Both children still sat on the snowy ground, neither of them talking as a result of surprise. They seemed out of reality, but they were soon snapped back when they heard Ajax bark.

"L-Lincoln, is that you?" she asked. She was certainly surprised to see the white-haired boy out here of all places and from Lincoln's perspective, it felt like everything around him stopped. The world was spinning without him and he was faced with an unavoidable question.

"Y-yeah... i-it's me," Lincoln managed to answer with an audible shaky voice that formed from his shock, but the cold was another good guess. Jordan didn't expect to meet someone from her school all the way here in New York City, but there was something off about him. The way that he talked made her think that something just wasn't right.

"So... w-what are you doing h-here?" Jordan asked. It was a simple question that anyone could answer, but to her surprise, the Loud boy seemed to hesitate to say anything. He thought about it for a couple of moments before coming up with an answer.

"J-just taking a walk... ya know?" said the white-haired boy. It wasn't the best answer, but it seemed that it was the only one that could leave his mouth.

"Oh yeah? In New York?" asked Jordan.

"I'm... a-afraid of my own shadow?" Lincoln stammered a bit with his choice of words. Jordan could sense his unwillingness to answer properly, but she knew something was wrong and pushed on.

"Lincoln, what are you really doing here?" she asked again. She looked at Lincoln and started examining his visible wounds like his black eye. Lincoln realized this, so he began to come clean.

"I-I... r-ran away," the Loud boy said with a shaky voice, trying to speak as silently as he could, but Jordan still heard him. It felt like everything disappeared around them after that. There was nothing and Lincoln awaited a response, but instead, he saw the girl looking at him in confusion and examining him further, giving extra notice to his black eye.

"What happened?" she asked in a soft voice. Lincoln opened his mouth to speak, but closed it after not finding the words to explain it. Jordan noticed that Lincoln seemed afraid, so she decided to switch the question. "Does it have to do with your family?" She anticipated an answer and the Loud boy nodded while looking down at the snow. This just raised more questions for her in her mind. What happened? Why New York? But knowing that he probably wouldn't answer right away and that this might not have been the best place for idle discussion, she instead pulled out her hand and grabbed Lincoln's hand. She was starting to feel cold from being out walking her dog anyway, so she held his leash with her free hand while she and Lincoln made their way through the park.

"Where are we going?" Lincoln asked, unsure.

"Lincoln, if you ran away, then I highly doubt you have a place to stay," replied Jordan. "And since we're both covered in snow and getting cold, I think it's best that I take you to my place. We can get ourselves warmed up in no time."

"I don't know. I don't want to intrude or anything like that," said Lincoln, making Jordan look back at him.

"Lincoln, do you have any idea how cold it gets at nighttime?" she asked and Lincoln responded by shaking his head. "That's what I thought. It gets freezing cold and I doubt you'll be able to find a place to stay on your own and in New York City of all places." They walked for what felt like an hour before reaching a large house that looked like a mansion. Lincoln knew Jordan's parents were rich, but even this was a surprise to him. They approached the door and Jordan released Lincoln's hand to pull a key out of her pocket and unlock the door. The two preteens hurried inside and Lincoln was absolutely astonished at how everything looked.

"Yeah, sorry this isn't much," said Jordan, untying Ajax from his leash. "Our house maid doesn't show up until tomorrow." Feeling the warm air covering his body, Lincoln took off his jacket and placed it on a coat hanger along with Jordan. Still being astonished from the place, he looked around as he followed her into the kitchen.

"Hey Lincoln, are you hungry?" asked Jordan.

"Not really," he replied. "I just ate two hot dogs." Jordan chuckled a bit.

"Come on, you know that's not a full course meal."

"Fine, what should we eat, then?" asked the Loud boy. Jordan looked inside some kitchen cabinets.

"Mom and Dad forgot to stock up on food. But I guess we could make some noodles."

"Yeah, I'm okay with that." After Lincoln answered, Jordan began boiling up the noodles. While waiting, she couldn't help but feel a deep silence that filled the kitchen. She wanted to ask him about everything, but didn't know if she should.

"Look, Lincoln. I know that I'm not exactly your best friend the way Clyde is, but... What exactly happened? Why did you leave? Why do you have a black eye?" And the questions began to flood. But with an audible sigh, Lincoln began to speak.

"It all started with Lori moving away..." And so Lincoln retold Jordan everything he experienced while she looked on in horror. "...and then I ran into you." The boy finished. He looked up from the floor and met Jordan's eyes that were now filled with pure shock.

"Lincoln... t-that i-is..." Jordan couldn't even finish her sentence.

"I know, it's horrible," Lincoln said, trying to calm the girl down.

"No, Lincoln, that is beyond evil! No sisters should treat their only brother like that!" Her shock gave way to anger as she rose up from her chair, pacing in circles trying to keep her cool. She was about to speak again, but looked at the noodles and saw that they needed to be stirred. So she tended to them while processing what she just heard. After a while, the noodles were done and both school children sat and ate at the table, neither of them saying anything until Jordan broke the silence.

"Lincoln, it's best if I call my mom," she said. "She's a lawyer and I really need her perspective on this. Nothing about this can be right." She waited for a response and looked at the white-haired boy.

"I don't th-think th-" Lincoln tried to say, but Jordan cut her off.

"No, Lincoln. It's not even a question. I can't stand you sitting here all bruised up with a black eye, letting your sisters get away with it." Lincoln wanted to change her mind by convincing her that maybe her sisters regretted their actions, but from her tone, it was clear her mind was made up. Taking the silence as a yes, she whipped out her cell phone from her pocket and ducked off into another room to speak with her mom, leaving Lincoln by himself. He finished his noodles and took the time to clean his dish as a way to thank her for her hospitality. He did consider for a moment of just walking away, but threw away those thoughts, knowing it would just make things worse. After what felt like 15 minutes, Jordan returned to the kitchen, having tucked away her cell phone.

"What did your mom say?" Lincoln asked, looking at her and seeing that she still had a shocked look in her eyes and a hinge of hurt, waiting for her to respond.

"She'll be back in about an hour," said Jordan. Lincoln looked at the clock.

"Well, uh... What should we do while we wait?" he asked. He saw that Jordan got an idea and took his hand once more, leading him to the living room. She motioned for him to sit down on the couch, which he did, while Jordan grabbed the remote and began flipping through movies they could watch on television. She turned to him showing one on the screen.

"You like Ace Savvy?" she asked with a smile.

"Who doesn't?" he asked her back with a smile. "I think that's the better question." So Jordan put on the movie and clapped her hands gently, which dimmed the lights in the room. She sat down on the couch right next to Lincoln, and even though they were friends from school, he still found it really awkward as he blushed a bit along with Jordan. Otherwise, the movie was just as great as Lincoln remembered it to be, watching his hero solve mysteries, but this time around, it felt special. And Jordan was feeling the exact same thing.

Both kids eventually started to feel tired, but Jordan was the one who managed to stay awake longer. She knew this when she felt Lincoln's head lean on her shoulder and listened to him exhaling deep breaths. Looking at his face allowed her to see just how damage his seven sisters did to him and from that alone, she felt like crying. But to her credit, it felt great for her to be helping the Loud boy in the best way she knew how. She just couldn't believe that his own family had caused him so much pain, despite what kinds of stories she might have heard that came from their household. So it was good to know that he was safe with her and far away from his family on the assumption that they would only hurt him again. The feeling of knowing she was helping her friend relaxed her enough to let her sleep and rest.

But sadly, the feeling of relaxing was cut short when she felt a gentle hand placed on her unoccupied shoulder. She looked over and saw her mom smiling at her.

"Hey," she whispered to her daughter softly. Realizing what this looked like from her mother's angle, Jordan blushed and her mom gently lifted the young boy's head and placed it down on a pillow before laying a blanket over him. Both mother and daughter made their way into another room to talk privately so as not to wake Lincoln up. "You could have asked to talk to me tomorrow if you wanted to stay where you were," Jordan's mom said.

"Well, we are talking now," said Jordan with some seriousness in her voice.

"Of course, dear. So, it's true, all of it?" her mom asked.

"Yeah, i-it's beyond terrible what they did," said Jordan, a bit shaken. "It hurts to see him like this. I know he's made his fair share of mistakes like any other person. Normally, he's the cheerful one in school, but now..." She started to tear up a bit. Her mom bowed down to her level and put her hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"Don't worry, sweetie. We'll help him get through this," she assured her wholeheartedly. They shared a hug before they talked again.

"What about dad?" asked Jordan. "Did you tell him?"

"Not yet. He won't be back until tomorrow. We'll tell him then. Okay?" Jordan nodded and she hugged her mom once more. She then returned to her own room and tried to fall asleep. It took about ten minutes, but she went into a deep sleep again for the night.