12. Ch 12- Just Hanging Out

For Lincoln Loud, the next few days just passed him by, with the highlight being gymnastics practice on Thursday, where he had been shown how to use the rings and the pommel horse, and while he had struggled to get to grips with it, he found himself enjoying it all the same. The one thing that he didn't enjoy, however, was the fact his sisters seemed to be just that little more interested in what he was getting up to with Girl Jordan at school. Some of his sisters weren't as bad, like Luna and Leni, but some were just plain annoying about it, especially the twins, who went as far as to walk to school with him one day just so they could say hi to her and act like he had talked about her more than he had.

Come Friday evening, the Loud family were holding their weekly sibling meeting. Of course, most weeks, there was more than one, with the sisters and brother regularly calling for an 'emergency meeting' regarding various disputes, issues or plans, but this was the one meeting that was their 'regular' meeting. As everyone was chatting to themselves, Lori banged her shoe on the desk to silence them and gather their attention. "Okay, this meeting is officially in progress!" the eldest sibling announced. "Now, first order of business. Lisa, mom and dad have asked me to warn you that if you create another explosion this week, your grant money will be used to pay for the damages."

The toddler scientist crossed her arms. "Fine," she resigned. "Why must science be halted by such trivialities?"

Lori merely rolled her eyes. "Alright, next up, we need to decide what we will be doing this weekend. Now, I would like to propose that we head to the mall-"

"YAY!" Leni burst out happily, prompting Lori to groan.

"Leni, we need to vote, remember? Now, all in favour, raise your hands." Every one of the girls raised their hands up. "All opposed, do the same now."

They instinctively turned to face Lincoln, who merely shrugged. "I'm already heading there tomorrow, so I don't mind," he replied in a matter-of-fact way, though his sisters gave a different reaction.

"You're going to the mall?" Lola asked. "As in, freely?"

He nodded, raising their suspicions. "Should I grab my crystal ball and try to remove the spirit that has possessed him?" Lucy asked.

Lincoln simply chuckled. "I'm not possessed by any spirits, Lucy," he explained, "I'm just hanging out with my friends from dodgeball."

"You mean Girl Jordan, Linky?" Luna asked in a singsong tone, prompting him to nod.

"OMGosh, he asked her out!" Leni blurted out, which made all of his sisters squeal happily, though Lincoln just covered his ears.

"I did not ask her out!" He lowered his hands when he felt it was safe to do so. "She and the others were already going, so they asked if I wanted to join, and I said yes."

"Smart call, Lincoln," Lori told him. "When you do ask her out, you should literally take her to the most romantic restaurant in town."

While she sighed happily at the thought, Luna rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to her, bro," she told him instead. "You need to find out her favourite band and get tickets to their next gig. Before you know it, you'll be able to just listen to the rhythm of her heart."

This led to a growing argument amongst the sisters as they yelled out their ideas for what Lincoln should do, adding to the boy's it's more and more as his eye began to twitch, until eventually he stood up and stomped his foot on the ground. "ENOUGH!" They silenced at the yelling, so he took a few seconds to calm down before continuing to speak. "Lori, I'm taking the floor."

"Lincoln, we still have-"

"Don't care," he cut her off, prompting her to raise her hands and allow him to take the floor. "Okay, you guys need to stop. I don't care what ideas you have in your head, me and Girl Jordan are just friends, okay? F-R-I-E-N-D-S."

"Do you really need them? Yes," Luna sang, only to be met with an unimpressed look from her brother that made her chuckle sheepishly. "My bad. That ad with the dog is stuck in my head."

He groaned, before returning to addressing his sisters. "So, from now on, stop with the jokes about asking her out, or me liking her, or anything like that."

Lori scoffed. "Lincoln, we're your sisters," she reminded him. "We've all known you for more than half of our lives, all of our lives in some cases. We know how you act around girls, and it's obvious that she's more than just a friend to you."

"Except she's not!"

"Then answer me this- was it her that asked you to join her and her friends at the mall tomorrow?"

"Yeah, so? That doesn't mean I like her! Besides, at least with them, I won't be made to wait and watch their bags while they do what they want."

"But, Linky, surely you find her cute!" Leni added.

Lincoln felt himself at his wit's ends. "Leni, I don't really think of her like that. She's my friend, that's all. And yeah, I'm hanging out with her a bit more now that I'm doing dodgeball, but that doesn't mean I like her. I mean, you started hanging out with that guy at your work, but you don't like him that way, so why is it different in my case?"

"Because you're you, Stinkoln," Lynn spoke up, which made him narrow his eyes at her. "For as long as I've known, outside of us, you've only hung out with guys outside of school, with the exception being Ronnie Anne."

"And we all know how you felt about her," Lana added with a grin.

"That just adds to my point! Did I like her at first? Sure, a little." His sisters' smirks grew. "But we chose to be just friends, yet you still tried to suggest she was my girlfriend when she wasn't! In fact, until Jordan first suggested I try it out, you STILL suggested that!" He sighed with a shake of his head. "Look, if you can't stop from making those kinds of jokes, at least tone it down a bit," he glared at the twins, "and no more trying to talk her into anything."

Begrudgingly, the girls agreed. "Alright," Lori spoke, "it's getting late, we can talk about the other stuff in Vanzilla."

"I'm gonna use the bathroom first if that's alright," the boy told his sisters, though didn't wait for their response before walking away. Once they heard the bathroom door shut, the girls turned to the eldest once more.

"Are we really going to back off?" Lola whined.

Lori tapped her chin for a few seconds, before a grin cane to her face. "Maybe we need a little bit more information," she suggested, mischief behind her words.

"And how, pray tell, would we acquire such intel?" Lisa asked.

"Well, if they're going to be at the mall together, it's our job as sisters to make sure our little brother is safe, is it not?"

The girls quickly got what this meant, prompting them to giggle. While he hadn't heard the conversation, Lincoln did hear the giggling whilst brushing his teeth, which put him on edge. 'That's never good…'

The next morning, Vanzilla pulled into the parking lot of the Royal Woods Mall, finding an empty parking spot near the entrance before Lori turned off the engine. "Okay, guys, you know the drill," the eldest spoke up. "Meet at the food court by twelve, and don't go over your budget." She turned around in her seat. "Luan, you okay with watching Lily this week?"

"No problem!" She replied. "After all, it's barely even a s-MALL task!" She laughed at her pun, as she always did. "Get it?"

Just like how she always laughed, her siblings groaned. "Okay, sure." Lori then turned to her only brother. "You okay for cash, Lincoln?"

"Yeah, I'm good," he replied, prompting Lori to give a small laugh.

"Well, just in case," she held out a twenty dollar bill to the boy, who stared at it skeptically.

"Okay, what's this for?" He looked around, and saw his other sisters were looking around, which only made his suspicions grow, though he eventually sussed it out. "Okay, I'm gonna explain this one last time."

"Lincoln, relax, we're joking with you," Lynn told him with an elbow nudge.

"Yeah, I figured you'd get that after living with me your whole life!" Luan added.

"Given what her jokes are usually like," Lola whispered to Lana, who sniggered at the jibe.

"Look, Lincoln, even if you're just friends, that doesn't mean you can't be a gentleman," she reminded him. "Besides, I owe you this for breaking your controller last month."

His face relaxed. "Oh, right. Well, thanks." He accepted the money, then opened the door. "I'll probably end up walking home, okay?"

"Alright, just give me a ring if you change your mind."

He nodded, then got out of the car and walked into the mall, the first thing to hit him being the cool flow from the AC blowing against him. The Royal Woods Mall wasn't the fanciest mall in the state, let alone the world, but it had a good variety of shops, so there was something for everyone. As he walked in, he saw the girls he was looking for waiting by a fountain, with Mollie being the one to spot him.

"There he is," she called out, alerting the others to his presence.

Girl Jordan smiled as he walked over to them. "Hey, Lincoln!"

"Hey, Girl Jordan," he replied. "Hope you weren't waiting too long for me."

"Nah, just, what, an hour?" Joy told him sarcastically, to which Jordan rolled her eyes.

"Ignore her, we just got here."

"So," he asked, "where do you girls want to go first?"

"Well, we usually start with Reininger's since it's right by the entrance," Sadie told him.

"Works for me." The girls walked with him to the store. "So, just to let you know, my sisters are here, so if they aren't caught up in their shopping, they'll probably be spying on me."

Jordan raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"Let me put it this way- I'm a guy hanging out with girls, so their first thought is that I'm dating one of you."

"Really?" Kat asked. "That sounds stupid."

"It's not the first time, and it won't be the last." As they walked into the clothing store, Lincoln turned his head to what was basically Leni wearing a hat and pretending to be a mannequin. "Hey, Leni."

"Hey, Linky!" She obliviously and eagerly replied, the girls hearing her mutter "dang it" as they carried on walking.

"See what I mean?"

"Fair enough," Kat admitted.

"Yeah, the others are at least a little more discreet, but I'll keep an eye out."

Jordan put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't let them bother you," she assured him. "It's just their way of looking out for you."

He couldn't help but smile at that. "Thanks. So, is there anything particular you guys are looking for?"

"Nah, just looking around," Mollie told him. "We usually split up and see what there is for ten or fifteen minutes."

"Okay."

As the others walked off, Jordan noticed Lincoln was stood still. "You not looking around?"

"Nah, there's not really much I buy clothes wise."

"Well, then, would you mind looking with me? I wouldn't mind a second opinion."

Though surprised by the request, he nodded. As they looked around the stores, Lincoln would watch as the girl browsed some of the articles, occasionally lifting out a shirt or a skirt to look at. After a few minutes, she eventually found something that made her turn to Lincoln. "Hey, Lincoln?" She asked, holding a red shirt in front of her. It was similar to her regular shirt, but the sleeves were shorter. "Do you think this would look good on me?"

"Hmm… well, I'm not really the best when it comes to fashion, but I think it would work."

"Really?" He nodded. She looked at it for a few seconds more, then grabbed his hand. "Come with me a second."

He didn't ask as she led him through the store, eventually reaching the changing rooms. Lincoln waited outside while she went in to try on the top. In the meantime, Leni saw her brother and walked up to him. "Linky, I've, like, found the cutest jacket for you!"

She held up a purple varsity jacket with white sleeves, which the boy looked at before shaking his head. "Thanks, but it's not really my colour, and I'm not much of a jacket guy."

"Hmm… you're totes right." She puts the jacket on a nearby hanger. "So, where are your friends at?"

"They're looking around. I'm waiting for Jordan to come out of the changing room."

As he said that, he turned his head and saw Jordan approach, now donning the red t-shirt. "What do you think?"

He smiled. "I think it looks great!"

She smiled more at hearing him say this. "You mean it?"

"He's totes right!" Leni assured the girl. "The red really works with your bow."

"Aww, thank you! Both of you, really! I'll be right back."

So, while she went back to get changed into her usual top so she could pay for the new one, Leni turned to her brother. "She looks pretty, doesn't she, Linky?"

He rolled his eyes at her. "I'm pretty sure the whole 'spying on me thing' means you're not supposed to talk to me."

"Come on. Even if you don't have a crush on her, you can at least admit that."

He let out a heavy sigh, before turning to face her. "Leni, what are you doing? I thought I asked you guys not to do this. She's my friend, and if you guys keep doing this, she might not feel comfortable hanging around me, and I don't want that."

She loosened her grin, feeling somewhat sorry for him. "Oh. I'm sorry, Linky. I just wanted to check on you."

"Well, you don't need to, okay? Just... do what you usually do when you're at the mall, and leave me alone." He saw that Jordan was coming out of the changing room. "I'll see you at home."

As her brother walked away with his friend, Leni couldn't help but feel a bit sad as her brother's words sank in.