10. Operation Farewell

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Well, long time no see. As you know, this was because of my exams and last projects in this year's college. I had really good grades and got through it all without much problems, so thank you all for your support.

Even though I didn't have time to write, I'm pretty sure there wasn't a single day where I wouldn't think about this fic. You know, thinking about some scenes, some dialogues, some chapter's structure… But mainly, I spend my time thinking about the impact this story has had. There's something this fic has achieved, something I'd never thought it could, something I'm very proud of. This fic made it possible for a lot of people to relate with Lincoln and/or his family, and they managed to have a catharsis. I have received reviews from people who have Neurofibromatosis, thanking me for helping spreading information about this disease. I received private messages from people who went through the loss of a loved one, telling me how much they can relate to the characters.

But there was a case that just kept resonating within my heart. It was the case of someone who's going through the same as Lincoln. It's a review that's on the spanish [original, mind you, ha] version of this fic. A young man (20yo, I think) who's dying, and who told me about how much he related with Lincoln, and how reading some scenes (like Lori telling Lincoln to ask for a hug whenever he feels like he needs one) had him shedding tears and running straight to his family for a hug. I can assure you that I read that whole review with a knot in my throat, and after reading it I spend some time just thinking about the consequences of what I've written. I never thought something I write just because it's my hobby could have an impact like this in someone else's life. For me, this is just a way to have some fun; for others, it seems, this may be a little more. And that amazes me.

So I want to dedicate this chapter to UniverseFalls77. Dude, my thoughts are with you.

So, to finish this little Author Note, I just want to say that I'm eternally grateful with you all, magnificent readers. And, as always, here's a little mention to all of you who review'd this story (I kindy invite you to re-read your reviews, since it's been a month and you otherwise won't remember what you wrote, haha):

d_felipe76 (I'm sure he will), newly awakened (thank YOU for reading it!), Omega Ultra (thank you, man), FanficFan920 (I could never forget about dear Ronnie Anne!), Boris Yeltsin, celrock (in various ways, I think exactly like you; I could die today and this story would be unfinished. We can't take life for granted, since it can be so easily taken from us. My fanfics are, in a way, my monuments too. About your Ace Savvy idea, it's really good, but I'm afraid I already have a lot of ideas, and I don't think I can stuff much more in the story without making it needlessly long. But yours it's a GREAT idea! You should write a fanfic about it!), Ayee (That's my secret, Captain: I'm always crying -ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Avengers Reference-), ImpossibleJedi4, littlealexmartinez61910 (alright, I see we have different opinions on RA and Lincoln's relationship. It's okay, tho. I'm glad you liked the selfies, hahaha), venomsdragon14 (thank you!), MikeTheHuman113 (thanks!), BoukenDutch (I may be a douche with Lincoln, but I wouldn't stand having Ronnie Anne suffering for such a misunderstanding for the rest of her life! About the "Seinfield is Unfunny" trope, well, there's nothing I can really do about it. At least everyone reckons that Seinfield indeed was funny when it came out. Maybe we'll have a lot of fics about this same premise, and hopefully, people will know that mine was one of the firsts), Azura100, ExMarkSpot, Mew Shadowfang, Emperor of Performances (well, I've only really cried while writing Chapter 3, when Lincoln thinks about all the things he won't be able to do with his sisters anymore, but I was close to cry again when writing Lori and Lincoln's scene in chapter 8), Samtastic 3-0 (indeed, sometimes the most innocent may be the one who really gets what needs to be done), Overtale, Burgernator, HtfLover (nice taste), ElectricLoud (indeed, FUCK Murphy's Law), thehardboiledhit (Chapter 3 is still my personal favorite, haha. And I'm a kid too! Well, I'm 19 actually, I don't know how old are you, but I'm still a kid!), Grim-XIII (you'll eventually have all those things you want!), Hatoralo (Thank you for your review! I'm glad you like it, and I agree with you: choosing the right end is crucial. But I made my mind, and I know how I want it to end now), Secret Life of Writing (it wasn't really that long, hahaha, I like knowing detailed opinions! Don't cut yourself short, haha), iamgoku, Yolo Santoise (Thank you, although I don't really think I'm on a different level or anything; I guess I just read a lot and learned a thing or two about narration. And that's not a "minor" grammatical rule, that's a HUGE mistake I'm constantly making, hahaha. The worst part is that I actually know about it, but when I'm translating, eventually I get sloppy, and I start writing "didn't knew" or things like that without noticing it. And about writing some sentences like "told him Lori" instead of "Lori told him", that's because in spanish there's no difference between "Le dijo Lori" or "Lori le dijo". But I've been analyzing some English books I have -Harry Potter-, and I found that sometimes it's written "Harry said", and sometimes "said Harry". So I guess that it's possible that I unconsciously have that in mind when I'm writing, and I think that it's just like in spanish. But now that you pointed it out, I'll be more careful about it. Thank you), Grey Star7474 (I'm glad that you could find something helpful here!), UNSC-AI-ANT, OMEGA09, The Wannabe Writer Original, D-Structs, some-guy, Dead heart 9, Thb I cried, MadmansDeath (don't hate me D: ) LuasDials and all the Guest's.

And Fuck You, Trump!

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Chapter 10:Operation Farewell.

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That Thursday morning, the alarm clock started ringing at exactly six o' clock. Three seconds later, Lincoln's hand stretched and turned it off, leaving his room silent once again. Five seconds after that, he sat on his bed, moved the blankets away and put his feet on the floor, still trapped in that state between sleep and consciousness. He stretched his arms as he yawned, and then he started to move his neck, trying to loosen it up. Exactly at one minute past six in the morning, Lincoln Loud was standing on his feet in his room, checking himself in the mirror.

One of the corners of his mouth started to rise, ironically smiling at his own reflection.

"I'm a mess", he said with gritted teeth.

Somehow, his face seemed to have gotten years older in less than a week. The bags under his eyes were much larger than he remembered them being, he actually thought he was starting to have wrinkles around his eyes, and his whole face seemed to have been printed with the last few drops of ink in the cartridge. He knew that it was mostly due to the stress of the whole situation, clearly aggrieved by yet another night of restless sleep. He'd woke up in the middle of the night, agitated and covered in cold sweat, at least twice. It was happening him since the second night at the hospital, and it was starting to affect him.

Unlike the previous nights, however, Lincoln woke up determined. He grabbed one of his markers and moved towards his new calendar, the one he'd made the night before. He had thrown the previous one, replacing it with a brand new hand made calendar going from the previous Sunday –when the artery in his head was supposed to kill him–, and went on for exactly three weeks. The first three days, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, were already crossed out, and the third week squares were colored in red. He knew that there was no way in telling exactly when would his heart finally fail. It could be any moment, maybe even before the two weeks mark, but in order to organize his plan, he had arbitrarily designated the end of the second week as his deadline –pun intended. There was a chance of living a few more days after that, but he couldn't count on it. He had decided that he'd have until then only to do the multiple tasks written in a sheet of paper right next to the calendar.

Every objective had a little square box at its left, and only one of them had it checked: Think of a shorter name for this operation. The rest of the tasks, written in no particular order, had empty boxes, waiting to be fulfilled within ten days. Some of them seemed to be pretty easy to achieve: See a sunset, Try the new Burpin' Burger's Deluxe Combo, Teach Clyde all the finishing moves in Super Mega Brawlers Turbo Fighters XXIV or Plant a tree. But many others, Lincoln thought, could be very well replaced by things like "win a marathon" and they wouldn't be necessarily more difficult, such as: Fix things with Lynn, Write one last poem with Lucy or Kiss Ronnie Anne one more time. Beneath them all, written in big letters, there was the phrase from Adrien's picture: YOUR DEEDS ARE YOUR MONUMENTS.

"First morning in Operation Farewell", said Lincoln, as he crossed out yesterday's square, Wednesday. "I'm at T minus ten days; there's no time to lose."

He grabbed his towel, his bath luffa, and headed straight to the bathroom. He passed in front of all his sister's rooms, but none of them seemed to be awake. Their alarm clocks didn't start ringing until half past six, which Lincoln of course knew. Careful to not make too much noise, he went inside the bathroom to have a nice, warm, morning shower.

Almost fifty minutes later, several doors opened up at the same time, and the sound of almost twelve pairs of feet filled the house. The alarm clock on the parents room must have failed to wake them up, or perhaps they needed more time than usual to get dressed and ready, for some reason, since they and their daughters arrived at the kitchen at the same time.

"Good morning, girls" said Mr Loud when he met them at the stairs. "Sorry, you'll have to wait a little before I can cook your..."

The words died in the father's mouth, for when he looked inside the kitchen he found that there was no need to wait to have breakfast. An already showered and happy Lincoln was moving quickly and determined in the kitchen, finishing the details of a gigantic breakfast for the rest of the Louds. The kitchen countertop was completely covered by twelve dishes, all having a couple of toasts, some bacon strips, three piled up hotcackes with maple syrup, and everyone's favorite type of eggs. They all stood petrified in their places, seeing with open mouths how Lincoln was grabbing the coffee maker and started to fill seven cups with it. When he finished, he took the cups and put them next to five glasses of orange juice for his younger sisters. After he prepared the drinks he turned around and only then he realized that his whole family was there.

"Morning!" He said with a big smile, taking off his apron. "I was about to call you. Hurry up, before they get cold."

"Hotcackes!" Squealed the twins at the same time, running to get their breakfast. "Thanks, Lincoln!"

Seconds later, Lucy and Lisa entered the kitchen and grabbed their breakfast. The first one whispered something about a warm caress to her cold heart, and the latter gave him a significant look. Lincoln smiled and Lisa quickly headed to her room, probably so she could start working right away on her investigation. The last one to approach him was Lily, who crawled until she hit his legs, smiling and gibbering.

"Oh, you're hungry, Lily?" Lincoln asked, lifting her up on his arms. "Don't worry, your big brother's cooked you a yummy breakfast."

He took his sister's special chair and put it next to the kiddy table, grabbing her specially scrambled food, so she could eat it easily. When she started to eat, enthusiastic, Lincoln turned around to look at the rest of his family, his older sisters and parents.

They were all still looking at him, without even blinking. It was hard for Lincoln to identify what were they thinking, since their faces looked more like a cubist painting, showing many emotions at the same time: surprise, thankfulness, sadness, a strong desire to hug him, and an equivalent effort to keep them from crying. He also remained quiet, timidly smiling at them, waiting for someone to thank him or something. That's what he thought it would happen, they would all be very happy for that morning present, the mable syrup would cheer them up and Operation Farewell would have a nice beginning.

Reality wasn't as nice as his fantasy.

"I, er… Don't you like it?" He asked, feeling an emptiness in his stomach that had nothing to do with the fact that he hadn't eaten anything yet.

His worried tone snapped his parents out of their trance.

"What? Lincoln, of course we like it!" Said his mother, quickly stepping forward to hug him.

"It's a wonderful breakfast, son", added his father. "But, Lincoln, you don't have to..."

"I know" he said, interrupting him. "I know I don't have to. But… But I wanted to."

Again, a long, awkward silence. It wasn't the first time that Lincoln decided to make the breakfast for his whole family. He did it everytime he needed the morning to pass smooth and quickly, or after he'd done something that might have bothered his sisters, attempting to earn their forgiveness through their stomachs. His breakfast were always well received, and his sisters usually gave him one of their characteristic group hugs he liked so much. This time, however, the atmosphere was very different. There wasn't any kind of enthusiasm.

And then Luna spoke, and the morning was ruined.

"I don't want to go to school" she suddenly said, with decision.

They all turned to look at her. Her eyes were fixed on her brother, and her lips were pressed shut, like she was trying hard to keep them from trembling.

"Luna, we've talked about this" said her mother, trying to make her voice sound with authority, but it was impossible for her to conceal her sadness.

"I don't care. I want to stay here with Lincoln."

Never a silence was as palpable as right then. Lincoln could feel the tension in the air, the air pressure rising around them. He knew beforehand that it wasn't going to end up well.

"Honey, please, we all agreed to..."

"I don't care what we said!" She interrupted her father. "I don't want to go to school!"

"Me neither!"

Lynn took a step forward, with a challenging look on her face.

"Look", started Mr Loud, closing his eyes and trying to keep calm, "I know how you're feeling, but we all agreed that, until your younger sisters know it, we all need to act normally."

"I can't at normally!" Luna complained. "This isn't a normal situation!"

"I don't want to go to school!" Repeated Lynn, raising her voice.

Apparently, she yelled loud enough to be heard from the living room.

"Lynn's not going to school?" Asked Lana, peeping her head through the door frame.

"If she's not going, then I'm not going neither!" Said Lola, her head appearing over her twin's.

"You're all going to school!" Said Rita.

"Can't we just stay for a day?" Begged Luna, dropping her initial rebellion.

"No! And that's final! You'll all have breakfast and then you'll go to school!" Yelled Mr Loud.

"I would gladly have my breakfast, but Lana ate my last hotcake!"

"That's not true!" Answered Lana, glaring with disdain at Lola.

Both of them argued for a couple of seconds, and before anyone could intervene, they started a new fight, rolling over the kitchen floor as they punched each other and pulled their hairs. Leni and Lori quickly tried to separate them. Taking advantage of the chaos, Luan grabbed her breakfast, her cup of coffee and silently walked to her room, not saying a word to anyone. Meanwhile, the parents were still arguing with Luna and Lynn, trying to bring them into reason.

"But I don't wanna go!" Said Lynn, completely irritated. "How can you expect me to concentrate knowing that…?!"

"LYNN!"

The kitchen fell silent after Lincoln's scream, and they all turned to take a look at him. His face, a mask of terror, immediately ended with any kind of violence, impertinence, defiance and nonconformity existent. His terrified look was divided between looking at Lynn and the twins. Even though he had already starting planning how to tell his younger sisters what was going to happen, he was still far from being ready to do so. He stepped closer to Lynn and tried to grab her hand, but she jumped backwards, and he noticed that she was wearing a black neoprene wrist brace. He remembered how she had hurt her wrist the day before by hitting too hard her makiwara, and he felt even worse, if that was somehow possible.

"Please", he simply said, almost begging.

Lynn was evidently pissed off. Her lips were almost nonexistent, compressed in such a thin line that she seemed to be realizing an inhuman effort to keep herself from opening her mouth and say what was going through her mind, and her nostrils looked to be about to spit fire. She was staring at him, frowning, but her eyes were glowing, threatening to start crying. She looked at him for a few seconds that Lincoln found everlasting, until she finally closer her eyes, took a deep breath, and she went quickly and annoyed to the countertop. She grabbed her plate and walked away from the kitchen, without looking at anyone. She stopped by the door frame, next to the twins.

"Thanks, Linc", she said, without looking back, and she went up the stairs, closing her bedroom's door so hard that the whole house trembled.

Luna realized that the battle was now lost, so she also took her plate, thanked Lincoln with a hug, and went to her room too.

The tension in the air started to fade away along with Lincoln's hope of a peaceful, relaxed morning. After a brief lecture from their parents, the twins went back to the living room, wanting to play a little more with Lucy before going to school. Aware of how upset were both Lynn and Luna, Rita and Lynn Sr. decided to go to their rooms and have a little talk with them. When the left, the kitchen stayed quiet, with the exception of Lily's gibberish as she feed herself, oblivious to everything.

Lincoln took dejectedly grabbed his food and went straight to the dining room. He put everything in the table and let himself fall on his chair. He started to cut his hotcakes, but his arms were so heavy he could barely move the knife, and he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to raise his glass to his mouth if he tried. He closed his eyes and sighed, taking the first bite of his delicious food.

It was cold.

He felt some movement and saw Leni and Lori sitting at each side of him.

"Thank you very much, Lincoln" Lori said, with a smile.

"It looks yummy" said Leni, tasting the mable syrup.

"It's cold" Lincoln muttered.

"So? It's still delicious."

"I just wanted to cheer you up", he confessed, leaving his fork aside and looking down. "I didn't mean to get them sad or upset."

His sisters said nothing. They kept eating almost for inertia, as if to have en excuse that could cover their lack of words. Finally, after an exaggerated long sip of coffee, Lori put her cup on the table and grabbed Lincoln's hand.

"They're not mad at you" she affirmed him, trying to look at his eyes. "Not with mom nor dad, neither. You know that, don't you?"

"Luna hugged you" added Leni, with the air of someone who gives the final argument in a debate.

Slowly, he nodded.

"They're just sad for… Well, for this whole thing" said Lori, almost in a whisper so no one would hear them.

"Yeah, I know."

Again, a new silence.

"Your breakfast did cheered me up" noted Leni with a smile.

"Me too" quickly added Lori."

"And Lily seems to like hotcakes and scrambled bacon."

Lincoln tried to smile, but the result was a sad grin.

"It's good to know that this morning was only eighty percent failure."

He tried to make it pass as a joke, but that only added to the failure rate. The rest of the breakfast was in the most awkward and complete silence.

"Stop!"

"No."

"You gotta listen to me!"

"No."

"You're wrong, you got it all wrong!"

"I don't want to hear any excuses."

"Come on, just listen to what I have to say!"

"No."

A hand grabbed her by the wrist and violently turned her around. The surprise only lasted for an instant, after which Ronnie Anne roughly freed herself from the grip. Having had enough, she threw her stuff to the floor and took two step forwards, leaving her face only five inches from the boy that had been bothering her since they entered school five hours ago.

"Look, I may have not been clear enough the last thirty thousand times I said this to you today, so pay attention 'cause I'm going to repeat it one last time: I don't care what you have to say to me, or what you've been told to tell me. I'm not interested in anything related with him. I don't even want to hear his name again. So leave me alone, mind your own business, and don't come close to me again."

Had it been any other boy, she would've grabbed him from the collar of his sweater just to send a clearer message. But only a look full of hate and a threatening tone were enough to deal with Clyde McBride. The boy seemed to be about to wet his pants, with his whole body shaking and his face turning pale. Ronnie Anne kept the cold eye contact for a while, and then she roughly turned around, hitting him in the face with her hair. She grabbed her school bag, her skate, and tried to keep walking to her house.

After walking a little more than three feet, however, she heard the sound of quick footsteps, and Clyde stood in front of her, open-armed, as if he really believed he could actually stop her.

Ronnie Anne was really tired. Last night, she had cried herself to sleep, trying to keep her sobs quiet so Bobby would hear her –she shouldn't have worried, he got home so tired from his night job that he didn't even check on her. She could only thing about what had happened in the mall that afternoon. A part of her was embarrassed for having misread Lincoln's intentions so badly, for believing he would want her as something more than a friend, for making herself a fool after telling him that she wasn't ready for a relationship when that's not what he wanted to ask her. Another part of her was completely furious for having witnessed that hug between him and Cristina. Because when the ginger arrived, Ronnie Anne didn't really believe that Lincoln could be dating her; she just said that because it was the perfect excuse to flee from there, to escape from that embarrassing situation she had put herself into. But as she ran to an exit, she started to think. Maybe it wasn't such a crazy theory after all. She turned around just in time to see the happy couple united in a warm, deep hug. And she felt furious. Deceived. How could Lincoln still feel something for Cristina? After the public rejection, after switching classes when that video went viral in the school? How could he still feel something for Cristina when he had her, Ronnie Anne? Hadn't that kiss in the fountain mean a thing?

And that final thought was all her heart could think of. She was sad. Very, very sad. Stupidly, she had taken for granted that she and Lincoln had something special going on. Their meetings, a couple of kisses, and she had already bought the Prince Charming fairy tale. She should've known that fairy tales were just that: tales. She realized that, unconsciously, she had already imagined that she and Lincoln would be together forever, growing next to each other, laughing together, going out more and more often as they became older and their parents would allow them to see each other as much as they'd like. Seeing Lincoln hugging Cristina that way was a hard take down to her illusions.

It was almost like a part of her had just died.

She'd been a fool to fall in love that way. Because yes, she had assumed it: she had fallen in love. It was hard for her to understand and accept it, because that was her first love and she had nothing to compare with to definitively say it was love, but now she was convinced. How could it not be? Why would it hurt so much if it wasn't love? She had fallen in love and she had suffered. Well, no more. If her skate had taught her anything it was that you don't stop when you fall and get hurt. You stand up, you get on your skate again, learn from your mistakes and keep going on. She was decided to move on, and the first step was pretty clear: forgetting Lincoln.

The fact that he wasn't going to school yet was a relief. She didn't really know why was that, since the day before he seemed to be in good health, but she didn't care. The less she had to see him, the better. But she had forgotten about Lincoln's shadow: Clyde. Since he saw her walking inside the school, he had been trying to speak with her. She had to give him credit: he was loyal to his best friend. He spent every minute of the day trying to speak with her. During recess she tried to lose him in the crowd. During lunch, she went straight to the library so he wouldn't find her in the cafeteria. During the last periods, she resorted to the always reliable girls bathroom, where he couldn't enter nor wait for her in the hall, which was strictly forbidden by the school's headmaster. It was a relief to hear the sound of the bell that indicated the end of the day, but she had barely walked out of the school when he ran into her once again.

Now she had him standing in front of her, stopping her from leaving. She didn't really like Clyde, in fact, she was still pissed off about the way he'd been bothering during her date with Lincoln at Jean Juan's. All this time, she had been standing him only because he was Lincoln's best friend, but now that he was out of her life, there wasn't any reason to keep pretending she liked him.

"Clyde, step aside."

"No!" Yelled the boy, staying right where he was. His voice sounded with confidence, but he was still shaking.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked, getting angry.

"Because Lincoln is my friends and he needs me! He's suffering because you didn't let him explain himself!"

"Explain?" She asked through her gritted teeth. "And what was he supposed to explain to me? How long he's been dating Cristina?"

"You're wrong. He's not dating her. He likes you."

"I saw them, Clyde. I saw when.."

"LINCOLN — DOESN'T — LIKE — HER!" He screamed, waving his arms in exasperation. "Why don't you get it?! Cristina only went to see him 'cause…!"

He couldn't end the phrase. She pushed him in the chest, and Clyde almost fell backwards. He stumbled until he got his balance again. He looked scared, but stayed in front of her anyway.

"Don't you scream at me again" she threatened him, pointing at him with a finger.

"You're acting like an immature child" he said.

She'd never seen a boy so scared in her life, but oddly enough, Clyde was still trying to stop her. It looked like he was collecting every ounce of courage that he could find in his heart just to stay there, facing her.

"I'm immature?" She said, wondering how come she hadn't punched two teeth out of his face already. "Let me ask you something, Clyde, why would a guy kiss a girl if he doesn't want to be her boyfriend?"

That seemed to take him by surprise. He sighed and opened his mouth to reply, but Ronnie Anne had spoken her true feelings for the first time, and she couldn't stop now.

"Why would he beguile me like that? Why would he play with my feelings?"

"He didn't… You don't understand. You don't know what's going on, what he's going through."

"Then tell me. What the hell is going on?"

Again, Clyde looked down at the floor.

"I can't. It's not up to me to tell you."

She silently glared at him, trying to scare him into talking, but Clyde was actively trying to avoid her gaze. After some seconds of tense silence, Ronnie Anne snorted. She fixed her bag on her back and started to walk, but he stepped in front of her again.

"Wait, please, just let me..."

She raised a fist as if to punch him in the face. Instinctively, Clyde looked turned his head and raised his arms to cover his face. Taking advantage of how scared he was, and the fact that he wasn't looking at her, she stepped over her skate and started to ride away from him at full speed, not giving him time to follow nor catch her.

She rode the sidewalks, dodging pedestrians and people taking their dogs for a walk, trying not to think. But it was no use. Ronnie Anne couldn't avoid feeling confused. What was Clyde talking about? He said that Lincoln was going through something. What did he mean by that? Would that be what Lincoln had tried to tell her? What she had misunderstood for a love declaration? She started to feel guilty. Maybe it was something important… No, it definitely was something important. Something that Lincoln wanted to say to her, something for which he had taken her for a date. She felt guilty, but then she remembered Cristina, and she felt angry again.

Clyde had assured him that Lincoln didn't feel anything for Cristina anymore, though. But he was his best friend, what could he say? He would obviously stand for him, trying to justify him in any way possible. What she'd seen left no place for misunderstandings. She was a girl, and she had this innate ability to detect some things, and her sixth sense was telling her that the hug Lincoln had given to Cristina was a tender one, a hug of contention and protection. The kind of hugs a brother gives his little sister, or a boy gives to the girl he likes. As far as she knew, Lincoln and Cristina didn't have that kind of relationship before. Since that embarrassing video of Lincoln had gone viral, she hadn't seen them interact again. Since when was Lincoln in hugging terms with Cristina? Since when could he embrace her in such a tender way?

What hurt Ronnie Anne the most was the fact that Lincoln had never embraced her like that.

She was kicking the floor with fury, speeding up on the sidewalk until the houses at either side of her started to look more familiar, and she soon spotted her house in the distance. It was a pretty humble, one-story house, with three bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen, a dining and living room. What she liked the most about her house was the backyard, where Bobby had built an improvised half pipe for her. She was pretty sure that that ramp wouldn't pass any kind of safety check, but she loved it anyway.

When she reached her home, she stepped out of her skate. She saw Bobby's disastrous car parked, so she knew that he was back from high school. Being Thursday, her father would be working 'til very late in the night, as usual, and Bobby probably had already found a new part time job, so she was facing a new afternoon alone in her house. Loneliness could be hard sometimes, but she was used to it. It's not like she could complain. Her father was doing anything he could to raise his two sons all alone, and Bobby's irregular income were essential to help them keep a balanced middle-class life. Still, she missed those afternoons when she could still play with her brother.

She took the key from her pocket and opened the door.

"Bobby, I'm home", she announced, throwing her bag in the couch. She heard some voices from the kitchen and rolled her eyes. Ronnie Anne hated when Bobby invited Lori for lunch at his house. It's not like she didn't like her… it's just that she hated how they were all lovey-dovey in front of her. Besides, she didn't really want to see her. It wasn't Lori's fault what had happened between Ronnie Anne and Lincoln, of course, but still…

Sensing that it would be rude to not greet them now that she'd announce her presence, she left her skate in the living room and went to the kitchen. She could see from the dining room that her brother was washing his face in the sink. Ronnie Anne raised an eyebrow. He seemed to be… crying?

"Bobby?" She asked, stepping inside the kitchen. Her brother quickly regained his posture and started to dry her face with his shirt's sleeve. He greeted her, but Ronnie Anne didn't answer.

Standing at the other side of the kitchen, it was the person she wanted to see the least.

"H-Hi", said Lincoln, with his hands behind his back, clearly nervous.

She said nothing to him. She turned around and glare at her brother.

"Why is he here?" She asked.

When Bobby finished drying his face, he ducked besides her, to be at her height.

"Ronnie, Lincoln has something to tell you."

"I don't want to listen to him. Tell him to leave" she said, like Lincoln wasn't standing six feet from her.

"Ronnie, he has something to tell you" he repeated, putting a hand on her shoulder. He took a deep breath, like he was trying to keep himself from crying, which confused Ronnie Anne. "And you need to hear it."

"But..."

"I'll leave you guys alone. I'll be outside."

Without giving her time to reply, Bobby stood up and walked outside. She said nothing. She simply turned around and walked away from the kithen.

"Ronnie Anne, wait" he called her, going after her.

She walked across the living room, entered the hall, passed in front of the bathroom door and went inside her room, closing the door behind her. Luckily, the door lock was still working, so she put it on and then sat in the floor with her back against the door.

"Please" said Lincoln's voice from the other side. She didn't hear any attempt to move the doorknob, and she was kinda grateful for that. He couldn't have opened it anyway, but she appreciated the fat that he would respect the privacy of her room.

"I don't want to talk. I don't want to listen to you" she said, loud enough for him to hear her.

"Look, I know you're upset. I just want to explain what really happened."

"I'm not interested. Go away."

She heard him sighing, and then silence. She would've loved to hear footsteps heading to the living room, but instead she felt something sliding down on the door.

"I really need to tell you this", he said in a low voice, "but I don't want it to be this way. I want to look at you while I'm saying it. So I'm gonna stay here, waiting until you want to talk with me. I don't have plans this afternoon, so take all the time you need."

Ronnie Anne pressed her knees against her chest and looked down. She knew that Lincoln was sitting just like her, only on the other side of the door. Only one and a half inches of wood between them. She didn't want to talk with him. She was pretty sure that if she did, she would probably end up yelling at him, possibly hitting him, and she didn't want that. So she decided to do the simplest thing: ignore him.

The first five minutes were the easiest, and they were still endless for Ronnie Anne. She was sitting against the door in silence, waiting for him to be bored and to leave her alone (in the best case) or for him to get tired of waiting and to start speaking (in the worst case). But he didn't speak or move. He sat there, patiently waiting for her. For ten long minutes, Ronnie Anne tried to ignore him, until she couldn't take it anymore. With a swift move, she got up, unlocked the door and opened it ajar.

Not being waiting for that, Lincoln fell backwards as soon as the door was opened. He laid down on the floor, with his head next to Ronnie Anne's feet. Still knowing that she was mad, that she didn't want to talk with him, Lincoln smiled at her.

"You have one minute to speak before I kick you out of my house" she hurriedly said, to keep her from smiling back at him.

He stood up immediately, brushed the dirt out of her shirt and looked straight at the girl in front of him.

"Ronnie Anne, I know you're angry, but you got it all wrong."

"Fifty seconds."

Lincoln snorted and shook his head, slightly annoyed.

"Fine. I'll go straight to the point: there's nothing going on between Cristina and me. Yes, I used to like her. But you should know by now that I no longer have those feelings for her… I have them for you."

He gave her a tender smile, and Ronnie Anne look down, blushing. Taking that as a good sign, he took a step forward and tentatively raised his left hand, to caress her cheek, but she grabbed him by the wrist before he could touch her, and she glared at him with a look of anger and sadness. Lincoln felt a twitch in his heart when he realized that it was the same look Lynn had given him that same morning in the kitchen.

"You like me?" She asked, still grabbing his wrist.

"I, er… YES, yes, I like you! It's obvious that I like you!" He hurriedly said, feeling the pressure on his wrist.

"You made me look like a fool" she said.

"What? When?"

"I… I thought you were going to ask me to… you know… go steady..."

"Oh, yeah… that..."

Their eyes met, and they could read each other's feelings like an open book. Ronnie Anne's look was demanding a quick answer, and Lincoln's was desperately asking for a divine intervention to illuminate him and help him find the right words.

"You have twenty seconds left" she casually said.

"Look, it's not that I don't want you to be my girlfriend..."

"If you're going to give me some kind of 'it's not you, it's me' crap" she interrupted him, finally letting go her grip on his wrist, "keep it to yourself."

"But that's exactly what's going on! Listen, I really like you, you're such a cool girl, and I've been thinking on asking you to be my girlfriend for a while now!"

Ronnie Anne's heart started beating faster.

"Then why didn't you?" She asked.

"Because… Well, because I was scared, you know?" He admitted. "I've never asked anyone out like that. I was afraid you would tell me 'no'. And… Well, actually, you literally said 'no' to me even if I didn't ask you."

"You didn't understand me!" She complained, although a part of her felt suddenly guilty. "I… Actually, I… What I meant was… Look, I' sorry about that, ok? But… If you'd ask me now… I'd say 'yes' ".

It was extremely difficult for her to say that. She felt naked, like her whole facade of a tough girl had fallen apart, like Lincoln could now look straight into her soul. She felt vulnerable, unprotected and cornered. A fragile house of cards. Lincoln, meanwhile, looked stunned after hearing her say that. After processing them –which took his brain a lot of time–, his face went gradually from surprise to sadness, and then resignation. He lowered his head so much that Ronnie Anne could almost see his nape, and he whispered.

"Ronnie Anne… I can't."

Those two words blown the cards away the instant they were said.

"Why not?" She asked, frowning and feeling the corner of her eyes starting to itch.

"I just… I can't" he simply said, defeated.

Ronnie Anne took a step back. She bit her lower lip, and clenched her fists, feeling a tear running down her cheek.

"You're so stupid!" She yelled, furious. She felt betrayed once again. She'd been hating him for a whole day, suffering for feeling rejected. Then, for some precious seconds, she felt like maybe she had indeed misunderstood everything, after all. She felt like maybe there was a chance of them being together, but then he did the same thing he'd done the day before. He crushed her hopes once again. No heart should heart should be allowed to suffer that much.

"No, wait" said Lincoln, sensing that his prayers hadn't been answered nor his words had been the most appropriated.

"You can't even give me a reason?!" Yelled Ronnie Anne, interrupting him.

"It's not that simple" Lincoln said, trying to defend himself.

"You better make it simple then!"

"I'M DYING!" He finally screamed, giving her an intense and profound look. "I'M DYING, OK?"

"Oh, you are dying? How do you think I'm feeling right now?" She hysterically replied.

"No!" He complained, giving himself a facepalm. "No! Listen to me, I'm liter…!"

"Is it because you're embarrassed of being seen with me?" She suddenly asked, her eyes wide open, like she'd just experienced an epiphany.

"What? No!" Lincoln said, almost offended.

"Yeah, that's probably why" Ronnie Anne continued like she didn't hear Lincoln's complaining. "You're always embarrassed when someone sees you with me. What is it? Am I not pretty enough? Am I not girly enough for you?"

"Ronnie Anne, you're angry and you feel hurt, and I understand you" Lincoln started, speaking slowly and calmly, trying to lower the decibels of their argument, "but what you're saying doesn't make any sense. It's all rubbish, and deep down you know it."

"It's not rubbish" she said, with gritted teeth.

"If you'd just stop trying to be on the defensive all the time, you'd understand why you're acting like a jerk" he roughly said.

Ronnie Anne was trembling with rage. These had been the second worst twenty four hours of her life, and too many emotions were passing through her mind and heart. Anger, pain, anguish, sadness, love.

She was a tough girl who always tried to conceal her emotions under a masquerade of relatively violence and apathy. For a long time, that had been her own way of dealing with the pain, her way to move on after all she'd been through. It was the only world she'd known for so long, that she went straight back at it in that moment of pain and disillusion.

Lincoln couldn't dodge it. He didn't get to step aside, duck down or even get ready for it. Ronnie Anne's open palm hit him right in the face, and it made him tremble backwards. He took both hands to his face, pressing them against the place that was starting to ache. He closed his eyes and let out a groan of pain.

"R-Ronie Anne..." he said, feeling a burning sensation in his cheek.

"Go away" she said, with tears in her eyes.

"Please..."

"GO!"

He ran away. She heard him dashing through the living room and opening the front door. Ronnie Anne headed to her bed and laid there, with a pillow pressed against her face to muffle her sobs. She wanted to fall sleep right away. To sleep, so she wouldn't have to think, to keep herself from facing those feelings inside of her. She just wanted to escape her reality for a while.

"What happened?"

Bobby entered her room, and any chance of disappearing faded in an instant. Ronnie Anne rolled over her bed, turning to face away from him, while the pillow was still covering her face.

"Ronnie, what did you do to him?" Bobby asked, sounding worried.

She couldn't bear that tone nor that accusation. She just wasn't in the mood to let it slip. She put her pillow down and looked at her brother, not worried about the fact that he was seeing her cry for the first time in months.

"You should be asking what did he do to me" she said, looking at him with reproach.

Bobby sat on the edge of the bed, three feet from his little sister.

"Ronnie, why was he running away?"

"Because I hit him, that's why!" She said.

"You hit him?!" He said, startled. "Ronnie!"

"Why are you defending him?!" She said, grabbing her pillow and throwing it at his face. "I'm your sister, you should be defending me!"

"Didn't he tell you?" He softly said, his eyes filled with sorrow.

"Tell me what?" She said, annoyed. "The only thing he did was telling me that he doesn't want to go steady with me."

"Ronnie..."

He got closer to his sister. Twice he opened his mouth, but the words just wouldn't come out. Finally, he took a deep breath and spoke before he could change his mind.

"He's dying."

"What's that supposed to mean, anyway?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest and looking away. "He's sad? What happened? He got into a fight with one of his sisters? What do I have to do with…?"

"He's dying!" He interrupted her, covering his face with his hands. "Literally dying! That's why he went to the hospital, they found something in him! He's going to die soon!"

She opened her mouth and turned around to see her brother so fast she almost hurt her neck. She felt like someone was dropping a huge bowling ball inside of her. She felt a knot appearing in her stomach, and felt goosebumps creeping on her spine. She just stared at Bobby, trying to understand.

"That's not funny" she slowly said, trying to keep her breathing at a normal rate.

"I wish it was just a lie" he said, sobbing. "He only has three weeks left..."

He started to silently cry, leaving Ronnie Anne alone with her thoughts.

Lincoln. Dying.

It couldn't be. It couldn't be true. And yet… Things were starting to make sense. Lincoln wasn't going to school. Clyde was looking miserable. Cristina's uncle worked in the hospital… "I can't ask you to be my girlfriend, not after..." It was like she'd been seeing it all through a translucent glass, catching the general shapes but not seeing it in detail, not seeing the full picture. Now that glass was gone, and she didn't like what she was seeing.

The news was left spinning around in Ronnie Anne's mind. She refused to believe it. Maybe for ten minutes, maybe for fifteen, but she felt like she stayed petrified in her bed, apparently listening to her brother. He was trying to explain what both Lincoln and Lori had told him, he told her everything he knew, but she wasn't listening. The only thing she could think of was that there had to be a mistake. She even went as far as believing that she might be dreaming. Maybe she'd fallen asleep right after Lincoln left her room, and this was just her subconscious playing her a bad joke.

But the pain inside her chest was too real to be a dream.

She couldn't stay there. Not after… after having slapped him. She stood up and Bobby tried to stop her, but she ran away faster than he could even try to grab her. She left her house without her skate; she forgot she had one. She knew by heart the way to the Loud house, and she ran all the way there without thinking. She ignored the pedestrians, the cars, and the aching pain she was starting to feel on her right side. She finally saw the roof and garden of a house full with toys, objects, kites and many other articles that only a toy store or a house with eleven kids could harbor. She only stopped when she got to the front door. She knew that she shouldn't press the doorbell unless she wanted to risk having an electroshock, so she banged at the door as hard as she could.

She used those few seconds of waiting to catch her breath and trying to suppress that pain she was feeling between her ribs. She needed to see Lincoln. She didn't know what she would say to him, she just knew she needed him.

When the door was opened, she felt a little disappointed to see that it wasn't Lincoln, but one of his sisters. She should've been expecting that, knowing that with so many sisters, the chances of one of them welcoming her were pretty high. She was a little surprised to see that the girl standing in the door was staring at her with fire in her eyes, like she was really angry about something.

"Hi, er- Luna, right?" She asked, trying to remember the name of the girl, but it was really hard to tell them apart, with all of them having names so similar.

"Lynn", she said, still looking at her with what was clearly despise. "You came here just in time, Ronnie Anne."

Ronnie Anne didn't like the way she pronounced her name, and she didn't understand what she meant with 'just in time', but she didn't have time to stop to think.

"I'm sorry. Listen, is Lincoln here? I really need to see him and..."

"You are not seeing or getting any closer to my little brother" Lynn said, stepping out of the house and closing the door behind her, standing one feet away from Ronnie Anne.

"You don't understand, I need to…!"

"She got home ten minutes ago, with a bruise on his left cheek" said Lynn, clenching both her fists so hard her knuckles were white. "We forced him to tell us what had happened."

Ronnie Anne felt extremely guilty. Now that she knew the truth, she realized how wrong she'd been the whole time, and that she had been acting like a jerk, like a stupid. All because of some stupid jealousy, her anger and her sadness. Ultimately, because of her insecurities.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

"He told us what happened yesterday too" she interrupted her. "Do you really think Lincoln could be seeing two girls? That… That he would play with you like that and then run away with another?"

Ronnie Anne could only avoid the Loud girl's glare. There was no way of defending how she had behaved, and she was feeling more embarrassed of her behavior by the minute.

"I thought you knew Lincoln. He's the nicest and most caring boy in the world. He would NEVER do something like that. He's not that kind of boy" she was saying, as she started to blink faster and faster. "The rest of my sisters are still in his room, trying to calm him."

"Please, I know I was wrong, just let me in and..."

"No!" Yelled Lynn, stepping forward, leaving her face just a couple of inches from Ronnie Anne's. "You're gonna turn around and get the hell out of here. And you'll never touch my brother again, do you understand? Get out of here."

Ronnie Anne knew exactly what game was Lynn Loud playing. That expression, that body posture, that attitude. She was trying to intimidate her. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't the kind of girl you could intimidate just like that.

"Or what?" She coldly replied.

"Or I'll punch you so hard in the face you're gonna have to make a visit to the bathroom before you can pick up your teeth."

"Big words for such a runt" she slowly said, through gritted teeth.

Lynn shoved her with roughness, making her stumble until Ronnie Anne caught her balance just in the edge of the ladder.

"Get out" Lynn repeated once again.

Ronnie Anne frowned.

"I want to see him. I didn't know what he's going through."

"Well, you ought to listen to him next time he wants to talk with you!" Lynn yelled at her. "Now go back to your own house, Santiago!"

"No!"

And to show how serious she was, Ronnie Anne took off her purple hooded sweatshirt, remaining with her white t-shirt with the Santa Cruz words written in yellow letters. Lynn snorted and started to adjust her wrist brace.

"Let's go to the grass. It's dangerous here with the ladder" she said as she pulled up her sleeves.

Two minutes later, Lynn and Ronnie Anne were rolling in the ground, trying to push each other away, and taking every opportunity to connect a nice punch to the other one's face. After a good right jab from Ronnie Anne, Lynn ended up lying with her back on the ground. Ronnie Anne stood up and literally jumped over Lynn, but she managed to put her feet on Ronnie Anne's abdomen and pushed her away. By the time the Santiago girl managed to stand up, Lynn was already waiting for her. Looking for a surprise attack, she ran straight into her and tackled her to the ground, starting a new fight of grabs and grips.

As the front door opened and a little over half a dozen voices started to scream for them to end the fight, Ronnie Anne reached to the conclusion that she was clearly in disadvantage. They might have almost the same height, but Lynn was two years older, and it showed. She was clearly stronger, she seemed to know some advanced techniques and blocks, and the blows didn't seem to hurt her as much as they did Ronnie Anne. But she realized something else, too. Even in the adrenaline of the fight, she noticed that Lynn was crying. The tears were falling slow but clearly. She also realized that even if the fight was definitely serious, Lynn was making some mistakes someone as evidently advanced as her shouldn't be making, such as dropping her guard at the wrong moments, not taking advantage of some spaces Ronnie Anne accidentally left… It was like her mind was somewhere else.

And Ronnie Anne understood her. She understood what Lynn was going through, because she was going through the same: they were punching the frustration out of themselves. Every blow was one burden less, and every punch they received was an analgesic to their soul, for it was easier to deal with physical pain.

Lincoln's sisters were still begging them to stop, but no one dared to get close to separate them. They were both standing on their feet, keeping some prudent six feet between them. They seemed to be waiting for the other one to make a move. Needing a new relief, Ronnie Anne stepped forward and throw a punch. Lynn dodged it and tried to counterattack, but Ronnie Anne was already expecting that, so she blocked it and attacked once again. She punched Lynn right on her stomach. Lynn managed to pushed Ronnie Anne away long enough to catch her breath. When she looked up, she seemed to be even more angry than before.

She slowly walked closer, with her guard up. Ronnie Anne tried to hit her, but Lynn grabbed her by the wrist. She dodged Ronnie Anne's crossed hook and hit her right in the ribs. As the Santiago girl let out a cry of pain, Lynn punched her twice in the stomach, and finished with a right hook to her chin.

All the girls let out an audible "uuuh" when they heard the sound of the punch hitting Ronnie Anne. She fell backwards, trying to get her lungs to remember how to breath, while her ideas were trying to find their correct place inside her head after that blow. The only thing she could hear was someone screaming her name, louder every time. Or maybe closer. She opened her eyes when Lynn grabbed her by the collar of her t-shirt. She lifted her a couple of inches from the ground, and raised her fist, ready to strike again.

Ronnie Anne closed her eyes and just readied herself for what was about to come, but she heard a commotion and suddenly, Lynn was no longer grabbing her by the collar. She opened her eyes once again and saw Lincoln hugging his sister from behind, trying to keep her from moving towards Ronnie Anne.

"Let me go!" Lynn complained, trying to take Lincoln's hands off her, but evidently fearing to accidentally hit him, since she wasn't moving with much decision.

"Lynn, please, drop it!"

"She slapped you first!"

"Please!"

"Lincoln, let me go!"

"Do it for me!"

Those four words seemed to anesthetize Lynn. Ronnie Anne saw how she lowered her arms and relaxed her muscles. Looking at Lincoln over her shoulder, Lynn stopped struggling. Feeling her doing it, Lincoln's grip started to tentatively loosen up, until he finally could release her.

"Thank you" he said, gently caressing her arm.

"She doesn't deserve you" she simply said, giving Ronnie Anne one last look of despise.

Next thing, she stood up and walked away.

Lincoln bent down near Ronnie Anne and help her get up. Still a little dizzy after that punch in the head, she let him carry her. Slightly supporting herself on him, she let him take her inside the house, up the stairs and inside his room. He laid her on his bed and asked her to wait a minute. She simply nodded, still trying to understand what was going on.

When Lincoln left and closed his bedroom door behind him, Ronnie Anne started to understand where she was. She'd never been in Lincoln's room. It was as small as he always said. Just one bed, a desk/wardrobe, some toys and a couple of posters in the walls. She saw Ace Savvy's logo, a SMOOCH poster, some from a movie she didn't know…

Ignoring the pain she was feeling in her stomach, she jumped on her feet. In one of the walls, there was a giant hand made calendar, along with pictures from all of his sisters and some written sheets of paper. At the top of one of the sheets, it read: Operation Farewell, in big red letters.

She started to read what was written there, desperately looking for something that would tell her that it was just a lie. Ask Mom to help me write a book, Help Luna to write a happy song, Tell Dad the truth about who broke his disco ball (me). Everything she read made her feel even worse. It was a bucket list. She started to feel dizzy again, but not because of the punch. She kept reading. Except for tasting a new kind of burger, there wasn't really anything for Lincoln in that list. Why not ask to go to Disneyland? To travel to Europe? Or ask for new clothes? A new bike? To go to the Super Bowl? Everything on his list was sharing something with someone else. With his sisters, mostly, but also his parents, with Clyde, even…

She stretched her hand to touch the paper. With trembling fingers, she touched the line upon which there was written Kiss Ronnie Anne one more time.

Lincoln opened the door and stepped inside his room, carrying with him a little bag of ice. He stopped dead on his tracks when he saw his friend crying in front of his new calendar and his bucket list. When he closed the door, Ronnie Anne turned around. They stared at each other for a few seconds, and then she saw that his left cheek was still a little red. Her sobs became louder.

"Ronnie Anne..."

Lincoln stepped closer and offered her the ice. With her shaking hands, she grabbed it, but instead of putting it against her chin, she threw it to the floor. Ice couldn't help her with the kind of pain that was really hurting her. She put her arms around Lincoln's neck and hugged him tight. He embraced her too, and leaded her to his bed, so they could sit and be more comfortable. Ronnie Anne flooded Lincoln's shoulder with her tears, as she repeated over and over again how sorry she was, but he didn't care. He was just gently caressing her back, telling her that everything was going to be alright.

Letting her know that he was there for her.

.

.

I want to say a few things:

First, I'm kinda disappointed that there was so many people who thought that last chapter was going to be the end of the Ronnie Anne/Cristina/Lincoln arc. I'd like to believe that, after ten chapters and over 70K words, I've shown you that if this story has something, it's planning. Like, it has a lot of grammar and spelling issues. But allow me to say that this story's plot has been revised over and over, and I believe it's pretty solid. So no, I wouldn't dare to introduce something like a love triangle or a fight and leave it like that. I mean, have a little faith in me! Hahaha.

Second, thank you very much to whoever made a TV Tropes page for this story. I don't really know if it's really a big deal or what, or if I should be proud or something. But it's really funny to read all the tropes I've used so far, hahaha. But I need to say: someone made an analysis on Lynn that, although pretty interesting and solid, it's not really what's going on inside her head. Just so you know. Oh, and I don't know if there's a trope for this (there probably is), but I'm kinda disappointed that no one made a list of Luna's musical references. I mean, there are quite a few. BUT, I think it's better if you wait three more chapters to make it, so you can have a lot of references.

Third, and related with the second point, I want to thank you all for what this story is becoming. 300 reviews in 9 chapters, a little over 200 followers and almost 200 favs, over 62.000 views and 4 fanarts. I FUCKING LOVE YOU GUYS.

Finally, from now on, we'll have chapters were Lincoln will have some personal moments with different chapters, specially his sisters. So, if you LOVE Luan, then next chapter will be for you. If you think Luan's MEH, then next chapter will change your mind. And if you HATE Luan like I do, then I can assure you that next chapter will taught you how to love her as much as I've learn to love her in my headcanon. And after that…! Well, better not spoil anything.

UnderratedHero, out.