"Lincoln, is what Lola telling me true? Were you touching Lily?!" Mom asked. She looked like she was about to snap at any moment. I just stood there in shock trying to muster out words.

"I-I didn't touch Lily! I w-would never touch L-Lily! I thought you would know me better than that!" I exclaimed. I was nervous now. Mom's stern look slowly turned into a glare. My sisters stood there not saying anything. Dad gave me a look and began to speak. He looked down at the ground with his hand to his face.

"Son...we need to have a talk..." Dad stated, slowly starting to lift his head up. "Now." He was loosing his patience; I could tell. I didn't know what to do. They don't believe me! I was afraid but slowly started to walk towards him. He looked at me and face-palmed.

"Get your clothes on first. Then come to me and your mother's bedroom. This is very serious." Dad said, and he and mom walked back downstairs as my sisters went back into their own rooms, each one glaring at me as they passed. When everyone was gone, I shut the door after them, then leaned against the door and sank to the floor.

"What did I get myself into?" I asked myself. After I steeled my nerves, I jumped back into the shower and washed the rest of the soap off of me. Then I grabbed a towel and hurried back to my room. I put my clothes on as quickly as I could, knowing that it was best not to anger my parents even more than they already are. When I finished, I slowly walked downstairs and began to make it to my parents bedroom. When I got there, I stood in front of the door, contemplating whether it was better to knock first or just head inside. After a second or two of thinking and silently panicking, I closed my eyes and sighed.

In this case, it's better to be as mannerable as possible.

So, staring at my feet and swallowing hard, I gave the door three loud, steady taps. I only waited a second before the door creaked open, and though my head was hung low, I could feel the weight of my parents' disappointed gazes looking down at me. Mom was the first to speak.

"Lincoln," she said in a dry tone, causing me to flinch. I looked up at her, and tried to ignore the fact that my sisters had come down the stairs and were staring at us from over the banister. I felt sweat roll down my forehead as Dad stepped to the side.

"Come in, son," he said, and I could hear the sharpness in his words. "We have aloooot to talk about."

"Okay.." I sighed, and ducked my head as I walked past them and into their room. There was a click, and I knew that the door was shut and locked; I was completely at the mercy of my parents.

I slowly turned around and looked at them. I quickly spoke, figuring if I talked first, they'd give me a chance to explain myself without things escalating any further. "I didn't do anything to her," I told them, trying to sound as convincing as possible. But my parents expressions didn't seem to change.

"Son, we need actual evidence you did not do anything to Lily," Dad stated. The more he talked, the more dissapointed in me he sounded. "If you can show us the evidence that you really did nothing to her, we will unground you."

"Wait, I'm grounded?!" I said in surprise. They both gave me a stern look, and I looked down, face heating up as I remembered to keep in my place. "But I didn't do anything...and isn't the law 'innocent until proven guilty?'"

"Yes," Mom confirmed. "But they also hold the accused criminal in jail until the court finds that he did nothing wrong. So don't try to use your 'History and Law' knowledge on us. We went to school and watch the news too."

"But-" I tried again, but she interrupted me once more.

"Lincoln. Until you show us you didn't do anything to her, you aren't allowed to leave the house and you will need to keep your distance from Lily. You will stay in your room unless you need to use the bathroom or go to school. You are not allowed to come downstairs for dinner. We will come upstairs to your room to give you your meals. And again: you are not allowed to be anywhere around Lily, or else you will suffer worse repercussions than what we're doing to you right now. Do you understand?" Mom explained.

I nodded as Mom and Dad reopened the door, signaling that I could leave and go immediately to my room before I get into bigger trouble. On my way out, Dad touched my shoulder. I looked up at him, and almost cried at the condescending look he gave me. "And Lincoln," he said, his voice booming in my ears. "I'm sorry in advance if you really are innocent. But if it turns out that you actually did something to Lily, whether it be that you just brought her in there while you showered or if you really did touch her..." His glare was menacing, and I was so scared that I couldn't look away. "I will do my best to ensure that you will never do this again. Even if it means that you won't be around us anymore." With that, he gave me a slight push out the door, and slammed it unceremoniously in my face. I turned around to see all of my sisters looking down at me from the stair's railway. I could tell they heard everything, and were fully prepared with their own onslaught of threats and backtalk, but I knew for a fact that I wasn't ready to talk to anyone anymore. Staring at my feet the whole time, I dashed past them, ignoring their annoyed protests at my pushing and dashed into my room.

When I arrived at my room I slammed the door shut and leaned on it, breathing hard. I got up and laid on my bed, wiping my eyes as tears threatened to fall. 'This is the worst..' I thought as I let a tear escape. I squeezed my eyes shut, but once the first fell, they wouldn't stop. 'Why won't anyone listen to me... I don't know how Lily got in there.' I sobbed, tears falling freely now, and turned to my side, covering my face with my pillow to muffle the sound. 'I know I'm not guilty, but there doesn't look like there's any evidence proving that I didn't do it. How am I supposed to convince them that I didn't do something even though it looks like I obviously did? This is so complicated..'

Just as I thought my life couldn't get any worse, Clyde's static-y voice came in through my walkie talkie. "Lincoln! Lincoln!" he said. He sounded excited. "Guess what? After you left, my dads came in and took me to the movie theater to go see that film we were planing to watch! You know, the mystery about the boy accused of killing his best friend? I was trying to reach you, but nobody picked up on your house phone, so I figured your family was busy and went. Man, was it awesome! I actually learned a lot about crime and stuff from watching it. Man, I feel like a real detective! I wish you could've been there, it was so..."

My thoughts trailed off as Clyde began to describe how awesome the movie was and how I just missed the time of my life. My eyes felt heavy, but I knew that I had to think of some way to get my family to realize that I didn't actually do anything wrong, before Dad does whatever he threatened to do. I shuddered at the vagueness of the threat. He really wanted me to use my imagination, didn't he? I glanced around the room. What could I do? Who could I ask for help?

"..incoln? Lincoln?" I regained my attention on my friend. He must've asked me a question and realized that I wasn't listening. I sighed, rubbing my eyes and grabbing the device from my headstand.

"Sorry, buddy," I said, and I frowned at how tired out I sounded. "I..zoned out a little. What was it that you were saying?"

"It's okay," Clyde quickly assured me, and I could practically see him waving my worries away from his house. "I know today was a busy day for us. I'm just glad we could finish that project without breaking it! Anyway, I was saying that I convinced my dads to order me some detective stuff because I was so inspired by the movie. It's supposed to be coming in the mail tomorrow morning, and I was asking if you wanted to be my sidekick in my detective adventure! I mean, I don't know what detecting we could do yet, but I'm sure we could find a crime to solve. Hopefully one that involves a poor soul being wrongly accused of something they didn't do, but is having trouble proving their innocence. Just like in the movie!"

And then it hit me. Why didn't I see this before?

"It's so obvious!" I shouted with relief, flopping on my back and giving out a large sigh. I could sense Clyde's confusion.

"What is?"

I held the walkie talkie close to my face, smiling ear to ear. "That I have the best friend in the world," I told him in affirmation. "And he's going to help me rest my case."

"Well, thanks Lincoln. I'm glad to know that you have so much faith in me already. But...what exactly am I helping you with?"

Talking quickly and excitedly, I explained what was going on in the Loud house, from the point where I walked in the door, to the moment Dad made his statement and slammed the door behind me. Of course, I skipped the part where I cried like a baby; I didn't want him to think that I was that weak. After I finished my story, Clyde was silent for a while. But when I was almost sure that I'd talked him to sleep, he spoke.

"Woow," he sighed. "That's uh..that's pretty messed up, man. Your family is really blowing things out of proportion, aren't they?"

"Yes," I sighed, hugging my bunny and using it as emotional support. "They won't let me explain myself, and by now they've all pretty much convinced themselves and eachother that I'm some kind of big pervert! And even if they did let me tell them what really happened, they would just play the 'well-you-don't-have-proof-that-you-didn't-do-it' card until they feel justice is served."

"But this seems pretty real, Lincoln. I just watched a movie. How am I going to convince ten girls ad two grown adults that you're innocent? Adding the fact that I'm your best bud, the chances of this working the way that we want it to is incredibly slim."

"Clyde. Do you think that I did it?"

I could hear that he was taken aback. "What?"

I spoke clearer, louder and with more insistence in my voice. "Do you think that I touched my baby sister."

"No! Of course not!"

"What about the one where they said that I brought her in there to have her watch me shower?"

"I know you didn't do any of those things, Lincoln." Clyde insisted. "But me believing you and your family believing you are two whole different things, you know?"

"I know," I told him. "But as long as one person believes me, I have a feeling that there is a chance that we can convince everyone else. We have eachother's back, and really, all I want from you is your support.." I was met with silence. "...Clyde?"

I heard him sigh. "You know you're my best friend, Linc," he told me, determination laced in his voice. "We'll have eachother's backs no matter what. Don't worry man. I'll be over there tomorrow with my things. Just get some rest."

"Okay," I said, relieved. "By man."

"See ya."

He wants to defend himself and find evidence for himself to prove them that he didn't touch Lily then he realized in the past he always gets into trouble from the bathroom to the bad luck charm. How is he going to prove himself this time but at the moment he is not ready to face his family after his dad slap him.

A/N: Hope this chapter doesn't offend you and Lincoln will make it through.