else. She jumped up and ran around the tree, about to give him a piece of his mind. As soon as she reached his side of the tree, however, Lincoln grabbed her and sat her in his lap.
    “H-hey! Let me go-!” Before she could continue to struggle, Lincoln opened her hands, and placed something in her hands. While that was distracting enough, what was even more distracting was the fact that it was moving. Lana opened her hand to find a little black beetle crawling around her digits. “W-wow! That’s a big one.” Her eyes went wide as she examined the beetle, as she heard Lincoln chuckle behind her. “W-what?”
    “Could I do this with Lola? Play around with bugs with her?
    “No way. She’s okay with some, but with beetles they just gross her out.”
    “Yep. She’d run upstairs, wash her hands, exfoliate, and do another one of her morning routines before I saw her again.” Lana chuckled as she could imagine her twin doing just that. “So, no. You don’t have to be more like Lola. In fact…” Lincoln reached around the base of the tree to grab the hat that Lana had ditched, and firmly fit it on her head, twisting it to make sure it stayed in place. “…I want you to just be you.”  
    “…Thanks, Lincoln.”Lana smiled as she sat in her brother’s lap, releasing the beetle into the grass beside them.
    “However.” The smile faded, returning to a frown at the sudden change in her brother’s tone. “You two have been at each other’s throats lately. Why?” Lana shuffled, and started twiddling her thumbs in an attempt to distract herself.
    “…She just doesn’t like me anymore.”
    “What?” Lincoln knew that couldn’t be the case.
    “She just constantly tells me what to do. ‘Lana, have tea with me, Lana, put on this dress, Lana, go to a spa with me.’”
    “…Sounds like she’s trying to spend time with you.” Lincoln’s worries began to lessen, as he began to understand that this might be an issue of miscommunication. Lana took on a contemplative look, before she responded.
    “But she knows I don’t like that kinda stuff. And no way would she do anything that I like to do, like you said.” She wasn’t wrong. It was Lincoln’s turn to think, and after a few moments, he believed he had found the right answer.
    “Well, think about it. Is Lola good at mudpies?”
    “No.”
    “Then why would she offer to help you make some, if she didn’t know the slightest about them?” Lana stopped and stared at Lincoln, as if he had just delivered life-saving information. “And likewise, you don’t even try going to her tea parties because…?”
    “They’re lame.”
    “And?”
    “…I don’t know how they go. If I had to read the stupid etiquette book from Emily Post that Lola has, I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
    “Do you think that if you both tried something the other liked, you’d get along just a little bit better?”
    “But what if I’m horrible at it?” Lana looked up at her brother with the deepest concern.
    “But you tried, right?. And Lola will try too, if you let her.” Lincoln lifted the hat off of his little sister, taking his other hand and ruffling her messy blonde hair. “You two love each other enough to give it another try, right?”
    “…Yeah.” As soon as Lana said that, she hopped up, turning to Lincoln in the process. She wrapped her tiny arms around him, making a little squeak as she tried her hardest to give him a bear hug. “Thanks, Lincoln.” Lincoln smiled, as he pulled himself up. He took Lana with him, placing him on his shoulders.
    “W-woah! I forgot you’re big now!” Lincoln looked up at the rugrat, her words hitting at something deep inside him.
    “If only everyone else did…”
    “What?”
    “I said, ‘Let’s gun it kid!” Chasing depressing thoughts from his mind, Lincoln was beginning to enjoy the idea of piggy back rides, him speeding off around the yard Lola screaming in delight as they made their way back towards the house.
 
 
 
    As night fell upon the Michigan town, Vanzilla pulled up to a brightly lit home in a cul-de-sac, not far from the Loud’s own abode. Lori eyed the house and all the cars parked in the vicinity, and then turned her gaze to her two passengers in the back.
    “Alright. You two enjoy yourselves, but I want to be clear. If there’s any trouble, you call me. IMMEDIATELY.”
    “Yes, Lori.” Lincoln and Luna spoke in unison.
    “Lincoln, you keep an eye on Luna.” The punk Loud groaned at her sister’s concern, but she could understand where it came from on some level. The two got out of the monster of a vehicle, waving to Lori as she drove off. The pair turned to the house, hearing rock music blaring from the inside. Lincoln was surprised by a grip on his hand, shaking it wildly.
    “You ready to PARTY, bro?!” Luna’s smile nearly reached the corners of her mouth. Lincoln couldn’t help but feel excited, as if Luna’s happiness left him with a contact high.
    “Y-yeah! But I’ve never been to one of these before. What’s the protocol?” Luna laughed at her brother’s choice of words.
    “Protocol? Bro, you just have fun! Don’t worry, just go with the flow and you’ll be fine! Plus, you’ve got a cute date with you!” Luna winked playfully at Lincoln, and as his face turned slightly flushed, she dragged him up the sidewalk to the front door. Where she was greeted by a familiar face.
    “Hey, Chunk!” Lincoln couldn’t help but smile and wave at the large man. Chunk responded with a raised eyebrow, as his eyes darted between Luna and Lincoln.
    “…oo’s he?” Lincoln’s eyes transitioned from confusion to surprise as he realized that Chunk couldn’t recognize him. Not that he could blame him.
    “Uhhhh…Lucas! He’s my cousin, Lucas!” Luna was quick on her feet at times, that’s for sure. Lincoln smiled and nodded his head frantically, trying to make her lie seem more believable.
    “Huh. Didn’t realize the white ‘air ran in the fam. ‘E looks just like your brother.”
    “I know, right?! We always tease Lincoln that he’ll have to deal with girls all the time just like Lucas.” With that, Chunk turned to ‘Lucas’ to give an impressed look.
    “Oh, lady-killer eh?” The large man punched ‘Lucas’ playfully in the shoulder. “Not bad, not bad!” Chunk’s expression took a more serious tone. But ‘ey, none a that ‘ere. I get you watchin’ o’er Luna, but I ain’t havin’ no perverts hittin’ on me lil’ sis or her friends. We clear, mate?”
    “Would never think of it!” Lincoln gulped as Chunk’s face moved in closer to his. The obese man looked the Loud over once more, and a smile returned to his face.
    “Great! Come on in!”
    And with that invitation, a night which Lincoln would never forget began.
 
 
    The night had a slow start, Lincoln had been pulled into the kitchen with Chunk, and Luna hovered around the snack table, talking to her friends. The topics seemed to cover various topics, from the most recent music to the going-ons amongst her friends since school had ended for the year. However, the main topic of interest was the gentleman who escorted her to the party.
    “Who’s the hunk?” Sarah, the one who invited Luna, one of her closest friends, was the first to pry into Lincoln’s identity.  “Is he your boyfriend?”
    “N-NO!” Luna protested a bit too heavily at that question, which everyone noticed but her. She turned around to fill a cup up with some of the available punch on the table. “He’s my cousin. Lin…Lucas.” Once the confirmation came that the two were not ‘together’ all sorts of questions bombarded the young musician.
    “Is he single?!”
    “How old is he?!”
    “Do you know how big he-“
    “So, are YOU single, then?”
    That last question came from a young man near the back of the crowd, with shoulder length hair and a tank-top.  Everyone turned to him as he made his way towards Luna. Luna set down the second cup she had poured in preparation for what was no doubt going to be the worst part of the night.
    “Didn’t you graduate, Will? Well, barely graduate? What are you doing here?” The entire crowd turned towards the young man.
    “Me and my buds rolled up just a bit before you showed up. And what, I can’t stop in to see some classmates of mine?” The boy’s mouth twisted into a wicked smirk. Luna rolled her eyes at the complete ass in front of her. Will with a quick and fluid motion the imposing boy leaned in close, his face inches away from Luna, placing both his arms on the table behind her. “More importantly, can’t I stop in to see you, Loud?”
    “Fuck off, Will.” Immediately, Luna shoved the grungy man a few feet back with surprising strength. She grabbed the two cups of punch she had poured, and rushed into the kitchen. A flash of anger appeared on his face, before it was replaced with another smirk.  Everyone in the room was glaring at Will, before he broke the awkward silence.
    “Ha, whatever.” His eyes covered Luna’s body for a long second, before she disappeared into the kitchen. “See you later.” And with that, Will waltzed back upstairs to join his other friends who had crashed the party prior.
 
 
    Lincoln was listening as Chunk kept talking non-stop about the newest albums that had been released lately, and the obvious superiority of vinyl records. Lincoln supported his head with one hand as he constantly nodded at Chunk’s ravings. He had listened to Luna countless times about all of this, and more. In his experience, he found it best to just let people continue talking.
    The young man was snapped out of his listless trance by a tap on his shoulder. He swung around on his barstool to see his older sister looking up at him, offering a drink.
    “Thanks, Luna!” Immediately, the young man guzzled down the drink. Chunk interjected with his own form of hospitality.
    “You sure you don’t fancy a beer, mate?”
    “Nah, I can’t…don’t drink. Plus, I’m …the ride home?”
    “Ah, good point. Never mind then.” Lincoln sighed, relieved that would be the last time he’d have to worry about substances for the night. He turned to Luna to chat about the party, but noticed something that made him stop.
    “You okay? You look upset.”
    “Wha-? NO! Nonono, I’m fine!” She was lying, and Lincoln could tell. Lincoln could ALWAYS tell. With a single raised eyebrow, Luna caved.
    “I…just got into a fight with my friend.” Chunk looked up surprised.
    “Sarah?”
    “No, no. Someone else. It’s fine, I promise!” She looked up at Lincoln who still had a skeptical look on his face.
    “…Alright.” Luna smiled and felt relieved. She didn’t feel like explaining to Lincoln the assholes that come with being a teenager.  She turned and began to leave for the living room, before she was stopped by her hand being grabbed. She turned and saw Lincoln’s eyes meeting hers. “Lori asked me to watch out for you, so please, if anything really goes wrong, TELL ME. Okay?” She saw nothing but concern in her brother’s eyes, and her heart panged with emotion at the sight.
    “Y…yeah.” As Luna left back into the living room, Lincoln turned around and sighed. Chunk could only chuckle, leading to a confused look spreading across the boy’s face.
    “What?”
    “It’s weird, Luna never talked about you.”
    “That’s not that strange.”
    “Eh, maybe not. But given how much she talks about the rest o’ er family, her brother especially, it is to me.” Lincoln paused in worry for a moment, before Chunk continued.
    “Her br…Lincoln?” Before, Lincoln couldn’t wait for Chunk to shut up, but now he was leaning in as interested as he could be.
    “Yep. She adores the kid. Says she can’t wait to see him grow up.” Lincoln chuckled at that last part. But before he could respond, Chunk got up and put his thick hand on Lincoln’s shoulder. “And ‘ey, I really hate to ask this of ya. But, could you watch the party for a bit? We’re running out of snacks, and this party’s supposed to last all night. Teens, right?”
    “Haha, r-right. And yeah, no problem.”
    “’ey, thanks. I’ll pick you up something, anything.”
    “Root beer?” Lincoln’s eyes lit up at the possibility of his favorite drink. Chunk just chuckled and shook his head.
    “Christ, a kid at heart, aren’t ya?” Chunk proceeded to turn around and grab a set of keys hanging on the door, and then proceeded outside to the car. Lincoln remained inside, and after hearing a car pull out of the driveway, he got up from his bar stool, and grabbed the glass he was drinking from. He peered out into the living room, making sure everything was going smoothly.
    He met eyes with Luna, who waved at him with a smile, which he would have reciprocated had his phone not begun ringing, Lori’s number on the caller ID. He fumbled to get the phone out of his pocket, before answering.
    “H-hello?”
    “Hey, just checking to see how things are going.” As he heard Lori’s voice, Lincoln began to feel a bit nauseous. He leaned against the counter in the kitchen as he kept talking.
    “Yeah, everythings…fine.”
    “Nothing bad happened yet?” Lori chuckled at the joke, but Lincoln was the one feeling funny. The room kept spinning faster and faster, and found it hard to even speak.
    “Y..yea..no.”
    “Lincoln? Are you alright?” Lincoln could hear the music blaring from the living room and it wasn’t helping him at all.  “Lincoln?” His hand slipped from the counter behind him, resulting in him losing his balance and dropping his glass. The shattering noise alarmed everyone in the living room, including Luna, just in time for her to turn around and be horrified by the sight of her little brother slamming his head against the table as he fell to the floor.
 
 
    “LINCOLN!” Luna pushed through the small crowd in the living room, rushing to his side. He was mumbling into the floor as she slid next to him, careful to avoid any of the broken glass. Lincoln was not as fortunate however, made evident to Luna as she pulled his head up from the floor into her lap. A huge bruise adorned his head where it made brutal contact with the table, and a few shards from the glass had sliced tiny cuts into the side of his face. Panic overtook Luna, as she tried to wake him up with light slaps to the less wounded side of his face. “Nonononono, Bro, c’mon!” Eventually, Lincoln’s eyes fluttered open slowly, a groan emanating from his mouth as the pain in his head caught up with him.
    “You… are you…” Lincoln could barely talk. Luna knew exactly what had happened to Lincoln, she had seen and heard about it happening at concerts with her friends. But Lincoln had been talking to Chunk all night, and was only drinking water and the…Oh no. Immediately, Luna set down her brother gently and grabbed the red cup he was drinking from. She couldn’t tell for sure if there was anything in there, but having it would be good evidence. As she made sure the cup was safe, she turned to yell to the crowd in the living room.
    “GIVE ME SOME HELP HERE!” A motley group formed in the kitchen, slowly helping the incapacitated Lincoln into the living room. He was too heavy to lift onto the couch for the young teen girls, so they sat him on the floor against an ottoman. Lincoln was woozy part from the drugs and part from the head wound, he could only lean forward, his head between his legs.
    “Luna…are…” Concern once again flashed across Luna’s face as she rushed to Lincoln’s side. She petted his hair to his side, stroking it not only to soothe him, but herself as well.
    “Shhh…it’ll be fine, bro.”  With that display of concern however, Luna’s face changed to one of righteous fury. As she looked around the group. She noticed a group of men trying to leave quietly, and noticed a certain grungy teen constantly looking back in worry. “WILL!” With a snarl, she ran through the crowd, shoving the graduate as hard as she could, knocking him back a good foot.
    “HEY…!” Will flung around with a snarl to meet the ferocious punk girl, his friends following suit, but that was all they could do before she let into him again.
    “YOU MOTHERFUCKER!” Shove. “YOU HURT MY FUCKING FAMILY!” Another shove from Luna. “TOO MUCH OF A PUSSY TO GET A GIRL YOURSELF, HUH?!” A big shove. The crowd behind the fighting teens began to move for some reason, but Luna and Will’s group were too busy to notice. “I FUCKING SWEAR YOU PRICK, IF I-“
    “Oh, fuck off you bitch! You’re just as much a cunt as Lori i-“
    WHAM.
    Luna’s eyes went wide as she was pushed out of the way from behind. That surprise was nothing to compared to the one she had as she saw a snarling Lincoln’s fist connect with Will’s face. Before anybody had realized what had happened, Will’s head smashed into the corner of the doorframe behind him dropping him like a rock, as he crumpled in pain on the ground.
It seemed one punch was all Lincoln was good for at the moment, as he struggled to keep his balance after the blow. One of Will’s friends took advantage, grabbing Lincoln’s head, and slamming it down onto his knee. With Lincoln now thoroughly out, Will’s group shoved Lincoln back to the floor, and grabbed Will, making their escape. The majority of the crowd followed after them, if only to get the license plate number, but Luna remained behind with her wounded brother. She cradled his head in her lap once more, her panic from before returning full force, tears streaming down her freckled face.
    “Pleasebeokay, pleasebeokay…!” Her concern for Lincoln was the only thing keeping her from completely breaking down into sobs at this point.  A pang of relief hit her as Lincoln’s brown eyes slowly opened to meet hers.
    “You…are…”
    “What? What is it, bro?” Lincoln had been trying to speak since he first hit the ground in the kitchen, and his limp form could only say one thing after the terrible ordeal. His hand slowly lifted to Luna’s cheek, and quietly spoke.
    “Are you okay?”
    Luna’s eyes went wide in disbelief, and tears immediately began coming full force. For some strange reason, her brother’s concern left her unimaginably pained. She squinted her eyes closed in a vain attempt to halt them, forcing herself to don the most unconvincing of smiles, violently nodding her head, if only for Lincoln’s sake. Lincoln’s hand wiped away a tear from her cheek, and that sentiment sent her back into tears. She grabbed his hand and wiped her eyes with it, mascara and eye liner smudging his large hands as a result. Her crying was interrupted by Lincoln chuckling below her, she looked at him confused, only to meet a sly grin.
    “W-what…?”
    “I’m glad you have such soft thighs, my head’s killing me for some reason…” And that moment was when Lincoln received his third head wound of the night, though it was much more loving than the other two. Luan bent down and kissed her brother’s forehead lovingly, thankful that things didn’t get any worse than they did.
    “Luna, where are…LINCOLN!” Lori appeared at the door, searching for her kin. Relief spread across her face, but it rapidly transitioned to fear when her eyes drifted to Lincoln Lori ran through the door, falling down to her knees next to her two siblings, immediately closing in and inspecting each wound on Lincoln’s face meticulously.  Black eye, dozens of cuts and scrapes on one side of his face, and when she tried to lift his head, Lincoln’s wince told her he had been bashed on the head somehow. “HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!” She looked to Luna with a visage of confusion, fear, and anger.
    “I’ll tell you in the van, but Will Jenkins was here and…” Lori’s face immediately turned sour.
    “That’s all I need to hear.” Lori began to subconsciously stroke her brother’s hair like Luna. Lincoln was aching in the everything, but this in itself wasn’t so bad.
    “Same.” Chunk appeared next in the doorway, his face a mixture of anger and guilt. “I got ten people out ‘ere telling me what happened. You still ‘ave his glass?”
    “Top shelf of the fridge, behind the O.J. One of the plastic ones.” Luna was determined that this wouldn’t go unpunished. Chunk bent down to one knee to get closer to Lincoln.
    “Ey…uh, Lucas. You good with taking a test for this? I mean, they can tell for almost three days an’…”
    “No.” Luna and Chunk both looked at Lori like she was crazy. Luna was especially angry.
    “What do you mean, no?! Our br…cousin is lying here ROOFIED, and you don’t want to take him in to…”
    “The cup will be fine. Our..’cousin’, however…” Lori stared Luna directly in the eyes with a look of gravity, and spoke bluntly. “…won’t be in ‘town’ long enough for him to deal with a trial and act as a witness.” Luna, at first confused at her sister’s statement, eventually realized what Lori meant. Lincoln wouldn’t be ‘Lucas’ for more than a week, anyway. Lisa would make sure of that. Not to mention what could possibly be in Lincoln’s system since he drank that gunk. Luna had no choice but to cave.
    “Sh-she’s right. We just wanna get home, Chunk.”
    “…Right. You get goin’ then. I’ll deal with the clean-up and the cops.”
    “Thanks Chunk.” Luna smiled and got up without disturbing Lincoln to give the family friend a hug. He chuckled and gave her a bear hug in response.
    “Now let’s get your cousin into your hideous van.” And with a single motion, Chunk scooped up Lincoln bridal style, much to the boy’s surprise, and carried him over to the Loud-mobile. With Lincoln lying on Luna’s lap, and Lori driving as usual, the large man stood at the end of the driveway, waving the trio off as they made their way back home.
 
 
    Lori and Luna could barely support their half-comatose brother as they made their way up the sidewalk. Pulling him out of the van was easier, he was still able to help at the time. But now, the deadweight of their brother left them struggling to progress forward. He may have been lean in his form, but the amount of muscle present weighted him down considerably. As they made the first step up the stoop, Lori began laying out a game plan.
    “The…OOMPH… the lights are off. We should be able to get him to bed without anyone noticing him like this.”
    “Yeah, tonight! This isn’t gonna get better by tomorrow morning! I don’t even know if it’ll get better by the time Mom and Dad get…”
    “It’ll be fine!” Lori protested Luna’s complaints, though mostly out of denial. Her punk of a sister was right, she couldn’t gurantee Lincoln would be completely healed by then. But she could at least try and help. “Look, we’ll get him to Mom and Dad’s room, I’ll bandage him up, and you go to bed and try to learn something from tonight.” Luna shifted her feet as the trio stopped at the door.
    “…Are you angry at me?” Lori turned to her little sister, taking note of how innocent she looked when she asked the question. It had been a while since she heard that from her, but hearing it now brought no fond memories, just pangs of guilt and sadness.
    “…Of course not. Will’s always been a complete prick. To me, to Leni, and now you. I’m gonna kill him if I ever see him again.” Luna chuckled and turned her gaze from her feet, back to her eldest sibling. “Plus… it’s my fault too. I got mad at Leni for forgetting that Lincoln’s still her younger brother, but I still told him to look after YOU. I should have made sure you looked after each other.”
    “No, you’re fine, no one could’ve guessed that something like this would…” Lori interrupted her sister’s attempt to console her, her voice breaking a bit in the process.
    “I SHOULD… I should have.” Lori didn’t wait for a response from Luna before she began turning the knob to the front door. The two managed to lift Lincoln over the threshold, before they were blinded and surprised by the living room lights.  Luan and Lynn stood at the top of the stairs, Luan’s finger on the switch that controlled the lights from the upper floor. The tiny heads of the rest of the Loud family surrounded them, peeking around the edges of the stairwell.
    “There you are! Is everything al…ri…” The sporty sister began questioning the three before she, and the rest of the girls saw their beaten and broken brother.
    “OH MY GOD!” Leni was the first to scream out. Lynn raced down the stairs, her hands immediately reaching out to take hold of Lincoln’s hanging head. Lincoln’s hissed in pain even in his half-conscious state, causing the athletic girl to rear back in fear and worry. The older half of the family barreled down to look after their brother, while the younger ones stayed behind.
    The twins instinctively clung to one another tears falling down their faces freely at seeing their brother hurt so badly. Lucy was carrying a wailing Lily, panicked by the commotion. The spooky girl’s mouth hung agape in shock. Even Lisa showed an uncharacteristic amount of emotion, her face plagued by fear, and slight tears forming at the corner of her eyes. Lori and Luna were beginning to have trouble supporting the young man, and things weren’t getting better with three more girls hovering around them. The eldest Loud had enough, and took command of the situation.
    “HEY!” Everyone froze, and looked at their older sister. “Lincoln will be fine. I’ll make sure of that. You three…” Lori directed, pointing to Leni, Luan, and Lynn. “Help me and Luna get him to Mom and Dad’s room. After that, I’m going to patch him up, while the rest of you go to bed.” Lincoln stirred, and managed to move a bit, as if sensing the turmoil occurring in the house. With what strength he had, he managed to lift his arm and form what was attempting to be a thumbs-up. Lori smiled at her brother’s fortitude, and turned her gaze to Lucy at the top of the stairs. “Get your little sister’s to bed, Luce.” Lucy nodded, and rushed the young Louds to bed as she turned her head back to Lincoln, wanting to make sure she got one last look at him…just in case. If there was one funeral she didn’t want to attend, it was his.
    The older half of the house all helped Lincoln into the bedroom, before dropping him on the bed. Lori began to rush everyone out so she could begin with the first aid kit, but the girls all rushed to his side one last time.
    “…Like… I don’t know how someone could do something so mean to someone so wonderful like you.”  Leni kissed him on the forehead before she made her way out, with Luan following. Lynn moved to take her place, but was barely able to speak as she took a close look at her brother.
    “…I-is that g-glass?”
    “He’ll be fine. Luna take her upstairs.” Luna nodded, and tried to grab Lynn by the hand. Lynn however didn’t let her choosing to run out of the room. The eldest and the punk looked at each other one last time, before Luna moved towards the drugged boy.
    “…I love you, bro.” Luna bent down at first to give her brother a kiss on the forehead, like Leni did. However, a last minute decision changed the trajectory of her soft lips, with them landing on Lincoln’s. She lingered for a moment, before she pulled away beginning her walk to her room. She was stopped by something pulling on her shirt.
    She turned to see Lincoln grabbing hold of the hem of her top, trying to grab her attention. She looked at him confused, his eyes half-opened. A smile spread on his face, before he opened his arms. His hands gesturing to come to him, she smiled in return and jumped into a big hug with her brother.
    “I love you too, Luna.” The drugs appeared to be wearing off, as his hand moved up her back, to the back of her head. He pulled it down beneath his chin, kissing the top of her messy hair. She smiled and squeezed him one last time, before she finally made her way out of the room, and up the stairwell. Lori had been quiet the entire exchange, for some reason wanting to ignore it, and was only brought out of her thoughts by Lincoln pulling on her top this time. He gestured to the first aid kit in her hand.
    “That for me?” He smirked knowingly. Lori responded with a relieved smile, in response to her brother’s snarky attitude coming back full force. She opened the kit, and sat on the edge of the bed, while Lincoln crawled up the bed and leaned against the headboard, wondering if Lori was even capable of good bedside manner. He would soon find out.
 
 
 
    “My God, Lincoln… how did you GET like this?” Lori’s face took a paler expression as she actually examined the damage done to Lincoln’s face. Cuts from glass, with a few tiny shards stuck beneath the skin. His eye was black from where one of the attacker’s friend’s kneed him in the eye, at least, according to Luna. And when she lightly tapped around his head, his winces made known the other bruised areas.
    “I dunno. One minute I was talking to you, the next thing I know, my head hurts and some jerk’s messing with Luna.” Lori’s heart sped up as she remembered the moment. She was sitting on the couch, watching TV and twirling her hair as she listened to his voice. Then as she heard glass shatter and voices screaming on the other end, the terrified girl jumped up and out the door.  She’d have to talk to Lincoln about the night’s events.
    “You should have just let those guys go.”
    “Not after what they said about you and Luna.” Lori looked down, unsure of how she should respond to the sentiment. Luna informed her on the shit Will had be saying, and Lincoln’s…appropriate response. She SHOULD tell him not to get into fights, like a good sister does, right? But other feelings got in the way of that. Her furrowed brow betrayed her frustration, and using her brother as a distraction, she shifted the tweezers to her right hand, her left sliding down her brother’s arm, Lincoln saying nothing as she took his hand in hers. She ran her thumb over his bruised knuckles, from pounding Will’s face into a door frame. She turned her head up, meeting eye’s with a confused Lincoln, before she launched herself into him, wrapping her arms around his toned chest. Shocked, the boy looked down to see his sister sobbing into his chest.
    “I’m SO SORRY…” Out of all the conflicting emotions wrestling in her head, sadness was the one that stood out the most. Out of everything that’s happened over the past couple of days, the defining feeling finally found release into her shocked brother’s shoulder.
    “Lori, what’s wro-?!“ Lincoln was still groggy from the drugs, but his sister’s sudden outburst seemingly shocked himout of it.
    “I shouldn’t have let you two go!” She gripped his shirt as she almost began screaming into his arm, only being muffled by the cloth.
    “What?!”
    “I shouldn’t have let Luan spend the night with you!” Lincoln’s eyes went. He thought she was okay with what happened, despite him feeling a bit guilty as well.
    “Lor-“
    “I shouldn’t have yelled at Leni…”
    “Lori, it’s okay, she won’t –“
    “WHY CAN’T I BE A GOOD SISTER TO ALL OF YOU?!”  Lincoln froze. Lori’s crying softened, but she remained wrapped around her brother. “It’s… It’s weird. I always felt so…jealous. Of you.” Lincoln looked down at the blonde head of hair against his chest.
    “…Wh-?”
    “And not just jealous, I… looked up to you? Even before you grew two feet overnight, as weird as that sounds.” She forced a chuckle at her own joke. “You could always… talk to them. About anything!” Lori wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “And… you’re not even a girl. Like, I’m LITERALLY the big sister! Shouldn’t I be the one they go to? But no, they go to you. And you’re great at it.”
    “Lori, you know they love you. I love you, like I love all my sisters. I’d die for you gu- “Lincoln couldn’t finish that sentence before Lori yelled into his chest once again, her eyes squinted up with tears once again..
    “DON’T SAY THAT!” Lincoln recoiled at the shout, but soon eased back into his sister to comfort her. “…Please, don’t say that when your face is beat to shit.”
    “…Alright.” Lincoln took his bruised hand, and placed it on his crying sister’s arm. He rubbed it lovingly to console her, and it seemed to work as she calmed down and leaned further into him as he brought his other arm around to hold her. “But they love you Lori. They trust you to be there for them. They need you.”
    “But…”
    “When I need you." Lori turned her face up to her brother. Tears still stained her cheeks, but they had stopped flowing. Lincoln’s eyes were carried a familiar sadness that her own had many a time as she saw her family grow up and deal with issues themselves.  A strange sight, the elder sister being held by the younger brother. His arms wrapped around her form, cradling it as they both stared off into one another’s eyes. Lori smiled dreamily for only a moment however, before broke into tears again, however.
    “I’m such a shitty sister…” Lincoln’s eyes went wide; he had JUST explained why that wasn’t the case.
    “Lori, the girls care for you and I love you with all my heart, why do you think you’rMMMPH!” Lincoln couldn’t finish his sentence as he received Lori’s answer. Her lips were soft as they wrapped around Lincoln’s. The boy’s eyes slowly shut as he melted into his sister’s taste, a familiar sweetness filled his senses as his tongue tasted her own. Before he could completely disappear into the moment, his sister pulled away, leaning back into his arms which were still holding her up. She wasn’t quite sure who she was speaking to, but regardless it needed to be said.
    “I love you, Lincoln.”
 
 
    Lori lifted herself up, continuing the kiss, diving back into him with surprising force. The young man memorized the soft feeling of his sister’s lips, returning the deep kiss. Both sides grew more and more voracious as they explored each other’s’ mouths, growing hungrier for each other by the second. Lori gently pushed Lincoln against the headboard of the bed, feeling a growing wetness between her legs. She slid her hand slowly up his chest. Without realizing, her hand made its way up to Lincoln’s wounded cheek. They were both brought out of the moment immediately, Lincoln by the sharp sting of his sister’s touch, Lori by the hiss of pain he made.
    Lori brought her hand to her mouth apologetically, not wanting to hurt Lincoln any more than… he… had. As the thought about her brother’s wellbeing crossed her mind, so did the implications of the situation. The same implications she discussed with Leni. The ones she WANTED to discuss with Luan.  She backed up from a confused Lincoln, almost knocking the first aid kit off the bed in her haste, quickly running to the door. Her panicked hands began fiddling with the door, and as the door to their parents’ room opened, Lincoln’s voice interrupted her exodus.
    “WAIT!” She didn’t look at him. She couldn’t. She just gripped the handle harder, resting her head against the wood of the door. Her stillness signified Lincoln to continue. “I… I get what you said, before.” Lori turned around, confused at what Lincoln was talking about. He began to rise from the bed, and she instinctively inched closer to him, worried about his current state, only to be stopped by him raising a hand as Lincoln made his way closer to her.
    “What do you me-“Lincoln interrupted as he stepped closer.
    “Be calm.”
    “Wha-, it’s kind of hard to be-“ Lincoln was only a foot away, moving closer to his wide-eyed sister. He moved close, one of his hands resting on her shoulder. Her eyes darted to the sudden touch, before another hand rested on her cheek, guiding her gaze back to his face.
    “Be caring.”
    “Wait, what are you-“ Lori didn’t think her eyes could get any wider, as she realized Lincoln was referencing their talk in the van.  His thumb gently rubbed her cheek, as he brought his face closer to hers. Both their hearts were beating like drums, and the tempo intensified as he brought his face as close as possible to hers without actually touching.
    “Be loving.” And with that, Lincoln moved in to kiss Lori. It was different from before, much more tender, a detail Lori remembered from Leni’s telling of her encounter with Lincoln, and Lori found herself surprised at just how right her ditz of a sister was. Lincoln broke the kiss, and stared down into his dazed sister’s eyes, chuckling at just how cute she was like this. The young man was about to lean in for another embrace, but found himself stopped by Lori’s hands.
    “W-wait.”
    “What?” She looked at him strangely, unable to find the right words, before sliding her hands off of him. She turned away to the door.  “Wait, Lor- “Before Lincoln could stop her, she made her way out the door, shutting it behind her.
   
    And he was left alone.
   
    Unable to process what just happened, he slowly slumped back to the bed, plopping into it. Did he do something wrong? Well, besides the obvious lusting after his sister, he meant. He thought he was rather smooth. A frown adorned his face, feeling robbed of the chance to actually CHOOSE what happened to him since this whole ordeal began.  Taking note of just how sweaty the past few minutes had left him, he began to yank off his shirt. Mid-removal, he heard the door began to open again. He quickly finished taking off the article of clothing, and his eyes grew to the size of plates at what he saw once the shirt left his head.
    Lori was standing sheepishly at the door, hands behind her back, and gaze turned away from her brother. She had nothing on but a set of sky-blue lingerie, with fanciful patterns adorning see-through fabric, which kept her most vulnerable places just out of sight. Lincoln’s jaw was on the floor.
    “Oh my god...” It was all he could say. Lori’s blush deepened further, but the corners of her mouth turned slightly upward at the sentiment.
    “S-shut up, twerp.” Lincoln’s attention to his sister’s figure was broken by the fidgeting of her hands. He noticed she was carrying something behind her. “N-now, before we do this, I wasn’t kidding about protection.” She brought a box from behind her, one Lincoln knew well. It was black and gold, with the word MAGNUM on the front. She opened the package, and ripped a single condom from one of the chains inside.
“Where did you-“
“…You dropped one in the van.”
    The two of them just stared at each other for what seemed like a long minute. Lori occasionally twirling the condom between her fingers, dwelling on the fact that she was actually using it, let alone who she was using it with. The awkward silence was broken by Lincoln.
    “So…why do you like the ribbed ones?” Lori’s face blushed deeper, going well with the surprised look on her face.
    “W-well, you see… they… well, they have these ridges that…” She looked up to see Lincoln chuckling at her trying to find the right way to explain to her brother. “…Y’know, SHUT UP, you’ll find out!” Lincoln’s laughter stopped immediately, as Lori dived into the bed with him, about to give the third part of the lesson she had started last night.
 
 
 
    She shoved him on his back, her hands gripped Lincoln’s waistband tightly, tentatively pulling them down his legs. The teen paused as they seemed to snag on some…thing… oh. OH. The blush on her face grew as she realized Leni really WASN’T exaggerating. With a sharp pull, the cloth of his pants made their way past the obstacle, and Lincoln’s member almost slapped her in the face as it stood at attention.
    “U-uhm…WOW.” Lori couldn’t take her eyes off it. She felt full just LOOKING at Lincoln’s member. She slowly grasped it in her hand and began making long strokes. Lincoln’s mouth went agape at the soft feeling of his sister’s hand.
    “That feels –“
    “I know, twerp.” Lori smirked. She hated to admit it, but she took a masochistic pleasure seeing Lincoln buck his hips into her hand, desperately trying to match her strokes. Her eyes kept drifting between Lincoln’s pleasured face and his large rod. Without realizing, she found herself drifting towards it, lips watering as she was about to take it in her mouth, and her second set of lips beginning to dampen as well.
    “H-hey…” Lori was broken out of her trance by Lincoln’s hand on the side of her head.
    “W-what’s wrong?” Despite Lori’s eagerness, she was still a nervous mess, not wanting this to go wrong in anyway. It’s why she started with by using her hand. She had never received a bad word about her technique in that department.
    “Nothing, but…”
    “But…?”
    “Can I do it to you first?” Lori paused, startled at being offered the service. She wasn’t used to it, Bobby sure as hell never did it without promise of a blowjob afterwards. The feeling of shock was soon replaced by embarrassment, her face turning redder than a firetruck as she pictured what Lincoln would be doing to her if she accepted. Feeling herself getting wetter, she shifted her legs as she tried to shift the conversation.
    “U-uhm! I don’t… I mean…!”
    “Won’t you like it?”
    “Oh GOD ye-but, I don’t know if-AGH!”
    With a quick motion, Lincoln hopped off the bed, ripping himself from Lori’s grip. At first saddened by the lack of his cock in her hand, she was surprised by two strong hands gripping her hips, flipping her into lying on the edge of the bed. She instinctively crossed her legs as she sat up, meeting Lincoln’s pleading eyes as he kneeled beneath her, his hands rubbing her legs assuredly. As her heartbeat built up, her resistance wore down, as she spread her legs for her brother.
    Lincoln, noticing the wet spot on his sister’s underwear, Lincoln slid his hand from Lori’s leg to her inner thigh. With his thumb, he lightly traced the elegant patterns on her panties, slowly making his way down to the lower regions. Lori bit her lips in nervousness and anticipation, every movement her brother’s thumb resulting in heavier breaths. Said breathing was cut short, when Lincoln’s thumb jumped to the bottom of her slit, sliding upwards, the motion ending in a twirl on her hardened clit.
    All doubts from Lincoln’s mind on whether he was doing a good job or not faded away as he felt Lori’s legs tighten around him, a shiver shooting through her body as it tensed up in response to the pleasure. He looked up to see Lori’s pleasured face. Her eyes half open, biting her lip, eagerly looking at Lincoln for more. Lincoln reached slid his fingers through Lori’s panties, looking up at her one last time for the go-ahead. She nodded her head quickly, not wanting to wait anymore. She raised her hips, making it easier for Lincoln to remove her underwear. As her panties slid down her legs, Lincoln was mesmerized by his sister’s pussy.
    Not a strand of hair to be seen, he felt the heat coming from his sister’s depths as he inched closer to her lips. Glistening from the light of the nightstand lamp, her folds invited him to taste. Lincoln’s hands grabbed Lori’s hind, pulling her closer to him. Her hands rested on his head, pulling his head closer to her. For a moment, the siblings just stared at each other, looking into each other’s eyes in silence, wondering if this was still okay to do.
 
    Lori’s moans answered the question for both of them.
 
    Lincoln’s tongue slid into his sister’s crevice, desperate to taste her. Lori’s legs immediately tightened around her brother’s head locking him between her legs, as if to make sure he couldn’t escape. Her nails dug into his scalp as his tongue continued its motions, and she thought if she bit her lip any harder, she would draw blood. Lincoln’s tongue slid out of Lori’s crevice, taking time to take long strokes on her outer lips. The feeling of Lori’s soft thighs tightening around his head was surprising pleasant, and he strove to have them tighten even further.
    Lori began bucking her hips into Lincoln, trying to get his tongue into the right spot, trying to get it deep as possible. He could hear her moans muffled through the soft flesh of her legs clamped around his ears, and they egged him to dig further into his sister. His cock was dripping with pre-cum onto the floor as Lori’s lust dripped down his chin.
    “Pleasedon’tstop, pleasedon’tstop, oh PLEASEDON’TSTOP!!” Lori shouted as she lost her mind in pleasure as Lincoln’s tongue made it right where she wanted it to be. Lori grinded furiously on her brother’s face as he hungrily devoured her, constantly lifting her ass off the bed to get Lincoln further inside her. Almost being knocked off balance by Lori’s thrusts, Lincoln grabbed onto her as hard as he could, and cemented himself inside her depths, his tongue wildly swirling around inside his sister.
    “Lincoln, I’m gonna cum! I’mgonnacum, I-, I-, I’MCUMMING!”
    Lori locked her legs around her brother’s head, nails tearing into his scalp as her climax sent tremors throughout her body. Her legs quaked as she panted heavily in response to the amazing orgasm. Lincoln happily licked up all of Lori’s release, his slight movements sending her into multiple spasms.
    Lori eventually fell back on the bed in exhaustion. She felt relieved, for various reasons. She lifted her head up, noticing Lincoln was still between her legs. He looked up into her eyes, and she began to grow excited again at his visage. Rustled hair hanging on his forehead, strands of her fluids connecting her depths to his chin, a dazed look in his eye. All of it sent her wild. But that was nothing to what came next.
    “Lori…?”
    “Y…yeAAHH?!” She was cut short by Lincoln slowly licking her lower lips. She threw her head back and shivered in ecstasy as his tongue glided over her slit, ending on her swollen clit. Her gaze returned to her brother as he looked up at her, licking his own lips after tasting hers. A sly smile grew on his face.
    “You taste good.” Lori’s eyes became hearts, as she became completely engulfed by lust, throwing her arms around Lincoln’s shoulder, and with an alarming amount of strength, pulled him up to continue the night they would spend together.
 
The next morning came onto the home slowly, but surely. Golden sunbeams were cast through the windows, slowly creeping their way up messy beds that filled the household. One bed in particular was EXCEPTIONALLY messy, given what took place in it the night prior.
Lori slowly awoke from her slumber, content. That was one of the best nights of sleep she had had in ages. Also one of the best nights of-
“Mmmmgh…” Lori’s thoughts were chased away by the grumbles of her bedmate. She felt the warm presence behind her back, and giggled softly. All feelings of doubt and regret were soundly fucked out of her last night, and she looked forward to surprising the young man. First with breakfast, then something else.
The blonde carefully slid from beneath the covers, making sure to tiptoe to the door. She looked back at her brother, and giggled at how his white hair only peeked from beneath the blankets, the rest of him keeping warm. Quietly opening the door, making sure to step in all the right spots to avoid making a noise, she danced her way to the kitchen. Lincoln wasn’t the only one who could cook for the family, and she wanted to thank him properly. And proper thanking needed proper cooking.
Something good.
Something filling.
Something better than simple bacon and eggs.
 
French toast.
 
Yes, the meal of choice for the TRUE breakfast connoisseur. Pancakes? Flat, like her sisters. Flapjacks? Horrible show, horrible meal. WAFFLES?! Be gone with ye. Yes, French toast was perfect.
As she gathered the ingredients from the cupboard, she heard a door open in the hallway, quickly followed by the pitter-patter of feet. One of the girls must have woken up early. She kept quiet, and listened until she heard a door shut.
“Just a bathroom run.” She knew them well, best to get them early as possible in the morning. She continued cooking, adding cinnamon with the scrambled yolks, and began submerging the bread slices one by one, flipping them from plate, to egg, to stove, then back to plate. Simple and sublime, all the time.
The eldest Loud set a small breakfast set out, even going so far to place a freshly-picked flower between the two spaces she had arranged. One for her, and the other for, well, y’know. Lori laughed, it had been a while since she’d been this giddy.
Her happiness was cut short by the sound of a slow march down the stairwell. She grimaced at having to explain the lack of food for her sisters, but after flexing some muscle on the minors, they’d fall into line. Finally, the footsteps made it to the linoleum, and she flipped around, lecture-mode engaged.
“Now listen, I know you’re hungry, but… you..” She stopped. She was taken aback by what she saw. Feelings she thought had been pushed out came rushing back.
Fear.
Confusion.
Shame.
 
“Hey.” It was all Lincoln could say. The tall blonde’s eyes went even wider at his voice. It was familiar, but the last thing she wanted to hear after last night. Lincoln made his way to the fridge, grabbing the gallon of milk, before making his way to the cupboard. He reached to grab his signature mug, barely able to grasp it on the bottom shelf. Pouring himself a glass, he sat at one of the placemats set by Lori. He hung his head for a few seconds, before lifting his head up at her, meeting her gaze.
 
Lori held her eyes with his for only a moment, before she set the plate of toast down. She slowly walked out of the kitchen and upstairs, moving at a snail’s pace. Lincoln heard the door to her and Leni’s room quietly close, followed by deathly silence.
 
And Lincoln was alone.