"Wait! Hey, don't leave me with this miscreant you call a-!" Young Allie wailed to the minivan as it raced down the street, and away from Luna Loud's house. She had burst out running in only her socks, but was otherwise fully clothed.

The situation was that she was going to be left alone with the father of Luna's children, while the young woman herself had made plans with her two kids, teenager Lyra and young kid Lemy, on a joined trip to Dairyland with one of her old friends, Sam Sharp. Allie didn't make the cut, for she was not a Loud family member, and she also had this hard, conflicting personality that rivaled that of Luna's and her kids.

To put it simply, Allie was a troubled girl who fled from an orphanage just outside of Royal Woods. This happened about a few weeks ago, quickly adapting to the street life. Prior to meeting Luna, Allie had exhibited much of the town, broke into some places every now and then, mainly stores to loot food. She heavily ransacked Flip's Food 'N' Fuel, the first shop she had come across when entering the small town, and thirteen more times later, she wound up at Luna's place.

Either it was the wrong house or the work of fate that was sending her a message, the message being to cease her activity. It was Luna who threw the unlikely offer of letting her have a better place to stay over the park benches, empty parking lots, and all the dirty places Allie slept. And Allie took it right away, but wasn't one to promise Luna some form of change.

Right off the bat, the mother of two gathered that young Allie had some sort of anger she didn't understand, but didn't want to mine away at that layer of ice just yet. She figured the orphan would open up one day, so Luna sat back and was patient about it. Rules were established, things were prohibited, and Allie abided heavily to Luna's requests. The decrease of her nightly activity was apparent, and that pleased Luna.

Lincoln was the stranger she didn't expect to meet; a damn babysitter who had to watch over her. And why was this? Because she felt that Luna still didn't trust her all the way. It had to be for that reason of why this white-haired fool was here.

"Hey, uh, Alice, was it?" Lincoln, clad in his lame orange shirt and khaki pants, came up to her and firmly placed a hand on her small shoulder. "Don't worry, they'll be back in a few hours."

His voice was calm and cheery, for someone who was sentenced to babysitter duties. Allie didn't know what she hated more; his tone or the fact that he seemed generally okay with this?

"Hmph!" Allie grumbled, crossing her arms. "Fucking shit-"

"Oh, hey now! There's no need for such harsh violence." Lincoln wrapped a caressing fatherly hand around her, escorting her back into Luna's house.

Allie felt like she really was a child after that, and mumbled angrily under her breath as the pair went back inside Luna's small house.

This house came structured with only one floor, three rooms, and two bathrooms. The living room was a wide rectangle. The flat screen television and the set-up was placed on the left, followed by a couch in the middle. Behind the couch was a bookshelf, but was mostly empty, save for a bible. Past the living room on the left side was the kitchen, and the dining room past it. The right side past the living room had the three small rooms that belonged to each of the residents, and Luna's and Lemy's rooms had each their own bathroom, not a great idea in anyone's opinion.

Lincoln closed the door behind Allie, then faced her with arms triumphantly set on his waist. "Okay, Alice-"

"It's Allie," the orphan corrected. "You idiot."

Lincoln's smile twitched when she had insulted him, giving Allie some slight gratification. "Oh, I'm sorry. Listen..." He had brought a duffel bag that he borrowed from Lacy's collection for this occasion. "I don't know what you like, but I brought a little bit of everything for today."

In the duffel bag, he had board games, a football, some graphic novels, a couple of movies of different genres, and some snacks. And then he realized he forgot some video games. Right, he was in Lemy's abode, so therefore -

Allie scavenged through the duffel bag when he motioned to her to look through it. Nothing was of interest or fun in her opinion. "Well, at least you brought me one good thing."

"What? Is there nothing in here that-?" Lincoln rubbed the back of his head, positively confident that he had it in wrapped on his finger. Maybe the idea that he knew all about girls was simply a long-running illusion, based on the fact that he knew well enough about both his sisters and daughters. Allie was no daughter of his, therefore it made sense she didn't have some sort of mutual interest that he saw in the other girls. At least, not yet. Hopefully. "Oh."

He hadn't prepared for this.

"Look, I appreciate what you're doing, but I'm not a damn kid," the fourteen-year-old stated bluntly. "If it's all the same to you, I wish to take a nap-"

"Hold on, is there something that perhaps you want to do? Anything at all?" This was his last-chance wildcard. Whether she would take it was lost on him.

Allie thought she misheard the man. "You... What?"

"Sure, there isn't anything of interest here with me today as you suggest, but maybe there is something around town that you like."

Allie stood back up, tucking her hands into the pockets of her blue shorts. She brushed at her short, greenish-blonde hair, contemplating this offer that felt more like bribery to neutralize her reluctance to associate with him past a platonic level. "Well, dude, I don't know. What's this town have to offer?"

I mean, she had seen a fair amount of Royal Woods up to this point.

"Ah, I know a good place I think you'd love," he thought, leaving the duffel bag right in its place as he began heading out the door. "I sincerely hope you trust me."

Allie scoffed and followed her temporary caretaker. "Not at all, you old man."

She had called shotgun, which was fair for no one else was there to claim it. Lincoln's car was a lame Honda, model she didn't know for she knew so little about cars. Still, the ride was comfortable, and he drove less rowdy than Luna had with her own whip. At least there was that, a calm ride where she could enjoy the passing neighborhoods slower this time. And while she did just that, she caught glimpses of kids in the front yards of houses, playing around with hoses and spraying water on each other. Some were running, some were jumping, and some were joined by their... Parents.

Allie broke away from the scenes thereafter, going silent. Truth was that she was troubled due to the two missing factors she required and wanted for as long as she could remember. This man, this Lincoln, he had to have parents. He had to have lived a good life so far. She thought about asking him, but she was also afraid to, at the same time. Afraid, and she couldn't comprehend it at first. She didn't know what scared her or why. Not yet at least.

"So..." She wondered if he has kids of his own. From the get-go, he and Luna weren't together for reasons unknown, and while she knew Lemy and Lyra were his, she had suspicions there was another family. "Single man? Or married with kids?"

Lincoln coughed, clearing his throat. "I have kids, but my status is complicated," he admitted to the young girl. "Look, the kids you've been living with, they're the light of my life, but I have other children too, yes. It's not easy to go around to see them all, but I love them all equally. I would never leave any of my girls, it would devaste them."

Allie looked to him and studied his face. "You'd... Never abandon them?" She repeated, eager to know that he wouldn't ever do such a thing. She judged him hard and intensely in that instance, wanting to hear the right answer. "You really love them?"

Lincoln kept his face frontwards, but had imagined her serious expression. He himself had been told that Allie was a street orphan with no place of her own. He interpreted that as her having run away from home, but this confirmed the idea that Allie had never known her biological parents. He wondered how people could do such a thing to a child. To leave them asking themselves why they weren't perfect to be kept, that was certainly something he figured she'd have been feeling for an unknown number of years

And he felt bad for her to the point he decided to give her a great day that Luna had denied her before considering; he was going to take her everywhere today. It didn't matter that she wasn't one of his kids, or that she might have been bad news like Luna had suggested, but Lincoln was a family man, and a soft-hearted person who would go out of his way to put a smile on the faces of his downed friends, family, and anyone he knew he could reach out. Allie was no exception.

"Yes, with all of my heart," he answered. "I love them all, Allie."

Allie looked down, processing away the man's fatherly love he had shown to have. She zipped up just as Lincoln pulled into the parking lot of an ice cream shop.

"Well, we're here!" He exclaimed, parking his car smoothly in front of the parlor. "This is where my girls usually come when it's a hot summer's day."

"Yeah," Allie flatly moaned, getting out of the car with him. "Woohoo..."

Lincoln locked his car and led the girl inside, holding the door open for her. "You can have whatever you want, Allie."

The girl walked in and took a long look at the menu. Chocolate sundaes, double-scoop hot fudge banana splits, mint milkshakes, and much more that made her lick her lips counter-clockwise. She studied it again, and her eyes met and stared at something called the Down-To-Fudge Triple Ripple. It sounded appealing to her, so she chose it, while Lincoln only got a regular scoop of rocky road. After Lincoln had ordered both desserts and paid for it, he and Allie sat down at an empty table and started to lick away right on the spot.

Allie was ravaging what turned out to be a big sundae with six scoops of three different fudge flavors, with a layer of a hot liquid fudge topping poured all over it.

"Oh, that's a little too much chocolate," Lincoln noticed, sounding concerned. "You'll get diabetes that way."

"Only if I do nothing productive with my life at the same time," Allie sassed, continuing to eat her large dessert. "This... This isn't bad."

"Oh? So you mean you enjoy it?" Lincoln wanted to see snd hear a form of gratitude come from the girl, which would tell him she wasn't a worse Lupa case Luna had suggested. "Are you, really?"

"Uh-" Allie looked up at him, getting the vibe that he wanted something out of her. He formed a smile and laughed a little, almost like he was enjoying her company, and maybe even the time they were having with each other. "Y-yes, yes I am. Th-thank you for this, sir."

"Oh, let's skip the formalities, Allie," Lincoln decided. "Please, call me Lincoln."

She found it interesting that he lowered himself from an adult to her equal. Or, at least it surely seemed that way. It also felt weird, considering how old he was. "I hope you're not gonna try anything funny,"

"I'm sorry?" Lincoln hadn't even received that from Lupa. Not yet anyway.

"Did I stutter or something?" Allie asked loudly, challenging him. She made sure to look into his eyes to watch him squirm and think on how to respond.

The way she saw it was that he was an adult, just as Luna was- two of a million people Allie could spend time and effort to gain some sort of bond with them, only for them to decide to throw her away just as she had been once before, the one time that made all the difference in her life.

Allie dreadfully feared the idea of relationships, thinking it would spare her from what her heart would not be able to withstand if it happened again. And, rather than having the possibilities to form something there, Allie took on the role of a real piece of work and displayed it to him so that he cared not come into the territory she made unwelcome.

"No, not at all," Lincoln laughed heartedly. "I do hope you are enjoying the ice cream."

Truth be told, Allie had been a little grateful that he took her out. So, maybe it wasn't all that bad.

But this man, was he bad? Did he have a sort of ulterior motive she knew not? Or was it that he had been his true self since the start of the babysitting duties, and was actually the warm family man he made himself out to be up to here? He was... Nice. And she actually liked it, but wasn't going to let him know about it. "It's pretty tasty."

Once the two had finished their treats, they exited the parlor and returned to the car. Lincoln had begun driving again, but had more plans in store for them. Allie figured they'd be heading home, which proved to be disappointing, seeing as how boring it would have been without the others there. Only, Lincoln had read her mind somehow, shown when he drove them to the Royal Woods Mall, an unexpected turn of events.

"Wait, this town has one of those?!" Allie had missed this somehow, while on her trek going around most of town. "I've only heard of them, but seen one? I..."

Lincoln found her visible desire to see one quite funny and adorable all the same. He chuckled lightly, having a ways to get to the mall.

Allie blushed with embarrassment; she had dropped her excitement for one of many small dreams set onto a bucket list as tasks. She had never known if she would ever see one in her life, so of course she'd have to let it go after awhile.

Here, it presented itself to her like this, and she simply had no words to express her content. Allie held a hand to her chest, feeling like her heart was going to burst out of place and dance cheerfully in the dashboard. She then coughed as if she was choking and tapped on her chest. "I mean, I'd, um, love to go."

"Huh..." Lincoln went. "I guess I should have held off the ice cream until the end."

Allie hadn't really felt full just yet. "Why's that?"

"Some of the fast food joints are to die for! Question, ever had Burpin' Burger before?"

Allie shook her head when he looked at her. "Unfamiliar with it."

Lincoln arrived at the mall and parked near the front of it, barely able to find a spot there.

Allie examined the place. "It looks really big," she realized, wandering her eyes left and right. "What's inside?"

Lincoln took it by surprise. "Wait, you've never seen the inside of one either?"

"No, I have, but I'm asking what will I see in this one? Is there an... Arcade?" Allie wiggled her fingers.

"Arcade? Curious to see one?" Lincoln got out of the Honda, making Allie try to synchronize with him.

"Well, yeah, for the most part," Allie opened up. "There's a lot in mind, actually."

"Oh, swell," Lincoln smiled, calmly waltzing his way to the mall with Allie trailing behind.

She managed to contain her excitement, but squealed right after passing the weird sliding doors. In front of her were multiple shopping stores, condensed onto the sides of the entire building. There was a second floor up even, with two sets of escalators going up and down on both left and right within twenty or so feet of her. A water fountain was in between them, occupied by some folk who sat on the edge.

She ran up to the fountain and leaned her head into the water. She spotted coins of all sorts at the bottom of the fountain, curiously drawn to them. Lincoln caught up with her and began to explain this phenomenon. "People toss loose change here and make wishes, Allie."

"Wishes? Like... Magic?" Allie dipped a finger into the fountain and waved her finger around. The water was nice and cool on her skin. "Oh, it's... It's cold!"

"Yes, it's nice and cool," Lincoln told the kid. "What did you expect? Haha."

"I don't know," Allie answered, still unsure. She sank her entire hand into the fountain, waving it around with the cool feel of the water on her skin. She began liking it, and then had a devious idea after looking back at Lincoln. "Hey, take a look at this."

"Hm?" Lincoln fell for her ruse, and got splashed in the face after Allie swung her hand upwards. "Ah, Allie!"

She giggled with pride, giving herself a firm pat on the back for mission success. Of course, the young man returned fire as she briefly lost it, getting wet herself. "Oh, hey! Not fair!" She chuckled, wiping the droplets off of her face.

"I say that makes us even," Lincoln stated, still fairly wet. "But that was a good one, kiddo. You got me, well played."

"Sorry, it looked like you were dehydrated based on how white your hair is!" She mocked.

"Hey, that was way uncalled for!" Lincoln might have been surprised, but not in any way was he offended. The more he wad around Allie, the more in common she seemed to have with Lupa. "Say, I have a kid, a girl younger than you who's a lot like you."

"You mean there's some poor soul like me out there? I'd have to see it to believe it."

Lincoln went through the pockets of his pants and found a quarter. He proceeded to give it to Allie. "Here, go on and make a wish."

Allie only stared at his hand that gripped the coin between fingers. Her mouth propped open slightly, feeling some strange sensation that overwhelmed her body from head to chest. This wasn't fear, but a different sensation, and what made her then think was the fact that she began to like it. Whatever this was, it felt... Peaceful? Warm? Did she actually like being here, with him?

Or, maybe it was the man's deep kindness and personality that made her rethink her own personal opinion of these adults. She might have been wrong all along, but she never thought about it.

The reason she fled from the home she was given, was primarily because she defied the orphanage staff. It was a case of authority versus a free thinker; Allie was a one-woman army who broke the rules she didn't play by, usually getting into trouble, all because she simply didn't have any sort of trust or favor with these folk she had to obey.

She hated all adults because of a certain pair she had never met made it this way, but the thing was that she made herself believe it to rationalize. And this was only after accepting they wanted nothing to do with her. I mean, why would she be abandoned in the first place?

Lincoln. Lincoln wasn't a bad person in general. He made it so, and his words were more than convincing. His actions were selflessly noble, for a stranger. A kindhearted stranger.

And that was because he knew how to be a father.

And then, Allie's eyes tickled her uncomfortably. She took the quarter and tossed it gently into the fountain. And she made no actual wish, for one had come true today.

The quarter sank to the bottom, joining its monetary brethren to forever rest with them. It would never be alone again. As for Allie, she suddenly had the notion to hug the wonderful babysitter, and did just that, while actually holding back what she knew was tears. She closed her eyes and buried her face right into his shirt, hoping it wasn't clear what she was doing.

Lincoln only formed a smile, patting a gentle hand on her head. This girl wasn't so bad after all. She only needed to be shown love, and a lot of it. She needed to know that she was valued like any other child. That's what was lacking in the orphanage, and with Luna; discipline was the path they all chose. Discipline, not compassion.

It didn't matter to him if she was not one of his own, all he knew was that Allie needed some of that. And by the looks of it, it was all she ever wanted.

With a firm, calm voice, he whispered into her ear, "It's okay, little one. It's okay if you want to cry."

Allie heard his words, heart pounding intensely. She squeaked out, still persistent to hide her frail weakness. She had to be strong, to hold it back. The world was ugly through her eyes, an incentive to shield herself. How many years had she been at this? How many years could she keep up this darkened bravado? Could she actually bypass this layer that took form of this nice man?

"Mmmm!" She screamed with a muffle. "Mmm-"

And all it took to be broken from within, was with a hug Lincoln returned. The hug that made Allie wrong, driving her to cry hard. She hugged tighter, wailing loud enough for nearby shoppers to take a glance their way. Lincoln didn't mind these people, only caring for Allie, to make her soften up and know what this was like.

They remained hugging for awhile, and even after Allie had worn herself out from crying.

He gave her a long-due portion of fatherly love, and hopefully she would never forget it. Allie pulled herself back and wiped away at her moist face, sniffing in front of him. "I-I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay, Allie," Lincoln assured. "Are you okay now?"

Allie exhaled shaken breath, relaxing slowly. "I- I will be," she responded, eyeing his shirt stained with her tears. "Oh, y-your shirt-"

Lincoln looked down and saw what she left behind for him. "Oh, don't worry about this," the white-haired father of many eased. "Well, whaddya say we start the shopping now? Who knows, maybe you might find some stuff you'll like."

She gasped. "Y-you mean-?"

"Yes, I do. This has been your day all along, little one. This has always been your day."

Allie gave a million-dollar smile for once in her life, a very pretty one at that. She had never been happy like this before, the last time being ancient history. This was her day, and she was really going to make the most of it. And she would do so with him, whom she had now begun to see as quite possibly the world's best father in all the world.

She looked to the stores and looked around, trying to find an attention-grabber. And she soon eyed a clothes shop on the main floor. "Hey, that! There!"

Night

Luna drove back home around nine o'clock, with Lemy and Lyra, laughing with great amusement, were going over the fun time they had at Dairyland. Lemy was wearing a Dairyland hat Sam had bought him, and Lyra had a shirt that said "I Love Dairyland!" with the mascot cow's face at the bottom.

"I loved the rollercoaster, holy crap!" Lemy screeched as Luna had just arrived at their driveway. "The way it went down at the second drop, it was insanely faster than the lame first drop! I wanna go back there again!"

Lyra, riding the front passenger seat, had kept turning her head back at Lemy. "I loved the ferris wheel! Like, the sight is just so beautiful when it takes you to its highest point. Aw, I wish they let us bring our phones up there!"

"Well, dudes, you know the rules, as sad as some of them actually are," Luna started. "Remind me to not eat before riding a rollercoaster..." She tapped on her stomach, suggesting that she had thrown up either after or during a rollercoaster ride.

"Mom, that was totally gross," Lyra added.

"Mom, that was totally sick," Lemy wheezed, throwing a fist high. "And you hit your girl friend with some of that."

Luna groaned as she set the van to park. "Ugh, don't remind me."

Lyra shot him a serious face just before they exited the van. "Well, whatever. I hope she knows it's an accident."

Luna locked her vehicle and began walking to her house with her purple purse dangling on her left arm. Then, she noticed something eerie. The place was silent, meaning no one was yelling. Funny, she expected some sort of fight from the street urchin to be happening right now, if not some sign of a fight or worse. Lincoln's car was parked on the side of the street, meaning he hadn't left. Did... Did Allie possibly... Hurt him? "Oh, fuck!"

"Mom?" Lyra hadn't a clue what was happening, and neither did Lemy.

Luna unlocked her door with some desperation and barged inside, looking around for some trouble. "Huh?"

It turned out that there wasn't any trouble, but Lincoln and the delinquent were actually on the couch. Lincoln had decided to take a nap after being worn out by the misunderstood girl, and Allie, now wearing different threads, with that being a green sweater just underneath a purple shirt with an alien face on it, followed by moss-green pants. Apart from that, there were three bags of stuff around the couch, which were more items and clothes Lincoln had bought for Allie. The delinquent had grown comfortable enough with Lincoln that she had actually joined him in his nap and used his arm to wrap her own arms around, wanting to be close to her temporary parent.

All was right in the world just for today, and if it were to end, she wanted to end it in the best possible way she could. And she had fallen asleep on a good note, happy that she had a damn good day today. She had finally found someone to deem a father. She knew real love.

AN: Dedicated to a stranger who actually wanted Alliecoln on the 4chan threads. Sorry, I could not actually put them together as ship material, but with them, I could see majestically deep bonding, and that makes for development Allie totally needs. I didn't see enough with her, or maybe I was just looking in the right places, so, sorry if I actually miss something around. I would not say this is the peak of where I can go with Allie, because I put myself on a 24-hour-deadline; mix that with other things I prioritize first. Its quite the rush for me to do this, even with some sort of idea and progression. At most, I feel like I've only scratched the surface with Allie and then just rushed her conflict and resolved it too fast. Yes, I know I did it, but I hope it wasn't bad at all.

Either way, I think this was okay, but as always, I'll let the reviews speak for themselves.

Until next time, my fellow readers/fandom members. Goodnight.