My Heart is Yours
A Loud House fanfiction by Professor Pasta
Rocky Spokes was no stranger to being scared. Certain events in his life – his first day of school, his first dental exam, his first flu shot, to name just a few – made him a nervous wreck and left him wanting to run home as fast as he could and hide under his covers.
But none of those compared to the nerve-wracking terror he felt as he walked towards the home of his crush on the afternoon of February fourteenth.
The ginger-haired eight year old walked down the sidewalk on Franklin Avenue in his home town of Royal Woods, Michigan, dressed in a dark-green winter coat against the chilly winter breeze. The sky above was blue and cloudless, ice patches on the street glistening in the afternoon sun. All around children bundled up against the cold laughed and shrieked joyfully as they built snowmen and made snow angels and pelted each other with snowballs, making great use of the several inches left behind from the previous week's snowstorm. On any other day Rocky would have eagerly joined in the winter fun, but today he was a boy on a mission.
"You okay, buddy?" Eleven-year-old Lincoln Loud asked, walking on Rocky's left side, bundled up in his orange parka. To his left was Rocky's older brother Rusty, his hands shoved into the pockets of his light-green hoodie. "Kinda look like you're about to toss your cookies over here."
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Rocky lied. "I'm just cold, that's all.
"He's lying, he's terrified," Rusty said instantly.
"No I'm not," Rocky said, glaring at his brother.
"Your voice is cracking," Rusty said, not even looking at him. "Your voice always cracks when you're scared.
"No it doesn't!" Rocky said defensively, his voice jumping an octave on the last word.
Rusty smirked at him, while Lincoln looked at him concerned. Rocky blushed and pulled his head into his coat like a turtle withdrawing into its shell.
"Okay, maybe I am a little scared," he admitted.
"Rocky, you've got nothing to worry about," Lincoln said, patting the younger boy on the back. "Lucy's gonna love it."
Lucy Loud was one of Lincoln's ten sisters, and the immediate youngest to him. As a member of the school Mortician Club who always dressed in black and read books about the most ghastly subjects, Lucy had a reputation around Royal Woods Elementary as being creepy, kooky, mysterious, spooky, and all-together ookie.
She and Rocky were also well-known for being… not quite boyfriend/girlfriend (they were far too young for that sort of thing), but certainly an item of sorts. They shared the same interests in the macabre, they ate lunch together, they played at recess together, and a few times they had even (gasp!) held hands.
"How can you know that for sure?" Rocky asked Lincoln, anxiety written on his freckled face. "You know Lucy isn't big on Valentine's Day stuff."
This was very true. While Lucy enjoyed romance well enough (her favorite book serious was a supernatural romance after all), she had little patience for what she referred to as the "sickening corporate greed" of Valentine's Day. To her the day should be about emotional connections, not expensive flowers, expensive confections and expensive jewelry. She had once even expressed a desire to round up all the "scum-sucking business big-shots" responsible for commercializing the holiday and celebrate Valentine's Day like they did in Chicago in 1929.
"She's not, but that's because she's never gotten a Valentine's gift like this," Lincoln said assuredly. "Trust me dude, she's gonna love it. Just remember to be confident."
"I still don't see why you went to Lincoln for help with a girl," Rusty said, a little sullen. "I'm your big brother for crying out loud! Why didn't you come to me?"
"Um, because you're always teasing me for liking Lucy?" Rocky asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Whaaaat? No I don't."
Rocky gave him a flat stare. "For weeks after we started hanging out you kept asking me when the wedding was."
"And where they were honeymooning," Lincoln added.
"And if you could be my best man."
"And you kept humming 'Here Comes the Bride' around them."
Rusty held up his gloved hands, palms out. "Okay, okay! So I tease him a little. But I'm his brother, it's practically my job. And even if you didn't want my help, you could have at least told me what you're planning."
Lincoln shrugged. "Sorry man, but the less people who knew about this, the less chance it had of leaking out and getting back to any of my sisters. Speaking of which..." The three of them came to a stop in front of the two-story home at 1216 Franklin Avenue. "Looks like it's showtime. You ready, Rocky?"
Rocky gulped, looking at the house like it was the jaws of a hungry monster. "As I'll ever be."
The inside of the house was warm and toasty, giving the boys a welcome relief from the chill of the outside. A variety of sounds – a guitar strumming, chemicals bubbling, animals chirping – drifted down from the second floor, the Loud family more than living up to their name. Lincoln's eldest sister Lori reclined on the couch with her cellphone to her ear, an indignant expression on her face.
"I know, can you believe Becky said that?" Lori asked, throwing her free hand up. "She's just so full of herself sometimes, I swear it makes we wanna…" She glanced up at the sound of the front door closing. "Oh, hold on Carol." She put the phone to her chest and gave a half-hearted wave to the new arrivals. "Hey twerps."
"Hey Lori," Lincoln greeted, shedding his coat and hanging it on one of the open hooks by the door. "Is Lucy home?"
"Yeah, I think she's in her room. Why do..." Lori trailed off as she noticed the two red-heads whom Lincoln came home with; specifically, the younger of the two. Her lips curled into a knowing smile as she brought the phone back up.
"Let me call you back," she said and hung up without waiting for a reply. "Oh Lucy! Someone's here to see you!"
Rocky felt his heart skip a beat as Lucy came into view at the top of the stairs. Hair black as the night sky, face like an antique porcelain doll, skin the color of snow freshly-fallen from the heavens. Every time Rocky saw her he felt his knees go weak and butterflies invade his stomach.
"What is it? I was in the middle off-" She stopped when she saw Rocky, a faint blush coming to her cheeks as she smiled slightly. "Oh. Hey, Rocky."
"H-hey Lucy," Rocky said, blushing himself.
The three older children watched as Lucy made her way down the stairs; Lincoln with calm patience, Rusty with eager curiosity, Lori with undisguised glee.
"What, uh… what brings you here?" Lucy asked, stopping in front of Rocky.
"Well, it's just..." Rocky looked away, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, it's Valentine's Day, and I… I got you something. A present, I mean."
Lori gasped from the couch, and Lucy's smile dropped. "Oh."
"Yeah. Could you, uh, c-come outside with me?"
Lucy sighed. "Sure."
Lori was practically shaking, grinning from ear-to-ear as she watched Lucy grab her black coat off the hook and walk out with Rocky. As soon as the door swung shut, she turned to the stairs and shouted: "Girls! We have a Code Fourteen-B! I repeat, Code Fourteen-B! This is not a drill!"
In the time it took a hummingbird to flap its wings Lincoln's remaining eight sisters came stampeding down the stairs. Lori leaped off the couch and crouched down by the living room window to peer beneath the closed curtains, quickly joined by Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lola, Lana, Lisa and baby Lily – held in Leni's arms.
"What's happened?! What did we miss?!"
"Does he have roses? A teddy bear?"
"Ooh, I bet its chocolate!"
"Yeah, one of those big heart-shaped boxes!"
"You think Lucy will share some with us?!"
"Move over, I can't see!"
"Get your elbow out of my ribs!"
"Get your ribs out of my elbow!"
Rusty looked at Lincoln, confused. "Code Fourteen-B?"
"A boy with a gift for one of my sisters on Valentine's Day," Lincoln explained.
"Ah, gotcha." With that Rusty ran for the window as well. "Scoot over, I wanna see too!"
Lincoln rolled his eyes and went to join his family and friend.
Outside, Rocky and Lucy faced each other on the porch. Rocky's heart was jackhammering in his chest, his palms were slick with sweat, and his stomach felt like an Olympian doing a gymnastics routine. He opened his mouth to try to speak, but found himself unable to form any words, too transfixed by Lucy's beauty. The rustling and hushed chatter from the nearby window didn't help. Lincoln had told him all about Code Fourteen-B and how there was nowhere Lucy and Rocky could go to truly be alone, especially in a situation like this. Rocky wasn't happy about it, but he accepted it. Like Lincoln had said, the Loud house was the place where privacy went to die.
Man, how can someone as pretty and cool as Lucy ever like a dweeb like me? Rocky thought, then shook his head. No, don't think like that! Just remember what Lincoln said, be confident!
"Rocky, listen," Lucy began, "I appreciate the effort, but you know I don't like-"
"You don't like Valentine's Day, I know, just hear me out," Rocky said quickly. He took a deep breath. "Lucy, you're one of the coolest girls I've ever known. You're the first girl I've ever met who likes the same spooky stuff I do. You're so nice, you're super creative, and you're really..." He coughed and blushed. "You're really cute. I… I really like you."
Lucy's face flushed bright red as a chorus of quiet "Awww!"s came from inside the house. "Rocky..."
"And that's why on this Valentine's Day," Rocky took another deep breath, partially unzipping his coat and reaching inside, "I want to give you my heart."
And here it is, Lucy thought with a mental sigh. Rocky was about to pull out some kind of overpriced gift, probably one that he spent weeks of allowance on. Another victim of vile corporate avarice.
Which is why see was very surprised when blood shot out from inside Rocky's jacket.
Behind her bangs, Lucy's eyes widened as she stared at the flowing crimson. Rocky grit his teeth as his arm went deeper into his coat, blood pouring down his jacket and dripping onto the porch. His knees buckled and he braced himself against the house with his other hand. Then with a grunt Rocky twisted his arm and withdrew it, holding out his blood-drenched, still-beating heart.
"For you, Lucy," Rocky said weakly.
Inside the Loud house, eleven pairs of eyes went wide, eleven jaws dropped, and eleven faces went deathly pale. Only Lincoln was unaffected, just smiling and nodding at the horrifying scene.
"What the flying fu-" Luna said, the last word cut off by the sound of Rusty hitting the floor as he fainted dead away.
Outside, Lucy stared in shock at Rocky's heart, still beating in a palm that was slick with his own blood. She was too stunned to move, too stunned to speak. She had read plenty of books and watched lots of movies with blood and gore, but too actually see someone's heart torn from their chest, arteries dripping blood, words scribbled across the fleshy chambers in black marker-
Wait a second. Words?
"Does… that say 'For Lucy'?" The tiny goth finally managed to ask. Rocky grinned and straightened up.
"Yup!" He said as he flicked the switch on the side of the fake heart, causing it to stop beating. "Happy Valentine's Day, Lucy. Do you like it?"
Lucy didn't respond for several long seconds, looking back and forth between Rocky and the faux organ. As the seconds ticked by, Rocky's smile began to falter as dread gripped his real heart.
She… she doesn't like it…
"That… that was..." Lucy started to say.
Rocky cringed and closed his eyes.
"… wicked!"
Rocky let out an 'oomph!' as Lucy shot forward and wrapped her arms around him, his face glowing from such intimate contact.
"That was the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Lucy said with uncharacteristic giddiness, wearing the biggest smile Rocky had ever seen on her. "The way you moved and all that blood shooting out and oh man I actually thought you ripped your own heart out. It was awesome!" She pulled back and wiped a bit of scarlet that now stained the front of her coat, rubbing the liquid between her fingers. "Hey, is this…?"
"Our fake blood recipe, yup," Rocky said with a nod and chuckle. "Good thing we made it so that it washes out easily, huh?"
"Yeah… Okay, I have to know: how did you do that?"
"Well, I got the idea last week when I was helping my dad clean the attic and I found the heart in a box of Halloween decorations." He pulled his jacket open, revealing a punctured sandwich baggie dripping with fake blood taped to the left side of his shirt. "Then I had Lincoln help me whip up some of our fake blood, and I used it to make this. It's called a squib, or something like that. I guess they use 'em in movies and stuff."
Rocky looked away with a sheepish smile. "You told me how much you hated all the regular Valentine's Day stuff, so I decided to do something different for you. Something special. Do you like it?"
In response, Lucy leaned forward and planted her lips on his freckled cheek. Rocky's face lit up as red as his hair, burning red hot despite the cold.
"It's the best Valentine's gift I've ever gotten," Lucy said when she pulled back, a blush decorating her own cheeks. She glanced down at the plastic heart. "So… is that for me to keep?"
"Yup," Rocky said as he found his voice again, holding it out to her. "My heart is yours."
Inside, the rest of the Loud sisters (greatly relieved that Rocky didn't just kill himself in front of Lucy) collectively squee'd as Lucy accepted his heart.
"That is the sweetest and most disturbing thing I've ever seen," Lori said with stars in her eyes.
Lincoln chuckled. "I told you she'd love it, Rocky."
Rusty groaned as he grabbed the windowsill and pulled himself up, his other hand rubbing his temple.
"Wha… what happened?" He asked woozily. He took one look at Lucy and Rocky covered in blood, the former gripping the latter's heart in her hands, and fainted again.
"You know, I just got this new board game," Lucy said as she pocketed the Halloween toy. "You play as an investigator in the 1920's, trying to stop a crazy cult from resurrecting an ancient god and destroying the world. Wanna come in and play?"
Rocky smiled. "I can't think of a better way to spend Valentine's Day."
Author's Note: Happy early Valentine's Day, everyone! I've been feeling super depressed lately (which is why the next chapter of Perchance to Dream will be a little late), so to cheer myself up I wrote this little one-shot for my favorite pairing in the whole show. One that needs a lot more stories, I might add.
Fun fact: this actually happened. Halloween was my ex-wife's favorite holiday, so I did this same heart-ripping-joke for her a few Halloweens ago, complete with fake blood and everything. Figured Lucy would like it too, with her love of all things creepy.
Warmest wishes to all of you on this upcoming day of love. To all the couples out there, make sure you show your partner how much you care about them. And to my fellow singles, don't worry; somewhere out there in this great big world is a special someone who's waiting for you. Never stop looking for love.
And now in the spirit of the season, I'd like to close things with a poem. Ahem.
Roses are red
Violets are violet
Lucy/Rocky is best ship
Screw you, Silas!
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