65. Ch 65- Regrouping

The Loud sisters were gathered once again in Lori's bedroom, having been called there by the eldest of the ten girls. They were chatting amongst themselves, some wondering why they had been gathered there, some complaining about how they had other things to do while some sat quietly. Whatever they chose to talk about, it came to an end when they heard Lori bang her shoe on her desk, gaining the attention of her siblings. "Alright, I know that none of you want to be here right now," she declared, "but this sister meeting is now in session."

"This had better be important," Lola whined, her arms crossed over her chest. "I have very important pageant practice to do."

"Believe me, Lola, whatever you have to do is about as important as what the rest of us have to do." Lola grumbled to herself, but stayed silent. "Now, I'm going to ask that Lisa explain the situation." She turned to the four-year-old. "Lisa, make it quick and simple. No science talk, just put it plain and simple. The floor is yours."

"Appreciated, elder sibling." Lori walked to the side, allowing Lisa to step on the desk chair and face the others. "Two days ago, Lola was found with Lincoln's phone in her possession. After seeing the images on said device, we arranged for a sibling meeting to make Lincoln reveal the secret we deduced that he was holding."

"We already know all this, Lisa," Lynn cut in, an unimpressed look on her face. "If you're just going to recap all that, there's no point in us being here."

This led to the other sisters starting an uproar as they agreed with her statement. Lori, giving a small growl, took her shoe and banged it on her desk again, once more silencing the girls. "Bear with her," she stressed though gritted teeth. "Lisa, continue."

She nodded, before resuming her explanation. "As I was recalling, once our Male sibling returned from what we believed to be dodgeball practice, we held a sibling meeting. We informed him of Lola finding his phone, to which he was visibly irritated. Before he could inform our parents of this, we requested that he divulge his secret, which was that he has been doing gymnastics instead of dodgeball. After our initial reaction, Lori asked as to why he decided to hold this secret, which led to his aggressive response, claiming his fears with regard to our reaction, before storming out. Under Lori's advice, we left Lincoln to his own devices, with plans to speak to him at a later time. New evidence has shown that his opinion of the event has not improved, and as such, Lori has called for this meeting."

"Thank you, Lisa." The brunette nodded, stepping down from the chair and walking over to the others whilst Lori took the floor. "So, since we got Lincoln to tell us the truth and stop hiding that from us, he's been going to school early to avoid us, and apart from sitting with us at dinner, he's been dodging us whenever he can." She then looked to Lola. "A couple of you tried to speak to him. Lola, you were first, correct?"

"Yes," she answered. "Lana wanted to talk to him, but she was scared about how he was going to react, so I said that I would speak to him first, just to show that she was being silly. Sadly… well, it turns out that she wasn't."

Lola knocked on Lincoln's door. "Who is it?" she heard him call out, so she pushed on the door, opening it enough for her to step in and see that her brother was sat at his desk, his school book open and a pen in his hand. He turned his head so he could face her, not showing any particular emotion on his face at her presence. "What do you want, Lola?"

"Is that any way to speak to your favourite sister?"

He deadened his stare at the girl. "Lola, you know I don't have a favourite sister."

She scoffed. "Admirable, but you don't need to keep up the act, Linky. The others aren't listening, I would know if they were and-"

"What do you want?"

"Wow! Rude, much?" She rolled her eyes, not noticing the shake of his head her brother gave. "Well, I have decided to invite you to a tea party. After what happened yesterday, I figured we could talk and you could explain why you chose to hide this for so long."

"Lola, in case you weren't listening yesterday, I told you all why I didn't tell you."

"But, Lincoln-"

"No buts, Lola!" He put his pen down with force, making her jump slightly as he turned in his chair, now facing her directly. "I didn't tell you all straight away, because I was worried about how you would all react, and you all reacted the way I was scared you would! The first thing any of you thought to do was laugh at me!"

"Lincoln, it's not-"

"And you know what, Lola? Even though I should have, I've not told Mom and Dad about how you were looking through my phone. Whether it was on or not, you had no right to do that, let alone show the others! You would be in so much trouble if I told them!"

"L-Lincoln, I-"

"So, do me a favour, Lola. Next time I'm not around, don't go in my room at all. If I find out you have, I'm not keeping that secret for you." He turned back to face his desk again, picking up his pen. "Now, I need to get this work done, so if you don't mind, I need to be alone."

Lola was not usually one to walk away silent, but in that moment, she had no words, so she simply nodded, backing out of the room and closing the door, hearing it lock as she left the boy to his own devices.

"After that, I went back to Lana and told her what happened. We haven't had the chance to speak to him since."

"Things weren't any better for me, dudes. I tried to speak to him before he called it a night."

She walked up to her brother's bedroom door, now dressed in her night shirt, night shirts and slippers. Giving a small knock on the door, she leaned towards it and called in, "Linc? It's Luna, lil' bro. Mind if I come in?"

"Sure," she heard him reply, somewhat tiredly. After the door unlocked, she entered the room, seeing the boy sit on his bed in his pajamas. "What do you want?"

He didn't sound harsh when he said this, simply tired, but it still cut at Luna a little. "Mind if we talk?"

"I guess, but I need to get some sleep."

"Don't worry, bro, it'll just take a minute or so." She walked over and sat down next to him, his hands on his lap. "So, uh… how was school?"

"Seriously? Didn't I say that at dinner?" She frowned a little, that frown growing when he looked at her questioningly. "What do you really want, Luna?"

"Straight to the point, huh, bro?" She sighed. "Look, I've… I've been thinking about yesterday, and-"

"And you're wondering why I hid it, right? Lola already tried asking me that earlier, and I already told you this yesterday." Luna was going to correct him, but he spoke first. "Let me ask you something, Luna… why did you laugh?" Her eyes widened at the question. "I know Luan said she thought it was a joke… but what kind of joke is that?"

She searched her brain for an answer, the one she previously had no longer acceptable. "I… I don't know what to say, bro. It was just… in the moment, I thought…"

She struggled for a few more seconds, trying to find the words, but he sighed before she could answer. "I see… look, Luna, I need to get some sleep. Can you leave?"

Her hopes of reconciliation gone, she sighed too. "Okay, Lincoln." She got up from the bed, allowing the boy to grab Bun Bun and get under the covers. "If you want to speak about anything, come find me. You know I love you… right?"

"Sure, Luna. Goodnight."

As he closed his eyes, the girl bit her lip, giving a small nod as she began to leave. "Goodnight."

"After that, I closed the door and let him be," Luna concluded. "Like Lola said, I haven't had the chance to speak to him since." She rubbed the back of her head as she added, "probably wasn't the smartest idea to talk to him that late."

"Either way," Lori argued, "the little twerp's trying to ignore us."

"I don't think he's ignoring us," Leni defended. "He did at least speak to them."

"Yeah, he could've just sent them away," Luan agreed, her head ducked slightly. "He probably would've if I tried…" She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, quickly looking to see it was Luna who was comforting her. "Thanks."

Lori shook her head. "The point is, Lincoln's refusing to talk, so we're stuck at the moment. That's why we're having this meeting. Does anyone have any idea of what we should do?" She heard a scoff, her eyes turning directly to the one responsible. "Is there something you want to say, Lynn?"

"Yeah, there is," the athlete responded, getting to her feet. "I'm gonna take the floor, so you can step down, sis." Though Lori was irritated by the way in which Lynn spoke to her, she merely huffed before allowing the jock to do as she said. "I'm gonna cut to the chase and point out the problem, in case you don't realise. You all backed our bro into a corner, forced him to come clean and laughed at him when he did, so no wonder he's mad at you! How do you think you'd react if that happened to you?"

"Hold on a minute, Lynn!" Lori stepped forward again. "You're taking his side, after he's been hiding this from us for two months?! If we didn't confront him, then who knows when he would have told us!"

"He was trying to tell you! He was still figuring that out!"

"What are you-" She paused, her eyes narrowing as she figured out what Lynn was saying. "He already told you, didn't he?"

"Yeah, you know what? He did. About three weeks back, Lincoln let me know the truth. Sure, I wasn't thrilled that it took him a month to tell me, but I was more concerned that he seemed… kind of scared to tell me. Just like he told you on Sunday, he was worried about how we would react. From what I know, Mom and Dad only found out after a couple of weeks or so."

"She wasn't the only one," Lucy then added, causing the others to jump. "I overheard Lynn talking about it a couple of weeks back, and I let Lincoln know last week that I knew. He wasn't mad at me."

"Great. So, is it just you two who knew?" No one said anything for a few seconds, but as she looked around, she noticed the nervous look on Leni's face. "Leni… Lincoln told you, didn't he?"

Shrinking slightly under her older sister's gaze, she nodded. "Linky told me after the fashion show. He asked me to keep it secret."

"There's a difference between keeping a secret, and lying!" Leni shrunk more, causing Lori to sigh. "Okay, let's bring this back for a second. Lincoln told you three, one at a time. Did you also know about the lists he had on his phone?"

"Actually, Lori, that was me and Leni," Lynn confessed. "We wanted to help him figure out how to tell the rest of you, and I thought of that."

"That explains why your names were absent from said lists," Lisa pointed out. "However, this still leaves doubt as to why he reacted as strongly as he did. Our eldest sister's frustration towards the revelation of his long kept secret was justified."

"Oh, and was all of you laughing at him 'justified'?" She narrowed her eyes at the other sisters, some of whom were looking guilty. "Did you all honestly think it was a joke?"

"I only laughed because Luan did," Lana answered, to which Lola also nodded. Lynn then turned to the fourth oldest girl.

"Yeah, you did seem to act like it was a joke. What was that about, huh?"

"I'm not even sure anymore," she dejectedly admitted. "I thought he was setting up for a punchline, but I don't know what it could have been."

"Maybe because it wasn't a joke?" She saw how Luan's guilty expression became more apparent, so she softened her own gaze. "Look… I can tell you feel bad about what happened." She then shot a stink eyed gaze at Lori. "Unlike some of us."

"Excuse me?"

"She's got a point, dude," Luna spoke up. "I know Lisa's not really reacted, but that just seems like her way of seeing things. You, though… you've been kinda harsh to the bro."

"You're being ridiculous."

"No, she's not," Leni argued. "You've been so cold to him, even Jen noticed it."

"Wait, what?" The oldest sister looked appalled at what her sister said. "You told Jen about this?! What were you thinking?!"

"Because she was concerned!" Everyone jumped slightly- they knew it was rare to see the fashionista get angry, and it was something they knew took a lot of effort to make happen, so to see her do so as quickly as that was a shocker. "She saw him walking past her house yesterday, and she could tell he was upset! When you found out he was walking to school, you only thought about yourself! Why have you been so mean to him?!"

"I have not been mean to him!" She growled, angry that she had been painted in this way by her family. "I must be the only one focusing on the bigger picture here, because he was lying to us for two months. TWO STRAIGHT MONTHS. And now, he's mad at us because we decided that enough was enough."

"No, he's mad at you because you acted like jerks when he told you!" Lynn cut in, finding Lori's view of things to be aggravating. "Had you let him, he would have told you himself at his pace, and things would've been fine."

"Oh, yeah? And when would that be?"

"Saturday." Everyone turned to Luna, who had a look of realisation and disappointment in her eyes. "He was going to tell me on Saturday, before the fight protocol broke out." She looked down, regret washing over her. "If I had spoken to him, maybe I could have helped him."

"Guess it's kind of our fault too," Lola confessed, her and her twin also looking guilty. "If we hadn't gotten into that stupid fight, maybe this wouldn't have happened."

"I beg to differ," Lisa indifferently offered. "That would likely not have changed our initial reaction, and he would still have reacted how he did."

"Can you blame him?" Lucy asked. "It's not like we haven't laughed at his hobbies before. Remember when the toilet was clogged?"

"Okay, let's put something into perspective here," Lori quickly intervened. "He almost ruined our day because he was rightly ashamed to like that stupid pony book, which we all agree is laughable." The other girls either gave some form of agreement or stayed silent, the most notable of the latter being Lucy. She waited a couple of seconds before getting up and leaving, forcing the others to wonder where she had gone. Lori was prepared to speak again, but Lucy quickly returned, carrying a pink Princess Pony magazine in her hand, dropping it on the bed. "Why did you go to his room for that?"

"I didn't go to Lincoln's room. I got this from a secret compartment in my coffin."

Everyone, even Lisa, gave wide eyed looks of shock at this, with Lynn being the one to say, "so… that means…"

"Yes, Lynn. I'm the one who clogged the toilet that day, because I'm the one who reads Princess Pony."

A few gasps were heard in the room. "Luce," Luna spoke, leaning forward and removing her arm from around Luan's back, "why'd you let him take the fall?"

"I didn't. I was going to confess, but he took the blame for me. I told him before then that I was scared about how all of you would treat me because of it, and he told me after that he was…" She had to gulp down the rising emotion. "That he was used to it, and that he could take it."

Leni gave a small whimper. "But… he shouldn't have to be used to it."

"And he shouldn't have to take it," Lynn agreed with anger in her voice, mostly directed at her sisters but some of it directed at herself. "So, do you still think that his reaction was unfair?"

"While his initial reaction might be justified," Lisa reasoned, "his subsequent actions are making this more of an issue than it needs to be. When our brother returns, we simply tell him that this was a misunderstanding, and all will be right."

Lynn blinked, trying to comprehend her reasoning. "Lisa… do you even hear yourself right now? If you think that—" She was going to scold the scientist some more, but after a look out of the window allowed her to see something that caught her attention, she changed her mind. "You know what? Lincoln's back, so if you're so confident that it's that easy, go ahead. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Lisa scoffed. "Watch and learn." She left the bedroom, leaving the door open so the others could see or hear. She heard the front door open, and about ten seconds later, she saw her brother appear from downstairs. "Salutations, male sibling unit."

"Uh, hi, Lisa," he greeted, uncertain about what she was going to say. "Can I help you? If it's for an experiment, I'd rather not be involved in anything."

"No, no, this is not a scientific matter. Rather, you could say this is a social matter."

"Uh… uh huh. Lisa, why don't you just say what you want to say?"

"Fair enough. As you'll no doubt be aware, after the meeting we all were involved in this past Sunday, things have been of a tense nature between yourself and our sisters. I believe it would be best to resolve this. Therefore, on behalf of the others, I am proposing that we agree that this was a misunderstanding, and let bygones be bygones." She extended her hand to the boy. "Do you accept?"

He stared at the hand for maybe five seconds, making Lisa believe that he was considering it, but the blank stare he eventually gave her said otherwise. "Lisa, I get what you're trying to do, but you don't seem to understand. It's more complicated than something we can just 'put behind us', and you can't just say this on their behalf, either. I need to hear from them just as much as I need to hear from you. So, no, Lisa. I don't accept."

He didn't wait to hear anymore, turning around and going into his room, closing it behind him. Now alone, Lisa turned and returned to the others, seeing that Lynn had a 'told you so' look on her face. "Fair enough, fifth eldest sibling. It seems that… I was wrong. What do you propose?"

She shook her head. "I'm not proposing anything. You heard our bro, clear and simple. You need to figure out how to make it up to him." She looked around as she then added, "all of you. This meeting's over."

"Hey, you don't get to-"

"She's right, Lori," Luan interrupted as she followed Lynn in leaving. "There's no point in is sitting around. I need to go and think for a while."

The remaining girls all left the room as well, leaving Lori alone to sit down on her bed, where she pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Dang it."