35. All In

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING from the Loud House.

Ever since Bobby walked into the house, he and Clyde had been watching Dessert Storm for the past 30 minutes. The teen would occasionally make small talk, asking Clyde things like how life was going, how school was hanging, what he and Lincoln were up to these days (particularly if the little Loud was doing ok since they hadn't talked in a while), and if he had any plans this weekend. Clyde answered as best as he could, not able to say much on how things were going on his end; school was as dull as ever (not counting the whole issue with Lincoln's fears), but he was just getting to that subject.

"Because of that, my friends and some of Lincoln's sisters put together this operation where he can maintain as little contact with them as possible; at least so he doesn't freak out in class or anything. So far, it's worked (though we had a few hiccups at first). And recently, Lynn came up to Lincoln wearing clothes I don't think even Lincoln knew she had. If I'm right, it's probably what got him to have a session with Dr. Lopez and had Lynn be there with him. However..." Clyde pursed his lips. "Lincoln's a bit...what's the word?..." He tapped his chin. "Confused? Angry? Undecided?"

"Sounds like Little Loud has all the above." Bobby commented.

"Yeah yeah. He's starting to get mad at his sisters for what they did, but he feels he can't tell them without things repeating themselves. Now, I doubt they'd beat him up again since they genuinely regret doing it in the first place, but this is really something Lincoln needs to see for himself so he can maybe trust them again."

"Ooooh I get it. It's like that episode from ARGGH! when Hunter needed to show this guy who didn't believe in ghosts that they were real."

Clyde nodded. "Exact-" He paused when a certain word in that sentence caught his attention. "You watch ARGGH! ?"

The Hispanic teen nodded. "Yep! Don't tell Ronnie Anne though; she thinks it's super cheesy."

Clyde scoffed. "She thinks everything nerdy is full of cheese."

Bobby raised a brow. "But that's-" His eyes widened a bit. "Ooooh I get it." He started to laugh out loud, with Clyde following suit seconds later.

However, the younger boy soon cut his chortles short, thinking the noise might disturb the sleeping Loud. If there was ever a time to admit it, Clyde had to be honest with himself: Bobby really was a nice guy when you got to know him. A little dense at times, but it wasn't hard to see why Lincoln saw him as an older brother. They'd only been talking for almost an hour, and Clyde already found himself liking the teen; and because of that positive, outgoing persona, it wasn't hard to imagine why Lori fell for a guy like him.

"Lori..." Clyde sighed inwardly as a frown began to form.

The young lad had long since come to the heartbreaking conclusion that Lori wasn't as sweet or angelic as he once thought; seeing Lincoln's state whilst he was bedridden was enough proof. Lincoln's words echoed in his brain like a music player stuck on repeat, and Clyde couldn't help the feeling of guilt that filled the pit of his stomach. For the longest time he saw Bobby as nothing but competition for the self-proclaimed 'love of his life', trying to do his best to win Lori's affection and even hoping that she might one day dump the Santiago for him. However, none of Clyde attempts seemed to work, as evidenced that Lori would be disgusted by his behavior or outright ignore him. Come to think of it, Clyde never found out what she did with all the gifts he sent her.

And here he was now, following Lincoln's advice to actually get to know his 'rival'. And boy, did Clyde feel a sense of enjoyment and depression. Many times Lincoln had tried to gently dissuade Clyde from attempting to win over his sister, but this was usually met with Clyde blowing him off or thinking Lori was just playing hard to get. As he was learning now however, the Mcbride child never had a chance. How could he hope to compete against a textbook nice guy several years his senior like Bobby, while Clyde was just a scrawny nerd with several anxiety problems?

"And I made a detailed replica of him getting burned alive by a volcano!..." Clyde gasped to himself.

Bobby raised a brow in response to the younger boy's sudden shock. "You ok Clydesdale?"

The African American shook his head. "Y-Yeah. Just thinking about..." He rapped his digits together. "About some stuff..."

"Is it one of those things where it's hard to talk about or something too privy?" The teen's face became crestfallen as he stared blankly at the TV. "I used to get like that whenever I needed to talk to Lori about something important...or when she needed by opinion on a dress or a gift she gave me, but I lost track of..."

"You were perfect for her..." Clyde uttered softly.

"Huh?"

"You and Lori..." The nerdy kid glanced sideways at Bobby. "You guys are perfect for each other. You're such a nice guy, and Lori is such an angel...and I tried to ruin it by taking Lori for myself..."

"Uhhh..." Bobby started, but Clyde continued.

"I'm so sorry Bobby." The boy started to form tears in his eyes as his voice started to break. "I treated you unfairly in the name of something that wasn't meant to be. I was so blinded by my love for Lori that I didn't see what a great man she had in her life! I even didn't take Lincoln's advice when I should've stopped so many times instead of suffering heartbreak after heartbreak!"

Bobby blinked a few times as his mind probed on what Clyde was getting at. After a moment of silence, a light smirk spread across the teen's mouth as his body shook in an attempt to suppress his giggles.

"Just promise me one thing..." Clyde spoke as he looked at Bobby. "Please take good care of-" He was cut off by a howl of laughter, followed by a heavy shift in weight on the couch as Bobby fell to his side. Clyde became wide-eyed at the display, soon forming a deep frown at this obvious mockery of his feelings. "Why are you laughing?! I'm trying to share something personal with you!"

"I-it's not that!" Bobby continued his chuckle fest as he sat up straight. "I already knew you had a thing for Lori."

Clyde's pupils shrank as his thought process grinded to a halt. The only thing he could manage was a bewildering, "Huh?!"

"I mean, it was pretty obvious dude." Bobby pointed out with a smile. "Plus, she kept complaining about all the nice things you kept giving her (and staining her shoes with your nosebleeds). But, I didn't do anything cause I found it cute. Plus, I was the same way when I was your age."

"Really? With who?"

Bobby scratched his chin as he hummed. "Does Ms. DiMartino still do substitute work at your school?"

"M-Ms. Dimartino?!..." The young boy sputtered out, his mind going into overdrive just picturing the Hispanic beauty to grace their classroom and field court. Her perfect figure, her sweet voice, her pretty smile, those eyes he could get lost in... "Error! Error! System malfunction!" Clyde spoke in a faux robotic tone as drips of blood started to come out of his nose. His eyes became dull as each one looked in opposite directions.

Bobby's face fell a bit. "You ok bro?"

"Does not compute! Does not compute!" Clyde uttered, this time making robot movements to match his voice.

Bobby gently grabbed the lad and shook him. "Clyde, you're starting to scare me man."

"Buh...wuh?" Clyde shook his head as he regained his focus. "What happened?"

"You started to freak out after I said-" The teen stopped himself before he uttered the teacher's name, not wanting to risk Clyde going nuts again. "Ms. D."

Even then, Clyde felt another spat attack coming as a stream of blood started to drip out of his nose again; thankfully, it was much more manageable than before, as the nerdy kid reached over to the tabletop and grabbed the tissue box.

Stuffing a wad into each nostril, "I can see why. She was just so...so..." His mind had many words to describe her, and felt it'd be wrong to just settle on one.

"Hot?" Bobby replied bluntly with a smirk.

Clyde's cheeks formed a red hue. He took a deep breath whilst tugging at his shirt collar to let out a little steam. "I-I was going to say 'goddess', but I guess that works."

Bobby chuckled again. "I was so head over heels for her that I practically followed her almost everywhere she went. You might say it was a little creepy too." He leaned on the arm of the couch. "But after a while, I learned it wouldn't even be possible cause, you know...she's like 20 or so years older? Pretty much a BIG no-no. And not long after, Lori started pulling pranks on me to get my attention."

Clyde raised a brow. "That sounds a lot like what Ronnie Anne did to Lincoln..."

Bobby gave sight shrug. "It probably does since that's what I told her on how me and Lori got together." He frowned a bit. "Though that's in the past now..."

The 11 year old widened his eyes a bit. "So, you guys are-"

"Exes? Yeah..." Bobby folded his arms. "Have been ever since Little Loud first ended up in the hospital..." He stared at the entertainment box for a few seconds, unable to find any sort of enjoyment from the show currently on air before he gave a heavy sigh.

"I didn't even expect this to happen. I just waited a few hours since she hadn't texted me back, and me and Lori tend to go nonstop with the text messaging go the point Mama threatened to put a limit on my phone. I kinda cut it really close," He held up two fingers with a small gap in between for emphasis, "But we usually made it work out. I even knew about the whole 'sister protocol thingy' from what she told me the day before everything went bad." Bobby sank a bit in his seat as he stared at the ceiling. "Then the next thing I know, I get a couple long messages from her telling me she and her other sisters beat up Lincoln and he's in the hospital. I was thinking at first this had to be a joke, even thought about calling her to make sure. But..." The teen fiddled with his thumbs. "You know those moments where you really get the feeling of someone's words in a text? I had a hunch she wasn't lying, and I was even proven right when I tried to call her and it said my number was blocked..."

"So..." Clyde spoke slowly as he tried to piece this altogether. "Does that mean she broke up with you, or...?"

Bobby gave an indifferent hum whilst shrugging his shoulders a little. "I guess...I mean, I probably would've done the same after I saw how banged up Lincoln was. Maybe she did it because she was being punished or," His brows curled down as Bobby spoke somberly. "Maybe she thought she wasn't good enough for me..."

Clyde only nodded in understanding. From what he knew so far about relationships from some chick flicks his dads watch, it wasn't uncommon for one partner to leave the other out of shame or some other conception of self doubt. If it were any other circumstance, the boy might've been rejoicing at the the news of the breakup and immediately set to work on making Lori his. However, given Bobby's current mood (especially after having this whole situation thrust upon him and absolutely wreck a perfect relationship), Clyde felt bad for the poor teen. Granted, no one expected a close friend to have a severe family problem. Occasionally Lincoln would complain about his sisters habits, but it never got this bad. And from Clyde's understanding, it was more personal for the Santiagos on two fronts:

Bobby having his girlfriend leave him out of guilt, and Ronnie Anne being forced to come out of her comfort zone and be more protective than usual of her secret boyfriend due to newfound anxiety problems. On top of that, everyone else could only wonder if Lincoln would ever return to his normal, goofy self. Unfortunately, he only seemed to be headed for a life of being distant from all of his siblings barring one.

"...Do you miss her?" The young lad asked out of the blue, drawing a questionable stare from the teen. "Do you miss talking to Lori?" Clyde cleared his throat and quickly added, "Assuming you haven't already that is."

Bobby remained silent for a bit, searching his feelings for an appropriate answer. "In some ways, I do..." He leaned back on the couch. "We honestly haven't spoken to each other since the breakup, but I have seen Lori getting heckled like crazy for what she and her other sisters did. I even saw that someone wrote some nasty things on her locker." Clyde winced a little. "I feel like I should be there for her, but at the same time, I don't even know what to say to her. Part of me feels like," Bobby pursed his lips. "Feels I might say something I'd regret or scream at her just remembering how bad Lincoln was hurt. Me and Nie Nie's relationship may not be the best, but I'd never do something like that to her; she may be tough, but she wouldn't hurt me either." Bringing both hands to his head, "It just doesn't get me how she could even do something like that to a kid."

"Well," Clyde began, a hint of uncertainty in his tone. "From what Lincoln got from Lynn, it sounded like everyone was just 'in the moment'. I'm not too sure what that means, but I guess they didn't mean to hurt him-"

"But they still did." Bobby interrupted. "They could've stopped before it got out of hand, right?"

Clyde raised his hands defensively. "I don't know; but what I do know is that everyone was just too angry to think. Even when we asked Lucy about it a month ago, she gave off that impression; though she couldn't say much before she started to cry." He watches as Bobby starts thinking about something, to which he quickly adds, "And Lincoln isn't the best person to ask either since he's still figuring things out for himself."

The Santiago teen sighed. "Guess I'll have to ask her myself then..."

"Her?" Clyde repeated.

"Lori. She might be doing better now that she's been talking to Carol lately."

The 11 year old raised a brow. " Whose Carol?"

"Our class president." Bobby scratched his head. "Lori had this weird competition with Carol where they've been trying to outdo each other for a while. Lori said they've been going at it for years, but I think it started late last year maybe?" The teen shrugged. "Either way, I figured it was kinda just Lori being Lori. Carol wasn't that into competing, at least now that she's into the whole student government thing."

"What did they compete about?"

"Anything really. I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up arguing over who gets the most likes on SnapChat." Bobby stated half jokingly.

Clyde simply raised a brow at this. Was there really a prize for internet likes? It made him think about the video contest the school held a few months back. Popularity was an obvious gain, but if there wasnya physical reward involved, it seemed kinda pointless in his mind.

"Oh, and before I forget, there's something I really gotta ask."

"Yeah?"

"Does Lincoln know you guys were working with his sisters to help him? I mean, if he learns that you guys were trying to dial down his problem, he might come around faster."

"Or," Clyde frowned as he repositioned himself to face Bobby straight on, his brows knitted together just enough to give him a look that showed how serious he was. "He'll think his closest friends betrayed him and could've given him away to the very people he fears. And then he won't be able to trust anyone."

Bobby raised a brow. "Won't that happen if he finds out on his own? I mean, you said he was paranoid like crazy. At least, maybe if you guys tell him the truth, Lincoln might not freak out."

Clyde opened his mouth and raised a finger, but no rebuttal came. His lips sealed shut as he retracted his finger, thinking over the teen's words. Being up front with the Loud would be an initial shock to him; but in hindsight, Bobby did have a point. But that was still a big IF, especially with Lincoln appearing to flip more towards an aggressive stance.

"How about this: If I talk with Lori, you have to tell Lincoln. Pinky swear?" Bobby suggested as he extended his little finger.

The McBride huffed, seeing as he couldn't deny the logic thrown at him. However, many variables were at play; if something went wrong, Clyde certainly didn't want to be the first to deal with an angry Lincoln. "Fine. But if he doesn't want to be my best friend anymore, I'm blaming you." He extended his own little finger, both boys intertwining them briefly before letting go.

Bobby's phone gave a loud chirp, making him take it out of his pocket to look at his notifications. His eyes widened a bit. "Wow, it's almost 5 already?!" He immediately got off the couch and made a beeline for the door. "Sorry bro, gotta head to work! Thanks for the hang out though!" He yelled out as he exited the house.

Clyde blinked a few times at the closed front door, soon grimacing a bit as it started to dawn on him what he did. "Why do I keep making promises that are hard?..." He muttered to himself as he got up, shuffling over to the door and locking it.

The nerdy kid jolted his head up straight upon realizing Lincoln might've heard some of their conversation. He knew the walls in his house weren't necessarily thin, but their voices could've carried down the hall. Clyde sped walked to the guest room, stopping to press an ear to the door. He heard a few springs squeaking from beyond the wood, prompting him to gently turn the handle ever so slightly so avoid swinging the door open. As the doorway began to creak open, the McBride poked an eye into the room, spotting Lincoln lying on his stomach with a pencil in hand.

Raising a brow, Clyde fully opened the door, earning a hitched breath from the Loud as he jerked his head up. His right hand moved suddenly to the left, leaving a long black streak in its wake. "You ok Lincoln?"

"Y-Yeah." Lincoln smiled a little. "Just got a bit too busy." He chuckled a little as he focused back on his work. His brows knitted together upon noticing the unwanted mark, flipping the pencil over to erase the offending lead.

Clyde eyed the pencil and what he found to be a clipboard and some paper. The paper already had a few pictures drawn in a way that looked as if they were telling a story. "Is that a comic?"

The Loud nodded, his tongue sticking out a little as he kept erasing much as he could. "I couldn't get this stuff out of my head, so I felt I needed to do something with it."

The African American waltzed over to the bed, leaning in slightly to get a better view of his friend's drawing. Clyde found it was Lincoln himself sorting through clothes in what appeared to be a clothing store; the Loud himself was wearing what Clyde garnered as a hospital gown. In fact, it was the only thing on his person as Lincoln didn't appear to be wearing any sort of footwear either. As his eyes scrolled over the panels, Clyde watched as Lincoln slowly picked out some pants, a shirt, a hat, socks, some undies, and a pair of shoes.

Squinting an eye, "Uh...what are you?..." Clyde paused when he got to a panel where Lincoln was fully dressed, looking nothing like himself while cautiously watching his surroundings as if he was looking for someone. He exited the store soon after, whipping out a pair of shades and placing them on his eyes after ripping the price tag off.

Raising both brows, "Dude, did you just disguise yourself?"

Lincoln nodded. "Turns out that dream is still going on. But now the police know who I am, so I needed to stick to the crowds." He ran a few fingers through his white hair. "Especially with this." He pointed at his snowy cap.

"I thought sleeping was supposed to clear your head, not give you more ideas to draw." Clyde chuckled a little.

"Well, it did help me sort things out enough. Plus, my head isn't aching anymore." Lincoln gave a brief pause as he remembered hearing the front door shut. "Who was at the door?"

Clyde grew a smirk as he folded his arms. "Bobby."

Lincoln's went wide-eyed as his mouth fell open slightly. "Get out. Really?!" The African American nodded, only to drop his smirk upon Lincoln grabbing both his shoulders and shaking him violently. "Who are you and what have you done with Clyde?!"

Clyde's world became dizzy for a few moments after Lincoln realeased him. After blinking a few times to correct his vision, he found his glasses sat askew on his face due to half his vision being blurred from his nearsightedness. Through the one eye he could see out of, the nerdy kid watched as his best friend began to spaz out while looking around the room; Lincoln fidgeted every few seconds as if he expected something to jump out and grab him.

"Am I still asleep?..."

With a dull stare, Clyde fixed his glasses with one hand while reaching out with the other, pinching Lincoln on his forearm to the point his nails started to dig into the skin. The Loud gave a sharp yelp, immediately bringing a hand to the stinging area once Clyde backed up a bit. The McBride formed a grin as Lincoln started to scowl at him.

"Are you awake yet?" Clyde spoke in a half-mocking tone.

Lincoln narrowed his eyes. "Ok, if I'm awake, what did you and Bobby talk about? Did you talk to him about your thing for Lori?"

Whatever swagger Clyde had was immediately scrapped into a pile and dumped into the void. He kind of hated the fact Lincoln was using that card, but Clyde expected this; after all, he already admitted it was a talking point that came up frequently between the two.

"Believe it or not...we did." Clyde drew in a shaky breath. "You were right dude; I can't even compare to Bobby to get Lori to notice me..." His shoulders drooped a bit as he glanced off to the side. "And I doubt she'd actually want to date someone whose way too young for her..."

Lincoln pursed his lips a bit, feeling some guilt for convincing Clyde to go through that discussion. "Well, maybe there's someone in our class that might catch your attention one day. Haven't you been hanging out with Haiku since the dance?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't really feel like it'd be something more. Plus, she's kinda like Lucy; by that, I mean she's in love with another vampire." Clyde shuddered a bit at the thought, and Lincoln couldn't help the chill creeping up his spine as he thought of his spooky sibling. Shifting his attention back to the drawing, "Sooooo, did you figure anything else out while you were asleep?"

Lincoln nodded. "I'll talk with Luan at some point, and..." He tapped the paper with a finger as he mulled over the next part of his plan. "If I want to be able to handle my issues alone, I need to learn to get comfortable doing it..."

Clyde raised a brow, a bit lost at that choice of words. "What do you mean?"

"See, in my dream, Lisa helped heal me even though I couldn't do anything to her. It sort of reminded me how Luan pulled me out of that crowd a couple weeks ago, and I know I can't ask you guys to protect me forever."

Clyde smiled a little. "Wouldn't stop us from trying though."

"Still, after what Lynn told me and these constant dreams I've been having..." Lincoln's nose flared a bit as he looked down at his drawing. "I know I can't avoid my sisters forever, and it's stupid of me to think that I could. Plus, I can't keep acting like..." He gestured to himself. "A coward I guess..." The boy's lips curled down. "I haven't even seen Lily ever since I left the hospital, and I know she probably misses me the most."

"So, where are you going with this buddy?"

Lincoln look at his friend with a hollow, yet determined stare. "I'm gonna try to be brave like I am in my dreams." He paused upon remembering his originally planned meeting for Lynn going bust due to Luan's unexpected presence. "For real this time, even if it means I'm likely going to need to wear brown pants for a while."

Clyde was still a bit lost. However, the mention of Lily left an open clue for him to latch onto, especially since she could only be at one place. "Wait, don't you think that's a bit of a jump? I thought you wanted to do things slowly."

"We did Clyde, and I hardly know anything outside of what I learned recently; especially after 3 weeks of hiding." Lincoln crossed his legs before doing the same with his arms. "Talking with Lynn gave me a lot more to think about than I thought; some of it I was kinds hoping she'd say though. I mean, part of me had a feeling they were just mad at me and took it too far, but it still feels like I'm not seeing the whole picture like Mrs. Lopez told me." He paused for breath, "So, if I really want to take care of this, I need to go back where it all started..."

Clyde carefully listened to Lincoln's words in case he heard any uncertainty in his tone. When he confirmed he didn't pick up a hint of nervousness, this made him unease. "Are you absolutely sure you want to go back home? I mean, there's no telling what could happen to you. Are you even comfortable with seeing more than one sister? You ran when you had the chance to talk with Lynn the first time."

Not that he was trying to dissuade Lincoln from thinking about it; in fact, Clyde was almost certain his sisters would shower him with apologies and treat him like a king if it meant making amends. However, it was a known fact that Lincoln still wasn't comfortable being around more than one sibling, and being at home with all 9 of them (he didn't count Lily for obvious reasons) would be like sticking your hand in a hornet's nest.

The Loud nodded. "I-I know...but I-I'm pretty sure I'm ready. I-I have to be..." He let his nerves slip for a moment before trying regain his confidence. "This can't go on forever..."

Clyde gave him a look that told him he wasn't so certain, but for whatever reason, his best friend kept silent. Clearly, both of them knew this plan was probably half-baked at best; but it was in Lincoln's interest, so they'd have to wing it. He could only hope that Lincoln knew what he was doing, lest everyone's progress be dent down the gutter.

A/N: Yes, this is a short one; but I've reached a point where if I drag it out for too long, the story will begun to fade. It may seem out of the blue that Lincoln feels he's ready to return home, but his troubles won't simply go away just because he is back with his family. Plus, it has been a long time coming that I move onto Phase 2 for the story. The nine-headed beast still awaits Lincoln at the place he once called home, and while the girls will certainly try to do everything they can to make him feel welcome, the tightrope has only gotten thinner.