Play it cool, she told herself, cringing at the memory of how she rambled in the kitchen. If you keep doing that, he's going to go out of his way to avoid you.

It was morning, and Luan had been awake for over an hour, sitting up in bed and listening to the soft sound of Luna's breathing. Outside, the sky was a light shade of orange. Birds sang happily in leafy treetops. A man passed on the sidewalk led by a small dog on a leash.

She woke from a dream about Lincoln and even though she tried, she couldn't go back to sleep. This dream was much like the last one, only this time she was on top and Lincoln was on the bottom. She gazed longingly into his eyes as he laughed, and before she could stop herself, she was kissing him, but it was okay, because he kissed her back, and everything was right in the world.

Ugh, she was so lovesick. How long could she go on like this? She wanted to tell Lincoln how she felt, but the possibility that he would think she was weird or gross made her heart stop in her chest. What if she told him and it ruined their relationship? She could (maybe) handle the idea of him not feeling the same way, but she couldn't stand the thought of losing her brother.

A rock and a hard place. There had to be a joke in there somewhere, but she didn't care to find it. What she wanted was a solution to her problem, and right now, she could see none.

She exhaled heavily.

In the next room over, Lynn was awake too, lying on her back and watching as the first light of day crept across the ceiling. She had had her own dream of Lincoln. They were playing football, and he was running the ball toward the end zone. Gritting her teeth, she gave chase, and tackled him. He was under her, looking up. "Nice hit," he said.

"Thanks," she grinned. She made no move to get off of him. For some reason she couldn't explain, she liked being on top of him and looking at his upturned face. She had the urge to kiss his lips, and came instantly awake in the dark, her heart slamming in her chest. For a long time, she struggled to sleep, but her mind was racing with thoughts. Why did she want to kiss her brother? That was sick!

His face kept crossing her mind, and her heart pitter-pattered. She felt sick to her stomach. At one point, she got up and went to the bathroom, but nothing happened. She went back to her room and laid down again. She thought back to playing football with Lincoln the previous afternoon, and grinned. He was getting better. There was a time when he fumbled more passes than he caught, not he caught more than he fumbled. She was proud of him. His own passes, however, left a lot to be desired. She decided she'd work with him on that after breakfast.

Soon, the Loud house was stirring. In the hall, Leni was looking for her sunglasses, which Lisa pointed out were on her head. Lori was taking forever in the shower, like she always did. Sometimes Lynn wanted to pummel her.

While she was waiting for her turn in the bathroom, Lincoln came out of his room, and Luan shot out of hers. Lynn's eyes narrowed. That was too perfect to be a coincidence. She was waiting for him.

She cracked one of her dopey jokes, and Lincoln laughed. When Lynn realized her fists were balled, she unclenched them. Chill.

"Hey, bro," she said when Lincoln walked up. "I wanna work on your throw today. If you're up to it."

Lynn glanced at Luan, who looked like she wanted to say something but didn't.

"Alright," Lincoln said.

"Cool," Lynn smiled.

At breakfast, Lynn caught Luan looking at both her and Lincoln: She looked at Lincoln with doe eyes, and at her with the eyes of a predator. Lynn didn't know what he problem was, but she was already getting sick of it, and it wasn't even 8:30.

After breakfast, Lynn ran upstairs and grabbed her football. Outside, Lincoln was waiting in the backyard. When Lynn saw him, she got that queasy, sicky feeling in her stomach. "Hey, bro, ready to work on your throw?"

"Yep," he said. "You ready to teach me?"

"Very ready."

Inside, Luan stood by the back door, biting her lower lip. She felt...jealous? She chuckled. Why should she feel jealous? He was only playing football with Lynn. Of course, it was taking away from her time with him, but that was no big deal, right?

Only she didn't like the way Lynn looked at him. There was a possessiveness in her eyes.

You're being paranoid, she told herself as she went up to her room. Snap out of it.

Still, as she sat on her bed and tried to lose herself in a book, her thoughts kept turning back to her brother and her sister. She kept checking the clock, impatient. When would Lynn get her claws out and give him back?

"You alright?" Luna asked. She was sitting on her bed and strumming her guitar. When she spoke, Luan started.

"Yeah, sure, why do you ask?"

"You've been acting kind of...funny lately."

"It's nothing," Luan said, "it's just..."

Before she could stop herself, she blurted, "It's a boy."

Stupid!

"Aw," Luna said with a grin, "a boy. What's he like?"

Luan sighed dreamily. "He's sweet and kind and caring and...and just perfect."

"He sounds totally rad. What's his name?"

Luan froze. "Uhhh...Timmy."

Luna looked thoughtful. "I don't know any Timmys. Where'd you meet him?"

"Internet."

"Ah. What's he look like?"

Ugh, stop asking questions!

"He's cute."

"A cute, sweet boy will distract you."

"Yeah," Luan said. "I just...he doesn't know I like him and I want to tell him, but I'm afraid if I do and he doesn't feel the same way it might ruin our friendship."

Luna sighed. "Yeah, that's tough. But, I mean, if you feel that way about him, you should go for it."

Luna turned her sisters words carefully over in her mind. "You're right. It just worries me."

"I don't see why he wouldn't be into you. You're awesome. And if he isn't, that's his loss."

No, Luan thought sadly, it's mine.