I don't own The Loud House.

Well guys here's another chapter for TMD, I've been pretty busy the last month and it seems that I'm gonna be busy again this month. I shouldn't be surprised, September through December are horrible months for me to write in.

As for the next chapter of Dig-Loud Adventure, I'm still working on it. I've rewritten it like three times already. I wasn't happy with the first two drafts because I want this to have a good start to something that I've been building up towards. And while it is taking me a while to get it done, I want this to be worth the read. I don't want to rush it. So you'll probably see another chapter of TMD before you see the next chapter of DLA.

I'm also working on another chapter for Lust For A Loud. This one will focus on Leni and Lincoln and it will be a smutfilled, fluffy, and hopefully hilarious story. I'm not sure when it will be done but hopefully it will be done within the next week or two.

Enjoy.

Too Many Dates

Chapter 10: Clearing The Air

It was mid afternoon on Wednesday when Carol made her way into the Loud House. She was nervous beyond belief despite having already showered and been given all sorts of advice from Sam and Becky. Though some of the things that Becky told her she would probably not need.

She had texted Lori asking if they could talk and much to her surprise, Lori agreed. Sam had offered her a cup just in case Lori felt like kicking her in her... Anyways, after her shower, she texted Lincoln and asked him if Lori was feeling better or not and thankfully he said that Lori would listen to her. He said that he talked to Lori and that it had been mostly his fault and that Lori had already forgiven him.

As she stepped onto the porch, the door burst open and two little blonde girls rushed out and stood guard with their arms crossed while wearing aviator sunglasses. She knew the girls as Lincoln's twin sisters, Lola and Lana, though her interactions with them had been limited.

Carol waved at them and smiled brightly. "Hello there, you're Lola and Lana, right?"

While she couldn't see their eyes, she was pretty sure that they were glaring up at her based on their tone of voice. "It's Lana and Lola to you, dirtbag." Lana said.

"W-What?" This threw Carol for a loop since they had never acted like this towards her.

"What are you doing here? You are trespassing on private grounds, blondie." Lola said as she raised her hand up and pointed a finger at Carol.

"I-I'm here to see Lori, is she here?" Carol asked, wondering why the twins were acting this way towards her. Had Lincoln been wrong? Was Lori still mad at her?

Lana took a step forward and placed her fists on her hips while puffing out her chest. "What makes you think that Lori wants to see you, dirtbag?"

Normally, Carol wouldn't let comments from children or anyone really hurt her because she was normally a pretty confident person. She knew what she was worth and she didn't allow anyone to belittle her or cause her to feel bad about herself. But due to all of the emotional stress from that morning, Carol was feeling a little vulnerable. There was a chink in her normally flawless armor and she was beginning to feel the sting from their words.

When she didn't respond right away, Lola spoke again. "Lana, she's not a dirtbag." Lola turned to her twin and Carol felt a spark of hope rise in her chest. But it was immediately snuffed out as Lola turned back to face her and added. "She's a whore."

Carol recoiled away from the two girls, her hand clutched to her chest. Tears stung her eyes, her mind racing. Her thoughts going at a million miles a minute. Thoughts of Lincoln being wrong and Lori telling everyone about what she did dominated her mind as she tried desperately to come up with a way to defend herself but she couldn't.

And seeing the blonde take step back only served to embolden Lola. "You're nothing but a cheap floozy who got lucky with our brother. You don't deserve him and you never will. So why don't you do us all a favor and get lost!"

And just as Lola finished her little tirade, the door slammed open once more and this time Lori stepped out. "Lola, what the hell are you doing!?" she all but shouted.

The twins jumped at the tone of Lori's voice but Lola stood her ground. "We were just telling this back alley slut to leave our home. She's not welcome here."

"Yea!" Lana added.

Lori glared at the twins before turning her gaze on Carol. And upon seeing her friend's tearful and hurt expression, her own softened. "Carol, I'm so, so sorry about this. I'm not sure where they got this idea from but I promise you, it wasn't from me or Lincoln. Please, come up to my room and we can talk about this." She had moved towards her friend and pulled her into a warm embrace, hoping to both calm her down and show her that she didn't hold any ill will towards her.

Carol returned the embrace and nodded. "Okay..." She said in a small voice.

Once Carol had gone inside and up the stairs, Lori turned to look at the twins. "I don't know where you two think you got the idea to talk to Carol like that but it wasn't right. You two really hurt her feelings and she deserves an apology."

"But, Lori-" The twins piped up but Lori put her foot down.

"No buts! Now I want the two of you to go to your rooms and sit on your beds. You're grounded." The twins gasped at the news but Lori wasn't done yet. "I'm going to tell Lincoln and he's gonna punish the two of you. And once I'm done talking to Carol and making sure that she's okay, I'm gonna bring her to your room and you two better be sorry or you're going to be. Got it?"

The twins hung their heads as they marched up towards their rooms. And once they reached the second floor, they saw Lincoln standing outside of Lori's and Leni's bedroom as he was hugging Carol, who still had tears in her eyes. This made them feel a little guilty but they didn't say anything as they continued towards their rooms.

Lori was a few steps behind them and when she reached the second floor, she kept her eyes on the twins until they entered their rooms. Once their door had closed, she made her way over to Lincoln and Carol.

"Lori, what happened?" Lincoln asked since Carol had yet to say a word. All she had done was hold onto him for comfort as she silently wept.

Lori sighed. "I'm not sure exactly how but the twins got it in their heads that I was mad at Carol and that she was a...well, a word that I don't much like repeating if I'm honest."

"T-They c-called me a whore..." Carol said the same small voice from before.

Lori watched Lincoln's expression turn from shock to hurt to outrage. She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Lincoln, I'm gonna leave the twins to you."

Understanding filled Lincoln and he nodded. "Thanks."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

While Lincoln was dealing with the twins, Lori had taken Carol into her room and sat her down on her bed. She then left the room in order to prepare her a hot cup of tea. As Lori made the tea, she wondered what could have possibly gotten into the twins for them to act like that? While it was true that Lori was upset when she learned that Lincoln had added Carol into his harem (It was a harem, Lincoln was only fooling himself), it was more because she hadn't been ready for it.

Lori had suspected that Carol had a thing for her little brother. She could remember back when they were eight that Carol had gotten really upset when they were playing house and Lincoln was chosen to be Leni's husband for the day. Mind you, they were all kids and Lincoln was barely two years old at the time. But Carol had cried and when Lori asked her what the problem was, she said that she wanted to be the one to marry her precious Lincy. At the time, Lori had thought it was sweet but as she got older, those feelings that she began to feel for her little brother began to make her see Carol, her best friend, as a...rival...

"Son of a bitch..." Lori muttered to herself as she pressed her forehead against the refrigerator door. She had never really taken the time to remember exactly why she had felt the need to compete with Carol. Looking back, she felt silly for treating her best friend that way but now that she had this breakthrough, she felt terrible. What kind of friend was she? Hell, what kind of sister was she? With her past behavior, it was no wonder the twins acted the way that they did. They were only mimicking her past behavior.

To think that it all began with Lincoln...it seemed that everything in her life seemed to revolve around him. She tried to replace Lincoln with Bobby and it seemed to work but maybe the reason she tended to go overboard with him is because she knew that nothing would ever be enough to get over Lincoln. Should she really be tempting fate by going through with Lisa's plan? Would she really be able to pull away and live with herself after she finally had a taste of true bliss? She honestly didn't know but it was too late for her to back out. It had been too late for years now.

Once the tea was ready, Lori took the two cups up to her room and handed one to her best friend, who looked as though she was doing better. She wasn't silently sobbing anymore and while her eyes were still a little puffy, she at least had a small smile on her lips.

"Here you go, Carol, careful though, it's still hot." Lori warned her.

"Thanks...is it jasmine tea?" She asked.

"Of course, I know that it's your favorite." Lori smiled.

Carol smiled back before taking a small sip. The tea seemed to work its magic because Carol's expression immediately became relaxed as she enjoyed her favorite tea. Lori watched her for a moment, taking her friend's appearance in. She was still wearing the clothes from the day before, which meant that she still hadn't gone home after...well, being with her brother. But her hair did look washed and she looked like she had put on a little makeup before the twins had upset her. But more than that, Carol was positively glowing. There was this radiance about her that even this small incident couldn't diminish. And Lori knew that it was...it was the glow of a woman in love.

She knew why Carol was there and while she didn't hold it against her, she knew that they still needed to clear the air between them. So after a sigh, Lori began. "So...you and Lincoln, huh?"

Carol looked up from her cup at tea towards Lori and she gave her a tentative smile. "Yes...me and Lincoln..."

"Do you love him?" Lori asked though she already knew the answer.

Carol reached out with her right hand and placed it on top of Lori's hand. "With all my heart."

"Even though he's got other girls that are also in love with him?" Lori asked. She knew that Carol truly loved her brother but she had to press her, she had to make sure. "Even though he will probably add more girls to his harem? You're not secretly hoping that he will eventually love you more than the others and leave them for you?"

Carol gave Lori's hand a squeeze. "So long as he has room in his heart for me, I will always love him. I know it sounds crazy but when I'm with Lincoln...I don't feel as though I need to fight for his attention...it's like...like..."

"Like even among all of the girls in his life, he still sees you?" Lori finished for her.

Carol nodded as she looked into her best friend's eyes and she smiled gratefully. "Exactly! Sure, I have to share him with Sam and Becky but...honestly, it doesn't feel like that. We're...for lack of a better word, a family...all of us united by our love for him and each other. There's a bond that we're creating and its..."

"It's one that's built on love, friendship, and trust? Where you can look to Lincoln when you need him and know that he will always be there to help you no matter what? That when you look into his eyes and see that chipped smile of his that suddenly the world feels like a better place because he's in it and more importantly, he's also in your life?" Lori wasn't sure when it had happened but she started to speak to Carol about things that she had never told another soul, not even Leni. These were the things that she kept locked inside of her chest that she had hoped to share with Lynn but it never happened. And now, as she was listening to Carol describe what she had been feeling all of her life, she couldn't stop herself. Tears began to fall from her eyes as years of repressed emotions began to spill out.

"You're happy when you see him turn to look at you and you know that, even among all of his sisters, he sees you. He truly sees you and he listens to you and he acknowledges you. He does everything within his power to literally make your life better even if it makes his life worse. H-He...would sacrifice so much for you and not even bat an eye so long as you were happy. And when you look into his eyes so deep and blue, you don't see a 12 year old boy but a man who's wise beyond his years. Yet despite his maturity...he's still that adorably cute dork who still sleeps with his stuffed rabbit that you gave him when he was born...And...And..."

With a shuddering breath, Lori continued. "And you love him for all of those things and more...but most importantly, you love him because he loves you. And his love for you isn't any less than his love for anyone else. It's special and unique and it's yours."

Lori looked up at Carol's eyes and she saw understanding in her friend's eyes. Realizing what she had said, Lori tried to quickly back track. "I-I mean, th-that's what I assume that you feel. I wasn't talking about myself. No way, that would be wrong. Literally so wrong!"

"Lori."

"A-A-And besides, it's not like he would ever feel the same way towards me! I mean, he's Lincoln! He's so noble and pure and amazing..."

"Lori..."

"And also look at me? I'm not that attractive compared to you! And a-a-alot of people already said that we look like twins so by sleeping with you then he's already slept with me, right? No, wait! That came out wrong! I haven't slept with him! I mean, I don't want to sleep with him!"

"Lori!" Carol shouted this time, cutting off Lori's ongoing desperate rant. "Are you in love with Lincoln?"

By this point, both cups of tea sat on the bedside dresser forgotten as Carol took both of Lori's hands into her own. Lori looked as though she wanted to bolt out of the room but Carol held on tightly to her hands.

"Are you in love with him?" She repeated, this time leaning in closer.

Lori wanted to deny it. She wanted to laugh it off as a joke and pretend that it never happened. But with all of the stress and emotional trips that she had taken in the last couple of weeks, a part of Lori was just exhausted. So with a defeated sigh, she looked away as she nodded. She honestly couldn't stand to see the look of disgust on her former best friend's face.

But much to her surprise, instead of disgust and a slap to the face, Lori found herself wrapped up in a bone crushing hug from Carol. She turned towards the blonde and she found Carol squealing with delight as she pressed her cheek against Lori's.

"Carol, what the hell are you doing?" Lori asked, confused.

"Lori, don't you see how amazing this is?" Carol asked her as she pulled back a bit.

"Are we still talking about the same thing?" Lori asked, still bewildered by Carol's reaction.

"About you having feelings towards your only brother, yes." Carol nodded.

"Okay, just making sure. Please continue." Lori said.

"Lori, I'm in love with Lincoln!" Carol told her as she held her at arm's length, a huge smile on her face.

"I know, I was there this morning after you slept with him, remember?" Lori reminded her.

"No, what I meant is that I'm not the only one who also loves Lincoln. You have no idea just how many girls love him, do you?" Carol asked.

"No and it doesn't matter." Lori shook her head.

"But, Lori..." Carol began but she was cut off by Lori as she stood up and began to pace.

"No, Carol, don't you see? This is wrong! I can't be in love with him, not only is he my brother but I practically raised him!" Lori said as she threw her hands above her head. "God! What the hell is wrong with me!?

"Lori..."
"Besides, I'm already with Bobby and I'm not gonna do anything to ruin the good thing that I have with him." Lori said, making sure to avoid saying anything that would throw suspicions on her for later. She still needed to keep Lisa's plan secret after all.
"Lori..."
"And beside, Lincoln would never go for it, he's too much of a decent person to ever lust after his sisters!" Lori said. But then she stopped as she recalled their earlier conversation. Well, he was still a decent person, definitely much better than her.

"Lori, what if I could help you be with him as well?" Carol asked quickly once Lori stopped talking.

Lori turned to stare at her for a moment almost as if she were seeing her for the first time. "You...would be willing to do that?" She asked.

Carol stood up and took her friend's hands as well. She wanted so badly to tell her everything about Sam's plan but she couldn't just reveal everything like that! She needed to convince Lori to go and talk to Sam and Becky. "I would. And I'm not the only one either! Sam and Becky would totally want to help you as well."

"Why?" Lori asked. She had been wondering what Sam's plan was and while she wasn't as worried about it as she probably should be, she knew that she would eventually have to have a talk with her.

"I can't tell you. At least not yet. But Lori, if you truly want to be with him then just come with me to talk to Sam and Becky, I'm sure that they would be thrilled to have you!" Carol said. She wanted so badly to help her best friend be with the man that she loved. She had only been with Lincoln for one night but even so, in just that one night she knew just how special he was. He was amazing and wonderful but even those words couldn't do him justice. Being with him was impossible to put into words yet she felt something incredible with him...something magical. And she wanted that for her friend as well. "Please, Lori, say that you will."

"I can't..." Lori shook her head. "Look, Carol, I appreciate the offer, I truly do. But I literally can't be with him. It's wrong...and besides, I'm not even gonna be around for much longer anyways."

"What do you mean?" Carol asked.

"I'm going to go away for a while, I didn't want to bring it up just yet with all of this going. But I'm going to go and check out a few college campuses and universities." Lori said as she sat back down. "I know which school that I want to go to but if they don't accept me then I want to make sure that I have a few backups ready just in case." She then looked up at Carol. "Aren't you doing the same?"

"I..." Carol sat down next to Lori. "Yea...I've been busy with school stuff too. And once the summer is over, I won't be able to see Lincoln as often as I would like..." Carol hadn't thought about it too much but now that she was, she realized that her time with Lincoln was short. "I know that he wouldn't want me to jeopardize my future over him but I am gonna miss him like crazy! Oh Lori, how am I gonna survive without my little cub in my life!"

Carol let herself fall down on the bed and she stared up at the ceiling. "There's no way that I'm going to be able to survive without his love for so long..."

This made Lori raise an eyebrow. "Do you mean his love or his love?"

Realizing that she said that part out loud, Carol blushed. "Both, honestly. I just got to be with him yesterday and I can't lie...I'm addicted to him..."

"Are you being real right now?" Lori asked.

"Yes...I know that you probably don't want to hear this but last night when we made love," Carol began but Lori cut her off.

"I still can't believe that you, of all people, put out on the first date." Lori told her as she crossed her arms underneath her chest. "Weren't you giving me crap when I told you about the times I fooled around with Bobby?"

"Hey, it's not my fault, okay? That brother of yours is a menace! He could charm the pants, or skirt, off of any girl that he wanted too!" Carol said as she sat back up in order to defend herself. "I'm serious, remember when he talked me into replacing you for the family photo just to make you want to do it?"

"Oh yea...how did he get you to do it, by the way? You never really told me before."

"I...would rather not talk about it." Carol blushed again while averting her gaze.

"Oh come on, you're about to tell me about how you fucked my brother and this is where you draw the line?" Lori asked in disbelief.

"W-Well, it's rather personal is all." Carol managed to say. But as she turned to look back at her friend, she couldn't withstand the piercing gaze from the Eldest Loud sibling. "Okay, fine! He asked me to fill in your roll because he said that I was one of the most beautiful girls that he had ever seen. He...bought me flowers and gave me chocolates...and even gave me a poem that he wrote..."

Lori was impressed. "He did all that just to get you to help him?"

"He's very charming when he wants to be..." Carol said, her face blushing like mad as she recalled that day. "I remember thinking how much I would like it if he took my hand in his while he read me the poem. Him looking into my eyes while I held my flowers close to my face while trying to hide my smile and my blush. And afterwards, he would pull me close and tell me how much he loved me...then we would kiss."

Lori allowed her friend to lose herself in her fantasy for a few moments before she cleared her throat. "And then?"

"Oh...um, well, he didn't read the poem out loud and he didn't hold my hand. But he still was very charming and once he smiles at you, it's basically impossible to say no to him." Carol admitted. "A-And at the time we were still frenemies so I didn't want to try and make a move on him since I didn't want to get on your bad side anymore than I already had." This seemed to sober Carol up a bit as she looked down at her lap. "I...didn't want to make you hate more than you already did at the time..."

"Oh my god, Carol, I'm so, so sorry about that!" Lori immediately swept her friend up in a hug as she buried her face into her shoulder. "You have no idea how much I regret my behavior from back then. I was so stupid for pushing you away, especially when you had done nothing wrong."

"L-Lori, where is this coming from?" Carol asked, bewildered by Lori's sudden apology. "I thought you said that you didn't remember what had started it all?"

"I didn't..." Lori pulled away just enough to be able to look into Carol's eyes. "Until just a little while ago...while I was making our tea, I realized why I had pushed you away."

Carol was still. The mystery of why Lori had pushed her away had always eluded her despite her best efforts to find out why. She had asked Becky and Dana to find out for her and there was a point in time when she tried desperately to change herself in order to get her friend to stop hating her but it only made things worse. Finally after years of trying to make things better, Carol finally accepted that Lori hated her and she tried to live her best life. Even Lincoln hadn't known the reason and he was the one who urged her to move on but not hate his sister. And now, to finally have the answer to the longest mystery of her life, Carol wasn't sure she was ready for the answer.

"W-What was it?" she whispered.

Lori took a deep breath before answering. "I pushed you away because I realized that I was also in love with Lincoln..."

"W-What?" Carol wasn't sure she had heard Lori correctly.

"I was jealous of you...you were always so much better at everything than me. Even Lincoln liked you better when you used to come over to play with us. And when you told me that you wanted to marry Lincoln one day, I realized that I wanted to marry him too."

"You still remember that?" A mortified Carol asked. "Oh my god, I can't believe I told you that!"

"Girl, you just had sex with him not 24hrs ago, wanting to marry him isn't a big deal anymore." Lori deadpanned.

"Oh right, hehe, please continue."

"As I was saying, because of my feelings I began to see you as my rival. And because of that, I wanted to prove to everyone that I was better than you. In my mind, I thought that if I could prove that I was better than you at something then Lincoln would love me more than you. I know it sounds stupid because it is but I was 8 when I first realized that I was in love with him. And I let those misguided feelings of inferiority get in between us. And for that...I'm truly sorry, Carol. I know that I deserve it but I hope that one day you could find it in your heart to forgive me." tears were falling down Lori's cheeks once more. "I'm a terrible friend..."

Then to Lori's surprise, it was her turn to feel her friend's embrace. "Oh Lori...I never held it against you. You're my best friend, the closest thing I have to a sister." Lori felt warm tears dampen her hair as Carol pulled her into her chest. "E-Even when we were apart, I never hated you. I just wanted my sister back...and now I have her...I have you back..."

The two girls broke down as their emotional dams reached their limits and the flood of emotions overwhelmed them. When Lincoln found them hours laters, they were lying on Lori's bed wrapped in each other's arms. It brought a smile to his face to know that they were getting along and that they wouldn't be having a repeat of their previous feud.

End of chapter.