Author's Note:

Hello guys! So, it's been a month already since my last chapter. Whoever is alive and reading this 'til this day, stay safe and thank you so much for your support!

In this chapter, you guys are gonna see how Lynn and Lincoln's relationship end up. Will they make up or will one of them continue to sulk until one pushes the other to talk? Oh yeah, we're gonna learn a little more about how they are after the beat-ups and also Lincoln's side of things.

Let's get this show on the road!

Beyond Two Siblings Chapter 13: Low Profile; High Reputation

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Huh? Wha...?" The white light blinded her.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

She blinked numerous times, adjusting to the brightness. Afterwards, she glanced to the clock that hung by the side of the wall. It read 5 in the afternoon.

Everything seriously hurts.

"We'll leave… be." Muffled voices were heard in the distance. "… blown a hit… significant part of …head…"

The beeping slowly faded out. Lynn's were eyes heavy and thick with sleep. Her movements were groggy, and it was cold. There was rain outside, even though the forecast mentioned it to be sunny today, and there was the faint buzzing of an on A/C. This wasn't her room with sports posters everywhere. And wait… she looked down. These weren't her sheets. Nor was this her outfit!

A lightning of skepticism struck her the moment a smell of alcohol stung her nose before the dull color of the room woke her fully. She glanced up her hand and saw needles attached with the end being in a water bag. The beeping that woke her up was the familiar sound of a heart monitor. It hit her… this was her second home… not a place she wasn't used to. But why? Why was she here? In the hospital? Shouldn't she be at school?

"Oh, you're awake!" A motherly voice echoed in her ears. She turned her head to the source and saw a middle-aged blonde woman smiling at her. Lynn would've thought it was mom if not for the thick glasses and white coat. "I'm your doctor, Mrs. Adams."

Um… okay. She was still left in the dark. "Huh?… How'd I even end up here?"

"Oh, so you don't remember? It must've been the anesthesia." Mrs. A, as Lynn would call her mentally, pulled out a clipboard she tucked under her arm and looked at it. "You were sent here by the nurses of Royal Woods Middle School after…" The doctor winced seeing whatever document she was reading. "Getting a physical beating from a gang of schoolboys."

Lynn gasped. Oh yeah… the thing with Lincoln… to the school bullies… Dylan…

She shot up in realization, hissing when pain shot her usually strong arms, and the world started to spin before it forced her back into collapsing on the bed. And wait, why couldn't she feel her hand?

"Careful. Your body isn't in its best condition right now." Concern dripped from her tone.

She backed down with a grunt, resting her weary head on the pillow. "Ouch..." Lynn mumbled. A pool of fear pumped adrenaline in her hear, and she took a look at her numb hand. When she was groggy before, she was shot awake now. "Wait… w-why does my hand have stitches?"

'Oh, that.' Dr. Adams adjusted her glasses. 'My bad. I forgot to inform you, that you actually underwent a surgery a few minutes ago.'

'Say what?'

'Your wrist had been dislocated.' Lynn visibly flinched at that. But her doctor smiled. 'Don't worry, Ms. Lynn. Injuries heal in time.'

Lynn shot her a smile back, even if it wasn't genuine. Yeah, it will. But I won't.

Shutting her eyes for a moment, the painful throbbing of her body from head to toe was hitting her full force. Defeat sank her heart, and it churned her guts in anger. She was used to pain… everyday was a day full of it when you're playing in all the sports teams in town. This wasn't any different, but from how she couldn't even sit up, maybe it was.

Dr. Adams pulled out a phone, before looking back at Lynn. "Ms. Lynn, you have visitors." She smiled when her patient looked at her with apprehension. "Don't worry. They'll be happy to see you. Just wait for a few minutes, they're coming."

Great. First thing that happens when she wakes up and there's barely even an explanation to everything she had in mind.

The doctor left, leaving her alone for a while.

Finally getting the desired privacy, Lynn groans in exasperation. She didn't want guests… she wanted to take a dozen painkillers. Or simply sleep the pain away. But instead of the Sandman giving her what she wants, in turn for that sensation of the voices in her mind fading away, boredom numbed her mind instead. Not in a good way either.

On rare moments like this, Lynn would spend time on her phone. Maybe watch TV, do a quiet exercise… anything to get her mind off things she never wants to think about. But the hospital's television only had the news channel, and for some reason she couldn't find her bag anywhere. To make it worse, her body failed her after that roller coaster of a day. She wasn't even supposed to be here. Instead, Lincoln and her reconciliate after being forgiven, and everything would go back to normal and the rest is bad history.

But no. Life doesn't work that way unfortunately. Things would be much easier if that's how it went. Lynn's mind wandered and she began to wonder… who were those said guests anyways? Her stomach formed knots of dreaded anticipation of what's about to come, anxiety weighing on top of her beating heart, and the atmosphere around the room alone scared her so greatly it was paralyzing. But for once in her life, she finally realized she couldn't do anything. Yup, completely frozen to very bottom of her core. The raindrops drummed against the closed window of the hospital kept her up. And for the longest time, she laid there. The act of merely falling asleep an impossible task. It was so cold… Lynn hugged the blanket tighter. She needed warmth.

The door opened. It didn't give her enough time to fall time to pretend to fall asleep. Not when she let out a small yelp of surprise at the small creak.

"M-mom? D-dad?" Lynn stammered out, seeing the figures coming into her room.

"Hey sweetie," Dad greeted. They were bringing bags with them. What's inside, she doesn't even care to know.

"Honey, why did they do this to you?" Mom sniffled, approaching her like a magnetic pull acted upon her.

This was so far from the mom Lynn recalled from last night. She thought. Lynn wanted to sit up, and say that she's okay. That it was only a minor beatdown. It wasn't an option though, since her body was pretty useless this point. And while Lynn hadn't gotten her hands on a mirror, she was sure her appearance would betray her lie anyways.

Rita was nearly hovering over her small figure, tracing every single ridge of her face with her eyes. "I swear, I oughta sue their parents!"

Would she get in trouble for telling? Yesterday, she gave a beating and today, she received it. But as usual, the start of every war is because of her. Their assumption would be to blame her again. She was never the one to apologize that quickly, but times like this reminded Lynn that she was on short end of the tail. Before they'd pound on her for being reckless once again, the wall was already on construction. Lynn closed her eyes, as if closing away the door to her innermost thoughts. "Sorry…"

Rita cried and hugged her. The familiar smell of mom's favorite fabric conditioner strangely comforting. "No…no. Junior, I'm sorry. I never should've been too harsh yesterday. I'm a bad mother…"

As mom spilled out tears into Lynn's jersey, her sobbing was a foot stomping on her heart. It concerned Lynn a lot. Mom was becoming so moody nowadays. What was going to happen next?

Dad patted mom on the back. "LJ, would you mind telling us what lead this on?"

Mom pulled out of the hug and Lynn got some space to breathe. She glanced at their eyes to see if they had any hint of anger in them hidden away, ready to pounce like a roaring lion any minute. When she found none, her memory paved the way for her and Lynn had explained everything. Technically, it's just the important details about how she went from finding Lincoln in that state to getting beaten. She already had a game plan in her head. Nothing she was about to mention was gonna blurt out the events of last night, or why the two siblings aren't in speaking terms, nor was she gonna elaborate on who those boys were even though she had a pretty good mental resume of who they were as people. Not like they ask anyways.

They listened with intent as Lynn told her story. Dad lovingly wrapped his arm around mom and mom was fiddling with her handkerchief, ready to blow her nose on it or wipe stray tears any moment. The flashbacks of everything that happened was making its way on cutting the heartstrings of Lynn's heart. And not long, the physical pain was getting worse as her emotions started sputtering off the rails. But the entire time, she kept a brave face. Displaying only nothing but boasting confidence, nullifying every single feeling she truly felt. Which was hard, when she's splayed out on a bed with only a hospital nightgown and a thin blanket covering her.

By the end, there was a long pause. Lynn had to pause, before she'd end up becoming a ball of sap her pride wouldn't want mom and dad to see. Oftentimes, she downplays her injuries and even counts it a blessing because it's a symbol of her greatness and effort leading her here. This was different though, and Lynn was already hating how vulnerable she seemed with only a shameful, pathetic backstory to back her up.

It took her a moment to regain all the energy sucked out of her as she recalled the nightmare. And when she did, there was a fog that needed to be cleared out. "Mom… I know you said I shouldn't be around him anymore, but where is Lincoln?"

Dad shot mom a surprised look. "Rita…", Betrayal seeped from his voice. "You told me you wouldn't go that far."

She had blown away into a now gunky handkerchief, wiping the tear stains on her cheeks. "I know. But yesterday drove me insane, honey… I couldn't take it."

Lynn listened in, wondering about what transpired in front of her, but after a closer look at mom's face, though wearing a small smile, her pink eyes were enough to stop that train of thought. "Your brother is in here too. Just a few rooms away."

She couldn't help but sigh in relief. A big weight was off her shoulders, right before a much greater one climbed up. Lynn turned her head against them and shifted her eyes across the plain wall. "Never mind. Why did I even ask…? I'm not even gonna see him anyways."

"No." Dad shook his head, placing his hand on Lynn's shoulder. She looked back to them with skepticism.

"You will see him. Whatever your mom enforced yesterday, won't be applied today or pretty much never again." He looked to Rita with a reprimanding glance, and she nodded with agreement and guilt. "I haven't got an idea what she jammed into your heads, but we're both gonna make sure that while you two have more restrictions, you have to loosen up a little after today. Besides, I think you two not seeing each other, even if you live in the same house is purely sadistic."

The tips of her lips curved into a small smile at dad's encouraging face. "Y-you aren't mad at us anymore for what happened yesterday…?' She mumbled.

Rita shook her head. "We can't lie that we're still quite upset with what you both did." Her stomach twisted in dread, and there was only anxiety as to what would be her next punishment or lecture. "But there's nothing we can do about it now. Case closed. The least we can do is prevent it from happening again."

A boulder was off Lynn's weight. For a moment, she thought love would lose over hatred and something worse would happen between their already dysfunctional family. It's funny to think that mom was treating her differently yesterday, though. But while she could've just left that topic be and drop it, there was still one question resonating in her, however. And no, she wanted to keep it to herself actually, but for some reason her mouth considered it before her own head did. "S-so you don't hate me? Or Lincoln?"

Dad's eyes went as wide as saucers, and if he were drinking his morning joe, he'd spat it out onto mom's lap right now. Mom was stunned, their gasps of horror echoing in the room. "Why would you even get to a conclusion like that?"

A part of Lynn wanted to continue, to explain in full detail as to what they asked for like how Lisa would when asked about her odd experiments. But a bigger part wanted her to keep that to herself. "It's nothing…"

Dad faked a cough, signaling the change of topics. "Anyway, how are you holding up sweetie?"

Lynn rolled her eyes. Her muscles ached, one limb was numb, and her head was spinning every time she'd make a small move. "I've felt worse." She wasn't kidding. Years of participating in athletic competition wouldn't bring even this as a shock. Though, there was one thing Lynn so hated about being bedridden in a hospital like this though. And that was the agony of having to wait to heal. "Say, when can I get discharged here?"

Rita and Lynn Senior looked at each other with knowing glances, before looking directly at her with small smiles. "That's a really good question. The good news is, you and Lincoln can actually leave later in the evening before closing time. If you want though, we can go ahead right now." Dad said. "Both of you aren't exactly in the best physical shape right now, but from what the doctor said, you're capable of walking.'

She sighed in relief. "Wait, you guys already visited Lincoln?"

They nodded. "How is he?"

Rita frowned, and there she knew something was up. "You'll have to see for yourself."

"Why? What's wrong?"

The mood turned 180 degrees, and it went dark. "LJ, did something happen between you two?" Dad asked like he was stepping on personal territory. "He was… he wasn't acting like himself."

Lynn forced a gulp. "What do you mean?"

Mom gave her a grave look. "You'll see."

It took a long, due process when mom and dad had to lend Lynn a hand in changing back into her usual jersey- in a literal sense, as embarrassing as it was. Well, in reality, it's only taking 30 minutes, but who was counting?

One thing she learned from all this, is that time is slowed when you're bored or nervous. As Lynn sat by the waiting room in front of room 257, aka the room Lincoln is in, she couldn't help but fiddle with the bandage on her right hand.

An entire piece of her memory was shattered into fragments, so if Lynn had to recall, it'd all be a fog in her mind. Before being struck unconscious, she did vaguely remember her shrill scream ringing around the halls, before one of them had shoved some towel in her mouth. And after her screams were muted, the biggest of all the boys had… she didn't wanna mention it right now. Not even to herself. Because that type of pain was something Lynn had never felt before, and it was enough to make her wish she could go back to the time she got molested instead. Though it isn't how her right hand was now utterly lifeless until it heals- which only God knows how long- but more like the unhinged frustration she'll have to face later on knowing it's her dominant hand that's left for dead.

But isn't this why we have two hands? If one is broken, then the other can be quite handy. No pun intended.

She took occasional glances at his door, wondering why mom and dad were so vague about his condition. What exactly was wrong with him? That question haunted her for the entire time. There weren't magazines or anything to read nearby, so the only thing entertaining her was the paranoid skepticism at the back of her mind. They were acting like he had changed into a different man or something. It could've just been them bluffing, scaring her in a way. But since dad asked if there was some beef between them, maybe it had something to do with what happened this morning. Of course, she didn't tell them the truth. Mom and dad had their own problems to worry about. Lynn hated burdening them with even more, knowing that their relationship with each other was already tied to a thin thread. She wouldn't openly admit, but if her parents are pushed off the edge on more time, Lynn is afraid they'd sign her up for adoption.

Silly of her to think that way. But after that tie incident last year, would you blame not just her, but the rest of her siblings to think like this?

The cool air conditioner of the hospital was making her shudder even more with her jittery anxiety adding up, Lynn fidgeted and leaned on the chair. Out of the blue, mom and dad arrived from the counter of the hospital which was floors down. They had told her to wait here as they had talked with the doctors and nurses.

Dad patted her bandaged head. "Okay, LJ, we're gonna pick your brother up. Wait here, okay?"

Her breathing started becoming shallow; her body uneasy. "Y-yeah. Sure, dad."

"We really hate seeing you so nervous.' Mom added. 'We know your worried about him, sweetie, but I'm sure you'll get to the bottom of it."

Now they're making his condition or whatever sound like it's nothing. What in the world did she even mean? Lynn bit her tongue before she could even say it. She didn't dare to ask any more questions, stopping the conversation there instead.

They entered the room, and Lynn was left there to act cool. Even if in the inside, there was a flurry destroying her. Through all the pain of having to be patient, and the fact she didn't exactly get her desired sleep last night, Lynn's eyelids started to become heavier. The sounds of kids running around the halls and nurses rolling people in stretchers through the hallways was becoming a blur to her.

But she forced herself up, not risking the embarrassment of falling asleep and accidentally falling face first on the ground out of drowsiness.

It kept happening over and over. There wasn't a clock around here either, and only her parents know where her bag really was so her phone was out of the window as well. What was taking them so long?

She was about to succumb into the peace of actually getting rest, leaning her head on the wall and making sure she's in a comfy sitting position. Lynn swore even though she wasn't even asleep yet, she could already hear herself snoring.

Suddenly, the door in front of her squeaked open.

O-oh. They were here.

Lynn forced her eyes wide open and looked at the occupants coming out.

There he was, Lincoln Loud. Her heart raced, and she began to sweat. Despite the way her body reacted, her mouth twitched into a smile. He came out in one piece, and that was enough to lessen her borderline sisterly instincts.

But when she'd look down, Lynn had to cease the urge to frown. Instead, she simply blinked. He was in a crutch, his left leg on a cast. He wore blue shorts this time, to make way for the broken leg. His face, it pushed a gasp out of her. It was jam-packed with all shades of purple, reddish and blue. The bags under his eyes couldn't have been darker, and gone was the natural skin complexion he had, replaced with a pale tint even Lucy couldn't achieve.

Their eyes met when Lynn scanned his body down and up, and she realized Lincoln was staring back at her too. He forced a smile, albeit probably the weakest attempt he'd ever done. Upon seeing it, Lynn had to restrain herself from tackling him into the tightest, passionate hug she'd ever give to anyone.

But something held her back. Although Lynn wasn't one to hold back on something, this time was different.

"Okay, kids," Rita broke the silence, helping Lincoln sit down on the bench right beside Lynn. "Your dad and I are gonna leave you both here, because we still need more papers to deal with before we can finally go." They both looked at her with surprise and dread. "It'll only be a few minutes, don't worry about it."

They were rest assured that there were nurses around every corner, and cameras were right on every part of the ceiling. But that wasn't what Lincoln and Lynn were dreading of, it was more like the supposedly blessed privacy given to them by force. They could see that knowing glint in their parents' eyes, and it was clear that this was obviously their method to torture them- I mean, help them grow back together. Ironically, mom had forbade them to last night. But it's dad who went against what she wanted, and pushed to implement the opposite. Even for just a day.

The siblings exchanged brief glances at each other both of them expressing looks of nerve-wracking edginess. More than they'd wanna say, Lincoln and Lynn wanted anything to do but actually have time for each other. Even after the events leading up to now, there's still a lot of heat and still awkwardness between them. But who knew? If they had chosen mom's decision to separate them, or dad's idea to tie them back together, they'd still suffer either way.

Having no other choice, the kids both nodded. "Good. We'll be back in a few minutes."

They walked away. Not a word was spoken as they simply stared at their parent's shrinking figures in the distance until they fully disappeared.

Then after what followed, it was just quiet. The silence had screamed louder than they ever did breathe.

Like a heavy wool blanket on a blazing summer day, Lynn and Lincoln were sweating profusely. The tension was worn heavy, and though they were feeling warmer than the summer of '19, their limbs were cold and trembling. The air conditioner right beside them was doing nothing to help with drying their swear; only making it worse by not just freezing them, but making them much tenser- leading more beads of water to trickle down their heads. Lynn was nearly getting a stiff neck after all this time looking at the same direction to the right side, making sure she doesn't turn to the left to find Lincoln's figure doing the same; looking either straight or to his left. Anything to avoid even the smallest conversation. The fact they were breathing the same air already felt like agony. Out of dullness, the tension was starting to fade out, and the drowsiness kicked right back in like an injection.

For a while, Lincoln bounced his left knee up and down. He saw this coming. With a now broken leg, he knew the girl beside him was one of the only people he could turn to right now. But there were chains holding him down. Lincoln didn't wanna mention a single thing of what events transpired right before his eyes earlier. It wasn't that he wasn't scared, but there was a tendency that once he reverses, he'll end up sliding downhill and never get back up again.

A scratch to the leg here, and a heavy inhale there. Lincoln hovered his eyes over some people nearby on the other benches, and saw them reading magazines. They're lucky. He thought. That's a better way to kill time, rather than kill time, but also kill yourself slowly by the agony.

He shot up abruptly when a new weight had befallen his shoulder. Lincoln looked at where it came from, and a tingle out of his control rushed up his cheeks.

Lynn fell asleep, snoring. Her head resting right on his body.

Um… uh… yeah.

So, Lincoln was at a loss for words. Should… should he do something?

There were a lot of things going on his mind, with her being number one on the list. Lincoln yawned, a wave of fatigue washing over him on the spur of the moment. Maybe he can think about that later… Lynn was somehow a really comfy cushion. He thought. Yeah, he was her pillow for now, but the warmth emanating from her was melting his worries away.

Upon closing his eyes, the world immediately faded away before him.

"Linc…" His arm was nudged. "Lincoln."

He shifted. "Hmm?"

"Wake up."

Lincoln forced his heavy eyelids open, before moving a hand to rub his eyes. "What…"

He shot up immediately after remembering how he ended up in such a state. Right in front of him was mom and dad, smiling sweetly for some reason. To his right, Lynn was already seemingly awake. When he glanced at her direction, Lynn grinned. "Hey."

Compared to earlier and a day ago, Lincoln felt much fresher. "Hey."

"Looks like you two already made up, with whatever you were at." Dad rested his hands on his hips. 'C'mon, up and at 'em. We're coming home."

They both excitedly got up the bench, at the very least, tried.

"Ow!" Lincoln whined. He forgot to use crutches.

Lynn stretched out her hand. 'I'll help ya.' She said, trying not to sound awkward.

He wasn't hesitant and immediately took a hold, and she pulled him up. Instinctively, Lincoln wrapped his arm around her shoulder to prop himself up as mom gave him his crutches. 'There, all set.' Mom smiled.

"Alright! What're we waiting for?" Dad asked enthusiastically. "Chop, chop! I'm preparing something special for tonight."

Their mouths could only water right now. Was this special treatment they got for being injured?

And there they went, the whole walk through the noisy corridors was silent. Save for mom and dad chatting with each other. It was a quiet brisk stroll for the two kids. There was stiffness as big as a boulder tied to a thin thread in between them, the seams just bursting to open. None of them spoke up. Though, as shown in the way Lynn would constantly find her eyes meeting his, and how Lincoln noticed how she was maintaining a close distance- they wanted to. But things didn't work so easy in this world.

No. Instead, things were pushed down under the platform and despite that brief second of affection, the two of them returned to being cold towards one another. No words were said, and only backs were turned. But it couldn't conceal the idea that Lynn's keeping her pace slow for Lincoln or how he himself took noticeably deep breaths as if prepping himself up for a school presentation. So, this was what Luna meant by that one song reference. Bringing out the inner kid out of them, and playing hide and seek with their feelings, wondering when someone would declare the game over.

At once, when mom and dad were far ahead, someone finally broke the silence. "Hey, Lincoln…"

"Yeah?"

Lynn chewed her lip. She had no idea she'd get this far.

"Talk to me, would ya?" She tried to cut them loose on the weight. Lynn gives him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "I'm not mad at you for earlier, you know."

Under the palm of her hand, Lincoln began to relax a little. His shoulders hitching a little as he went on to sigh. "I guess we're both sorry to each other." He chuckled lightly. "But hey, I apologized, you apologized. I think I can forgive you now."

Lynn beamed at that. "If anything, you shouldn't be sorry at all, bro." She said, stretching her arm and wrapping him near. "You had done nothing wrong, nor did mom, for saying what she did last night. It isn't your fault you… you were only pretending to like hanging with me." Her voice trailed away, and Lincoln saw her mouth turn into a thin line.

He, as awkward as it felt, gave in to her advances and pulled himself closer too. "It's not that, Lynn." He blurted out in an attempt to make her feel better.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"You're brutal, yes. Deadly off and on the field, sure. And maybe quite annoying because of how competitive you can get..." He stopped when Lynn gripped his shoulder tightly a tight frown growing on her face. "But that's what makes you fun." Lincoln saw a blush creep into her face and he grinned lightly. Alas, his face fell. "It's your unpredictability I hate."

They had barely any room to register what's going on just as a nurse came rushing through the entrance doors they were nearing, and that distracted them out of the conversation. They had moved aside and made way for the rolling stretcher and the hyperventilating old man on it. Now with a gap between them, Lynn approached Lincoln who was hardly maintaining himself with the crutches especially with the panic that struck him a second before the stretcher nearly collided with him.

"What were you saying?" She asked, helping him stand up properly.

He looked at her with a strained look. "You know what? We should talk about that later. There's too much people around here."

Lynn snorted. "You're saying it ain't the same at home?"

"Touché." He laughed. "But I know a way to get us some privacy. You'll see."

Her face softened and she toned her energy down seeing the cast he wore on his leg. Like the way her hand was bandaged up- leaving the reason and the injury itself hidden- she wondered what story was hiding behind his wound too. "Linc…" Lynn placed her hand on his back. He could use a massage, she thought to herself. He's super tense. "What did they do to you?"

Lincoln continued to walk with the crutches, though staying silent in thought. "You were there, weren't you? You saw what happened."

"I was." Lynn said matter-of-factly, looking aside. "But… I dunno. The moment I thought I was finished with those jerks, you were gone."

At last, they finally reached the doors to the hospital's opening. Both of them walked out of the automatic sliding doors and Lincoln narrowed his eyes to try and see if mom and dad were nearby. They were steps away, not too far to steer clear of them however. He diverted his attention back to Lynn, and a witty line popped in his mind right at the moment.

"Did ya win?" Lincoln joked; the small smile worn on his face betrayed by his tone.

She gave him a soft punch to the shoulder. "You're lucky my other hand is useless right now, Stinkin'."

"Mind if I ask why?" He gave her a glance of concern.

Lynn sneered; the memory clear in her mind. "They stomped on it."

"What?" Lincoln was flabbergasted. "You mean… they stomped- like squished your hand?"

He halted completely and turned to face her with a look of shock and disbelief. She gave a nod. "How much details do you wanna know?"

Lincoln blinked, and then invited her to continue following their parents to Vanzilla. "H-how bad…?"

His eyes trailed down and stared at her bandaged hand. She released a heavy sigh. "One of those big guys decided to do a full crash landing on it."

He winced. "Ow. That's gotta hurt."

Lynn simply laughed. "Funny of you to say that when I can't even feel it."

Vanzilla was heard beeping once dad unlocked its doors with his key, and while they were a few steps away, they knew they had to make the most of their small talk before the long ride home. "Hey, how come mom and dad told me you were acting weird? What exactly did you do when you talked?"

Lincoln shrugged, his skin returning to its natural complexion. "They asked me about you. I wouldn't respond, since I didn't want a reminder of this morning." He explained. "I never thought they'd think it's strange though."

"C'mon kids! The rest of your sisters are dying to see you!" Lynn Senior rushed.

And with that, they both came in and there they took the route back home.

When they anticipated a storm, they got an entire flash flood instead.

"Lynn! Lincoln! Are you two okay?" Leni's voice cracked under tension.

"What did the mean boys do? I swear I'm gonna kill them!"

"Cursing them is easier. And much safer." Lucy said in response to Lana, a small smile gracing her face. 'Much more entertaining too.'

Lynn turned to her brother, gesturing for him to lean his ear near her. "Is this what we did back when you'd talk about a girl?"

He nodded at her, and Lynn cringed from the horrendous amount of attention. "Okay, okay! Girls, settle down!" Dad yelled, calming the storm down like Jesus to his terrified disciples. "Listen, Lynn and Lincoln need some space and time to breathe. Let's leave them be and you can all take turns asking your questions later, okay?"

Dad winked at them, signaling them to go straight upstairs where they can get the desired space they needed.

"Yo, if this is how it really feels like to be battered, then I don't think I'd mind it." Lincoln glared at her. "What? It's not everyday we get privacy privileges like this."

"I can live in a house like this everyday rather than go home with a new cast every week." Lincoln said sardonically.

Lynn nodded. "My thoughts exactly."

They finally reached the top of the stairs, albeit slowly because of Lincoln. The two siblings halt in their steps, and looked at each other. "So, do we just separate now or should we go and talk while we have the chance?"

Lynn looked around. "Y'know, I was waiting for after bedtime so I can sneak into your room to for this, but I think we'll do much better with all the lights on and with everyone still awake."

"Ah. Good point." Lincoln nodded, understanding the terribly fun possibilities of them being in one room together. In the dark, with everyone asleep. "Come to think of it, why would you even consider sneaking up into my room as a good idea?"

"Dunno. It's the only way we can talk without anyone eavesdropping, I guess. But in this house, chances are, there's at least one person who's listening. " Lynn mumbled. "So, it'll be better to talk now. Nobody can hear us up here since they're all downstairs. PLUS, we'll be able to resist urges to um…" She made an awkward gesture with her hands, signaling baseball in the bedroom… cough...

He nodded, his face going red. "I see what you mean. There's a chance somebody might come upstairs out of nowhere, so we won't be able to uh... slip in a little fun- I mean quickie. Right."

"Alright, to your room."

Lincoln and Lynn headed to his room, as the latter took occasional glimpse of the stairs to see if anyone would come up. "Why my room, though? Your room was right in front of where we were standing."

Lynn patted him on the back. "Your leg needs rest. If we do this in my room, you're gonna go ham just tryna go back to yours."

He smiled at her consideration. "Thanks, Lynn."

She blushed and pulled him into a side hug. "Get used to it, Stinkin'."

They went into the room at last, and Lincoln gently sat himself on the bed, putting his crutches on the side. "I can't believe the hospital let us go this quickly." Lincoln started, adjusting his position until he could stretch his legs fully on the bed. "Like, don't they keep patients with injuries like us for a little longer?"

"That really just depends if you're good to go or not." Lynn sat crossed leg across him on the mattress. "Don't you remember that time I broke my tibia bone? I was only in the E.R for an hour and boom! Out the hospital already."

"Oh. You're right."

Lynn stared at his cast, before looking at him. "Speaking of which, what happened to you, bro? You kept changing topics earlier."

"I was avoiding it because the memory is so painful, I can still feel it right now if I think about it. But here goes nothing." Lincoln took a deep breath. "It got dislocated."

Her eyes widened, before she started to take in the info she's been given. "After that heck of a beat up, you coming out with a broken leg is probably the least that could happen." Lynn caressed the cast, feeling it with her fingertips. "But how'd you get it dislocated, though?"

"So, you remember when you took the hit for me earlier against those guys?" Lynn nodded. "When I had the chance, I ran off." Lincoln was stiffening, and even she could see that. "Buuut one of them noticed and chased me, kinda like how you did on my first day of middle school. And in the end, I did a really dumb stunt and jumped out of the school's doors and landed at the bottom of the entrance stairs. I nailed it until I felt the 'Charlie Horse' coming through, and usually when it happens, I can stand up after a while. But this time, it didn't happen."

Lynn simply listened. "Then what?"

He flinched upon the memory. "That guy caught up to me, and then he shoved a white towel up my face and forced me to smell it and everything went black. That's how I woke up in the hospital."

She looked at him with the strongest surge of empathy ever written on her face. Her eyebrow twitched from the thought that someone did this to him. "I don't know what to say… but at least you're still in one piece."

They both shared a chuckle. Once it was over, Lynn had a glint of seriousness in her eyes. "Why did they even start it? What did you do?"

Lincoln shook his head defensively. "I didn't do anything! I swear, I was just running to class and stopped to take a breath. And those guys popped in and suddenly wanted to attack me!"

She stroked her chin. "Hmmm… it's kinda strange. Did you hear them mention that secret we shared in the arcade room?"

His eyes widened in realization, and he nodded furiously. "Yeah, yeah. I did!" He started thinking about it too. "How in the world did they know!"

She perked up. "Dylan!" Lynn snapped her fingers. "I think I might know where this is coming from."

Lincoln looked at her skeptically. "I've been meaning to ask you who that is. I noticed that when you saw him, you froze. You got some beef between you?"

"No." Lynn shook her head. "It was much worse."

"Was he one of your middle school bullies?"

"He was more than that. It's disgusting to say, Dylan was actually my best friend."

Lincoln blinked. "Are you serious?"

She looked at him with a grace look before nodding. Lynn averted her gaze to her hand wrapped in a cast. "It sounds like I'm bluffing seeing how we are right now. But we've came a really long way and well… it's a long story."

"We can talk about that later." Lincoln said impatiently. "What were you saying about him being the tie that got us beaten up?"

Lynn frowned, biting her lip. "Dylan's best pal is Nick."

"So? What's this gotta do with him? We never even hurt that guy!"

She rubbed her temples with a groan in exasperation. "Lincoln, imagine if someone beat the ever-loving crap out of Clyde. As his best buddy, what'd you do?"

"I would-" Lincoln's eyes widened. "Okay, now I see your point."

"It'd make even more sense if that really was the case, cuz Dylan and Nick are frat brothers."

He nodded slowly, his mouth shaped into an O. "Ah, so they are? I thought school never allowed that."

"They like to deny every backlash they receive about that, but somebody already cleared the buzz and everyone saw the truth." Lynn explained. "The rest of them are some thugs part of the fraternity as well. They're known as the 'The Bad Bois'."

Lincoln snorted and laughed hysterically. "Okay… okay, who even thought of a name like that!" He let out in between his giggling.

She grinned, and rolled her eyes. "They think it's swag or something." Lynn leaned on the wall. "But they just don't see how stupid it is, like themselves."

After a fit of laughter, and a horrible series of coughing after choking on his own saliva, Lincoln calmed down. "Back to what we were talking about… so, you're saying that Dylan was avenging Nick?"

Lynn nodded with a shrug. "Let's put it that way."

"Lynn! We gotta tell that to mom and dad!" He said, pressing his hands on her shoulders. "Those guys need to be expelled or something! If not, file a restraining order like they do with those weird uncles!"

"Don't get your hopes up, Stinkin'." She scoffed. "They didn't even suspend us, and we hospitalized two students!"

"But we were excused! Principal Ramirez was giving us a chance!" Lincoln persuaded. "And I've only been in the middle school for a while, but I've never seen a face like Dylan's!"

"That's because he doesn't study in school anymore." Lincoln was slack- jawed. "He's been a dropout since the end of my first year in middle school."

"Was it his choice?"

Lynn shook her head. "He's suspended from Royal Woods Middle School. But that guy lives by his own rules, which is why he sneaked into the school even though he ain't supposed to."

"I swear, our schools really need stronger security. The teachers didn't even come to help us!" Lincoln scowled. "Wait… why is he expelled?"

Lynn shifted uncomfortable, averting her gaze. "Uh yeah… that's part of the "long story" I never told yet."

He lifted his eyebrows. "You mean… you're involved?"

She looked at Lincoln with contempt, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "What can I say? We were best friends." Lynn quoted, before scoffing.

Lincoln blinked. The atmosphere somehow gotten heavy, and now there was a strain in between them in the deafening silence. "Uh… what happened?"

The door creaked open. "Hey Lynnsanity, yo lil' bro!" Luna popped her head in. "Just wanted to tell you dudes that dinner's up. We're waiting for you two-" She caught a glimpse of their casts. "Ya guys would mind if I put my autograph in those later?"

That was enough to cut the string of tension and the three laughed before Luna went ahead.

"Let's talk about this next time." Lynn said, before her stomach grumbled. Lincoln stared at her with a grin. "Whoops. Haven't been getting my fill yet."

Lincoln and Lynn went downstairs with the latter rushing down the moment the mouth-watering aroma of dad's cooking permeated her nostrils.

The entire family was already sat down, but them. When they caught dad's eye, he joyfully smiled. "Ah, great! You're here! Get in here, you two!"

At dinner, everyone was huddled up at the table wildly gobbling down at their food. For the first time in what seems to a million years, dad decided to cut his regular menu and switch it up. Instead of Fish Fry Fridays, like every single Friday of the week, he made… an entire buffet!

"Yo, is this really real or am I dreaming?" Lynn exclaimed in awe with a gasp. "Somebody pinch me!"

A sharp pain tingled on her arm. Lynn jolted up with a hiss. "Not literally, Stinkin'!"

He simply smirked at her.

They skipped off to their separated seats, ready to take down whatever food dad prepared on the table.

As fast as it started, it was over. The kids were brushing their teeth altogether in the clamped bathroom, all clad in their pajamas. All of them repeatedly pushing each other just to have some space to glance at their faces on the mirror. Yup, it's a typical Loud family night. After last night's events, the family being back to normal- or at the least, acting like nothing happened between the two certain middle children- felt very refreshing.

"Hey, you guys noticed how weird mom and dad were earlier?" Lola started, talking in the middle of applying facial cream.

A chorus full of agreements were heard. "Yeah, what was that about?" Her twin pondered aloud.

They weren't wrong. Though dad had cooked pretty an entire day's worth of food for the family, and had a big grin plastered on his face the entire time, something didn't feel right. "His smile. It never reached his eyes." Lucy said. "He didn't look genuinely happy."

Lincoln was flossing his teeth listening to all this. "How about mom? Nothing was up with her."

"Of course, there's nothing up with mom!" Leni agreed, earning a glance from the rest of them.

"See, she agrees with me." Lincoln nodded proudly.

Leni tilted her head and looked at Lincoln from the mirror's reflection. "How can there be something up with her when she looked really down?"

Lincoln slumped in disappointment. "I take back my earlier statements."

"Albeit nothing seemingly odd is found in her behavior, I sense something peculiar coming from our mother." Lisa tapped her chin. "She wasn't openly affectionate towards dad, when she usually is."

Luan spat out to the ink, before wiping toothpaste off her mouth with her pajama sleeve. "I didn't see nor hear anything. You're probably just being sense-sitive! Geddit?" She let out her trademark laugh. "But seriously, something did smell fishy earlier."

"That's probably the fish fillet dad made." Lynn patted at her full stomach. "That was some good stuff." She burped, earning a gag from Luna who happened to be right beside her.

"Whatever the 'rents deal is, we should leave it be." Luna commented. "If they can cope up with poppin' out a new baby every year, surely nothing's impossible for those two. They probably just a long day, with LJ and Linc over here getting sent to the E.R and all."

And with the night coming to an end, so did their chat upon reaching Luna's conclusion. It didn't stop the two aforementioned siblings from feeling guilty, however.

The kids headed back to their bedrooms, all ready to hit the hay and call it a day.

Lincoln was especially ready to do that. He was so prepared to face a non-school-day-tomorrow. Getting up from the bed was already a struggle with his displaced ankle, but thank God it's Friday!

Mom and dad loosened up, he made up with Lynn, and the best part of it all? It's been over 24 hours since the showdown in the locker happened, officially a day since they hospitalized those two jerks, and nothing too big came up- save for that beat up and these injuries. Even though his leg is broken, tomorrow is a chance he can fix things. It's been a while since he talked with his friends, yeah. He should do that tomorrow.

The list of plans he had for the next day were fading away, and he was about to slip into unconsciousness peacefully. His eyelids were already falling heavy and even when he just sunk into the mattress, Lincoln was on the edge of passing out with a smile on his face.

Ding!

He jerked. "Geez, what the-"

A text from Lynn. Why in the world would she message him now out of all times? He grabbed a hold of his phone beside him on the bed, and turned it on.

"Bro, I got some bad news." It read. Lincoln's stomach twisted as he glanced at an attachment she forwarded. "Literally."

Lincoln fearfully drifted his eyes down the file, and he had to resist the urge to scream.

The moment his head fully processed it; Lincoln gulped.

"The Source: Middle School All-Star player Lynn Loud Junior, and Campus Journalist, Lincoln Loud allegedly dating?"

What was this!?

He hovered a shaky hand on the article, wondering if he should read it or not.

Lincoln shut his phone off, shoved it into his messiest drawer and got a key before proceeding to straight up lock it to avoid the horror. He'd read that tomorrow. No more need to torture himself further.

But there was NO way he'd fall asleep. Not with the questions that can be defined in one word: 'how?'. They acted innocently, acting according to the rules since today. What could've went wrong?

'You know what they say.' He remembered a certain artist say. 'Keeping a low profile, gets you a high reputation.'

That guy was talking about how being humble attracts everyone. But never in a million years did Lincoln see that quote in this way.

Author's note:

Ah yes, always love me another cliffhanger. Aren't I just the worst?

Okay, okay. I'll tone it down with stuff like that soon. But seriously, I'm having so much fun teasing you guys! As for now, we have a little background on one of the new background characters, Dylan, and the thugs' excuse for beating Lincoln up in the middle of the school. Lynn and Lincoln made up, finally, and just when they think life finally released them from its chokehold, they're gripped on the throats much tighter than before!

In the next chapter, there'll be Not so Fun Surprises. I'm not even joking- that's the title for Chapter 14 coming up next! No spoilers, because that'll ruin the entire mood. But based on the title I've splayed out here, what surprises do you think the next chapter will have in store? Leave it in the reviews!

Talk to y'all in Chapter 14!