45. Ch 45- Food For Thought

(A/N: hey, guys! So, first of all, sorry for uploads not being regular at the moment. I know I've brought that up a lot, but I do feel a bit guilty about that. Once I've gotten my other story finished, I'll hopefully get things going like before again. Lesson learned- don't write two stories at once.

Also, I wanted to let you know that I'm taking a break from this over the holidays to get assignments done, but there is something else I'm gonna be doing soon. Starting on Christmas Day, I'm gonna be uploading what I'm calling Twelve Loud Days, which will be twelve daily one-shots. I'm looking for ideas for what to write, so if any of you have any suggestions, I should have uploaded the first chapter, which should explain what I'm doing better. Feel free to check it out if you're interested.

Now that that's out of the way, thank you for reading, and enjoy!)

After the final designers had showcased their designs, the fashion show came to a close. Thankfully, other than Jordan almost falling off the stage, the show went off without a hitch, and as soon as Leni and Jen had finished showing off their creations, they headed backstage to see that the younger Rosato girl was okay- though initially shaken, talking with Lincoln had allowed her to calm down and try to move on from what happened. When an interval came around, not only did the teacher from before come over to check on her, but a number of her friends from school who were there went to check if she was okay, as well as the Loud sisters in attendance (though they were also there to tease Lincoln a little about his 'gallant rescue', which made the boy blush to no small degree).

Eventually, though, the show was over, and after helping the rest of the high schoolers to clear up the backstage area, Leni and Jen told their younger siblings/models that they had a little surprise for them, and began leading them on a walk which led them to the Royal Woods Mall. While Leni had changed back into her usual seafoam green dress, Jen, Jordan and Lincoln had all decided to stick with the clothes they wore on the runway. As they passed by the fountain at the entrance to the mall, Lincoln decided to ask his older sister, "so, where are we going?"

"Well, me and Jen decided to come here so we could celebrate the fashion show going well!" the blonde girl eagerly replied.

"And we've brought you two as a way of thanking you for modelling for us," Jen added. "We know that neither of you were exactly ecstatic to be doing it, but it means a lot to us. Plus, we thought you'd be hungry after the show."

"Yeah, the refreshments weren't very… refreshing," Jordan pointed out, having turned her nose up at some of the offerings back at the convention centre. "I don't even want to know what was in that casserole."

"Or how long that pizza had been kept," Lincoln agreed, giving a small shudder. "So, are we heading to the food court?"

Leni nodded. "Yep, and we're going to my favourite place to eat there! Trust me, you guys are gonna love it."

She led them to the escalator, where after the two older girls got on, Lincoln saw Jordan immediately hold onto the railing once she started moving. "Are you okay?" He asked as he got on after her.

"Uh… y-yeah, just… don't wanna fall off."

Lincoln's eyes softened, knowing just what she meant. When Lincoln had wondered earlier if there was something on the catwalk that made her fall, she had explained about why she tripped, and he completely understood why she had tripped, but more importantly, why she didn't want to fall again. "Hey, it's okay. I'll make sure you don't fall. Apparently, that's what I'm here for."

She couldn't help but laugh at his joke, which only made him smile more. "Thanks, Lincoln. For helping me before, and… for helping me now."

His cheeks lit up a little, hers doing the same. "I-It's okay…"

Eventually, they all reached the food court, and after following Jen and Leni for a little bit, they eventually found their destination- a Chinese restaurant named Dim Yum!. The Chinese aesthetic was clear, with the outside of the building having Chinese lanterns hanging from the roof, with the red and brown walls and green roof that made it look like it resembled a Chinese bell tower, as well as the sign being in a yellow Chinese American font. They joined the back of the queue, which Leni assured them was "surprisingly small for this time of day". Whilst waiting, Leni turned to Jordan and asked, "so, do you think you'll wear that more often?"

"Maybe," she replied. "I do like how it looks on me, but I don't know when I would wear it."

"Well, you should totes consider it. You look so cute like that!"

While Jen smirked at seeing her younger sister blush, a glance at the boy next to her made him look away slightly, which made her smirk grow. 'Something tells me he might agree on that,' she cheekily thought, storing it away for later.

The line began moving again, and the group of four found themselves at the front, where the hostess- a woman with brown pigtails wearing a white shirt, black trousers and shoes, plus blue eyeshadow and red lipstick, greeted them by bowing her head. "Welcome to Dim Yum! Do you have a reservation?"

"We should have one for a table for four," Jen explained. "Under the names, 'Rosato and Loud'."

The waitress looked through her list, smiling when she found the names. "Yes, there we go. A table should be available right now, so if you would please follow me."

She led them inside, where they were able to see more of the Chinese aesthetic, such as red walls with golden border, bamboo plants in the corners of the room, Chinese lanterns hanging from above, paintings from different periods on the walls, and yellow folding walls dividing the white cloth covered tables to allow privacy. They sat down in the brown wooden chairs as the hostess handed them a red menu each. "A waiter will be with you shortly."

Giving their thanks to her as she walked away, the Louds and Rosatos began looking through the menu. Fortunately, the menus were in English, so they were able to understand what was on offer, and it made them feel like their mouths were watering. "It all sounds so good," Jordan remarked.

"Yeah, I wouldn't even know what to get," Lincoln added.

"Well, me and Jen are buying, so you guys just pick what you want," Leni replied, though she'd be lying if she said she hadn't had the same thought as them the first time she dined here.

"And after," Jen added, "we'll swing by the smoothie place. A friend of mine works there, and she always gives me a discount."

"Okay," both kids replied to them, before looking back at their menus. As they continued to make their decision, a man with short black hair and glasses, wearing a green dress shirt under a white apron, black trousers and black shoes approached them, holding a pitcher of water in one hand and a notebook and pencil in the other.

"Some water for the table," he told them as he poured the water into their glasses, then placed the pitcher in the centre of the table before preparing to write something down. "Are you ready to order?"

"I'll have the wonton soup, followed by the chicken with string beans, please," Leni ordered first.

"I'll have the shrimp toast, and then go with the sweet and sour chicken," Jen was next to order.

"Uh, could I go with the spring roll appetiser, and the spicy mala beef?" Lincoln asked.

"Of course, sir," the waiter replied, jotting everything down as he turned to Jordan. "And you, miss?"

"Honestly, I'm still a little uncertain," she confessed, feeling a little nervous now the waiter was here. "I guess I'll start with the chicken noodle soup, and I think I'll go for chow mein… but I don't know which one."

"Might I recommend the house special? It's tasty, and good for a first time customer."

The small wink he added made her giggle a little, before deciding, "sure, that sounds nice."

"Ooh! Can we get some fortune cookies for after?" Leni spoke up.

"Of course. I'll bring your first course out when it's ready for you."

They offered their thanks once again as he walked away, taking their menus with him. After taking a sip from her water, Jordan turned to the two older girls. "You guys did really good today," she told them, making Leni's smile grow. "The outfits looked great."

"Aww, thank you, Jordan!" She replied. "Honestly, you looked so good up there."

"Yeah," Jen agreed, a bit of a grin on her face. "Seems all that practice paid off, huh, sis?"

She gave a bit of a groan, throwing her head back. "I still hate you for filming me."

"Oh, come on, you were having fun with it. Don't pretend otherwise." Ignoring the eye roll her sister gave her, she turned to the boy. "Still, shame you didn't get to show off your outfit more. Then again, I don't think anyone's gonna forget what you did."

His cheeks turned pink again as he looked away. "I don't know if that's a good thing or not," he muttered. "Honestly, I just kind of… acted."

"Yeah, and I told you. You 'acting' saved her. We're all grateful for what you did."

"Well… you're welcome. Still, it was all kind of a blur… one second I'm just walking, and the next, that happened."

"Well, maybe that's your dodgeball training kicking in." The table went silent after that, the Loud boy looking tense at hearing this. "I mean, I don't know much about sports, but I'm sure Lynn would say something like that, right? She'd be so proud of you for what you did."

"Y-yeah… something like that…"

Leni smiled, thinking she had caught on, not knowing that Jordan and Jen were also acting slightly odd- the former biting the inside of her lip, while the latter was drumming her fingers against the table. Before anyone could say anything else, she stood up. "I'm gonna go use the restroom real quick."

They nodded to her, and once she had walked away, Lincoln turned his head and saw an almost expectant look in Jen's eyes. "I know what you're going to say-"

"Why haven't you told her the truth?" She asked, ignoring his attempt to avoid this conversation. "I agreed not to tell her because Jordan asked me, but I don't get it." He looked down at the table in an attempt to avoid her gaze. "Look, I'm not trying to make thinks tougher, but… can you at least tell us why?"

He looked back up slightly, seeing that Jen had softened her gaze slightly, and when he looked at Jordan, he saw the same gaze, but with her smiling encouragingly. He gave a sigh, before looking back down at the table. "My sisters… they've not been the most… supportive of some of my other hobbies." The two Rosato girls looked at each other, confused, but knew that Lincoln wasn't done speaking yet. "I know it sounds stupid, but… with nine sisters who each have their own different interests, it's hard to talk to them about stuff that they aren't as interested in, and I don't want them to judge me for being into this."

"Okay, I kind of get that, and I don't know what it's like to deal with ten siblings, so… let me ask you this. Do you really think Leni would judge you?"

He gulped, knowing that question was coming. "Well… Leni can be a bit…"

"Ditzy?"

He shook his head. "There are times where she can be… swayed. She doesn't like to cause an argument, so sometimes, she just goes with the others." Jen nodded, having noticed that on occasion in school. "But, I'm not as worried about her judging me, not as much as my other sisters, for sure. I just… don't want her to let it slip."

"Let it slip?"

Jen looked at her sister, who was confused by the boy's statement. "Leni means well, but she sometimes forgets not to say things."

Looking to Lincoln, Jordan saw him nod. "Oh… so, you're worried she might tell the others?"

Again, he nodded. "You probably think the worst of me for this."

She shook her head at him. "I don't. I don't think less of you for not knowing how your sisters will react, or for worrying about it." She leaned over and put a hand on his shoulder, making him look her in the eye. "I just don't want you to lose your bond with them by not telling them before it's too late."

He looked at her for a few seconds, taking her words in with careful thought, before smiling and lifting his hand to put it on top of hers. "Thanks, Jordan."

Leni returned shortly after that, and it wasn't long before they found themselves digging in to the respective meals, which were as delicious as Leni had hyped them up to be. They had a good time chatting whilst they eat, and a few laughs were sent towards Lincoln after he found out why it was called the 'spicy' mala beef, but he laughed it off. He didn't, however, laugh as much when him and Jordan both got the same fortune in their cookies, which read 'someone you know will soon mean more to you than you had once thought'. They didn't let it get them down, though, claiming that it was just a coincidence, and that they had both received the same fake fortune by pure chance.

After a delicious meal, they were walking towards the smoothie place, but Lincoln was dragging behind slightly, his thoughts having returned to what Jen and Jordan had talked with him about. He knew they were right about what they were saying, but that didn't stop his mind being divided about it like a figurative devil and angel on his shoulders each telling him the opposite thing to do, which made it all the harder for him to decide what to do.

"Linky?" He heard Leni ask, snapping him out of his thoughts. "What kind of smoothie do you want?"

"Oh, uh… one sec." He looked up at the sign, and saw what was available. "I'll just get a strawberry smoothie."

"Okay!"

Looking back at his sister, he saw how happy she was, and he didn't want to ruin that mood for her… but for the first time in a week, the angel telling him to come clean was speaking louder to him than the devil telling him not to, and he wanted them to just be quiet, so he made a decision. "Hey, Jen?" He told the older Rosato girl. "Me and Leni are gonna… grab a table, or something. Is that okay?"

Sensing the nervousness in his voice, she knew what he really meant, so she agreed. "No problem. Me and Jordan will come find you once we've got the smoothies, okay?"

He nodded, then turned to Leni and said, "come on." She followed after her brother to an available food court table, where they sat down opposite each other. He opened his mouth to speak, but he felt as if his throat had gone dry, making him close his mouth again, which Leni caught onto.

"Lincoln? Are you okay?"

"Uh… y-yeah, I… I kind of need to tell you something."

"Oh! Well, what is it?" Watching as her brother again failed to get his words out, she gave a gentle, caring smile and leaned forward so he could know that he had her full attention. "Linky, it's okay. You can tell me."

Seeing how considerate she was being made him feel a bit more guilty about what he was about to tell her, but it also gave him the push he need. "… you know how, for the last few weeks, I've been going to dodgeball practice?" She nodded at him, and after taking one last deep breath, he looked down at the table and continued to tell her, "well I haven't. This whole time, I've been lying to all of you."

Her smile dropped, but not in a disappointed way- rather, in a confused way. "You haven't? But, I thought that you always went to practice with Jordan and her friends?"

"… I do… but it's not to dodgeball practice. It's for something else." She was going to ask him something, but he hadn't finished speaking. "The only reason I told you and the girls that I had been going to dodgeball practice was because… I'm scared of how they'll react when they learn the truth."

Her gaze softened as a frown grew, like she would if she saw a sad puppy or one of her sisters or her brother were hurt. "Linky… you don't need to hide it from me. You can tell me, okay? Please?"

He looked back up slightly, seeing his older sister looking at him, her soft eyes showing that she cared, but he was still wary of what her eyes would tell him after he came clean, so he looked down at his hands on the table. "The truth is… I've been doing gymnastics the whole time." He didn't say anything else, just letting those words hang in the air. He'd be lying if he didn't feel like some weight had been lifted from his shoulders, but not hearing his sister reply either had him worried, and just when he was about to speak again, he heard what he was dreading to hear- he heard her laugh.

Except… it didn't sound like she was laughing at him. No, it sounded more… pained? Lifting his head again, he saw her looking down now, with a smile that didn't look happy. "I'm such an idiot," she finally spoke, much to the surprise of Lincoln. "I can't believe I didn't realise it."

"What do you mean?"

She wiped away the tear that was starting to well up in her eye, then looked at her brother. "Jen's told me in the past that Jordan does gymnastics, but when you told me that you were doing dodgeball, I just figured, 'oh, so she does two sports! Cool!' I didn't even think you might have been lying. Guess I really am just a dumb blonde."

That one stung Lincoln, making his heart sink. "Leni, I'm sorry… I wasn't going to lie at first, I swear. I was going to tell you what I was really doing, but… something Jordan's mom told me made me start to worry about how you and the others would react, you know? Like the… the toilet incident?" This time, Leni knew what Lincoln was referring to, and it made her frown grow deeper, while her hands lifted up to cup over her mouth as the tears started coming through. "Leni, please don't cry. It's not your fault, it's mine. I was an idiot."

She shook her head vigorously, a few tears flying either side. "No, it is my fault! I laughed at you before, and it made you not trust me. I haven't been fair to you. You'd never laugh at me for anything I like."

Though her hands muffled her voice, he heard her, and it broke his heart, making tears of his own start to pour down his face. "Leni… please, look at me." Hearing his choked up voice made her oblige, lowering her hands which allowed him to take hold of them. "I made a mistake by not telling you and our sisters the truth from the start, and I'm so sorry for that. I've made it harder for me to tell them now, and I know I've probably taken way too long to tell them, but I don't know how to tell them. I'm scared, Leni- not just of them laughing at me, but of them being disappointed in me. That's why I took so long, okay?"

Unable to hold back, she got up and walked around so she could pull her brother up into a hug. "I could never be disappointed in you, Linky. Not over this. I love you too much, and I'm so, so sorry if I helped to make you feel this way."

He wrapped his hands around her, his tears streaming by this point. "I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…"

She began to stroke his hair, sniffling as she tried to slow her tears down. "Don't be. I'm your big sister, Linky. I shouldn't have made you feel like that, and I know I can't change anything that happened, but I want you to know that I'm proud of you for doing gymnastics."

"Y-you are?"

She nodded and loosened her hug so he could look up at her. "I am… because if it makes you happy, then that's all that matters." This finally got him to smile, so she leaned her head down and kissed him on his snowcap hair. "I love you, Linky."

"I love you too, Leni."

It was later on when the two Loud siblings returned home, being dropped off by Jen and Jordan's mother. After waving goodbye to their friends, Lincoln started to walk inside, but Leni stopped him. "Linky, can we talk quickly?" She asked.

"What is it?"

"I just wanted to say again that I'm not mad at you for not telling me the truth about gymnastics, and that I'm totes thankful you told me."

He gave a bit of a frown. "I still feel bad about it."

"I know you do, and I know you'll figure out how to tell the others eventually. I won't tell them, or at least, I'll try not to." She rubbed the back of her head as she added, "I know I can be a bit forgetful at times, and I know that you're worried that-"

"Hey." She stopped what she was saying and looked back at her brother, whose frown had turned into a soft smile. "I'm just thankful you're trying for me."

She gave him another smile and a hug. "Come on. Let's go inside."

As Lincoln walked in with his sister, he felt a bit better about the whole situation- he knew that some of his sisters would be harder to talk to or to find the time to talk to them, and that it might not always go this smoothly… but knowing that Leni was okay with it made him feel just that bit more confident. Sooner or later, he would let them all know.