A/N So, when I first came and started writing for the Loud House, I came up with a few prompts to work with. One of them was "Lincoln is dying and his family has to cope." So I drafted a first chapter and planned that story out… and then I found out that there was a story that was doing that exact thing already. So I worked on the prompt a bit more, but still felt unsure of it. So what better way to find out what to do with this story than to ask you guys!
I hope you guys enjoy! R&R!
Chapter 1: A Summer In The Hills
Summer break, the time of year when the whole world seems open for the young mind to ponder… and of course, the time for older minds to finally get a break from the hustle and bustle that is the education system.
The warm summer sun shines upon the winding, old mountain road. The nearby birds sing their merry song with cheer in each note. This little bubble of the world seems so peaceful that even the nearby waterfall cannot help, but give a calm roar. It is as if the world is a book just waiting to be opened.
On such a pristine day, where can one possibly find the Loud family? Speeding down the smooth mountain road, leaving a trail of mustard in their wake.
"Hungry y'all? Look no further! Come on down to the Burpin' Burger! Grade D beef and special spice, when it comes back up it's twice as nice!" The family sings, their voices resonating with excitement, as they chomp down on some bland, low fat, low calorie, healthy veggie bur-
Oh who could I possibly deceive; the Loud children devour some of the unhealthiest burgers they could've possibly bought!
McDo- I mean, the food restaurant that because of copyright cannot be named, pales in comparison to the unhealthiness of the Burpin' Burger!
"Thanks for the ride Lori!" The young Lincoln Loud shouts, his bright smile is only contrasted by the slight bags under his eyes, no doubt from spending one too may nights awake with his sisters.
The young woman nods, her own joy cutting through her usual teenage cynicism, "No prob bro, a trip to Burpin' Burger's just to hard to pass up!"
She gives the steering wheel a slight turn and manages to get the family van to gently roll down the winding mountain road. Though with the vanzilla, 'gently' means not speeding downhill at eighty-miles-per-hour. After all, the darn thing is a speeding metal death trap as it is!
"Ahh, summer in the Grand Old Hills." She whispers, as her mind and body take in the gorgeous scenery around them. To their left are the Grand Old Hills, a small, yet luscious, mountain range that pokes out from the island's side. They stand ever strong as they watch over the beautiful, yet fragile coastline.
To their right is the steep cliff face that leads to the beautiful Aloha beach. "These hazy days are to remember."
The eldest sister quietly opens the windows, allowing the salty ocean breeze mix with the mountain forest's pleasant scent, filling the usually unpleasant scent of the family van with the sweet aromas of summer life.
The smell seems to soothe the restless siblings, to the point that, for a short moment in time and space, the Loud family sits by passively, in perfect silence…
Yet, it is well known that no gold can stay forever.
It's Leni, the second eldest, who breaks the serenity, "Hey Lori! Can we stop over there?!" She eagerly points at a nearby cliff, overlooking Aloha Beach. From what they can see, it is rather angled with the inner portion slightly lower than the outer. At its peak rests a lone tree, its twisted bark leaning towards the cliff's edge.
It seems the perfect spot to enjoy their end of summer vacation.
For a moment the young woman hesitates, as if her own feelings and desire to relax were slowly convincing her to stop. Yet, despite her own desires, as the person driving and in charge, she has to respond, "Leni, you know mom wants us home soon! We can't afford any distractions!" Though, even she has to admit, she struggles to not take her tired eyes off the road and look upon the calm hill.
"Note to self, never stay awake until two A.M talking to Bobby, and especially don't wake up at six the next morning!" She thinks, her exhaustion only held at bay by the coffee she had downed that morning.
"Aww!" Her younger siblings whine. "Now that I think of it, maybe it would be a good idea to take a break from driving and just relax…" her calm demeanor is only put off by her need to keep control.
Before she even has a chance to reconsider, the young genius, Lisa Loud, leans over and declares, "Hey Lori, if we stop right now and spend two point seven one eight two eight times ten raised to the first minutes there, then drive at exactly ten miles over the speed limit on the way home, we'll make it back to the hotel with twenty minutes to spare, just as promised." Her voice radiates with excitement, an emotion uncharacteristic of the usually stoic four-year-old.
Then she turns her notebook towards the young woman, revealing a jumble of notes, most likely scribbled down hastily in the chaos of the car ride.
"Plus!" Lynn cuts in, her hardy personality cutting through the turmoil, "We're on vacation! I'm sure mom and dad wouldn't mind if we're just a few minutes late!"
Lori thinks for a moment, still unsure of what to do. Her body and head both ache; she had just driven about fifteen miles in an oversized van filled to near capacity with her siblings. It would be more surprising if nothing hurt.
So she sighs, and responds in defeat, "You've got a point there Lynn…" before pulling onto the nearby off ramp, "Fine, we can stop for a few minutes."
"Awesome!" Leni cheers as she goes into her nearby purse, no doubt searching for her sunscreen.
"Rockin'!" Luna strums away at her acoustic guitar, "This'll be awesome!"
Luan turns to her dummy and asks, "What do you think Mr. Coconuts?" And the wooden man responds with, "I think it's a great idea! Maybe you'll be able to come up with some better material!"
Lynn pulls out a football and starts spinning it on her finger, "Aww yeah! Practice time!"
"This summer isn't that bad after all…" Lucy gives a soft smile, uncharacteristic of her usual Gothic demeanor, "It's given me plenty of material to write with.
"Let's do it!" Lana shouts, as she sticks her head out the window to get a better view of the hill, "I wonder what the mud is like!"
"Eww! Lana, we're on vacation!" Lola shouts in frustration, "Can't you go one day without trying to swim in mud?!"
Lana responds with an excited, "Nope! I love mud!"
Lola sighs, "I'm in too, a nice hill would be good for my complexion."
Oddly or humorously enough, it seems as if Lisa is the most excited. He usual stoicism replaced by scientific curiosity, "I can't wait to do experiments up there!"
Lincoln, unlike his more vocal sisters, just smiles and nods in agreement.
"Ok then you guys, but only for a few minutes!" Lori insists, before pulling over to the base of the hill.
"Enjoy guys, it's the end of summer after all." She says, before unlocking the doors, stepping out and stretching, "Go have some fun."
Then she looks up, towards the edge of the cliff and starts to stroll over her head held back and resting against her arms, "If you guys need me, I'll be over there, ok?"
Her siblings nod, before jumping out of the van and stepping on the hill's soft grass.
It only takes a few seconds for Lana to take a quick look around and shout, "This is the best vacation ever!" before throwing her arms out and plopping face-first onto the hill's moist mud, a dream of hers to be sure.
"Eww! Lana that's so gross!" Lola complains with her usual annoying tone, "How do you deal with that?!"
Despite everyone's better judgment and all of the convincing the Louds had tried on her, she still decided to go on vacation wearing her most expensive gown and pageant gear. So, what happens when you mix a pageant girl, her gear, and her mud-loving twin? The obvious of course.
Lana rolls in the moist mud for a few moments, before turning on her back and sitting up with her arms still in the wet earth, "Oh Lola, you just don't know the benefits of playing around in the mud." Then she takes a handful of the stuff and throws it at the pageant queen, "Here have some!"
"Hey!" her twin screams in anger and frustration, but before she can retaliate, Lana throws another mud ball at her.
"Okay, now I'm mad!" Lola declares, before jumping in the mud puddle alongside her sister. A few seconds later, the duo is playfully splashing each other, with giggles and laughs followed by more splashing and more laughing. Lana will probably feel Lola's wrath later.
"Heh, I remember when I was that nonchalant about life, then I remember that I had four siblings by their age." Lori thinks, the thought more than enough to bring a smile to her weary face.
A few short feet away from them, the young comedian Luan tries desperately to get Lily to laugh with her hill and sea based puns.
Though, that goes over just as well as one would suspect.
"Hey Lily, what do you call a hill by the ocean?!" And the infant responds by flailing her arms around with the biggest smile on her face, "Poo, poo!" then she continues by talking in random baby gibberish.
"Yes!" Luan excitedly responds, "And no," she adds with a chuckle, "You call it a hilloceanous place!" Unsurprisingly, Lily laughs cutely at Luan's amusingly horrible pun, right before she shouts, "Poo, poo!"
"Oh you've got another pun for your big sis?!" Luan asks with excitement in every word… only for a *plop* and a rancid smell to emanate from her, now used, diaper.
Luan then puts on a pained smile, before chuckling and speaking with a sincere, yet embarrassed, tone, "Oh, it really is just poo poo." She lets her expression soften, "Let's get you a new diaper huh Lilster." before walking back to the vanzilla to change her.
Meanwhile, Luna sits along the edge of the hillside, not as far up as Lori, but not too close the base either. Surprisingly, Lisa and Lucy sit by her as she strums away at her guitar, creating a beautiful melody with her non-electric instrument.
Surprisingly enough, Luna's really good at playing acoustic, despite the fact that nearly every other instrument she owns is electric-based.
It's rather amusing really; their parents had told the children that if they wanted to go to Aloha beach they had to pack light. This meant that the Loudest Loud in terms of capacity couldn't bring along her amps… or most of her guitars… or any instrument with the word "electric" in its name.
Though, despite the acoustic limitation, Luna is still able to create a beautiful melody. It's almost enough to remind one of those independent creators, working to create beautiful, soft beats to dance to.
"Ok Lucy, show me what you've got!" she shouts, her excitement contrasting with the Goth's usual downcast nature. Lucy responds by pulling out a small piece of folded paper, while carrying a sun umbrella with her free hand. She unfolds her poem quietly, before reading it aloud in a monotone voice. "Luna, the cold air fills our home. So for a while we've come down here for a short while. Don't go too far Luna."
Luna hesitates for a moment, as if trying to process exactly what Lucy had just said. Without another word, she turns to her second-youngest sister, "Lisa, how about you?"
The four-year-old takes a moment to respond, "Summer is a question you have to explain, because I don't see its allure. The more time you spend away from school, the more your intelligence dwindles. Simply put, I don't get it." Then she starts scribbling some random notes down in the small, light-green notebook she had bought from a gift shop.
"Hmm." Luna thinks for a moment, her eyes filling with the joy and determination of inspiration. She calmly pulls out a pic and declares. "That gives me an idea!"
Her soul fills with excitement as she readies her guitar. Then, she carefully whispers, "First a one, then the two, then the four then!" she starts strumming away, her guitar's soft beat serenading her siblings with a glowing melody. Then, after a few seconds of building the tone, she starts to sing, "We're the Louds and it's our summer to rock! We don't know what's going to come along, but you can count on us for something new! With a hundred and four days of summer vacation and school coming along just to end it! We'll spend it together, just us and the love of family!"
And just like that, she strums so hard that her guitar string breaks, slapping her hand away.
She rubs her hand while chuckling, "Now I remember why I hate acoustic. They always end up breaking up with me!"
"Haha!" The siblings go in response, surprisingly enough including Lisa and Lucy. Luan, in particular, grabs her snare drum, hits it twice, before hitting a rimshot, before giving a hearty laugh, "Great pun Luna!"
"I guess summer break's so fun that even the most disciplined and serious of us, can't help but sit down, relax and enjoy the show." Lori thinks, before taking a seat at the cliff head, under the beautiful tree. Her legs dangle lazily over the Cliffside, before she lies down on the cool grass next to the tree's base, letting the moist earth soak her short blonde hair with cool liquid.
On any other day she'd jump up and dust herself off, after all, she would want to look presentable. But hey, it's the short summer break before she heads off to college so why should she care?
After all, no one cares in college, so why should she? So, she lets herself relax for once, and just looks at her young siblings. In their hearts she could see their innocence, how open the world seemed to them. And yet, when they grew they would learn the harsh truth of their reality. The mere thought of their young joy fading away is almost enough to bring a tear to the elder's eye.
Yet, even Lori can't be that cynical all of the time. So for once, she puts her fears aside and decides to enjoy her time with her siblings.
Just in time too, despite the fact that she is looking at them-upside down, she can still see the amusing disaster that is about to unfold.
Lynn looks like she's about to charge at Leni, who is holding a soccer ball. Now it doesn't take a genius to figure out what happens next.
"Should I stop them?" Lori asks herself, only to shake her head against the idea, "Nah, they'll be fine."
"Go!" Lynn shouts, before running at Leni, who responds by panicking and throwing the ball up in the air.
Now a completely sane person would stop and catch it, but none of the Louds are completely sane. So Lynn decides to punt it… into oncoming traffic.
"Aww, that was my last soccer ball!" Lynn whines, not noticing the unlucky driver swerving down the mountainside.
Despite her better judgment, morals, and basically everything she should have as the eldest sister, she counts the few moments it takes her to laugh. Ten seconds, that's a new record!
"Haha! Dangit you guys!" She shouts, desperately trying to hold back the tears, "Try not to cause too much trouble please, we're on vacation ya know!" Then she continues with a more nonchalant tone, "Anyways, back to whatever you were doing."
Their eldest sister being as calm as she is, takes them by surprise. Immediately Lisa runs over and pulls out a weird device. It proceeds to do some rather invasive tests, not to mention going in her shorts and pants and doing some… other things to collect samples. One should try their best not to think of it.
After a quick look over of the test results, Lisa concludes, "Yes girls, this is the real Lori all right!" before running back to whatever it was she was doing.
Everything seems to slow down at that point, as if the world the Louds know decides to relax for once.
That's when Lincoln decides to walk over and lie down on the grass next to her, "Hey Lori, you're surprisingly calm today, what's going on?"
She sits up and looks out, into the vast ocean beyond them. The cool blue waves crash upon the steep hill face; the young woman lets the feelings of calmness and bliss immerse her for a short moment, before responding, "I guess I just feel more relaxed here."
Then she turns to her only brother, his white hair glistens with the clear blue sky above; while his orange shirt provides a stunning contrast to it.
"Heh, I guess it's just surprising." He says, while turning to me, "Though, I shouldn't be as surprised, we are on summer break after all."
"Yeah," she responds, a tone of insecurity fills her voice. She is unsure if she should continue. Though, Lincoln is nice enough to continue for her, "Don't worry Lori, I'm sure college will be fine! Just don't procrastinate on those ten-page papers."
"How did you…" she starts, and Lincoln answers, "A brother's intuition."
"Heh…" she goes, before looking down at her stomach, "I've felt weird ever since the last time I saw Bobby…"
"Lori?"
She snaps back to reality, "Oh nothing… I'm just really worried that everything's changing so fast… I'm afraid that I won't be able to keep up." Then her voice fills with concern, "And what about you guys, what'll happen when I'm gone and-"
"Lori, don't worry about it." He takes her hand in his, "We'll be fine, no matter what happens. We're a family, and that's a fact."
So she sighs once more and leans into the grass again. "I just don't know…"
Her gaze becomes fixed upon the old tree at her side; its once green leaves have already started to change for the fall.
Then he playfully nudges her side, "Well then Lori, whenever you feel lost, afraid or just plain down, remember this song I heard." Then with the calmest voice he can muster he sings, "Remember the summers we spent up here, these hazy days are to remember!"
His voice fills with determination and hope, "It's where we watch the seasons change! With our family running here, all roads will lead to adventure! Though there may be mountains in the way, they won't keep us from the sea. Here we stand up together, holding arm in arm! There is a home, wherever we are!" Then his voice gains more momentum, before he finishes,
"And together we'll stand together in the eye of the storm, never letting one drift off!"
She smiles, as if the fears she had harbored for ages had finally set sail, "That was beautiful Lincoln. Where'd ya hear it?"
He pauses for a short moment, "I'm not going to lie Lori, I just came up with that." Then he sits up, with his arms bent and his body facing her, "But did ya like it?"
The young woman nods, "That was nice," then, she turns out to face the ocean again, her wet blonde hair now glowing in the sun's light. "I might keep it in mind." She then leans back, gazing passed the beautiful tree and into the wild blue yonder.
Lincoln responds by doing the same, "For what it's worth Lori, you're my favorite sister."
"Aww," she goes affectionately, "And you're my favorite sibling too." And with that, they smile at each other, before looking out into the calm blue ocean once again.
Lori whispers. "Where we watch the seasons change… heh" She lets a small, orange leaf drift into her soft hand. "All roads lined with adventure…"
About an hour later, Lori stands up and declares, "Ok Louds, it's time to go! Back in the car!"
She receives a collective, "Aww" in response. "Come on guys, it's been an hour! Mom and dad are going to be annoyed!"
With some groans, she manages to herd nine of her siblings back into the family van.
Before getting in the car last, Lincoln walks over with, "So Lori, did you-" When he suddenly loses his balance and fell into her arms.
"Lincoln! You ok?!" She shouts frantically.
He nods, "Yeah, I'm fine, just tired from lying on the hill."
"Ok then… get into the car." She responds nervously, while breathing a sigh of relief. "The last thing we need is Lincoln getting sick."
Though he does a bit, Lincoln finally gets in the car. And with that the eldest sister hops in and starts it up with, "Ok guys, let's get to it!"
After that, she hits the gas and starts the fifteen-mile trip towards the Aloha Beach Hotel.
"Hey Linc, you ok?" Lynn asks, and Lincoln responds with a tired tone, almost as if he had all of the energy sapped from him, "Yeah, I'm fine." Then he yawns. "Anyways I'm going to take a nap, mind waking me up when we get to the hotel guys?"
"Sure." Lori responds, making sure not to take her eyes off the road. "Weird, I wonder why Lincoln did that…" she thinks for a moment, "Could he be..." before shaking the thought from my head, "Nah, he's fine!"
The road ahead seems clear enough, no other cars or people. It looks like nothing can stop the Louds from enjoying this vacation!
Well, except for a road bump of course.
A few minutes of random, joy-filled gibberish emanates from the siblings, right before Lisa manages to surprise them all with, "Odd… These readings don't seem to make sense…"
"What do you mean Lisa?" Luna asks, "and what are those papers?"
Lisa folds them, before shoving the wad of random papers in her pocket, "Don't worry, they're nothing…" Her voice trails off worriedly, "It's nothing a poop study can't figure out."
Luan then cut in, "Hey, what are you hiding?"
"Guys! Don't fight in here! I'm driving and I need to focus on the road!" Lori orders, much to the young scientist's relief. "Though, Lisa."
The four-year-old looks up as she continues; "I want you to tell us about what you find odd. As in, extremely odd, not normal Loud odd."
Lisa quietly curses under her breath. Now, normally Lori would try to find out more, but just as she finishes talking, they pull up to the hotel.
Despite the fact that it's Aloha Beach in the summer time, there aren't that many guests staying the night in their hotel. You can probably guess who's to blame if they go out of business.
Just like earlier, Lori pulls the key out of the ignition, though she doubt it matters since the locks on the car are broken anyway, and it wouldn't take a genius to hotwire the old thing. Then again, who would want to steal a fifty-something year old van that pumps more CO2 into the ozone than China.
"Ok guys, head up to your rooms," The young woman orders, "meeting in my room tonight as well as plans for the trip home, got it?"
"Got it!" They all respond, before rushing out of the van without another word.
"Well that was easier than I thought." she thinks before stepping out of the van, *Groan*
She immediately reacts and turns back to the van, "Oh Lincoln! You ok bro?"
He responds by putting his hand on his head and rubbing his forehead, as if suffering from a headache.
"Lincoln!" she shouts, before running over and grabbing the boy out of his seat, "Don't play with me, are you ok?!"
He responds by panicking and rolling out of her arms, "Yeah! I'm ok!"
"You've been acting weird this whole week Lincoln, are you sure you're ok?"
He just nods, "It's nothing, don't worry about me Lori." Then he walks… or to be more accurate, painfully stumbles over to the hotel. "Lincoln!"
He stops and turns in surprise.
"At least let Lisa take a look at you ok?" She implores and he sighs, "Ok Lori, I'll see Lisa later."
And then he does his best to walk back into the small hotel.
With that, Lori looks up at the moonlit sky, for some reason, there are clouds rolling in, "Huh I guess the weatherman was wrong again. It's not supposed to rain for another week." Before she calmly walks over and follows her siblings.
The hotel is a simple building, exactly like what one would expect from a three-star hotel. Its simple design breathes of its cheap cost. It has hardwood floors and soft lighting. The walls have been given a simple plaster covering, most likely to protect the brick from whatever could attack it.
Lori calmly passes through the lobby, noting the tranquil air that greets her.
A few minutes later she's in front of her parent's room. She takes a lone breath, and prepares for the onslaught of anger. And with a final push, she knocks on the door.
"Who is it?" Lynn Sr. responds, his voice filled with the usual upbeat power.
"It's Lori!" the young woman responds.
A few moments later, the hotel door opens up… revealing Rita and Lynn Sr. carrying their suitcases, as if preparing to leave.
"Umm, why does it look like you're about to leave?" she asks, while tilting her head in confusion.
Her mother answers, "your father and I have to go, there's an important business meeting and dentist convention tomorrow!"
"So you're leaving us here?"
Lynn Sr. nods, "Yes sweetie, I need you to take the car and drive the kids back to Royal Woods ok? Because you came in late, we won't have the time to tell everyone we're leaving, so it's up to you to keep everyone in line till then."
"Wha…" Lori tries her best to understand what is happening right before her.
"Oh and by the way we've extended the reservations on your rooms for another three days. Have fun!" And without another word, her parents walk passed her, out of the room and down the hall.
"Well, I don't know how to react to that…" she whispers, before sighing, "Just my luck I guess…" Then she perks up, "No problem then, I'll just get everyone together and stuff.
And with that, she walks over to her sisters' rooms calmly. First Leni, then Lisa and Lily, after that she got Lana and Lola and Luan and Luna, leaving Lucy and Lynn last.
With everyone else collected, Lori leads the group over to Lincoln's unshared room.
"Lincoln!" She shouts while pounding at the old oak door, "Everyone else is waiting, what are you doing?"
No response.
Then she turns to Leni, "Pick the lock! This isn't like him."
Leni nods and uses a spare toothpick to pick the keycard-based lock… somehow.
The door flies open as the sisters standby, expecting to find their brother waiting for them, or simply getting ready.
Yet, that isn't the case.
"Lincoln!" The sisters shout as they rush into the room… only to find their brother lying down in his bed, rather peacefully as well.
*Yawn* "Oh, sorry Lori... I was just feeling really tired so I decided to lie down. Did I miss the meeting?"
The sisters breathe a sigh of relief, their usual protective instincts only held at bay only by his strong reassurances.
"No you didn't Lincoln." The young woman responds, "Ok then, let's have the meeting in here. Do you mind Linc?"
He shakes his head, "Nope, I'm ok with it." Then he turns and gets out of the soft bed. He stretches for a moment before reassuring, "See guys, I'm-"
Without warning, he tenses up, before falling back; causing him to hit his head on the nightstand, before falling to the ground, unconscious.
"Lincoln!" The sisters shout in a frantic frenzy, before Lori takes the young boy in her arms. "Lisa!" She shouts in a heavy panic, "Call 911! Now!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!"
And with that, the sisters rush out of the hotel room.
12-9-19-20-5-14 6-15-18 20-8-5 3-1-12-12-9-14-7 13-15-14-15-4-25.
A/N So anyways guys, I would really like your opinions on this story idea. Too sad? Unoriginal? Interesting? I would love to work on this story idea, but I'm currently hesitant because of what I've seen. If I get enough requests/encouragement to continue then I'll put the rest into production. If not, I'll just shelve it till I can come up with a better idea.
Update: chapter has been edited entirely. Thanks to everyone who pointed out mistakes and encouraged me to continue this!