So to celebrate pride month, I decided to put together a little one-shot for a show with canonical LGBT+ couples. If that's not your thing, then this is not a story for you.

More than Friends

Disclaimer: I do not own the Loud House and make no profit from this story.

The school day had just ended at Royal Woods Middle School. Students were all rushing to get the heck out and make the most of what time they had before dinner. One student in particular however, was not in such a hurry. Lincoln Loud was waiting by the vending machines for a certain someone. A classmate whom he had been planning to ask to the dance that Friday. He had slipped a note into her locker and was now awaiting her reply.

The minutes passed by and he saw no one coming, much less the girl he was expecting to meet with him. More time ticked by and he had to acknowledge that she wasn't coming at all. In fact, he was probably the only person still in school, aside of the janitor and whomever was currently in detention.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Lincoln dug some change out of his pocket and started to put it into the vending machine. He pushed 1 and C on the keypad and got a bottle of orange soda. Then he put in some more change, this time pushing 3 and A to get an iced tea. Taking his purchases in hand, Lincoln began the walk to the front doors of the school. As he stepped outside he squinted his eyes a little while they adjusted to the natural light. Once he could see properly again, he found his best friend Clyde waiting for him at the bottom of the steps.

"Hey Buddy!" Clyde greeted with an excited wave. "How did it go?"

"It didn't." Lincoln replied a little sadly. "She didn't even show up."

"Ouch… I'm sorry, Lincoln."

"Why are you apologizing?" Lincoln asked, a tiny smile coming to his face. "It's not like it's your fault or anything."

Clyde smiled sheepishly. "Well I didn't really know what else to tell you."

"Orange soda or iced tea?" Lincoln replied, holding up the drinks. "I know you usually avoid soda, but maybe you feel like mixing things up."

"Nah, I'll take the iced tea. You know how my dads feel about me having carbonated beverages."

Lincoln passed the drink to Clyde and then opened his own. They started to walk home together, sipping from their respective drinks as they made their way down the sidewalk. The first few blocks they walked in silence, Lincoln's eyes on the ground in front of him as he moved. Clyde was at a loss of what to do. As he had stated before, he just didn't know what to tell his best friend. The silence was becoming uncomfortable, but he didn't want to push Lincoln if he didn't want to talk.

"So I think that I should still go to the dance anyway." Lincoln said, startling Clyde out of his thoughts. "Just because I don't have a date doesn't mean I won't have any fun, right?"

"Uhh, yeah! And besides, you'll have all of your pals there too. So it's not like you'd be at the dance alone."

"Well I don't about that. Everyone besides me has a date, remember?" asked. "Can you believe that Rusty asked out my sister?"

"I'm more surprised that Lynn said yes." Clyde answered. "I hope Rusty knows what he's getting himself into."

"He'll find out soon enough." Lincoln replied, cracking a smirk. "Hopefully without needing to get any casts."

They shared a quick laugh and continued their walk in better spirits. Clyde was relieved to see Lincoln was in a better mood. As they reached a corner and waited to cross the street, Lincoln turned to face him.

"So, are you meeting up with Chloe at the dance or going to her house to meet her there?" He asked. "I'm just wondering because I was thinking we could walk to the dance together, but I don't want to be a third wheel."

"About that…" Clyde began, almost sounding crestfallen. "Chloe and I… we decided we work better as friends. So I guess I'm going to the dance solo too."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that, Buddy." Lincoln replied. "It must feel like Emma all over again."

"Don't worry. It stinks, but it's not like it's the first time things didn't work out between me and a girl I like. How many times did I try to charm Lori?"

"More times than I would bother to keep count." Lincoln joked. "I was almost ready to start keeping track of how grand your gestures were getting though."

Clyde sighed and went to sip his tea again but hesitated. He put the cap back on and then held out his free hand towards Lincoln.

"On second thought, I think I will have some soda."

"Okay. Here, let's swap."

The boys traded beverages, Clyde taking a big swig of the orange soda and Lincoln sipping from the iced tea after unscrewing the cap. The crosswalk signal light changed and they crossed the street. Silence returned between them, this time Lincoln feeling discomfort from it while they walked. There was something on his mind, something which he had pondered for a while. He had wanted to bring it up to Clyde, but it would have been a bit awkward since he had thought his best friend was in a relationship. Now… well now it could all to easily still be awkward, but maybe it would was his chance.

"So… since neither of us has a date, maybe we can go to the dance together." Lincoln suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds good to me." Clyde said, perking up a little. "Just the two of us, a pair of young bachelors having a great time without dates!"

Lincoln smiled nervously. "Um, about that. What I meant was that we could go together as each other's date."

Clyde slowed to a stop and stared at Lincoln, his jaw hanging open. The stunned expression on his best friend's face gave him the impression that he may have not picked the best time to ask. A blush came to his cheeks and he began to fidget with the bottle of iced tea in his hands, passing it back and forth between them.

"I'm just, you know, tossing out the idea." He said with a nervous laugh. "It's not like we have to or anything. I mean, of course you don't have to, I just meant that, I uh… I made things weird. Didn't I? I'll just go a different way home…"

"No, wait." Clyde said, reaching out to grab Lincoln's hand. "It's not like that. I just wasn't expecting you to ask me to… well, go with you that way."

"So… does that mean you'd want to?"

Clyde hesitated. He had still not quite fully processed what was going on just yet. Lincoln had really come out of left field with his suggestion. There were a lot of questions popping into his mind at the moment and he wasn't really sure where to begin with any of them. But there was one thing he was sure of and that was he wasn't opposed to the idea.

"Okay, let's give it a try." He said. "What's the worst that could happen? We realize we work better as friends?"

"Yeah, it's not like we've already known that for years." Lincoln said with playful sarcasm.

"However will we move on as just friends?" Clyde added jokingly.

The two shared a quick laugh and then they slowed to a stop again. They had reached Clyde's house and he would need to be going. Both he and Lincoln stood for a moment, facing each other and blushing mildly.

"Well I've got to get started on my homework. See you at school tomorrow." Clyde said.

"See you tomorrow." Lincoln replied. "We can talk more about what we should do for Friday. You know, like what time to meet up before the dance and stuff."

"Okay. Sounds good to me. So… since we plan to go to the dance together, together… would it be weird to ask you for a hug before you go?"

"No, not at all." Lincoln said, spreading his arms. "Bring it in."

Clyde stepped forward and they embraced each other. They patted each other on the back and then separated again. Clyde went to open his front door, giving Lincoln one quick wave as he started down the street again.

"See you later, Buddy!" He called.

Lincoln waved back. "See you in the morning! Have a good one, Buddy!"

After watching Lincoln walk off for a few seconds, Clyde stepped into his home. As he shut the door behind him, he felt a giddiness rising up inside of him. Just up the street, Lincoln was feeling the same. The two boys hadn't expected things to go the way they did that day. It would be slightly awkward for both of them when they met at school the next morning. But later that week when they met up for the dance, the step they took together into the gymnasium was the first step in taking their relationship to a new level.

The End.

Okay, so some of you may be wondering why I did a Clincoln ship for Pride Month. To be honest, it seems like it could be canon. I am willing to believe I am wrong in that regard, but considering that the show has already got a few different LGBT+ couples I wouldn't be surprised.