Leni wasn't anxious at all in returning home that cold Sunday night; she just wanted the anticipation to be over.

"Are you sure you'll be fine?"

"I'll be totes fine. What the worst she'll do, exile me? Lori's a bully sometimes, but she's totes soft on the inside." Leni said.

"That's exactly my point." Carol said "What you two have sounds like an abusive relationship. She hurts you, you cry, but thinks she'll change because she nice sometimes. She may be soft on the inside, but you are softer. You're a kitten compared to everyone else."

Leni sighed. "Don't worry about it. I'll message you later and tell you what happens, ok?"

"Fine. Kiss me?"

"Fine." Leni giggled. She leaned over and kissed her. "I'll see you later Carebear."

Leni got out and waved to Carol as she pulled out of the driveway. Literally, they'd been sitting there for the better half of an hour while Leni convinced Carol she'd be fine.

Leni walked up the steps to the front door. She could hear some conversation behind it coming from the television, but considering she was at the Loud House, such silence meant something was going on. It was almost eight o'clock, no way the kids had gone to bed already.

Leni entered to find the living room desolated. In the kitchen, the dining room, backyard, basement - - empty, no one was anywhere. Upstairs was completely dark. No light was shining beneath the doorways, except from the room she and Lori shared.

The door was locked when she tried the handle, so the next step was knocking. She wouldn't blame Lori if she didn't want to talk. Already Leni was making plans to bunk on the couch or with Lincoln.

The door opened, revealing the entirety of the Loud family, parents included. Leni stepped in with uncertainty, and thought even with everyone in her, the room seemed larger.

"Like, what's going on?"

Everybody started talking at once, but Lynn Sr. reigned them in.

"We held a Loud family meeting to decide how things were going to work now that you're dating Lori's nemesis." Lynn Sr. stated. Her mom spoke next.

"And sweety, since Lori won't even be in the same building as you," Now that she mentioned it, Leni noticed Lori was absent. "We decided it would be best if you took the garage as your room. Lori tried it once and didn't like it. If you don't either we'll figure something out."

Leni looked around and realized the reason the room seemed larger was because all of her stuff had been removed.

"Alright." Leni shrugged and smiled. There was a moment of awkward silence. "I'll go see my new room then."

Leni went and some of the siblings followed after her (a quick glance told her it was Lucy, Lincoln and Luna), eager to ask questions about her love life. One of the cons of living in the garage was it's disconnection from the rest of the house forced Leni to walk through the cold in order to get there. She liked the cold but it meant she'd have put on a couple jackets to avoid the stinging cold every time. It was always the little things that made the biggest differences.

The garage lights were on. Considering that Carol was previously parked right in front of it and the lights weren't on then and Lori was the only absent for the family meeting, then it was highly probably that her older sister was waiting for her. Leni turned to the kids following behind her as she reached for the doorknob.

"Lori's waiting for me isn't she?"

"Yes." All three said simultaneously.

"She's totes angry isn't she?"

"Yes."

"Then you might like, want to wait in the house for a bit."

None of them spoke a word as they stood back but didn't head back towards the house. It was obvious they were going to hang around the outside of Leni's new room and try to listen in. Leni entered and closed the door behind her. It was simple. She had her bed, her sewing machine, a T.V. and a fridge. Even her own private bathroom. Other than those, there was no personalization - most of the decorations in her old room had been Lori's.

Lori was sitting on the edge of Leni's bed, not even looking mad, but rather hopeful for a chance to salvage their relationship. She turned her head to Leni and gave her a small smile.

"Hey Leni." She said. Leni slowly walked closer and sat down next to her.

"I like, heard you were angry with me." Leni said.

"That's an understatement. You're dating my enemy." Lori's tone remained calm, unindicative of any harsh feelings.

Leni nodded. "So you hate me huh?"

"What? No it's ju-"

"I won't blame you if you do. I hate me too." Leni cut her off. In her attempt to let Lori know it was alright to be mad at her, Leni didn't even stop to comprehend what she was saying. Blame how tired she was.

"Why would you say that?" Lori said. Leni looked confused. "There are so many great things about you."

"What did I say again?" She asked. It was a question of honesty, her mind was filled with too many things right now to operate properly.

"Ugh, never mind. It's just, why Carol? Dana is interested in girls, why not her?" Lori asked, hopeful Leni's heart would change away from Carol's direction. She was disheartened when Leni shook her head.

"Carol's nice to me. She cares about me, worries… She was there for me when no one else was. I won't break up with her." Leni defended. Lori stood up and let out a deep breath as she paced around Leni's room.

"Carol doesn't really care about other doesn't care about you either." Lori said. Leni opened her mouth to say something but Lori cut her off. "Trust me. I know things about her that you don't know, and I can't tell you because it'll hurt you and I don't want to see you cry. I might not be happy with your choices but I still love you. Carol isn't right for you."

"What right do you have to say that? Carol told me you said mean things about her in middle school when she told you she liked me. That why you two stopped being friends." Leni said. Lori froze in place, and stated right at Leni.

"She is a liar Leni, she didn't tell you the full story." Lori was getting increasingly agitated and started pacing again. Leni rolled her eyes.

"Like, what's the full story then?"

"Ask Carol. I bet she won't tell you the truth. Then you'll see I was right eventually." Lori crossed her arms and waited for Leni's response.

"I'm not going to ask her anything. Why won't you just try making up with her? It would make everything easier. I know she would want to make up with you…" Leni said.

"Carol said that didn't she?" Leni nodded in agreement, much to Lori's chagrin. "She's just manipulating you to get close to me. What did she even do to make you attracted to her?"

Leni was tired of this. Her thoughts were getting jumbled as they tried to organize themselves into a proper defense.

"Like, she didn't manipulate me. She was the only one who helped me when I was really sad. She why I'm happy now." Leni said. Lori was curious now.

"You're never sad, you're always happy blissfully ignorant, you don't worry about school, you have a lot of friends, and even when you get sad, you always come to me." Lori outstretched her arms to emphasize the point. "You can always come to me with anything, you know that, right?"

Lori's look of hopefulness made a reappearance, and Leni was sorry to destroy it; then again it was probably fake.

"I don't think I can…"

Lori's face fell immediately. "Why? We're the closest sister's in the house."

Leni shrugged. "I don't know. I feel like we're aren't really even close any more. I just trust Carol more."

Once she said it, Leni knew she could have worded that better. That was further proven when Lori scowled while her eyes teared up.

"Fine, if you like Carol more, then so be it. I'd like to she her put up with you for seventeen years." Lori yelled. Leni would be lying if she said she wasn't hurt. Of course she realized a few years ago that she'd been a problem, but did Lori really think of Leni as a problem since the day she was born? "I know a lot more about you than you do. You've made a lot of mistakes, and Carol's going to be another."

"No she's not. I'd give anything for us to be close again, but like, you hardly, even know the real me. It's like we're just regular sisters now."

Once again, Leni's words pushed Lori closer to tears, but Leni convinced herself not to care.

"Then let's talk. Let's rebuild that trust we had. What was the thing that made you sad?" Lori asked. Leni really don't want to continue talking - what she wanted was for Lori to go away.

"I can't tell you. Carol helped me through it anyways. She'd been my best friend since November." Leni said. Lori was going to say something, but Leni spoke first. "I love her more than anyone, I trust her more than anyone. Please, accept that she has a place in my life."

Lori's glare turned cold again. "I hope you consider her my replacement, because I don't consider you my sister anymore. I wouldn't even cry if I never saw you again."

With that, she turned to leave, slamming the door on the way out. Leni was hardly taken aback. Any things Lori said were just things said by someone Leni despised. It still wasn't Lori's fault Leni hated her; but Leni forgot long ago that it was everyone else comparing her to her older sister that originally cause her hatred. A few moments later Lori came back in.

"I didn't really mean that last part but I'm still pissed." After that remark, Lori left again.

Leni texted Carol about everything that transpired so far. The new room... Lori... everything. Carol asked for pictures of the room, before saying she was coming over. Leni didn't mind. Now that she was out of the closet, Carol being here wasn't a problem.

The next visitors to arrive were0 the original trio of Luna, Lincoln, and Lucy. They decided it was best to give Leni some time to herself after her confrontation with Lori, and now that time was up.

Leni was sitting with her head in her hands and looked up as her younger siblings entered.

"Like, so did you guys hear all of that?"

They all shook their heads.

"We couldn't hear anything through these walls so we waited in the house. Lori looked sad dude, what happened?" Luna asked. Leni shrugged.

"She like, doesn't like me and Carol together. I think she hates me."

Luna cringed, Lincoln scratched his head, and Lucy did nothing entirely.

"Is Lori homophobic?" Luna asked.

"No."

"Does your girlfriend like comics" Lincoln asked.

"I don't know, but she likes art. She totes loves horror and scary stuff." Leni answered. She just assumed that Lucy was going to ask another question, and she was right.

"Woah." Lucy moaned.

"She's coming over right now too. You guys might want to leave or something. Lori might come storming in." Leni said. In all honesty, she was just tired. After Carol got here Leni was probably just going to go to bed.

"Can we meet her?" Lucy and Lincoln asked.

"Like, you guys don't care that I like girls?" Leni asked. She didn't know what to expect from them - - she was the oddball of the family, but they still had some glimmer of respect towards her.

"Of course not." The two youngest said. Luna just didn't say anything, already knowing about the whole ordeal.

"Clyde has two Dads. Two girls isn't bad either. And besides, your our sister." Lincoln said.

"Edwin's second cousin's daughter likes girl vampires. Carol is Lori's enemy, so this is already a tragedy. And besides, the spirits have been clustered around you for months now. They say you should have been one of them." Lucy added. "It was only a matter of time before I intervened.

"Like, what does that mean?" Leni asked.

"I don't know; the spirits are mysterious and cryptic. I think it means they really like you." Lucy shrugged.

"Yeah, whatever brah, but are going to let us hang out with your girl Leni?" Luna asked. Leni have a single nod.

"I guess. But only for a couple of minutes, I'm going to bed soon."

To prove the point Leni got out her sleepwear and put it on on the tiny bathroom. She came back out and resumed her spot on her bed. She took a quick look at her phone: nine forty-seven. Just more than an hour since she arrived. Carol's last message was received only six minutes ago, so Leni hoped it wouldn't take much longer for the older girl to get here.

Even it she was tired, she wouldn't be able to fall asleep without any medication or Carol. Carol... Medication… the medication Carol had given her that was stored in her nightstand. The nightstand that was moved in here from her old room, meaning one of the other siblings had probably gone through it. That was a chilling revelation.

"So like, did anyone go through my stuff when you guys moved it? Like, did they reach through my bed table thing?"

"I don't think so. The only thing you really had was your sewing machine, your table thing and your bed." Lincoln said.

"Yeah brah, I didn't find any 'candies' in an orange bottle or anything when I moved your nightstand." Luna said with a brow raised.

Leni was just about to let out a sigh of relief when she actually processed Luna's words and stiffened.

"We'll talk about it later dude." Luna said, while Leni felt the worry growing in the out of her stomach.

"What is it?" Lincoln asked, clueless about what Luna meant. Lucy's expression didn't give it away, but she had the same question in her mind.

"Nothing." Leni answered, which only served to drive their curiosity to a higher extent.

"Do you mean these, weird crescent shapes on her back?" Lucy suddenly appeared behind Leni, and had a finger poking her older sister's back. Leni's face reddened, and so did Luna's. Luna had yet to lose her own virginity, but neither was she incompetent about sex.

"We'll like, me and Carol played a game and like…" Leni had no way to explain it. She looked over to Luna for help, but the young rockstar was just as helpless in explanation.

An awkward silence followed, where nobody said anything. Lincoln and Lucy's naivety withstood the implications of Leni's explanation, and they went on without bringing it back up.

"So like, how do the others feel about me liking girls?" Leni asked.

The three looked at each other, then back at Leni.

"We had a sibling meeting about it. That's why we were all gathered in Lori's room when you got here." Luna began.

"To decide who's side we would have to take if it came down to it, your's or Lori's." Lucy added.

"Us three here now took your side. Mom, dad, Luan, and Lola took Lori's side. They said Lori existed first, so she gets their support first." Lincoln finished it off.

"Lana and Lisa chose to stay neutral." Lucy said.

Leni just shrugged. It didn't matter much to her who took what side, as long as the remainder of her days could be spent in peace.

Eventually Leni yawned and stretched after more small talk. She wanted her siblings to go back to 'their house' so that she could spend time alone with Carol. They had the entirety of tomorrow to meet Carol; but the youngest two siblings in the room couldn't quite grasp the subtle hints she was throwing. Luna on the other hand was perceptive as always and spoke up.

"Oh, it's nearly ten. I think we'd better go to bed dudes or risk taking the heat." Luna suggested. Lincoln and Lucy were bent on the interest of meeting the girl who had captured Leni's heart. They couldn't help but wonder, out of all the people who had presumably asked the beautiful Leni out, how did she manage to get reeled in by Lori's worst enemy? They gave Leni a short and sweet goodnight before they departed.

A noise came from right outside the garage as soon as they left; the sound of a car pulling into the driveway, then the closing of a car door.

"Like, I think that's Carol." Leni muttered, before remembering the siblings had already bid their farewell.

A minute passed, then two. After the third minute Leni began to worry - it was obvious, the entrance to the garage that is, and Carol still hadn't entered. The cold was stinging outside and would remain so until sunrise, the longer Carol was out there the more likely she was to get hypothermia or something. Carol was too smart to do that to herself, but Leni couldn't help caring.

"It is nice," Leni thought to herself. "Worrying about someone else rather than myself."

She was just about to get back in her jeans and sweater to go see if her girlfriend needed help, when the door to her new room opened and Lincoln walked in with a shopping bag in his hand. He had a wide smile on his face. Lucy entered holding another bag, and even the usually stoic child had a small smile gracing her lips. Luna reentered next with Carol in tow, both laughing And carrying their own bags

"And that how me and Leni had our first kiss. It was scary then, but now it's so funny." Carol took a brief scan of the room and landed her eyes on the tired Leni. "Hey Leni, I met your siblings outside, and they offered to help me with our bags. They're cute."

"And she's actually pretty cool, Lori hates her for no reason." Lincoln said.

"Sigh, he's right. I already got new poetry inspiration from her." Lucy added. They put the bags down and left, respecting Leni's wishes.

"See you guys tomorrow!" Carol waved. She turned back towards Leni. "When you showed me the pictures, I nearly barfed. They could've at least personalized it for you. On my way here I got you some room decorations. Those curtains really need to go."

"She was right," Leni thought the same thing, especially about the curtains. They were a mix between a slimy-green and and warmish-tan. They looked sickly.

"Thank, but can we wait until tomorrow? I'm so tired right now I can hardly think straight." Leni asked.

"Sure. I brought over some of my clothes to keep here, for when I sleepover. You don't mind, do you?" Carol questioned. Leni shook her head and Carol put her stuff in one of the drawers, then changed into her sleeping gown. "It's like we're kinda moved in together. Its cute."

Leni got the sleeping medication and took two. Carol was watching her carefully.

"You took two?" She asked. Leni's bodyweight was too light for that amount, it was a potential hazard.

"One hardly works anymore like, I have to take two to get good rest." Leni answered.

"It's because your resistance is building from constant use. They're on to you Leni. I think it's time we start dealing with your insomnia without illegal prescription use." Carol said. It took a moment for the wheels to start turning in Leni's head.

"Wait, who do you mean by… 'they'?" She asked. 'They' was plural, as in more than one. Luna was the only one who suspected anything, who else possibly could be included?

"Luna. She pulled me aside earlier and told me she found the pills in your drawer. She said she doesn't have the full story, but thinks you might be on drugs. She asked me to get you clean." Carol explained. So it was just Luna. For now at least.

"So you're going to cut me off?" Leni asked.

"Honestly Leni, do you still need them?"

"Only when I'm here. At your house I can sleep easy. But here, like… I just can't sleep, like the hate I know my family has for me keeps me awake or something, I don't know…" Leni retorted.

"From what i've seen of Lucy and Lincoln, They were nice. And Luna too, we text from time to time and she says good things about you.

"Well yeah but… It's hard to explain it with words."

"How about this," Carol crawled in the bed with Leni. "Whenever you have bad thoughts keeping you awake, know I'm with you even when I'm not. Give me a call and I'll talk you to sleep or something. Promise me you're going to slow your use?"

Carol held out her pinky finger, and Leni interlocked it with hers; a childish, yet meaningful, gesture of promise.

"Did you like, want to do something tonight?" Leni asked.

"Aren't you too tired? We can just go to bed if you want." Carol said. "On second thought, I'm pretty tired to. I think I'll need my rest if I get to meet your family tomorrow."

"Are you sure? There's still totes enough time before the meds kick in." Leni replied and smiled awkwardly as she went to pull her gown over her head. Carol shook her head and gently pushed Leni back down.

"Stop thinking about only what others want all the time. Worry about yourself every once in a while." Carol said, agitation in her tone. Leni didn't know what to say, so she just smiled awkwardly.

"Like… are you alright?" Leni asked after a moment.

"Yeah. You trying to please everybody even when you don't want to pisses me off. Just like that fake-ass smile you have right now. Stop. Be selfish sometimes." Carol said. Leni's smile faltered, before falling entirely.

She wanted to cry, having Carol talk to her like this wasn't flattering at all, and nor was Carol's random surge of aggressiveness. Leni just turned over and switched off her lamp. The occasional sniffle escaped but Leni otherwise remained as quiet as she could. She could feel Carol moving and eventually the older girl hugged Leni from behind, and snuggled close.

"I didn't mean to sound like an asshole but we both know you don't want to have sex right now. And besides, the past two days were wild for the both of us. How about we take some time do other girlfriend stuff?" Carol said. Leni cleared her throat.

"What do girlfriends usually do?" Leni asked. Her voice was still grainy from her near breakdown - - she hated it.

"Whatever you want to do. Usually I pick what we do, but the next few weeks you're going to be in charge." Carol said.

"I'm going to make your dress for the Valentine's Dance. Tomorrow I'll get your measurements and finish it sometime before the dance." Leni said.

"Leni, about the dance…" Carol started. Leni shushed her.

"I already know what your going to say. Like, as long as I'm really yours I'm fine." Leni said. She could feel her brain start slowing as the medicine took hold in her mind.

She already knew Carol was going with stupid Bryan to the dance, but it mattered nothing significant to Leni. Sure, she hated that someone else would be holding her Carol so intimately for a whole night, but apparently it would keep people from saying mean things about Carol; that was good enough for Leni.

"I wish I could be brave like you Leni." Carol whispered. Leni giggled.

"I'm not brave. You want to know what I am?" Leni asked. Carol grunted in response. "Tired."

"You know, I wonder how it feels once that medicine takes effect. Does it it get you high or something?" Carol asked.

"I'll tell you what it feels like." Leni mumbled. Carol waited for Leni to tell her. She just figured the younger girl was trying to figure out the right words when Leni was silent for a while.

"Leni… Leni… So what does it feel like… Leni… are you even still awake?" Carol gave her a gentle shake, before laughing to herself once she realized this was exactly what Leni meant.

"Christ Leni, you're too good for me." Carol said.

It took a while, but eventually Carol followed Leni to the realm of sleep.

-ohfyjbvftjnbkjb

Luna couldn't sleep. She lied to Leni when she said they heard nothing of her argument with Lori. Luna picked up on the 'Carol helping Leni with some problems' thing and the 'sad Leni' part, but she was still furious at her second older sister.

Yesterday when Luna found that pill bottle in Leni's nightstand, using the word 'furious' to describe how she felt would have been an understatement.

She went straight to Lori about it. Their parents might've been too harsh had Luna went to them first. Lori and Leni were the closest of the siblings, and Luna thought maybe the oldest Loud kid would be able to get through to Leni about it. Long story short - no, not even a long story. Lori was too busy venting to Bobby and sent Luna away immediately.

Luna had a hard time holding her tongue at that point, and decided it would be up to her to confront Leni. At one point she even thought of reporting it to the police. Leni wasn't the brightest of the Louds, in fact she was the dumbest. It was simply a matter of fact.

When Luna found the bottle of unmarked pills, it took the gold medal for the stupidest thing Leni ever done. The whole argument with Lori furthered the point something was fucked up with Leni. The platinum blonde claimed she and Lori were no longer close, that she changed and Lori didn't know the real her. Now, Luna knew, nobody knew the real Leni. Luna still loved her to death anyways.

That's why it was a blessing Carol turned up. Luna was happy Carol got here, Lori's enemy was the one Leni said she loved, if anyone could get to the ditzy blonde, it would be Pingrey.

Luna got out of her bed quietly, careful to not wake her roommate. She creeped downstairs, intent on getting a drink to sooth her parched throat.

Once down the stairs, Luna found the kitchen light already on. Lori was sitting on the counter, her head in her hands, and a cup of tea next to her.

"Dude, it's past midnight, what are you doing up?" Luna asked. She wasn't really in the mood for a conversation, especially with Lori, but was obligated to ask. The oldest Loud's movements were slow and it took her longer than it should have to look at Luna.

"Carol's here. Sleeping in the same place as Leni. I won't sleep with her here." Lori said. Luna growled.

"Just get over it dude. Make up with Carol. Make up with Leni. They make each other happy so get over yourself." Luna said. An argument wasn't something she was looking to start.

"I know I should. I think one of these days I'll make up with Carol, but Leni said some mean thing, she betrayed me. If me and Carol were to patch things up I wouldn't forgive Leni. She said she's fine with our me." Lori spoke with a somber tone.

"Whatever happens just remember we're still siblings. There's worse things we should worry about." Luna said. Lori nodded, and Luna took it as a cue to get her glass of water and get out.

Leni did say she was fine now, but given the evidence Luna was wary of that statement. Instead of one person, Leni would have people prying into her personal life

The seed doubt against Leni's words had already been planted, and it's growth was unstoppable.