Authors Note: I am happy, with all support I have received for my first story. I will do my best to keep it going, for you all. :)

It had probably been over an hour now since the storm had begun. Lincoln was not able to run anymore, having burnt all his energy getting as far away from that house as he could, the briefcase being carried in his left hand also weighing him down slightly. The spider ruby ring stayed worn on his left ring hand. Charles walked alongside him, seeming uncaring about the rain as much as he was glad his owner was safe. Finally their home came into the view of the distance. Lincoln was more than glad to pick up the pace, despite his body lacking the energy to do much else.

"Haah… finally… whew," Lincoln panted, trying to gain his breath. Once they reached the front porch, he grabbed the doorknob and opened it, heading inside with his dog. Once inside, he unhooked the leash from Charles collar, and instantly he saw his beloved pet begin rolling around on the carpet, trying to dry off.

"Lincoln! There you are! I was about to come looking for you," Lincoln heard, looking up to see Lori emerge from the kitchen with the car keys. She was relieved to see her younger brother alright.

"He-hey, Lori. Sorry, Charles's collar fell off and I had to chase him down," Lincoln apologized, coming up with the first lie in mind. He hated lying to his family, but he really was lacking in choices here. Lori quirked an eyebrow confusedly. It sounded abnormal for their dog, he was normally calm and tame. She tried not to think too hard on it, resting the keys down nearby.

"Look, just go get a towel and dry off. You look like you dove into a lake," the older blonde teenager ordered. Lincoln could not disagree with that statement. He was soaked from head to toe from the showers of rain. When he grabbed the briefcase and tried to walk past her, she grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.

"Also, why're you carrying a briefcase around?" Lori questioned. Lincoln had to keep as calm as he could. Trying to lie to his sisters was hard since most of them could normally read him like a book.

"It's… to hide the gift I got," Lincoln answered, keeping his grip tight on the handle. Lori wondered if that was where he was the last hour instead of walking their pet. She let go of her brother.

"Alright… but next time, please just ask and I'll give you a ride to the store," the older sister implored him to simply ask for rides. She would gladly provide them. Lori presumed he had been to the store to get the briefcase and said present to hide it in. She was currently the only sibling in the Loud house with a driver's license, so everyone tended to request rides from her anyway. Lincoln hated seeing her so worried that something may have happened to him when walking the dog, a simple task as it was, seemed to be taking too long.

"Thanks Lori," Lincoln gave her a quick tight hug before he went back to get upstairs to his room, letting Charles stay downstairs to continue drying himself off. Lincoln grabbed a towel lying on the floor to the hallway, seeing that someone else was in the bathroom. He doubted he was getting in, or at least by the time he did, he would have dried off. Having only one bathroom in a house with so many had too many disadvantages to list.

"Is this really smart of me…?" Lincoln wondered to himself. He could just hide the money, not take a single dime and return the ring to Nora whenever she got in contact with him, but how would she get a hold of him, he wondered. It was not like she had his cellphone number. A moment later, his attention was brought back when he saw a present on his bed.

"Huh… wonder who it's from?" Lincoln smiled, resting the briefcase down beside the bed. He had a few hiding spots in mind for it, but he would handle that in a minute. He picked up the present before taking off the lid to it. Inside he saw a small case with a CD disc in it and a note on the back, which he turned it over to read.

"To the best little bro. Keep rockin' on!"

Lincoln could take a safe bet that it was from Luna. He closed his bedroom door before going over to the DVD player on his television, opening it and putting the disc inside, then hitting play and turning on the TV. Lincoln presumed it was going to be an early copy of an album his sister was trying to make. He was just expecting music as he went and grabbed the briefcase and went to his closet that was somewhat stuffed.

"Well, guess this is the best way to hide something," Lincoln thought with a smirk, "How else do you perfectly hide things? Pretend they're junk and hide them amongst more junk."

Before he could begin preparing a dig out spot for the briefcase to be buried under, so that no one would find it, he heard his own voice perk to his ears from the television.

"Come on, Luna, I can't pull the look off."

Lincoln backed away from the closet, leaving the briefcase there in front of it, before going back to the television with a raised eyebrow. He recognized the scene before him all too well. What was recorded was a video of him wearing a lot of orange, yellow and red face paint in an effort to make a flame style effect. He also had been wearing a leather coat and black shirt, his hair being a lot more messier than usual.

"You kiddin', bro? You look metal enough to take on the world!" Luna chimed while stepping up to him and handing over an old looking electric guitar. She looked not much different, either. The Lincoln of the present sighed, having recalled the video camera she was setting up before she claimed it was for fun during the time the recording was made. Lincoln and Luna wound up home alone, so they decided to rock it up a lot. The rocker sibling always said he had a good voice for singing, but he himself never believed it. The young boy however started to fully recognize the scene on this tape.

"Come on show me how good you've gotten!" Luna insisted. Lincoln could remember this all too well. On the screen and viewable by the naked eye, the electric guitar cord connecting it to the amplifier was wrapped around his ankle. The young boy looked away from the recording, and he heard a few quick strings being played, and there was some screaming, followed by a loud crunch, and worse off, the sound of a dying electrical instrument.

"Lincoln? Are you okay?!" Luna's worried voice chimed, the camera showing her going over to her brother and trying to make sure he was not hurt.

"I-I… Luna, I-I'm sorry," Lincoln stopped the DVD there, opening it, pulling it out and putting it back in the case, putting it at the side of the DVD player. His rock loving sister had given him one of her three electric guitars, the favorite of them too, and when Lincoln tripped, he broke it in half. Luna knew it was an accident and held no grudge, but the guitar was not worth the cost of repairs. The CD the preteen had gotten was one he guessed had bloopers or his singing duets with Luna on it. Lincoln was grateful to Luna for having sent it, and he would have watched a lot more immediately if not for that guilty reminder striking his heart, he thought it was a good thing that his older sibling saw it as a funny moment, instead of a bad one.

"…alright, Nora… maybe it was more than just luck that we met," Lincoln spoke to the ring on his hand, looking down at it before rubbing his head, aware of what he was about to do. Lincoln would gladly work off the debt if it made up for his various mistakes. He long since stopped caring about it being a bribed job offer. He went on one knee and opened the briefcase. The money before him was unchanged, each one kept together with a thick rubber band.

"I'm doing this because I love my family. If I have to work to make them happy, then I'll work to the bone," Lincoln swore to himself, reaching in and taking out two of the stacks from the batch. They were all hundred dollar bills. He never in his life thought he would be holding this much money at once. Lincoln folded the bills up and pocketed them, his wallet lacking any space for both stacks. When he had gotten his 2500, the young boy closed the briefcase and stuffed it in the closet before closing his closet's door.

"This should help," Lincoln hummed, grabbing that book with the gold heart on it, keeping the string binding it closed together. He already knew what to get Lori and Luna, though he needed this book to help out a lot in getting his sisters the best gifts.

"You own a diary?"

Lincoln jumped in surprise, nearly toppling over as he turned around, exhaling in relief. Lucy, a smaller, eight year old sister, and the fifth youngest of the family, stood there in a black dress with black and white striped cloths covering on her arms that went from elbow to wrist, and matching long socks to fit. Her long dark hair covered her eyes just like she wanted it. Lucy had a habit of appearing out of nowhere, and no one knew or wanted to know how and why.

"Uh… it's not a diary, Luce. H-how come you didn't just knock?" Lincoln questioned. He would have gladly opened the door for her. Lucy was a gothic girl, her more preferred hobby being her poetry. She was as nice as the other sisters to him, but just a lot more of a straight face when it came to it. If anything, he had not noticed his door being opened and closed right behind his back, if that was how she entered.

"Where did you get the ring?" Lucy answered his question with her own. Lincoln looked down at the ruby spider ring he had been given. The more he viewed it, the more he felt it looked like a black widow, a very deadly genus of arachnid. The bucktoothed preteen was unsure how to reply, but he was happy to know she had not seen him not only pocketing wads of cash, but also stuffing a briefcase full of it away in hiding.

"From a cereal box," Lincoln used the first lie in his head. He was not good when put on the spot like this, but he was doing his best to work on that.

"The last cereal box was finished two days ago," Lucy blandly replied. Their parents had not gotten more yet either, to her knowledge, and that ring looked too good to be a prize for just eating halfway through a box of badly tasting cereal. Lincoln groaned, holding his head, caught and defused. The young boy wished he knew why everyone in his family was so good at interrogating him, though it might be his poor body language or even worse lies.

"Why, do you want one Luce?" Lincoln asked.

"Maybe. It looks cool," Lucy nodded. The ring actually looked quite fitting for her. She would at least like to know where she could acquire one from. The gothic girl normally would request help coming up with rhymes for her poems from him whenever she needed it. She was probably the quietest of the Loud family, but what noise she did not make, tended to be generated by her fellow family she scared.

"Uh… I'll tell you what. I was about to go ask mom and dad if they would help me to go get my present, but I'll see what I can scrounge up for you. That sound good?" Lincoln offered. He had to presume the ring he dawned was custom made and would draw eyes on him from all of his family. There was one thing he did notice immediately while nervously covering it with his other hand. He had made several attempts to remove it secretly during this conversation, and it was stuck. Not one inch did the ring move, as if his finger had fused with it. Before Lucy could answer, he chimed up again.

"I promise I'll find something for you… but please don't tell anyone," he pleaded from her. The younger sister paused, wondering what was making him act so weird, but she had one idea come to mind.

"You drew my name, didn't you?" Lucy chimed up past the ever growing odd atmosphere of this conversation. She had to presume he was trying to hide a surprise from her. A thought clicked in Lincoln's head as he crouched down to her height, putting on a calm face, feeling more relieved to think that he had it under control now, even if he had to lie that he was her gift bringer. Lincoln had no clue who drew his younger sibling's name, but they apparently had not gotten her gift yet.

"Yeah… pretend I didn't tell you that, but I promise I'll make sure my favorite little vampire is happy," Lincoln answered. Lucy seemed to gain a small smile herself. As odd as it sounded, becoming a vampire was something she always wanted to be when she grew up. Her older brother had started calling her his favorite little vampire the moment he found out years ago.

"Thank you," Lucy said, hugging him. Lincoln gladly wrapped an arm around her in return. The preteen stood up when the embrace ended.

"Think you can do me a favor, Lucy?" Lincoln requested.

"What is it?" the goth quirked. She would be glad to help out her brother if he needed it.

"Well… since you're good at that… appearing out of nowhere being quiet thing, do you think you can go take a certain guitar from Luna's room? There should be a few big pieces of a broken one inside a box in her closet," Lincoln explained. He remembered where the broken guitar was, because he had watched Luna put it away in her closet. There were a lot more small pieces from the guitar, too, but those went to the trash, and only the biggest few pieces were kept.

"I'll see what I can do," Lucy agreed only as a favor to repay him more than anything. The raven haired girl walked out of his room. Lincoln let out an audible exhale of relief.

"So this is what constant stress is like. Boy, mom and dad must have it rough," Lincoln rubbed his head.

"I got the parts," the voice of Lucy emerged again immediately. Lincoln jumped in surprise, accidentally falling and tumbling over the other side of his bed with a loud clattering and a thud. The young boy groaned after a few brief moments he pulled himself back up to peek his head out, seeing Lucy standing there with the parts to a purple electric guitar just like in the recording. The few parts were in a box, Lincoln was glad to see she had got them easily. And surprisingly fast as well.

"Wow, thanks a lot. How'd you do that so fast, Lucy?" Lincoln quirked taking the box from his younger sibling, these busted parts looked so sharp that the mere touch would give someone several splinters most likely

"I told her that I needed to borrow something to symbolize damaged rock music," Lucy plainly replied before leaving the room once more. Lincoln had a bright smile, going over and grabbing the book with the heart on the strand, keeping it closed. All of his sisters' most wanted items that weren't already crossed off were in that book. He went to go ask his parents if one of them could take him to a few locations. He had a lot in mind that he had to gather for his siblings, all with a bright smile still plastered on his face.

"I should thank Nora next time I see her."