9. Chapter 9

So, this is Chapter 9. Like I said, this is a very important so I hope you like it. Also, check out my other fanfic "Loud Pack". Now I don't own nothing. Loud House is owned by Chris Savino and Liberty is owned by Omega Ultra.

Chapter 9

As the days went by, Lincoln showed signs of improvement, though they were very small. One thing that the family noticed was that Lincoln was starting to get involved more around the house. The first case was a few days ago. The girls were doing their chores and since Lincoln was still getting used to things, he didn't have any. As Lincoln walked through the house, he noticed that all the garbage cans were overflowing. This was something that confused him. Luan, who was doing the dishes with Lynn and Lucy, noticed Lincoln's expression.

"Hey Lincoln." Luan greeted. "Something up?"

"Uh, who takes out the garbage?" Lincoln asked. The three girls exchanged glances, trying to figure out how to answer the question.

"Well, taking out the garbage isn't really anyone's job." Lynn answered.

"Yeah. Usually, dad just randomly picks one of us to take it." Lucy explained.

"Oh. I see." Lincoln said while staring at the garbage can.

The girls then went back to doing the dishes. A few seconds later, they heard grunting. They turned around and saw Lincoln pulling the garbage out of the trash can. The girls watched with shock as Lincoln walked around the house and going into each room that contained garbage cans. Soon enough, all the girls were watching in awe as Lincoln continued to collect the trash around the house. Lincoln then took the trash out to the curb and then went around the house and quickly replaced the garbage bags in each can while the family looked on with awe.

The second case was the day after that. Lori was in the living room texting Bobby when she noticed Lincoln hesitantly walking up to her. He looked a little nervous, but also determined.

"Hey Lincoln." Lori greeted kindly. "Do you need something?" She noticed that Lincoln looked a little nervous, so she decided to give him some encouragement. "It's ok Lincoln. Like I said when you moved in, feel free to ask me anything." Lincoln then took a deep breath and looked up at the seventeen year old.

"Um, can you take me to the comic book store?" Lincoln asked nervously. "I, uh, talked to Clyde a couple days ago and he told me that every week the comic book store sells the new issues of the Ace Savvy comic." He then stopped as he started to rub his arm, which the girls noticed that he did that when he was nervous. "But if you're busy, I understand."

"No Lincoln it's ok. I'm not busy. I'll take you to the comic book store." Lori told him gently. She then gently led him to Vanzilla and after convincing Lincoln that he didn't have anything to fear when it came to the minivan. An hour later, the two returned home with Lincoln carrying his new Ace Savvy comic in his hands.

"Thanks Lori." Lincoln said with a smile.

"You're welcome Lincoln." Lori said kindly. With that Lincoln took his comic to his room leaving Lori in the living room with a smile on her face.

While Lincoln did get better, he was still shy. One thing that the family noticed was that Lincoln didn't like to be in large crowds. They first noticed this when they decided to go to the movies.

Flashback

As the Loud Family entered the movie theater, the first thing they noticed that it was unusually crowded.

"Wow. There are a lot of people here today." Leni said with surprise.

"Well this movie did get a good review from critics and was named number one film of last year." Lisa pointed out.

As everyone made their way to the ticket line, Lynn Sr. noticed that Lincoln wasn't following them. As he looked around, he saw the young boy standing at the edge of the crowd, and from the looks of it, he was starting to freak out.

"Lincoln? Are you ok?" Lynn Sr. asked. Lincoln didn't answer. Mainly because he was starting to hyperventilate.

"Lincoln honey. Are you alright?" Rita asked concerned. Lincoln was really sweating and panting heavily. As she wondered why this could be, she took a look around and noticed Lincoln was staring at all the people in the theatre. As Rita thought about it, she came to the realization that Lincoln might not like big crowds of people.

"Lynn, we might have a problem." Rita told her husband.

"I know." Lynn Sr. told her. "Ok. I'm going to take Lincoln home. You girls enjoy the movie. Call me when the movie is over and I'll come pick you guys up."

"Ok honey." Rita said. "C'mon girls. Let's go."

"Mom, is Lincoln going to be ok?" Lana asked.

"I don't know honey." Rita said with a worried expression.

End Flashback

Since the incident at the movie theatre, everyone agreed it was for the best if Lincoln didn't attend their events. But they also knew that he didn't like to be left alone. So, every time the family went to one of the girls' events, Rita, Lynn Sr. or one of the older girls stayed behind to keep him company.

On Saturday, the Loud house was unusually quiet as there were currently only two people within the house. One was Lincoln who was currently in his room. The other was Luna who was in her room practicing for a gig she had Sunday. The rest of the family was at Lynn's baseball game. Luna volunteered to stay behind with Lincoln so that she could keep an eye on him, but also prepare for her gig on Sunday. After practicing for an hour, she decided to go check on Lincoln.

As she opened Lincoln's door, she saw him sitting on his bed with Charles lying next to him holding a picture frame.

"Hey Lincoln." Luna said. "What do you got there?" Lincoln jumped a little at the sound of her voice.

"Hi Luna." Lincoln said quietly. "Just a picture of my family."

"Can I see?" Luna asked. Lincoln nodded as Luna sat next to him on his bed.

She looked at the picture of four people. One of them was a tall man with white hair and a dark beard. The second person was a petite woman with long silver hair. The third person in the picture was a younger version of Lincoln. Standing next to him was a girl that looked almost like a female version of him.

"Is that your sister?" Luna asked. Lincoln gave a small nod. "I bet you two were close, huh?" Lincoln didn't say anything. So Luna pressed on. "Pretty sad that you lost your family so young. Do you want to talk about it?" Lincoln didn't say anything.

Luna suspected that he wouldn't want to talk about the incident with his family, but she wanted to help him get through this.

"Lincoln, please talk to me." Luna begged. "I really want to help you but you aren't letting me. You can't keep closing yourself off." Lincoln said nothing. Luna wondered if he even heard her.

She stood up from the bed and made her way to the door.

"I should have been in that car."

Luna stopped in her tracks when she heard Lincoln said that.

"What?" Luna asked in confusion.

"I should've been in that car." Lincoln said again. "I should've been with them when they left that night. But no, I had to catch a cold and had to stay home with a sitter. I should've been with them when they got into that accident. I would still be with them. I wouldn't have lost my best friend. I wouldn't feel so alone." Lincoln started to cry which prompted Luna to wrap her arms around him. "It's all my fault!"

Luna looked down at him with sympathy. "It isn't your fault, dude."

"Yes it is." Lincoln sobbed. "A few days before the accident, I got into an argument with Liberty. I don't even remember what the argument was about. The fight ended with me telling her that I wished that she wasn't my sister anymore." Lincoln started to cry even more. "It's my fault that they died. It's all my fault."

Luna didn't know what to say. All she knew was that Lincoln needed her. So she kept her arms wrapped around him as he continued to cry in her arms.

The Loud family entered their home to a surprising sight. When they enter the living room, they saw Luna sitting in the living room with Lincoln lying on the couch next to her with his head on his lap. This sight alone surprised the Louds.

"Luna, what's going on?" Rita asked. "Is everything ok?" Luna looked up at her mother with a worried look.

"I got Lincoln to open up a little today." Luna said.

"That's good, but why are you upset?" Lori asked.

"Well, it's what he told me that has me upset." Luna answered.

"What did he say?" Lynn Sr. asked.

Luna then proceeded to tell her family what Lincoln told her. She didn't leave out any details. When she finished, she saw that her family all had somber looks on her face.

"Wow. That's a story that would break even my dark heart." Lucy said in a depressed voice.

"It seems to me that one of Lincoln's problems seems to be survivor's guilt." Lisa said sadly.

"What are we going to do to help him?" Lola asked.

"Don't worry girls." Rita answered. "We'll think of something. I promise."

So, yeah. I hope you enjoyed this. Um, I'm just going to end right there. I'm going to need a minute. So until next, peace.