Once again at the corner of diverging paths, a couple of sodas having been downed, the two almost not just friends stopped.

"So... See you on Sunday I guess." Ronnie Anne tried not seeming too eager.

"Sunday?" Lincoln asked.

"Yeah, you know. The party I told you about? At my cousin's, the one who's new in town."

"Oh, right. That was this week... What present do you think she'd like?" Lincoln tried sounding like he hadn't forgotten.

"Don't worry about that, just bring a flower. It's tradition or something."

"Oh, OK... Is it going to be just us and some family?" Lincoln asked, thinking of how awkward it'd be if he knew no one at the party.

"There's gonna be a few more people. I think Gabby from arts and crafts is coming. Bobby says the whole thing's supposed to be special or something so there'll be a lot of relatives coming, but we're not gonna be part of any of that traditional stuff. We can just go and have some fun and make sure Carrie, my cousin, feels at home." Ronnie Anne explained. "My aunt says the cake she ordered is gonna be awesome." she added. "You can come to my house around six and we can walk there together or something."

"Sounds great. Can't wait to spend more time together." Lincoln blurted out.

Not thinking before saying that, an awkward silence ensued. That sounded a bit too mushy to Lincoln himself. Before he could think of a way to change the subject, Ronnie Anne made sure to relieve the tension.

"Well don't get any funny ideas Romeo. I'm not bringing my dancing shoes." she said, punching him in the shoulder, perhaps a bit stronger than necessary.

While Lincoln was rubbing the new sore spot he had just acquired, Ronnie Anne started walking away.

"See you then weir... Lincoln." she changed her mind at the last moment.

He wasn't too sure about it, but decided to take that as a good sign and turned towards the street that led home.

And to think the day started in so much worry. Ronnie Anne was treating him better than he imagined she would. It was like she cared if she hurt him. Well maybe not physically. That wasn't something to pay too much attention to though, Lincoln told himself. It wasn't that big of a deal. It's what friends do. Normal, ordinary, everyday friends. Right…

Lincoln entered his house in a bit of a daze. The silence and calm of the interior let him enjoy the possibly positive exchange he had a few moments ago.

Wait… Silence and calm? As Lincoln realized something was terribly wrong, he took in his surroundings to find himself encircled by a pack of wild sisters. He froze in place, feeling like a gazelle amongst a pride of lions.

Every sister, from oldest to youngest was there, stalking the pray that had foolishly walked amidst them. How did they even get home all at the same time? Were they just waiting for him in the living room?

Lincoln shrunk under the gaze of so many siblings, waiting for the inevitable onslaught. The silence was so absolute, Lincoln could hear the accelerated palpitations of his frightened little heart. But he knew better than to break the quietude. A single peep could make the pride attack.

He had to think fast. What had he done this time? Did he forget a sister's birthday? No, that wasn't it, the dates were all circled with red marker on his calendar. Did he come back home all busted up again? No, everything had gone almost completely non-violently today.

But as Lincoln was searching for the reason for his precarious position, they pounced. Lightning fast and merciless, they got a hold of him before he could react and no muffled cry of surprise or fear could make them stop dragging him to one of their many lairs. Before Lincoln could muster any sort of resistance, he found himself in Lucy and Lynn's room, surrounded by the multitude of his oppressors.

A quick assessment was in order if Lincoln was to retain any sort of control over the situation.

He was sitting on a kitchen chair in the middle of the bedroom, which was surprisingly clear of sports gear and occult paraphernalia. That obviously meant this was a planned setup. That was bad.

Neither his hands nor feet were tied to the chair and he even got some free space between him and the nearest sister. That was good.

Lola and Lana were standing on both sides of the door, arms crossed and looking at Lincoln like they knew what was going through his head. That was bad.

There were no incriminating report cards, embarrassing photos nor broken sisterly belongings to be questioned about anywhere in sight. That was good.

Most of the sisters around Lincoln had either knowing smirks or excited smiles on their faces. That was definitely bad.

Lincoln knew that talking his way out of whatever was happening required the right target. Knowing who to plead to, bargain with or pull in a favor from was crucial, but all of the Loud girls seemed like they were in on this.

Lori was leaning against Lucy's bed in front of him, arms folded, with a look on her face like everything was going according to plan.

Leni was rummaging through a box that didn't look like it belonged in this room, all the while humming some infectious tune.

Luna was tuning the strings on her acoustic guitar, sitting in the back of the army of sisters with a grin on her face.

Luan had Lincoln really worried, being armed with a camera, standing in position with a clear view to him, with the ever present brace clad smile on her face.

Lynn was standing closest to the chair in the middle of the room, looking the least amused out of everyone, Lincoln not included.

Lucy was sitting on the floor holding a clipboard, her intentions inscrutable behind the veil of her dark bangs.

Lana and Lola were still standing by the exit, looking proud to be assigned to guard duty.

Lisa was sitting on a pile of books, going through the contents of the backpack that had somehow gotten off of Lincoln's back.

And finally Lily was sitting on her blanket next to Lucy, playing with something. She would have seemed like the only one not included in the obvious scheme against her brother, had she not looked excited to see whatever was about to occur.

"I don't suppose this is just a sibling meeting to decide on a fun weekend trip?" Lincoln finally spoke, finding no easy target for potential negotiations.

"Oh, it'll be fun alright." Lori said, obviously the head of the whole plot. "We've got your next few days all planned out." she added with a sly smile.

"Come on, guys, tell me what's going on." Lincoln pleaded. "What did I do this time? I've hardly even seen most of you these past few days."

"You have a lot to answer for, little brother - you have been hiding a lot from us." Lori explained, swaying her head dramatically. "Why did you come home late from school today?"

"I, uh... went for a jog." Lincoln tried to improvise.

"And why didn't you tell us about the birthday party you are going to?" Lori pressed on.

"It must have slipped my mind." Lincoln was starting to feel pressured.

"That "jog" you just had didn't seem to jog your memory, heh-heh." Luan chimed in.

"How did you find out about that anyways?" Lincoln couldn't help but ask.

"We have ways of finding out." Lori said, patting her phone pocket.

"You've been holding out on us, bro. Not cool." Luna looked up from her guitar.

"I don't have to tell you guys anything! You're just trying to butt in again." Lincoln started getting vexed. "And what is all this about?" he gestured around the room. "I'm already going to the party, so you just wasted your time if you did all this just to make me go." he finished with a scowl on his face.

"You're going, alright." Lori rebutted. "And you're going to bring a flower, and you are going to be well mannered, and you're going to be dressed smartly, and you're dancing like a proper little gentleman."

"I'm what?" her brother exclaimed.

"It's going to be so romantic..." Lola said, already imagining the whole thing.

"I'm not dancing with anyone! You can't make me!" her brother responded. "I'm going there just to have fun and none of you are going to be there to nag me neither."

"Wrong on both accounts, Lincoln." Lori's confident smile widened.

"Wh..."

"Carrie, the girl whose birthday you're going to, is in Luna's class." Lori explained with glee.

"She's wicked awesome and I'm not missing that party for the world." Luna threw up the horns.

"You've got to be kidding me..."

"And she's going to make sure you do everything we've planned." the eldest sister continued.

"Come on guys, just let me go to a normal birthday party. Please? Don't I deserve doing something without your meddling?"

"Oh, you're in deep, Link. You're getting your just deserts along with that birthday cake." Luan giggled.

"You didn't feel like telling us you were going to the birthday party." Lucy pointed out monotonously.

"Also…" Lisa added. "Earlier this week you opted to procure entertainment within an unsafe environment."

"Yeah, and we couldn't procure your bruises, cuz you didn't tell us you got hurt." Leni said accusatory, lifting her head from her mystery box.

"You looked like you were trampled underfoot, bro. We're supposed to keep an eye on you and make sure you're OK and you went and hid from us." Luna said with hurt in her voice.

"And you didn't tell us you were meeting Ronnie Anne." Lola accused Lincoln.

"Lori! I thought you wouldn't tell everyone I was meeting her after school all week." Lincoln was quick to blame his sister.

"I didn't." she smiled. "You just did. They only knew about the party on Sunday."

A moment of silence followed as Lincoln was chastising himself mentally and his sisters were exchanging looks of disbelief and irritation. He could have saved himself a bit of trouble if he wasn't this careless. The stress was getting to him.

"You were hiding that too? Why wouldn't you tell us about going out with your girlfriend?" Leni expressed her outrage.

"She's not my…" Lincoln tried to interject.

"What else are you hiding from us? Lisa, anything good in there?" Lana turned to her little sister holding their brother's school bag.

"Nothing of note. Merely unused school books and fan comics of questionable quality."

"Hey!" Lincoln reacted to both the breach of privacy and the jab at his artistic talent.

"Don't worry girls, he'll make up for it." Lori said.

"What do you even want from me? You can't all come along just to make me suffer!"

"Of course not, Lincoln, we're not barbarians - we weren't invited." Lola took offense. "Well, except for Luna."

"We're just going to make you look and act like you're supposed to when you go to such an event with your girlfriend." Lori explained

"Ronnie Anne's not my girlfriend!" Lincoln protested to little reaction. She really wasn't even if a part of him wished it was otherwise.

"You are going to be dressed smartly, you are going to look prim, you are going to smell nice, you are going to act properly and you are going to participate in all the activities and dances." Lori explained with certainty.

Lincoln needed a moment to take that in. Did she really think they were going to make him do any of those things?

"There's no way I'm doing all that!" he exclaimed. "I don't care if Luna's coming or not, I'm just going to go there to give the girl a flower, have some cake and meet a few friends!"

"You're not getting off that easy, bro. Carrie's super cool and it's a crime that she doesn't have a ton of friends already so we're going to make her feel super special." Luna explained in a serious tone. "Her quinceañera is a big deal and you are going to be a good chambelane."

"I'm going to be a what in her what?"

"You are a guest of honor in her special birthday entourage." Lori explained.

"I can't do that, I don't know anything about that quince..." Lincoln stumbled trying to pronounce the unfamiliar word.

"Quinceañera. That's why I'm here." the eldest Loud sibling said contently. "I'll teach you everything you need to know about the customs and your responsibilities." she said, producing a notebook.

"But I…" Lincoln had to think of something. This was getting out of hand. "I can't be part of some fancy formal stuff. I'm going like this." Lincoln said, looking at his usual attire.

"Like, no you're not." Lori rolled her eyes.

"Your outfit is totes ready." Leni said, finally producing a bright red frilled shirt from the box she was standing over. Lincoln thought there was no way he was going to show his face anywhere in that.

"But I don't know how to act all formal and stuff." Lincoln continued trying to think of excuses.

"I'll be in charge of that." Lola proudly stated. "With a little luck you'll be at least a bit more civilized."

"I don't have time to do all that, I uh… I have tons of homework to do for next week."

"I'd hardly describe this as work. A time waste really." Lisa assured, looking at his rucksack's contents. "I will be done with it by day's end."

Lincoln was getting desperate. This conspiracy ran deeper than he thought. His sisters had seemingly thought of everything.

"Yeah, well I don't know how to dance all fancy. And you can't make me do it even if I did!" Lincoln said, arms crossed.

Lori pushed herself away from the bedpost she was leaning against.

"You seem to be underestimating the situation, Lincoln. The emergency sibling meeting decided on making sure everything goes smoothly this weekend." she said, getting closer.

"I wasn't part of any meeting!"

"It was decided that in light of the recent circumstances your input on the matters at hand would be inconsequential." Lisa adjusted her glasses.

"In the next couple of days we are going to make sure you get all ready for the big day." Lana said.

"Even mom's OK with it - she thought a little quality time with the family is a great way for you to make up for not telling us what happened to you last Tuesday." Luan added.

"No way..."

"So don't worry about the dancing." Lori leaned down to Lincoln's level, all full of herself. "Me and Lola know the dances you'll be doing, Luna's going to make sure you put it all to use once you two get to the party and Lynn here..." Lori put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Will be your training partner." she finished with a grin on her face, standing back up, happy with herself.

Lincoln was speechless for a moment because of what was being thrown at him. He looked at his sports loving sister in disbelief. She hadn't spoken during the whole confrontation, no doubt not being happy with what her role in this conspiracy would be. Lynn returned her brother's look with an expression that showed little excitement over the matter.

"They said I was closest to your height." she shrugged.

"You can't be OK with this..." Lincoln said in disbelief.

"We have a special deal with Lynn." Lori explained. "Since she'll have to deal with the most of your bumbling, I'll be treating her to whatever she wants from the pizzeria."

"And you went along with it?" the boy still couldn't believe.

Lynn shrugged again.

"Meatball pizza is meatball pizza, bro." she answered. "Besides, I'm still mad at you for tricking me when you got home all busted up. They said I can't do anything to your legs so this'll have to do." she added, narrowing her eyes threateningly.

Lincoln swallowed hard. Things were looking bad. There seemed to be no cracks in his sisters' plan. His only option was to try and somehow escape their grasp.

"The next few days are going to be quite busy." Lola mused.

"That's not that much time neither if we want to make you into a proper little gentledude." Luna added.

"And if we want to be on schedule, we have to start in five minutes." Lucy said, looking at her clipboard.

"Right. We're starting with dancing right away - Lynn has practice after this." Lori commented.

"Here's your awesome new shirt, put on your black pants and I guess your shoes will do for now." Leni said as she was handing her brother her creation. "Now go into your room and change."

"And hurry up or we'll drag you out of there." Lola added.

Lincoln was not happy with the situation at all but at least he got an excuse to leave his sisters' sight. Now was his chance to call for backup. Maybe he could get Clyde to run a diversion. Yeah, that was it. If he could just get away from all of this for a moment...

Lincoln got up from the prisoner's chair and took the neatly folded shirt off of Leni's hands. As he was about to exit the room he gave all the sisters that had conspired against him an insulted look. All except for Lily who was innocently sitting on the floor playing with... his phone? Before Lincoln had time to figure out how his sisters had gotten it off of him, Lola and Lana shoved him into his room and shut the door.

How was he supposed to call for reinforcements without his phone? Lincoln once again cursed the fact that his window was so high above the ground. He had always suspected his parents made sure all the kids had rooms on the second floor so that they would have a hard time escaping familial prosecution.

Lincoln looked around his room. They had also been here... It was all a mess. But not the usual mess where he knew where everything was. His sisters had outdone themselves this time - they had taken both his walkie-talkie and his laptop.

Things were looking dire. Lincoln was cut off from the rest of the world, the exits were guarded and all diplomatic efforts seemed doomed. Having little choice in determining his immediate future, Lincoln decided to wait for a more opportune moment to act. Perhaps tomorrow, maybe at the quinceañera. For now he had to go along with his sisters' meddlesome ways.

"You'd think that such turn of events would bring a guy down..." Lincoln addressed no one in particular. "But in a family as big as mine, you sometimes find yourself getting the short end of the stick. Especially if you get so many sisters working against you. But what that has taught me is that even if you lose one battle, there will be many, many more in the endless sibling war."

Accepting his fate for now, Lincoln got a hold on what Leni had made for him and gave it a good look. It was a long sleeved shirt of crimson color with a spread collar, turnback cuffs and frills all along the middle, on both sides of the button line. Were it not an instrument of his sisterly oppression, Lincoln might have been impressed with his second eldest sister's handiwork. It looked like something straight out of a South American drama. Normally he wouldn't be caught dead wearing something like that.

"Hurry it up, dancer boy!" he heard Lola from outside, reminding him that dead or not, he was going to wear it.

Discarding his usual getup, he got a pair of black suit pants and the newly acquired shirt and put them on quickly. Despite knowing Leni took his measurements for more than half an hour, Lincoln was still impressed with how what she had made fit so well. The collar felt like it was trying to choke him though so he made sure to leave it unbuttoned.

Finally ready, Lincoln took a look at himself in his mirror before getting out. The shirt looked as fitting as it felt, but he still didn't know why he had to dress so formal for a birthday party.

Having resigned to his new look, he got out of his room and back into Lucy and Lynn's.

All his sisters were waiting for him, having retreated onto the beds and the back of the room, leaving the center free with even the interrogation chair now missing, making for an improvised dance floor.

The girls greeted him and his new outfit with a mixture of oohs, awws and straight out laugher, which contributed to Lincoln's sour mood. Somehow making fun of siblings never went out of style for the Louds.

"Finally." Lola grunted.

"Well, aren't you a dapper little dude." Luna said.

"Looking good, Casanova." Lana chuckled.

"It looks so good on you, Linky! We'll have to iron the pants out before the party though." Leni admired her work.

"Well I'm glad you like it..." Lincoln stressed his discontent. "And do all of you need to be here for this?" he asked, anticipating the awkwardness that was to come.

"We're not missing this for the world, Lincoln." Lucy said, almost expressing emotion. "Besides, we need to make sure you don't mess this up." she added, tapping the list she was holding with her pencil. "We have a lot of ground to cover."

"The optimal rehearsal conditions would be for you to practice on a genuine dance floor with your partner to be, who'd be donning the attire she'd be wearing during the occasion, but the bedroom carpet and Lynn in her sports uniform will have to do." Lisa sighed.

"Yeah, I told you I'm not putting a dress on." Lynn responded, crossing her arms.

"But I've got one that's just your size." Leni pleaded. "And it goes great with this little hairclip."

"There's not enough pizza in the world for that, sis." Lynn said as she got to Lincoln in the middle of the room.

"You never want to wear the cute clothes I make you…" Leni lamented

"Let's just get this over with." Lynn grumbled as she grabbed her brother's hand.

Lincoln didn't know what to expect. He wasn't used to being this close to his athlete of a sister unless she wanted to hurt him either intentionally or through some sport activity that would inevitably end poorly for him.

"OK, Lincoln first we'll work on your dance posture." Lola explained all professionally. "Hold onto her hand. Keep your feet together. Don't slouch. Look your partner in the eye." she started ordering. "Now put your hand on her waist."

"My what on her where?" Lincoln was starting to feel the embarrassment going straight to his face.

"Your hand on her waist." Lola stressed on both nouns. "This is a waltz after all."

"There's no way I'm doing a slow dance, you guys!" Lincoln protested once he fully realized what he was getting dragged into. He guessed the formal clothing he was made to wear should have given it away.

"As one of the chambelanes you are literally the first to dance with the damas after the traditional dance between the birthday girl and her father." Lori explained. "You are going to slow dance and you are going to like it." she finished threateningly.

"I'm not going to be late for baseball practice because of this." Lynn stated with irritation, grabbed Lincoln's other hand and slapped it on her waist.

"Good." Lola approved. "Now Lynn, you put your hand on his shoulder." she continued instructing while pacing back and forth. "Lincoln, you'll lead the dance so remember the moves we're going to teach you carefully. Luna, a little waltz music, please."

"You got it, sis."

Once his older sister started strumming, Lincoln realized that this was really happening. Of all the things he had thought his sisters would put him through because he upset them, because they knew he was meeting Ronnie Anne or just because they liked toying with him, waltz practice with Lynn had somehow not occurred to him.

AN:

This chapter turned out a tad long... So here's the first half of it.