38. Overcast

A/N: Lincoln has finally resettled back into his own home, as best as you could imagine. But just because he decided to eat with his whole family for the first time in months doesn't bode a further positive outcome; why else would he jam his door shut with his chair? Still, he has a long way to go before he can consider forgiving most of his sisters. At the very least, he may try to understand them better.

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING from the Loud House.

BEEP BEEP...BEEP BEEP...BEEP BEEP...BE-

SLAM!

Lincoln released a tired groan as he removed his hand from the top of his alarm clock. His right eyelid creaked open, revealing a red vein-riddled sight organ that desperately wanted to go back to being in stasis. As he tucked his hand back under the sheets, Lincoln glanced over at his clock.

"5:20?..." The red, digital numbers stared back at him as if the clock were laughing at his ruined sleep. "Why the heck did it wake me up this early?..."

Lincoln rubbed his eye, getting rid of the stinging sensation of dried skin that formed around the lid. After removing his hand, his eye took a moment to adjust to the darkness; save for pre-dawn light shining from his window. The boy gazed absent-mindedly around his small quarters, not seeing anything out of the ordinary; at least, until he stared at his door.

His desk chair was still leaning against the knob.

Lincoln's eye widened a little, a jolt of realization hitting him as his left eye started to open. "Oh...right..." He stared up at the ceiling. "Maybe I shouldn't have set it so early..."

The middle child lied emptily in his bed, closing his eyes as he waited for the sandman to reclaim him. It never came however, as that little bout of movement awoke his brain enough to start his other bodily processes. Giving a tired sigh, Lincoln sat up, scratching his messy bed hair when he felt his bladder slosh a little.

"At least there isn't a line for the bathroom..." He mused, scratching an itch on his side. A small toot from his backside made him pout his lips a little. "And dad's food finally caught up to me."

He kicked his feet out over the edge of the bed, leaning back to stretch his muscles for a brief moment. Lincoln groaned in relief as his spine popped, taking a moment to twist his sides before sitting up straight. He gave a casual glance towards the door, spotting his desk chair in the same position he left it in the night before; it didn't look like it moved an inch, meaning no one had attempted to enter his room after Rita left.

The middle child stood and wiggled it a little, just barely seeing the imprint of the legs on the carpet with the limited light he had. "Guess no one bothered shoving their way in..." He lifted the chair a little before sliding it away from the door. "Though I doubt something like that would've stopped Lynn, or half of them for that-"

Another toot erupted from his rear, making the boy consciously clench as he felt something almost come out with it. "Right!" He whispered harshly, placing his hands behind him. "Bathroom!"

Swinging his door open, Lincoln cringed a little upon hearing the creaks it made echo down the hall. The second floor was dark and barren of any toys or objects the Loud kids may have normally left around; anyone could tell you the number of times they nearly screamed after stepping on the wrong end of a toy or almost falling down the stairs after tripping on Lynn's sporting goods. If any other Loud was awake, this would be a gift from Heaven: no line, no risk of scarring your feet, and all the time in the world to start the day feeling fresh.

Unfortunately, those sentiments weren't reciprocated by Lincoln.

His eyes scanned the 5 doors lining the walls toward the bathroom, feeling as if his nightmare about Bun Bun eating him was about to become a reality. Any one of them could pop out and drag him towards certain doom, and he'd be completely defenseless to-

A sharp pain in Lincoln's waist immediately wrecked his train of thought as he brought his hands to where his intestines were, nearly curling into himself as nature called. "Ok! It's definitely coming out!..." Pushing his dark thoughts to the back of his head, Lincoln speed walked towards the oval office, the shuffling of his feet matching the tempo of his siblings' snores.

The white-haired boy nearly slammed the door shut before reminding himself to avoid stirring anyone else in the house. Slowly shutting the door, Lincoln made sure to twist the knob so it wouldn't make its typical 'click'; seconds later, he all but tore his pajama pants off before throwing himself onto the toilet seat, letting his body do its work.

"Geez...did Dad put beans in the steak last night?" Lincoln thought aloud, only to wince as his voice echoed around for a few seconds.

The unfortunate fact that the walls of the rooms upstairs were thin rattled in his brain as he heard a bed squeak in one of the rooms closest to the bathroom. The subsequent shifts of the box springs could've meant someone was simply shifting their position on the mattress, but Lincoln couldn't be too sure; nor was he in the position to check as he still felt the need to shed a few pounds of human waste. The middle child sat silently for a moment, his hands gripped the edges of the seat whilst his ears strained to detect even the smallest of movement. A few minutes went by before Lincoln allowed himself to relax, hearing something plop into the bowl as he realized he had been holding it in.

After wiping himself, Lincoln gingerly flushed the toilet, knowing the sound might awaken his oldest sisters. Looking up at the small window, he could see the orange glow of the sun starting to replace the night sky. Biting his cheek, "They might as well be up anyway..."

Lincoln turned on the faucet and scrubbed his hands clean, mentally debating if he should take a shower while he's at it. Having the bathroom to one's self may have been an easy commodity at Clyde's house, but it was a scarce opportunity if you had to share it with 12 people every day. And, Lincoln didn't know if he'd be able to keep up this new morning strategy in the long run; his mind was still a little fuzzy, and it weren't in control, his body would've piloted itself back to bed.

"Enjoy it while it lasts, I guess." He muttered before moving to turn on the lights, squinting a little as he adjusted to the sudden brightness.

Throwing the shower curtain to the side, Lincoln turned the knob and started the shower. Whilst it warmed up, he walked over to the bathroom closet and picked out a random towel and wash cloth. Stripping down, Lincoln put the towel on the top of the toilet seat and stepped inside the tub. He hissed a little as the water scolded his skin, but his body quickly got used to the temperature.

As he lathered up the soap in his cloth, Lincoln couldn't help but feel...aimless if he had to describe it. He came back with the intent of facing down his anxiety, even managing to eat dinner with his whole family for the first time in months; as awkward as it was. Sure, Lincoln still didn't trust most of his siblings, but he thought he could hopefully tolerate their presence. And yet, he still couldn't find himself ready to be around them for more than a few minutes; unless you were Lily. And even if he could work to avoid them in the morning like he was trying to now, what then? There was still after school, dinner, getting ready for bed...and it wasn't like he could just hang at Clyde's house until it was near curfew.

"Although..." Lincoln squinted his eyes as he started scrubbing his hair. "My friends did say they were trying to avoid making me afraid of them...and my sisters have been acting like they were walking on thin glass last night..." He paused to let some water run through his hair before raking his fingers through his white dome. "And Lynn was just as nervous as I was when we were talking with Dr. Lopez since they got home. I mean, if their plan is to just avoid me like I am with them, then I GUESS this might make things easier."

Lincoln furrowed his brows a little. "Oh, who am I kidding? I barely got any real privacy in this house before, and I somehow doubt I will later on...and Mom and Dad could always get us to work together on something..." Feeling he was clean enough, Lincoln leaned his head back to wash the soap and shampoo out before shutting the valve to the shower head. "My sisters want to make fun of me for my plans," He opened the curtain and grabbed the towel, working on his head and face first. "But they can't even solve something as simple as a dress issue." His voice was muffled as he lightly rubbed the crevices on his face, making sure to pick off any potential dried skin spots. "Oh, it's a girl thing. You wouldn't understand. Do they really expect me to believe that? If Leni had the dress on when Lori got home, then that means LENI had the dress first. And knowing Lori, she obviously tricked her into not wearing it at all; doesn't she know that all the days of the week end with Y?" The middle child fumed as he dried off the rest of his body, soon putting his pajama bottoms on. "But again, it doesn't explain why they CAN'T wear the same dress. Might as well not share a room too..."

With his irritation clouding his judgment, Lincoln didn't think much about the noise he was making as he exited the bathroom. If he bothered to care, Lincoln would've been surprised that the hallway was still empty, even as the sun's rays were starting to illuminate the inside of the house. Instead, the irate child just walked briskly to his room before practically slamming the door shut, only giving an empty concern if the noise had awoken his sisters.

A moment after Lincoln's door had closed, another opened. Lori peaked through the small crack in the doorway, signs of sorrow evident in her eyes as she stared at the lone bedroom on the opposite end of the hallway. She had awoken after hearing the toilet flush, and her curiosity brought her to wonder who could've been up so early. Seeing Lincoln's door wide open spoke volumes, though she didn't immediately go back to sleep. Like Lincoln, Lori had also built up some waste fluid she needed to dispose of, but she could afford to wait. Unlike before, Lori would've just shoved Lincoln out of the bathroom even if he had been doing his business; something she knew netted her some negative points in the Big Sister department. Last thing she wanted was to further agitate him and make Lincoln's distaste of her more justification.

Sadly, Lori soon realized just how much of a cliff she had to climb after hearing the Loud boy ranting to himself. "Why did I have to open my mouth about that stupid dress..." She muttered to herself, diverting her gaze to the ceiling as she slumped against the door frame. "Sure, Lincoln ended up making it worse when he tried to help; actually, it morphed into something bigger when he told me and Leni how we were trash-talking each other behind our backs. But it still started with us..."

"...Are we bad sisters Lori?" The sibling in question whipped her head towards Leni, who was rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"..." Lori didn't respond. She bit her tongue to avoid giving out an obvious 'yes', with all things considered; but someone like Leni who is generally kind-hearted (possibly the most out of all the siblings), it's hard to tell her she's a bad person. "No..." She hesitated, in part because Lori was questioning if she herself wasn't. "We've...messed up a lot." She looked at Leni, "But that doesn't necessarily mean we're bad people. We're..." She tapped her foot a little. "Just in a rough spot. Though I'm sure Lincoln might have an easier time forgiving you." Lori finished as she stepped out into the hall.

Leni raised a brow. "Why?"

"You're not the type who has a mean bone in their body, so it's hard for someone to stay mad at you." Lori replied before shutting the bathroom door.

Leni pursed her lips a little, directing her gaze towards her bedsheets as she gripped them a little harder. "But being afraid is different..."

Clyde stumbled through the front doors of the school, jolting a little to keep his backpack situated properly on his back. He gave a heavy sigh as the weight of four thick textbooks took a toll on his weak body. "Probably...could've left...the science book...behind!" He strained out as his voice developed a high pitch in his drying throat. Reaching towards the side pouch, he took out a bottle of water and started chugging it like he hadn't drank any fluids in days. "Aaaaaaah~..."

The nerdy kid hummed to himself as he brushed through the usual hallway traffic, intent on making it to his locker so he could dump the excess load he was carrying. He also wondered if he'd meet Lincoln there as well; the Loud hadn't called him about anything since the previous night, and that got the McBride kid worried. Lincoln may have sounded certain about returning home, but Clyde still held onto that moment of hesitation when he declared his apparent readiness to do so. Sure, he agreed Lincoln couldn't stay at his house forever (not that Clyde would've minded), but there's a reason why it's best to take things slow.

As an example, just this past weekend, Clyde managed to stay above the ground on a 10ft ladder for two whole minutes without hyper ventilating.

In a way, it made sense that Lincoln would've had his fear diminish talking with Lynn during therapy; as irate he seemed about it. But there was no telling how he may have reacted upon meeting all his sisters for the first time in...forever?

The McBride frowned as he reached his locker: Rusty, Zach, and Liam were busy getting their things for Ms. Johnson's class, but no sign of Lincoln. "I hope he didn't lock himself in his room until his sisters left. He'd end up being late every day!" Clyde mulled inwardly as he reached his locker, the bag dropping to the floor like a sandbag.

Liam raised a brow as he pulled his head out of his locker, managing a little smile for the glasses-wearing boy. "Howdy Clyde."

"Hey." The McBride responded with less enthusiasm. "Have any of you guys seen Lincoln yet?"

"No?" Rusty looked over. "We just assumed he walked in with you."

"He's not gettin' sick again, is he?" The farm boy asked.

"No," Clyde unzipped his bag, taking three heavy books out. "And while I probably should've mentioned this the other daaaay…" He dragged out, small beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. "Lincoln...went back home yesterday." The nerd finished with a sheepish smile.

"WHAAAAAAAAAT?!" Liam and Rusty yelled.

Zach jumped at the sudden noise, banging his head on the lower shelf of his locker. "Ow!" He stood up straight, rubbing the sore spot vigorously. "What'd I miss?"

"He went back to his house and you didn't tell us?!" Rusty shouted at Clyde.

"WHAT?!" The short redhead spoke, though this was largely ignored.

"Is he even ready to handle..." Liam paused, eyelids narrowing dangerously. "The beast?..."

Clyde raised a brow. "What?"

"Sorry." Liam chuckled. "Just wanted to always say that. But for reals, can he handle bein' around his siblings for hours at a time? I mean, he had enough trouble just talkin' ta Lynn."

"He's gonna crack harder than I did during the Spelling Bee." Zach leaned against his locker. "And everyone knows how that went..."

"Look, I agree that Lincoln might be in over his head on this." Clyde answered, fishing his math book out. "But if it means Lincoln is getting over his fear, then we should let him keep going." He shut the locker with a bump from his heel. "He already found out what we were doing with half his sisters anyway."

The three redheads grew pale at this, with their pupils shrinking until they were almost bead-like.

"But," Clyde quickly added. "He wasn't upset about it." Shifting his posture a little, "Well, actually...he was sort of mad at first. But he understood why we did it and felt he needed to take further steps."

Zach scratched the side of his head. "So if I'm getting what you're implying, he felt he should go back to his house because we teamed up with his sisters to help him?"

"In a way." Clyde shrugged. "It's no secret we didn't like them as much after what they did; but he said wanted to be brave and face his problems head-"

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

"On."

The quartet shut their lockers and speed walked towards their teacher's room, navigating through the groups that still crowded the hallway as they paid little attention to the warning bell.

"Soooo, do you think he's still at home, hitched a ride to school with his folks, or did he walk here on his lonesome?" Liam asked.

"Still trying to figure that out." Clyde answered, his tongue sticking out halfway from his lips as they eyed Ms. Johnson's wide-open door.

Agnes was looking through her teacher's book, mentally solving a few math equations she'd discuss with the class whilst casually taking note of the students who were walking in. The teacher eyed the clock on the wall for a moment, then scanned the rows of desks in front of her; at least 10 seats were still unfilled.

"Well, I guess a few people aren't going to get that 'Perfect Attendance' award." Agnes developed a sour look as she diverted her attention back to the text. "Though that's based on luck than anything else."

She didn't get too deep into her reading as a stampede of moving feet reached her ears. "Morning Ms. Johnson!" Agnes looked up to see Clyde, Rusty, Liam, and Zach entering from the hall, looking a little short of breath.

"Morning boys." Agnes smiled. "Another two minutes and I would've had to mark you tardy."

Liam and Rusty looked a little indifferent, with Zach sighing in relief; it wasn't as if they hadn't been late before. Clyde on the other hand, gave a nervous chuckle. Unlike most students, he has never missed a day of class, and took great pride in his academic achievements. Getting straight As is trivial, but avoiding the flu bug is a great challenge no student has ever overcome; unless you were Clyde McBride. And he wasn't about to miss time if he could help it; unless something extremely important came up.

You never know.

"Oh, before you take a seat, can one of you be a dear and wake up Lincoln? He's starting to drool." Agnes asked, getting looks of confusion and surprise from the boys.

Walking past their classmates, they spotted an all-to-familiar head of white follicles lying face down on a desk with a small stream of drool flowing out from underneath the head.

"Welp, guess he walked." Liam shrugged, dropping his books on his desk before taking his seat.

Clyde sat his supplies on his desk before lightly shaking Lincoln's shoulder. "Lincoln? You gotta wake up."

"Mmmmm..." The Loud groaned, apparently not as asleep as one would think. "Five more minutes..."

"Uh, dude? Class starts in two minutes." Zach added.

Lincoln let out another groan before sitting up, rubbing his reddish eyes as they adjusted to the artificial light.

"Did you get enough sleep last night Lincoln?" Ms. Johnson asked in a neutral tone.

"I did..." Lincoln covered his mouth as he yawned. "Just woke up earlier than usual..."

"Well, I hope those extra 30 minutes you spent sleeping won't affect your willingness to pay attention." The teacher semi-scolded, earning a few giggles from the class. Thankfully, Agnes failed to find any humor in the situation. "Now now class, I don't want anyone becoming distracted or making fun of anyone else for the duration of the class. We have A LOT of ground to cover in regards to these equations I'm going to show you." She grabbed a clipboard with an attendance sheet attached to it. "Now then, who's here...Alex?"

"Here."

The class stayed silent as Ms. Johnson took roll. Admittedly, the teacher didn't like having to use a strict tone to bring her class together; but she's seen too many times where students would often get chastised by their peers over the littlest of things. Granted, kids can be easily distracted, but that didn't make it ok to laugh at someone's misfortune if it were an accident; especially if said student had been hospitalized for reasons that related to family issues.

Clyde subtlety leaned towards Lincoln, keeping his eyes forward so Ms. Johnson wouldn't become suspicious. "When'd you get here?" He whispered.

"About..." Lincoln started, his mind slowly catching up to the present. "7...ish? The door was open, so I walked in."

"Did one of your sisters give you a ride or...?"

The Loud shook his head. "I left before even my parents were up." He took a moment to pull his textbook out. "I didn't want to ride with my sisters today...so I used my bike."

Clyde raised a brow. "You mean the same one that was originally Lynn's?"

Lincoln's face soured a little, giving a downcast look at his desk. "Yeah..."

Ms. Johnson finished her roll, soon grabbing her the teacher's version of the student math book and writing a few equations on the board. They were pretty simple: solving for the variable that was X in a mostly completed equation. But given the sly smile on her face, the students could help but think she had much more in store for them.

"...So..." Lincoln glanced at Clyde as he spoke again. "How was it? B-Being back at home for the first time in forever, I mean?"

Lincoln bit his cheek, having predicted that question would come up at some point. "It was nice to see Lily, and Charles, and Cliff. And it felt nice to be in my old room again; though it felt a little cramped..."

Clyde couldn't help the small grin on his lips. Spending a month in an actual room as opposed to a converted closet made Lincoln appreciate having a comfortable amount of room space. He wondered if that would lead to him asking his parents if he could get a bigger room, which would be a hard task considering all except the basement and attic were occupied.

"My other sisters were out with Mom most of the day...and I started getting scared when they finally got home..." Clyde tensed up a little. "I figured I'd just hide in my room all day, even skip dinner if I had to. But Lynn came up and offered me some comics I hadn't gotten yet."

"Did she come up by herself, or?"

Lincoln nodded. "She was alone." Surprisingly, he started to smile. "Lily actually brought her over to me when neither of us wouldn't move, and I felt that Lynn was being sincere in her words when we talked for a minute. Well..." Lincoln fidgeted a little. "She did most of the talking while I stayed quiet. So...I decided to risk it and eat dinner with everyone around; only if she sat near me and Lily."

Clyde hummed in thought, partially because he was trying to solve the problem Ms. Johnson wrote, and because there was a noticeable pattern to Lincoln's actions. "You know..." He wrote down a few answers. "You've been focusing a lot on Lynn lately..."

Lincoln tapped his pencil on his notebook before writing something. "What about it?"

Clyde took his eyes off the board to look at his friend. "Does that mean you're starting to trust her?"

The Loud furrowed his brows a bit. "No, I..." Lincoln paused, starting to rethink his answer. "I mean, I still don't trust her, but..."

"But you said you had her sit next to you at dinner last night."

"Well...Lynn is my strongest sister, so I felt that having her close would be helpful." Lincoln pointed out. "I still don't trust her much, but she's been truthful for what she's said and done so far. Sooo…" Lincoln scribbled down a few more answers. "I figured it would be better if I kept her at a reasonable distance since she doesn't look like she'd do anything." He started to frown. "But she did have a habit of springing surprise wrestling moves on me, and throwing stuff at me before..."

"Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer..." The McBride mulled to himself as he gave a curt 'hmm'. "So, you're still on that line between getting angry and feeling afraid?"

Lincoln's frown increased. He sort of didn't want to think about his current situation, as unescapable as it was; but each time he dwelled on the matter, Lincoln would find himself becoming easily irritated and indifferent. He was beginning to worry he might end up lashing out over something he normally wouldn't; and Lincoln wished to avoid that bridge when the time came, lest he end up snapping at someone who didn't deserve it. "It's...complicated..."

"It's not that complicated if you're starting to feel indifferent towards your sisters Lincoln." Clyde replied, taking a moment to copy down the next few problems Ms. Johnson wrote on the whiteboard. "At least that's what me (and probably everyone else) is noticing." Glancing towards the white-haired boy, "You can at least look at them without freaking out, right?"

"Yeah..." Lincoln responded casually, before quickly adding, "Mostly..."

"Then, you're getting somewhere." Clyde gave a faint smile. "Still more than me and my fear of heights." The two boys shared a quiet laugh. "But..." Clyde grew a little more serious. "Have you tried talking to any of them since you got home?"

Lincoln answered with a flat, "No."

Clyde sighed through his nose before turning towards the Loud. "Lincoln, you have to try to at least make some sort of communication. If I can see you getting mad every time you think about your sisters from now, it just looks like you're bottling up your emotions-"

A heated snorted left Lincoln's nose as he closed his eyes. "Clyde," He opened them as he looked towards his friend. "You wouldn't really understand what I'm going through right now. Now, I learned a lot from talking to Lynn during our last session with Mrs. Lopez; we've talked about that before." The Loud's hard stare shifted earthward. "But I still don't know if I'd be able to speak my mind without getting a bruise for it..."

"Well, Lynn apologized for breaking your arm. And from how you talk about her, it sounds like you're starting to make peace with her." Clyde pointed out.

"Clyde, my sisters have a pretty bad habit of saying 'sorry' one day, then doing something worse the next." Lincoln looked back at the board, then idly looking down at his open book. "That's why it's hard to trust her (or any of my other sisters really) if they apologize. Now, Lynn was pretty sincere when we were talking in Mrs. Lopez's room; but knowing how short tempered she I..." He paused as Ms. Johnson idly looked among the class. His face paled as he wondered if he might've been talking too loudly.

Agnes' face formed a little scowl as she heard a popping sound. Whipping her head towards a certain student, "Katlin," She pointed to the trash can. "You know you're not supposed to be chewing gum in class."

A girl with dark hair and a red sweater, usually going by her nickname 'Kat', groaned exasperatedly before getting up from her seat. She walked over to the can and spat out her treat.

"I just don't want to get..." The Loud subconsciously clenched one of his hands. "Betrayed...again..." Lincoln grimaced a bit as that last word left his mouth. "Me and my sisters..." He blinked, his eyes starting to feel a little watery. "We fight a lot...but we never tried to outright kill each other..."

Clyde shivered at that thought. He was well versed in the stuff that happened in Lincoln's dreams, but hearing the Loud say any word synonymous with 'murder' still felt disturbing. You'd think Lucy would be the one discussing this freely.

"I-I thought I was gonna die when I was on the floor when they kept hitting me...that's why I kept having those n-nightmares...t-that's why I can't relax at all unless I'm far away from them..." Lincoln sniffled a little. "I hate that I feel like I have to look always look behind me," He brought a finger to his eyes to wipe the excess water away. "In case they might pull something..." His pencil sat idly in his fingers, not finding the will to write any further. "I know you guys want me to go back to normal, so I went home to face my problems head on...b-but I don't see how I can go back to being..." Lincoln glanced at his friend. "Me..."

Clyde tapped his pen on the page of his book, wracking his brain for an answer. He had little ammunition to go on, but he hoped it was worth something. "You don't have to try and handle it all at once Lincoln. I'm still surprised you felt ready to head home when you still don't trust any of your sisters besides Lily; but you might be moving a little too fast there."

"How?"

"You don't need to face all of your sisters at once; I mean, even before all of this, you always said it was a bigger chore than taking out the trash. But what you can do, is try working things out with them one at a time." Clyde looked at the board, now raising a brow as Ms. Johnson wrote a problem that probably wasn't even meant for their grade. "You spoke to Lynn a lot, so you can try ironing things out with her."

Lincoln rolled his fingers over his thumb. "Lynn would be easier to deal with...I know she asked me to talk with Luan next..." He shook his head. "But I don't think I'm ready for her just yet. At least until I know she's not gonna have a prank up her sleeve..." Lincoln's nose flared a bit as memories of the past few times Luan asked him what appeared to be a simple question, only for it to be the start of a cleverly hidden joke. Usually it was just a pie to the face, or a water bucket above the doorway, though one time a spring-loaded boxing glove was involved.

"I'll try..." The Loud stated, feeling a little uneasy as he began thinking up a strategy to employ. "So long as they let me..."

Leni hummed to herself happily as she freshened up after her short bathroom break. The morning hadn't started off so great, but it looked like things were getting better. There was a lot of panic as to where Lincoln went after herself and Lori heard him taking a shower; quite early in the morning before anyone else was awake. Leni pondered why Lincoln would be such an early bird upon waking up, though part of her knew the answer whether she liked to admit it or not. Nonetheless, she put on a faux smile after getting herself ready that morning once Lori was done.

Even now, the school day was going well; as well as it could be that is. By this point in time, knowledge (or rumors) of what happened with Lincoln had been effectively left in the wind, especially how few could ascertain the exact details. Only a few people actually knew, but that information wasn't disclosed to much of the student body. That still didn't stop any of Leni's friends from breaking ties with her; which was made even worse by the fashionista being targeted by those who were jealous of her skills at fabric designing.

It may not have been as bad as the hazing Lori endured, but Leni could attest that being treated like she was a mental patient was arguably worse. If not by random people in her class, it was very prominent with her (former) friends.

Looking back at her reflection as she washed her hands, Leni nearly dropped her smile, knowing that things still looked a tad bleak. As if it read her mind, Leni's own reflection dropped the act and gave the real frown she ought to be showing.

"What are you smiling for? You know there's hardly anything to be happy about."

Leni bit her cheek, still refusing to frown. "I know that, but-"

"Our family is still sad, Linky still thinks we're bad sisters, and all of our friends left us."

"But he came back home after two months. Isn't that a reason to be happy?"

The reflection only shook her head. "Not when he's still afraid, mad, or..." She planted her hands to her sides as she stomped on the ground. "I don't know! But he still doesn't trust us. Remember what happened on chore day? How long do you think it'll take for him to get over THIS?"

The real Leni finally dropped her smile for a moment, looking down at the sink. "I don't know..." She let the warm water pour onto her hands for a moment before adding, "But it's better than staying sad all the time. It takes more muscles to frown than to smile..." She turned the faucet off. "And...maybe if I try to be happy, then everyone else could too, right?"

When she looked back at the mirror, her reflection was copying her every move again. Leni's shoulders sank before she leaned in towards the mirror, pulling one of her lower eyelids down to see if there was anything abnormal in her sight.

Aside from a few usually unexposed arteries, her eye was as white as it could be.

"Maybe I am going crazy..." The fashionista sighed dejectedly as she stood up straight, grabbing a few paper towels out of the container to dry her hands. She tossed them into the trash on her way out. "I hope this isn't a side effect from my medicine..."

Since it was a study hall period, Leni didn't need to be in a specific class so to speak. However, she often spent her time in the library since it was quiet and (in the weeks before) it was one of the few places no one bothered her. Sometimes, she might even find Luna hanging around, which in itself was unusual due to her Loud nature.

As Leni turned into the hallway that the library was located, her eyes widened as she stopped in her tracks. Towards the right side of hall some twenty feet away were two of her (former) friends, Becky and Mande; Leni often had to remind herself they technically weren't her friends anymore ever since they started avoiding her like she had cooties. Every time she tried to approach them, they fidgeted on the spot before making up an excuse that they needed to be elsewhere.

Unlike with her other sisters, Leni didn't catch a lot of open hostility due to her radiating with kindness; at least she was considered lucky to that end.

Still, she bought that excuse the first few weeks after she admitted her fault in the whole ordeal, only to realize later on they simply didn't want to be in her presence. Since then, Leni didn't approach or even acknowledge her old friends, preferring to keep to herself no matter how little comfort the solitude provided her.

"But that was a long time ago..." Leni told herself, subtly grabbing one of her arms for support. "Maybe they've forgotten by then? I mean, no has brought it up for about a month or so."

Leni clenched her free hand into a fist as a wave of determination flushed through her. Her brows tilted down a little, giving the expression that she was irate, but really wasn't. "I'm tired of being alone..." She dropped her arm to her side, walking at a smooth pace towards the two girls. "If Lincoln can manage to come back to us, then I should be able to handle this..."

As Leni drew closer to the duo, the conversation they were having reached her ears.

"So I told him that he didn't need to rush on trying to decide on what he wanted to do because we still got another year left. Plus, not everybody goes to college immediately after high school." Becky stated, a hand placed firmly on her hip.

"Is it because of pressure from his parents?" Mandee asked, shifting much of her weight onto one leg. "Because mine want me to go as soon as I graduate, and I haven't even decided on a major yet!"

Becky could only shrug. "Tad says no, but the way he talks implies it's something along those lines."

"Hey girls!" An enthusiastic voice cut into their chatter.

Both girls turned to see Leni with her typical smile on her face, her frown having been pocketed for the time being. "Soooo," The Loud put her hands behind her back. "How are things?"

"Uh...heeeeeey." Becky gave an awkward smile that was accompanied by a shy wave.

"Girl, we haven't seen you in over a month. We thought you might have changed schools or something." Mandee spoke in a surprised yet blunt tone with a subtle hint of edginess.

Leni pretended she didn't hear it that way. "Psssh, of course not. I was just," She paused, wondering how to explain what she was up to without sounding like a drag. "Busy, with stuff. But I've got nothing to do after school, soooo I was wondering if we could hang out. You know, just catching up."

"Uh, sounds great?" Becky started, placing her hands behind her back. "But I gotta do a..." Her eyes shifted around a little. "Thing, this afternoon."

Leni's smile started to drop. "Like what?"

"Uh...I gotta feed my cat!" The redhead replied in an over enthusiastic tone.

Mandee shrugged. "Gonna be busy with homework."

At this point, Leni dropped her smile entirely and replaced it with a curt frown. She her head tilted down a little as she temporarily gazed at the tiled floor. the old her would've fallen for those fibs, but the current Leni wasn't going to be tricked by anymore bullshit. "You're both lying..." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

The thin redhead raised a brow. "I'm sorry, what?"

All the weeks Leni spent alone, getting picked on, and almost feeling like she didn't exist to the people she cared about outside of her own family was starting to pour out in a torrent of aggression. The blonde could barely contain herself as her hands clenched tightly while her body shook subtly as the dam started to burst.

"I said, you're both LIARS!" The fashionista glared heatedly at the two of them, making the two women flinch whilst unconsciously taking a step backwards. "Becky," She pointed at the petite girl, making her freeze in place. "You don't own a cat, especially after you found out you were allergic to them back in middle school! And your little sister adopted a puppy two years ago!" Shifting her gaze and finger towards Mandee, "And Mandee, you always do your homework early so you have nothing to do at home!" She brought her hand back to her side. "And you guys have used that same excuse even before I started avoiding you on purpose!"

Becky and Mandee's eyes widened at the bout of information that came from Leni as she breathed like she had ran a marathon. Normally, she would be forgetful of even the simplest of tasks, which sometimes made working on a project with her difficult. Not to mention, there was that one time Leni casually told the story of how she 'set the chickens free' at a grocery store; you know, the cooked ones in the portable oven? Sure, everyone could attest that Leni was a genius in fashion; but not so much on anything else. It was a wonder how she managed to keep up with her class without needing Special Ed. And in all the bubbly acts everyone had witnessed from the kind Loud, no one expected Leni to act...well, not the dumb blonde she painted herself to be; not to mention angry.

Leni breathed through her nose and released a heated sigh. "Look, I get it." She stood up straight. "You guys still don't like me after I told you what happened to Lincoln..." Folding her arms, "But it's been two months! You think I have an easy time knowing my own brother probably isn't going to forgive me? I can't even be in the same building as him without Lincoln freaking out!" A pregnant pause filled the void as Leni let her remaining anger silently burn itself out. "Look, I'm not saying I didn't deserve the cold shoulder, but you could've at least asked if I was doing ok instead of trying to avoid me and pretend I didn't exist..."

"But we didn't-" Becky started.

"I saw the looks you both kept giving me even after 4 weeks went by." Leni interrupted, narrowing her eyes at the redhead. "Everyone else who even heard of it or started some weird rumor just forgot after a few days (a week at most), and even my older sister started talking with Carol. And she doesn't even like her!" Leni bit her cheek. "For reasons she never really talked about."

Mandee sighed. "Ok Leni, you got us. Yes, we've been avoiding you. But how can you expect us not to? You literally came up one day and told us you and most of your other sisters got into a fight with your brother and wound up sending him to the hospital." The brunette tapped her foot. "How does someone like you, who's always carefree and loves making others smile so much that you're practically a goddamn saint, end up doing something like that?"

"I..." Leni started, the unnerving feeling of her eyes becoming wet dominating her actions for a moment. "I don't know...I was mad at Lori over the dress thing, then everyone else was arguing about other stuff. Then Lincoln tried to help, but it just got worse and..." She sniffled as she wiped an eye dry. A pregnant pause filled the void as Leni took the time to gather herself. "W-We took away the love and trust he had for us...a-and I don't know how to get it back..."

A twinge of sadness filled Mandee's chest as she watched the Loud teeter on the edge of breaking down, but it wasn't enough to let her start being overly compassionate. "Well, has he at least thought about forgiving you?"

Leni's only visible eye shifted its gaze towards the floor. She really hoped Lincoln had at least considered it; but given that she had no contact from him except for last night...

"...He only came back yesterday after staying at his friend's house for a month." Leni brought her hand back to her side despite more tears starting to well up on her lids. "But since he did, he might be?..."

Becky squinted an eye in confusion. "Why was he staying at his friend's place?"

"It's a long story..." Leni answered, not willing to add more details.

Mandee folded her arms. "Ok...let me put it like this. It's good that you feel bad about what happened and all, but it doesn't mean things are just gonna get better knowing what you did." She approached Leni and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Leni, you're probably the most selfless girl I've met since elementary school. A lot of girls tend to act nice, but are really nasty underneath the surface. But you aren't like them though; you're sweet through and through."

"That's why it's just uncomfortable being around you right now. I mean, no offense, but when you first told me about it, I wondered if you were only pretending to be dense most of the time." Becky shifted her stance a little. "Or secretly crazy like those psychos in the movies..."

Leni gave a frown of disapproval, to which Mandee immediately removed her hand. "I'm not stupid you know..." Both Mandee and Becky gave her blank stares that said otherwise. "Ok ok," She shook her hands defensively. "But those times I acted like a 2-year-old were only because I didn't take the medicine I need to help me focus."

Becky's eyes widened. "You take pills?"

Leni, to her embarrassment, nodded. "I have A, D...something; don't really know what it is. But I've taking some stuff over the weeks and I feel more like my actual age instead of being...well, the other me..."

Feeling this was getting a little too sensitive, "Back to my point," Mandee cut in before anyone else could speak. "You're a sweet person Leni, but...we're just not ready to be around you yet. Maybe some time later, we can hang out, maybe when your brother forgives you for what happened; whichever comes first. But right now..." The preppy teen mulled over her words. "It's just hard to hang around someone who would hurt their younger sibling so bad..."

"If I ended up doing that to my little sister, I'd probably kill myself." Becky stated flatly, making the other two girls look at her weirdly. "What? I'm just saying, she might think it'd be better if I wasn't around." The redhead shrugged.

"A little too creepy there Beck..." Mandee stated, shuddering a little. Turning back to Leni, "I'm sorry we've been avoiding you, but...I hope you understand why..."

"I...guess..." Leni spoke on a hushed tone. She blinked once, fresh tears trailing down her cheeks.

"Well...see you around, I guess?" Mandee responded, backing away from the distraught Loud. As much as she wanted to comfort the poor girl, there was still a part of her that settled with the idea that Leni wasn't exactly the best person to be around.

Mandee turned on her heels before walking away. Becky looked after her, turned back to Leni for a moment, but didn't say a word as she too felt it was best to make her exit. Leni didn't say anything as her lip started to quiver, her vision becoming blurry as her eyes burned from the tears they produced.

"But I don't even know IF Lincoln will ever forgive me..." Leni mulled to herself.

As many fun times the trio had, it was clear that all it took was for one lapse of judgment to lose people whom you thought you were close to. It wasn't until the two women were out of site did the dam finally burst.

Leni's shoulders quaked as silent choked sobs escaped her, making soft echoes in the otherwise silent halls. She breathed in loudly before another wail, only barely louder than the last one, vibrated through her as she brought her hands to her face. Streams of tears leaked through the gaps of her fingers and the sides of her hand, dripping down to the floor in the effect of a miniature shower; some drops had a black tint to them, meaning the fashionista's makeup had started to become runny.

"I-I wish I never bought that stupid dress!..." Leni screamed out, her voice reeking of dejection and sorrow.

Some ten feet away, a fat, stout teenager came out of the boy's bathroom, a roll of toilet paper stuck to the bottom of his left shoe. "Phew! I think I lost 20 pounds in there." He poked at his gut, with his digit sinking into his shirt by half an inch. "I really gotta cut back on the pizzas at work."

The boy was then distracted by the distinctive sound of another human adolescent crying. Taking his mind off his stomach, the teen looked up to see Leni standing off to the side of the hall; a small puddle of tears was now at her feet. The boy winced as he listened to the Loud make a nasally sniffle, promptly going back into the bathroom for a few seconds.

Leni pulled her hands away from her face, revealing long black lines of mascara that ran down her cheeks from her eyes. Her eyes themselves were red from her moment of anguish, and her nose felt a little runny. Her eyes widened with surprise when a couple paper towels were suddenly suspended just inches from her face.

"You ok dude?"

Leni blinked twice before gingerly taking the hand towels. "N-No..." She dabbed part of her face, frowning in disgust when she realized how much her mascara had been ruined. "But thanks..." Looking...down at the pudgy teen who was slightly shorter than her, her reddish eyes narrowed a little. "Who are you again? I think I've seen you somewhere before..."

"It's Chaz." The curly-haired teen introduced himself, lifting his cap off his head for a second before setting it back on his due. "I think you used to shop at the store I work in almost every weekend." Tapping his chin as he jogged his memory, "Mmmmm...Leni, right?"

"Yeah..." The Loud replied, still trying to get over the stinging sensation in her eyes. As she looked down, she noticed a line of toilet paper on the floor. Curiosity got the better of her as she idly traced the line back to its source. Her eyes brightened a little when she saw it was attached to the bottom of Chaz's shoe. She bit her cheek as a few giggles churned in her throat, coming out as a suppressed chortle.

Chaz raised a brow. "What's funny?"

"T-There's toilet paper on your shoe." Leni answered with a short giggle.

Chaz looked down as he lifted one of his shoes. He gave a half-lidded stare as a groan escaped him. "Aw, man..." He muttered, immediately starting to wipe it off on the floor, prompting Leni to cover her mouth as she tried to hold in her laughter.

Two class periods later would finally give way to a much-needed lunch break. As students crowded the cafeteria for whatever food they wanted that was at least edible, a certain former sports star exited out of a pair or side doors, her bag of lunch clutched tightly in her hand.

As if Lynn wanted to eat that gross cafeteria food.

Walking across the playground, Lynn was expecting to be eating solo today. Margo said she had a dental appointment around noon, and likely wouldn't be back for the rest of the day. Clever girl that one. But it wasn't like Lynn had no reason to eat by herself, and she was less focused on her lunch due to yesterday's events.

She still couldn't wrap her head around why Lincoln chose to have her sit next to him at dinner. He had been pretty distant after their shared appointment with Dr. Lopez, which was obvious given how irate he seemed when he was dropped off at Clyde's house. Lynn also knew she wouldn't have had a chance in offering her 'housewarming' present if Lily hadn't intervened; she still owed the baby a nice round of cuddles for that.

"Heh." Lynn smiled. "Just a month ago, she'd throw the whole kitchen at me and blow raspberries nonstop. And now Lil is helping me get through to Lincoln way better than I would've on my own." Looking up at the clouds, "Time really flies...at least Lily isn't that spiteful enough to hate us forever." Lynn tiled her head back down, focusing on the tree she usually sits at. "I guess all those small approaches to Link is making him realize I'm not trying to hide anything from him. I mean, I got everything out in the open after that last talk we had." She shrugged to herself.

"Though..." The brunette started to frown. "He was more tense than I am at practice during dinner. Not surprising since he hasn't been near all of us in two whole months..." Lynn raised a brow. "But with me sitting next to him..." She stopped by the tree and sat down in the shade, pausing for a moment to enjoy the warm breeze that brushed past her face. "Does that mean he's starting to trust me more?..." Lynn shook her head after a moment of thought. "Nah. He probably would've asked me to walk with him to school this morning if he wanted to ditch everybody else. I doubt he'd let me sit near him during lunch anyway."

Lynn opened up her bag, taking out a container of last night's leftovers. Normally there wouldn't be any with all 13 family members eating, as opposed to some here and there with Lincoln's absence. However, it seemed the middle child hadn't eaten as much as Lynn Sr. would've hoped.

Welp, let no one say food was wasted in that house. Unless it was one of Luan's pranks.

Digging out the fork she took from home, Lynn popped open the container, revealing some Salisbury Steak mixed in with dirty rice and vegetables. Setting the top back into her bag, she stabbed the fork into the meat and devoured it seconds later. It was a little warm, seeing that Lynn only had time to heat it up that morning before leaving the house; but she didn't mind.

As Lynn was about to stick another piece into her mouth, "Lynn."

The former athlete flinched, nearly dropping her fork in the grass but caught it at the last moment. She glanced up at the person who called her, only to double take to make sure she wasn't just imagining things.

Lincoln stood 7 feet from her, his own bagged lunch in hand that he held tightly to his side. "C-Can I sit w-with you?..." He tried to speak as evenly as possible, but the boy couldn't hide his nervousness from Lynn.

The brunette also noted how fidgety his legs were, always jerking slightly every few seconds. A bead of sweat formed on her on the back of her head. "Welp, there goes my appetite..."

A/N: Lincoln appears to be taking Clyde's advice, honing in on Lynn in hopes of possibly reevaluating the situation to help suit him better. However, she may not be so comfortable given the circumstances; she doesn't think she'd be the best person to talk to frequently. Then again, Lynn could see it as a form of redeeming the fact she broke one of her brother's limbs. Either way, we'll see how it goes; and whether Lincoln will get ticked off again.

Also, sorry for the lack of updates to this one. Burnout for Syn hit hard and needed something else to work with before I gathered how I wanted to proceed.