The Loud House, 3 minutes later...

Out on the front porch, Clyde was sitting down crying his eyes out over his harsh but undeniably justified and true revelation.

Clyde (sobbing): "I-I should have seen the signs. I should h-have known she would have... n-never love me the way I l-love her! But I was too blind by my love for her to notice it... WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME! (Continues to sob to himself)."

As Clyde continue to cry to himself and lament the fact that Lori has never and will never return her feelings for him, he didn't hear the door open behind him and someone step out of it, having been too caught up in his self loathing to notice the world around him.

…That is until he felt a hand gently wrap around one of his shoulders and a familiar voice speak, pulling out of his self pity for a moment.

?: "Are you okay bro?"

Clyde looked up to Lori's boyfriend Bobby Santiago with a concerned look on his face.

Clyde looked back at him with an angry look on his face. A look saying that he was angry at himself.

Clyde: "No Bobby, I-I'm not! I just found out from L-Lincoln, my own best f-friend of all people that this whole t-time, Lori... my one true l-love was NEVER gonna return my feelings for her! She manipulated my feelings of love for her just to make herself feel good! Like I was a l-lovesick puppet to play with and she was the one HOLDING THE STRINGS!"

Clyde sniffles a little before calming down a little and saying a question or two laced with sadness.

Clyde: "Why was I so blind to the truth? Am I... u-unworthy to be loved by Lori or any girl for that matter?"

The only sound that was heard for the next few minutes was Clyde sobbing to himself, giving Bobby the chance to process all of this new info. Bobby was shocked by what Clyde told him. He couldn't believe Lori would do something like this to Clyde. Sure, Lori can be a bit... controlling and threatening at times but she still had a good heart deep down. Bobby is definitely going to talk to his "Babe" when she gets out of jail. Bobby still had a question for the sobbing, heartbroken boy.

Bobby: "Clyde, has Lori ever... let you down gently?"

Clyde: (wipes away a few tears and deeply and sadly sighs) "No... she's usually brutally honest about it. I just t-thought she was playing hard to g-get.

Bobby: "Oh... sorry to hear that."

Clyde: "No Bobby, if anyone should be sorry it's me. I should've listen to her and Lincoln but I-I didn't. I was so blind by my love to see it and too deaf to hear the truth! Why am I so STUPID!"

Bobby: "Now Clyde-"

Clyde: "I should've seen the signs, but I didn't!"

Bobby: "Clyde, listen to me-"

Clyde: "If she doesn't love me then I don't deserve to be loved by any girl! What kind of girl would love a SELFISH, LONELY, PATHETIC LOSER LIKE ME!"

Bobby: "CLYDE!'

Clyde: "WHAT!"

Bobby gently grabbed both of Clyde's shoulders and turned him towards his direction, making him look up at him.

Bobby: "Clyde, listen to me. You are not at fault here, that's just the feeling of love. It makes you and everyone else, including me, blind and/or deaf to everything that's happening around you. It's okay to have crushes. Just don't be so obsessive about them."

Clyde: "Wow, I-I never thought about it like that."

Bobby: "That's right. And don't you dare think for a second that your not worthy of being loved by any girl Clyde. You. are. worthy."

Clyde: "R-Really."

Bobby: "Yeah dude, there's a lot of girls out there. You just got choose the right one, and if the girl you want doesn't want you that's okay, there's always another."

Clyde thinks about it as he wipes away a few tears.

Bobby: "And another thing, you are NOT pathetic. You're smart, you're kind, you're caring, you support and stick by your friends, you're awesome! Hopefully you can deal with this rejection like everyone else does, and become an even better person because of it. You can be... You."

Bobby smiled down at Clyde as he process Bobby's encouragement speech. Now Clyde was crying tears of happiness.

Clyde: "Wow, no one aside from my parents and Lincoln ever told me that before."

Bobby: "You want to know why, because you've been living in the past and you've just needed the right push to hear it."

Clyde wiped his tears away as he looked Bobby again.

Clyde: "I guess I did. Thanks Bobby."

Bobby patted him on the head.

Bobby: "No problem bro."

The two dudes sat in a moment of silence before Bobby broke it.

Bobby: "Clyde, can I ask you something?"

Clyde: "Sure."

Bobby: "Besides Lori, is there any other girl that has peaked your romantic interest?"

Clyde: "Well... there's two girls that come to mind but I don't know if they're interested in me that way."

Bobby: "Really, who?"

Clyde: "Haiku, one of Lucy's friends and who I danced with at the Sadie Hawkins Dance and Penelope, a girl who was my partner for a school project in where we had to take care of an egg as if it was our own child once."

Bobby: "There you go dude. Why don't you try to spend some time with them."

Clyde: "You make it sound easy."

Bobby: "You never know unless you try it dude."

Clyde thought about for a few moments before replying.

Clyde: "Alright, I'll do it."

Bobby: "That's the spirit Clyde."

Clyde: "Yeah, but there's a problem, I don't know how to do it without making a fool of myself."

Bobby: "Don't worry about that, just be confident, look them dead in the eye and say "Excuse me, but if you're not busy, I was wondering, if you want to spend some with me." And most importantly, be yourself."

Clyde: "Be myself. Heh, that's funny, before I knew about Lori not liking me back, she told me to never be myself."

Bobby: "Heh, yeah well that's terrible advice."

Clyde: "Yeah, now that I think about it, it is terrible advice."

The two boys chuckled a little at this.

Clyde: "Bobby... you mind helping me prepare for tomorrow."

Bobby smiled.

Bobby: "It'll be my pleasure dude."

However, unknown to the two, Lincoln was listening in on there conversation before turning around, closing his eyes, and breathing a sigh of both relief and hope.

Lincoln: "I hope this works. I really do."

?: "Hope what works?"

Startled, Lincoln let out a small shriek and falls to the floor. Opening his eyes and looking up, it was his sister Lucy.

Lincoln: "Oh hi Lucy. You're just the sister I wanted to see."

Lucy: "Really?"

Lincoln: "Of course, but let's go to my room first and talk about it. There's more privacy there."

Lucy: "Good point."

Going upstairs, Lincoln lets Lucy in his room first and lets himself in and closes the door behind him.


Lincoln's room...

Once he closed the door, Lincoln turned to Lucy to ask her something.

Lincoln: "Lucy, let me ask you something. What can you tell about your friend Haiku that I haven't found out at the Sadie Hawkins's Dance?"

Hearing this made Lucy frown.

Lucy: "Why do want you want to know, because maybe if your relationship with Ronnie Anne doesn't work out, you'll go to her for love and/or comfort?"

Lincoln: "(Blushes) What?! No! (clears his throat) Ahem, no. It's not for me, it's for Clyde. And no offense to you or her, I can already deal with one goth in my life, I don't need another."

Lucy: "None taken. (Becomes a bit confused) Wait- Clyde? What do you mean?"

From there, Lincoln told Lucy everything that happened over the past few minutes. From Lincoln telling Clyde how he felt about the latter's crush on Lori, to their argument and Clyde running out his room crying, to Clyde and Bobby's conversation going on outside at that moment.

Lucy: "Sigh, if I had a heart, it would be aching in sadness for Clyde. However, Lincoln I'm glad you told Clyde the truth, even though it was a little harsh. And to be honest with you brother, I found Clyde's obsessive crush on Lori annoying too."

Lincoln: "Well, I don't know about our sisters, but I'm glad one of my sisters in this family agrees with me on that. So can you tell Clyde everything about Haiku for me after you tell me everything about her?"

Lucy: "Sure thing Lincoln. Well first things, Haiku is a lot like me, she likes vampires and darkness and things like that. For what she doesn't like, Haiku dislikes cats, sunlight, and people who smile too much. She also dislikes dishonesty. She and I are part of a gothic club called the Morticians Club."

Lincoln: "That's good. Anything else?"

Lucy: "That's pretty much it. Sorry, the writers for her character give her much to work with."

Lincoln: "Well, make the most out of what you've got. (Glances to the fourth wall) Looking at you writers and/or audience. (Looks back at Lucy and gives her a hug.) Thanks Lucy, I hope Clyde forgives me for this."

Lucy: "You're welcome Lincoln, and don't worry, Clyde will forgive you, he can't stay mad at you forever."

Lincoln: "I only hope so."

Lincoln let go of Lucy so she turns to leave.

Lincoln: "Oh and by the way Lucy, if I do break up with Ronnie Anne... I want it to be of mutual respect, no bad blood between us."

Lucy nodded and walked out of Lincoln's room, unaware that Ronnie Anne was listening in on the two's conversation, smiling.

Ronnie Anne: (whispering) "My thoughts exactly Lame-O."


AN: I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please review.