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Lincoln slept in his room, tossing and turning. He couldn't quit replaying the conversation he had with Lynn earlier. After she had told him that she loved him, he had his whole world ripped apart, trying to piece itself back together with the new insight. At least he could try to figure out how best to handle things from here. After all, he was the man with the plan. Morning came too soon, leaving him with some minor sleep deprivation. He made his way downstairs after checking that it was eight in the morning. Yawning, he descended the steps, going into the kitchen to grab some breakfast. He noticed Lori grabbing some coffee, possibly to go see Bobby at his new job.
"Morning," he said with a yawn attacking the end of the greeting.
"Morning," she replied, before turning around. "You look like you've seen hell." He really might have for all he knew. He even thought that he would see it in person, that is if he saw Lynn on the way down. He grabbed some cereal, pouring a bowl for himself.
"Off to see Bobby?" he asked, too tired to really care about the answer.
"Yes, he started a brand new job as a limo driver, so I'm off to congratulate him," she said, not noticing that he was too busy eating his cereal. "Anyways, see you later," she said on her way out the front door.
"Bye," he called out, nearly ready to plant his face into his breakfast. He took the time to sit at the adult table before the rest of his family got up. He then saw Lynn making her way down the stairs as he got up to return his bowl to the sink. "Morning," he greeted her, the thought of last night still fresh in his mind, creating an awkward atmosphere.
"Morning," she greeted back, still having the night before going through her mind. She couldn't look at him, not after all that transpired. He rinsed his bowl, setting it so that it would be washed by whomever's turn it was. He tried to leave the kitchen, only to be stopped by Lynn's voice. "Listen, Link, I'm sorry–"
"No, Lynn," he stopped her before she could continue any further. She had stopped rummaging in the fridge, giving him her full attention. He pressed on. "You have nothing to apologize to me for, so please, no." She seemed to understand what he said, going back to rummaging in the fridge. He made his way to his bedroom, making sure to get fully prepped for the day. Lynn was still in her nightwear, though she herself had insomnia over the whole ordeal. She simply reheated her dinner, enjoying it as best she could before any one else got up. She went back to her room after finishing the dinner. Maybe she would make the attempt at rest again. She crawled back into bed, closing her eyes.
"How'd your talk go?" Lucy asked from right beside her bedside.
"Go–" she nearly let off an expletive before catching herself. "What is it Lucy?" she asked, too focused on the apparition of her roommate for sleep to come.
"How'd your talk with Lincoln go?" she repeated with a slight expansion to her original question.
"I'd rather not talk about it, Luce," she replied, trying to go to sleep.
"You can tell me now or you can tell me later," Lucy told her.
"I can always tell you never," Lynn threatened, trying to drown her sister from her ears.
"Then maybe Lincoln can tell me," Lucy stated, moving to make her way to her brother's bedroom.
"Wait," Lynn called, stopping her sister from leaving. "I told him and he just... I don't know," she struggled, "but he doesn't think any less of me, at least." Lucy seemed to smile, though Lynn couldn't tell with that face of hers she always kept.
"Alright. Well, I'm going to take a shower before anyone else does." With that, Lucy left, leaving Lynn to ponder if she made the right choice. Lucy decided to make a small stop on her way to the bathroom. She'd visit her older brother before nabbing the coveted room.
"Hey Lincoln," she greeted, sending her brother into the air.
"Lucy!" he scolded, trying to calm down from the fright he had just received. There was no doubt in his mind that if he been sleepy before, then he was wide awake now.
"Sorry. I just came in to see how Lynn's talk went last night," she explained for her stop.
"Well, that makes one of us because I told her I wouldn't tell anyone about it," he said, wishing to be respectful of his sister's wishes and privacy.
"She knows that I know of its contents," Lucy admitted, trying to pry further.
"Well, unless she tells me personally, I'm not saying a word," he dug even further in. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a shower to take," he told her, making his way to the bathroom. Lucy didn't bother arguing for the shower, opting to enjoy breakfast instead; well, enjoy it the way she usually experienced joy. Lincoln stepped out of the bathroom, only to see Lynn waiting in line for her turn. They exchanged a few awkward words and glances before he hurried on his merry way to his bedroom, getting ready for the day. He got dressed, leaving the house as the rest of the siblings rose from their slumber. He had somewhere to be this morning.
Lincoln met with Ronnie Anne in one of the parks he usually visited. She started to apologize for not making it the day before due to some family stuff popping up, but that she could go today if he should so wish.
"You like my sisters, right?" he asked, trying to get a feel for what he wanted to say. She thought for a moment before handing him her answer.
"I guess so," she said, remembering how few her interactions with his family were.
"It's just... can I ask you something Ronnie Anne?" he inquired, stopping from their stroll and changing the subject, not sure if he really should continue with what he wanted to say.
"Sure," she replied, stopping with him, curious as to what he wanted to ask.
"I really want to know your opinion so that I can choose how to proceed," he stalled.
"Okay, I'll try to help," she said, hoping it wasn't something frivolous.
"I... I really don't know any other way of saying this," he further stalled, trying to steer from his course, only to find he was stuck taking it, "How do I... one of my sisters seems to have developed feelings for me," he finally released, glad that no-one else was at the park. Ronnie Anne just stared before laughing heartily.
"Oh, man, you got me lame-o, you got me. Alright, let's go," she said, still chuckling to herself, continuing their walk.
"I'm serious," he said, having not moved from when he stopped.
"Come on, it was funny once but not the second time around," she said, turning to face him. He simply kept his face, looking at her with as much seriousness as he could muster. "You're joking right." She tried to read his face but it wasn't joking. "For the love of God, please tell me you're joking," she began to realize that he was far from joking, her face beginning to contort.
"If only, Ronnie Anne, if only," was his answer to her request.
"Who is it?" she asked, jealousy creeping in.
"I'm not going to tell you," he told her, trying his damnedest to keep his sister safe from Ronnie Anne's inevitable wrath.
"Lincoln, you're going to tell me who this freak of nature is," she demanded of him, ready to start threatening.
"No, I'm not and you're going to pick a better choice of words when you talk about my family," he told her. He knew this was going to escalate quickly though he had little control of any of the conversation anymore.
"Why? Why won't you tell me?" she interrogated, hoping to reach a conclusion.
"Because I don't think it'd be wise in case you started blabbing to others when you take out your anger on her," he told her, hoping that she wouldn't continue any farther down her line of thought.
"You love her too, don't you?" Ronnie Anne seemed to whisper, jumping to a conclusion that wasn't meant to be implied nor was based in reality.
"Ronnie Anne," he started.
"That's sick!" she yelled, making a disgusted face.
"Ronnie Anne, please keep this quiet," Lincoln calmly said, anger beginning to show through his tone.
"And just why? Just give me one reason why I should keep quiet about this, huh?" she argued, the venom already primed.
"Because rug munching used to be considered just as bad," he countered, fury coating the words and tone of voice that uttered them. Ronnie Anne looked hurt, almost as if he had beaten her with his bare hands.
"How dare you–" she tried to fight back.
"How dare I? How dare I? How dare you?! You're the one jumping to baseless conclusions and degrading my family with your words," he fought back, continuing his tirade, "And yet you stand here, accusing me of being the one that's a monster."
"I told you that in confidence," she claimed, her emotional state shattered, though it was taking forever to begin its toll.
"And I told you so that I could seek an opinion on how to resolve my situation," he ranted, driving in every word like a nail, "Now, I know your opinion and I don't want any part of it." His next words finally gunned down her heart. "I've seen the real you and I don't like her. Goodbye, Ronnie Anne," and like that, he turned to walk away, heading for home.
"Don't you dare walk away from me, Loud," she called, hoping to get some sort of response. He paid no mind, acting like she was nothing but air. She had fallen to her knees, unable to believe the exchange of words they had. His words had stung her with venom. "I told you that in confidence," she whispered to herself, tears damming up, thoughts turning to bobby to get her from the place she was wounded at.
Lincoln walked into his home, ignoring the chaos like it was deafening silence. He went into his room, not bothering to close the door. He lay on the bed face-down in his pillow, letting sleep take him from the world in which he had broken up with his girlfriend, the world in which his sister loved him in a more than sisterly fashion, the world that just seemed to be broken and upside-down.
Lynn had been practicing some of her sports in the backyard, trying to keep herself from thinking about the talk she had with her brother. It had been a couple of hours, so she called it and went in to freshen up for whatever else might be a part of her day. She saw that her brother's door was open and grew curious about what he was up to. She walked to his doorway, peering in to find that he was face-down in his pillow.
"Hey, Lincoln, you up?" she gently called from her position. He started to stir, raising his head up, leaving a wet spot in the pillow. His eyes were red, though sleep seemed to be playing something of a role in his expression.
"Yeah, I'm up. Why?" he questioned, stretching while moving to sit on his bed.
"Were you crying?" she asked, her voice becoming concerned for her brother.
"What? No," he queried, looking to his pillow, which contradicted his stance. "At least I don't think I was," he said, figuring the tears came during his nap. Lynn moved into his room, closing the door behind her.
"What's the matter, Link?" she grilled, worried that her brother was suffering from something atrocious.
"I got into a fight with Ronnie Anne and we broke up," he admitted, though it was surprising that he almost didn't care for it. "At any rate, the tears I shed would be better suited for the damned than for her," he claimed, leaving his sister shocked.
"Why would you say such things?" she asked, trying to wrap her head around his attitude toward it all.
"Because she attacked you verbally and I wouldn't stand for it," he reasoned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. She still didn't understand it all but at least it didn't seem to be affecting him that badly.
"Well, if you ever need anything, then I'm here for you," she told him, hoping that he would have her help him if he needed it.
"Well, I think I need you to move out of the way, 'cause here comes Lori," he warned. Lynn moved out of the room and, sure enough, Lori was charging down the hallway, looking as if she were on the warpath.
"What is wrong with you Lincoln?!" she blasted, nearly to the point of becoming physical in her approach. He simply stood up and began tending to his clothes, straightening them as he spoke.
"If it has to deal with Bobby or Ronnie Anne, then I don't want to hear it," he calmly told his oldest sister. Her rage just seemed to multiply with that sentence alone. Before she could respond, he continued, "Besides, I have somewhere to go," and he made his way past Lori. She looked to the point of strangling him with his own intestines before just giving up to cry, running to her shared room. Lincoln merely turned to Lynn. "Want to take a stroll with me?" he asked.
"Sure," she replied, wondering what it was all about, wondering if this was the result of his breakup. They headed toward the door when Leni, who was enjoying some fashion magazine on the couch, stopped them with a simple question.
"Where are you two heading?"
"Nowhere," her younger brother told her, continuing like nothing was happening. He held the door open for Lynn, closing it behind her.
"I wonder where that is?" she thought to herself before returning to her magazine.
"Where are we going, Link?" Lynn asked, hoping to see where they would go despite the answer he gave to their older sister.
"Wherever my legs take us," he responded. They began walking, stopping when they hit a corner. Lincoln simply dropped to his knees, his expression of carelessness being replaced by all sorts of emotions, each fighting with one another for control of his face. Lynn knelt down next to him. "I don't get it, Lynn," he told her.
"What? What's wrong Lincoln?" Lynn asked, worrying if he was going to break down.
"I defended you and yet I feel like I'm the monster," he said, his tone just sounding as if it were staring into space, on the verge of destroying itself. Lynn worked quickly, trying to think of something to say to help comfort him.
"Come on, don't say that, come on," she said, praying that that would work in snapping him out of his daze, grabbing his right hand to help give her attempt at comfort some weight.
"Why? It's true," he said, stepping further into that void.
"No. No it's not," she told him, struggling to make sure he didn't just give up on his emotions and the world around him. Something began to stir behind his eyes. She let go of his hand.
"I know where we're going now," he informed her, his tone starting to return to normal.
"Alrighty then, let's go," she encouraged him. She didn't know where they were going but hoped that it might be some place to help him cope better. She stood up, extending her hand to help her brother up. He took it, standing back up. As they began to walk, they continued holding hands. They finally reached a house. He let go of his sister's hand, knocking on the door. It opened, revealing Ronnie Anne as the greeter.
"What do you want, lame-o?" she interrogated, still upset over the events that had happened earlier. She appeared to have been crying, though a scowl had replaced the feeling of sadness on her face.
"Is Bobby here?" Lincoln asked, wishing to see him in order to straighten things out with Lori.
"No. He's still at his job," she explained.
"Well, I guess this is it then," he muttered to himself before getting to the meat of his visit. "I've simply come over so that I could apologize for my earlier actions, but I also came over to make sure my sister would receive an apology for your actions. So, for what it's worth, I'm sorry." Ronnie Anne stood there the whole time, seemingly able to pierce his very soul with her scowl until he mentioned his sister, then her eyes widened, changing her entire expression. She waited for him to finish, before looking between the two, shock having hit her face like a bat.
"This is the sister?" was all she managed before hitting the ground, having fainted from the revelation that this was the one who had feelings for him. Lincoln tried to save her from the fall, failing to reach her in time. Lynn started checking if Ronnie Anne was alright, coming to the conclusion that it was just a faint. She was thankful for all those years in sports teaching her how to check for injuries.
"Help me get her upstairs," he told Lynn, grabbing the unconscious girl's feet. They managed to get her to her room, setting her gently on the bed. "I'm going to leave a note," he said, immediately searching for a pencil and some paper. Lynn couldn't help but worry about what might have happened had she kept her feelings to herself; wondering if Ronnie Anne would somehow feel like Lincoln was stolen by her. After all was said and done, they made their way home, holding hands the whole while. They entered the front door, removing their physical contact from each other. Both headed up the stairs, ending up outside of Lincoln's room.
"Thanks for doing that, Lincoln," Lynn said, a smile lining her face, happy that he wanted to right any wrongs, regardless of all involved. He smiled too, though a bit weaker than her.
"Please, it was the least I could do," he replied before noticing that Lori was still grieving over the breakup she had with Bobby. He guessed Ronnie Anne still had yet to see the note, well that or she didn't follow through with his request. There was also the chance that Bobby had yet to return home.
"Well, since this ugly piece of business is out of the way, I guess I better leave you to your own devices," she told him before heading into her room.
"One moment, real quick," he squeezed in before following Lynn into her bedroom. Lucy wasn't around (at least from what they could see). He made sure the door was shut before he continued with what he wanted to say. "Remember when I told you that I didn't think any less of you?" he asked. She nodded and he continued. "Well, I think that we should go some place nice tomorrow. What do you say?" Lynn was taken aback by the offer.
"Y-yes, sure, I think that would be nice," she stuttered, pleasantly surprised by the offer.
"Alright, I guess I'll see you then," he told her, turning around to leave, only to stop when Lynn grabbed his shoulder. He turned to see what she wanted but was met with a kiss from his older sister. It was filled with passion, feeling deep with love. They finally broke from the kiss, panting heavily from how deep it had gone. Their smiles widened, happy with the end-result. He continued out the door, happier than he had ever felt before, blissfully ignorant of someone keeping an eye on the two of them.
Ronnie Anne had woken up from her faint, searching around to see where she was at. She noticed that she was in her bedroom, a note addressed to her left on the nightstand beside the bed. She began reading it. It read: Dear Ronnie Anne, I came and apologized for my actions, expecting one for my sister Lynn for your actions. I am deeply sorry for hurting you, but I don't see us ever getting back together. I can only ask that you tell your brother to stay with Lori, despite what bad blood may be between us. Please, understand all that I say and do. – Lincoln. She stared at it, rereading it again and again. She still didn't like the idea of him being with one of his sisters, much less anyone other than her but there was nothing she could do to change his mind.
She began to question her reaction to his news, wondering if it was the best choice of wording to speak to him with in terms of what he wanted to say. He did explain after all that he wanted to see how to go about the idea of his sister's love with him for a happy end to it all rather than entertain the thought of cheating on her. Still, she found it harder to accept that he had used her secret against her. She remembered him yelling out that she liked to play for both teams and reminding her of how it used to be when something like that was considered awful, if not as bad as what he began talking about. She wanted to take back the past, to choose a different path with her words. Nothing could fix that now. He still wouldn't go out with her, even if she did apologize for all that was said. Her feelings started to rise again, mixing over and over, not able to decide what they wanted to become. She heard the front door open and her brother call out that he was home. She headed downstairs.
"Hey, Bobby," she said, sadness taking over her voice.
"Hey, how's my favorite sister?" he asked in a cheery voice, trying to lift her spirits up.
"I'm your only sister," she responded, a minor smile making itself join her face only to be ripped off soon thereafter.
"I know, but that doesn't make my statement any less true, does it?" he told her trying to lift her spirits once more.
"Alright, you've made your point, but... I do want to ask you to do something for me," she told him, hoping that he would do it without question.
"Sure thing, sis," he said, oblivious to what she was going to ask.
"Well, I need you to stay together with Lori," she said, hoping for him to say yes.
"Are you sure, especially after what Lincoln did to you?" he asked, wondering why she had made this request.
"Lori shouldn't have to suffer for Lincoln's actions," she started, still seeing her brother holding a concerned look, "Plus, I don't want to deprive you of your happiness," she finished hoping it would satisfy her brother.
"Well, if you're sure about this," he said, wondering if she would be truly happy with it. Ronnie Anne nodded, letting him know that she was okay with it. He went out of the room, letting her know that he would be right back after making a call. She watched him leave and headed back to her bedroom. She started to let tears fall, not caring for anything else in the world. She always put on a tough act, but all that stress and pain had to be let out sometime. She just felt like she lost a large part of her world when Lincoln left, almost as if a piece of her soul was taken with him. She kept thinking about it all, hoping that nothing else would happen to her to wreak further havoc with her emotions. Then something clicked in her head. Maybe if she went over to his house tomorrow, she could apologize for her talking ill of his sister. Maybe that would send the idea that she wanted to be a part of his life, even if it was never back to a dating kind of relationship. Yeah, that seemed to help with her tears, waiting for tomorrow.
Lincoln lay on his bed, wondering to himself, exploring all of that which happened across the day. He wondered if he had guaranteed his entrance into Hell, worrying that he might hurt Lynn unintentionally since he didn't seem to reciprocate her feelings in their entirety. He figured the feelings would come in time, but when? He couldn't stand that she was so sad when she thought he hated her for her feelings, but he couldn't just lead her on. Maybe he was too emotionally destroyed to really think or feel anything about it all. He sighed, hoping he would never hurt his sister.
Luan was looking over her cameras, looking more specifically at the one that had caught Lynn and Lincoln kissing.
That bitch! she thought to herself. She couldn't believe that Lynn was putting the moves on their younger brother. Although neither one told the other about it, they each held feelings for him. Now, Luan knew that she had competition to vie for his heart, especially with Ronnie Anne out of the way. She began to plot out elaborate pranks against her sister, scrapping them all. No, revenge was a dish best served cold, so that's how she would go about it. Immediately, Machiavellian thoughts started racing into her mind, a Cheshire smile dancing across her lips. This was going to be fun.
Author's notes: Here's the second chapter. I can only hope you enjoyed it. I encourage you to stay tuned for the next chapter when it rolls around. I am open to any questions you have so please ask if you have some. That said, I am still working on this story but I do have an idea for another story so I might reveal what it is sometime in the future. Thanks for reading.
Edit: Yeah, I edited this one as well. Don't worry. I saved what made it to fanfiction before the edits, so if you want to read the original stuff, I might post it somewhere else and will let you know where if I do.