It was late into the night at the Loud House with most if not all the lights switched off. Lincoln was resting in his bed after a long day of school and family matters but couldn't seem to fall asleep. Part of the reason was due to there being a rapping at his bedroom door, the telltale sign of one or two of his sisters tapping at his door. Lincoln tried to ignore it, believing that not answering will make the slightly annoying sound stop when it became apparent that he was not going to answer.
That's when the banging started, and the sole Loud son knew he couldn't ignore it anymore. Lincoln sat up and begrudgingly made his way to the door, opening it while saying "It's almost midnight, what do you-"
"Lincoln! There's a monster in our closet!" cried out the twins Lola and Lana as they rushed into their brother who caught them.
"Calm down you two! There's no such thing as monsters!"
"But I heard it hiss in there, and it wasn't El Diablo!" Lana explained.
"Whatever it is, it's disturbing my beauty sleep! I yelled at it but it wouldn't stop!" Lola complained.
"Did either of you check to see what it was?" Lincoln asked.
"No! Can we stay here tonight?" the twins said in unison.
Lincoln gave way, "Alright, you two can bunk with me. But just for tonight, okay?"
"Thanks Lincoln!" the two said in unison as they both hopped onto Lincoln's bed.
Lincoln looked aside and shrugged, "It couldn't be worse than sharing with Lynn and Lucy, right?"
XxXxX
The three tried to share the bed with Lola and Lana occupying one side with both either subconsciously tugging at the sheets or moving in their sleep. Lincoln was disturbed by the tugging from both sides, but nonetheless tried to ease out of consciousness. The boy shut his eyes tight, and pressed his head down onto his pillow. His eyes soon shot open after feeling his waist being kicked by Lana who was fast asleep.
Opposite of Lana, Lincoln could hear Lola sleep-talking. "Here she is, the new Miss Great and Powerful..." she mumbled.
Lincoln gritted his teeth as he tried to bear the conditions, "I know this is uncomfortable, but I can get through this! I can- waaahh!" Lincoln squealed as he felt something slither across his ankles and jumped out of bed. After landing on the floor, Lincoln spotted one of Lana's lizards crawl back under the sheets.
Lincoln had enough, he grabbed a pillow and slipped out of the bedroom. Quietly, he tip-toed down the stairs into the living room. At the bottom, Lincoln looked at the empty sofa, then he looked aside, "Hey, it's not the best place to sleep, but it sure beats the bathtub." with that, he patted the sofa cushion and curled up for the night.
XxXxX
Lori needed some late-night milk from the fridge, so she made her way downstairs to the kitchen to down a glass while half-awake. As Lori approached the stairs to head back up, she noticed that the living room couch was now being occupied by three of her siblings. Lincoln was in the middle while Lola and Lana were snuggling up on either side of him. All three of them were out like a light.
Lori couldn't help but smirk and remember a similar situation.
XxXxX
"Lori!" Lincoln called from the hallway, "There's a monster under my bed!"
Lori opened the door to her room to find her younger brother nearly in tears while tightly hugging his stuffed rabbit, she groaned, "Lincoln, there's no such thing as monsters. Go back to bed."
The ash-haired boy sniffed, "I can't! Lynn is trying to fight the monster with her baseball bat!"
As Lori heard the sound of a mattress being beaten by the aforementioned bat, it became apparent that the twelve-year-old was going to share her bed with a sibling that was half her age, "Fine, you can bunk with me. But just for tonight, got it?"
Lincoln nodded saying "Thanks Lori!" and Lori tucked him in. After getting in herself, the elder sister patted her brother's head and curled up to sleep herself.
XxXxX
Lori took one of the spare blankets from the side closet and draped it over her three younger siblings, after that, she patted Lincoln on the head and whispered "You're doing great little bro." before heading back to her room.
Lincoln was too deep in sleep to hear it, but a smile grew on his face.