Not Dancing On My Own

Part 2 – Clicked

A half-hour or so later, Lynn Sr. steered Vanzilla into the blackened driveway of the humbled Loud establishment, coming to a gentle stop. The tired kids hobbled out, Lynn and Lori carrying Lana and Lola respectively, who had dozed off on the ride home. Lisa, who was used to late hours from working overtime in her 'lab', was still awake, but just barely. It was almost midnight.

Rita greeted them warmly at the door. Lincoln took advantage of his sisters filling their mother in on the events of the night to make a dash for the bathroom to clean himself up. If he ended up at the back of the lineup tonight, it could be at least another hour before he would be ready for bed.

This proved to be a good strategy, because in no time at all, Lincoln found himself sprawled upon his bedspread, out of his formal clothes and in his comfy orange pajamas. With the bedroom light still on, he had decided to take a little time to reflect on tonight's events before hitting the sack. Currently, his head was buzzing with much activity, interrupted by the faint echoes of all the music he had heard that night and the sounds of his sisters chattering as they waited impatiently in the line that had already begun to form as he had finished brushing his teeth. He winced a little due to his body aching from obvious reasons. If Mom was still concerned about him not getting enough exercise, then he now had proof of a new way to get his blood circulating.

But Lincoln Loud felt happy. Very happy. He couldn't remember feeling this joyous inside for so long. Maybe it was the fact that he got to spend time with each of his sisters tonight (besides Lily) in a way that he found very enjoyable. Maybe it was the soothing music or the memories of dancing with his sister in his arms. A combination of all these good feelings to generate one gigantic feeling of joy, perhaps?

His mind slowly recalled that before any of these jubilant feelings had become existent, he had been no less than depressed and miserable. For a moment, Lincoln couldn't remember why. Then it came back to him. Ronnie Anne. He had been missing Ronnie Anne. That hole in his heart had been killing him for a good week now. Ironically, though there was a missing fragment that she had taken away from him with her to Great Lakes City, his heart had been feeling a hundred times heavier without it. But for some odd reason, it didn't feel nearly as heavy now. But why?

As was typical during these moments of deep thought, he began to break the fourth wall, speaking to whoever was listening.

"Wow. What a night. I had a blast and I know each of my sisters did too. I didn't think I could really dance all that well, but apparently well enough that my sisters really wanted to me to dance with them. Ever since Girl Jordan taught me these steps, I wanted to keep them a secret, but now it feels almost right that they all know. And while it was fun to dance with my sisters, I'm still confused. I was missing Ronnie Anne…b-because she's a good friend, you know? She's not my girlfriend, no way." Lincoln paused, just to make sure that this point was made absolutely clear.

"Anyways, before the party even started, I was honestly hoping that the it would be over as quickly as possible so I could go home and quit pretending to be so cheerful. But looking back, I wish it never ended. I had so much fun tonight, and somehow, I almost forgot about Ronnie Anne. But not completely though…she was still in my mind the whole time…but I felt less unhappy about her not being here. But I still don't get why."

Lincoln frowned as his memory banks rewound all the way back to his conversation with Luan. "Luan was the one who found me all sad and gloomy. And she was the first to dance with me. Now I'm wondering…did she dance with me just to make me feel better? Was that it? A sympathy dance? Or maybe she just wanted me to show off my dance moves. Yeah, that's probably it."

He paused for a moment of deeper dwelling. "No, that can't be it. She asked me to dance before I told her I could…this doesn't make any sense."

As Lincoln pondered upon the true motive of Luan's asking him to dance with zero progress in reaching a conclusion, a soft knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. "Come in!" he called, sitting up. The door opened and in walked Lucy, wearing her night shirt and striped pants. As she closed the door behind her, Lincoln secretly thanked her for not slipping into his room undetected and then making her presence known in the way that would make him jump a mile into the air.

"Hi, Lincoln."

"Hey, Lucy, what's up?"

Lucy fumbled with her fingers for a moment before speaking. "I just wanted to say…thank you for the dance. I really liked that."

The boy smiled. "Well, I liked it too. I'm glad you had fun."

His goth sister put her hands behind her back and shifted her feet uneasily. "To tell you the truth, I was feeling a little nervous. I wanted to ask you to dance, but I…um…" Her voice trailed off and she suddenly looked so vulnerable, so small. It was impossible for him to not feel sorry for her.

"Lucy?"

She looked up at him. He patted the bed, and she obeyed, silently sitting down beside him.

"Lucy, it's normal to feel nervous about these things. You shouldn't be embarrassed about it. I get it, this is something outside your comfort zone and you don't know if the person will say 'yes' or 'no'. Right?"

Lucy looked across at her brother and nodded.

"But you know me. You don't ever need to be nervous around me. I love you guys and I always try to give you what you want. And I'll willingly dance with you again anytime, especially after I know you liked it…and seeing how good you are at it." He spoke these words completely improvised and straight from the heart, which made Lucy smile. A smile so genuine that he actually managed to spot some of her teeth.

"Thanks, Lincoln," she murmured. She was silent for another moment before she spoke in barely a whisper. "I love you too."

He smiled and spread his arms out to welcome his little sister into a hug. She snuggled her head into him and melted into his embrace. He patted her back soothingly as that faint lilac scent from before suddenly reached his nose again, and he realized that it was the smell of Lucy's silky hair.

Lincoln never played favourites with his sisters, for each were rightfully deserving of his care and devotion, and none felt short of being important to his life. However, his soft spot for Lucy had always been very deep and for good reason. She was his very first younger sister and he could never shake off the obligation and desire to take care of and look out for her. Though he treated Lucy no differently than his other younger sisters with regards to care and love, the little raven black-haired girl definitely had a special place in his heart. Even if she had proven herself to be very independent at her young age, he still took it upon himself to be there for her when she needed him.

Lucy was a girl of few words, so a hug like this seemed to symbolize their bond and his vow to always be her big brother bang on.

She slowly separated from him, no longer looking nervous, but instead content. "I was worried that I would miss the chance to ask you before the dance finished," she admitted.

He smiled again. "Well, it's a good thing I found you in time, then. Though next time, you may not be so lucky. But don't worry, you'll get better at speaking to people. Even people you want to dance with. You just need to practice a bit more.

She smiled too. "Okay. I'll try." She gave a quiet yawn, notably a real one rather than merely verbalizng the word 'yawn'. It was almost 12:30 in the morning after all. Lincoln put a hand to her head, stroking her hair slowly.

"It's been a busy night, Lucy. And now it's time for bed. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

Lucy nodded and slid off his bed to the floor. "Good night, Lincoln."

"Good night, Lucy."

As Lucy left, Lincoln caught a glimpse of the line-up that was still standing before the closed bathroom door. At least four sisters were in their pajamas, waiting to get inside. He closed his door and flopped down on the bed again, his brain still alive with activity, even more so after his little talk with Lucy. He had about five seconds of quiet before there was another knock on the closed door, but this time it was accompanied by a muffled, characteristically cheerful voice.

"Knock knock!"

"Who's there?" he called, although he knew very well who it was.

"The broken bicycle."

"The broken bicycle who?"

The door opened as Luan let herself in. "The bicycle who wants to hang out with you in your room, because you look two tired to go out riding tonight!" Get it?"

Lincoln rolled his eyes as he sat up again.

Unlike Lucy, Luan was still wearing her dress, makeup, and all. Only her shoes were missing; she walked in barefoot, closing the door on her way. Despite his immense tiredness preventing him from keeping his eyes fully open, he still thought she looked quite captivating.

The jokester smiled brightly at him as she finished laughing and sat down in the same spot on the bed that had previously been occupied by their younger sister.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey."

"I think it would be safe to say that you had a ball tonight. Get it?" his sister laughed, and Lincoln groaned.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. And you're right. I did have a good time."

She crossed her legs. "See? I told you that you would have fun. I know that I and the rest of us did."

He nodded. "And I'm glad! Honestly, I had never done anything like that with you guys before and I felt a bit hesitant to do it. But now, I wouldn't mind doing it again."

Luan beamed proudly as he said this.

He then decided to take advantage of their current privacy and ask her what had been on his mind since the very beginning of it all. "Can I ask you something, Luan?"

The comedienne giggled. "You just did."

Lincoln face-palmed as she burst out laughing, waiting patiently for her to stop before asking her. It gave him time to figure out how to best word this. "While we were dancing, you mentioned that you had always wanted to dance with me. Was that true? Or were you just doing it to make me feel better over missing Ronnie Anne?"

It wasn't an accusation by any means, but instead a genuine question. He hoped that Luan wouldn't be offended because he really had to know. Luckily, she didn't look so, as she gazed down at the bed covers for a moment. It looked like she was deep in thought. At last, she looked back up at him.

"Do you remember last summer, that stormy night when you found out that I was missing Luna?"

It was a hazy memory, but he did recall it. He nodded.

Luan's eyes drifted down to her purple bracelet, a gift from Luna years ago, as she spoke slowly and carefully. "When I realized tonight that you were missing someone who meant a lot to you, I saw a bit of myself in you. And after you were so kind to help me though my problems last year, I guess I was trying to return the favour. So, yes. I did ask you to dance in hopes of cheering you up. But even if you hadn't helped me first, I still hate to see you looking sad no matter what, and I wanted you to enjoy the party as much as I was. But our dance wasn't completely leaning on that, Linc. Believe me, I've wanted to dance with you since forever. I don't get to go to a lot of dances, so to me, they're special, and I've always wanted to do at least one with you."

Lincoln took a few moments to let Luan's words sink in. It had happened last summer, almost a year ago, but he could still remember how sad Luan had been and more importantly how happier she was afterwards when he had talked her through her confused mind and even stayed by her side while she slept. And he believed her when she said that she would have still tried to cheer him up regardless of his previous deed. Something still wasn't adding up in his head though. "But why me? You were so excited to dance with me before you found out that I had been taking lessons. You were even willing to teach me how."

At this, Luan suddenly gave a small laugh. "It had nothing to do with your dancing skills, Lincoln. Do I really need an excuse to dance with my only brother? You being able to dance so well was super awesome, but really just a bonus because I just…I just wanted to dance with you tonight!"

He felt himself blush a little, and he couldn't suppress the smile pushing at his cheeks. He slowly caught on that this was Luan's way of subtly telling him that he was overthinking this. In the end, he had learned that it felt very nice to dance with his older sister. All of his sisters in fact.

"Luan…after tonight, I can't wait for the next chance to dance with you again."

She grinned, eyes twinkling. "Oh, come here, you," she cooed, scooping Lincoln up into a tight, loving hug, making the boy laugh a little. They stayed like this for a bit, before Lincoln spoke into her shoulder.

"Luna mentioned that all you guys have wanted to dance with me. Is that true too?"

"Is laughter not the greatest medicine in the world?" came her response. She pulled apart from him and held him at arms' length, hands on his shoulders as she studied his face. "Lincoln, you're our brother. We love you so much and dancing is just another way of spending time and hanging out with you. A special way. Something fun that you get to share with someone who's special to you."

It took more than a few moments for him to take in her words this time. He listened. He listened and he thought. He thought about his sisters, who were each very special to him. He thought about the dancing, which had indeed been very fun to do with them. Then he thought about Ronnie Anne.

"Now I wish I could dance with Ronnie Anne," he said longingly.

"You will. I promise you that you will have a chance to." Luan stated this with such confidence that it made him wonder how she could be so sure.

But they were young after all. And Ronnie Anne hadn't completely left the face of the Earth. Maybe – just maybe – such a chance would come. Maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not next year. But sometime.

He was brought back to earth when he felt Luan's hand slip into his. "Ronnie Anne's definitely the luckiest girl in the world to have you as her boyfriend," she said truthfully.

Though he wasn't sure where her out-of-the-blue declaration had come from, he felt his spirits lighten considerably…but also felt a little exasperated. I'm not her…he started to think to himself, but it all died down as he considered the bigger picture of Luan's words. To hear this from the person who had once long ago tried to use his friendship with the Santiago girl as bait to lure him into her painfully-crazy funhouse of April Fools' Day pranks felt like a twist to a largely anticipated and well-developed story. But it was a very pleasant twist. And this was his story. He looked up to meet Luan's gaze. Her expression was soft and a small smile graced her. Though his eyes felt tired, he could see the sincerity and honesty embedded in the catchlights that glowed over her large brown irises. She really did believe that he was Ronnie Anne's match. And although he would like to forget at least half of that particular April Fools' Day, it had been the birth of Luan's trust in Ronnie Anne to be a 'keeper'. And that he would never forget.

His sister spoke again. "Another thing, Linc. When I say I was trying to cheer you up, I don't mean I was trying to make you forget your girlfriend. I wanted to remind you that you still have ten girls right by your side who care for you very much. I really hope you know this."

Somehow, referring to Ronnie Anne as his girlfriend didn't bother him so much this time, for that thought was drowned by the delivery of the message fixed within Luan's explanation. She was right. After all, he may not have his friend directly around him anymore, but he still had his sisters. And they all loved him and had his back when he needed them most. He loved them too.

They were his sisters. But they were also his friends.

It was at this exact moment when it finally clicked. The missing piece to the puzzle of his conflicting thoughts and confusion tonight fell perfectly into place. The reason why he had felt so happy while on that dance floor. The reason why he had enjoyed swaying and moving to the music with a sister in his arms. The answer had been there in the form of nine individual forces with a tenth right here at home. Ronnie Anne had taken a fragment of his heart away, but his ten sisters could help him to not feel so empty and hollow inside. They could never replace the missing piece, but they could certainly help to patch up the hole and ease the pain, providing Lincoln with comfort, peace, and assurance that things would be alright.

It all made sense now.

He slowly gazed up at Luan again, one of those ten special people in his life who made it so much better. And he smiled.

"I do know this. Thank you, Luan."

All the girl could do was smile warmly at him. She nudged his cheek lightly with her finger, then tousled his white hair. "You're so cute," she said fondly.

Lincoln rubbed his arm bashfully. Ordinarily, statements from his sisters like that would leave him feeling positively flustered, yet also a little happy. But this time, it actually reminded him of something which pushed both those feelings aside.

"Hey, I, uh, forgot to tell you something at the party…"

Luan tilted her head. "What is it?"

He took a breath as he cleared his throat, suddenly feeling it go rather dry. Here goes, he thought, staring at the floor. "I…thought you looked really lovely tonight." He kept his eyes on the floor for another moment before willing himself to look up at her. His mind froze when he saw her expression; it was blank as she blinked at him once. Did he say the wrong thing?

Then her eyes widened and her mouth parted a little before breaking into a big grin. "Oh, thank you Lincoln!" she gushed as her smile spread widely across her face, which was now a deep shade of red. It almost looked like she was going to cry. "That..that's so sweet of you to say that! I didn't think that was something you even noticed."

As for Lincoln, well, he smiled triumphantly. Lori was right. All he had to do was tell her.

Still blushing, Luan gazed sweetly at him for a moment, then she smirked and spoke in a surprisingly convincing British accent that had no doubt been picked up from Luna. "As for you luv, I must say that you looked quite dashing this evening." She watched her adorable brother blush humbly, causing her to laugh.

She wasted no time in pulling him into another hug, but a much gentler one than before. Truth be told, her brother had never complimented her on her appearance before. It felt…good. She closed her eyes comfortably as she held him.

She started to pull back, but Lincoln didn't seem to want to let go. "Uh, Linc? Lincoln?"

Lincoln didn't budge. Instead, he snored.

She twisted her head to her shoulder and saw that he had fallen asleep on her. The exhaustion of tonight's events had finally won him over, and it didn't look like he would be waking up for a long, long time. So, Luan carefully picked him up and lay him down on top of the covers. Then she sneaked out the door and made her way to the closet downstairs to fetch one of the extra blankets.

By complete coincidence, she grabbed the same one that Lola had snatched from her during the previous winter, the very night Luna had stayed with her to prevent her from freezing.

Upon returning to Lincoln's room, Luan covered him up with the blanket and tucked him in. She shifted the pillow under his head and, as a final touch, tucked Bun-Bun under his arm. She was prepared to leave, to let Lincoln sleep in peace for the night, but for one reason or another, she just stood there, watching her brother as he snoozed on. He looks so cute when he sleeps, she thought to herself. For a brief moment, Luan did not see her 11-year old brother in his bed, but in his place, a tiny infant sucking his thumb as he lay in the crib, while a younger version of herself watched him through the plastic gate with adoring eyes, thinking to herself how excited she was to finally have a baby brother of her very own. In the blink of an eye, she was back in her 14-year old body, still in her yellow dress, which she suddenly had a new appreciation for after hearing from the boy before her that she looked lovely at the party.

Her eyes trailed over to the floor for a brief moment, and she caught a glimpse of one of Lincoln's many comic books poking out from under the bed. It reminded her of the time that Lincoln had believed that their parents were kicking him out of the house for good and he had subsequently offered his stack of rarest comics to her as a parting gift, which she had silently turned down. Though thankfully he had been mistaken about the entire situation, he had genuinely believed that he was getting the boot and had tried to pass down some of his prized possessions to his sisters prior to leaving. This memory made Luan smile. Her brother could be so sweet sometimes.

She bent down and swiftly kissed him on the cheek. "See you tomorrow, Dancing King," she whispered. Chuckled quietly to herself, Luan finally left, turning off the light and closing the door behind her.

As if comedic traces followed her with everything she did, she failed to notice the small tell-tale lipstick mark that now embellished Lincoln's cheek in faint cherry red.

It was almost 1:15 am by the time Luan finally returned to her room, now washed up and in her pajamas, ready for some sleep. Luna was still up, sitting on her bed against her pillow and strumming a gentle tune on her guitar. It was no coincidence that it was the same song that had played during the dance that she and Lincoln had shared. She looked up and stopped playing when she saw her roommate walk in. "What took you so long, dude?"

Luan looked up at her as she walked towards the bunk bed. "Oh, the lineup was taking forever, so I went to check on our brother for a bit."

"Is he okay?" Luna asked with concern.

"Oh, yeah. He's more than okay. He was just really tired."

Luna smirked. "I'll bet. He totally wiped that dance floor clean tonight!"

"And all that cleaning wiped himself out!" snickered Luan, while Luna to let out an impatient huff. "But the best part is that he had just as much fun as we did. Even though it looked like he was about to collapse out of exhaustion! I'm really glad he enjoyed the party…seeing as how miserable he was when we got there."

Her older sister swung her legs over the side of her bed, letting them dangle freely over the floor. She maintained her hold on the instrument. "It figures. Missing your girlfriend is no easy push-over."

Luan gave her a confused look, which was quickly followed by a dawn of understanding. "You knew? All this time?"

"This girl sees one thing and knows another, dude. Ever since Ronnie Anne packed up her bags and hit the road, I've been sensing those same vibes from my little bro all the time. One day he's normal, the next, he's feeling lonesome. Happens all the time. In this case, his heart's been searching for her all week. I wanted to talk to him about it, but never found the chance. But it looks like you beat me to him."

That may have been so, but now Luan suddenly felt a little guilty. She grasped Luna's mattress and hoisted herself up to sit next to her sister's perch on the side of the bed. "I should have seen it too," she sighed with disappointment. "How he was so passive of everything these last few days…the way he walked like his shoes were made of concrete…and how he always said 'meh' when he was given any kind of option. I wish I could pick up on these signs like you can. I could have helped him out."

"But you did," Luna told her strongly. "You were the one who found him out on that balcony. You saw him tangled up in blue. You talked to him and convinced him to let loose a little. And look what happened after that. He had the time of his life out there on the dance floor because you found a way to help take his mind off things for a bit. And the rest of us got to share a whole lot of his happiness too, making it a night to remember for everyone. None of this would have happened if you hadn't seen him looking so lost and went through the effort to pick him up. This was all thanks to you."

Luna set aside her guitar and laid a hand on her sister's shoulder. "You really do have the talent of making the world a happier place."

These words couldn't help but raise Luan's spirits and she began to smile again. With all things considered, it did seem that she had helped Lincoln a great deal tonight. "Well, when you put it that way…I guess I did good tonight, huh?"

"You sure did, sis. Do you remember that talk we had about growing up, maturity, and all that jazz while we waited for our pie to bake?"

Luan nodded.

"Tonight Luan, I think you proved yourself to be bumping up your game. You're stepping up progress, which is beyond awesome. You're doing a fine job."

Luan thought about this and suddenly felt her self-disappointment dissipate. Now she felt very proud. It felt good to be the one to take control of the situation rather than making jokes out of everything all the time. She had been Lincoln's big sister all his life, but tonight was one of the rare times when she really felt like the big sister. She closed her eyes contently, allowing a memory to resurface before her; it was the image of Lincoln held snuggly in her arms as they danced to the beautiful music. She in her dress and he in his suit that made him look so handsome and cute in her eyes. The smile on his face and the way he had led her in such a graceful manner had been enough to tell her that he had been feeling better already. It was a perfect memory. One that would last for a long time.

One final thought was now occupying her mind at present, and it was of how much she cared for her little brother. Pranking, teasing, arguing, giving him a good scare every once in a while, yes, these interactions were the norm and usual activity that often spurred between them. But she still loved him to death and vowed to always look out for him.

"Luna?"

"Yah, brah?"

"Do you think Lincoln knows how much we care about him?"

Luna paused silently, drumming her fingers upon her leg until at last speaking.

"Definitely, dude. It's just that he sometimes forgets. That's why it's up to us to remind him that we're always there for him, even if Ronnie Anne can't be. Tonight, that was done with nine dances."

Ten, thought Luan, suddenly feeling immensely lucky to have danced to that extra song with Lincoln that night. It was something she was looking forward to doing again very soon. "We're pretty awesome sisters, aren't we Luna."

"All the way."

Luan hadn't asked a question. She had made a statement.

THE END

A/N: This story marks my very first time writing about all the siblings together (except Lily…sorry kid) and has been the most fun to write, from the beginning and all the way to the end. Before we close off, you may be wondering if I'll make a follow up story of how Girl Jordan taught Lincoln how to dance. I see a lot of untapped story potential in a concept like this, and I am officially leaving it up for adoption, meaning you guys get to write that one if you wish. I know a bunch of writers out there, Jordacoln or not, who can pull off amazing stories like that, and it would be interesting to see one of you tackle this topic. So it's free-for-all, folks!

And now a question for you readers: what songs do you envision Lincoln dancing to with each of his sisters tonight other than Luan and Lucy? That's one song for each of them. If you have any ideas, post them in the review roster, as well as your thoughts. Let me know what you think!

As always, thank you all in advance for any faves, follows, and reviews you may leave, but most of all, the time you gave to read! I'll see you in the next story.

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