On Our Own Here We Go
Death Of The Family
Life had been simple at a time. Survive School, hang out with his friends, keep the peace between his ten siblings. It was the happiest time of his life when he was able to act like the eleven year old he was, but he knew there would be a time he had to grow up and take control of his life.
Lincoln never expected to have to be the man of the house at twelve, though. The man who had once been a caring loving father was no longer. The divorce between Rita and Lynn Sr awoke a demon within the oldest male in the house. It was a fast downward spiral into alcohol and poverty that caused this evil entity to over take Lincoln's poor father.
Rita wanted nothing to do with Lincoln or any of his siblings. It pierced him like a blade to see how little he meant to his own mother, to see that she turned loose and instead of playing a part in his life, gave Lynn Sr child support.
It hurt Lincoln all the more that his father that even drained the money sent by his mother into gambling and beer to drink away the sorrow. It was truly the death of his family, long gone are the adventures of youth, replaced by going to bed hungry at night due to having to spare food for the younger children.
If any of them complained near Lynn Sr it was a beating waiting to happen. Bruises cleverly hidden by clothing were the punishment for being, "A fucking brat." nobody dare spoke out of fear for what a broken drunk mad man could do to psychologically and physically harm any one of them.
Lincoln does as he knows best: take one for the team. It's all he could do to help his sisters avoid the belt by taking responsibility for the mistakes that their father does not witness. This has consistently put Lynn Sr on Lincoln's case, waiting for, "the biggest little shit." to make a mistake so he can follow through with harsh punishments he could imagine.
Even with all that extra punishment Lincoln still failed. He failed to protect his sisters from the worst fate possible; Lynn Sr during his drunken escapades at the casino often made trips back home to pawn his own children's belongings for cash to gamble and do things Lincoln doesn't even want to think of.
Lisa's lab equipment, Lola's dresses and tiaras, Lori's cellphone, Luna's axe and speakers, Leni's valuable stylish clothing, Lynn's sports gear, Luan's comedy props and Mr Coconuts, Lucy's statue of Edward, and he even sold Lana's pet frogs to local kids for money just to fucking continue this path of self destruction.
Lincoln knew he had it worse than everyone else since his father stripped his room of all his furniture and sellable assets and replaced it with a small bed that looked like it was straight from the local penitentiary. He claimed it was to help pay the bills, but everyone really knew where all that money was going.
Depression was common for Lincoln, after all he had failed to stop his father from stripping his sisters of their identities.
The Loud House was no longer loud. It was blanketed by a fearful silence with all inside hoping that this time their father wouldn't come home and subject them to more terrifying punishments. Lincoln wishes that when he goes to sleep that he'll wake up tomorrow to the sounds of rock and roll, puns, arguing between the twins, phone conversations, and everything that characterises what this family used to be.
But when he wakes up in the morning it's to fear. He doesn't want to be afraid anymore, but what choice does he have? Maybe one day he'll get to walk away from this and build a life, maybe he'll get to see his niece's and nephews or his own child grow up away from this. Lincoln vows that he will never make his kids fear him, and Lincoln Loud always holds to his word.
The door to his room begins to creak open as Lincoln pretends to be asleep.
"Dude, are you awake?"
"Luna!"
"Shhhh, we don't wanna wake everyone up."
She slowly closes the door and comes into his room, the former rocker has bags underneath her eyes. "I can't even sleep at night anymore—I don't know how much more I can take of this Linc. It's just like all those years ago when I didn't even know who I was, my entire purpose for life is gone 'cause pops has an itch to gamble."
Lincoln gestures for her to sit down on his bed, "I know what you mean, this has taken everything from me but you guys. I had to break things off with Ronnie Anne because I didn't want her to suffer along with us—yes you did hear that right." he sighs.
The older Loud sat down next to him and out her hand on his shoulder. "I know the feeling, it killed me to break Sam's heart like that, but with crazy like this it doesn't mix well with people ya love. It's...agonizing to watch us burn like this, we were all pretty tight before everything got heavy."
Lincoln nods in grim understanding. "I really don't know how we're gonna get through this. Things will never be the same again. I feel like this is a trap that's gonna loop us around in the same place over and over. Lilly still has over a decade left of this to go through. I don't want to leave her, but more of this? It's gonna drive me mad!"
"I'm gonna get us out of this lil bro. I've been writing instead of sleeping and made some new stuff...it'd be better if I had instruments or anything to practice with..." Luna drifted off her chain of thought with a scowl over taking her features. She was well aware of the fact her pops was a good for nothin' wanker that has turned their whole family into an penniless wreck.
Noticing his sister's anger Lincoln looks on with concern. "Luna are you okay? Do you wanna talk to me about it."
Luna snaps out of her trance. "Oh sorry Lincoln, just angry...who am I kidding? I'm a wreck, this house is a wreck, our family is in flames. I've listened to so many songs about families goin down the can and I always thought we were better than that. 'Parently all it took was our parents divorcing to flush us down and out."
"It feels like one big ultimatum from my...comics: the villain gives the hero a choice to decide what is more valuable to them to force the hero to choose. Both usually have drawbacks, and it's kinda like our situation, but the hero usually gets out of it, but this is no comic and there is no good choice. We lose no matter what, it's that simple. We control how we lose, but it's gonna happen."
"There has to be some way out, it can't all be bad!"
Lincoln closes his eyes and grimly replies. "I'm the best planner in the family, every course of action we take has a bad ending. If we tell someone it comes at the expense of dad hurting one of us or worse, then we'll go into foster care. If we leave the police will have us back in a day and he'll be furious."
Luna knows this to be true, but there was one last thing they could do. "Lincoln...I don't wanna ask you to do this bro, but what if we...whack pops...for good."
"If we do that then most likely we get split up. Who ever did it will most likely go to trial, if they say it was in self defense then whoever did it is safe, but if they say otherwise it's juvie or prison time."
She thinks, "Yeah...nothing good can come from this...one big hit is all it will take to get us out of this hole. If I make one song that sells I can afford to get us out of here when I turn eighteen, then I can find somewhere safer than this. Pops can deal with jail and rehab on his own, maybe he'll get better. I dunno, but anything to get us out of this place."
Lincoln smiles for the first time in ages. "I know you got it in you, Luna. Just write from the heart and I know you can make something that'll have even Mick Swagger in awe."
Luna laughs, "Thanks bro! I know you always got my back, hopefully your right. I can go sneak back to my room and get the lyrics to some of my songs. Pops shouldn't be home for a little bit longer, don't ask me how I know either, I'm pretty wiped out in the sleep department but this is the only way out and Pops won't let me write 'cause he's paranoid as 'ell."
Lincoln stretches. "Sure, I'll read it for you, Luna."
Luna stands up and quietly makes her way to the door, she carefully opens it and leaves the door cracked open. She slowly walks into the darkness and into her and Luan's room. The comedian was in a deep sleep with evident tear streaks on her face. Luna went to her bunk and spotted her special hiding place which was a rip in the mattress that allowed her to slip things in and out of there without looking suspicious. She pulled out a note pad with scribbles of lyrics covering the pages.
She walks back into the hall, quietly closing the door and slipping back into Lincoln's room. She was pretty proud of the stuff she's got so far. The songs she's made all tell an interconnected plot line about the collapse of her family. She'd figured once she released it and got the story public there would be nothing to hide anymore and everything could be fixed...or at least she hoped it would be fixed. What this family was now is survivors, she doubted even a lifetime of healing could fully fix the wounds from the last couple of months.
She handed Lincoln the notepad and let him read it in his head. She would have personally sang it to him, if not for the fact that the walls were still really thin and the last thing anybody needed was to leave the safe haven of sleep early.
Lincoln read the album title, "Tales from the Broken." and the first song was titled, "The Castle Crumbles." and he read through the lyrics which went into depth on some pretty heavy stuff, obviously talking about some of the events and arguments that lead to their house/ the castle to crumble under pressure. It was relatable to Lincoln for the obvious reasons and it had some catch to it. He could help Luna out with the rhyming like he does with Lucy, after all even the best writers could use a little help.
"This is pretty good, you could work a bit on making the rhymes a little more effective but I think you can make this one work with a little fine polish."
She nods and takes in his criticism in stride. Luna knew if she planned on writing a bit the critics would need to be able to like it, and critics love bright polished pieces of work if she knew anything about the music business.
Lincoln flips the page, "Reign of the Mad King." he closely reads the lyrics which describe the intimidation used by a "king." which can be easily related to anyone of power, which in this case was their father, exploiting his unwilling subjects for everything they had, including the souls of his kingdom. It also talks about how the king partakes in the, "choice beverage of evil." which causes the king to enjoy the pain in which he revils.
This one had a lot more work into it and felt like it was more passionate. The message and theme between the two were very clear and if the right audience took note Lincoln was certain that these songs would sell.
He had no doubt of Luna's musical prowess. She definitely studied the art with how much music she listened to and probably did still when she had a chance at school. Lincoln thought about the possibilities, maybe he could do some type of marketing campaign when it was time to reveal all. Maybe he could ask for Mick Swagger's help if they ever cross paths again, to sorta get the album spread around. Even if he thought there was a chance for this to fail, he would give his blood sweat and tears to insure that his sister still at least had a dream to keep her head above water.
The sound of the front door to the house flinging open stopped all forms of movement in the house as the sound of a pissed off Lynn Sr stomped in. Luna and Lincoln both froze, if Lynn Sr came in they were certain to be on the end of a beating from a irate drunk. Heavy footfall came as their father stomped upstairs, he was obviously coming to one of their rooms. Luna slipped underneath Lincoln's bed, hoping that if their father did check in on Lincoln she wouldn't be seen. Lincoln feigned sleep as he tightly shut his eyelids and rolled over.
Their worst fear was realized as stomping came closer and closer to Lincoln's room until the door flew open. The room was pitch black, minus the hall lights that created a silhouette of the drunk. The man stumbled over to Lincoln, who closed his eyes tighter.
Strong hands latched around his small windpipe as Lincoln came to the fastest and most horrifying conclusion he'd ever had; his father was strangling him. "D-Dad, l-let g—" The man yells, the smell of alcohol hit Lincoln in the face. "Shut the fuck up! I lost five grand tonight because of your bad luck, it should be fine though since your whore mom will send me more soon, maybe even give me a kiss at your funeral."
All of a sudden Lynn Sr lost his grip and smashed head first onto the floor. Luna yelled to him as she ran out from under the bed. "Follow me Linc, hurry!"
He didn't hesitate to listen to Luna as he booked it out before his father could get back up. "If I get my fucking hands on either of you I will kill you!" Lynn Sr howls at the two siblings who are retreating out of the house. The yelling had awoken the other girls, but none dared move a muscle out of sheer fear for what could happen, even Lynn Jr was afraid of what her father was capable of.
The two ran on adrenaline alone as they ran as far from the Loud house. Lincoln calls out to his sister. "Wait Luna follow me!" Luna turned to Lincoln as he gestured out to the trees. "It might be a little spooky, but I built a secret tree house over in there incase a fight got too out of hand. It has some snacks and sleeping bags, we can roll up the ladder so if Da—I mean that monster follows us we can just roll up the ladder, he's gonna be too drunk to do anything about it."
The two walk through the woods in a dazed state. Lincoln pointed the way by pointing to the words. "Ace." carved into the sides of the trees. They eventually stumble upon a large structure in the trees with a ladder going up it. Luna marveled at the structure, "Bro how did you do this?" Lincoln chuckled. "I challenged Leni to a tree house blue print making competition, then me Clyde, Ronnie Anne, and Clyde's dad's helped me work on it since they know how it can get for me. Good thing I never got around to telling—" a tear rolls down his face as Luna gives him a hug. "That was pretty bad back there, I won't make you go back there. We can find a way to make this show rock even though we didn't choose the venue."
Lincoln sniffled and nodded as he walked to the ladder and began his climb up, and Luna followed him up as soon as there was enough space. It was a bit exhilarating to see the night sky and the moon from this high up on one of the tallest trees around. Once they both got inside they immediately saw how spacious the thing was for a tree house. It was easily twice as big as Lincoln's room, "Whoa, I'm surprised you didn't spend all the time in here, this is one sick crib! Is that a mini fridge?"
"The McBride's said I could only use it in the most dire situations and with—" he chokes back a sob. "With the way things have been I couldn't get away from the house...until tonight." The hurt and terror on Lincoln's face made Luna feel like she'd just been punched in the gut. "Look, the old man is a bum who gave up on family. That strips him of the right to call himself family once he gives up. I haven't given up on you or our siblings, neither have you, right?"
Lincoln nods. "Yes..." Luna smiles, "See? As long as we got each other and our family, it'll be okay...just watch."
The boy yawns, "I think it's time for bed little bro." he shakes his head 'no'. "Um, Luna...do you mind if I get something to eat?" he says with his thumb pointing to the mini fridge. "Sure dude, get me a drink while your at it. I'm kinda thirsty."
He pulls out an ice cream sandwich from the freezer part and a soda from the fridge. He tossed Luna the soda and she opened it as soon as caught and took a big sip. "So much better." She takes notice of what Lincoln has and Mike reconsiders not asking for one. "Actually, Linc toss me a 'wich. I haven't had one of those in forever!"
Her optimism cheers Lincoln up slightly as he does as asked and tosses Luna a sandwich. The Rocker rips the wrapper off and takes a bite. "So good, you feelin any better, Bro?" Lincoln nods cautiously. "We gotta get out of here tomorrow. I-I can't be this close to him, not after this."
Luna thinks things through, "I think we should stay here and plan things out. We have some food and protection from the outside, plus if there is any reason to worry we can just pull the ladder up. He's gonna be dealing with all that alcohol tomorrow. He's gonna be in no position to hurt us, especially after he face planted."
A small smirk graced both siblings at the memory of Lynn Sr hitting his head on the floor after Luna pulled his legs out from under him. The two finish eating and speaking as they both grew more tired and got into the sleeping bags, Luna's was a little small but it didn't matter so long as her and Lincoln were safe from the man they both once loved.
"It'll be alright lil bro, I'll keep you safe..." Luna says in a sleepy tone while looking at the sleeping face of her brother.
"It's a promise."
And SCENE!
Welcome to Chapter One of my story. I hope you enjoy the experience of this first introduction, although it was shorter than I hoped, I still think it satisfactory.
The title of this Fic comes from "Brain Stew." by Green Day for those who think it familiar , even though I made it plural to account for both of the featured siblings. I also think it fits the characters and situation of the story quite well.
The story will focus on Luna and Lincoln trying to make a home that is safe for their sisters after the Loud family crashed and burned quite suddenly. They'll have rough times and good times, but the only consistent thing will be each other.
I think this premise works on the base of how close the characters are and how I think they'd have a natural dynamic to play with even though it isn't heavily featured in the show. Do not expect many cameos from unimportant side characters, too. Just sayin',
F/F/R to show support for the story.
And goodbye and see ya next time in a hopefully longer chapter in On Our Own Here We Go
Key
Italics: Inner Monologue/ Chapter title.
Bold: Intense Emotion/Story Title
Regular: Spoken/ Quotations