Ok guys I'm really sorry about updating so late! It's been 12 days since the last time I uploaded a chapter! I've been busy and doing other things and those things took my mind off of this story a few times so I wrote less than usual. But this is the longest chapter I wrote for this story. I hope you enjoy it!
Lynn walked into the house, exhausted after playing basketball at the park. She still hadn't really scored much since the first game there. She made a quick scan of the whole room but didn't spot Lincoln. "He should be up by now." Lynn said to herself, thinking he was still in his room. She walked up the stairs and was about to go to her room before she was interrupted by someone.
"Hey Lynn?" Lana called out.
Lynn halted herself before her whole body went into her room. "What's up?" She replied.
"Aren't you getting ready?" Lana asked.
Lynn gave her a puzzled look, "Ready for what?"
"Dad's gonna take us all to a carnival. We were waiting for you to get back." Lana answered.
"All of us?" Lynn asked with a little panic in her voice.
"Yeah. What's wrong? It's just a family trip." Lana questioned.
Lynn attempted to suppress her emotions from her sister, putting on a fake grin. "N-nothing's wrong. Just a bit surprised is all."
Lana could see Lynn was acting a bit strange, but she had no idea why. She brushed it off and ran past her. "I wonder how many bugs there'll be!" She yelled excitedly as she ran down the stairs.
Lynn walked into her and Lucy's room and placed her basketball on the floor.
"How is this gonna play out?" She asked herself. "Lincoln and I still have that awkward tension. Mom and Dad are gonna notice somethings up."
"Lynn." Lucy suddenly spoke up, earning a quick scream from her startled sister.
"Geez, Lucy!" Lynn said trying to catch her breath.
"Sorry. But I have to say. You wouldn't have that awkward tension with Lincoln had you talked to him the other day." Lucy continued.
"I couldn't talk to him. I was, and still am, guilt ridden!" Lynn replied.
"Bottling everything in does nothing. At some point you need to let it all out." Lucy said.
"How would you know that I need to let my emotions out?" Lynn questioned.
"When was the last time you saw me genuinely laugh?" Lucy asked.
Lynn thought about that. Never actually witnessing her laugh out of pure joy since she became goth. "Well you don't really show any emotion."
"Exactly. I keep my own emotions bottled in most of the time, I'm used to it. But I know for a fact that you aren't, and that you can't get rid of the guilt until you let it out." Lucy replied.
"Maybe if you did what I did you'd understand how difficult it really is." Lynn said crossing her arms.
"Lynn, I'm the one who writes poetry and a lot of depressing rhyming letters. A situation like this is my daily average." Lucy replied.
"Yeesh. What do you think about all day?" Lynn asked a bit freaked out.
"Life's great dilemmas, and by great I mean terrible." Lucy replied.
"Lynn, is that you?" Mr. Loud suddenly shouted.
Lynn turned her attention towards the stairs where her father stood at the very bottom of. "Yeah, I just got back."
"Ok great! Tell the rest of your sisters and Lincoln that it's time to go!" Mr. Loud shouted again.
Lynn definitely wasn't keen on telling Lincoln that it's time to go. Even though all she had to do was say a few words.
"Remember what I said." Lucy spoke up, sitting on her bed and writing her poems.
She walked out into the hall and cupped her hands over her mouth. "Hey guys, I'm back! We can go to the carnival now so get ready!" She yelled turning in all directions.
The rest of the girls got ready in their rooms and got their shoes on. Lynn felt a little relief, she wouldn't have to confront her brother after all.
Lori stepped out of her room and walked towards the stairs next to Lynn. "It's about time you got back."
"I was only gone for like an hour and a half." Lynn protested.
"Whatever. By the way Lincoln is asleep so I doubt he heard you. You're gonna have to wake him up." Lori replied walking down the stairs.
Just like that, Lynn's relief was crushed into a thousand pieces. She turned to Lincoln's closed door and thought about what she was going to say. Every step she took felt like she was fighting her own body on whether to move or to stay away and let someone else wake him. She was beginning to sweat by this point by the anticipation and nervousness. She opened his door fully and saw him peacefully laying on his bed breathing slowly as he slept.
He really was asleep, didn't even stir after her shouting. Lynn walked to the side of his bed and gently shook him by his arm. "Lincoln, wake up." She said in a soft tone.
Lincoln moved only to turn onto his front side and stay in slumber.
Lynn grabbed his shoulder and shook him a little bit more, still being gentle.
"Wake up Lincoln." She repeated in a soft voice again.
This time Lincoln woke up. He sleepily moaned and turned over to face whoever he felt shaking him. To his surprise he saw his sister standing there. He instantly came out of his sleepy state and sat up in bed. "Lynn?" He questioned thinking he was dreaming.
"Dad wanted me to tell everyone to get ready. You were asleep so I had to wake you up." Lynn explained.
"Oh, thanks." Lincoln said smiling.
Lynn stood up and faced away from him, "You should get ready. We're about to leave."
Lincoln noticed Lynn obviously wasn't there to talk. She still had guilt left over. His smile went away slowly. "Oh ok."
Lynn promptly left the room without another word spoken. She felt bad after doing that, but she still couldn't get over her own guilt. Now all she had to do was pretend like everything was normal. How difficult could that be right?
"Awwwww come on! How come they get to walk around by themselves?" Lana pouted.
"Because they're older and they're a lot more responsible than you are." Mrs. Loud replied.
She was talking about how Lori, Leni, Luan, Luna, Lynn, and Lincoln were able to freely roam around the carnival since they were old enough. Lincoln being an exception since he acted older than he actually was at times.
"That's no fair!" Lana protested.
Mr. Loud shrugged, "We can't have all of you running around a carnival."
"Besides." Mrs. Loud continued. "They're going in pairs."
She turned to each of the older Loud sisters respectively. "Leni can ride with Lori. Luan with Luna." She turned to Lynn, "Lynn you can ride with Lincoln."
Lynn looked at her mother wide eyed. "What?"
"You can ride with Lincoln." She repeated.
Lynn blinked at her looking a bit concerned.
Her mother thought she was confused about something. "What's wrong?"
Lynn shook her head and attempted to wipe her face from any emotion. "Nothing. I'll go with him."
Lori placed a hand on Lynn's shoulder and grabbed her attention. She gave her a serious look. "Now may be the time to open up." She whispered.
She then went with Leni in a separate direction.
Luan and Luna went their separate ways as well.
"Also, Lynn, don't be mean to your brother. Whatever he wants to ride you need to ride with him. You both love amusement parks and this carnival is full of rides. Lookout for him and make sure he has a great time." Mrs. Loud added.
Lynn nodded, "Ok, Mom."
She was practically reminding her that this trip was to make sure everyone had a good time. To make sure they could relieve the dark tension and let everyone relax and calm their nerves about Lincoln. Mrs. Loud handed Lincoln and Lynn their tickets for the rides. She shortly dismissed the two on their way.
Despite the loud rides and singing and people around them, Lincoln and Lynn were dead silent. Still walking side-by-side but not uttering a single word. Lincoln wanted to say something, anything. He wanted to have a conversation with his sister. Now that they finally had a moment to themselves that they're practically forced to spend with each other, it shouldn't be hard at all. But they both had conflicted emotions on the matter. Lincoln trying to find the right time to talk to her, and Lynn trying to get over her guilt to talk to him at all.
But Lincoln had enough silence from her already, "H-how did basketball go?" He asked in a small voice.
"Ok I guess." Lynn responded.
Lincoln contemplated on what he was going to say next and if it would've been worth saying it. "Hey, um.. I heard what happened this morning. About your nightmare."
"Lincoln, I really don't want to talk right now." Lynn replied walking a bit faster.
Lincoln grabbed her wrist and stopped her from walking. "Lynn, stop for a second and just speak. Mom and Dad and all of them aren't with us. It's just you and me. You can talk to me."
Lynn's eyes darted around to see anything that could get her out of this situation. Her eyes thankfully rested on a nearby ride that she was sure Lincoln would like. She pointed at it with her thumb on her free hand.
"Hey that ride looks fun! Why don't we ride it?" She asked. Lincoln's attention slipped just enough for Lynn to snatch her wrist away from him and start walking towards the ride.
Lincoln sighed disappointed and followed his sister.
They stood walked into the line right before the ride was ending. Lynn hoped that Lincoln would keep his mouth shut and not say anything.
"Maybe after a ride or two you'll talk? Having fun will probably cheer you up." Lincoln said. Instantly crushing her hopes.
"I don't think I'll be having fun, Lincoln. Besides I still don't think I'm in the mood to speak to you." Lynn said.
"It's been long enough." Lincoln assured her.
"Two days isn't long." Lynn replied.
"It is when you don't talk to family." Lincoln protested.
Lynn looked down, knowing he was right. "I know, just give me time."
"How much time?" Lincoln questioned quickly.
"I don't know!" Lynn replied in a frustrated tone.
Lincoln was beginning to grow frustrated as well. He'd have to work a little bit harder to change things. The ride released the riders and the line went up for their turn.
Lincoln and Lynn handed four tickets to the ride operator and took their seats next to each other. They were forced to sit uncomfortably close to one another, so Lynn had her body slightly turned to her left to avoid his gaze. Lincoln sighed at his sisters actions. They were both silent as the other riders cheered in anticipation creeping up on the hill. The cheers rose as they were a few inches away from thrills. Then in the next moment, the ride dipped on the hill. The blood rushing through both of the Loud siblings, excitement was too hard to cover up. "HAHA!" Lynn accidentally blurted out. She quickly covered her mouth and peeked at Lincoln from the corner of her eye. She was having fun, Lincoln could see it. It wasn't too long before the ride began to make twists and turns, forcing the Loud siblings to scream out from the thrill. The ride went on for another 30 seconds of thrills, hills, fast turns, and twists. As it finally ended the two Louds tried to catch their breath from all the screaming and laughing. The ride operator helped them out of their seats.
"Lincoln?" Lynn called out catching her breath.
Lincoln looked at his sister with hopeful eyes. "Yeah?"
Lynn smiled, "I was wrong. I actually am having fun."
Lincoln smiled back at her. "Cmon lets see what other rides they have!" He said grabbing her wrist and leading her to the next ride. His plan to chase off the guilt with fun was starting to work. No need to back down now.
Over at another part of the carnival, Luna and Luan were chowing down on cotton candy. There hasn't been much said between the two since they got there. A few failed ice breakers, but nothing major. But in the midst of their silence a tall man with shaggy hair and a rip off of rock star like clothes passed them. They both looked at the man thinking the same thing.
"Did that guy look a little like McSwagger to you?" Luan asked.
Luna nodded, "Yeah."
Luan giggled, "Maybe he should call himself McSnagger since he's stealing his style."
Luna looked at Luan stunned. "Hey. You just made a joke."
Luan smiled and nodded, "Yeah."
Luna dropped her cotton candy and grabbed her sister by the shoulders staring at her desperately. "Tell another one!" She urged.
Luan looked surprised. Normally no one would want to hear any of her jokes. "Umm ok.." She thought for a moment but then propped a finger up. "What do you call a cow with-" her joke was interrupted by a laughing Luna. She slowly put her finger down and looked at her sister quizzically. "You didn't let me finish."
Luna stopped her laughing and smiled at her, "You didn't need to."
"Did you really miss my jokes that much?" Luan asked smiling back.
"Yeah. Sounds crazy, but I'm glad you started again." Luna said.
"Not gonna lie. I didn't really like being the anti-comedian." Luan informed.
"Neither did I." Luna replied hugging her. "It's good to have you back, sis."
"Good to be back." Luan replied.
Luna felt like a heavy weight was lifted from her chest, finally able to breathe again. No more cold shoulder, no more silence, only the original Luan. Luna pulled back thinking of a new sudden question. "Hey don't get mad at me or anything, but I just wanna know. Are you gonna go through with talking to Lynn now?"
Luan looked off to the side, contemplating on the decision. Lincoln had persuaded her enough to consider it. Now that she's starting to be herself again she can give her sister some encouraging words to get her to tell the truth and be responsible.
"I mean, why not?" Lincoln's right, I should encourage her instead of ignoring her existence." She finally said.
"I'm glad you agreed with him." Luna happily said.
"Yeah me too." Luan replied. She looked over Luna's shoulder and spotted the band that was playing. "Hey don't you wanna go and listen to the band?"
Luna looked back and saw a huge crowd huddled in front of a stage with a rockstar band on it. "I dunno, do you want to?" She asked turning back to Luan.
Luan shrugged. "I missed something of yours too. Listening to a little rock will probably bring my spirits back up."
Luna's face lit up, "Well if you wanna go then let's go!"
Her and Luna ran and joined the crowd on listening to the band.
"Aim higher, Lincoln! Aim higher!" Lynn cheered.
Lincoln pointed the water gun higher trying to hit the targets. With a limited amount of time he had to shoot all the targets in order to win a prize. He just needed one more. "C'mon. Almost there!" Lincoln said struggling. He tilted the water gun up a little more and it hit the last target. A loud bell rang multiple times signifying that they won. They both jumped up and down cheering.
"Nice job. You get a stuffed animal." The game operator said flatly.
Lincoln took the teddy bear and smiled, "I think Lily would like this."
Lynn looked over and saw people throwing baseballs at a wall. "Hey lets go over there."
The two made their way to the game and saw a teenage boy throw the ball. A machine next to him showed that he threw the ball 40 mph. "Oh I've seen this before." Lynn spoke up to Lincoln.
"How do you play?" Lincoln asked.
"You gotta guess on how fast you can throw." Lynn replied.
"Oh. I think I can give it a try." Lincoln said.
"Atta boy, Linc." She turned to the game operator. "Hey baseball dude. My brother wants to give it a shot."
The game operator held his hand out. "Five tickets."
Lynn looked at him outraged. "Five tickets?!"
"Do you want to play the game or not?" The game operator asked.
Lynn muttered an insult under her breath before giving the man five tickets.
The man gave Lincoln three baseballs. "You get two guesses. First throw is a freebie."
Lincoln handed Lynn the two other baseballs so he could concentrate on throwing.
Lincoln took a sloppy pitchers stance and threw the ball at the wall. The machine lit up and the number read 23 mph.
A few of the other teenagers snickered at him. Lynn winced at his speed. "That's not too bad." She nervously laughed handing him the other ball.
"Don't worry I think I can get a 30 mph ball here." Lincoln said taking his stance again.
He threw the ball forward and it smacked against the wall. The machine lit up again showing 22 mph, Lincoln actually going down in speed.
The other teenagers next to him laughed more. "Maybe the third time is a charm?" Lynn asked smiling nervously and handing him the last ball.
"Ok this time it's gonna be faster!" Lincoln said determined.
He threw the ball again and it slammed against the wall. The machine lit up one last time to reveal he threw a 25 mph ball.
Laughs could be heard as Lincoln hung his head in shame. Lynn placed a hand on his shoulder, "Hey bro. It's alright. You did good."
"Good?!" A teenager spoke up in between laughs. "He only threw 25 miles per hour! My grandma can throw faster than that!"
"Hey give him a break! He doesn't throw that often!" Lynn defended.
"Yeah neither do I and I throw twice as fast as him!" The teen replied.
"I threw close to his speed at his age. He'll get better!" Lynn said.
"As if!" The teen replied.
Lynn scowled at the boy. She reached into her pocket and grabbed way more tickets than she needed. She stuffed the handful into the game operator's hand. "Here take it." She growled. She grabbed one baseball and squared off in front of the throwing wall.
"98 miles per hour." Lynn predicted.
The teenagers harshly laughed at her, "Yeah right."
Lynn swung her arm forward and threw the ball. It slammed against the wall with vast speed. The machine lit up showing an exact 98 mph. The teenager's jaw dropped.
Lynn turned back to him and smirked, "Like I said. I threw nearly the same speed as him at his age. Two years later I throw nine times that. So maybe you should keep your mouth shut and practice on your own throwing."
Lincoln smiled at Lynn.
"Wow you actually predicted your speed. Not only that but you threw the fastest ball!" The game operator said.
Lynn turned to him. "Yeah so?"
"So you win. You can choose your prize." The game operator replied.
Lynn's face lit up as she turned to Lincoln. "We can get another prize!"
Lincoln nodded happily. "I know! What should we get?"
Lynn looked around on the prize stand. There was a lot. But one stood out to her. "Hey is that an action figure?" She asked.
The game operator looked at the figure and smiled, "Yep! New, limited edition Ace Savvy! It's all yours if you want it."
Lynn glanced at Lincoln before nodding to the man. "Yeah I'll take it."
The game operator handed Lynn the action figure. "Here ya go."
Lynn thanked the man then handed the figure to Lincoln.
Lincoln stared at the figure in awe. "Limited edition?!"
Lynn nodded. "Yep, and he's that one comic book character you love so much."
Lincoln wrapped Lynn up in a loving bear hug. "Thanks Lynn!"
Lynn was surprised at her brother's sudden strength. She wheezed, "You're welcome. Can you let go? I think you're cracking my rib cage."
Lincoln put her down and laughed. "My bad."
The two started walking again. Thinking about the fun they just had over the last half hour. It had been a while since they had that much fun with each other. Lincoln was mainly glad his sister finally got her spirits up. Maybe his plan was working?
"Lynn?" Lincoln asked.
"Yeah bro?" Lynn replied.
"Is this the only time you're gonna talk to me?" Lincoln asked.
Lynn looked at him, "What do you mean?"
"You were really guilt ridden before we got here. The only reason why you're talking is because you had your mind off of the problem. I just wanna know if this is a temporary thing or not." Lincoln said.
Lynn felt like someone stabbed her heart from how her brother said that. "You think I would stop?" She asked pained.
"You did a few days ago." Lincoln replied.
"Yeah that was because of the...fight." Lynn looked down. "I didn't mean to hurt you that bad."
"It's alright, Lynn. We've been over this. I forgive you." Lincoln said.
Lynn looked at him. "You may have forgiven me. But I haven't forgiven myself."
Lincoln looked at her without a word to say.
"After what I did, how could I?!" Lynn continued. "I don't deserve to be a big sister."
"Listen, Lynn. You have every right to be my big sister. I don't care about what happened before anymore. I just want you to be you again." Lincoln said.
Lynn shook her head. "But how could you not be mad at me?"
"Because you're my sister and I love you. Nothing like this would change that." Lincoln replied.
Lynn gave him a heartfelt smile. "You're the best little brother a girl could have."
"Hey?" Leni suddenly called out out of nowhere.
Lori and Leni suddenly walked up to them coming from a group of boys.
"Hey guys what's up?" Lori asked.
"Isn't it the sky?" Leni asked.
Her three other siblings gave her a look.
"What?" Leni asked.
"She means what's going on. Like how are we doing." Lincoln explained.
"Why not just ask that instead of asking what was up in the air?" Leni questioned clueless.
Lincoln face palmed himself. "Anyways. Everything's been good so far."
"Really? You guys are talking again?" Lori asked.
"Well yeah. Just started actually." Lincoln replied.
"That's good! We just got back from a group of boys." Lori groaned. "They're just bone heads."
"Yeah!" Leni spoke up. "One of them even said I was hot! Like I'm not even sweating!"
Lori glanced at her, "Leni they meant you looked good to them."
Leni looked at her sister dumbfounded. "Oh." She smiled shortly. "Well that was nice!"
Lori rolled her eyes. "Which reminds me, Lynn."
Lynn looked at her, "What?"
"When are you gonna get a boyfriend?" Lori asked.
Lynn scoffed, "Whenever I like somebody."
"What happened to that one boy? Uh...Ken was it?" Lori asked.
"Kenny, and no I don't like him anymore. He was a great athlete and all but he's a real jerk." Lynn replied.
"What's wrong with that?" Lori asked.
"You really think I'm gonna date a jerk and let him boss me around and do whatever? Nuh-uh. Besides, most of the boys my age are really nice but not athletic or are super sporty but real jerks." Lynn replied.
"Just keep looking. You'll find someone." Lori said. Lynn shrugged.
"Oh by the way Mom and Dad want us to hurry back. We're leaving." Lori added.
"Already? It's only been a half hour." Lincoln said.
"Well Luna is going crazy over that rock band, Lola and Lana are fighting again, and Lisa is testing an experiment in the porta pottys." Lori stated.
Lincoln and Lynn sighed bummed out. "It was a heck of a night too." Lincoln said.
"Looks like no one can stand the whole Loud family." Lynn joked.
The siblings shared a quick laugh before all going to meet up with the rest of their family.
Once again I'm sorry for the long wait. This is the longest chapter in the story by far and I hope you liked it. I will try harder to upload the next chapter soon for once. Feel free to review on how you felt about the chapter!
