96. Ch 96- Guilty Heart

It was maybe ten minutes after she returned to class that Lincoln did the same. Other than some dirt that had been cleaned off his face, he looked the same as he did when he went into the nurse's office. His busted lip was the only damage that she could see, which wasn't surprising, since most of the hits he had taken were to his gut and chest. He still had one hand around his midsection, but otherwise seemed okay, which he assured his friends that he was when they asked him. However, when lunchtime came around, and he sat with her and their friends in the cafeteria, she noticed that he did seem quiet. Of course, when she asked him about it, he chalked it up to being shaken from the incident, and although she wasn't convinced by that answer, she knew him well enough to leave it at that.

From there, the day drifted on as usual. Other than a couple of people murmuring about the fight, neither Jordan nor Lincoln heard mention of the incident or the jerk responsible, and they were able to maintain their focus on their lessons until the final bell eventually rang, and they were dismissed by Mrs Johnson to head home. While everyone else was as quick as usual to gather their things, get up from their desks and head out of the classroom, Jordan noticed that Lincoln was taking his time. Worried that he was still in pain, she hung back while her friends went ahead. "You okay?" she asked when he finally got to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered. "Just wanted to wait for the halls to empty a little, so I don't get hurt again."

"That makes sense. How are you feeling?"

"Not bad. It's mostly just bruised now." He then chuckled before adding, "of course, they'll probably start to hurt again when my sisters hug me."

"Oh, poor you!" she jokingly cooed. The boy stuck his tongue out at this, making her giggle as they went to their lockers, now that the mass of students had started to thin out. "So, what are you going to be doing when you get home?"

"Well, assuming that my sisters don't go overboard in trying to care for me, I'll probably just try and relax. Of course, I usually do yoga with Lynn on Mondays, so assuming I don't feel too much pain, there's that too."

"I'm sure your sisters won't go overboard."

He turned to her with a joking dubious look. "You do remember my sisters, right?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're making it sound like they'll make you a bandage mummy." She expected a comment, but when he didn't, she turned to him with mild concern. "They… they haven't done that before, have they?"

"You'd be surprised," was all he told her, which was enough for her eyes to widen.

"You're kidding! For what?"

"Trust me, you wouldn't believe it."

Though her disbelief was heavy, she chose not to press him after she saw something. "Better watch out, then. The nurses are coming for you."

"What?" She pointed behind him, and he turned around just in time to see both the twins and Lisa run towards him, immediately wrapping their arms around his waist and legs. "Hey, now! Take it easy! Still a little tender there, okay?"

"Sorry, Lincoln," the twins apologised, easing on the hug while he returned the gesture. "We were just worried.

"Yeah," Lana agreed. "When we saw what happened, we wanted to find you straight away, but we didn't know until after lunch."

"It's fine, girls. You don't need to—" He paused, finally realising what Lana had said. "Wait, what do you mean, you saw what happened?"

"A witness provided video evidence of the transpiring events on digital networking sites," Lisa explained. "In other words, it's all over social media."

"Ugh, great. As if getting beaten up wasn't bad enough, now everyone's seen it."

"Don't worry, Lincoln," they heard a familiar voice reply, jumping as they turned to Lucy. "You've actually had a good reception from the video."

"What… what are you talking about?"

"Most people aren't talking about how you got beaten up. They're mostly shaming the bully for what he did, and praising you for trying to protect Jordan." The two sixth graders looked to each other, a light blush filling their cheeks, but neither spoke before Lucy hugged her brother. "I'm just glad you're okay."

He couldn't help but smile as he hugged her back. "Don't worry, Lucy. I'm okay." They eventually let go, allowing Lincoln to tell his younger sisters, "come on. We'd better not keep Lori waiting."

The girls agreed, before following their brother and his friend out of the school. When they got to the bottom of the steps and saw no sign of Vanzilla, they stood on the grass next to the steps as they waited for the van to arrive. Whilst doing so, Jordan felt a tap on her wrist, which she found came from Lisa. "What's up, Lisa?"

"Forgive me for asking this," the young genius told her, "but after seeing the footage of earlier events, there is one detail I would like to pick your brain over." Understanding the gist of what Lisa was saying, the older girl nodded. "Before things turned violent, you went to comfort our brother. Did he experience a psychological episode?"

"Sadly, I did," Lincoln confirmed. "He mentioned…" He swallowed hard, gripping his wrist to prevent another episode happening then and there. "Well, you know."

"But he didn't know why that got to you," Jordan reminded him, feeling her anger towards the bully return. "He just wanted to get a rise out of you."

"Wait," Lucy cut in. "Lincoln told you about that?"

"It sort of came up a few weeks back, yeah. I asked him about it, and he wasn't too comfortable doing so, but he did tell me about what happened."

"Hmm… interesting."

Jordan would have questioned what that meant, had she not seen a familiar van approach. "Brace yourself, Linc."

The boy looked forward as Vanzilla slowed to a stop in front of the school. His older sisters all got out a moment later, wasting no time in pulling their only brother into a group hug. "Thank God you're literally okay," Lori spoke first.

"Yeah," Leni whimpered. "We were, like, totes worried about you."

"That dude's gonna hope I don't kick his brains around the floor for what he did," Luna half growled, half cried.

"He's lucky it's not April Fools Day," Luan added. "Otherwise, I'd prank him so hard, he'd be pulling whipped cream out of his clothes for weeks!"

"Girls, I— I appreciate the thought," Lincoln told them, "but… you're hugging me a little too tightly." Realising what they were doing, the five eldest sisters released him, apologising for being so brash. "It's okay, don't worry." He then noticed that Lynn was glancing around, her eyes emanating a harsh glare. "Lynn? You okay?"

"Don't worry about me, bro," she told him gruffly. "Just waiting for that jerk to show his face."

He frowned, knowing what she was implying. "Lynn, he will have already been sent home for fighting. He's not here."

She scoffed. "Lucky for him, then. He won't be as lucky tomorrow."

"Lynn, don't do it. I told you last time, there's no point in you getting in trouble for what he did. It's better if you just drop it."

"Sorry, bro, but not this time. I'm not letting him get away with this."

"Is that so?" they heard Principal Huggins ask, the balding man approaching. "I can't imagine that your coaches would turn a blind eye towards you beating up a younger student."

She scoffed again. "Maybe, but I'm not going to let him beat up my brother and walk away from it."

"Well, I can assure you that he has not gotten off freely. Due to repeated offences, he and his friends have been expelled from this school."

"Well, it's about time!" Lola yelled. "That meanie better not show his face anywhere near here again, or he will be sorry!"

The other girls all nodded in solidarity, to which the aged man couldn't help but crack a small smile. "While I can appreciate your family bond, I assure you that the faculty will handle any incidents should they arise." He then looked to the white haired boy. "Mr Loud, I have already informed your parents of what happened. If they think of anything they would like to ask, they can do so via email or visit me tomorrow."

"Yes, sir," Lincoln replied. The man nodded back to him before walking away, after which Lincoln turned to his sisters again. "There you go. You don't need to do anything about this, now."

"Actually, Lincoln, we literally do," Lori argued, before her eyes landed on the Rosato girl. "We can't thank you enough for standing up for our brother again."

Jordan looked at her with confusion. "What are you talking about? He stood up for me after I got punched."

"No, they're right," Lincoln assured her. "You only got hit because you were standing up for me after… well, after what he said. You only got hurt because he had his issues with me. Thank you for doing that."

"Lincoln, don't be silly. I got hurt because Markus is an evil jerk, and I would always have stood up for you." She smiled as she added, "if anything, I should be thanking you for stopping him from hurting me more."

"Hey, you did the same for me, remember?"

She giggled a little. "Yeah, you're right. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Oh, uh, sure." She gave a small wave and began to walk away, making Lincoln frown a little. Before Lori or his sisters could get back in the van, he grabbed his oldest sister's arm and gestured for her to come closer. Doing so, she leaned down enough for him to whisper in her ear, and when she backed up and looked at his blushing face, she happily nodded. He gave her a small hug, then began to catch up with his friend. "Wait up!"

She stopped walking and allowed Lincoln to catch up. "What are you doing? Shouldn't you be heading home with your sisters?"

"Actually, I was… hoping I could walk you home?" he admitted. "I know you said it wasn't my fault, but… I still feel kind of guilty about what happened, and… well, there was something I wanted to tell you in private."

Her initial thought to tell him to let it go and stop blaming himself was cut short by the latter part of his sentence, which sparked her interest. "Oh… sure, you can walk with me."

"Thanks."

So, the two of them walked away from the school and began the trip towards her house. They talked as they went on their way, mostly about anything other than the fight and the showcase. However, Jordan noticed once again that Lincoln didn't seem to be as talkative as she knew him to be. 'Is he still shaken from what happened?' she pondered after they crossed the road. 'He doesn't seem shaken… or, if he is, he's good at hiding it.'

She didn't give it too much thought, as they turned onto her street and approached her house. Before they could get there, they saw a grey utility car park outside of it, with Mr Rosato stepping out of the driver side door after it reached a stop. As he shut the door behind him, he saw the two kids approaching and quickly noticed the bruising over his daughter's eye, which had now turned a dark purple. A concerned frown now displayed on his face, he jogged over to the two of them. "Jordan!" He called out. When he got to his daughter, he kneeled down in front of her and placed one hand on her shoulder, with the other one on her cheek. "What happened? Does it hurt?"

"Dad, I'm fine," she told him, giving a small reassuring smile. "It doesn't hurt anymore. Didn't Principal Huggins call you?"

"No, any time your school calls, they either call your mother or the home phone, since I'm usually working later. Still, I'm glad you're okay." She smiled more before she gave him a hug, an action which he couldn't resist returning. When he looked to his left, however, he noticed how the boy she had been walking with was now looking down, almost shamefully. This sent off alarms in the back of the man's mind, so he let go of his daughter and stood up straight. "Lincoln, right?" The boy stiffened a little at the gruffness in his voice, looking up to meet his stern gaze. "Would you mind telling me how exactly my daughter ended up with a black eye?"

Jordan looked back and forth between her friend and her father, quickly realising what the latter was implying. "Dad, it's not Lincoln's fault."

"Yes, it was," Lincoln defeatedly admitted.

"No, it wasn't! Lincoln, I—"

"Hold on, Sweetie," Brad interrupted. "I need to hear his version first, okay? That way, I can tell if he's lying or not."

"Dad, he's not—"

"He's right," Lincoln told her, then turned to face the man again. "The reason Jordan got hurt was because she was standing up for me. A guy who has had issues with me for months now started to cause trouble, and when Jordan told him off for it, he…" He gulped, the memory sending a flood of anger and sadness through his brain. "He punched her."

"But that's not your fault! And what he did to me was nothing compared to what he did to you and Artie."

Brad looked at the male Loud more closely, noticing the busted lip. "You don't look like you've taken too much damage."

"That's because he mostly punched me in the stomach." He unconsciously put a hand to the targeted area, before shaking his head and sighing. "But he wouldn't have even hurt you or Artie if it wasn't because of me. I wouldn't have minded so much if it had just been me that got hurt by—"

"Stop it!" He turned to Jordan again, this time seeing her look red from her own mixture of anger and sadness, signified by brimming tears in her eyes. "Stop saying it's your fault! You did nothing to deserve him being such a bully to you, or to get beaten up by him, and even if that was true, there would be nothing he could say or do that would make me not want to be friends with you, or stand up for you against a jerk like him. You are so much better than this, so please… stop blaming yourself."

Hearing the way she almost began to breakdown while saying this, it really got to Lincoln. He had felt bad enough to see her get hurt physically, but hearing that she felt that way was much worse for him. "I'm… I'm sorry. I know you're right, I just… I can't help but feel responsible."

"Well, you shouldn't," they heard another voice remind him. Looking behind him, he saw Jen approaching with her phone in her hand. "I just saw the video of what happened, and that was in no way your fault. If that little punk had tried that around me, I would have done just what you did. You stood up for her after she stood up for you, and you stopped her from getting hurt worse. Ain't that right, sis?"

Jordan nodded, which made Lincoln feel a little better, but he froze again at hearing the hum the man gave, turning all attention to him. "Lincoln, I wasn't there, so I don't know what happened. I also don't know you that well…" Lincoln felt a bit of fear arise in his gut, but that faded when Mr Rosato gave him a half smile. "But I trust my daughters dearly, and if they say it's not your fault, then neither should you. It seems clear to me that you didn't hurt her, and that you're only hurting yourself by thinking so. I went through my fair share of that growing up, so trust me. It's better to put that behind you. It's over now."

"I guess you're right, sir," he told him, then gave a small smile to Jordan. "You too, Jordan. Thanks."

"You don't need thank me, Lincoln," she replied. "It's okay."

"Well," Brad spoke once more, "since your mother isn't here yet, I'd better get started on dinner."

"I'd better help with that," Jen offered. "Don't want you to burn the kitchen down."

"As if you're any better." The older of the two girls rolled her eyes before heading into the house, leaving Brad to turn to the two elementary schoolers. "I'll leave you two to talk."

"Thanks, Dad." Once the man had entered the house, Jordan faced her friend once more. "So… earlier, you said you wanted to… tell me something?"

Lincoln looked confused for a second, before blushing as he remembered what he was going to tell her. "Oh, uh, r-right… honestly, it… seems kind of pointless now, but I was going to… w-well, apologise again for what happened."

She gave a soft yet warm laugh. "Well, you don't need to. I meant what I said, you're better than that."

"I don't know about that. Honestly, you're the one that's great."

"Oh, really? What makes me so great?"

"More like, what isn't great about you? You're smart, you're funny, you're strong and you're caring. You're just so amazing, it's hard to even put into words."

"M-Me?" As if his words hadn't already made her cheeks glow, the nod and smile he gave only added to her blush, though she wasn't the only one lit up like a candle. "Th-Thanks, but… you're pretty amazing yourself, Lincoln. Don't forget that, okay?" He nodded once more and pulled her into a hug, one that she not only returned but couldn't help but notice felt much more... embracing...

It was later in the evening, and Jen sat in her room at her desk, dressed in light blue pyjamas and finishing the last of her homework. As she closed her book and put down her pen, she widened her arms and gave a yawn. "Well, time to hit the hay," she told herself. She stood up from her desk and headed towards her door, planning to go to the bathroom and begin her bedtime routine. However, upon opening the door, she saw that her younger sister was stood before her. She too was in her pyjamas, but she had her head hung low, hiding the mild embarrassment in her face. "Jordan? What are you doing here? It's getting late, we've both got school tomorrow."

"I was hoping we could… talk," Jordan quietly explained, though it only left Jen with more questions than answers. "Can I come in?"

"Sure thing." She stepped aside, allowing them to sit side by side on the older girl's bed. Jen was looking to the younger girl, but she was just looking down at her lap. "So, what's up? Is your eye feeling okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine now. Just gonna look like this for a couple of days or so."

"Well, if you want, I can help you cover it with makeup in the morning."

"Thanks, but that's okay. I'm not really bothered by it."

"Okay. So, what's on your mind, sis? Still thinking about what happened earlier?"

"No. Well, yeah, but... I mean, not exactly..."

Jen processed that, but found that nothing came to mind. "What does that mean?"

Jordan looked away slightly, rubbing the back of her arm as she began to blush. "Do you… do you remember when you told me… that if any thing changes, you wanted to be the first to know?"

"First to know… first to know…"

"You know, about me and… him…"

"Him?" It took her a few more seconds, but she eventually went wide eyed as it finally hit her. "Wait… you mean…" Though she shrunk slightly as she turned pure red, Jordan did give her a shy nod, so Jen gave a big grin and pulled her closer, resisting the urge to squeal. "Jordan? Tell me everything."