A shorter chapter again. I had to split it because it got too long and I want to finish it in time. So the shortness of this chapter is because of the nice cliffhanger I can give you. But so I can finish the next part pretty fast and there will be no delay next week.
Disclaimer: The Loud House belongs to Nickelodeon.
Chapter 45
An old friend Part 1
Lincoln sits on the couch in the living room. But he already knows that he wasn't in his real home. It was way too quiet for that, considering that the sun was shining through the window.
Slowly someone approaches him. "We are so sorry, Lincoln," D says to him while gently stretching her arm out to him.
"Where have you been? I could have needed your help there." Lincoln was angry. He feels left in the lurch.
D pulls her arm back. "We have tried to help you. But you had blocked us."
"I? I have blocked you?"
"Well, to be more precise, it was your subconscious. It had blocked us because you thought that you have deserved what your self-loathing was doing to you."
Lincoln looks down on his hands. Was it really his own fault that his lover wasn't able to help him? Had he truly believed, or does he still believe that he deserves something like that?
He hasn't the answers to those questions. Typically. Lots and lots of questions but not one single answer.
"Can..." Lincoln starts and D was looking at him, wishing that he wasn't too angry at her. "Can you explain to me why I hear your voice when I'm not sleeping?"
Carefully she goes to him and sits beside him. "We are always talking with you, our love. But normally you weren't able to hear us. But we are one for such a long time by now that you begin to hear our voice even outside of this dreamworld."
"I wished I had known that earlier. It's kinda freaky when you hear a voice in your head but no one is there," he says in a more jokingly tone.
D was relieved that it looks like he wasn't holding a grudge on her. "We are sorry. We should have told you sooner that this can happen."
"Yeah, it would have been nice."
It was quiet between the two lovers. No one really knows what to say next.
"Can... can we do something for you to make you feel better?" says D finally.
Lincoln shakes softly his head. "No. Not now. I'm with Luna. It would be really strange when I, well, you know."
"Do you want to enjoy her comfort?"
Lincoln gives her a small smile. "You know me. I am in love with all my sisters. So yeah. I want to enjoy Luna for the rest of the night."
D gives him an understanding nod and leaves him to the warm and safe feeling of his sister, cuddling at his back.
Luckily the rest of the night was peaceful for Lincoln and also Luna got some sleep.
The next two days were pretty normal. Lincoln still was thinking about how he is seeing himself and if he is deserving all this or not.
But he didn't want dark clouds above his head so he made a decision.
It was eleven p.m.. The night from Friday to Saturday.
Lincoln, dressed in his goth attire, was sneaking out of his room.
"Where are you going?" Asks a monotone voice behind his door he was closing.
Lincoln jumped in fear and hold his mouth to not scream out loud. "Holly, freaking heck! Lucy! You nearly had given me a heart attack. What are you doing in my room and how did you—"
"Vents," she says bluntly. "I wanted to watch you sleep."
"That doesn't sound creepy at all."
"I was because so I could wake you up if you would have a nightmare again," she explains to him.
"Oh. Eh, thank you, Luce. That is nice of you. But you need sleep too. Especially in the week."
"You are way more important to me."
"Oh, Lucy," Lincoln sighs. He takes her in an embrace. "You're also very important to me. So please take more care of yourself. For me."
How could she say no to him?
"But back to my question. Where are you going at this time?" repeats Lucy her question.
"I'm going with Isaac. The group had really helped me forget my bad thoughts for a while. And now with Damien gone, I wouldn't get more depressed after it than before."
"I come with you."
"What? No!"
"Why not? And do not say I am too young. You are just one year older than me."
"Because I'm your big brother and I say no! When you go, I'll tell everyone about your love for unicorns. They still believe that the book was mine."
"Are you blackmailing your own girlfriend? Sigh. I have no choice. If you tell them about my secret I tell Luan how Mr. Coconuts hat lost his arm once."
"If you do that, I tell Luna who had taken all her mascara."
"Than I tell..."
It goes back and forth for quite a while. They finally got interrupted as Isaac had sent Lincoln a message that he would go without him if he doesn't come out in the next minute.
Both then were laughing quietly about how many secrets they know about the other one.
"You know, your really stubborn sometimes," Lincoln says in defeat. Lucy just smiles at him. "All right. Come on."
Both leaving the house and goes to Isaac's car.
As Lucy enters it, Isaac looked confused at Lincoln.
"Eh, did I miss something?" asks he.
"When I don't take her with me, I would properly get busted for the rest of my life. She has a lot against me," Lincoln explains.
"Well, after tonight it will be a bit more."
Lucy looked questioning to Isaac. "What do you mean by that?"
"Oh, hadn't Lincoln told you? In reality, we are a secret sex club, which celebrates wild orgies out in the woods in honor of our one and only lord. The flying macaroni monster."
"Sigh. And I have started to believe this would be an interesting night. But you were just joking again."
"Lucy?!" Lincoln says perplexed.
"What?" she returns as if she doesn't know what his problem is.
Even Isaac was a bit surprised. "Damn, girl. I know thanks to the internet that kids are growing much faster with these things. But that fast? Man, I start to feel old."
"No sex orgies for you 'till you're... No. No sex orgies for you at all."
"No worry, Linky. There is only one who is allowed to have my body."
Says Lucy in her typical monotone voice, but Lincoln was able to detect the seductive undertone.
"Oh, so you already have a boyfriend?" Isaac asks as he drives away from their home.
That made Lucy flinch a bit. "Eh, n-no. I, I mean I had a boyfriend, but it had not ended well. I was too spooky and morbid for him."
"Well, not everyone is like us. At least you have Lincoln."
"Eh, what did you say?"
"I mean he always is there for you and comforts you, right? You two can't go on a date or so but at least you don't feel lonely," explains Isaac to her.
"Oh, yes. R-right. He will always be there for all of us." Lucy looks to her brother and he is looking back. Both share a warm smile at each other.
They arrive at the entrance to the woods.
As they get out of the car, Isaac was looking around.
"Are we the first here? That is very odd," he says about the fact that his car is the only one there.
"Did you have forgotten to tell your 'club' that you are meeting again?" Lucy says to the tall guy.
"Nope. I had sent everyone a message. Let us go and look if someone is already at the place."
All three of them are going through the woods. And Isaac looked tense for the entire walk.
"Hey, guys," says a young man which is coming to them.
"Shawn? What are you doing here? Where are the others?" Isaac greets him.
"They're already at the place. Look, since we had heard that Lincoln is coming back we had the idea to surprise him. But Ellie thought it would properly startle him. You know, because of the stuff with Damien. So she had sent me to tell you about it so that he doesn't get a heart attack or so."
"Yeah, sounds like a bad idea. Good that at least someone had used her brain."
But as they arrived at their place, there was no sign that someone was there before.
"Shawn? What is going on? No one is here."
"Oh. I wouldn't say 'no one'," says a voice from behind the trees.
This voice made Lincoln's skin crawl. And Isaac got tenser than before in just a second.
And that because of a very good reason. A figure came out from behind the trees.
"Damien!" growls Isaac.
Damien is back. And I don't believe that he wants to apologize to Lincoln. How will this meeting of 'old friends' go? Will Lincoln get hurt again? Will we find out what Damien's motivation is? All this, next week at Is there light in the darkness?
Stay tuned and have a great day.
