*Disclaimer* I do not own the Loud House.

AN: Two months later...I am SO sorry for the hiatus. Things were happening in my personal life and that's all I can say

"These last few days are among the happiest I've ever ignored."
- Douglas C. Kenney

(One school week later…)
(Location: the Loud house)

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Royal Woods. And at a certain house located on Franklin Ave. the people inside were for certain taking advantage of the beautiful day.

Lori is staying at home to write a few college application letters, Leni and some of her gal pals are hanging out at the mall, Luna had band practice, Luan had a birthday performance, Lynn was hanging out with some of her teammates at the park, Lucy opted to stay home as well to write poetry in peace, the twins were attending the party Luan's performing at because the birthday girl happens to be a friend of theirs and Lisa and Lily were with the parents visiting Pop-Pop at Sunset Canyon Retirement Home.

Now, what about o'l Lincoln Loud?

Currently, the snow haired child was in his room mentally checking off items he was putting into his pockets. 'Wallet, check. House keys, check. Phone, check. iPod, check…' Afterwards, he went upstairs to talk to Lori.

"Hey I'm heading out to Savino's Comics, is that okay?" the snow haired child asked the oldest sister. "Of course" she answered, "Do you need me to give you a ride?" she asked. "Nah, I think a walk will do me good" he replied. "Just remember to bring along your phone in case I call or if you need to call me" she requested.

"I will" he told her.

(Scene Change)
(Location: Kat's house)

Meanwhile in a different part of town, we see a certain blue haired lass gathering belongings together and putting into her big blue handbag. "Wallet, check. House keys, check. Phone, check. MP3 player, check. Extra books, check…" literally checking off a list she wrote in a little notebook.

Afterwards, young Kathrine made her way downstairs. As she made her way to the kitchen, she was hit with the beautiful sent of Belgium waffles waiting for at the table along with her parents.

'…okay maybe, I have a little bit of time to eat breakfast' she thought with a sly smile.
After eating about…at least 3 rounds of waffles, the blue haired lass had to pry herself away from the ever-so delicious breakfast food. "So kiddo, have any plans for today?" her father asked. Kat gulped down the last bit of waffle before answering, "If it's okay with you and mom, I was planning to go downtown for the day."

"Well I don't see a problem with that; do you want one of us or Kirby to drive you?" Richard asked. Kat shook her head, "Actually I was thinking of walking. You know, build up cardio and all that kind of jazz." To emphasize, the blue haired lass moved her arms in a power walk like fashion. Both Richard and Catlin had tried to suppress laughing at their daughters' antics, but ultimately failed.

Even the blue haired lass had to laugh at herself at that.
After bidding her parents goodbye, she excused herself from the table and took one last look into her bag to make extra sure she had everything she needed for her outing.

(Timeskip)
(Scene Change)

(Lincoln)

Meanwhile, the snow haired child was walking down the street dancing and lip syncing along to beat of the song Harlem Shuffle by Bob and Earl without a care in the world.

While Lincoln might not be a musician like Luna, needless to say he has a very unique taste in music.

(Kat)

The blue haired lass was skipping along to the song Good Day Sunshine by The Beatles. While some would scoff at the little rich girls' choice in music, Kat preferred older bands like this over "modern" music.

(Scene Change)
(Location: Savino's Comics)

(Lincoln)

Since this wasn't the snow haired child's first time coming here on foot, he managed to find the building with no problem whatsoever. As Lincoln opened the door, he was greeted to the sound of an infamous all-girl Canadian 90s band. 'God, I love this place' the boy thought.

(Kat)

Meanwhile, the blue haired lass arrived at the same location not too long after Lincoln.

As she turned off her MP3 player and taking off her headphones our female lead took a moment to survey the land, if you will. Now again, some would be surprised at the girls' choice to spend a Saturday afternoon but Kat wasn't like most little rich girls. In fact she loathed that stereotype.

After a quick minute, she proceeded to the "Graphic Novels" aisle.

Meanwhile with Lincoln, he was already in the fore mentioned aisle skimming the shelves looking for something in particular. 'I hope I'm not too late and it's sold out' the snow haired child thought. Now a certain blue haired lass was just a little bit smarter and pre-ordered in advance for a particular book, she's just perusing the isle to see if anything else catches her eyes. 'Hmmm…too gory, too mature, too corny, parents would never let me read that in a million years…' Kat thought as she skimmed the shelves.

As the two children were skimming the shelves from opposite sides of the aisle, neither one of noticed the other. So as they got closer and closer to each other, it was only a matter of time until…

BONK! OOOF! THUD!

Both children landed on their keisters after bonking each other in the head.

Slightly dazed and confused, the children shook their heads to regain composure.
"Why don't you watch where you're going?!" Lincoln and Kat shouted in unison. The other customers shushed them, as they we're being too loud (no pun intended).

As the children got back up and dusted themselves off, they took a moment to look each other in the eyes. "That girl/boy looks familiar…" the children thought in unison. "I know you from somewhere…" Kat started, "Do you go to Royal Woods Elementary?" the blue haired lass asked. "Yeah" Lincoln answered, "Who's your homeroom teacher?" Kat asked, "Mrs. Johnson" the snow haired child answered. "No kidding, that's my homeroom teacher too" Kat replied. Lincoln then thought for a moment "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have Gym with Pacowski or Spanish with Miss DiMartino or Art with Ms. Mumford?" the snow child asked as he was racking his brain as to why the girl in front of him looked so familiar.

Kat simply answered with, "Yes to all those questions."
"So am I…" Lincoln replied.

"I'm Kat, by the way" the blue haired lass introduced herself as she stuck out her hand.
"Lincoln Loud" the snow haired child introduced himself as he shook her hand.

'She's got really soft hands….' Lincoln thought. 'He surprisingly…has really soft hands…' Kat thought.

As the two kids broke off the handshake, they found themselves surprisingly quiet. Until Lincoln spoke up, "So... Err... What are you doing here? I mean, not that I don't think girls read comics, it's just... You know...?" the snow haired child stammered in complete awkwardness.

But to his surprise Kat wasn't looking angry, instead she was giggling very softly.
"You're awkward, but I can tell a good kind of awkward" the blue haired lass replied.

"To answer your question, I came to pick up a pre-order and also just simply browsing around" Kat explained, "What about you? What brings an obviously sophisticated gentleman like yourself to a place like this?" she asked Lincoln. "Well…" the snow haired child started, "I came here looking for a particular book. The latest issue of Ace Savvy: Beyond" Lincoln explained. This caught the blue haired lass by surprise.

Then Lincoln continued, "I would've pre-ordered it, but someone else beat me to it and I was kind of hoping that it would actually be in the store" Lincoln finished. Now Kat felt slightly guilty, because she was the one who snagged the last pre-order. But then, a little ol' idea popped into the blue haired lass' mind.

"Hey, it's a little too bit close corners here" Kat spoke, "Do you maybe…want to grab some lunch…at the Burpin' Burger…my treat?" the blue haired lass offered. Needless to say that Lincoln was VERY happy at the prospect of lunch at one of his favorite restaurants. He had only saved up enough money for the comic itself. "Sure" Lincoln answered, "Just let me text my sister that I have a change in plans and that I won't be home until a little bit later." Kat nodded in response. In fact, she decided that she would text her parents as well.

After sending out messages to their respective people, the kids decided to head back out.

But then Kat stopped.

"Hey, before we go there's just one last thing I need to take care of. It'll just take a minute or so…" "I'll wait outside for you" Lincoln told her. The blue haired lass thanked the snow haired child for understanding. With that, Lincoln left to go sit on the bench outside while Kat went over to the counter to pick up her pre-order. "Hey Darin…" she asked the cashier, "If it's not too much trouble I need your help tracking down another copy of the latest issue of Ace Savvy: Beyond." The aging cashier was a little surprised at the request, but quickly put two and two together when he remembered her talking to that white haired boy.

He agreed and said that he'll call her if he gets any word.
Kat thanked Darin for helping her out.

After finishing up and putting her new comic into her big blue handbag, the blue haired lass went outside to meet up with the snow haired child. "So…if you don't mind me asking, what was it you needed to take of?" Lincoln asked. Kat replied with, "Oh…just needed to pick up my pre-order and asked the cashier if he could keep his eye out for another book I've had my eye on for."

The blue haired lass hated hiding this, but she really wanted to keep the comic a surprise.

(Scene Change)
(Location: the Burpin' Burger)

It didn't take very long for the two kids to walk down to the famous burger joint.

"Welcome to the Burpin' Burger home of the "Double Belcher" can I take your order?" a teenage employee named Grant recited. "We'll take 2 Burpin' combos, a Mint Chip Blast milkshake with no whip cream and…" Kat looked over to Lincoln and asked what kind of drink he wanted.

"Vanilla milkshake and also with no whip cream" he answered.

After ringing up the two orders with Kat's credit card, Grant said to wait for when he calls their meals. So the kids got a table by a window that they could see the Royal Woods mall from where they were sitting.

"So Lincoln I'm curious, how come you keep a pair of headphones in your ears?" Kat asked. "It's a long story filled with sighs…the short version is that I have tinnitus due an accident when I was little and I still have an hum in drum and listening to music helps drown it out" Lincoln explained. Kat was taken aback by Lincoln's answer. She never knew anybody much less her own age that had hearing problems.

Not even her grandfather.

"What kind of music do you listen to?" Kat asked. "Well…that's kind of a big question" Lincoln answered.
The blue haired lass raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I like a lot of different genres and bands, so it's hard for me to answer that kind of question" the snow haired child explained.

"Mind if I asked you something?" Lincoln spoke. Kat nodded in response. "What kind of comics do you like to read?" the snow haired child asked. Luckily, the blue haired lass anticipated this. "Well…I mostly like to dabble in all forms of the medium. Such as comic books, graphic novels, webcomics, manga, webtoons…can't really that I read anything specifically" she answered. "No way, me too" Lincoln replied, "although, as you know from earlier I like the Ace Savvy: Beyond series."

Kat nodded in understandment, especially since she got the latest issue for herself.

"ORDER UP!" the kids heard Grant shout.

"I'll grab out meals" Lincoln offered. Kat gave a quick thank you as the snow haired child went to pick up their food. 'I really hope that Darin pulls off a miracle for me…' the blue haired lass thought. Kat snapped back into reality when the sound of two trays hit the table. Lincoln slid her tray that had the mint chip milkshake while he took the tray that had the plain vanilla milkshake. "Thank you again, for lunch" Lincoln told Kat.

The blue haired lass waved a dismissal gesture, "Think nothing of it. It's nice to have the company" she said.

The two kids began eating their mouthwatering burgers with smiles on their faces, then a few French fries and then a few sips of their milkshakes. "Somehow, I thought you be a chocolate guy" Kat spoke. Lincoln laughed, "I don't really uh, subscribe to any labels" he answered back. "Besides, my sisters have the honor of being crowned chocoholics." The word 'sisters' peeked Kat's interest.

"Earlier you said you have a sister…" the blue haired lass spoke as she took a bite from her burger, "how many sisters do you have?" she asked with curiosity in her tone. "10" Lincoln answered as if it was no big deal.

Kat's jaw felt like dropping all the way to the ground when he said that he has TEN sisters.

Lincoln continued, "5 older and 5 younger. My older sisters are Lori who's 17, Leni who's 16, Luna who's 15, Luan who's 14 and Lynn who's 13. My younger sisters are Lucy who's 8, Lana and Lola who's 6, Lisa who is 4 and Lily who's 15 months." Kat felt like she was about to pass out after learning all of that.

"What about you, what's your family like?" Lincoln asked the blue haired lass. "Oh…well, there's not really much to say, it's just me and my mom and dad. I'm an only child" she explained.

"What's it like? Having that many sisters, I mean" Kat asked wanting to changing the subject.

The snow haired child thought for moment before answering. "The best way to describe it is controlled chaos." Lincoln answered, "Lori is considered the leader. Without her organizing all of us, we would never get anything done. Leni's not exactly the brightest…but she has a heart of gold and an incredible fashion designer in her own right. Luna is the musician that loves to crank it up to 11. Luan is the resident comedian that loves to make all of us laugh. Lynn is what I like to call the all-American athlete. Lucy I like to call her my special little vampire. Lana may be young, but she's the resident handywoman and mechanic. Lola competes in beauty pageants. Lisa for being so young is the super genius of the family. And little Lily is just the most adorable baby in the wide world" Lincoln finished describing his sisters to Kat.

Meanwhile, the blue haired lass was hanging on to the snow haired child's every word. She knew that her parents wanted to have more children but unfortunately, it just wasn't in the cards.

After awhile, they finished eating and Lincoln offered to clean up. He piled their wrappers, used napkins, and empty cups on top of the tray and took the tray to the trash can near the entrance. He dropped the trash into the hole and placed the tray on top of a rack on the trash can where the sign had instructed him to do so.

Then he walked over and held the door open for Kat, receiving a nice smile from her.

As they stepped outside and looked at their surroundings, neither one not knowing what to really say to the other. But then Kat had another little ol' idea. "Give me your phone" she instructed Lincoln. The snow haired child looked confused but did what she asked. Then Kat pulled out her phone from her big blue handbag and then after a minute and a half, she handed Lincoln back his phone. "I programmed my number into your phone and added your number to mine" she explained, "this has been the highlight of my week and I would like to do this again sometime." Lincoln smiled, "I'd like that too."

VVVBBBTTT

The sounds of vibrating cell phones snapped the kids back into reality. They looked down and saw who was texting them. For Lincoln, it was Lori and for Kat, it was her mom.

The kids sighed, "That was my sister Lori" Lincoln said, "She says that my parents came back with my grandpa Pop-Pop who wants to treat all of us to dinner at Giovanni Changs for dinner and she wants me to come home and get cleaned up." "Ironic" Kat spoke, "My mom just texted that my grandfather just popped by for visit and she sent Kirby to pick me up." "Who's Kirby?" Lincoln asked. "Our chauffer" Kat answered in a casual tone.

'Her family's got a chauffeur?!' Lincoln thought.

Just then, a black car pulled up to the two children. Kat sighed, "That's him. I need to get going now." "So uh…if don't see you again at anytime this weekend, I guess I'll see you at school on Monday." Lincoln said.

"Yeah I guess so." Kat forced a smile.

The blue haired lass really wanted to spend more with the snow haired child but at the same time, her grandfather couldn't visit as much as he used to when she was younger. Then Lincoln stuck out his hand, Kat smiled as she shook his hand and then pulled him into and a tight hug.

"Thank you so much for today" she whispered into the snow haired child's ear.

With that, the blue haired lass bid the snow haired child goodbye and got into the car.
Lincoln waved goodbye one last time hoping that she saw him as the car drove away.

Then the snow haired child began to walk back home so his family doesn't send out a search party to retrieve him. 'Ketchum…why does that name sound familiar?' Lincoln thought.

(Later that night…)

(Lincoln)

We find the snow haired child relaxing in his room listening to music and reading one of his older Ace Savvy: Beyond comics in his pajamas. Dinner with Pop-Pop went great; everyone talked about how their day went but strangely enough he couldn't bring himself to talk about his day with Kat. But then again it might've been for self preservation, he didn't want the girls or his parents or even Pop-Pop to get the wrong idea.

Plus, he himself wasn't too sure what to think.

He enjoyed spending the day with Kat, he wasn't denying that. But this was new for him, for a long time the snow haired child never really had anyone outside of his family he could call a friend. 'Maybe on Monday, I should try talking to her during homeroom' the snow haired child thought to himself.

After awhile, Lincoln turned off his stereo and brushed his teeth and then turned off the light and then blissfully went off into dreamland. Wondering what the future may hold.

(Kat)

After a nice formal dinner at home with her parents and grandfather, we find the blue haired lass in her bedroom clad in pajamas watching Netflix shows off of her tablet. Currently, she was re-watching the first season of Hilda. She first got interested in the cartoon when she saw the main character with blue hair she felt that she could relate to that. But then became fully invested as the more episodes she watched.

VVVBBBTTT

Just then, she heard her phone vibrating. She looked at the caller I.D. and saw it was Darin. The blue haired lass beamed with excitement. She hit "pause" on her tablet and then pressed "talk" on her phone. "Yeah…you were able to find one…excellent, how long will it take for it to arrive?...Monday?...that works out for me...okay, thank so much for all your help." With that, she ended her call.

Then Kat let out a breath of relief that Darin was able to pull off a miracle.
Come Monday morning, she will be able to give Lincoln a surprise of a lifetime.

'I know that I just met Lincoln, but there's something…special…about him and I'm curious to know what it is. I think I'll give the comic during lunch so that we could be alone together and away from any annoying mouthbreathers.' As the blue haired lass finished devising a plan in her head, she turned off her tablet and then brushed her teeth and then came back to bed after turning off her lamp and then turning in for the night.

So…my fellow readers, that was an interesting turn of events for our protagonists.

What was supposed to be a simple outing alone turned into an experience that neither Lincoln nor Kat will ever forget. And hopefully, things will go smooth for the pre-teens once they return to school the coming Monday. Especially since ol' Lincoln Loud will be receiving a "token of appreciation" if you will.

(Next time…)
"That's What Friends Are For"

Lincoln's playlist:

"Harlem Shuffle" by Bob & Earl
"Good Day Sunshine" by The Beatles
"Scott Pilgrim" by Plumtree
"Go!" by Plumtree
"I've Just Seen a Face" by The Beatles
"Mr. Sandman" by Four Aces

AN: I would like to thank you all again for your patience.