That's right, everyone, I'm turning another one of my one-shots into a full story! Come to think of it, I have a lot of one-shots that would benefit from becoming a full story, don't I? Anyway, I had the feeling that Chandler deserved some more attention to try and turn over a new leaf... or be utterly trashed in the process, we'll see what happens.

Also, Happy Thanksgiving!

But for now, let's go!

It was Thanksgiving Day at the city of Royal Woods, and almost every single one of the citizens celebrated the occasion: In their own special way. Some dealt with turkeys, some dealt with pilgrim images, but most of them kept one thing in common: Everyone seemed to be thankful, to someone else or themselves.

All except for one young Chandler. He certainly wasn't getting any thanks from anybody, anyway. And when he tried to thank somebody? They either refused the thanks, or just straight up ignored him. It was mostly his classmates who did this, though, since the memory of the birthday party was still remembered among them

Even though that was months ago. Geez, who knew some people held a grudge this badly.

Not that this clouded Chandler's mind too much, since he was busy with something else: Practicing his lines for his inevitable next encounter with Lincoln while he walked back and forth at the park.

"Larry, I'm really sorry I haven't contacted you since our last meeting, but I'd like to apologize for..." Chandler spoke to himself on the mirror, only to pause and sigh. "No, I can't do it like that, what if somebody sees me and thinks I'm being a coward? No, I need to try something else..."

Then, he stopped as he got an idea. "Maybe... if I do something nice for him, he'll see I'm honest about turning a new leaf?"

But then, he heard some laughter nearby, and once he turned around, he saw that there was what looked like a birthday party happening nearby. How did he miss it, wasn't a question he particularly cared to answer, specially when he took a closer look, and spotted a familiar face at the party.

The person was Luan, Lincoln's comedic sister, who bowed down and accepted the party kids' admiration and applause. The show went on a pause, and Chandler took this chance to approach Luan, who flinched as he casually said:

"You're one of Larry's sisters, right?"

"Lincoln!" Luan snapped in annoyance. "And who even are you!?"

"I'm Chandler," the redhead answered, immediately earning an angry look from the comedian. "Right, sorry, I have trouble remembering names."

If Luan's angry raised eyebrow meant anything, it was that the comedian wasn't quite sold on Chandler's explanation.

"Listen, I want to try and give... Lincoln a gift for thanksgiving," Chandler rubbed the back of his head. "You see, last time we met, he forgave me for what I did to him and expressed some compassion for me. Ever since then, I've been wanting to get closer to him-"

"Closer to him!?" Luan snapped, stomping the ground... until she got an idea. "You know what? I may be able to help you with that."

"Really?!" Chandler chirped.

"Yeah, you see, there's this mixed-family dinner our family's having tonight with the McBrides, and we agreed that each family would bring their turkeys," Luan explained as she handed the redhead 80 bucks. "However, due to our busy schedules, none of us could find the time to get the turkey so we can begin cooking, and that's where you come in: I need you to go to the market, and buy the biggest turkey you can get."

"The market?" the redhead repeated, earning a nod from the comedian. "Isn't that the place that goes utterly crazy when they sell turkey?"

"To be fair, everybody goes crazy over something no matter what they're selling," Luan chuckled. "But yeah, that's the place. But I'll understand if you don't want to-"

Without she could even finish, Chandler bolted off straight to the market, leaving Luan behind to finish with confusion, "Go?"

Later, at the market...

Chandler found himself at the entrance to the market, where nearly a dozen people were already gathered inside. The idea that he could end up seeing the black friday-like madness that had befallen the place several times before, made his body shake in fear, but he knew that there was no way around it. Either he went in, and risked his life to get the turkey, or-

"Hello."

The redheaded guy jumped and turned around to see it was just Clyde McBride, Lincoln's friend. Though for some reason, he seemed to have trouble recognizing him.

"You're La... Lincoln's friend, right?" Chandler asked, narrowing his eyes as he asked. "Are you Clyde... Donovan?"

Clyde flinched and shook his head. "What? No, I'm Clyde McBride."

"Huh, so you're not the one who wrote that insult on my arm cast, then," Chandler sighed and looked away. "I'm sorry, a kid wrote an insult on my arm cast a while ago, back when the "sewer birthday" incident was still new, and I thought it was you."

"Yeah, Lincoln told me about that incident, he said that by Lori's request, he comforted you about the whole thing," Clyde answered, before adding in a dreamy tone. "Isn't Lori such an amazing woman?"

"I would agree if I knew who she was," Chandler rolled her eyes. "Anyway, what are you doing here? I'm here to try and get the biggest turkey available, because one of La... Lincoln's sisters, told me that they forgot

"No way, I'm here for almost the same reason!" Clyde replied, putting his hands on his hips as he added, "Only I'm supposed to get it for my family. Hey, how about we work together to get the turkey?"

"Do you really feel comfortable doing that?" Chandler rubbed his arm. "Specially considering what happened last time we met?"

"Hey, that happened like a year ago, and I'm not someone who holds grudges," Clyde put a hand in Chandler's shoulder. "So, what do you say we look for the turkey together?"

Clyde offered a fist bump with Chandler, and once he thought about it, the redhead smiled and nodded before accepting the fist bump. And so, they headed forth into the market, ready to begin their quest for turkey! Not that it was very difficult, since most people were minding their own business at the store.

"Huh, looks like we're the only ones desperately looking for a turkey," Clyde remarked as he and Chandler. "Not that I'm complaining! Keep your eyes peeled, Chandler, we need to find the turkey before anybody else sees it!"

"Okay, but can I ask something?" the redhead replied.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Are you sure we're not running on squeaky, slippery clean floor?"

Once the duo thought about it, they tried to stop themselves right on their tracks, only to wind up slipping up and landing face-first on the ground, all while they slid until they hit the fruit section. Once their slip-trip was over, the boys slowly got up and dusted themselves before resuming their search for turkey, this time without running all over the place.

"So, how have you been, Clyde?" Chandler casually asked, scratching his chin. "Sorry if the question comes out of answer, I'm just hoping to try and start a conversation with you. Something that helps us pass time, you know?"

"I've been good, to be honest," Clyde shrugged. "You know, mostly staying at the sidelines whenever Lincoln doesn't need me. Not to say that I don't have my life outside of Lincoln's adventures, that would be ridiculous, but I'm not exactly the kind of guy who goes out on adventures on his own."

"That's a good idea," Chandler sighed. "Taking into account the sort of problems you could run into, going at it alone is... probably the worst thing you could do..."

Clyde, sensing some sadness in Chandler's tone, turned to the redhead and asked, "Why do you say that, Chandler?"

The redheaded boy sighed and explained, "Ever since the birthday incident, nearly nobody hangs out with me anymore. They either just ignore me or throw insults at my direction. And the worst part of it is, that no matter how hard I try to convince everybody that I've changed, they just don't listen to any word I say."

Once he heard that, Clyde sighed and lead Chandler to the fruit section of the market. Once they were there, Clyde took a quick look around to make sure nobody else was looking at them, while Chandler sighed, "What are we doing here?"

"I can't believe I didn't think about it until now, but we should try to be more sneaky," Clyde answered, taking another quick look around before adding. "If what you said is true, then if any of our classmates see you, they're likely going to go after you!"

"Oh dang it, I didn't even notice!" Chandler started to look around as well. "Alright then, with that in mind, how are we supposed to look for the turkey without being seen? There are several dozens of people in here!"

Clyde searched around the area for a posible solution, and he eventually found it, or at least thought he found it, when he saw the top of the shelves.

So he smiled with determination. "I have an idea."

Chandler, though, wasn't nearly as positive. "Is it a good idea, though?"

Clyde just casually went towards the shelves, with a worried Chandler following him as he said, "Of all the times you could show rather than tell, why did it have to be this time?!"

And so, the redhead followed the dark-skinned geek towards a shelf, then took another look around before they both climbed up the shelf, with Clyde having a much easier time than Chandler doing so. Once they were at the top, however, one look at the ground was all Chandler needed to get him to start sweating bullets. Not literally, of course.

"Oh look, I can see the ground from here," Chandler said with a nervous chuckle. "Let's hope we don't land on it by accident."

"We barely just got here, and you're already getting nervous?" Clyde asked.

"Dude, if we fall from this height, we'll most likely die," the redhead pointed out. "Either that, or we'll end up being severely injured. I mean, I expected this sort of thing to happen eventually, I just didn't think I'd end up doing it so soon. Specially when I just recovered from the broken arm."

"Listen, there's no other way around this," Clyde went to Chandler's side and wrapped his arm around his shoulder as he explained, "If we try to walk down the aisles, we could end up being spotted by our classmates, who could try to hurt you for the birthday incident, and maybe they'll hurt me too 'cause I'm a geek or something. But if we go through here, which is the only other way we can go, we could potentially fall off and get hurt. There's no other way to do this."

"Ugh, I know," Chandler sighed, then swallowed his fear and started to walk. "Come on, let's try to look for a turkey. It should be fairly easy from this height."

"Got it," Clyde followed the freckled redhead. "And while you're at it, try to keep an eye on the manager, alright?"

"Manager?!" Chandler froze in a panic.

"Yeah, the manager of the market," then Clyde exclaimed, "And there he goes! Jump!"

Chandler and Clyde held hands and leaped over to another shelf, just in time before a blackman in his 30s or 40s walked by through the aisle, taking a look at his surroundings as he went on to the next aisle. Once he was out of sight, the boys sighed, and Clyde explained thus:

"The manager is... well, the manager of this whole market. One time, Lincoln and his sisters got into so much trouble when they run into him. And when they inevitably made the market a mess... well, let's just say, it wasn't pretty. Point is, we need to find the turkey, and make sure he doesn't see us, got it?"

Chandler nodded, then pondered out loud, "Also, was it just me, or did the manager kinda look like you?"

"When you say it like that, we kinda do look alike, but that's an issue for another day. For now, we gotta find a turkey!"

The boys went forth with their turkey hunt, still holding hands as they leaped from shelf to shelf, looking for the perfect turkey to take home. Normally, being boys, they would feel a bit awkward about holding hands, but the fact that they were up where nobody would really see them, and the fact that either of them could slip off at any moment, made them consider and accept a truce until the end of the day.

Luckily for them, once they got close to the frozen aisle, they spotted it: The perfect turkey! A large turkey as big as an ostrich, and with zero tofu in it! And it was so big, two kids would be needed to lift and carry it, even further making their decision to team up a good idea.

"We found it!" Clyde exclaimed in joy. "We found a turkey big enough for both the McBrides and the Louds!"

"Yeah, look, I'm happy about that and everything, but we're still at the top of a food shelf," Chandler put a hand on his hip. "How are we supposed to get down there, genius?"

Clyde hummed. "I actually didn't think about that."

Chandler rolled his eyes... then spotted a pair of shopping carts underneath them. With this, he got an idea:

"How about we jump down to those shopping carts? I know it may sound crazy, but-"

Suddenly, Clyde jumped off the shelf, and took Chandler with him. But just as they started to fall, they were caught by two familiar faces: Lori and Becky, the latter wearing the market's uniform.

"Lori!" Clyde exclaimed in relief, just in time for his eyes to turn into hearts.

"Oh right, I completely forgot that you worked at the market, Becky," Chandler remarked as his cousin put him and the geek down. "Speaking of which, why is this place still open, and what were you doing here? Don't you work at the counters?"

"Okay, let me try to answer your questions in order," Becky took a deep breath, and then hastily answered, "The manager insisted this place stayed open so no "hooligans" vandalized it or something, I'm talking with Lori here to rest and not stress myself to death, and I do work at the counters, but I'm also working on the shelves to try work around the lack of personnel."

"Believe it or not, most people aren't willing to literally give up their holiday just because one man wants to keep the business open out of paranoia, even if that man is one scary guy," Lori added, before putting a hand on Becky's shoulder. "I was here talking with Becky about how Luan sent her cousin to look for a turkey."

"That and also scolding me for still trying to look for a boyfriend half my age, rather than equal or slightly above my age," Becky bitterly added. "Listen, we're kinda busy here, so if you have business to do, please go ahead and leave us alone."

The boys nodded and went forth towards the turkey, but not before they had a little exchange:

"A boyfriend half her age?"

"Don't ask."

Once at the place with the turkey, Chandler hastily grabbed it and lifted it up, while a short victory tune played... for some reason. And mere seconds, a flashing light and thunderous roar later, the boys were surrounded by several of Lincoln and Clyde's classmates, most of which were girls, and all of which looked utterly furious and ready to beat the guys senseless. Mostly Chandler.

"Please tell me they didn't just appear out of nowhere," Chandler said, his wide smile hiding his absolute terror.

"They didn't just appear out of nowhere," Clyde said, and once he got a look from Chandler, he stammered, "O-Okay, they did."

"Did you really think you could just come out and try to steal the best turkey in the market after what you did to us, Chandler?!" one of the girls said as they slowly closed in on the guys. "The only way you're getting out of here is with several bruises, and no turkey!"

"H-Hey, wait!" Clyde exclaimed. "He's just trying to help me bring this turkey to my house for thanksgiving, honest!"

"First the sewage birthday, and now you force a nerd to excuse your actions?!" another student hissed, before cracking their knuckles. "That's it, we're definitely gonna beat some sense into you!"

The boys closed their eyes as the students homed in on them, ready to get a beating. And there was a beating... but the lack of pain on their part made it clear that the redhead and geek weren't part of it. Rather, once they opened their eyes, they saw a pair of familiar redheads-well, familiar to Chandler at least-among the several unconscious students.

"Cristina? Lindsey?" Chandler blurted in surprise.

"You know them?" Clyde asked.

"He walked me back home one day after I failed one of my beauty pageants," Lindsey hastily recapped before hugging the redheaded guy. "And he really made me happy that day!"

"We still owe him one for that time, and it's time we pay him back," Cristina cracked her knuckles. "We're going to help you survive the way to the counter, just don't get away from us."

Chandler smiled. "Trust us, we won't."

The quartet sprang forth towards the counter, with their redheaded bodyguard girls ready to block or fight back against the kids, who got up soon afterwards and chased after the quartet for another shot at beating the boys up. As they ran, they went past Lori and Becky, who narrowly dodged the chase and hugged each other as the kids ran by.

"Oh no, those two are in big trouble!" Becky remarked.

"Why?" Lori asked. "What's literally the problem?"

And then the manager popped out of nowhere.

"He's the problem!"

The manager joined the chase, though he seemed to be chasing everybody in general rather than just Chandler and Clyde, so the boys and girls got an idea and separated, with their pursuing classmates stopping right on their tracks, turning them into easy targets for the manager to capture. So he leaped and crashed through the kids like in a bowling ball place, allowing the redheads and Clyde to reunite and run all the way to the nearest counter.

"Well, that was interesting, to say the least," Lindsey remarked as she and Cristina dusted themselves. "And luckily enough, we didn't have to get our hands dirty!"

"Thanks a lot for your help," Chandler said with a smile. "I don't even want to think about what they would've done to us if they caught us."

"Hey, it's the least we could do after you cheered up my sister," Cristina put a hand on Chandler's shoulder as the boys put the turkey down. "And trust me, this isn't the last time you'll see us. I still owe you one, after all."

"Owe him one?" Clyde asked. "You mean, helping us with the turkey and our angry classmates didn't count?"

"It's thanksgiving! Helping you survive getting a turkey at the last minute isn't paying you a favor, it's normal protocol!" Lindsey replied with a cheerful, casual look. "Besides, Cristina got a much better idea on how we can pay you back from one of her clients-"

This prompted Cristina to put a hand over her sister's mouth. "Lindsey, remember what we talked about: We'll keep it a secret for now. Which reminds me, we have to go home now."

The redheads bid farewell to the boys, and they got ready to buy the turkey... only for the counter lady to say:

"That'll be 80 dollars."

Their jaws dropped to the ground. 80 dollars for a turkey that size?! Whether it was cheap or not, the boys simply didn't have that much money to burn. In fact, they had another problem at their hands, judging by a large shadow looming over them. Who did this shadow belong to?

Why, the manager, of course!

"I knew leaving this place open was a good idea!" the man hissed with an authoritarian tone. "Do you know what mess you hooligans and your gang of troublemakers could've done to the market?!"

"Gang of troublemakers?" Chandler repeated. "Are you talking about our classmates? They weren't with us, they were against us!"

"They still wouldn't have been running all over the place if it weren't for you!" the manager grabbed the turkey and lifted it with one hand. "And since I'm assuming a pair of brats like you can't even pay for this turkey, then I'll give you just one warning: Get out of my market before I-"

"Before you what?"

The manager shuddered, and slowly turned around, until his fears were confirmed: Lisa's teacher-now dressed as a supervisor-stood behind him.

"S-S-S-Supervisor Shrinivas!" the manager stuttered and twiddled his fingers, dropping the turkey in the process. "W-W-What brings you here?"

"What brings me here?! How about the fact that the person who forced this place open for Thanksgiving, even though we're supposed to be closed on holidays, isn't keeping his end of the deal in exchange for all the workers not quitting outright!?" Shrinivas snapped at the man, who shrunk down as the boys just stood nearby, not knowing how to take this scene. "I came to report Becky's progress on dealing with the customers and the shelves, because of the worker shortage, and I was expecting to find your on your office, like you promised."

"But-"

"And lookie here, instead of being in your office, managing things to make sure everything comes out fine, I find you out here, looking for "hooligans" to kick out of the market," Shrinivas narrowed her eyes. "Like every other dang day. Are you even taking this seriously?!""

"B-But Shrinivas, I have an excuse this time!" the manager pointed at the kids. "You see, these hooligans were trying to steal a giant turkey, and they could've caused a giant mess!"

"Why do you say hooligans in plural? I only see one over here," Shrinivas folded her arms and threw a glare at the manager's direction. "And this one is over thirty years old, and has a job he's supposed to be doing right now, if he doesn't want his workers to throw up their arms and quit on him for the holiday!"

Realizing the threat, the manager bolted straight back to his office, while the kids walked to Mrs. Shrinivas, who told them, "You're lucky he's that desperate, he usually either ignore his workers' complaints, or takes them into account, then proceeds to do his own thing anyway. Seriously, if he didn't pay and do his management job so well, he probably would've been fired a while ago."

"Thanks a lot for the help, Mrs. Shrinivas," Clyde said as the redheads nodded in agreement. "You really saved our butts there."

"Yeah, although I can't exactly let you go with the turkey without paying for it," Shrinivas pointed out. "After you all, you still have to buy it."

"I'll buy it for them."

Everybody turned around and saw Lori approaching, with her wallet in plain sight. "I was sent here to buy the turkey just in case you guys literally failed, but since you did find it and went through a lot, the least I could do is pay for the thing."

The boys exchanged looks of relief, and one payment later, Lori helped them carry the turkey outside.

Now that everything was safe, Clyde promptly asked. "So, what exactly happened between you, Cristina, and the princess-looking girl?"

"Stuff that I don't have time to explain," Chandler waved his hand in a dismissive manner.

"Now come on," Lori said, before lifting the turkey and the boys along with it. "We have a turkey to deliver!"

The trio exchanged nods, and so they ran back to the Thanksgiving families of McBride and Loud, where the families were having a bit of trouble waiting for the turkey to arrive. Mostly the Louds, of course, but the McBride parents also seemed kinda nervous.

"It's been a half hour, and they have yet to arrive," Howard said. "Do you think the boys are okay?"

"Relax, McBrides, Lori's at the market with them," Lincoln pointed out.

"But they're also there with Chandler, who I heard was a bit of a jerk to both you and Clyde," Lynn sternly added. "Even if Lori's there, how are you sure he won't try to do any of his dirty tricks?"

"He's changed, trust me," and then the boy looked at the horizon. "And by the way, there they come!"

Everybody turned around and, to their surprise, Lincoln was right: Lori, Chandler, and Clyde were heading back, still carrying the turkey in their hands. They seemed to be talking about something as they walked. And they were doing it in a friendly manner.

"And then, get this," Clyde tried to hold back his laughter, "Ronnie Anne got so desperate, she put on a turkey suit, and tried to seduce the turkeys into falling in the trap!"

"No way!" Lori exclaimed as Chandler held his laughter. "How did literally that go?"

Clyde shook his head. "It didn't work, what else could you expect?"

"Ahaha, that's priceless!" Chandler laughed out loud. "I really wish I had been there to see it."

"Guys, we're literally here already."

The trio handed the turkey to the parents, who started to cook it right away as the Loud siblings rejoiced... well, except for Luan, who stood stunned right when she was.

"I told ya that, like, we could count on Lori to get the turkey!" Leni remarked.

"Oh no, I just paid for the turkey, Clyde and Chandler were the ones who found it," Lori explained.

The answer to this statement was obvious:

"What?!"

"Yeah, in fact, by the time I arrived, they had found a turkey that was big enough for both families," Lori further explained, while brushing the boys' hair. "That, and the place was about to close and these two were about to be kicked out by... the manager. But we worked things out, and now."

Lori turned to Luan. "Perhaps you have something to tell Chandler, Luan?"

The comedian, however, narrowed her eyes and simply nodded yes.

Sometime later...

"What do you mean you tricked me into getting the turkey!?"

Chandler flailed his arms up and down and stomped the ground in rage after Luan had told him that, yes, he was basically just used to get the family some turkey. However, as he did this, Luan found herself lost in thoughts of disbelief:

"How is it possible?! Our family, me in particular, know how badly the market gets whenever people have to do their last-minute turkey purchases! It gets so bad, the police sometimes need to get involved! He should've ran the instant he got the opportunity!" "And yet... he didn't... he got the turkey... and one that was so big, both our families could share it..."

Suddenly, Luan slapped herself.

"No! Stop that, Luan, don't let yourself be so easily convinced! Just because he got the turkey doesn't mean he actually reformed! After all, how do you know that he won't just bully or demean Lincoln the first chance he gets!?"

"Um, hello, why did you slap yourself?" Chandler blurted, returning the comedian back to reality. "If that's supposed to be part of one of your comedy routines, I think you need to show the set up, then the punch line, not the other way around."

Luan blinked twice. "Oh hey, what were we talking about?"

"The fact that you didn't help me like you promised!" Chandler snapped. "I thought you said that if I did this, it would help me get the key to figuring out how to make Lincoln see I turned a new leaf or something!"

"Oh, you wanted a key to that success? I thought you asked for a turkey to success!" Luan quipped, and she laughed at her own joke before she suddenly got serious. "But seriously, dude, after what you did to my brother and sister, did you really think I would help you? Specially when you said you needed to get close to Lincoln?"

"No," the boy somberly looked at the ground. "But, ever since he forgave me and gave me another chance, I've been wanting to try and... how does that sentence go again?"

"Make amends?"

The boy flinched at the different voice, and looked up to see he was no longer talking to Luan, but Lori, who had her arms folded behind her back.

"Yeah, that!" Chandler sighed. "I want to make amends with him, and the guy with glasses that comes with him!"

"Well, the main problem would be that there would still be several dozen people mad at you for the whole birthday incident," Lori pointed out as she gently brushed Chandler's hair. "If you want to truly feel like you did good, then you'll have to make amends with all of them."

Chandler frowned. "But how?"

Lori smiled. "Well, I have a plan."

The eldest Loud sister whispered her plan to the redhead's ear... and he smiled before stating:

"Your plan's crazy, but it's worth a shot!" only to ask, "But... why do you want to help me?"

Lori's answer was blunt:

"Meet me a couple weeks before Christmas, and I'll explain everything."

With that said, the eldest Loud sister got up and walked away, waving goodbye to Chandler without even looking at him. And as he returned the waving goodbye, Chandler couldn't help but wonder:

"What's she hiding?"