20. Chapter 20

AN: Ugh, finally done with this one. This is one of the chapters I've been dreading. There's a lot of...stuff, that had to happen here. Not entirely sure I stuck the landing, but I hope it's at least serviceable.

JRC1700: Sam remarks upon the resemblance to Ace and Nightclub back in chapter...7? *checks* Yeah, 7. I'm honestly surprised how many people assumed that Sam's been in the know all this time.

Also, glad to see that people seemed to like the whole Maggie thing. I hadn't intended on including her. I dont dislike the character, but I'm usually pretty ambivalent towards her, didnt really have any interest in writing her. But I had a joke I wanted to use, and she seemed like the best fit for it. Then I ended up throwing out the joke entirely, and running with that whole chapter that just sort of happened. We'll see if she shows up again in the future.

Anyhoo, on with the show.

"Here you go, sir." Lincoln wheezed, handing over one final drawing to his waiting customer.

Lincoln resisted the urge to shudder until the man had fully disappeared into the adjacent sea of bodies, then let it out in one movement so violent that his teeth were still chattering even after it had finished. Then, in a single decisive act, snapped his pencil in two.

...or tried to, at least. His trembling hands couldn't quite muster the force needed. After several more failed attempts, Lincoln felt a soft tapping on his shoulder. He turned and saw Lynn, looking somewhat worse for wear herself. She gestured wearily, and he complied, handing over the pencil. A single twitch of her hand, and the deed was done.

"No more commissions." He rasped, eliciting a tired grin from the older girl.

Luna stretched, groaning in satisfaction as the many tiny pops and cracks that resounded along her body. When Sam had volunteered their services, Luna had assumed the job would mostly involve standing around and trying to attract attention. She hadn't anticipated just how much attention would be attracted, the onslaught of stares and leers she'd been subjected to fresh in her mind. What had begun as mildly flattering had quickly grown tiresome, and she'd begun to look forward to any opportunity to duck under the counter and rummage through Lincoln's boxes of product, eager for the brief reprieve it brought her.

Luna glanced sideways to Sam, feeling a slight degree of irritation. As far as she could tell, her girlfriend had gotten it just as badly as she had, and yet there she was, humming to herself and tidying up the immediate area, seemingly fresh as a daisy. She lingered, perhaps a bit too long, and her eyes met Sam's. The blonde girl seemingly, misinterpreting Luna's attentions, shot back a sultry grin. Luna reddened slightly, and quickly broke eye contact. Stupid sexy Sam.

She heard the sound of footsteps approaching and quickly spun to meet them, eager for the distraction. Lincoln, Lynn, and Leni. All looking just as haggard as she felt. She nodded in greeting to her little brother, and he responded with a happy, albeit tired smile. She felt a familiar warmth begin to build, and decided the safest thing was simply to look at the ground. Stupid sexy Lincoln.

"Alright girls." Lincoln began. "It's been a long morning, and you've all worked really hard. I think this is a pretty good point to shut down for a while."

Luna let out a very soft sigh of relief. Unwilling to display the fatigue she so clearly felt, but glad for the break all the same.

"Lynn and I are going to walk around a bit. If any of you want to join us, y-OUCH!"

Luna smirked to herself. Picturing in her mind the glower that her little sister was undoubtedly wearing.

"Aw, that sounds fun Linky. But I think I'm gonna get my sewing kit and see if I can do something about my costume."

Luna nodded in silent agreement. There had already been a few casualties of the sheer degree of Leni that was crammed into that outfit. That was bound to be bad for business.

"And I assume Luna and Sam will want some time to themselves. So that's that then. Thanks again guys, I'll text you when I'm ready to reopen."

Luna waved in what she perceived to be her little brother's general direction, and listened for the sound of his departing footsteps. When it seemed that the coast was clear, she let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding, and finally glanced around.

Her siblings were gone, as expected. What she hadn't expected to see, was Sam, a look of determination on her face, and an as of yet unseen backpack slung around her shoulder.

"Sam?" Luna asked, knowing she wasn't going to like the answer. "What are you doing."

Sam face scrunched up in concentration.

"I'm going..." She said at last, "To...stalk. Lynn...and Lincoln."

Sam paused thoughtfully, presumably turning over the phrase in her head. Then, seemingly satisfied, nodded happily.

Luna sighed heavily and put one arm around her girlfriend's shoulder.

"Come on, luv. We've gotta have a talk."

Luna dragged Sam into a nearby supply room. She glanced around to confirm that nobody had seen them, then pulled the door shut, locking it. She took a deep breath to steady herself, then turned...to her beaming girlfriend.

"Luna Loud, you sly pooch." Sam said, waggling her eyebrows suggestively. "Why didn't you say something sooner? Just let me give Lincoln a jangle, and we can—"

"Sam." Luna interjected, holding up one hand to forestall any further misunderstandings. "You need to stop this."

"Stop what, Lunes?" She asked, puzzlement evident on her face.

"This whole thing with Lincoln. The scheming, the feuding with Lynn, this whole...secret plan of yours."

"But I finally came up with a name!" Sam protested, quickly unzipping her backpack and withdrawing a large binder. Operation: Samwich, it read.

"That's weirdly adorable." Luna grudgingly admitted.

"Right?"

"But you need to cut this stuff out!"

"Luna..." Sam said, frowning. "I thought we were on the same page here. I was so happy that you'd finally asked for my help—"

"I just wanted you to help me spend more time with Lincoln!"

"Because you love him." The blonde said, with absolute certainty.

"As his sister, Sam! I-I just...I just worry about him. I don't want to marry him! Or build a life with him! O-or have..." Luna found herself trailing off as her throat constricted from a sudden burst of raw emotion.

"Adorable white haired babies?"

"T-twenty-four, adorable, white-haired babies." Luna finished, hissing the final words, due to the sheer effort it took for vocalize them.

"You love him, Luna." Sam said, enunciating each word as slowly as possible, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I don't!" Luna shouted, trying to ignore the burning in her face. "Not that way!"

"Luna..."

"You need to stop this, Sam! Whatever stupid scheme you've got planned out, it's over! I'm putting my foot down!"

"I can't, Luna."

"I don't want excuses, Sam! I want you to promise me right now that you'll throw that binder away and stay away from Lincoln!"

"I literally can't, Luna."

"Well why the heck not!?"

"Because I love you, you idiot!"

Sam Sharp stared into the furious and confused eyes of her girlfriend.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Luna growled.

Sam sighed, trying to collect herself. This was important, for all of them. She couldn't afford to get emotional, there was too much riding on this.

"I thought you had finally come around." She began, trying to keep her voice level. "I thought you were finally being honest with yourself..."

Sam trailed off as realization hit her like a lightning bolt.

"...but you really can't see it, can you?"

"See what, Sam?"

"The way he looks at you, Lunes. And...the way you look at him."

Silence fell upon the room, and the two girls stood there, staring at each other. Finally, Luna took a deep, shuddering breath.

"Sam..." She began.

But Sam pushed on, knowing that she couldn't afford to let the other girl rebuild her defenses.

"You're in love with him, Luna." She insisted. "I think you've been in love with him for a long time. Before you even met me, and I'm honestly annoyed that I didn't see it sooner."

"...And what makes you say that?" Luna rasped.

"Because when you're in a room together...doesn't matter where, doesn't matter when, doesn't matter with whom...Lincoln's the one you're looking at."

Luna flinched as Sam's words fell upon her, feeling them like a physical blow.

"You don't know what you're talking about." She replied, suddenly finding it very difficult to look her girlfriend in the eye. But Sam wasn't done.

"Luna..." Sam said, closing the distance between them and gently placing one sympathetic hand on Luna's shoulder. It took every ounce of Luna's willpower to resist the urge to flinch away from the physical contact.

"I'm not some...psycho, you know? I'm not trying to get you two to act out some weird, perverted fantasy of mine."

Sam paused, thoughtfully.

"Although I can't deny that it's kinda hot. The whole forbidden love angle."

Luna face burned with shame. She wanted to turn away, to look at anything else, but Sam gently held her in place.

"You know, I was kinda...jealous at first." She continued. "When I realized it. But who wouldn't be, right?"

Sam giggled, and in spite of everything, Luna felt her nerves calm ever so slightly. That laugh was like music.

"But when I see you two together, I get it. I can't help but get it."

"Get what?" Luna asked, unable to keep the quiver of uncertainty out of her voice.

"I mean, there's the obvious stuff. He's cute as a button, and with your family's genes, you just know he's gonna grow up something fierce once puberty kicks in."

Luna flinched as a number of possibilities for what Lincoln might look like all grown up briefly flashed through her mind. Stupid sexy Lincoln!

"And he's such a sweetie. You're always telling me about how he tries his darnedest to be there for you and your sisters...even if he ends up making things worse sometimes."

She giggled again, and in spite of her shame, Luna was finding it difficult not to feel at least a little buoyed by her girlfriend's positivity.

"He's smart, and he's funny. He's already becoming a hell of an artist. He's just a really great guy. Honestly, I don't think I could ask for a better person to share my girlfriend with. But aside from that..."

Sam trailed off and chewed her lip thoughtfully, seemingly trying to find the proper words.

"Luna, I fell in love with you because you're everything your name promises. You're passionate. Bombastic. You express yourself in everything that you do, and you live your life like you've got every single dial turned up to eleven. But when you're with Lincoln, you become...more of yourself. More caring, more expressive. More passionate, more...Luna."

Sam paused, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"You become louder, in every sense of the word. And it's amazing. You're both amazing. Together. And I love you too much to keep that from you."

Sam's smile faltered, ever so slightly.

"I just...want to be part of it, you know?"

Luna blinked, only just now noticing the tears flowing down her cheeks. She closed what little distance remained between them and pulled the other girl into a tight embrace, and kissed her, capturing the beautiful blonde girl's lips with her own. They stayed that way for as long as they could, emotions and feelings intermingling much in the same way their bodies were. Until finally air became an all too pressing consideration. The kiss broke, and they stared at one another, baking in the glow of their mutual affections.

"I love you too, Sam." Luna murmured, suddenly embarrassed in spite of herself. "But even if that were true...and I'm not saying it is...you know it could never work."

"Of course it could, sweetie." Sam replied, nuzzling, Luna's neck affectionately. "We've still got The Plan..."

"...Twenty-four babies?"

"Be patient." Sam said, gently flicking Luna on the nose. "That's much later."

Luna sighed. "Seriously, Sam, whatever you've got in there..."

"Has already been set into motion." Sam concluded, cheerfully.

Luna's eyes narrowed, letting go of the blonde girl and slowly inching towards the door. "What did you do, Sam?"

"What I'm doing, Luna, is for us. All three of us."

"Sam, I'm not just going to let you—"

"And that's why I'm not asking for your permission, Luna." Sam growled back, withdrawing a small, cylindrical device from one of the pouches on her belt.

"Smoke bomb!" The blonde cackled, flinging the object to the ground.

Luna instinctively closed her eyes and flinched at the loud BANG that resounded. She held her breath, having seen enough movies to know what would come next, and then...nothing.

Luna cautiously opened her eyes, and looked around. The blonde was gone, with only a small pile of papers left behind to indicate she'd been there at all. Luna leaned down and picked one up. "Smoke!" It read, in big, bold letters.

"...Right" She murmured to herself, shaking her head in exasperation. "Semi-functional."

AN: I shamelessly stole the Samwich pun from Zeobide's Lust for a Loud. What can I say, it's really good. By which I mean both the pun and the story.