The man with white hair rode down the highway, his car windows down and air whipping past him. He adjusted his sunglasses and looked down at the clock. It was nearing four in the morning. The highway was empty, so he could drive fast. He was nearing his destination.

He passed a sign on his left that read ROYAL WOODS, 2 MI. He grew nervous, a knot beginning to form in his stomach.

Lincoln continued riding for awhile, but, soon, his stomach rumbled. Hm. He had left about six or seven hours ago, and had driven nonstop. Naturally, he was a bit hungry. After briefly debating it in his head, Lincoln decided to stop for some quick fast food before going to his destination. He didn't want to show up on an empty stomach. Once he arrived, he figured he'd be doing a lot of talking and explaining… there wouldn't be time for food for a while.

He took the next exit, entering Royal Woods for the first time in two years, nearly three. Lincoln had been gone for a long time, but the town still was so familiar to him. Even despite the changes (as he drove, slowly, through the streets, he noticed right off the bat that the old bank had been torn down and the Burpin' Burger had been completely rebuilt), nostalgia filled him to the brim. This is where he grew up, this is where he lived for the majority of his life.

And, this is the place he had abandoned.

He shuttered. Yes, it was a pretty selfish thing to do, leaving his parents and sisters behind in the middle of the night without telling them where he was going or even leaving a note. If given the choice to go back in time and make a different choice… Lincoln would most likely stay. That was the past, though, and there was no correcting the past. That's why Lincoln was back, to apologize and get back into touch with his family. He owed it to them.

He entered the Burpin' Burger driveway, empty, and drove up to the ordering area.

"Welcome to Burpin' Burger," the voice said dryly. "How may I help you today?"

Lincoln jumped in his seat, nearly having a heart attack. That voice! Could it be…?

Without ordering, Lincoln slammed his foot on the motorcycle pedal. The vehicle jerked forward, and he drove to the first window.

The first rays up sunlight came over the distant Michigan mountainscape, revealing Lynn Loud's face behind the ordering window.

"Sir, are yo—"

Lynn turned to look out of the window, seeing her brother for the first time in two years.

Her eyes went wide, and there was a moment of dead silence.

"Lynn…?" he asked softly.

In less than a second, Lynn threw off her headset and stormed away from the window. Lincoln's heart sank. Was she going to ignore him? Run away?

Before he knew it, however, his sister came quickly out of the drive-thru side restaurant door, speed walking over to him.

"Some nerve!" she yelled, approaching. "You don't visit or call for two years, and you show up out of nowhere? Lincoln Loud, what is wrong with you?"

"Lynn, I'm sorry, I—"

Sharp pain exploded in his stomach. Lincoln clutched it in pain, stumbling backward. His sister had punched him.

Tears of pain in his eyes, he looked up. "Lynn, I—"

Then, warmth surrounded him. Crying, no, sobbing, Lynn wrapped her arms around him in a hug, and tight.

"Y-You're back," she wept. "You're… back…"

Luna Loud cheered loudly. The concert had been going on for an entire four hours, now, and it was nearing five.

Still, that's what she loved about McSwagger. He gave it his all. When you are rock n' roll famous, you put everything you have into every concert you perform at. She should know. Luna was destined to make it big one day. It was just a matter of time.

Presently, on the stage, the drummer, shirtless and glistening with sweat, moved his entire body up and down at a rapid pace, drumming with passion. This was raw, this was real, and Luna loved it.

McSwagger sung his last lyric, slammed down on his guitar and played his last chord, and, soon enough, stopped moving with the beat of the song.

The concert was over. It went two hours overtime, and not once did the energy of the band nor crowd falter. The show, though, like all good things, it had to come to an end. Even this concert, as hard as it may have been to believe, could not last for eternity.

As McSwagger began to give his closing remarks on the stage, Luna quickly grabbed her things and made her way to the exit. She needed to leave before the others. Unlike everyone else in the auditorium, she had entered without paying. It was risky, but it was the only way she could see one of these things. McSwagger was in Royal Woods for the first time in forever, and would likely never come back. She couldn't miss this for the world.

Hey, see that over there? she had asked the ticket vendor, pointing behind him. I did that.

He had turned to look, and saw nothing. When she turned back to Luna, she was gone.

Is was a risky move, but well worth it. If Luna was caught, she would be facing criminal charges.

She really couldn't afford to have anything else on her record.

Not now.

She brushed past row and row of cheering fans, and, soon enough, made it to the exit of the stadium and bolted away. She made it outside of the concert, but just as she thought she was safe, a female voice that she could tell was directed at her made her blood run cold.

"Hey!"

Fear galvanized her, and Luna ran as fast as she could away.

"Luna!" the woman called again. "Luna! Wait!"

Oh. That voice… it was just Luan.

Luna turned around, and sure enough, Luan was struggling to catch up to her.

"You scared me," Luna said, smiling.

"Good," the comedienne snapped now in front of her, catching her breath. "It's about time you came out. I've been waiting for you two. Hours."

"Oh, shit," Luna said softly, looking away and scratching the back of her neck. "Look, I'm sorry, but the concert ran late and I forgot you were picking me up…"

"It's bad enough you talked me into coming out here at two in the morning to get you," Luan said, hands on her hips, leaning forward. "But making me wait out here for as long as I did? Really, Luna?"

"God, I'm sorry," Luna cried, throwing her hands up. "Maybe I was just trying to forget about all the shit going on at home. Maybe I just wanted to enjoy myself for one night."

Luan shook her head. "Get in the car."

She did, and so too did Luan. The comedian started the engine, and the vehicle lurched forward as she stepped down on the pedal.

"You know," said Luna, looking away from Luan. Her gaze was anchored to the passenger side window. The concert had been on a hill, and Royal Woods was orange and bright blow them as they drove. "You have some nerve, getting on my case for being a couple hours late out of the concert. You abandoned the family for years."

Luan's grip on the steering wheel tightened tremendously. She gritted her teeth.

"I told you a hundred times," she said softly. "I'm sorry about that."

Luna crossed her arms and let out an annoyed hmph. "While you were in Hollywood, the rest of us were working our butts off to have enough money to just get by. Funeral bills… food for all of us… every time something broke, we needed to go into our savings to fix it."

Luan was silent. After a while, however, she spoke. "We've been over this a hundred times… if I knew Mom and Dad were dead, I'd have come back!"

"Yeah, well, that means nothing. Just because you don't answer your phone doesn't mean you're innocent."

"I was busy! I had to shoot on set every day!"

"You were starring on a shitty sitcom while we were working overtime for minimum wage just to get by!"

The silence returned, this time heavier than before.

At last, Luan spoke in barely a whisper. "I… I don't know how many times I have to say it. I'm sorry."

Luna continued looking out of the passenger window.

The morning sun shined brightly through Lynn's passenger side window, giving Lincoln a clear view of his sister. She had grown up quite a bit since he had last seen her. Her muscles were more defined, but her eyes seemed to be softer than he remembered. There were small but visible bags of stress under her eyes.

Lynn had asked to leave work early for a family emergency. Every day, she jogged to work, so she had no car in the Burpin' Burger parking lot that needed to be taken home. Presently, the two were silent. The engine and passing Royal Woods traffic were the only sounds audible.

Lynn reached down in her pocket and produced a cigarette. She took out a lighter and cupped her hand around it, trying to spark a flame.

Lincoln frowned. He snatched the cigarette from out of Lynn's hand and threw it out the driver side window.

"Hey!" she cried, "What the hell, man?"

"Those are bad for you, you know."

Lynn gritted her teeth. "You'd probably be smoking, too, if you had to deal with the shit on at home."

Lincoln raised an eyebrow. "What… what do you mean?"

"Jesus, you don't know anything, do you?"

"No, I don't. I've been gone two years, remember?"

Lynn laughed, a high pitched sound that made Lincoln uneasy.

"Oh, this is rich," she said, slapping her knee. "I thought you'd at least have secretly been keeping in touch with one or two of us, but, no. You've completely isolated yourself, haven't you?"

Lincoln pulled up to a traffic light, and the car jolted to a stop.

"I'm sorry," he said genuinely. "It was selfish and I was wrong to leave, alright?" He looked sideways out of the window. "Look… forgive me or don't, that's your choice, okay? But I'm coming back home to apologize and get back in touch with the family. That's why I'm in Royal Woods."

Lynn huffed, a strand of her hair briefly flying up in the wind. "Yeah. Well. It won't be that easy. Not everyone is just ready to let you get down on your knees and apologize."

"I don't expect it to happen right away. I'll move back in, if you guys will have me. I'll do whatever you need. I don't have much money, but I'll pitch in when I can. I'll help the younger ones… Lily's eleven now, right? I'll be there for her, for all of you."

"About damn time." Lynn crossed her arms.

The light turned green, and the car went forward.

As Lincoln drove, slower, now, past his house, he noticed a few things were different than he remembered. Before, there was always a few toys in the front yard—a frisbee in the tree, a bike on the grass, a baseball on the roof—now, though, there were no toys to be seen. Lincoln figured that many of his sisters had outgrown toys like that, and he had missed much of their lives, much of them growing up. His blood ran cold upon realizing this, and he gripped the steering wheel just a little harder.

Just because the yard was devoid of the clutter of toys, however, didn't mean it was necessarily kept neat. The grass was slightly overgrown, and a mow was long overdue. The mailbox, too, had seen better days—the handle had fallen off, and to open it, the mailman had to pry open the hatch with a pen or a twig.

It wasn't quite there yet, but the house looked almost as if it had been abandoned. What the hell was going on around here?

Lincoln pulled into the driveway, and he and Lynn exited his car.

"So, this is it," he said quietly. "1216 Franklin Avenue."

Lynn punched him on the shoulder. "Yeah, things have been falling apart pretty quickly around here," she said, and sighed. There was a brief pause. "I hope you're actually serious about helping out. Obviously, this family has seen better days… we could use it."

Lincoln walked almost in slow motion to the front porch, soaking everything in.

"Well?" Lynn asked from behind, impatient.

Lincoln sighed, and put his hand on the doorknob. It was time.

He rung the doorbell.

Mornings in the Loud House were always full of energy, clamor, and commotion. Whether it be Luna insisting on playing her music loudly, arguments erupting over who's turn it was to use the bathroom, or just the sound of thirteen pairs of feet clamoring around to get ready, things got pretty loud pretty fast.

At least… that's how it was when Lana was growing up. These days, mornings were actually relatively peaceful. Everyone woke up at their own times. The first to rise was usually Lucy, and she did so early. The last was usually Luna… and that wasn't until two or three in the afternoon. She stayed up late, often getting home while everyone was asleep. Though Lori yelled at her loudly for it almost every day, the resident rockstar more often than not came home drunk.

Lana herself had managed to get a job at the Royal Woods Orchard. At first, the prospect of actually working a job was a scary one, but once she learned the ropes, she came to actually really enjoy her job. She got to do lots of stuff that she loved. Taking care of the farm animals, getting dirty working in the fields, and getting paid for all of it.

Of course, her minimum wage didn't go to herself. Lana gave whatever she could to the family. Right now, they were on some pretty hard times. Most of the Louds were unemployed. The ones who did have a job were only qualified for little pay. Lincoln had run off two years ago. Lisa was gone.

Things wouldn't be so bad if everyone was pulling their weight, but they weren't.

Lana heart the front door downstairs open. Then, she heard a conversation, and from the voices, she could tell it was between Leni and Luan.

"You're back!"

"Yeah, Luna stayed in late. Again."

"Aww, sorry to hear that. Would you like some coffee? Some milk?"

"Yeah… that'd be nice. Thanks, Leni."

Leni didn't have a job (being Leni, she probably couldn't hold down one even if she tried…), but at least she spent most of her time looking after the younger sisters. Out of everyone, the Loud who had the most success was Luan. She used to have a lot of money from starring on Luan out Loud, a sitcom that she pitched and actually made it big with down in California, but she lost all of it. That was a story for a different time.

Lana's bedroom door was open, and Lucy poked her head in. She saw Lana in her farm uniform.

"How was work?"

Lana shrugged. "Okay, I guess. It's hard, but I don't mind. We need the money, anyway."

Lucy nodded. "Hey," she said. "I submitted my best story yet. Maybe this one will make some money."

Lucy had been asked to get a normal job by the rest of the family, but she insisted on spending her time writing short stories and poetry, trying to get them published, saying that one day she would make it big. She had no success so far. Lana loved her sister and wanted her to succeed, didn't think she would anytime soon. It would be best for her to get a normal job, but she refused.

Lana nodded. "Well, good luck with that."

Once again, she was alone. Lana sighed. Things haven't been looking too bright around the Loud house as of late. Just last night, Lori had gotten in a loud argument with Luna about a concert. Luna wanted to go, but couldn't afford it, so she had asked Lori for ticket money. Well, that was a bad idea! The oldest Loud went ballistic, screaming at Luna for pissing away the family's savings and not bothering to get a job. Luna went on a rant about how much talent she had, and how she would make it big if not for her sisters dragging her down all the time.

It wasn't pretty.

Lana looked across her bedroom at her twin's empty bed. Lola was gone now, off with her boyfriend. Lana cringed. Lola was 16, but refused to get a job. It was summer, but she said that she needed to focus on her studies. She took school a bit too seriously. She never used to. Lana wondered if it was just to avoid getting a job.

The time that Lola wasn't in her room, she was out with Patrick. Lana didn't like him. He was attractive, sure, but a total asshole otherwise. Did Lola actually love him? Or was she just using him as another excuse to bail out of pulling her weight in the family? Lola spent nearly every night staying up late texting him, sometimes giggling and keeping Lana awake. It was so annoying.

She sat up in her bed and stretched. Lana had been awake for about an hour now, but didn't want to get up. She tried to fall back asleep, just to get a little more rest before going off to the orchard. It was the weekend, but she took as many hours as she could on her job, so she had work soon.

She scratched her butt and went downstairs, still in her nightgown. In the kitchen, she poured herself some coffee and grabbed a piece of toast (it was the most common breakfast as of late, only because of how cheap it was). Just as she was about to sit the doorbell rang.

"I got it," she said, standing.

She went to the front door and opened it, and on the other side stood her brother. For the first time in two years, he was right in front of her.

"O-Oh my God," Lana stammered, frozen in place, eyes wide. "Lincoln… you're back?"

This is a story idea I've been throwing around in my head for a while now. Sure, I'm not the first person to imagine a world years after canon time (many writers and roleplay groups have long ago), but this is my personal take on the "X years later" concept. I want to tell a captivating story about the family trying to get back on their feet after a series of difficult events, and I think I have a good story planned out so I'm going to write it.