Author's Note: okay I've received some messages that some of you weren't happy with how Lincoln acted in my last chapter and that he was OOC. Well for the record, Lincoln isn't a saint, and he has shown numerous times in the series that he can be selfish and a jerk. And if you remember in the episode 'One of the Boys' he was more than happy to stay in a dimension where he only had brother's...until he realised how bad they were. Anyway here's the epilogue, I hope you enjoy.
It was an average afternoon in Royal Woods, and Stella had decided to walk home from school instead of taking the bus as normal due to it being such a nice day. As her house came into view she froze as she saw a familiar white haired, orange clad boy sitting on her front door step. "Lincoln?" she said making him look at her with a smile
"Hey Stella, its been a while" he said before she bolted over and threw herself at him, but he didn't budge at all when she made contact. She held him for a good minute before she moved back a bit and started speaking
"Lincoln, where have you been this whole time?...and the hell happened to your body?!" she asked while her eyes traveled up and down his muscular physique
"Hmm the abridged version, I've been in another dimension for over a year after my sister Lisa sent me there after some payback gone wrong" knowing what Lisa was capable of, his story didn't sound farfetched "and for the past year I've been living with an alternate version of my family there"
Stella took it well enough, or at least looked like she did "so Lisa was finally able to bring you back I see"
"No. I'm actually just here to tie up some loose ends before I head back to my new home for good"
"Wait so you're choosing to stay in a new dimension and abandon your life here?!"
"Well Lynn destroyed every shred of my existence in this dimension in a fit of rage, so all that remains are basically just memories and maybe a few photos my relatives have, that's it"
"Why the hell did she do that?!"
"She was angry that my life is so much better in the other dimension and that I didn't want to come back here"
"Well do whatever makes you happy…wait, if there was an alternate version of your family, does that mean there's an alternate version of me?"
"Yep and I'm friends with her"
"What's she like?"
"She's exactly like you personality-wise…but before I arrived, she was the school loser"
This surprised Stella "really?!" she asked in disbelief
"Yeah, poor girl was bullied relentlessly for years, heck she was about to commit suicide right there in the lunch room before I interrupted her, and ended up becoming friends with her"
"Like the white knight in shining armour you are"
"Well I wouldn't say that. Several month's ago do you remember meeting a muscular kid when you were hanging out with Jordan?"
Stella looked thoughtful for a minute before her eyes widened "wait, that was you?!"
"Yeah, I was wearing a disguise so no one would recognize me"
"Well it certainly worked" She smirked "Then again nobody would think Lincoln Loud of all guys would look like a mini eighties action hero.
"Yeah, heck not even Lynn recognised me when I bumped into her" his face then turned serious "Stella. I want you to look at me and tell me what exactly the guys did to you" Stella now looked like she was on the verge of tears, she then took a deep breath and exhaled
"They restrained me, tried to take my stuff off... they, they shoved their disgusting tongues into my mouth and..." she said as tears started to roll down her face.
She froze like a rabbit as she felt Lincoln's massive body vibrating around her. His breathing becoming ragged. Despite the arms wrapped around her feeling like they could break her back she didn't feel scared. She felt...safe "Why." The one word held a million questions.
"Rusty thought you were some kind of leader in our group and 'took over'. It went to his head and Liam and Zach didn't want to 'abandon their bro'." She muttered and put her head on his huge shoulder. Despite the hardness of his muscles he wasn't uncomfortable to lean against
Even though he was now raging mad on the inside, Lincoln kept a calm exterior "did you tell anyone"
"Yeah, I did, they're in juvie now"
"Good" he said before he pulled her into a gentle hug, which she returned "do you hate boys now?"
"Boys are horrible, vial, disgusting…uh well not all boys" she said, realising that she was probably insulting him, but Lincoln just laughed as the two let go. Her expression turning tired "It's like, without you the whole group just fell apart. Like you were the heart or something." She looked up to see a guilty look on his face "No no. I didn't mean it like that Linc! Don't blame yourself. It's not your job to keep them in check. It never was. It was Rusty's fault for needing someone to keep him from being a creep and the other two guys fault for doing what he told them to."
"It's fine Stella, I get where you're coming from, it's kind of a shame that they're in juvie because if they weren't, I'd hunt them down and turn them into human pretzals." She smiled, touched at how she was being. "here's something to show you that not all boys are like that" he then pulled her back into a gentle hug and slowly leaned forward, silently asking permission rather than pushing the issue on someone so recently hurt. Stella was surprised at Lincoln's boldness, but found herself granting it and leaning in as well. The initial contact was a shock, but the surprise was quickly overridden as she began melting into his embrace and found herself wrapping her arms around his neck. Deciding to take it further, Lincoln's kiss started to become more energised with Stella matching him beat for beat. Her hands moving up into his hair and tugging his face closer as the two fought for dominance on equal ground
After a minute of this, the two broke the kiss. Both gasping and both smiling "wow Lincoln, where did you learn to kiss like that"
"Natural talent, just remember that not all boys are disgusting perverts, some of them can be real gentlemen"
"Okay, I'll remember that. Would you like to come in?"
"I'd love to, but I'm kinda on a schedule at the moment"
"Oh okay then"
"Sorry"
"That's alright"
"Uh before I go, would you happen to know where Clyde is?"
"Yeah, he's at Hazeltucky Sanatorium"
"Cool, thanks for that Stella, much appreciated"
"Anytime…and good luck with your new life"
"Thanks" he gave her one final kiss on the cheek and stepped onto what looked like a skateboard with no wheel's "clamp, clamp" two clamps then came out of the board and clamped around his feet "kai, kai" and with that, the sides lit up to a glowing blue before it rose up 2 feet off the ground "my very own personal hoverboard" he said proudly, he then gave her a salute before he shot off to his next destination, leaving behind a stunned Stella.
Lincoln arrived at Hazeltucky Sanatorium, after having shocked and stunned heaps of people with his hoverboard. Deactivating the board he unclamped his feet from it and headed inside. Walking up to the front desk, a young woman in her early 20's sat at it. The woman smiled at him "hi there, may I help you?" she asked
"Yes, I would like to see Clyde McBride please"
The women raised a brow "you want to see that train wreck of a kid?"
"Yes, I do"
"Well, okay then. I'll have an orderly escort you to him, though I'm going to have to ask you to leave your board here"
"Sure" Lincoln said casually, and he placed the board on the desk while the woman called an orderly.
Soon a large man arrived and began escorting Lincoln to the recreational hall. When they entered, Lincoln could see kids varying in different ages. "There he is" the orderly said and he guided Lincoln over to him "word of warning, that kid will probably think of you as some kid named Lincoln"
"I am Lincoln"
"Wait, you're the Lincoln he constantly rambles about?!"
"Yeah, and I'm here to basically give him a slap in the face of reality"
"Well good luck with that" Lincoln walked the rest of the distance while the orderly stayed back while keeping an eye on him.
As Clyde sat at one of the tables reading a magazine someone sat down next to him. Turning his head, his eyes widened before he rubbed them to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "L-L-Lincoln?!"
"Hey Clyde, it's been a while"
"LINCOLN!" and with that Clyde brought Lincoln into a tight hug, though it was nothing compared to his sister Luna's spine crushing hugs.
When he released Lincoln from the hug he began asking so many questions that it just sounded like jibberish. He only stopped when Lincoln slapped his hand over his mouth. "Now I'm going to remove my hand, and when I do I want you to calmly say what you want to say, okay?"
"Mmhmm" Lincoln then removed his hand "where have you been?"
"Long story short my sisters sent me to another dimension by accident when they were paying me back for accidentally destroying their group project"
"Group pro...wait you mean that contest that they lied to you about?"
"Yeah that's the one"
"How did you accidentally destroy it?"
"I accidentally kicked a ball into the garage and it caused a chain reaction, destroying all of the projects"
"So they lied to you, and then they paid you back for something that was a complete accident?"
"Yep, but in retrospect, accidentally sending me to another dimension during the payback turned out to be a blessing in disguise"
"How so?"
"I met an alternate version of my old family who are better in every way...well except for that little demon Lily...anyway I was adopted by them and now they're my new family"
"Wait I'm a bit confused, so you're abandoning your family here for a new one in another dimension?"
"Yep" Lincoln replied without missing a beat
"I know your family has a few problems which they need to work on, but do you really want to abandon them?" Lincoln then went over the complete list of how the Lard's were better than the Loud's, he even told Clyde what Lisa Loud had done to him that one spring.
Needless to say, Clyde was both surprised and shocked at what Lincoln told him "well…I won't deny that they do sound better than your family here…especially Lynn…so why are you here if that other dimension is so great?"
"I'm just here to tie up some loose ends before I permanently leave"
"Wait?! You're leaving me again?!" he started to hyperventilate before Lincoln slapped him across the face, shocking the young teen
"Now you listen good Clyde. I can not and will not be your crutch. You need to grow up and accept change, I'm leaving this dimension for good and whether you like it or not, you have to accept it. I am not going to give up my happiness just because you think you 'need' me. Newsflash, change happens all the time. deal with it. Though I will also say that your dad's are partly responsible for you being the way you are, because they treat you like a baby made of glass" he then stood up "I'm leaving now Clyde, for good, and unless you want to spend the rest of your life in nut houses, you'd better become more independent and move on with your life" Clyde then stood up as well, now with a firm look on his face
"...You're right. I can't act like we'd always be joined at the hip." He dusted himself off "Thanks man. You've given me a lot to think about." he then stuck out his hand which Lincoln grabbed and the two shook "thanks. Still friends?"
"Forever and always." the two then let go and Lincoln left, hopeful that he had gotten through to Clyde. There was now just one more loose end to tie up, and he knew that this one would be the hardest.
Lincoln now stood out the front of Sunset Canyon Retirement Home, with his hoverboard under his arm, he walked in. Walking up to the front desk, he saw Sue, who cast a glance over at him "huh, haven't seen you in a while, I take it you're here to see Albert?"
"Indeed I am"
"He should be in his room"
"Thanks Sue" and he headed to his destination, leaving a rather surprised Sue
"Huh, first time anyone's thanked me in this place" she said to herself before she went back to what she was doing.
Albert was sitting in his chair reading a book when he heard a knock on his door, thinking that it was either Sue or one of the people who lived at the retirement home he simply said "it's open" the door then opened and Albert's heart almost stopped "Lincoln?" he questioned as he slowly got up
"Hey Pop-Pop, it's been a while"
"Lincoln!" he then rushed over and gave his grandson a tight hug, one which Lincoln was more than happy to return.
When they broke the embrace, Albert looked Lincoln up and down "good god Lincoln, what on Earth happened to you, you're built like an ox now"
"I did a lot of sit ups and drank plenty of juice" Albert laughed and ruffled Lincoln's hair
"So where have you been? your family said you ran away" Lincoln's smile dropped instantly at that
"So that's what they told you what happened?"
"Yeah…why? What really happened?"
"You'd better sit down, this will take a while" and for the next 2 hours Lincoln gave Albert the abridged version of the events that had happened as well as sharing stories and showing him pictures of his new family.
During the explanation, Albert had gone through a whirlwind of different emotions after hearing all of this. He was furious at his grandkids for what they did, but he was also happy that his only grandson had a great life where he currently was, he was also intrigued and surprised when he saw Lincoln's new family, he had also almost fallen back in his chair when he saw the picture of Lori.
"Well Lincoln, I'm glad you found a good family"
"Thanks Pop-Pop"
"I hope this doesn't sound rude, but why are you here?"
"I just came back for a bit to tie up some loose ends, such as giving you a proper goodbye" and he hugged Albert with the elderly man returning it.
"I can't say I'm happy to hear that. But I'm proud you're not leaving anything unfinished."
"Yeah, that's something I learned from you"
Albert gave a bit of a laugh "good to know you learned something positive from me"
Lincoln returned the Laugh "yeah"
The two then broke up as Sue knocked on the door and told Lincoln that he had to go "well looks like this is goodbye kiddo"
"Yeah, I'll miss yah Pop-Pop"
"Well you've got another me in your new dimension so you won't miss me that much" Lincoln laughed at this, the two gave one final hug before Lincoln left.
Once outside Lincoln hopped on his hoverboard and road it up into the sky. He stopped when he was high enough to see all of his old Royal Woods. Looking down on the small town he smiled as he was glad that he could tie up all of the loose ends. Giving the town a 2 finger salute, he pulled a small pen like device out his pocket and pressed a button on it with opened up a portal "home, here I come" and with that he flew through it with it closing up behind him.
Author's Note: Okay, first off, I would like to give a super awesome mega ultra thank you to Wolvenstrom for Beta reading my story as well as giving me TONS of idea's, I know this story wouldn't have been nearly as good or successful if you hadn't helped me with it, thank you so much :)
And now we've come to the end of the story, I would like to thank everyone who read and reviewed this story, this has been my most successful one with over 170 reviews and over 20,000 views. I do plan to (hopefully) make a sequel to this, set 10 years in the future. I happily welcome any to all idea's and suggestions so feel free to let me know either by review or PM. So until my next story, Stay Gold